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Russell Moore: Pope Francis for evangelicals?
By Jonathan Merritt — August 3, 2015
Both are powerful, fresh-faced religious leaders of massive conservative Christian bodies whose behaviors and statements excite, infuriate, and confuse both conservatives and progressives by turns. Are they paving the way for a future expression of faith that we've only begun to imagine?
Marijuana ministries * Chicken blood * Chocolate snakes: July’s Religious Freedom Recap
By Brian Pellot — July 31, 2015
Cannabis churches are billowing out across America. Chicken huggers are suing to keep ritual bird blood off Brooklyn’s sidewalks. And a South African prophet is being prosecuted for turning congregants into snakes and snakes into chocolate.
Let Cecil the lion’s death shine light on Zimbabwe’s human rights abuses (COMMENTARY)
By Brian Pellot — July 29, 2015
(RNS) The Internet melted when news broke that a Minnesota dentist had killed Zimbabwe’s most beloved big cat. Allow me to steal Cecil’s spotlight for a moment with five facts about the country’s egregious human rights record.
Brothers and sisters, you are not professional journalists
By Jonathan Merritt — July 28, 2015
When Christians speak ignorantly about journalism, they compromise their credibility on more important matters.
Boy Scouts drop ban on adult gay leaders
By Adelle M. Banks — July 27, 2015
(RNS) The policy change represents the end of a long and bitter struggle over whether to accept gay members that began more than two years ago when it allowed gay youths to participate, but not adults.
Satanic group unveils controversial statue in Detroit
By Reuters — July 26, 2015
DETROIT -- The group, which opposes Bible-themed displays on government land, kept the location of its 9-foot-tall monument secret until the last moment,
On Planned Parenthood controversy, ‘The New York Times’ swings and whiffs
By Jonathan Merritt — July 22, 2015
By sidestepping the elements of the story that have outraged Americans, it’s as if the editorial board is trying to prove true the conservatives who claim their paper is run by left-leaning elitists.
Some say Apostle Paul was sexist, but this mainline mega-pastor calls him ‘an exemplar’
By Jonathan Merritt — July 21, 2015
Pastor of America's most influential mainline Protestant church wants Christians to give the Apostle Paul a second look. "Paul gives us an exemplar for the way in which God calls all believers to live," he says.
The ‘Splainer: Linking human trafficking, climate change and God
By Kimberly Winston — July 20, 2015
(RNS) The Vatican hosts two conferences on human trafficking and climate change this week, inviting many U.S. mayors to the event. What do human trafficking and climate change have to do with each other and with religion? Let us 'Splain . . . .
Becca Stevens believes her ‘farmer’s theology’ can change the world
By Jonathan Merritt — July 17, 2015
"We need to till the earth of our hearts, watering it and weeding the unruly places," says the episcopal priest and founder of Thistle Farms.
By the numbers: India’s LGBT community in legal limbo
By Syed Nazakat — July 14, 2015
NEW DELHI (RNS) Despite growing momentum for equal rights across India, openly LGBT people face fear of prosecution.
Pope Francis, if you’re listening to U.S. critics, start with gun makers
By Jonathan Merritt — July 14, 2015
Pope Francis says he'll open his ears -- and presumably his mind -- to hear his American critics. Here are two places he should start listening.
THE BEST OF RNS: Serena Williams’ secret weapon: ‘Jehovah God’
By Kimberly Winston — July 10, 2015
(RNS) How does the world's No. 1 ranked tennis player balance being a Jehovah's Witness with her celebrity?
When she converted from Islam to Christianity, did this woman risk her life?
By Jonathan Merritt — July 9, 2015
Rifqa Bary made headlines when she claimed her Muslim parents threatened to kill her. But a report by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) found discrepancies in Bary's story. Here she shares her story.
Indiana’s Church of Cannabis files religious liberty suit
By Stephanie Wang — July 9, 2015
The lawsuit challenges state laws on possession and use of marijuana as infringing upon religious beliefs.
