Religion Watch Archives

Monitoring Trends in Religion - From February 1990 to January 2016

You are here: Home / Archives for Archive

Christian Scientists’ ecumenical involvement brings changes to faith

by

Christian Scientists are forging new links with other Christians in such areas as prayer and fellowship since their church has engaged in ecumenical dialogues, according to the current issue of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies (Spring). The Christian Science Church began a series of informal dialogues with the National Council of Churches about five years […]

Celibacy gaining credence among gay evangelicals

by

After a period of leadership controversies and disbanding of ex-gay evangelical ministries, groups stressing the importance of celibacy for gay evangelicals are gaining popularity, reports Sarah Pulliam Bailey in Religion News Service (Aug. 4). When the prominent ex-gay ministry Exodus shut down in 2013, it was a sign that the reparation therapy model that it […]

Gay rights making Korean-American Christians more public and more insular

by

While the recent battles over same-sex marriage have brought once apolitical older Korean-American clergy and laity into the public square, the rapid victories and new protections granted to gay rights have created a mood of insularity among more integrated second-generation Korean-American evangelicals, according to political scientists Joseph Yi, Joe Phillips and Shin-Do Sung. In an […]

The bewitching of Romanian politics

by

Paranormal and occult beliefs and practices are increasingly prominent in the media in Romania and are even playing a role in politics, writes Doru Pop in the online Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies (Summer). There has been a long history of mystical and occult influences in politics in Romania—from the fascist Legion […]

Polish Catholicism facing dissent, secular pressures

by

 A special report on Poland in The Economist (June 28) finds a robust economy but a more divided and less vital religious sector. The magazine reports that the Catholic Church’s unifying role while promoting dialogue on issues such as Jewish-Christian relations and democracy in the past has been eclipsed by a fear of dissent from […]

Competition stirring for religious TLDs on the Internet

by

While a number of new generic top-level domains (TLDs) on the Internet are likely to end up as failures due to the sudden proliferation of options for users (with .com possibly continuing to enjoy a dominant position anyway), the launching of some new religion-related TLDs may help some religious groups to increase their online profile. […]

Religious editors and sources battle on Wikepedia

by

Religion has become one of the most contested and “vandalized” topics on Wikipedia, the collaboratively edited online encyclopedia. In a July 24 Religion News Service article (with support by Google), Sarah Pulliam Bailey notes that religion is among several of the top 100 altered topics on Wikipedia. She cites a recent list by the FiveThirtyEight […]

Jehovah’s Witnesses’ recruitment efforts extend beyond doorstep

by

Jehovah’s Witnesses are moving beyond their traditional strategy of door-to-door evangelism as they seek to reach a wider base of potential converts through a more non-confrontational approach. A BBC News article (July 7) reports that a strategy pioneered in New York City three years ago where the Witnesses distribute literature at train stations and other […]