Posts in women
A Single Christian’s Perspective On Matchmaking

(OPINION) As a single woman in my 20s, I’ve experienced my fair share of matchmaking attempts and not-so-subtle comments about eligible bachelors. While I used to find this annoying, I’ve come to realize that I don’t mind being set up. There’s just one problem — most of what I’ve experienced isn’t matchmaking. It’s hinting.

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2024 Presidential Election: How Will Various Faith Groups Vote?

(ANALYSIS) Here’s a behind-the-scenes bit of information: I don’t have any raw data at my disposal about how religious groups are intending to vote in the 2024 presidential election. However, I do have a way to back into some information about how things should shake out come Tuesday night.

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How Do Female Pastors Differ From Their Male Counterparts?

(ANALYSIS) I’ve been trying to think of a way to better understand how female pastors experience their job compared to men. There just aren’t that many surveys of clergy out there, so this is not an easy task. The other day I remembered that there was a dataset out there that I hadn’t done a lot with — the National Congregations Study.

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10 States Will Vote On Abortion This Election Day

On the eve of a potentially historic presidential election, Natasha Sutherland is tired. The born-and-raised Floridian and senior advisor to the Yes on 4 campaign has been fighting to expand and protect abortion access in her home state for years, but that fight hit a fever pitch after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

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ERLC Urges Blinken To Aid Chinese Orphans Stuck In Adoption Limbo

The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) has urged the U.S. government to intercede for the American families and Chinese orphans caught in limbo by the end of China’s international adoption program.

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The Moral Blindness Of Harris’ Position On Abortion

(OPINION) I can’t do justice to these responses in full here, but they all go back to that same fundamental point: Abortion snuffs out a real, human life, a life with unknown potential, however tiny and still-developing it may be.

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Dutch Woman Faces Trial For Involvement In Crimes Against Yazidis

(ANALYSIS) Earlier this month, a trial of a Dutch member of Daesh, also known as the Islamic State group, began in The Hague, Netherlands. The Dutch national, known as Hasna A., is being tried for crimes against Yazidi women, representing a pivotal moment in the global fight for justice and accountability.

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Representation Matters: A Black Christian Woman’s Perspective On Kamala Harris

(OPINION) This moment in time is not solely about Harris becoming the first Black and Asian woman as a presidential nominee. This historic juncture, in particular for Black girls and women, bridges the hopes and dreams from our past, the tangible opportunities of the present and the limitless possibilities for the future.

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On Religion: When A Doritos Meme Turns Into A Clash About Holy Communion

(ANALYSIS) In her campaign against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump — whose 2016 victory angered her — the Harris team has used Doritos as a symbol of the feisty, combative side of the vice president’s personality.

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Salesian Sisters Lead the Fight Against Drug Addiction in War-Torn Manipur

Amid the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur, a group of Salesian nurses are helping women combat drug addiction. Manipur — an Indian state nestled in the mountains along the border with Myanmar — has been gripped by ethnic violence since last year. Approximately 250 people have been killed and tens of thousands displaced.

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Mothers Who Keep Their Fatal Pregnancies Turn To Faith: ‘Who am I to kill this baby?’

No publicity has gone to women who have chosen a different path. The Catholic Church, for example, opposes aborting the handicapped unborn on the grounds that all life — no matter how disabled — has “inherent dignity.” This debate has been reignited as Vice President Kamala Harris, who favors expanding abortion rights, runs for president.

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Porn Use Grows Among Christians, Forcing Churches To Offer Healing

Christian men and women use pornography more today than in 2016 when Barna spotlighted the sin among pastors and congregants, an updated study found in calling the church to be a place of healing for those impacted by the pervasive and destructive phenomenon.

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‘Souls To The Polls’: Harris Highlights Her Faith In Bid To Connect With Voters

With two weeks left until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris has made visiting churches an integral stop along the campaign trail, urging voters to cast early ballots as part of her “souls to the polls” campaign. The push comes as Harris attempts to motivate Black Christians who have traditionally been a part of the Democratic Party’s voter base.

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A New Look At The Status Of Women Across Global Christianity

(ANALYSIS) Before this month’s synod at the Vatican, Pope Francis took the question of allowing women deacons off the agenda, referring this and other hot-button issues to study groups. That distressed many Catholic activists. Leaving aside this matter of ordained ministry, sisters in religious orders and lay women could fill many influential church posts monopolized by male priests.

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Vatican Synod Opens Door A Bit Wider For Catholic Women

(ANALYSIS) At the current synod, whose purpose is to address “communion, participation, and mission” in the church, women’s role is on the agenda. But Catholic women have historically found ways to speak to and about their church leadership, even when they have been excluded from its proceedings.

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5 Kinds Of American Evangelicals And Their Voting Patterns

(ANALYSIS) At University of Southern California’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture, we decided to bring together our collective research on evangelicalism to develop a broader template to understand the dynamics of American evangelicalism.

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European Court Of Justice: Gender And Nationality Sufficient To Grant Afghan Women Asylum

(ANALYSIS) On Oct. 4, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that gender and nationality alone are sufficient for a country to grant asylum to Afghan women. The case concerned Afghan women who were seeking international protection in Austria, and their asylum applications were rejected in 2015 and 2020.

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Supreme Court Leaves Texas Anti-Abortion Measure In Place

The U.S. Supreme Court failed to intervene during this session in a dispute over whether the 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act requires doctors in the anti-abortion state of Texas to perform abortions to stabilize patients seeking emergency room care.

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