Most U.S. Catholic dioceses do not expect a large number of requests for celebration of the pre-Vatican II Mass in the foreseeable future. There are however a few exceptions, according to an article by Jeff Ziegler in theCatholic World Report (October). Following the July motu proprioSummorum Pontificum, any priest who wishes to do so can celebrate […]
Low income churches borrow from Scientology
Some Christian congregations, particularly in lower income, urban areas, are turning to the Church of Scientology for support and assistance, according to a CNN report (October 31). Pastors interviewed say that when it comes to religion, they still preach the basics of Christianity. But when it comes to practicing the faith, they borrow resources from Scientology. According […]
Findings & Footnotes: October 2007
01: As a result of a growing interest in religions and their role in society, new websites and newsletters in different languages are making an appearance. Several of them are edited by people with a background in religious studies. A few months ago, Yunus, a new website on religion, was launched (http://www.yunusnews.com). It describes itself as “dedicated […]
Muslim reformists support secular state
There is no incompatibility between secularism and sharia (Islamic law), said Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im (Professor of Law at Emory University) in his keynote speech at the 30th German Congress of Oriental Studies, which gathered in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany (Sept 24-28), and whichRW attended. Issues related to Islam had a strong presence at the conference and […]
Current Research: October 2007
01: Though there has been sharp debate over whether church attendance is declining in the U.S., a recent analysis of data suggests a pattern of stability. In the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion(September), Stanley Presser and Mark Chaves write that such debate has intensified as self-reporting attendance figures have been found to tend toward over- […]
Buddhist family deficits
American Buddhists have yet to deal with the lack of structures and rites of passage that can socialize young people into the religion, writes Clark Strand in the Buddhist magazine Tricycle (Fall). He writes that the problem is that in most cases, “children aren’t ready for the kinds of rituals that adult converts have mastered– like meditating, […]
Computer video games not just playing with religion?
As computer video games become increasingly interactive, they may well encourage the spread of unconventional and “deviant” religions, according to sociologist William Sims Bainbridge. Writing in the Review of Religious Research (September), Bainbridge surveys the video game market and such new simulated online sites as Second Life and finds that the religious content featured on them are […]
Varieties and prospects of Salafism
Islamic Salafism is not merely the result of Saudi exports, nor is it necessarily a cause of political radicalization. Those are some of the observations which emerged during a three-day, semi-public conference organized by the Leiden-based Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM) near Nijmegen, in the Netherlands. The conference, held […]
Findings & Footnotes: September 2007
01: The summer issue of Nieman Reports, the journal of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, is devoted to Islam and the media. The considerable diversity of topics covered in this issue suggests that the usual question of how reporters “missed” the role of Islam in world affairs is by now an old story. In […]
Indonesia sees a Confucian revival
Among Indonesians of Chinese descent, Confucianism is experiencing a comeback as it is again recognized as a religion– a status of which it has been deprived since the 1970s, said Yumi Kitamura (Kyoto University) at the International Convention of Asia Scholars in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In 1965, Confucianism had been listed among the six religions […]
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