(OPINION) This year, with Hanukkah slotted earlier in the cultural calendar, it seemed like the powers that be in American commerce went out of their way — for better and for worse — to crank out extra gifts and advertisements targeting Jewish consumers.
Read More(ANALYSIS) While many state legislatures and the U.S. Supreme Court seem to be ready to reverse Roe v. Wade and ban or severely limit abortion, the majority of Americans want abortion to be available as a choice, and the share who would support a total ban on the practice is incredibly small.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in looks at public opinion on religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccinations. Plus, catch up — as always — on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read MoreA growing list of Muslims arrested and killed without trials in Ugandan anti-terrorism security operations, recently including a respected sheikh, has stirred anger and calls for fair prosecution of suspects rather than shootings on site.
Read MoreA Christian children’s home in Tennessee that receives federal funds for some of its programs has sued the Biden administration, challenging its reversal of Trump-era exemptions that gave some Christian child welfare agencies the option to deny the placement of children with foster or adoptive parents who do not agree with their faith and beliefs.
Read More(REVIEW) The Brooklyn Museum takes the road less traveled in its exhibit “Andy Warhol: Revelation” by spotlighting beyond Warhol’s commonly known artistic themes of sex, drugs and modern American life to uniquely unmask the artist’s Roman Catholicism.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Forty years after a nationwide “satanic panic” that stoked fears of ritual child abuse, conspiracy theories are latching onto fears of the devil — from the false belief that tracking devices are in COVID-19 vaccines to theories that the Astroworld tragedy was a satanic sacrifice.
Read More(OPINION) As religion writers and historians know, the 1611 King James Version of the Bible begat the 1952 Revised Standard Version, which begat the 1989 New Revised Standard Version which now begets the new "Updated Edition" of the NRSV, the “NRSVue” — a surefire news topic — available in e-book format by Christmas and print around May.
Read More(OPINION) When Michael Metzger was nine, his father read a bit of poetry to him. He showed scant interest. But he can still recall the opening lines of both because of their enchanting phrasing and rhythm. Today, Metzger has a love for poetry. Here’s why.
Trustees of Ohio Valley University in Vienna, West Virginia, have voted to close the 63-year-old Christian university after not meeting payroll for months and facing mounting debts.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Supreme Court will hear a potentially landmark case for religious schools on Dec. 8, Carson v. Makin. Up for discussion is whether Maine’s law, which excludes religious schools from the diversity of schooling options that families have access to in a public student aid program, infringes on First Amendment constitutional protections.
Read More(ANALYSIS) It’s now clear that the Biden administration wants to oust Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. This is extraordinary and would exacerbate many of the region’s challenges, including religious extremism. While Ahmed has made mistakes, they are incomparable to the persecution, repression and suffering caused by past regimes.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On the surface, Hanukkah is a story of male heroism. A ragtag rebel force led by a rural priest and his five sons, called the Maccabees, freed the Jews from oppressive rulers. But seeing Hanukkah this way misses the inspiring women who were prominent in the earliest tellings of the story.
Read MoreOn Oct. 23, hundreds gathered in Franklin, Tennessee, to witness the erection of a Civil War statue featuring a U.S. Colored Troops soldier. Chris Williamson, the senior pastor of Strong Tower Bible Church reflected for the ReligionUnplugged.com podcast on what the moment meant and the role the church must play in such debates.
Read More(OPINION) Is Christianity in the United States becoming two different religions? The scenario is explored at book length in "One Faith No Longer" (New York University Press) by Baylor University sociologist George Yancey and Ashlee Quosigk, a visiting scholar of religion at the University of Georgia.
Read More(OPINION) On Nov. 30, a court in Frankfurt, Germany, delivered a life sentence to a former Islamic State group fighter for genocide against the Yazidi minority — the first genocide conviction of an Islamic State group fighter in the world.
Read MoreKashmiri Hindus have longed to return and remain in their Himalayan homeland since fleeing violence by separatist militants in the 1990s. The Indian government has repeatedly promised to help them move back to Kashmir. But now thousands are again fleeing India’s only Muslim-majority region after a series of targeted civilian killings.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the U.S. Supreme Court hearing arguments in the (potentially) most significant abortion case in decades. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The current crisis in Ethiopia — displacing 2.1 million people with another 7 million in need of humanitarian aid — is an ethnic-political conflict, not a religious one. However, strengthening Ethiopia’s interfaith collaboration among religious groups can bring about much-needed national reconciliation and healing.
Read More(REVIEW) The latest Hollywood blockbuster “Dune,” a space opera based on Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel of the same name, is essentially a philosophical thought experiment that asks, How would Islam adapt and change thousands of years into the future on a distant desert planet? By projecting into the future, the film highlights our present reality.
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