The Christian Century

(RNS) Mormon founder Joseph Smith may have declared all churches to be wrong, even apostate, but he also defined Mormonism as "an inclusivist faith that not only sees and appreciates goodness and truth in other religious traditions but is willing to acknowledge divine action in those other traditions."

(RNS) Women, long considered the dominant pew dwellers in the nation's churches, have shown a dramatic drop in attendance in the last two decades, a new survey shows.

Since 1991, the percentage of women attending church during a typical week has decreased by 11 percentage points to 44 percent, the Barna Group reported Monday (Aug. 1).

Christchurch, New Zealand, August 2 (ENInews)--New Zealand's second biggest city could have a temporary Anglican cathedral as soon as February--but the 700-seat structure will be made of recyclable cardboard. It would replace ChristChurch Cathedral, which was destroyed in the 22 February earthquake that killed 181 people.

(RNS) Brown, sticky, and wrinkly, dates seem a sad or unremarkable fruit. But every Ramadan, the Islamic holy month that began on Monday (Aug. 1), dates take on tremendous religious significance for the faith's 1.6 billion followers.

Throughout the world, Muslims will break Ramadan's required daytime fasts just as Prophet Muhammad did nearly 1,400 years ago: with dates.

Nairobi, Kenya, August 1 (ENInews)--Roman Catholic bishops in Kenya told people to eat genetically modified foods to check starvation amid a serious drought in the Horn of Africa.

The bishops spoke in response to opposition from some non-governmental organizations and legislators to a government plan to import genetically modified maize from South Africa.

c. 2011 USA Today

(RNS) Ramadan, which begins with a sunup-to-sundown fast Monday (Aug. 1), calls on the Muslim faithful to immerse themselves in scripture -- ideally by reading the entire Quran.