Pat Robertson, the host of the long-running daily television show “The 700 Club,” in 2016.
AP Photo/Steve Helber, File
A scholar of religion and politics explains how Robertson led the way in blending religion with political commentary and paved the way for a wider influence of Christian media on American culture.
Jewelry of the kandake Amanishakheto from a pyramid at Meroe.
Einsamer Schütze/Wikimedia Commons
The way many Americans think about racial identity today is hard to map onto the complex history of ancient Egypt and ancient Nubia.
Pat Robertson speaks at the Christian Coalition’s annual meeting on Sept. 9, 1995, in Washington, D.C.
Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images
Pat Robertson, founder of the global Christian Broadcasting Network, blended religion into American politics and played an important role in the Republican Party.
People pray over the body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster at the abbey of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, near Gower, Mo., in April 2023.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
People are congregating in Missouri after news spread that the exhumed body of a nun had not decayed four years after her death. There is a long history to these claims.
Courts have wrestled with questions about public funds for students at religious schools for decades.
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The school’s approval may be the strongest challenge yet to limits on public money in religious schools.
Olmec culture deeply shaped later Mesoamerican civilizations like the Aztecs.
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The return of an important monument to Mexico puts a spotlight on a culture whose influence is still felt in the Americas today.
Travis Goldtooth, a member of the Navajo Nation, was the reigning Miss Montana Two-Spirit in 2019.
Katherine Davis-Young for The Washington Post via Getty Images
An Indigenous scholar writes that Indigenous peoples have historically recognized multiple gender identities, which they believe are a result of divine intervention.
Demonstrators lift Israeli flags and LGBTQ pride flags during a protest against the proposed judicial overhaul in Tel Aviv in May 2023.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images
LGBTQ rights are not the main issue bringing Israeli protesters to the streets, but they do symbolize the country’s stark divide.
Puerto Rican singer Residente performs in Havana in 2010. His back reads, ‘We receive flowers and bullets in the very same heart.’
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Latino artists have been forging their own paths in hip-hop for decades, giving voice to young peoples’ pain, faith and demands for change.
A prayer altar in the main gathering hall at the temple Wat Ratchapradit in Bangkok, Thailand.
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Theravada Buddhism is the dominant religious system in several parts of South and Southeast Asia, but there is a rich diversity of beliefs and practices in this tradition.
Tina Turner performs onstage during the 50th annual Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center on Feb. 10, 2008, in Los Angeles.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Turner was introduced to Nichiren Buddhism in 1973, and its teachings provided inspiration for some of the final projects of her career.
The shrine at Lourdes, France, where the Virgin Mary is venerated as ‘Our Lady of Lourdes,’ following several apparitions reported in 1858.
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The Vatican plans to set up an ‘observatory’ to investigate apparitions of the Virgin Mary. A scholar of global Christianity explains why this is a major shift in how apparitions are authenticated.
A devotee bathes a Buddha statue during celebrations of the Buddha’s birthday in Malaysia.
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Buddha’s birthday has not always been a major holiday for Buddhists, but is now celebrated in diverse ways throughout Asia.
A close up of the sculpture ‘Medusa with the head of Perseus,’ by Luciano Garbati. Image courtesy of the artist.
Luciano Garbati
Female characters in Greek mythology lived under strict patriarchal rules, but they spoke truth to power and resisted injustice.
A confirmation class in 1924 in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest/Wikimedia Commons
Shavuot, which was originally an ancient pilgrimage festival, has gone through many changes over the years – as has Judaism itself.
Migrants are welcomed to a Methodist church in New Mexico after being released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2019.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
As governments crack down at their borders, religious groups’ teachings to help the stranger remain unchanged.
Aristotle (center), wearing a blue robe, seen in a discourse with Plato in a 16th century fresco, ‘The School of Athens’ by Raphael.
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A scholar of ancient Greek philosophy writes about Aristotle’s timeless advice on how to nurture and keep friendships.
A copy of the ‘Art of War’ from a collection at the University of California, Riverside.
vlasta2/Flickr
The ancient Chinese text is considered a military classic, but Western readers often overlook its philosophical roots.
Malcolm X helped lead the Nation of Islam until 1964.
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The civil rights leader Malcolm X was famously part of the Nation of Islam until his break from the group in 1964. What is the history behind this small but influential religious movement?
Buddhism prizes both compassion and undivided focus – which can be hard to combine.
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The lines between family life and Buddhist monasticism are not so ‘either/or’ as they might seem.