religion

A hospital chaplain reflects on two years of work during COVID

8:52am May 14, 2022

by Scott Simon

For our series "Outbreak Voices," hospital chaplain Stephanie Ramos of Los Angeles recounts what two years of her ministry has been like, comforting the sick and grieving affected by COVID-19.

A man holds a cross during an anti-abortion rally on the National Mall in Washington on Jan. 24, 2011.

Roe draft is a reminder that religion's role in politics is older than the republic

8:39am May 14, 2022

by Ron Elving

The question arises: Since when did so much of our politics have to do with religion? And the answer is, since the beginning — and even before.

India's Supreme Court will soon rule on Muslim headscarves in public schools

11:19pm May 11, 2022

by Lauren Frayer

When her high school banned the hijab, Ayesha Shifa sued — and her case went to India's Supreme Court. A verdict, expected soon, may redefine what secularism means in the world's largest democracy.

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Religion

Encore: Religions don't agree on when life begins

7:39am May 11, 2022

by Sarah McCammon

Much of the abortion debate centers on when life begins. It is essentially a religious question, but there is no consensus on the answer. (Story originally aired on Weekend Sunday on May 8, 2022.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a Christmas liturgy at the Transfiguration Cathedral in St. Petersburg early on Jan. 7, 2020. In the U.S., Orthodox Christianity is a relatively small faith tradition, but in recent years, it has expanded to new re

Orthodox Christian churches are drawing in far-right American converts

11:27am May 10, 2022

by Odette Yousef

Orthodox Christianity is a relatively small faith tradition in the U.S., but in recent years it has expanded to new regions. Some new converts are using the religion to spread white nationalist views.

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A growing number of white nationalists identify with Vladimir Putin

6:40pm May 09, 2022

by Odette Yousef

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke in Moscow's Red Square during a Victory Day celebration, telling troops that they are fighting in Ukraine "so that nobody forgets the lessons of World War II."

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Religion

How abortion became a mobilizing issue among the religious right

5:41pm May 08, 2022

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Kristin Kobes Du Mez, professor of history and gender studies at Calvin University, about how evangelicals shaped the debate over abortion in the United States.

Caroline McDonald, left, a student at Georgetown University, Lauren Morrissey, with Catholics for Choice, and Pamela Huber, of Washington, join a abortion-rights rally outside the Supreme Court, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021.

When does life begin? Religions don't agree

12:44pm May 08, 2022

by Sarah McCammon

Debates about abortion often center around the issue of when life begins. Some religions say it's at conception. Another says it's with the baby's first breath.

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Afghan women wait to receive food rations distributed by a Saudi humanitarian aid group, in Kabul on April 25. Afghanistan's Taliban rulers on Saturday ordered all Afghan women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public.

The Taliban orders women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public

3:43pm May 07, 2022

by Diaa Hadid

The decree, which calls for women in Afghanistan to show only their eyes and recommends they wear the burqa, evoked similar restrictions during the Taliban's previous rule.

Burundian peacekeepers in Somalia killed by Islamic extremists, African Union says

11:26am May 04, 2022

by The Associated Press

The African Union says a number of Burundian peacekeepers were killed in Tuesday's attack by Islamic extremist rebels who targeted a remote military base in Somalia.