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The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is always a key stop for presidential candidates; does the Affordable Care Act burden the free exercise of religion; and they represent rebirth and the gladness of the resurrection.
Amidst the clashes over Jewish values that took place during this week’s annual meeting of AIPAC, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, one rabbi tried to find common ground: “America and Israel are built upon values: B’tzelem Elohim, everyone is created in the image of God; kavod habriyot, respect due to all God’s creations. Those are the values that these countries are built on,” said Rabbi David Paskin of the organization Come Together Against Hate. More
“We Little Sisters of the Poor are a group of women who made religious vows to God. Now we find ourselves in a situation where the government is requiring us to make changes in our religious health care plan to include services that really violate our deepest held religious beliefs as Little Sisters,” says Sister Loraine Marie Maguire, Mother Provincial of the Little Sisters of the Poor. But Gretchen Borchelt, vice president for reproductive rights and health at the National Women’s Law Center, says, “Women deserve insurance coverage for birth control no matter where they work.” More
Easter becomes “a very thin, generic festival,” says author Rev. Fleming Rutledge, without “looking into the grave and then saying we rejoice with the risen Christ.” Only then, she says, can flowers “give us the gladness that comes with the unrepeatable quality of the resurrection.” More
As the US and Cuba restore diplomatic ties, is the Cuban government also becoming less hostile to religion and the church; a charity is restoring disabled people’s mobility and sense of dignity—free of charge; and we travel to New Mexico … More
With the approval of plans to build the first new Catholic church in over 50 years and Pope Francis’s recent visit to the country, there are signs of increasing openness to religious life in Cuba after 50 years of repressive Communist rule. More
Jaipur Foot provides free orthopedic care to poor people with disabilities and missing limbs. That’s important in a country where disability still carries a deep stigma, according to the group’s founder D.R. Mehta. “They can go and work back in their field, factory, or shop, earn their living. They acquire social respect, and they acquire self-confidence again.” More
The Catholic Church under Pope Francis may be open to reform on divorce, contraceptives, and marriage; the spiritual leader of the world’s Ismaili Muslims wants to end poverty, encourage peace, and foster religious understanding.
“Islam believes fundamentally that the spiritual and material worlds are inextricably connected. Faith is a force that should deepen our concern for our worldly habitat, for embracing its challenges, and for improving the quality of human life.” More