News
Ahmadi women walk past graves at the Ahmadi graveyard in the town of Rabwah, Pakistan, on Dec. 9, 2013. Three years earlier, 86 Ahmadis were killed in two simultaneous attacks on Friday prayers in Lahore. Image by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters
“Why should my religion be a business of the state? If my religion is mentioned on the identity card, that makes me even more vulnerable as a minority,” said Asher Daniel, 19, a university student in Lahore and a Christian.
This Sunday, Catholic churches across Sydney, Australia will bear the usual signs of Easter: incense, fresh flowers, a lit Paschal candle — and a few rows of churchgoers wearing kufi and headscarves. Every year for the past 13 years, groups of Muslims have attended Easter Mass in the Sydney Archdiocese and Broken Bay Diocese.
Image via Adam Covington/Baptist Press
“This news will, we understand, bring great sorrow,” Rummage said. “I have shared with the Executive Committee officers what Dr. Page shared with me, including Dr. Page’s repentance and deep regret that his actions have caused pain for others.”
Image via Fredrick Nzwili / RNS
“I think it’s important that we do not let the interest in Black Panther go without harnessing that moment to transform it from just a cultural movement into a sustained movement,” he said.
Image via RNS/USA Today/Maggie Hendricks
Sister Jean Dolores-Schmidt, a fellow BVM and the chaplain for Loyola’s men’s basketball team, is greeting well-wishers at the game in Atlanta. Jean Dolores as they call her, has become the runaway star of the Ramblers’ run, which thanks to a 69-68 win over Nevada has extended to the Elite Eight, and Saturday to the Final Four after their victory over Kansas State.
Image via RNS/Eddie Marritz/"Into the Night: Portraits of Life and Death."
Whitney has been drawn to such existential questions since her youth. The collision of what she called her family’s rational and secular Unitarian background with the more traditional Russian Orthodoxy of others in her wider family circle ensured that.
A boy sits next to a makeshift memorial outside the Triple S Food Mart where Alton Sterling was fatally shot by police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. July 7, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman/File Photo
Sterling was shot in Baton Rouge, La., as he was selling CDs outside a convenient store. Police arrived after a resident reported being threatened outside of the store. Police found Sterling inside the store and claimed he was trying to pull a loaded gun from his pocket when one of the officers opened fire. The encounter lasted about 90 seconds.
New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announces the filing of a multistate lawsuit to protect Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients at a press conference at John Jay College in New York City, U.S., September 6, 2017. REUTERS/Joe Penney
Opponents fear the decision could result in a severe undercount that can lead to increased marginalization of immigrants by potentially reducing their representation in Congress and federal funding for local jurisdictions, which is determined by population.
Image via Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. / Flickr
As Christians celebrate the festival this spring in commemoration of Jesus’ resurrection, the familiar sights of the Easter bunny and Easter eggs serve as a reminder of the holiday’s very ancient origins outside of the Christian tradition.
Protesters hold signs during a "March For Our Lives" demonstration demanding gun control in Sacramento, Calif. March 24, 2018. REUTERS/Bob Strong
A retired U.S. Supreme Court justice on Tuesday called for the repeal of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gives Americans the right to keep and bear firearms, days after mass protests nationwide demanding stronger gun control.
James Samuel Broady, a Baptist Christian, calls for a repeal of the Second Amendment. Image via Jenny Gu/Sojourners
“I went to the Million Man March — that was about gun violence,” Broady said. “Black Lives Matter, that’s about gun violence. And here’s another rally where gun violence is attacking school and everything — not just streets, it’s going into school. It has to stop, and it has to go back to the Second Amendment.”
Image via Gage Skidmore / Flickr
"But I think everyone should be responsible and deal with the problems that we have to confront in our lives. And ignoring those problems and saying they're not going to come to me and saying some phony gun law is gonna solve it. Phony gun laws don't solve these problems."
Pope Francis after the Palm Sunday Mass in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 25, 2018 REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini
Pope Francis, starting Holy Week services leading to Easter, urged young people on Sunday to keep shouting and not allow the older generations to silence their voices or anesthetize their idealism.
Image via Flikr/Willow Creek D/CH
Unsatisfied with elders’ investigation into the allegations shared with Mellado, Nancy Ortberg, who was a member of the Willow Creek Association board, and other board members pushed for an independent investigation, according to the Tribune. When that didn’t happen, Ortberg and two others resigned from the board. Mellado’s husband, Jimmy, the president and CEO of Compassion International, did not renew its sponsorship of the Willow Creek Association’s Global Leadership Summit.
An inaccurate census means more than a mistaken count of the U.S. population: Census data not only determines how many congressional districts each state gets, it also often determines the disbursement of federal funds. Urban, lower-income areas with a high population of immigrants and people of color are often the most affected by undercounting and the lack of funding that comes with it.
"I am considering a VETO of the Omnibus Spending Bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded," Trump wrote on Twitter.
Image via Kevin Cortopassi / Flickr
“It is an atrocity that an unarmed young man was shot at twenty times in his own backyard and shows the urgent need in these times for intervention against police misconduct. We will call for a complete and thorough investigation into this young man’s death," Rev. Al Sharpton said in a statement.
Between 50 and 70 percent of the young prisoners in state juvenile justice systems have a mental disability, but an analysis of those systems found that only one state — Indiana — requires all teachers in such facilities to have special education certification.
Image via Seek Refuge Co. / RNS
Because for her, designing clothes for Muslim women is less about a modest fit and more about carrying out an Islamic ethic. Of course, it’s also about style. “The modest fashion industry didn’t have anything that was speaking to the fashion-forward and edgy Muslim girl,” Ijaz says. “They’re all speaking to a person that I would see as my mom or my aunt.”
Image via Google Maps / RNS
Courts have generally rejected challenges to “See You at the Pole” events, in which students who want to pray gather at their school’s flagpole outside of class time. And the Supreme Court has generally upheld student-led prayer as long as it is not compulsory or organized by school officials.