Columns

Will the LDS Church condemn the right wing’s Capitol violence?
The problem is that if/when the Church issues a statement condemning the violence and reminding members of President Oaks’s wise counsel about accepting the results of elections, it will do little than reinforce people’s existing ideas.

Biden’s transition team wanted to talk about religious freedom. Here’s what I told them.

From the Capitol to critical race theory, white Christians grieve declining hegemony

Don’t impeach Trump. Shun him.
(RNS) — Shunning — or its Catholic counterpart, excommunication — is the religious equivalent of amputation. It is an extreme measure to protect the community from infection.

If you’re religious and supported President Trump
(RNS) — Can you simultaneously believe in God and the president?

At the Capitol, we saw the best and the worst of US Mormonism
(RNS) — The domestic terrorist who dangled from the Senate balcony and occupied Mike Pence’s seat is a returned missionary of the LDS Church, to our shame. But Mitt Romney, also a Mormon, showed some of the best qualities our religion is capable of.

The desecration of the House
(RNS) —The sacrilege lay not in the invasion of the Capitol but in the fact that it had been incited by the president of the United States.

If the mob’s attack on the Capitol surprised you, you weren’t paying attention
(RNS) — The truth is, this is precisely who we are. White supremacy is at the foundation of this country.

Could Catholic moral theology light the way for a new GOP?
(RNS) — The party is realigning around a religious, multiethnic, working-class populism, and Catholic thought could provide an ideological foundation.

How Jewish is “Ma Rainey”?
The late Chadwick Boseman was amazing in “Ma Rainey.” Even more than you think.

Brian McLaren says there’s a good reason your beliefs stopped working
People who doubt their faith often get the “you are not wanted here” message from their religion, says author Brian McLaren. After the anger and loss, is there room for them to build a different kind of faith?

Georgia’s Black-Jewish campaign is the latest chapter in an old story
(RNS) — The experiences of the two communities in Atlanta have run parallel since the Civil War.

Hollywood loves the Mormon afterlife
Stories like ‘Soul,’ ‘Coco’ and ‘The Good Place’ depict core Mormon ideas that are alive in the popular imagination about the afterlife—and the “before life.”

The religious word of the year: COVIDOLOGY
Is COVID-era faith a Nehru jacket? Or a Brooks Brothers suit that simply needs a new tie?

The SBC’s critical race theory debacle
(RNS) — Once the SBC sees systemic racism, it’s a slippery slope to feminism, climate change and LGBTQ rights.