(OPINION) The national conversation regarding religious freedom right now is largely focused on the question of public, in person gatherings for worship services. And yet, it is important to recognize that this is not the only element of the institutional religious freedom discussion that needs to be had at the moment. In the weeks to come, this column will take up in detail emerging public policies that impact the freedom of faith-based organizations.
Read More(OPINION) With approximately 30 million members, Muhammadiyah is Indonesia’s and the world’s largest modernist Muslim organization. While the Indonesian government has been slow to respond to COVID-19, Muhammadiyah has drawn on the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings and the Quran to advise Muslims to stay home during Ramadan celebrations, including ritual obligations some may see as essential to their faith.
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(OPINION) The United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) launched its annual report Tuesday, recommending India, Nigeria, Russia, Syria and Vietnam as “countries of particular concern” engaging in severe religious freedom violations.
Read More(OPINION) There are plenty of baseball players who openly practice Christianity, but Billy Sunday is unique in that he exchanged his bat for a Bible and embarked on a career as a preacher, capitalizing on his time as a ballplayer to generate interest in his revivals.
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(REVIEW) The new series on Hulu debuting April 15 and starring Cate Blanchett tells the underrecognized story of the counterrevolution in the women’s movement: a battle against Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan’s brand of feminism led by Catholic political activist-lawyer, self-identified housewife and mother of six children, Phyllis Schlafly. Schlafly successfully led a conservative grassroots movement to squash the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
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(OPINION) A year later, there remain so many unanswered questions about the cathedral’s future, how and when it will be rebuilt and what hurdles remain. The pandemic has shifted attention and journalistic resources away from a story like the status and future of Notre Dame. Journalists are limited in their ability to travel and France remains on lockdown.
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(OPINION) Who’s to blame for the coronavirus pandemic? It’s not really a difficult whodunit to figure out. Just look to a system that rejects God and freedom: China’s Communist Party for the culprit.
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Civil rights activist and Baptist minister Al Sharpton talked to Religion Unplugged about the support for Donald Trump among some black evangelicals. With Trump's opposition to abortion and support for traditional family values, some black evangelicals say they have no choice but to vote for Republicans while others like Sharpton question how a majority of white evangelicals can support Trump. About 80 percent of African Americans have voted Democrat since the 1960s.
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(OPINION) While Italy’s newspapers have always covered news through a partisan lens, COVID-19 has led to lots of strong journalism as well as coverage of plenty of religious angles. Newsrooms across Italy have closed — with editors working from home — while reporters in the field have reported on the national lockdown’s disruption of daily life and how the contagion has ravaged communities and families.
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(OPINION) American Catholicism lost one of its giants following the death of 89-year-old Joseph O’Hare, a Jesuit priest who served as president of Fordham University for nearly two decades as well as the editor of America magazine.
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A bat mitzvah livestreamed, a growing virtual kaddish minyan to recite prayers and remember loved ones, a shivah service to mourn a death — digital tools are redefining what it means to be Jewish during a pandemic.
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(ANALYSIS) We are living in surreal times. The world as we knew it just over a week ago has been brought to a halt by the COVID-19 pandemic. After the virus devastated China’s Wuhan province, it spread to Europe and now the rest of the world. Our daily lives have been disrupted in a way never seen in our lifetimes.
Read MoreDeliberately vague definitions of “extremism” are infringing on the religious liberties of many in Russia. As a result of this legal language, at least 313 Jehovah’s Witnesses have been placed under investigation, and many more have been imprisoned and convicted.
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(OPINION) A recent report from the U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom reveals that the Chinese government has forced Uighur Muslims to work in factories that may connect to supply chains in large American companies.
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On. March 13, in a surprise move, the Indian government released former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and current Member of Parliament, Farooq Abdullah. He had been detained more than seven months inside his home in Kashmir, since Aug. 5, 2019 when the Indian government revoked Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status.
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(OPINION) Argentina is a case study of the dwindling influence this pope has — even in his home country — when it comes to trying to influence the outcome of an issue that the Catholic church has seen as important for decades.
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In a remote part of the Guatemalan highlands, Israeli businesses are creating jobs and wealth for Guatemalan youth. The Israeli-Latino alliance relies on the prominence of evangelical faith in Guatemalan politics and culture that sees Israel as an important ally, even as locals worry whether Israeli backpackers are a bad influence on their kids.
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(OPINION) The Muslim-majority West African nation has historically had high religious freedom, but changes to its Constitution and growing territorial control of terrorist groups could threaten that.
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Faith communities and interfaith coalitions from Washington to Texas, New York to California, are dedicating portions of their property to permanent or long-term homes for the homeless. Experts on homelessness and housing say this movement could make faith communities crucial to solving California’s — and maybe the nation’s — homeless crisis.
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(OPINION) Americans don’t consider Democratic presidential candidates to be particularly religious, a new study reveals. But at the end of this past Tuesday night’s two-hour debate in Charleston, S.C., guess what? Faith took center stage.
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