Covering, and Questioning, Anti-Christian Persecution If you report on religion long enough, you’re bound to be called an anti-Christian bigot at some point in time. In my 14 years of reporting, I’ve been labeled an atheist agent for my coverage of a book on how Jesus may have been a vegetarian, denounced as a prejudiced partisan as I covered instances of clergy abuse in Houston, Texas, and much worse for my writing on neo-Nazi ideology and racism among Lutherans in... Read more
Most of last week I spent in meetings in and around Washington DC where the intermingling of politics and religion was on high display. U.S. Vice President JD Vance spoke at the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit and President Donald Trump addressed the National Prayer Breakfast. I pursued my doctorate in the sociology of religion in part to understand why the relationship between politics and religion is often uneasy. For example, New York Catholic archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan gave a... Read more
Governments Use Religion for Control And Media Fails Many governments use religion to strengthen their power. The Russian government links Orthodox Christianity to national pride, reinforcing authority and discouraging dissent. Only government-approved religious groups in China are allowed, and those who worship outside these rules face harsh restrictions. Yet, major news outlets rarely focus on how faith is used this way. We must ask ourselves. Are some stories ignored because they don’t fit our views? Have we become so set in... Read more
The Role of Media in Exposing and Combating Religious Persecution Religious persecution is not just a relic of history—it is a painful reality today for millions of people across the world. Among the most targeted communities are Muslims in countries like India, China, and Myanmar, where systematic oppression, legal discrimination, and violent suppression have stripped them of fundamental rights. Yet, even in Western democracies, Muslims face growing challenges, from bans on religious attire to cultural marginalization. In an age where... Read more
Religious persecution now impacts 97% of countries. A new strategy involving business and diplomacy could help reverse this alarming trend. Would you, like many people, be surprised to learn that the share of the world’s countries experiencing religious persecution is 97%? That’s what the latest data from the Pew Research Center show. Pew reports that governments harassed religious groups in 186 countries and territories in 2022. That’s up from 118 in 2007, the year I led the first Pew Research Center... Read more
When making small talk with a new face at a social gathering, once the banal topics of present happenings die out—what unpredictable weather we are having, the logistics of our travel itineraries, rote descriptions of the drink in our hands—and it becomes unreasonable to maintain such proximity with our torsos parallel without gleaning a single meaningful insight about the person before us, I can almost feel it coming—the inevitable question: “What do you do for work?” I shift uncomfortably in... Read more
A Faith Rooted in Resilience As a follower of the Islamic faith, I was raised with the belief that this life on Earth is only temporary. In Surah Baqarah (2:155), God says, “And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient.” This verse reminds us that trials are inevitable, but patience and perseverance through hardships will be rewarded. Islam is not... Read more
At the end of 2024, members of the Religion News Association named the re-election of Donald Trump, along with other dynamics and demographics related to the election, the top domestic U.S. religion story. They named Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza the top international religion story of the year. These storylines are ongoing, sure to continue capturing headlines and causing conflict in 2025 and beyond. And “religious rhetoric,” Whitney Phillips at the University of Oregon wrote, “is likely to suffuse” these... Read more
Fasting from Media 65% say they always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics according to Pew Research. Fasting from Media can revive us. While some faiths such as Sikhism do not fast, numerous faith traditions practice fasting. Jews fast for 25 hours on Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av. Catholics and other Christian traditions have regular fasts, such as abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent. Many Hindus fast on certain days of the month in devotion to particular... Read more
In an era marked by political upheaval, societal division, and a rapidly changing media landscape, the representation of faith and belief systems has become a delicate yet urgent matter. Faith, for many, serves as an anchor during turbulent times. It provides solace, fosters community, and offers moral guidance. However, when the media misrepresents or oversimplifies faith, it risks deepening societal divisions and alienating entire communities. As we navigate a world rife with political polarization and global instability, the role of... Read more
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