New tensions between Muslims and the Swiss society are evident in the wake of a recent proposal by a number of politicians to have minarets banned at Muslim places of prayer in Switzerland. Provided that 100,000 Swiss citizens declare their support by November 2008, there will be a national vote on the issue. The politicians […]

While Turkey has long been a secular nation seeking to restrict religious and particularly Muslim public influence, recent events have provoked a more activist and populist expression of secularism. The New York Times(May 6) reports that the candidacy of Abdullah Gul, a Muslim, has inflamed secularist fears of Islamic political influence, leading to massive demonstrations. The […]

While Britain has become increasingly secularized in recent years, it is only recently that the loss and even opposition to religiosity is finding expression in laws and public policy, writes Jonathan Luxmoore inCommonweal magazine (April 20). Among the laws increasingly challenging religious rights and a public role for religion in Britain is a recent bill requiring […]

While there have been efforts to encourage dialogues and cooperation between Hindu and Neopagan groups and leaders as common “indigenous” religions, the project has not had much success (with Hindu critics charging that the two religions have as many differences as similarities; see October, 2001 RW). But now Neopagan practitioners have taken matters into their own […]

Although faith-based organizations within the U.S. have received the most funding and controversy, government funding of these groups abroad is raising similar church-state questions. In the Review of Faith & International Affairs (Spring), Robert B. Lloyd writes that in 2002 President Bush issued executive orders that would eliminate barriers from faith-based organizations abroad getting funds from the […]

The conflict between evolutionists and creationists is increasingly making itself felt in a diversity of countries around the world, reports The Economist (April 21). While creationism and the related intelligent design movement has suffered legal setbacks in the U.S., the critique of evolution is evident everywhere from the Muslim world to the Christian “Global South” and Russia. […]

Rather than fragmenting, the Anglican communion may be reconfiguring itself as a more interdependent and global structure after its recent meeting in Tanzania. The Tablet of London (Feb. 23) reports that there were widespread rumors and fears that world Anglican leaders would cut their ties with the Episcopal Church in the U.S. because of its support of […]

The issue of mixed marriages was at the core of the 7th meeting of the Presidents of the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Southeast Europe, which took place in Romania in early March. Marriages “with a difference in worship” are reported to be on the increase in that area of Europe, especially with Muslims. According […]

Calvary Chapel, one of the most influential evangelical movements, is facing a crisis over the accountability of its pastors and its disciplinary practices, reports Christianity Today magazine (March). Calvary Chapel pioneered the Jesus movement of the early 1970s and developed much of the contemporary style of worship in evangelicalism. From his base in southern California, founder Chuck […]

In seeking to stem the effects of continuing decline, the Jesuit order is redistributing its resources and members to meet global needs and stressing the involvement of laity, writes Raymond Scroth in the National Catholic Reporter (Feb. 23). With a membership peaking in 1960 of 8,338 members, there are now only 2,991 Jesuits with an average age […]