According to Pew Forum’s recent survey, many Americans blend Christian and New Age or Eastern beliefs – beliefs such as reincarnation, astrology, or the evil eye. A “sizeable minority” of Americans report experiences with supernatural phenomena, including contact with spirits or ghosts. While the United States is an overwhelmingly Christian country, more than 60% of … Continue reading
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Religion Compass December Issue – now available
Online ISSN: 1749-8171 Print ISSN: 1749-8171 Religion Compass Volume3, Issue6,2009. Early View (Articles Available Online in Advance of Print) © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd African Religions 921-934 Divination: Epistemology, Agency, and Identity in Contemporary Urban West Africa Laura S. Grillo Abstract Published Online: 25 Nov 2009 DOI 10.1111/j.1749-8171.2009.00174.x Buddhism 935-950 Local … Continue reading
NEWS: Yoga Gone Wrong?
Dahn Yoga Centers, a national chain based in Mesa, Arizona, is facing lawsuits from 27 former practitioners who claim they were psychologically manipulated into spending thousands of dollars at retreats in Sedona, Arizona, and were also subjected to irregular punishing techniques. Some members were allegedly forced to stick their head in a toilet, to lick … Continue reading
NEWS: Yoga Celebrated, Despite Fatwa
The Indonesian island of Bali recently held a week-long yoga festival to promote “spiritual tourism” on the island, bringing people of various ethnic and religious groups together to practice this traditionally Hindu form of meditation, chanting, and exercise. Indonesia’s Islamic Ulema Council issued a fatwa ordering all Muslims to stop participating in yoga, stating that … Continue reading
NEWS: Indonesian Ulemas Council Bans Yoga
Just a few months after Malaysia formally banned yoga, the conservative Indonesian Ulemas Council has issued a fatwa prohibiting the practice of yoga by Indonesian Muslims. The religious edict is the latest in a series of controversial decrees, including the one banning non-Islamic banking, which resonates with Islamic revivalism in the largest Muslim country. Although … Continue reading
NEWS: Synchronicity Members and Ultra-Orthodox Jews Held Victim in the Mumbai Attacks
One of the bloodiest terrorist attacks in India’s history is coming to an end, with members of two new religious movements among the victims. Alan Scherr, 58, and his daughter Naomi, 13, who had left Virginia for Mumbai to attend a spiritual workshop run by Synchronicity Foundation International, were shot dead in a café Wednesday evening. Four … Continue reading
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