(ANALYSIS) A scholar visited Taliban-ruled Afghanistan to document the lives and stories of everyday Afghans. What he found is that the Taliban have less authority on the ground than they project to the media, fostering uncertainty about the government’s stability and longevity.
Read MoreThe U.S. State Department is investigating claims that Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area, a refugee resettlement agency in the Washington, D.C., region, has mistreated Afghan refugees.
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 More(OPINION) The persecution and discrimination of the Hazaras group in Afghanistan continue, violently and deadly. This year, unlike other attacks, the international community has shown little interest in holding the perpetrators accountable and providing protection for the victims.
Read MoreAbdul Manan Shiway e-Sharq, the former deputy minister for information and publications of Afghanistan, has relocated to Germany and is continuing his campaign to safeguard his country’s multicultural heritage — and repatriate looted antiquities.
Read More(Opinion) Afghanistan still has major issues when it comes to religious freedom. Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom said, "People are being hunted down and beaten and are threatened with death if they don't betray members of their families who are considered apostates" by the Taliban.
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 MoreThe Light a Candle charity — a project of Sean Feucht, 38-year-old worship leader, political activist and former Republican candidate best known for his 120-city tour of “worship protests” — has raised more than $200,000 for its Afghan Emergency Relief Fund. But the charity has no experience in the country and has provided no concrete plans.
Read More(OPINION) At the end of October, the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute team secured the evacuation of 79 women judges, lawyers, journalists and other human rights defenders from Afghanistan to Greece. But states must also wake up to the message sent by the Taliban and consider other ways they can help.
Read More(OPINION) When faced with such crises as seen in Afghanistan over recent months, there is a need for a variety of actors to provide assistance, including businesses. Businesses can do good and as seen in the case of Airbnb.org their assistance can effectively fill the gaps in humanitarian responses.
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) Hundreds of people who wish to leave remained in Afghanistan and now fear for their lives. Among them are generations of human rights defenders including judges, lawyers, journalists and human rights activists — those who spent years working to make Afghanistan a country that affirms and protects the human rights of all.
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 MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in summary reflects on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Plus, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
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