(ANALYSIS) Keir Starmer's ascent as the U.K.'s first openly atheist leader marks a significant milestone in British political history. This development prompts the question: Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Unsurprisingly, the answer is rather complicated. Today's U.K. is vastly different from the country of Starmer's childhood.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In my “On Religion” column — “Jonathan Haidt: It's time for clergy to start worrying about smartphone culture” — I focused on what the author of “The Anxious Generation” had to say about the decisions faced by religious believers in the age of digital-screens culture.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On Monday, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will host a broadcast to celebrate the “life and teachings” of Russell M. Nelson, its president and prophet. One of his initiatives made an impact that rippled far beyond the church. In 2018, he surprised observers by declaring the use of the word “Mormon” a “major victory for Satan.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) Two-thirds of college students do not hold views toward Israel or Jews “likely to threaten their relationship with their Jewish peers,” a new study from Brandeis University found. But what about the remaining third? Researchers found that group split roughly equally between those who expressed hostility toward Israel (but not Jews) and those who thought poorly of Jews, not Israel.
Read MoreReports showing sustained increases in food and home prices alongside a cooling labor market highlight a continuing challenge for churches.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In 1961, Auburn University turned down the Gotham Bowl because the date of the bowl (Dec. 2) conflicted with Auburn’s end-of-quarter exams. Ohio State University (OSU) rejected a bid to play in the Rose Bowl because faculty feared the school was turning into a “football factory." Them days are long gone.
Read MoreOse Ehimare was 24 weeks pregnant when she boarded a plane from Nigeria to the U.S. Fourteen years later, Ehimare and the quadruplets — Alyssa, Bibiana, Noah and Valencia — made the 6,000-mile journey again so that the four teenagers could be baptized among the family that helped them come into the world.
Read MoreOne of the world’s most important newsrooms just offered a finely detailed profile of Catholic convert J.D. Vance and, imagine this, the feature focused on the emotions and ideas that led him to swim the Tiber. This included his intellectual and spiritual attraction to the work of St. Augustine, one of the most important minds in Western culture.
Read MoreThe new "Reagan" biopic focuses on Ronald Reagan's role in the Cold War and the fight against Soviet communism. But faith emerges as a major storyline in the 135-minute biopic.
Read More(ANALYSIS) I am going to pull out some questions that piqued my interest when I was scrolling through the codebook. The first is a set of two questions about mental health. Folks were asked, “How often do you get the social and emotional support you need?”
Read More(ANALYSIS) Exorcism movies are making a comeback — and the reasons are more interesting than you might think. The likely reasons actually say a lot about the present and the future of religion in America and its intersection with the future of mass media. Here's a deeper look at why Hollywood is going all in on the genre.
Read MoreThe U.S. Supreme Court refused Sept. 3 to restore a $4.5 million family planning grant to Oklahoma while the state’s challenge to the termination of the grant works its way through the lower courts.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, women and girls have been banned from playing sports or participating in any form of physical activity. However, Afghan women have been defying the Taliban and competed at the 2024 Olympics and 2024 Paralympic, while flying the flag of the Refugee Olympic and Paralympic teams.
Read MoreOverwhelmingly, Americans think the moral values of the country are worsening. Around four in five U.S. adults (81 percent) say the state of moral values is getting worse, and only 14 percent say it’s getting better. That gives the future outlook a minus 67 score — down 24 points from 2002.
Read MoreIllegal bans on nonvegetarian food are increasingly being introduced in towns that attract Hindu pilgrims, like Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh and Haridwar in Uttarakhand. Since it is perceived as a manifestation of tradition and culture, it is difficult to challenge it in a court of law.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In the heated environs of Catholic cyberspace, that kind of reporting being done by The Pillar has drawn fierce criticism from partisans on the other side of all doctrinal debates with political, moral and cultural implications. At the moment, The Pillar is taking heat from conservatives for coverage raising questions about remarks by Sen. J.D. Vance.
Read MoreThe Mixe language continues to thrive. The Mixe people consider themselves never conquered, and turkey — an animal native to the Americas before colonization — is served at all significant events. Asking Mother Earth for permission and for the well-being of the plants does not only accompany coffee producers of the Mixe group, but also other farmers in Oaxaca.
Read MorePope Francis delivered his first speech on Indonesian soil on Wednesday as he met with the country’s authorities, civil society, and diplomatic corps at the Istana Negara presidential palace in Jakarta. He was welcomed by President Joko Widodo, a crowd of Indonesian children waiving Vatican and Indonesian flags, and several members of the presidential guard.
Read More(REVIEW) Adam Sandler has gotten better at guitar since “Chanukah Song.” In his new Netflix comedy special, "Love You," the comedian plays a long, honestly impressive, flamenco riff before bursting into a song in which he complains about mowing the lawn, and also whinnies like a horse. Guitar skill, it seems, is the only thing that’s changed about Sandler.
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