Young Americans of color are slightly more religious and enjoy better mental health than their white Generation Z counterparts, according to a new study by Springtide Research Institute. These findings were quantified in spite of the intense racial prejudice and…
U.N. World Harmony Week is only seven days but must last all year, speakers say
United Nations World Interfaith Harmony Week focused on how people and communities of faith can work toward providing peace, gender equity, mental health and environmental preservation in a world embroiled in conflict. But several speakers at the event, held the…
‘I remember repeating to myself: “I have the right to be here.”’
Participating in the racial integration of Mercer University was not for the faint of heart when the process began in the 1960s, said Pearlie Toliver, one of the first Black women to attend the Macon, Ga., institution. Toliver, who also…
In Ukraine: ‘We cannot just preach like we did before the war’
Ukrainian pastors have radically adjusted their ministries to meet the physical and spiritual needs of church members and countrymen since Russian forces invaded Ukraine almost a year ago. So says Igor Bandura, a pastor and vice president of the All-Ukrainian…
Biden administration urged to remove Cuba from list of state sponsors of terrorism
Pressure is mounting on President Joe Biden to remove Cuba from the U.S. State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, a designation the island nation received in the final week of the Trump administration. Among the latest to speak…
Panelists discuss how the Hamline University controversy could have been handled better in a diverse culture
Institutions of higher learning must hone flexibly to respond to campus divisions over religion and race that can escalate into the kind of public controversy currently embroiling Hamline University, a panel of experts said during a Jan. 31 webinar hosted…
National Prayer Breakfast gets new sponsorship but still looks like government-sponsored religion, BJC leaders say
Congressional leaders say they have split the National Prayer Breakfast from its longtime organizer to bring clarity and healing to the annual event, but constitutional experts Amanda Tyler and Holly Hollman believe government leaders should get out of the prayer…
What happens when church and state merge? Look to Nazi Germany for answers
The potential consequences of a merger of church and state sought by Christian nationalists are frighteningly apparent in the history of Nazi Germany, according to Dietrich Bonhoeffer expert John Matthews. Matthews, a Lutheran minister and member of the International Bonhoeffer…
Faith groups must fight online hate, Interfaith Alliance urges
Sermons urging social media fasts or sabbaticals from screen time are woefully inadequate attempts to combating the racial and religious hatred individuals and faith groups are increasingly experiencing online, Interfaith Alliance President Paul Brandeis Raushenbush said. Religious leaders and communities…