Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, Yoga Vidya claims to organize the largest number of yoga seminars in Europe and to maintain the largest training institute for yoga teachers on the continent, having already trained more than 10,000 teachers and 800 to 1,000 more every year, writes Katharina Sigel (Bayreuth University) in Materialdienst der EZW […]
Far-right religious extremism is making an appearance in the Balkans after a long period of Westernization in the region, reports The Economist magazine blog Erasmus (November 27). Religiously inspired nationalism and ultra-nationalism has flourished in Greece under such parties as Golden Dawn, but more recently such currents have been felt in Serbia with the rise […]
Unrecognized by other Orthodox churches, the Macedonian Orthodox Church has now approached the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, expressing its willingness to recognize it as its “mother Church” in order to receive from Bulgaria its autocephaly (independent status), according to several media reports (Balkan Insight, November 20). The Macedonian Orthodox Church had proclaimed its autocephaly unilaterally in […]
The lack of a powerful religious establishment that could enforce ultra-conservative social norms may be one of the reasons why the strict version of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism did not transform Qatar into a country similar to Saudi Arabi, writes James M. Dorsey (S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore) in the Huffington Post […]
Young practicing Catholics are increasingly involved in “trans-parish networks” and other organizations outside the traditional parish, according to Kathleen Garces-Foley of Marymount University. Garces-Foley, who was part of the Changing Spirituality of Emerging Adults project, presented a paper at the mid-October meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion in Washington, which RW […]
As the percentage of Mormons decline in Utah due to population changes and its least committed members leaving the fold, the LDS church is becoming more “sect-like” and ideological in a way similar to that of Mormons in other parts of the world, according to Rick Phillips of the University of North Florida. Since the […]
The millennial generation is showing interest in astrology and witchcraft, in some cases as alternatives to organized religion, reports the web site Market Watch (October 23). Writer Kari Paul cites the surveys showing a growing detachment from institutional religion and notes that “more than half of young adults in the U.S. believe sociology is a […]
The cult of Santa Muerta continues to gain followers, not only in Mexico but in North and South America, most recently drawing Mexico’s GLBT community, yet it’s conflict with the Catholic hierarchy has also come to a standstill, according to historian Andrew Chesnut. At the recent meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of […]
Mexican evangelicals are following the trajectory of evangelicals in Latin America as they embrace conservative politics, according to Carlos Garma of Universidad Autonoma. Garma, who presented a paper at the recent meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion in Washington, said that observers considered evangelicals in Mexico as an exception to the […]
Latino Muslims appear to be uniquely immune to the allure of Islamic radicalism, such as the Islamic State (IS), despite U.S. fears that potential terrorists may infiltrate Latin America. In the Journal of Muslim-Minority Affairs (37:3), Mehmet Ozkan writes that even though the IS has drawn a growing number of foreign fighters, Latin America has […]
