Religion Watch Archives

Monitoring Trends in Religion - From February 1990 to January 2016

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Copts at home and in US at odds on Islam, religious freedom

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The growing numbers of Coptic Orthodox Christians in the U.S. and the ongoing pressures against their faith in Egypt has strengthened a brand of activism stressing anti-Islamic polemics, according to Yvonne Haddad and Joshua Donovan writing in the journal Studies in World Christianity (No. 3, 2013). They write that “Coptic organizations in diaspora see themselves […]

Megachurches remake themselves in the face of new challenges

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Megachurches have been seen as a pocket of vitality in an otherwise sluggish religious environment, but even these congregations — both in the U.S. and abroad — are facing challenges and in some cases decline, according to several reports. In the American Scholar (December), Jim Hinch, religion correspondent for the Orange County Register, portrays the […]

A new era of political coordination develops between church and state in Russia

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Since Vladimir Putin’s reelection in 2012, there are increasing signs of a close coordination between the Moscow Patriarchate and the government in areas of social and security policy, writes Kristina Stoeckl (University of Vienna) in the Swiss monthly Religion & Gesellschaft in Ost und West (October). But the ongoing debate in Russia regarding who uses […]

Pentecostal growth fueling Christian persecution in India?

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The rapid growth of Pentecostalism in India may be a leading factor in the mounting incidents of violence against Christians in that country, according to Chad Bauman of Butler University. Although Pentecostalism is a minority faith in India, its political influence is disproportionate to its size, leading to violent reactions among a segment of Hindus. […]

Pentecostalism espouses patriotism in China and Russia

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Although Pentecostals in both China and Russia face discrimination and restrictions from their respective  governments, these churches “actively and openly cultivate patriotism within their congregations” and stress how they fit into their surrounding societies, according to University of Oregon political scientist Karrie J. Koesel. In presenting a paper at the Boston meeting of the Society […]

Vietnam a model for dealing with religious freedom in Southeast Asia

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From being a country showing serious violations of religious freedom just a decade ago, Vietnam has emerged as a  “model nation  in Southeast Asia for dealing with issues of religious freedom and law,” according to the Templeton Report (Nov. 8) of the John Templeton Foundation. While cases of religious infringement still occur in Vietnam, they […]

Turkey: the ruling party’s political identity between conservatism and Islam

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Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) has an Islamic background, but presents itself as a “conservative democratic” party, which can be interpreted as a strategy for legitimizing the party internationally and domestically, writes Sefa Şiımşek (Boğaziçi University, Istanbul) in Turkish Studies (September). This identity as conservative democrat has been affirmed since the founding of the […]

`Chrislam’ growing in Muslim-Christian borderlands of Nigeria, Ghana

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“Chrislam,” a hybrid movement of Christian and  Islamic teachings and practices, is gaining adherents in regions of Africa where these two religions are  in proximity and conflict, particularly in Nigeria, according to Corey Williams of the University of Edinburgh. In a paper presented at the late November meeting of the American Academy of Religion in […]

A future in the diaspora for Mandaeans?

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Due to developments in Iraq in recent years, only a minority of the Mandaean population, with roots going back to ancient Gnosticism, remain there, while many more are attempting to establish themselves  in Western countries as they attempt to organize themselves, reports Friedman Eissler in the German monthly Materialdienst der EZW (November). The Mandaeans (called […]