Thousands of people marched through the streets of Jerusalem in the city’s annual gay pride parade, a festival that exposes deep divisions between Israel’s secular and Jewish ultra-Orthodox camps. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Need to know: Friday, June 7, 2019
Jerusalem pride parade draws thousands, guarded by police
Jerusalem's parade draws thousands of LGBTQ Israelis and their allies, to an event guarded by thousands of police. Unlike in Tel Aviv, known as one of the most LGBTQ-friendly cities in the world, Jerusalem's residents aren't always welcoming. Its pride parade has sparked controversy and, in at least one case, violence, in the past.
Mother Emanuel’s forgiveness narrative is ‘complicated,’ says reporter-turned-author
'The churches themselves are as segregated as ever,' Jennifer Berry Hawes says of Charleston, S.C. 'What has changed is that there are efforts to bridge divides between the people in those churches.'
In St. Louis, former houses of worship are retooled to meet the city’s needs
Many retired but architecturally significant houses of worship are surviving by converting to new uses that benefit their neighborhoods or cities in ways their original congregants might approve but never imagined.
Forced conversions, marriages spike in Pakistan
'The ugly reality of forced conversions is that they are not seen as a crime, much less as a problem that should concern ‘mainstream’ (Muslim) Pakistan,' said Mehdi Hasan, chairperson of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
Why I used to believe in the prosperity gospel like Kenneth Copeland believes
I grew up in the prosperity gospel. I lived it, believed it and bankrolled it. Here's why people are so tempted by it, writes Costi W. Hinn.
Mom who encouraged kids to spew hatred at Arizona mosque sentenced to probation
Tahnee Savanna Gonzales apologized for setting a poor example for her children at the Islamic Community Center of Tempe last year.
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Latest Catholic scandal spotlights questions of consent in priest-parishioner relationships
The fact that the accuser is an adult has not spared the church new scrutiny about its slowness to respond to sexual misconduct claims or about what experts have been quick to call confusion regarding what constitutes consent.
Southern Baptist seminary denies request for reparations
EmpowerWest, a coalition of black and white pastors in Louisville, Ky., where the seminary is located, recently contacted seminary officials with their request.
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‘Let’s not wait for the theologians,’ says Pope Francis about sharing the Eucharist
(RNS) — Is the pope signaling his willingness to move toward Eucharistic sharing without total theological agreement?
