Gilbert Bargayo washes his crucifixion wounds after being crucified on Good Friday in Tuburan, Cebu, Philippines.

The Meaning Behind Philippine Crucifixions

An anthropologist examines the sacred vows that inspire some Filipino Catholics to reenact Christ's Passion each Holy Week.
Image from the book Kim, by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by J. L. Kipling, 1901

Rudyard Kipling’s Buddhism

Long read as an imperial novel, Kim also reflects Britain's changing ideas about Buddhist thought and spiritual practice.
Young woman in hijab on a laptop on living room sofa

How Indonesia’s Feminists Use the Internet

Online platforms help Muslim scholars and activists share feminist interpretations of Islam, expanding access to new audiences.
Smiling woman holding a sleeping baby in a blue sling in a cozy kitchen setting

Why Care Matters More Than Work

Reproductive justice offers a new way to think about human flourishing beyond the job market.
A bottle of Shaker Anodyne from Enfield Shaker Village in New Hampshire

A Trusted Name in a Dubious Drug Market

Amid the fraud and flimflam of early drug markets, Shakers stood for purity, creating a brand others were eager to exploit.
A traditional Malay healer, ca. 1890

The Supernatural Side of Malayan Rice Farming

In agrarian Malaya, spirit mediums negotiated with deities and demons to safeguard crops and shape the rhythms of rural life.
The cover of The Urgency of Indigenous Values by Philip P. Arnold

The Urgency of Indigenous Values

As global crises mount, religion scholar Philip P. Arnold argues the Haudenosaunee’s Great Law of Peace offers a way out of the West’s self-destructive path.
At the Mass, 1872,, by Francesco Gioli

A Christian Case for Gossip

When silence allows harm to continue, warning others may become a difficult but necessary moral choice.
Massacre of the Innocents by Bartolo di Fredi

A Fierce Devotion to the “Empress of Hell”

Medieval dramatizations of the confrontation between the Virgin Mary and King Herod offered a symbolic resistance to tyranny.
A 14th century representation of Tutivillus

Tutivillus Is Watching You

For medieval scribes, mistakes couldn’t be easily shrugged off, as Tutivillus, the stickler demon, was always looking over their shoulders.