The Religion and Ethics Report

According to documents turned over to the US House of Representatives, agents from the FBI have been monitoring traditionalist Catholics for possible political extremism.

In the 1970s, sociologist and religious scholar Robert Bellah  predicted neoliberal economics would create a hole in many communities that would one day be filled by an authoritarian populism. Bellah also made famous the idea that as America lost its Christianity, it would create a so-called civil religion.

Twenty-two million people are now in dire need in Myanmar following the 2021 coup. The southern African country of Zambia is in a similar situation. They are among the countries where the aid organisation Compassion Australia is starting new projects.

When the hardline Islamic movement regained control of Afghanistan two years ago, there was a lot of talk about a reformed Taliban, conservative but less punitive, open to things like girl's education. That future was not to be. But religion might not be the highest priority for the Taliban regime with the possible dangerous new form of ethnic nationalism driving the regime.

There is an increase in harassment of Christian pilgrims and tourists in Jerusalem's Via Dolorosa, the path said to be where Jesus walked to his Crucifixion.

New York Times correspondent Isabel Kershner's new book explores the cultural and religious shifts which she fears challenge Israel's democratic ideals. 

About 40 per cent of Americans are in religiously diverse partnerships. Despite herself being in a successful inter-racial and inter-faith marriage, leading writer and commentator Naomi Schaefer Riley says there are pitfalls, particularly with interfaith romances. 

The Sound of Freedom has become an unlikely movie hit in the US, but there are concerns about its representations of the issue of child trafficking as well as its main star's connection to radical QAnon conspiracies.

US report claims minority religions target of new restrictive laws and policies in Europe

The largest protestant denomination in America is expelling churches that have ordained women.