Welcome to 2022! As we look to the new year, a snapshot of the most-read stories on the Ethics and Religion desk provides a glimpse into what resonated with readers last year.

With mistrust and false claims running rife, a piece that repudiated conspiracy theorists’ claims that the COVID-19 vaccine was linked to the “mark of the beast” – a reference to Satan in the Bible – was read widely. Eric M. Vanden Eykel, a scholar of early Christian literature, provided historical context on how the reference has been used to demonize many things in the past, with the COVID-19 vaccine being but the latest example.

Readers, it appeared, were also looking out to find some joy, so a story on Judaism’s most joyous holiday, Purim, touched a chord. Interestingly, a third piece that got reader attention was on magic. Scholar Shaily Shashikant Patel, explaining the place of magic in early Christianity, wrote about why its appeal lies in “gaining special control over an uncertain world” – a sentiment many of us would relate to in these pandemic times.

After a lengthy period of dealing with long-haul COVID, I was ready to embrace life and its joys in 2021, but then COVID-19 hit my native country of India and I lost some dear friends in its rapid devastation. What resonated for me at the time was a poignant piece from University of Southern California’s David Sloane in which he explained how the emotions of both “grieving” and “wanting to celebrate” can exist at the same time, and that finding moments of happiness does not dishonor our love for our lost dear ones.

Overall, it was stories of hope, light and strength that most appealed to me. A piece that I loved was on the Iranian celebration of welcoming light soon after the winter solstice. I also liked a piece from two Afghan scholars on the long history of Afghan women’s history of resistance and political dissent, which gave context to a common narrative of Muslim women needing to be “saved,” Wazhmah Osman and Helena Zeweri write.

Editor Matt Williams, who moved to cover breaking news after over a year of stellar contributions on Ethics & Religion, writes of his two favorites from his time on the desk: “At a time when the American population is increasingly turning away from organized religion, pro-religious interest groups are seemingly becoming more active. Kristina Lee of Colorado State University wrote about this for us, including an article exploring how Christian nationalists are instituting In God We Trust bills in a bid to encourage what she describes as "theistnormativity” – that is, the process by which a belief in a deity is seen as the American norm, to the exclusion of atheists in political life and the erosion of the line between state and church.

“On the issue of state and church separation, in another piece, scholar Steven Green explored how justices have put religion firmly on a ‘winning streak’ in cases before the highest court of the land. With Roe v. Wade under threat, it will be headline news this year too.”

Molly Jackson, who joined us in August 2021, helped us close the year, as she says, with “a tour de force” – a series of stories we did in partnership with The Associated Press and Religion News Service on women’s spiritual leadership.

On her favorites, Molly writes: “And for something delightfully different? Witches and whales. These were two of the stories I had most fun editing this fall. Never did I expect a pitch about what sorceresses smelled like in ancient literature, but Britta Ager’s piece dives into how views of women, perfume and magic have been intertwined for centuries. Aaron Sachs, meanwhile, writes about "Moby-Dick” as a lesson for our times. Peel back the top layer of this eccentric novel about life on a whaling ship, and there’s a story of resilience and interconnectedness that bears hearing as the world confronts climate change.

As we step into 2022, I hope you can find a bit of magic, lots of joy and the openness to receive each ray of light that comes your way, while we will continue to bring you incisive analysis of events shaping our world.