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Category: Portico
Covenantal Pluralism in Zambia: Problems and Prospects
May 27, 2025 • Portico
Many countries around the world are undergoing a phenomenon known variously as “democratic backsliding” or “autocratization.” The Swedish democracy monitor, V-Dem (“Varieties of Democracy”) characterizes…
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Religious Freedom in Malawi and Prospects for Covenantal Pluralism
May 1, 2025 • Portico
The study of religions in Africa has captivated scholars since the colonial era. During this period, missionaries, researchers, and colonial leaders sought to understand local…
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Covenantal Pluralism in South Africa: Resources for Harmony Amidst Diversity
March 5, 2025 • Portico
South Africa is rich in religious diversity and is home to various religious traditions that coexist within a complex social fabric. However, this diversity also…
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Wanted: A Zimbabwe of Grassroots Covenantal Pluralism
January 30, 2025 • Portico
Despite relatively high levels of religious literacy and constitutional provisions for religious freedom, the prospects for covenantal pluralism in Zimbabwe are at present very limited….
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Knowledge About Religions is Good—But Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy is Better
August 27, 2024 • Portico
In our world today we continue to see alarming degrees of religiously-motivated conflict, religious and political polarization, politicization of religion, politicization of irreligion, religious nationalism,…
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Forging Genuine Unity amidst Deep Conflict in Myanmar: Prospects and Challenges
June 6, 2024 • Portico
Shifts in the Strategic Landscape Three years have passed since the Burmese military seized power through the coup. The backlash from society has crossed ethnic,…
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Building Neighborly L.O.V.E. in Vietnam Through Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy
April 27, 2024 • Portico
Last summer I had the privilege of participating in a unique convening at the Fetzer Institute in Kalamazoo, Michigan on cross-cultural religious literacy (CCRL). I…
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On the Importance of Religious Minorities for Ukraine’s Present and Future
March 8, 2024 • Portico
Many have been taken aback by the verve with which Ukrainians have responded to the full-scale Russian invasion on February 24, 2022. The invasion triggered…
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What Can Chaplains Teach about Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy?
January 30, 2024 • Portico
In June of 2023, I gathered with some of the authors of The Routledge Handbook of Religious Literacy, Pluralism, and Global Engagement to talk about…
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The Nexus Between Human Dignity and Religious Freedom
January 22, 2024 • Portico
Peace is a fruit of justice. The core of justice is based on the respect of fundamental human rights. And the foundational principle of human…
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The Need for Trust-building in a Post-Coup Future Myanmar
January 17, 2024 • Portico
Achieving unity poses the greatest challenge for Myanmar, given the systemic division among diverse religious and ethnic groups that has persisted during seven decades of…
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The Grand Bargain of Religious Freedom and Religious Responsibility: The Mennonite Example
October 31, 2023 • Portico
As the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE) has long argued, an environment of religious freedom will only become sustainable when there is a grand bargain…
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