religious-issues

Sunlight streaming through church window

States weigh child abuse reporting vs. clergy’s duty of confidentiality

BY: - May 15, 2023

Some bills would require clergy to disclose knowledge gleaned through religious rites such as confession.

COMMENTARY

What Ramadan means to Muslims: 4 essential reads | Analysis

BY: - April 17, 2023

Here are four ways to understand what Ramadan means for Muslims, and in particular for American Muslims.

COMMENTARY

Passover is a time to recognize tragedies of the past and offer hope for the future | Opinion

BY: - April 10, 2023

This story came to function as a powerful narrative of persecution and liberation for Jewish people.

COMMENTARY

Why Easter is called Easter, and other little-known facts about the holiday | Analysis

BY: - April 7, 2023

In all of these holidays, Christian and non-Christian (pagan) elements have continued to blend together.

COMMENTARY

Why Palm Sunday’s donkey is an important part of the Holy Week story | Opinion

BY: - April 2, 2023

The image of the quiet, patient, and unassuming donkey has communicated humility in art and in practice.

COMMENTARY
The exterior view of the Bethel African American Methodist Episcopal Church at 125 S. 6th St. in Philadelphia. Breton, William L., circa 1773-1855 Artist via the Library of Congress, World Digital Library.

A brief history of the Black church’s diversity, and its vital role in our politics | Analysis

BY: - February 6, 2023

The image of the Black church as the nation's moral conscience has always been a complicated matter

COMMENTARY
(Capital-Star photo by Amanda Berg)

Faith in choice: Pa. Clergy talk about the intersection of abortion rights and faith | Amanda Berg

BY: - January 11, 2023

When does life begin? Why do we assume believers are anti-abortion? What can God teach us about the issue?

COMMENTARY

On Pope Benedict, science, faith, and his legacy | Bruce Ledewitz

BY: - January 10, 2023

The most conservative of popes showed a surprising openness to dialogue.

COMMENTARY

A pastor comes to terms with the church’s idols of Trump, money and power | Opinion

BY: - December 30, 2022

Biblical Christianity — forged in the cross, humility, and poverty — has been at war with a co-opted Christianity that forgets Jesus’s gospel of liberation.

COMMENTARY

Do all dogs go to Heaven? How our secular culture views death | Bruce Ledewitz

BY: - December 28, 2022

Americans seem to want the promises and benefits of religion without the rigors of belief and faith.

COMMENTARY

‘Untraditional’ Hanukkah celebrations are often full of traditions for Jews of color | Opinion

BY: - December 20, 2022

Jews of color and non-Ashkenazi Jews have been bringing attention to new Hanukkah traditions that celebrate the diversity of Judaism in the U.S.

COMMENTARY
White nationalism advocates for a white nation and the protection of white interests. (Photo illustration by Laina Stebbins)

Were the 2022 midterm results a rejection of white Christian Nationalism?

BY: - November 11, 2022

My answer is an enthusiastic maybe, a pastor and advocate says.