This week’s Weekend Plug-in revisits a famous quote by the famous theologian Karl Barth on reading both the Bible and the newspaper. Plus, check out the week’s top headlines and best reads in the world of faith.
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In 2017, Catherine Mardon and her husband were surprised with memberships into the Catholic Church’s Order of St. Sylvester for their work with disability advocacy and management of several activism campaigns.
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(ANALYSIS) On Feb. 26, Jews celebrate Purim with feasts, carnivals and charity. A historian of American Judaism points to Purim as an important holiday that increased Jews’ visibility in the United States in the 19th century.
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A photo released this week depicting popular comic book villain the Joker dressed as Jesus Christ is circulating social media. Fans speculate on what it means for the soon-to-be-released Justice League and reflect on the director’s past work — which heavily uses religious symbolism.
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(ANALYSIS) The Equality Act would explicitly add to the definition of “sex” both “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” but a Supreme Court ruling this summer already goes a long way toward ensuring LGBTQ individuals are protected from discrimination in federal law. The Equality Act would scrap a law that protects the religious freedom of organizations that adhere to orthodox theologies on gender and sexuality— there is a better way.
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(OPINION) The United Methodist Church is on the brink of America's biggest religious schism since the Civil War, with the conflict centering on sexual morality, biblical authority and theological liberalism. The 2020 General Conference to settle matters was postponed until this coming Aug. 29- Sept. 7 in Minneapolis, a city that currently limits meetings to 150 people.
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(ANALYSIS) Surveys taken before the 2020 election show that women are more likely to identify as religious than their male counterparts.
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(OPINION) What does the phrase “follow the science” mean for journalism and particularly the impact of Catholic voices in news stories? That Catholics, and traditional religious believers in general, are seen as anti-science puts them in direct contradiction with what these politicians say and want.
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Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Apostles Brooklyn church taught that New Yorkers can be joyful while isolated in quarantine when they focus on God. Still, the church acknowledges this is incredibly difficult without meeting people in person. So some members have innovated small groups to watch the Sunday services at apartments in pods of 10 or fewer people.
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(ANALYSIS) Israel is the top country for vaccinating its population. It now possibly faces legal obligations — and calls from the United Nations — to prioritize vaccinating Palestinians.
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Dr. Jenny Taylor meets an “accompanist” with soul in her English village: the author Maxine Green who with co-author Dr. Phil Daughtry just published the book “The Art of Accompanying” about the life of one’s soul and the delight in being still.
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Paul Rusesabagina, whose success in saving 1,268 Tutsis and moderate Hutus fleeing a 1994 genocide was told in the Oscar-nominated film “Hotel Rwanda,” is on trial this week in Kigali, the East African nation’s capital. Supporters say the weapons trafficking allegations against him are false and that the Rwandan government illegally diverted his plane to land in Kigali.
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Just hours after a Feb. 23 court hearing granted a temporary stay to Myanmar nationals in Malaysia to protect asylum seekers who fled religious and ethnic persecution, 1,086 Myanmar citizens were deported on three ships by Myanmar’s military at the Malaysian Royal Navy base in Lumut, on the West coast of Malaysia. The UN’s refugee agency, denied access to the immigration detention centers since August 2019, was not allowed to evaluate and separate asylum seekers from the group deported, which sources say include Chin Christians who had fled persecution in Myanmar.
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Sarah Collins Rudolph, survivor of the racist Alabama church bombing that fueled Civil Rights activism, spoke with Religion Unplugged on racial reconciliation and how her faith has sustained her. Rudolph released a book about her story on Jan. 28 — including the full story from the bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963.
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The Vatican’s diplomatic representative in Lima, Peru secretly obtained a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine, along with high-ranking Peruvian officials, meant for doctors and researchers working on a clinical trial.
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(OPINION) Ravi Zacharias, known for turning "apologetics" (defense of the Christian faith) from defensive bombast to intelligent and personable persuasion through books, countless personal appearances worldwide and the global team of some 100 speakers he built — died last May. Though, the coverage of multiple sex scandals he was involved in during his lifetime still stains the news today.
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(ANALYSIS) The Serbian Orthodox Church elected Patriarch Porfirije after its former leader died of COVID-19. Porfirije has won many international accolades for growing a drug addiction therapy program and building bridges between Serbs, Croatians and the people of Kosovo, a disputed Muslim-majority territory with many 13th and 14th century Serbian Orthodox holy sites.
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(OPINION) Evangelical megachurch leader, Max Lucado, spoke about the trials of 2020 and the coronavirus during his recent sermon streamed online by the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. last Sunday. This invitation to speak alarmed legions of Episcopalians opposed to his history of orthodoxy on sex and marriage to trigger an online storm.
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After fleeing violence 31 years ago, dozens of Kashmiri Hindus returned to the Himalayan valley to see their childhood temple reopened. Their temple and others have been maintained by Muslim neighbors and protected from militant violence and the land mafia. “I believe if I safeguard the temple, God will keep me safe, it’s my duty to do that,” caretaker Mohammed Sideeq said.
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A February survey shows that non-Christians in the U.K. have developed a more positive view of the church since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
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