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Cherry blossoms – celebrated in Japan for centuries and gifted to Americans –...
Families relax under lush cherry trees in the Shinjuku Gyoen in Tokyo.shankar s./Flickr, CC BYCherry blossoms mark the beginning of spring. Various festivals are regularly organized in California,...
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What is a frozen embryo worth? Alabama’s IVF case reflects bigger questions...
An embryologist uses a microscope to view an embryo, visible on a monitor.AP Photo/Richard Drew, FileIn the weeks since the Alabama Supreme Court held that embryos are “unborn children” under one state...
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Ramadan will be difficult for those in Gaza or other war zones – what does...
Palestinians gather at the area where aid was distributed in Gaza City on Feb. 19, 2024.Karam Hassan/Anadolu via Getty ImagesRamadan in the Gaza Strip this year will be anything but “normal.”...
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Should people suffering from mental illness be eligible for medically...
In advocates' eyes, expanding access to a medically assisted death helps people protect their autonomy at a crucial time.Eva HM/iStock via Getty Images PlusImagine that you have lived with an illness...
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What is the Japanese ‘wabi-sabi’ aesthetic actually about? ‘Miserable tea’...
A perfectly imperfect tea bowl.Zen Rial/Moment via Getty ImagesOn a recent visit to New York I stopped at a Japanese bookstore in Manhattan. Among the English-language books about Japan, I encountered...
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Israel’s army exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox are part of a bigger...
Israeli police scuffle with ultra-Orthodox Jews as they block a main road in Jerusalem during an October 2017 protest against Israeli army conscription.AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, FileJust when you think...
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What is the ‘great replacement theory’? A scholar of race relations explains
Members of a white supremacist group demonstrate near the National Archives in Washington on Jan. 21, 2022.AP Photo/Jose Luis MaganaThe “great replacement theory,” whose origins date back to the late...
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What the Buddhist text Therigatha teaches about women’s enlightenment
Tibetan Buddhist nuns offering prayers in Kathmandu.Prakash/Mathema /AFP via Getty ImagesImages of Buddha’s enlightenment often portray him sitting alone under the bodhi tree, his body emaciated from...
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A century ago, one state tried to close religious schools − a far cry from...
A Catholic schoolroom in the U.S. around 1930.Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesAlmost 100 years ago, a group of nuns joined a suit against the state of Oregon – and made...
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Purim’s original queen: How studying the Book of Esther as fan fiction can...
Esther denouncing Haman, who, according to the Purim story, attempted to have all Jews within the Persian Empire massacred. Hutchinson's History of the Nations/Universal History Archive/Universal...
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For centuries, owls were considered to bring bad luck in many cultures as...
Tributes left at a memorial for Flaco the owl in Central Park in New York.AP Photo/Bebeto MatthewsThere has been an outpouring of grief in New York City ever since the beloved Eurasian eagle-owl Flaco...
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An annual pilgrimage during Holy Week brings thousands of believers to...
Thousands of Catholics travel by foot to Santuario de Chimayo, in northern New Mexico, during an annual Good Friday pilgrimage.AP Photo/Morgan LeeFor decades, the people of northern New Mexico have...
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Easter 2024 in the Holy Land: a holiday marked by Palestinian Christian sorrow
A procession at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, believed by many Christians to be the site of the crucifixion and burial place of Jesus Christ.AP Photo/Sebastian ScheinerEvery year, Christians from...
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The roots of the Easter story: Where did Christian beliefs about Jesus’...
A mosaic of the Resurrection in the Basilica of St. Paul in Harissa, Lebanon.FredSeiller/Wikimedia CommonsAs Easter approaches, Christians around the world begin to focus on two of the central tenets...
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One year ago, Pope Francis disavowed the ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ – but...
Tzotzil women line up for Holy Communion during a Catholic Mass in Chiapas state, Mexico, in 2016. AP Photo/Eduardo VerdugoIt has been more than 500 years since Vatican decrees gave European colonizers...
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69% of US Muslims always give to charities during Ramadan, fulfilling a...
Members of the Muslim community gather for the first Taraweeh prayer of Ramadan in New York City in 2024.Adam Gray/AFP via Getty ImagesNearly 70% of Muslim Americans say they always give zakat, a...
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Hope is not the same as optimism, a psychologist explains − just look at...
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks after being released from prison for leading a boycott.Donald Uhrbrock/The Chronicle Collection via Getty ImagesOn April 3, 1968, standing before a crowded...
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For the Maya, solar eclipses were a sign of heavenly clashes − and their...
El Castillo pyramid illuminated at night under a starry sky in Chichen Itza, Mexico, one of the largest Maya cities.Matteo Colombo/DigitalVision via Getty ImagesWe live in a light-polluted world, where...
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For some Christians, a solar eclipse signals the second coming of Christ
A total solar eclipse is seen above the Bald Knob Cross of Peace on Aug. 21, 2017, in Alto Pass, Illinois.AP Photo/Charles Rex ArbogastDoes the upcoming solar eclipse signal the second coming of Jesus?...
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In 1877, a stained-glass window depicted Jesus as Black for the first time −...
A stained-glass window that was part of a church shows a dark-skinned Jesus, which was unusual at the time.Michel M. RaguinA stained-glass window, donated in 1877 to a church in Rhode Island, shows...
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