Kimberly Winston
Kimberly Winston is a freelance religion reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
All Stories by Kimberly Winston
The ‘Splainer: Excommunication 101
By Kimberly Winston — June 17, 2014
(RNS) Catholics may have invented the concept of excommunication, but they're not the only religious group to discipline or sideline members who stray from the official party line.
Supreme Court won’t wade into fight over graduations in churches
By Kimberly Winston — June 16, 2014
(RNS) In 2012, the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the decision to hold a public high school graduation ceremony at a Wisconsin megachurch was “offensive” and “coercive.”
Sunni vs. Shiite: What you need to know in 5 points so you can make it through a cocktail party
By Kimberly Winston — June 13, 2014
(RNS) Confused about the difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, whose conflict has accelerated in Iraq again? Here's a primer so you can sound smart at the water cooler.
Atheist or believer? Frank Schaeffer is a bit of both
By Kimberly Winston — June 12, 2014
(RNS) The title of Frank Scaheffer's new book says he is an atheist. But he prays every day. And goes to church every week. Catch him on the right day and he believes in God. What's going on here?
After Edwina Rogers’ ouster, secular community regroups
By Kimberly Winston — June 10, 2014
(RNS) The departure of a high-ranking lobbyist after an embezzlement scandal has the secular community in disarray before its biggest event of the year.
In mixed faith marriages, focus is on ‘values,’ not ‘beliefs’
By Kimberly Winston — June 9, 2014
(RNS) In 1950, about 20 percent of all U.S. marriages were interfaith. Today, that number is 45 percent.
Academic, activist or apatheist: What kind of unbeliever are you?
By Kimberly Winston — June 9, 2014
(RNS) Believers within Christianity, Judaism or Islam don't all believe the same thing, and atheists and nonbelievers are no different. Here are six different kinds of unbelief.
Senate approves prayer plaque for World War II monument
By Kimberly Winston — June 6, 2014
(RNS) Hailed by some religious and veterans groups, the Senate vote was another in a string of recent losses for secular activists who oppose the inclusion of a prayer on public property.
House considers a prayer plaque at WWII monument; interfaith coalition says ‘no’
By Kimberly Winston — May 21, 2014
(RNS) A group of Christians, Hindus, Jews and humanists has asked the House of Representatives to reject a prayer plaque proposed for the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Apocalypse when? New documentary examines failed prophet Harold Camping
By Kimberly Winston — May 21, 2014
(RNS) Three years after his failed prophecy about the end of the world, a new film about doomsday prophet Harold Camping offers an intimate glimpse inside the last days of his Family Radio empire.
In publishing, all dogs go to heaven, but what about cats, horses and birds?
By Kimberly Winston — May 20, 2014
(RNS) Dog-meets-God books have been a staple of Christian publishing for at least a decade. Now, cats, horses and maybe even birds are getting into the heavenly act.
Women in secularism: Got a problem with that?
By Kimberly Winston — May 15, 2014
(RNS) The third annual Women in Secularism conference has made some progress in battling sexism within the ranks of the secular community -- but there is more to be done.
Atheists lose fight over ‘under God’ at Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
By Kimberly Winston — May 9, 2014
(RNS) The loss is also a setback for a new legal strategy that argued that "under God" violated the state constitution’s guarantee against discrimination rather than the U.S. Constitution’s promise of separation of church and state.
Satanists to stage ‘black Mass’ at Harvard
By Kimberly Winston — May 9, 2014
(RNS) “This activity separates people from God and the human community, it is contrary to charity and goodness, and it places participants dangerously close to destructive works of evil," the Archdiocese of Boston said.
Supreme Court prayer ruling may spur new alliances
By Kimberly Winston — May 7, 2014
STANFORD, Calif. (RNS) While the Supreme Court decision allowing sectarian prayer at government meetings was a blow to secular organizations, it may also lead to some unlikely alliances.
