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Sections

Religion

Religion

Sacrifice

An eccentric monk’s singular scrap cathedral reveals the chaos and genius of his mind.

Matthew Bremner Hazlitt Dec 2021 Permalink

Crime Religion

The Gift of Eihab Falah

In late 2018, Pittsburgh’s Jewish community was mourning the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. Then a stranger and his family landed in their midst.

Lynda Schuster Washington Post Magazine Oct 2021 Permalink

Crime Politics Religion

QAnon's Deadly Price

Church-loving surf instructor Matthew Taylor Coleman fell into online conspiracy theories, then allegedly admitted to killing his kids to save the world. How did no one see it coming?

Kevin T. Dugan Rolling Stone Oct 2021 15min Permalink

Crime Religion

The Shadow Penal System for Struggling Kids

The Christian organization Teen Challenge, made up of more than a thousand centers, claims to reform troubled teens. But is its discipline more like abuse?

Rachel Aviv New Yorker Oct 2021 Permalink

Religion

They Went to Bible College to Deepen Their Faith. Then They Were Assaulted—and Blamed for It.

At Moody Bible Institute, purity culture and complementarianism have worked together to forgive abusers and punish the abused.

Becca Andrews Mother Jones Sep 2021 35min Permalink

Religion

Love Has Lost

Quasi-religious group Love Has Won claimed to offer wellness advice and self-care products, but what was actually being dished out by their late leader Amy Carlson Stroud—self-professed “Mother God”—was much darker.

Virginia Pelley Marie Claire Sep 2021 20min Permalink

Religion

'A Private Matter'

Joe Biden’s very public clash with his own church.

Ruby Cramer Politico Sep 2021 30min Permalink

Best Article Politics Science Religion

Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, Wives

Inside the political battle over reproductive rights in Texas a decade ago.

Mimi Swartz Texas Monthly Aug 2012 35min Permalink

Science Tech Religion

A Dog’s Inner Life: What a Robot Pet Taught Me About Consciousness

Today, artificial intelligence and information technologies have absorbed many of the questions that were once taken up by theologians and philosophers: the mind’s relationship to the body, the question of free will, the possibility of immortality.

Meghan O’Gieblyn Guardian Aug 2021 20min Permalink

History Religion

The Clairvoyant

When word spreads about a 17-year-old in rural Tuscany reputed to have clairvoyant powers, she must withstand followers seeking her wisdom and officials hellbent on tearing her down.

Gabriella Gage Truly*Adventurous Jul 2021 25min Permalink

Crime Religion

The Oracle’s Daughter

Sarah Green escaped her mother’s cult 22 years ago. She still thinks about those she left behind.

Harrison Hill The Cut Jun 2021 30min Permalink

Religion

Sex and Death on the Road to Nirvana

A convert dies in the Arizona desert and the secrets of a controversial guru start spilling out.

Nina Burleigh Rolling Stone Jun 2013 30min Permalink

Religion

Carl Lentz and the Trouble at Hillsong

When a cheating scandal blew up the pastor’s life, some Hillsong congregants were left to question their relationship with a church that cultivated its own kind of fame—and the double standards that often came with it.

Alex French, Dan Adler Vanity Fair Feb 2021 30min Permalink

Religion

Carl Lentz and the Trouble at Hillsong

As the New York head of a celebrity-favorite megachurch, Carl Lentz achieved stardom. But when a cheating scandal blew up the pastor’s life, congregants were left to question their relationship with a church that cultivated its own kind of fame.

Alex French, Dan Adler Vanity Fair Feb 2021 30min Permalink

Crime Religion

The Lion, the Polygamist, and the Biofuel Scam

How a member of a breakaway Mormon sect teamed up with a Lambo-driving, hard-partying tycoon to bilk the government for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Vince Beiser Wired Feb 2021 Permalink

Religion

The Most American Religion

Perpetual outsiders, Mormons spent 200 years assimilating to a certain national ideal—only to find their country in an identity crisis. What will the third century of the faith look like?

McKay Coppins The Atlantic Dec 2020 35min Permalink

Religion

When One Parent Leaves a Hasidic Community, What Happens to the Kids?

The irreconcilable differences between Orthodoxy and secularism increasingly end up in court.

Larissa MacFarquhar New Yorker Nov 2020 40min Permalink

Science World Religion

Milk

For a few days in 1995, many Indians believed a religious idol had developed a lifelike ability to drink milk.

Sukhada Tatke Fifty Two Nov 2020 20min Permalink

Arts Music Religion Travel

Upon This Rock

A visit to the Christian rock Cross-Over Festival in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.

John Jeremiah Sullivan GQ Feb 2004 45min Permalink

Religion

The Last Shakers?

The last living Shakers—just two by some counts—keep their centuries-old faith in a village in Maine.

Katherine Lucky Commonweal Nov 2019 20min Permalink

Science Religion

Loving the Alien

How UFO culture took over America.

Stephen Rodrick Rolling Stone Aug 2020 40min Permalink

Religion

A Church. A Viral Video. A Campaign To Discredit Black Lives Matter.

“What people need to know is we’re not protesting churches. We’re protesting this church.”

Anne Helen Petersen Buzzfeed News Aug 2020 30min Permalink

Best Article Reprints Religion Travel

The Incredible Buddha Boy

“A legend is growing in Nepal, where people say a meditating boy hasn’t eaten or drunk in seven months. He barely moves, just sits under a tree, still as a stone. It’s impossible, some say. Is it a miracle? A hoax? Let’s find out.”

Read more

George Saunders on the Longform Podcast

George Saunders GQ Jun 2006 40min Permalink

World Health Religion

The Haunting of Girlstown

A mysterious outbreak. Hundreds of stricken schoolgirls. Was it an illness, or was something darker to blame?

Daniel Hernandez Epic May 2020 25min Permalink

Crime Religion

A Biblical Mystery at Oxford

A renowned scholar claimed that he discovered a first-century gospel fragment. Now he’s facing allegations of antiquities theft, cover-up, and fraud.

Ariel Sabar The Atlantic May 2020 35min Permalink

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