Groups of Iranian Muslims are eager to promote the message of Mahdism as answering the expectations of the entire world – and not only of Muslims – for a Savior figure. This was made clear at the Third International Conference on Mahdism Doctrine, meeting in Tehran from August 26-27, which RW attended. The conference gathered participants from […]
On/File: August 2007
01: A New Sanctuary Movement is taking shape that could put churches near the center of the American debate on immigration. A small but growing coalition of churches, synagogues and other houses of worship are seeking to rehabilitate the 1980s sanctuary movement by that name, where congregations took in illegal immigrants escaping political violence in their […]
Findings & Footnotes: August 2007
01: The July issue of The Annals of The American Academy of Political and Social Science is devoted to the issue of the new pluralism in American religion. The issue, guest edited by Wade Clark Roof, is divided into sections on general history and theory, region and religion, minority and immigrant experiences, and institutional patterns (such as interfaith […]
Churches switch sides in Venezuela’s culture wars
Christian churches are increasingly divided about the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, but not necessarily along traditional Protestant and Catholic lines, according to sociologist David Smilde. Writing in the current Sociology of Religion Newsletter (Spring), a publication of the American Sociological Association, Smilde notes that Chavez has long sought to draw support and activism from churches […]
For UK, Australia, English-speaking Imams wanted
In their efforts to find ways to integrate Muslims in Western societies, governments increasingly insist on the need for ministers of Muslim congregations in the West to be familiar with local culture and fluent in local languages. Such expectations also match those of young Muslims in the diaspora. In the United Kingdom, a Labour peer, […]
Current Research: August 2007
01: Muslim Americans most closely resemble white evangelicals and black Protestants in their level of religious commitment, according to an analysis of recent surveys from the Pew Research Center. Among American Muslims, black Protestants and white evangelicals, large majorities (72 percent of Muslims, 87 percent of black Protestants, and 80 percent of white evangelicals) say […]
Jewish young adults unaffiliated but not disengaged
Many young American Jews are “institutionally unaffiliated, but Jewishly engaged,” according to a new study by social scientists Steven M. Cohen and Ari Y. Kelman. As cited in the magazine Jewish Currents (July-August), the study confirmed earlier surveys findings that most Jews under 35 are not affiliated with synagogues and other major institutions of Jewish life. The […]
New generation embracing ‘Crunchy Catholicism’?
Along with a conservative theological emphasis, there is a new stress on masculine spirituality among seminarians and other educators in American Catholic churches, according to the cover story in the conservative Crisismagazine (July/August). Todd Aglialoro writes that a new generation of Catholic men are rebelling against what they see as pastoral or “feminine” -based catechesis and […]
Conscious dying — the new age’s last spiritual practice?
Death has become an important issue in the New Age movement, and its longtime concern with spiritual transformation can now be seen in the practice of “conscious dying.” Trends in the diffuse New Age movement have closely tracked the life stages of its baby boomer pioneers–from middle age concerns with holistic healing to ruminations about […]
On/File: June 2007
01: Writer Donald Miller has become a spokesman for evangelicals frustrated with evangelical culture while still trying to maintain their beliefs. Miller, whose best-selling books include Blue Like Jazz and To Own A Dragon, delivers his thoughts on Christianity in a personal, highly informal manner that candidly discusses the problems of being an evangelical. Miller speaks […]
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