Sikh gurus adopted the turban, in part, to remind Sikhs that all humans are sovereign, royal and ultimately equal. But their attire can also lead to misunderstandings and at times, hate crimes.
Pope Francis at the Monument Mary Queen of Peace, in Port Louis, Mauritius on Sept. 9, 2019.
AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino
Pope Francis recently completed a tour of three African nations. His visit needs to be understood in the context of the church’s long history in Africa and its modern-day difficulties.
Family photos of the victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, displayed at a 25th anniversary memorial in April 2019.
AP Photo/Ben Curtis
For International Day of Charity on Sept. 5, a history of how the Christian Herald mobilized Americans in the late 19th century to give millions for the relief of global suffering.
Abortion rights supporters in Missouri take part in a protest, after state lawmakers passed rules aimed at closing Missouri’s only abortion clinic, May 30, 2019.
AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
Young, poor, single and a mother of two: This is the profile of most women in the US and Northern Ireland who seek financial assistance to help pay for an abortion.
A 2012 photograph of the Sunrise Church of Christ in Buffalo’s East Side. The building has since been demolished.
AP Photo/David Duprey
In up-and-coming neighborhoods, old churches are often converted to apartments or offices. But what about the vacant or underused churches in areas that aren’t attractive to developers?
Red Cross forensic specialist Stephen Fonseca, right, searches for bodies in a field of ruined maize in Magaru, Mozambique, after Cyclone Idai, April 4, 2019.
AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi
Meet the unsung aid workers who put their lives on the line during war and natural disaster to make sure the dead are treated with respect – and that their grieving families get closure.
Voodoo believers walk during the annual Voodoo festival Fete Gede at Cite Soleil Cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery
Voodoo is often seen as a practice involving magic. In Haiti, Voodoo is a religion born out of the struggle of slaves. And today, it is used as a form of healing and protection.
Mohammed Morsi, a member of the controversial Islamist political organization the Muslim Brotherhood, was Egypt’s first democratically elected president. He was overthrown in a coup in 2013 and died on trial this June.
Reuters/Amr Dalsh
A few years ago, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and Turkey’s Gulenists were running the show. Now both religious movements face political repression. How did they fall so far, so fast?
Citing scripture and church teachings, ever more Christians are pushing progressive policy positions based in their faith.
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The religious right may have dominated US politics for decades, but progressive Christians are growing louder in their faith-based opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
Dalia Yashar, one of the first Saudi female students in training to become commercial pilot, pictured on July 15, 2018. Her future passengers will include solo women travelers, too.
Reuters/Hamad I Mohammed
Saudi women may now travel without a man’s permission, easing one of the most repressive aspects of the country’s ‘guardianship’ system. Women in Saudi Arabia gained the right to drive last year.
The data show no evidence of local anti-Semitism or Islamophobia – but this does not mean that hate towards minority religious groups does not exist in New Zealand.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Simon Chapple, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
A survey of New Zealanders’ attitudes towards religious groups, taken after the Christchurch mosque shootings, shows they trust Buddhists most and Evangelicals least.
Evidence suggests that Muslim men in France have been disproportionately arrested and jailed for cannabis-related crimes since the drug became illegal in 1970.
Francisco Osorio/flickr
Muslims make up 9% of France’s population and half of all its prisoners – many convicted on drug charges. But social justice isn’t part of the country’s growing debate on legalization.
Like any other travelers, Muslim pilgrims review their hajj trips on sites like TripAdvisor — usually with extreme enthusiasm.
AP Photo/Khalil Hamra
Many practicing U.S. Christians do not believe that human activities are warming the Earth, but they hold diverse views about the environment. Effective climate conversations recognize those nuances.
Cheating in games may have more to do with personality than with economic necessity, a new study finds.
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Why do even the rich cheat on their taxes? Roesearch suggests some people may be genetically predisposed to break the rules for their own financial gain.
Slavery is not so far removed. Anderson and Minerva Edwards met in the 1860s as enslaved laborers in Texas, had 16 children and lived into their 90s in a cabin a few miles from the plantations they once worked. They are photographed here in 1937.
U.S. Library of Congress
Old injustices don’t simply disappear with time – they tear a nation apart.
Honduran migrant Vicky Chavez with her daughter Issabella on May 31, 2018 in the First Unitarian Church in Salt Lake City, where she sought protection from deportation in late 2017.
AP Photo/Rick Bowmer
Mario Garcia, University of California, Santa Barbara
The number of migrants living in churches has spiked recently in anticipation of threatened immigration raids, but churches have long protected refugees in an act of faith-based civil disobedience.
Nursing home staff report feeling demoralized by the use of web-endabled cameras to monitor the care of patients.
Reuters/Eric Gaillard
Ever more Americans are using digital cameras to keep an eye on elderly relatives who live in nursing homes. This surveillance may violate patients’ privacy and demoralize their caretakers.
A Rohingya refugee girl sells vegetables in Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh. Access to education is extremely limited in the camps, and most children — particularly girls — receive little to no formal education, Aug. 28, 2018.
AP Photo/Altaf Qadri