(ANALYSIS) Approximately 42% of married Jews have a spouse who is not Jewish. Among American Jews who have gotten married since 2010, that percentage rises to 61%. Most spouses come from Christian backgrounds, but others marry Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists or people from any number of other religious traditions. In my research on interfaith families, I’ve seen ceremonies combine traditions in a wide array of ways.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Garuda is well known as the loyal vehicle of Hindu deity Vishnu and is usually depicted as a large mythical eagle with a man’s upper body. Nevertheless, his duties do not confine him to merely being a divine servant. He also represents freedom and power. For many years, Garuda had been burdened by family responsibilities and an inescapable fate resulting from his mother’s debt from karma.
Read MoreWith grocery prices high and pandemic-era benefit programs ended, many churches across the nation report increased demand for food benevolence. Minneapolis Central launched its food ministry during the COVID-19 pandemic — four years later, the number of needy families relying on the ministry has more than doubled, averaging between 325 and 375 per week.
Read More(ANALYSIS) While insiders grasped the symbolism of this interfaith affirmation, the news at this pandemic-delayed gathering focused, as expected, on biblical authority and sexuality. This General Conference urgently moved to modernize many UMC doctrines and laws after the exit of 7,659 congregations in America’s biggest church split since the Civil War.
Read MoreIndia’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, scored 240 seats in the final tally. It will need the help of its coalition partner, the National Democratic Alliance, to meet the requirement of 272 seats to form the government. Here’s everything you need to know about the election results and what it all means for Indian democracy.
Read More(OPINION) The deepest conflicts of our time pit groups against each other in what has come to be seen as a zero-sum game. Colleges have become forums where agitators refuse to cogently advocate for their beliefs and to seek to persuade those with whom they disagree and, instead, rouse those occupying their echo chambers to drum for the complete eradication of their ideological opponents.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Nightcrawler has always been an explicitly Catholic character in the X-Men comics, and his faith is almost always integral to his portrayal. A lot of that is due to the irony of having a devilish-looking character be so religious. Because he is a largely positive Christian character in a secular brand, you can see what secular people, or religious people who work in mainstream entertainment, think of faith.
Read MoreOver 20 political parties, including Muslim and Christian ones, joined in their objection to the announced results of South Africa’s national elections held last week, citing a myriad of voting irregularities. According to them, the identified irregularities were serious widespread systemic deficiencies and undermined votes cast by millions of South Africans. The parties said they require a recount of votes, while others requested a reelection.
Read MoreVenezuelan and Ukrainian immigrants were among 70 families who made a pilgrimage through Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood, past dog walkers and Little Leaguers, to the church’s food pantry. Christians from a nearby high school loaded sacks of fresh vegetables, canned goods and bread into their cars or backpacks as airplanes soared overhead.
Read MoreThe John Templeton Foundation announced on Tuesday that Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela was named this year’s recipient of the Templeton Prize in recognition for her work around trauma and forgiveness in post-apartheid South Africa. Gobodo-Madikizela, 69, an author and professor, has created a model for social healing in the aftermath of conflict — one that she calls “the reparative quest.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) Some U.S. Jews’ involvement in Palestinian solidarity movements began years before the current war. In my research, which included in-depth interviews and participant observation work, activists emphasized that they were inspired to act because of their Jewish identity and values, not in spite of them.
Read More(ANALYSIS) An important piece of early Christian history, the Crosby-Schøyen Codex, is up for auction at Christie’s in London. This codex is a mid-fourth century book from Egypt containing a combination of biblical and other early Christian texts.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In religion, what goes down can always come up again. American religions continue to face persistent skepticism from elite culture, education and entertainment along with long-term internal damage from sexual abuse scandals and disputes over sexual morality and Trumpism that are not disappearing. Also, stated identity in polls does not make up for sagging in-person attendance and donations that erode organized religion.
Read MoreClaudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, won a landslide victory on Sunday to become Mexico's first female president. Sheinbaum, won the presidency with nearly 60% of the vote, defeating opposition candidate Xochitl Galvez. She is also Jewish in a country that is majority Catholic.
Read More(OPINION) After his victorious bout in a major combat sports event this past Saturday night, UFC fighter Bassil Hafez said, “There is something I wanna say. I have been having it in my heart for a long time. I don’t support genocide. I don’t support innocent women and children being killed for war and for money and power. We are all God’s children and we all deserve a fair chance in life. Free Palestine.” While Hafez didn’t mention Israel by name, his message was clear. Israel is committing genocide.
Read More(ANALYSIS) This is the question that I have been thinking about ever since Memorial Day: What role do movie theaters play in God’s glorious and fallen creation? Yes, that’s a strange question. Let me explain. Back in my professor days when I taught Introduction to Mass Communication 101, I explained the whole “technology shapes culture” equation (again, think “the medium is the message”) by asking a series of questions.
Read MoreThousands of people from across the globe will descend on the city that’s home to the Eiffel Tower for the Olympics. The IMB has ministered at many Olympics, and volunteers who’ve traveled to the global cities have long been crucial to its ministry strategy. While ministry has been successful, interactions are often fleeting as visitors scatter. That’s where digital engagement strategies come in.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Civic engagement — including volunteering and registering to vote — rather than religiosity was more correlated with giving by Muslim American women, according to research we conducted with our colleagues at the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative. Muslims are required to contribute zakat, a form of giving. To meet this obligation, Muslims are required to give 2.5 percent of their wealth to charities.
Read More(OPINION) In my observation, core spiritual truths are applicable to nearly every arena of life, not just to religion but also to business, education or politics. They’re as beneficial to those who don’t believe in God as to those who go to church three times a week. I think of these as universal laws. They’re woven into the world we inhabit as surely as the law of gravity. One of these universal truths is the principle of balance.
Read MoreAndrew Root’s “The Church in an Age of Secular Mysticisms” (Baker Academic, 2023) includes some ponderous writing but a central concept well worth pondering. Root asks us not to think of politics and culture not as a battle of socialistic secularists versus MAGA right-wingers but as a pyramid. Two secular philosophies are on the bottom: “Exclusive Humanists” on the left and “Counter-Enlightenment” on the right.
Read More
