Though Portuguese missionaries first established the Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 1491, it was only under Belgian colonial rule in the late 1880s that missionaries arrived en masse, founding schools and hospitals a...
In December 2015, Donald Trump called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Once president, he would enact this proposal to the best of his ability, banning immigrants from several Muslim-majority countries. U...
Georgia Frank is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Religion at Colgate University. She is a specialist in early Christianity, especially in Greek-speaking communities during the fourth through seventh centuries. Her research focuses on the inters...
The past two months have been especially traumatic for Europe’s approximately 1.4 million Jews. On February 15th, a gunman attacked a Jewish synagogue in Copenhagen that was celebrating a bar mitzvah, killing a Jewish security guard. In January, fo...
The past two months have been especially traumatic for Europe’s approximately 1.4 million Jews. On February 15th, a gunman attacked a Jewish synagogue in Copenhagen that was celebrating a bar mitzvah, killing a Jewish security guard. In January, fo...
It isn’t unusual for the president’s words to be analyzed and criticized. The propensity of Americans to routinely invoke their First Amendment rights against their chief executive makes it seem like a national pastime. As the leader of the natio...
It isn’t unusual for the president’s words to be analyzed and criticized. The propensity of Americans to routinely invoke their First Amendment rights against their chief executive makes it seem like a national pastime. As the leader of the natio...
Jonathan Chait’s recent article in New York Magazine asserts that “political correctness” is the downfall of political discourse. However, his argument ignores the important rise of identity politics and the corresponding shift in cultural view...
Jonathan Chait’s recent article in New York Magazine asserts that “political correctness” is the downfall of political discourse. However, his argument ignores the important rise of identity politics and the corresponding shift in cultural view...
A Pew Research graphic illustrating the religious makeup of the 114th Congress, via the Pew Research Center. Do American politicians see themselves as American Jews or Jewish Americans? That question, and the cultural stigmas behind it, presents thes...
A Pew Research graphic illustrating the religious makeup of the 114th Congress, via the Pew Research Center. Do American politicians see themselves as American Jews or Jewish Americans? That question, and the cultural stigmas behind it, presents thes...
According to the president of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, Europe is experiencing its worst wave of anti-Semitism since World War II. Media saturation of conflicts in Israel seem to correspond to increases of anti-Semitic violence in Europe. ...
According to the president of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, Europe is experiencing its worst wave of anti-Semitism since World War II. Media saturation of conflicts in Israel seem to correspond to increases of anti-Semitic violence in Europe. ...
Since the College of Cardinals elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio to the papacy, the global community has been eager to see if Pope Francis, who seemed far more liberal than his modern predecessors, would transform the Church in a significant way. As a So...
Since the College of Cardinals elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio to the papacy, the global community has been eager to see if Pope Francis, who seemed far more liberal than his modern predecessors, would transform the Church in a significant way. As a So...
In a nation founded on a premise of religious freedom, politicians are struggling with a new dimension of faith: atheism. The United States is one of the most religious of the Western industrialized nations. A 2011 Pew Research Poll found that 50 per...
In a nation founded on a premise of religious freedom, politicians are struggling with a new dimension of faith: atheism. The United States is one of the most religious of the Western industrialized nations. A 2011 Pew Research Poll found that 50 per...
Like a funhouse mirror for American society, Fred Phelps reflected and distorted American ideals in ways that were uncomfortable and even embarrassing. At news of his death on March 19, however, joyous tweets and blog posts were abound. Catapulted in...
Like a funhouse mirror for American society, Fred Phelps reflected and distorted American ideals in ways that were uncomfortable and even embarrassing. At news of his death on March 19, however, joyous tweets and blog posts were abound. Catapulted in...
The idea of religious liberty has enjoyed many roles in American society — throughout our nation’s history it has been the object of vituperative disagreement, the inspiration for liberals and conservatives alike and the fodder for countless soci...
The idea of religious liberty has enjoyed many roles in American society — throughout our nation’s history it has been the object of vituperative disagreement, the inspiration for liberals and conservatives alike and the fodder for countless soci...
In 2009, a bill was introduced in the Ugandan parliament that called for the arrest of LGTBQ Ugandans and specifically targeted “homosexual acts.” It imposed a minimum five-year imprisonment for the “promotion of homosexuality” with the possi...
In 2009, a bill was introduced in the Ugandan parliament that called for the arrest of LGTBQ Ugandans and specifically targeted “homosexual acts.” It imposed a minimum five-year imprisonment for the “promotion of homosexuality” with the possi...
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the United Nations in 1979. It has since been signed by all but seven nations: Iran, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, the United States, Palau and Tonga...
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the United Nations in 1979. It has since been signed by all but seven nations: Iran, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, the United States, Palau and Tonga...
On October 1, Muslims in the coastal village of Thabyuchaing in the northwest of Burma fled into the surrounding forests as their homes were torched and left to burn by a sword-wielding Buddhist mob. Not everyone was lucky enough to escape: five Musl...
On October 1, Muslims in the coastal village of Thabyuchaing in the northwest of Burma fled into the surrounding forests as their homes were torched and left to burn by a sword-wielding Buddhist mob. Not everyone was lucky enough to escape: five Musl...