

Julia Duin is the Times' religion editor. She has a master's degree in religion from Trinity School for Ministry (an Episcopal seminary) and has covered the beat for three decades. Before coming to The Washington Times, she worked for five newspapers, including a stint as a religion writer for the Houston Chronicle and a year as city editor at the Daily Times in Farmington, N.M. She has published four books. The latest, "Quitting Church: Why the Faithful Are Fleeing and What to Do about it," was released Sept. 1. She has won many regional and national awards for her writing and has been nominated twice by the Times for a Pulitzer. She has covered events ranging from the election of Pope Benedict XVI in Rome and sex-selective abortions in India to the huge popularity of Christian colleges in the United States and a "new sanctuary" movement in mainline Protestant churches involving aid to illegal immigrants. She has learned seven foreign languages to aid in researching her stories.
Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009
Last Sunday, my daughter and I visited a gathering of Jews who don't believe in God, where the rabbi identifies himself as a bisexual atheist and the first 45 minutes are spent doing Israeli folk dances.
Suspect baffles his former mosque in Silver Spring
Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009
Stunned Muslims were trying to understand Friday why a normally soft-spoken Army officer who served on his local mosque's charity committee allegedly fatally shot 13 people at the sprawling Fort Hood military base in Texas.
Orthodox leader chastises pressure on poorer nations
Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009
Preserving the planet is linked to saving the human soul, the leader of the world's Orthodox Christians said Wednesday at the Brookings Institution.
Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009
Joel Osteen is unquestionably the 21st century's Norman Vincent Peale, churning out book after book of homespun advice on how to set goals, conquer adversity and believe God for better times.
Patriarch to visit White House
Monday, Nov. 2, 2009
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of the world's 250 million to 300 million Orthodox Christians, arrived in Washington on Sunday night bearing the standard as the world's foremost religious leader on environmental issues.
Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009
How does one convey to children stories that make good seem just as attractive as sorcery and witchcraft?
Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009
More than a week has passed since Pope Benedict XVI put out a call for disgruntled Anglicans to cross the Tiber after a nearly 500-year separation.
Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009
With Halloween approaching, it's the time of year to talk about mystical philosophies, Ouija boards, secret lodges, New Age thought — in other words, the "occult" aspect of religion that deals with secret ways of acquiring knowledge.
Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009
Although I think religion is the queen of beats, it's not often I hear journalists from other disciplines admit how important covering God really is.
Process eased for Anglicans
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009
The Vatican took the bold step Tuesday of announcing a new and simplified process for thousands of disaffected conservative Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church en masse.