Walking along Mexico City’s streets selling crafts made by his family, Jose, a fifty-something year old man with gray hair and a big smile, seems more engaged than usual with his offerings. Wooden and plastic crucifixes hang from his shoulder while he shouts “The Christ of Hope! Let’s pray to get a recount! Let’s pray […]
Current Research: October 2010
01: A new major survey finds that 10.8 percent of Americans have no religious ties, challenging other studies that have placed the figure around 14 percent as a sign that secularization is growing. The researchers who conducted the new Baylor University survey argue that other studies didn’t ask the right questions Baylor asked respondents to choose […]
Seeds of Catholic growth in secular Quebec?
Quebec may have hit bottom when it comes to measures of Catholic adherence and commitment, but the growth of new religious communities and renewal groups in the province suggests stirrings of a new generation in the church, reports the National Catholic Register (September 24). By all indicators, the Catholic Church in Quebec has taken a free fall […]
Muslims adapting American dating practices
An approach half way between that of arranged marriages and choosing one’s mate is taking shape among Muslims in the U.S., reports the New York Times (September 19). In the past, dating in any form was condemned as sinful and arranged marriage was seen as the only truly Islamic alternative . But the force of assimilation has […]
Healing rooms next phase of charismatic revival?
Although charismatic and Pentecostal revivals have simmered down in the last few years, the recent establishment of “healing rooms” may have more staying power in this movement, according to sociologist Margaret Poloma. Writing in the current issue of Pneuma (Vol. 28, No. 1), a journal of Pentecostal studies, Poloma notes that the idea of “healing rooms,“ existing […]
The uses and abuses of religion in the war on terrorism
Years ago, periodicals studying political violence would mostly publish articles on secular-based movements; but today more and more space is given to groups claiming some type of religious justification, especially Islamic ones. And some terrorism experts have come to a conclusion similar to Muhammad Haniff bin Hassan’s (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) writing in the journal Studies […]
Findings & Footnotes: September 2006
01: The cover story on religion in the “future of global civilization” in the September/October issue of The Futurist shows both the growing interest and the frustration over religion among futurologists. The writers concede that religion often lies “at the heart of culture,“ but because of this close relationship, the much predicted–and hoped for–“global village” will be […]
Alevi identity taking shape in the diaspora
The Alevis, a Turkish-based group long considered part of Islam though with heterodox leanings, are undergoing changes in their identity due to developments in Turkey and the diaspora, reports Martin Eichhorn in the August issue of Materialdienst der EZW. Germany plays a key role in that evolution. According to 2004 statistics, there are 410,000 Alevis in […]
Mandaeans in Iraq under threat
The destruction of a Mandaean temple in the al-Ahshar district of Basra (Iraq) by Shi’ite guerillas on June 28 was the latest in a long series of attacks since the beginning of the occupation of Iraq, writes C.G. Haberl in the August issue (No.4) of the online newsletter The Arab Washingtonian. Mandaeans are the descendents of […]
Scottish sectarian skirmishes subsiding
Just as the conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland has grown less violent if still persisting, historic sectarian tensions in Scotland appear to be subsiding. The Tablet of London (Aug. 4) reports that in both countries, the Protestant Orange orders’ traditional anti-Catholic edge has been dulled. In Northern Ireland, the government has proposed […]
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