A mother hugs her son at the memorial of the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh on Oct. 27, 2019, the first anniversary of the shooting at the synagogue.
AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
The US Constitution is supposed to protect freedom of religion. But in the 20th century, white Christian nationalists used this ideal to discriminate against Jews and justify their exclusion.
A Christian pilgrim prays at the historic Deyruzzaferan monastery in Mardin, in southeastern Turkey,
AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis
The percentage of Christians in Turkey declined from nearly 25% in 1914 to less than 0.5% today. Their future looks even more uncertain in today’s political climate.
Supporters of former Bolivian president Evo Morales rally with indigenous flags outside the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia, Nov. 18, 2019.
AP Photo/Juan Karita
Indigenous people, symbols and religious practices filled the halls of power in Bolivia during Evo Morales’ 14-year tenure. Now a new conservative Christian leader seems to be erasing that legacy.
A Hindu woman prays to the bricks that are expected to be used in constructing the Ram temple in Ayodhya, following a verdict from the Indian Supreme Court.
AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh
India’s Supreme Court has allowed a Hindu temple to be built on the disputed site of a 16th-century mosque. The verdict could have long-term ramifications for India’s tradition of religious diversity.
Jean Marcellis Destine, dressed as Haitian independence hero Jean-Jacques Dessalines, heads to a protest against President Jovenel Moïse in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oct. 4, 2019.
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who freed Haiti from French colonial rule in 1804, is revered as a spirit in the Haitian religion. Now he’s become an icon of the uprising against President Jovanel Moïse.
Cats can be happy in apartments, but the space needs features that enable their natural desire to climb, jump, hide and scratch.
Kuznetcov_Konstantin/Shutterstock.com
The Islamic State has appointed yet another ‘caliph’ after the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. What is the idea behind the caliphate?
Darren Spencer at a memorial for his childhood friend Saheed Vassell, a 34-year-old father of a teenage son, fatally shot by police in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, April 5, 2018.
AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews
Police are almost always the first responders in cases of mental health crisis. Too often these encounters turn bad, even deadly. But police were never meant to be in charge of US mental health care.
Vice President Mike Pence joins military officers and a chaplain on Aug. 23, 2019 in a prayer for two Army men who died during operations in Afghanistan.
AP Photo/Cliff Owen
When the US entered World War I in 1917, military chaplains catered to majority white and Christian soldiers. Today the armed forces recognize over 200 denominations and religious groups.
A looted Jewish shop in Aachen, Germany on the day after Kristallnacht, Nov. 10, 1938.
Wolf Gruner and Armin Nolzen (eds.). 'Bürokratien: Initiative und Effizienz,' Berlin, 2001.
Wolf Gruner, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Most histories highlight the shattered storefronts and synagogues set aflame. But it was the systematic ransacking of Jewish homes that extracted the greatest toll.
Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg leads supporters on a march to the Democratic Party’s Liberty and Justice Celebration event in Des Moines, Iowa on Nov. 1, 2019.
AP Photo/Nati Harnik
Pete Buttigieg has said that Christianity teaches ‘skepticism of the wealthy and the powerful and the established.’ These ideals are similar to those espoused by a Midwestern Social Gospel movement.
Bullet-riddled vehicles that members of the LeBaron family were traveling in sit parked on a dirt road near Bavispe, at the Sonora-Chihuahua border, Mexico, Nov 6, 2019.
AP Photo/Christian Chavez
Brazilian evangelicals are politically conservative, but they still believe in climate change. Turning them into climate activists, however, will be a challenge for the environmentalist movement.
Despite courting the Jewish vote, President Trump has used anti-Semitic rhetoric.
AP/John Locher
A task force has been assembled in the US Senate to fight anti-Semitism. A specialist in Jewish-American history says the group has a big job ahead of it. Anti-Semitism has a long history in the US.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks at a town hall in Florence, South Carolina. He was denied communion by a priest in South Carolina.
Sarah Blake Morgan
Joe Biden was denied communion for pro-choice views. Catholics with ‘unforgiven’ sins can’t receive communion. A theologian says many Catholics would question if Biden was indeed in a ‘sinful’ state.
Kids in South Sudan await a daily meal from World Vision.
AP Photo/Sam Mednick
Not everyone’s a fan of this fundraising approach. But it does bring the needs of children in developing communities to the attention of many Americans.
The market has been flooded with apps related to Buddhism and most of them claim to teach meditation.
akiragiulia (pixabay.com)
Buddhist meditation apps are an increasingly popular stress-reliever for people on the go. But do these apps really work? Or are they products of a lucrative industry contributing to a tech addiction?
Lebanese protesters formed a 105-mile human chain connecting geographically and religiously diverse cities across the country, Oct. 27. 2019.
AP Photo/Bilal Hussein
Lebanon’s 1989 peace deal ended a civil war by sharing political power between religious factions. That created a society profoundly divided by religion – something today’s protesters hope to change.
Desiderius Erasmus, a Dutch humanist and theologian.
Quentin Matsys
Martin Luther is credited with initiating the split in Christianity that came to be called the Protestant Reformation. But don’t count out Erasmus, an early proponent of similarly radical ideas.
Revelers dressed as Catrina, an iconic Day of the Dead skeleton, at a holiday parade in Mexico City, Oct. 21, 2018.
Reuters/Andres Stapff
Kirby Farah, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
It may sound like a solemn affair, but the Day of the Dead – which blends indigenous and Catholic ritual – is a convivial celebration that allows Mexicans to reconnect with deceased loved ones.