No political party should take the “nones” for granted, new research suggests. “Nones now have the potential to rival evangelical Protestants as a politically relevant constituency,” a sociologist stated.
Organized religion may be going to the dogs. A study finds a major divide in worship attendance among owners of outgoing canines and more aloof cats.
The debate about whether the world is entering a more secular age and whether the growth of religiously non-affiliated people is hastening such secularization in part revolves around questions of timing. In other words, when did these trends start and what led to them?
Does longstanding evidence that people become more religious as they age indicate that secularization trends may reverse in rapidly aging societies of high-income countries? The findings of a new study indicate faith may be more compelling as individuals face their own mortality.
Low pay. Great expectations and scrutiny. And a job where a knack for effective begging comes in handy. So who would want to be an editor of an academic journal on religion? Some who do this work say there needs to be a larger conversation about how journal editors are supported and compensated, and how these issues matter to their mission of disseminating excellent scholarship on religion from throughout the world.
Are evangelicals, even those that identify as politically conservative, that much different from everyone else? Two new studies yield results that may surprise those holding on to an image of highly religious individuals as rigid and uncaring, more concerned with judging than loving one another..
Making difficult parenting decisions – on issues ranging from fathers being open to parental leave to parents embracing family faith activities – may enrich a child’s life in multiple ways into young adulthood and beyond, some new studies suggest. “Religious firmness integrated with religious flexibility is more likely to result in a balanced, healthy style of religious parenting,” one study concluded.,
Miscarriage is often a socially taboo topic that can isolate parents in their grief. But some new studies are finding there is one area of life that can have a significant positive effect on the mental health of women dealing with miscarriages: Faith. One major study found that religious participation may increase mental health and be an important coping mechanism for women dealing with pregnancy loss.
America’s religious communities are failing children with chronic health conditions such as autism, learning disabilities, depression and conduct disorders. And they have been doing it for a very long time, suggests a just-published national study following three waves of the National Survey of Children’s Health.
