Richard Ostling
(ANALYSIS) The young Donald Trump administration is unusually focused on the issue of religious liberty — operating through two newly formed organizations that emphasize concerns raised by those conservative Catholics and Protestants who are a crucial element in the president’s political “base.”
The only humans yet to set foot on the Moon are American astronauts in the series of six Apollo landings that ended 53 years ago. But last January, President Donald Trump’s Inaugural Address proclaimed a far more extraordinary goal: “We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars. . . . Americans are explorers, builders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and pioneers. The spirit of the frontier is written into our hearts. The call of the next great adventure resounds from within our souls.”
(ANALYSIS) Despite some major differences, newspapers and religion share notable similarities in their societal roles, including defining norms, creating a sense of a shared community, while maintaining rituals. These parallels are often rooted in the human need to make sense of a complex world. Over the years, Hollywood has immortalized their importance with a series of movies.
(ANALYSIS) This is a landmark year for what’s variously labeled “medical assistance in dying” (MAID), “doctor-assisted suicide,” death by choice,” “death with dignity,” “the right to die,” “euthanasia” or “mercy killing.” As this is written, Great Britain is on the brink of joining the West European nations that allow suicide under specified conditions.
(ANALYSIS) With two dramatic actions, the “Religious Right” is suddenly prodding the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its historic 2015 Obergefell decision, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Such a radical and unpopular switch after only 10 years might seem implausible — but a close parallel already happened in the 2022 Dobbs decision.
(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.
(ANALYSIS) Ask Harvard University. But first, British philosopher John Locke said each person has God-given rights to life, liberty, and property. America’s Declaration of Independence replaced “property” with “the Pursuit of Happiness” as among humans’ “unalienable Rights … endowed by their Creator.” On the brink of the Declaration’s 250th anniversary, just how can happiness be pursued?
(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) One hundred years ago this month, Americans were transfixed as a Tennessee courtroom hosted challenge to the state’s new law barring “the teaching of the Evolution Theory” in public schools, including colleges. The prohibition covered “any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible.
(ANALYSIS) Who voted how in 2024? The two most important surveys on U.S. election patterns are now available and among the findings is this bulletin: Along with its various current woes, in the long term the Democratic Party faces weakening support from many religious groups that is nearing a political emergency. No effective game plan for a turnaround is in sight.
(ANALYSIS) All that and more underscores the significance of a long-awaited and definitive new biography, out now: “Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet” (Yale University Press) by historian John G. Turner of George Mason University. It is the first biography to benefit from official publication of the 27-volume Joseph Smith Papers.
(ANALYSIS) Leo’s elevation broke the longstanding rule of thumb that no American, as a citizen of a superpower, could or even should become pope. But that did not trouble the College of Cardinals in May, and leading up to his election Cardinal Robert Prevost felt free to critique current American policies.
How will Leo’s formative three decades in the United States before life in Peru and Rome shape his church of 1.4 billion souls? Yes, the cardinals must be thinking an American could solve the Holy See’s $98 million annual deficit, severely underfunded pensions, and declining donations. They may also hope his solid administrative experience might tame the curia, the Vatican’s notoriously Italianate “deep state.”
(ANALYSIS) There are two reasons, translations and texts, both of which have cropped up in the news of religion this year. The venerable King James Version (KJV) appeared without changes over centuries. Today, experts continually reconsider the best available evidence to improve our English Bibles.
(ANALYSIS) Despite the disruptions of global economics and trade, and a couple dozen other hot disputes, let's not neglect such perennial realities as the way religion can affect politics, and vice versa. As President Donald Trump promised, this is a central aspect of his agenda, underscored by the recent establishment of the new Religious Liberty Commission.
(ANALYSIS) The big U.S. Supreme Court decisions due in the coming two months include three cases on the religion clauses in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights. At issue: Can a state deny a tax benefit to religious charities it thinks are not “religious” enough, can parents withdraw public elementary children from classes on gender identity and whether the state can fund a religious charter school.
Saturday’s majestic open-air funeral for Pope Francis is now followed by election of the next pope by the College of Cardinals in a process shrouded in secrecy. Indeed, the Latin root for “conclave” means “locked room”). Its legendary status was underscored in January when the fictionalized movie thriller “Conclave” was nominated for Best Picture and other Oscars.
(ANALYSIS) “Americans have lost faith in traditional religion,” announces the sweeping first sentence of a contentious book published during Holy Week: “Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America.”
(ANALYSIS) The Presbyterian Church (USA) is nearing the latest turning point in its half-century struggle over same-sex clergy and marriage that could give liberals powerful new leverage against traditionalists — if they choose to exercise it. The coming clash would pit the liberals’ anti-discrimination principles against the evangelical minority's freedom of conscience claims.
(ANALYSIS) In recent weeks, as peace discussions proceeded among victimized Ukraine, its imperialistic neighbor Russia, pro-Ukraine Europeans and America’s Donald Trump administration, there’s been some vigorous religious debate about this muddled situation.
(ANALYSIS) One of the most impactful cultural changes in 21st-century America has been the steady decline in Christian vitality, as measured by membership, baptisms versus funerals, worship attendance, practices, and perceptions. Two major new social science surveys suggest that this decline may have bottomed out — though statistics about secularizing youth give believers ample reason to worry about the future.
An original aspect of “Believe” is Douthat’s suggestions about how to pick a path among so many faith options. He proposes that quests focus on tried-and-true religions that attract the most adherents, in order of size, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism. (Judaism, far smaller, broadly fits the Christian outlook). That’s a notably open-minded approach coming from Zondervan, an evangelical publisher.
(ANALYSIS) With the transgender policies among President Trump’s blizzard of new executive orders, further explanation is needed on the cultural reality of deep-seated religious concepts. In particular, the resolutely “binary” Bible depicts humans as either male or female and underlies 2,000 years of Jewish and Christian teaching. Similarly with the Quran and Muslims. How should that heritage affect secular society and policy?
Not yet, and not quite, even as President Trump’s agenda instead puts the news spotlight on transgender issues. Though the Supreme Court’s historic 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision to legalize gay and lesbian marriage nationwide was by a narrow 5 to 4, the law appears very unlikely to change. And yet dissent continues and U.S. public opinion is shifting a bit.
(ANALYSIS) A Texas Supreme Court hearing marked the climax of a significant six-year legal battle. SMU has declared its independence from the United Methodist Church, ending a 114-year connection while planning to retain its “Methodist” name. Regardless of the decision, one question remains: In what respects is SMU a “Methodist” or a “Christian” university beyond acknowledging its heritage?
(ANALYSIS) Italy expects 35 million pilgrims to visit Rome during the Catholic Church’s current “Holy Year” or “Jubilee” that runs through January 6, 2026. In modern times, Holy Years usually occur in 25-year intervals, though Pope Francis called an “extraordinary” one in 2015 and has announced a 2033 Jubilee to commemorate the 2,000th anniversary of the redemption won in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.
(ANALYSIS) Could it possibly have been coincidence? The very day Congress certified Donald Trump’s election as the next U.S. president, the Vatican announced the transfer of San Diego’s Cardinal Robert McElroy to become the politically significant archbishop of Washington, D.C. There’s no doubt Pope Francis wants McElroy to keep an eye on Trump.
(ANALYSIS) No text ever written can compare with the impact of the Nicene Creed in this way: Whenever the world’s two billion-plus Christians gather for their regular Communion services, most recite these ancient words to define their core beliefs affirmed across the centuries, in a multitude of nations and languages, in churches that may differ on many other matters.
The instant collapse of Assad’s rule will reshape the geopolitics of the Mideast for years to come. Within Syria itself, the challenge is how to replace the bloodthirsty past and current revolutionary turbulence with effective government capable of restoring and unifying a nation that currently copes with regional occupations by Turkey, Israel and others.
(ANALYSIS) If Charlie Kirk’s movement accomplishes its ambitious goals, it would rival America’s significant evangelical youth revival that erupted after World War II. “Parachurch” organizations formed during that era, like InterVarsity, The Navigators, Cru and YoungLife are all active today.