Islam and Christianity in Africa

Pew just released a study on these two religious traditions in Africa. Some nice figures.

Belgium Considering Burqa Ban

Read about it in the New York Times.

More on the Recession and Church Finances

From the Kansas City Star on 26 February.

New Reports on Religious Freedom and the Religious Blogosphere

Two reports of interest appeared on the Internet recently.

The first is a report from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs called "Engaging Religious Communities Abroad: A New Imperative for U.S. Foreign Policy." It is a bit long, so you might want to just read the executive summary at the beginning.

The second is a report called "The New Landscape of the Religion Blogosphere" by the Social Science Research Council. Unfortunately, this blog did not make it into the report. What an oversight!

Many Recent Events

Too many to say too much:

• The USCIRF is accused of an anti-Muslim bias in the Washington Post.
• The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a U.S. group that seek increased separation of church and state, is lobbying the federal government to end tax breaks for ministers.
• A church that mixes Eastern Orthodoxy with Evangelical Christianity.
• Pew releases a study on the religious attitudes of the millennials.
• A group unhappy with current trends in the Lutheran Church has unveiled plans to form a rival, the North American Lutheran Church (NALC), which will promote traditional teachings.
  

A New Religion in India?

You can read about it here. Of course, not everyone is in favor of its forming.

French Parliamentary Report Recommends Burqa Ban in Public Places

Here is CNN's summary of this story.

Religious Regulation in the News

Religious regulation has been big in the news lately.

• The transcript for a discussion of the Pew Report on Global Restrictions on Religion has been posted online. The transcript is long but gives some excellent context for the report.
  
• Open Doors released its World Watch List, which ranks countries where persecution of Christians is the worst.
• The Center for Religion and Public Affairs at Wake Forest University released a document that explores 35 questions related to religion in politics and public life. It is titled Religious Expression in American Life: A Joint Statement of Current Law.
• The December 2009 Newsletter of the Association of American Law Schools included a 35-page bibliography of articles, books, and websites on law and religion from 2009.
  
• Following his recent predecessors, President Obama declared January 16th Religious Freedom Day.