Economic approaches to studying religious trends have been prominent for the past three decades, but Paul Seabright’s recent book, The Divine Economy: How Religions Compete for Wealth, Power, and People (Princeton University Press, $35), is unique for its comprehensive treatment of the religious past and present as well as its novel use of the concept […]
The Vatican under the early papacy of Leo XIV is being viewed as a negotiating site for international politics and peace talks, if not a partner in such negotiations, writes Massimo Faggioli in Commonweal magazine (June 24). Already, there was talk that the Holy See under Leo could serve as a “facilitator” or “observer” for […]
Anti-Semitic sentiments are finding a place among American conservative Christians, often through far-right social media sites, such as the Manosphere, Red Pill, and 4chan, as well as Christian podcasts and websites, writes Will Spencer in his blog Christ Over All (June 2). Spencer focuses on Stone Choir, a weekly podcast hosted by Corey Mahler and […]
Instead of sharing beach houses, a growing number of Gen Z women are checking into Catholic convents and monasteries for their vacations, writes Ashley Fike in the magazine Vice (June 30). “In an unexpected pivot from rooftop parties and dating app exhaustion, young women are opting for peace and quiet. Literal quiet.” Called the “vow […]
The latest findings from a survey on the congregational engagement of Christian church attenders in the aftermath of Covid suggest that most attenders have either remained consistently engaged or have increased their worship attendance. The results of the 2024 Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations (EPIC) Attender Survey were based on responses from more than […]
A recent controversial report from the French Senate on the Muslim Brotherhood notes that the organization has built an extensive ideological infrastructure in France—“not through violence, but through schools, charities, mosques, and soft power.” The report, based on intelligence files, field investigations, and dozens of interviews conducted by two civil servants, finds that the “Brotherhood’s […]
As a reaction against state-imposed religion, secular aspirations have been building up for decades in Iran, and the religious foundations of the current regime are being increasingly questioned, with protest movements in recent years emphasizing “Iran” instead of “Islam.” Mahdi Rezaei-Tazik, a political scientist at the University of Bern, Switzerland, who focuses on criticism of […]
Historical trajectories, ideological differences, and shifting geopolitical realities shaped both the making and unmaking of the Islamist alliance between the current ruling party of Turkey, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), and the (Arabic) Muslim Brotherhood (MB), writes historian Jan-Markus Vömel in a detailed report published by the Documentation Centre Political Islam in Vienna, Austria […]
The resurgence of Tengrism in Kazakhstan has been decried as an artificial and political project by a number of scholars, but researchers report in the Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe (Vol. 45, Issue 5) on recent evidence of a “growing interest in Tengrism…driven by spiritual exploration as well as the quest for identity […]
A secularization theorist himself, Detlef Pollack (University of Münster, Germany) still claims to be surprised to see a dramatic decline of religion in many regions of the world, as he releases the third, revised edition of his book (in German), Religion in der Moderne: Ein internationaler Vergleich (€ 49), co-authored with his colleague, Gergely Rosta. […]
