(ANALYSIS) In my “On Religion” column — “Jonathan Haidt: It's time for clergy to start worrying about smartphone culture” — I focused on what the author of “The Anxious Generation” had to say about the decisions faced by religious believers in the age of digital-screens culture.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On Monday, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will host a broadcast to celebrate the “life and teachings” of Russell M. Nelson, its president and prophet. One of his initiatives made an impact that rippled far beyond the church. In 2018, he surprised observers by declaring the use of the word “Mormon” a “major victory for Satan.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) Two-thirds of college students do not hold views toward Israel or Jews “likely to threaten their relationship with their Jewish peers,” a new study from Brandeis University found. But what about the remaining third? Researchers found that group split roughly equally between those who expressed hostility toward Israel (but not Jews) and those who thought poorly of Jews, not Israel.
Read MoreOne of the world’s most important newsrooms just offered a finely detailed profile of Catholic convert J.D. Vance and, imagine this, the feature focused on the emotions and ideas that led him to swim the Tiber. This included his intellectual and spiritual attraction to the work of St. Augustine, one of the most important minds in Western culture.
Read MoreThe new "Reagan" biopic focuses on Ronald Reagan's role in the Cold War and the fight against Soviet communism. But faith emerges as a major storyline in the 135-minute biopic.
Read More(ANALYSIS) I am going to pull out some questions that piqued my interest when I was scrolling through the codebook. The first is a set of two questions about mental health. Folks were asked, “How often do you get the social and emotional support you need?”
Read More(ANALYSIS) Exorcism movies are making a comeback — and the reasons are more interesting than you might think. The likely reasons actually say a lot about the present and the future of religion in America and its intersection with the future of mass media. Here's a deeper look at why Hollywood is going all in on the genre.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, women and girls have been banned from playing sports or participating in any form of physical activity. However, Afghan women have been defying the Taliban and competed at the 2024 Olympics and 2024 Paralympic, while flying the flag of the Refugee Olympic and Paralympic teams.
Read MoreIllegal bans on nonvegetarian food are increasingly being introduced in towns that attract Hindu pilgrims, like Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh and Haridwar in Uttarakhand. Since it is perceived as a manifestation of tradition and culture, it is difficult to challenge it in a court of law.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In the heated environs of Catholic cyberspace, that kind of reporting being done by The Pillar has drawn fierce criticism from partisans on the other side of all doctrinal debates with political, moral and cultural implications. At the moment, The Pillar is taking heat from conservatives for coverage raising questions about remarks by Sen. J.D. Vance.
Read More(ANALYSIS) When the second installment in the blockbuster “Dune” franchise came out, it was hard not to see it as a not-very-subtle metaphor for the Israel-Hamas war. It was starnge to watch scenes of guerilla warriors in headscarves when I saw the same images on the news. Lately, people have been finding those same parallels in other movies or TV series about conflict.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Elizabeth Neumann’s “Kingdom of Rage” shows, as its subtitle states, “The Rise of Christian Extremism and the Path Back to Peace.” She said the development of in-groups is natural, but “the problem arises when a group begins constructing narratives about an out-group’s … beliefs, traits and practices, relying on information that may be unreliable, exaggerated or based solely on an in-group member’s negative experience with the out-group.”
Read MoreThe new movie "You Gotta Believe," about a youth baseball team's improbable journey all the way to the Little League World Series, offers a fleeting glimpse of faith. But in real life, religion played a more crucial role.
Read MoreBefore we get to the issue of modern women fleeing church pews, let’s pause and do something that — as a rule — I try to avoid doing when discussing matters of cultural, morality and faith. Let’s consider some political numbers. In a recent Pew Research Center package of survey data, there is this headline: “Partisanship by gender, sexual orientation, marital and parental status.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Italian teenager Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006 of a rare form of leukemia at age 15, will soon become the Catholic Church’s first “millennial saint.” Acutis’ upcoming canonization reflects the Vatican’s interest in making a more modern church that appeals to a new generation of faithful.
Read More(ANALYSIS) I am going to completely sidestep the whole discussion of the conflict in the Middle East in this post and just focus on a narrow question: How many Muslim votes are there in the state of Michigan, and could they actually cost the Democrats the state?
Read MoreThere are many excellent articles and books written with the goal of helping Christian students survive the temptations of college life. This is important, because a recent study by Lifeway Research found that two-thirds (66 percent) of American young adults who attended a Protestant church regularly for at least a year as a teenager say they also dropped out for at least a year between the ages of 18 and 22.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Preaching to teenagers has always been a challenge. In the smartphone age, clergy need to realize that the odds of making a spiritual connection have changed — radically. Young people who spend as many as 10 or more hours a day focusing on digital screens will find it all but impossible to listen to an adult talk about anything, especially in a religious sanctuary.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On Aug. 21, 2024, the Taliban published its new law to “promote virtue and eliminate vice” that sets up rules for everyday life and adds to the litany of restrictions on women. Over the last three years, the Taliban introduced tens and tens of decrees barring women and girls from all activities and engagements outside their homes.
Read More(ANALYSIS) When Jack Kerouac penned “On the Road,” he immortalized the American road trip as a quest for meaning, a journey that was almost existential in nature. His words sparked a generation's wanderlust, fueling a search for adventure, self-discovery, and — dare I say — even a higher power.
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