For the past few years, the Chinese Communist Party has shown an eagerness to praise “correct” Buddhism, in contrast with its criticism of the Dalai Lama. This has been evidenced again in the Second World Buddhist Forum, which gathered in the Eastern Chinese city of Wuxi in late March, writes Peter Fischer, correspondent in China […]

While the economic downturn may help increase religious involvement (see the article that follows), it is having a strongly negative impact on religious publishing, reports the Christian Century (May 5). Even if the demand for religious literature is there, the retailing end of religious publishing has been as adversely affected by the current economic problems […]

Reiki therapy, a Japanese spiritual healing system, has found a welcomed place in Catholic religious orders and retreat centers —enough to compel the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to condemn the practice in a special statement. While Catholic officials have condemned non-Catholic or unorthodox spiritual practices in the past (such as the Vatican’s criticism of […]

In the wake of 9/11, anti-cult groups attempted to tie terrorist groups with “mind-controlling cults,” but the effort has been less than successful, according to an article in the journal Nova Religio (May). Stuart Wright writes that anti-cult organizations and spokespeople drew clear connections between terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and religious and political […]

The growth of expectations about end-times events alleged to take shape in 2012 are revitalizing New Age ideals and hopes, according to an analysis by German theologian Matthias Pöhlmann, published in the German journal EZW-Materialdienst (May). Based on the Mayan calendar, various authors and groups have been claiming for several years now that dramatic events […]

American Jews are returning to the labor movement, although this time more as professional leaders rather than rankand-file members and activists, reports Forward.com (April 23). The recent growth of the labor movement due to the economic downturn and the raised expectation of new economic models under the presidency of Barack Obama also reveals a new […]

The New Age movement, which distilled Eastern and occult teachings with human potential techniques for Western audiences, has “returned home” to India, finding wide popularity among Indians for a more individualized spirituality, reports Hinduism Today (April/May/June). Although the New Age movement has shed much of its Eastern religious baggage and focused on holistic health in […]

The conflict is Sri Lanka has led to the emergence of new organizational structures in some religious groups and has endowed them with a stronger community role, according to European and Sri Lankan scholars at a workshop that took place at the University of Edinburgh on March 12–13, which RW attended. The research focused on […]

The Family, formerly known as the Children of God, appears to be making the transition from an authoritarian religious movement based around one leader to a more democratic, if centralized, institution more capable of surviving beyond its founding generation, write Gordan Shepherd and Gary Shepherd in the journal Nova Religio (February). The Family, a quasi-evangelical […]

While the pro-choice and the pro-life positions of denominations have become fairly settled, some change is taking place in mainline denominations, according to an article in Touchstone magazine (March). The main divide on abortion has been between mainline Protestants, on the one side, and evangelicals and Roman Catholics, on the other, but, at least among […]