Religion Unplugged

Religion Unplugged We are an award-winning, non-profit magazine on the topic of religion in public life.

The deadly attack at a synagogue in northern England on Yom Kippur — the holiest and most solemn day of the Jewish calen...
10/02/2025

The deadly attack at a synagogue in northern England on Yom Kippur — the holiest and most solemn day of the Jewish calendar — has cast a long shadow over the safety and security of Jewish communities in the U.K. and beyond.

(ANALYSIS) The deadly attack at a synagogue in northern England on Yom Kippur — the holiest and most solemn day of the Jewish calendar — has cast a long shadow over the safety and security of Jewish communities in Britain and beyond. The 10/7 attacks and their aftermath have exacerbated an alrea...

The Anglican Church of Uganda has unveiled a digital land information management system to curb rampant land grabbing th...
10/02/2025

The Anglican Church of Uganda has unveiled a digital land information management system to curb rampant land grabbing that threatens its vast properties.

Land grabbing remains one of the church’s most pressing challenges in Uganda. Illegal squatters and unscrupulous land dealers have deprived the institution of the property church leaders had planned to develop for religious schools, housing and worship space.

Land grabbers are occupying church-owned property that was intended for schools, housing and worship. A new digital tracking system might help.

In our politically divided society, there are sharply differing reactions to the political rally combined with memorial ...
10/01/2025

In our politically divided society, there are sharply differing reactions to the political rally combined with memorial tribute to Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated on Sept. 10.

But there is almost universal tribute to his young widow's moving testimony that she forgave his killer.

There is also almost universal comment on the starkly contrasting words of President Trump immediately following.

Erika Kirk had said: “I forgive him because it was what Christ did, and it's what Charlie would do." "The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the Gospel is love — always love.”

Trump voiced a very different response. He did not feign forgiveness, saying instead that Charlie Kirk “did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. And I don't want the best for them. I'm sorry. I am sorry, Erika.”

A very-charitable reading might hold that he confessed that he simply lacked her depth for forgiveness, since he added, “But now Erika can talk to me and the whole group, and maybe they can convince me that that's not right.”

(ANALYSIS) In our politically divided society, there are sharply differing reactions to the political rally combined with memorial tribute to Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated on Sept. 10. But there is almost universal tribute to his young widow's moving testimony that she forgave his killer. Ther

Mike Flynt made history by going back to play college football at the age of 59. Now, with a new movie called "The Senio...
09/30/2025

Mike Flynt made history by going back to play college football at the age of 59. Now, with a new movie called "The Senior" in theaters from Angel Studios, Flynt opens up about his experiences and the strong role faith played.

Mike Flynt made history by going back to play college football at the age of 59. Now, with a new movie called "The Senior" in theaters from Angel Studios, Mi...

When people say they “lose themselves in music,” it can describe the spiritual-like experience of entering a trance or a...
09/30/2025

When people say they “lose themselves in music,” it can describe the spiritual-like experience of entering a trance or altered state evoked by rhythm or melody. In various cultures and faith traditions, music acts as a bridge to spirituality. Interpretive choreography, beating on drums, humming and chanting — all create an atmosphere that draws people into connection with something greater.

This notion — that music can bridge the physical and the spiritual — appears in cultural and religious practices popularized by films such as “K-Pop Demon Hunters” and “Sinners.” Both showcase music as a tool to summon the supernatural and fight evil.

When people say they “lose themselves in music,” it can describe the spiritual-like experience of entering a trance or altered state evoked by rhythm or melody. In various cultures and faith traditions, music acts as a bridge to spirituality. Interpretive choreography, beating on drums, humming ...

When evangelist Oscar Amaechina discovered people in far-flung communities who are rarely given a chance to participate ...
09/29/2025

When evangelist Oscar Amaechina discovered people in far-flung communities who are rarely given a chance to participate in Christian fellowship, he resigned from his role as a senior pastor of Christ Reconciliation and Deliverance Ministry in Nigeria’s Kebbi State in 2017.

A year later, he founded Afri Mission and Evangelism Network — known by the acronym AMEN — a faith-based non-profit committed to preaching and helping those who are marginalized and oppressed.

“I discovered that being in the church was not my calling,” Amaechina told Religion Unplugged. “What inspired me to start the Afri Mission was that I felt we need to take the gospel to those who have not heard about Christ.”

The mission requires going into rural communities to preach the Gospel. In fact, AMEN introduced what Pastor Oscar Amaechina calls a “humanitarian service directorate,” mainly to help attend to the physical needs of the poor, especially women who are victims of religious violence.

If I asked you to think of one quote about race and religion in the United States, I am going to bet that if you could c...
09/28/2025

If I asked you to think of one quote about race and religion in the United States, I am going to bet that if you could conjure one up quickly it would be, “11:00 on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America.”

It’s often attributed to Martin Luther King Jr. but in reality that statement predates King by maybe a decade or more. Regardless of who first said it, the sentiment remains the same: American religion is still one of the last spaces where one can find any sort of racial diversity.

Empirically, it’s surprisingly difficult to test because so few surveys ask about the demographic makeup of one’s congregation. I’ve rarely seen questions such as: What is the age breakdown of your congregation?

(ANALYSIS) If I asked you to think of one quote about race and religion in the United States, I am going to bet that if you could conjure one up quickly it would be, “11:00 on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America.”

“I forgive him.”Erika Kirk’s emotional words Sunday concerning her 31-year-old husband’s assassin reached all the way ac...
09/26/2025

“I forgive him.”

Erika Kirk’s emotional words Sunday concerning her 31-year-old husband’s assassin reached all the way across the Atlantic Ocean.

I heard them in France — roughly 5,500 miles away — where I am on a reporting trip.

Nearly a week later, I’m still struck by what the grieving widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk said at his memorial service, which drew tens of thousands of mourners to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

At Charlie Kirk’s memorial service, the theology of forgiveness marked his grieving widow Erika Kirk’s remarks. But President Trump — who spoke after her — offered a different perspective,

A new congressional bill would require the U.S. to designate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), indicating e...
09/26/2025

A new congressional bill would require the U.S. to designate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), indicating egregious, systemic and ongoing religious freedom violations in the country that is the deadliest for Christians.

The Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, introduced by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), echoes a longstanding call by many religious freedom organizations, including the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

A new congressional bill would require the U.S. to designate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), indicating egregious, systemic and ongoing religious freedom violations in the country that is the deadliest for Christians. The Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025 echoes a l

Soon after she began dating Charlie Kirk, Erika Frantzve — a devout Catholic — asked him: “Why don't you wear a cross?”K...
09/25/2025

Soon after she began dating Charlie Kirk, Erika Frantzve — a devout Catholic — asked him: “Why don't you wear a cross?”

Kirk's response: “I’m not a jewelry guy.”

She gave him a St. Michael cross necklace, which he started wearing as “he felt the weight of the world on him,” Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet told Fox News. “He never took it off again, until he was assassinated and the people caring for him ripped it off as they tried to save his life.”

In her 30-minute testimony, Erika Kirk said her husband knew his life was in danger, but he stressed the biblical message in a verse from Isaiah: “Here I am, Lord. Send me.” Kirk said she once told him: “‘Charlie, baby, please talk to me next time before you say that statement.’ ... When y...

At Chaminuka Rastafari House in Chitungwiza, a dormitory town on the outskirts of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, almost ever...
09/25/2025

At Chaminuka Rastafari House in Chitungwiza, a dormitory town on the outskirts of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, almost every month there is a special celebration taking place. As a sabbath service came to an end on Aug. 16, members immediately got busy preparing for an upcoming celebration of another special day on their annual calendar: Aug. 17 marked the day that Marcus Garvey — a man whom they revere as a prophet — had been born in 1887.

A few weeks earlier, on July 23, members of all the nine Rastafari houses in Zimbabwe had gathered at one place to celebrate the 133rd birthday of Emperor Haile Selassie, the former monarch of Ethiopia and a central figure in the mainstream Nyahbinghi order of this nearly century-old religion that has a strong following among African and Afro-Caribbean communities.

Rastafarians celebrate Emperor Haile Selassie I because they believe he is the living God, or Jah, who appeared in human form to bring salvation to people of African descent. His coronation in 1930 was seen as the fulfillment of a prophecy that a Black king would be crowned in Africa, signaling the

Culture critic Joseph Holmes talks to filmmaker and author Salvador Litvak about his new faith-based thriller “Guns & Mo...
09/24/2025

Culture critic Joseph Holmes talks to filmmaker and author Salvador Litvak about his new faith-based thriller “Guns & Moses” and how the film reflects the fears and experiences of Orthodox Jews.

Culture critic Joseph Holmes talks to filmmaker and author Salvador Litvak about his new faith-based thriller, "Guns & Moses," and how the film reflects the ...

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