There was a time when wearing religious garb or jewelry was seen as an innocent, even admirable testimony of faith. A cross or crucifix around the neck meant at least some level of commitment to Christ and his teachings. A yarmulke was symbolic of an Orthodox Jew’s respect for the “Divine Presence” above us all.…

Living in Utah, I’ve gotten used to The Question: Are you a Mormon? No, I’m not. The closest I ever came to considering becoming a Latter-day Saint was in high school, when I developed a huge crush on a Mormon girl. She had long, dark hair and warm brown eyes that went on forever, but…

I looked. It is, indeed, 2011. In fact, it’s nearly 2012. But if you think the blood of Christian martyrs was last shed in the Coliseum by the Roman Emperor Nero two millennia ago, you’d be wrong. Most of the apostles of Christ died for their faith in him. But that was so long ago,…

George Barna, the dean of evangelical Christianity research, says the traditional, American model for “born again” faith just isn’t working. That model, which I became intimately familiar with growing up in the home of a fundamentalist Pentecostal Christian preacher, goes like this: “Whatever your problems, Jesus is the answer. Say the ‘Sinner’s Prayer,‘ accept Christ…

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