Lead story
Editor's note:
The Indigenous communities that call the Louisiana Delta home have weathered the storms that batter the state’s coastline for nearly 200 years. But the land is shrinking as sea levels rise and the stilted homes that dot the marshy landscape have become more exposed. Many of those homes were destroyed by Hurricane Ida’s violent winds and ensuing floods. “The damage in our tribal communities is overwhelming,” according to the United Houma Nation. And the memory of Hurricane Katrina looms large for many, who are afraid that once again the area’s Indigenous communities will be forgotten as faith-based disaster relief groups and other aid streams to New Orleans. “A lot of people don’t even realize that there are Indigenous peoples in the Delta,” one Houma member told RNS national reporter Emily McFarlan Miller. But the Houma culture and spirituality are “all about being there for the ones you love.”
Religion News
Mormon vaccine push ratchets up, dividing faith’s members
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints leaders issued their strongest statement yet urging people to get COVID-19 vaccines and wearing masks. But members of the faith remain deeply divided over both. By Sophia Eppolito/Associated Press
MLK’s family, Rev. Al Sharpton address voting rights, filibuster at Washington march
The Rev. Al Sharpton contrasted the Aug. 28 march to the Jan. 6 insurrection: ‘We are the real patriots showing America how to be at its best.’ By Adelle M. Banks/Religion News Service
A federal appeals court upheld Dylann Roof’s conviction and death sentence for the 2015 racist slayings of nine members of a Black South Carolina congregation. By Meg Kinnard and Denise Lavoie/Associated Press
Alone in the sky, pilot and fiancée save 17 in Tenn. flood
A Nashville helicopter pilot says he prayed God would give his life meaning. Days later, he answered a phone call to save people trapped by floodwaters in Tennessee. He rescued 17 people. By Travis Loller/Associated Press
Commentary and Analysis
Part one of a special series on Islam in America. Fewer than half of Americans report knowing someone who is Muslim. Here we explain Islam, its diversity and its long history in the US. By Kalpana Jain/The Conversation
As the Jewish community prepares to celebrate the High Holy Days, a scholar of the Bible explains their history and why they might offer consolation in times of uncertainty. By Samuel Boyd for The Conversation
Reggae music encapsulates the prophetic spirituality I looked to embody when I was an evangelical Christian but could never find. By Andre Henry/Religion News Service
What is Wicca?
Interest in Wicca and witchcraft appears to be increasing, but what exactly is Wicca in the first place? By Helen A. Berger for The Conversation
A band plays during the funeral of Baptist church minister Andre Tessono, who was killed during the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit the area eight days ago, in the Picot neighborhood in Les Cayes, Haiti, Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
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- This Week in Religion is a publication of the Global Religion Journalism Initiative, a collaboration among the Religion News Service, The Associated Press and The Conversation U.S.
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