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

Built To Last

A BuzzFeed News investigation based on thousands of satellite images reveals a vast, growing infrastructure for long-term detention and incarceration of Muslim minorities.

Under Prosecution for Spreading the Coronavirus

"They treated us like an animal," a member of the Islamic missionary movement Tablighi Jamaat tells Pulitzer Center Justice Fellow Apoorva Mittal. Indian Muslims have faced a new wave of discrimination amidst the pandemic.

Surviving as an Ahmadi in Pakistan

Ahmadis are constitutionally prohibited from “posing as Muslims,” which leaves the community vulnerable to state-sanctioned and societal persecution in Pakistan.

The Tree of Life

In the aftermath of the worst anti-Semitic slaughter in United States history, the neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, relies on a century of deep urban community to cope with trauma.

The Hour of Lynching: Vigilante Violence in India

Returning home after buying two milch cows, dairy farmer Rakbar Khan was lynched by a mob of “cow vigilantes”. His wife seeks meaning in mourning his death, while his perpetrators deny it.

Prayers of the Persecuted

Monika Bulaj is producing a visual atlas of threatened minorities and shared holy places.

Nowhere To Hide: Saudis Targeted Abroad

The death of Jamal Khashoggi shocked the world—but he was far from the first Saudi dissident to be targeted abroad, and he is by no means the last.

Meet the Journalist: Alice Su

Journalist Alice Su speaks about her 2017 project on religion among resettled refugees in Germany, a country that has accepted more asylum seekers than any other European country.

Meet the Journalist: Jackie Spinner

Jackie Spinner spent three months in Morocco exploring the ways in which the country has become a moderate Islamic hub in the North Africa and to examine the contrast between image and reality.

Meet the Journalist: Wes Bruer

A freelance journalist based in Brooklyn, Wes Bruer received a Pulitzer Center grant to pursue a story of a unique counterterrorism program being implemented by the U.S. State Dept in Mumbai, India.

Analyzing How the Press Depicts Islam

Students will expand their understanding of Islam by comparing press coverage to what Muslims in the Middle East are doing to try to prevent the world from misunderstanding what most Muslims believe.

Religion and Power

Students will analyze the role of religion in many different aspects of people’s lives and analyze how deeply faith can impact a society’s progress.