Beliefs
Hindu advocate slams General Mills for using beef-based gelatin in Yoplait yogurt
By Richa Karmarkar — March 20, 2024
(RNS) — Hindus commonly abstain from eating beef, believing cows are sacred and revered companions to the gods.
As threats to Black cemeteries persist, a movement to preserve their sacred heritage gains strength
By Darren Sands and Giovanna Dell'orto — March 15, 2024
MIAMI (AP) — When sites of sacred cultural memory are desecrated, it adds additional trauma to the indignity of being segregated even in death, said the executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.
Indigenous people rejoice after city of Berkeley votes to return sacred Native land to Ohlone
By Janie Har and Olga R. Rodriguez — March 14, 2024
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Before Spanish colonizers arrived in the region, the area held a village and a massive shellmound with a height of 20 feet and the length and width of a football field that was a ceremonial and burial site.
Virgin of Charity unites all Cubans — Catholics, Santeria followers, exiled and back on the island
By Luis Andres Henao and Giovanna Dell'orto — March 14, 2024
EL COBRE, Cuba (AP) — The cult of the Virgin of Charity became part of Cuban nationalism in late 19th century.
Hindu women look to ancient goddesses for guidance on modern feminism
By Richa Karmarkar — March 13, 2024
(RNS) — Many point to Shakti, the divine feminine energy, as an antidote to toxic masculinity.
For Black ‘nones’ who leave religion, what’s next?
By Kathryn Post — February 12, 2024
(RNS) — When Black Americans leave religion, they rarely leave it altogether. But even as they retain elements of Christian culture, what other communities are they embracing beyond the church?
Who are the ‘nones’? New Pew study debunks myths about America’s nonreligious.
By Kathryn Post — January 24, 2024
(RNS) — 'Today, the ‘nones’ kind of look like everybody else,' said sociologist Ryan Cragun. 'At some level, we're saying, hey, actually, this is just your neighbor.'
Religious but not spiritual? Meet the skeptics favoring ritual over the supernatural
By Kathryn Post — January 23, 2024
(RNS) — Ten percent of Americans can be categorized as religious but not spiritual, according to a December 2023 study from Pew Research Center.
Church for ‘nones’: Meet the anti-dogma spiritual collectives emerging across the US
By Kathryn Post — December 20, 2023
ATLANTA (RNS) — These spiritual communities discard doctrine, prefer questions over answers and have no intention of converting anybody to anything.
Finding objective ways to talk about religion in the classroom is tough − but the cost of not doing so is clear
By Charles J. Russo — December 20, 2023
(The Conversation) — Many countries wrestle with whether to include any kind of education about religion in public school lessons, and each one takes its own approach.
Yule – a celebration of the return of light and warmth
By Helen A. Berger — December 8, 2023
(The Conversation) — Yule, celebrated by Wiccans and many other Pagans in the Northern Hemisphere on Dec. 21, the day of the winter solstice, is a time for reflection.
What is Bodhi Day? And when do Buddhists celebrate it?
By Luis Andres Henao — December 8, 2023
(AP) — Also called Buddha’s Enlightenment Day, it commemorates when Siddhartha Gautama attained awakening some 2,600 years ago, becoming the Buddha.
In the US, Hmong ‘new year’ recalls ancestral spirits while teaching traditions to new generations
By Giovanna Dell'orto — November 27, 2023
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The majority of the approximately 300,000 Hmong in the United States are animists and believe that spirits live throughout the physical world.
Abortion vote in Ohio pushes ‘pro-life pro-choice’ Black clergy to take a side
By Kathryn Post — November 6, 2023
(RNS) — For some clergy, the fall of Roe v. Wade has motivated them to speak out on abortion for the first time.
How Chicana women artists have often used the figure of the Virgin of Guadalupe for political messages
By Judith Huacuja — November 6, 2023
(The Conversation) — Over the past decades, many Chicana artists have used Guadalupe to emphasize issues of justice around immigration.
