Silent retreats have become increasingly common in the United States in recent years. To calm down and reset their nervous systems, people relinquish their phones and reading materials and commit to speaking at a bare minimum to learn practices of self-awareness.
Jewish-American woman deported from Israel after witnessing child struck by car in West Bank
Israel has deported another Jewish-American young adult involved in solidarity efforts for West Bank Palestinians, adding to what critics say is an unjust crackdown on left-wing activists.
Pope Leo Escalates Call For Ceasefire In Iran With Message ‘To Those Responsible’
Pope Leo XIV demanded a ceasefire in the Middle East on Sunday in his strongest comments to date, directly addressing the leaders who launched the war in Iran.
Thiel brings his Antichrist lectures to the Vatican’s doorstep, and Catholic institutions back away
One of the hottest tickets in the Vatican’s backyard these days is for a four-lecture series on the Antichrist being given by Silicon Valley tech billionaire Peter Thiel.
In Trump’s Iran conflict, it’s prosperity gospel vs. the Quran
The 1979 collapse of the Iranian monarchy coincided with the publication of Christopher Lasch’s blockbuster book of ideas, “The Culture of Narcissism,” a critique of American celebrity, grandiosity and spiritual emptiness. In retrospect, the book explains the reasons Iran’s young…
The United Church of Christ Is Running Out of People—and Pastors
I swear before I get done writing this newsletter, I will have written up a big report on nearly every American Protestant denomination. Just looking through the archive, I think I’ve tackled at least seven of them so far (TEC, ELCA, PCUSA, SBC, AG, PCA, UMC)….
‘The Tibetan Book of the Dead’ is actually not just about death
You’ve seen it in bookstores – the metallic turquoise spine peeking out from the shelf under “Eastern Religions.” Or, perhaps, another of its more understated editions rendered in muted tones. It is “The Tibetan Book of the Dead,” arguably the most well-known…
Kenyan sisters safeguard children of the incarcerated
At dawn, the parish compound of St. Michael’s School near Lang’ata Women’s Prison begins to stir moments before Nairobi’s traffic thickens.
At Republican antisemitism confab, Tucker Carlson is the villain — and JD Vance the unspoken question
Nearly everybody called out Tucker Carlson at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s symposium on antisemitism.
Over 100 Latino Christian leaders say Trump adviser Samuel Rodriguez’s reach is misrepresented
More than 100 Latino Christians leaders signed a statement saying the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, an evangelical adviser to President Donald Trump and a go-to voice for Hispanic evangelical perspectives, and news media have exaggerated the size of Rodriguez’s reach as…
Conservative Anglicans Reshape Church Leadership At Historic Gathering
For more than four centuries, a single office in the south of England has served as the spiritual center of global Anglicanism. In Nigeria, conservative leaders from across the world voted to change that.
Whatever Happened to American Jewish Liberalism?
Since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks and the start of Israel’s war in Gaza, the annual “State of World Jewry” address at 92Y—the New York City cultural center that used to be known, before its zippy rebranding, as the…