(OPINION) No one should be surprised that worship leaders frequently turned to "It Is Well With My Soul" as their people wrestled with the coronavirus pandemic. Faithlife, a company that publishes online worship and Bible study tools, recently released a report covering 2020 trends spotted in its Proclaim software. "It Is Well With My Soul" topped the hymns list, with usage increasing 68% after the pandemic hit.
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) On March 24, the U.N. marks the International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims. It is a day designated to honor the memory of victims of gross and systematic human rights violations and promote the importance of the right to truth and justice. We need to do more to ensure that there are comprehensive investigative mechanisms in place for the Uighurs.
Read MoreAn Asian American ministry leader reflects on rising hate crimes and the murders of six Asian American women in Georgia and offers three takeaways for the U.S. church.
Read MoreWas race a motive in Tuesday’s killings of eight people — including six Asian women — at three Atlanta-area massage parlors? Was religion? These were among the questions that quickly emerged after the arrest of a White suspect with ties to a Southern Baptist church.
Read More(OPINION) Tanzani’s president John Pombe Magufuli made global headlines for stubbornly refusing to implement World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. A Christian, he insisted that God would protect his country’s citizens and downplayed the risks of contracting and dying from COVID-19.
Read More(OPINION) Luis Palau, called the Billy Graham of Latin America, died March 11 at age 86. Religion Unplugged contributor and board member of The Media Project recalls what it was like working with Palau in Peru and accompanying him on official meetings with government officials and artists.
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) Mozambique’s poorest province, Cabo Delgado, has suffered violent attacks since 2017. For the most part, no action has been taken to stop it.
Read More(OPINION) On March 9, 2021, Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy, a non-partisan think tank based in the U.S., published a new report co-authored by over 50 global experts in human rights, war crimes and international law, analyzing the situation of the Uyghur community in Xinjiang, China, against the legal definition of genocide and the duties to prevent and punish the crime of genocide.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the story behind Religion News Service’s big scoop on Beth Moore declaring she is “no longer a Southern Baptist.” Plus, find links to all the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith.
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.
Read More(OPINION) Are some Washington, D.C., parishes “safe” while others are risky when it comes to where President Joe Biden can attend Mass on Sundays?
Read More(OPINION) In Scotland, old blasphemy laws are being discarded — only to be replaced with harsher ones. The bill introduced is opposed by many faith and secular groups.
Read More(OPINION) These days the "response rates" among those in randomly selected samples are so low it's tough to tell how representative the people are. Pew's expertise often provides all-important distinctions between white "mainline" and white "evangelical" Protestants, and between white and Hispanic Catholics. Pew is changing the way it surveys religious behavior and attitudes, so the media will want to be aware of why and how.
Read More(OPINION) What is more important, embodying the Gospel or the traditional image of a Southern Republican? As the Southern Baptist Church has experienced critiques for racial issues, their numbers for baptism have ominously declined as well.
Read More(OPINION) The upcoming International Women’s Day should be used to rethink the impact of our everyday choices on the situation of women. This includes the way we shop. Indeed, recent research suggests that it is very likely that my power suit means enslavement, forced labor and abuse of Uyghur women.
Read More(OPINION) A filmmaker writes that none of the films he made had cursing, they didn’t have sex scenes, they didn’t have endings where everything wasn’t tied up nicely with a happy ending bow— not because he didn’t want to put them in his movies, or thought he could tell a better story without them, but instead because he knew if he did include mature content or unanswered questions in his films, they wouldn’t sell.
Read MoreIn this week’s Weekend Plug-in, top religion journalists analyze Catholic bishops’ conflicting and sometimes confusing statements on Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine. Plus, find links to all the week’s top religion news and best reads.
Read More(OPINION) Pope Francis’ Apostolic Visit to Iraq begins on March 5, 2021. This first-ever papal visit to Iraq aims to provide moral support to Christian minorities in Iraq and the region while facilitating the Vatican’s goal of building bridges with the Muslim world. The visit comes close to seven years after religious minorities in the region, including Christians and Yazidis, have been targeted for annihilation by Daesh.
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