Dear Revealer readers,

Since 2020 I have been informally tracking the number of colleges and universities that have closed their religious studies departments, or stopped offering religious studies as a major, or ended their graduate programs in religion. Typically, institutions justify these closures for the same reason: not enough students are majoring in religious studies and the institution needs to cut costs somewhere.

The downsizing of religious studies departments did not begin in 2020. The humanities have been under attack from conservative trustees and state politicians for decades. But the pandemic provided a convenient excuse to shutter or greatly reduce religious studies offerings when overall enrollment numbers declined at several schools.

Revealer Editor, Brett Krutzsch

But therein lies a critical problem: as institutions eliminated or decreased their religious studies courses over the past several years, a massive Christian nationalist movement was underway to overturn Roe v. Wade, to put evangelical and conservative Catholic judges in life-long judicial positions, to siphon tax money to private Christian schools, to demonize transgender people, and to refashion the United States into an avowedly Christian country. And as that has been happening, fewer students have been exposed to the analytical tools of religious studies, to identifying how religion functions in society, to understanding the myriad ways religion influences people, and to seeing how politics shape religious communities.

At the same time, religion is not only a matter of pressing concern within the United States. Removing religious studies courses means less students have been learning about Hindu nationalism in India, the spread of Pentecostalism in Latin America and its effect on global politics, debates on the place of Islam in Muslim-majority countries, and much more. Without access to the academic study of religion, our students – our future leaders – are ill-equipped to understand the world or to one day lead it.

Of course, religious studies classes will not, in and of themselves, solve the problems of rising Christian nationalism or politicized religion. But a healthy democracy does not benefit from fewer people learning about religion’s many roles in society. And one could reasonably argue that things like Christian nationalism gain strength when less people have spent dedicated time studying and analyzing how religion influences the diverse cultures within a country, and how religion shapes people’s politics.

For this reason, I am especially proud of the work we do at The Revealer and at NYU’s Center for Religion and Media, and our nearly 21-year-commitment to examining and talking about religion in meaningful ways. Our May issue of The Revealer is a case in point that highlights the diverse ways religion is of significance around the world.

The May issue opens with Kelsey Osgood’s “An Amish Farmer’s Court Case and a Curious Coalition of Rightwing Supporters,” where she explores a legal battle between an Amish farmer and the government that has brought together a sizable and curious collective from the political far right, anti-vaxxers, and conservative media, and she investigates what this merger portends. Following that, we head to India where, in “How the Hindu Far-Right is Overhauling India’s Schools and Textbooks,” Sabah Gurmat and Kaushik Raj report on how the Hindu-nationalist ruling party is re-writing school textbooks to erase Muslims and to instill young minds with a Hindu nationalist perspective. From there, we look to Myanmar where, in “Reviving Burmese Nat Shrines to Protect Myanmar’s Mount Popa National Park,” Bikash Kumar Bhattacharya investigates how environmental activists are re-popularizing indigenous spirit worship as a way to sacralize nature in order to combat the climate crisis. After that, we return to the United States, and in “Queer and Religious in the Midwest,” Emma Cieslik offers a review of the documentary We Live Here: The Midwest, and reflects on the place of queer Midwesterners in states where battles over LGBTQ rights are raging. And, in “Muslims in American Media,” an excerpt from Pop Islam: Seeing American Muslims in Popular Media, Rosemary Pennington considers how some recent depictions of Muslims in popular culture offer much needed and greatly improved perspectives of Islam in the United States.

The May issue also includes the newest episode of the Revealer podcast: “Muslims in Pop Culture.” Rosemary Pennington joins us to discuss how media depictions of Muslims have changed in recent years. We discuss how some Muslim performers have used humor to present a more robust picture of Muslim life, what we should make of the depictions of Muslims in shows like Ms. Marvel and Ramy, and what the place of Muslims in pop culture reveals about Islam in the United States today. You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

As I reflect on the range of topics in this issue, I wish more people had access to quality religious studies classes and information. But, of course, more religious studies courses will not solve all of the problems we face today or the rightward turn in global politics. After all, alongside the downsizing of religious studies within academia is the elimination of journalists at countless publications who cover religion. But a greater commitment to, and financial investment in, religious studies courses and religion journalism could contribute to more people possessing information about religion and the analytical abilities to not only notice religion’s strong presence in society, but to engage in more nuanced discussions about it. Those of us who want a healthier democracy and a society with greater equality should care about this. The Revealer is committed to doing its part, and we will continue to provide a space for academics, journalists, and freelance writers to share their insights about religion with all of you.

Yours,
Brett Krutzsch, Ph.D.