Sunday, August 6, 2023

This Week in Religion - Why just about anyone can perform a marriage

Lead story

A brunette woman with red lipstick laughs as a man in a suit, smiling, gives her a piggyback ride.

Editor's note:

You may never have heard of Kirby J. Hensley, a preacher born more than 100 years ago in North Carolina. But you’ve probably been to a wedding he made possible.

Hensley had a habit of getting into arguments about his beliefs, even within his own congregations. So he decided to create a church where you could believe just about anything you wanted, or not anything at all – and the Universal Life Church was born in 1959.

Today, the church and its offshoots are best known as the go-to for quick online ordinations, allowing friends and family members to perform loved ones’ weddings. In fact, only about half of marriages in the U.S. are solemnized by traditional clergy or other officials. It’s a trend with no signs of stopping, and it reflects key themes about religion and American culture, according to Dusty Hoesly, a religion scholar at UC Santa Barbara.

A portrait of Molly Jackson, Religion and Ethics Editor at The Conversation U.S.
 

Religion News

Oklahoma parents, faith leaders and education group sue to stop US’s first public religious school

A group of parents, faith leaders and a public education nonprofit sue to stop Oklahoma from establishing and funding what would be the nation’s first religious public charter school. By Sean Murphy/The Associated Press 

Do you believe in angels? About 7 in 10 U.S. adults do, a new AP-NORC poll shows

Compared with the devil, angels carry more credence in America. They even get more credence than hell, astrology and reincarnation. In fact, about 7 in 10 U.S. adults say they believe in angels, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC. By Holly Meyer/The Associated Press

After Sean Feucht brought his God and Country concert to the statehouse in Indianapolis, Hoosier members of the Satanic Temple demanded equal time. By Heather Greene/Religion News Service

Pope Francis and Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, right, converse at the Welcome Ceremony at the Belem presidential palace in Lisbon.

Pope Francis urges Europe to work for peace as he lands in Portugal for World Youth Day 

Pope Francis challenges Europe to retake its role as a peacemaker and bridgebuilder as he visits Portugal for World Youth Day, hoping to inspire the next generation of Catholics to work together to combat conflicts, climate change and other global problems problems. By Nicole Winfield, Helena Alves and Barry Hatton/The Associated Press 

As churches shrink, creative workarounds are redefining ministry

As older clergy retire, there are few younger seminarians to replace them — and few churches that can afford to pay them. By Elizabeth Evans/Religion News Service

 

Commentary and Analysis

A professor of modern Catholicism looks back at the ways the iconic Irish singer steeped herself in religion, even as she criticized its institutions. By Brenna Moore for The Conversation

Complex as they are, Oppenheimer's life and views of the bomb are far easier to wrestle with than the reality of nuclear power itself. By Charles Thorpe for The Conversation

As a chatbot, dressed in a hooded brown-and-white robe, Jesus is available 24/7 to answer any and all questions on his Twitch channel, 'ask_jesus.' By Joseph L. Kimmel for The Conversation

The church has failed when only the prosperous feel welcome. By Jacob Lupfer/Religion News Service

 
Shiite Muslims gather for a re-enactment of the 7th century battle of Karbala.

Shiite Muslims burn a tent during a re-enactment of the 7th century battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq, during Ashoura rituals in downtown Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 28, 2023. Millions of Shiite Muslims around the world on Friday commemorated Ashoura, a remembrance of the 7th-century martyrdom of Imam Hussein that gave birth to their faith. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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