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…
Trump’s religious rhetoric clashes with Canada’s secular politics
Throughout his new term, starting with his inaugural address, President Donald Trump has said he was “saved by God” to make America great again. In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney rarely evokes religion in public; his victory speech in April never…
Venezuelan Churches Divided Over March for Jesus Rescheduling
It was never about politics. Aristóteles López just wanted Venezuela’s evangelicals to have a public presence. And for years, he provided the space for that.
A group of observant Jews set out to reclaim their tradition’s focus on justice, mercy amid Gaza war
In a conference room of an Upper West Side synagogue, a group of traditionally observant young Jews gathered last week to engage in an age-old form of rabbinic inquiry to address what they see as the moral crisis in Judaism…
Federal employees can pray and preach in the workplace under new Trump rules
Federal employees can preach in the workplace under new guidelines issued Monday by the Trump administration that have alarmed advocates for the separation of church and state.
Pope Leo faces first charisma test at Jubilee youth event
“Todos, todos, todos.” With those three unscripted words, Pope Francis distilled a decade of his pontificate into a single moment and delivered a rallying cry for its final 20 months. The church, he told thousands of young people gathered in Portugal for…
Living a Life of Appstinence
We’ve all been there—mindlessly scrolling through our social media feeds, only to look up from the blue-lit glow to wonder where the time’s gone. Our phones ping and we reach for them without thought. Even when our phone doesn’t demand…
Why Bard College’s orchestra performed Mendelssohn at the site of Hitler’s Nuremberg rallies
On a spring evening in Nuremberg, an orchestra of New York students gathered for a concert celebrating 80 years since the end of World War II. They also came with a peace mission.
Priests, nuns condemn Philippine court ruling against Duterte impeachment
Filipino religious superiors condemned the Supreme Court ruling that blocked the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, yet another twist in the Philippines’ worst political crisis in years.
What makes for charisma? Religion historian tries tWhat makes for charisma? Religion historian tries to understand the mysterious force.o understand the mysterious force.
What drives people to follow a leader and place their faith in that person’s story? That question is at the heart of religion historian and journalist Molly Worthen’s latest book, “Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald…