(ANALYSIS) Liberal democracies promise freedom and prosperity, yet they often struggle to answer a deeper question: What is this freedom for? When shared narratives and moral horizons fade, individuals may experience fragmentation and a loss of meaning. Politics shrinks into technocratic management.
Read MoreA retired Baptist pastor is the latest Christian convicted for religious activity in an abortion buffer zone in the United Kingdom, this time for holding a church service on the outskirts of a zone.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Mother’s Day seems like a strange time to celebrate birth control, which, on its most basic level, is about helping people to not become mothers — or not become mothers again.
Read More(ANALYSIS) When he was elected pope last May, Robert Prevost, who took the name Leo XIV, greeted the crowd with Christ’s words to his disciples: “Peace be with you.” Peace has become a central theme of the pontificate of the first American pope. In recent months, opposing the war in the Middle East, Leo has said that the “world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants.”
Read MoreAn Alabama town honors Vietnam veterans during a memorial ceremony, reflecting deep ties between faith and military life in this part of the country. Residents and leaders have increasingly used Christian rhetoric to frame U.S. military actions in the Middle East, drawing both support and criticism over religion’s role in government and war.
Read MoreTo fully understand Atlanta, you have to look beyond its highways and glass towers, back to the broader history of Georgia and its unusual role during colonial America. In that earlier era, a quiet but consequential force — religious diversity — helped shape a mindset that would eventually contribute to the movement for independence in 1776.
Read MoreThe Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate is helping the Russian government kidnap, house and falsely indoctrinate Ukrainian children, according to expert testimony before the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Read MoreThe U.S. Supreme Court has stayed a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals nationwide ban on mail-order abortion pills, the main mode of pregnancy termination in the U.S.
Read MoreAs New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani marks four months in office, a new survey of New York City’s Jewish voters shows he’s done little to ease concerns among a community that overwhelmingly did not support his election and remains uneasy about his handling of antisemitism and Israel.
Read MoreAdam Miller, a Los Angeles mayoral candidate and former tech executive, is beginning to highlight his Jewish identity after initially downplaying it. He frames his background and leadership at Ikar as key qualifications, while criticizing city leadership on antisemitism, positioning himself as a moderate alternative in a competitive race.
Read MorePope Leo XIV’s first international apostolic journey was clouded by heated disputes with President Donald Trump, criticisms of appearing to appease the Islamist persecution of Christians and ongoing conflicts over homosexuality and polygamy among those who are members of the Catholic Church.
Read MoreEvery now and then, a current event comes along that waves a red flag at the mainstream media — warning editors and reporters that there is no way around the religious content in this story. What kind of red flag?
Read MoreIn a ballroom surrounded by fellow Godbeat pros, our columnist immediately thought this when he learned of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting: There’ll be a religion angle. Why? There always is.
Read More(ANALYSIS) All this has happened even as President Donald Trump has emphasized a particular idea of religious liberty throughout his second term. In his proclamation for Religious Freedom Day in 2026, he emphasized familiar ideas of Americans’ “God-given right to practice their faith, follow their conscience, and worship their God freely and without fear.” But the statement also seemed to reflect a broader project of lending government support to Christianity.
Read MoreA Christian pro-life pregnancy resource center can fight in federal court the state of New Jersey’s order to submit a broad spectrum of documents including the identity of financial donors, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Wednesday.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Trump claimed the White House Correspondents Dinner attacker “hated Christians,” but reporting indicates the suspect was a believer whose manifesto drew on Christian theology. The discrepancy highlights how Trump’s framing may serve broader political goals, particularly unifying a divided conservative Christian base around perceived religious persecution.
Read More(ANALYSIS) After years of religious decline, it’s understandable that faith leaders would celebrate any indication of renewal. Yet the eagerness to tout young men’s religious interest and relatively muted discussion of young women’s decreased attachment mirrors a current that has washed through many American churches for over a generation.
Read MoreThe pursuit of virtue and liberty ought to be at the center of American policymaking. What’s changed — especially among conservative lawmakers — in recent years? Matthew Peterson interviewed Stephanie Slade, senior editor of Reason magazine and author of the upcoming book “Fusionism” to find out.
Read MoreYazidis in northeast Syria are fleeing yet again as renewed fighting in Aleppo triggers mass displacement, reviving trauma from ISIS’s 2014 genocide. Survivors face deep psychological scars, economic hardship, and persistent insecurity, with many fearing further violence, family separation, and the gradual erosion of their community and identity through repeated upheaval.
Read MoreA shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., injured one officer and prompted the evacuation of President Trump and guests. The incident renewed calls to reduce political rhetoric. Officials, including Christian leaders, condemned the violence and urged prayer, unity and a peaceful approach to political differences.
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