Kimberly Winston
Kimberly Winston is a freelance religion reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
All Stories by Kimberly Winston
QUIZ: Do you have shamrock superpowers? 7 questions to test your St. Paddy’s know-how
By Kimberly Winston — March 12, 2015
(RNS) Think St. Patrick's Day is all about green beer and leprechauns? Meet the man behind all the revelry.
‘Dig’ digs into the Bible — but is it ‘true’?
By Kimberly Winston — March 6, 2015
(RNS) "Dig," the new action thriller from the USA Network, is a cocktail of biblical prophecy and End Times beliefs. But how much of its religion content is true?
The Occasional Pilgrim: Sinan Pasha Mosque (Photos)
By Kimberly Winston — February 28, 2015
(RNS) Travel to the Sunan Pasha Mosque in the heart of Kosovo, the newest old country nestled in the heart of the Balkans in this slide show of a sacred place.
Leaving your religion? Now, there’s a hotline to help
By Kimberly Winston — February 27, 2015
(RNS) A new crisis hotline launches Friday for those caught between faith and atheism. Its motto: "When faith is on the line, so are we."
In a first, atheist activist addresses conservative conference
By Kimberly Winston — February 26, 2015
(RNS) Jamila Bey, a Washington, D.C.-based writer and radio host, is believed to be the first atheist activist to address the Conservative Political Action Conference's annual meeting.
The ‘Splainer: Martyr or terrorist? It depends …
By Kimberly Winston — February 24, 2015
(RNS) One man's martyr can be another man's terrorist. Here's what's behind lionizing the dead.
The ‘Splainer: Islam’s Sunni/Shiite divide
By Kimberly Winston — February 18, 2015
The ‘Splainer (as in, “You’ve got some ‘splaining to do”) is an occasional feature in which RNS gives you everything you need to know about current events to help you hold your own at a cocktail party. (RNS) Sunni and Shiite Muslims, two main sects of Islam, have been in conflict for more than a […]
Atheists, humanists take up slain Muslim’s cause
By Kimberly Winston — February 17, 2015
(RNS) Atheists and humanists unite to raise $20,000 to support the pet charity of slain Muslim student Deah Barakat, who authorities say was killed by a North Carolina neighbor with anti-theistic feelings.
The ‘Splainer: Ash Wednesday and Christian foreheads
By Kimberly Winston — February 10, 2015
(RNS) Lent isn't in the Bible, and neither is Ash Wednesday. So where did they come from? Let us 'splain ...
The ‘spiritual descendants of Vikings’ take their turn in the spotlight
By Kimberly Winston — February 5, 2015
(RNS) Followers of the Viking religion, called Asatru, are getting their first temple in 1,000 years in Iceland. But the ancient faith has spread farther than any Viking ever traveled, to Australia, New Zealand and at least 21 U.S. states.
You can really call this wine ‘vintage Francis’
By Kimberly Winston — January 15, 2015
(RNS) A Napa Valley winery has always displayed its Catholic roots quietly, but a new “Cabernet FRANCis” is showing off its allegiance -- and has gained some attention from il Papa himself.
Atheist parents take on Christian ‘Good News Club’ with ‘Better News Club’
By Kimberly Winston — January 8, 2015
(RNS) They're countering the Christian after-school club with Young Skeptics, featuring science and critical thinking.
The ‘Splainer: Why does Islam ban images of the Prophet Muhammad?
By Kimberly Winston — January 8, 2015
(RNS) Is it more blasphemous to depict Islam's Prophet Muhammad, or to kill in his name?
Welcome to ‘aweism,’ the nonreligious impulse you can’t explain
By Kimberly Winston — January 2, 2015
(RNS) "Secular people don’t believe in anything supernatural, but that doesn’t render us sterile souls," Phil Zuckerman said. "But because religion has constructed the language with which we describe existential wonder, it is almost like that is not our territory. But it most certainly is."
Can you question the Virgin Birth and still be a Christian?
By Kimberly Winston — December 23, 2014
(RNS) Why is the Virgin Birth the lynchpin of Christianity? Was it miracle or metaphor? And can you call yourself a Christian if you can't accept the idea of the Virgin Birth?
