“My stories for Religion Unplugged are important because they offer readers a nuanced understanding of a complex region often reduced to simplistic narratives,” Iqbal said. “The website amplifies original, deeply reported stories that reveal how religion has become central to social and political developments.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) There are moments in our national life when a legal controversy reveals something deeper than a dispute over statutes or precedent. It exposes a fracture in our shared moral imagination — a failure to recognize what is sacred to communities whose ways of life do not mirror our own. The struggle for Oak Flat in Arizona's Tonto National Forest is one of those moments.
Read MoreDespite cannabis's central role in Rastafarian worship, adherents face persistent criminalization and face a minimum 10-year prison term for simple possession. Police raids on tabernacles remain routine across Kenya, with officers confiscating plants, destroying drums and sometimes forcibly cutting dreadlocks. Now, adherents are trying to legalize it.
Read MoreOne of Christianity’s last strongholds in the Middle East is rapidly losing Christians, who are fleeing the country after years of wars and economic failures. Pope Leo XIV visited Lebanon earlier this month to encourage the nation’s young Catholics. But local young adults say it could be too little, too late.
Read MoreEven though Emmanuel Ngona Ngotsi was appointed by Pope Francis as the bishop of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Wamba Diocese in January 2024 and consecrated eight months later by Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, he has yet to fully assume his role. Although Ngotsi is Congolese, Wamba clergy and laity still see him as an “outsider” because he is not a native of the area.
Read More(ANALYSIS) These films give us hints as to potential “whys” behind rising Western antisemitism. When you look at the lessons the historical dramas teach, and the movies made about their legacy today, you see deep tensions. These tensions suggest that some of the popular secular lessons our culture has derived from the Holocaust are also planting the seeds of its rejection.
Read MoreIt was a stunning reversal of fortunes. In October, Lazarus Chakwera, Malawi’s charismatic preacher-turned-politician who once promised to “serve both God and the people,” lost his presidential re-election bid to long-time rival Peter Mutharika, who was formerly president himself from 2014 to 2020.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Until the 1960s, Quebec was the most religious part of North America. Now it is home to an aggressive secularist government that, on Nov. 27, introduced a proposed law, Bill 9, that would outlaw public prayer. For several centuries, religious minorities faced discrimination and, until the 1960s, Jehovah's Witnesses were still being arrested for their refusal to salute the flag.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The 2025 Story of the Year in religion is obviously the surprise May 8 election of the first Pope from the United States, Leo XIV. The second-place story, less publicized but important, is the Oct. 16 proclamation of a planned split among the world’s 97 million Anglican Christians over their anguishing dispute on the Bible and sexual morality.
Read MoreThe hit series “Stranger Things” has become one of the biggest shows ever streamed on Netflix. The series, featuring a nostalgic mix of 1980s pop culture, government conspiracies and creatures from another dimension, have captivated millions. “Stranger Things” is not a religious series, but reminds viewers faith can take many forms.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In Laos, Christian burials are barred from cemeteries, churches have to find improvised worship spaces, and Christians are often pressured to engage in activities that go against their religion. And with neighboring China’s new influence, it may get even worse.
Read MoreAt a Delhi temple, Afghan Sikhs gather in prayer, their voices rising in unison, yet their hearts weighed down with longing for a homeland they were forced to leave. Among them is Daya Singh. He fled Afghanistan twice — first in 1992 when the Taliban seized control, and again in 2006 after facing persecution for being Sikh.
Read MoreFor more than a decade, Hindu businessman Balwant Rathore and his Muslim partner Mohammad Harun have run their shop together. Then, without warning, they were told to vacate their shop. Blaming “Love Jihad”, a Hindu nationalist leader’s son ordered Muslims to leave the market.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Mamdani is America’s first high-profile Muslim office-holder. The campaign’s competing accusations of “antisemitism” versus “Islamophobia” raise obvious concerns for Muslims, and for Jews, for whom New York has long been the most important town west of Tel Aviv. Signals are mixed on whether the Mamdani era will improve, or worsen, relations between these communities.
Read MoreIt’s been occupied twice by military forces; it’s been expanded to house Franciscan friars, and these days, it’s part museum, part sacred space. The Church of San Francisco’s building tells the history of its host city, La Paz. Founded in 1549, the church is best known by the name of the founder of the Franciscans, which was one of the first orders to arrive with the Spanish conquerors.
Read MoreLa Basílica y Convento de San Francisco, fundados en el siglo XVI, son un símbolo fundamental de la identidad paceña. Reconstruida tras el colapso de su primera estructura, la actual iglesia barroca mestiza se erigió entre 1743 y 1800. A lo largo de la historia, el complejo fue ocupado por fuerzas independentistas y remodelado varias veces, siendo declarado monumento nacional en 1967.
Read MoreA group of faith leaders has sent a letter to President Donald Trump thanking him for his recent designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) It would be a mistake to assume that everyone in these movements adheres to one viewpoint, or is interested only in stopping abortion. In reality, there are many motivations that lead to people using the phrase “pro-life.” When reporters asked Pope Leo, he said, “It’s important to look at many issues that are related to the teachings of the church.”
Read MoreThe shrine, once crowded day and night with devotees, now stands eerily deserted. For weeks, it has remained sealed as a crime scene after a mob attack left one of his followers dead. Since August 2024, more than 100 shrines have been attacked or vandalized, according to rights groups.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Oversight Board, a body making precedent-setting content moderation decisions on the social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and Threads, issued a decision calling on Meta to mitigate information asymmetries in armed conflicts. The Oversight Board is a body examining whether Meta’s decisions are in line with its policies, values and human rights commitments.
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