Judaism possesses an elaborate system that determines what foods Jews can eat and which ones can be eaten together.
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A historian of American Judaism explains how cookbooks across the 20th century have influenced and reflected the shifting tastes of American Jews.
An 11th-century mosaic shows Epiphanius of Salamis, Clement of Rome, Gregory the Theologian, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and Archdeacon Stephen.
St. Sophia of Kyiv/Wikimedia Commons
Catholics, Protestants and Eastern Orthodox Christians recognize the authority of the ‘fathers’ to guide teaching on doctrinal issues.
You don’t have to work through trauma on your own.
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A professor of counseling explains how to find therapists and support communities that can help work through these unique challenges.
Pope Francis on his three-day trip to Kazakhstan in September 2022.
AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko
Christianity is the second-largest religion in Kazakhstan, with 26% of the population practicing the faith. But many Christians, especially in the smaller denominations, have experienced persecution.
Members of the British royal family follow behind the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II as it is carried out of Westminster Abbey after her state funeral.
Gareth Cattermole/Pool Photo via AP
A scholar of British history explains how the ornate church and its significance to the monarchy have changed over centuries.
Cardinal Joseph Zen has long supported protesters and critiqued China.
AP Photo/Kin Cheung
A scholar of philosophy and foreign policy explains why Cardinal Zen poses a threat to the Chinese Communist Party as a competing source of political authority.
In her efforts to build a new relationship with the Catholic Church, Queen Elizabeth II had interactions with several pontiffs. She is seen here with Pope John Paul II.
AP Photo/Alessandro Bianchi, Pool, File
Queen Elizabeth II encouraged tolerance in a multifaith United Kingdom. To appreciate the significance of her efforts, it is important to understand the country’s complicated religious history.
‘Departure for Canaan,’ a detail of a 13th-century mosaic from the dome of Abraham in St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice.
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The Bible is full of stories about migrants. That doesn’t mean it has a simple takeaway message about them.
Shiite women prepare to march in the inaugural Ashoura procession in a neighborhood of Arusha, Tanzania, in 2017.
Mara Leichtman
A variety of cultural performances evoking intense emotions occur during the Islamic month of Muharram. A scholar observed the processions on Ashoura in northern Tanzania.
German Bishop Georg Bätzing talks with members of various Catholic youth organizations holding up umbrellas reading “Consecration for All” and “Jesus had two fathers.”
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The Catholic Church’s membership numbers are growing fastest outside Europe and the Americas, and Catholics’ priorities look very different across the world.
A wooden effigy of a man is erected each year in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert and later burned down.
AP Photo/Ron Lewis
In Nevada, people create a makeshift city toward the end of summer and later burn it down. What’s behind this event, and what makes it meaningful?
Same-sex wedding cakes wound up at the Supreme Court – now, it’s wedding websites’ turn.
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303 Creative v. Elenis gives SCOTUS another chance to set precedent about what happens when First Amendment freedoms come at a cost to civil rights.
A refugee family that fled to Pakistan after the Partition of British India.
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Effects of violence and forced migration on survivors’ mental health have not been acknowledged, despite the trauma being passed down generations.
Diana by Augustus Saint Gaudens, 1928, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
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A scholar of Greek mythology explains the naming of NASA’s missions after mythological figures and why the name Artemis is indicative of a more diverse era of space exploration.
Pope John Paul I greets the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican in August 1978.
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Popes’ roles have changed over time. Some periods produced plenty of saintly popes, while others are notorious for the opposite.
A sign in a yard listing many virtues – an example of virtue signaling.
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Virtue signaling is designed to communicate specifically to one partisan tribe and to affirm its moral superiority. A scholar of ethics and politics explains why that is unwelcome in a divided US.
Chautauqua’s lectures and performances drew hundreds of people with their promise of self-transformation.
L.E. Walker/New York Public Library
The Chautauqua movement symbolized progressive reformers’ hopes that public learning could create a healthy democracy.
For some, yoga is a spiritual practice that may substitute for religion.
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As the US gets less religious, some thinkers warn that it may get more selfish as people engage less with their communities. A team of scholars decided to investigate that concern.
Zhanna Dynaeva and Serhiy Dynaev stand with a cat inside their house, which was destroyed by Russian bombardment, in the village of Novoselivka, Ukraine, Aug. 13, 2022.
AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka
An anthropologist explains how years of conflict have made Ukrainians reassess their priorities and relationships.
Samaritans celebrate Shavuot atop Mount Gerizim, near the West Bank.
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Samaritans still live in Israel, where they are often caught between Israeli and Palestinian identities.