People praying during Ramadan while a while stands close by

Even Water? Why (And How) Muslims Fast During Ramadan

Ramadan is underway for the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims. This year, Ramadan takes place in the dead of summer, a particularly difficult time to fast. 
Rainbow colored stained glass windows

What Helps Gay Christians Feel Welcome at Church?

Gay Christians have special challenges when it comes to integrating an LGBT identity within a religious identity.
The symbol for polyamory

This Side of Paradise: How Christian and Goth Men View Their Sexualities

Christian and Goth men both transgress typical notions of masculine sexuality, but how they go about it differ greatly. 
Hilaria Baldwin (R) interviews Josh Duggar and his daughter during their visit with "Extra" in Times Square on March 11, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra)

The Duggars: Sexual Abuse in the Christian Homeschooling Movement

Former homeschoolers are speaking out about sexual abuse by the Duggars and other leaders in the Christian homeschooling movement.
Judah and Tamar, Horace Vernet [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Sexy Sunday School: Naughty Bible Translation

In Genesis 38, Tamar, disguised as a prostitute, tricks her father-in-law into having sex with her. I don’t recall this making the Sunday school curriculum.
Black and white drawing of a busy street from the 1800's in Chicago

The Religious-Irreligious Divide in Working Class Chicago

The struggle for the standard eight-hour workday in Chicago was a bitter one.
Young girl's hand touches and holds an old woman's wrinkled hands.

Medically Assisted Suicide, Christianity, and Confucius

The debate on medically assisted suicide often pits Christian and secular liberal values against each other.
Byzantine illustration from the 9th century; a robed figure is destroying an icon.

A Short Guide to Iconoclasm in Early History

In the 8th century, the Eastern or Orthodox branch of Christianity gave history the word iconoclasm, from the Greek words for "icon smashing."
Side-by-side black and white photographs from the mid 1800's of two ladies sitting across from each other and dabbling in divination as a specter-like presence hovers between them

Waking the Spirits: The Diaries of John A. Clark

During the fall and winter of 1861-1862, Clark and many other officials in Santa Fe attended at least eight séances.
Church of Scientology sign on a building

Are Academics Afraid to Study Scientology?

For a religion that some experts estimate includes only 30,000 members worldwide, Scientology attracts a lot of attention. But not so much from scholars.