(OPINION) In terms of religious messages, the MCU has come a long way since Captain America, after hearing Loki described as a god, said, “There’s only one God ... and I’m pretty sure He doesn’t dress like that.” The New Rockstars YouTube channel counted 50-plus gods in “Thor: Love and Thunder” alone.
Read More(OPINION) Teachers and coaches are excellent at helping kids learn math or tackling. They’re lousy at altering kids’ sexual orientation or their eternal destination. They don’t change who we fundamentally are. In the big matters, you’re dealing with three other influences: genes, parents and peers.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in previews Pope Francis’ trip to Canada to apologize to the nation's Indigenous peoples for abuses at Catholic-run residential schools. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(OPINION) It’s hard to read the Book of Psalms without encountering references to justice, judgment, the widow, the refugee, the oppressed and enemies or questions posed to God. Yet, these themes are mostly absent from modern worship music.
Read More(ANALYSIS) There will be much we need to unpack in the days, weeks and years to come in this post-Roe era. In this moment, perhaps we can recognize that no one side owns the human spirit. Seeking the sacred in that which we hold dear, whether it is protecting the pre-born or advancing women’s well-being, or both, is an innate part of being human.
Read More(OPINION) It occurred to me recently that I couldn’t remember even one piece among the thousands I’ve read that touched on the central factor that helped me become a practicing Christian long ago and has kept me in the fold since. I’m speaking of the sheer, inexplicable, even ecstatic joy at the heart of the Christian faith. It’s a joy I’d never experienced before, never knew existed, until I became a practicing disciple.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in catches up with the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith, from the first images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to the latest happenings in the war in Ukraine.
Read More(OPINION) The past half-dozen years have been nuts — and have driven a lot of otherwise normal, good-hearted folks nuts. But there will always be cycles of good times and crises, and faith can get us through the difficult periods.
Read More(OPINION) Landon Duyka and Alex Shingleton had almost given up on Catholicism after years of being shunned for their sexuality. But then they found Old St. Patrick’s Church in Chicago, where their family was welcomed because the parish practices what its clergy calls “radical inclusivity.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) The speculation over whether Pope Francis’ age — he turns 86 on Dec. 17 — will cause him to resign has increasingly become a story, first in the Italian press, and subsequently around the world. It is something that will preoccupy reporters throughout the summer.
Read More(OPINION) This is the 11th Guy Memo in a year guiding the media and other observers on dynamics within U.S. evangelical Protestantism. Though made up of organizationally chaotic fiefdoms, the movement’s impact rested upon substantial solidarity in belief and social outlook compared with other religious sectors. Then seven years ago the disruptive force known as Donald J. Trump emerged.
Read More(OPINION) Despite being reinforced and even expanded by the Casey decision of 1992, Roe was a bad ruling by the Supreme Court that simply had to go. It had no legal ground on which to stand and no constitutional logic behind it.
Read More(OPINION) We’re approaching June, Gay Pride Month. It’s a good time to get ahead of a tough topic because while many young evangelicals are returning to older church traditions, that number includes some entering the Episcopal Church — a tradition that in 2015 amended its canons regulating marriage to permit same-sex marriage. This troubles many conservative Christians.
Read More(OPINION) Without explanation, the Biden-Blinken administration removed Nigeria from America’s official listing as a “country of particular concern” on religious persecution while Nigeria is labeled the “most dangerous place to be a Christian” in the world. Why has the alarm over unending atrocities expressed by religious and human-rights media and organizations not broken into the West’s mainstream media in any major way?
Read More(OPINION) This is not the time to gloat. We must do our best to reach out to those who are angry and fearful, doing so with love, longsuffering, and grace. This is not the time to win a debate as much as the time to change hearts and minds. But without any question whatsoever, this is also a time to rejoice.
Read More(OPINION) The Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v Wade is just the beginning of a new battle to be fought for the unborn, state by state, life by life, heart by heart. But this is also a massive, unprecedented victory — one that, for many years, seemed completely out of reach.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the U.S. Supreme Court’s five biggest religion cases of 2022 — including the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(OPINION) A massacre occurred during a Sunday mass, but it wasn’t an ordinary Sunday — this was the great feast of Pentecost, which marks the end of the Easter season. What’s more, the gunmen didn’t strike in tense northern Nigeria, where Christian communities are isolated in a majority-Muslim region. This 30-minute attack was inside St. Francis Catholic Church, located in the safer southwestern state of Ondo.
Read More(OPINION) Americans have seen how ugly culture wars can become when electoral politics are caught in its talons. Witness the vitriol that dominates the news out of Washington and various state capitals these days. The situation in India — the world’s largest Hindu-majority nation with the third-largest Muslim population after Indonesia and Pakistan — is arguably even worse.
Read More(OPINION) In Corinthians, Paul writes that when Jesus comes for his bride, the quality of our work will be revealed with fire. Therefore, the size of our cups of joy is determined by the size of our generosity here, which is formed by the marital gospel: preparing to be presented as a pure bride. Will you drink from a goblet or a thimble?
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