faith-religion

How Christmas became an American holiday tradition, with a Santa Claus, gifts and a tree

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Each season, the celebration of Christmas has religious leaders and conservatives publicly complaining about the commercialization of the holiday and the growing lack of Christian sentiment. Many people seem to believe that there was once a way to celebrate the birth of Christ in a more spiritual way.

Women lead religious groups in many ways – besides the growing number who have been ordained

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What constitutes women's leadership in religious communities is open to many interpretations. In the U.S., more attention has been given to women's ordination because of the highly public and visible nature of these roles, but the issue is far more complicated.