Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia all punish blasphemy harshly – even with death. Such laws have political as well as religious motives, says a scholar on Islamism: They’re a tool for crushing dissent.
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Trump’s firing of witnesses who testified during his impeachment trial has been described as ‘retribution.’ But these actions are actually revenge, a political scientist says.
After a bribery scandal that took down four presidents and led Congress to dissolve, some Peruvians are putting their faith in an austere religion called the Israelites of the New Universal Pact.
In recent years Bangladesh has seen an increase in attacks on religious minorities. A scholar explains how certain extreme views on how Islam is to be followed are taking center stage in the country.
Spirituals were created out of the experience of enslaved people in the US. They weren’t songs of anger – but of an abiding belief in the victory of good over evil.
China’s Qixi Festival is a celebration of love based on the legend of a mortal who married a goddess, causing his furious mother-in-law to create a Milky Way to divide these two twinkling stars.
In countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain, it’s now official policy that women should go to college and work outside the home. But cultural pressure to marry and have kids remains strong.
Religion was no barrier for Southern lynch mobs intent on terror. White pastors joined the KKK, incited racial violence and took part in lynchings. Sometimes, the victim was a preacher.
A growing number of groups you probably wouldn’t think are churches are opting to be treated like churches. And the government isn’t stopping them.
Early Christians were urged to ‘supervise’ one another. In the present times, that theology is often used by the Vatican for a religious investigation a known as the apostolic visitation.
The curious history of a ritual meant to ward off bad luck.
The International Court of Justice ordered Myanmar to protect its Rohingya minority and preserve any evidence relevant to the genocide charges against it. But compliance is not guaranteed.
In retweeting a doctored image of Nancy Pelosi standing in a hijab in front of an Iranian flag, Trump is playing into fears that Iran and Islam are evil and anti-American.
The Islamic State group, often called ISIS, is not just based in Iraq and Syria. A scholar tracks where the group and its affiliates have spread around the globe.
Puerto Rico was once home to about 110,000 Taínos, an indigenous people decimated by the Spanish conquest. Their ancient homeland was located in the area hit hard by recent earthquakes.
After half a century of ambiguous policy regarding LGBTQ inclusion, the United Methodist Church may well split up in May.
Investment advisers who passed a licensing exam with more ethics questions were one-fourth less likely to engage in misconduct than those with less ethics training, according to a new study.
Dopamine fasting has fast become a fad in the Silicon Valley, as a way to reset the brain’s feel-good chemical. Many religions have advocated fasting for some of the same reasons.
On Holocaust Remembrance Day, a scholar of mass atrocities explains the power of Holocaust images and why these images, despite critiques, ‘humanize suffering’ rather than ‘dehumanize victims.’
The Jewish coming-of-age ritual of bar mitzvah evolved to its current form during the time of Enlightenment, when Jewish families feared losing their traditions.
Top contributors
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Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
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Joseph Panzer Chair in Education and Research Professor of Law, University of Dayton
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Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Jewish Studies, University of Colorado Boulder
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Professor of Classical Studies, Brandeis University
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Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies & Jewish Studies, University of Colorado Boulder
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Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
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Distinguished Professor of Political Science and the Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations, Indiana University
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Professor of Public Theology and Director of The Bernardin Center, Catholic Theological Union
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Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Oregon State University
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University Professor and Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University
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Affliated Scholar at the Women's Studies Research Center, Brandeis University
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Assistant Professor of Political Science, Eastern Illinois University
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Research Fellow, Center for Philosophy and History of Science, Boston University
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Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Tennessee
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Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Rhodes College
