International Association for Religious Freedom

The Remonstrants’ 2026-2027 annual theme is ‘Being free well – how do you do that?’, based on six essays in AdRem for group discussion and the spring 2027 Remonstrant Day. It treats freedom of belief, thought and speech as a cherished but strained ideal under war, control, AI and acceleration culture. It asks who can call themselves free, whether free will remains, why youth feel less free, and how freedom slides into performance pressure, individualism, exclusion and hyperconsumerism. The Christian answer proposed is freedom for something: love, care, responsibility, justice and making room for others in a polarising world.

Rev. Karen G. Johnston, senior minister of First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington, was arrested on September 4 with six other clergy outside ICE’s National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Center in Williston, Vermont. About 150-200 protesters joined the three-hour action, the fourth at the facility, aiming to block data gathering and deportations. Johnston cited UU values of interdependence, equity and justice, plus Thoreau, King and Thich Nhat Hanh. Police charged the clergy with unlawful trespass. She said ICE detentions continue with horrific conditions and announced a Shut Down ICE VT week of action for October 4-9.

The World Bektashi Headquarters will host a jubilee international conference on Monday, 7 September 2026, at its Holy See in Tirana. The event, held under the patronage of World Bektashi Leader Haxhi Dede Baba Edmond Brahimaj, will bring together senior state officials, diplomats, religious communities, academics, cultural figures, and representatives of Bektashi centers and tekkes from Albania and the diaspora. It will celebrate three milestones: the 35th anniversary of the reopening of the World Bektashi Headquarters (1991–2026), the 15th anniversary of the election of Haxhi Dede Baba Edmond Brahimaj (2011–2026), and the 11th anniversary of the Odeon Cultural Complex (2015–2026). Three thematic sessions will focus on Bektashi history, spiritual and cultural heritage, and interreligious dialogue.

Wondervoel is a Dutch network for people in their thirties and forties who are looking for liberal religious connection and deeper conversation. Because this age group is often a minority in local congregations, Wondervoel organizes national activities where they can meet one another. It began with the Remonstrants and now also includes Mennonites and Vrijzinnigen Nederland. Program maker Roos van Doorn says the team focuses on doing rather than meeting, creating moments such as mudflat hiking, visiting church asylum in Kampen, attending demonstrations and festivals, and planning future museum visits, retreats, and nature trips without digital distraction. The initiative is open to new ideas and is growing step by step.

In her July 2026 letter, Liz Slade, Chief Officer of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, reflects on venue rejections due to the Unitarian non-creedal tradition. She highlights the necessity of maintaining community across differing opinions, navigating sensitive topics like trans inclusion and global conflicts, and practicing ‘costly solidarity’ in divisive times.

The article describes a scientific conference held on July 10, 2026, by the World Bektashi Headquarters on the persecution and survival of the Bektashi order. Speakers reflected on the 1826 persecution under Sultan Mahmud II and the legacy of Dede Ahmet Myftari, emphasizing historical memory, spiritual resilience, and the Bektashi values of love, knowledge, service, and harmony across peoples and faiths.

This piece introduces the UUA’s 2026–27 Common Read, Love at the Center: Unitarian Universalist Theologies, a collection of essays edited by Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt. It presents the book as an invitation to explore what it means to center love in Unitarian Universalist faith and notes that the Association is expanding support materials beyond standard discussion guides.

This Dutch essay reflects on whether faith can be described as seasonal, asking if liberal religion is more suited to summer or winter. It argues that liberal faith is not carefree or sunny, but rather clouded and winter-like in its realism, while also suggesting that winter carries the promise of spring through warmth, mutual care, and shared hope within the church community.

The Székelykeresztúr Unitarian Church District held its 10th Firtos meeting at the renovated Firtos lookout on June 13, bringing together nearly a thousand participants from local congregations and nearby communities. The event featured worship, speeches, cultural performances, communal meals, youth activities, and the inauguration of the new lookout, which symbolized Unitarian presence and community cooperation. The gathering emphasized fellowship, shared service, and the strength of communal unity.

Liz Slade’s June 2026 letter reflects on Pride Month, religious freedom, and the historical struggles of dissenters and LGBTQ+ people for equal rights. She highlights the importance of inclusive faith communities, criticizes growing anti-trans rhetoric, and argues that genuine in-person dialogue and welcome are essential for dignity and liberation. The letter closes by affirming that freedom for one group is bound up with freedom for all.

This article reviews Koert van der Velde’s book arguing that people can be religious without believing literal religious claims. It explains his distinction between belief and religion, and how rituals, wonder, and symbolic practices can still create meaningful spiritual experiences.

The World Bektashi Leader, Haxhi Dede Baba Edmond Brahimaj, delivered a speech at the 30th Berlin International Meeting in the German Bundestag on the theme of responsibility before God and humanity. The address emphasized moral accountability, justice, compassion, interfaith dialogue, human dignity, and the Bektashi tradition’s commitment to peace, tolerance, and service to others.

In occupied eastern Ukraine, the Russian Orthodox Church has annexed about 800 Ukrainian Orthodox Church churches. The article explains that before 2022 the ROC formally preserved UOC dioceses for political and canonical reasons, but after Russia recognized the Donetsk and Luhansk republics and annexed territories, it moved to take over church structures.

Interfaith Alliance joined over 150 civil society organizations to defend free expression and stand with the Center for American Progress after President Trump’s legal attack. The statement says the First Amendment protects independent think tanks and that suppressing free expression also threatens religious freedom.

As the far-right AfD could win state power in Saxony-Anhalt, German churches are countering its plans to end church asylum, strip state funding from Catholic and Protestant churches, and deport refugees. The article profiles church asylum at St. Petri, pastors running campaigns and town halls, and AfD leader Hans-Thomas Tillschneider’s policies.

In an interview on The State of Belief, Dr. Robert P. Jones discusses his book Backslide: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy, drawing parallels between 2026 American democracy and 1933 Germany. He argues the crises of faith and democracy share origins and require religious communities to actively defend democratic institutions.

Connecticut has enacted legislation tasking its Department of Education with creating optional curriculum resources on Arab and Islamic studies for public schools. Supporters see it as a key step to counter anti-Muslim bias, while critics raise constitutional concerns regarding religious endorsement.

Three Houston-area mothers filed a lawsuit using the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act and parental rights provisions to challenge a state law mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.

A report by the Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist Christian Unity Council details widespread communal violence, harassment, and property seizures targeting religious minorities during the first half of 2026, prompting calls for a Minority Protection Act.

A joint statement signed by 115 European parliamentarians urges the Egyptian government to end discrimination against Baháʼís and other religious minorities, calling for equal civil rights, marriage registration, and burial rights.

Progressive religious organizations in the US are using religious freedom laws to defend civil liberties, including abortion access, migrant protections, Indigenous land preservation, and harm reduction initiatives.

A van driver rammed into a crowd celebrating Berlin Pride, killing one person and injuring 16 others. German police are currently searching for a 21-year-old suspect connected to Islamist circles.

President Donald Trump signed proclamations cutting Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by roughly 90%, opening sacred Indigenous ancestral lands to mining despite a history of federal acknowledgment of their cultural significance.