(REVIEW) Manga has always been a medium in which the ordinary and the extraordinary coexist. A playground can become a site of spiritual encounter, a forest can conceal ancient powers and a familiar creature can reveal a universe of supernatural possibilities.
Read MoreChristians make up roughly 1% of Japan’s population, and churches are increasingly multicultural, welcoming immigrants from neighboring countries. However, national politics have taken a decidedly nationalistic turn in recent years — worrying Christians that they will once again be ostracized and even face persecution.
Read MoreDay after day, the senator-judges begin proceedings by asking God for the same things — truth, wisdom, justice and freedom from bias. As they prepare to decide Vice President Sara Duterte’s fate, those prayers have become an implicit measure of the responsibility they have assumed: To turn appeals for divine guidance into a verdict determined by evidence, law and conscience.
Read More(ESSAY) Beliefs and expectations shape our reality. Maybe nothing really spooky happened to either of us. We were just trying to explain the world with what we knew. For both of us, that knowledge was informed by Taiwanese culture, religion and superstition. Our reactions told us something about the world around us — but maybe even more so, they said something about ourselves.
Read More(ANALYSIS) For hundreds of years, people from different religious traditions across South Asia have retold the “Ramayana” through dramas, narrative poems, shadow puppet plays, pageants, folk songs, comics, television shows and many other mediums. Director Nitesh Tiwari’s upcoming “Ramayana” film is the latest retelling of this epic tradition.
Read More(ANALYSIS) A team of researchers from Sivas Cumhuriyet University in Turkey is investigating a long-standing claim: That a boat-shaped geological formation in the country’s east contains the remains of Noah’s Ark. In the Book of Genesis, God decides to destroy the world with a flood. Following God’s instructions, Noah builds an ark to save himself, his family and animals of every kind.
Read MoreFindings are based on several data sets, including surveys distributed in seven languages to experts in 100 countries, in-depth interviews with country-specific experts, and onsite visits to select countries to verify data and collect additional information, as well as established resources including the World Christian Database, the World Watch List and World Development Bank indicators.
Read More(TRAVEL) We Bangaloreans are just a stone’s throw away from a place of worship. And if one threw a stone, chances are it would probably land on one of the beautiful, iconic places of worship in Bangalore. Or perhaps the stone might get stuck in one of the many traffic jams.
Read MoreFarmers were not burning fields out of ignorance about the harm it caused — they were burning because it was what they had always seen done. The answer? The connecting of agricultural lessons with spiritual truths. For Delhi, whose winter air quality crisis is inseparable from what happens in Punjab’s fields each October, that lesson carries direct and urgent relevance.
Read MoreBuddhism is experiencing a revival in northern Bangladesh as thousands of Indigenous Oraon people have embraced the faith since the mid-1990s. Supporters see it as a return to an ancient religious heritage, though the movement faces challenges, including a shortage of monks and criticism from some religious leaders.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Hundreds of pilgrims traveling to Mount Kailash were among those affected by devastating floods that struck the Nepal–Tibet border on Aug. 26. The floods destroyed the border crossing most commonly used to reach what is arguably the most revered holy mountain in the world, which sits in the Tibet autonomous region of China.
Read More(TRAVEL) I recently returned from leading an educational program in Thailand focusing on how Buddhists practice the religion in their day-to-day lives. The participants — Buddhist practitioners from North America and Europe — wanted to deepen their understanding and practice of the religion.
Read More(ESSAY) Taiwanese religious culture is a unique mix of Chinese Buddhism, Taoism and other Southeast Asian influences — and this blending is especially apparent at Taiwanese funerals. Now, as fewer Taiwanese folks have kids, raising pets instead, we can get a new perspective on these rites by observing the relatively new phenomenon of traditional pet funerals.
Read MoreChinaAid is seeking 100,000 signatures petitioning President Donald Trump to urge Pastor John Cao’s safe passage to the U.S. when President Xi Jinping visits Washington in September.
Read More(ANALYSIS) India’s religious diversity has deep historical roots, reflected in the experiences of Hindu soldier Sitaram Pande and Muslim poet Mirza Ghalib. Their writings portray sacred landscapes shaped by multiple traditions while revealing identities that crossed religious boundaries, challenging contemporary claims that religious purity justifies anti-minority rhetoric or violence.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Today, amid Japan’s shrinking population and anti-immigrant sentiment, it might be jarring to remember that there once were hopes that the island nation would be the anti-colonial leader of the world’s Muslims and that some of Asia’s Muslims dreamed of an “Islamic Republic of Japan.”
Read More(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.
Read MoreCan an anti-conversion law protect indigenous culture, or does it threaten religious freedom? In this documentary, Newsreel Asia producer Harshita Rathore travels to Arunachal Pradesh to understand the decades-long debate surrounding the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act of 1978.
Read More(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.
Read MoreAs global headlines celebrated the release of one prominent Chinese minister, the wife of another pastor is pleading with the world not to forget those still jailed in China. “Zion Church has eight leaders still detained,” said Sister Su Ziming, wife of Pastor Wang Lin, who leads Beijing Zion Church alongside the recently released Pastor Ezra Jin. “Our family and the others all eagerly await reunion.”
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