Many Muslims are making “the unorthodox decision to become vegetarians and [have] inflamed debates about Islamic dietary laws among scholars and religious leaders,” reports the quarterly magazine What Is Enlightenment? (March-May). While Islamic law and tradition allows and even encourages meat eating, animals have to be killed under strict conditions. The spread of factory farming across the […]
New spiritual interest reshapes French evangelical churches
A growing popular religious interest and a renewed concern to avoid religious restrictions and prejudice are helping to reshape evangelical churches in France, reports Christianity Today (March). Popular and intellectual interest in religious issues in France is expressed in increased Bible sales, coverage of spirituality in the media, and greater receptivity toward evangelistic efforts, writes Agnieszka Tennant. […]
Buddhist elements find place in European Christian funeral rites
At least in the German-speaking part of Europe, an increasing number of Christian funerals incorporate Buddhist elements, according to Brigitte Loehr (University of Tuebingen). She presented a paper on that topic at the 19th World Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) in Tokyo, which RW attended in late March. Loehr relates this […]
Current Research: April 2005
01: Declining Catholic school enrollment and the closing of inner-city parochial schools are largely due to the skeletal structure of these institutions that turn away young teachers and burden graying administrators, according to a recent study in Commonweal magazine (March 25). The steady closings of these schools and the reversal of growing enrollment of just a decade ago has […]
‘Vampire Cults’ feeding off popular culture
The increasing popularity of vampires in popular culture has created a small but growing subculture of devotees, some of whom have adopted religious elements and practices to suit their lifestyles, writes James Beverley in the Canadian evangelical magazine Faith Today (March/April). Beverly writes that such TV shows as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, novels, such as those by […]
Exurb megachurches playing greater social service function?
A new breed of megachurches growing in U.S. exurban areas are taking on greater social service functions in the absence of infrastructures in these towns, reports the New York Times Magazine (March 27). The megachurches growing in the exurbs, the new communities established beyond traditional suburbs during the mid to late 1990s, share a number of common […]
Fourth wave feminism blends spirituality, politics
More feminists are mixing spirituality with social action efforts on an international level, reports Utne magazine (March/April). In what writer Pythia Peay calls the “fourth wave” of the feminist movement, women are moving from private forms of spirituality toward a public expression which affirms women’s bonds across ethnic and religious boundaries, especially since 9/11. Peay adds that […]
Episcopalians divided over welcoming non-Christians
The battle between conservatives and liberals in the Episcopal Church doesn’t only hinge on gay rights. Rather, issues involving increasing acceptance and borrowing of non-Christian theology and spirituality are playing a role in the conflict, reports the current issue of Christian Challenge, a traditionalist Anglican magazine (December-January). The magazine reports on a controversy in the Diocese […]
Conflicts over proselytization go global
Proselytization has become more controversial in the last decade; not only the faithful of traditional religions, but secular circles as well have become increasingly suspicious toward at least some types of missionary activities. “Proselytization revisited” was the topic of a day-long symposium, organized by Rosalind Hackett (University of Tennessee), which took place on March 26 […]
Findings & Footnotes: March 2005
01: Muslim Networks: From Hajj to Hip Hop (University of North Carolina Press, $21.50) edited by Miriam Cooke and Bruce B. Lawrence, examines how Islam is flourishing under the process of globalization. The book’s editors argue that Muslims have both historically and in contemporary times formed networks with each other on a transnational basis, often conflicting with […]
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