This week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights efforts by Black churches to encourage members to take advantage of the COVID-19 vaccines. Plus, check out all the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith.
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A second wave of COVID-19 infections is leaving a trail of deaths and despair in many African countries with little relief in sight. Many governments have once again banned religious gatherings and religious ceremonies at funerals. Still, faith leaders have remained front and center in both spreading awareness of COVID-19 safety, cooperating with lockdown rules, helping people remain hopeful and increasing trust in vaccines expected to arrive later this year.
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Georgia Tech released a statement that explicitly stated that forms of anti-Semitism, based on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition, would not be tolerated on or off-campus after a hateful act took place on campus last year, targeting a Jewish student’s faith.
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(OPINION) Ostling explores the new prospective European law that could require that animals must be stunned before being slaughtered — going directly against Halal and Kosher traditions and practices.
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(ANALYSIS) Modern American prisons feature overcrowding, violence, harsh mental conditions and worsening recidivism. But new methods of correction — ones that emphasize religious freedom — are having real success.
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For the first time in 120 years, a Hindu festival known to draw 1.5 million pilgrims and tourists every year will take place without worshippers. But Malaysia’s 1.9 million Hindus will celebrate at home.
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While Donald Trump became the first president ever to take part in the event last year, President Joe Biden is not expected to take part in a smaller and mostly virtual rally on Jan. 29 even though he is an active Catholic.
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Nearly 30% of adults in the U.S. say they strengthened their religious faith in 2020, according to a study released Jan. 26 by Pew Research Center. Of those same people, 40% say that the pandemic and quarantine has strengthened their family bonds. The U.S. had almost double the increase of percentage points of individuals who felt that their faith was boosted during the pandemic compared to 13 other advanced economies.
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On Jan. 26, thousands of Indian farmers turned their months-long sit-in protest on the outskirts of the capital into a massive rally, driving their tractors over police barriers to enter the city and even climb up the walls of the historic Red Fort—all on one of India’s biggest national holidays, Republic Day. The farmers’ protest—led in Delhi by Sikhs— is proving one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s biggest political headaches.
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'A fight or flight kind of thing kicks in,' Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, says of his Jan. 6 experience.
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(OPINION) Within hours of taking the oath of office on his family’s massive Bible, President Biden signed a raft of executive orders — something that went on in the ensuing days — to undo strategic executive moves during Donald Trump’s presidency. During that process, he fan afoul of traditional Catholic teachings and, once again, placed the spotlight on his Catholic faith.
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The first Jewish senator in Georgia history, Jon Ossoff, was sworn in on Jan. 20, on what his office described in a tweet as a “Hebrew scripture that belonged to historic Atlanta Rabbi Jacob Rothschild.” The volume selected was a well-thumbed copy of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, which Jews known as the Torah, edited with commentary by the American-educated former Chief Rabbi of Britain Joseph H. Hertz.
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(ANALYSIS) With 19 countries out of the total 50 listed, Africa tops the ranking of countries where Christians face the most persecution, according to a recent Open Doors report. We take a closer look at these countries and the level of persecution Christians endure inside them.
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The COVID-19 vaccine is one of the greatest subjects of confusion — and misinformation — in the U.S. Bishop T.D. Jakes, from Dallas megachurch The Potter’s House, hosted a “Conversations with America” panel about the vaccine to help combat this misinformation.
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(OPINION) The Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C., published a new report that identified Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the top countries at risk for new mass killings.
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(REVIEW) A new Pakistani short film is making waves for criticizing blasphemy laws. “Swipe” follows a young boy in a dystopian future who is addicted to iFatwa, a fictional crowdsourcing app that lets players decide who deserves a death sentence.
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My Pillow mogul and Trump supporter Mike Lindell soared to fame by claiming election fraud, frequently appearing on Fox News and at Stop the Steal rallies. His redemption story from cocaine to riches and Jesus was a good one as he publicly mulled a run for governor, endorsed by the Minnesota Republican Party. Now he faces the possibility of a major lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems. Lesser known are the allegations of domestic violence against him, documented through several police reports and court documents.
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In New York, a young man and bishop Kim Lubrin jumped off a roof. He had progressed up the ranks of the secretive, close-knit Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ (ICGJC) in Harlem, which has a history of financially and emotionally pressuring and ousting members for alleged transgressions. Days before his death, Lubrin had told his father he had sinned and feared how the church would punish him.
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This week’s Weekend Plug-in delves into questions surrounding Christian financial guru Dave Ramsey’s multimillion-dollar Tennessee company and its sarcastic response to a religion reporter’s questions. Plus, catch up on all the faith-related angle from inauguration of President Joe Biden.
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(ANALYSIS) President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock among other victories for the Democrats were won in part by voter mobilization in the Black community. Despite the fact that a lot of the chatter about the Black vote has centered on people of faith, the Black community is not a religious monolith. Here’s what the data says: Black religious “nones” are the least likely to identify as Democrats.
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