St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenville, S.C., in 2017. Photo by Antony-22/Creative Commons
Need to know: Thursday, August 1, 2019
SC Protestant-only ministry changes course, opens its doors to Catholics
Earlier this month, Miracle Hill Ministries announced it would allow Catholics to serve as parents to foster children in its government-funded foster care agency.
Babylon Bee, Snopes feud over fact-checking satire
The popular fact-checking site Snopes and the Babylon Bee, a religious humor site, have feuded online over the difference between 'fake news' and satire.
Will the Catholic Church self-destruct or bridge the partisan divide?
American Catholics are almost evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, which means the church can either self-destruct or bridge the partisan divide, writes Thomas Reese.
Have we no decency? A response to President Trump
When does silence become complicity? What will it take for us all to say, with one voice, that we have had enough? The question is less about the president's sense of decency, but of ours, write Mariann Edgar Budde, Randolph Marshall Hollerith and Kelly Brown Douglas.
Why do racists hate ethnic and religious clothing?
Seeing someone dressed in unfamiliar attire, like a Punjabi kurta pajama, may cause confusion or raise an eyebrow. It should not be a cause for hate, writes Simran Jeet Singh.
Dutch ‘burqa ban’ rendered largely unworkable on first day
The Netherlands’ so-called burqa ban has been rendered largely unworkable on its first day in law after both the police and Dutch transport companies signaled an unwillingness to enforce it.
Latest news from RNS
More churches are checking the national sex offender registry. Is it helping?
Running potential employees through the national sex offender registry may be useful, but the data it provides is limited.
5 issues religious liberals will be tuned to in the Democratic debates
Treatment of immigrants, climate change and poverty are among the issues they care about.
Katy Perry stole Christian rapper’s beat for ‘Dark Horse,’ says jury
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury of six women and three men found that pop star Katy Perry and her colleagues copied the bumping beat and riff at the center of a Christian rap song called 'Joyful Noise' for her 2013 hit, 'Dark Horse.'
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How American Jews became camp-passionate
Under the trees and by the lake, we were creating a new American Judaism. Who knew?
How to be Mormon, in just 73 easy steps!
Being Mormon can sometimes feel overwhelming, but Mette Harrison has boiled it down into 73 simple steps. (First rule: stop saying "Mormon.")
The family values we need at the border
I was raised in the United States by Christians who emphasized the family values of Scripture and exhorted me to be vigilant in resisting worldly forces that tear families apart, writes Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove.
