Religion Unplugged

It’s been a hot summer. 

Heatwaves have persisted across North America, Australia, Asia and most notably, Europe—where an estimated 25,000 people have died as a result of the extreme heat.

In fact, heat levels in July of this year tied with the levels of the hottest month in recorded history.

As summer vacationers head to exotic destinations, they find that things are not as they should be—such as coral reefs having greatly deteriorated or more talk of endangered species. 

At...

The Bible is by no means a picture book. But, for its lack of illustrations, it still presents many powerful images. A burning bush. A giant fish. An angel army. A pillar of fire. A snake. A harp. A wall. A fruit tree. A lamb. A tomb. A fishing net.

The Bible seizes the visceral realities of what it means to be human—in all that gore, grief and glory—by connecting its ideas and its characters to natural elements we interact with daily (even if, in some cases, those elements are acting very diff...

Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” hit theaters a little over a week ago.

The film earned an estimated $124 million on its opening weekend and, at the time of this recording, received a score of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and 4.4 stars on Letterboxd.

While Nolan’s mastery of his craft and a well-loved cast have certainly done their part in making the film a success, the credit must still go where it is due—to the architect of the source material: Homer.

Tradition says that Homer was a blin...

Back in May, Brigham Young University published the results of a study about AI and religion. The study found that all major AI chatbots would not mention faith in responses to questions in which a well-rounded response probably ought to have included religious or spiritual ideas. 

Questioning AI about ethics, human suffering and morality will almost never result in a response that includes a religious perspective.

In addition to a lack of religious references, the study also determined that the AI models had clear biases against certain religious groups.

Later this year, Americans will recognize September 11, 2026 as the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center back in 2001.

The attack was enacted by Al-Qaeda, a radical Islamic organization. And while countless Muslims decried the violence as both a tragedy and as an anti-Islamic act, the following years saw many Muslims (and people suspected to be Muslims) severely mistreated.

Right after 9/11, there were nearly 20 times the amount of assaults on muslims every year as there had been in the 90’s. And, while that figure has risen and fallen in the decades since, in...

Earlier this year, Pew Research published the results of a study on religious diversity around the world. While the U.S. didn’t even break the top 10 for most religiously diverse when all nations studied were taken into account, it ranked #1 in religious diversity out of the most populous countries.

The United States certainly has a Christian tilt and a sizable population of nones. But, go to any major U.S. city and you’ll spot kippahs, hijabs, turbans, and houses of worship for every major belief system on the planet.

Despite the American ability to l...

George Washington is a man of a mythological stature. A stalwart man of war, 6’2” with animal teeth and a seemingly endless supply of stories where he cheated death, Washington’s role is so much more than just a founding father or first president. From the $1 bill to the capital to the busiest motor vehicle bridge in the world, Washington’s name and image are everywhere in the USA.

Washington is famously remembered as “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen,” and, this sentiment still largely rings true. And 250 years after the nation’s...

In recent years, “Christian Nationalism” has become a ubiquitous term in American political discussion.

It is said by many with fear and loathing, and by others with great excitement and conviction.

Among the enthusiasts include Doug Wilson, who is the pastor of Pete Hegseth, the United States’ Secretary of War. And it’s not just Hegseth who has ties to the ideology, Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has also been described as a Christian Nationalist. And many members of Trump’s administration and the pro-Trump media have flirted with the idea that Christians...

Religion and death, for many of us, go hand in hand.

It is our faith that often shapes what we believe happens when we die and, perhaps just as importantly, what we ought to do while we still live.

In fact, if a belief system does not ask us to consider our death and what it means for us—if it avoids the subject and keeps mortality at arm’s length, it is almost certainly not a religion at all.

The Bible is many thin...

According to Pew Research Center, nearly 75% of Black Americans identify as Christian.

It’s well known that many of the first African American Christians were first exposed to Christianity in the midst of enslavement. This exposure could have been used as a tactic for control by enslavers or as a genuine attempt to lead individuals to salvation by missionaries. But, whether conversion happened out of fear or joy, the African religious practices that the enslaved people would have practiced back home, all but disappeared during American enslavement.

But, when em...

Last week, Pope Leo cautioned developers and political leaders about the potential for exploitation in Artificial Intelligence development by comparing the AI race to the depravity of slavery. His wording was so strong, that he even called for AI to be “disarmed.”

In the wake of Leo’s words, Christians around the world have taken a closer look at what it might mean to engage with artificial intelligence wisely—and to consider if that is even possible.

A Barna study from this spring shows that 66% of Christians believe AI will imp...

“If the learned and worldly-wise men of this age were to allow mankind to inhale the fragrance of fellowship and love, every understanding heart would apprehend the meaning of true liberty, and discover the secret of undisturbed peace and absolute composure.”

Those words were penned 200 years ago by Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í faith.

It was for words like these and other beliefs deemed heretical that Bahá’u’lláh spent much of his life being tortured and imprisoned.

The Bahá’í faith is know...

There are currently 15,000 open cases of unidentified persons in the United States.

Bodies are unable to be identified for a variety of reasons including severe mutilation, significant decomposition, no history of medical care or a lack of resources. 

In the vast majority of situations, DNA testing can do a great deal of heavy lifting, but sometimes even this can be unsuccessful

On November 24, 1989 in Mohave County, Arizona, a woman was found dead on the side of the interstate. Over 30 years later and the woman i...

In C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity he says: “the Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time”

This idea—that the point of the church is to make disciples is, at its core, not a highly contested one. But ideas about the way disciples are made and the context in which discipleship happens are much more varied.

And, in these...

This week marks one year since Cardinal Robert Prevost became Pope Leo XIV.

The late Cardinal Francis George who once presided over Leo’s hometown of Chicago famously said that there would never be an American Pope until the United States went into political decline.

Whether Leo’s election to the papacy confirms this decline or proves Cardinal George incorrect, the reality of an American pope came as a surprise to most of us.

Following the controversial papacy of Pope Francis, efforts to predict and...

This July, the United States will celebrate its 250th year as an independent nation.

The Founding Fathers established the U.S. on the foundation of the ideals they believed in. 

The Declaration of Independence famously says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the...

At Religion Unplugged, we talk a lot about how faith shows up in modern movies and tv shows. And, more and more, we are noticing a positive shift. Movies about religion are getting better funding, booking high profile actors and holding their own at the box office.

One of the projects, that fits this category is Amazon’s House of David. 

“House of David” follows the Biblical epic that is the life of King David, which has, so far, traced his journey from a nobody shepherd boy to a great w...

Categorizing those who do violence is a messy business.

What one writer might call the actions of a terrorist, another might refer to as the work of a freedom fighter.

The very individuals who are called heroes, warriors and revolutionaries by some, can be categorized as villains, murderers, and radicals by another.

But when the morality of a violent person is highly controversial or just ambiguous, we have a separate, more fuzzy term–we call them a vigilante.

The ea...

When you picture an American church building, what do you think of? 

Is it a gothic, palatial cathedral that dwarfs its neighboring buildings and carries with it an air of ancient mystery? Is it a small, white chapel with a sharp steeple and a quiet humility about its presence? Or does an American church conjure up a visual that isn’t all that glorious and isn’t all that quaint—something like a strip mall or a sprawling campus of boxy structures reminiscent of a convention center?

While many America...

It’s been 3 weeks since the United States and Israel attacked Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

And, for 3 weeks, rockets have flown across the Middle East in all directions. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iraq have kept their guard up as different assets are targeted.

As these oil-rich nations are thrown into turmoil, gas prices in the U.S. have gone up by nearly a dollar in the last month, with many Americans wondering when the increase will slow down.

More crucially, tw...

Many of the most enduring displays of human artistic greatness have been, in some way, religious.

The Egyptian pyramids were constructed to accommodate the needs of a king’s soul after his death.

The oldest architectural structures still standing today are almost exclusively temples, and archaeologists hypothesize that many ancient cave paintings depict religious scenes and images.

As history progressed, towering cathedrals, opulent mosques, and brilliantly ornate Hindu temples were erected and maintained for centuries. Worshipful hymns and poems abound in nearly all religious co...

2025 was a big year for film. Theaters drew people in for a wide variety of stories. Moviegoers saw thrillers like Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” and Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme.” They saw the returns of beloved characters with James Gunn’s “Superman” and James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire & Ash.” They embraced the strange with “Bugonia,” the romantic with “Materialists” and the tragic with “Frankenstein.”

But, as has been increasingly the case in recent years, droves of moviegoers also showed up to films with heavily religious themes.

Faith based studios and directors...

On January 3rd of this year, in the middle of the night, U.S. special forces broke into the Home of Venezuela’s President, Nicolás Maduro, and abducted him and his wife.

U.S. military presence in Venezuela had been creeping up for months—with much of it being attributed to cartel suppression. But, when President Trump posted an image on Truth Social depicting Maduro in a Nike Sweatsuit and a blindfold aboard the USS Iwo Jima, many Americans were left wondering, "What happens next?" and, just as crucially, "Can the U.S. Gover...

Christian movies have a pretty negative reputation.

They are criticized for being cheesy, preachy, poorly acted, poorly written, and generally prioritizing lesson-teaching over entertainment or artistic excellence.

But, in recent years, their Rotten Tomatoes scores have been on a steady uptick. The critical reviews contain more of the nuance given to secular films, and, en masse, viewers seem to be more positive about their experiences.

So, what’s happening?

The tide that has turned in the faith-based film industry is...

This year’s Winter Olympic Games are filled with Jewish athletes.

They can be found in hockey goals, cross country slopes, bobsleds, and skating competitions.

But, despite a robust representation in Milan and an even more significant representation in the Paris games of 2024, the stereotype that Jews are bad at sports has not fully vanished.

The stereotype is a very old one, but it was probably made most popular by none other than Hitler himself. It has become such a popular delusion that even many Jewish writers an...

In the Apostle Paul’s 1st Biblical letter to Timothy, Paul writes that Christ came into the world to save sinners. He follows that up by stating that he is the foremost sinner.

This is sometimes translated as Paul being “chief of sinners” and even as him being, plainly, “the worst.”

It’s this idea that Christian actor, writer, and podcaster Nathan Clarkson uses to justify the title of his new book: “I’m The Worst.”

Nathan’s work goes against the cultural current.

In a...

South Africa has a sexual abuse crisis. And while many of these attacks occur on the streets or in the home, every month, several cases of rape take place in churches and are perpetrated by pastors.

The assaulted individuals come from every ethnic group, age, social class, and even gender.

For over a decade, tens of thousands of South Africans have been violated in their communities.

To better understand South Africa’s abuse crisis and how faith communities are involved, I sat down with Vi...

In 2025, the whole world watched as Chicago native Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope. 

Again, everyone watched as Conservative Christian Apologist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University.

But while religious news events like these were known world round, other important stories are being covered all the time by journalists like Bobby Ross Jr., a veteran religion reporter.

In addition to covering Kirk and Leo, Bobby also wrote about Christian parents grieving in the wake o...

Religion sociologist and Religion Unplugged contributor Ryan Burge sits down with culture critic Joseph Holmes to discuss Ryan's book "The Vanishing Church" and why the church has lost its ability to bring Americans together. 

The cargo shipping industry is vital to the sustenance of the modern world. However, the millions of mariners who make the system possible often go unnoticed by the masses. For nearly 200 years, The Seamen's Church Institute has worked hard to ensure that seafarers do not feel invisible. Matthew Peterson speaks with members of the organization to understand how they serve mariners and why the work is so important to them.

How does one balance faithfulness to religious tradition with artistic expression? Culture critic Joseph Holmes interviews director Lotfy Nathan on this very topic. Lotfy was raised in the Coptic Christian tradition and grew up to make a horror film about the childhood of Jesus based on the Infancy Gospel of Thomas--starring Nicholas Cage! 

Christians have many terms for those who came before them. They are called saints, heroes of the faith, and church fathers. But rarely are they referred to simply as ancestors. William H. Lamar IV pastors one of the oldest black churches in Washington, DC. He speaks with Matthew Peterson about his recent book, “Ancestors: Those Who Bless Us, Curse Us, and Hold Us.” He also talks about why it is important for Christians to be aware of the influence of their ancestors, why naming spaces after ancestors can be dangerous, and how Christians can be co-creators with God.

Few Christians will deny that Jesus and his disciples did miracles 2000 years ago. But does supernatural healing still occur in 2025? On this issue, there is much more debate. But, for New York Times Bestselling Author Lee Strobel, the answer is clear. Culture Critic Joseph Holmes interviews Strobel about his new documentary, The Case for Miracles.

The Case For Miracles: https://thecaseformiracles.movie

Donate: religionunplugged.com/donate

Catechesis is almost as old as Christianity itself. And while many catechisms have evolved over the years, the age of catechisms is rarely seen as a drawback — if anything, knowing that a catechism is tried and true can be what makes people trust it. But Trevin Wax and Thomas West believe it is worth developing a new catechism. Trevin speaks with Matthew Peterson about why churches and traditions who neglect catechism ought to reconsider.

The Gospel Way Catechism: https://gospelwaycatechism.com

Donate: religionunplugged.com/donate

American Evangelicalism has major influence over the culture and politics of the U.S. But, where did it all begin? In his recent book, “Jesus Springs,” William Schultz argues that the center of evangelicalism is in Colorado Springs. William and Matthew Peterson talk about how the Western city helped build the evangelical movement into what it is today.

Jesus Springs: https://uncpress.org/9781469689371/jesus-springs/

Donate: religionunplugged.com/donate

Many writers have been credited with the authorship of the Bible. Some Biblical books list their writers explicitly, others are more ambiguous. But is writing the same as narrating? Raffi Magarik’s recent book “Fictions of God” investigates the question of the Bible’s narratology and its effects on both the protestant reformation and epic literature.

Fictions of God: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/F/bo253759253.html

Donate: religionunplugged.com/donate

Pope Francis was undeniably controversial in Catholic and non-Catholic circles alike. So far, his predecessor has been less polarizing, but are the two popes really as different as they appear? Joseph Holmes interviews reporter and writer Christopher White about his recent book “Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy.”

Pope Leo XIV: https://store.loyolapress.com/pope-leo-xiv

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#newpope #pope #popeleoxiv #popefrancis #catholic #catholicism #conclave #vatican #holysee #rome #catholic #christopherwhite

How did a formerly homeless high school dropout end up with a doctorate in public policy and a poverty relief organization? Matthew Peterson interviews Dr. Terence Lester about his recent book “From Dropout to Doctorate.” Lester explains how education changed his life, how he is fighting poverty in Atlanta, Georgia, and how poverty and education can be deeply intertwined.

From Dropout to Doctorate: https://www.ivpress.com/from-dropout-to-doctorate?srsltid=AfmBOoqSH7VrFGv8YO3urnrm8HiYz2vPXGEAxewYniwQZm2wfb58v5bL

Love Beyond Walls: https://www.lovebeyondwalls.org

Dona...

“How has christianity changed by the means of transmission?” This is one of the core questions Professor David N. Hempton asks with his book “Christianity at the Crossroads,” in which he recounts the way Christianity has developed from the print revolution to the digital age due to the methods in which it is shared and experienced. Matthew Peterson speaks with Hempton about how these communication styles are interconnected, how the Jesuits existed as a network within a network, how women and men construct networks differently, and more.

Christianity at the Crossroads: https://www.cambridge.org/us/un...

Is it possible for faith-based film audiences and horror film audiences to converge? Despite the seeming chasm between the two genres, some of 2025’s biggest horror films have much to say about faith. Culture Writers Joseph Holmes and Jillian Cheney discuss the role of religion and spirituality in The Conjuring: Last Rites, Sinners and Black Phone 2.