(OPINION) As a historian of Christianity, I have studied how religion has been manipulated to bless empires. In the year 325, Constantine declared himself Christian and forged the Christian Empire. In 800, the Pope crowned Charlemagne, merging the power of church and state. During colonial expansion, Christianity was exported alongside conquest and commerce.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Maybe what stands out here is that no matter how much the country has changed socially, religiously and politically, none of that has really shifted the overall relationship between Jews and the Democratic Party.
Read More(ANALYSIS) This is not a moment for faith-based institutions to retreat or sanitize their convictions. It is a moment to reclaim their voice and affirm their rightful in shaping a public life capacious enough to hold true difference, including sacred difference. Religious freedom — grounded in conscience, practice and institutional distinctiveness — must remain a cornerstone of our shared civic life.
Read MoreIn other words, the moral battle lines at the heart of America’s “culture wars” continue to shift and evolve. Maybe the editors at the Times should assign a religion-beat professional to the team that is covering these trends?
Read MoreAs the evening crowd arrived for services Thursday evening at Young Israel of Century City, Benny Factor watched for updates on his phone, which was leaned against a tissue box on the table in front of him. The chyron of an Israeli TV channel he was streaming told the story: “Happening now,” it said in Hebrew: “A wave of attacks has begun in Iran.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) Trump has praised the Gilded Age as a time of national prosperity thanks to tariffs, no income tax and few regulations. Similar to today, the late 19th century was a time where a small group of men enjoyed immense wealth, privilege and power to shape the nation. It was a time of immense inequality, as factory and housing conditions crushed the lives of the poor.
Read More(OPINION) We are all curious to see how Pope Leo XIV will engage with the Trump administration. The Chicago Archdiocese’s upcoming celebration of the pope, an American-Peruvian dual citizen, stands in contrast to the military parade being hosted in Washington, D.C. on the same day. At the same time, the Catholic Church has seen empires rise and fall.
Read MoreMany Jews are outraged that while the war in Gaza has been raging since Oct. 7, 2023 and they have suffered many casualties and interruptions to their civilian life in response to repeated reserve duty call-ups, their able-bodied ultra-Orthodox fellow citizens have not shared the defense burden. The IDF faces shortages, needing approximately 12,000 new recruits, including 7,000 combat soldiers.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Leo’s elevation broke the longstanding rule of thumb that no American, as a citizen of a superpower, could or even should become pope. But that did not trouble the College of Cardinals in May, and leading up to his election Cardinal Robert Prevost felt free to critique current American policies.
Police say there are eight victims ages 52 to 88 who were hospitalized with burns, and another four who suffered minor injuries. The victims were part of Run for Their Lives, a weekly vigil and march for Israeli captives who remain held by Hamas.
Read More(ANALYSIS) I’ve written about this before, but it’s worth repeating here: Whenever I tweet a graph that contains a couple of the largest religious groups (evangelicals, Catholics, nonreligious), the first question that comes in the comments is inevitably, “Where are the Latter-day Saints?”
Read MoreAbout 27% of Christian ministry leaders told MinistryWatch they believe the Trump administration’s policies will have a negative impact on the organization they lead or the work they do. This is an increase from 19% who gave the same answer in our January survey.
Read MoreA Christian university in Arizona is no longer on the hook for a $37.7 million federal fine, believed to be the largest-ever financial penalty imposed on a school. Grand Canyon University (GCU), said that on May 16, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) rescinded the massive penalty proposed for the Phoenix-based school in 2023.
Read MoreTwo years after gaining political independence from Britain in 1980, Zimbabwe plunged into another dark era. The government sanctioned a military operation named “Gukurahundi,” which means “the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains.” More than 20,000 civilians were murdered in the 1980s — and now churches are being called on to help with the reckoning.
Read MoreThat’s exactly how I feel these days when reading most mainstream news coverage of Catholic life in the age of Donald Trump. I know that it’s going to be cold, it’s going to be black and white and it’s going to stay that way until a blue, “progressive” politician seizes the White House. And I say that as a former blue-dog, pro-life Democrat who is now a #NeverTrump third-party voter.
Read MoreFor President Donald Trump’s MAGA Jewish base, the plane may be a bridge too far. Three influential Jewish voices in the MAGA movement — figures typically known for their unwavering loyalty to the GOP standard-bearer — are aghast over Trump’s decision to accept a $400 million aircraft from the government of Qatar.
Read MoreThe big issue here is what that cross necklace means when it is worn by blonde women who are members of the Donald Trump team. Is this a matter of religious faith or political identity?
Read More(ANALYSIS) We have a new pope! May the Holy Spirit guide you, Papa! These are my thoughts, on the fly, as a relatively new Catholic, having entered the church two years ago.
Read MoreSadhu Sundar Singh, a Christian pastor, serves Adivasi/tribal communities in Odisha’s Balasore district. He helps people in these communities move away from alcoholism, hooliganism and the consumption of unsafe water. However, because he also shares his Christian faith with them, he has received death threats.
Read MoreThree men from different faiths sit side by side on a stage. It’s nearly sundown just outside Berlin, with more than 100 people gathered for an interfaith iftar — the fast-breaking evening meal of Muslims during Ramadan. Each religious leader speaks about the power of fasting in their tradition, their words framed by the clatter of Turkish food being prepared in the kitchen.
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