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Briefing|Introducing: Believing, Our Newsletter on Religion and Spirituality
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/briefing/charlie-kirk-religion-spirituality.html
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In the 1940s, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a dissident German pastor, wrote hundreds of letters while facing execution inside a Nazi prison. From his small, dank cell, Bonhoeffer asked: “How do we speak in a secular fashion of God?”
The line has both inspired and inflamed theologians in the decades since. It’s also a question that animates this newsletter: The mission of Believing is to speak about the sacred, in all its forms, in a very secular space.
Why are we doing this?
Earlier this year, we published a series of articles about how people experience religion and spirituality now. In response, thousands of you told us you wanted more: You wanted us to expand our reporting on how ancient ideas are appearing in our very modern lives. You wanted a space for both believers and nonbelievers to share their stories. You wanted, above all, for us to take the subject seriously.
We agree. So we’ve decided to create a weekly newsletter exploring these topics. I’ll be your host, and I’ll be writing most weeks about how religion shapes our politics, culture and society — and how spirituality is appearing in new forms. The newsletter will also showcase relevant reporting from around The Times, especially by our excellent national religion correspondents, Elizabeth Dias and Ruth Graham, who’ve both been covering this beat for many years. Finally, it will point you toward the interesting, important and viral ways faith is appearing online.
And what a week we’ve picked for our debut. Religion interlaces the story of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. It’s a tragedy that exhibits how faith is elemental in America. Below, we explore the religious significance of Kirk’s story and take a look at how people are using spiritual chatbots. But first, here’s what you can expect in your inbox each Sunday.
What you can expect
Each week, we’ll write one original piece of reporting and highlight how religion is appearing in the headlines. We’ll also answer your questions about faith, and share individual stories of sacred rituals, texts and pilgrimages.
