Religion
Our ongoing coverage of faith and religion — and its influence on important issues around the globe.
With funding from The Henry Luce Foundation.
Conflict
PRI's The World
December 11, 2017
Two years after a neighbor shot at their mosque, a leader at the Baitul Aman Mosque in Meriden has found an unlikely companion to show people true Islam: a local 76-year-old who is convinced organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood are plotting to impose Islamic law on America.
Culture
PRI's The World
October 27, 2017
Head wrapping goes beyond style for one Detroit anthropologist. It’s also a way to bridge cultures.
Religion
PRI's The World
May 01, 2017
Seoul, the capital of South Korea, has more megachurches than any other city in the world. But right now, Protestant evangelical leaders in South Korea don’t have the best reputation.
Culture
PRI's The World
April 14, 2017
After the Palm Sunday bombings of Christian churches in Egypt, pilgrims to the Holy Land observe an especially poignant Good Friday.
Justice
PRI's The World
March 31, 2017
It’s not always easy to bridge gaps in communities. But these two friends are giving it a try.
Environment
PRI's The World
March 10, 2017
One of Myanmar's most important lakes and cultural sites is under assault from development and climate change. One man is trying to turn things around.
Justice
PRI's The World
February 09, 2017
The safety and security of Americans is first and foremost, says Hossein Khorram, who supported Trump as a Republican delegate from Washington.
Culture
PRI's The World
January 02, 2017
Over several years in the 1940s, Michael Dillon underwent a groundbreaking physical transition from female to male through a series of surgical operations. It was just one part of his remarkable story of personal transformation. But all of that was just part of this Englishman’s remarkable story of personal transformation. Michael Dillon was outed by the newspapers after he transitioned from female to male in the 1940s. Dillon's pioneering journey is a fascinating story about gender, identity and spirituality.
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Belief
Breakaway Buddhists take aim at the Dalai Lama
PRI's The World
October 31, 2014
The Dalai Lama prohibits his followers from praying to what he considers the malevolent deity of Dorje Shugden. But adherents of this practice, many of them western converts, say the Tibetan religious leader is guilty of persecution.
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Lifestyle & Belief
The French want to make society safe for religion by banning so-called cults
PRI's The World
July 12, 2014
In France, government-funded agencies help people save their loved ones from so-called cults. But that list includes groups like the Jehovah's Witnesses and, not too long ago, Baptists. Some of them are now fighting back in courts.
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Belief
German atheists seek recognition for 'Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster'
PRI's The World
February 23, 2015
Updated
Church membership in Germany has been on the decline in recent decades. But an atheist from the town of Templin believes organized religion still has unfair advantages in German society.
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Belief
A Texas imam says Muslims are better off ignoring this woman's anti-Islamic hate group — and others like it
PRI's The World
May 04, 2015
After a "Muhammad cartoon contest" came under attack over the weekend, Texas imam Omar Suleiman is glad he and other Muslim leaders urged their followers to leave the event alone. Ignoring extremists — both the anti-Muslim crowd and radical Islamists alike — is the best policy, he says.
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Lifestyle & Belief
For devout Muslim cabbies in New York City, parking tickets are the price of prayers
PRI's The World
December 13, 2013
Muslims are required to pray five times a day — at specific times, no matter what they're doing. For New York City's Muslim cab drivers, roughly half of the 40,000 people driving cabs, that means stopping their cabs wherever they are to pray.
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Belief
What I learned growing up with a devout Hindu mom — and an atheist dad who made fun of her
PRI's The World
January 22, 2015
Deepak Singh grew up in India listening to his parents needle each other about their beliefs, and it left him confused over what to think about religion.
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Education
How to avoid closing your school for Muslim holidays — end Christian and Jewish ones, too
The Takeaway
November 15, 2014
Public schools in Montgomery Country, Maryland, recently ended all religious holidays — at least in name — rather than adding Muslim ones to the school calendar. But is the practice of giving religious holidays off in public schools even legal in the first place?
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Conflict
The so-called Islamic State is even worse than you thought
PRI's The World
December 23, 2014
A seasoned war correspondent who thinks he's seen it all negotiates his way into ISIS-controlled Mosul. What he finds is a chilling enthusiasm for killing.
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Conflict
'Inshallah' — it's more than just a phrase that gets you in trouble on a plane
PRI's The World
April 19, 2016
Southwest Airlines now says the college student it removed from a flight was ejected because another passenger believed he had made "threatening comments," including using the term "inshallah" — Arabic for "God willing."
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Food
Halal BBQ: It’s what’s for iftar in this suburb of Houston
PRI's The World
June 25, 2015
A Muslim convert from the Houston area was appalled that many of his friends had never tried real Texas BBQ, because it wasn’t halal. So, he and a partner have started selling “authentic halal Texas BBQ” out of truck near Sugar Land, Texas.