The fusing of Christian nationalism and violent extremism on display during the attack on the US Capitol can be traced, in part, to two incidents in the early 1990s.
Exit, stage religious right.
AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
As Mike Pence prepares for life after the vice presidency, a scholar of religion looks back at the political and religious conversions that informed the politician's worldview.
Being counted – secular voters are a growing force.
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Nonreligious voters overwhelmingly backed Biden in the November presidential race. They also may have been key in several down-ballot state measures, says a scholar of US secularism.
Who else will Trump save from the chop before leaving office?
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Speculation has swirled over whom President Trump may pardon before leaving office. But why do presidents have the right to pardon, and how should it be used?
The push to tighten Poland’s restrictive abortion laws has proved a lightning bolt moment for protesters.
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Brian Grodsky, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Tens of thousands of people have defied bans on gatherings to protest abortion restrictions. A scholar of democracy says the policy push during a pandemic has echoes elsewhere.
Muslim schools can provide a place for girls to study while wearing headscarves.
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School reforms pushed by French President Emmanuel Macron are aimed at pushing Muslim students into public schools. An expert explains why this may be the wrong approach.
An early case will test Justice Barrett’s credentials as a favorite of religious conservatives.
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The US Catholic Church is more diverse and more divided than it was in JFK's time. Biden could offer an opportunity for the church to move beyond so-called "culture war" issues.
Volunteers outside the Christian Cultural Center in New York register new voters as part of the ‘Souls to the Polls’ initiative.
AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews
From the civil rights era to the 2020 election, Black Churches have been at the forefront of encouraging voter registration -- and fighting voter suppression.
A moral minority of evangelicals are moving away from Trump.
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Polls show that a majority of evangelicals back Trump. But that hides a growing divide between enthusiasts of the president and those who question his fitness for office, argues a moral theologian.
Viktor Orbán speaking at a summit on Poland on Sept. 11.
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Garret Martin, American University School of International Service et Carolyn Gallaher, American University School of International Service
Once an atheist, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban embraced Christianity on his way to power – and has used it to consolidate his position since.
An homage to Samuel Paty, a teacher murdered after showing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed from the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, Oct. 18, 2020.
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Macron wants to 'build an Islam in France that can be compatible with the Enlightenment.' But that goal assumes France is compatible with Islam, says a Muslim scholar of religion and politics.
Reading material or preparing a speech?
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Luc Bovens, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
At the height of Reaganism, close to half of Americans believed a phrase popularized by Karl Marx actually derived from the US Constitution. It doesn't, but scholars have traced it to the Bible.
Painting depicting transfiguration of Jesus, a story in the New Testament when Jesus becomes radiant upon a mountain.
Artist Raphael /Collections Hallwyl Museum
Recent protests on racial justice have also questioned the portrayal of Jesus as a white man. An art historian explains how this image appeared and came to be marketed worldwide.
A New Jersey minister welcoming members of the KKK into his church in 1923.
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In appearing with Bible in hand at the time of crisis, Trump is signaling his position as defender of traditional values, while 'othering' detractors. Russia's Putin and India's Modi have done similar things.