The Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown in Minnesota — which has led to confrontations with protesters and two high-profile shooting deaths of U.S. citizens — has dominated national headlines for days and even weeks. Here are key faith angles to follow.
Read More“Why not keep busy?” That’s Richard Ostling’s response when asked why he’s still covering religion at age 85 — after six decades on the Godbeat.
Read More(OPINION) Children, long ago in a land far away, I aspired to be a writer of serious fiction rather than of ephemeral newspaper columns.
Read More(OPINION) Christians understand what science reveals: masculinity and femininity are fixed moral categories that God has made and declared to be good. When societies reject God’s moral law, anarchy results. God’s people must boldly declare to the world what is true. At the same time, we must communicate the good news of the Gospel to those who disagree.
Read MorePerhaps not surprisingly, in a Bible Belt state such as Oklahoma, religion came up even in prison reporting — from Catholic bishops making appeals at clemency hearings to Allen, the inmate whose death I witnessed, declaring in her final statement, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Read More(OPINION) Days of protest across Iran left hundreds dead as authorities imposed an unprecedented internet blackout to suppress dissent. Social media nevertheless shaped mobilization, documentation and global awareness through diaspora networks and dissident media, revealing escalating demands for regime change through the use of technology.
Read More(OPINION) Christian Reconstructionism was a small but influential movement within conservative Protestantism that argued society should be governed by biblical law. Originating with R. J. Rushdoony, its ideas spread through churches, homeschooling, and dominionist networks, shaping debates over religion, politics and culture in the United States.
Read MoreTo Gwen Cummings, the late Marshall Keeble was more than a famous traveling evangelist. He was her “Pop.” Cummings shared her personal memories of Marshall and Laura Keeble, her great-grandparents who were more like grandparents to her.
Read More(OPINION) During the holidays I happened across several newspaper essays that said better than I can the very things I’ve been trying to write and preach about forever. I want to kick off 2026 by sharing, not my New Year’s resolutions, because I don’t have any, but instead a couple of these observations by better writers.
Read MoreIn a special year-end edition, Weekend Plug-in counts down the Top 10 most popular Religion Unplugged stories from the past 12 months.
Read MoreIt’s the best of the Godbeat, 2025 version. Many of the nation’s top religion journalists pick their top piece of the year.
Read More(OPINION) The most magical and mystical parts of the Christmas story reinforce the unique and elevated status of Jesus of Nazareth. When we read about the angels, the magi, the virgin birth, etc., we understand them to be signs of Christ’s divinity.
Read More(OPINION) The massacre in Sydney has left Jews around the world shaken and grieving. This act is far more than a heinous crime: It is a regression to darker times, when Jewish visibility itself carried mortal risk. The commandment of Hanukkah is not simply to light candles, but to light them publicly.
Read MoreIn the afterlife, your wife of 65 years must choose between you and her first husband — a war hero who’s waited 67 years to see her again. That’s the intriguing plot of “Eternity,” a new romantic comedy starring Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen and Callum Turner.
Read More(OPINION) As 2025 comes to a close, let us dedicate ourselves to a radical change in the way we think and act. Let us seize on the concept that every day, God gives us an abundance of chances to bring the “holiday spirit” into the lives of others — whether it’s December, April, June or September.
Read MoreA quarter-century ago, the millionaire businessman who brought the NBA’s original Charlotte Hornets to North Carolina’s largest city became embroiled in a sex scandal. Now he has published a book chronicling his stumbles and triumphs.
Read More(OPINION) America today is a paradox: A land of both freedom and fear. For some, the journey is from fear to freedom; for others, from freedom to fear. “My way or no way” has become a mantra.
Read MoreEvery December, the same chorus returns — pastors, pundits and pious influencers lamenting that Christmas has been “commercialized.” But gift-giving isn’t a betrayal of Christmas. In truth, it’s a reenactment of it. The problem is pretense, not presents. It’s when generosity becomes performance, and the spirit of giving becomes a selfie opportunity.
Read More(OPINION) It’s popular advice for new graduates: “Find a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Love for one’s work, Americans are often told, is the surest route to success. As we approach the long Thanksgiving weekend with plenty of time off, many are asking the question, “Is work really a virtue?”
Read More(OPINION) Take a moment in this season of gratitude to pity the greedy. Consider the illness of greed and those afflicted with the inability to be satisfied. These people may never know gratitude in their relentless drive to possess and hoard.
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