Pope Francis arrived in Democratic Republic of Congo today, marking the first papal visit to the African nation since John Paul visited there in 1985 when the country was known as Zaire. This is the beginning of a six-day, two-nation…
The church must show the world a more excellent way of nonviolence
The Monterey Park shooting was the 36th mass shooting in the USA in this young year. Reporters have trouble covering all the violence in our culture. Some of the violence stands out in graphic and horrifying detail. A 6-year-old child…
Solving the Jesus-Joshua Problem
When I was an early adolescent, I decided to read the Bible straight through. I had been exposed to carefully curated snippets of Joshua, but the full genocidal thrust of the narrative was a revelation. I couldn’t help feeling sorry…
Pew reports on how faith communities were treated during first year of COVID worldwide
Religious groups in nearly 25% of the world’s countries were subjected to government force to prevent in-person gatherings during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and even more endured social hostilities and conspiracy theories blaming them for the spread…
No middle ground: The culpability of conservatives in queer violence
America has a problem. That’s not news to anyone. But it bears repeating again and again until we, as a nation, awaken from our collective slumber and decide to do something to fix it. A week ago Sunday morning, Americans…
Recent SBC leader mocks Pelosi attack via Twitter, while celebrating Elon Musk’s lack of content moderation
A former officer of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee who was among the most outspoken critics of the investigation into sexual abuse in SBC churches has used Twitter to mock the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi. Pelosi, husband of…
For evangelical voters, there’s ‘no exception’ except when their candidate needs an exception
National Republicans are standing up to defend Herschel Walker after a bombshell report that the Senate candidate in the hotly contested battleground state of Georgia paid for a woman’s abortion in 2009. Something has radically changed in the value system of…
Justice sated in The Handmaid’s Tale
The much-anticipated return of The Handmaid’s Tale, a TV series based on the post-apocalyptic novel by Margaret Atwood, was just released. Last season ended with the murder of Commander Fred Waterford, who played a large part in the creation of…
Now back in the U.S., an American nun who was kidnapped in Burkina Faso sends her gratitude as violence abounds in the region
Days after regaining her freedom from marauders who invaded her home and kidnapped her in Burkina Faso, Suellen Tennyson, an American Catholic nun, has recounted her experience in the hands of her captors. In an interview with the Clarion Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese…
Violence in Nigeria threatens religious freedom for Christians and Muslims alike, USICRF reports
Religious intolerance and deep partisan divides have given rise to nonstate actor violence in Nigeria that increasingly threatens freedom of belief and practice in a nation once known for its widespread religious diversity, according to a new report by the…
Dear Tucker Carlson: Women are not afraid, we are angry
Last week, a young mother named Eliza Fletcher was abducted and murdered in Memphis, Tenn., not too far from where I live. Liza was a beloved preschool teacher at a local private school. Her husband reported her missing after she…
On the anniversary of 9/11: Terrorism, heroism and the unholy myth of redemptive violence
With a prayer still hanging in the air — a prayer asking for their God’s protection and proclaiming their God’s blessing on their mission — young men boarded planes and launched themselves into history, killing thousands in cold blood who did not happen to…