Burning a Quran, or any holy book, is an offense to our common humanity, and we can hardly turn a blind eye. But this kind of violence is not the story of our society; it is a sideshow.

As a Hindu American, despite the fact that I find your remarks repulsive and intolerant, I recognize that the same Divine that dwells in me, dwells in you. For that reason, we are family.

By Lauren Markoe Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS) The New Year's Day massacre at a Coptic church in Egypt. Christian converts facing the death ...

Even amid this widespread disregard for religious freedom, one group of countries stands out: Muslim-majority nations.

I don't think getting burned is the most important step in a group's American journey. Communities achieve their American identity not so much by knowing the fire themselves, but by refusing to let others get burned.

In 2009, Asia Bibi, a 45-year old Christian woman, was asked to fetch water while working as a farmhand. Now, she has been in prison for a year and faces a death sentence under the damning blasphemy laws of Pakistan.

Though religion is increasingly playing an important role in the self-identity of combatants and their mobilization, it can mask deep seated economic, social and political tensions and conflicts.

In the Oct. 2010 issue of Smithsonian, I delve into the real history of America's attitudes about religion, and it is a far different picture from the tidy tableau and storybook version of tolerance that we tell our children.

We are imagining this package as a ready response kit that fortifies people of goodwill with religiously grounded knowledge helpful in standing firm when acts of religious hatred are looming.

When Jones and his followers attack Islam and when Ham and his disciples attack evolution, they are doing so with the certainty that their way is the only way, that they are saving souls, and that all they need to know can be found in the Bible.

Without a clear sense of the past, even a past that is at times challenging to grapple with, we have little capacity to cultivate a society that is more tolerant and outright affirming of diverse religious practices.

Preliminary results in Dutch local polls suggest an anti-Islam party has made major gains and may pose a serious challenge in June parliamentary polls...