Julia Duin

Lutheran gay policies face close vote

America's largest Lutheran denomination has reached its crossroads on homosexuality and allowing openly gay clergy, with crucial votes slated at its biennial assembly this week in Minneapolis that participants say are too close to call. Published August 17, 2009

DUIN: Home-schooling attracts Muslims

Throughout the month of Ramadan, the Cattaneo children won't have to worry about explaining to teachers and friends why they're fasting every day. That's because they're home-schooled, part of a growing trend among Muslim families. Published August 16, 2009

School prayer charges stir protests

Students, teachers and local pastors are protesting over a court case involving a northern Florida school principal and an athletic director who are facing criminal charges and up to six months in jail over their offer of a mealtime prayer. Published August 14, 2009

DUIN: Special people fill very special needs

Reece Roberts came out the door to greet me as I approached his family's town house. Clad in a blue-and-green football jersey, he cautiously extended one little hand in greeting. Published August 13, 2009

DUIN: Bible rebranded for hip audience

People complain a lot that the young and hip aren't interested in religious things. Have I got a Bible for them. Published August 9, 2009

Report criticizes ‘cure’ for gays

The American Psychological Association has released a groundbreaking report disparaging religious efforts to "cure" homosexual orientation, an implied rebuke to religions that teach against homosexuality. Published August 7, 2009

DUIN: Pastor laments hunger’s profile

Until this week, I'd never met the Rev. Arthur Simon, the quiet Lutheran pastor who founded the Christian hunger lobbying group Bread for the World. Published August 6, 2009

Study: U.S. Jews drift from faith

The rate of religious observance among American Jews has dropped precipitously over the past two decades, to the point where more than one out of every three Jews is thoroughly secularized, according to a new survey. Published August 5, 2009

DUIN: Gates an obstacle to new monastery

Vocations (the term for people called to the religious life or priesthood) are increasing, they say, and they need more room than their packed-to-the-gills single-family home can provide. Published August 2, 2009

N.Y. nurse sues after forced to aid abortion

A Roman Catholic nurse who says she felt "violated and betrayed, like I had been raped" after being forced to take part in a second-trimester abortion is suing a New York City hospital on charges of violating her rights. Published July 31, 2009

DUIN: Gordian ‘knot’ for evangelicals

It's been more than two years since I adopted a little girl and entered the world of single-momhood. Recently, my child, now 4, has decided she wants a daddy. Published July 30, 2009

Anglican leader foresees two paths

A lengthy essay posted Monday by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams downplayed the U.S. Episcopal Church's recent decisions to consecrate gay bishops and allow blessings of same-sex unions, drawing criticism from the liberal and conservative wings of American Anglicanism. Published July 28, 2009

DUIN: Personal renewal on the Sabbath

Few Christians, other than Seventh-day Adventists, focus on the Sabbath as a time of rest and recalibration in these days of 24-hour ATMs, the Internet and supermarkets where Sunday is the busiest day. Published July 26, 2009

DUIN: Social justice in Kurdistan

Five years ago this month, I was touring Iraqi Kurdistan, otherwise known as northern Iraq. The 111-degree temperatures were particularly onerous because I was obligated to wear floor-length skirts and long-sleeved shirts to avoid the chance that some al Qaeda type would deem my dress insufficiently Islamic. Published July 23, 2009

EXCLUSIVE: Religious artifacts in Cyprus in ‘great peril’

Religious artifacts on the divided island of Cyprus are in "great peril," according to a U.S. Helsinki Commission document to be released Tuesday afternoon. Published July 21, 2009

Rabbis, imams visit U.S. for dialogue

A group of 28 imams and rabbis from 10 European countries arrived in New York and Washington this week for whirlwind visits to interfaith centers to break new ground on Muslim-Jewish relations and combat Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in each other's communities. Published July 20, 2009

DUIN: ‘Hugging saint’ embraces duty

I visited a Hindu saint last Saturday. Her followers say she has hugged 28 million people. Published July 19, 2009

Episcopalians in U.S. taking pro-gay stance

Lay delegates to the U.S. Episcopal Church overwhelmingly approved liturgies for same-sex couples Friday, handing a second dramatic victory to the liberal wing of a church that three days earlier endorsed the right to elect gay bishops. Published July 18, 2009

DUIN: China’s Falun Gong still suppressed

At noon Thursday on the lower west terrace lawn of the U.S. Capitol, members of Congress, human rights and religious freedom activists will meet to commemorate a sad anniversary: 10 years of imprisonment and torture of the Chinese meditation group Falun Gong. Published July 16, 2009

DUIN: Muslims address spousal abuse

While most folks were celebrating the Fourth of July with picnics and fireworks, I was attending a conference of thousands of Muslims at the Washington Convention Center. Published July 12, 2009