At Encounter, we often say religious literacy can help you understand your neighbour, your work colleagues and even the evening news. In 2024, this definitely held true.
Whether it was the ongoing tragedies in the Middle East, the re-election of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India, or the American election, religious movements continued to reshape the globe. These events have had impacts here in Canada with protests over Israel and Palestine or more recent conflicts between members of Canada’s Sikh and Hindu communities.
Our challenge is two-fold. On the one hand, religious literacy helps us understand these geopolitical events and their implications in our own communities. But secondly, religious literacy provides context, reminding us that social media and legacy media focus on religious conflict and that consuming this as a steady diet can make us susceptible to a Single Story about religion. We may miss how religion positively informs charitable giving, volunteering, fosters social networks and community, and helps many mark life-cycle events or navigate trauma.
So, with all of that in mind, here’s the year in review.
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Religion in the News
Religious nationalism is having a resurgence whether in Israel, the United States, India or Putin’s Russia. These conservative fusions of nationalism and religion are powerful social movements that historically benefit by drawing lines between an “us” and a “them.” The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been playing out in Canadian universities, on our streets, in coffee shops, schools, and at places of worship (e.gs. 1, 2, 3), all of which fosters greater insecurity.
More recently, conflicts between Hindus and Sikhs have escalated with tensions rising since Canadian Hardeep Singh Nijjar was assassinated 18 months ago, an act Canada’s government accuses India’s government of carrying out. Right-wing nationalism has also been surging in Canada, including the tragic death of the Afzaal family in London and growing online extremism, including promotion of the Great Replacement Theory (a plot to replace “us” – meaning white people – with “them”).
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Education
As awareness and concern grows around these religious conflicts, we’re also seeing an increase in organizations, communities and individuals wanting to better understand what is happening and why.
The talk we developed on the origins of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to be one of our most sought-after presentations and we’ve offered it to police services, municipalities, community groups and our friends at CCDI. It’s a very complicated issue and folks are grateful for a safe place to ask questions. Similarly, we have responded when police have asked about some of the dynamics and history of Hindu and Sikh conflicts. Background knowledge helps us better comprehend what is at stake and how different sides might see an issue and/or be impacted by public protests and foreign events.
Encounter is a big proponent of Contact Theory which suggests that in-person contact across differences helps reduce discrimination and fosters empathy and understanding. I had my own reminder of the importance of encountering people and religions as a way of opening our eyes to the richness of the world’s religions. In March, I traveled to several Asian countries including Japan, China and India while working with Road Scholar, an educational travel organization. India was especially astonishing. Never have I been anywhere where religions are so seamlessly integrated within the culture and with each other and that experience has impacted how I think and teach about religions. The trip also afforded some time to research and create a new class on Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan.
When JW Windland founded Encounter, I am not sure he realized what an impact his vision would have. In 2025, Encounter was able to offer over 100 learning events and provide 20,000 person-hours of religious literacy programming. (We define a person-hour as one person in one program for one hour). Our reach grew to include even more folks in government, policing, education, and private industry. Religious literacy, wherever it is nurtured, helps create a more welcoming culture and positively impacts our social norms.
Looking Ahead
As our supporters, we are excited to share with you some upcoming highlights for 2025.
- We are honoured to be giving the Israeli-Palestinian talk at Islington United Church in Toronto, as part of a three-part education series that features Canada’s Special Representative on Islamophobia, Amira Elghawaby and celebrated Jewish educator Karen Mock. It is a privilege to be included alongside these experts.
- Our series of talks on Demystifying Religions, where we hold virtual conversations with someone who practices the tradition, continues to be popular and several organizations have booked them for this year.
- We are especially looking forward to our 3-day Police Religious Literacy training event in April, a one-of-a-kind offering in Canada (and maybe North America). We were recently interviewed for The Blue Line, a police podcast, that will come out in early March.
- Our Discovery Week is already 90% sold out. If you or a friend were planning to sign up this year, please act soon to secure a spot.
Thanks
Finally, our deepest thanks to so many of you who read our blogs, come to our events, tell others about us, and who donate to support our work. We would not exist without you.
A good 2025 to you all!
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