House members vote as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, of Calif., stands on the dais, during a vote on article II of impeachment against President Donald Trump, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Need to know: Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Impeachment debate suggests shifting religious and political winds
Spiritual discourse has pockmarked what has become an atypically religious — and particularly Christian — impeachment process.
Ram Dass, who introduced a generation to Hindu meditation, dies at 88
Pioneering the use of psychedelic drugs as spiritual practice, he also explored Buddhism and Hinduism, which took him to India and resulted in his 1971 best-selling book ‘Be Here Now.’
Do humanists celebrate Christmas?
Ethical humanist leader Anne Klaeysen talked to Religion News Service about how humanists celebrate the holidays, what humanistic meanings people of any faith or no faith can take from the Christmas story and how the holidays can unite, rather than further divide, the country.
Church that prayed to resurrect girl from the dead is moving on with memorial service
Bethel Church announced Friday (Dec. 20) that the two-year-old child it prayed to resurrect from the dead, "hasn't been raised."
What do Mormons do with the Book of Revelation?
What the LDS curriculum attempts to do with Revelation reflects our own me-centered, therapeutic era: The Bible’s most controversial book becomes a road map for each person’s very own spiritual growth, writes Jana Riess.
Louisiana church filled a plane with holy water and blessed a whole community
A Roman Catholic church in rural Louisiana hoping to maximize its blessings has come up with a way to do it: filling up a crop-duster plane with holy water and letting the sanctified liquid mist an entire community.
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In Christmas message, Pope Francis calls on Vatican officials to embrace change
The pope began his speech with the acceptance of the resignation of the 92-year-old Cardinal Angelo Sodano as dean of the College of Cardinals.
Religious freedom agency reauthorized with Trump’s signature
The agency, created in 1998, had faced a range of controversies in the months leading up to the reauthorization.
State Department cites religious freedom violators
The department redesignated on Wednesday the nine other countries that had been categorized as ‘countries of particular concern’.
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A spiritual icon to the Boomers, Ram Dass was godfather to the ‘nones’
(RNS) — One of the spiritual teacher's great gifts was his great willingness to share his imperfections with the world and his ability to laugh about them.
Goodbye, Baba Ram Dass
(RNS) — Why did Richard Alpert become Baba Ram Dass? It is the story of American Judaism.
Christianity Today roils the evangelical waters
Whatever its effect on the impeachment debate, CT's editorial calling for Trump's removal started a fight over Billy Graham's legacy, writes Mark Silk.
