01: The growth of non-denominational Christianity in the U.S. is often linked to the megachurches, but there are important differences between the two phenomena, according to Scott Thumma of Hartford Seminary, who presented research at the October conference of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR) in Milwaukee. Thumma, a specialist on megachurches, […]
Vatican document shows global South inspiration
A new Vatican document calling for reform of the world’s economic and monetary system suggests the rising influence of the global South church in Catholic social thought, writes John Allen in the National Catholic Reporter (Nov. 11–24). The document, entitled “Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of Global Public Authority,” […]
Occupy Wall Street’s religion—syncretistic and makeshift
The Occupy Wall Street movement has re-energized congregations and other religious groups on the left side of the spectrum and antagonized those on the right, but so far there are few signs that it is having a broad impact in American religion. Religion & Ethics Newsweekly (October 28) reported that a “growing number of leaders […]
Christian right takes on congregational and charismatic flavors
While rumors of the Christian right’s demise are regularly invoked by the media and pundits, such obituaries are just as easily revoked as the U.S. presidential campaign season approaches. This is not to say that the Christian right has not changed: in 2011 conservative Christian activism appears more localized and attuned to charismatic and Pentecostal […]
On/File: September/October 2011
01: The formation of two new Christian pressure groups during the U.S. government deadlock over raising the debt ceiling in early August showed both new and old fault lines in religious political engagement. The concern about possible cuts in social services rallied together a group of Christian leaders who called themselves the Circle of Protection. […]
Findings & Footnotes: September/October 2011
01: Nova Religio, the journal of “alternative and emergent religions,” devotes most of its August issue to Jews and new religious movements (NRMs), looking both at expressly Jewish movements, such as the Kabbalah Center and Messianic Judaism, and the often-disproportionate involvement of Jews in other religious groups and spiritual movements, such as Buddhism. In the […]
Japan’s new spiritual fad: pilgrimage to power spots
In 2010, many Japanese sought to gain access to places considered as “power spots,” write Hotaka Tsukada and Toshihiro Omi in the annual Bulletin of the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture (No. 35, 2011). The “power spot boom” is seen as a renewal of sacred sites. Surveys reveal that television programs have played a […]
Suicide attacks gaining wider legitimacy among Muslims
Due to continued propaganda by various Islamist groups and ulemas, mainstream Muslim perceptions of what constitutes legitimate “martyrdom operations” in war seem to have gained wider latitude, writes independent scholar Shireen Khan Burki in the journal Terrorism and Political Violence (September-October). In Muslim tradition, there had been a strong taboo against suicide in any form. […]
Islamic healing serves as alternative to Southeast Asian Muslims
A growing number of Muslims in Southeast Asia are turning away from Western medical care in favor of Islamic medicine (or “medicine of the Prophet”), a loosely defined set of remedies based on the Quran and other Islamic texts, according to the Guardian newspaper (Sept. 26). The trend in Islamic treatments is often associated with […]
Revival of polygamy among Muslims in Britain
There is an unexpected rise in polygamy among Muslims in Britain, reports The Australian newspaper (Sept. 27). Using figures from the Islamic Sharia Council, the BBC Asian Bureau reported that for the first time, polygamy is now among the top ten reasons for divorce, as wives decide that they can no longer tolerate competing with […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 43
- 44
- 45
- 46
- 47
- …
- 199
- Next Page »