(OPINION) Journalists needed to give readers both sides of a debate so that they had some chance to fully understood and assess what is happening. Otherwise, they’re only telling half the story. Right?
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(OPINION) A recent government appointment of board members for Serbia’s Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, which includes studies of religious ideas, is showing the increasingly small space for critical thinking in Balkan institutions.
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(REVIEW) “Just Mercy” follows civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson as he represents a black man on death row in Alabama, wrongly accused of murdering a white 18-year-old girl. The movie based on a true story is about systemic racism and corruption within the justice system, but it’s also about how those injustices can change.
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This week’s Weekend Plug-in includes a pop quiz on President Trump’s photo op at St. John’s Episcopal Church and other top headlines in a busy week of religion-related protest and pandemic news.
Read More(OPINION) A young black Christian woman in New York had not attended previous protests because she thought revenge, anger and bitterness characterized the Black Lives Matter movement. Then Brooklyn churches organized a “prayerful protest.”
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(OPINION) Although President Trump exploited the Bible as a symbol of peace, throughout the gospels Jesus displays righteous anger against unethical money changers and societies who alienated strangers. Trump invoked the Bible to divert attention to the economy, but God always sides with the oppressed.
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(OPINION) When the Georgia legislature reconvenes in mid-June, there is a chance that a bill with enhanced penalties for bias or hate crimes will make its way to the governor. In the grand scope of things, putting a hate crimes law on the books in Georgia should be important on a level with, say, reopening massage and tattoo parlors, nail salons and bowling alleys.
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(OPINION) Black Lives Matter is a departure from past social justice movements. It is not attached to any religious institution, and it is anonymous with no defined leadership. Unlike past civil rights movements spearheaded by ministers and laypeople, in the Black Lives Matter movement, the church has been relegated to the back seat.
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Weekend Plug-in looks at the faith of George Floyd, houses of worship reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic and other top headlines from the religious world.
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(OPINION) A Nigerian Christian recounts her experiences struggling with mental illness and letting go of the idea that if she had enough faith, God would heal her.
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(OPINION) A young evangelical writes about what God is teaching us during a global pandemic about our responsibility to care for other people and the environment.
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(OPINION) Like secular news outlets, Catholic media also face financial hardships created by the pandemic. This is a trend that has, of course, affected all news media and across many other industries, such as hospitality and tourism to name just two.
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(OPINION) As the world begins to cautiously emerge from lockdown, it has begun to look beyond its own borders. For most, the lockdown has confined us to the four walls of our homes. Yet for some terrorist organizations, COVID-19 has provided an opportunity to consolidate and expand. This is particularly visible in the case of Boko Haram and Daesh.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Both Mormons and white evangelicals lean heavily right-wing in American politics. But while Mormons look like white evangelicals in terms of partisanship and ideology, they don’t vote in lockstep. And one of those reasons may be policy, specifically on gun control, abortion and immigration.
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A new book looks at a variety of female personalities who exerted influence over the centuries. The Vatican may be a male-dominated system, but Lynda Telford’s account has enough history and sleaze in it to make for a gripping Netflix series. What this book does very well is shift the spotlight away from men and places it on the women and their oft-ignored influence on the papacy and Christianity as a whole throughout Europe.
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In the nation’s latest religious freedom battle, church leaders in many states from New York to Oregon are clashing with governors over how and when to resume in-person gatherings.
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(OPINION) Social distancing has fractured Muslim gatherings for Ramadan this year. A Presbyterian missionary couple shares the way Ramadan celebrations are interfaith in their neighborhood.
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(OPINION) The chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed governments across the world the liberty to heighten existing religious persecution. Many religious minorities are discriminated against in healthcare provision and some are even being blamed for the spread of the virus.
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(OPINION) From Hitchcock to the Coen brothers, good directors know how to use this sacrament for critical effect in expert storytelling.
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(OPINION) An Indian pastor and son of an evangelist reflects on the impact the recently-departed Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias had on him as a college student questioning Christianity and teetering on the brink of faith.
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