The recent destruction of pre-Islamic Buddha images by Afghanistan’s Taliban regime suggests that this Muslim movement is reasserting its militancy after a period of tolerance and even cooperation with other nations on issues ranging from historic preservation to women’s rights, reports the Washington Post (March 20). The widely reported destruction of invaluable Buddhist statues by the Taliban […]

The majority of  religious organizations that were required to re-register with the government in order to be recognized in Russia have done so, although a significant minority — from the Salvation Army to Buddhists — were turned away from such official approval and may face liquidation. In 1997 Russia passed a measure requiring all religious groups […]

Churches in mission areas around the world are facing a “brain-drain” as their best and brightest church leaders often are lured to the U.S. for more prestigious positions, according to a missions specialist. Pastors, seminary professors and others in independent organizations are being lured to U.S. ministries because they can offer better pay and more […]

Religious participation in global policy planning gatherings is on the rise, although neither religious leaders nor policy makers have thought much about the long term role of religion in world affairs, writes Lawrence Sullivan in the e-newsletter Sightings (March 7). The recent participation of religious leaders in the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland was […]

The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC), a largely gay, bi-sexual and transsexual denomination, is gradually moving into mainline Protestantism, reports the Christian Century (March 21-28). Although the MCC has been repeatedly rejected for membership in the National Council of Churches, the 44,000-member denomination is finding acceptance among mainline seminaries, such as Chicago Theological Seminary and […]

Although evangelicals have been involved in self-help groups for several years, “sexual recovery ministries,” appear to be striking a strong chord among such believers. The Los Angeles Times (March 30) reports that a “small but growing number of evangelical and Pentecostal churches across the U.S. are starting sexual recovery ministries” for those addicted to pornography and prostitution. […]

Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, is currently seeking to strengthen his movement’s ties with black churches, an effort meeting with mixed success. In the San Francisco Chronicle (March 13) Don Lattin reports that Moon’s recent 49-city tour of the U.S. is showing a new interest in building a coalition between black churches and his […]

The attempt to fund faith-based social services through the government is revealing deep fissures between white and black as well as suburban and urban churches, according to two reports. The Washington Times (March 26) reports that minority religious leaders who work with the urban poor tend to back the government’s call to expand a 1996 law that […]