01: The June issue of the e-journal Approaching Religion looks at the “New Visibility of Atheism in Europe.” The articles, stemming from a seminar in January 2012 at the Donner Institute, cover a range of topics related to contemporary atheism in different countries. Teemu Taira looks at the position of atheism in Finland, showing how […]
Singapore shows church–society tensions, but not culture wars
Singapore’s recent adoption of liberal causes—from stem cell research to gay rights and gambling—is leading to conflict with its increasingly influential Christian community, although it is unlikely to lead to American-style culture wars, writes Peter T. C. Chang in the journal Religion, State and Society (June). Since the early 1990s, Singapore’s one-party government has been […]
Western monks in Thailand preserving traditional Buddhist discipline
In contrast with the commercialization of many Buddhist temples in Thailand, those attracting monks born in the Western world tend on average to retain traditional forms of Buddhist monastic life, reports journalist Max Constant in Asie Info (June 24). He contrasts the strict discipline respected by residents of the International Forest Monastery (Wat Pah Nanachat) […]
Japan’s Happy Science reaching Africa
Formerly known as Kofuku-no-Kagaku or the Institute for Research in Human Happiness, and now operating under the name of Happy Science, a Japanese new religion has been making inroads in Uganda. Thousands of believers are reported in the country and 10,000 gathered in June in the national stadium in Kampala to hear lectures by the […]
Corruption charges in Korea’s largest church show megachurch turmoil, rethinking
Recently, SoonBokUm (True Evangelical) church in Korea, also known as Yoido Full Gospel Church, which has the world’s largest congregational membership of 750,000, is facing the most serious challenge since its founding in 1958. Twenty-six elders of the megachurch filed a complaint against its founder, Cho Yong Gi (known as Paul Yongi Cho in the West), […]
Changing face of Reformed clergy in Switzerland
Due to the numerical decline of the Reformed population in Switzerland, ministers celebrate fewer baptisms or weddings; nevertheless, there will not be enough young seminarians ready for the ministry in Swiss Reformed Churches when the next wave of retirements arrive, reports the Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung (July 14–15). The Reformed faith used to be […]
Foreign-trained preachers challenge local Islam in Albania
Stricter forms of Islam are being promoted in Albania by young imams who were trained in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the head of the South-East Europe department of Aid to Church in Need reports. According to this international Catholic charity, this creates some tensions with Christians as well as with other Muslims (Catholic News Agency, […]
Iranian immigrants in Germany showing high Christian conversion rates
Immigrants from Iran in Germany are showing a high level of interest in Christianity, despite the serious stigma attached to Muslims converting to another religion, reports Christianity Today magazine (July/August). Journalists Matthias Pankau and Uwe Siemon-Netto report that the small yet growing movement of Muslims converting to Christianity in parts of the Middle East and […]
German circumcision controversy ignites debate across Europe
The ruling of a German regional court against the practice of circumcision has intensified a debate on religious freedom across much of Europe. The ruling stated that the practice of circumcision inflicts bodily harm and infringes on bodily integrity. Hospitals in Germany have suspended the practice until further clarification is obtained, and some hospitals in […]
Current Research: July/August 2013
01: Confidence in institutional religion is at an all-time low, according to a new Gallup poll. Today, confidence in American religion has dropped to 44 percent, compared to the 1973 high of 66 percent. Through 1985, organized religion ranked first in Gallup’s “confidence in institutions measure,” outranking the military and the Supreme Court. The Huffington […]
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