Posts in Religion News
Going meatless for Jesus: In Brazil, an Adventist University’s beans feed thousands

Seventh Day Adventists advocate vegetarian lifestyles for a healthy body and spiritual life, countering the mainstream food culture of meat that Brazil is known for.

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What is Christian nationalism? Shootings spark renewed debate

A statement by the grassroots coalition Christians Against Christian Nationalism and then recent mass shootings have renewed debate over the term “Christian nationalism” and what that means for American politics.

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Kashmir cut off from the world as India strips its autonomy

The Hindu nationalist-led Indian government has stripped Muslim-majority Kashmir of its agreed-upon terms of accession, a special status granting autonomy under the Indian constitution, and sent in more than 40,000 troops to the already heavily militarized region. Kashmiris there are living under curfews without access to phones, Internet or cable TV channels while elected representatives are under house arrest.

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She didn't see any books by immigrants, so Karen Gonzalez wrote one herself

Gonzalez immigrated with her family to Los Angeles from her native Guatemala and tells her story of being an immigrant and a Christian in a new book called The God Who Sees: Immigrants, the Bible, and the Journey to Belong.

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The Yazidi community five years after Islamic State massacre

We talked to human rights activist Dr. Widad Akreyi about the Yazidi community’s wait for justice on the international stage after the start of a genocide on Aug. 3, 2014. Thousands captured by Islamic State fighters remain missing.

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Faith and politics: Your guide to the Democratic presidential debates

We break down each candidate’s faith affiliation and how their religion could inform their chosen policy issues. Some might surprise you.

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The landmark church sitting on a Methodist fault line

The United Methodist Church’s vote to uphold traditional views on marriage and clergy  is playing out with particular intensity at an unconventional Methodist church in San Francisco. The denomination has filed a lawsuit that could result in drastic changes for the congregation and its community.

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Attacks on Muslims and Christians Continue to Rise in India

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election in 2014 and reelection this May, brutal mob attacks by Hindu nationalist groups against India’s Muslim and Christian minorities have continued to steadily rise.

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Songwriter and producer Rudy Perez talks about faith and his memoir 'The Latin Hit Maker'

The Grammy-winning Cuban-born American artist says that a persistent voice always guided him to music. His memoir hit shelves this week.

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U.S. conference elevates religious freedom globally, grows alliances

The second-annual Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom has successfully encouraged a growing number of governments to pay attention to the issue and created an alliance on international religious freedom policy. But critics worry how successful those plans and statements can be, and what is motivating the Trump administration.

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South Asia's cradle of Sufism is losing its traditional music

Kashmiri classical music, which blends Sufi traditions from Persia with Indian classical music, is facing threat of extinction as fewer students have leisure or funds to study the art form and fewer maestros exist to teach them. Its musicians believe the genre could bring peace to the army-occupied region, following the ways of Sufi mystics who preached peace, tolerance, pluralism and universalism.

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Franklin Graham's charity is mobilizing aid to the U.S.-Mexico border

Samaritan’s Purse, the poverty and crisis relief organization known for sending millions of shoeboxes to orphans every Christmas, has said it is mobilizing resources to alleviate the U.S.-Mexico border crisis. The announcement came 10 days after Christian singer Nichole Nordeman wrote an open letter to Graham in the Washington Post.

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In Kashmir, pilgrimages diffuse Hindu-Muslim tensions

This month, thousands of Indian Hindu pilgrims are visiting the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir — a region of armed conflict between Kashmiri Muslim militants and Indian security officials — to pray at the Amarnath cave and shrine. Thousands of Kashmiri Muslims are setting up shops and travel businesses to accommodate them.

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Why India is trying to criminalize instant divorce for Muslim men

A bill to ban triple talaq, or Islamic instant divorce, is creating controversy in India. The bill could be unconstitutional in two ways: it would criminalize only Muslim men for deserting their wives and it trumps so-called personal laws meant to provide religious freedom in civil matters like marriage.

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Christians seek new audiences with graphic novels

Christian comic book fans see biblical influences on the origin stories of popular superheroes like Superman, Spider-Man and the Silver Surfer. Meanwhile, Christian publishers are getting into the graphic novel genre.

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A more diverse, conservative Anglicanism is growing

The Episcopal Church in the U.S., part of the Anglican communion and the Church of England, is too liberal on issues like same-sex marriage for many expats from Africa and the Global South. The split in views and immigration to the U.S. and Canada is prompting growth in the conservative split-off, the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA), while the Episcopal Church is gradually declining.

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Video: LGBTQ Catholics celebrate Mass outside Stonewall Inn

The same-sex relationship affirming ministry of the Roman Catholic Church of St. Paul the Apostle represents a divide between some liberal Catholic parishes and the Vatican’s conservative teachings.

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How churches are saving forests in Ethiopia

We spoke with award-winning photographer Kieran Dodds about his project capturing the gardens of Eden cultivated by Ethiopian churches. The conservation is an act of worship to save their forests and provide an oasis for their congregations. Listen to the full podcast or read the edited transcript here.

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5 Takeaways from the International Religious Freedom Report

Saudi Arabia, China, Russia and Myanmar are the world’s worst offenders of religious freedom in 2018, according to the U.S. State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report.

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