Will Catholics Determine Whether Biden Or Trump Wins In ‘24?

A recent series of crosscurrents and eruptions remind us that Catholic voters may well decide this odd contest between unwelcome nominees. As with Americans in general, Pew Research Center polling shows they give fellow Catholic Biden an unfavorable rating of 64 percent and 57 percent unfavorable toward Trump. 

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Iran’s Hardliner President Ebrahim Raisi Killed In Helicopter Crash

President Ebrahim Raisi and Iran’s foreign minister were killed on Sunday in a helicopter crash, leaving the country without two of its most influential figures at a time of much turmoil in the Middle East. They were traveling from Iran’s border with Azerbaijan after inaugurating a dam project.

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Artists Create Images Of Christ Focused On Reflecting Different Communities

(ANALYSIS) In my work as a religious history scholar, I’ve learned that throughout history artists created images of Christ that would speak to different communities. In 1915, Norwegian artist Emanuel Vigeland created an image of Christ with golden hair and fair skin despite a popular illustration showing Christ as Middle Eastern with dark hair.

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If You Hope To Speak For God, You’ll Hear A Myriad Contrary Voices

(OPINION) Speaking for God can be a messy business. Very messy. No matter how sincere you are, you might turn out eventually to have been wrong. No matter how many Scriptures you cite to prove your point, those who disagree will trot out contrary passages to demonstrate why you’re tragically misguided — if not heretical.

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Methodist Group’s Website No Longer Shows Sunday Morning Beach Restrictions

In an effort to avoid heavy fines this summer, the Christian group that has called the New Jersey seaside town of Ocean Grove home for over 150 years has amended its website and will keep beaches open on Sunday mornings.

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As Classes End, Colleges Take Down Encampments With Cops Or Concessions

As spring semesters around the country end, pro-Palestinian encampments — at least 10 in the past few weeks — are coming down, sometimes as a result of agreements between protesters and administrators, sometimes as a result of forceful action by police. Most agreements have involved amnesty for protesters and given them an opportunity to have input in university investment decisions.

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Trial Kicks Off for Christian Billionaire Bill Hwang’s Fraud Scheme

Earlier this month, billionaire trader and philanthropist Bill Hwang appeared in court to answer for his role in a high-stakes Wall Street meltdown that saw several large banks lose billions in days. Jury selection began last week, followed by opening statements and the first witness testimony on Monday. The trial is expected to last eight weeks.

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Artificial Intelligence: The Servant Becomes Our Master

(ANALYSIS) The church was once considered a resource for understanding how reality works. That’s less the case today. To return to being a resource for things like artificial intelligence, we’d have to learn what the Bible says about technology and sorcery.

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The Rev. Billy Graham Immortalized In A Statue Unveiled At The US Capitol

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and members of Graham’s family joined the North Carolina Congressional delegation in unveiling the statue that replaces that of early 20th-century N.C. governor and staunch white supremacist Charles Aycock.

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Outrage Over A Catholic Commencement Speech At A Catholic College

(OPINION) While a petition calling for the firing of Harrison Butker, one of the greatest placekickers in the NFL, has gained more than 100,000 signatures, sales of his jersey are skyrocketing. Why all the controversy?

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🎤 Preach It, Jelly Roll: Emotional Singer Celebrates Another Big Award 🔌

Jelly Roll is on a roll. The “Son of a Sinner” artist — whose songs feature raw, religious  lyrics that wrestle with his troubled past — won another big award on Thursday night.

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Garbage City’s Christian Residents Call For Increased Government Representation

Garbage City existed before its Coptic Christian residents, and they are the only ones willing enough to remain among the trash and help Cairo by sorting through it. The main issue, these days, is the lack of political representation and influence caused by a growing Muslim-Christian divide.

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When Being Pro-Palestinian Means The End Of Israel

(OPINION) It is important to remember that many of those protesting Israel’s war in Gaza are not simply advocating for a ceasefire or for a two-state solution. They are advocating for the end of Israel. This, of course, is the obvious meaning of the “river to the sea” chant. But what is implied in the chant is now being stated explicitly by anti-Israel protesters and their allies. They, in turn, are simply articulating what has always been the fundamental position of Hamas.

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Georgia Becomes 19th US State To Pass Donor Privacy Law

Georgia has become the 19th state in the U.S. to pass a law protecting the privacy of members, donors and volunteers of nonprofit groups. The Personal Privacy Protection Act, signed into law by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on May 6, prohibits a public agency in the state from compelling a nonprofit organization to release personal information of its donors or volunteers.

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Nancy French’s ‘Ghosted’ Offers A Haunting, Helpful Read, But Not For Everyone

(REVIEW) “Ghosted” focuses on how the Frenches lost friends and colleagues alike when they became critics of Donald Trump, the twice-divorced billionaire who won the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and ascended to the White House. 

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Catholic Site Honoring Mary Draws Thousands Thanks To Its Miraculous Waters

Tucked away in the mountain range of the Kenyan Rift Valley, amid flourishing forests overlooking the vibrant little town of Subukia lies a Marian shrine. This special Catholic site dedicated to prayer regularly hosts of thousands of pilgrims from many parts of the world. It is also the source of the legendary water of the Subukia Shrine.

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On Religion: Hollywood No Longer Church Of The Masses In The Digital Age

(ANALYSIS) The power of today’s digital media is much more complex than that, said Barbara Nicolosi Harrington, a former Catholic nun-turned-screenwriter and Hollywood script doctor. “Hollywood has been the church of the masses, but I don't think that’s still true. At least, we cannot say that movie theaters are the sanctuaries they once were for most people, especially for the young,” she Harrington.

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Hindu Refugees Find New Hope In India’s Controversial Citizenship Law

Pakistani Hindu refugees have once again garnered attention following the notification of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act. The law aims to grant Indian citizenship to immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who belong to the Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist or Christian faiths and had entered India before 2014 due to religious persecution.

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Catholicism By Generation A Rapid Collapse Or Steady As She Goes?

Sometimes, an important high-level finding warrants some additional reflection. I have several of these rolling around in my head at any given point. The one I wanted to zero in on is from a post that ran over a year ago. Simply put, Catholic Mass attendance is way down. About half of all self-identified Catholics said that they attended Mass nearly every week in 1972. In the most recent data, it’s about half that rate.

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