Religion Watch recently interviewed Fordham University sociologist Michael W. Cuneo about his new book, “American Exorcism: Expelling Demons in the Land Of Plenty” (Doubleday, $24.95). In researching the book, Cuneo observed exorcisms in Catholic and Protestant churches, as well as interviewing exorcists and those undergoing the ritual. RW: In your book you write that the news […]

As Europe’s Christian Democratic parties are removed from the corridors of power today, there are signs that these once religious-based parties are reviving moral, if not faith, concerns in Europe. The Public Justice Report (Vol. 23, No. 3), the newsletter of the Association for Public Justice, an evangelical political action caucus, notes that Christian Democratic parties’ new […]

China is looking to France as a model for dealing with “cults,” such as Falun Gong, the persecuted Chinese meditation movement. The Washington Post (July 10) reports that Chinese officials hold up the recent French law passed that made “mental manipulation” a crime as a way to control such groups as Falun Gong. The French law, passed […]

The close involvement of black clergy in Unification Church-sponsored activities is prompting a backlash of opposition in black churches, reports the Washington Post (July 25). As increasing numbers of black clergy have participated in activities sponsored by the Unification Church, there have been a rash of firings and threats of dismissal of ministers involved in these events, […]

Apologia Report (July 9) an evangelical newsletter on cults and apologetics, notes that the late psychic Edgar Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE) has lost nearly 80,000 members in the past 10 years and $4.5 million in the past two.” Citing a report in the Virginia Pilot newspaper, the newsletter adds that the organization also faces a […]

Americans are increasingly meshing their vacations with their faith, reports Beliefnet, the religion web site. While visits to shrines, retreat centers and other spiritual sites have been growing in recent years, more recently the travel industry — from religious tour books to Christian travel agents — is propelling the trend even further. Irving Hexham, the editor […]

Metropolitan and urban areas are becoming so diverse in the U.S. that the old models of urban and even suburban ministry don’t have much relevance. That is the major lesson that the recent Census figures suggest to religious organizations, according to the current issue of  Visions (March/April), a newsletter on demography and religion. The data on changes […]

The denominational conventions held so far this summer have signaled both revived conflicts and new directions among U.S. church bodies. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) continues on a course of conflict after its recent General Assembly. In the last few years, liberals claimed they were being shut out of the church through legislation that prohibited same-sex […]

After years of ignoring or downplaying the effect of AIDS in Africa, missionary organizations and churches are joining forces in the prevention and treatment of the fast-spreading disease. Charisma News Service, (June 27) reports that those attending the United Nations General Assembly’s special session on AIDS in New York in June found many representatives from worldwide […]