How Churches Invest their Money

That's the title of this little story. It briefly discusses how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church allocate their funds. The information is, unfortunately, not too detailed. Each church does generate income from its assets and pays taxes on the profit-making ventures according to U.S. tax policy.

Church is for the Dogs

It is not enough to have a special church service for pet owners as mentioned in an earlier post,
there must also be a special church service for the pets! How widespread will this practice become?

More Religious Regulation in the News

The 2010 USCIRF Annual Report on Religious Freedom was released last week. The Countries of Particular Concern are Burma, China, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. The Watch List consists of Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Laos, Russia, Somalia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Venezuela.

Meanwhile, Belgium moves closer to banning burqas in public places, and the Workplace Religious Freedom Act is getting renewed attention in the U.S.

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.