Librarian Sharice Towles checks in books at the main branch of the Reading Public Library circulation desk in Reading, Penn.
Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images
Librarians are defending the rights of readers and writers in the battle raging across the US over censorship, book challenges and book bans. That conflict has even changed how librarians are trained.
King David playing the lyre in a scene from a 15th-century manuscript of the Book of Psalms.
Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Gratitude and praise are not only some of the most common themes in Christian music, but also some of the oldest.
The Catholic hymn, “Te Deum” – which says, “You, God, we praise” – has been used for centuries in Catholic worship for thanksgiving.
Iconotheca Valvasoriana Author Jean Marot via Wikimedia Commons.
The Pilgrims who started the first Thanksgiving tradition after they landed in Plymouth were following the customs they had grown up with, originating in medieval times.
The Feast of the Bean King, painted by Jacob Jordaens around 1640-1645.
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
We tend to romanticise the Christmas season, that time of year when we gather with friends and family, feast and be merry. But for most of its history Christmas has been a time of sordid behaviour.
The Puritans saw May Day celebrations as a test from God.
Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Peter C. Mancall, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
It was less about their asceticism and more about rejecting the world they had fled.
John Lacy, a Restoration actor and playwright, satirised puritans, including in his role as Mr Scruple in The Cheats by John Wilson (right).
John Michael Wright (died 1694/National Portrait Gallery
Peter C. Mancall, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
When the founders wrote the Constitution, they had to devise a punishment fitting for a civil servant’s impeachment. One possible punishment: banishment from the community.
Seventy-eight percent of the people executed for witchcraft in New England in the late 17th and early 18th centuries were women.
Jef Thompson/Shutterstock.com
Many American evangelicals believe that the establishment and protection of Israel set up a chain of event for the return of Jesus. What were the origins of this narrative?
People shouting and yelling slogans during a protest in front of the US Consulate to denounce Donald Trump’s immigration policies on January 30, 2017 in Toronto, Canada.
(Shutterstock)
Media pundits are promoting Canada as exceptional in its tolerance and diversity but the truth is, Canadians have a tendency not to be not less racist than Americans, but to be less loud about it.