Posts in women
AI Companions Offer Comfort, But Risk Deepening Loneliness

(ANALYSIS) A 2025 Vantage Point Counseling Services study found that 28% of adults say they have had an intimate AI interaction or relationship. The same study said 54% of Americans mentioned AI friends, colleagues or confidants.

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Confessions And Defenses Of A 17th Century Witch Hunter

In 1647, England’s Witchfinder General published a pamphlet to address criticisms he had received for his methods. He responded to each critique in turn, revealing the secrets of his complicated, misunderstood and undeniably cruel profession.


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Ohio Pastor Announces Second Wife, Embraces Polygamy As Biblical

A Cleveland-area pastor publicly introduced a second wife to the world last Sunday, saying the widely held Christian teaching that a man should have only one wife is “unbiblical.” Israel Ford, founder of LifeWorks Church, posted a video of the announcement on Oct. 25. His first wife and fellow pastor, Lydia Ford, introduced Minister Shakayla Talley Ford to congregants who gave the threesome a standing ovation.

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Philippines’ VP’s Impeachment Trial: Whose Prayers Will Be Answered?

Day after day, the senator-judges begin proceedings by asking God for the same things — truth, wisdom, justice and freedom from bias. As they prepare to decide Vice President Sara Duterte’s fate, those prayers have become an implicit measure of the responsibility they have assumed: To turn appeals for divine guidance into a verdict determined by evidence, law and conscience.

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The Navaratri Festival Celebrates Power Of The Divine Feminine

(ANALYSIS) Returning to my failed flight to the mountains, my own beloved, a goddess in her own right, reminded me: “You are a student of Hinduism, and you know that the Himalayan peaks are goddesses.” Unlike the Hindus of Nepal, the Buddhists of Bhutan keep a respective distance from the goddess and their kings always banned mountaineering in their own Himalayas.

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Jim Bakker, Televangelist Whose Empire Collapsed In Scandal, Dies At 86

For more than five decades, Bakker embodied both the possibilities and the perils of American televangelism. He was a pioneering Christian broadcaster who understood that TV could turn a ministry into a mass-media enterprise. He was also a convicted felon whose career became an enduring cautionary tale about money, celebrity and religious power. 

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Former Worship Leader And ‘American Idol’ Star Gets Life For Wife’s Murder

Former Christian Life Center worship leader Caleb Flynn was sentenced Monday to life in prison without parole for murdering his wife, still insisting, “I did not kill my wife.” Flynn, 40, acknowledged adultery, lies and broken marriage vows at a Miami County, Ohio, court hearing. But he continued to deny killing Ashley Flynn, 37, a teacher and volleyball coach.

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Notre Dame And Villanova To Open Hoops Season In Rome With A Papal Audience

Notre Dame and Villanova will tip off the 2026-27 college basketball season nearly 4,500 miles from their home campuses, with the two schools’ men’s and women’s teams meeting in Rome on Nov. 1 in an international doubleheader billed as the “Eternal City Tip-Off.” The event will also feature an audience with Pope Leo, a Villanova grad and big sports fan.

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The Catchphrases We Inherit Without Thinking

(OPINION) Once we start using this lexicon, we have been successfully “groomed” into a new discourse we might not quite “get” — but which we begin to accept as normal. No, I’m not a signed up conspiracy theorist, and yes, language evolution is part of the dynamic of a lively society whose moods and modes it carries. But is that all it is? 

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Worship Leader And Former ‘American Idol’ Star Convicted Of Murdering Wife

An Ohio worship leader was convicted of murdering his wife after prosecutors argued he staged a home invasion to conceal the killing. The motive? Pursuing a relationship with another worship leader from his church, the Christian Life Center in Dayton.

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Crossroads Podcast: Catholic Issues Looming Over That Patrick Clancy Interview

On this week’s episode, the “60 Minutes” interview featuring Patrick Clancy — ex-husband of Lindsay Clancy — where he talked about the children’s killings in his first televised interview.

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Faith On The Ballot: Guide To The 2026 Midterm Elections

Across several of the country’s most competitive congressional contests, religious identity has become a central issue for many voters. Here’s a look the the Senate and House races where faith has become a major issue.

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Greta Gerwig’s Rock-Opera Takes On A C.S. Lewis Classic

(ANALYSIS) In Narnia, Aslan is the Christ figure, repeatedly described by Lewis — an Oxford don and Christian apologist — as the “King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. ... The Lion, the great Lion.” In “The Magician's Nephew,” Narnia's creation story, Aslan is first described as “a Lion. Huge, shaggy and bright," with a basso profundo voice "deep enough to be the voice of the earth.”

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Malala Yousafzai Wants The Taliban ‘Held Accountable For Their Crimes’

Activist Malala Yousafzai returned to New York this week to discuss the paperback release of her memoir “Finding My Way” — but the conversation moved beyond her story of attending college and growing up. At the center was the issue that has defined much of Yousafzai’s public life: The Taliban’s treatment of Afghan women and girls and its use of religion to justify restrictions on their rights.

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Survivors Build Database Of Accused Protestant Clergy Abusers

Named Protestant Accountability, the nonprofit database launched in August after merging with a similar resource, Baptist Accountability. Its mission is to reveal hidden abuse and misconduct and to “promote transparency, accountability and the protection of those at risk.”

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‘Third Way’ Christianity: Inside An Unconventional Anabaptist Group

They wear head coverings, and the women are expected to homeschool their children, but this Boston-based Mennonite group is made up of doctors and led by the founder of a $1.7 billion investment firm. They defy expectations in other ways: They are prohibited from voting or holding political office, but many joined protests against ICE.

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‘The Queen Of East Tennessee’: Who Was Dolly Parton To You?

(ANALYSIS) I learned she had died while gazing around inside an airplane approaching the Rocky Mountains. Someone with the funds to buy on-board WiFi had a news program playing on his tablet and I saw the headline. I was stunned, even though I have been following her health struggles for several months. She managed to hide any information that pointed to cancer.

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5 Years Of The Taliban’s Return To Power In Afghanistan: What’s Next?

(ANALYSIS) As the situation in the country continues to deteriorate, important questions must be asked about where to go from here. What is the future of Afghanistan for women and religious minorities?

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Halos And Horns: Dolly Parton’s Spiritual Journey

(ANALYSIS) Celebrating the country music legend is an honor “mixed with absolute pride and great sadness,” stressed Bryan Seaver, the son of Parton's sister Cassie Parton, in the family’s announcement of her death.

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Crossroads Podcast: Dolly Parton’s Songs Reveal Her Faith, Heart and Soul

This week’s podcast argues that Dolly Parton’s songs, philanthropy and Appalachian roots reveal far more about her faith, character and worldview than her polished public image. By examining songs like “Coat of Many Colors,” “I Am Ready” and “Horns and Halos,” it challenges conventional obituaries to listen more closely.

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