Welcome to the Religiverse
Every story is a religious story. The headlines you see every day—whether they explicitly reference a deity, existential concerns, or spirituality—have a connection to religion.
Political stories are driven by meaning, purpose and group identity.
Crime stories start with morality and the human condition.
Wars, at least most of them, have a religious idea at the core of the conflict.
Cultural trends are about affiliation and worldview.
Storytelling itself is often a reflection of something greater than ourselves.
But in a moment when religion lurks beneath every headline, our knowledge of religion is waning. We live in silos. Southern Baptists know little about Catholics. Catholics know little about Buddhists. Buddhists know little about Episcopalians. And the rising tide of secularism has left so many with limited knowledge of any religious tradition.
We are incurious about religious traditions that aren’t our own, and that kind of tribalism is bad in an increasingly connected world.
So this is not a newsletter pushing a certain religious tradition or pushing against any religious tradition. This is a newsletter intending to educate: If you want to understand the news, you need to understand the religious ideas behind it. The purpose of The Religiverse is to curate the most significant religious news articles, commentaries and storytelling around the world and list them for readers in a single, easy-to-access place. It’s like the Drudge Report, but for religion instead of politics.
Can’t I just subscribe to Religion News Service?
Sure! And we recommend it. But RNS isn’t going to show you the same content as the Baptist Press, which isn’t going to match up with the Catholic News Agency, which won’t overlap much with the Jewish News Syndicate, which probably isn’t covering the same territory as Hinduism Today. And what about the New York Times, Associated Press, or Christian Post?
Twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, we’ll gather the headlines and most important stories. You take it from there.
The Religiverse is a paid newsletter. Subscribe to get full access to the twice-weekly newsletter in your in-box and publication archives: $6/month or $60/year.
Who’s behind this newsletter?
My name is Jason Boyett, and I’m an entrepreneur, journalist and author who’s been writing about religion for the past two decades. My most popular book to date is called 12 Major World Religions: The Beliefs, Rituals, and Traditions of Humanity’s Most Influential Faiths. It’s an overview of religion around the world. I’ve also written books about the afterlife, the Bible, the Catholic saints, the apocalypse, and other topics.
Apart from religious writing, I am heavily involved in the local media landscape of my hometown in Texas as a magazine publisher and podcaster. Drop me a line at jb@jasonboyett.com.
World Religions Reader Feedback
“I’ve never gotten so many positive comments about a textbook I’ve assigned. I’ve also never had so many students make a point to tell me that they were going to keep the book instead of selling it after the class was over.”—Adam E.
“After reading this book, you will understand how connected we all are in the commonalities of our faiths, beliefs and values. We share and build on each other, making me wonder why we only see our differences. It would be an excellent primer for all seminaries and religious teaching.”—Leslie C.
“This is an excellent book to get the basics of each major religion. We’d have a lot more understanding and less xenophobia if more people read this book. It’s very interesting, and well organized.”—S.
“Most impressive. An invaluable resource for anyone interested in religious subjects.”—Ginny
Join the Religiverse community
The Religiverse requires a paid subscription: $6/month or $60/year. Every new post is sent directly to your email inbox, or you can read it in a browser here at religiverse.substack.com. Subscribers also get to participate in the community by commenting on posts. I may introduce additional essays, interviews and other explorations of religion as this community grows.
I love interacting with self-selected communities, and I look forward to getting involved in the comments.
Get curious
Thanks for joining me in this project. Once you subscribe, make sure to add substack.com to your “trusted” list so our emails don’t land in your spam folder. Let’s explore faith, spirituality and religion together. I’d love to hear from you: jb@jasonboyett.com.
