(COMMENTARY) With the only exception being President Donald Trump, no world leader gets as much press coverage as Pope Francis. His every utterance is able to fill a reporters’ notepad but not all papal statements are created equal. What the pope writes in an encyclical has one degree of importance as does what he says to crowds in St. Peter’s Square. Both carry a lot more weight than the soundbite you saw on CNN, but none of them should be considered infallible.
Read More(COMMENTARY) Some would have you believe that religious exemptions are nothing more than the government sanctioning irrational hatred, but free exercise claims have been respected in our country’s history since the founding of America. This is not a necessary evil that we should put up with, but something that gives the United States its very vitality.
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Most people never read whole articles, and a surprising number of readers don’t make it past the first paragraph of a news story. Plenty of people share articles without ever reading them. So, how do news agencies fare with their headlines for culture war cases that make it to the Supreme Court? Alex Grass finds out.
Read More(COMMENTARY) Jenny Taylor meets the Nigerian peace-maker on a mission to learn why Sierra Leone’s Muslim and Christian populations live together in harmony.
Read More(OPINION) President Donald Trump sees his big tax-bill win on Capitol Hill was a giant – maybe even huuuuge – Christmas present for America. But many people think of Christmas as a cultural season built on gifts, travel, fun, food, and festivities more than a religious holiday.
Read More(COMMENTARY) In a society that values scandal and social media transgressions, Tim Tebow is very much a contrarian. He’s a rebel among agnostics and exudes an unusual wholesomeness that appears to be more from the 1950s than the year 2017.
Read More(OPINION) For an article to break free from the pack of mind-numbing junk that overwhelms journalism, the writer must have technical facility but also a sense of the background to the subject. Knowing why the story matters moves it beyond being merely amusing.
Read More(OPINION) Lottie Moon was a pioneer missionary and educator in the late 19th Century who remained steadfast and true to her calling. She let God use her in a remarkable way during her lifetime and her work is still touching people around the world.
Read More(OPINION) U.S. President Donald Trump and India Prime Minister Narendra Modi may differ in their leadership styles and values, but the two share common ground when it comes to their rise in popularity in conservative nationalist movements in their countries.
Read More(OPINION) Why Can Kiryas Joel Secede? Because America Doesn’t Care That Jews Are Different
Read More(OPINION) Being the New York Times means never having to say you’re sorry.
Read More(OPINION) The cynicism so many readers have towards the mainstream media arises in part from the worldview articulated by Richard Pryor -- "Who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?” from his 1982 film “Live on the Sunset Strip”.
Read MoreThere is hardly a more telling moment to epitomise the state of journalism in the Czech Republic than a short TV clip from a recent meeting of two presidents: Miloš Zeman, Czech head of state and his Russian counterpart - Vladimir Putin. “And here are more journalists?” asked Mr. Zeman in Russian at the press conference. "There are too many journalists. They should be liquidated.“
Read More(OPINION) The Daily Telegraph has leapt into a dispute between two factions of a London church. Yet the journalistic shortcomings of this article turn it into a club for traditionalists to beat modernizers.
Read MoreRabbi Sacks, who won the 2016 Templeton Prize, is convinced that religious leaders face three options in an age in which reason and materialism have failed to inspire citizens to make sacrifices on behalf of future generations.
Read MoreCOMMENTARY -- Can a non-believer write religion news stories? Here is evidence that they can, and can do so with professional skill.
Read More(OPINION) A recent Pew Forum survey shows that the influence and practice of faith is slipping in lands long identified with Catholicism, those closest to the European West. Eastern Orthodoxy is rising, especially in lands in which faith and national identity blend. But the most stunning changes are happening in the Czech Republic.
Read MoreThe late Steve Jobs loved surprises and, at the 2007 MacWorld conference, he knew he was going to make history.
Read MoreThe often toxic mix of religious identity mixed with politics – either real or imagined – accounts for so much of what we think of as religion news. This story ties together some of those powerful symbols.
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