(ANALYSIS) A Louisiana bill signed into law on June 19 requires displays of the Bible’s revered Ten Commandments in all public classrooms, even at the university level. Religious and nonreligious citizens immediately joined national lobbies in a federal court complaint that the law must be overturned for violating the U.S. Constitution’s ban on “establishment of religion” by the government.
Read More(ANALYSIS) When Pope Francis addressed a group of top international comedians on June 14, he called them artists and stressed the value of their talents. To many Catholics, this meeting came as a surprise. Traditionally, the themes of detachment, sacrifice, humility and repentance appear far more frequently in religious writing and preaching than the spiritual benefits of a good laugh.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Christian colleges and universities are in a tough spot. Spiraling costs and shrinking demographics, plus technological and other cultural concerns, are putting unprecedented pressure on them. That’s why the news from Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Mich., caught my attention. John Fea, writing for Current, broke the news that “Cornerstone University fires tenured professors and terminates all humanities and arts programs.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) Ireland is sometimes dubbed the “land of saints and scholars.” A Google search reveals a fair number of Irish scholars, but there really haven't been that many Irish saints, at least not since the advent of papal canonization. In fact, when St. Oliver Plunkett — the final known Catholic martyr to die under English persecution — was canonized in 1975, he became the first new Irish saint since 1225. That's a gap of three-fourths of a millennium.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Thoughtful Christians do need to speak up. During the late 20th century Marxist-Christian syncretism was a major problem, but Christian nationalism has much more influence within the evangelical world now and is, right now, the greater danger. In “Untangling Critical Race Theory,” Ed Uszynski writes, “Too often Christian commentary denounces CRT while making light of the real problems it seeks to address.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) While political pundits do their jobs in analyzing the presidential debate, I’ll do my job as a spiritual leader and encourage us to keep our priorities straight. In short, as I posted earlier this year, preach Jesus and vote for your presidential candidate of choice, based on scriptural principles. But do not preach your candidate. To do so is to defile your witness.
Read MoreIn Weekend Plug-in, columnist Bobby Ross Jr. reflects on his parents’ 60th anniversary — and what their legacy of faith and love has meant to him.
Read MoreThe timing was awkward, to say the least, for the recording of this week’s “Crossroads” podcast. Lutheran Public Radio listeners who heard this chat live heard us discussing an alleged “debate” between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump that had not yet taken place. Ditto for anyone who immediately downloaded the Issues, Etc., audio file.
Read More(REVIEW) “The Exorcism” is a beautifully shot and smartly conceived meta-take on the exorcism genre. Unfortunately, instead of developing or paying off its ideas, it abandons them in favor of an unreflective string of the very cliches it spent the rest of the movie deconstructing. Russell Crowe stars as Anthony Miller, a washed-up actor out of rehab trying to reconnect with his troubled daughter.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In our post-pandemic, technologically-infused culture, burnout is on the rise across all sectors of the economy. People are struggling with the frenetic pace of the modern workplace. The church is no exception. In fact, pastors and clergy find it difficult to keep up with the evolving demands of church life in a digital age.
Read More(ANALYSIS) If anything can shift abortion opinion in the general public, it has to be Dobbs, right? It is, without a doubt, the biggest change in policy regarding abortion in the last 50 years. In fact, the last example I can think of a time when the government has taken away rights that were already granted was Prohibition. And we all know how that turned out.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As a historian of astronomy, I am interested in the role astronomical events had on ancient people and continue to have in modern times. My ancestors lived on the Central Mexican Plateau, where for many Indigenous cultures, both past and present, the rising and setting of the Sun during equinoxes and solstices were sacred events.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In the midst of heated debates about female pastors and the morality of in vitro fertilization, the national Southern Baptist Convention recently passed a religious liberty resolution that — in terms of Baptist history — was rather ordinary. But these are not ordinary times in American life.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Edmonton Oilers showcase a worldview in which triumph, luck and rugged work pay off — beliefs at home on the ice or in the oil field. The Stanley Cup Final offers a glimpse into how the oil industry has helped shaped the religious fervor around Canada’s favorite sport.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On June 13, 2024, Global Rights Compliance, an international nongovernmental organization, published evidence of Russian and pro-Russian forces using starvation as a method of warfare against Ukrainian civilians during their 85-day siege of Mariupol between February and May 2022.
Read MoreIt appears that Emily Harrison — creator of the “Dear Christian Parent” website — is some kind of religious countercultural radical. By the way, for me “radical” is a compliment when discussing matters of digital-screen culture. The question is what brand of faith-based radical she is, since her Substack’s “about” page offers classic nondenominational-era language: “Believer in Jesus. Wife. Mother. Writer & Speaker on kids and screen time. ScreenStrong Ambassador.”
Read MoreChristians striving to fulfill the Great Commission are embracing technological advances, despite concerns about artificial intelligence.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In June 2024, in the build-up to the 56th session of the Human Rights Council, U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, published his report on “The phenomenon of an institutionalized system of discrimination, segregation, disrespect for human dignity and exclusion of women and girls.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Anglican Church in North America has been one of the success stories in recent American church history. But the denomination is experiencing growing pains. Its growth has flattened, and there is growing discontent in the denomination about its inability (or unwillingness) to address head-on some vital issues.
Read More(ANALYSIS) It’s hard to get a read on where the SBC is headed, honestly. Some events would lead one to believe that they are headed in a very conservative direction (like the IVF resolution), while others tend to point to a denomination that is conservative, but not fundamentalist. But make no mistake — the data says that the average Southern Baptist is further to the right today than the average Southern Baptist from 30 or 40 years ago.
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