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…
Read MoreRomania’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…
Read MoreCovenantal 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…
Read MoreCovenantal 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…
Read MoreReligious 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…
Read MoreCovenantal 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…
Read MoreWanted: 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….
Read MoreKnowledge 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,…
Read MoreForging 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,…
Read MoreBuilding 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…
Read MoreOn 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…
Read MoreWhat 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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