As the pandemic alters summer plans and disrupts long-held traditions, the Jewish community in Georgia adapts camps and activities to the new reality.
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(OPINION) The chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed governments across the world the liberty to heighten existing religious persecution. Many religious minorities are discriminated against in healthcare provision and some are even being blamed for the spread of the virus.
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The geneticist and physician is a leading voice in the conversation about faith and science, and has been a steady voice urging religious communities to have faith in science. His agency is hard at work in the global race to find treatments for COVID-19.
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(OPINION) Go with heavy material. Certain translations of holy books offer valuable insights into our world and this era. Thomas Paine’s skewering of biblical religion is a worthy read, along with classics like “Lord of the Flies.”
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(OPINION) Believers draw strength from their faith and support from their communities. The coronavirus is straining the remarkable resilience of medical workers, even those who have the added safety nets that religion provides.
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As COVID-19 locks people in their homes and has put others out of work, more people than ever are relying on charities, many faith-based, to fill basic needs. Tree of Life, based in Virginia, has seen a rise in demand from undocumented persons.
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Catholic leaders — be it the pope, cardinals, bishops or even your local parish priest — don’t traditionally endorse candidates for political office. Here’s a look at why things may be changing as both the church and voters prepare for another U.S. presidential election.
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(OPINION) Restrictions by the Church of England and a “revolving” Body of Christ by a French Catholic priest are two responses to this crisis as clergy struggle to attend to the spiritual needs of their flocks.
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Two separate studies were published recently about how lower mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to more premature death. While one study estimates 75,000 Americans are at risk of dying by suicide, another finds that regular religious services attendance lessens the likelihood of a fatal mental health illness.
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This week’s “Weekend Plug-in” column highlights Pittsburgh Post-Gazette religion editor Peter Smith winning recognition as a Pulitzer Prize finalist — a year after he was a key part of a Pulitzer-winning entry for that same paper.
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Spray nozzles called bum guns, water pots called lotas in South Asia and bidets have been keeping behinds clean for many years without toilet paper, in line with Islamic and Hindu texts urging purification of the body with water.
Read More(OPINION) With approximately 30 million members, Muhammadiyah is Indonesia’s and the world’s largest modernist Muslim organization. While the Indonesian government has been slow to respond to COVID-19, Muhammadiyah has drawn on the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings and the Quran to advise Muslims to stay home during Ramadan celebrations, including ritual obligations some may see as essential to their faith.
Read MoreFor Holocaust survivors, including some who later lived under Communist rule, COVID-19 has brought a mixed bag of old traumas sparked anew, depression and anxiety, isolation and fear, but also reminders of the traits that sustained them through difficult periods in their lives.
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Nearly a third of America’s public and private universities were already operating at a deficit before the coronavirus pandemic. Now the crisis threatens the survival of the weaker institutions in higher education, and even those that survive will emerge weaker as they struggle with destructive ripple effects for years. Here’s how Christian colleges are coping.
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Not until the COVID-19 outbreak did I learn about the global influenza pandemic of 1918 — known colloquially as the Spanish flu — and my family’s connection to it.
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(OPINION) People of faith will be asking deep questions about said faith as this crisis drags on. Journalists should not sidestep that aspect of this experience, but inquire about it and treat it with the respect it deserves.
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(OPINION) It’s an old debate. American attitudes about the country’s economic system are shifting. The issue isn’t black or white, and religious thinkers are weighing on from a variety of denominations and worldviews.
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(OPINION) In early April, the U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom called for the release of prisoners of conscience in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. These prisoners are often detained simply for holding beliefs their government does not recognize. But a prison sentence should not become a death sentence due to the virus.
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(OPINION) No one knows exactly how long the COVID-19 shutdown will continue, but the crisis provides a unique opportunity to look into the past for tips on dealing with the present.
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The pandemic has exposed a deep rift between Israel’s 1 million ultra-Orthodox Jews and the country’s other 8.25 million Jewish and Arab citizens. Health minister Yaakov Litzman, who is Hassidic, has been accused of breaking his own ministry’s social distancing guidelines and then meeting with the prime minister and other senior government officials, prompting calls for his resignation from secular society.
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