(ANALYSIS) An inquiry was convened to respond to the ever-growing marginalization of women and girls in Afghanistan and Iran, which closely resembles segregation. Women and girls in those countries are treated as second-class citizens, deprived of their freedoms and forced to adhere to strict dress codes under the threat of severe punishments.
Read MoreAmid the chilly winter winds sweeping through Pakistan's unsettled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the election campaign for the Peoples Party of Pakistan's candidate Dr. Saveera Parkash is in full swing. The wind is not the only thing sweeping across the region, change is as well. In fact, Parkash’s candidacy is historic for several reasons.
Read MoreThe chaos at the end of a long war. The frenzy to leave a troubled homeland. The challenge of a new and different culture. Hong Kluver identifies closely with the Afghan refugees she has worked so hard to help. In their experiences, she sees herself.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On Aug. 15, 2021, the Taliban entered Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and took control of the country. Subsequent months have seen severe restrictions on the rights of women and girls, religious minorities and much more.
Read More(OPINION) Violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief, including in their most egregious manifestations, whether crimes against humanity, war crimes or even genocide, are not issues left behind in 2022, or in the past. The early days of 2023 already show that such violations will continue.
Read MoreGlenn Beck, the conservative LDS Church media star, helped raise $35 million for his two charities, Mercury One and the Nazarene Fund, to pay for evacuations of Afghans amid the U.S. withdrawal of troops. The organizations are claiming they evacuated 12,000 people but have provided few details about how the money has been spent.
Read More(OPINION) Since the Taliban assumed control in Afghanistan, it has slipped more deeply into a humanitarian crisis, exacerbated by a tanking economy, skyrocketing poverty and widespread unemployment. The Taliban’s ideology and system of government solidifies their view that non-Muslims are disloyal enemies and infidels, which the Taliban use to justify killing and violence.
Read More(OPINION) President Biden’s refusal to pursue a calculated diplomatic and military procedure for the U.S. departure inspired the Taliban’s terrorist leaders, who immediately seized lethal power over Afghanistan’s hapless, hopeless population. Today, Afghanistan is the world’s No. 1 worst persecutor of Christians.
Read MoreA Virginia church collaborated with a grassroots volunteer organization known as NoVa RAFT, which stands for Northern Virginia Resettling Afghan Families Together. That group has helped set up nearly 200 Afghan refugee homes with furniture, beds, kitchenware, linens and other household items.
Read MoreOf the 7.6 billion people on Earth, 2.4 billion identify as Christian, 1.9 billion as Muslim, 1.2 billion as Hindu and more than 500 million as Buddhist. Those are just the four largest religions. In other words, 310 million in the U.S. do not necessarily constitute the epicenter for all religion in the world. If anything, religion in America is a unique outlier.
Read More(REVIEW) The latest Hollywood blockbuster “Dune,” a space opera based on Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel of the same name, is essentially a philosophical thought experiment that asks, How would Islam adapt and change thousands of years into the future on a distant desert planet? By projecting into the future, the film highlights our present reality.
Read More(OPINION) Oct. 11 is the International Day of the Girl Child, a day to empower empower young girls and promise them a better future. In August 2021, all these promises, plans, dreams and hopes came crashing down one by one until there was nothing left. Afghan girls have watched as every piece of the country was taken over by the Taliban.
Read More(OPINION) The big question: Where does the Afghanistan story go next, and frankly, will elite American media cover the religion elements of this story? That question was at the heart of a recent Religion Unplugged podcast discussion.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As the Taliban and the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate are taking over the country, the International Criminal Court says it will investigate crimes as they happen for better monitoring and evidence collection. The move may also trigger quicker action and response from international actors after atrocities happen.
Read More(OPINION) Religious minorities in Afghanistan — Sikhs, Hindus, Ahmadis and Christians — still need help to flee the Taliban. Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have intimated that they will allow these Afghans across their borders but only if their transit to other countries is confirmed, a step that the U.S. and U.K. must take quickly.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The land we now call Afghanistan has been a place of constant migration through its mountainous passes. Its linguistic, cultural and religious diversity is a result of millennia of trade along the Silk Road. Afghanistan’s fall to the Taliban means that some minorities are again at heightened risk of persecution.
Read More(OPINION) Today, innumerable dangers are posed by the radical Islamist beliefs of the Taliban. And yet, in more than a few reports and discussions, terrorism is noted while the profoundly religious nature of the new Afghan government remains unaddressed.
Read More(OPINION) We went into Afghanistan 20 years ago to punish the Taliban, and now, thousands of lives and trillions of dollars later, the Taliban run the country. This is as stinging as it is humiliating. And yet it reminds us of a sobering reality: Until Jesus returns, there will always be evil on the planet.
Read More(OPINION) Reporting on the Taliban’s rise must understand the rigid form of Islam that dominates Afghan culture. In rural villages across the countryside, where most live, mullahs with rudimentary schooling are part of the influential elite establishment.
Read MoreOne of the families at the gate of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul Thursday had gone there with papers John and Jan Bradley helped them acquire and a letter the retired Air Force general had written for them. As of late Thursday afternoon, the news from Afghanistan was not good. And not clear.
Read More
