Mark Wahlberg hopes God will forgive him for his turn as a porn star in the 1997 film “Boogie Nights.”
Wahlberg told the Chicago Tribune ahead of an event with Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich on Friday (Oct. 20) that he hopes “that God is a movie fan and also forgiving”
source: http://religionnews.com/2017/10/24/mark-wahlberg-hopes-god-forgives-him-for-boogie-nights/
Have progressives gained the upper hand in religious debates over homosexuality?
A spate of recent events suggests that LGBT-affirming voices within religious communities are more emboldened and confident than ever.
source: http://religionnews.com/2017/10/20/lgbt-affirming-christians-are-more-emboldened-than-ever/
Who knew that a simple meeting between a preacher and a pundit would be so controversial? But it starts to make sense when you consider the preacher. And the pundit. And the meeting itself
Since 1990, the fraction of Americans with no religious affiliation has nearly tripled, from about 8 percent to 22 percent. Over the next 20 years, this trend will accelerate: by 2020, there will be more of these "Nones" than Catholics, and by 2035, they will outnumber Protestants.
source: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/the-u-s-is-retreating-from-religion/
WASHINGTON (RNS) — The Library of Congress got an Italian-Jewish present, brought all the way from Rome by its chief rabbi.
Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni of the Roman Jewish community on Monday (Oct. 23) presented the library the first volume of the first Talmud to be printed in Italy in 500 years.
source: http://religionnews.com/2017/10/23/romes-rabbi-gifts-talmud-to-library-of-congress/
An old, rugged cross that has stood on public land in a Washington, D.C., suburb for almost a century has been deemed unconstitutional by a federal court.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday (Oct. 18) that the so-called Peace Cross violates the establishment clause of the Constitution with “excessive religious entanglement.”
source: http://religionnews.com/2017/10/19/peace-cross-is-unconstitutional-court-rules/
When it comes to religion, higher education has a bad reputation among some people.
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, recently repeated the trope that higher education is causing students to stray from religion.
The idea that college can weaken students’ religious faith has a long history, said Daniel Cox, research director at the Public Religion Research Institute.
source: http://www.dispatch.com/news/20171023/does-college-lead-students-away-from-religion
“College Professors Aren’t Killing Religion” reads a recent headline, whose claim is qualified by its subhead: “But college degrees certainly aren’t helping.” Daniel Cox “[f]iled under Religion” at FiveThirtyEight (October 10, 2017) to tell us this. He dealt with attacks by someone named Donald Trump Jr. from a speech at
Three-quarters of the world's people live in countries that either restrict the right to religion or belief or have "a high level of social hostility involving religion or belief," the U.N. special investigator on religious rights said Tuesday.
Ahmed Shaheed told the General Assembly's human rights committee that religious intolerance is prevalent globally — and rising around the world.
source: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/10/24/un-expert-says-most-world-lacks-real-religious-freedom.html
Soon it will be time for children to dress up in costumes, have Halloween parties and parades in school, and knock on neighbor’s doors asking for candy. When I was young, we always said “trick or treat!” but these days it seems no one says anything, they just hold out their bag for the load of candy you are to provide. But I digress. While this may seem like a totally pagan or secular holiday, did you know it actually stems from religious roots?
source: http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/news/20171026/halloween-season-and-its-meaning-for-religion
A United Nations committee is calling for the immediate release of an 18-year-old Jehovah’s Witness the panel says is being unlawfully detained in Tajikistan because of his faith.
The U.N.’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention says Daniil Islamov is imprisoned in Tajikistan
source: http://religionnews.com/2017/10/25/un-demands-tajikistan-free-detained-jehovahs-witness/
Why do people distrust atheists?
A recent study we conducted, led by psychologist Will Gervais, found widespread and extreme moral prejudice against atheists around the world. Across all continents, people assumed that those who committed immoral acts, even extreme ones such as serial murder, were more likely to be atheists.
Although this was the first demonstration of such bias at a global scale, its existence is hardly surprising.
source:http://religionnews.com/2017/10/25/are-religious-people-more-moral/
The Scottish Household Survey has produced data which says that the Catholic faith may become the biggest religion in Scotland in seven years. More than 10,000 people took part in the yearly study conducted by the Scottish Government. The study was made to provide a view of Scottish demographics
source: http://www.worldreligionnews.com/religion-news/catholicism-way-popular-religion-scotland
The more frequently a household attends worship services, the more likely its members donate to religious institutions, and give generously, new research shows.
New York-based writer Jaya Saxena isn’t Wiccan. She’s no pagan, either. She grew up with a Hindu grandmother, attended a Quaker high school and has Jewish in-laws, but isn’t at all religious herself.
Jaya Saxena is not a witch.
So how did she end up publishing a guide to modern witchcraft?
“We see ourselves as continuing a long line of unruly women,” Saxena explained.
source: http://religionnews.com/2017/10/27/is-tumblr-witchcraft-feminism-or-cultural-appropriation/