The Immanent Frame

Joe Fassler interviews writer Marilynne Robinson after the publication of her latest collection of essays.

Last Saturday, a regional political rally in the German city of Bonn turned violent as Salafists, followers of a conservative and literalist approach to Islam, fought with police protecting a political demonstration by the right-wing German group, Pro-North Rhine-Westphalia.

The AAOIFI, a Bahrain-based regulatory body for Islamic financial institutions, announced that it will revise its guidelines.

At Religion in American History, Michael J. Altman takes a broad look at Frequencies, citing his appreciation of individual posts, comparing the site to indie music, and musing on alternative visual choices that would alter the impact and meaning of the content.

NPR’s Margot Adler reports on the current popularity of yoga in the United States, and its disassociation with Hinduism. She explores the perception of yoga as a form of relaxation and physical exercise, contrasting this with the efforts of the Hindu American Foundation to “take back yoga”.  Some American Hindus claim that something important is lost when yoga is understood narrowly, that is, without the importance philosophy and lifestyle have for its practice

Richard Florida follows up on what exactly the recent Gallup poll on differences in religiosity by state tells us about America. He compares the poll’s findings with his own socioeconomic data, which confirms correlations identified by the longstanding World Values Survey:

September 20-22, 2012, Universiteit Antwerpen will host a conference on secularization theory.

In a recent issue of TIME, Amy Sullivan writes of a 2009 study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and an example of American expats in Mexico that both suggest Americans may prefer to grow their own when it comes to religious congregations.

The organizers of the upcoming annual conference of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, “The Arab Spring: Getting It Right,” is currently seeking paper proposals.

Reports that NATO personnel had burned copies of the Qur’an first appeared in the New York Times on Tuesday, February 21.