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Religion Dispatches - Religion Dispatches Religion Dispatches
  • Racial Justice
    • White House Antisemitism Report Includes Encouraging Diagnoses — But Leans on Destructive Strategies
      White House Antisemitism Report Includes Encouraging Diagnoses — But Leans on Destructive Strategies
    • What We Need to Understand is that Fascism is Intersectional and Erotic—’Thy Rod is Thy Gun,’ With a Hip-Thrust
      What We Need to Understand is that Fascism is Intersectional and Erotic—’Thy Rod is Thy Gun,’ With a Hip-Thrust
    • A Christian Nationalist by Any Other Name… Is Still a Christian Nationalist
      A Christian Nationalist by Any Other Name… Is Still a Christian Nationalist
  • Politics/Law
    • Top Five (Less Sensational, But More Dangerous) Things to Remember About Pat Robertson (1930-2023)
      Top Five (Less Sensational, But More Dangerous) Things to Remember About Pat Robertson (1930-2023)
    • New Poll Reveals That Anti-Trans Rhetoric isn’t Just Affecting Republicans and White Evangelicals
      New Poll Reveals That Anti-Trans Rhetoric isn’t Just Affecting Republicans and White Evangelicals
    • White House Antisemitism Report Includes Encouraging Diagnoses — But Leans on Destructive Strategies
      White House Antisemitism Report Includes Encouraging Diagnoses — But Leans on Destructive Strategies
  • Sex/Gender/Justice
    • New Poll Reveals That Anti-Trans Rhetoric isn’t Just Affecting Republicans and White Evangelicals
      New Poll Reveals That Anti-Trans Rhetoric isn’t Just Affecting Republicans and White Evangelicals
    • Blaming Young People For the Fall of <em>Roe</em> is Like Holding Firefighters Accountable for Arson
      Blaming Young People For the Fall of Roe is Like Holding Firefighters Accountable for Arson
    • Exactly 30 Years Before Illinois AG’s Devastating Sexual Abuse Report, a Plan for Prevention was Implemented, Then Scrapped
      Exactly 30 Years Before Illinois AG’s Devastating Sexual Abuse Report, a Plan for Prevention was Implemented, Then Scrapped
  • Christian Nationalism
    • Top Five (Less Sensational, But More Dangerous) Things to Remember About Pat Robertson (1930-2023)
      Top Five (Less Sensational, But More Dangerous) Things to Remember About Pat Robertson (1930-2023)
    • What We Need to Understand is that Fascism is Intersectional and Erotic—’Thy Rod is Thy Gun,’ With a Hip-Thrust
      What We Need to Understand is that Fascism is Intersectional and Erotic—’Thy Rod is Thy Gun,’ With a Hip-Thrust
    • A Christian Nationalist by Any Other Name… Is Still a Christian Nationalist
      A Christian Nationalist by Any Other Name… Is Still a Christian Nationalist
  • Russia Invades Ukraine
    • 2023 CPAC Lived Down to Expectations, But Don’t Buy the Narrative: The GOP is Not as Divided as You Might Think
      2023 CPAC Lived Down to Expectations, But Don’t Buy the Narrative: The GOP is Not as Divided as You Might Think
    • Espionage Allegations Against Russian Church Raise Religious Freedom Issue in Ukraine
      Espionage Allegations Against Russian Church Raise Religious Freedom Issue in Ukraine
    • As Tensions Escalate in the Balkans, the West Could Hand Putin a Valuable Weapon
      As Tensions Escalate in the Balkans, the West Could Hand Putin a Valuable Weapon

Murali Balaji

Murali Balaji, Ph.D. is the founder and principal of Maruthi Education, a diversity and inclusion consulting firm that focuses on cultural competency. He previously served as director of education for the Hindu American Foundation. A Fulbright Specialist and former journalist, he has taught at Temple University, Penn State University, and Lincoln University, where he served as Chair of the Department of Mass Communications. Balaji is the author of several books, including The Professor and the Pupil: The Politics and Friendship of WEB Du Bois and Paul Robeson (2007), the editor of Thinking Dead: What the Zombie Apocalypse Means (2013), and the co-editor of the seminal anthologies Desi Rap (2008) and Global Masculinities and Manhood (2011).

Archive, Books, Racial JusticeAugust 25, 2020

The ‘C’ Word: What We’re Missing When We Talk About ‘White Privilege’

By Murali Balaji

Author, scholar and activist Khyati Y. Joshi has been one of the seminal voices on…

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(A)theologies, Archive, OMFGMay 21, 2020

Christianity Today’s ‘Humble’ Hindu-to-Jesus Conversion Story is Still a Story of Christian Triumphalism

By Murali Balaji

When I was a freshman at the University of Minnesota in the 1990s, I was…

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Christian Nationalism, OMFGMay 3, 2019

After Synagogue Attack, Some Evangelicals Finally Owning Their Part in White Christian Nationalism

By Murali Balaji

Taking ownership of an ideology that has spawned—and will continue to spawn—extremist groups or lone wolves might be the best to way to eradicate it.

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Christian Nationalism, History/Theology, OMFG, Politics/LawApril 11, 2019

House Hearing on White Nationalism Missed the Boat on Christian Nationalism

By Murali Balaji

The federal government cannot attack the scourge of hate without understanding the role Christian supremacy plays in white nationalism behavior.

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Christian Nationalism, OMFGMarch 21, 2019

White Christian Nationalism May Not Be Religious, But It Is Christian

By Murali Balaji

White Christian nationalism’s foot soldiers don’t necessarily connect their racial resentment with their devotion to the Bible, yet they’re often trying to retake what they presume to be lost: white and Christian dominance. 

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Archive, Christian Nationalism, OMFG, Racial JusticeMarch 18, 2019

Behind New Zealand Terror Attack Is a Problem Bigger Than Islamophobia

By Murali Balaji

Even as advocates point to growing Islamophobia as the cause of the attack, the larger issue seems to be white Christian nationalism.

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OMFGFebruary 14, 2019

MIT, Facing Opposition to Extremist Speaker, Might Try Google Next Time

By Murali Balaji

Swamy, who has been affiliated with right-wing politics in India, is India’s version of Louis Farrakhan, Milo Yiannopoulos, or Nigel Farage: a polarizing figure with a long history of demonizing statements.

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OMFG, Politics/LawNovember 13, 2018

The Suburban Shift Putting Republicans in Peril

By Murali Balaji

A growing number of Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim voters represent areas that once boasted white, Christian, college-educated voters. It’s easy to see how an administration that’s doubled down on xenophobia has imperiled Republicans’ outreach efforts.

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OMFG, Politics/LawSeptember 26, 2018

GOP ‘Big Tent’ Implosion: Hindu Edition

By Murali Balaji

One would think the Republicans would figure out a way to send well wishes without drawing upon the worst stereotypes of Hindus as “idol worshippers.”

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OMFG, Politics/LawAugust 30, 2018

Trump’s Remark to Evangelicals is Straight Out of Global Authoritarian Playbook

By Murali Balaji

Trump’s fealty to evangelical leaders may be sowing the seeds of a Christian autocracy that can easily be replicated by a future GOP president.

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Religion Dispatches

Religion Dispatches

Religion Dispatches is your independent, non-profit, award-winning source for the best writing on critical and timely issues at the intersection of religion, politics, and culture.

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