Brian Pellot
Brian Pellot is based in Cape Town, South Africa.
All Stories by Brian Pellot
Katy Perry’s mistake * Brunei’s Allah ban * God’s Constitution: Religious Freedom Recap Feb. 24 – March 3
By Brian Pellot — March 3, 2014
Katy Perry destroys “Allah” in a music video, then dissolves the incident completely amid backlash. Brunei bans non-Muslims from using “Allah” and 18 other holy words. And Tom DeLay tells us Allah, A.K.A. God, wrote the Constitution. S/he just never got around to signing it.
The business case for religious freedom: Q&A with Brian J. Grim
By Brian Pellot — February 28, 2014
We often hear about religious freedom in the context of human rights and national security. Brian J. Grim, founding president of the new Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, argues that religious freedom is just as important for mom and pop shops and global economies.
After Arizona: Should anti-gay churches have tax-exempt status revoked?
By Brian Pellot — February 27, 2014
If ongoing discrimination against women is any indication, houses of worship that discriminate against same-sex couples looking to marry probably won’t lose their tax-exempt status anytime soon. But should they? Join the debate.
Banned Valentines * Gay love * Hindu censors: Religious Freedom Recap: Feb. 10 – 17
By Brian Pellot — February 17, 2014
Valentine’s Day courts controversy in Tajikistan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Indonesia. A flurry of states debate same-sex love and marriage. And a publisher in India pulls a prominent book on Hinduism after religious feelings are hurt. Don’t go breaking my heart.
US and EU explore cooperation on religious freedom
By Brian Pellot — February 13, 2014
(RNS) Members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom met for the first time with members of the European Parliament in Brussels to discuss a global response to religious freedom violations.
Mormons seek converts online and abroad with Missionary Chat
By Brian Pellot — February 13, 2014
Mormon missionaries are using the web like never before, but what happens when they come across potential converts in countries where proselytizing and changing religions is both dangerous and illegal?
Authors protest Sochi Olympics * Jews flee France * Comic heckles Christ: Religious Freedom Recap: Feb. 3-10
By Brian Pellot — February 10, 2014
Big-name authors are protesting Russia’s blasphemy and anti-gay laws. More French Jews are migrating to Israel amid rising anti-Semitism. And an Aussie comic who resembles Jesus is stirring up controversy with his Come Heckle Christ show.
Obama alludes to atheists, gays at National Prayer Breakfast speech on religious freedom
By Brian Pellot — February 6, 2014
President Barack Obama’s National Prayer Breakfast speech packed a world of religious freedom woes into 12 short minutes. Here’s what you missed, and what it all meant, written in about the same time it took him to deliver the speech.
Should Muslims be asked to sign a charter rejecting violence?
By Brian Pellot — February 5, 2014
A member of Britain’s right-wing U.K. Independence Party is standing by a 2006 charter he commissioned asking Muslim leaders to reject terrorism. Bad move. Here’s why.
Dieudonne’s quenelle: What’s wrong with banning anti-Semitic hate speech?
By Brian Pellot — February 4, 2014
The U.K. Home Office has banned French comedian Dieudonné, known for his anti-Semitic “quenelle” gesture, from entering Britain. France banned his show in January, prompting the comic to scrap a nationwide tour. What do we lose, and what do Dieudonné’s supporters gain, when hateful speech is suppressed?
‘Blasphemers’ released * Football baptisms * Boozing Mormons: Religious Freedom Recap: Jan. 27 – Feb. 3
By Brian Pellot — February 3, 2014
Good news for jailed atheists in Tunisia and Indonesia. A high school football coach in South Carolina is ordered to stop baptizing players. And Mormons weren’t always the teetotalers they are today. Bottoms up!
Why a band of American heathens is fighting to protect atheists — and Christians — abroad
By Brian Pellot — January 30, 2014
The Center for Inquiry’s Michael DeDora explains why his secular group is teaming up with unlikely allies on the Christian right to fight for freedom of expression around the world.
Nazi ban * Blasphemy in Greece * Anti-gay Africa: Religious Freedom Recap: Jan. 20-27
By Brian Pellot — January 27, 2014
Israel considers a ban on Nazi symbols. Greece evokes its blasphemy laws to jail a man for poking fun of a monk on Facebook. And anti-gay laws are passed or challenged in Nigeria, Uganda and Malawi.
Jewish bakery evolves to cater to East London’s new clientele
By Brian Pellot — January 24, 2014
LONDON (RNS) Rinkoff Bakeries opened in 1911 when London’s Whitechapel district was a Jewish immigrant hub. The family-run bakery has evolved to serve Harrods, Google and the neighborhood’s growing Muslim community.
On National Religious Freedom Day, look abroad
By Brian Pellot — January 16, 2014
January 16 is Religious Freedom Day in the U.S. Yes, America’s still got issues. But let’s not forget how good we’ve got it compared to the North Koreas and Irans of the world.
