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Holey Holey Holey: The Problem with a New Study Valuing Religion at $1.2 Trillion Per Year

By Michael Schulson

…thod is “hard to defend.” Let’s focus for a minute, though, on that $1.2 trillion number. (Actually, $1.16 trillion, but hey, what’s a difference of $40 billion, really?). Here’s the most important thing to realize: according to the Grims, Walmart accounts for one-quarter of the nation’s religious GDP. Of that $1.16 trillion estimate, $422 billion comes from a list of “religion-based companies,” $279 billion of which comes solely from Walmart. The…

Does Record Number of Religious “Nones” Mean Decline of Religiosity?

By Elizabeth Drescher

…ough time and space. Judging by the media excitement over the latest poll illustrating continued growth in the number of people who answer “none” when asked with what religion they are affiliated, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life seems to have pulled a similar trick for those interested in how religion is changing in America. “‘Nones’ On the Rise,” released on October 9 by Pew in affiliation with PBS’ Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, gives th…

Muslims in America, Fifty Years Later: New Poll Shows Pride and Optimism In the Face of Bias

By Edward E. Curtis IV

…murders in the United State since 9/11. Yet counter-terrorism remained the number one priority of the FBI, which spends several billion dollars annually to prevent and prosecute Muslim terrorists. Is this myopic focus on Muslim terrorists doing all of us more harm than good? Finally, citizens and policy-makers must grapple with its never-ending war on terrorism abroad. For a significant portion of the country, the war on terrorism is, by definitio…

The Plot to Turn the Synod into a “Plot”

By Patricia Miller

…and bishops who back them a chance to be heard in a synod where they’re still vastly outnumbered by conservatives. Douthat likewise ignores Pope Paul VI’s apostolic letter Apostolica Sollicitudo, which established the Synod of Bishops and the procedures for their meetings which states that the responsibilities of the pontiff regarding synods are: To call the Synod into session whenever he feels this will be advisable and to designate the place wh…

RD News Round-Up—Oct.14, 2008

By Bill Berkowitz

…ng to the Bay Area Reporter, the Yes on 8 campaign had raised about $16.8 million, while about $13 million has been raised by No on 8. ++++++++++ Rick Warren Sets the Record Straight Whatever else Rick Warren may be, he is the master of his own domain; savvy enough to try and control his image and how he is described in the media. After his performance as moderator at Saddleback Church’s presidential forum with Senators John McCain and Barack Obam…

“I Speak to God in Public”: Are Young Black Millennials Reclaiming a Theology of Resistance?

By Joshua L. Lazard

…ial media, one can hardly imagine that a singular voice such as Niebuhr’s will ever emerge again. Still, that has not quelled the consumption of theology in public by the masses of social media users. That includes young black millennials as well. Given the number of gospel music videos that get shared on Twitter, the preaching clips that get shared on YouTube, the Facebook Live notifications I receive during an on-going worship service, and the v…

Evangelicals ‘Crossing the Tiber’ to Catholicism

By Jonathan D. Fitzgerald

…s, burgeoning traditional and new media outlets, and the coming of age of Millennial evangelicals, it is seeing its pace quicken dramatically. Back in 1985, when many of the most recent converts were still singing Sunday School songs in evangelical churches, Thomas Howard wrote in the postscript to Evangelical is Not Enough that after completing the text in 1984, he formally converted to Catholicism at the Easter Vigil in 1985. Ultimately, Howard…

The Episcopal Church ‘Takes a Flying Leap’ into Controversies Old and New

By Elizabeth Drescher

…I would say tenuous—position of the Episcopal Church that ‘marriage’ is still reserved to describe the covenant between a man and a woman.” The same-gender blessing liturgy, then, represents the furthering of a discussion of the theology of marriage that Johnson believes “will contribute to a broader push for full marriage equality for all couples in the very near future.” It is this direction that troubled more traditionalist Episcopalians, amon…

For Buddhism, Science is Not a Killer of Religion

By Paul Wallace

…gests that you not try to relieve suffering by clinging to what you think will save you, whether it is science, religion, art, your spouse, your children, your money, your public image. Doing so will only increase your suffering and that of your fellow creatures. Instead, let go of everything you think is true, hit the big reset button, and learn to see the world correctly. This is what the Four Seals insist on, and this is what the Buddha insiste…

Why the Church is Struggling to Hold Onto Millennial Catholics

By Kaya Oakes

…de on many other issues in the culture wars, the more of those same Catholics will also drift away from a church they perceive as incapable of change. Perhaps they’ll attend mass on occasion, and perhaps they’ll still call themselves Catholic, but in many ways, their faith will be a loose garment rather than a straightjacket. _____ *Full disclosure: the Berkeley Newman Center is where I sometimes attend church. …