religion

It's usually around this time that Muslim international students would go home and celebrate Ramadan with their families. Ramadan is a significant holiday for Muslims around the world. It's a month where Muslims fast from dawn until dusk. And it's called the "holy month" because it's a time where people are encouraged to do good deeds, help each other, and have gratitude for their family and friends.

On a chilly but sunny day, about 60 cars are parked at the American Dream Drive-In Theatre in Powell. Where the screen usually is are a pickup trucks with one person on the back of each. This is how the Trinity Lutheran Church in Cody has been worshipping for the past two Sundays.

The trucking industry is facing a record shortage of drivers. However, over the last couple of years, one demographic has been gravitating towards the industry by the thousands: Indian-American Sikhs.

A Pennsylvania Grand Jury report found that leaders in the Roman Catholic Church there persuaded victims not to report sexual abuse and convinced law enforcement not to investigate it either. News of the cover up, which protected over 300 abusive clergy, has sparked a call for increased accountability nationwide. Catholics in Wyoming are also reckoning with allegations of clergy abuse.

In 1994, between 500,000 and 1,000,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in the Rwandan genocide. The documentary Forgiveness: The Secret of Peace tells the story of Father Ubald, a Tutsi and Catholic priest in Rwanda. He escaped the genocide, but most of his family and parishioners were killed. He now preaches a message of forgiveness and reconciliation between perpetrators and victims, and holds widely attended “healing masses.”  

Last year, after intense debate, the city of Cheyenne adopted an anti-discrimination resolution to protect members of the LGBT community and in this legislative session, lawmakers have tried and failed to pass state laws on both sides of the issue.

In the midst of all that, though, an unlikely friendship sprouted up.

The art exhibition THE BRIDGE is made up of 47 works of art that are meant to show the commonalities between Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Its goal isn’t just interfaith dialogue, but interfaith friendship, and this month it has shows in Laramie, Rock Springs, Lander, and Powell.

The community of Gillette has seen tension recently with plans for a Quran burning and protests over Gillette’s first mosque. Writer and Pulitzer Prize winner Kathryn Schulz heard this and wondered how a Muslim community came to be in coal mining Wyoming.

Tonight’s class on the new papal encyclical at St. Paul’s Newman Center Catholic church in Laramie begins, well, in the beginning. Before parishioners dive into the Pope’s message, they read aloud from the creation story in Genesis.

The Pope’s letter began drawing a flurry of praise and condemnation before it was officially published. The teacher here, Father Rob Spaulding, points out that a draft was leaked to the press a few days early.

“So clearly it was something there was great interest about,” Spaulding says.

Pope Francis made international headlines last month by calling on the world to proactively address human-caused climate change.

The document, a so-called encyclical, is one of the most important statements a pope can issue.

Shortly after its release, Inside Energy reporter Dan Boyce sat down with Paul Etienne, Catholic Bishop of Cheyenne.

His diocese, or jurisdiction, covers the entire state of Wyoming, the nation’s largest coal producer.

From time to time there are political issues that lead to questions about how much of impact religion has on the Wyoming legislature. The state is heavily dominated by Republicans and many outsiders figure that makes Wyoming’s politicians religiously conservative too. But while many lawmakers say their value systems were influenced by their religious beliefs. How they vote tends to depend on the issue. 

To be clear, religion does play a role on the floor of the legislature. For instance, every day the Wyoming Senate and House of Representatives begins with a prayer.

Nearly 150 years ago, Mormon pioneers set out from the Midwest, bound for Salt Lake City. They walked, pulling their belongings in wooden handcarts. Two groups got a late start and were stranded in Wyoming by a devastating October blizzard. And for the past 20 years, thousands of Mormon teenagers have been returning to that site to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors.

When the blizzard struck on October 19th, 1856, the lagging handcart companies were still weeks from Salt Lake City. More than 200 people died of exhaustion, hunger, and cold.