For the past century, America’s conservative Christians and politicians were united in the belief that the communist USSR — and later, Russia — was anti-American, anti-God and a threat to the world. But recently, some Christian nonprofits have consistently praised Russia as a global beacon of hope for families and the survival of Christianity.
Read MoreChristians across Ukraine woke to the sounds of explosions as their Russian neighbors began a bombardment of the Eastern European nation. Some had made plans to house refugees making their way west, but the Feb. 24 attacks were reported in cities east and west, further complicating their situation.
Read MoreStudents from Lithuania’s LCC International University, 20% of whom are from Ukraine, rallied to express support for Ukraine against Russian aggression this week. LCC is a novel, faith-based university that brings Russians, Ukrainians and many others together to learn and interact.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the role that some experts see religion playing in Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Plus, catch up, as always, on all the week’s best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read MoreIn 2020, Anne Snyder launched a publishing project to explore a redemptive vision forward through the public health, racial and economic crises at hand. The online commons that resulted — Breaking Ground — became a one-of-a-kind space to probe society’s assumptions, interrogate our own hearts and imagine what a better future might require.
Read MoreAbout 50 Christians with ties to Ukraine gathered for an afternoon of prayer at the North Davis Church of Christ in Arlington, Texas. Less than 48 hours after the prayer service, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of the breakaway republics and ordered his military to “maintain peace” in the disputed areas.
Read MoreFollowing days of rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine, Pope Francis called on Christians around the world to fast and pray for peace this coming Ash Wednesday. Before ending his general audience at the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, the pontiff said believers should fight “the diabolical senselessness of violence” that has engulfed the Russian-Ukraine border.
Read More(OPINION) Oxford Forum for International Development’s conference aims to facilitate dialogue between various stakeholders in international development, starting conversations through a conference among students, researchers, young professionals, policymakers, practitioners and leaders on what it means to build back better.
Read MoreThe Bible translation industry takes in about $500 million per year in donations. With all that money, it produces about 15 completed Bible translations each year. But Strategic Resource Group has embarked on an experiment to see if a secular company — a translation service provider — can translate the Bible faster and cheaper.
Read More(OPINION) We’re at the publicity apex for what David Brooks — and movement outsiders and insiders — is calling a “crisis” for this conservative Protestant movement. In recent months, The Guy has, less elegantly, pondered a “crack-up.”
Read More(OPINION) Yes, baptism-gate has been all the rage. News coverage of it, however, has not been so good. The specifics of the doctrines surrounding baptism are often too difficult for many journalists to write about fairly. When they do tackle these issues, they tend to assume the Vatican is wrong and rigid. After all, the experts they consult agree with that very notion.
Read More(OPINION) Does giving antisemitism extensive coverage — warranted though it may be — prompt more antisemites to act out publicly? Does publicity embolden and thus spark potential copycat antisemitism?
Read MoreLocal church leaders had voiced their strong opposition to Israel’s plan to transfer land containing Christian holy sites from church ownership to the state for a national park expansion, denouncing it as a “premeditated attack on the Christians in the Holy Land,” according to a statement by leaders of the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian Apostolic Churches.
Read MoreIn towns devastated by tornado and fire in Kentucky and Colorado, Christian disaster relief organizations struggled to get enough volunteers because of omicron concerns. But members of local churches stepped in. For them, the coronavirus was a secondary concern.
Read More(Opinion) Afghanistan still has major issues when it comes to religious freedom. Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom said, "People are being hunted down and beaten and are threatened with death if they don't betray members of their families who are considered apostates" by the Taliban.
Read MoreMaria Martin, an independent journalist based in Guatemala, offers this remembrance of the late Sister Dianna Ortiz, a remarkable woman who used her horrific experience as a torture survivor in Guatemala in the 1980s to fight for human rights and educate about the use of torture globally — even while suffering the trauma of her experience until her death in February 2021.
Read MoreStudents at Gordon College organized a rally “in solidarity with women and the LGBTQA+ community” after a speaker made what were characterized as misogynistic and transphobic remarks during a chapel service.
Read More(OPINION) For Thich Nhat Hanh, the late Vietnamese monk who popularized mindfulness in the West, walking was not simply a way to get from one place to another, or an activity to be reserved for a perfect forest path. It could be a profound contemplative practice putting people in touch with their breath, their bodies and the Earth.
Read MoreTwo years into the pandemic, church leaders reflect on the blessings — and drawbacks — of livestreaming. While some leaders worry about Christians forsaking physical gatherings, a majority of those surveyed said they see benefits to maintaining virtual options — especially for the immunocompromised, shut-ins and traveling members.
Read More(OPINION) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s comment to a Jewish MP that, “Conservative Party members can stand with people who wave swastikas” has rightfully drawn sharp criticism and rebuke. Under no circumstances can his comments be justified. Unfortunately, his is but the latest — and worst — misuse of the Nazi image.
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