On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther purportedly nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church, thus marking the beginning of the Protestant Reformation—a movement that was to permanently divide Western Christendom. But it’s important to understand that Luther’s act did not come out of nowhere. Rather, it was preceded by at
READ MORE
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the international body based in Basel, Switzerland that represents the world’s central banks, claims in its latest annual report that globalization is a “scapegoat” for rising inequality, as it launches a defense of closer cross-border ties and integration. You didn’t get a copy and read every word of it?
READ MORE
A Massachusetts elementary school recently made national headlines after canceling its annual Halloween costume parade and announcing it would henceforth observe “Black and Orange Spirit Day.” “[T]he costume parade is out of our ordinary routine and can be difficult for many students,” Brendan Dearborn, principal at Boyden Elementary School principal, wrote to parents. “Also, the
READ MORE
In recent years, people have protested the racism of Confederate statues, Hollywood and sports mascots. But a curious campaign has taken place on Indiana University’s Bloomington campus. Students have circulated petitions and organized protests seeking the removal or destruction of painter Thomas Hart Benton’s 1933 mural “A Social History of Indiana,” which contains an image
READ MORE
Conventional wisdom holds that Halloween is essentially a secular and pagan holiday, the result of the Christian Church appropriating an ancient Celtic harvest festival. But one strain of critical opinion tends to the view that the holiday was thoroughly Christian from the start. In the church calendar, Halloween (All Hallows’ Eve) is the beginning of
READ MORE
Last Tuesday marked the 25th anniversary of the United Nations’ International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The date intentionally coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Call to Action, which saw the French anti-poverty campaigner Father Joseph Wresinski ask the international community, in front of 100,000 Parisians, to “strive to eradicate extreme poverty”. To mark
READ MORE
Most Read from past 24 hours
Most Read from past 7 days
Most Read from past 30 days
Most Read of All Time
Most Read of All Time
