Barack Obama
In South Carolina, secular activists rival political might of black church
By Elana Schor and Jack Jenkins — February 28, 2020
CHARLESTON, S.C. (RNS) — Democratic candidates here are as likely to rally behind groups such as Black Lives Matter as they are to make traditional Sunday appeals to African American voters.
Little Sisters of the Poor return to court to fight birth control mandate
By Thomas Reese — January 23, 2020
(RNS) — In a rerun of a 2016 case, the Supreme Court shouldn't be required to settle what the parties ought to have settled themselves.
‘The Survivors’ unmasks the generational trauma of the Holocaust
By Yonat Shimron — December 4, 2019
(RNS) — A former speechwriter for Barack Obama, Adam Frankel has written heart-wrenching memoir about confronting the secrets of the past.
Do the Democrats have a religion problem?
By Mark Silk — October 31, 2019
(RNS) — With the rise of the religiously unaffiliated, the God gap matters less and less. Will the Democrats find a way to strike a new spiritual chord on the environment?
Mourning Elijah Cummings, preachers and presidents recall a man of faith
By Jack Jenkins — October 25, 2019
(RNS) — 'Elijah has brought power to church,' said Bishop Walter Thomas, Elijah Cummings' pastor. Thomas was one of many who recounted the steadfast Christian faith of Cummings in the wake of his death.
Good news, bad news on churchgoers’ views of Trump
By Mark Silk — October 5, 2019
(RNS) — In a new Gallup poll, the biggest gap between Trump's job approval rating and how Americans feel about him personally, percentage-wise, comes from weekly churchgoers.
Is there a war against Christianity?
By Jeffrey Salkin — April 24, 2019
Fewer people living with faith. More people dying for faith. A sacred paradox.
Last-minute invite appears to treat White House call with rabbis as an afterthought
By Menachem Wecker — September 5, 2018
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Sent 10 days before the start of Rosh Hashanah, an invite to an already controversial call to celebrate the Jewish holidays may draw only the Trump administration's closest allies in the Jewish community.
The Vietnam War revisited
By Thomas Reese — April 11, 2018
(RNS) — Looking back, I feel guilty for being so stupid and burying myself in books rather than being part of the historic events of my time.
Author points to persistent ‘slaveholder religion’ among evangelicals for Trump
By Jana Riess — March 22, 2018
In the 19th century, Frederick Douglass distinguished between slaveholder religion and the Christianity of Christ. Evangelical author Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove says it's a lesson that Trumpvangelicals need to revisit.
Today I plan to get arrested
By Thomas Reese — February 26, 2018
(RNS) — 'My arrest will be an expression of solidarity with Dreamers who face arrest and deportation if Congress or the president does not do something to protect their legal status,' writes the Rev. Thomas Reese. (Commentary)
Obama urges end to division in childhood home Indonesia
By Fransiska Nangoy — July 2, 2017
JAKARTA, Indonesia (Reuters) Former U.S. President Obama urged Indonesians to resist divisive politics based on race and religion, saying the world's most populous Muslim nation has a long history of tolerance that should be preserved.
Religious assessments of Trump v. Obama
By Mark Silk — April 18, 2017
It's not all about white evangelicals.
Bears Ears National Monument, sacred to native tribes, faces a challenge to its status
By Lauren Markoe — March 10, 2017
(RNS) Could Donald Trump become the first president to rescind a national monument?
Trump administration should use key diplomatic tools for religious engagement
By Susan Hayward — February 17, 2017
(RNS) By overemphasizing the links between Islam and extremism, the administration has fueled Muslim anger, obscured the complex roles that religious institutions play in global affairs and ignored important lessons from the past.
