(ANALYSIS) Syria’s sudden shift in leadership has introduced the Islamist world’s rising star: Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, the leader of HTS. Despite Jawlani’s soft-spoken promises of peace and prosperity, his history is both alarming and ominous.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Over the past quarter century of so, I have spent a large chunk of my time trying to get Christian liberal arts colleges to ponder this question: Why do they have drama departments and not programs to make short films and pilots for television?
Read MoreThe 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.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Among folks who earned no more than a high school diploma, the share who never attend church is about 58%, while those who attend once a month is much lower at 22%. To me, there’s a clear line of demarcation in the graph between those who attended college but didn’t earn a degree and those who obtained an associates degree.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On Dec. 31, while many people are preparing for their New Years Eve parties, some Roman Catholic Christians will also mark the feast day for St. Silvester. Silvester’s era was one of both turmoil and transition for Christians living in the Roman Empire, as some Christian communities emerged from persecution into a powerful alliance with the Romans. His story is intertwined with this alliance, which would change the trajectory of the movement initiated by Jesus three centuries earlier.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Almost two decades ago, the reigning editor of The New York Times admitted, during a speech to the National College Media Association, that the world’s most influential journalism cathedral had changed one of its core doctrines.
Read MoreIn a special year-end edition, Weekend Plug-in counts down the Top 10 most popular ReligionUnplugged.com stories from the past 12 months.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Here we are, doing a top ten list of faith-based films for 2024. It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since “The Passion of The Christ” helped launch the modern era of faith-based films. Since then, such movies have gone from a mostly-mocked niche genre to one that has entered the mainstream. Here’s what made the top 10 list in 2024.
Read More(ANALYSIS) President Donald Trump is returning to the White House, convinced — after a close encounter with an assassin's bullet — that he had God on his side in the election. While opinions differed on that theological question, Trump drew support from voters that frequented pews. Members of Religion News Association selected the presidential election as the year's top national religion story.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In the 2024 presidential election campaign there were hundreds of millions of dollars spent on advertising to convince voters to back either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris. But there was one spot that ran on television in a seeming loop.
Read More(ANALYSIS) One of the things I love about the Christmas season is the music. The ancient music is, of course, powerful. Time-tested hymns and carols still satisfy. But I am also impressed with a current crop of creators using their gifts to “make all things new.” An artist who bears special consideration in this conversation is Andrew Peterson.
Read MoreIt’s the best of the Godbeat, 2024 version. Many of the nation’s top religion journalists pick their top piece of the year.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Anyone who is interested in the roots of Christian history is familiar with the following, drawn from the 11th chapter of Acts. Where is Antioch today? That biblical city now known as Antakya, located on the Orontes River about 12 miles from the Syrian border. The history of the church in Antioch was at the heart of the news in this week’s “Crossroads” podcast.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The news cycle hasn’t been kind to “Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim.” The film made headlines as the lowest-grossing (and worst-reviewed) entry in the Peter Jackson series. The film made $5 million on its opening weekend, finishing fifth at the box office and earning a 52% on Rotten Tomatoes. But none of it really matters because the point of this movie was never this movie. Let me explain.
Read MoreRefugee crises have been on the rise in many parts of the world for over a decade, often met with widespread hostility and indifference. Yet, in the midst of this global pattern, Mizoram, a small Christian-majority state in northeast India, has been quietly providing not only aid but a sense of dignity to those fleeing a violent conflict in neighboring Myanmar.
Read MoreAmericans who watch this 1983 family comedy — about 40 million watch the 24-hour marathon on TBS and TNT starting on Christmas Eve — know that it centers on a boy named Ralphie who is obsessed with a 200-shot Red Ryder air rifle BB gun. But another iconic image is the leg-shaped lamp, wearing a fishnet stocking, that Ralphie's Old Man received as his “major award” after winning a contest. What was that all about?
Read More(ANALYSIS) There’s no way around the question this time of the year, so I will offer my take on the annual holiday controversy. “Die Hard” is not a “Christmas movie.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) Technology, AI and social media have been developed for the common good, to make our lives easier, one way or another. However, they can also be abused — and this is precisely what we have seen across contemporary cases of genocide.
Read More(ANALYSIS) I was recently talking to a Christian who was a strong believer in the separation of church and state. We discussed some implications of that doctrinal position, and he described how it shaped his views on same-sex marriage. That got me wondering: Are there many people out there who favor same-sex marriage but believe that homosexuality is wrong?
Read More(ANALYSIS) On Dec. 5, 2024, Amnesty International, a nongovernmental organization, published a new report analyzing the situation of Palestinians in Gaza. The report, “You Feel Like You Are Subhuman,” finds that the atrocities perpetrated against Palestinians in Gaza amount to genocide.
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