Dragons are a big deal in Chinese culture. Whereas in the West dragons are often depicted as winged, fire-breathing monsters, the Chinese dragon, or the loong, is a symbol of strength and magnanimity. The mythical being is so revered that it snagged a spot as the only fictional creature in the Chinese Zodiac’s divine roster. (Guzman, Time)
Read MoreA drag queen workshop for children as young as 11 in France has sparked a petition for its cancellation signed by more than 1,000 parents. The class, designed to teach children how to dress, walk and perform like a drag artist, is being hosted by a children’s centre near Bordeaux. (Song, The Telegraph)
Read MoreThis year’s Super Bowl ads will variously appeal to America’s sweet tooth, plead for tolerance and seek redemption for Bud Light. But most will share one thing in common: marketers’ even deeper-than-usual desire to avoid offending anyone. (Graham, Deighton & Coffee, The Wall Street Journal)
Read MoreLeaders of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination face a pair of new lawsuits that accuse the denomination of covering up sexual abuse in local churches. The lawsuits were filed — one in federal court, another in Arkansas — as the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee is set to discuss the future of abuse reforms in the 13 million-member denomination. (Smietana, Religion News Service)
Read MoreEmperor Constantine, the 4th century ruler whose embrace of Christianity helped spread the faith throughout the Roman Empire, now has a reconstructed statue befitting his larger-than-life role in history. (AP News)
Read MoreFollowers of Ásatrú, or Norse paganism, still honor their gods, and in Iceland, where Ásatrú is the second-most-practiced religion after Christianity, a new temple to the Norse deities is rising now on Öskjuhlíð, a hill overlooking the center of the capital city of Reykjavik. Dedicated to the whole pantheon of Norse gods and nature spirits, it is the first pagan temple to be built in more than 1,000 years. (Kumar, Religion News Service)
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