■ Media (and soon most likely book) coverage of the relationship between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and religion and spirituality is widespread. While little of such speculation has been based on research, the current issue of the journal American Religion (Fall 2023) moves the conversation along in that direction with several articles and a roundtable discussion […]
1) The After Party is seeking to become a leading publishing program to counteract the influence of Donald Trump and political polarization among evangelicals. Led by Duke Divinity consulting professor Curtis Chang, head of the program’s founding organization Redeeming Babel, and developed with two prominent “never-Trump” evangelicals, the New York Times columnist David French and […]
In this review and preview of annual religious trends, it seemed that much of the drama of religion in 2023 came toward the end of the year, meaning that we may have to wait to see if these events will unfold as significant trends in 2024. Yet, developments such as the divisions over the Vatican’s […]
Released on December 18 under the title Fiducia Supplicans, the declaration of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) allowing for non-liturgical blessings of couples of the same sex or in irregular situations led to expected divisions in the Catholic Church. A number of bishops sought to issue clarifications in answer to local […]
Controversy and signs of schism related to “woke” politics and religion have found their way into Unitarian Universalism (UU), a religious movement that has long been considered a standard bearer of progressive, tolerant, and pluralistic religion. In the Financial Times (December 7), Jemima Kelly reports that much of the recent controversy and conflict started after […]
Folk healing traditions and rituals that have long existed among Hispanic communities along the U.S. Southern border and more often been associated with the elderly and poor have been revitalized as they have “entered the age of Instagram. More and more younger people are taking on rituals they learned from their grandmothers and deploying them […]
Magic and witchcraft groups and movements are merging with organizations holding to Eastern and other forms of spirituality and are being offered together on the same digitized platforms, writes Lionel Obadia in the journal Social Compass (online in December). “At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, references to magic and witchcraft seem to […]
A recent Pew Research Center survey suggests that beliefs in spirits or a spiritual realm beyond this world are widespread, even among those who don’t consider themselves religious. The survey finds that 83 percent of all U.S. adults believe people have a soul or spirit in addition to their physical body, while 81 percent say […]
As part of the process of Ukrainization in opposition to Russian influence, both the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) have celebrated Christmas this year according to the revised Julian calendar, on December 25, while the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which used to be under the Moscow Patriarchate but […]
A study of faith-based social services in the strongly secularized Czech Republic reveals a growing dilemma that these groups face, needing the identity and resources provided by sponsoring churches while not wanting to alienate a predominantly unchurched and secular clientele. The study, conducted by Andrea Beláňová of the Czech Academy of Sciences and published in […]
