The Indian Elections
Counting the Votes and Assessing the Stakes
Posted: Saturday, May 22, 2004
On May 11, 2004, political theorist and commentator Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta addressed an audience at EPPC on the recent – and dramatic – Indian elections. Click here for a transcript of his presentation and the discussion that followed.  [Full Story]

Muslims in Hindu Nationalist India
A Conversation with Asghar Ali Engineer and Paul R. Brass
Posted: Friday, April 30, 2004
In January, EPPC brought together two experts on religious conflict in South Asia to discuss the possible impact of increasing religious militancy -- both Hindu and Muslim -- on the Indian democratic state. The remarks of those analysts, Indian scholar/activist Asghar Ali Engineer and American scholar Paul R. Brass, are featured in this Center Conversation.  [Full Story]

The Pioneering Protestants

Posted: Friday, April 16, 2004
Protestantism has significantly contributed to global democratization. While Protestantism does not inevitably cause democratization, it often generates social dynamics that favor it, including the rise of religious pluralism, the development of civil society, and the spread of mass education. This article explores how Protestant groups, including missionaries, have promoted these dynamics in the past. It also argues that contemporary Protestant movements -- particularly Pentecostalism -- are continuing to do so in the present, though with less dramatic results.  [Full Story]

Extremist Religious Nationalism in South Asia and Beyond
Lecture for Conference on "Religion in a Globalizing World"
Posted: Tuesday, March 2, 2004
One can hardly begin a lecture on religious nationalism in South Asia without quoting that great Indian religious nationalist Mahatma Gandhi. The witticism that I would like to quote now Gandhi memorably delivered in response to a question: "What do you think of Western Civilization?" His mordant reply was, "I think it would be a good idea." Now if someone were to ask me what I think of the lecture I am about to give, I think my reply would have to be, "I think it would be a good idea." It is painfully true that the lecture I am about to give is not the lecture I would like to give. It contains very far from complete or developed thoughts about a very important topic.  [Full Story]

What's Next for the "Next Christendom"?

Posted: Saturday, November 1, 2003
As the great ship of world Christianity continues to adjust course in its 21st century, the ballast is shifting from the global North to the global South. The reason is clear: more than any other form of Christianity, it is the explosive growth of evangelicalism in the Third World that is transforming global religious demography and casting new doubt on conventional assumptions about the North’s leadership vis-à-vis the transnational Body of Christ.   [Full Story]

Hindu Nationalism vs. Islamic Jihad: Religious Militancy in South Asia
A Conversation with Cedric Prakash, Teesta Setalvad, Kamal Chenoy, Sumit Ganguly, Sunil Khilnani, and Jonah Blank
Posted: Monday, February 3, 2003
On June 10, 2002, the Ethics and Public Policy Center sponsored a conference in which six experts on South Asia discussed the impact of increasing religious militancy—Hindu as well as Islamic—on geopolitical stability and religious freedom in the subcontinent. Co-sponsoring the conference was INFEMIT, a network of Third World theologians and activists led by Dr. Vinay Samuel. In the edited transcript that follows, each of the six experts makes brief remarks. Then other conference participants join them in a lively discussion. Moderator Timothy Samuel Shah is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center specializing in South Asia.  [Full Story]

Making the Christian World Safe for Liberalism

Posted: Tuesday, February 1, 2000
Anyone familiar with the books Anglo-American political scientists write, the seminars they run, or the conferences they organize will know that two sets of questions preoccupy Anglo-American political science today.   [Full Story]