Religion Unplugged

The Edina Community Lutheran Church in Minneapolis created a stir recently by posting part of a Pride Month service that featured a radically modernized take on the faith passed down through the ages — the Sparkle Creed.

Generosity towards religious organizations grew slightly between 2021 and 2022, despite total U.S. charitable giving declining after two record years.

As my years and experiences have accumulated, I’ve come to recognize something I hardly imagined in my youth: that God is so big and wonderful and complex that no one group — even my own — and no individual has a monopoly on God. Nobody understands it all.

In “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” the the latest Marvel superhero movie breaks from the studio’s typically secular worldview to argue that religion is a necessary part of a healthy grieving process.

“Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song” chronicles the legendary musician’s life — from his early days as a poet to his final tour and everything in between — through the lens of his most famous song. Beyond the song’s independent legend and impact on music history, the film offers a perfect example of the way Cohen’s life and work straddled the line between spiritual and sensual. 

Rayshel aims to make his religion, the Baha’i faith, more tolerant of its LGBTQ adherents. While making his documentary, “No Matter How Fine a Love” — which he’s airing in pieces in a YouTube series — Rayshel traveled across the U.S. and to Israel to shine a light on the struggle of LGBTQ Baha’is.

Students continue a three-week-long sit-in at Seattle Pacific University to protest the school’s traditional views on human sexuality and its policy against hiring full-time faculty who violate it, including those who engage in homosexual behavior.