(ANALYSIS) As the situation in the country continues to deteriorate, important questions must be asked about where to go from here. What is the future of Afghanistan for women and religious minorities?
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What happens in this New Jersey town can have ramifications for the whole country: The Fellowship of Christian Athletes has filed a federal lawsuit against a district, alleging the district unlawfully barred outside volunteers from attending religious student clubs.
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Dozens of Christians connected to Iran Alive Ministries have been killed and hundreds arrested amid escalating persecution in Iran, ministry leaders report. Despite imprisonment, surveillance and criminalization of Christian broadcasts, the underground church continues growing, with thousands reportedly converting to Christianity and imprisoned believers sharing the Gospel.
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(ANALYSIS) News from around the world gives little hope for the prospects of addressing violence based on religion or belief — nations need to act now in accordance with UN policies to ensure everyone has freedom of religion.
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They’ve survived ISIS, genocides and persecution. Their homeland has been destroyed. Now the Yazidis in Iraq are rallying together to build their own soccer stadium — a symbol of resilience and hope despite their difficult past.
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(ANALYSIS) The Pentagon needs to define America’s religious categories due to chaplains’ responsibility to handle the spiritual needs of soldiers as effectively as possible. The problem is that Americans’ religious choices are pretty much uncountable.
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Terrorism that began in northeast Nigeria with the founding of Boko Haram in 2002 spread to the northwest, has become common in the Middle Belt and is now spreading to southern Nigeria — leaving safe for daily living only perhaps 20 to 40 percent of Nigeria, the largest nation in Africa and the sixth most populous in the world. Nigeria is the deadliest country for believers globally.
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(REVIEW) Are humans really all that different than primates? Harvard primatologist Christine Webb blends science, philosophy and legal developments to challenge humanity’s presumed supremacy over nature. Drawing on evolution, animal cognition research and Indigenous worldviews, she argues that consciousness extends beyond humans.
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Christian Chinese human rights lawyer Wu Shaoping, who represented persecuted religious believers and other victims of government repression before fleeing China, was released on bond July 24. He had spent nine days in federal immigration custody despite having been granted asylum in the U.S.
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(ANALYSIS) What began as an exercise movement of primarily older adults in China’s northeast has proved to provide the largest, best-organized and most-sustained resistance to Chinese government rule since the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
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(ANALYSIS) A leaderless protest movement in New Delhi has evolved into a broader rejection of the divisive politics associated with Hindu nationalism. Sparked by a police crackdown, demonstrators have created an unusually inclusive public space where people of different faiths, castes, genders and backgrounds gather in solidarity.
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Move over history, crime and literature. Escape room themes featuring faith and the Bible are taking over in the United Kingdom. Churches and social groups are turning to this popular leisure activity and using it to challenge people to think about spirituality, life and even their connections with science.
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(OPINION) The problem is not that Christians care about justice or participate in public life. The problem arises when Christianity becomes a vehicle for advancing political agendas.
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Father Vladimiras Seliavko risked everything when he decided to condemn the Russian war against Ukraine. As a result, his parishioners turned into his enemies, his relatives abandoned him and he was branded a traitor. On the other hand, he said it was impossible to be a priest who blesses war criminals.
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(ANALYSIS) For Iran’s Baha’i community, the country’s latest political upheaval has revived a painful historical pattern: Whenever the Islamic Republic faces existential pressure, one of its first responses is to intensify its campaign against vulnerable religious minorities. The case of Peyvand Naimi and his cousin Borna Naimi illustrates this dynamic.
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Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, is one of Africa’s most religious nations. In fact, about 90 percent identify as Christian. However, faith in the kingdom is far from uniform. A king and queen hold absolute power, but it is used to help integrate cultures and foster inter-religious understanding.
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(ANALYSIS) A new international Community-Based Truth Commission will examine the failure to deliver justice for Yazidis after the genocide of 2014. Scheduled for hearings in Berlin this year, it will hear survivor testimony and propose pathways to accountability, including universal jurisdiction and possible international tribunal mechanisms.
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(ANALYSIS) What is happening in Argentina today is not a judicial process. It is the slow destruction of a human being under the guise of legality.
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It’s the conflict that seems to never end — and Americans have shifted their opinions on it. Following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, a messy war ensued in Gaza. Americans fiercely debated which side, if any, the U.S. should align with. After almost three years of war, researchers have been able to gauge how American sentiments about Israel, Palestine and Hamas have changed over time.
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(REVIEW) Shahbaz Bhatti united religious and ethnic minorities in Pakistan to bring about greater equality in the nation — until he was assassinated for his work. A new graphic novel about him is tragic and moving, but it also lacks narrative depth and character development.
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