Are American Evangelicals Using Russia To Fight Their Culture War?

(ANALYSIS) The most interesting figure in the culture wars today may be Patriarch Kirill from the Russian Orthodox Church, which with Russia has been promoting traditional Christian agendas on sexuality and abortion. This weekened the international non-profit World Congress of Families, founded by a Russian and an American, is hosting its annual meet to promote a pro-Christian worldview, conservative gender roles, anti-abortion policies and a hetero-normative agenda.

Politics trump religious freedom for Russia's Jehovah's Witnesses and China's Uighur Muslims

(COMMENTARY) Russian Jehovah's Witnesses and Uighur Muslims in China are persecuted by their governments, in part because they’re seen as insufficiently loyal, and in part because the global community prioritizes good trade relations.

As European blasphemy laws endure, journalists should consider how words can get them in trouble

(COMMENTARY) This is an issue journalists — whether they’re writing opinion/analysis pieces or constructing hard news stories — should stay tuned into to avoid crossing the wrong side of a shifting line.

A Hindu story of garlic and onions, and what it means for our "tribal" religious divisions in 2019

(COMMENTARY) Without making an effort to understand how all these small differences expressed in eating habits add up to create the chasms that divide us, we have no hope of overcoming them.

PBS story on Iran's Jews doesn't fully explain what captive minorities must do to survive

(COMMENTARY) In late November, PBS NewsHour broadcast a piece that, like other attempts to explain the Iranian Jewish community, came up frustratingly short.

Ties that bind: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, Russia and Fatima

(COMMENTARY) Pope John Paul II believed his and former US President Reagan’s survivals of shootings were part of a divine plan countering evil in Russia.

Philip Jenkins on giant, global leaps of faith in 1918, 1968 and 2018?

(COMMENTARY) While it's common to believe that religion evolves slowly over time, in a linear manner, the evidence suggests that history lurches through periods of "extreme, rapid, revolutionary change, when everything is shaken and thrown up into the air," said historian Philip Jenkins. Ever 50 years or so, new patterns and cultural norms seem to appear that never could have been predicted.

Moscow reporting on the Ukraine Church talks

(COMMENTARY) Nothing much has changed in Western reporting about Russia since 1939. A recent meeting between the Patriarchs Cyril of Moscow and Bartholomew of Constantinople over an autocephalous or independent orthodox church in Ukraine is yet another example of the fog that surrounds Russian reporting.

St. Basil's World Cup

The biggest star at this World Cup wasn't Messi, Ronaldo, or Neymar. How St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow’s Red Square became the symbol of #Russia2018

Lying for the sake of truth - TASS on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

(COMMENTARY) The Russian media scene presents a sobering picture for those who hold to theories of the inevitable progress of mankind. Though the collapse of the Soviet Union ushered in a decade of a press freedoms in Russia under Boris Yeltsin, with Vladimir Putin the situation has tightened. The state does not pervade all aspects of intellectual life. But where its interests are concerned - dissent is not tolerated.

Tsar Ludicrous: Daily Mail & The Australian Short On Details Of Russian Religious Support For Putin, Restored Monarchy

(OPINION) Reports that Russians are calling for the restoration of the monarchy and the crowning of Vladimir Putin as Tsar are circulating -- all built on the traditional Western construct that the Russian mind is mysterious, sententious, or ludicrous.