This week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights coverage of International Holocaust Remembrance Day and presents a special panel discussion. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
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(OPINION) There’s nothing pious about the modern Olympic Games. The modern version, organized by the International Olympic Committee, is more spectacle than spirit. The looming Winter Games, however, have triggered a reaction among some that has large moral implications — are you a bad person for watching the Olympics?
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(OPINION) The man who took a rabbi and three congregants hostage in Colleyville, Texas, on Jan. 15, 2022, believed that Jews control the United States of America.
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(OPINION) The start of 2022 has brought many conversations and books that talk about America being led to another Civil War. Americans are more divided than they were during the first civil war, David French, a political and Christian conservative, explains.
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(OPINION) As a historian of religion interested in how different cultures make sense of death, Natasha Mikles noticed what appeared to be a momentous cultural shift in happening in America in terms of death rituals as over 850,000 Americans died from COVID-19.
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(OPINION) The many cases of anti-Catholic vandalism have been documented by me here in recent years. Also well-documented has been the number of professionals in the mainstream media who keep overlooking such criminal activities.These incidents just keep happening, yet they continue to be given little to no mainstream news coverage.
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(OPINION) Thich Nhat Hanh, the monk who popularized mindfulness in the West, died in the Tu Hieu Temple in Hue, Vietnam, on Jan. 21, 2022. He was 95. In the 1960s, Hanh played an active role promoting peace during the years of war in Vietnam. In his mid-20s, he became active in efforts to revitalize Vietnamese Buddhism for peace efforts.
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(OPINION) Polls show that a majority of Americans are very worried about the state of U.S. democracy. As a scholar who researches democratic virtues, Christopher Beem has spent time with the work of Thomas Aquinas, a 13th century Dominican monk whose words are relevant to current times and show what it means to hope.
This week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the top storylines that have emerged after last weekend’s hostage standoff at a Texas synagogue. Plus, catch up, as always, on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
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(OPINION) Discussions about women in the Mormon Church often revolve around whether they will ever be ordained. They may serve as leaders of women’s or children’s organizations, but power in the church remains firmly in the hands of men — though women’s status and leadership have noticeably increased within the family since the 1980s.
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(OPINION) So it seems to me that the Great Resignation is great for a few, mainly tech workers. It’s not so great for others. Most are stuck in an iron cage of capitalism rewarding efficiency and economic prosperity but less so those vocations tilted toward social well-being — like health care workers, teachers, and pastors.
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(OPINION) The conflict in Ethiopia continues to take new victims. Shortly after it began in November 2020, evidence of mass killings of several hundred people in the western Tigray town of Mai Kadra, started to emerge. In 2021, the U.N. raised its concerns regarding the emerging humanitarian crisis and the risk of famine.
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In advance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, this week’s Weekend Plug-in looks at a fascinating piece on the last full year of the Baptist pastor’s life. Plus, catch up, as always, on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
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(OPINION) Interviews are forever the linchpin of all original reporting. The key to getting a good interview: preparation. You've probably heard the preacher's rule of one hour of work in the study per one minute in the pulpit. The reporter’s rule is more modest: at least 10 minutes of research per one minute of interviewing.
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(OPINION) Jan. 6 means different things to people. This year, the date became a polarizing remembrance of the U.S. Capitol insurrection, riots or whatever else one calls it. For Clemente, this Jan. 6 marked a special anniversary — the 20th anniversary of the groundbreaking Boston Globe “Spotlight” team’s investigation into predator priests.
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(OPINION) Recent years have seen a crackdown on human rights and democracy in Hong Kong. Within a few months, three pro-democracy outlets disappeared from Hong Kong. Nonetheless, Hong Kong authorities have rejected claims of a crackdown and denied targeting the media.
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What stories will be religion reporters be chasing in 2022? This week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights a few leading candidates. Plus, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
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(OPINION) One year after ReligionUnplugged senior contributor Hamil R. Harris reported from the Capitol rally turned into a siege, he reflects on what’s needed for America to heal deep political and racial divisions.
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(OPINION) According to the script of “FBI: Most Wanted,” Jan. 6, 2021, was most certainly an insurrection. And even though this particular group of fanatics represented a small minority of Americans, they were depicted as the very image of the insurrection itself. But there is another side to this story.
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(OPINION) Since a military takeover in February 2021 and a severe COVID-19 outbreak, Myanmar has faced an unprecedented crisis, with 14 out of 15 regions within the critical threshold for acute malnutrition. A recent UN report suggests that 14.4 million people will need aid in some form.
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