Many take the start of a new year as the chance to renew themselves physically and spiritually. Explore the use of meditation in major world religions and see some of the best tools for reflection and prayer in 2021.
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This week’s Weekend Plug-in celebrates the most popular — and most unsung — journalism produced by Religion Unplugged in 2020.
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A professor who departs from Gordon College’s religious views on LGBTQ is suing to protect her promotion, while a federal judge turned down Michigan Catholic parents’ plea for an exemption to a mask mandate. Read five of the latest religious freedom struggles.
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(TRAVEL) Aside from its rich history and architectural majesty, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception may very well be one of the most under-appreciated places to visit in Washington. In a city dominated by so many architectural wonders connected to politics, it’s easy to neglect that it also has a very large Catholic presence.
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(OPINION) The issue of genocide outside of the U.S. borders has been persisting for years in countries like Cambodia, Bosnia and Rowanda. There is a blatant disregard in the U.S. to understand and get involved, leading to very little preventative action before the genocide begins.
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Heline Babiene Eweni is providing support and livelihood education for poor and vulnerable Cameroonians in her home town who have been heavily impacted by the ongoing conflict between government troops and separatists from Anglophone Cameroon. The support from her church after the death of her parents encouraged Eweni to form her own humanitarian organization.
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(ANALYSIS) What will 2021 bring? That’s the big question following a 2020 that will forever remain a year where the world was held hostage by a pandemic. It was also a year where we had a combative presidential election and a reawakened social justice movement that brought our divided politics out into our streets.
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According to the U.S. Census, Idaho continues to be one of the fastest growing states. It’s also highly conservative. Now during the pandemic, some towns are seeing influxes of residents from nearby states seeking more freedom from COVID-19 restrictions on worship.
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(OPINION) Terry Mattingly analyzes the Religion News Association’s Top 10 religious beat stories list. He believes that the most important COVID-19 related story should be specifically about the issue of 1st Amendment Rights as they relate to having in-person church services.
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(OPINION) Metzger analyzes the time period between Advent and Lent, known as “secular,” and explains its importance to the extraordinary nature of life—not just the year 2020.
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Boko Haram terrorists attacked Christian communities in Northeastern Nigeria on Christmas Eve, burning down many churches and homes. One reverend who refused to convert to Islam was beheaded.
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During a priest shortage deacons in the Catholic Church are playing increasingly important roles. Thomas Jack, a deacon in Steuben County, N.Y., is fielding calls for financial assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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(OPINION) In some countries, the lack of religious freedom and the threat of Christian persecution casts a dark shadow across Christmas festivities and celebrations. It is not unusual for fanatical, iron-fisted governments to make the Advent season a time of intensified fear and real danger. Many Christians, despite their faith and devotion, have little opportunity to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
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In a special year-end edition of Weekend Plug-in, the nation’s top religion writers share their top stories of 2020.
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(OPINION) Ongoing fights about the First Amendment and religious liberty are likely to prove the most newsworthy, but two other themes deserve attention as well.
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(OPINION) Evaluating Catholic nuns and their projects to help the poor dampened the cynicism of a skeptic and lapsed Episcopalian who studies religion. Sister Rosemary is one such nun who has devoted her life to sheltering and empowering women and children who fled violence in Uganda.
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Just in time for Christmas, archaeologists at the Temple Mount Sifting Project (TMSP) in Jerusalem have sorted through tons of ancient garbage and landfill to recreate the ornate floor tiles which Jesus trod on when he came on pilgrimage to King Herod’s Second Temple.
Read More(OPINION) Rather than preparing for a joyous Christmastide, believers are making tough decisions about how to celebrate during a season some call COVID-tide. No one knows what will happen, especially in Protestant flocks where holiday traditions are more flexible and evolve from year to year.
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India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party lost local elections in Jammu and Kashmir Dec. 23 to a rare local political alliance that wants to reverse the sweeping constitutional changes made to the Muslim-majority region that opened it up for greater Hindu settlement, a severe lockdown and arbitrary detentions. Kashmir-based political parties put aside their differences to form the People’s Alliance For Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), explicitly to fight the BJP.
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A new film on Amazon Prime tells the real-life story of a model who struggles with her body image and learns to appreciate her inner beauty when she falls in love with a Christian man who loves her for more than her looks. In some ways, it improves on the typical Hallmark Christmas movie— in other ways, it doesn’t.
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