Posts in Religion
How 'American Gods' On Starz Excludes American Gods

The new imaginative TV show American Gods takes us on a cross-country road trip to encounter the Gods of America. However, the show barely mentions Jesus or other manifestations of the Christian faith. The show’s season two premier airs on Sunday, March 10th.

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'A Good Wife' is Samra Zafar's story of leaving an abusive marriage without leaving Islam

Zafar agreed to an arranged marriage at age 17, believing the man and his family that the move from Pakistan to Canada would give her more educational opportunities. She didn’t expect to become a prisoner in her own home.

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Vatican archives coverage was a missed chance to dig into John Paul II's Jewish outreach

(COMMENTARY) A general sweep of the coverage shows that news organizations barely took on the issue — or even bothered to give a deeper explanation — of past Christian persecution of Jews and the efforts made since the Second Vatican Council, and later by Saint Pope John Paul II, to bring healing to this relationship.

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Being a Buddhist President in Exile

Should the head of a government live out his religious beliefs in office? The Tibetan President-in-Exile Lobsang Sangay argues that that does not necessarily violate the separation of Church and State or the freedom of religion or belief.

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Prayers for Venezuela: Faith and famine in the ongoing economic crisis

Every day, state control intensifies at every level. All forms of demonstrations are prohibited. Cities across Venezuela have become militarized zones littered with heavily-armed soldiers and tanks. My friends, who are also journalists, have been fired from reporting the truth.

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How Christianity's roots in Africa help racial reconciliation in America

A crowd of diverse scholars and Christian influencers gathered in the Central Presbyterian Church on the Upper East Side to remember the life and legacy of the late Dr. Thomas C. Oden.

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Pope's clergy sex abuse summit: 5 questions for the Catholic Church going forward

What next for the church? A few days clearly isn’t enough to heal the deep wound that decades of abuse and inaction have caused. To recap the very busy events of the past few days, here’s a look at five questions to emerge from the Vatican’s summit and how the church hopes to handle cases of clergy sex abuse going forward.

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Indian faith leaders sign pledge to promote harmony, defend religion

The faith leaders, representing Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Jewish, Ravidas and Bahá'í  followers, declared to preach harmony and peace amidst rising religious violence in India.

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David M. Bailey On How Racial Reconciliation Heals While Colorblindness Harms

David M. Bailey stood at the podium in the City Room of The King’s College in lower Manhattan, expressing his initial frustration with being black and Christian in America. 

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Catholic beat memo: Fuzzy math and estimating the number of gay priests

(COMMENTARY) There is an old newsroom saying that I have found often holds true: journalist + math = correction. This comical equation exemplifies how often people working in newsrooms just get math wrong in their stories. From polls and surveys to trying to quantify something by way of statistics, most reporters and editors find themselves befuddled — even fooled — by numbers.

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Jackie Robinson's forgotten Christianity: How being a devout Methodist impacted his life

A lot has been said and written about Jackie Robinson. The baseball legend — famous for breaking baseball’s color barrier — was known for many things. His athletic abilities, courage in the face of racism and the dignity with which he went about it all remain the focal points. What is often ignored — even forgotten — is Robinson’s Christian faith.

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China’s Faithful Endure a Long, Bitter Winter of Persecution

Today, China continues to escalate its massive suppression of Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners, Jews and Uighur Muslims. 

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PBS’ 'Sacred' documentary gives intimate glimpses of faith around the world

(COMMENTARY) A new documentary film recently aired on PBS beautifully shows faith as something lived-- not just a set of beliefs, traditions or doctrines on paper.

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Who are The Evangelicals? Frances FitzGerald studied American history to explain

Historian Frances Fitzgerald reported on white evangelicals for The New Yorker. Now she’s written a book delving into their place in America’s founding and history, long before President Trump.

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What do Valentine's Day, Jeff Bezos and Catholicism have in common? Time to read some 'explainers'

(COMMENTARY) Complex issues and topics have always been boiled down for ordinary readers to understand. After all, that’s what journalism is really all about. The same goes for understanding religion — and this is where journalism can be a wonderful tool to help people understands different belief systems, traditions, how they intersect with politics and how it impacts our culture and society.

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