religion

Rick Perry’s belief that Trump was chosen by God is shared by many in a fast-growing Christian movement

By Brad Christerson and Richard Flory | – In a recent interview with Fox News, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry stated that Donald Trump was chosen by God to be president. He said throughout history God had picked “imperfect people” such as King David or Solomon to lead their people. Perry is not alone. A […]

China

New Leaked Documents Reveal China’s Chilling Crackdown on Muslims

Human Rights Watch

By Sophie Richardson, China Director | – (Human Rights Watch) – “I’m sure that you will support them, because this is for their own good…and also for your own good.” This was one of the lines officials were instructed to deliver to children returning to Xinjiang and learning that their family members had been sent […]

Donald Trump

Iran and the US Come Closer: Ayatollah Rick Perry’s Evangelical Theology of Trump as God’s Chosen is just like Khamenei

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Jay Willis at GQ reports that Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said on Fox and Friends that Trump is God’s Chosen One. He said he told Trump, “If you’re a believing Christian, you understand God’s plan for the people who rule and judge over us on this planet and our […]

Antisemitism

How American anti-Semitism reflects the centuries-long struggle over the meaning of religious liberty

The Conversation

By Tisa Wenger | – Americans recently observed the first anniversary of the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, in which 11 were killed and six wounded. A year earlier, white supremacist marchers in Charlottesville, Virginia, chanted the slogan, “Jews shall not replace us.” Synagogues around the country have also been defaced […]

Christianity

Can Christianity Survive in Turkey, the Birthplace of the Holy Roman Empire?

The Conversation

By Ramazan Kılınç | – Vowing to better protect Christians, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told media at the White House recently that Turkey will restore churches damaged during the civil war in northeastern Syria. With this statement, Erdoğan might have hoped to send signals addressing western concerns about the vulnerabilities of Christians in his […]

Islam

Jazz Legend Talib Dawud: Be-Bop and Islam’s “Elevation of the Mind”

Shalom Goldman

(Informed Comment) – Jazz Trumpeter Talib Dawud, whose given name was Alfonso Nelson Rainey, was one of the early American jazz converts to Ahmadiyya Islam. In the mid-twentieth century over a hundred other jazz musicians would follow in Dawud’s path. The background to these many conversions was articulated forcefully and dramatically by John Coltrane’s first […]

Iran

Iraq Protests Heat Up Long-Standing Rivalry Between Iraqi And Iranian Shiite Religious Leaders

Niqash

By Elias Thomas | – ( Niqash.org) – Behind the scenes of Iraq’s demonstrations, a decades-old rivalry between two centres of religious learning and authority, one local and the other in Iran, is playing out. 3.11.2019 Politics Protests in Baghdad. In early October, snipers shot at unarmed protesters on the streets of Iraq, who were […]

Antisemitism

At a Time of Rising US Anti-Semitism, Remembering the Nazis’ Night of Broken Glass is More Important than Ever

The Conversation

By Wolf Gruner | – Every November, communities around the world hold remembrances on the anniversary of the Nazis’ brutal assault on the Jews during “Kristallnacht.” Also known as “the Night of Broken Glass,” it’s one of the most closely scrutinized events in the history of Nazi Germany. Dozens of books have been published about […]

Assyrians

Unconstitutional: VP Pence Directed USAID Help for Iraqis to tiny Christian Minority

ProPublica

by Yeganeh Torbati | (ProPublica) | – Officials at USAID warned that favoring Christian groups in Iraq could be unconstitutional and inflame religious tensions. When one colleague lost her job, they said she had been “Penced.” Last November, a top Trump appointee at the U.S. Agency for International Development wrote a candid email to colleagues […]