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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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March 07, 2000 [economic] -- Employers recognize spirituality in the workplace by Cody Clark at 9:57 AM (EST)  An excellent survey of the workplace spirituality movement via Scripps Howard News Service. The upsurge in Americans' interest in spiritual life has been recently documented by pollster George Gallup Jr. And with the low unemployment rate and the increasing need for qualified workers, more employers are looking for innovative of ways to support and value employees. Both of these factors may be pushing this emerging trend of workplace spirituality to the mainstream. I'd keep an eye out for legal challenges from non-religious employees of large companies. Could "spiritual harassment" lawsuits be in the future? [social] -- U.S. Bishops find that the Catholic Church is failing Latino Catholics by Cody Clark at 9:59 AM (EST) via beliefnet -- According to a report to be released March 15th by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, the U.S. church is failing its fastest growing segment. Apparently, Hispanics are twice as likely as other Catholics to worship in "separate and unequal settings." The findings, obtained in advance by the National catholic Reporter and the L.A. Times, present serious challenges to the U.S. Catholic Church. This indicates a growing problem of mainstream churches in the U.S. failing to adequately respond to the increasing mulitculturalism of their own congregations. [political] -- Scientology under fire in Europe by Cody Clark at 8:11 AM (EST) The governments of France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Greece have decided to wage war on Scientology and other "cults". These religious groups, most of them small in size, have been placed on "cult" lists and targeted by "information and prevention" campaigns. The merits of Scientology and the other groups aside, religious tolerance watchdogs will be alarmed to find Governments making it their business to distinguish a "cult" from a legitimate, albeit small religious sect. [technological] -- U.S. Army deploys new "containerized chapels" by Cody Clark at 7:57 AM (EST) Completely self-contained chapels built to accomodate Christian, Jewish, and Muslim worship can now be airlifted to U.S. Army soldiers stationed anywhere in the world. Built to seat up to 100, they fit in 8 by 16 foot containers and have everything from rosary beads and bibles to shawls and compasses for finding Mecca. The chapels, right down to the Muslim prayer mats, are camouflage green, of course. This supports a trend toward the increasing incursion of spirtuality into the workplace. The Army is one of an increasing number of employers who find it advantageous to accommodate the religious lives of their employees. [technological] -- Study indicates benefits of Transcendental Meditation by Cody Clark at 7:34 AM (EST) via Eurekalert! -- A study in the American Heart Association Journal Stroke released this week indicates that learning to relax and reduce stress through the practice of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique may reduce atherosclerosis-and risk of heart attack and stroke. This is more evidence of the health benefits of certain types of prayer and indicates a growing willingness of scientific researchers to consider religious practices as a subject of scientific inquiry. |
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