Image adapted from Wikicommons by DhLeaks44 / CC BY-SA 4.0 “Have We Gone Too Far By Tearing Down Religious Monuments?” Adrienne Phillips Religious statues and monuments are prominent cultural, historical, and ecclesiastical focal points around the world. People travel thousands of miles to view them, express their religious devotions, or just admire the beauty. Lately, there has been…
Image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay An earlier version of this essay was originally published in the University of Chicago’s online publication, Sightings. Since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in the United States five months ago, the staggering effects of the virus, economic shutdown, and disrupted work and commerce have hit home. Tens of millions of…
Image by Tatiana from Pixabay This article is part of our “Reflecting on COVID-19” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. Amid efforts to reduce, if not eliminate, the spread of COVID-19, researchers are working on a vaccine to prevent future infections. At the same time, given the fears of some…
Image from Pixy This article is part of our “Reflecting on COVID-19” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. The COVID-19 crisis has strained religious institutions, along with the rest of our accustomed social order. In a few cases, it has also provoked the latest drama in the complex encounter between…
Image by Peter H from Pixabay As the United States nears the grim milestone of 150,000 American coronavirus deaths and cases surge in many parts of the country, a number of states are pausing or reversing their reopening plans. Many states are also weighing whether to put back in place the numerical limits on indoor…
Image adapted from Wikicommons by DhLeaks44 / CC BY-SA 4.0 “Judge Not: The Problem with Georgia’s Charge about Religious Objection to Jury Service” Matthew P. Cavedon At the start of most criminal trials in Georgia, the judge gives those called for jury duty a quick overview of the jury selection process. This includes warning them that the attorneys…
Photo by George Becker on Pexels During the closing days of its 2019-20 term, the Supreme Court’s trilogy of rulings in the companion cases of Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru and St. James School v. Biel, Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania, and Espinoza v. Montana Department…
Photo by kkolosov on Pixabay This article is part of our “Reflecting on COVID-19” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. Like most of us these days, we were sitting on the couch. My husband said grimly, “Let’s see what’s going on in the world…” and turned on the news. The…
Photo by sk on Pexels The image of Donald Trump wielding a Bible outside St. John’s Episcopal Church, a snapshot that occurred immediately after protestors were penetrated with tear gas and rubber bullets in order to clear space for the President, quickly became a target of controversy. Some critics, including former Defense Secretary James Mattis,…
Photo by Nadim Shaikh from Pexels This essay was originally delivered as a speech at the annual dinner of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries of Greater Boston on June 6, 2020. I am grateful for the invitation of Rodney Petersen and the Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries of Greater Boston to speak at this year’s annual dinner, this year a virtual event in…