The Religion Factor

Biodiversity loss, artificial intelligence, and legal personhood of animals would seem to be topics of debate reserved for modern times. In my work as a medievalist, I cast light on the premodern roots of these interrelated topics. I read medieval...

We are currently experiencing a period in our collective history marked by social, environmental, political, and health crises, characterized by high levels of uncertainty and anxiety. These affect the living conditions of people and their livelihoods, and...

Tree discourse captures how humans name, characterise and relate to trees. In Africa, tree discourse is laden with religious and sacred meanings coterminous with a worldview that spirits inhabit spaces such as trees, stones, and water to mention a few....

Freedom of Religion or Belief (FORB) interventions are geared to strengthen locally acknowledged traditional beliefs in environmental conservation and the development of holistic peacebuilding where knowledge and practice are co-created with indigenous...

Last Sunday, I went into the centre of the town of Maastricht with my family to celebrate Carnaval and watch the ‘Bonte Storm’ (the colourful storm, as big parade on Sunday is called). We walked slowly, often stopping to admire a group with particularly...

Fearing persecution because of belief 
Migration policy has long worked as the non-psychical border of a state, through which one is allowed access into a process of exclusion or inclusion (Fossum & Olsen, 2021). An asylum seeker has to receive the status...

In the richly diverse context of multicultural societies, inter-religious understanding stands as a crucial pillar for societal harmony. Within this context, one might ask: What key factors contribute to the problems associated with inter-religious...

Forests once covered an estimated 40% of Ethiopia’s landscape. Today, only 2% of the country’s original forests remain intact, dotting the country with small pockets of green.

Young people in the West are more likely to encounter religion in a videogame, than in a church, mosque or in a synagogue. This is especially startling when we realize that the demographics for non-religion are very similar to the demographics for people...

 One late afternoon, two girls around my age stopped me on the street. They asked if I believed in God and if they could tell me a short reading from the Bible. The next second, I was instructed to look into a mobile screen as one of the girls started...