By drawing on some ideas from once-decried Confucianism, the Chinese state may actually delay religious freedom for all, writes Magda Hornemann in an article published on June 21 by Forum 18 News Service, an independent Christian news service reporting on religious freedom. Confucianism has made a comeback in recent years. Faced with declining credibility of Communist […]

Both in the Muslim world and in the West, intellectuals are raising questions and launching debates which may be the starting point of a reform movement within Islam, writes journalist and anthropologist Nadia Khouri-Dagher in a report published in Le Monde 2 magazine (June 9). While it is true that many reformers face strong opposition, and possibly […]

The Russian Orthodox Church is aligning itself with Russia’s hardline foreign policy, reports The Tablet (June 16). Russia has reasserted its power after more than a decade of relative tranquility, most evident in President Vladimir Putin’s attempt to block deployment of U.S. missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic, as well in recent skirmishes between Moscow […]

Official and semi-official agencies dealing with “cults” in France and Belgium feel that much has been achieved over the past two decades, but they would like to see some additional legal regulations introduced. Both the French MIVILUDES (Inter-ministerial Mission of Vigilance and Fight against Sectarian Deviances) and the Belgian CIAOSN (Information and Advice Center on […]

The fundamentalist trend in the Southern Baptist Convention may be at an end as an influential group of moderates is “seeking to move the denomination to become less political,” writes James L. Evans in the e-newsletter Sightings (June 28). For the past three decades the SBC has moved steadily rightward in both doctrine and politics. While the […]

Churches and municipalities are clashing over land use issues, particularly due to the growth of megachurches, causing both local governments and congregations to look beyond the usual route of enforcing free exercise of religion legislation. World magazine (June 9) reports that clashes between politicians and churches over land use and resulting loss of tax revenue are […]

The significant growth of Unitarian-Universalist Buddhist (UUBU) groups bears witness to the eclectic approach of a segment of American Buddhism today, according to French researcher Molly Chatalic. She delivered a paper on UUBU groups at the 2007 conference of the CESNUR (Center for Studies of New Religions), which took place on June 7-9 at the […]