Religion Watch Archives

Monitoring Trends in Religion - From February 1990 to January 2016

Featured Story: The success of the burkini and its meaning for Muslims­—and non-Muslims

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The success of female Islamic beachwear, called the “burkini,” should be seen as part of a growing market for so-called “halal products” in a variety of niches. This beachwear also allows some Muslims to use it as one more mark of religious and cultural identity, said Diletta Guidi (University of Fribourg) at a recent conference. […]

Current Research: May 2014

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01: A survey from the American Bible Society finds that the percentage of those who are “Bible skeptical” is now equal to those Americans who are “Bible engaged”—both at 19 percent. Since the survey began in 2011, the Bible skeptics have risen from 10 percent to 19 percent of respondents. The survey, conducted by the Barna […]

Alternative versions of Scientology flourish in the `Free Zone’

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Although the Church of Scientology has tried to sue schismatic groups out of existence, a steady stream of defectors have resulted in a large but loosely-organized and Internet-driven community of people who still consider themselves Scientologists known as the “Free Zone,” writes James Lewis in the current issue  of the Finnish journal Temenos (Vol. 49, […]

Featured Story: Schism or gridlock for United Methodists?

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The increasing division in the United Methodist Church (UMC) over gay rights and marriage may be the harbinger of a major schism in the church body, writes Amy Frykholm in the Christian Century magazine (April 16). Observers, including RW, have viewed the United Methodists as an exception to the trend of mainline Protestant denominations liberalizing […]

How sustainable is the Evangelicals’ urban turn?

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There is a “big change on the horizon that is taking place in cities” as evangelicals increasingly focus their attention on urban ministry, according to Common Place, (March 26-27), an urban affairs blog published by the University of Virginia’s Institute for the Advanced Studies in Culture. Both figuratively and literally, American evangelicals “are coming back […]

On/File: April 2014

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Seeking to enhance the political influence and civil rights of Islam in America, 10 Muslim groups have banded together in a new coalition called the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations. The formation of the new organization is said to be a major step forward for unity among Muslims, as well as further integrating Islam into […]

Findings & Footnotes: Findings & Footnotes: April 2014

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01: Several articles in the current issue of the Mennonite Quarterly Review (January) are devoted to the complex and shifting interplay of technology and tradition in the Amish and other strict Anabaptist groups. Contrary to popular perceptions, the use of technology is not totally and uniformly forbidden to any of these groups; rather, it is a […]

Growth of social media creates religious conflict and dialogue in Africa

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The growing access to social media in Africa can as easily promote religious conflict and violence as interfaith understanding and public education about religious difference, says religion scholar Rosalind Hackett in an interview in the journal Social Compass (March). Hackett says that the impact of media deregulation in much of Africa is just beginning to […]