Religion & Society Program News

The Inclusive America Project's Allison K. Ralph and members of the Religious Freedom cohort of the PPN, Billie Jo Kipp and Imam Mohamed Majid, discuss the importance of an inclusive understanding of religion and religious freedom to ensure the rights of indigenous peoples and other people of faith are protected.

Listen to Zeenat Rahman and Pastor Bob Roberts discuss creating bonds of trust among youth, is the next generation more passionate about being understanding of faith, and cultures and working together regardless of faith.

Most Americans see religious freedom as an important right. Yet how that freedom is defined and applied isn’t consistent, and efforts to safeguard the religious freedom of some may be discriminatory for others. Experts say it is critical to address this issue politically, socially, and culturally or risk alienating people from all backgrounds. Listen on Aspen Ideas To Go podcast.

Zeenat Rahman takes a look at how religious groups are working on pro-social issues and influencing the environments where philanthropy is also seeking impact.

Our national healing will not happen through government or the private sector alone; it will be led by civil society. No matter where we sit, we all need to relentlessly identify and scale up systems that promote social capital and social cohesion.

Inclusive America Project Director Zeenat Rahman sat down with Aspen Institute's President and CEO Dan Porterfield for a thoughtful conversation on how we all can help build religious pluralism, the importance of faith in this moment, and much more.

Asma Uddin, IAP Fellow, writes why the Justices have an opportunity to overturn a precedent that has hurt Americans’ First Amendment rights in the New York Times.

IAP Fellow Brie Loskota and Powering Pluralism Network Member Rev. Najuma Smith-Pollard write in The Hill how this pandemic shows that the government’s lack of ongoing engagement with religious communities can turn what should be an asset into a liability.

“We know that religion can be a force for good or evil and that many types of polarization currently divide us,” said Zeenat Rahman, the director of the Inclusive America Project. “Yet, we haven’t fully explored the intersection of those things —what it would look like if religion was an antidote to polarization.”

The Aspen Institute and Interfaith Youth Core announce its 2020 Class of Senior Fellows for Religious Pluralism.

Inclusive America Project Fellow, religious liberty lawyer, and author Asma Uddin speaks with NPR's Audie Cornish on All Things Considered about what U.S. religious liberty means - especially when it comes to Islam.

Zeenat Rahman, Director of the Inclusive America Project, writes for The Hill on National Religious Freedom Day. She shares that “in order for our religious diversity to be a strength, we need a radical reimagining of how we perceive religious freedom and its connection to all faith communities.”

Interfaith groups in the workplace remind us every day that we don’t have to change who we are to fit in. Another way is possible, where our religious diversity can be honored, and where we can respect, learn from, and make space for one another. Where we all can be given the dignity that each one of us deserves.

Simran Jeet Singh, a writer, activist, and scholar, sat down with Abbie Haug from the Inclusive America Project of the Aspen Institute to discuss his new children’s book, “Fauja Singh Keeps Going,” which tells the true story of the oldest man to run a marathon. In this interview, Simran discusses the importance of representation and storytelling and shares his inspiration and goals are for this book.