Covering Religion

No Atheists in the Foxhole
by Neha Mehrotra

"But to those who proclaim religion’s obsolescence, the Coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world has foregrounded a different reality: Far from being obsolete, religion has adapted to the need of the times, and in the process, has succeeded in proving its own dynamism and continued relevance. Amongst the younger generation too, religion — if once seen as static dogma — is now appreciated for its reflexive, reflective timelessness."

Photo: Robert Harding/Getty Images

No Atheists in the Foxhole – Covering Religion No Atheists in the Foxhole Neha Mehrotra | [email protected] Robert Harding / Getty Images It’s Thursday, April 8, the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover, and Hillel, the Center for Jewish student life at Columbia and Barnard, is hosting its annual Seder – traditionally a time to gath...

The waqf-e-nau journey begins in the womb, when pregnant mothers offer their unborn child to Allah. This is not a metaphorical pledge but an actual one. // by Neha Mehrotra.

— As published in Religion Unplugged —

Pledging your life to Allah, the Ahmadi way Suman Amara Ahmad has always known that her future was not hers to chart. The journey of a waqf-e-nau begins in the womb, when a mother pledges her unborn child to God. At age 15, Amara continued the pledge. “I could be sent anywhere in the world,” she says. “It’s all up to the Khalifa.”

I am not in Good Shepherd Chapel, where Trinity Grace holds service—I’m in my parent’s living room in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, watching Pastor Michael Rudzena on a flat-screen TV. Instead of wine and bread, I have coffee and a piece of a chocolate chip pancake.

by Madeline Simpson
Photo: Jill Brady/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images

Sometimes the Body of Christ is a Chocolate Chip Pancake – Covering Religion Sometimes the Body of Christ is a Chocolate Chip Pancake Madeline Simpson | [email protected] Jill Brady/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images Associate Pastor David Gungor opens Trinity Grace Church’s service with worship songs. He plays an acoustic guitar, his wife plays the violin,...

On a rainy Wednesday morning, just days into the COVID-19 outbreak in New York, a Native American leader and her husband left the city by car for a serene village upstate that is surrounded by farms, rivers and streams.

“Mother Earth wants us to take a break,” said the woman who is known as Little Owl. “We figured that this is the perfect opportunity for us to be close to the land.”

by Rita Omokha
Photo: Robert Alexander/Getty Images

‘It’s a Wake-Up Call’ – Covering Religion It’s a Wake-Up Call Rita Omokha | [email protected] Robert Alexander/Getty Images On a rainy Wednesday morning, just days into the COVID-19 outbreak in New York, a Native American leader and her husband left the city by car for a serene village upstate that is surrounded by farms, rivers and str...