Is it panic time at Obama headquarters in Chicago? You might get that impression from watching events -- and the polls -- over the past few weeks.

China's Protestant minority is growing in numbers, influence, and respectability. Can its values provide a firm foundation for Chinese civil society?

One of the few issues on which opinion has moved left over the last few years is same-sex marriage. Why? One reason is probably that as people learn that friends and relatives are gay, they become more sympathetic to gay rights. But increasing support for same-sex marriage causes problems for politicians.

The George W.Bush-versus-John Kerry battle for the Catholic vote is, in some respects, a battle between observant and dissenting Catholics.

Obama wasted an opportunity to highlight the swearing in of the first African-American president.

How has Christmas evolved from a Pagan holiday into a venerable Christian celebration?

A new book on icons stretches the definition too far. Unlike the Coca-Cola bottle, true icons have power and stand at the border of forbidden things

The response to Barack Obama since his victory in November is similar to the response to John F. Kennedy after his narrower victory in 1960.