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.

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.

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.

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.

OMFGMay 22, 2018