Word: religion
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...location or children's activities or the quality of preaching or music or potluck offerings. The concept of church-shopping itself is uniquely American. "'What is your religious preference?' is such an American question," Lugo says. "We can't ask that on surveys in other countries. In most places, religion is an assigned identity. It's part of your family, part of your heritage...
...words "Is God Dead?" stamped in red against an inky black background. The accompanying article predicted that secularization, science and urbanization would eliminate the need for religious belief and institutions before long; in modern society, only the weak and uneducated would persist in their faith. Yet rumors of religion's demise turned out to be premature. Over the past few years, neo-atheists like Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens have taken up the cry again, encouraged by studies showing that the percentage of Americans who report no religious affiliation has more than doubled since 1990. But as a new report...
...religious landscape with a groundbreaking survey of more than 35,000 people, they expected fairly straightforward answers to questions about individual religious affiliations. (The survey included more detailed questions about religious beliefs and practices than have been asked in past censuses; the 2010 census will not ask about religion at all.) What the Pew researchers didn't anticipate is that fully 44% of Americans have changed faiths at least once. Some converted from one religion or denomination to another; others grew up with no tradition only to adopt one as an adult; still others left their childhood faith and found...
...answers were so varied that analysts nearly ran out of codes to categorize them. "The U.S. has an unmatched religious dynamism," explains Lugo. "It's an open religious marketplace as well as a very competitive one. This is the supermarket cereal aisle." Without an established state religion, all faiths can freely exist in the U.S. but must compete for adherents in order to survive. (See pictures of a drive-in church...
Students and religious leaders explored the intersection of religion and environmentalism at a conference held Friday at the Harvard Divinity School. At the gathering, “Ministry for Earth Community,” speakers presented various methods that religious leaders should use to encourage environmental activism. Many also emphasized that environmentalism has roots in the fundamental doctrines of many faiths. All four members of the panel discussion agreed that religious leaders are uniquely suited to inspire people to protect the environment. But they said that sparking such inspiration is an enormous challenge. “It is difficult...