Religion Watch Archives

Monitoring Trends in Religion - From February 1990 to January 2016

Lutheran schisms slowing down after 2009 gay ordination decision

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America experienced a total loss of more than 700 out of its 9,533 congregations resulting from its 2009 decision to ordain gays and lesbians, with the local environment being a significant factor in determining which churches leave or stay with the denomination. Wayne Thompson of Carthage College presented the most […]

Jewish literary vitality is more than a memory

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While Christians may be complaining that there is an absence of Christianity in today’s fiction, American Jewish literature is undergoing something of a revival, writes Dara Horn in the New York Times Book Review (Sept. 1). Last year a cover story in the book review argued that Christian themes are sorely lacking in today’s fiction, […]

Catholic philanthropists retool and save Catholic schools vitality, conservatism

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While Catholic schools still close regularly, philanthropy plus innovation within independent parochial schools are reviving Catholic education, particularly in inner cities, writes Michael Sean Winters in The Tablet (Sept. 21). In the past decade, some 2,000 U.S. Catholic schools have closed, often in areas serving low-income students. In cities, such as Atlanta, Dallas and Phoenix, […]

A liberationist and charismatic pope?

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The election of Pope Francis and his subsequent writings and statements to the media have led some observers to speculate that more liberal forms of Catholicism, namely liberation theology, may be revived under his papacy. The Tablet (September 21), a British Catholic magazine, editorializes that under Pope Francis, “liberation theology is experiencing something of a […]

Russia’s culture wars more homegrown than imported

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Is Russia undergoing an American-style culture war or are the conflicts embroiling the former Soviet Union over sex and other cultural issues more homegrown? In the Journal of Church and State (summer), international relations specialist John Anderson casts doubt on the idea that Russia has been strongly influenced by either American or global currents; in […]

Findings & Footnotes: July/August 2013

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01: As with other religious communities, American Judaism is faced with disaffection from the Gen X and Millennial generations, particularly on issues related to the religion’s ethnic identity and ties to Israel, writes Rabbi Sidney Schwarz in the new book Jewish Megatrends (Jewish Lights Publishing, $24.99). But Schwarz’s book is far from a eulogy of […]

London and Sydney show religious vitality, conservatism

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Although global cities are often viewed as more secular and cosmopolitan than other regions of their respective countries, London, England and Sydney, Australia show a different reality. A report on the 2012 London Church Census in the newsletter Future First (June) finds that London is unique in England “in that its churches are growing and […]

2011 disasters making Japan more open to Christianity?

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Japan has been among the most resistant nations to Christianity, but the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster in the north of the country appears to have brought churches closer together to get more involved in social relief efforts, Christianity Today magazine (July/August) reports. In an interview, Tokyo pastor and theologian Atsuyoshi Fujiwara said Japan has […]

Raging ideologies

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Buddhist-Muslim clashes on the rise in Asia The recent eruptions of violence of Buddhists against Muslims in Burma/Myanmar and in Sri Lanka inspire fears that such incidents might lead to a Muslim backlash However, there are other cases involving the faithful of both religions that show that even such violent interaction is not necessarily doomed […]

Update: Unificationist first family, movement face new turmoil

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Many Unificationists had expected Rev. Sun Myng Moon’s youngest son, Hyung Jin (b. 1979), to guide the movement after his father’s death. However, the wife of the founder of the Unification Church (Hak Ja Han) actually clearly emerged as the leader, reported Dan Fefferman (International Coalition for Religious Freedom, Washington D.C.), himself a church member, […]