Religion & Politics

CNN political commentator and former Republican strategist Ana Navarro argued that former President Donald Trump has a "big void" in the leadership of the evangelical community who is willing to go to bat for him in 2024 — but that the state of play is still in flux and they could ultimately come home to him.

This interview, alongside New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, comes as the former president has openly attacked the evangelical community, which was essential to getting him elected in the first place, and as experts suspect he has a plan to crack down on and divide congregations that aren't fully in the tank for him.

Antisemitic views have risen sharply among Americans in just three years, according to a new study.

More than three-quarters of Americans, or 85 percent, believe at least one anti-Jewish trope, compared to 61 percent in 2019, and 20 percent believe in six or more such views -- nearly double the 11-percent finding in that same period, the Anti-Defamation League found in a new study conducted with the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago (NORC) and the One8 Foundation.

Former boxer Mike Tyson and Fox News host Tucker Carlson discussed the nature of God and decided that time is not real.

During an interview on Fox Nation that was aired on Thursday, Carlson asked Tyson to react to people who do not believe in God.

On Saturday morning, CNN host Michael Smerconish put the head of a rightwing group hostile to the rights of the LGTQ community on the spot as she whined that she and her colleagues were refused service at a Virginia restaurant over their views -- while at the same defending the rights of Christian businesspeople refusing to work with same-sex couples.

On Dec 2, Virginia Business reported that the Metzger Bar and Butchery, in Richmond’s Union Hill neighborhood, canceled reservations made by members of the Family Foundation of Virginia because employees and the owner didn't feel comfortable serving the group that is opposed to equal rights for all.

According to a report from the Christian Post, a Texas megachurch pastor who stepped down from his post in late August after it was discovered he was in an "inappropriate" relationship with a woman who is not his wife had a triumphant return on Sunday.

With the New York Times reporting that Matt Chandler was greeted with "whistles and cheers" as he took the stage at the Village Church in Dallas, the Post added that it appears that all is forgiven and his dalliance has been consigned to the past.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has called for punishment for a doctor who spoke out about a 10-year-old rape victim traveling from Ohio to Indiana for an abortion.

In a statement on Wednesday, Rokita argued that Dr. Caitlin Bernard broke her oath by speaking about the girl's treatment and failing to report the rape to Indiana authorities quickly enough.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) argued on Monday that "having an African-American" with Herschel Walker's background in the U.S. Senate would be a "dramatic improvement" over Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA).

While both candidates are Black, Gingrich said that Walker was superior because of his knowledge of business and battles with mental health.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration has declined to issue fines after over 14,000 violations of a sex trafficking law by Florida hotels and lodging establishments.

An investigation published on Sunday by the Sun Sentinel found that 6,669 hotels and other lodging establishments had received 14,279 citations since a 2019 sex trafficking law required them to make modest changes to protect victims.

A Fox News expert said on Sunday that hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community happen because children are not taught tolerance in elementary schools.

Following a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado over the weekend, Steve Rogers suggested to Fox News host Arthel Neville that laws limiting LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools do not help stop hate crimes.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker on Thursday blocked a portion of Florida's "Stop WOKE Act" because he said that it violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

The federal judge began his 44-page ruling by quoting George Orwell: 'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen,' and the powers in charge of Florida's public university system have declared the State has unfettered authority to muzzle its professors in the name of 'freedom.'"

In a column for the Religion News Service, religion writer Jacob Lupfer suggested that Christian evangelical leaders are doing their followers a disservice by not speaking out against Michael Flynn's attempt to hijack their religion in the service of Donald Trump and his own pocketbook.

Lupfer, who has written about the intersection between politics and religion for years, claims the evangelical community should be outraged by Flynn's Christian Nationalist "ReAwaken America" roadshow that is touring the country and selling tickets for as much a $250 for what he called a "clown-show."

Texas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress said over the weekend that Christian nationalists had a right to "impose their values" on everyone else.

During an interview with Real America's Voice host Tim Clinton, Jeffress addressed recent concerns about the rising nationalist movement among Christians.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) told a panel of women on Sunday that their right to an abortion does not "matter" when it comes to the 2022 midterm elections.

During a panel discussion on ABC's This Week, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) said that abortion is an "important" voting issue even if it is not number one in polls.