Religion

In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church's right to protest at funerals, arguing that even hateful speech, when addressing matters of pubic import on public property, should be protected.

How Twitter Helped Change The Mind Of A Westboro Baptist Church Member

4:31pm October 10, 2019

by Terry Gross

Growing up, Megan Phelps-Roper was told that God killed soldiers as punishment for tolerance of homosexuality. She started to question her beliefs after she began running the church's Twitter account.

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Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church, by Megan Phelps-Roper

Granddaughter Of Westboro Baptist Church Founder Chronicles Leaving In 'Unfollow'

6:38pm October 09, 2019

by Kate Tuttle

Megan Phelps-Roper, who first picketed against homosexuality with her family at age 5, writes of facing feelings of guilt. In her memoir she says of her family, "losing them was the price of honesty."

Evangelical Christian Leaders Push Back On Turkish Invasion Of Northern Syria

4:21pm October 09, 2019

by Tom Gjelten

Evangelical Christian leaders are furious over President Trump's green light to a Turkish invasion of Kurd-controlled territory in Syria. Thousands of Syrian and Kurdish Christians are in danger.

Aibota Zhanibek was born in China and now lives in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Members of her family, who are Muslim ethnic Kazakhs, have been detained in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang.

China Has Begun Moving Xinjiang Muslim Detainees To Formal Prisons, Relatives Say

11:09pm October 08, 2019

by Emily Feng

Muslim minorities in the northwestern region are targets of a sweeping security operation. Officials say most residents have been returned to society, but relatives say many are sentenced to prison.

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Shadrach Mugoya Levi and his wife, Naomi.

Yom Kippur In Uganda: An Easier Fast This Year

7:18pm October 08, 2019

by Sara Toth Stub

A remote community of Jews who know what it's like to go hungry is reflecting on what its spiritual leader says was "a good year, really not too bad."

Rev. Franklin Graham's 'Decision America' Tour Comes To Greensboro

4:47pm October 08, 2019

by Paul Garber

Rev. Franklin Graham is bringing his “Decision America” Tour to Greensboro on October 9.

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Catholic Bishops Meet To Discuss Amazon

8:02am October 06, 2019

by Sylvia Poggioli

Over 200 priests, bishops and nuns are gathering at the Vatican for a three-week meeting focusing on the Amazon. Among the topics: ordaining older, married men to serve in remote communities.

Karen Bradley worked at St. Clare's Hospital in Schenectady, N.Y., for 24 years. Along with hundreds of others who worked at the Catholic hospital, she has learned that the pension she was counting on for retirement is gone.

'Why Is There Nothing Left?' Pension Funds Failing At Catholic Hospitals

5:05am October 03, 2019

by Chris Arnold

The AARP has filed a lawsuit on behalf of workers at a defunct Catholic hospital in upstate New York, saying hundreds lost their pensions unfairly. And there are similar cases around the country.

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Suande, whose uncle died the previous month, lays a cloth over his uncle's coffin on the eve of the funeral.

PHOTOS: The Dead Live With Their Loved Ones On This Indonesian Island

12:14pm September 29, 2019

The Toraja people of Indonesia keep the preserved bodies of their deceased relatives at home for years. They're saving up for a big funeral. But there's a deeper reason for the custom.

Religion

The Pope Opposes Adjectives

7:48am September 28, 2019

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Joshua McElwee of the National Catholic Reporter about advice Pope Francis gave to his communications team this week.