Mainline Protestants are facing internal and external conflicts over their position on Israel, writes Sarah Pulliam Bailey in a Religion News Service-based article in the Washington Post (Sept. 16). The recent resignation of Episcopal chaplain Bruce Shipman at Yale University over a letter he wrote to the New York Times linking growing anti-Semitism in Europe […]

Recently, Sikh characters have found a popular place in Bollywood films, though such portrayals tend to perpetuate the stereotype of Sikhism as an exotic and warrior-based religion, according to an article in the journal Sikh Formations (published online Aug. 21). Today, top Bollywood actors are vying with each other to play Sikh characters, and such […]

If Islamic extremism is often linked to socio-economic malaise in Muslim societies, the current wave of Hindu extremism can be attributed to India’s success, writes Shikkha Dalmia in the libertarian magazine Reason (August/September). She notes that India continues to belie forecasts about secularization, as its burgeoning Hindu revival has grown alongside a rise in prosperity […]

Not convinced by vague expressions such as “moderate Islam,” which tells one little about content and rather describes what that type of Islam it isn’t, Neslihan Cevik, of University of Virginia, identifies new Islamic orthodoxy as “Muslimism.” Although paying special attention to the Turkish case, Cevik said her observations can be applied, at least to […]

The recent immigration of Muslims and Eastern Christians to Sweden is leading to new public and private interfaith and ecumenical initiatives, says Johan Garde, Ersta Skondol University College. Speaking at the meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, Garde notes that there has been a one-third increase of Muslims and Eastern and Oriental […]