The Muslim Brotherhood, an Egyptian-based group, has taken a low, sometimes secretive profile in the U.S., but has been instrumental in turning American Islam in a more conservative direction, according to the Chicago Tribune (Sept. 24). An in-depth article by Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, Sam Roe and Laurie Cohen reports that the brotherhood has operated in secrecy: as […]

If they do not produce more children, Zoroastrian Parsis may be heading for slow extinction, officials warned after releasing the results of India’s religious census. Indo-Asian News Service reported on Sept. 7 that there were 69,601 Parsis in India (33,949 males and 35,652 females), nearly 7,000 less than 10 years earlier. The death rate has overtaken the […]

Although the Jewish vote for the Republican Party has been slipping, the campaign to reelect George Bush is finding a new source of support from Orthodox Jews. Recent surveys have shown Jews supporting John Kerry by a wide margin [see September RW], but The New Republic (Sept. 13) reports that the Orthodox Jewish factor may be important […]

Ten years ago, evangelical historian Mark Noll attracted wide attention with a stinging critique on the lack of evangelical intellectual accomplishment. While there has not been dramatic improvement, today evangelicals have made significant strides toward increasing their intellectual caliber, writes Noll in First Things magazine (October). Noll’ s 1994 book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, took evangelicals […]

The changes in religion affiliation and upbringing experienced among the children of interfaith marriages are also impacting their grandparents, reports Time magazine (Sept. 27). With estimates of about 28 million adults, 22 percent of the U.S. population, living in mixed-religion households, many of those who are parents end up choosing one religion for their children. “While many […]

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 […]