(OPINION) This year, with Hanukkah slotted earlier in the cultural calendar, it seemed like the powers that be in American commerce went out of their way — for better and for worse — to crank out extra gifts and advertisements targeting Jewish consumers.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in looks at public opinion on religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccinations. Plus, catch up — as always — on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(OPINION) As religion writers and historians know, the 1611 King James Version of the Bible begat the 1952 Revised Standard Version, which begat the 1989 New Revised Standard Version which now begets the new "Updated Edition" of the NRSV, the “NRSVue” — a surefire news topic — available in e-book format by Christmas and print around May.
Read More(OPINION) When Michael Metzger was nine, his father read a bit of poetry to him. He showed scant interest. But he can still recall the opening lines of both because of their enchanting phrasing and rhythm. Today, Metzger has a love for poetry. Here’s why.
(ANALYSIS) The Supreme Court will hear a potentially landmark case for religious schools on Dec. 8, Carson v. Makin. Up for discussion is whether Maine’s law, which excludes religious schools from the diversity of schooling options that families have access to in a public student aid program, infringes on First Amendment constitutional protections.
Read More(ANALYSIS) It’s now clear that the Biden administration wants to oust Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. This is extraordinary and would exacerbate many of the region’s challenges, including religious extremism. While Ahmed has made mistakes, they are incomparable to the persecution, repression and suffering caused by past regimes.
Read More(OPINION) Is Christianity in the United States becoming two different religions? The scenario is explored at book length in "One Faith No Longer" (New York University Press) by Baylor University sociologist George Yancey and Ashlee Quosigk, a visiting scholar of religion at the University of Georgia.
Read More(OPINION) On Nov. 30, a court in Frankfurt, Germany, delivered a life sentence to a former Islamic State group fighter for genocide against the Yazidi minority — the first genocide conviction of an Islamic State group fighter in the world.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the U.S. Supreme Court hearing arguments in the (potentially) most significant abortion case in decades. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The current crisis in Ethiopia — displacing 2.1 million people with another 7 million in need of humanitarian aid — is an ethnic-political conflict, not a religious one. However, strengthening Ethiopia’s interfaith collaboration among religious groups can bring about much-needed national reconciliation and healing.
Read More(OPINION) Queen Elizabeth’s recent message to the Church of England’s General Synod — in her first absence from the gathering — was strong and personal. She was most concerned with matters of doctrine and spiritual life — not the church’s role in politics and various cultural disputes.
Read More(OPINION) The question of what boundaries should exist for state aid to students who attend religious schools will be in the spotlight Dec. 8, when the court hears arguments in a case from Maine: Carson v. Makin. The case has drawn intense interest from educators and religious-liberty advocates across the country.
(OPINION) Prayer apps are not new. Silicon Valley startups popularized mindfulness and meditation apps as early as 2010, although many have criticized those apps for being spiritually shallow. The young founders of Hallow are among those who felt that mindfulness apps did not meet their religious needs and set out to create their own.
Read More(OPINION) By count of the Death with Dignity organization — which devised Oregon’s pioneering 1997 law under which 1,905 lives have been ended as of Jan. 22 — 10 states plus the District of Columbia have legalized euthanasia. And assignment editor’s note: 14 more states are currently debating such proposals.
Read More(OPINION) Race, religion and politics are intimately connected in the United States. Beliefs that America is exceptional have inspired views across the political spectrum, and many congregations that emphasize social justice say Americans must create opportunity and inclusion for all — because all people are equally valued by God.
Read More(OPINION) This month, voters in Hamtramck, Michigan, elected a Muslim mayor and city council — a first for the state and possibly the country. It is worth reflecting on what this event signifies for the health of the polity, and indeed, the very nature of the American constitutional order.
Read More(REVIEW) On the very first page of Karl Ove Knausgård’s new novel, “The Morning Star,” you will find a quotation from Revelation 9:6, giving the reader a key to understanding the separate life stories that make up the book: “During that time these men will seek death, but they will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
Read More(OPINION) In “The Most Reluctant Convert,” the famous Christian writer C.S. Lewis first explains how he became an atheist after the shallow Christianity of his childhood. But later in life, the move back to Christianity was aided by a circle of Oxford friends, including the famous scholar and novelist J.R.R. Tolkien.
Read More(OPINION) On Nov. 10, the Iran Atrocities Tribunal opened its doors to a series of public hearings to investigate allegations of mass killings of protesters by the Iranian government in 2019. Amnesty International published a report detailing the deaths of 304 people killed by Iran’s security forces during the November crackdown.
Read More(OPINION) There are some who say that whatever happens is ordained by God. Therefore, we should thank him for everything, including murder and rape and cancer. But Michael Brown says he does not see this as the theology of Scripture, nor does he see this as an essential part of God’s sovereignty.
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