The Conversation

Did the founders of the United States intend to create a Christian nation? Some, and perhaps many, scholars would say no: that while many founders were religious, as a group they concluded that the national government should not support any particular faith.

As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its independence, old questions have returned about who belongs and whose religious practices are truly protected in the country.

Librarians at the University of Dayton created a digital exhibit with objects pointing to the history of devotion to Mary as the Immaculate Conception in the United States.

For more than a century, anti-Catholicism was a powerful force in culture and politics — yet, time and again, religious pluralism triumphed.

Faith-based organizations have long played a critical role in reaching Cuban families when formal systems there fall short, writes Dulce Suarez.

For language learners today, the Cherokee Bible does more than show how the Cherokee interpreted Christian theology; it is a window into the Cherokee worldview.

In recent decades, the 1776 document's few references to God have been especially polarizing, as Americans defend starkly contrasting views of the United States.

'The Devil Wears Prada 2' press tour is only the latest iteration of the centuries-long influence of Christian symbolism in fashion.

Quinlan's family said she had a constitutional right of privacy to refuse treatment, including life-sustaining treatment. On appeal, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in favor of the Quinlans.

Young Latinos activism for immigrant rights over the past few months has put a spotlight on their importance for the future of the Catholic Church in the United States.

The Last Judgment is a common theme in Christian art. But Michelangelo's dramatic imagery in his Sistine Chapel fresco provokes deeper thought: After all, how does anyone on earth know what the saints do in heaven?

Beyond his enthusiastic embrace of sculpture and resentment over the Sistine Chapel project, the artist found painting in fresco to be backbreaking work.

Pope Francis highlighted the idea of accompaniment in his 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium ("Joy of the Gospel").

Recent statements continue U.S. bishops' legacy of opposing virtually every major U.S. military intervention since Vietnam, except the invasion of Afghanistan, writes Gerard F. Powers.

The trailer for the film "The Testament of Ann Lee" is riveting and unsettling — just as the celibate Shakers were to the average observer during their American emergence in the 1780s. Fascination with the Shakers is enduring, as are they.

Is peace worth having if it's unjust? Is justice worth pursuing if it prolongs war? Those are questions as troubling as they are old. Ceasefires built on coercion or exhaustion inevitably fail because they do not resolve the conflict's causes.

Images of the son of God depict him as petting lions, rescuing another boy from a tower, and standing on a sunbeam.

The region's religious decline shows a surprising difference from patterns elsewhere. While fewer Latin Americans are identifying with a religion or attending services, personal faith remains strong.

Humans are, in effect, hardwired to sing and dance, and we likely evolved to do so. In every known culture, evidence exists of music, singing or chanting.

The emphasis on the Pilgrims' 1620 landing and 1621 feast erased a great deal of religious history and narrowed conceptions of who belongs in America — at times excluding groups such as Native Americans, Catholics and Jews.