The Week: Most Recent Religion

Are highly religious people less compassionate?

The Week — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:08:00 -0400

Here's a new study that might not go over well in church: Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, say atheists and agnostics are more likely than highly religious people to show compassion for strangers. Are the faithful really less generous than non-churchgoers? Here, a brief guide:

Why do researchers think non-believers are more generous?
They looked at the results of three studies: In one, people's attitudes about compassion were measured against the frequency of their own acts of generosity; in another, participants were shown one neutral video and one showing children in poverty...

The Vatican's crackdown on 'radical feminist' nuns

The Week — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:28:00 -0400

The Catholic Church is reprimanding and reorganizing an umbrella group of U.S. nuns for what Vatican investigators say are "serious doctrinal problems" regarding the promotion of "radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith." An investigation into the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) was launched in 2008, and scrutinized some nuns' habit of speaking out on policy issues pertaining to social justice. Here's what you should know:

What exactly is this nuns' group?
The group was formed in 1956 at the Vatican's request, and today, four out of five American nuns belongs...

The rise of atheism in America

The Week — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:07:00 -0400

How many atheists are there?
It depends on your definition of the term. Only between 1.5 and 4 percent of Americans admit to so-called "hard atheism," the conviction that no higher power exists. But a much larger share of the American public (19 percent) spurns organized religion in favor of a nondefined skepticism about faith. This group, sometimes collectively labeled the "Nones," is growing faster than any religious faith in the U.S. About two thirds of Nones say they are former believers; 24 percent are lapsed Catholics and 29 percent once identified with other Christian denominations. David...

What Ireland can teach the U.S. about separating church and state

The Week — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 07:10:00 -0500

I never thought I'd find myself living Rick Santorum's dream, but here I am. After all, I live in Ireland, where there has never been any of the "absolute separation of church and state" that Santorum and a politically significant, passionately committed bloc of like-minded religious conservatives abhor. Far from limiting state involvement in religion, the Irish constitution enshrines it. There isn't just prayer in most public schools; there is full-on Christian — almost always Catholic — education. (Just last week, on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, my 6-year-old skipped in from...

Is illegal file sharing a religion?

The Week — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:54:00 -0500

To many internet users, illegally downloading the latest Lady Gaga album or Showtime series is a legal indiscretion committed in haste and secrecy. To a select few, it's a holy act. In Sweden, a growing number of people have argued that file-sharing is sacred — and they've recently been granted official religious status. Here, a brief guide:

What exactly is this piracy religion?
In 2010, a philosophy student and "religious file-sharer" named Isak Gerson founded the Missionary Church of Kopimism, a group that believes copying files is a sacred act. In the last six months, membership has grown...

The Jewish holiday the rabbis hated

The Week — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

Who doesn't love Hanukkah? Presents and fried potatoes, all conveniently timed to mitigate for Jewish children the pain that Santa does not love them.

But have you actually considered what a weird holiday Hanukkah is?

Eight days of festivities because ancient Jews discovered a cruse of unusually long-lasting oil? That's supposed to rank as a miracle? Why not take a long weekend in August because the prophet Isaiah saved 15 percent on his car insurance?

Still, of all the Jewish holidays, Hanukkah may be the one with the most contemporary resonance. It tells a story of conflict over assimilation...

Lowe's yanks its ads from All-American Muslim: 'Islamophobic'?

The Week — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:25:00 -0500

Lowe's is taking heat for pulling its advertising from the TLC reality series All-American Muslim, about the daily lives of several Muslim families in Michigan. Conservative groups complained to Lowe's and other advertisers that the show is pro-Muslim and anti-American "propaganda." But now the home-improvement retail giant is under fire from the other side. A California state senator is threatening legal action, music mogul Russell Simmons calls the move "Islamophobic," and furious consumers are expressing outrage on Lowe's Facebook page. The company says it's sorry people are upset. Was Lowe...

New York's 'anti-Semitic' vodka billboard

The Week — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:27:00 -0500

The image: Both anti-Semitism groups and consumers have condemned a series of New York billboards for Wodka, an inexpensive Polish vodka. (See full image of the "anti-Semitic" ad below.) On Tuesday, Wodka decided it would take down the billboards, which feature the slogan "Christmas quality" at "Hanukkah pricing" alongside a photo of two dogs, one in a Santa hat, the other in a yarmulke. "We never intended to offend people," says Brian Gordon, who was the creative director on the campaign and is himself Jewish. "But if we're actually... upsetting people that's not in the spirit of our marketing...

Is the recession making America anti-Semitic?

The Week — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:20:00 -0500

The Anti-Defamation League reports that as the economy has faltered over the last two years, anti-Semitism has risen. What does the recession have to do with hateful attitudes toward Jews? Here, a brief guide:

Why has the Anti-Defamation League concluded that anti-Semitism is getting worse?
The League conducted an October phone survey of 1,754 adults. The results? The ADL says 15 percent of Americans hold "deeply anti-Semitic views," compared to 12 percent in 2009. The pollsters measured prejudice by asking people whether they agreed with statements reflecting negative stereotypes...

The great sneezing debate: Banning 'bless you' in schools?

The Week — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:12:00 -0400

A high school health teacher in California faced an angry backlash this week after he told students not to say "God bless you" when classmates sneezed. The teacher, Steve Cuckovich, even took points off students' grades for violating the ban. Cuckovich said he wasn't knocking religion — he just thinks the phrase turns a simple sneeze into a classroom distraction. Besides, he says, the phrase was developed at a time when people thought sneezes expelled evil spirits from the body, so it "doesn't really make any sense anymore." Parents are accusing him of trying to impose his beliefs on teenagers...

The 'cute' but 'eerie' 4-year-old Evangelical preacher

The Week — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:27:00 -0400

The video: Kanon Tipton is a third-generation Pentecostal preacher who can bring worshipers to their feet with calls for a "red-hot revival." He's also a YouTube sensation whose fiery sermons have been viewed more than 4 million times online. His age, all of 4-years-old, might have something to do with that. The "world's youngest preacher," as admirers call him, first toddled up to the pulpit at 21 months, when he took the microphone from his grandfather and launched into a baby babble sermon. His father, Damon Tipton, calls his son's sermonizing a "phenomenon" (See a Today show report below)....

All-American Muslim: Could this reality show work?

The Week — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:28:00 -0400

What's it really like to be Muslim in America? A just-announced TLC reality series, All-American Muslim, will debut in November to try and answer that question. The show will follow five Muslim families in Dearborn, Mich., home to the largest mosque in the U.S., and will offer an "intimate look at their customs and celebrations, as well as the misconceptions, conflicts, and differences they face," according to the press release. Can the network behind shows like Toddlers and Tiaras and Freaky Eaters really do this topic justice?

It all lies in the execution: "The premise...

Eddie Long settles out of court: All is forgiven?

The Week — Tue, 31 May 2011 15:22:00 -0400

Atlanta megachurch pastor Eddie Long has reached a settlement with four young male members of his congregation who accused him of coercing them into sex. The anti-gay-rights pastor had vowed to clear his name when the scandal broke six months ago, but he returned to the pulpit at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church without saying a word about the out-of-court agreement. Is it time to move on, or does Long owe his followers an explanation?

There is no moving on until Long comes clean: Long claimed to be David fighting a legal Goliath, says Devin Robinson at The Atlanta Post. "But, as I remember...

Did the Rapture false-alarm damage evangelicals?

The Week — Mon, 23 May 2011 10:53:00 -0400

After spending more than $100 million on a publicity campaign proclaiming that the world would end in Rapture on May 21 at 6 p.m., Harold Camping of the evangelical Christian group Family Radio awoke on May 22 with "no Plan B." He and his followers are facing jokes from a wide array of skeptics, from atheists to fellow evangelicals, who thought Camping's calculations were flawed or misguided. Are such jokes disrespectful to a group of earnest believers, or — after failing so publicly — are Camping's followers (or even all evangelicals) fair game?

Give evangelicals a break: For...

Saint for the ages

The Week — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:01:00 -0400

Normally, I use my column to discuss American politics and foreign policy rather than journeys of faith, in either the figurative or literal sense. This week, I make both as I travel to Rome for the first time, to attend the services that will beatify Pope John Paul II, the last step in the Roman Catholic Church before sainthood. Yet some have objected to the Vatican’s recognition of the journey of the former Karol Wojtyla, and the enduring lessons and sacrifices that he gave as both a man and the leader of his flock.

Critics have opposed the beatification of John Paul II due mainly to the...

Why living longer destroys your faith

The Week — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 07:00:00 -0400

Ever wonder why church attendance appears to be down just about everywhere? British researchers have found a surprising culprit: life expectancy. Economists at the University of East Anglia in England say — in a study published in the International Journal of Social Economics — that as people in developed countries live longer, they put off worrying about deep spiritual questions when they're young, and put off going to church. Here, a brief guide to the findings:

What does life expectancy have to do with going to church?
In countries where life expectancy was higher, young people...