(ANALYSIS) There’s a new TikTok trend for Christian influencers: Gluing a small, rectangular box with a scroll inside, marked with a cross, that observers can nail to their door frames. Available to buy on TikTok shop, the boxes — called “Grace Marks” — come in gray-marbled white as well as a “terrazzo” confetti-flecked version.
Read MoreThe Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan has long experienced significant constraints on its religious practices. From not being allowed to call their places of worship “mosques” or use Islamic terms such as “Azan” (call to prayer) to not being able to vote because Ahmadis must either renounce their faith or agree to be placed on a separate electoral list categorizing them as “non-Muslim.”
Read MoreBerlin faces growing intolerance of immigrants and their religions, especially Muslim Arabs from countries like Turkey and Syria. right-wing extremist political parties like the Alternative for Germany echo Nazi talking points and pine for a homogenous, white and Christian society. History, however, shows that such a time never existed.
Read MorePolice say there are eight victims ages 52 to 88 who were hospitalized with burns, and another four who suffered minor injuries. The victims were part of Run for Their Lives, a weekly vigil and march for Israeli captives who remain held by Hamas.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Across America, a growing number of people of all ages are communing with the Holy Spirit via their smartphones and laptops. Once the stuff of pews and pulpits, faith now flows through fiber optics. It’s convenient, sure. No parking, no crowds, no early wake-ups. But is it really church? The answer appears to be no — a resounding no.
Read More(OPINION) Reading all about the decline of religion, I always find myself pondering the mystery of faith itself. Where does faith come from? Why do some people have it and others don’t? Why do some abandon it and others hold fast despite ill winds?
Read MoreThere may be more than one reason Generation X is dubbed the Forgotten Generation. According to a Giving USA survey, they are being surpassed by their younger counterparts — millennials — when it comes to charitable giving. However, baby boomers surpass everyone.
Read MoreThe bottom line: At some point, parents in traditional forms of faith are going to have to teach their children — the younger the better — that their their home is different from those in which many of their friends are being raised. That can be tough sledding, but these hard topics Will. Not. Go. Away.
Read MoreTexas Rangers slugger Jake Burger’s return to form coincided with the election of a fellow Midwesterner as the first U.S.-born pope. Faith is ingrained in the devout Catholic athlete and his family.
Read More(REVIEW) It’s been said, “You may not care about politics, but politics cares about you.” The same is true of religion. If you want to better understand your neighbors — and the cultural and political forces shaping America — “The American Religious Landscape” is the primer you’ve been looking for. Despite all the data, it’s also a book that does not disappoint.
Read MoreWhat motivated the smashing on April 23 of the main gate to Damascus’s historic Jewish cemetery and the digging of a pit disturbing the tomb of renowned mystic Rabbi Hayyim ben Joesph Vital? The desecration can be understood as part of the history of Jewish and Muslim leaders battling on the metaphysical astral plain in parallel to the normative Israeli-Arab military conflict.
Read More(REVIEW) The film does fall into some contrived tropes. It’s never really adequately explained why they don’t initially try to get donations for the surgery (or help from Joe’s super-rich friend). But it doesn’t lean as far into these as most do, and the authenticity of how the characters behave in these situations makes up for it. “The Last Rodeo” is the best Angel Studios movie to date and one of the better faith-based industry films ever made.
Read More(REVIEW) “The Many Lives of Anne Frank” is trenchant, elegant and relevant — beautifully written, almost like a novel. Franklin achieves the seemingly impossible: Allowing the reader to see the flesh-and-blood Anne — complex, rambunctious, talkative, critical, acerbic, funny and vivacious — rather than the homogenized and sentimentalized figure enshrined in pop culture.
Read MoreTexas lawmakers banned nondisclosure clauses in sexual abuse settlement agreements May 26, following Missouri’s passage of similar legislation weeks earlier. The Texas legislature approved the final version of its bill on Memorial Day, first approving it in the House in April, before the Senate’s nod to a similar version of the bill May 15, with the House’s final approval.
Read MoreThe U.S. Supreme Court could not find five votes for either side in an appeal that would have established the first state-supported religious charter school in the nation. The 4-4 split — made possible by Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s recusal — allowed to stand the lower court’s decision that it would be unconstitutional for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School in Oklahoma City to be established with public funds.
Read MoreOur Weekend Plug-in columnist loves baseball. And he loves reporting on faith. Combining the two? He calls that a home run.
Read MoreTwo Israeli embassy staffers were shot and killed outside an event in Washington, D.C., around 9 p.m. Wednesday, according to local and federal officials, by a suspect who appeared to target them in what many Jewish leaders are calling an antisemitic attack. The shooting took place following an American Jewish Committee event for young Jewish professionals and diplomats at the Capital Jewish Museum.
Read MoreA federal tax credit proposal would provide up to $5,000 per student in tuition assistance for yeshivas and other Jewish schools nationwide. The proposal, which has been criticized by some as a threat to religious liberty, has been hailed as "historic" by Agudath Israel.
Read More(ANALYSIS) I am not saying all media technologies, companies or content are necessarily tools of Satan. I am saying their overwhelming domination of our attention distracts us from deeper work – on our families, our communities and ourselves and this spiritual adversary can use those distractions for his own, deceptive purposes.
Read MoreNearly one in three U.S. adults say they consult astrology, tarot cards or fortune tellers at least once a year — though most do so for entertainment rather than a form of religious guidance, according to a new survey. The Pew Research Center study found that 30% engage with at least one form of metaphysical or mystical insight annually. However, Pew researchers noted that few Americans report making major life decisions based on what they learn from these practices.
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