Although the United States is considered one of the world’s most
religious nations, this interest is generally not reflected in our
mainstream media, network television and general news publications.
Mainly controversial topics seem to garner much coverage.
Although the United States is considered one of the world’s most religious nations, this interest is generally not reflected in our mainstream media, network television and general news publications. Mainly controversial topics seem to garner much coverage.
However, there are reputable sources for people who want to know more about religion and spirituality in today’s society. Every major church or other religious institution has a website, of course, but here are some references that go beyond denominational boundaries.
Religion & Ethics Newsweekly is a series that has been carried on Public Broadcasting System stations since 1997. Hosted by Bob Abernathy, the program has won 115 industry awards as its journalists have traveled around the world to explore how faith, religion and ethics shape national and international events.
A recent episode focused on “French Secularism” and how since its revolution in the 18th century France has tried to minimize the role religion plays in its national life. Muslims now outnumber Protestants in France, and many of them resent restrictions on such practices as the wearing of headscarves by women. The same episode featured a report on a Christian theme park being built in Kentucky and questioned if the state’s public funding violated the separation of church and state.
Full episodes are available online at www.pbs.org where there is content available that was not broadcast.
Religion in the News is a semi-annual magazine that analyzes how the nation’s media report about news events with religious implications. The spring 2011 issue reported on an amendment to the Oklahoma state constitution that banned state courts from applying “sharia” (the religious law of Islam). The article makes clear that Oklahoma’s law is unconstitutional because it singles out a particular religion (since both Catholicism and Orthodox Judaism, for example, have bodies of religious law).
Another article in this issue concerns the “God Gap,” the preference of weekly worship attendees to vote for Republican candidates and of less frequent attendees to vote for Democrats, which is documented with several tables of statistics.
Published by the Leonard E. Greenburg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life and established at Connecticut’s Trinity College in 1996, the magazine is non-sectarian and non-partisan, seeking to foster discussion of religion in our society. It can be read online at www.trincoll.edu/Academics/centers/Greenberg
Center/Pages/default.aspx.
This Week in Christian History is a free online newsletter that each week explains several events from Christian history. The issue for June 19-25 includes a discussion of the origin of Father’s Day, a narrative describing the beginning of construction of London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral in 1675 and an article about the Third Ecumenical Council held in Ephesus in 431 A.D.
The following week has an equally varied group of historical events to discuss: British evangelist George Whitefield’s first sermon in 1736, a biography of Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon, the beheading of St. Paul in 67 A.D. and a speech by Samuel Wilberforce in 1860 when he attempted to refute Darwin’s theory of natural selection.
This newsletter is a ministry of Christianity.com, a for-profit religious corporation devoted to “offering the freshest and most compelling biblically-based content” such as Bible study tools. It also hosts an online community and can been viewed at www.christianity.com/churchhistory.
The Association of Religion Data Archives is a treasure trove for statistics about religion. Based at the Pennsylvania State University since 1997, it has provided access to for scholars, educators, journalists and researchers around the world.
Information provided includes:
– Membership of religious bodies by community, state or ZIP code;
– National profiles of countries by religious affiliation;
– Historical and current information on denominations in the United States;
– And comparisons of 31 different religious groups (including agnostics and atheists).
A free weekly newsletter also contains articles like how churchgoing friendships deter problem gambling and the difficulties churches face trying to attract new members during these hard economic times. All this can be accessed at www.thearda.com.
