The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday backed a bid by an arm of a Catholic diocese in Wisconsin for a religious exemption from the state's unemployment insurance tax in the latest ruling in which the justices took an expansive view of religious rights.
Isaac Villegas' evocative book opens in the Southwest desert along the borderlands of the U.S. and Mexico as a group of people leave crosses in the places where migrants have lost their lives. These crosses, writes Villegas, are “...an act of devotion to a stranger who should have been our neighbor… Each crucifix remembers a life lost to the violence of immigration policies.
In her personal mission statement, Matthews says she strives “to amplify the voices of the unheard, to shed light on the unseen, and to be a steadfast reminder that hope, and love are the truest pathways to equity and justice." Influenced by Bernice Johnson Reagon, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Melissa Etheridge, Ani DiFranco, and, of course, Tracy Chapman, to whom she has often been compared, Matthews brings her whole self into her work.
There are countless verses, stories, and parables in the Bible that stress the importance of justice. Here are 20 Bible verses about social justice to get you started. How is God calling you to get involved in the fight for justice today?
Dania knew something was wrong with her toddler daughter.
Sofia had always been a lively girl, but lately she hadn’t been eating much, and her energy seemed low. Dania hurried through her Honduras community to the only place she knew to go.
To be queer means resisting the repression of our true selves and the forces that demand we conform to others’ ideas of who we should be. It’s a declaration of our commitment to live authentically — who God created us to be — not who society or religion says we must become.
Over a grainy international phone call, I could hear people singing at St. Peter’s Square as I spoke with BBC journalist Mark Lowen about Pope Francis. It was April 21, and I, along with two other queer Catholic advocates, Max Kuzma and Simon Fung, were reflecting on what Francis had meant for each of us and our hopes for the future of the Catholic Church.
The Mississippi Delta. 1932. A young Black man (Miles Canton) drives up to a small church building. He climbs out of the car, clutching the neck of a broken guitar. He is covered in blood.
As he approaches the closed doors, a children's choir sings "This Little Light of Mine." The doors open and the young man staggers inside. The left side of his face bears deep claw marks. The pastor, unperturbed, opens his arms and demands the young man — Sammie — come forward. A sudden cut transforms the Black preacher into a white creature, its mouth open and dripping blood, its arms spread wide.
In NPR’s Alternate Realities, Zack Mack, who is a podcast producer and storyteller, hosts a three-part series about his father falling down the conspiracy rabbit hole and the effect it has on his family. After challenging his dad about his conspiratorial thinking, his father responded by suggesting they make a bet: He would make 10 predictions that he believed would come to pass before the end of 2024, and for each one he got right, Mack would pay him $1,000. For each one he got incorrect, he would pay his son $1,000. Mack’s dad, who is a Christian, was certain that his predictions were ironclad.
One of the most awaited Supreme Court rulings of the year ended in a deadlocked decision that led to triumph for supporters of church-state separation in schools.