2011 International Religious Freedom Report

The 2011 International Religious Freedom Report was just released by the U.S. State Department.  Full information can be accessed here;  but you might want to see the shorter Executive Summary.  The State Department has yet to designate the Countries of Particular Concern.

Church Towers as Cell Phone Towers

Charging a cell phone company to put its antennas in your church's tower is a new way some churches are earning revenue.  See this story in the Baltimore Sun.  On the surface, it makes perfect sense:  churches, particularly old ones, are often located on centrally located real estate and have large towers ideal for antennas;  those same churches need revenue to cover operating expenses; and those cell phone companies need antennas in prime locations to provide good cell coverage.  It sounds like a win-win scenario.

The GetReligion blog identifies some aspects of the story that deserve attention, namely, that this church tower-cell phone tower phenomenon may, for some particular reasons, be more common among mainline Protestant denominations than other denominations.

The Eight Religious Wonders of the U.S.

Large resources are devoted to religous activities, and that includes the construction of religious edifaces.  Large, dramatic, and breathtaking buildings have been built by a number of religious groups, and CNN has identified the top eight such wonders in the U.S.  Link here.