Posts in North America
‘Spirit of Toumliline’ Interfaith Inquiry Lives On 50 Years After Moroccan Monastery Closed

A film crew started a movement to rebuild a French monastery in Morocco after shooting the award-winning movie “Of Gods and Men” there. The monastery was closed in 1968, leaving abandoned buildings. But the “Spirit of Toumliline” did not leave.

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Dr. Oz Campaign Part of Subtle Shift In Muslim American Voting Patterns

Republican senatorial candidate Mehmet Oz faces an uphill battle as he closes on Democratic rival John Fetterman for the title of next senator of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Yet, Oz’s surprise victory in the Republican primary and his strong showing in the campaign also signals a subtle political shift — many Muslim Americans are increasingly voting Republican.

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Excerpt From ‘The FIFA World Cup: A History Of The Planet’s Biggest Sporting Event’: ‘Hand of God’ Made Maradona An Idol

The Argentina versus England quarterfinal matchup at the 1986 World Cup will forever be remembered as the game where Diego Maradona scored twice, one of them a controversial goal he later dubbed the “Hand of God.” The game, a mix of political tension and faith, cemented Maradona’s place as one of soccer’s greatest players.

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Harlem Rev. Calvin Butts Remembered As A Man Of The People

At Harlem’s famous Abyssinian Baptist Church, the Rev. Calvin Butts III went from counseling engaged couples to counseling the U.S. president — from advising the brothers in Harlem to advising diplomats at the United Nations. That is why a long line has wrapped around the block of the megachurch over the last two days as the ordinary and extraordinary paid their final respects.

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Clergy Members Become ‘The Unbelieving’ In A New Play

“The Unbelieving,” a new play on limited run in New York, explores the lives of clergy who stopped believing in God. The play is based on a qualitative study that interviewed clergy from across faith traditions about their transition away from believing and how the change threatened to take away their families, communities and sense of self.

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6 Midterm Election Races Where Religion Could Play A Major Factor

Politicians across the country are in the last stretch of campaigning as Americans prepare to cast the votes in the midterm elections on Nov. 8. ReligionUnplugged.com takes a look at some of the key races where a candidate’s faith could play a big factor in the election results.

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Americans Who Aren’t Sure About God Are A Fast-Growing Force In Politics

(ANALYSIS) Turnout will likely play an outsize role in the 2022 midterms, too, as voters determine what political party will have control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate in January 2023. If the data is any guide, there are two key communities political analysts often overlook: atheists and agnostics.

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Bishops-Biden Battle Heats Up Around Abortion Debate Ahead Of Midterms

(ANALYSIS) Polls show that voters care more about inflation, but Democrats are hoping that talking up abortion will get out their base. Abortion, however, isn’t just a political issue. As President Joe Biden, a practicing Catholic, promises to make abortion a federal right should Democrats keep a majority, tension among him and prominent U.S. bishops has heated up again.

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Who Are The Jews? Kanye West’s Rhetoric Echoes Black Hebrew Israelites’ Antisemitism

(ANALYSIS) According to the controversial singer Ye, formerly called Kanye West, Black people are Jews. This part of his rhetoric is the strongest hint of where exactly his recent outpouring of antisemitism flows from.

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Columnist Rod Dreher Talks Orthodox Christianity And Nationalism

Rod Dreher, a senior editor and blogger at The American Conservative and a convert to Orthodox Christianity from Catholicism is one of the most influential voices in the conservative movement who has moved further right in recent years and argued for Americans to look to nationalist examples in Europe, like Victor Orban’s Hungary, for solutions.

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Presbyterian Church Will Gather Nonbinary/Genderqueer Membership Stats

The mainline Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) announced this week it will change the way it reports statistical information about the denomination’s membership to now include a category for nonbinary/genderqueer adherents. The Office of General Assembly said the new reporting will more accurately reflect the makeup of the denomination.

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There’s No One ‘Latino Vote’: Religion And Geography Add To Voter Diversity

(ANALYSIS) Nearly 1 in 5 people in the United States today are Latino, and “the Latino vote” has attracted significant news coverage as their political voice grows stronger. But the U.S. Latino population is extremely diverse. As scholars who study immigration in the fields of sociology and religious ethics, we are especially interested in the growing religious diversity and often overlooked geographical diversity among Latino populations.

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Catholic Voters In Battleground States Favor GOP In Upcoming Midterms, Poll Finds

A majority of Catholic voters in six key battleground states say they plan to vote for Republican candidates in the upcoming midterm elections, a new poll reveals. A majority of voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada listed the economy, jobs, inflation and rising interest rates as their top concern.

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Christ for All Peoples Pares Back Mission To ‘Bring The Gospel Of Christ To Every Door’

A newer web page says the Saturate campaign no longer seeks to reach every door in the country by 2020, instead seeking to reach fewer households over a longer time frame: “Christ For All Peoples and Saturate USA Is Dedicated To Reaching 120 Million Homes In The U.S. By 2027.”

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Pope Francis Extends The Synod On Synodality To 2024: What Does It Mean For The Church's Future?

(ANALYSIS) Pope Francis decided to divide the church’s Synod of Bishops into two sessions, one next October and a second in October 2024, in order to “help everyone to live it as the journey of brothers and sisters who proclaim the joy of the Gospel.” What does it mean for the future of Catholicism?

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Evangelicals Often Feel Misunderstood: What Helps Boost Understanding Between Students Of All Faiths?

(ANALYSIS) Our findings about students’ attitudes underscore important lessons about fostering tolerance and appreciation on campus for any group. Views of evangelicals are particularly interesting, since they highlight the complexities of social privilege: how individuals can feel discriminated against, even when their community as a whole is influential.

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San Francisco Pauses Program Forwarding City Workers’ Donations To Christian Groups

San Francisco has put a pause on its annual Heart of the City Combined Charities Campaign after questions about whether city employees’ donations should flow to Christian nonprofits that support biblical views on human sexuality, according to articles in The San Francisco Chronicle and The San Francisco Standard.

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Texas Megachurch Announces Decision To Leave United Methodist Denomination

A Dallas-area church, St. Andrew United Methodist Church of Plano, with more than 6,500 members said it will disaffiliate with the United Methodist Church and will remain independent while it investigates alliances with other Methodist denominations.

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5 Books About Orthodox Christianity To Read During Orthodox Awareness Month

Orthodox Awareness Month aims to serve as a reminder of the long and rich history of Orthodoxy in America and the contributions Orthodox Christians made to American culture, history and public life. Here are five books to read for insight into the history and theology of the Orthodox Church, the lives of saints and the evolution of the Orthodox faith in America’s northernmost state.

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