Emily McFarlan Miller writes for the Religion News Service.
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Trump Reportedly to Cut Size of Bears Ears National Monument
Image via RNS/Creative Commons/Bureau of Land Management
In a move many Native American and religious groups have feared, President Trump reportedly will shrink the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported an account Oct. 27 from Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch’s office in which the president said: “I’m approving the Bears Ears recommendation for you, Orrin.”
The Nazis Exploited Martin Luther’s Legacy. This Berlin Exhibit Highlights How.
Campaigning outside a Berlin church for elections on July 23, 1933. The banner says “Vote for List 1, German Christians.” Image via RNS/Wikimedia Commons.
Most visitors to events in Germany marking this year’s 500th anniversary of the Reformation, however, probably didn’t expect to find an exhibition setting out just how extensively the Nazis used Luther to justify their anti-Semitism and nationalism.
Blessing Robots: Is a Technological Reformation Coming?
Image via RNS/Emily McFarlan Miller
The point of the installation was not to replace human pastors with robots like BlessU-2, Vogt said. It was to ask questions: “What is blessing?” “Who can bless?” and “Can God bless through a robot?”
But to others, that possibility of robots superseding human clergy doesn’t seem so far-fetched.
Nabeel Qureshi, Who Shared Conversion from Islam to Christianity, Dies at 34
Nabeel Qureshi. Image via RNS/McClure/Muntsinger Public Relations.
In his final video, Qureshi shared “where my heart has been during my ministry.”
“I think it’s very important that we discuss matters of truth, but at the end of the day, that is supposed to be undergirded by love and by peace,” he said. “When we talk to people about our beliefs, we should do it through a lens of love, and the whole point should be to bring people together — to bring people together to the truth.”
All the President’s Clergymen: A Close Look at Trump’s ‘Unprecedented’ Ties With Evangelicals
Image via RNS/Johnnie Moore
And while presidents before have consulted with spiritual advisers — evangelist Billy Graham is the best-known example — the current group’s members certainly appear to care not only about Trump’s own spiritual well-being, but also have concrete views about a range of issues and make no secret of wanting policy changes.
But exactly how much influence they wield — and whether they benefit from the association — is a matter of conjecture and debate.
Signs and Wonder: How Different Faiths Will View the Total Solar Eclipse
Image via Oregon State University/RNS.
About 200 million people live within a day’s drive of the path of totality and may be looking to the heavens when the solar eclipse happens Monday.
Texas Pastor: ‘God Has Given Trump Authority to Take Out Kim Jong-Un’
U.S. President Donald Trump, left, is greeted by Pastor Robert Jeffress at the Celebrate Freedom Rally July 1, 2017, in Washington, D.C. Photo by Yuri Gripas/REUTERS
Jeffress was a member of Trump’s evangelical advisory committee during the 2016 presidential election and since has attended several meetings of prominent evangelicals at the White House. That includes a dinner ahead of the National Day of Prayer, at which he assured, “Mr. President, we’re going to be your most loyal friends.”
Christian Author Jen Hatmaker on the ‘Moxie’ It Takes to Get Your Books Banned
Author Jen Hatmaker. Photo by Amy Melsa Photography
Of Mess and Moxie: Wrangling Delight Out of This Wild and Glorious Life will be released on Aug. 8. Hatmaker spoke with RNS about both mess and moxie, banned books and maintaining a healthy outlook on life. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Trump’s Evangelical Advisers Request Papal Meeting After Critique from Francis’ Friends
Pope Francis meets President Trump during a private audience at the Vatican on May 24, 2017. Photo courtesy of Reuters/Evan Vucci/Pool
President Trump’s evangelical Christian advisers are requesting a meeting with Pope Francis after a Vatican-approved magazine published a piece condemning the way some American evangelicals and Roman Catholics mix religion and politics.
Proposed Budget Bill Would Add Teeth to Trump’s Johnson Amendment Order
President Trump prays during the National Prayer Breakfast event in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 2, 2017. Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters/ RNS
The bill cuts funding for the IRS by $149 million from fiscal year 2017, and the IRS wouldn’t be able to use any funding it receives to investigate a church for making such endorsements, according to the bill. It would have to get the consent of the IRS commissioner, who then would report to Congress on the investigation.
Democrats and Republicans Divided on Impact of Religion in the U.S.
Image via RNS/Pew Research Center
Do churches and religious organizations have a positive impact on the way things are going in the United States?
Americans are divided on that point, according to a Pew Research Center survey released on July 10 that shows they align along predictable party lines.
President Trump Promises Support to Military, Evangelicals at Fourth of July Event
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At a Fourth of July concert hosted by First Baptist Church Dallas at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., President Trump pledged never to forget the men and women who have served in the U.S. military — or the people of faith who put him in the White House.
“My administration will always support and defend your religious liberty,” Trump said at the event on July 1. “We don’t want to see God forced out of the public square, driven out of our schools, or pushed out of our civic life.”
Noah’s Ark Theme Park Founder Says Park Is Not Sinking
Image via Emily McFarlen Miller/RNS
As the Ark Encounter marks its first anniversary on July 7, attendance at the ark “will draw near the low end of the estimated guest number,” Ham wrote. Park co-founder Mike Zovath told the Lexington Herald-Leader it will attract its 1 millionth visitor by July.
Trump to Give Speech on Islam in Saudi Arabia
Image via RNS/Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
President Trump will deliver an “inspiring yet direct” speech on the need to confront radical ideologies during his upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia.
The speech will come during an afternoon lunch with leaders of more than 50 countries with mostly Muslim populations, White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster announced on May 16.
Women Bloggers Spark an Evangelical ‘Crisis of Authority’
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But, if the furor on social media this past month is to be believed, the abundance of faith bloggers also has created what the Rev. Tish Harrison Warren called a “crisis of authority.”
“Is literally everyone with a computer — do they equally hold authority to teach and preach?” said Warren, an Anglican priest, who wrote a commentary for Christianity Today titled "Who’s In Charge of the Christian Blogosphere?”
Bishop Karen Oliveto: ‘My Presence Changes the Conversation’ on LGBTQ People
Image via Mike DuBose/ RNS
“They’ve made it even tougher for LGBTQI people to serve the church they love — to follow God’s call to serve in this church. And it gives anyone the opportunity to file a complaint, to do a witch hunt, to do searches online of marriage certificates. It raises a veil of suspicion on people’s humanity, and that’s not the gospel,” Oliveto said.
Consecration of Gay Bishop Against Church Law, Says United Methodist Top Court
Image via RNS/UMNS/Mike DuBose
The United Methodist Church’s top court has ruled that the consecration of an openly gay pastor as bishop is against church law.
But, in a somewhat muddled ruling that could reflect the ongoing struggle to determine how great a role LGBTQ members can play in the second largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., the court also ruled that the Rev. Karen Oliveto, its first openly gay bishop, “remains in good standing.”
United Methodists to Hold Special Session on LGBTQ Inclusion in 2019
Image via UMNS/Mike DuBose
The United Methodist Church will hold a special session of its General Conference to settle questions of LGBTQ inclusion that have vexed the global denomination for years.
The announcement came on April 25, the same day the denomination’s highest court held a hearing on whether an openly gay pastor can serve as bishop.
The General Conference, the United Methodist Church’s top legislative body, typically meets every four years. At last year’s meeting in Portland, Ore., it voted to defer all decisions about human sexuality to a specially appointed commission and left the door open for a special session.
Joan Chittister on Humility, Fake News, and Social Media
Images via RNS/Crown Publishing Group
Sister Joan Chittister opens her latest book with the story of Abba Zosimas, a fifth-century monk in Palestine. Abba Zosimas taught his followers, “The soul has as many masters as it has passions.” Chittister wants her readers to look “gently, kindly but clearly,” at those masters and passions in their lives, she said.
Study: Uptick in Worldwide Restrictions on Religion
Image via RNS/Pew Research Center
A total of 40 percent of surveyed countries registered “high” or “very high” levels of restrictions, according to Pew Research Center’s annual study on global restrictions on religion, released Tuesday. That’s up from 34 percent in 2014, according to the data. The percentage had declined during the previous two years.