Category Archives: Essays and interviews

Usually we know where to look for answers. You know where to go for the weather forecast, and who to call when your car won’t start. If you need to find something more esoteric–who fought the War of the Spanish Succession, or what is the main export of Bangladesh–there’s always Wikipedia. What about religion? HowContinue reading “Who speaks for religion?”

Having spent the past 10 years writing and teaching on Asian religions, I now have something to confess: Asia does not have religion. “But what,” you may ask, “about that college class I took on ‘world religions?’ We learned about Hinduism, Confucianism, Daoism and Shinto. Half the class was about Asia.” Between you and me,Continue reading “Why Doesn’t Asia have Religion?”

Having spent most of the past decade outside the United States, it is easy for me to fall behind the curve on American popular culture.

Freedom from state-established religion is among the most cherished of American values. Yet the promotion of religious freedom abroad as an element of American diplomacy is relatively new. It was only with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, and subsequent publication of the first Annual Report on Religious Freedom that the State Department beganContinue reading “Should the United States Promote Religious Freedom?”

“If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.” –Orson Welles As we have all heard by now, American preacher Harold Camping predicted that the end would come on May 21. In his version, the end would begin with the Rapture, in which the pious would be physicallyContinue reading “Why the Apocalypse is so Compelling”

China is again in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Highlighted by the detention of artist Ai Weiwei and Nobel-laureate Liu Xiaobo, the past few months have seen what Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner recently called a “serious backsliding” of human rights.