Churches in California and North Carolina are among those now offering congregants documentation for “religious exemptions” to the COVID-19 vaccine, a practice that is legally dubious and likely ineffective, according to labor lawyers. The practice has arisen as more employers…
America’s two largest Christian bodies continue to become more conservative
The continual shift of the Southern Baptist Convention to the right was echoed by the latest meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Last Friday, the USCCB voted to create a teaching document that could rebuke and exclude…
Remembering Christ’s death with chicken soup and Goldfish
It’s probably wrong to think this, but it feels good to hear that groups other than Baptists are fighting about stuff. Catholics are all in a snit about allowing the president to share Communion since he is a supporter of…
2020 vote shows religious identity held steady with slight change among Catholics and Mormons
Religious identity trends appear to have held fairly steady in the 2020 presidential election, based on a combination of exit polling and pre-election surveys. Because of the enormous number of Americans who voted by mail or in advance this year,…
Americans doubt presidents, pastors can lead nation through challenges
Whether or not they voted for him, most Americans likely will not view Donald Trump as the solution to the nation’s problems once in office. And pastors enjoy even less confidence than presidents as the potential solution to the country’s…
The Whore of Babylon: Pimping the Body of Christ to the highest political bidder
“God is on our side” has led to more bloodletting in the form of crusades, wars, colonialism and genocides than any other human caused catastrophe — a truth in which all faith traditions have, at one time or another, participated. All churches have played the “whore,” falling into the temptation of tailoring the liberative Good News to sell a political ideology or party as ordained by God.
Pope Francis is good for Christianity
As Pope Francis visits the United States, Catholics are full of excitement as the Holy Father visits in Washington, Philadelphia, and New York. It is very clear that his leadership will set a very different tone for the Catholic Church….
Holy week demanded holy dialogue
Did Holy Week this year seem to shout out for a new dimension of holy dialogue? It did to me. It was an unusual and disruptive week in several ways. It caused me to think about the need for a…