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Published in: oDRNailing things down…
Pyotr Pavlensky is the performance artist who nailed his scrotum to the cobblestones of Red Square. Pained, the...
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Published in: oDRRussia’s spinning moral compass
Vladimir Putin’s latest political course as president – from the jailing of Pussy Riot to the law against gay...
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Published in: oDRPrayers for the dead
In Kyiv, Metropolitan Pavel – aka ‘Pasha the Merc’ – has succeeded in closing down Ukraine’s only specialist...
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Published in: oDRRing out new bells!
While lightning and neglect are taking their toll on Russia's wooden churches, a growing volunteer movement is...
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Published in: North Africa, West AsiaIslam and politics
There remains a deeper problem in making a religious text foundational and that can be summed up in one word: commitment.
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Published in: North Africa, West AsiaThe root of the Syrian-Iraqi question
If Saddam Hussein and Hafez Assad had worked towards unlearning the new reality which Sykes-Picot aimed to create in...
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Published in: oDRThe indiscreet charm of the Russian cynic
Russia’s foremost historian of culture reflects on the cultural functions of cynicism in Soviet and post-Soviet...
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Published in: TransformationIs there any value in New Age thinking?
Defining 'New Age' is difficult - the term has been appropriated by all kinds of cults. In my view, the New Age...
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Published in: HomeYou cannot ignore religion in social policy-making in the Middle East
Governments and global development agencies will do well in the formulation of new social protection and social...
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Published in: oDRPutin’s war patriotism
There are few new ideas driving the Putin regime forward. If the Kremlin has an ideology, it is a deeply...
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Published in: oDRNickel and dimes
The fertile territories around Voronezh have long been referred to as Russia’s ‘breadbasket’. They also hold the...
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Published in: oDRGod is your refuge
A monastery near Moscow has opened its doors to the city’s homeless — in exchange for food and shelter, the men help...
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Published in: openIndiaIndia Burning
When the rice harvest season finishes in a few weeks, fields in India will turn black as farmers burn thousands of...
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Published in: HomeThe Vatican on trial
The trial of the pope's former butler and the letter of a senior archbishop are but two episodes revealing the deep...
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Published in: HomeOur fallible prophet
Rational reflection and reasoning should not be a threat to religion. Drawing on religious texts, the author argues...
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Published in: HomeThe old lady and the prophet
Could Obama quell the outrage over the anti-Islamic film with an elegant and decisive speech, as he did with the...
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Published in: HomeManchurian mormon?
Mitt Romney needs to answers basic questions about potential conflicts between his religious vows and his...
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Published in: oDRHow God came to vote for Putin: the background to Pussy Riot
The gradual intrusion of the Orthodox Church into Russian secular life and the state is something that went largely...
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Published in: oDRTatarstan: the restoration of history, religion and national feeling
The Republic of Tatarstan is spending some of its not inconsiderable oil and gas revenues on restoring the ruined...