The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced its cooperation with the U.S. government to organize and process the tens of thousands of Afghan refugees entering the country as the U.S. withdraws troops and the Taliban assumes control over Afghanistan.
Read MoreAfghans in and outside the capital describe scenes of violence, deteriorating living conditions and shrinking personal freedoms amid the Taliban’s rise to power with the U.S. troop withdrawal set to complete on Aug. 31.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Taliban – which means “the students” in Pashto – seized control of Afghanistan in 1996 after capturing Kabul in the Afghan civil war. The Taliban regime was then toppled in 2001 by the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan. Here, Afghanistan experts offer insight into the Taliban – then and now – and explain the United States’ role in Afghanistan’s collapse.
John and Jan Bradley have spent years building schools and trying to improve life in war-torn Afghanistan. Amid the Taliban’s takeover after U.S. troops withdrew, they are helping other volunteers and colleagues evacuate the country. Anyone who helped the Bradleys is in danger.
Read MoreDie Botschaft is a weekly tabloid newspaper, loosely translated to The Messenger, with a national circulation of 16,000. While its name is in Pennsylvania Dutch, the newspaper is printed in English and features letters, lots of letters of about five- to-eight column inches in length, from across the nation.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Fans are remembering the legendary Florida State University coach this week after his death Sunday at age 91. Bobby Bowden, who coached senior ReligionUnplugged contributor Hamil Harris and is the second most winningest college football coach in U.S. history, is remembered for fusing the principles of Jesus into his football career, forming a special bond with his players that lasted a lifetime.
Read MoreCandice McQueen made history last week as the first woman chosen to lead a university associated with Churches of Christ. Or did she? Some scholars want to make a case for the late Meta Chestnutt Sager, a pioneer Oklahoma educator who led a Christian college in Indian territory before its closing.
Read MoreOften called Europe’s last dictator, President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has continued to jail human rights defenders and his regime is targeting those protesting against election falsification and regime violence, including priests that the government has expelled from the Belarusian Orthodox Church. The regime also tried to ban singing of the hymn “Mighty God” and prayers for political prisoners, organizing instead a pro-regime "prayer day".
Read MoreThe number of quality apps for Christian worship, practice and intellectual formation are proliferating. Here are some of the apps our team members have found to enjoy with our own families.
Read More(ANALYSIS) According to surveys by Data for Progress, more young Americans with no religious affiliation (called “nones”) resisted vaccines this summer than evangelicals, but the media has focused on vaccine hesitancy within evangelicals. Here’s what the data shows.
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The leaders of the Zacharias Institute said they plan to resign, a decision they reached after a season of “lamenting, listening and learning” after sexual misconduct accusations against late evangelist and institute founder Ravi Zacharias came to light.
(ANALYSIS) It’s been a busy July on the Catholic news beat. There’s rarely a dull moment, especially in the Pope Francis era, as debate over the past few weeks focused on the Latin Mass and alleged Grindr-clicking gay clergy in high places.
Read MoreOlympians like Dominique Dawes and Rochelle Stevens talked to ReligionUnplugged about their faith, wrestling with mental challenges in the Games and supporting U.S. gymnast Simone Biles who withdrew from competition this week over mental health concerns and vertigo-like symptoms. Biles and Dawes have both shared leaning on their Catholic faith in their gymnastics careers.
Read MoreHindu nationalists recently came up with a new slogan that translates: “An India Liberated of Muslims and Christians.” That slogan reinforces new data finding incidents of hate and violence against the Christian minority in India is persisting and even increased during India’s deadly second wave of COVID-19.
Read MoreIndian authorities bulldozed a makeshift mosque in one of New Delhi’s most populous Rohingya refugee camps last week, less than a month after a fire engulfed more than 50 lean-to homes built on undeveloped, government-owned land along the Yamuna riverbank. “It was not just a place of worship for us,” one resident said.
Read MoreThree years after the lynching of 16-year-old Junaid Khan in India, “The Dinner Table” host Harshita Rathore meets his family for a heart-to-heart conversation over a meal. In the first episode of the docuseries produced by Newsreel, the Khans share what it’s like to experience grief and discrimination as Muslims in India, who have faced increasing incidents of violence and hate crimes by Hindu nationalists since 2014.
Read MoreThe controversy and context surrounding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics pose an opportunity to think about the Games through a lens of faith. From a Muslim track and field athlete to Israel’s first surfer, here is a guide to the Games for the religiously-minded.
Read MoreWhile his life story is fascinating, heart-warming and remarkable, the religious life of NBA player Giannis Antetokounmpo is less well known. The now 26-year-old Giannis became a Christian and devout member of the Greek Orthodox Church as a young person and continues to acknowledge his Christian faith.
Read MoreIn the aftermath of violent protests that rocked South Africa last week, church leaders are pointing those that are searching for answers to the demons of inequality and injustice that have continued to lurk in the shadows of this “Rainbow Nation”.
Read MoreJason Meyer, John Piper’s successor at Bethlehem Baptist Church, has stepped down from his position as pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem’s downtown campus. Meyer is part of a growing exodus of leaders and members leaving Bethlehem, a church with some 4,500 members on three campuses which is seen as a flagship church in Converge, formerly the Baptist General Conference.
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