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Home for the holidays and worried about an older relative? Make observations,...
If you're worried about older loved ones' ability to care for themselves, try starting a conversation with nonjudgmental questions.MoMo Productions/DigitalVision via Getty ImagesWith the second holiday...
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As spiritualism's popularity grows, photographer Shannon Taggart takes...
Table-tipping workshop with mediums Jane and Chris Howarth in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 2014.© Shannon Taggart. Courtesy of the Artist., Author providedThe word séance conjures images of darkened rooms,...
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How common is the 'Common Era?' How A.D. and C.E. took over counting years
Amid the pandemic, confetti fell on an almost-empty Times Square last New Year's Eve.AP Photo/Craig RuttleOn Dec. 31, people from cultures all around the world will be raising a toast to welcome in...
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Can a Christian flag fly at City Hall? The Supreme Court will have to decide
Organizations can apply to have their flag temporarily replace the Boston city flag, shown on far right, in front of City Hall.gregobagel/iStock via Getty Images PlusThere are three flagpoles outside...
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Women are finding new ways to influence male-led faiths
The number of women religious leaders is growing, but the 2018-2019 National Congregations Study, which surveyed 5,300 U.S. religious communities, found that only 56.4% of these communities would allow...
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School closure debates put teachers unions front and center
Schools in Chicago have suffered days of disruption.Scott Olson/Getty ImagesClasses in Chicago were canceled for a third day on Jan. 7, 2022, amid a bitter standoff between the teachers union and...
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End-of-life conversations can be hard, but your loved ones will thank you
You can start these conversations simply, like saying, "I need to think about the future. Can you help me?"Richard Ross/The Image Bank via Getty ImagesDeath – along with taxes – is one of life’s few...
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How the Vietnam War pushed MLK to embrace global justice, not only civil...
President Lyndon B. Johnson, right, talks with Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders in his White House office in Washington, D.C., Jan. 18, 1964.AP PhotoOn July 2, 1964, Martin Luther...
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Tackling 2022 with hope: 5 essential reads
If hope feels far-fetched this winter, you're not alone.picture alliance via Getty ImagesSix months ago, it was easy for many Americans to think COVID-19 was on the defensive. Vaccinations were ticking...
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What 13th-century Christian theologian Thomas Aquinas can teach us about hope...
Thomas Aquinas, Pope Innocent III and Italian mathematician Bonaventura Francesco Cavalieri. ZU_09/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty imagesPolls show that a majority of Americans are very worried about...
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How antisemitic conspiracy theories contributed to the recent hostage-taking...
Law enforcement officials outside Congregation Beth Israel synagogue on Jan. 15, 2022, in Colleyville, Texas. AP Photo/Tony GutierrezThe man who took a rabbi and three congregants hostage in...
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Pope Benedict accused of mishandling sex abuse cases: 4 essential reads
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI sits in St. Peter's Basilica Dec. 8, 2015. A long-awaited report on sexual abuse faulted his handling of four cases.AP Photo/Gregorio BorgiaWhen Pope Benedict XVI resigned in...
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Thich Nhat Hanh, who worked for decades to teach mindfulness, approached...
Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh praying during a three-day requiem for the souls of Vietnam War victims in 2007.Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP via Getty ImagesThich Nhat Hanh, the monk who popularized...
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Yizker bikher books commemorate Holocaust deaths – but also celebrate Jewish...
A group of schoolgirls in Czyzew, Poland, before the Holocaust.Czyżew Yizkor Book by Shimon Kanc/New York Public LibraryEach year on Jan. 27, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau...
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Opioid overdose: A bioethicist explains why restricting supply may not be the...
What's the best way to solve America's opioid overdose crisis?BackyardProduction/ iStock via Getty imagesYear after year, America’s drug overdose crisis is worsening.In the 12-month period ending in...
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The pandemic changed death rituals and left grieving families without a sense...
A family takes part in shiva, a traditional Jewish time of mourning, on Zoom.Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty ImagesThe unexpected death of a friend and colleague to COVID-19 in January 2021 led me...
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Pope Benedict faulted over sex abuse claims: New report is just one chapter...
Pope Benedict XVI acknowledges the crowd during an audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Oct.24, 2007. A January 2022 report faulted his handling of several sex abuse cases.AP Photo/Plinio...
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There is much more to mindfulness than the popular media hype
Have the benefits of medicine been overhyped in the West?Kilito Chan/Moment via Getty ImagesMindfulness is seemingly everywhere these days. A Google search I conducted in January 2022 for the term...
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China's biggest holiday: The Lunar New Year and how it is celebrated
Grandparents are teaching Chinese calligraphy to their granddaughter and how to write Chinese New Year auspicious messages. AsiaVision/E+ via Getty ImagesAmong China’s traditional holidays and...
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How 18th-century Quakers led a boycott of sugar to protest against slavery
English Quakers on a Barbados plantation.Image courtesy of New York Public LibraryBuying items that are fair trade, organic, locally made or cruelty-free are some of the ways in which consumers today...
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