Politics
(ANALYSIS) Among the little-noticed aspects of the 2024 U.S. election is Muslims’ substantial 33% vote for Donald Trump — with a remarkable 42% backing from those who attend mosque weekly. That’s an increase from past elections.
A June terrori attack, the deadliest in recent memory, sent shockwaves through Syria's dwindling Christian population, communities that have endured in this ancient land for almost two millennia. Now, many fear they are witnessing the final chapter of one of Christianity's oldest continuous presences anywhere in the world.
The case of a high school football coach praying on the field has been in the spotlight since the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling. But another football controversy first emerged in 2015, when two Christian schools made it to the state championships. The games were run by the state’s athletic association. Officials barred them from conducting a prayer over the loudspeaker before kickoff.
As students head back to the classroom, they’re likely to see the impact of local churches in their schools this year. A Lifeway Research study found that four in five U.S. Protestant pastors identify at least one way their congregations have engaged with local public schools in the last year. Only 18% of churches say they weren’t involved with area schools.
(ANALYSIS) My first book was entitled “The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going.” It was published — what feels like a lifetime ago — in 2021. I’m pretty proud of that little volume because it established my approach to thinking about non-religion in the United States.
Weekend Plug-in columnist Bobby Ross Jr. reflects on his 35 years in full-time journalism. It started with the editor of a small-town Oklahoma newspaper taking a chance on him.
Activist Hooman Khalili hopes to inspire Iranian women to resist abuse and terrorism through murals displayed on college campuses across the United States. The murals, he said, are meant to spark civil discourse — especially among students — and draw attention to the fight for human rights in Iran at a time when all the focus is on Gaza and Ukraine.
(ANALYSIS) With a nod to digital life, Merriam-Webster has expanded its “influencer” definition to include a “person who is able to generate interest in something (such as a consumer product) by posting about it on social media.” Pope Leo XIV didn't use that term in his latest remarks on faith in the internet age, even while addressing the recent Vatican Jubilee for Digital Missionaries and Influencers.
(ESSAY) On Aug. 9, 1945, the U.S. dropped a bomb called “Fat Man” on Urakami, Japan, the most Christian suburb of the most Christian city in Japan: Nagasaki. It is the forgotten bomb, the silent bomb. Hiroshima, being the city where the first nuclear bomb, less powerful than the Nagasaki bomb was detonated, is the atomic bombing that all peace movements acclaim: “No more Hiroshimas!”
(ANALYSIS) The situation in Gaza requires urgent attention and response from the international community — to prevent further civilian suffering and death. While some steps have been taken to provide humanitarians assistance, as it stands, the steps appear to be too little and too late to address the current and ever-growing needs of the population.
(ANALYSIS) PCA folks, it’s your moment — few denominations punch above their weight online like you do. Here’s why.
Deion Sanders can’t — or won’t — stop talking about the Lord. Especially now. This week, Colorado’s head football coach mentioned God and faith at least three dozen times during a 40-minute news conference to discuss his private battle with bladder cancer.
Channeling the rage on the Bluesky social-media platform, Sunny Hostin at “The View” claimed that the decision by CBS executives to cancel Stephen Colbert's “Late Show” could be the start of dangerous people "dismantling of our Constitution.” This raised questions for me, several of which were discussed during this week’s “Crossroads” podcast. For starters, who — other than President Donald Trump & Co. — were these dangerous people? Did this include millions of Americans who used to watch late-night TV and are now watching whatever they choose to watch on YouTube?
Brent Leatherwood has resigned as president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, ending nearly nine years of service that began in 2017 as director of strategic partnerships. The ERLC Board of Trustees accepted Leatherwood’s resignation in a called meeting Thursday in Nashville, gratefully noting his character and achievements in the role he began in 2021 in an acting capacity before becoming president in 2022.
School choice and Christian education advocates are lauding an unprecedented provision buried in the 1,116 pages of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law on July 4 by President Donald Trump. However, questions remain about the first-ever federal private school tax credit.
The University of California agreed to pay $6.13 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the school of antisemitism in its handling of campus protests that excluded Jews from sections of the campus. Hours later, the DOJ said UCLA violated the civil rights of Jewish students, neglecting “obligations under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
As the U.S. prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary next year, another significant institution hits that milestone this week. The Army Chaplains Corps formed on July 29, 1775, at the behest of the Second Continental Congress and the request of General George Washington. The Navy Chaplains Corps would follow in November of that same year.
“A love offering from the Baptist Church in Gaza” proclaims the sign as Christian Mission to Gaza serves hot meals to both Christians and Muslims in the Gaza Strip, where people are starving to death. CMG served about 2,000 hot meals over the weekend July 24-26 in the name of Gaza Baptist, said Hanna Massad, who served as the church’s first Palestinian pastor before founding CMG. But the meals only touch a small fraction of those in need.
(ANALYSIS) Unless a federal court challenge succeeds, American clergy are now free to endorse political candidates in sermons during worship. The Internal Revenue Service has just erased the pulpit prohibition that for 71 years was among conditions to obtain federal tax exemption on income and donor gifts. The impact is tough to predict.
(ANALYSIS) For some Jewish college students, the Trump administration’s approach to campus antisemitism came as a relief after two years of what they perceived as weak action by universities and the federal government. Fewer are cheering after the White House signed a $221 million settlement with Columbia University.
Oh no, not Theo. That was the first thought of millions of Generation Xers when the news broke this week of Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s accidental drowning death in Costa Rica at age 54. Here’s why “The Cosby Show” actor was so influential and beloved.
(ANALYSIS) The more people are inundated by joking memes about people being beaten and handcuffed by U.S. government forces, the less startling they are. And the easier it is to believe that, perhaps, this is the way things have been since the beginning — just as God made them.
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Monday partially granting Planned Parenthood’s request to prevent enforcement of the defund measure included in the recent budget reconciliation bill approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump.
(ANALYSIS) When Zohran Mamdani announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City, political observers noted his progressive platform and legislative record. But understanding the Democratic candidate’s background requires examining the rich cultural tapestry woven into his very surname: Mamdani.
(ANALYSIS) Things are moving in another direction, no doubt. Some people embrace that change and look forward to a more diverse America, while others pine for a country that they think existed five or six decades ago. But what portion is in each camp?
(ANALYSIS) Britain has named India among 10 countries it will closely monitor for violations of religious freedom as part of a new foreign policy strategy. The move links the United Kingdom’s international relations more directly with the defence of freedom of religion or belief.
(ANALYSIS) Strolling through the streets of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, one easily gets the impression of walking through multiple cities at once.
(REVIEW) Stories help us sift through random events of our lives into something coherent. COVID was a seminal time in American life, and it’s more than right that we should tell stories about it. But without something coherent to say, those stories stop being useful ways to interpret the noise, and instead just add to it.
It’s a question church-state experts have asked for decades: Is it legal for a minister, from a sanctuary pulpit on Sunday, to endorse a political candidate?
(ANALYSIS) A coalition of civil society organizations announced the launch of the People’s Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan, an initiative to address the impunity for the dire situation of women and girls in Afghanistan.