Happy Wednesday! As of right now (Tuesday morning), I am elbow-deep in data from former Pres. Donald Trump’s Iowa Caucus victory. There will be more reporting on that very soon, and I’m excited to show y’all what I noticed about Trump’s cozy relationship with white Evangelicals.

For now, we need to talk about religious freedom. Yesterday was Religious Freedom day, so this week’s Matter of Faith is focused on how religions that have been villainized by white supremacy continue to resist and build resilient communities.

Let’s dive in:

How Muslim communities are rewriting the narrative of American belonging beyond the War on Terror

Anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States has grown in the 22 years since the terrorist attack on Sept 11 2001 and the subsequent beginning of the War on Terror.

According to 2023 data from the Pew Research Center, six in ten U.S. adults (59%) say they hold “neither favorable nor unfavorable” views of Muslims or “don’t know enough to say,” while 17% express very or somewhat favorable views of Muslims and 22% express very or somewhat unfavorable views of the group.

At the end of December, Biden bypassed congress to give $150 million of military equipment to Israel. As the United States continues to fund and support Israel’s military after over 100 days of violence in Gaza, killing 24,000 people, 10,000 of which are children, many Arab and Muslim Americans are saying that anti-Muslim sentiment feels reminiscent of the political climate after 9/11.

Palestinian American activist Laila El-Haddad told NBC news in October, “This feels like that, but almost a more dystopian version of that.”

3 ways Muslims are combatting discrimination

When the transatlantic slave trade took Africans to America, they brought with them their powerful ancestral practices and spiritual traditions, collectively known as Voodoo. These traditions continue to offer modern-day Black Americans a source of strength and solace today.

Despite spooky stories, the religious practice is deeply focused on justice and community, which doesn’t include “turning the other cheek.” This religious focus on justice and harmony followers to use their knowledge to protect themselves, which had real-world political consequences. But slave owners and lawmakers systematically tried to snuff out the practice.

While the religion was never banned, states instituted slave codes–laws restricting how slaves could gather and limitations on their education. These laws, like the 1848 Georgia Slave code, prevented an enslaved person from teaching any religion–regardless of its origin–unless there were seven or fewer enslaved people present.

“Vodoou was painted as bad because it was used for the Haitian Revolution, and the powers that be didn’t want other Caribbean and Latin countries using Voodoo to become free,” said Sandra Calixte, a Chicago-based Haitian-American Voodoo healer.

Get the facts on Voodoo here

For further reading:

The Iowa Caucus marked the beginning of the 2024 presidential race. Here’s what I’ve been reading about the somewhat bizarre series of meetings and voting held Monday night:

Just a note:

Hold on tight for the 2024 election cycle and a sure to be thrilling few months of faith, sex and politics sending sparks flying.

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Keep wandering 😉