There’s that question again: How can mainstream media cover this story? Do elite journalists want to cover it? Is it cynical to thinkthat this story could, finally, end up on the front page of The New York Times if, and only if, it can be framed as yet another failure linked to Orange Man Bad?
Read More(ANALYSIS) Did the founders of the United States intend to create a Christian nation? Political leaders who addressed a prayer rally on the National Mall on May 17 seem to think so: House Speaker Mike Johnson led the crowd in rededicating) the United States of America as “one nation under God.”
Read MoreThe Justice Department has released the first draft of a report on religious liberty following a yearlong study ordered by President Donald Trump. The wide-ranging report deals with areas such as public school, the military, and how faith-based organizations should interact with federal grants.
Read MoreIn May 2024, a Catholic parish in Kiambu County, near the Kenyan capital Nairobi, made national headlines when it allowed a polygamous man to marry one of his wives in a church ceremony. The marriage ceremony happened while the other wife sat in the pews. The church agreed that Ndachu had to write a will dividing his estate equitably between both families.
Read More(ANALYSIS) For more than two decades, the Supreme Court has issued a series of wins for plaintiffs seeking to protect their religious practices. On June 23, though, the majority delivered a defeat in this contentious area. Landor v. Louisiana Department of Public Education and Safety, a 6-3 judgment, rejected the claim of Damon Landor, a Rastafarian whose hair was forcibly shaved in prison.
Read MoreA Rastafarian lost his challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court to seek monetary damages against Louisiana prison guards who forcibly shaved his head, in a case that saw the trio of liberal justices upholding religious liberty.
Read MoreFinding a lifelong partner is no easy feat — but finding someone who shares the same morals and values is all the more challenging. A series of dating apps across several religions are combining tradition and technology to match singles with a desire for marriage built on a shared faith foundation.
Read MoreNine members of Beijing’s Zion Church have been released on bail after more than eight months in detention, while nine remaining church leaders now face more serious criminal charges in one of China’s most closely watched religious freedom cases.
Read MoreThe Chennai office and other programs are carefully presented in the language of human dignity and spiritual accompaniment, not rights advocacy. But the effect, in the current political moment, is inherently political. For trans Catholics who seek out these spaces, carrying both faith and the experience of rejection, the distinction may matter less than the fact of welcome itself.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As Canada marks National Indigenous Peoples Day, the often-overlooked partnership between evangelicals and Indigenous leaders deserves recognition. From Elijah Harper’s Sacred Assembly to ongoing reconciliation efforts, Canadian evangelicals have helped advance healing, Indigenous rights and renewed relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In Judaism, this distinctly-human urge — or as Immanuel Kant puts it, “self-imposed immaturity” — separates humanity from God. Immaturity, however, implies the concept of a future maturation process, induced by palpable experience and excluding any computational rigging or other attempt to authentically possess it.
Read MoreAuthorities in southwestern China launched a large-scale raid against Early Rain Covenant Church during its Sunday worship service on June 14, detaining dozens of believers, according to reports received by ChinaAid and a subsequent church statement.
Read MoreA new Pew Research Center study found religious hostilities increased sharply around the world in 2023, driven by harassment of religious minorities and fallout from the Israel-Hamas war. Government restrictions on religion remained near record highs, an issue affecting billions of people across dozens of countries.
Read More(ANALYSIS) A recent decision by the U.S. Department of Defense has reopened one of the longest-running religious disputes in American history: Whether members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should be considered Christians. The controversy emerged after the Pentagon revised a list of religious affiliations available to military personnel.
Read MoreMore than 3,000 Christians from multiple countries gathered in person and online on June 9 for a global prayer event supporting believers facing persecution in China, where authorities have intensified pressure on house churches and clergy in recent years.
Read More(ANALYSIS) A delegation of 12 Buddhist monks recently walked across Sri Lanka along with their adopted dog Aloka. People of all faiths in Sri Lanka, who have witnessed riots and bloodbaths in the past decade, welcomed them. Apart from Buddhist monks, Christian, Muslim and Hindu leaders joined the U.S.-based delegation during their week-long peace walk across the island nation.
Read MoreAfrican American religious practice is so much more complex than Christianity. Matthew Peterson spoke with Harvard Prof. Ahmad Greene-Hayes about his recent book, “Underworld Work,” which explores Black spirituality following the Civil War through to the Jim Crow era in the South.
Read MoreArgentine soccer icon Diego Maradona’s magic goal in the June 22, 1986, quarterfinal match against England in Mexico, which he attributed to the “Hand of God” as it was secured by his fist, has been the subject of intense debate whenever and wherever soccer fans are gathered.
Read MoreThe St. Paul city attorney declined to file state charges against protesters who disrupted a Southern Baptist church service in January, citing insufficient evidence. Pastor Jonathan Parnell and legal advocates criticized the decision as a failure to protect religious freedom.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On July 5, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is encouraging its American members to participate in a special fast: a day to “express gratitude for religious liberty and to pray that it be strengthened throughout the world,” in the words of its top three leaders.
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