(ANALYSIS) After he decided to kick heroin, the young Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried to think about daily life in a totally different way. Rather than trusting his willpower to do the right thing for a whole day, he began dividing each day into 40 or more decisions. After 14 years of addiction, Kennedy said he tried to act as if each decision was a moral test. This was a leap of faith, since his addiction attacked the Catholic faith of his childhood.
Read MoreIndonesia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi officially opened on Wednesday the two-day International Conference on Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy aimed at encouraging dialogue between different faith traditions. The conference hopes to strengthen the country’s respect for religious pluralism, while also addressing a variety of topics for reaching out to other faiths through education programs and human rights legislation.
Read MoreThe ongoing war between Israel and Hamas is having reverberations across the globe. This was the case during last week’s elections in the United Kingdom. While the headlines heralded the Labour‘s landslide victory, some of the party’s losses resulted in gains for independent candidates who made Gaza a major campaign issue.
Read MoreA release of the Republican National Convention’s (RNC) platform reveals a potential shift in the party’s focus on a federal abortion ban. The announcement came hours after the RNC’s platform committee met on Monday.
Read MoreThe government of Uganda officially recognized the Muslim martyrs who were killed on the orders of a local king starting in 1874 — and allocated $52,926 to organize this year’s Muslim Martyrs’ Day commemorations. This is the first time Muslims in Uganda organized an official commemoration for the Muslim martyrs. In the past, only Catholics and Anglicans participated in official celebrations.
Read MoreThe Vatican on Friday excommunicated the outspoken Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, its former ambassador to Washington, finding him guilty of promoting schism after repeatedly questioning Pope Francis’ authority. The Italian prelate had in recent years become one of Francis’ harshest critics.
Read MoreDid everyone in the religious congregation of your choice have a good “Fidelity Month”? That’s a joke, of course. There were probably more churches in America that celebrated Pride Month than those that were aware that “Fidelity Month” even exists. And pride is where it’s at, when it comes to the principalities and powers of corporate America, Big Tech, Hollywood, mainstream newsrooms and the vast majority of our elected officials from sea to shining sea.
Read MoreThe Alliance of Christians in Cuba (ACC) denounced the country’s human rights and religious freedom violations at its 2024 meeting, the third time it has done so since its 2022 founding and the latest in a string of such statements internationally. The ACC, a multi-denominational group of about 60 Christian leaders, called for the immediate release of religious prisoners and prisoners of conscience, the protected legal right for new churches to organize and function, and other rights included in Article 18 of the International Bill of Human Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Read MoreMinistries continue to distance themselves from Robert Morris, founder of Gateway Church in Texas, in the wake of accusations that he sexually abused a girl for several years, starting when she was 12.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Two of the Founding Fathers shaped American views on religious freedom and the separation of church and state more than any other: Jefferson and James Madison. Yet their views have also become lightning rods for controversy as the “wall” between church and state comes under scrutiny.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Tragedy seldom unifies Americans today. Well into the 20th century, tragedies were mostly explained differently than now. Explanations often referenced forces such as God, fate, bad luck, blameless accidents or, in line with the U.S. liberal political tradition, individual responsibility.
Read More(ANALYSIS) I guess there is a question that motivates this post but it’s about as simple as it’s going to get: How is Joe Biden doing among a bunch of different religious groups? Asking about presidential approval is about as straightforward as it gets, and the question was posed in the Fall of 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Read More(OPINION) Since 2016, in private conversations and in responses from newspaper readers, the question I’ve probably been asked more consistently than any other is: “How do you account for White evangelicals’ devotion to Donald Trump?” So I’ve taken stabs at answering that question. But more often than not I’ve ended up shrugging and saying, “I don’t know. I don’t get it, either.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) A Louisiana bill signed into law on June 19 requires displays of the Bible’s revered Ten Commandments in all public classrooms, even at the university level. Religious and nonreligious citizens immediately joined national lobbies in a federal court complaint that the law must be overturned for violating the U.S. Constitution’s ban on “establishment of religion” by the government.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Thoughtful Christians do need to speak up. During the late 20th century Marxist-Christian syncretism was a major problem, but Christian nationalism has much more influence within the evangelical world now and is, right now, the greater danger. In “Untangling Critical Race Theory,” Ed Uszynski writes, “Too often Christian commentary denounces CRT while making light of the real problems it seeks to address.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) While political pundits do their jobs in analyzing the presidential debate, I’ll do my job as a spiritual leader and encourage us to keep our priorities straight. In short, as I posted earlier this year, preach Jesus and vote for your presidential candidate of choice, based on scriptural principles. But do not preach your candidate. To do so is to defile your witness.
Read MoreMillions continue to suffer religious persecution globally, with wars and civil conflicts exacerbating already existing ills in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the U.S. State Department documented in its 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom. The report attempts to present an overview of persecution by governments, extremists and members of society, relying on information from government officials, religious groups, nongovernmental organizations, journalists, human rights monitors, academia and the media.
Read MoreThe timing was awkward, to say the least, for the recording of this week’s “Crossroads” podcast. Lutheran Public Radio listeners who heard this chat live heard us discussing an alleged “debate” between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump that had not yet taken place. Ditto for anyone who immediately downloaded the Issues, Etc., audio file.
Read MoreIn a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court sent the case of Idaho and Moyle v. U.S. back to the Ninth Circuit Court in a ruling released on Thursday. The case involves a conflict between state law and the Biden Administration’s use of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.
Read MoreMost churchgoers believe Christians have a good reputation with Americans in general, but they worry those feelings are starting to sour. A Lifeway Research study finds 53% of U.S. Protestant churchgoers say most Americans have a positive perception of Christians. Two in five (40%) disagree and 8% aren’t sure.
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