Religion Watch Archives

Monitoring Trends in Religion - From February 1990 to January 2016

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On/File: December 2005

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01: Although Protestants have traditionally been opposed to the use of images in worship, that prohibition may be fading with the introduction of interactive worship aids such as iPresence. The attempt to add a visual component to worship has become prominent among Protestants ranging from the use of powerpoint presentations in megachurches to the multimedia services […]

Findings & Footnotes: December 2005

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01: A Church of Our Own: Disestablishment and Diversity in American Religion (Rutgers University Press, $24.95) collects the published writings of sociologist R. Stephen Warner into a readable primer on the sociology of American religion. The hallmarks of Warner’s work are displayed throughout the book: the importance of the political disestablishment in the flourishing of American religious […]

Has Hindu nationalism run its course?

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Hindu nationalism, or “Hindutva,” has become a global force, but recent developments in India and the diaspora communities make this already- diffuse movement increasingly difficult to define. That was one of the conclusions made at a session on “post-Hindutva” at the late November meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Philadelphia attended by RW. […]

The debut of culture wars Italian style

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Italy is experiencing its own kind of “culture war” with a new breed of Italian “neo-conservatives” battling over questions of secularism and religious pluralism. Religion in the News (Fall) reports that the new “Italian culture warriors” call themselves “religious atheists” and “secular anti-secularists,” as they press for a greater public role for religion, even if they are […]

Current Research: December 2005

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01: The main factor in the growth of megachurches over the past three decades has more to do with economics than theology or even changing demographics, according to sociologist Mark Chaves. In a lecture at the early November meeting of the Religious Research Association in Rochester, N.Y., Chaves said that the standard accounts of megachurch growth […]

Faith-based job recruitment gains acceptance

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A small but growing number of private companies are finding that religious groups can “recruit, screen and even help manage larger numbers of new employees, especially at the entry level,” reports the New York Times (Nov. 6). The new church involvement in job counseling and screening has been helped by the growth of government involvement in faith-based […]

Preachers and evangelists turn to podcasting

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Always on the lookout for new ways of spreading the Gospel, Christian evangelists have discovered the iPod. This is especially attractive since users of iPod players are primarily young people, i.e. the age group most difficult to reach. Phil Lewis writes in The Christian Post (Nov. 21) that Podcasting allows a preacher to make his sermons available […]

Christian-Jewish relations — warm and cold

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On November 3, the director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, warned about “attacks on church-state separation” by groups attempting “to implement their Christian worldview” and “to Christianize America.” Foxman explicitly mentioned Focus on the Family, the Alliance Defense Fund, the American Family Association and the Family Research Council. Two weeks later, the president of […]

Findings & Footnotes: November 2005

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01: The new book, T.D. Jakes: America’s New Preacher (New York University Press, $30) by Shayne Lee, is part biography and part social critique of one of the rising stars in the black church, or what has been called the “new black church.” Jakes’ wide-ranging ministry personifies the new black church movement– charismatic, prosperity-oriented and focused on […]

Religion and politics new bedfellows in Australia

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Australians are taking a page from American politics, judging by the way the nation’s two political parties are courting religious voters. The Australian Christian quarterly Zadok Perspectives (Spring) reports that as the Federal election approaches, John Howard of the Liberal Party and politicians from the opposing Labor Party have made pitches for the conservative Christian vote, making […]