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Monitoring Trends in Religion - From February 1990 to January 2016

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Findings & Footnotes: June 2014

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01: The Review of Religion and Chinese Society is a new journal that looks at the diversity of religions both in China and in different Chinese populations and diasporas throughout the world. The multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary journal defines religion in a broad way as including various spiritualities and “meaning-making systems of belief and practices.” The first […]

B.J.P.’s pragmatic turn not convincing Hindu right

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The victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (B.J.P.) and Narendi Modi as prime minister of India has been seen as pointing to a resurgence of Hindu nationalism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but the party has shed much of its sectarian fervor and divisiveness, according to several reports. India Today magazine (May 26) reports that B.J.P.’s landslide […]

On/File: May 2014

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01: A program known as the Safe Spaces Initiative aims to assist U.S. mosques in identifying potential extremists in their midst has been started by a Muslim advocacy group. The initiative was prompted by the Boston Marathon bombings and was created by the Muslim Public Affairs Council. The program is voluntary but represents a departure from […]

Findings & Footnotes: May 2014

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01: If the study of religion(s) “opens itself to calls for direct ‘societal relevance’ to a greater extent, advocacy will gain greater prominence,” writes Michael Stausberg (University of Bergen, Norway) in introducing a thematic issue on the topic of advocacy in the study of religion(s) in the journal Religion (April). Advocacy research is conducted to promote […]

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 […]