Posts in Opinion
Inside an Oasis of Religious Freedom in Northeast Syria

(OPINION) The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) is a new regional government that has become known as a defender of religious freedom and equality. The area is under particular threat, particularly neighboring Turkey.

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Faith and politics: 5 revealing questions to ask on Election Night

This week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights seven questions that smart religion journalists will be asking on Election Night. Also, catch up on the week’s top reads and headlines in the world of religion news.

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Lessons from the Civil Rights Movement for this Election Day and Beyond

(OPINION) We have resources in American political thought to help us through this tumultuous period. Anyone troubled by the prospect of violence this Election Day should reflect on the strategy behind the great victories of the Civil Rights Movement.

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Macron is right to defend free speech in France, denounce Islamists

(OPINION) The Oct. 16, 2020 terrorist beheading of French schoolteacher Samuel Paty has galvanized France and led to increased international tensions. French President Macron has portrayed the conflict not as a lone terrorist attack but as a war between Islamists and France that is a conflict of ideologies.

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Don’t vote Trump for religious liberty

(OPINION) Many Christians are rightfully concerned that religious groups committed to a traditional, biblical ethic of marriage will be increasingly marginalized and restricted. In response to these anxieties, many conservative religious people turn to a perceived strongman who will keep their institutions safe. Here’s why they shouldn’t.

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Armenia, Artsakh and Turkey’s Neo-Ottoman Dream

(OPINION) Now, more than 25 years after the rather unclear resolution of a 1994 conflict—and emerging in the notoriously painful year 2020—the Armenia/Artsakh vs. Azerbaijan conflict has flared up again. And this time—tragically—Turkey’s Islamist President Tayyip Erdogan has powerfully entered the fray.

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Will U.S. Catholics split their vote this year?

(OPINION) Trying to gauge voter enthusiasm is difficult. While Trump voters do seem generally more energized — especially among evangelicals and church-going Catholics — compared to Biden supporters, the events of the past few weeks in Washington may have shifted priorities.

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The Widest Story Ever Told: How the Modern Christian's View of Sin Restricts Faith

(OPINION) Modern Christianity tends to focus on sin — how if we believe in God and have faith that Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected, we will defeat death and have eternal life. In a more “spousal” reading of scripture, Metzger finds that the concepts in the Bible can be much wider.

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Ensuring An Equal Future For Girls Around The World

(OPINION) The United Nation’s International Day of the Girl Child uplifts young girls in countries where they are historically oppressed, many of them as religious minorities, to rise above gender-based violence, harmful practices and HIV and AIDS. This turns them away from harmful practices like child marriage.

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No anti-Catholic sequel: Democrats avoid the dogma at Barrett's hearings

At the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, Democrats steered clear of Barrett’s religion, even as Republicans focused on it. This week’s Weekend Plug-in has that news, plus all the top headlines and best reads from the world of faith.

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What I Wish My Christian Friends Knew About the News Media

(OPINION) Sure, we make mistakes. We have blind spots and faulty assumptions. But many of the criticisms are off the mark: they misunderstand what journalism is about; they feed a growing sense that there is no agreed upon reality and set of facts to which we can all refer; and, as a Christian I fear they reflect poorly on people who say they love the truth.

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Trump and Biden make pitches to very different Catholic voters

(OPINION) Joe Biden and President Donald Trump used this year's virtual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner to preach to Catholic voters in swing states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida. The event produced few headlines, coming a mere six hours before Trump announced his positive test for COVID-19.

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Nigerian boy jailed for blasphemy offers hope, despite holes in media coverage

(OPINION) An uplifting story from The Washington Post about a young Nigerian boy brought hope during times of uncertainty in many religious communities. Other news sources tried to continue telling the story, but the religious angle seemed underdeveloped.

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