What does a Church's size say about its health? Matthew Peterson speaks with Karl Vaters, author of "De-Sizing the Church" to find out in this week’s podcast.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation criminalizing clergy sexual abuse, closing what advocates and survivors called a longstanding gap in state law.
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(OPINION) Many leaders I talk to feel the same tension. We can see the division. We can feel the distance growing. We know something deeper than politics is breaking down. So we ask: What do we actually do about it?
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(ANALYSIS) Abortion has become a defining partisan issue, with Republicans generally anti-abortion and Democrats pro-abortion rights. Yet lawmakers like Charlie Baker, Susan Collins and Bob Casey show exceptions can succeed in some states. At the same time, long-term polling reveals growing support for abortion access across most religious groups.
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(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.
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A 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.
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(ANALYSIS) Russell Brand, the erudite Englishman, is scheduled to stand trial in the U.K. on three counts of rape, three of sexual assault and one of indecent assault. He has pleaded not guilty to everything. He has also, in the meantime, become a Christian, moved to Florida and now he wants you to buy his book.
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(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.
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The Israeli thriller “Unconditional” has sparked accusations of “hasbara” before release, but the series proves more complicated than simple propaganda. Following a young Israeli woman imprisoned in Russia, the show explores national image-making, Israeli behavior abroad, and the moral gray zones surrounding identity, war, and public perception.
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(ANALYSIS) The general admonition is the same in many faith communities: Try to marry someone who shares your faith background. That’s certainly a well-established norm in Jewish communities.
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(ANALYSIS) Mother’s Day in the U.S. now drives about $34 billion in spending, but its founder, Anna Jarvis, envisioned it as a day honoring mothers’ social and moral influence. From ancient traditions to modern activism, mothers have long been seen as protectors and advocates for peace — a legacy often overshadowed today.
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Polls and news coverage explaining the voting habits of “evangelicals” are haunted by the same kinds of questions. Define an “evangelical” voter. Please.
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(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.”
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Pastor Greg Locke retracted years-old allegations accusing Kenneth Copeland, Joel Osteen and others of abuse, admitting he lacked any evidence. The claims unraveled after scrutiny from apologist Mike Winger, prompting Locke to admit he had been misled and been used as an “amplifier.”
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To 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.
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(ANALYSIS) For those who have been long-time subscribers to this newsletter, you will know that the predominant approach to measuring religion is called “the three B’s.”
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The 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.
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A massive amount of research confirms what your grandma has always told you: Go to church. It’s good for you. And if a church isn’t your scene, a temple, mosque, synagogue or gurdwara would also do. In fact, religious involvement is strongly associated with better mental, physical and social health outcomes, according to a new study.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Ask most people what they know about religion in the Pacific Northwest, and you’ll get a shrug. “Isn’t that the none zone?”
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In a new book, a religious studies scholar discusses how the concepts of conversion, testimony and purity can be used to study the vaccine hesitancy movement. Author Kira Ganga Kieffer explains how the vaccine hesitancy movement became bound up with religious liberty activists in trying to preserve their rights.
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