Religious Minorities

Setting Up Triage in Syria: Strategies to Save a Struggling Nation's Minorities

Kurt J. Werthmuller | Posted 03.26.2012

Read More: Religious Minorities, Kurds, Free Syrian Army, Syrian National Council, Alawites, Syria Protests, Syria Violence, Syrian Crisis, Islamists, Syria, Bashar Al-Assad, Arab Christians, World News
Kurt J. Werthmuller

The world must not allow the Syrian crisis to "play itself out," as some analysts have suggested: This threat to the country's minorities (many of whom are unarmed) is simply too great, and the consequences too severe, to play this sort of Russian roulette on a national-societal scale.

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Failing Syria: Why the World Must Prepare Now for Assad's Fall and the Aftermath

Kurt J. Werthmuller | Posted 02.09.2012

Read More: Religious Minorities, Syria Crackdown, Arab Christians, Arab Spring, Syria Arab Spring, Muslim Brotherhood, Arab Spring Protests, Middle East, Syria Bashar Assad, Syria Uprising, Middle Eastern Christians, Syrian National Council, Alawites, Syria Violence, Syria Protests, Syria, Bashar Al-Assad, World News
Kurt J. Werthmuller

What are the possible scenarios for a post-Assad Syria, in both the short- and long-terms, and how is the global community prepared to deal with them?

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A Religious Minority In Moscow Prays Openly

AP | Posted 01.06.2012

Read More: Islam, Muslims, Religious Minorities, Muslims in Russia, Eid in Moscow, Muslims in Moscow, Islam Minority in Russia, Video, Religion News

MOSCOW — Tens of thousands of Muslim men knelt shoulder-to-shoulder in prayer on the freezing streets of Moscow on Sunday to celebrate the relig...

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Kazakh President Tightens Registration Rules for Religious Groups

AP | By PETER LEONARD | Posted 12.13.2011

Read More: Religious Extremism, Kazakh Religion Bill, Religious Minorities, Nursultan Nazarbaev, Kazakhstan, Religious Minorities in Kazakhstan, Kazakh Legislation, Religion Bill, World News

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Kazakhstan's president on Thursday approved a bill tightening registration rules for religious groups that has been described by...

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Israeli Ministry Targeting So-Called 'Sects' and 'Cults'

Joseph K. Grieboski | Posted 07.31.2011

Read More: Religious Freedom, Religious Minorities, Israeli Government, Israel, Netanyahu, Religious Liberty, Cults, Religion News
Joseph K. Grieboski

Classifying religious groups into "religions" and "sects" violates religious human rights standards. It is impermissible and arbitrary for the government to confer benefits on groups it classifies as "religions."

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Human Rights And Religious Freedom's 'In' Crowd

Suhag A. Shukla, Esq. | Posted 07.05.2011

Read More: Human Rights, Religious Minorities, Bhutan, Hindu American Foundation, Malaysia, United States Commission of Religious Freedom, India, Uscirf, Hindus, Gujarat, Religious Freedom, Religious Tolerance, Religion News
Suhag A. Shukla, Esq.

Imbalances in representation and lack of diverse perspectives lead to skewed, erratic, and misguided U.S. foreign policies, leave alone the fact that scores of suffering humans are left without voice.

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How Quickly We Forget

Bishop Pierre Whalon | Posted 06.11.2011

Read More: Iraqi Christians, Iraq, Baghdad Cathedral, Bishop Pierre Whalon, France, Religious Minorities, Iraqi Refugees, Aemo, Religion News
Bishop Pierre Whalon

On Monday last, I went to Charles de Gaulle airport with members of the AEMO to meet family members of people wounded in the October 31 attack on the Baghdad Cathedral.

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A Journey Into Interfaith Engagement

David Ford | Posted 06.02.2011

Read More: Religious Tolerance, Islam, Religious Minorities, Religion, World Religions, Understanding, Interfaith, Christianity, God, Scriptural Reasoning, Interfaith Dialogue, Multifaith, Judaism, Religion News
David Ford

The global interfaith challenge we face requires institutional creativity, conversation, collaboration and thorough theological work and education, locally, nationally and internationally.

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Clinton Applauds U.N.'s Religious Freedom Resolution

Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Religious Minorities, World Religions, Religious Tolerance, United Nations, United Nations Religious Tolerance Resolution, Religious Freedom, United Nations Religious Freedom Resolution, Hillary Clinton, Religious Tolerance Resolution, Religion News

By Kevin Eckstrom Religion News Service WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials praised a United Nations council for a new statement on religious freedom that s...

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TSA, Airlines Tread Carefully On Religious Expression

Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Tsa, Islam, Religious Minorities, Religion, Pat Downs, Transportation Security Administration, Airplane Security, Muslims, Airport Security, Religious Tolerance, Sikhs, Religion News

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald Religion News Service Air travelers want to feel safe, and federal security officials want to make sure they actually are saf...

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A Dark Day For America

Rabbi Gerald Serotta | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Peter King Hearings, Peter King, Islam, Peter King Muslim Hearings, Radicalization, Muslim Radicalization Hearings, Muslim Hearings, Muslim Americans, Religious Minorities, Jewish Muslim Relations, Religion News
Rabbi Gerald Serotta

King's hearings lead our country down a dark and dangerous path of demonization that threatens all of what America stands for, that which has uniquely allowed us to thrive as a minority here.

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Pakistani Christians Mourn, Protest In Wake Of Killing

Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Shahbaz Bhatti, Christian Minister, Religious Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti Killed, Pakistani Christians, Pakistan, Christianity, Assassination, Christian Schools, Religion News

By Anto Akkara Religion News Service BANGALORE, India -- Christian schools across Pakistan shut down on Thursday (March 3) for a three-day protest of...

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Christians Under Siege: The Challenge Of Religious Pluralism In The Muslim World

John L. Esposito | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Christians, Religion, Islam, Global, Muslims, Minority Rights, Pluralism, Christianity, Religion News, World Religions, Religious Minorities, Middle East, Middle East Christians, Religion News
John L. Esposito

While entitled in many countries to equality of citizenship and religious freedom, religious minorities in the Muslim world increasingly fear the erosion of their rights -- and with good reason.

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Pakistan's Institutionalized Discrimination Against Religious Minorities

Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Women's Rights, Religious Minorities, Islam, Forced Religious Conversion, Crime, Terrorism, Pakistan, Violence, Islamic Extremists, Bonded Labor, Girls, Child Abuse, Abduction, Forced Marriage, Oppression, Justice, Extremism, Blasphemy Laws, South Asia, Asia Bibi, Asia, Religion News
Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza

Pakistan must implement legislation to ensure freedom of religion for all. What the country currently lacks is not a legal framework but genuine political will.

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Montazeri's Limited Tolerance of Non-Muslims

Jamsheed K. Choksy | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, Jews, Christians, Religion, Ayatollah, Minorities, Ayatollah Khomeini, Religious Minorities, Khomeini, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, Dhimmi, Tolerance, Iran, Zoroastrians, Intolerance, Islamic Republic of Iran, Hossein Ali Montazeri, Shiites, Persecution, Bahais, Grand Ayatollah, Montezari, Jannati, World News
Jamsheed K. Choksy

Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri's opinion was characterized by one Iranian Christian clergyman as "rubbing salt into our wounds."

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Religious Minorities Under Siege in Iraq (VIDEO)

Jennifer Utz | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Iraq War, Religion, Religious Minorities, Sabean Mandaen, Yazidi, Religion and Politics, Iraqi, Iraq, Christian, Refugees, Video, World News
Jennifer Utz

Facing forced conversions, kidnapping for ransom, and murder, religious minorities represent a starkly disproportionate amount of those who've left their homes to find safety elsewhere.

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