Americans head to the polls on Tuesday for Election Day, with voters across the country casting ballots in a pivotal midterm elections. From congressional contests and gubernatorial races to state and local elections, the results will help shape the political landscape and set the direction for the 2028 presidential election.
Read MoreReligion will play a role in Tuesday’s midterm election, from mobilizing participation to seeking precinct integrity to influencing voter decisions. Here are five faith-related questions to watch.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Lula’s victory this past Sunday is just one more example of how race intersects all facets of Brazilian society, including religion. Experts said these durable divisions will mark Brazil’s political and religious landscape for the foreseeable future.
Read More(REVIEW) “Brotherhood” is a new film that seems to agree with the second viewpoint. It’s a Christian musical focused on the American immigration debate. Its constant sermonizing in nearly every line of dialogue and song lyric is a good reminder that preachiness undermines good filmmaking, regardless of the message.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Military service is mandatory for most groups in Israel, although Muslim and Christian Arab citizens are exempted. Jewish Israelis see conscription as a unifying experience and a demonstration of commitment to the state. Starting at 18, most women serve two years and men serve almost three. For decades, however, Haredi men received de facto exemptions.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Where do you go to vote on Election Day? I am assuming that all you readers are actually voting. If you don’t, it’s my solemn duty as a classically trained political scientist to tell you that your vote matters and all that. I’ve voted in a bunch of different places in my life, especially when I was in college and graduate school.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The planned execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan sparked renewed debate among Christians over capital punishment. Catholic leaders cited church teaching opposing the death penalty, while some evangelical leaders defended it biblically. Disagreement also centered on whether televising executions promotes justice or glorifies violence.
Read MoreSharia, often called Islamic law, is a system of religious guidelines that inform how Muslims understand their responsibilities to God, themselves, their families and society. The Arabic word — sharia — is commonly translated as “the way” or “the path.” It refers to a way of life rooted in Islamic teachings rather than simply a collection of laws enforced by a government.
Read MoreDay 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.
Read More(ANALYSIS) A significant case the U.S. Supreme Court will hear on appeal Nov. 3 evokes major elements of this century’s culture wars. This public policy clash pits claims based upon venerable religious rights against modern-day LGBT rights. It involves money and taxes, the Trump Administration, politicians of both parties, the Catholic Church and an array of national organizations.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Congregants described how belief and belonging helped them overcome challenges such as loneliness, “feeling stuck” due to their legal precariousness and being exploited at work. I heard stories of employers holding migrants’ passports hostage, or refusing to pay construction workers seriously injured on the job. Migrants told me their churches empowered them.
Read MoreWell over half, 58 percent, of white evangelical Protestants said they approve of Trump’s job performance, with 40 percent voicing disapproval. But Trump’s approval has fallen among white evangelical Protestants since his term began, when 78 percent approved.
Read More(ANALYSIS) With barely two weeks remaining before Israel’s Oct. 27 election, the country has been consumed by an extraordinary confrontation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior former aides over what he knew before the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7, 2023, what he did with that knowledge and whether his office subsequently sought to rewrite the historical record.
Read MoreLeaders across the religious spectrum have condemned U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plan to livestream the firing-squad execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, warning that the decision risks turning state-sanctioned killing into public entertainment.
Read MoreLegislation introduced in the Senate could allow students pursuing theological training for a religious vocation to receive federal tuition assistance. Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) filed the Religious Education Fairness Act.
Read MoreThe election is expected to serve, in large part, as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition’s refusal to take responsibility for the failures of Oct. 7. But the fallout will also appear on the ballot itself, which will include several candidates whose lives were upended on that fateful day and the three tumultuous years that followed.
Read More(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?
Read More(ANALYSIS) A visit by BAPS Hindu monks to the Eiffel Tower sparked a worker strike and broader debate over religious accommodation in public spaces. The controversy centers on brahmacharya, a Hindu discipline emphasizing control of the senses, which monks practice through strict celibacy and spiritual discipline.
Read MoreA private Christian college in a historically red state isn’t usually a campaign stop for a Democratic candidate. But James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas, did just that, making it a priority to recently visit Baylor University, the largest Baptist university in the nation. Talarico’s Christian faith — combined with his progressive agenda — has made him an appealing candidate.
Read MoreNational Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School, on track to become the first religious charter school in the nation, may proceed as it challenges in court an Oklahoma law blocking the school, a federal district judge ruled.
Read More
