Twenty years after the Islamic jihadist attacks on 9/11, and amidst the perception that such terrorism has waned, “there is a significant risk of jihadi resurgence,” writes Colin Clarke in the CTC Sentinel (September), the publication of the Combating Terrorism Center based at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Most terrorism specialists acknowledge that […]
Is religious architecture in a state of decline? It may depend on which architectural authority one is consulting, writes John L. Allen. In an article originally appearing on the Catholic website Crux, and reprinted in Christian News (September 6), Allen reports that a recent survey of the 25 most significant architectural works of the postwar […]
Muslim women are reportedly facing a “marriage crisis” in the U.S., as increasing numbers are experiencing divorces as well as difficulties finding Muslim husbands. An interview appearing in the Washington Post blog The Lily (September 20) features Tahirah Nailah Dean, an Afro-Latina Muslim lawyer and writer who has collaborated on a new photo series documenting […]
While young people are commonly viewed as less religious than older Americans, a new study by Springtide Research Institute finds that 78 percent of people between the ages of 13 and 25 consider themselves at least slightly spiritual, including 60 percent of unaffiliated young people (atheists, agnostics and nones). The institute’s new study, State of […]
The adoption of Jewish practices and strong support of Israel are increasingly prominent and taking on new expressions in Latin American evangelical and charismatic churches. Amy Fallas, in the online magazine The Revealer (September 9), notes how the adoption of Jewish worship elements in many Latin American churches since the 1990s, such as the use […]
As it emerges from the pandemic, the Catholic Church in Italy is facing a loss of social influence and public confidence that may bode ill for its future, writes Massimo Faggioli in the liberal Catholic magazine Commonweal (October). “More than a year since the worst of the pandemic…the bishops’ conference has sunk further into irrelevance. […]
Every seventh year, the practice of shmita (“year of release”), which seeks to let the land rest after being worked for six years, raises practical issues and dilemmas for municipal authorities in Israel, even though a majority of Israeli citizens do not care about this issue, reports Pascal Manker in the French weekly La Vie […]
Women in Mosques Platform, a Turkish group set up in 2017, is campaigning for Muslim women’s equal access to mosques in a country that has traditionally encouraged women to worship at home. On the website of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (September 10), Sevilay Nur Saraçlar writes that, while there are spaces for […]
Throughout August and September, the Berkley Center for Religion and World Affairs at Georgetown University, through its Berkley Forum, has issued a series of reports and reflections on Covid-19 and the Russian Orthodox Church that provide an important resource for understanding changes taking place in church-state relations in Russia. Several writers note how the pandemic […]
Maverick City Music, a charismatic Christian singing group and record label, has in a relatively short time gained wide influence in the Christian music industry through its emphasis on worship. Although the Atlanta-based group was founded only three years ago, many of its songs can already be found on church worship setlists worldwide. Even in […]
