Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 6 hours ago

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For centuries, religion has deeply shaped governance, national identities, and global institutions. Figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa, and Martin Luther King Jr. used religion to appeal to the greater good in their unique fights for social justice. But while religion has served as a tool for diplomacy, authoritarian actors and terrorist groups have also used it to justify violence and deny human rights. As a central driving force for political change, if not a significant cultural backdrop amid larger conflicts, has religion helped solve international problems, or has it made them worse?

Featured:

Mark Bosco, vice president, Mission & Ministry, Georgetown University

Ian Finlay, fellow, Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford

Howard Robinson, senior research fellow, Blackfriars Hall, Oxford

Suhag Shukla, executive director and co-founder, Hindu American Foundation

Michael Scott (moderator), senior dean, Blackfriars Hall, Oxford

Sanford J. Ungar (moderator), director, Free Speech Project, Georgetown University

Recorded Sept. 10th, 2025