Apr 03 Your holiday cheat sheet to Passover By Wendy Thomas Russell Most Christians (current and cultural) are all too familiar with the story of the Last Supper. What’s rarely made clear, though, is that Jesus’ final meal was quite likely a Passover meal. Continue reading
Mar 31 10 Commandments for talking to your kids about religion By Wendy Thomas Russell Secularism is on the rise. Between 2012 and 2014 alone, some 7.5 million Americans lost their religious faith. And a great many of them are parents — or will be someday. So how do we, as first-generation secular parents, go… Continue reading
Mar 04 Quick! What the heck is Purim? By Wendy Thomas Russell I always think of the Bible as sort of dry reading — difficult to understand, weighted down by archaic language and vague descriptions, full of stories that just kind of go on and on. But, of course, that's not always… Continue reading
Feb 18 Everything you were embarrassed to ask about Lent and Ash Wednesday By Wendy Thomas Russell Today is the beginning of Lent (AKA Ash Wednesday) — the day that millions of people around the world stop buying Starbucks, swearing like sailors, gossiping about their co-workers, and eating entire sticks of butter while watching porn. Continue reading
Feb 05 Obama condemns those who seek to 'hijack religion' By Nedra Pickler, Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama condemned those who seek to use religion as a rationale for carrying out violence around the world, declaring Thursday that "no god condones terror."… Continue reading
Feb 04 Modern day pagans plan to build Iceland's first Norse temple in 1,000 years By Adelyn Baxter While they may not be going as far as animal sacrifice and Viking burials, members of a neo-pagan church in Iceland have resurrected some of the old ways in recent decades and now plan to build the nation’s first Norse… Continue reading
Jan 01 Watch 9:48 Bishops Consider Stance of Catholic Politicians By PBS News Hour America's Catholic bishops began a week-long conference in Colorado to discuss, among other issues, whether to withhold Communion based on parishioners' political beliefs. Following a look at how the debate developed in the Diocese of Colorado Springs, correspondent Jeffrey Brown… Continue watching
Dec 22 Watch 5:08 Pope Francis uses Christmas greeting to chide church officials for greed, gossip and getting ahead By PBS News Hour In remarks for Christmas before the Roman Curia, Pope Francis delivered a scathing review of the behavior of Vatican officials, decrying the "spiritual Alzheimers" that makes them forget their real purpose. Gwen Ifill talks to Kevin Eckstrom of the Religion… Continue watching
Dec 20 Watch 10:02 Freedom of religion? Mosque debate in Georgia town reveals sharp divide By PBS News Hour In Kennesaw, Ga., the city council recently rejected, then approved a bid to house a mosque at a shopping mall. The vote has ignited a fierce debate in the community over how residents feel about Muslims and their First Amendment… Continue watching
Nov 28 Watch Facing environmental crisis, can Buddhist values offer non-religious China a greener path? By PBS News Hour Continue watching