President Joe Biden said Pope Francis told him on Friday that he’s “a good Catholic” who should continue to receive Holy Communion. The comments widen the rift between the pope and a group of U.S. bishops because of the president’s support for abortion rights. The Vatican declined to comment on the veracity of Biden’s statement.
Read More(OPINION) If an American Jew suggested what I am about to quote, they might be hauled into the court of Jewish opinion, excoriated in some quarters and lauded in others. But these are the thoughts of Israelis who, while grateful for U.S. aid, find in recent events reasons to reevaluate that part of the relationship.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in opens with five frightening headlines involving evangelicals. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(REVIEW) The movie “God’s Not Dead: We The People” is another very bad entry in a very bad franchise. But the real issue is that no one is making movies that express the experiences of the Christian conservative audience in ways that are high-quality, nuanced and productive and encourage the best angles of those people.
Read MoreJawahar Singh is one of the more than 160 million people in India once considered “untouchables” due to the caste hierarchy in Hinduism. In this episode of “The Dinner Table” produced by Newsreel Asia in partnership with ReligionUnplugged, the Jatavs explain the layers of discrimination from upper caste Hindus that exist in their village.
Read More(OPINION) It should be evident to all paying attention that the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will proceed as planned. Forget the meager protests against China’s cruel and immoral treatment of its own. The bad guys appear to be on the verge of another power-play victory.
Read More(OPINION) The Guy suggests that something far deeper than just a chatter-fest among self-appointed Twitter leaders is occurring in the Trump Era, which continues, to some degree — something that has the potential to wound or reshape what has been the largest and most dynamic segment of American religion: evangelical Protestants.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Oak Flat is regarded as holy by the San Carlos Apache Tribe, but it rests on about 40 billion pounds of copper. In 2014, legislation was passed by the U.S. government to transfer the land to the Resolution Copper mining company. This year, the tribe is fighting back in a case that tells us all something about what it means to be human.
Read MorePatrick and Katie Beth McCarthy see the baseball diamond as a mission field — a way to introduce players, many recruited from difficult backgrounds, to Jesus. Adoption is a big part of their story, too. Last year, the Family Guidance Center of Alabama recognized the McCarthys with one of its “Families of the Year” awards.
Read MoreOn November 18, 2009, I appeared on the Tyra Banks show, debating the question of what treatment was best for children who identified as transgender. Sitting next to me was Dr. Marci Bowers, himself a male to female, and known as the rock star of transgender surgery, and Kim Pearson, a straight, married woman who is an advocate for transgender youth.
Read More(OPINION) Is the COVID vaccine the biblical "mark of the beast"? Many odd anti-vaccination rumors with murky origins are floating around social media, alarming healthcare workers as they combat a virus that has killed 720,000 Americans and counting.
Read MoreA new study shows that young Americans increasingly distanced themselves from religious institutions like churches, mosques and synagogues in 2020 — which they feel don’t care about social justice issues important to them. Instead, they found spirituality in practices like tarot card readings while sharing fears and musings in online spaces.
Read More(OPINION) When political scientists and pollsters discuss faith and politics, one of their biggest challenges is separating the true believers from those who merely say they are believers. It's kind of like distinguishing between "football fans" and "FOOTBALL FANS," said John C. Green, a trailblazer in studies of politics, pulpits and pews.
Read More(ANALYSIS) This week, Samaritans are celebrating Sukkot — one month after Jews. The ranks of the once mighty Samaritan people reached 3 million in biblical times but were reduced by persecution and apostasy to 146 by 1918. Today they number 814: Half live on a mountaintop in the West Bank, and half live along coastal plains in Israel.
Read MoreThe number of Roman Catholics across Africa and Asia continues to grow, according to a new report, while it has dropped in Europe. The Vatican report serves as a statistical snapshot of the church’s global population and institutions, comparing 2019 — the last year for which data is available — with the previous year.
Read MoreMany pastors around the U.S. and the world are wondering how and when church life can transition back into real-life gatherings, with church members weaned off the safety and convenience of online church. ReligionUnplugged.com spoke to a dozen pastors from Africa to America to hear about the challenges of digital church post pandemic.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in covers the gang kidnapping of 17 American and Canadian missionaries in Haiti. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read MoreA restoration project on YouTube has rendered a short piece of film depicting Pope Leo XIII into never-before seen quality. David Martin, who restored the footage from 1896 into color, spoke to ReligionUnplugged.com about the scenes of Pope Leo XIII captured and the identities of the men surrounding him, long forgotten.
Read More(OPINION) With a controversial Catholic in the White House, there was no way for Cardinal Wilton Gregory to face a pack of Beltway journalists without fielding political questions. But he mainly praised the mainstream press for pushing issues linked to racism and social justice, and encouraged them to keep promoting civility.
Read MoreWith all the ominous things taking place in America — and there are certainly quite a few — perhaps none is more ominous than this: Parents are being demonized. Moms and dads have become he enemy. It is now the government — or the education system — vs. those entrusted with raising the next generation.
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