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\"In Islam Is a Foreign Country, Zareena Grewal explores some of the most pressing debates about and among American Muslims: what does it mean to be Muslim and American? Who has the authority to speak for Islam and to lead the stunningly diverse population of American Muslims? Do their ties to the larger Muslim world undermine their efforts to make Islam an American religion? Offering rich insights into these questions and more, Grewal follows the journeys of American Muslim youth who travel in global, underground Islamic networks. Devoutly religious and often politically disaffected, these young men and women are in search of a home for themselves and their tradition. Through their stories, Grewal captures the multiple directions of the global flows of people, practices, and ideas that connect U.S. mosques to the Muslim world. By examining the tension between American Muslims' ambivalence toward the American mainstream and their desire to enter it, Grewal puts contemporary debates about Islam in the context of a long history of American racial and religious exclusions. Probing the competing obligations of American Muslims to the nation and to the umma (the global community of Muslim believers), Islam is a Foreign Country investigates the meaning of American citizenship and the place of Islam in a global age. Zareena Grewal is Assistant Professor of American Studies and Religious Studies at Yale University and Director for the Center for the Study of American Muslims at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding\"-- Provided by publisher.

The article replies to the discussion of Schmidt-Leukel’s The Celestial Web by Oliver Freiberger, Thomas Cattoi, Raquel Bouso, Catherine Cornille, and Barbra Clayton. In light of their queries, it reflects on various aspects of the relation between the traditions’ fractal structures and their identity, thereby including historical, theological, and pedagogical perspectives.

Profound socio-economic disparities that exist among American religious groups are largely driven by the quantity and quality of education they receive. Furthermore, given the U.S. schooling system is rooted in Protestant ideals, it is possible that students with Protestant commitments have an academic advantage. This article synthesizes literature on how adolescents' religious commitment and background are associated with their short- and long-term academic outcomes. A literature search identified 42 relevant studies published in 1990-present. These studies were reviewed to identify: (1) the mechanisms through which religion affects educational outcomes—moral, social, and cultural; (2) the main operationalized measures of religion—religious tradition and individual religiosity; and (3) the most frequent academic outcomes studied—secondary school grades, truancy, test scores, educational aspirations, and educational attainment. Of the 42 studies, 95% were based exclusively on quantitative survey data, 95% examined only religiosity or religious tradition, and 66% focused on educational attainment. There were three major findings. First, research has advanced from correlational studies to methodologically rigorous designs suggesting religion can play a causal role in academic success. Second, research reveals a religiosity-religious tradition paradox: Adolescents with stronger religiosity earn better grades, are less truant in secondary school, and complete more years of higher education. A large proportion of highly religious adolescents are likely to be conservative Protestants, but the research on religious tradition suggests that conservative Protestants are among the least educated religious groups. Third, it is unclear if religious adolescents only fare better on academic outcomes that reward their personality, such as grades, or whether they also perform better on more objective measures, such as standardized tests. This systematic review reveals a paradoxical \"effect\" of academic achievement and religiosity versus-religious tradition. The overall results indicate the need to: (a) identify the interaction between religious tradition and religiosity, (b) distinguish between subjective versus objective academic outcomes; (c) examine heterogeneity among non-religious adolescents; (d) study the interplay between institutional schooling and institutional religion; (e) investigate the religion/cultural match between teachers and students; (f) pursue qualitative research to better understand mechanisms; and (g) expand research about non-Christians.

Background Fear of crime is not only a reflection of the prevalence of crime and victimization but also varies by individual and social characteristics such as gender and social integration. Religion is another attribute that influences worldviews and structures social interactions, and thus may affect fear of crime. Purpose Given the importance of religion in American life and the micro and macro costs associated with fear of crime, we examine the associations between various aspects of religion (i.e. religious tradition, service attendance, prayer, biblical literalism, born-again identity, and changes in religious affiliation) and Americans’ fear of crime. Methods We use nationally representative survey data collected between 2004 and 2018 and binary logistic regression models with relevant controls. Results Partial models each with a single measure of religion and control variables show that service attendance, prayer, biblical literalism, born-again identity, and transitioning from no religious affiliation to having a religious affiliation are all positively associated with fear of crime while mainline Protestant affiliation is negatively associated with fear of crime. In full models that include all the religion variables, however, born-again identification is the only religion measure with a robust association with fear of crime, though this association appears to decline in magnitude over time. Changes in religious affiliation and prayer have more moderate, positive associations with fear of crime in the full models. Conclusions and Implications Religion appears to influence fear of crime through worldviews and both static and dynamic identities, particularly the born-again Christian identity. With the born-again label becoming more prevalent, and the nation becoming more polarized, fear of crime may remain high, regardless of the level of crime and victimization; and heightened fear of crime can have negative consequences for individuals and communities, such as the potential negative repercussions for born-again Christians’ mental health.

I challenge the scholarly contention that increases in education uniformly lead to declines in religious participation, belief, and affiliation. I argue that education influences strategies of action, and these strategies of action are relevant to some religious beliefs and activities but not others. Analysis of survey data shows that (1) education negatively affects exclusivist religious viewpoints and biblical literalism but not belief in God or the afterlife; (2) education positively affects religious participation, devotional activities, and emphasizing the importance of religion in daily life; (3) education positively affects switching religious affiliations, particularly to a mainline Protestant denomination, but not disaffiliation; (4) education is positively associated with questioning the role of religion in secular society but not with support for curbing the public opinions of religious leaders; and (5) the effects of education on religious beliefs and participation vary across religious traditions. Education does influence Americans’ religious beliefs and activities, but the effects of education on religion are complex.

The only constant in life is change, or so goes the familiar refrain. But when it comes to research on multiracial congregations, studying change has largely been overlooked. Questions loom about the changing prevalence, leadership, and composition of racially diverse congregations. Using three waves of data from the National Congregations Study (1998, 2006, and 2012), we offer an overarching examination of racial composition in U.S. congregations across approximately 15 years. Both the percentage of multiracial congregations and the amount of racial/ethnic diversity in congregations have increased. The increase has been most dramatic in Protestant churches. In addition, blacks are more common in the pulpit and the pews of America's multiracial congregations than they were in the past. Blacks now surpass Latinos as the group most likely to worship with whites in multiracial congregations. Location and religious tradition continue to be influential factors in a congregation's racial diversity, but the significance of several congregational characteristics have changed over time. We discuss the implications of these findings.

This study examines the association between sense of divine involvement and sense of meaning in life. Then it proceeds to assess how this association varies by religious tradition. Using a random and national sample from the 2007 Baylor Religion Survey, this study finds that sense of divine involvement is associated with greater odds of having a sense of meaning in life. In addition, religious affiliation modifies this association. Specifically, the positive association between sense of divine involvement and the odds of having a sense of meaning in life is observed only among evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants, and Catholics, but not among other religionists and religious nones. I discuss how the results make contributions to knowledge about the link between religious beliefs, religious tradition, and mental health.

Àyájọ́ Ifá are messages derived from oral history, found in Ifá and believed by the Yorùbá to be the word of Oloĺdùmarè. It was divinely revealed to Ọ̀rúnmìlà, its custodian. In Yorùbá society where Ifá originated from, it is the means of knowing the source and history of how the world and everything there in came into existence orally. It is also the means of knowing the mind of the Creator, and of the gods concerning issues on individuals, group of people, city, the entire country and the source of Yorùbá religion. Ifá is a repository and infinite source of knowledge, with several branches which includes, philosophy, oral history, physics, biology, incantation, botany, herbalism and everything relating to human existence. It is an important factor as a social force that influences public opinion as a result of the prohibitions enforced on the devotees that the general public can benefit or emulate. It is also an important element in the prevention of social unrests like dispute, property rights, among others. However, this source of knowledge and history is fast declining, having suffered neglect as a result of factors like western education, western civilisation, western culture as well as foreign religions. It is this paradigm shift that this paper explains extensively. Primary data was gathered through oral interviews conducted with twenty Babaláwo, while texts relevant to the discourse were used and content-analysed. Findings reveal that learning Ifá is gradually fading away as a result of civilisation and foreign religions, not minding its importance in the society. It is recommended therefore, that for the sake of preserving Yorùbá culture, those who are still interested should not be discouraged so that the Whites that are learning Ifá now would not be those who will bring it back at a later time.

The realignment of evangelical voters is well‐documented, but religion's impact within Congress is less clear. New data on home churches of members of Congress shows that the realignment of congressional evangelicals, combined with their growth and distinctly conservative legislative behavior, has significantly contributed to party polarization in Congress. Controlling for other factors, evangelicals are significantly more conservative than members of other religious traditions. This conservatism also has second‐order effects on the polarization of the House, where their more partisan proposals comprise a larger share of the roll‐call agenda when Republicans are in the majority. Moreover, evangelical Republicans in Congress differ significantly from evangelical Democrats in terms their geography, denominations, and experiences prior to Congress.

Although scorned in the early 1900s and publicly condemned by Abraham Flexner and the American Medical Association, the practice of homeopathy did not disappear. Instead, it evolved with the emergence of holistic healing and Eastern philosophy in the United States and today is a form of alternative medicine practiced by more than 100,000 physicians worldwide and used by millions of people to treat everyday ailments as well as acute and chronic diseases. The History of American Homeopathytraces the rise of lay practitioners in shaping homeopathy as a healing system and its relationship to other forms of complementary and alternative medicine in an age when conventional biomedicine remains the dominant form. Representing the most current and up-to-date history of American homeopathy, readers will benefit from John S. Haller Jr.'s comprehensive explanation of complementary medicine within the American social, scientific, religious, and philosophic traditions.