Friday, November 15, 2024

This Week in Religion - For these Christians, Trump is God’s warrior

 

Lead story

A light-haired man in a black suit and red tie, flanked by a smiling woman in a gray jacket and a tall young man, raises his fist.

Editor's note:

In the weeks and months to come, scholars, journalists and others will continue to analyze the role of faith in Donald Trump’s victory. Among the key issues will be the share of conservative Christian voters who back him, as well as support from new Christian nationalist networks.

Some of these networks campaigned actively for Trump. The University of Dayton’s Art Jipson, who studies new religious movements, wrote last week about the New Apostolic Movement, or NAR, and its role in Trump’s election.

An estimated 3 million Americans attend churches that are openly part of NAR, though the actual number of followers may be larger. These Americans believe that Christian religious leaders should exercise cultural and political authority in key sectors in America, and that Trump is divinely chosen to fight a “spiritual war” against “demonic forces.”

While the movement has been growing in popularity, it faces considerable criticism. Its fundamental views “are starkly at odds with most Americans,” writes Jipson, but, as he says, it is nonetheless “a significant development.”

A portrait of Holly Meyer, Religion News Editor at The Associated Press.
 

Religion News

Catholic bishops say they will defend migrants if Trump violates rights

At their annual meeting in Baltimore, the bishops' chair on immigration said, 'This is going to be a test for our nation. Are we in fact a nation based on law, on the most fundamental laws about the rights of the human person?' By Aleja Hertzler-McCain/Religion News Service

Federal judge blocks Louisiana law that requires classrooms to display Ten Commandments 

A new Louisiana requirement that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public classroom by Jan. 1 was temporarily blocked by a federal judge who said the law is “unconstitutional on its face.” By Sara Cline and Kevin McGill/The Associated Press

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, resigns after an investigation found that he failed to tell police about serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it. By Danica Kirka/The Associated Press 

An overhead view of the interior of St. Peter's Basilica.

Vatican, Microsoft create AI-generated St. Peter’s Basilica to allow virtual visits, log damage 

The Vatican and Microsoft unveil a digital twin of St. Peter’s Basilica that uses artificial intelligence to explore one of the world’s most important monuments while helping the Holy See manage visitor flows and identify conservation problems. By Nicole Winfield/The Associated Press

For these Hindu Americans, a pivot from the Democratic Party was long overdue

In the Trump coalition, they see a burgeoning multiracial religious right that has ample space for Hindu Americans. By Richa Karmarkar/Religion News Service

 

Commentary and Analysis

If we considered people on the other side of a disagreement as not ‘evil’ but ‘mistaken’ or ‘ill-informed,’ it might create more room for dialogue, writes a scholar of mindfulness. By Jeremy David Engels for The Conversation

Mike Huckabee’s theology about the end times may be unclear, but his views on today’s Israel aren’t. By Mark Silk/Religion News Service

The conclave system may seem dramatic, but it was developed after centuries of outside interference and looting. By Joelle Rollo-Koster for The Conversation

The soldiers and patriots who made the American Revolution a success included people whose faiths faced discrimination, including Jews and Catholics. By Adam Jortner for The Conversation

 
A little girl with fair skin and dirty blond hair puts an 'I Voted' sticker on a gravestone covered in other 'I Voted' stickers. There is a little boy crouched beside her looking at the gravestone beside it. There is an older white woman with dark hair standing behind the two children.

Ellen Gardiner, 6, leaves an "I voted" sticker on the headstone of Susan B. Anthony at Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lauren Petracca)

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