When Plains Baptist Church voted overwhelmingly in the 1950s to bar Blacks and “racial agitators” from membership, Jimmy Carter and a handful of his family members were the only ones opposed to the restriction.
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(ANALYSIS) Let me noodle around on that topic of polarization by using a nice question battery in the Cooperative Election Study. Along with religious affiliation, it asks folks to put themselves on an ideological scale that ranges from 1 (meaning very liberal) to 7 (meaning very conservative), while 4 is “middle of the road.”
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Churchgoers may hear the Bible preached every Sunday — but their pastors also want them to engage with Scripture during the week. Almost all U.S. Protestant pastors say they encourage those in their church to read the Bible on their own using at least one of seven methods, according to a Lifeway Research study. On average, pastors say they use around five ways of encouragement. Less than 1% say they don’t use any or are unsure.
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Most American Jews do not believe President-elect Donald Trump will effectively address rising antisemitism or manage the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a new survey, but a larger portion have confidence in his nominee for secretary of state, Sen. Marco Rubio. The survey did not break out responses based on who respondents had voted for in November.
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(ANALYSIS) On Jan. 20, Donald Trump will take the presidential oath of office. And then he will probably add the phrase “so help me God.” Those four little words are not in the Constitution, but for many Americans, the phrase has been a part of the oath ever since George Washington was said to have added it 236 years ago.
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Rungee and Lallathin are but one of the many teams who come to West Springfield to teach conversational English classes. Let’s Start Talking calls its students readers because most of each one-hour lesson is spent reading Bible stories and discussing them with the volunteer teacher.
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It may be the start of a new year, but many of the same issues and concerns will dominate the news cycle in 2025. From Pope Francis’ health from the erosion of religious freedom in many parts of the globe to the moral implications that come with the widespread use of AI, here’s what to watch for in the new year.
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Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal, endured a humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. The Sunday School teacher — the first American president to call himself “born again” — was 100 years old.
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Movie star Denzel Washington has taken on a new role after he received his minister’s license at a church service in New York. The actor, most recently known for his part in “Gladiator II,” was also baptized. Washington, 69, celebrated the milestone in his faith at Kelly Temple Church of God in Christ. The church is affiliated with the Pentecostal Church of God in Christ denomination.
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(ANALYSIS) Almost two decades ago, the reigning editor of The New York Times admitted, during a speech to the National College Media Association, that the world’s most influential journalism cathedral had changed one of its core doctrines.
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(ANALYSIS) President Donald Trump is returning to the White House, convinced — after a close encounter with an assassin's bullet — that he had God on his side in the election. While opinions differed on that theological question, Trump drew support from voters that frequented pews. Members of Religion News Association selected the presidential election as the year's top national religion story.
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(EXPLAINER) Hanukkah — known as “the festival of lights” — is a time of reflection and celebration for Jews across the world. Typically, the miracle of Hanukkah is celebrated in early to mid-December. Not this year. This holiday season, the start of Hanukkah coincides with Christmas Day. The eight-day celebration begins on Dec. 25 and continues into the new year.
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Just two days before Christmas, President Joe Biden announced on Monday that he had commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row — converting their punishments to life imprisonment.
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(ANALYSIS) In the 2024 presidential election campaign there were hundreds of millions of dollars spent on advertising to convince voters to back either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris. But there was one spot that ran on television in a seeming loop.
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You know those weirdos who seem to stumble backward into success? Lucas Ross is one of them. Just ask his boss, Kermit the Frog. For the past four years, Ross, a member of the Memorial Road Church of Christ in Oklahoma City, has worked as a banjo consultant for the lean, green CEO of the Muppets. Recently, the two shared the stage at the University of Maryland during a celebration of Jim Henson.
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The United States Department of Justice filed a complaint against the city of Brunswick, Georgia, on Dec. 16 because of the city’s actions to close The Well ministry to homeless persons. The Well is a faith-based ministry operated by FaithWorks, an organization of the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church.
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Faced with accusations from the widower of a second alleged victim of his sexual misconduct, Messianic teacher and apologist Michael Brown posted a video online admitting to an “emotional” relationship with a woman.
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The California Department of Consumer Affairs Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education has ordered that Olivet University’s approval to operate be revoked. The order also requires the school to pay $64,432 to cover the costs of the investigation and prosecution. Because of this action, Olivet must cease enrolling new students and must propose a plan “teach out” current students.
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While the global median score on the Government Restrictions Index (based on several factors) held steady in 2022 at 3.0 out of 10, the number of countries with “high” or “very high” levels of government religious restrictions rose to 59, which accounts for 30% of the 198 countries and territories Pew Research Center studied.
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Baker Cathy Miller, who won two lower court battles in her refusal to custom design a wedding cake for a lesbian couple, continued to plead her case for individual religious freedom this week in a California appeals court.
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