Top Stories
Pagan conferences return with more attendees, more magick after pandemic hiatus
(RNS) — ‘Everybody is here. There are lots of hugs. We are back.’
UMC clergy reportedly face complaint, church trial after marrying nonbinary couple
(RNS) — The Rev. Paige Swaim-Presley and the Rev. Elizabeth Davidson say they were informed in late February a formal complaint has been filed against them, allegedly for officiating a same-sex wedding.
Former Calvin professor sues after losing job for performing queer wedding
(RNS)— Joe Kuilema, who taught at the evangelical college for 14 years, lost his job after officiating a wedding for a transgender former student.
Charles Stanley, TV preacher and Southern Baptist leader, dies at 90
(RNS) — The author of dozens of books was recognized by people in the grassroots as well as in the highest echelons of American society.
For Palestinians, holiest Ramadan night starts at checkpoint
QALANDIYA CHECKPOINT, West Bank (AP) — Thousands of Palestinian worshippers from the occupied West Bank crammed through a military checkpoint leading to Jerusalem to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque for Laylat al-Qadr, or the "Night of Destiny," the holiest night of Ramadan.
Pakistan court jails Chinese national charged with blasphemy
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — The man, who was working on a hydropower project in Pakistan. He was accused by Pakistani laborers of blasphemy after criticizing two drivers working on the project of taking too much time to pray during work hours.
Anglican conservatives meet in Rwanda amid rift over LGBTQ
KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — The meeting comes two months after the decision of the Church of England to bless civil marriages of same-sex couples. Clerics from Africa are among those who continue to express concern.
Judge: Mississippi must give religious exemption on vaccines
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — One of the families who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit believe 'God has created humans with functioning immune systems that were well designed to counteract threats,' the lawsuit said, adding that they only seek out medication 'when an intervention is clearly necessary.'
1 city, 2 people — and India’s widening religious divide
AYODHYA, India (AP) — A deeply entrenched religious divide presents India with one of its biggest challenges: How to safeguard freedoms for its Muslim minority when a rising tide of Hindu nationalism is eroding the country’s secular underpinnings.
Charges put focus on Jehovah’s Witnesses’ handling of abuse
YORK HAVEN, Pa. (AP) — In the charges against nine Pennsylvania men, court records state that all the defendants have ties to the Jehovah’s Witnesses faith, though in some cases it’s unclear how their faith might relate to the criminal allegations.
17 men arrested in California Sikh community shootings
YUBA CITY, California (AP) — Authorities in Northern California arrested more than a dozen men from two warring criminal syndicates whose violent rivalry they say was responsible for a mass shooting at a Sikh temple and a brutal sword attack at a parade in 2018.
RNS Opinion
How school choice drives America’s people of faith apart
(RNS) — Religious freedom arguments are a strategy for undermining public education.
Why the Biden administration should spare Tree of Life shooter Robert Bowers’ life
(RNS) — The government should consider the guidance of the collective wisdom of Jewish institutions.
ICYMI
What an ‘Asian American apostate’ had to offer a Christian university after losing his faith
(RNS) — A scathing critique of the evangelical culture at a Christian university in pre-Trump America.
Conservative Christians aren’t the only ones asking for accommodation in mailman case
(RNS) — Religious minorities — Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Seventh-day Adventists — have filed briefs asking the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that gutted a civil rights statute’s protections for religious accommodation.
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