Eastern Orthodox

Turkey Turned the Hagia Sophia back into a Mosque: Is it Consistent with Muslim Values, the Dialogue of Civilizations?

(Special to Informed Comment) – Debates are currently going on regarding the destiny of the Hagia Sophia (literally “Divine Wisdom”, the sixth-century cathedral built by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian) in Istanbul. President Erdogan made a kicked off this dispute with his declaration a few days ago allowing Muslims to pray at the venue. This wide-ranging […]

Eastern Orthodox

When even Trump’s Supreme Court upholds Gay Rights, You know Christian Fundamentalism has Lost

James A. Haught

Charleston, WV (Special to Informed Comment) – This month’s Supreme Court decree that gays cannot be fired from jobs simply because they’re gay is a solid blow to white evangelicals, the heart of the Republican Party. Such born-again conservatives claim they have “religious freedom” to treat gays cruelly. Now they’re exposed, once again, as more […]

Assyrians

When Christians First Met Muslims (Emir-Stein Center Talk)

Emir-Stein Center

Michael Penn | Emir-Stein Center | Video Clip and Transcript | – If history matters, then getting right the history of the first encounters of the world’s two largest religions—Christianity and Islam—really matters. In this fascinating video, Prof. Michael Penn, the Teresa Hihn Moore Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University, sheds light on the […]

Assyrians

Middle East Christians, with the population of Sweden, Celebrate Christmas

Juan Cole

The Shadow of ISIL has Receded for Most Christians in the Region

Christianity

Priests close Church of Holy Sepulchre over Israeli “attack on Christians”

contributors

Middle East Monitor | – – Church leaders in Jerusalem shut the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday in protest at a new Israeli tax policy and a proposed land expropriation law which they called a “systematic and unprecedented attack against Christians in the Holy Land”. Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian church leaders […]

Bashar al-Assad

Syria’s forgotten pluralism and why it matters today

contributors

By Andrea Williams | (The Conversation) | – – The Syrian Civil War has been raging for six years. It has killed nearly half a million people and left over 12 million, about half of Syria’s total population, without a home. A few weeks ago, a devastating chemical attack brought this conflict back into the […]

Eastern Orthodox

Everyone could celebrate Easter in Jerusalem except Palestinian Christians

contributors

By IMEMC. | – – Thousands of Christian followers of the Orthodox and Catholic faiths from all over the world, gathering at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem’s Old City, celebrated Easter Holy Saturday with the emergence of the holy fire from the location of the tomb believed to be that of Jesus […]

Alawites

Is Religion really Driving Middle East Violence?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Pew Research has released a report saying that “As a whole, the region continued to have the highest levels of religious hostilities in the world. In 2014, the median level of religious hostilities in the Middle East and North Africa reached a level four times that […]

al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda in Syria Leader: Kill Alawite Minority, Russians; Christians fear West Backs Him

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The leader of al-Qaeda in Syria, Abu Muhammad al-Julani, has called for an escalation in attacks on the population centers of the Alawite Shiite minority. The president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, and other leading members of the ruling Baath Party belong to this folk sect of […]