The Southern Baptist Convention conducted its annual meeting in Indianapolis this week. The denomination’s sex abuse scandal — while perhaps overshadowed by a vote on women pastors and a resolution opposing in vitro fertilization — remained a key topic of discussion.
Read MoreThe big news was politics, of course, as in a convention speech by Vice President Mike Pence. The journalism establishment was not amused, as illustrated in this CNN headline: “Pence accused of ‘hijacking’ evangelical meeting.” Various types of Southern Baptist conservatives welcomed him.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In May 2024, United Nations member states voted to declare July 11 as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, an annual day of remembrance for victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.
Read More(ANALYSIS) After the 1966 fire, St. Michael's was rebuilt with concrete, steel and other fire-resistant materials, using 1961 drawings from the Historic American Buildings Survey for reference. Today, there are leaks along joints in the church's domes, and the wooden floors squeak from water damage.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Educated people are more likely to attend religious services weekly than those with a lower level of education. I wrote a long piece about that a while ago. But someone (I can’t recall now, it was maybe in a Twitter reply) asked if that same relationship held for both men and women.
Read More(ANALYSIS) According to a recent Pew study, the vast molarity of U.S. adults agree that religion’s influence is shrinking, yet they continue to hold a positive view of it. This disparity highlights the challenge facing the church today: How can people of faith navigate a world that is increasingly losing faith? With the looming election cycle ahead and the opportunity for a little summer reading, now is an ideal time to consider a few insightful books on the church’s role in society.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris have sparked a discussion about whether female Muslim athletes who wear a headscarf should be allowed to compete. While the International Olympic Committee announced that athletes participating in the Paris Games can wear a hijab without any restriction, French athletes will be barred from wearing a hijab.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Approximately 42% of married Jews have a spouse who is not Jewish. Among American Jews who have gotten married since 2010, that percentage rises to 61%. Most spouses come from Christian backgrounds, but others marry Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists or people from any number of other religious traditions. In my research on interfaith families, I’ve seen ceremonies combine traditions in a wide array of ways.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Garuda is well known as the loyal vehicle of Hindu deity Vishnu and is usually depicted as a large mythical eagle with a man’s upper body. Nevertheless, his duties do not confine him to merely being a divine servant. He also represents freedom and power. For many years, Garuda had been burdened by family responsibilities and an inescapable fate resulting from his mother’s debt from karma.
Read More(ANALYSIS) While insiders grasped the symbolism of this interfaith affirmation, the news at this pandemic-delayed gathering focused, as expected, on biblical authority and sexuality. This General Conference urgently moved to modernize many UMC doctrines and laws after the exit of 7,659 congregations in America’s biggest church split since the Civil War.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Nightcrawler has always been an explicitly Catholic character in the X-Men comics, and his faith is almost always integral to his portrayal. A lot of that is due to the irony of having a devilish-looking character be so religious. Because he is a largely positive Christian character in a secular brand, you can see what secular people, or religious people who work in mainstream entertainment, think of faith.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Some U.S. Jews’ involvement in Palestinian solidarity movements began years before the current war. In my research, which included in-depth interviews and participant observation work, activists emphasized that they were inspired to act because of their Jewish identity and values, not in spite of them.
Read More(ANALYSIS) An important piece of early Christian history, the Crosby-Schøyen Codex, is up for auction at Christie’s in London. This codex is a mid-fourth century book from Egypt containing a combination of biblical and other early Christian texts.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In religion, what goes down can always come up again. American religions continue to face persistent skepticism from elite culture, education and entertainment along with long-term internal damage from sexual abuse scandals and disputes over sexual morality and Trumpism that are not disappearing. Also, stated identity in polls does not make up for sagging in-person attendance and donations that erode organized religion.
Read More(ANALYSIS) This is the question that I have been thinking about ever since Memorial Day: What role do movie theaters play in God’s glorious and fallen creation? Yes, that’s a strange question. Let me explain. Back in my professor days when I taught Introduction to Mass Communication 101, I explained the whole “technology shapes culture” equation (again, think “the medium is the message”) by asking a series of questions.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Civic engagement — including volunteering and registering to vote — rather than religiosity was more correlated with giving by Muslim American women, according to research we conducted with our colleagues at the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative. Muslims are required to contribute zakat, a form of giving. To meet this obligation, Muslims are required to give 2.5 percent of their wealth to charities.
Read MoreJason and Jennifer Carroll pray for Haiti as the poor, developing nation deals with unrelenting gang violence. Two American missionaries and a Haitian national were killed in an ambush last week.
Read More(ANALYSIS) When Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk formed a coalition government in 2023 committed to making “historic changes,” he promised to improve the country’s track record on women’s rights. Noticeably absent in the coalition’s agreement, however, was any specific wording on access to abortion, one of the most controversial issues under the previous government.
Read More(ANALYSIS) A new piece of legislation introduced earlier this month would require not-for-profit organizations to report grants they make to foreign entities. The Foreign Grant Reporting Act is authored by Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.) He says his goal is to bring more transparency into the growing tax-exempt sector.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The sudden death of President Ebrahim Raisi is unlikely to drastically alter Iran’s foreign and domestic policies, but it has left a power vacuum. As stipulated by the constitution, Raisi was replaced by his first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, as interim president before presidential elections are held in 50 days.
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