Posts in Opinion
Must Reads: Understanding The Russia-Ukraine War From A Religious Perspective

This week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the religion angles key to understanding the Russia-Ukraine war. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.

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Putin’s Claim To Rid Ukraine Of Nazis Is Especially Absurd Given Its History

(OPINION) As the author of a recently published book on anti-Jewish violence in Ukraine and a historian of the Holocaust, Jeffrey Veidlinger knows why the accusations of Nazism and genocide have resonance in Ukraine. But he also understands that despite episodic violence, Ukrainian history offers a model of tolerance and democratic government.

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Russia Attacks Ukraine: Why Some Experts Insist Putin Is Motivated By Religion

This week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the role that some experts see religion playing in Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Plus, catch up, as always, on all the week’s best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.

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What Ails American Evangelicalism And Where Is This Movement Headed?

(OPINION) We’re at the publicity apex for what David Brooks — and movement outsiders and insiders — is calling a “crisis” for this conservative Protestant movement. In recent months, The Guy has, less elegantly, pondered a “crack-up.”

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‘Baptism-Gate’ And The News Media's Use Of Wrong Experts On Big Catholic Stories

(OPINION) Yes, baptism-gate has been all the rage. News coverage of it, however, has not been so good. The specifics of the doctrines surrounding baptism are often too difficult for many journalists to write about fairly. When they do tackle these issues, they tend to assume the Vatican is wrong and rigid. After all, the experts they consult agree with that very notion.

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Covering The Goyim Defense League: Does News About Antisemitism Inspire Copycats?

(OPINION) Does giving antisemitism extensive coverage — warranted though it may be — prompt more antisemites to act out publicly? Does publicity embolden and thus spark potential copycat antisemitism?

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After The Fall: Many Religious Believers In Afghanistan Are In Hiding, With Good Cause

(Opinion) Afghanistan still has major issues when it comes to religious freedom. Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom said, "People are being hunted down and beaten and are threatened with death if they don't betray members of their families who are considered apostates" by the Taliban.

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What Is Walking Meditation?

(OPINION) For Thich Nhat Hanh, the late Vietnamese monk who popularized mindfulness in the West, walking was not simply a way to get from one place to another, or an activity to be reserved for a perfect forest path. It could be a profound contemplative practice putting people in touch with their breath, their bodies and the Earth.

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Comparisons To Nazis That Minimize Their Evil And Exaggerate Modern Issues Must Stop

(OPINION) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s comment to a Jewish MP that, “Conservative Party members can stand with people who wave swastikas” has rightfully drawn sharp criticism and rebuke. Under no circumstances can his comments be justified. Unfortunately, his is but the latest — and worst — misuse of the Nazi image.

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How Canada Truckers' Protest Parallels American-Style Christian Nationalism

This week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the parallels to American-style Christian nationalism in Canadian truckers’ Freedom Convoy protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Plus, catch up, as always, on the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.

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Canadian Government To Be Reviewed For Its Response To The Uyghur Genocide

(OPINION) In February 2022, lawyers for the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, a nongovernmental organization, applied for a judicial review of whether the Canadian government’s inaction amid the ongoing genocide against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China violates its international obligations.

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Which Is A More 'Christian' Chant: 'Let's Go Brandon!' Or 'Pray For Biden!'

(OPINION) Reporter Kelli Stavast interviewed the NASCAR winner Brandon Brown and said that the crowd was cheering, “Let’s Go, Brandon,” when the crowd was actually cursing President Joe Biden. The Rev. Seth Carter was surprised when people of the church started adding the slogan “Let’s Go, Brandon” into regular conversations.

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Entering A Religion-Beat Minefield: What Is The Proper Definition Of The Word 'Cult'?

(OPINION) Take a deeper look into what it means when a type of religion is considered a cult. The Guy proposes this definition: A marginal religious group we’re not supposed to like much or at all that deviates from accepted practices or long-familiar beliefs, typically controlled by a dictatorial leader or leaders and often isolated from mainstream society.

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We Can't Ignore Calls For Attacks Against Muslims In India

(OPINION) Recent years have seen several incidents in India that should have raised the alarm and should have been monitored and analyzed along the lines of the serious risk of genocide and other atrocities. These incidents include the government’s systematic discrimination against the Muslim minority in India.

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In Post-Pandemic America, Will Sagging Church Health Damage Public Health?

(OPINION) America's religious congregations have, over all, suffered steady erosion in attendance, membership and vitality since around 2000. Analysts fret that worse may occur after the current COVID-19 emergency finally subsides because myriads of members are now accustomed to worshiping online rather than in person.

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Jokes And Big Questions: The Babylon Bee Meets With Elon Musk And Learns A Few Things

(Opinion) The Babylon Bee sat down with Elon Musk to talk about topics including why entrepreneurs are fleeing California, sustainable energy, superheroes, the physics of reusable rockets, cyborgs, how wokeness threatens humor and the future of a planet near an expanding sun. The podcast concluded with Elon Musk talking about his faith.

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