The recent formation of the Patriot Church network illustrates the intense support a large segment of the evangelical world has given to Donald Trump that may outlast his presidency if he loses the election. The Patriot Church was founded on the weekend of September 11 by Ken Peters, a pastor in Spokane, Washington, to galvanize evangelicals around the Trump agenda.
The COVID-19 lockdown has pushed the pagan festival, Witchfest USA in New York City, to a new level of technological sophistication and expertise. Witchfest USA is hosted annually by the NYC Wiccan Family Temple, founded by Reverend Starr RavenHawk, and began in 2012 as a fundraising event for the temple to purchase its building. Modeled along the lines of the Witchfest in the UK, the American festival was scheduled to take place in early July.
The Bosnian Pyramids in the village of Voskia in Bosnia have become a prominent New Age pilgrimage site. The formation is part of a series of pyramid-shaped mountains and tunnels in central Bosnia and Herzegovina that have long been a center of nationalist pride.
The newly launched Hurma Project is a Muslim expression of the broader #MeToo movement and is direct response to cases of sexual abuse by leaders in the Islamic community. The project, started by Canadian Islamic scholar Ingrid Mattson, recently had its first conference looking at abuse in Muslim spaces.
The Aumists at the Holy City of Mandarom Shambhasalem, a French syncretistic Hindu-Buddhist movement, is facing new legal problems and restrictions. Founded in 1969 by Guru Hamsah Manarah, who is venerated as a salvation figure, the group had received a favorable decision in the European Court of Human Rights in 2013 recognizing its status as
1) Hyattsville, Maryland has become a living example of what is called the “Benedict option,” the idea that Christians should form countercultural communities that eschew politics in the face of a hostile secular society. Young conservative Catholic families have been moving into the suburban town just outside of Washington, DC and the section known as […]
The Witness is an example of an online support group becoming an offline community. The group for black Christians feeling marginalized in their mainly white churches started on Facebook as The Reformed African American Network. It was meant to serve as an online resource for those opposed to how their predominantly white and evangelical churches […]
1. Charis, short for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal International Service, is the new office for charismatic renewal in the Catholic Church established by Pope Francis to coordinate this often unwieldy movement and bring it more into line with his papacy’s emphases on ecumenism and social justice. The charismatic movement had formerly had two liaison offices […]
Halalopathy is a new therapy suggested by Palestinian scientist Jawad Alzeer as a way to give Muslims the extra religious assurances they need about their medical treatments. A researcher at the Institute for Organic Chemistry at the University of Zurich and the lead auditor for a Swiss halal certification body, Alzeer has started publishing articles […]
1) Ignatian Yoga is the latest attempt to graft Christian meanings and messages onto yoga practices, this time taking its inspiration from Jesuit contemplation and meditation. The practice is drawing enthusiastic crowds to retreats and workshops drawing on the public appeal of both yoga and Ignatian spirituality. It began in 2014 at Fordham University in […]
