(OPINION) The return of Taliban rule after 20 years will likely produce the typical mayhem and murder when a regime suddenly collapses. But much is also at stake for world Islam, a crucial aspect that the media have tended to slight thus far. Journalists may be witnessing a new phase in what Georgetown University expert John Esposito has called a long-running "struggle for the soul of Islam."
Read More(OPINION) A recent poll showed that American Mainline Protestantism is rising, but virtually all other data shows it is rapidly decreasing. Here’s what the media should pay attention to.
Read More(OPINION) In the words of Bruce Riley Ashford, the provost of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, the word Southern will, “forever be associated with pro-slavery views.” This has led to discussion of changing the name, but to what?
Read More(OPINION) The promotion of individualism at all costs within America is causing many to become “do it yourself” Christians. That applies to the Capitol rioters on Jan. 6 too.
Read More(OPINION) Recent polls show that mainline Protestantism is surpassing evangelicals in the United States. However, this piece explores the complexities of this data, and the ways in which important aspects are often overlooked.
Read More(OPINION) A narrowly-framed Supreme Court victory — the Fulton v. Philadelphia case — will allow Catholic Charities (at least for now) to preserve religious conscience and avoid placing foster children and children available for adoption with same-sex couples, despite the city's non-discrimination statute. However, this does not settle the many similar legal disputes the media will be covering the next few years.
Read More(OPINION) Standard news judgment automatically puts the spotlight on hot disputes in the nation's two largest religious sectors — white evangelicalism and Catholicism. Meanwhile, the media consistently downplay the third-ranking religious category, "Mainline" Protestantism. Do these “Mainliners” hold insights into how to mitigate sexual abuse scandals in churches?
Read More(OPINION) It's often said religious couples generally tend to have more children than non-religious ones. Journalists should ask local observers and national experts if that remains true, and why so, and what impact growing secularism in places like North America will have upon the looming Birth Dearth.
Read More(OPINION) With the Supreme Court’s agreement to review the new, strict abortion law developed in Mississippi, it is crucial for religion reporters to understand which religious groups are advocating for and against it. The media will and should press American religious bodies to restate what they believe.
Read More(OPINION) The media has neglected to portray the cultural and demographic challenges facing Judaism, the nation's second-largest religion behind Christianity. Jewish news coverage in the mainstream press tends to focus on Democratic Party politics, trends in anti-Semitism and attitudes toward Israel and the unending Mideast mess. A new Pew Research Study demonstrates much more.
Read More(OPINION) While culling files from decades of religion-beat work, I have come across a forgotten and seminal article from 2002 that contended the media were distorting public understanding of American politics. It said "religious right" Republicans were blanketed with coverage and turned the tables, contending that "the true origins" of cultural conflict were found in increased "secularist" influence in the Democratic Party.
Read More(OPINION) What happened in the 2020 election? Polls consistently knock down the social-issues theory. Contrary to what some suppose, Catholics as a whole are only slightly more conservative than the general public on abortion and LGBTQ issues, with weekly worshippers moreso.
Read More(OPINION) Will German Catholicism Go Protestant, Five Centuries Late? A significant phalanx of German bishops, united with prominent lay activists, seem intent on revisionist change to come from their "Synodical Way" project, which the Vatican has sought to suppress, so far without success.
Read More(OPINION) How do we assess what can be known about people and events from long ago that we ourselves did not witness? One approach is the ideology known as “logical positivism,’ which rules out supernatural claims in advance by definition and thus wipes out many assertions by the great world religions. That’s a simple method, but other philosophers say it’s far too simple.
Read More(OPINION) Does Christianity believe in the “immortality of the soul”? No — Instead, Christianity teaches that just as Jesus arose bodily from the grave, so the promise of everlasting life involves a person’s eventual resurrection that unites the soul with the body in a newly glorified state.
Read More(OPINION) A recent New York Times piece about an ancient manuscript that seems to validate the book of Deuteronomy was nicely timed for Jewish Passover and Christian Holy Week when media often dig into biblical mysteries and controversies. But the news here is the April publication of Israeli-American scholar Idan Dershowitz's book "The Valediction of Moses: A Proto-Biblical Book."
Read More(OPINION) After a new report released by Grace Church School in lower Manhattan that outlines new guidelines involving removing gender pronouns, how does one respond relating to the work of mainstream journalism?
Read More(OPINION) The March 11 edition of MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" aired a relatively long and serious discussion of a theme that journalists may want to grab if they're looking for a promising Easter feature idea. Interviewing prominent Evangelical leaders like Rev. Timothy Keller, MSNBC questioned the meaning of the holiday for Christians.
Read More(OPINION) Religion Unplugged contributor and data journalist Ryan Burge thinks the rising number of Americans who don’t identify with any particular religion may be the most consequential religious group. They are one-fifth of the population and the fastest-growing religious group in the U.S. On point after point, they are notably different from both atheists and agnostics.
Read More(OPINION) What cause could ever possibly unite the Christian Right and the pro-choice left? Non-profit groups cannot operate or raise money in the state of California unless they give its attorney general the names and addresses of their major donors, the same list that's required as an appendix to their federal IRS returns.
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