In the months leading up to and following the Democratic convention, Democrats have taken up the language of faith and are using it to counter the religious fervor of George Bush and the Republicans, writes Amy Sullivan in Commonweal magazine (Sept. 10). Surveys and other reports have suggested that the Republican Party and has captured the evangelicals […]

The recent visit of singer Madonna to Israel for a Kabbalah conference has highlighted the wide-reach and popularity of the L.A. based Kabbalah Center, which is now reported to operate 50 centers worldwide. Orthodox Jews are not pleased with this success and regularly denounce the center, founded in the 1970s by Rabbi Yehuda Berg and […]

Although it is impossible to quantify, there is a return to religion among an increasing number of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, according to an article by Isabel Kershner in the July 26 issue of the Jerusalem Report, an Israeli news magazine. The article focuses on activities led by Sheikh Najeh Bkeirat for Muslim women. Claims of […]

Christians are feeling new pressures in Iraq and already there is a steady exodus of adherents of this minority faith out of the country, according to several reports. In the first coordinated attack against Christians, Islamist insurgents murdered 12 and injured 60 in the bombings at five churches in early August. Even before the attack, […]

In recent years, the World Bank has been moving to strengthen its understanding of and alliance with religious institutions, according to World Bank officers speaking at a conference organized by Aspen Institute in Lyon, France as well as at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Barcelona. In an unpublished paper Katherine Marshall, counselor to […]

Recent church-state issues before the Supreme Court reveal a new caution and concern over religious pluralism and potential conflict in society, writes Richard W. Garnett in Commonweal magazine (Aug. 13). The rulings handed down on such cases as “Elk Grove vs. Newdow, involving the reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance, as well as the Court’s […]

Cultural theorists, a broad term for academics in the humanities considered to be post-modern and post-Marxist, “are now turning to analysis and exposition of the conceptual resources and classic texts of Christianity as prompts and supports for their own work.” In First Things magazine (August/September), Paul Griffiths writes that such prominent cultural theorists as Terry Eagleton, Jean-Francois […]