Every 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(ANALYSIS) After several years of conversations while traveling nationwide, Father Andrew Stephen Damick is convinced these ancient prayers are painfully relevant to many converts surging into the small, but now growing, Eastern Church in America. It is no longer unusual to meet converts who have worshipped other gods and spirits.
Read More(ANALYSIS) I keep a little list in the notes app on my phone — just a running log of potential ideas for the newsletter. Most of them are only a few words, just enough to remind me to poke around in the data when I get back to my computer. If I’m being honest, about 75% of those ideas go nowhere. Either the data doesn’t tell a compelling story, or that “great dataset” someone mentioned turns out to be nothing like they described.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In Laos, Christian burials are barred from cemeteries, churches have to find improvised worship spaces, and Christians are often pressured to engage in activities that go against their religion. And with neighboring China’s new influence, it may get even worse.
Read More(ANALYSIS) “News as we have hitherto known it has died and been laid to rest.” So wrote illustrious former BBC war correspondent Martin Bell, ending his autobiography, “War and the Death of News.” He was not writing the BBC’s obituary, but he could have been. No, he was arguing the BBC no longer knew the difference between fairness and neutrality.
Read More(ANALYSIS) One of the most important questions we are trying to answer in The Nones Project is: Do non-religious people have feelings of self-worth and satisfaction that are similar to traditionally religious Americans? In many ways, this may be the most important issue to address when talking about the rising share of nones in the United States.
Read More(ANALYSIS) It’s been over a decade since Boko Haram abducted 276 girls from a school in Chibok, Borno, in April 2014. The abduction received international attention, with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirl being shared globally, including by Michelle Obama.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Nine in 10 Americans gather around a table to share food on Thanksgiving. At this polarizing moment, anything that promises to bring Americans together warrants our attention. The emphasis on the Pilgrims’ 1620 landing and 1621 feast erased a great deal of religious history and narrowed conceptions of who belongs in America — at times excluding groups such as Native Americans, Catholics and Jews.
Read More(ANALYSIS) During the Renaissance, it was a common motif in paintings. There would be a skull in the background or possibly an hourglass.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Israel’s chief rabbis — known as the Rabbinate and the top authority for the country’s Orthodox institutions — do not recognize women as rabbis or permit their ordination. A big change came this year when Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled women must be allowed to take the exams.
Read MoreConflicts like these are not common, but they can happen. I moved them into present tense for reasons that will become obvious, as I connect them to news coverage we discussed in this week’s “Crossroads” podcast, focusing on tensions between a few Christian schools and Turning Point USA.
Read More(ANALYSIS) For Orthodox Christians in America, the 20th century was shaped by waves of believers fleeing wars, revolutions and persecution in lands such as Greece, Syria, Russia and Romania. These days, the catechumenate class numbers are staggering. While some Orthodox parishes are shrinking, many clergy are struggling to handle congregations that have doubled or tripled in size.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Students’ sense of religious and spiritual belonging comes from everyday relationships — authentic connections and conversations that faculty and staff can help foster. I believe universities can create an environment where all students, including religious minorities, feel seen, accepted and appreciated.
Read More(ANALYSIS) A majority of mainline Protestant Christians voted for Donald Trump in 2024. They also supported him in 2020 and 2016. In fact, even during Barack Obama’s landslide election in 2008, the mainline was evenly divided at the ballot box.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In the most talked-about film from the final year of the 20th century, “The Matrix,” a computer hacker named Neo finds that the world he lives and works in isn’t real. It’s a virtual reality, created by artificial intelligence.
Read More(ANALYSIS) OK, so there’s this response option to a single survey question that has intrigued me for a very long time. It’s about religious attendance. Across different surveys, the number of response options can vary. The standard is typically six increments, but others — like the General Social Survey — use eight.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Every fall I anticipate the winter holidays with almost childlike joy. I look forward to familiar traditions with friends and family, eggnog in my coffee, and the sense that everyone is feeling a little lighter and more connected.
Read MoreOnce again, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops gathered for debates and votes with serious implications for the current occupant of the White House and his supporters.
Read More(ANALYSIS) It would be a mistake to assume that everyone in these movements adheres to one viewpoint, or is interested only in stopping abortion. In reality, there are many motivations that lead to people using the phrase “pro-life.” When reporters asked Pope Leo, he said, “It’s important to look at many issues that are related to the teachings of the church.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) Around me, bodies pressed together. Sweat mixed with tears as the chant intensified: “Allah ... Allah ...” What I experienced that evening mirrors a broader phenomenon in Morocco: Some young, educated urbanites are returning to Sufism, Islam's mystical tradition, seeking spiritual depth in an age of digital distraction and ideological exhaustion.
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