Two of the leading voices raising awareness about the Tulsa Race Massacre attend the same church, a predominantly Black congregation near Greenwood, the area historically called Black Wall Street that endured anti-Black deadly mob violence in 1921.
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(ANALYSIS) In the months since the election, the Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family has regularly provided election skeptics with plentiful ammunition and has embraced men and women in Congress who voted to overturn state election results. Meanwhile, Focus’s partner organization in Washington, D.C., the Family Research Council, continues to claim the election was stolen, and that Antifa—not Trump supporters—may have caused the Capitol attack on Jan. 6.
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(OPINION) The violence at the Capitol on Wednesday was a horrific assault on our essential democratic institutions, but it calls attention to the importance of sustaining the institutions of government, even when those institutions themselves are flawed.
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Recent days have seen a wide range of religious liberty issues brought to the forefront of American discussions. From college campuses to metropolitan archdioceses to one of the biggest social media platforms on earth, the role and appropriateness of religion and religious practice is being challenged daily.
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(OPINION) As Black Lives Matter persists as one of the hot topics in the media, mainstream news associations often neglect the religious angle — isolating entire groups of stakeholders within the community. This leaves us asking the question, how are people within religious communities responding to Black Lives Matter?
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This past Sunday, online trolls interrupted a North Carolina Black congregation’s online service with racial slurs and hate speech. They’re far from the first church to experience an internet hijiacking. Security experts say sharing Zoom meeting IDs publicly in hopes of attracting newcomers to church can allow such breaches.
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Zimbabwean human rights, democracy and Christian groups are rallying behind Catholic bishops in the southern African country after leaders were attacked over the weekend by the government. Government authorities labelled the bishops “evil” after they voiced their concerns over the country’s worsening economic and human rights crisis in a pastoral letter that has given new life to the #ZimbabweanLivesMatter online protest.
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Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac, San Francisco Giants reliever Sam Coonrod, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright and other American athletes have stepped into controversy by declining to kneel in protest with their teammates and the Black Lives Matter movement. Their decisions and critics reflect the ideological divisions of the U.S. over religion and race.
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While the Black Lives Matter movement has caused controversy in religious circles because of its support for non-traditional families and Marxist philosophy, researchers who study the movement say it is spiritual even with an antipathy for organized religion. Many activists want to explore their ancestors’ African spirituality, and Black churches and mainline Protestants are also influencing the movement.
Read More(OPINION) We are living in a moment of deep suffering for African Americans: the modern Zipporahs of the U.S. Too many Americans, like Miriam, think and speak with bias or hatred. Too many Americans, like Aaron, go along with it, whether through laughter, shrugging or silence. The Bible does not let us deny this problem; it presents a solution.
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This week, St. Louis residents started a petition to remove a statue of the former French King St. Louis IX, deeming him anti-Semitic and Islamophobic. In response, local Catholics have formed a group to defend the canonized saint from vandalism or removal, while others are asking Pope Francis to “decanonize” the saint.
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Progressive Catholics like Martin Gugino see it as their role to help the United States achieve racial equality. Traditional Catholics, however, see Black Lives Matter as part of a sinister force that wants to spread Marxist ideology. While Catholics agree that racism is an issue in American society, the proposed remedies for those ills differ wildly.
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Protesters occupying Seattle’s “autonomous zone,” a portion of the city’s Capitol Hill district spread over several city blocks, have managed to keep police and politicians out for almost two weeks. But they haven’t kept out God. A group of interfaith clergy has set up a tent to offer spiritual counsel to protesters and gawkers alike.
Read MorePeaceful Muslim protesters in New York City prayed together and decried anti-black racism in the Muslim community, calling it an issue that requires the attention of all faithful Muslims and saying it must be addressed before racism outside the community can be dismantled.
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Family and friends of George Floyd, along with several celebrities, politicians and Christian leaders gathered today in Houston for Floyd’s final memorial at The Fountain of Praise Church in Houston, Texas.
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(REVIEW) “Just Mercy” follows civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson as he represents a black man on death row in Alabama, wrongly accused of murdering a white 18-year-old girl. The movie based on a true story is about systemic racism and corruption within the justice system, but it’s also about how those injustices can change.
Read More(OPINION) A young black Christian woman in New York had not attended previous protests because she thought revenge, anger and bitterness characterized the Black Lives Matter movement. Then Brooklyn churches organized a “prayerful protest.”
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A church in the historically black neighborhood of St. Paul reopened this weekend after loosened coronavirus guidelines and days of violent protests nearby after the death of George Floyd. Pastor Dwight Buckner remembers the riots in the sixties and conjures Martin Luther King Jr.’s calming words, while a 22-year-old church member whose mother is recovering with COVID-19 tells how a white man stopped him at gunpoint on Saturday.
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