Protests by Kashmiri Hindus, also known as Kashmiri Pandits, have continued daily since the killing of Kashmiri Hindu Rahul Bhat on May 12 by, police allege, militants fighting against the Indian rule in Kashmir. Hundreds of Pandit government employees with families are protesting and demanding security.
Read MoreKansas’ Hall of Men has meetings offering beer, cigars, an open bar, some kind of “guy food” and lots of chatter around a giant wooden table. But then there are the evening prayers, icons, Bible readings and lectures about authors whose portraits hang on the walls — C.S. Lewis, Flannery O’Connor, W.H. Auden, Dorothy Sayers, Fyodor Dostoevsky, J.R.R. Tolkien and many others.
Read More(OPINION) An authentic practice furthers a happiness founded on deeper meanings, whereas an inauthentic practice may only provide fleeting pleasure or temporary relief.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Ark Encounter boasts a re-creation of the story of Noah’s Ark from the Bible. But what is particularly striking about Ark Encounter is that it is a tourist site devoted to emphasizing — with great specificity — the wrathful nature of God and the eternal damnation that awaits unrepentant sinners.
Read More(ANALYSIS) “Hunchback of Notre Dame” and its popularization in films and cartoons have greatly shaped our perceptions of the famous cathedral and the story of Quasimodo and Notre Dame is one of many stories that have become part of our collective worldview. For that reason alone, how and why Victor Hugo portrayed the cathedral are worth a close look.
Read MoreAndrew Garfield is a beloved actor of his generation, known for playing Spider-Man in the franchise’s first reboot and Eduardo Saverin in “The Social Network.” The majority of roles in his career have involved playing devout religious characters. We’ve taken a look back at the major ones.
Read More(ANALYSIS) If there was ever a doubt that Americans are living in two, separate news universes, then the past two weeks certainly crystallized that reality even more than the polarizing presidential elections of 2016 and 2020. As a result, a major news story on pro-abortion rights protesters at churches was totally ignored by many mainstream news sites.
Read More(OPINION) The mass shooter in Buffalo targeted not just Black Americans. He was a Jew-hater as well, actually calling for Gentile Americans to declare war on American Jews.
Read More(REVIEW) Emerging from a small sect within Judaism, early Christianity absorbed much of the religious, cultural and philosophical traditions of the Greco-Roman world at the time. A new book looks at the centuries that followed the crucifixion of Jesus, which were ones of intense persecution. Christianity would eventually flourish and become the state religion of the Roman Empire.
Read MoreAt the National Urban Ministry Conference’s first in-person meeting since 2020, COVID-19, new ministry initiatives and resources — including the use of government grants — dominated the discussion. Accepting government funding can be a boon to faith-based organizations but places stipulations on religious activities and evangelism.
Read More(OPINION) In May 2022, United Nations officials — including Michelle Bachelet, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights — are to visit Xinjiang, China, to investigate the allegations of serious human rights violations. This is the first time in over a decade that China is to host the U.N. human rights chief.
Read MoreState censorship and control of religious communities increased following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Lutheran Archbishop Dietrich Brauer, who has left Russia, said that, at the start of the war, President Putin's administration made “a clear demand” of religious leaders to speak out in favor of the invasion.
Read More(OPINION) The idea that pro-lifers don’t care for babies after they are born has been a convenient slander hurled against pro-life Christians. But more than 2,500 pro-life pregnancy resource centers are committed to helping women make life-giving choices, and they often support these women for years after their babies are born.
Read MoreA tireless desire to share their message with the people of Berlin — and Germany as a whole — has helped the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ mission in Berlin persevere over the years, up to the present day.
Read MoreIs it hard to be a Christian and a journalist? Is it possible to be a Christian and a journalist? This week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights recent first-person pieces that explore these questions. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith?
Read MoreLast week, the last of the three criminals confessed to conspiring to defraud churches as part of a scheme they cooked up back in 2013. The news was announced by the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, which charged the three men in 2019.
Read More(OPINION) Naomi Judd had battled through waves of anxiety attacks to address some dark realities — such as rape, crisis pregnancy and her battle with hepatitis C that retired the Judds. What she hadn’t discussed was the sexual abuse in her childhood that led to treatment-resistant depression.
Read MoreThe humanitarian activist and religious freedom fighter Cardinal Zen, who had previously served as bishop of Hong Kong from 2002 to 2009, was detained, along with four others, in connection with his role as administrator of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which supported pro-democracy demonstrations by paying for the legal and medical fees of protesters.
Read MoreIn an interview with ReligionUnplugged.com, theoretical physicist and Templeton Prize winner Dr. Frank Wilczek said he was raised in New York City by parents with Italian and Polish backgrounds who wanted him educated in the Catholic tradition: “As a child, I took it very, very seriously and I think it had a residual influence in my later life in helping me to think big and look for the hidden meaning of things.”
Read MorePoliticians from both parties benefit from the abuse of the tax code, but they differ over who’s responsible, claiming that those on the other side are guilty of the greatest abuse. But they agree on one thing: Abuse has skyrocketed since 2010 and the Supreme Court’s controversial Citizens United decision.
Read More
