What is called “paleofusionism” or the “new fusionism” is making headlines for its merger of hi-tech advocacy and traditionalist conservatism. It was the combination of these movements and philosophies that was seen as important in the coalition that elected Donald Trump for his second term as president, and its religious overtones are unmistakable. The conservative […]
A new self-generated AI religion is attracting devotees in the real world and even its own traded crypto token, writes Ed Prideaux in the Substack newsletter Ecstatic Integration (January 21). AI researchers and users have reported on glitches and anomalous behavior in programs like Chat GPT, such as its “hallucinations.” But what started as an […]
Congregations, especially in the New York City area, are playing a key role in preserving and protecting languages from around the world, many of which may be in danger of extinction, writes Emily Belz in Christianity Today (January/February). Linguists led by Ross Perlin of Columbia University have identified 700 languages in New York City, which […]
While Jewish Canadians have benefitted from Canada’s multicultural ideology and policy, they are facing growing anti-Semitism and a lack of acceptance in the country, writes Robert Brym of the University of Toronto in the social science journal Society (online in January). Especially since the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023, Muslim immigrants and Jews have […]
Homeschooled young people are the most religiously active of any other kinds of college students, followed closely by parochial school students, according to political scientist Ryan Burge in his Substack newsletter Graphs about Religion (January 20). There is no central database for homeschoolers, but estimates suggest that their number ranges from 1.9 to 2.7 million […]
Attempting to identify major trends influencing the way Christians think and live in the world today through discussions with theologians from several leading Bible colleges in the UK, the editor of the evangelical magazine Premier Christianity (January 31), Sam Hailes, emphasizes the importance of adaptation, spiritual depth, and openness to the supernatural elements of Christianity. […]
The Christian music scene, particularly pop music, has become a unique laboratory for Catholic-evangelical relations in France, showcasing a remarkable evolution in ecumenical relationships over the past two decades, writes religion journalist Youna Rivallain in the newspaper La Croix, (January 23). Such a level of cooperation would have been unthinkable 20 years ago. There was […]
Fueled by Armenia’s humiliating defeat in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war against Azerbaijan that displaced thousands of ethnic Armenians, and by the fear of further concessions, protests in Armenia took on religious accents in 2024 when an archbishop became its leading figure. But the lack of a coherent political strategy and the involvement of discredited opposition […]
The current issue of the Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies (12:1–2) features an interesting section on Amish settlements in North America, profiling 38 of the largest and best-known communities. An Amish settlement refers to a self-designated area of residences, congregations, businesses, and other institutions that can host multiple Amish and plain Mennonite affiliations, […]
Pope Francis has appointed Sister Simona Brambilla as the first woman prefect of a dicastery, reflecting the increasing presence of women in the management if not the ministry of the Catholic Church. Brambilla will head the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, becoming the first woman to hold this position. […]
