An Evangelical’s Guide To QAnon: Inside one of the most talked about Internet groups

(ANALYSIS) QAnon is one of the most talked about groups populating the internet. Facebook, Twitter and other social platforms continue to ban users and groups from their platform for spreading QAnon ideals, which they have labeled as violating their policies on hate speech. What does the group actually believe? Are they a threat to you or our country? And why are evangelical Christians so often associated with the group?

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Nigerian boy jailed for blasphemy offers hope, despite holes in media coverage

(OPINION) An uplifting story from The Washington Post about a young Nigerian boy brought hope during times of uncertainty in many religious communities. Other news sources tried to continue telling the story, but the religious angle seemed underdeveloped.

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'I Will Not Stay Silent': Cardinal Zen of Hong Kong Struggles Against the Vatican

Zen, who recently returned to Hong Kong from a trip to the Vatican, has no higher authority on Earth to appeal to in his fight to save his country’s church from infiltration by the Chinese Communist Party.

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The spiritual ramifications of the fly that landed on Mike Pence's head

This week’s Weekend Plug-in may bug you a little bit. We’re going to talk about the fly that landed on Mike Pence’s head during Wednesday’s night vice presidential debate. And as always, we’ll highlight the week’s top religion headlines and best reads.

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Meet the Belgian Buddhist training entrepreneurs

Bart Weetjens believes training CEOs and entrepreneurs to connect with something in the universe bigger than the bottom line will make them better and happier human beings who will then create happier, more compassionate employees, too. His own study of Zen Buddhism led him to create and sustain a successful landmine clearance project across Asia, using trained rats.

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Evangelical Magazines Prioritize Truth During Ravi Zacharias Scandal

(OPINION) Richard Ostling commends journalists at Christianity Today and World for prioritizing truth over tribalism in the case of sexual assault claims against Ravi Zacharias. Both publications seek to prioritize the community over the reputation of the religion.

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Kamala Harris and Mike Pence spar in VP debate: 'Joe Biden and I are both people of faith'

Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris had a brief spat Wednesday over attacks against Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s Catholic faith. Pence brought up Harris’s past remarks about “extreme” beliefs of the Catholic group Knights of Columbus while Harris assured listeners that as people of faith Biden and her would not knock anyone else for their faith.

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Executive Order Fuels USAID To Advance International Religious Freedom

(OPINION) A 2020 Executive Order prioritizes international religious freedom and promotes USAID and the U.S. State Department to infuse religious freedom with foreign policy. What will these organizations continue to do to advance the United States’s notion of religious freedom in and out of its borders?

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‘The Ascension’ Transcends Politics And Grief To Worship

(REVIEW) Indie musician Sufjan Stevens released his newest album, “The Ascension,” on Sept. 25. He uses synth pop and tragic lyrics to express a sense of hopelessness with American society and politics. As he addresses God, however, his raw honesty creates an atmosphere of worship.

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Religious tour operators hope for a better 2021 following coronavirus travel restrictions

Popular pilgrimage destinations like Jerusalem and Rome have seen a massive drop in religious travelers, especially during Passover, Easter and this past summer.

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VidAngel CEO talks filtering content for faith-based streaming and creating ‘The Chosen’

Neal Harmon is the CEO of a streaming service called VidAngel that initially started as a "content filtering" service, for families to stream TV and movies without sex, language or violence. Now it has begun to produce original content — such as "The Chosen," a drama series about the life of Jesus. Harmon talks to contributor Joseph Holmes about the service, some of their current projects and what's next.

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Are Democrats Influenced by Religion as Much as Republicans?

Is religion a force in American life that pushes people to be more politically conservative or liberal? Do certain types of political partisans place a great emphasis on their spiritual life? Or do other competing identities seem to shape people more? The Democracy Fund made public a huge dataset of over 300,000 respondents and they asked them how important a number of identities were to them. When those are broken down by party affiliation, the results are fascinating.

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'Individualism does not make us more free': Dissecting Pope Francis's Encyclical

In his newly released encyclical, Fratelli tutti, Pope Francis addresses the whole world as his audience, attempting to answer how modern society can correct course towards a kinder and more loving world. The pope’s third encyclical has ruffled some Catholics for its condemnation of profit-driven economic models, the death penalty, immigration policy and more.

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Journalists’ Neglect Religious Coverage Related to Black Lives Matter

(OPINION) As Black Lives Matter persists as one of the hot topics in the media, mainstream news associations often neglect the religious angle — isolating entire groups of stakeholders within the community. This leaves us asking the question, how are people within religious communities responding to Black Lives Matter?

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Trump's daughter-in-law joins pastors in 'call to prayer' for president's recovery

On Sunday, President Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump and his closest faith advisors hosted a prayer service on Facebook Live, praying for Trump, the First Lady and several White House, campaign officials and Senators who’ve recently tested positive with COVID-19. One pastor who attended last weekend’s Supreme Court nomination event that spread the virus says he was one of the few wearing a mask.

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Muslim college grads split over Jews. What makes the difference?

(OPINION) A recent four-year national study by Ohio State University, North Carolina State University and Interfaith Youth Core traced how Muslim college students saw Jews from the beginning to end of their college experiences. The results are both encouraging and unsettling.

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How South Dakota Got Its First Rabbi In Nearly 30 Years

South Dakota used to be the only state in the U.S. without a Chabad center, despite its history of Jews in the region since the 1800s when German and Russian Jews settled in the Black Hills following a gold rush. Then a visiting rabbi from Brooklyn decided to change that.

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Do Christians care what Trump says about them behind closed doors?

This week’s Weekend Plug-in explores whether religious supporters of President Donald Trump care what he says about them behind closed doors. Plus, our roundup of the top religion headlines and best reads of the last week.

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Senate Should Question Amy Coney Barrett About Her Ties To People Of Praise

(OPINION) SCOTUS nominee Amy Coney Barrett has faced questions and criticism about her Catholic faith since 2017. But she has rarely been asked about her ties to People of Praise, a unique Catholic group. Questions like these are necessary to make an accurate choice in appointing Barrett to the Supreme Court.

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