Researchers at St. Louis University are studying religious life in the St. Louis area. Photo by Daniel Schwen/Creative Commons
Need to know: Thursday, September 12, 2019
In St. Louis, mapping how religion is lived — in sanctuaries holy and profane
Focusing on practices and beliefs in everyday life, the initiative looks at religion in the yoga studio, the baseball stadium, the zoo and the dog park.
Presidential candidate and former pastor Mark Charles confronts American history
Mark Charles may be the only 2020 presidential candidate who can list working as a Christian pastor on his résumé, but his thoughts on religion, Native American rights and American history are complex.
A school where Muslims and Hindus pray together stirs strife in divided India
Founded to help poor children of both of India's predominant faiths, the Chacha Nehru's inclusivity has irked Muslim and Hindu leaders alike.
In Los Angeles, a synagogue opens its parking lot to people living in cars
A local synagogue has joined forces with Safe Parking LA, a nonprofit that sets up secure parking lots for people who live in their car.
Caroline Calloway and the cost of creating the ‘best self’
The second that your 'best self' becomes too obviously an illusion, its moral authority collapses. It’s simply, well, a lie, writes Tara Isabella Burton.
An unsung hero of the 9/11 recovery: The Muslim engineer who rebuilt the Pentagon crash site as a chapel
Eighteen years ago on a September morning she’ll never forget, Manal Ezzat fled from the burning Pentagon building in such a panicked rush that her hijab fell off. The next day, when the fires were still burning, Ezzat set to her task of rebuilding.
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Mark Charles and the need for ‘creating common memory’
'The difference is between explicit versus implicit: ‘Make America Great Again,’ or ‘America is already great.’ They both agree the past, the history, was great. It wasn't. It sucked,' Mark Charles said.
US Christian evangelical delegation meets Saudi crown prince
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Prince Mohammed bin Salman's meeting with prominent Christians marks the second such visit by American evangelicals to the kingdom, which is trying to shake off its reputation for religious intolerance and human rights abuses.
Pope Francis shrugs off critics, calling schism part of church’s history
On his flight back from a weeklong trip to Africa, Pope Francis answered critics of his papacy, saying that although he hopes for dialogue he’s not afraid of a schism.
More views from RNS
Pete Buttigieg, Mainline Protestant
And when it comes to climate change, not in a good way.
For many religious Americans, the word ‘liberal’ has become taboo
(RNS) — If you went to a church on a random Sunday morning in 1974 and grabbed 20 white parishioners, 11 would have been Democrats. Today, four would be Democrats. And those Democrats would outnumber the politically liberal churchgoers by a 2-1 ratio.
9/11, my eternal classroom
The young women at Starbucks. The woman with the dusty windows....the stories that are part of my own personal Torah scroll.
