Politics
As New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani marks four months in office, a new survey of New York City’s Jewish voters shows he’s done little to ease concerns among a community that overwhelmingly did not support his election and remains uneasy about his handling of antisemitism and Israel.
Adam Miller, a Los Angeles mayoral candidate and former tech executive, is beginning to highlight his Jewish identity after initially downplaying it. He frames his background and leadership at Ikar as key qualifications, while criticizing city leadership on antisemitism, positioning himself as a moderate alternative in a competitive race.
Pope Leo XIV’s first international apostolic journey was clouded by heated disputes with President Donald Trump, criticisms of appearing to appease the Islamist persecution of Christians and ongoing conflicts over homosexuality and polygamy among those who are members of the Catholic Church.
Every now and then, a current event comes along that waves a red flag at the mainstream media — warning editors and reporters that there is no way around the religious content in this story. What kind of red flag?
In a ballroom surrounded by fellow Godbeat pros, our columnist immediately thought this when he learned of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting: There’ll be a religion angle. Why? There always is.
(ANALYSIS) All this has happened even as President Donald Trump has emphasized a particular idea of religious liberty throughout his second term. In his proclamation for Religious Freedom Day in 2026, he emphasized familiar ideas of Americans’ “God-given right to practice their faith, follow their conscience, and worship their God freely and without fear.” But the statement also seemed to reflect a broader project of lending government support to Christianity.
A Christian pro-life pregnancy resource center can fight in federal court the state of New Jersey’s order to submit a broad spectrum of documents including the identity of financial donors, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Wednesday.
(ANALYSIS) Trump claimed the White House Correspondents Dinner attacker “hated Christians,” but reporting indicates the suspect was a believer whose manifesto drew on Christian theology. The discrepancy highlights how Trump’s framing may serve broader political goals, particularly unifying a divided conservative Christian base around perceived religious persecution.
(ANALYSIS) After years of religious decline, it’s understandable that faith leaders would celebrate any indication of renewal. Yet the eagerness to tout young men’s religious interest and relatively muted discussion of young women’s decreased attachment mirrors a current that has washed through many American churches for over a generation.
The pursuit of virtue and liberty ought to be at the center of American policymaking. What’s changed — especially among conservative lawmakers — in recent years? Matthew Peterson interviewed Stephanie Slade, senior editor of Reason magazine and author of the upcoming book “Fusionism” to find out.
Yazidis in northeast Syria are fleeing yet again as renewed fighting in Aleppo triggers mass displacement, reviving trauma from ISIS’s 2014 genocide. Survivors face deep psychological scars, economic hardship, and persistent insecurity, with many fearing further violence, family separation, and the gradual erosion of their community and identity through repeated upheaval.
A shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., injured one officer and prompted the evacuation of President Trump and guests. The incident renewed calls to reduce political rhetoric. Officials, including Christian leaders, condemned the violence and urged prayer, unity and a peaceful approach to political differences.
In writings, Cole Tomas Allen thanked his church and argued that his attempt to assassinate Trump administration officials was compatible with his faith.
(ANALYSIS) More questions remain. Will the Vatican seek to impose doctrine, potentially provoking further resistance from the West? Or will it allow a degree of local experimentation, accepting the risk of inconsistency in the name of pastoral responsiveness? Leo’s statements on the issue suggest a preference for the former.
(ANALYSIS) One of the central stories of that work is that white Christianity has become noticeably more conservative. That’s not just the case in white evangelicalism (which most people know about), but it’s also true among white Catholics. It has become increasingly the case that to be white and Christian is to support the Republican Party.
(ANALYSIS) Knowing what the declaration actually says, and how its first listeners reacted, might not sway Americans at the extremes. It provides evidence for less polarizing, more nuanced views about the founding generation’s convictions and compromises as Americans commemorate their nation’s 250th anniversary.
(ANALYSIS) Muslim Americans can often feel helpless in combating the hate they experience – more awareness and advocacy could reduce Islamophobia and address the mental health needs of an already vulnerable community. As the war with Iran continues, these issues will continue to persist among America’s Muslim community.
(ANALYSIS) Stephen Miller’s “might makes right” worldview reflects a broader shift toward prioritizing power over understanding in global affairs. Through the tales of Nasreddin Hoja, the piece argues that curiosity, humility, and engagement with other cultures are essential — and that relying solely on strength risks blinding societies to complexity, difference and their own limitations.
The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will not reconsider its landmark 1990 religious freedom decision that lower courts cited in a Colorado dispute over Catholic preschools and LGBTQ families, but it will hear arguments over how that ruling applies in the case.
(ANALYSIS) American religion has rarely, if ever, seen anything quite like these past weeks. Start with President Donald Trump’s profane Easter Sunday message to Iran. Making matters worse, the president then took on Pope Leo, saying the pontiff is a “very liberal person” who is “weak on crime” and “terrible on foreign policy.”
China’s Communist Party runs an industrialized system of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience, enabling transplants and surgically removing the organs while they’re still alive, the book claims. Its publication fuels bipartisan U.S. efforts to impose sanctions, raise accountability, and confront what it portrays as a defining feature of China’s authoritarian rule.
(ESSAY) On the plane and at the airport, strangers from different backgrounds offered unexpected compassion and support. Their kindness became a powerful reminder of shared humanity, transcending religion. It was a moment of revelation. Through my tears I offered my thanks and wished them a happy time. And that’s not all.
The state of Vermont is one step closer to passing a law that would require healthcare sharing ministries to submit an annual report to the state about its participants and finances. House Bill (HB) 585 includes a section entitled, “Annual Reporting on Health Care Sharing Plans and Arrangements.” It was originally proposed in 2025 as HB 102 by Rep. Conor Casey.
(ANALYSIS) Several years ago, Canada began a program called Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID). It’s a government initiative that’s beginning to reshape how Canadians are facing end-of-life situations.
Food pantries often include a mobile component that delivers food to those in the community who can’t reach them. With the increased price of fuel, MinistryWatch reached out to Christian food pantry ministries to see how rising costs are affecting them.
It’s hard to discuss a war in the Middle East without mentioning religion, especially when the main players are Israel, Iran and the United States. Apparently, the most important word in this drama is not “nuclear” or “oil” -- it’s “fundamentalism.”
(ANALYSIS) For many people, Trump’s rant against the pope was shocking. But conflicts between popes and rulers are not an aberration; they’re a durable feature of Western history. Whenever political leaders cloak power in sacred language, or religious leaders publicly denounce political violence, they reenact debates that stretch back more than a millennium.
Easter Vigils brought a sharp rise in U.S. Catholic conversions, nearing pre-pandemic levels in some dioceses. Yet long-term trends remain troubling: Far more Catholics leave than join, Mass attendance has plunged and institutional markers are down. The church’s future hinges on why some parishes grow while many others continue to decline.
It was more than a house of worship. Iran’s residents came to the community center for affordable healthcare and to borrow books. It was the heartbeat of a neighborhood in the northwestern Iranian city of Zanjan — and now locals are mourning its loss. As the war rages on, they are looking to rebuild.
The U.S. Supreme Court has stayed a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals nationwide ban on mail-order abortion pills, the main mode of pregnancy termination in the U.S.