October, 2003 (Vol. 18, No. 12)

A more populist and militant form of Islam is increasingly finding a place in Syria, although the government is actively discouraging political forms of the faith.

The Christian Science Monitor  (Oct. 3) reports that “Young Syrians are filling mosques, many women have taken to wearing the head scarf known as the hijab, and underground women’s religious discussion groups are increasingly popular despite being banned. The austere Wahhabi brand of Islam practiced by Osama bin Laden is preached in some small towns in northern Syria. Even longtime secular Baath partisans are embracing religion.”

Much of this Islamic revival is spread through a network of mosques based in conservative neighborhoods. In Damascus, the revivalists represent between 60 to 65 percent of pious Muslims, according to Samir al-Taqi, a Syrian political analyst. But other observers say the resurgence is a reaction to the U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as ongoing conflicts between the Palestinians and Israelis [with the recent bombing by Israel likely to heighten such tensions].

The Syrian authorities are monitoring the movement and trying to control it. But there is the fear that a constituency is being created for Islamic leaders who  might emerge if the regime falls or there is instability.

The movement of African-American Muslims that broke away from  the Nation of Islam nearly 30 years ago is undergoing a period of turmoil and identity crisis after its leader recently stepped down.

The resignation of W.D. Mohammed as leader of the American Society of Mosques revealed divisions and problems in a movement that has largely been credited with bringing American blacks into mainstream Islam. Mohammed, the son of Elijah Mohammed who started the Nation of Islam, broke ranks with the group over its black nationalism and race-based theology.

An in-depth Los Angeles Times  report (Sept. 13) notes that Mohammed’s society (which has had several different names during its existence) now comprises the largest presence of Muslim prison chaplains in the U.S.  and is the most active among Islamic groups in providing social services to the ex-prisoners, the homeless and the hungry. But Mohammed’s resignation “threw open long festering concerns” in the movement. He himself criticized other leaders (up to 80 percent of the society’s imams, he claimed) for their resistance to integrating into mainstream Islam.

He said that the leadership failed to engage in Arabic and Islamic studies. Others raised concern about how some imams used Mohammed’s name to raise funds while failing to provide Islamic services in return, reports Teresa Watanabe. African-American Muslims and non-black Muslims have criticized the society as weakly grounded in Islamic scholarly traditions. Such  turmoil may serve the purpose of taking the spotlight off one charismatic leader and disperse authority throughout the society, according to observers.

Meanwhile, other groups seeking to advance African-American Islam are emerging. The most prominent one, the Muslim  Alliance of North America, gives priority to domestic social issues, while targeting the needs of non-black, American-born Muslims as well.

A largely unnoticed Catholic young adult ministry has proven to be an effective way of drawing 20- and 30-something generations to reconnect with the church. America magazine (Sept. 22) reports that since 1981, a program known as Theology On Tap has spread across the U.S. due to its informal style of discussion and socializing, often held in non-confrontational locations, such as bars and restaurants.

Nationwide, 381 parishes and organizations have asked permission from the Chicago-based Theology on Tap organization to hold gatherings, not to mention other programs based on the ministry but not officially registered as  hosts. In Chicago, the program is based in individual parishes, while in other cities,  Theology on Tap is organized by the diocese. Originally intended to create a positive Catholic experience for alienated young adults, the program has come to serve as a bridge between secular activities “and more religious activities for many individuals both inside and outside the parish,” writes Phyllis Hanlon.

As detailed in a 100-page manual by program founder Fr. John Cusick,  Theology On Tap usually includes a talk, straight socializing, a question-and-answer session and discussion. Speakers relating scripture to everyday life  tends to draw the largest crowds, according to Hanlon.

(America, 106 W. 56th St., New York, NY 10019)

Baby boomers who converted during the Jesus movement and the charismatic renewal in the 1970s are largely driving the trend of parents insisting on Christian college education as an alternative to today’s secular culture.

That was one of the findings of a Washington Times (Sept. 8) report on the new growth of Christian colleges. The newspaper visited nine thriving Christian campuses to find out why these institutions are “faring better proportionately than their secular counterparts. Enrollment for the 104 evangelical schools affiliated with the  Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCU) increased 47 percent during the 1990s, dwarfing the growth rate of secular private and public colleges and universities, which grew by 17 percent and four percent, respectively.

While only totaling about one percent of the nation’s 15.8 million college students, Christian colleges are competing with secular schools by their improved programs and facilities and their strongly values based education, which appeals to parents, writes Julia Duin.  She adds that it is those colleges that have retained or renewed their Christian identity that are showing the most growth and increased donor funding. For instance, more conservative Southern Baptist schools such as Baylor and Palm Beach Atlantic University are more likely to be the recipients of “faith-based giving” among parents and other donors than more liberal Wake Forest and Furman universities.

The trend is being fed by the more conservative Generation Y (or “millennials”) as well as by baby boomer parents who are pressing for the once discarded notion that colleges should act “in loco parentis,” or in the absence of parents. “Christian institutions are saying,  `We will partner with parents to raise your kids. We see ourselves as having a much broader role than just giving out information in the classroom,” says Ken Mahanes of Palm Beach Atlantic.

During the last two decades, there were flurries of  reports of  new converts moving into Eastern Orthodoxy and changing these churches in the process.

But an article in the current issue of the journal  Nova Religio (November) finds that these new Orthodox converts — often coming from Protestant backgrounds — are discovering as many obstacles as opportunities in their new religion. Phillip Charles Lucas focuses on two case studies of convert movements which have had difficulty finding a place in Orthodoxy in the U.S. The most well-known is the 2,000 former evangelical Protestants who shocked many in 1987 by converting en masse to the Antiochian Orthodox Church.

Just as surprising to many was the news in the late 1990s that many in this group of converts were being disciplined or expelled by a Antiochian bishop for insubordination. A large group of the converts in California had angered church officials by insisting on keeping their traditions, music and leadership style rather than submitting to the rules of the Antiochian church.  Many of these converts next tried to find a home in the more Americanized Orthodox Church in America, but they again were charged with insubordination by a bishop, and now are in a state of ecclesiastical limbo.

A similar scenario played itself out in the case of the former Christ The Savior Brotherhood, a group making the journey from esoteric mysticism to Orthodoxy in the 1980s. Because of the group’s background and connection with two defrocked priests, as well as their racial diversity, members were greeted with suspicion by ethnic members even when they were officially accepted by the Orthodox Church in America in 2000.

Lucas writes that the converts have often retained a Protestant tendency to question church authority if it conflicts with their vision of an ideal Orthodoxy. Tensions between ethnic members and converts are likely to continue in the near future due to the waves of recent immigrants from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Prospective converts to Orthodoxy may choose to steer clear of  the ethnic and political nature of Orthodox churches and opt for the more independent church movements such as the Charismatic Episcopal Church, concludes Lucas.

However, the converts’ increasing numbers and influence in Orthodox churches (as well as assimilation) may eventually tone down the ethnic factor and lead to a more united, de-ethnicized Orthodox church, Lucas concludes.

(Nova Religio, University of California Press,  Journals Division, 2000 Center St., Suite 303. Berkeley, CA 94704-1223)