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.

Crime and Punishment... and Hell

The title of this article says it all:  Belief in Hell Lowers Crime Rate, According to International Study.

Cambodian Religious Switching and Cheapness Considerations

According to this story, members of the Jarai indigenous group in Cambodia are switching from their traditional worship to Christianity because it is cheaper.

Is Technology Good or Bad For Religion?

Lisa Miller at the Washington Post says it can be good.  And she even quotes me in making her case.  See her article here.

She contacted me after seeing our class blog post on religious apps.

The God Issue at the New Scientist

The New Scientist magazine has released a special issue of articles devoted to the scientific study of religion--see here. The articles address many questions such as do people have to be indoctrinated to believe in God (no, it appears children are born primed to see God in the world around them) and is religion necessary for morality (no, but it helps). Warning: some of the articles are gated online.

2012 USCIRF Annual Report Released

The USCIRF released its annual report yesterday. The full report can be found here. As usual, they suggest as "countries of particular concern" (CPCs) those countries with particularly egregious religious freedom violations. The countries identified as CPCs this year are Burma, North Korea, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

This year there is some controversy about whether Turkey should have been on this list, see this post at Religion Clause.