In this edition of ReligionLink, we orient you to the contours of the current culture wars and provide background and in-depth resources, as well as a selection of relevant stories and sources to turn to.

Tahil Sharma is an interfaith activist based in Los Angeles who was born to a Hindu father and a Sikh mother. After the Oak Creek, Wisconsin, shooting at a Sikh temple in 2012, Sharma became involved in efforts for interfaith literacy and social justice and has been doing this work professionally for the past seven […]

Laura Ansley is senior managing editor at the American Historical Association. In that capacity, she has published articles on the history of the culture wars in Perspectives on History. 

Andrew Hartman is a history professor at Illinois State University and the author of A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars, published by the University of Chicago Press in 2015.

Saeed Khan is a professor teaching in Near Eastern Studies at Wayne State University. He argued in 2023 that caught between the competing narratives of ever increasing toxicity in the culture wars, Muslims need to be wary of the pitfalls of choosing sides ahead of the elections.

Asra Nomani is an Indian American journalist and Federalist contributor, who — among other things — is outspoken in opposing critical race theory and gender diversity in education, which she has described as divisive ideologies.

Looking at seven issues from the perspective of diverse faith traditions in the U.S. — and the particular intersection of identifications, institutions and ideals they represent — helps us better get a sense of how religion may, or may not, play a role in determining the shape and outcome of this year’s vote.

Global Refuge — formerly Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service — offers refugee resettlement, immigrant legal aid and  inclusion programs, asylum assistance, mental health services for migrants, crisis response and advocacy on behalf of American newcomers. Krish O’Mara Vignarajah is president and CEO.

Throughout 2024 — and, really, any time politics are in the news, which is always — we will see familiar narratives about what religious voters are doing. Pundits will ask who they are backing and why, what messaging and issues mobilize them. What will emerge is a version of events that conflates political conservatism with […]