The year’s news in religion was dominated by a war already in progress on Jan. 1 between Hamas and Israel. Though not at root a religious war, as the months went by the conflict supercharged American-Jewish divisions over Israel, fractured some Jewish-Muslim alliances and made antisemitism on campus a rallying cry for the right. (Religion News Service)
Read MoreThere’s a reason why even streamers like Netflix now want a piece of the live sports action. It’s what rules our viewing habits, as witnessed by Variety‘s annual list of the year’s 100 most-watched primetime telecasts. (Schneider, Variety)
Read MoreWe could tell by the calendar that 2024 was going to be a big year. We had a US presidential election, the Olympic Games, the launch of a new denomination, and a total solar eclipse (Christianity Today)
Read MoreThe Native American Church is considered the most widespread religious movement among the Indigenous people of North America. It holds sacred the peyote cactus, which grows naturally only in some parts of southern Texas and northern Mexico. Peyote has been used spiritually in ceremonies, and as a medicine by Native American people for millennia. (Bharath, AP News)
Read MoreAn even newer phenomenon — using social media as a tool to dive more deeply into personal faith and spirituality — has emerged, appealing especially to those who may be stepping further away from religion IRL, but who are looking for community in the online world. (Karmarkar, Religion News Service)
Read MoreA federal judge on Monday struck down key parts of an Arkansas law that threatened librarians and booksellers with imprisonment if they were found to have provided “harmful” content to a minor. (Kaur, The Washington Post)
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