(ANALYSIS) In his first encyclical, Pope Leo XIV warned that artificial intelligence poses a profound threat to human dignity, labor and global stability if left unchecked. Calling for strong regulation and ethical oversight, he condemned AI-driven warfare, corporate concentration of power and profit-first development, framing AI as this century’s Industrial Revolution.
Read More(ANALYSIS) When addressing the 2026 graduates of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, country music star Eric Church used words rarely heard in secular campus rites, such as “faith,” “family,” “grace” and “soul.”
Read MoreThirty years ago, a woman was found dead by the side of the road in Arizona. Today, her body has still not been identified. To find out the strange reason why, I spoke to Hannah Feuer, a reporter at Forward.
Read More(ANALYSIS) For centuries, stargazers of many kinds have debated the meaning of unidentified objects in the heavens and encounters with mysterious beings on earth. “Each new discovery, even every new theory, is held at first to have the most wide-reaching theological and philosophical consequences.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Mother’s Day seems like a strange time to celebrate birth control, which, on its most basic level, is about helping people to not become mothers — or not become mothers again.
Read MoreA massive amount of research confirms what your grandma has always told you: Go to church. It’s good for you. And if a church isn’t your scene, a temple, mosque, synagogue or gurdwara would also do. In fact, religious involvement is strongly associated with better mental, physical and social health outcomes, according to a new study.
Read MoreTwo friends and brothers in Christ — Brent Hankins and Tracy Lamm — flew to Florida this week to witness the launch of humanity’s first lunar voyage in 53 years. Both had special reasons for doing so. Hankins serves as an elder of the Southeast Church of Christ in Texas, the congregation about six miles from NASA’s Space Center Houston that Artemis II pilot Victor Glover and his wife, Dionna, call home.
Read More(ANALYSIS) When Rational Sheep opened for business two-plus years ago, there was a huge signpost just ahead for people interested in debates about technology, smartphones, social media and screens-culture issues in general. We were getting close to the release of Jonathan Haidt’s “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.”
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) 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) Let’s start with a question: Have you heard leaders in your congregation discuss any of this information in a setting that will reach active members, as opposed to special events that draw the “usual suspects” in the flock (maybe 10-20% of members) that attend just about everything?
Read MoreIndia’s Catholic educational institutions have become unlikely climate champions. Now, they are teaming up with other faith leaders in the “Green Revolution.” In fact, across India’s sprawling landscapes, Christian organizations are stepping up with urgency and creativity to confront the mounting challenges posed by climate change.
Read MoreThe only humans yet to set foot on the Moon are American astronauts in the series of six Apollo landings that ended 53 years ago. But last January, President Donald Trump’s Inaugural Address proclaimed a far more extraordinary goal: “We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars. . . . Americans are explorers, builders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and pioneers. The spirit of the frontier is written into our hearts. The call of the next great adventure resounds from within our souls.”
Read MoreIn the most recent Lifeway Research study, the youngest and oldest Americans are among the most likely to support physician-assisted suicide. Those 18-34 (56 percent) and 65 or older (54 percent) are more likely than those 50-64 (45 percent) to see the practice as morally acceptable. Men are also more likely to agree than women (54 percent vs. 49 percent).
Read MoreAfter 40-plus years on the Godbeat, let me offer this observation: It’s extremely difficult to write about ancient, complex, often mysterious religious beliefs and doctrines in language that is both accurate and easily understandable in the mainstream media.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In a moment of both theological significance and pastoral clarity, Pope Leo XIV made his most consequential intervention yet on the church’s role in the Amazon. In a recent message, the pope struck a firm tone to 90 South American bishops meeting in Bogota, Colombia — affirming the Catholic Church’s mission and offering a course correction from the recent past.
Read More(REVIEW) The book presents a Christian framework for everyday life that may resonate with readers of various faiths. However, the writing quality is uneven; while some chapters are accessible, others use complex language that may be challenging for some readers. Despite its limitations, this collection is worth reading in an age marked by AI, anxiety and burnout.
Read More(ESSAY) On Aug. 9, 1945, the U.S. dropped a bomb called “Fat Man” on Urakami, Japan, the most Christian suburb of the most Christian city in Japan: Nagasaki. It is the forgotten bomb, the silent bomb. Hiroshima, being the city where the first nuclear bomb, less powerful than the Nagasaki bomb was detonated, is the atomic bombing that all peace movements acclaim: “No more Hiroshimas!”
Read More(ANALYSIS) I think the best description of attitudes toward gene editing is ambivalence. About 30% of the public thinks this is a good idea, and the exact same share thinks it’s a bad idea. The plurality response was “not sure” at 40% of the general public. That’s a pretty good indication to me that the average person is not spending a whole lot of time thinking about the implications of gene editing.
Read More(ANALYSIS) One hundred years ago this month, Americans were transfixed as a Tennessee courtroom hosted challenge to the state’s new law barring “the teaching of the Evolution Theory” in public schools, including colleges. The prohibition covered “any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible.
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