Question: “Is Premarital Sex Always Sinful?”

May 26, 2023 By Richard Ostling

THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: The question above was the headline with an April article by Talley Cross, a “gender and sexuality” blogger with patheos.com. She responded with a cautious no. A yes answer is the contrary and familiar tradition in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and other faiths, and as we’ll see below has lately gotten a degree of backing from surprising places. That age-old teaching is terribly counter-cultural and also subject to critique from within religions. The Gallup Poll says in... Read more

Question: Should Christians Use Tarot Cards?

May 10, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: If you think this topic is off the wall, at least it’s not off the news. Tarot for Christians is promoted by the May cover story in The Christian Century, a venerable independent magazine that helps define what’s trendy and acceptable for “Mainline” and liberal Protestant readers. See www.christiancentury.org/article/features/woman-behind-tarot-s-strange-beauty/ The article’s author is the monthly’s own Associate Editor Jessica Mesman, who also co-founded the Sick Pilgrim blog aimed at “people who questioned EVERYTHING.” Her self-described social... Read more

Question: Why doesn’t the U.S. Census ask about religion?

April 25, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: Most Americans may never have thought about this, an odd omission considering that religion is such an important aspect of society. Canada’s government, for example, has asked about religious affiliations since 1871. But from the first once-a-decade U.S. Census conducted in 1790, the federal government has never directly asked all Americans about their religion (or lack thereof). Responses are anonymous, which should remove any sensitivities about answering such a question. The usual explanation is that... Read more

Question: “Why have many worshippers stopped singing in church”?

April 12, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: The question in that headline accompanied a provocative article about U.S. Protestant church trends that The Guy will turn to in a moment. The answer is important, and it’s quite obvious to observers of the long-running “worship wars” that are about far more than guitars and drums supplanting pipe organs and hymnals. (For Catholicism’s parallel debate, check out the lively book “Why Catholics Can’t Sing” in the revised edition subtitled “With New Grand Conclusions and Good... Read more

Question: How do scholars explain bloodthirsty Bible passages?

March 31, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: Skeptics seeking to disparage the Bible and, with it, Judaism and Christianity, cite certain passages in the Bible that depict all-out warfare as mandated by God. Consider Israel’s “conquest” of Canaan under Joshua, and a notably bloodthirsty passage like Deuteronomy 20:16-17, which says “you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall utterly destroy them. . . as the LORD your God has commanded.” There’s been intriguing recent discussion of this complex issue. Even conservative... Read more

Question: What is Sikhism, candidate Nikki Haley’s onetime religion?

March 16, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: Nikki Haley, who is challenging Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, was raised in the religion of Sikhism (“SEEK-ism”) by immigrant parents from India. But soon after both Sikh and Methodist weddings she converted to husband Michael’s Christianity. During Haley’s first run for South Carolina governor in 2010, National Public Radio posted a notably nasty piece by a fellow Indian-American who said “I’m not buying” Haley’s “Christian bit,” noting that “serious churchgoers” and political opponents... Read more

Q: Why do Southern Baptists and like-minded Protestants bar women pastors?

March 7, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: Why? Simple. Because they believe that’s what the Bible teaches. But other conservative evangelical groups see female clergy as biblically proper, for example the Assemblies of God, Evangelical Covenant Church, Free Methodist Church and Salvation Army, along with many independent congregations. The question is timely because the June 13-14 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination, will be a landmark on this. The gathering will decide whether to expel any congregation with... Read more

Is Gambling Evil?

February 16, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE QUESTION: Is gambling evil? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: Analysts anticipate a record high cash haul from the Super Bowl with the explosion in legalized online sports betting. The big weekend produced several interesting articles about the pros and cons, the inroads and innovations, of America’s gambling industry. The Wall Street Journal’s Barton Swaim mulled religious aspects under the arresting headline “Would Jesus Bet on the Super Bowl?” He said that for Jews and Christians the Bible is “less than... Read more

Why do images of the Prophet Muhammad so deeply offend Muslims?

February 4, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE QUESTION: Why do images of the Prophet Muhammad so deeply offend Muslims? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: This issue has erupted unexpectedly at Methodist-related Hamline University in Minnesota. Last October, adjunct art teacher Erika Lopez Prater showed an online class two medieval paintings in which pious Muslims had portrayed the Prophet Muhammad receiving Quran revelations from the angel Gabriel. Lopez Prater warned Muslim students in advance so they could avert thir eyes. Nonetheless, the president of the Muslim Students Association... Read more

How should worn-out Bibles or Qurans be disposed of?

January 23, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE QUESTION: How should worn-out Bibles or Qurans be disposed of? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: Due to occasional news about Muslim riots when a copy of the Quran is believed to be mistreated, you’re probably aware that Islam takes very seriously the way its sacred book is handled, about which more below. But The Guy has rarely if ever heard of such discussion about a printed Bible and therefore was intrigued this past week when Joe Carter (a GetReligion alumnus)... Read more