RACHAEL ASKS: Who does the Pope go to if he has to go to confession — or is he exempt because he’s the Pope? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: The Pope gets no pass because he’s the Pope.  Pope Francis, who has shown a flair for the dramatic his first year in office, demonstrated this in highly unusual fashion during this Lenten season, which puts special emphasis on contrition for sin. On March 28, to the surprise of worshippers in St.... Read more

PAUL ASKS: (Regarding the World Vision relief agency deciding U.S. employees can live in same-sex marriages): What does the Religion Guy think? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: This question was prompted by that dramatic policy change by a prominent Christian organization, but a mere two days later World Vision restored its limit of employees’ relationships to male-female marriage. A news reporter’s job isn’t to tell agencies what to do but to analyze what’s going on, and The Guy thinks these neck-snapping events say much... Read more

MADDIE ASKS: What caused ancient religions to become less prevalent? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: Our previous Q and A item treated ancient Confucianism, Jainism, Shinto, and Taoism, which have survived into the 21st Century but with radically diminished status. Maddie wonders why ancient Babylonian, Greek, and Roman mythologies died out and Zoroastrianism has nearly disappeared while Judaism and Hinduism didn’t vanish like other ancient creeds. She asks,  did the younger proselytizing faiths of Christianity and Islam simply “push out” the... Read more

JAEDE ASKS: I need to know the founder, area of the world it’s in, what their holy book is called, and their holidays, for Jainism, Sikhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Shinto. THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: Jaede headlined this item “Help!!” and was probably sweating over some school exam or term paper so this comes too late. Nonetheless, a sketch of these five Asian creeds might be informative since they’re lesser-known than the much larger Hinduism and Buddhism. The Guy is grateful that... Read more

ELIZABETH ASKS: Isn’t it possible for the Pope to be Jewish? And if the Catholic Church someday elected a Jewish pope would that most likely help or harm Catholic-Jewish relations? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: Timely topic one year after the breakthrough election of the first Western Hemisphere pope, Francis of Argentina, who succeeded the first two non-Italian popes in centuries. The questioner notes a bit by Jay Leno, late of “The Tonight Show,” who told passersby the new pope was... Read more

KENNETH ASKS: With new research questioning the Bible’s report that domesticated camels existed as early as Genesis, the efforts to knock this down appear defensive rather than empirical. But Rebekah was certainly watering something. Thoughts? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: Some breathless online news headlines from recent weeks: “Camel Bones Suggest Error in Bible” (Fox News) “Camels Don’t Belong in Old Testament” (Forbes magazine) “Camels Had No Business in Genesis” (New York Times) “The Mystery of the Bible’s Phantom Camels” (Time... Read more

TERRY ASKS: Whatever happened to the Lenten disciplines that used to be part of Advent – Nativity? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: As Christendom nears the annual season of Lent, this refers to the Orthodox Church’s little-known practice of not just one but four seasons each year of Lenten-type fasting. “Great Lent” leading up to Easter is familiar. But traditionally, Orthodoxy also observes a Nativity Fast from mid-November (or later) through Christmas Eve, and two other seasons of abstinence from specified food and... Read more

GENE ASKS: What one factor more than any other would draw more people into the church? THE GUY ANSWERS: In the previous Religion Q and A, Gene asked  “what one factor accounts for the indifference so many Americans harbor toward the church?” The Guy nominated “fading cultural respect,” scanned what observers think about causes, and covered mostly hard church trends, not soft “spiritual but not religious” sentiments. (A timely aside on religious identity: To coincide with the winter Olympics, Pew... Read more

GENE ASKS: What one factor accounts for the indifference so many Americans harbor toward the church? THE GUY ANSWERS: Forced to pick  just “one factor” among many, The Guy says fading cultural respect — for committed Christians, for Christian churches, and for Christianity. Begin with some hard data. As Religion Q and A analyzed last October 19, the collective membership of America’s moderate to liberal “Mainline” Protestant denominations has gradually fallen by a third since the mid-1960s, an unprecedented slide. These... Read more

PARK ASKS: What are the major scriptural passages [and interpretations] relative to a complementarian and egalitarian approach to gender roles in the church? THE GUY ANSWERS: A big one. First, about that lingo: “Egalitarians” say the Bible teaches across-the-board equality without regard to gender. Period. This supposedly “liberal” view is held by many “conservatives.” “Complementarians” (that’s “complement,” not “compliment”) say the Bible establishes different roles for men and women in the church and, most add, in the home. For instance,... Read more