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US President Donald Trump and his Israeli ally Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s shambolic war has shut the Strait of Hormuz, creating a diplomatic fallout with US allies. Photo: Avi Ohayon (GPO)

Easter in the time of war

The senseless US-Israel war has caused economic tremors around the world and sucked all of us into an unprecedented crisis characterised by soaring oil prices, the wanton…

At the crack of dawn ardent believers hit the tarmac and, about halfway, the pain diminishes and enlightenment takes hold. (File photo)

The God Edition | The runner’s high is the smug hill on which I’ll die

We runners, like good churchgoers, are a community, we follow rituals, we try to convert everyone and, best of all, we finally enter the zone

Haves and have-nots: The skyline of Sandton, home to the richest square mile in Africa, forms the backdrop to Alexandra township in Johannesburg. Photo: Waldo Swiegers/Getty Images

Is God good to everyone?

If He is, then when will people like me get to experience his abundant goodness and mercy?

God shines through: A woman tries to set up her tent (above) damaged by a windstorm that hit 60 refugee camps and 11 temporary shelters for earthquake survivors in Idlib, Syria. (Muhammed Said/Getty Images)

 Ukraine, Mozambique, Syria: ‘Bombs don’t hit non-believers only’

God is in every dark corner, say those who have suffered in Ukraine, Mozambique and the Middle East

Purifying: Children play in the grounds of the Badi Masjid on the banks of the River Ganges during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Prophet speaks of not wasting or polluting water and the importance of sharing it. Photo: Sanjay Kanojia/Getty Images

Every Muslim must look after the Earth

There is a duty to show kindness, preserve life, care for the natural environment and not waste water

Divine silence: Jacob Zuma (centre) receives blessing from pastors and preachers at an inter-faith gathering held in May 2017 to pray for him, at the height of state capture. He resigned as president nine months later, after pressure from the ANC itself. Photo: Rajesh Jantilal/AFP/Getty Images

God in politics: Divine boundaries exist in secular South Africa

The country is hyper religious but has prided itself on not talking politics at the church table

Partners is a 1993 copper statue by Blaine Gibson depicting Walt Disney holding the hand of the most popular character he created, Mickey Mouse. Now, the mouse’s time with the company might be coming to an end. (Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

The divine Disney irony of Mickey Mouse

The studio has built an empire on raiding religion and myth, but now risks having its own god taken from it

Bob Marley and the Wailers perform at the Uptown Theater, Chicago, Illinois, November 13, 1979. (Photo by Kirk West/Getty Images)
Video

Bob Marley: The Prophet’s feel-good theology

Christianity tells us to worry about hellfire; Bob Marley tells us ‘Don’t worry about a thing’. Drew Forrest looks at the Jamaican singer’s timeless appeal

Reverend Thabiso Mcinga, who became a voice for the youth, talks about her search for signposts on her path to leading a Methodist church. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Signs on the road to a ministry

Reverend Thabiso Mcinga, who became a voice for the youth, talks about her search for signposts on her path to leading a Methodist church

Universalist: Desmond Tutu offered a different Christianity to that of St Paul. The archbishop was full of laughter, a reconciler and a warrior against homophobia and racism. Photo: Sunday Times/Getty Images

St Paul: A heavy cross to bear

St Paul’s doctrinal legacy includes antisemitism, misogyny, homophobia and the divine right of kings. Thankfully, there is another tradition, personified by Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Caring for God’s creation: Bishop Geoff Davies and his wife Kate started the multi-faith organisation, the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute. Photo: David Harrison

God is an environmentalist, says South Africa’s ‘green bishop’

God is the creator, the greatest sin is extinction of species and profit is driving our destruction, says Bishop Geoff Davies

Acceptance: A memorial service for Desmond Tutu. During his life the archbishop rejected homophobia. (Rajesh Jantilal/AFP)

Most churches in the LGBTQ+ Dark Ages

Homophobia persists in mainstream churches despite the acceptance of the queer community by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane and Bishop Paul Verryn

Determined: Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva (above centre) arrives at Hillbrow police station to lay charges against Pastor Paseka Motsoeneng, of the Incredible Happening Ministries, who asked his followers to fund his legal fees as he prepared to battle the Cultural, Religious and Linguistics (CRL) Rights Commission in court. (Vathiswa Ruselo/Sowetan/Gallo Images)

Danger of exposing the dark side of prophets and pastors

The head of the Cultural, Religious and Linguistics Rights Commission investigated church leaders abusing their congregants and refused to be distracted by threats on her life

A Pastor from the Incredible Happenings Ministry Church of Prophet Paseka Motsoeneng, popularly known as Prophet Mboro, checks the temperature at the entrance of the church in Katlehong, Ekurhuleni, on June 07, 2020. – Rigid distancing, hand sanitising and record keeping was enforced today at the church, where only 50 worshippers have been admitted in observance to South Africa lockdown level 3 regulations. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)

What happened to church during Covid?

Attendances rose as lockdown was eased and then lifted — but some people were lured by glamorous online churches abroad

Faith: ANC supporters at a civil disobedience campaign protest in the 1950s. Older people have the patience and experience to go through hardships and still see hope, the author writes. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Does Jesus still have meaning for today’s youth?

This young generation faces problems previously only envisaged in science fiction movies. They need to reflect on the effect of their own demands on their world

Two participants embrace before joining more than 1000 people, some in dramatic costumes, in the annual Cape Town Pride Parade through the centre of the city, which takes place to celebrate and raise awareness on the issues affecting , Cape Town’s LGBTI+ community, on February 26, 2022, in Cape Town. (RODGER BOSCH / AFP)

‘‘My queerness is a gift to my community of faith”

Gomo Lesejane’s work has allowed her to find resonance in the stories of people like her who could never fully embody their queer identities in temples, churches, mosques and…

Guided: Ultra-Orthodox men pray at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. Their Almighty tempers strict justice with mercy. Photo: Thomas Coex/AFP

G-d wags His finger a lot but still gives us hope

Judaism holds that people determine their own destinies but that G-d is ultimately in control and everything will come right in the end

Conspiracy: The Christian Fringe sees the Large Hadron Collider as a bid to open portals through which aliens will arrive – or it will create a black hole into which Earth will disappear. Photo: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Combing through the conspiracies of the Christian Fringe

Fundamentalist Christians are embracing fringe movements that marry biblical prophecy with mainstream conspiracy

Tradition and modernity: Refiloe Letuma, an IT support technician, has embraced the digital world in her work as a traditional healer and is considering holding virtual consultations

The millennial sangomas merge old and new

Young people are straddling their professional careers with their spiritual callings and incorporating digital technology

(Mail & Guardian)

Editorial: Keeping the faith — in people

We are exhausted, scared, hurt, overwhelmed, heartsore, sick and disillusioned. But in this past year people have helped each other. So many of us are still here thanks to the…