In areas where they have no access to “Tamil-orientated” temples, Tamil Hindus either visit non-Tamil temples or perform their own rituals in non-institutional settings, reports Demelza Jones (Aston University, Birmingham) in the journal Religion (Jan.). Tamil temples tend to be different from those of Northern India. Their deity images are carved from black granite, while […]
Just as the growth of Methodist piety in the 19th and early 20th centuries led to trade union activism in Britain, the southern African country of Botswana is seeing strong church-based involvement in its burgeoning labor movement, writes Pnina Werbner in Anthropology Today (Feb.). She writes, “In Botswana, unlike in some neighboring countries including South […]
Numen, a journal of the history of religions, devotes much of its January issue to historical and current developments in the Church of Scientology. Editor of the section James R. Lewis notes that although there is increasing scholarly opinion that L. Ron Hubbard established Scientology as a religion for purely pragmatic reasons, the articles treat […]
While India’s gurus have long combined financial acumen with spiritual and ascetic virtuosity, today’s gurus are more likely to market and sell a wide range of products and services, often with the support of Hindu politicians, reports BBC News (Feb. 10). Prominent guru-entrepreneurs include Baba Ramdev, who is behind Patanjali, India’s fastest growing consumer good […]
Mariam Mosque in Copenhagen, Denmark, is among the first Muslim houses of worship to be led entirely by female imams, or worship leaders. Sherin Khankan, a well-known author and political commentator in Denmark, founded the mosque in February. She criticizes the traditional pattern of segregating a mosque according to male or female worshippers, claiming that […]
I have been a regular reader of Religion Watch since its earliest days. In fact, I found it so useful for helping me keep up with major religious events and trends, as well as research on religion, that many years ago I wrote a blurb to be used in soliciting subscribers. Even so, Religion Watch […]
A growing number of Christian study centers based around prestigious American universities are taking “advantage of their campuses’ multicultural marketplace of ideas,” even as evangelical groups have faced exclusion from these centers of education, writes Molly Worthen in the New York Times (Jan. 17). Christian study centers, which occupy private buildings off campus and exist […]
Crowdfunding has become an increasingly popular way to support new ventures in business and non-profits, and now new congregations and other religious organizations are investing in such campaigns as they seek to expand their ministries, according to the current issue of the Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet (No. 9). Such crowdfunding sites as […]
Vancouver, long Canada’s most unchurched city, is showing that megachurches and other religious innovations can flourish there, even if their American origins are downplayed. The Christian Century (Jan. 6) notes that Vancouver “is known in religious circles for being a very secular city in a secular province in an unchurched part of the continent. According […]
Voters are less opposed to the idea of having a non-believer, even an atheist, as a presidential candidate, according to a survey by Pew Research. The survey, released January 27, shows that the share of Americans who said they would be less likely to vote for an atheist is down from 61 percent in 2007 […]
