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Welcome! At Signs and Wonders we sift through the World Wide Web looking for evidence of emerging religious futures. Our mission is to provide our readers -- religious futurists, ministers, and just plain spiritual people -- with a guided tour of the web, stopping wherever we see the future of faith unfolding before our eyes. We update this site every three days or so, so come back again and join us on our next trip. If you want to comment on anything you read here or discuss religious futures in general, come over to our forum. |
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August 09, 2000 [social] -- People are busy and overstimulated so they can avoid dealing with Life by Cody Clark at 5:28 AM (EST)  From Barna Research, results of a survey of 1002 adults essentially conclude that Americans -- Christians included -- are overstimulated and over committed to the point that they fail to deal with the deeper aspects of life. Despite the shallowness that this implies, a large number of adults are "seeking meaning." From Barna: "The common solution is to keep busy and to stimulate ourselves with a variety of new experiences - that way we are not so likely to feel the pain of those fundamental holes in our life. People have discovered that if they fill the gaps with commitments and excitement, then they're less prone to feel the emptiness of loneliness and aimlessness. Of course, that just prolongs the inner despair that eventually cannot be suppressed any longer." editor -- It is incredible, as Barna points out, that so many Christians indicate that they are "seeking meaning" Have they not found meaning in their faith? If not, why do they go? Pastors take note -- a few remedial sermons may be in order here as well as a hard look at why the current message is apparently being missed by the folks in the pews. [technological] -- Another study: Religion can help you recover from substance abuse by Cody Clark at 5:03 AM (EST) An academic study indicates that higher levels of religious faith and spirituality are associated with several positive mental health outcomes leading to recovery from substance abuse. editor -- It's still a trend -- Science is increasingly approaching religion as a topic of research. So far all of these studies I come across correlate religious life with good effects. Is that because negative or uncorrelated results are not being publicized? If nine out of ten doctors recommend religion for their patients, so to speak, shouldn't we hear what that tenth doctor has to say? [technological] -- Biotech industry engages Religion in dialogue by Cody Clark at 5:04 AM (EST) A Wired news article about how some smart biotech advocates are engaging religion ahead of the commercialization of their technologies. editor -- More evidence of a current trend. This time, though, it appears science is seeking out religion to smooth the way for a potentially inflammatory technology. Let's hope that this is an emerging trend -- starting the social dialogue before the technology catches society unawares. |
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