On Wednesday (July 30), the American Baptist Home Mission Societies held a virtual session in their Justice Dialogues series titled “Being Church in the Face of Genocide.” The Justice Dialogues program, launched in 2020, is broadly meant to help Christian…
ELCA elects first Black presiding bishop, calls Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America elected its first Black leader on Wednesday (July 30) at its churchwide assembly meeting in Phoenix.
Lithuania scraps years of planning by Jewish groups to convert sports complex into Jewish heritage site
A Jewish group is outraged by Lithuania’s plans to convert a sports complex into a convention center at the site of a historic Jewish cemetery, reversing decades of advocacy to commemorate the memorial site.
Inside The Rightward Drift Of Kerala’s Syrian Christians
Once known for its secularism and high levels of literacy and political consciousness, the Indian state of Kerala is witnessing a quiet but significant ideological shift — one surfacing not only in its mainstream politics but also within its religious…
American Jewish Committee to donate $25K to damaged Gaza church
The American Jewish Committee said Thursday (July 31) that it will donate $25,000 toward the “rehabilitation” of the Holy Family Church and community in Gaza. The only Catholic church in Gaza was damaged by what the Israel Defense Forces called a munitions…
250 Years Of Faith and Service: Army Chaplain Corps Celebrates Historic Milestone
As the nation prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary next year, another significant U.S. institution hits that milestone this week. The Army Chaplains Corps formed on July 29, 1775, at the behest of the Second Continental Congress and the request…
Pope marks 50th anniversary of Cold War-era deal on security and human rights
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday called for a renewed commitment to diplomacy to resolve conflicts as he marked the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Accords, the landmark Cold War-era agreement that ushered in a new era of security and human…
How a YouTube Atheist Helped Me Out of Cynicism
When a Christian friend texted me an interview with Alex O’Connor, I expected my reaction to be an eye-rolling “Can you believe this guy?”
DHS’s ‘Homeland Heritage’ Campaign Highlights Danger of Innocence Myths of a White Christian America
As a habit I don’t follow the social media of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It’s a scroll of nationalistic propaganda and exaggerated warnings about criminal aliens, a set of lies that attempt to drown us in fear by…
The Anti-Greed Gospel
When Brian Kaylor and I set out to write Baptizing America, I feared the book wouldn’t find an audience. Not only did we lambast Christians on the far right for their fusing of religious and national identities, but we focused on…
Religious Challenges to Abortion Bans are Winning in Unlikely Places
Almost immediately after Dobbs V. Jackson Women’s Health overturned the federal right to an abortion, more than a dozen states passed legislation effectively banning abortion. Soon thereafter, Jewish individuals and groups working in coalition with other religious groups began to challenge these…
Judaism Is a Map, Not a GPS
Myths are born, they serve a purpose, and they die. When we reside inside them, we swear by them, we invest in them, we think they precede us, and we think they will survive us. They define us, and they…