(OPINION) One reason the media often fail to “get” American evangelical Protestantism is that it’s a complex mashup of elements, not simply an alliance of conventional church bodies. This overlapping empire is important, and over the decades it rallied prominently at trade shows for retailers and broadcasters and the annual National Prayer Breakfast.
Read More(OPINION) A New York Times piece was an example of what dialogue between church folks and the secular media can look like if people on both sides check their preconceptions, remain open and speak civilly. They might not form a merger, but they can come to know each other.
Read More(OPINION) The refiner’s fire has come to the church of America in the last few years, bringing our impurities to the surface for the world to see. And those fires will continue to burn in our land, bringing us to deeper repentance. But the Spirit is also being poured out as well.
Read More(OPINION) When popes talk about sex, it tends to make headlines. This was certainly true when Pope Francis told The Associated Press last month the Catholic Church opposes criminalizing homosexuality and that “we are all children of God, and God loves us as we are.” The pope then noted that homosexual activity is “not a crime. Yes, but it’s a sin.”
Read More(OPINION) Apparently hoping to draw further congressional attention to its politicization, the FBI is reportedly warning of “radical traditionalist Catholics” who might become White supremacists. An FBI field office in Virginia compiled its intelligence bulletin using the discredited and professional grifting organization the Southern Poverty Law Center. It also cited an Atlantic article that referred to the rosary, a set of prayer beads, as a “weapon.”
Read More(OPINION) In the first part of life, we’re controlled by the fear-based preoccupations of the lizard brain. This is natural. Then, at some point, something happens — usually a cataclysmic fall. Such a fall can destroy us if we let it. But it also can serve as an upward call.
Read More(OPINION) Artificial intelligence technologies are bad when they become an artifice, which means contrived or false. The artifice of intelligence makes people “see only what new technologies can do and are incapable of imagining what they will undo.”
Read More(OPINION) The goal of aid is to end situations that lead to aid. It is estimated that the West has given $1.2 trillion in aid and development assistance to Africa since 1990 according to Greg Mills in the book “Expensive Poverty.” Much of that aid came from the U.S. But sadly the foreign aid has had little or no impact on bettering the lives of poor Africans.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the religion angles in this weekend’s Super Bowl. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(OPINION) The establishment was shocked when players and coaches from Denver and Washington, D.C., held a prayer meeting on the eve of the 1988 Super Bowl. But the electric wave of prayer that swept America after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s heart-stopping injury was a “critical mass” moment and a sign of changing times — maybe.
Read More(OPINION) Old-school objectivity in journalism appears to be dead. My proof for that statement is that the ongoing vandalism of churches is a major story, but one that elite newsroom professionals have decided is a right-wing political talking point. If this isn’t a flaw in the current way journalists do things, then expect for more readers to look elsewhere for information.
Read More(OPINION) According to a tone-deaf editorial published on Holocaust Remembrance Day in the Kentucky Courier Journal, “Jews do not have a monopoly on persecution and atrocities,” and “Hitler was just one of many dictators.” But it is right and fitting to commemorate the singular sufferings of particular people or nations, as in the Holocaust.
Read More(OPINION) The teaching against gay and lesbian sexual relationships stood essentially unquestioned for 2,000 years, but now that’s changing. Still, on the global level, some 2 billion people belong to Christian traditions where there’s no prospect of any major change, though individual members dissent. The same is true for a billion Muslims.
Read More(OPINION) We learn the most valuable things we learn not so much by embarking on a purposeful pilgrimage or a defined course of study — although such pursuits have their place — but by flopping blindly through life bumping into things.
Read More(OPINION) This is an apt time for media to consider U.S.-focused big-think pieces on how religious communities are shaping population trends and, vice versa, how those trends affect religion.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in covers the case of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old Black man who died after a beating by Memphis, Tenn., police. Plus, as always, catch up on all the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith.
Read More(OPINION) A blockbuster in the November U.S. Religion Census report said that, taken together, nondenominational Protestants number 21 million and are unquestionably the largest U.S. Protestant group, exceeding by millions the largest denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, and second only to Catholics.
Read More(OPINION) God is so great none of us can comprehend all that he is. Ten of us — or 10 denominations, even — can’t grasp the full mystery. Thus we ought to approach other pilgrims with open minds and open hearts, looking for what we can impart to them and also what we can receive from them.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Tragic reports about the killing of Nigerian Christians have become all too common. And the recent account of a Catholic priest being shot and burned alive in his church just before Christmas was particularly gruesome — in that same incident, 40 worshippers, including children, also lost their lives.
Read More(OPINION) Around the nation, in response to the life-threatening injury to Buffalo Bills football player Damar Hamlin, people prayed. Hamlin’s teammates and coaches prayed. Millions of fans joined in prayer, tweeting their support. Even on live TV, sports commentators stopped in the middle of their broadcast to pray. But this is only natural. During times of crisis, especially life and death crisis, people turn to God.
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