While many religious groups are debating the ethics of cloning, one new religious movement is taking action, pioneering in the technology. Nova Religio (October), the journal of new religious movements, reports that the Ralians, a group mixing UFO teachings with genetic engineering concepts, founded the first biotechnology firm dedicated to the goal of human cloning. The […]

The National Council Churches may be near collapse or radical restructuring on the eve of its 50th anniversary, according to a report in Religion Today (Nov. 27), an online news service. For over a decade, there have been mounting reports of the NCC’s financial problems and a lack of support among congregations and some of its member […]

Conservative Christians are in the forefront of creating filters that block out pornographic and other offensive sites on the Internet, although they are divided whether to view such an endeavor as a ministry or a business. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Nov. 4) reports that “Christian-led Internet companies dedicated to providing smut-free online service” are a growing trend […]

The growing crescendo of writings in the most influential American magazines on the religious dimensions of the new millennium is producing at least two major themes. Such leading journals as Newsweek (Nov. 1), U.S.News & World Report (Oct. 25) and Christianity Today (Oct. 25), focus on how believers can find hope and renewal for the coming years through seeing the Hebrew […]

With the year 2000 only a few weeks away, it was not surprising that several sessions of the November meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Boston focused on millennial topics, including a special session on millennial violence that analyzed the 1985 siege of the Covenant Sword and Army of the Lord compound in […]

The annual conference of the Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University in early November was relatively low key at a time when one might think speculation about millennial fervor would be at its peak. The speakers, mostly prominent academics of millennialist groups and phenomenon both past and present, confirmed the impression that there has […]

It’s a small ripple now, but the rapid formation of charter schools–specialty schools operated by public schools — is making a dent in the demand and interest in religious schooling, reports the Wall Street Journal (Sept. 15). Charter schools operate independently of public school districts and borrow many innovations from private schools, such as small classes and […]

With greater freedom for Christian and other non-governmental groups, Cambodian churches are growing. There are more than 1,000 evangelical churches in the country, up from about 50 in 1992, Religion Today (Oct. 25) reports. While there are about 120 Christian and Missionary Alliance churches and the Assemblies of God has about 1,000 members, congregations started by native […]

The elephant Ganesh, one of the most common among the Hindu’s pantheon of gods and goddesses, is increasingly being put to service of Indian nationalists, reports the Washington Times (Oct. 2). That Ganesh is becoming a vehicle for Hindu nationalism and political activism was evident in the recent elections in India, where images of  the god often led parades […]

Satanism is often viewed as either a teen prank that can not sustain an actual movement (particularly since the collapse of organized Satanism in the U.S. since the death of Anton LaVey), or by many conservative Christians as an active force often aimed against them and their faith. Recent incidents in northern Europe and Russia […]