(ANALYSIS) The deadly second wave of COVID-19 currently sweeping India is causing a cultural change in the way the country handles the treatment of the dead.
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(OPINION) Despite having just 16% of the world’s population, Africa accounts for 52% of all global armed conflicts. Most of these crises have lingered for decades and many are religious conflicts with social and political undertones, making them even harder to curb. These crises have been fueled and sustained by uncontrolled arms movement across the continent.
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For many decades, Nigeria's Muslim north has been prone to religious intolerance and violence. Kaduna, where over 20,000 people have died in different religious conflicts since the 1980s, is one of the country's most volatile states. It’s also the hub of interfaith mediation groups working to prevent violence, including a pastor and imam who used to lead violence against each other’s groups, and the region’s first women-led mediation council founded by an Irish Catholic sister.
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(OPINION) What happened in the 2020 election? Polls consistently knock down the social-issues theory. Contrary to what some suppose, Catholics as a whole are only slightly more conservative than the general public on abortion and LGBTQ issues, with weekly worshippers moreso.
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Every year on Holy Saturday, the day before Pascha (Easter), Orthodox Christians believe that the Holy Fire appears inside the Tomb of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They believe this light, captured by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, is the confirmation of the Resurrection. For them, it’s a miracle, a manifestation of Holy Spirit.
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(REVIEW) Justin Bieber dropped a surprise EP “Freedom” on Easter Sunday. With gospel influence, it aligns with artists like Kanye West who are making a switch from the secular to the spiritual. It also follows Bieber’s public journey into evangelical Christianity.
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A recent shooting of a Catholic bishop highlights the dangers of living in South Sudan and the tenacity of clergy who refuse to leave people behind in the region, even while death threats to Christian leaders there are rising. South Sudan has been trying to implement a new peace agreement in a civil war that’s plagued them since 2011, but their national forces are up against civilian rebel groups with even more gun power. More than 50,000 people have died in war and 4 million forced to relocate since 2013.
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Israel observed a day of national mourning on Sunday, May 2 for the 45 Jewish worshippers crushed to death in a stampede just after midnight Friday. It’s the biggest civilian mass causality in Israel’s 73-year history. More than 150 pilgrims suffered injuries. An estimated 100,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews had gathered for the annual Lag b'Omer festival, despite warnings for years that the site was not safe for big crowds.
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This week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the ongoing discussions related to COVID-19 vaccines and religion. Plus, catch up on all the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith.
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He’s an evangelist, a DJ, a radio host, a newspaper publisher, a gun violence mediator, an immigration law facilitator and much more. An immigrant from Jamaica, Rev. Terry Lee is a hustling, innovative, inner city preacher, the kind of unsung ministerial hero who works tirelessly and like a renaissance man to advance the common good inside and outside his community. And this weekend, he’s going to the White House.
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(REVIEW) Emma Seligman’s “Shiva Baby,” adapted into a feature film from her senior thesis created in 2017 at NYU, immediately takes hold of your nerves and wrings them, preparing you for the comedy nightmare that will be Danielle’s (Rachel Sennott’s) full day spent at a shiva — a post-burial gathering after a Jewish funeral.
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After an embarrassing number of wrong prophecies and bungled predictions about the 2020 election, a group of charismatic Christian leaders have released a four-page statement of “prophetic standards” to help correct abuses in the movement.
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(OPINION) John Stott, who served as the Queen's chaplain, shepherded Her Majesty in her faith, sold millions of books, was named one of Time Magazine’s most 100 influential people, and yet, remained a humble man. Here’s why his centenary is being celebrated by churches and organizations on every continent.
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(ANALYSIS) The FBI wants to work with Hasidic Jews to lower antisemitic hate crimes. But the FBI has a complicated history with Judaism.
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Inside the latest changes rocking Liberty University: the unconventional replacement of longtime board chairman Allen McFarland came on the same day that Liberty filed a lawsuit against its former president and founder’s son, Jerry Falwell Jr. As the school works to remove Falwell Jr.’s influence, it shows signs of returning to its foundational roots.
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The history of Christianity shows different and evolving interpretations on how Christian women should live. Medieval Christians for example prized joining a convent and devoting one’s life to God more than becoming a wife. This history is the subject of a new book by Dr. Beth Allison Barr, a professor of medieval history at Baylor University.
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(OPINION) “White privilege” is about the distribution of material possessions and honor in this world. It is a reality that White people are better off in terms of both material riches and honor at the present moment. But this is not the type of privilege that should concern Christians, who are passers-by in this world.
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In the midst of a deadly second coronavirus wave and medical care shortage, Moin Mastan and his team of 25 volunteers have been working round the clock to perform the last rites, cremations and burials of 40 to 50 Indians every day who have died with COVID-19 infections in the central Indian state of Maharashtra—all while fasting daily for Ramadan, a holy month in Islam for tightened devotion in spiritual reflection, worship and prayer.
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(OPINION) The complicated history of the royals, past and present, loomed over the short, dignified funeral for Prince Philip in St. George's Chapel, Windsor — with only 30 mourners due to COVID restrictions. The prince’s liturgical choices shaped an Anglican rite that stressed images of service, eternal hope and the beauties of God's creation.
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(OPINION) Will German Catholicism Go Protestant, Five Centuries Late? A significant phalanx of German bishops, united with prominent lay activists, seem intent on revisionist change to come from their "Synodical Way" project, which the Vatican has sought to suppress, so far without success.
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