Holiday movies offer us a glimpse into how the world is could be, often in sharp contrast to our lives as they are. In that way, the annual act of viewing them is like a religious ritual.
Some are convinced that details from the past are being warped.
Periscope Entertainment
Real-life adherents to the Mandela Effect veer into conspiratorial thinking. But they do hit on an important truth: Our understanding of history is malleable.
Projections are often be repeatedly wrong. That’s because the models don’t learn from mistakes.
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From wage growth to renewable energy to religion, projections are being treated as predictions. We’d be better off insisting on genuine forecasts.
A scene from the Books of the Dead (based at the Egyptian Museum) shows the ibis-headed god Thoth recording the result of “the final judgement”.
Wasef et al./PLOS ONE
An estimated 1.75 million ibises were deposited at a single location in ancient Egypt. But the birds disappeared entirely from the region around 1850, and no one knows why.
Religions and religious leaders are actively voicing out impacts of climate change, alongside with scientists and youth movement.
Billy Halim/Pixabay
The problems of climate change are not only problems of science and technology. They are also moral, ethical and spiritual problems about how we live our lives.
Activists block the street outside the U.S. Supreme Court as it hears arguments in major LGBT rights cases.
Reuters/Jonathan Ernst
The U.S. Supreme Court will rule on how the Civil Rights Act applies to LGBT people. A business law scholar explains why it could be one of the most consequential discrimination cases in decades.
Fred Rogers rehearses with some of his puppet friends in Pittsburgh,.
Gene J. Puskarg/AP
A new film on beloved children’s television icon Fred Rogers hits theaters next month. Rogers’ moral values contributed to the power and appeal of his neighborhood.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has asked Australians to pray for rain, but can God answer prayers? And if He can, should He?
The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils says the bill doesn’t go far enough to protect religious minorities in an increasingly intolerant society.
Dan Himbrechts/AAP
Many scholars agree it is impossible to have a clear, universal definition of religion. Given this ambiguity, passing new laws using a specific concept of religion can have serious repercussions.
A survey conducted in Jauary 2018 by the Pew Research Centre showed 84 percent of US Catholics had a ‘favourable’ opinion of Pope Francis. Six out of ten people also said he represented a ‘major change for the better’.
Vatican Media/AAP
Pope Francis continues to champion the importance of science in our world. Having the head of the Catholic Church support various scientific movements is a win for us all.
Democratic presidential candidate and author Marianne Williamson acknowledges applause after speaking at the New Hampshire state Democratic Party convention in September 2019.
(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Superheroes may be able to regenerate and fly through walls, but their supernatural qualities differ from those of spiritual beings that attract religious devotion.
The Supreme Court ruled that baker Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, could refuse to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple because of his religious beliefs.
AP/David Zalubowski)
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.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s notion of “medemer” could have united Ethiopians, but seems to have failed.
EPA-EFE/ALESSANDRO DI MEO
Politicians, activists and media outlets continue to deconstruct old narratives and perpetuate new grievances. Nobody, however, is as busy reconstructing a new, inclusive story.
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.
Christians in the United States hold a range of views on environmental issues.
Jim Bethel/Shutterstock
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.
Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity