University of Southern California
USC Annenberg
  • Submissions
  • Contact
  • Taxonomy Report
  • FAQ
Religion Dispatches - Religion Dispatches Religion Dispatches
  • Election 2024
    • Meet Pete Hegseth, the Man Who Will Lead the Entire US Military — A Man Deemed an ‘Extremist’ by the US Military
      Meet Pete Hegseth, the Man Who Will Lead the Entire US Military — A Man Deemed an ‘Extremist’ by the US Military
    • With Election Takeaways Like ‘Too Transgender’ or ‘the US is Shifting Right,’ Dems are Determined to Learn the Wrong Lesson
      With Election Takeaways Like ‘Too Transgender’ or ‘the US is Shifting Right,’ Dems are Determined to Learn the Wrong Lesson
    • No image
      With no Viable Alternative on Ballot, Anti-immigrant Movement Claims Victory and Releases Wish Lists
  • Racial Justice
    • No image
      With no Viable Alternative on Ballot, Anti-immigrant Movement Claims Victory and Releases Wish Lists
    • New Doc Claiming Columbus was Jewish May Have Some Accuracy Issues — But There’s a Far Bigger Issue We Need to Reckon With
      New Doc Claiming Columbus was Jewish May Have Some Accuracy Issues — But There’s a Far Bigger Issue We Need to Reckon With
    • PRRI’s Robert P. Jones Discusses Authoritarianism, Christian Nationalism, and What the 2024 Election is Really About
      PRRI’s Robert P. Jones Discusses Authoritarianism, Christian Nationalism, and What the 2024 Election is Really About
  • Sex/Gender/Justice
    • With Election Takeaways Like ‘Too Transgender’ or ‘the US is Shifting Right,’ Dems are Determined to Learn the Wrong Lesson
      With Election Takeaways Like ‘Too Transgender’ or ‘the US is Shifting Right,’ Dems are Determined to Learn the Wrong Lesson
    • Packed with Threats of Political Violence, Media Largely Ignore the NAR’s ‘Million Women’ Rally in DC
      Packed with Threats of Political Violence, Media Largely Ignore the NAR’s ‘Million Women’ Rally in DC
    • New Doc Strives for Christian Unity—But What if Unity is the Problem?
      New Doc Strives for Christian Unity—But What if Unity is the Problem?
  • Christian Nationalism
    • Meet Pete Hegseth, the Man Who Will Lead the Entire US Military — A Man Deemed an ‘Extremist’ by the US Military
      Meet Pete Hegseth, the Man Who Will Lead the Entire US Military — A Man Deemed an ‘Extremist’ by the US Military
    • The Dark Horse ‘Stop the Steal’ Scenario: NAR Leaders Sought ‘Trojan Horse’ in Election Offices Filled with ‘Christian Patriots’
      The Dark Horse ‘Stop the Steal’ Scenario: NAR Leaders Sought ‘Trojan Horse’ in Election Offices Filled with ‘Christian Patriots’
    • The ADL is Correct that Antisemitism is Rising — But the Main (and Most Dangerous) Source Isn’t the Left, It’s Always Been the Right
      The ADL is Correct that Antisemitism is Rising — But the Main (and Most Dangerous) Source Isn’t the Left, It’s Always Been the Right
  • Taxonomy Report

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).

OMFG, Religious LibertyAugust 2, 2018

Trump Administration Is Not-So-Subtly Christianizing Foreign Policy and Aid

By Murali Balaji

Under previous administrations, the U.S. government—particularly foreign aid and arms—did not directly intervene to promote the narrative of global Christian victimhood.

Read More
OMFGJune 28, 2018

SCOTUS Decision Changes the Meaning of Civil Religion in America

By Murali Balaji

Under Trump, civil religion has been broadly redefined to mean that the United States is exclusively shaped by and for white Christians.

Read More
OMFGJune 19, 2018

Hindu American Community Finally Coming Around for Pride Month

By Murali Balaji

Even though Hindu scriptures embrace queerness and gender fluidity, Hindu temples have generally been reluctant to wade into discussions about sexuality.

Read More
Religious LibertyMay 22, 2018

Trump, “Big Fan of Hindu,” To Force Thousands of Nepalis Back to Disaster Zone

By Murali Balaji

With Trump’s cancellation of protected status, the Nepali quake survivors who reached the US will have to return to a country that has so far failed to recover from the devastation.

Read More
OMFGMay 22, 2018

Trump, “Big Fan of Hindu,” To Force Thousands of Nepalis Back to Disaster Zone

By Murali Balaji

When most Americans think of the Hindu community here, they tend to conflate Hindus with…

Read More
Archive, Culture, OMFGApril 27, 2018

Hank Azaria Offers to Stop Doing Apu. So…Thank You?

By Murali Balaji

This week, Emmy Award-winning actor Hank Azaria finally offered to stop doing the voice of…

Read More
Archive, Politics/LawApril 20, 2018

Trump May Be “a Big Fan of Hindu,” But Hindus Are Running—and Winning—as Democrats

By Murali Balaji

On Tuesday, the special election in Arizona’s eighth congressional district could produce the fifth Hindu…

Read More
(A)theologies, ArchiveAugust 19, 2015

Arrests Made in Murders of Atheist Bloggers in Bangladesh, But Int’l Response to Violence Remains Anemic

By Murali Balaji

Authorities in Bangladesh announced yesterday that three men suspected of the brutal machete murders of…

Read More
(A)theologies, ArchiveMarch 27, 2015

A Debate Rages in India Over Conversion, Secularism, and “Spiritual Violence”

By Murali Balaji

Does an anti-conversion campaign threaten India’s secular ideals?

Read More
Archive, Politics/LawMay 23, 2014

Bobby Jindal Hypes His Christian Cred at Liberty U.

By Murali Balaji

Over the past few months, Louisiana Governor Piyush “Bobby” Jindal has been making aggressive moves…

Read More
Previous 1 2 3 Next

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.

© Religion Dispatches
Back to top