Category: Portico

Coexistence and Covenantal Pluralism in Armenia? Politics, Imperial Heritage, and National Identity

June 27, 2025 • Portico

Armenian religion and politics are grabbing international headlines. On June 25 Armenian security forces arrested Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Prime Minister…

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Romania’s 2025 Presidential Elections and the Politicization of Religion

June 24, 2025 • Portico

On June 23, 2025, after nearly two months of interim administration, Romania has a pro-European Union government led by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, a center-right…

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Covenantal Pluralism in Contemporary Russia: Patriotism, Power, and Pluralism

June 19, 2025 • Portico

In 2024, Vladimir Putin maintained that religious diversity is a “strength,” recounting the numerous historical moments when Muslims, Buddhists, and many other religious groups were…

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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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