🚨 5 Takeaways From The Shooting At Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church 🔌

This week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights five takeaways from the shooting at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.

On Religion: Canterbury Goes Disco For A Chic Type Of Pilgrim

(ANALYSIS) Rocker Steve Taylor penned a snarky tribute in 1985 called, “Used To Be A Cute Cathedral.” Four decades later, the song surfaced during online chatter about dance nights held earlier this month inside Canterbury Cathedral, the Church of England’s most hallowed sanctuary.

Analysis, ChristianityTerry MattinglyFebruary 15, 2024religion, Christianity, Archbishop of Canterbury, England, United Kingdom, Terry MattinglyComment

Modern-Day Coptic Martyrs: The Truly Ancient Faith Of ‘The 21’ Beheaded In Libya By ISIS

(ANALYSIS) On Feb. 15, 2015, both were among the men beheaded by Islamic State soldiers on a beach in Libya. All 21 — 20 Egyptian Copts and a Ghanan who professed his Christian faith — were soon declared martyrs by the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Analysis, Christianity, Islam, ReligionTerry MattinglyFebruary 15, 2024Terry Mattingly, Coptic Christians, ISIS, Christianity, Islam, religion, analysis, terrorismComment

Punk for The Pious: How Major Religions Tackle The Music Genre

(ANALYSIS) If punk music is about being countercultural, then religious punk is, perhaps, the most punk of all. In an increasingly secular world, to deviate from secularism is to embrace the outcast mentality. The rebels of today, it seems, are those pitting themselves against a purely material reality.

Art & Music, Art and Music, Arts & Culture, AnalysisMatthew PetersonFebruary 14, 2024Matthew Peterson, music, art, punk music, religion, art and cultureComment

Why An EV Radio Problem Has Religious (And Political) Implications

Here’s another matter seemingly unrelated to religion. Why care about a pending bill in Congress deals with electromagnetic fields in hybrid and electric vehicles?

Analysis, ChristianityRichard OstlingFebruary 13, 2024Dick Ostling, religion, Christinaity, analysis, radio, politics, talk radio, Rush Limbaugh, Richard OstlingComment

Inside The Gospel According To ‘Fargo’

(REVIEW) The series deserves applause for dealing with difficult social and theological topics and for the ways it gets them right. But its agonizing repetitiveness and its social and theological missteps need to be noted as well so that we make sure we can actually solve the problems it is so eager to critique.

Analysis, Christianity, Film & TVJoseph HolmesFebruary 12, 2024Joseph Holmes, Fargo, Christianity, film and TV, movies, film, review Comment

Jewish Settlers Bid For Section Of Jerusalem’s Armenian Quarter

(ANALYSIS) The Armenian quarter in Jerusalem’s Old City is facing its biggest crisis in a long time. A Jewish businessman with connections to the radical settler movement is poised to develop a quarter of the neighborhood’s territory, with plans to build a luxury hotel. If this goes ahead, it will significantly change part of the Old City.

🏈 Faith And Football: Would Jesus Bet On The Super Bowl? 🔌

Ahead of the Super Bowl, this week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the rise of sports betting and people of faith’s stance on it. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.

Crossroads Podcast: Hey, New York Times! Why Not Cover Trans Issues As Hard News?

It was a New York Times headline that created tremors online: “As Kids, They Thought They Were Trans. They No Longer Do.” But here’s the question that was at the heart of this week’s “Crossroads” podcast: Why was this Pamela Paul essay in the opinion section, as opposed to being a hard-news report out front?

On Religion: Yes, Biden Is An ‘On Eagle’s Wings’ American Catholic

(ANALYSIS) With its lilting pop melody and sweet God talk, “On Eagle's Wings” is the hymn that conservative Catholics love to hate and Catholic progressives often wave like a red flag. President Joe Biden loves it.

🌎 Religious Freedom Summit Covers Mental Health, Antisemitism, Persecution 🔌

This week’s Weekend Plug-in opens with the top headlines from the International Religious Freedom Summit. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and big news in the world of faith.

A Modern-Day Mystic: The Priest Behind Homeboy Industries

The founder of the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation and prison reentry program in the world is a mystic, a Jesuit priest who does not believe that God has a plan for your life. Having buried 260 young men and women, Father Greg Boyle rejects the idea that it is God’s plan that anyone should die of a gang member’s bullet.

South Africa vs. Israel: International Court Of Justice Orders Provisional Measures

(ANALYSIS) On Jan. 26, the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, ordered provisional measures in the case of the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel).

Do Movies Like ‘Barbie’ and ‘Poor Things’ Encourage Toxic Masculinity?

(ANALYSIS) The two biggest feminist films of 2023, “Barbie” and “Poor Things,” are poised to be heavy hitters at this year’s Oscars. And yet, despite the fact that both films claim to be overt pro-feminist manifestos, what both also have most in common is that they actually encourage the very toxic masculinity that they claim to be deconstructing. evangelicalism may hold the true answer they’re looking for.

Nigerian Christians Killed By The Tens Of Thousands: Don’t These Black Lives Matter?

(ANALYSIS) Nigerian Christians have been slaughtered in the tens of thousands by Nigerian Muslims. When press coverage hasn’t been M.I.A., it’s resorted to a lazy “climate change” explanation. Not even the Biden administration seems to care.

Africa, Christianity, AnalysisMarvin OlaskyJanuary 27, 2024Marvin Olasky, Christians, Nigeria, Africa, analysis, news, Primary featureComment

Church Vandalism Continues To Be A Big Story Very Few Are Covering

(ANALYSIS) Churches have been targeted in the United States and around the world in what has easily been one of the most underreported (in some cases not reported at all) stories of the last decade. The problem? When it comes to press coverage, not all religious sanctuaries are created equal.

⛪️ How Plug-In's Columnist Got His Start On The Godbeat, Plus Big News On 'Nones' 🔌

This week’s Weekend Plug-in features a retrospective from columnist Bobby Ross Jr. on his 25 years on the Godbeat. Plus, a major new study on ‘nones’ — and, as always, all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.

🍼 Amid New Challenges For Pro-Lifers, March For Life Expected To Draw 100,000 🔌

This week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights plans for the annual March for Life, expected to draw 100,000 abortion opponents to the nation’s capital. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.

1 Million Political Prisoners Behind Bars Without Just Cause

(ANALYSIS) The #WithoutJustCause campaign, highlighting the fates of a broad range of political prisoners including faith leaders, civic activists, businesspeople and former government officials, aims to shine the light on their stories, raise awareness and increase pressure to secure their release.

Do Evangelicals Care About Climate Change?

(ANALYSIS) The story of Michael Foster got me thinking about how two concepts (environmentalism and religion) may be deeply intertwined with each other. In the current discourse about religion, climate change has not really taken center stage. It seems the debate is focused on social issues: same-sex marriage, the rights of transgender Americans and abortion.

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