It was billed as the “largest secular gathering in human history,” but the Reason Rally, held on March 24 in Washington, DC, also revealed how organized atheism has gained considerable unity and a measure of support and traction in popular culture during the last decade. The rally, which was organized and sponsored by 20 atheist […]
On/File: January/February 2012
Remembering stories about heroic “Bible smugglers,” few people in the West realize that one of the largest Bible printing plants in the world, the Amity Printing Company, is located in Nanjing, China. It is reported that 55 million copies of the Bible for Christians in China have been printed there since the printing plant was […]
Findings & Footnotes: January/February 2012
01: Reflections, the magazine of Yale Divinity School, devotes its fall issue to religion and theology and the social media. The issue serves as a window into the question of how mainline Protestants are dealing with the new technology. The issue’s 22 articles suggest a growing engagement with the new media, yet also a concern […]
Japan’s earthquake creates new religious alliances
Over ten months have passed since Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Sociologist Peter Berger once said that religion legitimates the “marginal situation” that is best represented by death. This legitimation can be seen individually and collectively, and the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami will definitely be seen as “marginal situations.” Although it did not become […]
China shows multifaceted Buddhist renewal
From near extinction, Buddhism has been on a path of renewal in China since the 1980s and has been growing to the extent of now being the religion with most adherents in China—at least 100 million, according to reports by several scholars in an issue of Social Compass on “Social Implications of Buddhist Revival in […]
Chinese government more concerned with political activities than beliefs
The Chinese government is primarily concerned with the potential political and organizational power of religion even more than with the content of religious teachings, states Kristin Kupfer (University of Freiburg, Germany), an expert on contemporary Chinese religion and society, who spent several years in China and in 2009 completed a doctoral thesis on the Emergence […]
Zionist sentiment finds doubters among evangelicals?
Zionist circles are expressing concerns that a growing number of evangelicals who were formerly committed to supporting Israel have been “changing sides” recently. Abraham Cooper and Yitzchok Adlerstein, both working at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, claim that evangelical and conservative Christians—deemed to be “Israel’s most important allies”—are increasingly targeted “for conversion from Christian Zionism to […]
‘Global hotspots’ for Christian mission in unlikely places
Charisma magazine (January) reports on “12 global hotspots” of Christian mission and growth that includes countries not usually associated with evangelical or charismatic Christianity. Although much of the information is based on self-reporting by missionaries and church planters, the overview does at least show where charismatics see new centers of influence emerging. While China has […]
Current Research: January/February 2012
01: American Mormons feel discriminated against and misrepresented by non-Mormon society and yet are also increasingly optimistic about the prospects of greater acceptance, including the possibility of having a Mormon president, according to a new study by the Pew Forum. The survey found that 62 percent of Mormons believe that Americans are uninformed about their […]
Political science’s ‘conversion’ to religion real but unsteady
Political science has awakened “from a long, secular slumber” and started to grapple with the question of religion in politics and conflict, giving rise to competing political science approaches on these questions. This has a direct impact on suggestions about ways to solve conflicts with a religious dimension, writes Sabina A. Stein (Center for Security […]
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