On the morning of March 24, Sophie Drukman-Feldstein, an American Jew and activist, was arrested and jailed for a simple gesture: Hissing at a flock of Jewish settlers’ sheep to get them to move off a Palestinian family’s land where…
“I Go to Church a Little Bit”
A couple of months ago, I wrote a post about folks who report that they attend religious services multiple times a week. They make up about 6–8% of the country, and they are a qualitatively different group than people who…
Pete Hegseth’s Gospel of Carnage
I guess a zealot, by nature, can’t hide — too extreme are his convictions, too grand his designs, too consuming his arrogance. And so, over recent weeks, Pete Hegseth has fully revealed himself.
Pope Leo arrives in Africa with message of peace, unity amid global tensions
Pope Leo XIV’s trip to Africa comes at a moment of deep global tension, as wars, inequality and religious divisions intensify. Visiting countries marked by colonial history and modern conflict, the pope is expected to project a message of unity…
Pete Hegseth’s War Prayer
Standing in the Pentagon for a monthly worship service on March 25, the man who likes to call himself the “secretary of war” prayed for God to pour out righteous wrath in the Iran conflict by helping “break the teeth” and kill…
Catholic sisters sue for exemption to LGBTQ+ rights law in NY nursing homes
A community of Catholic sisters who provide skilled nursing care for poor, terminally ill cancer patients is suing New York state health leaders in federal court, seeking a religious exemption from the state’s law protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ long-term…
Doug Wilson outlines Christian nationalist vision at Idaho town hall, including limits on women’s voting
Wilson said Christ Church is building a “working prototype” of a Christian nationalist society in Moscow, Idaho, including limits on LGBTQ+ rights and non-Christian religious expression.
80 years later, scholarship is breaking silence on women’s suffering and strength at Treblinka – including their role in its uprising
Adek Stein – a Holocaust survivor from Bialystok, Poland – looked anxiously about the room, struggling with the question he’d just been asked. As his eyes searched his small audience, it was clear he was nervous. That itself wasn’t new….
Judge says church can run emergency homeless shelter on property
A judge has ruled that a church in Massachusetts can operate an emergency homeless shelter on its property despite objections from some neighbors.
The Settler Colonial Roots of American Religion
Tisa Wenger teaches American religious history at Yale Divinity School. She is the author of three books, including We Have a Religion: The 1920s Pueblo Indian Dance Controversy and American Religious Freedom (University of North Carolina Press, 2009) and Religious Freedom: The Contested…
Pentagon-Vatican meeting latest flash point in Trump’s clash with religious leaders
On Wednesday (April 8), Vice President JD Vance stood in front of Air Force Two in Budapest and was confronted with the latest chapter in an emerging, global drama: rising tensions between the U.S. military and religious leaders.
Politically Neutral, Religiously Intense: What the Data Reveals About Jehovah’s Witnesses
This is why I love the Substack community – a couple of weeks ago, one of my subscribers (Ben Hein) asked me if I had any good data on Jehovah’s Witnesses. And you know what? I actually do. For reasons…