Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee reflected on faith and redemption after reconnecting with singer Jelly Roll, whom he had met years earlier while speaking in prison. At a divided National Prayer Breakfast, Lee avoided politics, sharing how personal tragedy reshaped his life, as other speakers highlighted religious freedom.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The ecological and environmental crisis is undeniable. Discussions around political action, however, quickly fragment into a rivalry of socio-economic interests that result in seemingly inescapable deadlocks. Religious traditions still play rather marginal roles in ecological thought, which often reflects narratives that seek liberation from religion.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Religious traditions across cultures have often treated menstruation and childbirth as sources of ritual impurity. In Chinese Buddhism, the “Blood Bowl Scripture” condemned women to “Blood Pond Hell.” Today, women reinterpret these beliefs, emphasizing maternal sacrifice, agency and alternative understandings of female bodies.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As Christian clergy across the United States participate in ongoing protests against harsh immigration enforcement actions and further funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, many are still pondering the words of Rob Hirschfeld. On Jan. 18, 2026, Hirschfeld, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, encouraged clergy in his diocese to “prepare for a new era of martyrdom” and put their wills and affairs in order.
Read More(ANALYSIS) President Trump’s deportation drive is reshaping the 2026 battle for Congress, but celebrity protests and mass demonstrations show little evidence of moving voters. The real test may come in churches, especially among Catholics, whose leaders condemn mass deportations and whose increasingly fluid voting patterns could decide close races.
Read More(ANALYSIS) When we’re asked, “Are you religious?” There are a number of different ways someone might justify an affirmative answer. It could be that they attend a house of worship regularly or pray frequently. It could be that they hold specific beliefs about Jesus Christ or Muhammad. Those would be behavior and belief measures of religion. But there’s a third dimension that often gets overlooked: Belonging.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order, his body will be displayed for the first time ever in February, at the Basilica of San Francesco. Millions of visitors are expected to converge in the small Tuscan town of Assisi to honor the 13th-century saint.
Read MoreFor Don Lemon, here’s the bottom line: He says he was a journalist “on the front lines,” embedded with protestors whose actions were the subject of his reporting. In addition to the coffee and donuts, the lifestream suggests that he took part in discussions of which church to invade and the details of what to do during the protests.
Read More(ANALYSIS) A Roman basilica’s removal of a cherub resembling Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reveals how quickly sacred art can become political symbolism. The controversy highlighted tensions between church and state, revealing how religious spaces amplify power when contemporary political figures become a part of devotional imagery.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As the complexities in Venezuela continue to evolve, President Donald Trump held his first face-to-face meeting with democratic opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. Universal consensus says her party won the 2024 presidential vote by two-thirds or better, whereupon dictator Nicolás Maduro, now imprisoned in New York City, stole the office.
Read MoreBorn enslaved, rejected by U.S. seminaries and ordained in Rome, Augustus Tolton became the first publicly recognized Black Catholic priest in America. His life exposes the Church’s history of racial exclusion while offering a powerful example of perseverance, faith, and legacy — one now recognized in his path toward sainthood.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Two in five Americans have fought with a family member about politics, according to a 2024 study by the American Psychiatric Association. One in five have become estranged over controversial issues, and the same percentage has “blocked a family member on social media or skipped a family event” due to disagreements.
Read More(ANALYSIS) I’m a bit enamored recently with the life of Ernest Hemingway. He was obviously a tremendous writer, maybe one of the finest in our country’s history. But he also lived a life that could charitably be described as “chaotic.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) Beyond the debate over who is polarized in the U.S., there’s an adjacent, and perhaps more critical, discussion I want to tackle today: What drives polarized views? There is ample reason to think that religiosity impacts views on topics like abortion, same-sex marriage, and gender identity.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Over the past two decades, the concept of mindfulness has become hugely popular around the world. An increasingly ubiquitous part of society, it’s taught everywhere from workplaces and schools to sports programs and the military.
Read More(ANALYSIS) You’ve seen the headlines about Iran’s uprising, but there is a deeper story: Two-thirds of the nation’s mosques, 50,000 out of 75,000, have been closed due to declining worship attendance, according to a high-ranking cleric. What does that mean for Iran and for Islam?
Read More(ANALYSIS) William James is remembered as the father of American psychology. But for many believers, he holds a different place altogether. He stands as one of the rare modern thinkers who refused to mock faith. He didn’t preach religion, and he certainly didn’t try to dress it up in academic jargon. Instead, he studied it with care, reverence and genuine respect.
Read More(ANALYSIS) So, the question remains: “How does Christianity grow?” Now, though, we can say that history gives us a clear answer. It does not grow via the machinery of the Evangelical Industrial Complex, with church growth consultants, big rallies and massive social media platforms. These things are not necessarily bad — they are just irrelevant.
Read More(ANALYSIS) One of the “evergreen” topics on social media when it comes to religion is what’s often called the Billy Graham Rule. The idea comes from the famous evangelist, who was deeply concerned with living a life beyond reproach. Graham wanted to avoid even the appearance of impropriety that could undermine his work as America’s most prominent preacher.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Nothing will ever truly replace the voices of the survivors, but I believe teachers and communities can carry on his work by making history feel local and personal. As everything around us seems to show each day, little could be more important than the lessons of these people, their sources and the Holocaust.
Read More
