The Grand Imam of al Azhar says religious differences between Christianity and Islam have never been the basis of wars. Instead, the two religions had been exploited to make it appear so. “We believe with certainty that Islam and Christianity have never been the origin of wars and conflicts, but rather religious faiths represent the Read more
Christians in the communist nation of Laos continue to face discrimination, harassment and ridicule over their beliefs. “They say in our village that there is no Christian god and that our ancestors were all animist,” a villager living in mountainous northern Laos recently told Radio Free Asia. Christianity is little understood among many Laotians, most Read more
Fifty years ago, many observers of American religion assumed that secularization would gradually wash traditional Christianity away. Twenty years ago, Christianity looked surprisingly resilient, and so the smart thinking changed: maybe there was an American exception to secularizing trends, or maybe a secularized Europe was the exception and the modernity-equals-secularization thesis was altogether wrong. Now Read more
An ancient faith is disappearing from the lands in which it first took root; the Middle East. At stake is not just a religious community, but the fate of pluralism in the region. The call came in 2014, shortly after Easter. Four years earlier, Catrin Almako’s family had applied for special visas to the United Read more
Perceptions of Christianity in New Zealand get shaped by the most extreme voices. So who else could the media go to for comment? Quick, name the most prominent New Zealander you can think of who is a Christian. Chances are if you follow the news at all, that the first name that comes to mind Read more
John Allen Chau’s life could be summed up in two sentences, according to his family. He loved God. And he had “nothing but love for the Sentinelese people.” Chau, a young missionary from the United States, was killed on Nov. 17 while illegally attempting to invade the land of the North Sentinel Islanders, an indigenous Read more
If you think religion belongs to the past and we live in a new age of reason, you need to check out the facts: 84% of the world’s population identifies with a religious group. Members of this demographic are generally younger and produce more children than those who have no religious affiliation, so the world Read more
After assessing Christian missionary efforts from 1668 to 1950, researchers claim to have found the spread of Christianity in the Pacific was driven more by the influence of political leaders than grassroots empowerment. This challenges one of the most widely cited reasons for Christianity’s popularity, that it spread from the “bottom-up” by empowering lower classes Read more
Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther, a German monk, initiated a split in Christianity that came to be known as the Protestant Reformation. After the Reformation, deep divisions between Protestants and Catholics contributed to wars, hostility and violence in Europe and America. For centuries, each side denounced the other and sought to convert its followers. Then, in the early 1900s, Read more
Which is generally more often to blame if a person is poor: lack of effort on their own part or difficult circumstances beyond their control? The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation asked 1,686 American adults to answer that question — and found that religion is a significant predictor of how Americans perceive poverty. Read more