(COMMENTARY) Jordan Peterson, a psychology professor turned Youtube theologian, mixes science, art and faith from a nuanced secular perspective.
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Deeply stirring documentary “Emanuel” about the 2015 Charleston Church shooting, directed by Brian Ivie, unearths a hidden parallel tale of living amidst hate. The film, which premiered on November 14 at the New York Documentary Festival, shows how one community chose to respond to tragedy with forgiveness.
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(COMMENTARY) University of Toronto psychology professor Jordan Peterson answers critics, the faithful and seekers in between on his popular Youtube channel. Peterson has sent mixed signals about Christianity.
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After the unprecedented acquittal of a Christian from blasphemy charges, Pakistan is bowing to pressure from hardline Islamist groups to ban her exit from the Muslim-majority country.
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(COMMENTARY) The Religion Guy answers whether evangelical and charismatic Christians can worship together.
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(COMMENTARY) Pope John Paul II believed his and former US President Reagan’s survivals of shootings were part of a divine plan countering evil in Russia.
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(COMMENTARY) There are three distinct Ukrainian Orthodox strains with differing loyalties to Russian and Turkish Orthodox patriarchs. While an Istanbul patriarch has lifted a condemnation of Ukrainian Orthodoxy, a Moscow patriarch has severed ties with Kiev.
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(COMMENTARY) Europe took a dystopian turn last week when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that governments can punish citizens for criticizing the prophet Muhammad if such criticism “conflicts with the right of others to have their religious feelings protected.”
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Religion scholars will meet Nov. 17-20 in Denver for simultaneous conventions of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and the professional counterpart for Scripture specialists, the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL).
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Jamal Khashoggi may have signed his own death warrant with his opinion column in The Washington Post when he criticized the White House’s democratic efforts in the Arab world, including both the Obama and Trump administration.
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(COMMENTARY) While it's common to believe that religion evolves slowly over time, in a linear manner, the evidence suggests that history lurches through periods of "extreme, rapid, revolutionary change, when everything is shaken and thrown up into the air," said historian Philip Jenkins. Ever 50 years or so, new patterns and cultural norms seem to appear that never could have been predicted.
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(COMMENTARY) The venerable Mormon Tabernacle Choir has announced that it is now named “The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.” Reason: President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has declared that “the importance of the name” that God “revealed for His Church,” means believers and outsiders must drop “Mormon” and use that full nine-word name.
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(COMMENTARY) Theodore McCarrick has become the iconic figure at the heart of the latest round of Catholic clergy sex scandals. Here in America, the key will be whether bishops find ways to hold each other accountable, especially with talk increasing of a federal investigation of cover-ups linked to sexual abuse.
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The U.S. Supreme Court isn’t only the highest court in the land, its judges have the responsibility to rule on cases that have a lasting impact on American politics, culture and religion. Driving those changes going forward will be a Catholic majority of justices who have become increasingly conservative, shifting the balance of the court for years to come.
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(COMMENTARY) The Catholic Church’s “bad guys” aren’t women, but men accused of molesting children and teens over the last few decades. Those who were victimized were children, teens and young people – all in large part males. The solution to the Catholic Church’s ills won’t come from the clergy – certainly not if Pope Francis and others protect the likes of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick – but from the flock. And it will be women who will lead the way.
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Nestled between flashy carnival games, noisy food vendors and large, sweaty crowds, the small shrine of St. Gennaro glows and quietly blends in with the party atmosphere along Mulberry Street in New York’s Little Italy
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(OPINION) How will the recent Vatican-Beijing development — ostensibly designed to unite the much persecuted, Vatican-loyal, underground Chinese Catholic church with the government recognized, and controlled, official Chinese Catholic church — survive should Vatican officials decide to criticize one or another Chinese human rights violation? Or does China believe that this agreement is just another Chinese attempt to control religious expression?
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(COMMENTARY) Nothing much has changed in Western reporting about Russia since 1939. A recent meeting between the Patriarchs Cyril of Moscow and Bartholomew of Constantinople over an autocephalous or independent orthodox church in Ukraine is yet another example of the fog that surrounds Russian reporting.
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Sabelo Mlangeni is an award-winning photographer featured in galleries from the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts to San Francisco’s MOMA. He’s been awarded residencies from Germany to France. Featured once in The New Yorker, he was described as South Africa’s “Flâneur,” a term used to describe his ability to capture intimate moments wherever he travels. But while he is known around the world, his home is close to heart. His most recent gallery is Umlindelo Wamakhlowa (Night Vigil of the Believers) at Wits Art Museum (WAM), located at the University of Witswatersrand in Joburg. His series of photos in the exhibit document the Church of Zion and his own experience.
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A whistleblower says the Vatican – and specifically Pope Francis – was aware of immoral sexual abuse behavior years ago. When it was revealed that two Catholic journalists helped him to edit and distribute the letter making those claims, it shed a light on the increasingly polarized Catholic Church and the growth and influence of conservative news and opinion websites that oppose Pope Francis and what they believe is the pontiff’s assault on orthodoxy.
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