(OPINION) Politics are very important. Politics played a role in the abolition of slavery and segregation and in the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Conversely, it was because of a political vote that Hitler came into power, resulting in the deaths of multiplied tens of millions of lives.
Read More(ANALYSIS) It was the kind of quote that, when said by the right person under the right conditions, would inspire bold headlines. âYour country ... has families with three, four or five children,â Pope Francis told President Joko Widodo of Indonesia. âKeep it up, youâre an example for everyone, for all the countries that maybe ... these families prefer to have a cat or a little dog instead of a child.â
Read More(REVIEW) âThe Front Roomâ tries to say something important about faith, but its social commentary is too silly to take seriously and the thrills arenât good enough to be silly fun. In a post-Christian society, itâs inevitable that movies will increasingly find creative ways to reflect and wrestle with this religious change. Hopefully, more of them will do so in a more intelligent (or at least entertaining) way than âThe Front Room.â
Read More(ANALYSIS) So let me visualize how the two major parties have diverged on these metrics over the last couple of decades. Letâs start with belief in God, a question that has been included in the General Social Survey with regularity since the early 1990s.
Read More(ANALYSIS) For many Americans, itâs a challenge to focus on much news beyond the raucous national and local political campaigns till November 5. But late this year or early in 2025 weâll get something completely different and fascinating â a batch of new findings from the Global Flourishing Study. Through 2026, this unprecedented academic project is investigating what factors create human happiness, well-being and life satisfaction in 22 widely varied countries, based upon surveys with 240,000 people.
Read MoreSOF Missions helps veterans who â like retired Air Force Lt. Col. Damon Friedman â struggle with PTSD and other challenges from military service. At the 23rd anniversary of 9/11, many of those who served their country overseas still fight a war at home. âIâm telling you, I was going to become a statistic,â Friedman said.
Read More(OPINION) For men and women alike, choosing to remain childless used to be a decision frowned upon by the larger culture. Now, childlessness is rapidly becoming our culture. Look, I get it. Yet I donât get it. Having kids might be only a choice, but itâs a choice I canât imagine having forgone.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Keir Starmer's ascent as the U.K.'s first openly atheist leader marks a significant milestone in British political history. This development prompts the question: Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Unsurprisingly, the answer is rather complicated. Today's U.K. is vastly different from the country of Starmer's childhood.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In my âOn Religionâ column â âJonathan Haidt: It's time for clergy to start worrying about smartphone cultureâ â I focused on what the author of âThe Anxious Generationâ had to say about the decisions faced by religious believers in the age of digital-screens culture.
Read MoreOne of the worldâs most important newsrooms just offered a finely detailed profile of Catholic convert J.D. Vance and, imagine this, the feature focused on the emotions and ideas that led him to swim the Tiber. This included his intellectual and spiritual attraction to the work of St. Augustine, one of the most important minds in Western culture.
Read MoreThe new "Reagan" biopic focuses on Ronald Reagan's role in the Cold War and the fight against Soviet communism. But faith emerges as a major storyline in the 135-minute biopic.
Read More(ANALYSIS) I am going to pull out some questions that piqued my interest when I was scrolling through the codebook. The first is a set of two questions about mental health. Folks were asked, âHow often do you get the social and emotional support you need?â
Read More(ANALYSIS) Exorcism movies are making a comeback â and the reasons are more interesting than you might think. The likely reasons actually say a lot about the present and the future of religion in America and its intersection with the future of mass media. Here's a deeper look at why Hollywood is going all in on the genre.
Read MoreThe U.S. Supreme Court refused Sept. 3 to restore a $4.5 million family planning grant to Oklahoma while the stateâs challenge to the termination of the grant works its way through the lower courts.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, women and girls have been banned from playing sports or participating in any form of physical activity. However, Afghan women have been defying the Taliban and competed at the 2024 Olympics and 2024 Paralympic, while flying the flag of the Refugee Olympic and Paralympic teams.
Read MoreOverwhelmingly, Americans think the moral values of the country are worsening. Around four in five U.S. adults (81 percent) say the state of moral values is getting worse, and only 14 percent say itâs getting better. That gives the future outlook a minus 67 score â down 24 points from 2002.
Read MoreIllegal bans on nonvegetarian food are increasingly being introduced in towns that attract Hindu pilgrims, like Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh and Haridwar in Uttarakhand. Since it is perceived as a manifestation of tradition and culture, it is difficult to challenge it in a court of law.
Read MoreThe Mixe language continues to thrive. The Mixe people consider themselves never conquered, and turkey â an animal native to the Americas before colonization â is served at all significant events. Asking Mother Earth for permission and for the well-being of the plants does not only accompany coffee producers of the Mixe group, but also other farmers in Oaxaca.
Read MorePope Francis delivered his first speech on Indonesian soil on Wednesday as he met with the countryâs authorities, civil society, and diplomatic corps at the Istana Negara presidential palace in Jakarta. He was welcomed by President Joko Widodo, a crowd of Indonesian children waiving Vatican and Indonesian flags, and several members of the presidential guard.
Read More(OPINION) During the lengthy pandemic lockdown, I decided to take advantage of all that unforeseen solitude by developing my spiritual life. Among other things, I studied the works of Roman Catholic mystics. One sublime idea they sometimes express is that each of us â indeed, Godâs whole creation â is one with the Maker of everything.
Read More
