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  Commentary: How partisanship drives religious attitudes, and not the other way around

  “It may seem counterintuitive, if not downright implausible, that voting Democrat or Republican could change something as personal as our relationship with God,” Michele Margolis wrote in a recent New York Times op-ed. “But over the course of our lives, political choices tend to come first, religious choices second.”

  08/01/2018 - By Yonat Shimron / Religion News Service

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  Commentary: The culture wars need to make a safe space for soccer star’s conscience

  We need to turn down the temperature in the culture wars. We need to resist the penetration of ideological polarization into matters of conscience. We should reject an insistence on consensus that subverts our national ethic of respect for minority views, and we should be suspect of the corporate machines that profit from these easy affirmations.

  08/01/2018 - By Jacob Lupfer / Religion News Service

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  Commentary: At age 86, Pete knew someone would lead him to God

  “The follow-up visits with Pete changed my life. … Pete was 86 years old when he accepted Christ.”

  07/25/2018 - By Michael Waters / Baptist Press

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  Commentary: Democrats for Life of America gather ’round a message: ‘We want our party back’

  “A small but determined band of happy warriors, pro-life Democrats are some of the most interesting figures in American politics. Their continued existence in spite of marginalization by the party poses serious questions that the American political system cannot ignore.”

  07/25/2018 - By Jacob Lupfer / Religion News Service

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  Interview: Rethinking apologetics for the black church

  “A lot of this [apologetics] material wouldn’t appeal to a lot of people in black churches because the illustrations aren’t relevant, and some of the issues aren’t as relevant. There needs to be a bridge builder.”

  07/25/2018 - By Jasmine Holmes / Christianity Today

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  Commentary: Christians are calling for better family leave policies. That wasn’t always the case.

  A recent report on family leave policies suggests, “As citizens and culture-shapers, Christians should advocate for and develop policies and practices that protect, rather than fragment, family time.”

  07/25/2018 - By Tara Isabella Burton / Vox

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  Commentary: Artificial intelligence shows why atheism is unpopular

  The Modeling Religion Project is “an international team of computer scientists, philosophers, religion scholars, and others … collaborating to build computer models that they populate with thousands of virtual people” in order to predict, among other things, how religion affects cultures.

  07/25/2018 - By Sigal Samuel / The Atlantic

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  Commentary: 8 ways to wound a minister

  “Being the good Shepherd did not prevent Jesus from being wounded. Nor does it keep today’s ministers from being wounded.”

  07/25/2018 - By Blake Atwood

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  Commentary: Singing is praying twice

  There is an expectation that when we worship together we are going to sing. So, let the people sing. Take some time to figure out what your people sing and sing well.

  07/18/2018 - By Doug Haney / Center For Healthy Churches

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  Commentary: Why has the Enneagram become so popular among Christians?

  “So it’s just a personality test?” I asked. I have since learned that referring to the Enneagram as “just” a personality test is to its aficionados like calling Beyoncé “just” a singer.

  07/18/2018 - By Jana Riess / Religion News Service

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  Commentary: Give people the dignity the world has taken away

  Are you demoralized, pastor? Have you been hollowed out? After telling everyone else about God’s grace, do you need to know it for yourself? May you find it in Bill and Skye’s story.

  07/18/2018 - By Skye Jethani / Christianity Today

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  Commentary: Even lost in a dark cave, we find hope

  Marcia Davis reflects on the rescue of the Wild Boar soccer team in Thailand and realizes ‘No matter how deep or dark or hopeless we feel, God doesn’t want us to drown but to emerge triumphant.’

  07/12/2018 - By Marcia Davis