China has introduced sweeping new regulations that strictly control how clergy from the country’s five state-recognized religions can operate online. The 18-article “Code of Conduct for Religious Clergy on the Internet” bans livestreaming, social media preaching, AI-generated religious content and all online outreach to minors.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Justice cannot be replaced by roads and hostels. The violence in Manipur was not a clash between two aggrieved groups, but the targeting of the Kuki-Zo minority by extremist groups from the majority Meitei community, allegedly backed by the state government. Ignoring the killings and rape sends a message to future perpetrators that violence with political support can be excused or even rewarded.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As Bangladesh grapples with political instability for a year since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee the country following mass student-led protests in August 2024, Islamist radicals have been trying to make a comeback in this South Asian nation of 173 million people.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The international legal team for Jimmy Lai, and his son Sebastien Lai, has submitted a new Urgent Appeal to the United Nations experts in relation to the serious and immediate risk to Jimmy Lai’s life posed by his ongoing detention.
Read MoreIn the cramped lanes of Indian Administered Kashmir’s Jammu's Narwal slum, Kiryani Talab Camp, 8-year-old Noora awakens each morning to the same devastating reality: Her parents are not there to greet her. It is just one of the many stories of children who were separated from their parents a few years ago. “Things have only gotten worse,” one woman said.
Read MoreBlasphemy laws in Pakistan are a set of legislative provisions that forbid statements or actions that are considered offensive to Islam or its sacred figures. These rules inflict severe punishments, including life imprisonment and the death penalty under Section 295-C for defaming the Prophet Muhammad. These laws were expanded during General Zia-ul-Haq’s Islamization of the country.
Read MoreAt a time when more than three billion people worldwide live without access to a local church, International Cooperating Ministries is inviting Christians to help bridge that gap. The Virginia-based missions organization, which has helped construct more than 13,600 permanent church buildings in 110 countries, recently launched its new Community Impact Partners program.
Read MoreIn a country known for its spices, yoga, the Taj Mahal and Hinduism, a movement is taking place to show the world that Christianity came to India as early as the first century CE. Indian Christians believe their history and heritage can be traced back to Saint Thomas the Apostle.
Read More(ESSAY) On Aug. 9, 1945, the U.S. dropped a bomb called “Fat Man” on Urakami, Japan, the most Christian suburb of the most Christian city in Japan: Nagasaki. It is the forgotten bomb, the silent bomb. Hiroshima, being the city where the first nuclear bomb, less powerful than the Nagasaki bomb was detonated, is the atomic bombing that all peace movements acclaim: “No more Hiroshimas!”
Read MoreReligious demand for wildlife products can be just as relentless as demand for items used in traditional medicine, status symbols or investments. From African elephant ivory carved into crucifixes for Catholics to Islamic prayer beads and Coptic crosses to amulets and carvings for Buddhists and Taoists in Thailand, the list is very long.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Britain has named India among 10 countries it will closely monitor for violations of religious freedom as part of a new foreign policy strategy. The move links the United Kingdom’s international relations more directly with the defence of freedom of religion or belief.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Strolling through the streets of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, one easily gets the impression of walking through multiple cities at once.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Anime and Religious Identity: Cultural Aesthetics in Japanese Spiritual Worlds helps students explore questions of meaning, ethics and belief that anime brings to life. It examines themes such as what happens when the past resurfaces? What does it mean to carry the weight of responsibility? And how can suffering become a path to transformation?
Read More(ANALYSIS) Operation Kalanemi comes dangerously close to the kind of state control over religion seen in countries like China and Vietnam, where the state tightly controls religious activity by licensing clergy, approving sermons and monitoring places of worship, allowing only state-recognized versions of religion to function. Without clear laws, fair process and respect for constitutional limits, this drive in Uttarakhand risks turning the police into arbiters of faith — something a secular democracy cannot allow.
Read MoreOn India’s busy streets, vehicles adorned with Hindu symbols are more than just modes of transport — they have increasingly become mobile expressions of political and religious identity. The proliferation of these Hindu stickers has transformed everyday commuting, a phenomenon deeply intertwined with rising religious tensions.
Read More(ANALYSIS) This is a mountainous and, until recently, remote area that is culturally and historically distinct from the rest of India. It is also the most thoroughly Baptist region in the world. For example, the church in Mon, a town of approximately 17,000 people, is the largest Baptist church in Asia. It dwarfs surrounding buildings and can seat 10,000 worshippers.
Read More(REVIEW) “Squid Game” is a series that’s no stranger when it comes to weaving religious imagery into its narrative. Season 3 culminates that thread with both subtle and striking references, particularly when it comes to Christian symbolism. The season, it turns out, is more parable than sermon. The six episodes that form the final season are bloodier than ever.
Read More(ANALYSIS) A new study has found nearly 950 hate-related incidents in India during the first year of the main ruling party’s third term. Religious minorities, especially Muslims and Christians, were the main targets of violence and hate speech. This rise in unchecked and largely unpunished hostility should concern all citizens.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Taiwan’s international rating on freedom of religion is undisputedly very high. The 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom, published by the U.S. Department of State, also noted Taiwan’s constitutional protection of the freedom of religion as well as the diversity of religious beliefs, but questions are asked about how freely can one practice their religion.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On June 11, 2025, a nongovernmental organization, Global Rights Compliance, published findings of their investigation into the issue of Western companies linked to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) critical minerals industry in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
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