American black churches are ambivalent and in many cases opposed to the prospect of gay marriage– a reality that is likely to forestall wider, ecumenical church support for this measure. An article in Baptists Today (June) reports that aside from the conservative Church of God in Christ and a few activists on the left, “most black denominations […]

The availability of the Internet and other technologies offers new opportunities for religious groups to present themselves in both new and traditional forms. But such technology also gives rise to new challenges, especially during controversies. One case study of how the Internet and satellite television has been instrumental in reshaping a religious organization can be […]

A recent surge of Hindu activism is being felt in academia, with scholars facing protests and even violent threats over non-Hindus interpreting religious texts. The Washington Post (April 10) reports that 19 years after a professor at Emory University used sexual imagery in writing on the story of Ganesha, the revered Hindu God with the head of […]

Although the plot runs counter to Islamic teachings, Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ has become a box-office hit in the Arab world, reports the Christian Science Monitor (April 9). Islam forbids the depiction of a prophet and the Koran denies the crucifixion ever occurred. The Passion has been banned in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, yet since […]

While little attention is paid to them by Western media and intellectuals, there are many reformist thinkers in the world of Islam, writes Rachid Benzine in an article on “Islamic Modernity”, published in a special issue (April-May) of the French progressive magazine Le Nouvel Observateur, devoted to “The New Thinkers of Islam.” Benzine cites such thinkers […]

Converts to Islam are being singled out by Al Qaeda as potential weapons in carrying out terrorism, reports the New Republic magazine (April 26). Of the 212 individuals implicated in major terrorist attacks around the world since the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, 18 were converts. But now the use of native born (often women and light-skinned) […]

“From Boston to Berkeley Unitarian churches have opened another front in the liberal crusade to expand the definition of marriage and family in America.It’s the new polygamy,” writes Don Lattin in the San Francisco Chronicle (April 20). At the forefront of the movement is the Unitarian Universalists for Polyamory Awareness, which advocates the “philosophy and practice of […]

Worship and praise music, which has replaced traditional hymns in many evangelical and charismatic churches, is finding a place in concerts and the recording world. The New York Times (April) 17 reports that praise music, usually consisting of prayers and praises repeated to contemporary melodies, has become a booming business in the Christian music marketplace and through […]

Recent scientific challenges to the Book of Mormon are reshaping the self-understanding and identity of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, reports the independent Mormon magazine Sunstone (March). Recent scientific DNA confirmations that the ancient Amerindian people are of Asian genetic origin has caused considerable controversy both inside and outside Mormonism. News of a […]

They may be called “post-modern” churches or just gatherings and meetings without any ecclesiastical status, but there appears to be growing interest in alternatives to established congregational structures, including seeker and megachurches. An article on the postmodern or “Gen-X” churches in the Christian newsweekly World (April 10) notes how they stress their differences from baby boomer-led megachurhes […]