Miriam Mandel Levi, a feminist in an Orthodox Jewish community, writes about a lifetime of struggling with the requirement to cover one’s hair and her ultimate decision to leave hats behind.

Have Americans given up on the idea of “proportional response”? Writer Dina Honour wonders why the price paid by some people for being non-white, non-Christian, or getting pregnant is so high.

“A few weeks before the election, Trump’s continued push for policies targeting Muslims weighed heavily on Abid’s mind. The first litmus test she has for a leader, she says, is ‘will you feel safe?’”

“I needed my sobriety to stand on its own, rather than ebbing and flowing with the tides of my fickle faith.” An unflinching essay on religion, self-image, and the writer’s complicated path out of addiction.

Freelance journalist Lorena Rios explores the dwindling Greek Orthodox community in Turkey’s largest city by telling the story of two veteran pork butchers who persevere in a politically-charged climate.

Dana Schwartz, an Observer journalist, writes to the newspaper publisher after Donald Trump — his father-in-law — shares a controversial (arguably anti-Semitic) tweet.

“Queer people of all faith traditions deserve to know that they are not alone and that they are loved.” At Longreads, contributor Emily Perper shares four stories exploring the intersection of religion and queerness.

Dr. Kate Thomas explores the similarities between medieval prayer memes and the popular Facebook memes of today.

At The Sundress Blog, a funeral-inspired poem by Lindsay Tigue: “The Romans / built aqueducts to carry water / from the source. Why can’t I / hang curtains that won’t fall down?”

Theological and political notes from an Evangelical Christian who will not be voting for Trump: “I don’t expect Trump to act like a Christian, but I also don’t expect other Christians to support a candidate whose values are so antithetical to those of Christians across a broad theological spectrum.”

“[T]he ideal Christian heart is not unblemished, free of wear and tear. It is a heart broken time and time again; the brokenness not simply healed, but made beautiful by God filling the imperfections and remaking them.”

A memoir by Sam Pierstorff at The Normal School: “My mom was Muslim. We all were or tried to be. But she was the best at it.”

One day, the blogger at Blood and Thunder invited two Jehovah’s Witnesses into her home for a chat, and what followed surprised her: “One of the men reached for his Bible and said, ‘If you’d just let me show you a few lines of scripture here…’ and I told him to put the Bible away and talk to me with his heart. From his heart.”

The Story of King Jesus author Ben Irwin on the lack of religion titles published by women in his book collection: “A theoretical opposition to patriarchy doesn’t necessarily mean I’ve stopped perpetuating it.”

“Nothing is quick, nothing is easy. No solidarity is secure. I support free speech. I oppose all censors. I abhor the killings. I mourn the dead. I am not Charlie.” In this longread, Scott Long at A Paper Bird explains why he is not Charlie.