(ANALYSIS) These debates raged on and on because few combatants could agree on what took place, in part because that scene in the opening ceremonies were quickly removed from the official Olympics YouTube and NBC Universal accounts.
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Christian universities are dying. Several years of soaring costs, declining demographics and insufficient cash reserves have steadily driven the market into crisis. Yet, a 79-year-old private institution in North Carolina appears to be an anomaly. Carolina University’s enrollment has surged 29% this year, rising from 826 to 1,068 students.
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In her bid to be the nation’s first female president, Kamala Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, thrusting the outspoken Minnesota Lutheran into the national spotlight. Walz, 60, brings political experience as well as suburban-and-rural appeal to the presidential race.
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(ANALYSIS) In late July 2024, the Israeli military sent out the first 1,000 conscription notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish men, following a unanimous Supreme Court ruling that the government must stop exempting them. I see the conscription debate as more than a political crisis for Israel’s government.
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(ANALYSIS) On July 25, a Hong Kong court dismissed Jimmy Lai’s defense’s mid-trial submission of “no case to answer” and adjourned the trial for four months until the end of November 2024, when Lai is expected to give evidence.
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(ANALYSIS) Catholic history is full of childless women respected for their work, many of them members of religious communities. They often contributed to lasting social and cultural change. In fact, the very existence of women’s religious communities is a testament to the value Catholicism puts on childless women’s lives.
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Splinter Catholic movements within Kenya have gradually found their voice in the country’s religious scene and have maintained a steady following despite strong opposition from conservative voices in the local Catholic Church. The rise of the breakaway Catholic churches traces its roots to the May 2006 wedding of ex-Catholic priest Godfrey Shiundu to a former nun.
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U.S. adults support in vitro fertilization in general but are more divided about destroying embryos created in the process. The assisted reproductive technology procedure involves fertilizing an egg with sperm in a lab dish and then implanting the egg in a woman seeking to get pregnant. Around 2 percent of births each year in the U.S., or almost 100,000, involve IVF.
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Equatorial Guinea has a history of infringing on religious freedom dating back to the 1950s. The country is at it again using legislation to forcefully close numerous churches and deny thousands the freedom to worship. Six Pentecostal and evangelical churches were shut down by the government last year alone due to their failure to abide by registration regulations.
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(ANALYSIS) All credit to the tremendous Landon Schnabel for a great paper that was published at the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. The title tells the story: “A Search for Liberalizing Religion: Political Asymmetry in the American Religious Landscape.”
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Fallout from the “Last Supper” scene during the Opening Ceremony at the Paris Olympics spilled over into a second week after bishops from around the world — and even the Vatican — issued statements calling out the display as offensive to Christians everywhere. The Holy See said ir was “saddened” by the display, while others called on the IOC to “repudiate this blasphemous action.”
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Liberty University and its former president Jerry Falwell Jr. have reached an agreement to settle all outstanding disputes and lawsuits between the two parties. A statement said the two reached a mutual understanding about the retirement and severance Liberty will pay to Falwell.
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Seven weeks after Robert Morris resigned from Gateway Church after Cindy Clemishire publicly claimed he abused her in the 1980s when she was 12 years old, Gateway has announced that Morris’ son, James Morris, is stepping away from the church.
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(ANALYSIS) Over the past few months, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been locked in a court battle with Annunciation House, a network of shelters in the El Paso area that assists migrants with basic needs and legal aid. On July 2, district court Judge Francisco Dominguez issued a ruling denying Paxton’s attempt to shut down Annunciation House. Paxton appealed two weeks later.
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More than two decades ago, a veteran Catholic priest and educator explained some ecclesiastical math to me. The late Father Donald Cozzens was talking about one of the biggest religion-news stories of the past half century — the growing shortage of priests at Catholic altars. To understand the problem, he said, you need to view it through the eyes of mothers and fathers.
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As the number of U.S. frozen embryos has grown to estimates beyond a million, their moral status has become the crux of discussion among bioethicists. Vic McCracken, professor of ethics and theology at Abilene Christian University, co-teaches the medical bioethics course with Cynthia Powell, who directs ACU’s Center for Pre-Health Professions. Every year the class includes students who were born through IVF.
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(ANALYSIS) In another parental rights case that may reach the Supreme Court, California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed legislation banning policies that require public educators to tell parents if their children take steps, at school, to change their gender identities. The state wants to protect children who believe they are trans from their own parents, if parents' beliefs clash with what is taught at school.
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IVF was invented in 1978 by British physiologist Sir Robert Edwards. Since then, some eight million IVF babies have been born. People of faith have sometimes felt conflicted regarding the process or its consequences for unused embryos. Yet, IVF has found widespread support for what many call a pro-life practice. IVF allows babies to be born who would not have life without it.
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(ANALYSIS) On July 11, 2024, the Argentine Federal Court of Criminal Cassation handed down its decision in a case concerning the issue of Uyghur genocide ordering the prosecutor to open an investigation. The decision follows a criminal complaint setting out the international crimes committed against the Uyghur and other Turkic people in Xinjiang, China, and the identity of those most responsible for these crimes.
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Faced with declining membership, aging buildings and large, underutilized properties, many U.S. houses of worship have closed their doors in recent years. Presbyterian minister Eileen Linder has argued that 100,000 churches may close in the next few decades. But some congregations are using their land in new ways that reflect their faith
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