This week while much of the media dissected why some Christians were drawn to QAnon, investigated pastors’ links to the rioters, and examined the Christian symbols present in photos from the protest, smaller but important stories slipped through the cracks.
Read MoreThe World Watch List 2021, a list compiled by Open Doors, an international NGO advocating on behalf of persecuted Christians, paints a concerning picture of the situation Christians face around the world. The most likely and violent place for Christians to be located is in North Korea, though the list grows daily as countries shift towards religious persecution.
Read MoreThe landmark mansion built 88 years ago by Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the notorious mufti of Jerusalem who spent much of World War II in Berlin as a Nazi collaborator and war criminal, is slated to become a synagogue in a future 56-apartment Jewish neighborhood in east Jerusalem. The Israeli settler organization Ateret Cohanim is backing the project.
Read More(OPINION) In some countries, the lack of religious freedom and the threat of Christian persecution casts a dark shadow across Christmas festivities and celebrations. It is not unusual for fanatical, iron-fisted governments to make the Advent season a time of intensified fear and real danger. Many Christians, despite their faith and devotion, have little opportunity to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Read MoreJust in time for Christmas, archaeologists at the Temple Mount Sifting Project (TMSP) in Jerusalem have sorted through tons of ancient garbage and landfill to recreate the ornate floor tiles which Jesus trod on when he came on pilgrimage to King Herod’s Second Temple.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh ended on Nov. 9 after Russia brokered a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Now Armenian heritage organizations worry historical churches and other religious sites will be destroyed.
Read MoreWorldwide, religious leaders are making headlines in secular society for the realms where their faiths clash with the political.
Read MoreCardinals, archbishops and other clerical leaders of the Catholic Church from around the world have penned a flurry of letters and official statements in the wake of the ground-breaking McCarrick report that concludes while many in the Vatican hierarchy had known for years about sexual abuse allegations against ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick and not removed him, Pope Francis was not complicit.
Read MoreShelling between Armenia and Azerbaijan continues. In the meantime, Christian charities provide care to victims of the violence in the region.
Read More(OPINION) The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) is a new regional government that has become known as a defender of religious freedom and equality. The area is under particular threat, particularly neighboring Turkey.
Read More(OPINION) Jewish ritual purity baths have become a flashpoint in Israel’s struggle to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Many are continuing to go and not wearing masks in the process.
Read More(OPINION) Now, more than 25 years after the rather unclear resolution of a 1994 conflict—and emerging in the notoriously painful year 2020—the Armenia/Artsakh vs. Azerbaijan conflict has flared up again. And this time—tragically—Turkey’s Islamist President Tayyip Erdogan has powerfully entered the fray.
Read More(OPINION) The United Nation’s International Day of the Girl Child uplifts young girls in countries where they are historically oppressed, many of them as religious minorities, to rise above gender-based violence, harmful practices and HIV and AIDS. This turns them away from harmful practices like child marriage.
Read MorePopular pilgrimage destinations like Jerusalem and Rome have seen a massive drop in religious travelers, especially during Passover, Easter and this past summer.
Read More(OPINION) A recent four-year national study by Ohio State University, North Carolina State University and Interfaith Youth Core traced how Muslim college students saw Jews from the beginning to end of their college experiences. The results are both encouraging and unsettling.
Read More(OPINION) Recent cases from Pakistan show how religious minority women and girls are abducted, forcibly converted, forcibly married and abused. This is a systemic, idealogical issue rather than isolated incidents.
Read More(OPINION) Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have announced major peace agreements with Israel, with Oman hinting it will join an agreement next, easing tensions and increasing economic opportunities in the Middle East. The peace agreements, with Israel promising not to annex the holy lands in Judea and Samaria, could mean not just long-elusive peace between Palestinians and Israelis but also increasing religious freedom across the region.
Read More(OPINION) The Christ Pantocrator, an icon preserved in a montasery by Mount Sinai, is one of the most famous depictions of Jesus. Portrayed as a Palestinian man in this image, the Pantocrator speaks to the political implications of dicussing Jesus’s race.
Read MoreRead the prologue of “The Road From Raqqa: A Story Of Brotherhood, Borders And Belonging”, a non-fiction story about two brothers from Raqqa, Syria.
Read MoreIn the heart of Beirut’s downtown, the recent explosion is not the first blast Saint Elias Cathedral has survived. The cathedral has witnessed several wars in Lebanon and has a special symbolism as a sanctuary not only for Christians, but also Muslims who gather annually for a Ramadan feast hosted by the cathedral’s community. Father Agapios, priest of the church, spoke to Religion Unplugged about surviving the blast and his hope for Lebanon.
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