In recent years USCIRF has reported that religious freedom conditions in Algeria have continued to deteriorate with the government increasingly enforcing blasphemy laws and restricting worship. These laws particularly impact religious minorities, such as Protestant Christians and Ahmadiyya Muslims. In 2022, the U.S. Department of State placed Algeria on its ... Show More
Jan 23
A Lifeline for Iran's Persecuted Religious Minorities
For decades, the Lautenberg-Specter program has provided a pathway for members of oppressed religious groups, including Christians, Jews, and Baha’is, with close family ties to the United States to escape persecution in Iran and the former Soviet states. By offering refuge to tho ... Show More
23m 43s
Dec 31
Youth Voices Advancing Religious Freedom in East Africa
Youth play a crucial role in promoting religious freedom in Africa by advocating for greater religious literacy, inclusivity, and understanding. In East Africa, young people face challenges to religious freedom. The Youth Tolerance Committee (YTC), a non-governmental organization ... Show More
24m 49s
Jan 2024
Judith Surkis, "Sex, Law, and Sovereignty in French Algeria, 1830-1930" (Cornell UP, 2019)
Judith Surkis's Sex, Law, and Sovereignty in French Algeria, 1830-1930 (Cornell UP, 2019) traces the intersection of colonialism, law, land expropriation, sex, gender, and family during the century after the French conquest of Algeria in 1830. Seeking to assimilate Algerian land ... Show More
1 h
Feb 2023
The cost of being an atheist in Nigeria
When Mubarak Bala posts criticism of Islam on social media, it sparks a landmark legal case and leaves him facing 24 years in jail. Raised in a Muslim family, Mubarak is the son of an Islamic scholar in the religiously conservative Kano state. But in 2014, Mubarak renounces Islam ... Show More
26m 25s
<p>The concept of "jihad" in Islam is often oversimplified, and in this episode we explore one example of a "pacifist" tradition within Islam assoicated with Salim Suwari and the Suwarian tradition.</p><br><p>Sources/Suggested Reading:</p><ul><li>Babou, Cheikh Anta (2007). "Fight ... Show More