The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced its cooperation with the U.S. government to organize and process the tens of thousands of Afghan refugees entering the country as the U.S. withdraws troops and the Taliban assumes control over Afghanistan.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights religion headlines after the Taliban’s takeover of the government in Afghanistan. Plus, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(OPINION) As this story unfolds, many of us are experiencing something like déjà vu. In the summer of 2014 we watched as Islamic State/ISIS rampaged across Iraq and committed genocide against Christian and Yazidi communities. Although ISIS and the Taliban have fought each other, they practice the same deadly tactics.
Read MoreAfghans in and outside the capital describe scenes of violence, deteriorating living conditions and shrinking personal freedoms amid the Taliban’s rise to power with the U.S. troop withdrawal set to complete on Aug. 31.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Taliban – which means “the students” in Pashto – seized control of Afghanistan in 1996 after capturing Kabul in the Afghan civil war. The Taliban regime was then toppled in 2001 by the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan. Here, Afghanistan experts offer insight into the Taliban – then and now – and explain the United States’ role in Afghanistan’s collapse.
(OPINION) The return of Taliban rule after 20 years will likely produce the typical mayhem and murder when a regime suddenly collapses. But much is also at stake for world Islam, a crucial aspect that the media have tended to slight thus far. Journalists may be witnessing a new phase in what Georgetown University expert John Esposito has called a long-running "struggle for the soul of Islam."
Read More(OPINION) "One could say that the two Masses have built two cities: the Mass of All Times has built a Christian city; the New Mass seeks to build a humanist and secular city."
Read More(EXCERPT) A new book published by Westminster Seminary Press curates theological reflections by pastors throughout the Reformation and Post-Reformation periods encouraging their flocks through Europe’s worst plagues.
Read More(OPINION) The three-time governor leaves behind a mixed legacy among Roman Catholics. Like his father Mario (who also served three terms as New York governor and was for years on the short-list of lawmakers who could be president), Cuomo represented a new generation of liberal Catholic politicians in this country.
Read MoreJohn and Jan Bradley have spent years building schools and trying to improve life in war-torn Afghanistan. Amid the Taliban’s takeover after U.S. troops withdrew, they are helping other volunteers and colleagues evacuate the country. Anyone who helped the Bradleys is in danger.
Read MoreDie Botschaft is a weekly tabloid newspaper, loosely translated to The Messenger, with a national circulation of 16,000. While its name is in Pennsylvania Dutch, the newspaper is printed in English and features letters, lots of letters of about five- to-eight column inches in length, from across the nation.
Read More(REVIEW) New biopic “Respect” shows the trajectory of the life and career of “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin. Through personal strife and career hurdles, Franklin’s Christian faith remained at the center of her life. The movie shows both how it influenced her style and saved her more than once.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in summary starts with the latest, complicated news on the COVID-19 vaccines and religion. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith news.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The gymnast’s actions put a spotlight on athletes’ mental health, but also highlighted the inability of the mainstream press to delve deeper and ask pertinent questions regarding her faith. You see, Biles is a Roman Catholic, something written about leading up to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. You wouldn’t know it from the news coverage of the past few weeks.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Fans are remembering the legendary Florida State University coach this week after his death Sunday at age 91. Bobby Bowden, who coached senior ReligionUnplugged contributor Hamil Harris and is the second most winningest college football coach in U.S. history, is remembered for fusing the principles of Jesus into his football career, forming a special bond with his players that lasted a lifetime.
Read More(OPINION) The seeds were sown long ago, in America’s first pilgrims. They mostly came here to be left alone. Our seedbed of stubborn independence was stirred in the Second Great Awakening. It sprouted an evangelical form of Christianity suspicious of institutional authority and traditions.
Read MoreReligionUnplugged interviews Mitchell West, known as Street Hymns, one of the founding members of the Christian battle rap group Four Horsemen.
Read More(OPINION) According to one progressive Methodist, when the United Methodists finally split, conservatives will build a church defined "by who they will exclude today and who they will exclude tomorrow." The question is whether progressives will act on their convictions.
Read MoreCandice McQueen made history last week as the first woman chosen to lead a university associated with Churches of Christ. Or did she? Some scholars want to make a case for the late Meta Chestnutt Sager, a pioneer Oklahoma educator who led a Christian college in Indian territory before its closing.
Read MoreOften called Europe’s last dictator, President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has continued to jail human rights defenders and his regime is targeting those protesting against election falsification and regime violence, including priests that the government has expelled from the Belarusian Orthodox Church. The regime also tried to ban singing of the hymn “Mighty God” and prayers for political prisoners, organizing instead a pro-regime "prayer day".
Read More
