Study of Religion Grows Across Disciplines

February 26, 2002

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0226/p12s01-lehl.html

On February 26, 2002, The Christian Science Monitor reported that "the ivory tower has gone from keeping a rigid distance between religion and social-science scholarship to a still-modest, but growing, embrace of it, says Dr. Luis Lugo, director of the religion program at the Pew Charitable Trusts in Philadelphia... For most of the 20th century, scholarship and religion were at opposite poles when it came to research - with religion confined to its own department. Religion's ingrained values were seen as antithetical to a search for answers based on a scientific line of reasoning... Now, however, a broader range of academics are beginning to see the 'religion factor' as a key to understanding historical, political, social, and even economic forces."