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You are here: Home / Archives for Jean-François Mayer

China’s Christians—70 million and highly educated

July 1, 2014 by Jean-François Mayer

It seems credible to estimate that there are now more than 70 million Christians in China, with a large proportion of them highly educated, said sociologist Rodney Stark (Baylor University, Waco) at the CESNUR conference in Waco, Texas. Like other scholars interested in the issue of the current state of religion in China, Stark was […]

Filed Under: Archive

Jehovah’s Witnesses wielding influence on religious freedom in European court

July 1, 2014 by Jean-François Mayer

From 1964 to August 2013, a total of 209 cases related to Jehovah’s Witnesses were filed at the European Court of Human Rights. Not only the Witnesses, but all religious minorities have gained from those legal battles for the rights of groups to exist, especially in new member countries of the Council of Europe, said […]

Filed Under: Archive

New Muslim spaces and identities growing in urban Malaysia and Indonesia

June 1, 2014 by Jean-François Mayer

Both a growing demand for diversity of Islamic expressions among the urban Muslim middle-class and a desire to forge “an Islamic way of modern living” are evident in the new Muslim spaces being created in Malaysia and Indonesia, reports the IIAS Newsletter (Spring). Hew Wai Weng, a research fellow at Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) in […]

Filed Under: Archive

Featured Story: Change in Christians’ legal status in Israel showing strategy of `divide and conquer’?

June 1, 2014 by Jean-François Mayer

In February, Israel’s Knesset adopted new legislation meant “to distinguish between Muslim and Christian Arab citizens and to heighten involvement of Christians in Israeli society,” according to its sponsor, MP Yariv Levin. Providing separate attention and separate representation to Palestinian Christians holding Israeli citizenship is supposed to connect them more strongly to the Jewish State, […]

Filed Under: Archive, Featured Story

South America’s reverse missions to Europe—strengthening preachers’ status back home?

June 1, 2014 by Jean-François Mayer

The much publicized missionary work in Europe conducted by networks of South American preachers only attracts small European followings, but it serves to reinforce the legitimacy of sending churches and their leaders, writes Ari Pedro Oro (Professor of Anthropology at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil) in the Journal of […]

Filed Under: Archive

Overview of Christians in the Middle East finds new and varying crises and responses

May 1, 2014 by Jean-François Mayer

While Christian minorities are currently facing severe challenges in several countries of the Middle East, as evidenced by the situation in Syria, there is no set pattern to these conflicts, according to the April issue of Religion & Gesellschaft in Ost und West (April), which is devoted to country-by-country analyses. In Egypt (84 million inhabitants), […]

Filed Under: International

Featured Story: The success of the burkini and its meaning for Muslims­—and non-Muslims

May 1, 2014 by Jean-François Mayer

The success of female Islamic beachwear, called the “burkini,” should be seen as part of a growing market for so-called “halal products” in a variety of niches. This beachwear also allows some Muslims to use it as one more mark of religious and cultural identity, said Diletta Guidi (University of Fribourg) at a recent conference. […]

Filed Under: Archive, Featured Story

Religious minorities’ role in Ukraine conflict raises new tensions with Russia and Orthodoxy

April 1, 2014 by Jean-François Mayer

The involvement of Protestant Christians as well as Greek Catholics in the recent political developments in Ukraine causes concern to Russians as well as to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. Not only is the new acting Ukrainian president, Aleksandr Turchinov, a Baptist, but there are a number of people belonging to other […]

Filed Under: Archive

Saudi Arabia reassessing jihadist challenge

April 1, 2014 by Jean-François Mayer

While Saudi Arabia has used Salafism and jihadism to promote its foreign policy interests, it faces more and more of such groups challenging the Kingdom’s official clerics’ status as a source of authority for Salafism. This has led Saudi Arabia to declare recently two jihadist groups in Syria as terrorist organizations, writes Kamran Bokhari  on […]

Filed Under: Archive

Featured Story: African-Americans’ new interest in roots causes new divisions among Yoruba faithful

April 1, 2014 by Jean-François Mayer

In a quest for roots as well as authenticity, African-American followers of Santeria (aka Lukumi) and related religious groups with roots in the Yoruba tradition are traveling in increasing numbers to Africa. But their attempt to adjust practices to what they have seen in Nigeria has created friction among such practitioners in the U.S., reports […]

Filed Under: Archive, Feature, Featured Story

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