(OPINION) Forces in Ethiopia and abroad are currently capitalizing on the appalling murder of the musician and political activist Hachalu Hundessa, which led to violent ethnic-based clashes that killed nearly 200 people this month. Political groups in Africa’s second-most-populous country have consistently paraded distorted and, at times, wholly inaccurate narratives about the democratic values Hundessa stood for.
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(OPINION) As Americans go from the racial reckoning that has engulfed America for the past two months to the start of the general election season, vandalism involving the burning of a church or the decapitation of a Jesus statue can become highly symbolic and significant.
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(OPINION) Recent violence and hate crimes in Ethiopia has parallels to pre-genocide Rwanda with many lessons: the further we stray from faith, the further we stray from justice.
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Churches in Kenya are slowly reopening during the coronavirus pandemic, though some church leaders think their religious freedom is coming under fire with restrictions, including a limit of one hour for a worship service and a ban on adults 58 and older and youth younger than 18.
Read More(OPINION) What stood out to me most in regard to Lewis was that he put principles over politics and for that he was respected by Republicans and Democrats. At the height of the 2008 Presidential campaign I learned during a gathering President George W. Bush hosted at the White House it wasn’t certain that Lewis was going to endorse Hillary Clinton for president.
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(OPINION) An Israeli Jewish journalist proposes a solution to offending monuments that’s straight out of the Old Testament.
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(ANALYSIS) For all the fallout caused by the virus (and how various states have handled it) and the divisions in this country around issues like race, the presidential election could — once again — be decided by a handful of majority Catholic counties in four states by voters who care about abortion and religious liberty.
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(OPINION) Pope Francis, who has consistently drawn the ire of Catholic media on the doctrinal right, gave his view of what the religious press should look like in the United States.
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(ANALYSIS) Nigerian diaspora academics discussed the findings of a U.K. government report on July 6, concluding that several factors like water scarcity are affecting violence in Northern Nigeria, complicating a designation of genocide. Many acts of violence carried out by Boko Haram against Christians bear Quranic punishments for so-called infidels, and the Nigerian army is struggling to contain the violence.
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(OPINION) As Italians gained in power, Columbus Day officially became a U.S. federal holiday starting in 1968. Amerigo Vespucci, however, is barely mentioned in American classrooms.
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(OPINION) Many Americans rely on politicians instead of priests or other religious leaders to guide their views of gun control in the United States. The data tells a compelling story — Americans of all religious faiths are less supportive of gun control now than at any point in the last two decades.
Read More(OPINION) A sexuality which severs our spiritual selves from our bodies leaves women with nowhere to go – quite literally. But is that not just the other side of the same coin as Harvey Weinstein, where men assume that a friendly woman wants something?
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With Election Day four-plus months away, religion angles abound on the race between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Find links to some of the week’s most interesting faith-and-politics news in the latest Plug-in.
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(OPINION) As the national debate surrounding law-enforcement practices and the Black Lives Matter movement continues, journalists need to go beyond covering the obvious.
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(OPINION) When the Supreme Court ruled June 15 that sex discrimination in employment includes sexual-orientation and gender-identity discrimination, faith-based organizations were right to wonder how to navigate the new legal landscape.
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Progressive Catholics like Martin Gugino see it as their role to help the United States achieve racial equality. Traditional Catholics, however, see Black Lives Matter as part of a sinister force that wants to spread Marxist ideology. While Catholics agree that racism is an issue in American society, the proposed remedies for those ills differ wildly.
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(OPINION) Prayer is paramount and education is critical. But is it essential that they lead us to act. We cannot hide in our prayer closets or behind our books. Perhaps what is most important for the current moment, is for us as Christians to do all we can to support structural changes that will reduce the frequency of incidents such as the death of George Floyd.
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(OPINION) Journalists needed to give readers both sides of a debate so that they had some chance to fully understood and assess what is happening. Otherwise, they’re only telling half the story. Right?
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Locked and loaded parishioners acting like John Wayne of the church pews may be a new chapter in church history. Historically, Christians were hesitant to deploy violence for self-protection. While the Bible and church history illustrate tension around violence, armed resistance isn’t completely foreign to Christendom.
Read More(OPINION) A young black Christian woman in New York had not attended previous protests because she thought revenge, anger and bitterness characterized the Black Lives Matter movement. Then Brooklyn churches organized a “prayerful protest.”
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