Religion

In the Indian city of Mumbai, millions of Hindus just wrapped up the annual, 10-day celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi, a holiday dedicated to the elephant god, Ganesha. The holiday has come under scrutiny, however, because of the environmental damage that results from r​​eleasing millions of statues into water bodies across the state each year.

Pastor Khader Khalilia is one of the few Palestinian Christian faith leaders in the United States. He talks to The World’s host, Marco Werman, about what it’s been like to lead a church in the US, especially during the past nine months of war in Gaza.

A new law that provides refugees with a path to Indian citizenship went into effect in March. But it’s controversial because it excludes refugees who are Muslims. There were widespread protests in 2019 when it was first passed and now India’s supreme court is hearing a bunch of petitions against it.

They’re called “Festas Juninas” — or June Festivals — and they are the heart of Brazilian culture this time of the year. What’s special about these festivals is that they’re generally not celebrated in big mega events, like Carnival in February, but they’re held in each town and community across the country. As Michael Fox reports from Florianopolis, in southern Brazil, these festivals spring from a deep well of history and broad mix of cultural influences passed from one generation to the next.

Anti-Muslim policies are a key tenet of the Dutch far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) led by Geert Wilders. Many of those policies were devised by former lawmaker and once close confidante of Wilders, Joram van Klaveren. Today van Klaveren dedicates his life to defending Islam.