https://politicalresearch.org/ The latest research related to Afghanistan en https://religiondispatches.org/2021/09/09/biggest-lesson-learned-us-war-afghanistan-how-little-weve-learned Twenty years ago, in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 th attacks, President George W. Bush unleashed what he termed the War on Terror that reoriented the geopolitical security paradigm forever. In its wake, the Department of Homeland Security… Thu, 09 Sep 2021 01:30:33 EDT Sara Kamali 90282776-027d-4239-9e96-f6d4b9ca5c45 https://religiondispatches.org/2021/08/25/fake-christian-deflection-and-contrarian-concern-trolling-how-not-write-about Over the last couple of weeks, America’s conservative, mostly white evangelicals have once again generated considerable buzz—and deserved criticism—over their authoritarian attitudes and behaviors. For example, as Christian nationalism has featured prominently at rallies against mask mandates and the Covid… Wed, 25 Aug 2021 05:14:08 EDT Chrissy Stroop 92414ce7-b8dd-4a21-89cd-0a2724e5e381 https://religiondispatches.org/2021/08/24/will-taliban-actually-remain-somewhat-moderate-time Some ten days after the fall of Kabul it’s still not clear how the Taliban will rule. There are several reports of reprisal killings and brutal enforcement of their strict interpretation of Islamic law. But there are also statements of… Tue, 24 Aug 2021 02:54:12 EDT Mark Juergensmeyer 9906b993-e9b2-4606-9a5f-8e49775fa3cc https://religiondispatches.org/2021/08/12/abortion-no-longer-significant-evangelicals-or-has-it-just-become-water In 2018, I published an article here on Religion Dispatches about how abortion is a decisive issue for white evangelical voters. As a young evangelical, it became the single issue that determined my vote: The few times I garnered the… Thu, 12 Aug 2021 02:40:36 EDT Bradley Onishi 059bb6a7-55ac-4942-8566-8ebe40f8d308 https://religiondispatches.org/2021/06/14/another-manufactured-outrage-rep-ilhan-omar-did-nothing-wrong-listing-hamas-israel-and Last week, Representative Ilhan Omar asked Secretary of State Tony Blinken a straightforward question. It was prompted by recent cases brought to the International Criminal Court (ICC) alleging war crimes, or crimes against humanity, by both Israel and Hamas in… Mon, 14 Jun 2021 04:24:23 EDT Joshua Shanes 49021e30-0cdb-4b04-9ae4-2aff4b4d87ee https://religiondispatches.org/2020/07/23/trumps-failure-protect-religious-minorities-afghan-hindus-and-sikhs-face-uncertain On July 19, 2020, The New York Times reported that India had offered to take in Afghan Hindus and Sikhs in an attempt to address the recent violence against those communities whose numbers have been steadily shrinking in Afghanistan. Despite… Thu, 23 Jul 2020 12:52:46 EDT Tejpaul Singh Bainiwal 351d0230-62db-4f4f-b5fc-3875cb7bb92f https://religiondispatches.org/2020/03/25/satanists-want-you-respond-pandemic-compassion-and-reason The Coronavirus is changing America’s religious landscape as social distancing forces most religious communities to cancel in-person services and invent new online forms of worship . One might assume that Satanists would be unaffected by social distancing or even take… Wed, 25 Mar 2020 08:31:52 EDT Joseph Laycock 0b4ead66-9eeb-4798-b17c-17b26cca0487 https://religiondispatches.org/2019/03/06/cpac-president-got-one-thing-he-needed When you center abortion at the cost of all other issues, you center the unborn whose lives are supposedly at stake. The unborn become angels who must be protected at all costs, which means the rest of us—the born and bodied—are of secondary concern at best. Wed, 06 Mar 2019 04:18:54 EST Bradley Onishi 6a001783-b411-41fc-be35-4e6b5dcb9a89 https://religiondispatches.org/2019/02/24/jesus-my-savior-and-i-oppose-bladensburg-cross-memorial The army inquires about soliders’ faiths because it doesn’t assume the people dying to defend this nation are Christian. When one views the cross in that light, it seems antithetical to the ideals for which those same soldiers fought. Sun, 24 Feb 2019 12:50:00 EST Judd Lienhard 7a8aeb6b-6d48-4746-ac65-1704d0f8fcac https://religiondispatches.org/2018/03/05/pro-born-former-evangelical-single-issue-politics-white-christians Abortion is murder. That refrain played in my head as I closed the curtain in the polling booth, the sounds of the social hall echoing around me. The same refrain played every time I convinced myself I’d vote for John… Mon, 05 Mar 2018 03:00:57 EST Bradley Onishi e72747a1-b6ce-40dc-b902-d34382a67f35 https://religiondispatches.org/2018/01/08/reports-death-isis-have-been-greatly-exaggerated When the Iraqi government announced the end of ISIS control over its territory on December 9, 2017, there were a few celebrations in Baghdad. December 10 was proclaimed a public holiday, and a military parade marched down the main streets… Mon, 08 Jan 2018 02:32:38 EST Mark Juergensmeyer 082acd32-1088-483f-9e79-f40b72a5ed35 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/04/11/warpaint-what-does-george-w-bush-see-his-portraits-courage There’s an explosion on nearly every other page of George W. Bush’s Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief’s Tribute to America’s Warriors. Mortar attacks. IEDs. Suicide bombs strapped to children. Bush wrote short essays to accompany each of his… Tue, 11 Apr 2017 11:20:37 EDT Sarah Sentilles c0ef6c52-9189-48d6-a224-9d6c6706bf74 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/03/05/anti-trans-bus-tour-not-very-welcome-spanish-cities-gay-rights-weapon-nationalist-war The Guardian had asked readers for nominations of LGBT rights activists who are making a difference; they’ve now published their LGBT change heroes for 2017. The list includes activists and political leaders from South Africa, Syria, Brazil, Jordan, Pakistan, Turkey… Sun, 05 Mar 2017 11:07:01 EST Peter Montgomery bba3c759-3a43-4ceb-a9ba-2232042a70af https://religiondispatches.org/2017/02/12/hungarian-mayor-wants-import-white-christians-ban-muslims-lgbt-people-global-lgbt-recap February 6 was International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation. US-based anti-LGBT activist Brian Brown traveled to Russia to build support for his new International Organization for the Family and its recently launched manifesto. In Politico, Casey Michel… Sun, 12 Feb 2017 10:41:45 EST Peter Montgomery 537353aa-a05a-4703-a1dd-3df4e213f873 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/10/07/pope-francis-says-teaching-gender-nasty-far-right-religious-groups-helping-mexicos-anti Catholic Church: Pope calls teaching of gender theory “nasty” Pope Francis told reporters that teaching gender theory amounts to unacceptable “indoctrination” of young people. And he spoke about treating gay people with respect. Nicole Winfield reports for Associated Press that… Fri, 07 Oct 2016 04:52:54 EDT Peter Montgomery d17e0301-f0e8-4c69-8648-13bab5cdf3ae https://religiondispatches.org/2016/10/02/two-former-nuns-get-civil-union-italy-kenyan-govt-partners-world-congress-families The President of the Human Rights Council announced this week that he had chosen Vitit Muntarbhorn to fill the newly created position of Independent Expert to investigate violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Muntarbhorn… Sun, 02 Oct 2016 05:56:14 EDT Peter Montgomery 7b10cd59-c097-4700-b355-40a688e1e570 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/09/12/lgbt-activists-challenge-church-anti-marriage-efforts-govt-belize-creates-church-state US Senator & VP candidate says Catholic Church could change on marriage US Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine, a practicing Catholic, spoke on Saturday at the Human Rights Campaign’s annual dinner, at which he said he thought the Church… Mon, 12 Sep 2016 06:34:33 EDT Peter Montgomery 1043fc7e-4efc-4fb2-83b0-c7838c22a06b https://religiondispatches.org/2016/09/02/theology-westboro-worlds-meanest-church-more-picket-signs Why sacrifice so much—money, reputation, friendships, romantic relationships—to this cause? Fri, 02 Sep 2016 07:00:10 EDT Rebecca Barrett-Fox 0f7bd7e6-d838-4fcd-9548-0f15f2693ba9 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/06/22/are-we-living-through-world-war-iii Roger Cohen isn’t the first person to believe Islam is suffering a civil war. What’s actually happening is a lot worse. We’re in the middle of a Third World War. In last week’s column, “ Orlando and Trump’s America,” Roger… Wed, 22 Jun 2016 08:58:51 EDT Haroon Moghul 3c3f412d-13ae-4653-b656-e657a88683b5 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/04/27/countering-countering-violent-extremism-program “P2P: Challenging Extremism” is a new State Department-sponsored program that enlists American college students to combat online extremism. Avi Asher-Schapiro described the scene at a recent P2P event in Washington for VICE News: CJ Drew is a senior at West… Wed, 27 Apr 2016 03:22:27 EDT Elizabeth Shakman Hurd 54d85e34-9e7f-420f-8545-c8966bf90b47 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/03/24/why-zubik-especially-important-women-color The denial of women of color’s reproductive freedom has led to a sizable health disparity relative to white women. Zubik would help maintain that gap. Thu, 24 Mar 2016 02:54:44 EDT Elizabeth Platt, Kira Shepherd 3bb60f6f-3f25-4165-87d7-62bcbf68425c https://religiondispatches.org/2016/03/18/sam-harris-really-white-supremacist By profession, Sam Harris is a brawler. The New Atheist writer has ongoing feuds with Salon, AlterNet, The Guardian, Glenn Greenwald, and plenty of religious leaders. Whether Harris is a brawler because he loves to fight, or because conflict is… Fri, 18 Mar 2016 07:00:20 EDT Andrew Aghapour, Michael Schulson 79cf8171-68fe-4698-b6ca-cc6d5e79151d https://religiondispatches.org/2016/02/12/australias-harsh-refugee-policies-stirring-backlash-malawi-court-sides-pastors-lift The current issue of ILGA-Europe’s Destination EQUALITY magazine focuses on reconciling sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and religion. The magazine includes personal testimonies of LGBT Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists and an interview with Krzysztof Charamsa, the Polish priest and… Fri, 12 Feb 2016 11:07:42 EST Peter Montgomery 20f51a51-4058-4ce6-ba0d-1c36c1f7602a https://religiondispatches.org/2016/01/30/civil-unions-battle-heats-italy-church-leaders-malawi-defend-criminalization Several reports relating to LGBT human rights internationally were released this week: Human Rights Watch released its 659-page World Report 2016, which reviews human rights practices in more than 90 countries, in the context of “the huge flow of refugees… Sat, 30 Jan 2016 11:28:03 EST Peter Montgomery daeef38d-119c-45d4-bb06-617496b0177a https://religiondispatches.org/2016/01/14/third-reconstruction-rev-william-barber-lifts-trumpet Chances are you have heard something about the Rev. William Barber II. He is the giant of a man (in more senses than one) who launched the Moral Mondays movement in North Carolina in 2013—a movement that has since spread… Thu, 14 Jan 2016 07:00:37 EST Peter Laarman 4b874d6a-3cd2-427f-b61d-eccd7d58730a