When I was around seven years old, my family stopped in Salt Lake City during a trip to Denver to visit relatives. For some reason, our visit to Temple Square has stuck with me through the years. By the time…
Jesse Jackson’s complex history with American Jews
For me, the moment that defined the late Rev. Jesse Jackson was the celebratory rally after Barack Obama won the presidency. I was watching it on television with my father, of blessed memory. When the camera focused on Jackson, you could see…
Pope laments ‘ashes of international law’ left by today’s conflicts in Ash Wednesday liturgy
Pope Leo XIV opened the church’s penitential Lenten season by presiding over Ash Wednesday and lamenting the “ashes of international law and justice” that have been left by today’s wars and conflicts.
How business students learn to make ethical decisions by studying a soup kitchen in one of America’s toughest neighborhoods
For the past decade I have volunteered at St. Francis Inn, a soup kitchen in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia.
Actor Robert Duvall Wove Faith And Flawed Humanity Into His Films
The death of Robert Duvall on Sunday at age 95 marks the passing of one of America’s most searching and soulful actors — a man whose performances were forged not only from craft, but from conviction.
For its 400th anniversary, St. Peter’s Basilica embraces AI and structural surveillance
In the 15th century, the basilica that Emperor Constantine had built around the tomb of St. Peter was cracked and falling apart, having stood for 1,100 years. Through taxes, papal revenues and the controversial sale of indulgences, Pope Julius II launched…
Doug Wilson Preaches at Pentagon, Compares Services to Day of Pentecost
Controversial Christian Nationalist preacher Doug Wilson stood at a podium inside the Pentagon on Tuesday (Feb. 17) as the guest preacher for the latest monthly Christian worship service held there for leaders of the U.S. military. The Idaho pastor and self-described “paleo-Confederate” preached about…
Whatever This Is, It Isn’t Anti-Zionism
If you ever wanted a succinct explanation for more than 2,000 years of vicious Christian antisemitism, all you had to do was to tune in to a meeting of the Trump administration’s Religious Liberty Commission last Monday.
20 Black Leaders Who Inspired the Church
The Black church and Black Christians have played an indispensable role in shaping American and church history. For hundreds of years, African American congregations have operated as hubs of spiritual formation, community, and activism, fighting for the social change necessary…
Should Religions Have Rituals Such As Baptism For Infants?
The Religion Guy’s Answer: This question might seem absurd, since religious birth rituals are so universal. But Christian baptism of infants is being assailed by a prominent (though alienated) Catholic, Mary McAleese, who was the president of Ireland from 1997…
‘We’re praying with our feet’: a year of pro-democracy prayer vigils in New York
On a recent Monday evening as commuters hurried past, a group of faith leaders set out a microphone and battery-run candles at the Columbus Circle entrance of Central Park in Manhattan for their weekly prayer vigil and held up a…
NYC new antisemitism czar says she aims to ‘expand the communal table by pulling up additional chairs’
Phylisa Wisdom says she is ready to show the world what “a real, progressive commitment to combating antisemitism” looks like.