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History and Religion

2026-02-22T23:04:22-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

MAGA’s Assault on Religious Liberty

Last updated on: February 22, 2026 at 11:04 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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MAGA’s assault on religious liberty is being under-covered in news media, but it’s real. President Donald Trump and supporters — collectively called MAGA, after the slogan Make America Great Again — are more openly hostile to religious freedom than any other administration in U.S. history. This is not to say that all past presidents were perfect, but none have worked so hard to interfere with the religious missions of faith traditions when those missions didn’t align with administration policies. This... Read more

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2026-02-07T19:48:02-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Is Empathy a Weakness?

Last updated on: February 7, 2026 at 7:48 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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Is empathy a weakness? Recently The Atlantic published an opinion piece by Hillary Clinton titled “MAGA’s War on Empathy.” The Trump Administration, she writes, equates empathy and compassion with weakness and cruelty with strength. At the same time, the New York Post published an op ed on the “perils of toxic empathy.” The author of the latter, Bethany Mandel, blames empathy for the current unrest in Minneapolis. She argues that empathy is an emotion “that’s strangling any hope of reasoned... Read more

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2026-01-07T18:56:46-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Bible vs. Quran: The Truth About U.S. Oaths

Last updated on: January 7, 2026 at 6:56 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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Does taking an oath of office in the U.S. require placing a hand on a Bible? Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as Mayor of New York City on the stroke of midnight, January 1, 2026. At the ceremony he placed a hand on two copies of the Quran. One belonged to Puerto Rican historian Arturo Schomburg and the other to Mamdani’s grandfather, according to The New York Times. You can watch the ceremony on YouTube. Immediately countless posts on social... Read more

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2025-12-22T10:10:42-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

When Was Jesus Born?

Last updated on: December 22, 2025 at 10:10 am By Barbara O'Brien

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When was Jesus born, exactly? The precise date, including the year, is a mystery. The standard date of AD 1 was determined by a 6th century monk named Dionysius Exiguus of Scythia Minor. But for some time scholars and theologians have said Dionysius probably was off by four or five years. Dionysius set out to create a system that placed Jesus’ birth at the center of history — all years are either BC, before Christ, or AD, Anno Domine, which... Read more

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2025-12-15T21:01:15-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Reindeer Rule: Christmas and the Constitution

Last updated on: December 15, 2025 at 9:01 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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The “reindeer rule” is an informal name given to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling about public Christmas displays. It’s also sometimes called the “three plastic animals” rule or the “Rudoph rule.” The issue addressed by the reindeer rule is whether Christmas displays in government buildings and the decorations erected by local governments along many Main Streets are a violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution — “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of... Read more

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2025-11-26T15:00:21-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Of DNA and Religion

Last updated on: November 26, 2025 at 3:00 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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Religion and the science of DNA may seem to have nothing in common. But in fact, since the discovery of DNA in 1953, some religious traditions have grappled with many new concerns, such as the morality of genetic engineering. It’s also been proposed that there is a “God gene” that predisposes some people toward spirituality. The recent death of James Watson, a co-discoverer of DNA, made me wonder how much religion has struggled with Watson’s groundbreaking work. So let’s take... Read more

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2025-10-30T18:45:19-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Of Ghosts and Religion

Last updated on: October 30, 2025 at 6:45 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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There are ghost stories in many religions, even though ghost stories and some religions can be an uneasy fit. This is especially true if we’re defining “ghost” as the disembodied soul of a dead person that wanders the earth and sometimes appears to the living. That sort of ghost has come to be a frequent character in western popular culture, and there are similar creatures in other cultures. Note that the word ghost has Germanic origins and entered the English... Read more

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2025-10-28T17:59:21-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

George Washington’s Letter to Touro Synagogue

Last updated on: October 28, 2025 at 5:59 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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President George Washington’s letter to the Touro Synagogue of Newport, Rhode Island, is one of the “founding documents” that, I believe, really ought to be taught in U.S. schools. Washington wrote the letter in 1790, his second year as the first President of the United States. In the letter Washington responded to Moses Seixas, a member of the Jewish community of Newport, who sought assurances that Jews would enjoy freedom of religion in the new republic. Washington’s reply is short,... Read more

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2025-10-04T21:53:01-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This Is a Third Great Awakening?

Last updated on: October 4, 2025 at 9:53 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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I’ve seen claims lately that a Third Great Awakening is happening now. I’m skeptical, but let’s take a look. What is a Great Awakening? The Great Awakenings of U.S. history were periods of Christian revival that left lasting impacts on American society and culture. The First Great Awakening took place in the colonial period, from the 1730s to the 1760s. This awakening was very much influenced by the European Enlightenment‘s emphasis on rational thinking and science, and it brought about... Read more

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2025-09-26T11:59:02-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

New Texas School Prayer Law Seems a Tad Fuzzy

Last updated on: September 26, 2025 at 11:59 am By Barbara O'Brien

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Texas has a new prayer in public school law that went into effect September 1. It’s not clear if there has been any public school praying going on yet, however. School districts have six months from September 1 to decide if they will adopt a school prayer policy. This seems to say that school districts can vote to opt out, and I suspect many will. Districts that vote to adopt the prayer policy must pass a resolution declaring that the... Read more

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