(ANALYSIS) Religion in the United States “works” differently for Asian Americans compared to African Americans. The average white American doesn’t think about religion the same way, or practice their faith in the same patterns, as Hispanic Americans. Race is a central component of how religion operates in the American context.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Today, amid Japan’s shrinking population and anti-immigrant sentiment, it might be jarring to remember that there once were hopes that the island nation would be the anti-colonial leader of the world’s Muslims and that some of Asia’s Muslims dreamed of an “Islamic Republic of Japan.”
Read MoreThey’ve survived ISIS, genocides and persecution. Their homeland has been destroyed. Now the Yazidis in Iraq are rallying together to build their own soccer stadium — a symbol of resilience and hope despite their difficult past.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Pentagon needs to define America’s religious categories due to chaplains’ responsibility to handle the spiritual needs of soldiers as effectively as possible. The problem is that Americans’ religious choices are pretty much uncountable.
Read MoreOn hills just east of Ramallah is the village of Taybeh. Its population has fallen to 1,200 today, while more than 80% of the town's sons and daughters now live abroad. What sets Taybeh apart from every other village in the West Bank is that all of its residents remain Christian — Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic and Latin — making it a symbol of a presence that is fading but refusing to disappear.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In her student days, Ann Widdecombe's first Oxford Union presentation was an attack on censorship, even if practicing free speech turned out to be risky or painful. A half-century later, the former Conservative MP and outspoken Catholic returned to the legendary debate club to address the same subject, at one point explaining why she once agreed to share a speaker's platform with an Irish Republican Army activist.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Disestablishment was not just a cornerstone of American democracy. It was also an engine for the extraordinary growth of philanthropy, which played an important role in fueling American churches’ growth and innovation.
Read MoreIn a country with a deep history of ritual and respect for the dead, it is becoming increasingly impossible for everyday families to properly bury their loved ones. The wealthy are able to purchase premium amenities, while working class residents are unable to afford basic services at all. “Where am I supposed to take the body?” one man asked.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Every year, millions of pilgrims walk from the deserts of southern Iraq to the holy city of Karbala for Arbaeen, one of the largest annual pilgrimages in the world. In 2026, pilgrims will converge on Karbala on Aug. 5.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Fewer marriages, fewer believing mothers and fewer traditions carried forward add up to a generation raised inside a custom-built crisis of meaning. America needs religious men. To endure and thrive as a civilization, it may need religious women even more. The reasons aren’t mysterious.
Read MoreThe Visual Commentary on Scripture is an online resource from King’s College London, which combines theology, art history and Biblical scholarship to pair artwork from all across the stylistic and historical map with Judeo-Christian texts.
Read More(REVIEW) The Jewish Museum’s exhibition “Modernity and Opulence: Women of the Wiener Werkstätte” highlights the pivotal role Jewish women played in Vienna’s influential design collective. Featuring nearly 200 works, the show explores how artists and patrons transformed modern art, fashion and women’s professional opportunities in the early 20th century.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Back in November, I wrote a post that I knew was going to cause a stir because it answered one of the most burning questions in my mind: “How Big is the Political Divide Between Mainline Clergy and Laity?”
Read More(REVIEW) Nick is on an adventure to secure an original manuscript of the famous poem. Unfortunately, the film’s engagement with the “Divine Comedy’s” ideas and themes turns out to be depressingly trivial.
Read MoreMore than a century after a mysterious Bible was reportedly discovered among a crop of yams in a rain-soaked Nigerian field, testimonies of miraculous births, healings and deliverance continue to draw thousands of pilgrims to the sacred ground. The Araya Bible Site is especially popular during the Christmas and Easter season.
Read More(ANALYSIS) What began as an exercise movement of primarily older adults in China’s northeast has proved to provide the largest, best-organized and most-sustained resistance to Chinese government rule since the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
Read MoreChristopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” was made for a religious landscape that looks very different from Homer’s original audience. Does the movie manage to honor the beliefs of the source material — or does it impose modern values on the ancient epic?
Read More(ANALYSIS) A leaderless protest movement in New Delhi has evolved into a broader rejection of the divisive politics associated with Hindu nationalism. Sparked by a police crackdown, demonstrators have created an unusually inclusive public space where people of different faiths, castes, genders and backgrounds gather in solidarity.
Read MoreThe new prime minister will almost certainly have a short political honeymoon. How will he handle his first public meeting with Pope Leo XIV? In terms of symbolism, will he seek a blessing?
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Vatican’s latest statement on the canonical trial of Father Marko Ivan Rupnik was intended to quash rumors that one of the Catholic Church’s most controversial abuse cases had quietly ended in acquittal. Instead, it highlighted a different issue: The secretive process by which the church’s judicial system operates and whether it’s capable of delivering justice.
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