A scholar who studies alternative expressions of spirituality visited secular, atheist and psychedelic churches and interacted with attendees. Here is what he found.
Narges Mohammadi, a jailed Iranian women’s rights advocate, won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize. Photo taken in 2021.
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Narges Mohammadi is the second Iranian woman, after Shirin Ebadi, to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She remains locked up in Evin, Iran’s most notorious prison for political detainees.
A bison restoration project in Oklahoma on lands of the Cherokee Nation, one of the largest Native American tribes.
AP Photo/Audrey Jackson
Efforts are being made to develop the capacity of Native tribes to manage bison and bison habitats. An Indigenous scholar explains their sacred significance.
Pope Francis cleans the sky from pollution in graffiti by the artist Maupal, inspired by ‘Laudato Si.’
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As the Synod of Bishops meets in Rome, a Catholic theologian explains the preparations that went into the consultative process and what it says about Pope Francis’ vision for the future church.
Each year, services on St. Francis’ feast day draw humans and animals alike to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York.
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The College of Cardinals is an important part of the church’s governance structure. Its members elect the next pope and help develop future policies for the church.
Residents watch French air force jets fly over a Paris suburb during the Bastille Day military parade on July 14, 2023.
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Catholicism, ‘Frenchness’ and secularism are often conflated in French culture, a scholar writes, while non-Christian traditions are viewed with suspicion.
The abaya is typically paired with a headscarf to cover the hair.
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In some conservative countries, the abaya is part of expected dress. But in countries where Muslims are in the minority, the abaya can be a way for women to connect with their religious identity.
Natural materials like palm fronds, tree branches or reeds typically create the top of the sukkah.
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An Indigenous sacred site, Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks has served as a military barracks, a fairground and, more recently, a golf course.
Thousands of people attend a pro-Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden in New York in May 1934, with counterprotestors outside.
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Two social scientists analyzed periodicals from US religious leaders in 1935 to determine what factors influenced groups’ sympathy, ambivalence or outrage about Hitler and Nazi Germany.
‘Monkey: Journey To The West,’ a nine-act opera adaptation performed at the Chatelet Theater in France.
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There is a long tradition in China of associating monkeys with the mind – symbolism that has helped the novel’s most memorable character, the Monkey King, find universal resonance.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in happier times.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke of ‘credible allegations’ of Indian involvement in a Sikh leader’s death.
A group of men praying in front of the mosque in Tinmel village that has suffered serious damage in the recent earthquake.
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Morocco is grappling not just with the loss of lives from the recent earthquake, but with the destruction of its cultural heritage – a 12th century mosque in the village of Tinmel is among them.
An android called ‘Kannon Mindar,’ which preaches Buddhist sermons.
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A scholar of digital religion explains why the use of AI isn’t necessarily displacing religious leadership: It is the clergy who are helping with the programming, critical for its deployment.
Stories from Greek mythology often show the close relationship between humans and plants.
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Stories in Greek mythology on the cycle of nature showing youth, death and rejuvenation can have lessons for us today on how grief changes over time and transforms who we are as people.
Members of the congregation sing during a Rosh Hashana service at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles in 2013.
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Many faiths face conflicts over dissent and institutional control. In Latter-day Saints history, the episode around the ‘September Six’ is particularly memorable.