Video evidence at trial played a crucial part in the conviction of a police officer for the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
AP Photo/Ben Gray
Video evidence can be powerful at a trial – but it does not always lead to a fair rendering of justice.
A condolence message and candles for the victims of a stampede during a Jewish ultra-Orthodox mass pilgrimage to Mount Meron, projected on a wall of Jerusalem’s Old City.
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The Lag BaOmer pilgrimage, in which 45 people died recently, takes place each year to what is believed to be the gravesite of the second-century Talmudic sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
Has COVID-19 strengthened people’s faith?
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Traumatic events can make people question assumptions about their lives, including their spiritual beliefs.
President Joe Biden’s progressive values jar with the conservatism of some Catholic bishops.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Communion is the central act of Catholic worship. So why are some US bishops trying to stop President Joe Biden – a devout Catholic – from partaking?
Mass cremations in the city of Bengaluru, India, due to the large number of COVID-19 deaths.
Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images)
As cremation grounds struggle to keep up with the long line of people dying from COVID-19, age-old customs are being pushed aside.
An image from a police body camera shows bystanders including Darnella Frazier, third from right, filming a Minneapolis police officer pressing his knee on George Floyd’s neck.
Minneapolis Police Department via AP, File
A game theory expert explains why a witness to a troubling situation who is in a group may feel a lesser sense of personal responsibility than a single individual.
The Puritans saw May Day celebrations as a test from God.
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The Puritans had little tolerance for those who didn’t conform to their vision of the world.
Some ancient theologians argued that the Israelites deserved a share of Egypt’s wealth after being enslaved for centuries.
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The biblical story of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt is also a historical tale of reparations after enslavement.
A form of ‘canceling’ was common among Baptists in America.
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Excommunicating a church member, like ‘canceling’ someone on social media, serves to cleanse the body politic of behavior deemed damaging, suggests a scholar of political theology.
FBI announcements in Yiddish encourage Hasidic or “ultra-Orthodox” Jews to report incidents of anti-Semitism.
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During the Cold War, the FBI boasted a ‘Judeo-Christian’ heritage in the US but also demonstrated anti-Jewish prejudice.
In Ames, Iowa, a creek previously named after an offensive term for Native American women is now called Ioway Creek.
Sarah Dees
The name change of a local creek in central Iowa reflects broader national trends that are recognizing derogatory or racist connotations.
Greek hero Odysseus reunites with his wife, Penelope, upon his return to Ithaca, in an illustration from Homer’s epic.
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A scholar of Greek literature writes why we need to turn to the past to understand the present – and the lessons that Homer’s hero, Odysseus, holds for us.
The famine in Samaria was one of many depicted in the Bible.
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Famine was a constant threat during biblical times. The authors of the Old Testament used it to explain God’s wrath, but also as a narrative device.
The dining-out experience has changed as people wear masks and are separated by plexiglass in outdoor dining.
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The pandemic changed people’s dining-out experience, with takeout becoming more common. But since dining out became fashionable in the 18th century, how and where people go to eat has been evolving.
Members of the Sikh community in Indianapolis gather after a mass shooting in which eight people, including four Sikhs, died, in Indianapolis, Indiana.
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A scholar explains the religious beliefs of Sikhs as well as the prejudices and barriers that many Sikhs in America face.
Resurrection of Christ depicted in 14th-century fresco in Chora Church, Istanbul, Turkey.
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Some among the Baptist movement interpret the Resurrection as God’s response and commitment to liberating the poor and the oppressed.
The storm over the construction of the grand mosque in Strasbourg has been long brewing.
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Strasbourg officials are within their right to allow public funds to be used to build what may be the largest mosque in Europe. But that hasn’t stopped the backlash
Magic fascinated and troubled early Christians as much as it does some people today.
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Although many modern people tend to see ‘magic’ and ‘religion’ as separate, magic was actually integral to the development of Christianity.
Demonstrators gather during a peaceful protest against police brutality.
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A peace studies expert explains a technique for resolving conflict that she says is more effective and less divisive than public shaming.
Southern Baptist women demonstrating against the faith’s gender role doctrine in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2019.
AP Photo/Julie Bennett
Complementarianism became central to evangelical belief in response to the feminist movement of the 1970s when many Christians came to champion women’s equality.