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Need to know: Thursday, May 4, 2017
Trump set to relax tax rules on churches taking part in politics
But the widely-anticipated executive order backs away from a broader religious liberty order that would have allowed faith-based organizations and companies to avoid serving or hiring gay people.
Critics line up against expected executive order on religious liberty
President Trump can expect serious pushback on a religious liberty executive order he is poised to sign.
Inside evangelical leaders’ private White House dinner
On the eve of the first National Day of Prayer of his presidency, Donald Trump invited his closest evangelical advisors to join him for a private, long-awaited dinner celebration at the White House. Here’s how it went.
Bible Belt state with nation’s highest execution rate considers death penalty flaws
Last week, the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission recommended that the moratorium on capital punishment be extended.
The Baptist exception
Christians in the Global South now dominate every major Protestant tradition – except one.
Brad Pitt talks divorce, quitting drinking, his Baptist youth and becoming a better man
“When I was in high school, my folks jumped to a more charismatic movement, which got into speaking in tongues and raising your hands and some goofy-ass s—t,” the actor says in discussing his religious upbringing.
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Latest news from RNS
Jamila Woods’ new video is hair-raisingly ‘Holy’
(RNS) The Chicago-born singer, songwriter and poet turns some Bible verses into an affirmation for single women.
After Egypt trip, Pope Francis hails ‘healthy secularism’ approach
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Francis said Egypt’s rich history and cultural heritage should be the basis for 'the construction of social and civil order' in which all citizens regardless of their origin or religion can work together.
Muslims on Capitol Hill learn how to lobby
While other ethnic and religious minority groups have been pressing their agendas with Congress for generations, Muslim-Americans are just starting to flex their growing political muscles.
More views from RNS
Mormon scholars debate Joseph Smith’s role in translation
How did Joseph Smith translate the Book of Mormon and other scriptures? Scholars are offering some new, more expansive possibilities of what we mean by translation.
A Hungarian priest offers refugees shelter, and a town takes notice
KÖRMEND, Hungary (RNS) The refugee issue is electric in Hungary, with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government taking an increasingly hostile line against those seeking asylum in the country.
‘Shocking’ news on worship and the public
We don’t expect religion to make shocking news unless there are sex or financial scandals in the world of the church, synagogue, etc. Add to that theological controversies over the beginning of things (think of headlines about evolution) or the end of things (think apocalypse, be it nuclear or otherwise). Yet whoever consistently sights the religious scene knows that worship is a hotly contested phenomenon among those who “practice” religion, or who are “observant.”
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