Issue

Religion

Religious faith is central to the lives of billions, a driving force in everything from family structure to relationships within and among the world’s nation states. It is also the venue, and often the source, of conflict.

Religion presents Pulitzer Center reporting on these themes from throughout the world—from the explosive growth of megachurches in Africa and Latin America to intra-Islam schisms of the Middle East, to the self-immolation of Tibetan Buddhist monks and Buddhist soldiers running roughshod over the rights of Burmese Muslims, to the struggles of faith groups everywhere to come to terms with human sexuality.

In some parts of the world, notably China, governments that long suppressed religious expression are now invoking those traditions as part of the solution to environmental and other challenges. Elsewhere, from majority-Catholic Philippines to Muslim Indonesia, religious doctrine on issues like reproductive rights is in uneasy dialogue with the forces of modernization and globalization.

In Religion, we aim for reporting that tackles these tough, core issues—but without the easy stereotypes and caricature that too often make journalism a tool for demagogy. In the Pulitzer Center reporting presented here we seek instead to be a force for understanding.

The Pulitzer Center’s reporting on religion and public policy issues is made possible through the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, the Kendeda Fund, and other Pulitzer Center donors.

 

Religion

India: Photographs from Jason Motlagh Part 1

No stranger to hardship, northern Bihar state – India's poorest and most corrupt – is faced with some degree of flooding each year. But none in distant memory compare to this year's monsoon deluge, a symptom of climate change that has affected tens of millions, killed hundreds and exposed the extent of state neglect rooted in class politics.

Al-Anbar

Democracy Now!, a daily radio and TV news program, featured on September 11, 2007 David Enders and Rick Rowley's investigative video on Al-Anbar. Amy Goodman interviewed Rick Rowley in a U.S. broadcast exclusive. The video piece is excerpted from an expose that aired on Al Jazeera English.

Why Iraq is Getting Worse

A new civil war between Shiites erupts within the old civil war between Sunnis and Shiites

A cloud of steam rises above the crowd in the 120-degree heat. As their leader approaches the podium, the thousands who have assembled meet him with pledges of their fealty.

Part 1 - Al-Anbar Progress?

"People and Power," an Al Jazeera English program, featured Pulitzer Center grant recipients Rick Rowley and David Enders. Their segment, titled "Al-Anbar Progress?", examines whether the controversial US policy of joining forces with Sunni tribes in Iraq's volatile al-Anbar province has worked, and who is paying the price. The piece first aired on September 9, 2007.

Part 2 - Al-Anbar Progress?

"People and Power," an Al Jazeera English program, featured Pulitzer Center grant recipients Rick Rowley and David Enders. Their segment, titled "Al-Anbar Progress?", examines whether the controversial US policy of joining forces with Sunni tribes in Iraq's volatile al-Anbar province has worked, and who is paying the price. The piece first aired on September 9, 2007.