News Article

By Peter Dockrill A giant underground river fed by melting ice could be running in a state of perpetual darkness far below the surface of Greenland, according to new research. Nicknamed the ‘Dark River’, this hypothetical waterway – if it truly exists, that is – may stretch for 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), flowing from the deep …

By Tom Gjelten Key government policies on religious freedom and discrimination, once set through legislation, are increasingly dictated by presidential orders, meaning they shift capriciously from one administration to the next. In 2014, advocates for LGBTQ rights cheered when President Barack Obama unilaterally issued an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating in their hiring practices on …

By Yonat Shimron When it comes to mass incarceration, American evangelicals are complicated. So says Aaron Griffith in his new book, “God’s Law and Order: The Politics of Punishment in Evangelical America.” On the one hand, evangelicals led the charge for greater law and order in the postwar era, with the National Association of Evangelicals favoring …

By Emma Green Andy Stanley’s evangelical megachurch was empty on Election Night, with only a few cars in the Disney World–style parking lot out front. North Point Community Church and its nine satellites in the Atlanta area have been mostly closed since the coronavirus pandemic began in March. When Stanley decided to cancel in-person worship until …

By Scott Gordon A high school senior who was expelled from a conservative Christian school in Colleyville for being gay says he wants to start a conversation to help other young people like himself. Devin Bryant, 18, a senior at Covenant Christian Academy, was kicked out in August after he came out as gay, Bryant …

By Ewen Callaway They say good news comes in threes. For the third time in a week, a coronavirus vaccine developer has reported preliminary results suggesting its vaccine is highly effective. Today, biotech company Moderna in Cambridge, Massachusetts, reported that its RNA-based vaccine was more than 94% effective at preventing COVID-19, based on an analysis …

By Val Wilde The same panel that shone a light on the systemic clerical sex abuse problem in the Church of England has released a similarly damning report about the Catholic Church in the UK. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) discovered more than 3,000 complaints of child sexual abuse perpetrated by over 900 priests, deacons, and …

By Katherine Stewart Will President-elect Joe Biden’s victory force America’s Christian nationalists to rethink the unholy alliance that powered Donald Trump’s four-year tour as one of the nation’s most dangerous presidents? Don’t count on it. The 2020 election is proof that religious authoritarianism is here to stay, and the early signs now indicate that the …

By Robert Barnes When a public official says he is pessimistic that his comments won’t be twisted or misunderstood but then adds, “here goes,” even he knows something controversial is coming up. That’s how Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. began his rock-ribbed and unusual speech to the Federalist Society on Thursday night. He …

By Meghan Bartels Scientists may have caught the blinding flash of two dense neutron stars colliding to form a strange magnetic star. The first sign of the massive event was a gamma-ray beacon that appeared in telescope data on May 22, prompting astronomers to assemble their best instruments. That response was important: Scientists believe gamma-ray bursts usually stem from …

By Hemant Mehta You remember Pastor Tony Spell. The head of Louisiana’s Life Tabernacle Church was first arrested in April — remember April?! — for aggravated assault against a protester. But he became notorious for holding in-person church gatherings and putting countless people in harm’s way. Despite being under house arrest, he defied the law to preach at his …

By Annie Knox The Utah Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in a case alleging male leaders of a Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation in Roy forced a 15-year-old girl to listen to a recording of a man raping her in 2008. Lower courts found the church is not liable for the incident under protections of the First …