Indian Women, Religion and Politics in Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children

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Cerasela BASTON-TUDOR

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This analysis of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children focuses on the construction of womanhood in postcolonial India, with reference to women’s role in two significant domains, politics and religion, as female characters are assigned the part of either homo politicus or homo religiosus. Within the sphere of politics, women are indissolubly connected to the concept of nation, and Rushdie intertwines personal history with that of the country, using birth metaphors for both children and country. The second domain under scrutiny is set in antithesis with the former, since all women belonging to this class are fundamentally against any political statement, be it Gandhian, peaceful, or otherwise, as their main objective is to follow Islamic laws. Such a complex transfer from one field and type of female character to an opposite one constitutes itself into the challenge of offering a possible interpretation of the novel Midnight’s Children.

Religion, politics and gender in the context of nation-state formation: the case of Serbia.

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Drezgić, Rada

2010-01-01

This article argues that nationalism has connected religion with secular politics in Serbia but that their rapprochement has been a gradual process. In order to demonstrate the transition from a limited influence of religion on politics to a much tighter relationship between the two, this article discusses the abortion legislation reform and the introduction of religious education in public schools, respectively. It argues that, while illustrative of different types of connection between religion and politics, these two issues had similar implications for gender equality-they produced discourses that recreated and justified patriarchal social norms. After religion gained access to public institutions, its (patriarchal) discourses on gender were considerably empowered. The article points to some tangible evidence of a re-traditionalisation and re-patriarchalisation of gender roles within the domestic realm in Serbia.

Teaching about Religion in History Classes: Sacred and Secular History.

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Abrahamson, Brant; Smith, Fred

In teaching about religion there is the fundamental distinction between secular history, which is restricted to natural cause and effect relationships, and sacred histories, which assume that a spirit world exists and that human/divine interaction has taken place. In the United States, the academically approved way of dealing with these…

Stalinist ritual and belief system : Reflections on "political religion"

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van Ree, E.

2016-01-01

This article offers a critical assessment of the Political Religion Theory on the basis of a comparative analysis of the Orthodox and Stalinist belief systems and ritual. The theory works under the assumption that sacralisation of secular objects endows these objects with a transcendental, divine

Gender inequality in education : political institutions or culture and religion?

OpenAIRE

Cooray, Arusha; Potrafke, Niklas

2010-01-01

We investigate empirically whether political institutions or culture and religion underlie gender inequality in education. The dataset contains up to 157 countries over the 1991-2006 period. The results indicate that political institutions do not significantly influence education of girls: autocratic regimes do not discriminate against girls in denying educational opportunities and democracies do not discriminate by gender when providing educational opportunities. The primary influences on ge...

Freedom of religion in the 21st century : A human rights perspective on the relation between politics and religion

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Ziebertz, Hans-Georg; Hirsch Ballin, Ernst

2015-01-01

Freedom of religion consists of the right to practice, to manifest and to change one’s religion. The modern democratic state is neutral towards the variety of religions, but protects the right of citizens to practice their different religious beliefs. Recent history shows that a number of religious

The unhappy marriage of religion and politics: problems and pitfalls for gender equality.

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Razavi, Shahra; Jenichen, Anne

2010-01-01

This article explores how religion as a political force shapes and deflects the struggle for gender equality in contexts marked by different histories of nation building and challenges of ethnic diversity, different state-society relations (from the more authoritarian to the more democratic), and different relations between state power and religion (especially in the domain of marriage, family and personal laws). It shows how 'private' issues, related to the family, sexuality and reproduction, have become sites of intense public contestation between conservative religious actors wishing to regulate them based on some transcendent moral principle, and feminist and other human rights advocates basing their claims on pluralist and time- and context-specific solutions. Not only are claims of 'divine truth' justifying discriminatory practices against women hard to challenge, but the struggle for gender equality is further complicated by the manner in which it is closely tied up with, and inseparable from, struggles for social and economic justice, ethnic/racial recognition, and national self-determination vis--vis imperial/global domination.

Ritualistics: a New Discipline in the History of Religions

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Jørgen Podemann Sørensen

1993-01-01

Full Text Available The history of Religions is in need of subdisciplines. Those that it has are mostly derived from other academic disciplines such as psychology, sociology, or, to mention a more recent invention, aesthetics. Interdisciplinary studies are in many ways a characteristic, inherent feature of the humanities, and certainly not to be resented or mistrusted. It is, however, worth noticing that the History of Religions has only one discipline entirely of its own: a comparative, cross-cultural, religio-specific discipline sometimes called the phenomenology of religion. The study of ritual is more than just the study of a very broad. It is with a view to the further exploration of the way meaning and form are put to work in ritual, and the way ritual determines and conditions the form of representations, that ritualistics can be suggested as a new discipline.

Provide History of Religion and God

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Ginex, Nicholas P.

2013-01-01

There is a need for high school, college, and university educators to introduce their students to a history of mankind's development of religions and beliefs in God. Regarded as too sensitive a subject, students are deprived of learning how mankind has evolved ways to establish moral and righteous behavior to maintain harmony among competing…

The Uses of Race and Religion: James Baldwin’s Pragmatist Politics in The Fire Next Time

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Courtney D Ferriter

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin argues that the American dream is far from being a reality in part because there is much Americans do not wish to know about themselves. Given the current political climate in the United States, this idea seems just as timely as it did in the 1960s. Baldwin’s politics and thinking about race and religion are informed by an optimistic belief in the human capacity to love and change for the better, in contrast with Ta-Nehisi Coates, the heir apparent to Baldwin’s legacy. Considering current events, it seems particularly useful to turn back to The Fire Next Time. Not only does Baldwin provide a foundation for understanding racism in the United States, but more importantly, he provides some much-needed hope and guidance for the future. Baldwin discusses democracy as an act that must be realized, in part by coming to a greater understanding of race and religion as performative acts that have political consequences for all Americans. In this article, I examine the influence of pragmatism on Baldwin’s understanding of race and religion. By encouraging readers to acknowledge race and religion as political constructs, Baldwin highlights the inseparability of theory and practice that is a hallmark of both pragmatism and the realization of a democratic society. Furthermore, I argue that Baldwin’s politics provide a more useful framework than Coates’s for this particular historical moment because of Baldwin’s emphasis on change and evolving democracy.

The nature and dynamics of world religions: a life-history approach.

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Baumard, Nicolas; Chevallier, Coralie

2015-11-07

In contrast with tribal and archaic religions, world religions are characterized by a unique emphasis on extended prosociality, restricted sociosexuality, delayed gratification and the belief that these specific behaviours are sanctioned by some kind of supernatural justice. Here, we draw on recent advances in life history theory to explain this pattern of seemingly unrelated features. Life history theory examines how organisms adaptively allocate resources in the face of trade-offs between different life-goals (e.g. growth versus reproduction, exploitation versus exploration). In particular, recent studies have shown that individuals, including humans, adjust their life strategy to the environment through phenotypic plasticity: in a harsh environment, organisms tend to adopt a 'fast' strategy, pursuing smaller but more certain benefits, while in more affluent environments, organisms tend to develop a 'slow' strategy, aiming for larger but less certain benefits. Reviewing a range of recent research, we show that world religions are associated with a form of 'slow' strategy. This framework explains both the promotion of 'slow' behaviours such as altruism, self-regulation and monogamy in modern world religions, and the condemnation of 'fast' behaviours such as selfishness, conspicuous sexuality and materialism. This ecological approach also explains the diffusion pattern of world religions: why they emerged late in human history (500-300 BCE), why they are currently in decline in the most affluent societies and why they persist in some places despite this overall decline. © 2015 The Author(s).

The nature and dynamics of world religions: a life-history approach

Science.gov (United States)

Baumard, Nicolas; Chevallier, Coralie

2015-01-01

In contrast with tribal and archaic religions, world religions are characterized by a unique emphasis on extended prosociality, restricted sociosexuality, delayed gratification and the belief that these specific behaviours are sanctioned by some kind of supernatural justice. Here, we draw on recent advances in life history theory to explain this pattern of seemingly unrelated features. Life history theory examines how organisms adaptively allocate resources in the face of trade-offs between different life-goals (e.g. growth versus reproduction, exploitation versus exploration). In particular, recent studies have shown that individuals, including humans, adjust their life strategy to the environment through phenotypic plasticity: in a harsh environment, organisms tend to adopt a ‘fast' strategy, pursuing smaller but more certain benefits, while in more affluent environments, organisms tend to develop a ‘slow' strategy, aiming for larger but less certain benefits. Reviewing a range of recent research, we show that world religions are associated with a form of ‘slow' strategy. This framework explains both the promotion of ‘slow' behaviours such as altruism, self-regulation and monogamy in modern world religions, and the condemnation of ‘fast' behaviours such as selfishness, conspicuous sexuality and materialism. This ecological approach also explains the diffusion pattern of world religions: why they emerged late in human history (500–300 BCE), why they are currently in decline in the most affluent societies and why they persist in some places despite this overall decline. PMID:26511055

Media, Religion and Public Space

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Gheorghe FALCĂ

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Relations between religion and politics are complex and paradoxical. Both strive to achieve and maintain power. Both politics and religion involve control over social relations and emphasiye social integration (politics in its concern for order in society, and religion in its concern for observance of order and obligations within the congregation. But they differ in respect of specific goals, the values ​​that ascribe to power and differences in their conceptions of the nature and source of power. In the modern world, power, embodied in political institutions, is secular; in the past, its association with religion created a transcendental relationship, causing the possession of power to be of different quality, to come from another world. But, while politics is focused on interpersonal relationships, religion is more oriented towards relations between humans and gods or other spiritual forces.

Conceptualising spirituality and religion for healthcare.

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Pesut, Barbara; Fowler, Marsha; Taylor, Elizabeth J; Reimer-Kirkham, Sheryl; Sawatzky, Richard

2008-11-01

To discuss some of the challenges of conceptualising spirituality and religion for healthcare practice. With the growing interest in spirituality in healthcare, has come the inevitable task of trying to conceptualise spirituality, a daunting task given the amorphous nature of spirituality, the changing understandings of spirituality among individuals and the diverse globalised society within which this task is taking place. Spirituality's relationship to religion is a particularly challenging point of debate. Critical review. Three social and historical conditions - located in the context of Western thought - have contributed to current conceptualisations of spirituality and religion: the diminishment of the social authority of religion as a result of the Enlightenment focus on reason, the rise of a postmodern spirituality emphasising spiritual experience and current tensions over the ideological and political roles of religion in society. The trend to minimise the social influence of religion is a particular Western bias that seems to ignore the global megatrend of the resurgence of religion. Current conceptualisations are critiqued on the following grounds: that they tend to be ungrounded from a rich history of theological and philosophical thought, that a particular form of elitist spirituality is emerging and that the individualistic emphasis in recent conceptualisations of spirituality diminishes the potential for societal critique and transformation while opening the door for economic and political self interest. Constructing adequate conceptualisations of spirituality and religion for clinical practice entails grounding them in the wealth of centuries of philosophical and theological thinking, ensuring that they represent the diverse society that nursing serves and anchoring them within a moral view of practice.

Religions and the History of Education: A Historiography

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Raftery, Deirdre

2012-01-01

This article provides a study of scholarship on religions and education, published over the past forty years, in "History of Education". It also includes reference to other publications, attempting a thematic analysis that scrutinises work on missionaries, churchmen, convents, charitable societies, denominations and education. Methodologies and…

Superstition, religion and the political / Superstição, religião e o político

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Michel Despland

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract/presentationAlthough a respected researcher of religion in both the European and North American intellectual scene, Michel Despland is to date still little known in Brazilian religion studies circles. Among his several publications, we name but a few: Kant on history and religion: with a translation of Kant's On the failure of all attempted philosophical theodicies (McGill-Queen's University Press, 1973; The education of desire, Plato and the philosophy of religion (University of Toronto Press, 1985; Les hierarchies sont ebranlees, politiques et theologies au XIXe siècle, (Fides, 1998; Comparatisme et Christianisme: questions d'histoire et de methode (L'Harmattan, 2002. In the paper before us, which was presented during the 12th Symposium of the Brazilian Association for the History of Religions (2011, UFJF, Professor Despland starts from the anthropological premise that religion is “something people do”. Drawing on Spinoza’s work, Despland elects the category of “superstition” as the most adequate tool for the analysis of the religious realm, rather than, for instance, “the sacred”. The author’s immediate goal is first to understand Spinoza’s own construal of the religious and political realms in their interrelatedness – both in conceptual continuity and rupture with the Western/Christian traditions of political theology. He then proceeds to probe historically into the moral and social dimensions of religion as embedded both in its own institutions and in the ever growing third realm of civil society vis-à-vis the state. This discussion, enriched by the contribution of other important writers such as J.-J. Rousseau, A. de Tocqueville, B. Constant and C. Lefort, should serve as a test for his theoretical choices. Despland hopes to have shown, at the end, that a consideration of religion as inevitably rooted in human nature, together with the analysis of the particular historical configuration of the political and

Danmark. Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lausten, Martin Schwarz

1991-01-01

Danmarks kirkehistorie fra begyndelsen til nyere tid. Kirkehistorie, historie, folkekirke, religion......Danmarks kirkehistorie fra begyndelsen til nyere tid. Kirkehistorie, historie, folkekirke, religion...

RELIGION AND HUMANITIES: PRACTICING RELIGION WHILE CELEBRATING DIFFERENCES

OpenAIRE

Nur Syam

2007-01-01

Religion is a human phenomenon which often determines human behaviour. Apart from the divinity, religion is related to man and humanity. But man often differentiate between themselves on religious grounds and come into conflict in the name of religion although the root cause of such conflicts is social misunderstanding, crime or politics. This article examines the religious conflicts in Indonesia during the last two decades as had erupted in Poso, Ambon and Sambas and argues how religion had ...

The role of philosophy in the academic study of religion in Indian

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Sonia SIKKA

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Joseph T. O’Connell drew attention to the relative scarcity of academic work on religion in South Asia, and offered as a plausible explanation for this state of affairs the tension between secular and religio‑political communal interests. This paper explores the potential role of philosophy as an established academic discipline within this situation, in the context of India. It argues that objective study, including evaluation, of the truth claims of various religious traditions is an important aspect of academic as opposed to confessional engagement with religion, and that philosophy in India is especially well suited to undertake such reflection and to provide corresponding education. Unlike Western countries, philosophy and religion were never clearly separated in India and did not evolve in tension with one another. The history of Indian philosophy therefore includes and is included within the history of its ‘religions’, in a way that makes philosophical examination of the truth claims of Indian religions internal to those religions themselves. By tracing this history, the discipline of philosophy can help to unsettle the idea of religion as a matter of fixed dogma. It can also continue the procedure of interpreting and evaluating metaphysical and epistemological theses that has been an intrinsic component of Indian religious thought for most of its history.

From the Cross (and Crescent) to the Cedar and Back Again: Transnational Religion and Politics Among Lebanese Christians in Senegal

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Leichtman, Mara A.

2013-01-01

This article examines the changing relationship between religion, secularism, national politics, and identity formation among Lebanese Christians in Senegal. Notre Dame du Liban, the first Lebanese religious institution in West Africa, draws on its Lebanese “national” character to accommodate Lebanese Maronite Catholic and Greek Orthodox Christians in Dakar, remaining an icon of “Lebanese” religion, yet departing from religious sectarianism in Lebanon. As such, transnational religion can vary from national religion, gaining new resonances and reinforcing a wider “secular” ethno-national identity. PMID:24077518

From Mystics to Modern Times: A History of Craniotomy & Religion.

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Newman, W Christopher; Chivukula, Srinivas; Grandhi, Ramesh

2016-08-01

Neurosurgical treatment of diseases dates back to prehistoric times and the trephination of skulls for various maladies. Throughout the evolution of trephination, surgery and religion have been intertwined to varying degrees, a relationship that has caused both stagnation and progress. From its mystical origins in prehistoric times to its scientific progress in ancient Egypt and its resurgence as a well-validated surgical technique in modern times, trephination has been a reflection of the cultural and religious times. Herein we present a brief history of trephination as it relates religion, culture, and the evolution of neurosurgery. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Religion in a global vortex

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Telebaković Boško

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Religions have been separated from a state, but they could have never been kept apart from the sphere of politics. They cannot be hidden from globalisation too, and are present in different forms. Only some world's religions actively participate in globalisation and try to make their believers part of their globalisation projects. The Roman Catholic Chuch and Islam are strong enough to make an attempt to shape themselves as global religions and political forces, but obstacles are so big that they cannot reach their goal in the near future. Does the USA take multireligious approach and disturb all monoreligious globalisation? Can globalisation developing a multireligious approach be the most penetrating? What can be achieved by fuzzy religion being formed in the Western Europe? Localisation in the Balkans, serving globalisation, is taking place with religious communities participating in the process. The use of religion in globalisation easily causes political concussions.

Religion and the political: the answer of Hegel’s philosophy between tension and reconciliation

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Montserrat Herrero

2016-08-01

Full Text Available A tense relationship between politics and the religious conscience is a constant in political thinking and action. This article deals with Hegel’s philosophy in order to clarify the reasons for that tension and the complexity of the possible solution. How is the way to approach the intricate relationship between the different ways of manifestation of the spirit —as subjective, objective and Absolut Spirit that are implicated in the relationship between religion and politics in Hegel’s Philosophy? I have chosen a place inside the Hegelian’s system to approach this question: the moral conscience. The analysis of this shape of the Spirit allows an original perspective on this topic.

A masquerade is not watched from one spot: reassessing the study of African religions

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Umar Habila Dadem Danfulani

1999-01-01

Full Text Available The search for an adequate methodological approach to the study of African Religions in their multiformity has been a fervent one. In this paper, approaches to the study of African Religions today are proposed. These are polymethodic and multidimentional approaches, the contextual study of African Religions, the historical approaches (demonstrated in the art of masquerading, the need to balance synchronic and diachronic approaches, the use of art and iconography in the study and female studies. The fifth focuses on studying African Religions as insider. The author also examines the problems of the "insider" and the politics of doing research in history of religions in a Nigerian university.The conclusion strongly recommends a multidisciplinary approach for studying African Religions.

Prosociality and religion: History and experimentation.

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Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin

2016-01-01

Norenzayan et al. are praised for choosing to deal with significant questions in the understanding of religion. They are then criticized for refusing to define religion and for relying on problematic theoretical concepts. The authors discuss Abrahamic religions as the best-known prosocial religions, but the evidence shows that the case does not fit their conceptual framework. Finally, an extension of the authors' ideas about the meaning of priming effects is proposed.

Public Concern with Farm-Animal Welfare: Religion, Politics, and Human Disadvantage in the Food Sector

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Deemer, Danielle R.; Lobao, Linda M.

2011-01-01

The welfare of farm animals has become a continuing source of controversy as states seek greater regulation over the livestock industry. However, empirical studies addressing the determinants of public concern for farm-animal welfare are limited. Religion and politics, two institutional bases of attitudes, are rarely explored. Nor have…

What is Religion?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jeppe Sinding

which can be analysed and compared across time and cultures, What is Religion? brings the most up-to-date scholarship to bear on humankind’s most enduring creation. The book opens with a brief history of the idea of religion, then divides the study of religion into four essential topics - types......Religious belief is one of the most pervasive and ubiquitous characteristics of human society. Religion has shadowed and illuminated human lives since primitive times, shaping the world views of cultures from isolated tribes to vast empires. Starting from the premise that religion is a concept......, representations, practices, and institutions – and concludes with a final, eye-opening chapter on religion today. Packed with case studies from a wide range of religions, past and present, What is Religion? offers a very current, comprehensive, yet intellectually challenging overview of the history, theories...

Climate Change, Politics and Religion: Australian Churchgoers’ Beliefs about Climate Change

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Miriam Pepper

2016-05-01

Full Text Available A growing literature has sought to understand the relationships between religion, politics and views about climate change and climate change policy in the United States. However, little comparative research has been conducted in other countries. This study draws on data from the 2011 Australian National Church Life Survey to examine the beliefs of Australian churchgoers from some 20 denominations about climate change—whether or not it is real and whether it is caused by humans—and political factors that explain variation in these beliefs. Pentecostals, Baptist and Churches of Christ churchgoers, and people from the smallest Protestant denominations were less likely than other churchgoers to believe in anthropogenic climate change, and voting and hierarchical and individualistic views about society predicted beliefs. There was some evidence that these views function differently in relation to climate change beliefs depending on churchgoers’ degree of opposition to gay rights. These findings are of interest not only for the sake of international comparisons, but also in a context where Australia plays a role in international climate change politics that is disproportionate to its small population.

Kosovar Society through Secularism and Religion

OpenAIRE

MSc. Dritero Arifi; Dr.Sc. Ylber Sela

2013-01-01

This paper will analyze the importance and the effects of religion, in Kosovar society. A great part of the paper, will analyze the social and the political relations in Post-War Kosovo. Initially it will elaborate religion and secularism, especially in theoreticall aspect, what impact have these definitions in modern societies. In order to explain what the importance of the religion in Kosovo is, we will focus on analyzing ethnical, social and political relations within Kosovo society. A...

Goodwill in the valley of the shadow: religion, psychotherapy, and politics in Britain from 1945 to the early 1960s.

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Richards, Graham

2009-08-01

The author hypothesizes that the British psychological climate following World War II, from 1945 to approximately 1960, created the conditions for an unusually frank, honest, and collaborative debate on matters related to religion and spirituality generally as well as broader social and political issues. The author first sketches the nature of this climate, before looking more specifically at the interrelationships among religion, psychotherapy and, very briefly, politics during this period. Suggestions regarding the dissipation of this phase after 1960 are examined. The final section considers some qualifications to the case previously outlined and identifies issues and questions that the author feels need addressing further.

Beyond Essentialist and Functionalist Analyses of the "Politicisation of Religion": The Evolution of Religious Parties in Political Catholicism and Political Islam

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Joerg Baudner

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The debate about “politics and religion” has already rejected essentialist claims of fundamental differences in the impact of religion on politics in different cultures. This article will argue that political Islam in Turkey and political Catholicism in Italy and Germany adopted remarkably similar patterns of cross-class coalitions and policies for a “reconciliation of capitalism and democracy”. First, religious parties developed as mass integration parties which already encompassed cross-class coalitions. Second, in the aftermath of political and economic crises these parties transformed into catch-all parties with a pronounced neo-liberal agenda which was given a religious justification. Third, at the same time these parties continued to sponsor policies and organizations which cushioned and supplemented an uneven economic development. Fourth, the parties kept traditional family policies which helped attracting a significant female electorate. “Organized religion” provided religious parties with a potential electorate, ancillary organizations and ideological concepts; however, their role in this political evolution changed. The conclusion will discuss whether these findings can be generalized.

Contested identities: gendered politics, gendered religion in Pakistan.

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Shaheed, Farida

2010-01-01

In Pakistan, the self-serving use of Islam by more secular elements alongside politico-religious ones facilitated the latter's increasing influence and the conflation and intricate interweaving of Islam and Pakistani nationhood. A paradigm shift under Zia's martial law revamped society as much as state laws, producing both religiously defined militias and aligned civil society groups. Examining the impact on women of fusing religion and politics, this paper argues that women become symbolic markers of appropriated territory in the pursuit of state power, and that the impact of such fusing, different for differently situated women, needs to be gauged in societal terms as well as in terms of state dynamics. Questioning the positing of civil society as a self-evident progressive desideratum, the paper concludes that gender equality projects seeking reconfigurations of power cannot be effective without vigorously competing in the creation of knowledge, culture and identity.

Left or right? Teachers, political options and history didactics.

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Caroline Pacievitch

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this text we discuss the political options of history teachers and its consequences to teaching. We ask if there are relations between political options and didactical choices of the history teacher. The data were obtained from the project “Youth and History in MERCOSUR”, that uses a questionnaire which was responded by a sample of 288 history teacher of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay. A descriptive and inferential statics treatment was given to the answers, with special attention to political options of the teachers, and crossing general information with stances about didactical aspects.  Norberto Bobbio’s notion about left and right was used. It was noted that the teachers, regardless of political opinion, defend the history teaching importance and care about their own political participation. There are subtle differences about the  teaching objectives evaluation and about professional difficulties among teachers, that also interpret sensitive historical themes coherently to their political stances. These findings invite to think more about the role of those professors who performs history teachers training, as to reinforce the importance of connecting politics and didactics in the making of teaching responsibility.

Who's Afraid of Sex at School? The Politics of Researching Culture, Religion and Sexuality at School

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Louisa; Rasmussen, Mary Lou; Quinlivan, Kathleen; Aspin, Clive; Sanjakdar, Fida; Brömdal, Annette

2014-01-01

This paper explores the methodological politics of researching at the intersections of sexuality, culture and religion in secondary schools. It draws on experiences during a project concerned with how to address cultural and religious diversity in sexuality education in Australia and New Zealand. The paper focuses on two methodological sticking…

Kosovar Society through Secularism and Religion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MSc. Dritero Arifi

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This paper will analyze the importance and the effects of religion, in Kosovar society. A great part of the paper, will analyze the social and the political relations in Post-War Kosovo. Initially it will elaborate religion and secularism, especially in theoreticall aspect, what impact have these definitions in modern societies. In order to explain what the importance of the religion in Kosovo is, we will focus on analyzing ethnical, social and political relations within Kosovo society. A considerable component of the paper is also, the elaboration of secularism in Kosovo conditions. This implies that the formulation of the problem and the objective of this research, are the substance of the paper’s theme, which is, religion in Kosovo; its definition and the outlook of the Kosovar society on religion. Is Kosovo post-war society more or less religious? That means the elements of Religions and Secularism will be part of the analysis of developments in post-war Kosovo.

The Canonical Black Body: Alternative African American Religions and the Disruptive Politics of Sacrality

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Joseph L. Tucker Edmonds

2018-01-01

Full Text Available “The Canonical Black Body” argues that central to the study of African American religions is a focus on the black body and the production and engagement of canons on the sacred black body within the black public sphere. Furthermore, this essay suggests that, by paying attention to alternative African American religions in the twentieth century, we can better engage the relationship between African American religion and the long history of creating these canons on the black body, debating their relationship to black freedom, and circulating the canons to contest the oppressive, exclusive practices of modern democracy. Through a critical engagement of the fields of Black Theology and New Religious Movements and using the resources offered by Delores Williams’ accounts of variety and experience and Vincent Wimbush’s category of signifying, this essay will argue for how a return to the body provides resources and tools for not only theorizing African American religions but thinking about the production and creation of competing black publics, including the important role of alternative black sacred publics.

William Whewell, Galileo, and reconceptualizing the history of science and religion.

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Wilson, David B

2011-12-20

This paper advocates a reconceptualization of the history of science and religion. It is an approach to the subject that would aid research by historians of science as well as their message to others, both academic and non-academic. The approach is perfectly illustrated by the life and ideas of William Whewell and Galileo.

Restoring Politics to Political History

OpenAIRE

Kousser, J. Morgan

1982-01-01

If history ever was simply the study of past politics, it is no longer. Dissatisfied with narratives of Great Men, more interested in analyzing the impact of larger forces and in tracing out patterns of the lives of the masses of people, skeptical that a recounting of election campaigns and a counting of votes reveals much about social thought or action, strongly affected by currents of opinion which have long run deep in France, American historians have turned increas...

Predicting civil religion at a cross-cultural level

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Lavrič Miran

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The concept of civil religion has caught major attention among scholars studying the junction of religion and politics (J.-J. Rousseau, E. Durkheim, R. Bellah. The notion focuses on the phenomenon of cultural contents sacralizing and ritualizing the ruling political institutions of a society, extending support to the integration of the political and social system at a cultural level. The notion of civil religion has recently been operationalized crossculturally, but light has not been shed upon its predictors. In this paper authoritarianism is tested as a predictor of civil religion cross-culturally. Four student samples of Bosnian, Serbian, Slovenian and US students were analyzed. Very strong, significant associations between authoritarianism, as operationalized by a modified Lane scale, and civil religion were found in all cases. Moreover, upon introducing femininity, anxiety and gender into the analysis, a strong, dominant and significant impact on the part of authoritarianism was still found when civil religion was observed crossculturally. When the same predictors were applied to explaining general religiosity, authoritarianism fell short of being a significant predictor in most of the environments observed. Such results suggest an especially close link between civil religion and authoritarianism.

Laborde’s religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lægaard, Sune

2018-01-01

Cécile Laborde’s Liberalism’s Religion proposes liberal principles to address political controversies over religion. One is the public reason requirement that reasons for state policies should be accessible. Another is the civic inclusiveness requirement according to which symbolic religious...... establishment is wrong when it communicates that religious identity is a component of civic identity. A third is the claim that liberal states have meta-jurisdictional authority to settle the boundary between what counts as religion and what counts as non-religion. The article considers whether Laborde has...... managed to articulate these three principles in a way that is operationalisable and can serve to provide solutions to practical controversies over religion. It is argued that Laborde’s formulations leave important issues open, and some ways of settling these issues are considered....

The Effects of Gender, Race, Religion, and Political Orientation on the Sex Role Attitudes of College Freshmen.

Science.gov (United States)

Lottes, Ilsa L.; Kuriloff, Peter J.

1992-01-01

Examined effects of gender, race, religion, and political orientation on 4 sex role measures among 556 first-year college students. Liberals as compared to conservatives and Jews as compared to Protestants were less traditional in their attitudes toward female sexuality, less accepting of male dominance and negative attitudes toward homosexuality,…

Religion and the secularisation of health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Paley, John

2009-07-01

To assess the claim that conceptualisations of religion and spirituality should be grounded in theology, and acknowledge the global resurgence of religion. Although there is widespread agreement in the nursing literature that 'spirituality' is a broader concept than 'religion,' and should be understood generically, this approximate consensus has occasionally been challenged. A recent paper by Barbara Pesut and colleagues argues that the generic view not only empties spirituality of powerful religious symbols and narratives, but underestimates the continuing social influence of religion, and its resurgence on a global scale. Accordingly, these authors suggest three principles for conceptualising spirituality and religion in health care, one of which is that conceptualisations should be grounded in philosophical and theological thinking, and should not ignore the global resurgence of religion. Critical review. The Pesut principle privileges theology, disregarding other disciplines which theorize religion. Arguably, it privileges specifically Christian theology, the history of which suggests a politics of orthodoxy and an epistemology of authority and obedience. The global resurgence of religion is not, in fact, global, as the industrialised countries have experienced a marked shift towards secular-rational values; and the postindustrial phase of development is associated with self-expression values, which represent a challenge not merely to religious institutions (arguably an affirmation of 'spirituality') but to traditional elites and structures of all kinds. Finally, religion 'resurgent' is not an attractive model for health care, since many of its most obvious manifestations are incompatible with the ideology of health professionals. In the secular societies of Europe, if not North America, there should be no expectation that nurses provide spiritual care. It is a requirement of the great separation between civil order and religion that the health services, as a

The Hour of God? : People in Guatemala Confronting Political Evangelicalism and Counterinsurgency (1976-1990)

OpenAIRE

Melander, Veronica

1999-01-01

This dissertation is focused on one of many aspects of religion and politics in Guatemala in recent history (1976-1990). This period is characterized by unequal wealth distribution, ethnic divisions, civil war, and U.S. influence. It is a contemporary mission history examining missionary efforts directed from the United States, Guatemalan responses, and indigenous initiatives. The problem concerns a movement within Protestant evangelicalism, which in this study is called Political Evangelical...

A Political End to a Pioneering Career: Marianne Beth and the Psychology of Religion

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Jacob A. Belzen

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Although forgotten in both Religionswissenschaft (the Science of Religion and psychology, Marianne Beth (1880-1984, initially trained as a lawyer and already in 1928 called a “leading European woman”, must be considered as one of the female pioneers of these fields. She has been active especially in the psychology of religion, a field in which she, together with her husband Karl Beth, founded a research institute, an international organization and a journal. In 1932, the Beths organized in Vienna (where Karl was a professor the largest conference ever in the history of the psychology of religion. Because of her Jewish descent, Marianne Beth fled to the USA when Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938. This brought an abrupt end to her career as researcher and writer. The article reconstructs Marianne Beth’s path into psychology, analyzes some of her work and puts her achievements in an international perspective.

From the Axial Age to the New Age: Religion as a Dynamic of World History.

Science.gov (United States)

Tucker, Carlton H.

In order to broaden student understanding of past and contemporary situations, the world history survey course needs to consider religion as a vehicle through which history moves. The course proposal includes prehistory and paleolithic times to contemporary Islamic culture. The course is thematic and comparative in orientation, but moves through…

SOBERANIA E RELIGIÃO | SOVEREIGNTY AND RELIGION

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Mádson Ottoni de Almeida Rodrigues 

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This article highlights the mystical content that involves the exercise of political power. In analyzing the link between sovereignty and religion, religion’s strong influence reveals itself, particularly of Christianity, on the political and state functions, including the adjudicative function. The formation of the Christian conscience has strengthened the bond that unites sovereignty and divinity, and the modern state’s formation observed largely the Catholic Church’s structure. The problem that arises lies not in dogmatic religion discussion, but in the question of the religion’s morality, understood from the perspective of the behavior of people towards politics. The aim is to reflect on the real need to link politics and beliefs in certain pattern of religiosity, since the commitment to human values are not dependent of that belief. Furthermore, the objective is to demonstrate how religion influences the sacredness sense of justice, impregnating the judicial courts of a false aura of divinity.

Editorial: RADICALISM AND POLITICS OF RELIGION

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Editorial Al-Jami'ah: Journal of Islamic Studies

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Radical Islamism has become the “sexiest” issue in the international scholarship of religion since the September 11 tragedy in 2001. It has been associated with a number of terrorist attacks not only in the West but also in Muslim countries. Every single of radical Islamism has caught the interest of not only scholars and policy makers but also general public. Interestingly, the general assumption that religion is the source of peace has been seriously challenged, not by non-religious communities, but by the violent practices of particular religious groups, however small they are. Indeed, there are certain groups striving for Islam but by using acts which could give awful image on Islam itself and against humanity.

Evangelical Religion and Evangelical Democracy: Lincoln’s Legacy

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David Goldfield

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Evangelical religion and evangelical democracy reinforced each other in nineteenth-century America. The spread of evangelical Christianity and democracy across a continent justified the wars against Native Americans and Mexico, and provided the moral framework for the fight against slavery which many Americans came to see as incompatible with Protestant Christianity and democratic government. The problem with mixing religion and politics in this manner was that political issues became moral issues and, therefore, more difficult to deal with in the political process.

Fiction-based Religion : Conceptualising a New Category against History-based Religion and Fandom

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Davidsen, M.A.

2013-01-01

During the last decade, scholars of religion have researched Star Wars-based Jediism, the Tolkien-inspired Elven community, and other religious movements inspired by popular fiction. This article raises two related questions about this new kind of religion: what should we call it?, and what

The Early History of the European Conferences on Science and Religion and of ESSSAT

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Drees, W.B.

The early history of the European Conferences on Science and Religion and ESSSAT, the European Society for the Study of Science And Theology, is documented and discussed. In Europe, there were, and still are, genuine differences in attitude towards methodology, ideas about the reach of knowledge,

History from the ground up: bugs, political economy, and God in Kirby and Spence's Introduction to Entomology (1815-1856).

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Clark, J F M

2006-03-01

William Kirby and William Spence's Introduction to Entomology is generally recognized as one of the founding texts of entomological science in English. This essay examines the ideological allegiances of the coauthors of the Introduction. In particular, it analyzes the ideological implications of their divergent opinions on animal instinct. Different vocational pursuits shaped each man's natural history. Spence, a political economist, pursued fact-based science that was shorn of references to religion. Kirby, a Tory High Churchman, placed revelation at the very heart of his natural history. His strong commitment to partisan sectarianism cautions against reference to a homogeneous "natural theology" that was an agent of mediation. Fissures in the "common intellectual context" reached beyond the clash between natural theologians and radical anatomists to render the intellectual edifice of natural theology structurally less sound for the future.

Rethinking the Space for Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

What happens to people’s sense of belonging when globalization meets with proclaimed regional identities resting heavily on conceptions of religion and ethnicity? Who are the actors stressing cultural heritage and authenticity as tools for self-understanding? In Rethinking the Space for Religion...... as a political and cultural argument. The approach makes a nuanced and fresh survey for researchers and other initiated readers to engage in....

Politics, doctors, assisted reproductive technologies & religion: Transgenerational understandings and experiences of single motherhood in Spain.

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Bravo-Moreno, Ana

2017-10-01

The aim is to achieve a transgenerational view of single motherhood in Spain, to look at which contexts it arises in, how it changes with the introduction of assisted reproduction, and how the role of religion in Spanish society permeates medical practice and affects the lives of women patients. I examine single motherhood and investigate two interconnected themes: (a) being a mother and being mothered are both permeated with sociocultural, political, religious, economic and psychological significance; (b) Spain led Europe in multiple births due to assisted reproduction, thus ethical conflicts and patient rights are analyzed.

Teaching Religion, Teaching Truth: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. Religion, Education and Values. Volume 1

Science.gov (United States)

Astley, Jeff, Ed.; Francis, Leslie J., Ed.; Robbins, Mandy, Ed.; Selcuk, Mualla, Ed.

2012-01-01

Religious educators today are called upon to enable young people to develop as fully-rounded human beings in a multicultural and multi-faith world. It is no longer sufficient to teach about the history of religions: religion is not relegated to the past. It is no longer sufficient to teach about the observable outward phenomena of religions:…

European Religious Education and European Civil Religion

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Gearon, Liam

2012-01-01

This paper challenges a foundational conjecture of the Religion in Education Dialogue or Conflict (REDCo) project, that increased interest in religion in public and political life as manifested particularly in education is evidence of counter-secularisation. The paper argues that rather than representing counter-secularisation, such developments…

A History of Experiences and Thinking Men. The History of Political Thought according to Michael Oakeshott

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Spartaco Pupo

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Michael Oakeshott conceives the history of European political thought as a structuring of ideas and arguments of the practical experience aimed to understanding political expressions in vogue in the culture of a people. It is not a continuous and cumulative history of abstract and disembodied ideas, as it is wrongly conceived, but of some men who thought politics in a certain way on the basis of the language and of the set of actions, moral beliefs and contingencies of the people which they belong to. The article highlights the comparison between Oakeshott, Quentin Skinner and Gianfranco Miglio on the search for the most appropriate method to be applied in the study of the history of political thought.

Science and Religion in Liberal Democracy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jønch-Clausen, Karin

The dissertation explores the role of scientific rationality and religious reasoning in democratic law and policymaking. How does legitimate law and policymaking proceed in light of disagreements on science and religion? This question is addressed within the framework of public reason. Roughly pu...... concerning the role science and religion in political deliberation challenge the public reason framework as viable vehicle for pursuing democratic legitimacy? The dissertation discusses these and other questions related to the special role of science and religion in liberal democracy....

Religion, sex and politics: Scripting connections in Romans 1:18–32 and Wisdom 14:12–14

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Jeremy Punt

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Ancient people envisaged a strong link between what was deemed transgressive religious activities and objectionable sexual practices. Moreover, sexual behaviour considered aberrant was deemed to upset political boundaries which should protect civic and national stability, especially when this behaviour was suspected of effeminacy. Such thinking appears to inform both Romans 1:18–32 and Wisdom of Solomon 14:12–14. Focussing on two passages from these documents, the links between religion, sexual behaviour and politics in the context of the 1st-century Roman Empire are investigated, tracing underlying ideological intersections, connections and divergences.

Politics out of the History of Politics

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Diana Sartori

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Wendy Brown’s approach in Politics out of History is characterized by an attempt to analyze the presence of the past which can be read not only under the light of Nietzsche’s legacy, but also through a comparison with Hannah Arendt’s conception of the gap between the past and the future. Like Arendt, Brown aims to look at the present as the site of politics and freedom, even though the former conceives the break with tradition as the unavoidable starting point, while the latter assumes that that break is not fully accomplished because it was not recognized. Rather, it produces Wounded Attachments whose effect is that of limiting the possibility of left criticism. Moving from this parallel, Brown’s analysis is compared to the Italian philosophy of sexual difference, stressing their common interest in thinking freedom beyond a female identity built on a presumed common oppression.

Cinema as the Interdisciplinary Conjuncture of Political Thought and History

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S. M. Alavipoor

2015-02-01

Full Text Available From the dawn of its history, cinema has been considered as a phenomenon in which different thoughts, among them the political, could be addressed. Indeed, many film-makers have presented various aspects of political norms and the good order of society through movies. However, this combination of the idea and image has been addressed in different ways and among others, as seems, the historical narrative has the potentiality to convey critical and normal political ideas in cinema. Exploring different types of representing the political thought in cinematic historical narratives, the present study attempts to identify cinema’s interdisciplinary potential as a conjuncture for the disciplines of history and political thought.

Islam, religiosity, and immigrant political action in Western Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Just, Aida; Sandovici, Maria Elena; Listhaug, Ola

2014-01-01

The issues of migration and immigrant political integration in western democracies have become increasingly intertwined with debates on religion, particularly Islam. To date, however, we have surprisingly little systematic research on how religious beliefs are related to immigrants' political engagement. In this study, we argue that religion has a capacity to mobilize immigrants politically but the strength of this relationship depends on immigrant generation, religiosity, and the type of religion. Using survey data collected as part of the European Social Survey (ESS) 2002-2010 in 18 West European democracies, our analyses reveal that religion is indeed linked to political engagement of immigrants in a complex way: while belonging to a religion is generally associated with less political participation, exposure to religious institutions appears to have the opposite effect. Moreover, we find that, compared to foreign-born Muslims, second-generation Muslim immigrants are not only more religious and more politically dissatisfied with their host countries, but also that religiosity is more strongly linked to their political engagement. This relationship, however, is limited to uninstitutionalized political action. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Psyche, Nightmare and Religion: Precursors of Colonial Conquest in Ahmed Yerima’s Attahiru

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Taiwo A. Stanley Osanyemi

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This paper is premised on the connection between history and drama in order to profile the historical characters or heroes and explicate the socio-political predicament in their society. Existing studies on historical plays have focused on the celebration and chronicling of the heroic deeds of the historical characters, sometimes ignoring the artistic techniques the playwright employed. This study, therefore, examines psyche, nightmare and religion as the stylistic techniques for establishing the sources of disintegration in an imperial environment. This is with a view to investigating the link between the conflicts of the protagonist and the predicaments of his society. The study is based on psychoanalysis that allows for the investigation of characters’ unconscious motives and collective archetypes. The text, Attahiru is subjected to critical textual analysis in both content and form to analyse the paradigmatic use of history, dream and religion to account for the colonial conquest of an African society. Various patterns of unconscious archetypes such as psyche, nightmare, daydream and religion were discovered to serve as techniques of foreshadowing and flashback to the physical and psychological conflicts in the play. They serve as signifiers of the protagonist’s traumas. These unconscious archetypes, therefore, have become the catalysts for disintegration and veritable strategy in Ahmed Yerima’s account of imperial history.

29 CFR 34.4 - Specific discriminatory actions prohibited on the ground of race, color, religion, sex, national...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, political affiliation or belief, citizenship, or..., religion, sex, national origin, age, political affiliation or belief, citizenship, or participation in JTPA. (a) For the purposes of this section, prohibited ground means race, color, religion, sex, national...

The Treatment of the Monotheistic Religions in World History High School Textbooks: A Comparison of Sample Editions 2001-2007

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Jason Eugene

2009-01-01

This study examines the treatment of the three most practiced monotheistic religions, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, within the pages of High School World History Textbooks. The results find that within World History textbooks Christianity and Islam receive more coverage than Judaism in narrative content, word usage, illustrations, and…

Journal for the Study of Religion: Submissions

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Foucault, Michel 1977. Discipline and Punish. Trans. by A. Sheridan. New York: Pantheon. Chapter in an edited book. Smart, N. 1985. “The history of religions and its conversation partners.” In The History of Religions, Retrospect and Prospect, pp. 73-85. Edited by J. M. Kitagawa. New York: Macmillan. Encyclopaedia article

The origin and mission of material religion

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Meyer, B.; Morgan, D.; Paine, C.; Plate, S.B.

2010-01-01

Beginning its sixth year of publication, Material Religion is an interdisciplinary journal that seeks to gather the best work from around the world engaged in materializing the study of religions. The editors welcome original scholarship on any religion and from any period in human history that

Politics, religion and gender equality in contemporary Mexico: women's sexuality and reproductive rights in a contested secular state.

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Amuchástegui, Ana; Cruz, Guadalupe; Aldaz, Evelyn; Mejía, María Consuelo

2010-01-01

This article explores the complexities of the interaction between politics, religion and gender equality in contemporary Mexico, by analysing recent developments in public debate, legal changes and implementation of government policies in two areas: 1) the inclusion of emergency contraception in public health services in 2004; and 2) the decriminalisation of abortion in Mexico City in 2008, which was followed by a massive campaign to re-criminalise abortion in the federal states. Three main findings emerge from our analysis: first, that women's sexual and reproductive autonomy has become an issue of intense public debate that is being addressed by both state-public policy and society; second, that the gradual democratisation of the Mexican political system and society is forcing the Catholic Church to play by the rules of democracy; and third, that the character and nature of the Mexican (secular) state has become an arena of intense struggle within which traditional political boundaries and ideologies are being reconfigured.

Moral politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rapp, Carolin; Traunmüller, Richard; Freitag, Markus

2014-01-01

This article combines the research strands of moral politics and political behavior by focusing on the effect of individual and contextual religiosity on individual vote decisions in popular initiatives and public referenda concerning morally charged issues. We rely on a total of 13 surveys with 1...... American research on moral politics, direct democracies, and the public role of religion....

Religion in Public Spaces in Contemporary Southeast Asia

OpenAIRE

Afrianty, Dina

2012-01-01

Religion is among the most overlooked factors in the development of nation-states in Southeast Asia. Some reasons for this include a bias emphasizing religious ideology in the study of anti-colonial organizations that dates to the origins of the politics of state formation; the influence of many ideas on the patterns of modern elite formations that stress the need for religion to shape national constitutions, and the fact that religion is difficult to neglect in shaping the behavior of...

[Euthanasia through history and religion].

Science.gov (United States)

Gajić, Vladimir

2012-01-01

INTRODUCTION Euthanasia represents an ethical, social, legal and medical issue, which is being disputed more and more frequently worldwide. In Serbia, it is illegal and punishable by law and subject to a prison sentence. Euthanasia verbatim, meaning "good death", refers to the practice of ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering. It can be voluntary, when a person knowingly declares the wish to end life, and involuntary, when relatives and family make decisions on behalf of patients in coma. It can be active, when a person applies a medical procedure to end life and passive, when medical procedures which can extend a patient's life are not applied. EUTHANASIA THROUGH HISTORY: The term was known in old Greece, and Hippocrates mentioned it in his oath, which is now taken by all doctors in the world, by which they pledge not to apply a medicine which can lead to death of the patients, nor to give such counsel. Euthanasia had its most vigorous impetus in the mid-20th century when it was being carried out deliberately in Nazi Germany. All leading religions from Christianity, over Buddhism, to Islam, are directly or indirectly against any kind of euthanasia. EUTHANASIA TODAY: At the beginning of the 21st century, euthanasia was legalized in several most developed countries in the world, among them the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, India and some American and Mexican federal states. The World Medical Association from 82 countries has condemned euthanasia, and called all medical workers who practice euthanasia to reconsider their attitudes and to stop this practice.

Whose History and Who Is Denied? Politics and the History Curriculum in Lebanon and Australia

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Maadad, Nina; Rodwell, Grant

2016-01-01

This paper seeks to explain and develop a better understanding of the relationship between the History curriculum and the consequences of political motive. It compares the History curricula of Australia and Lebanon, and is relevant to understanding the purpose of the History curricula in the two countries as well as, more generally, other…

Debating Modernity as Secular Religion: Hans Kelsen’s futile exchange with Eric Voegelin

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomassen, Bjørn

2014-01-01

This article reviews the mysterious and recently published last book by Hans Kelsen, “Secular Religion. A Polemic Against the Misinterpretation of Modern Social Philosophy, Science and Politics as ‘New Religions’”, contextualizing it with reference to the little known dialogue between Hans Kelsen...... and Eric Voegelin. The confrontation between Kelsen and Voegelin, two of the most illustrious émigré scholars who found in America their new home, is important to revisit because it touches upon several axes of debate of crucial importance to postwar intellectual history: the religion/secularity debate......, the positivist/anti-positivist debates, and the controversy that also led to the famous Voegelin/Arendt debate: how to read the horrors of totalitarianism into a historical trajectory of modernity. Although the Kelsen/Voegelin exchange ended in failure and bitterness its substance matter goes to the heart...

Exploring similarities between the German and the Dutch ‘ethical’ traditions: Possibilities of the history of religion for a theological approach to Old Testament studies in South Africa

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Jan H. Vorster

2010-10-01

Full Text Available This article shows how dialectic theology caused a loss of interest in the history of religion, which was seen as out of touch with the current world. The distinction between theology and the history of religion became increasingly vague. The article focuses on the contribution of Rainier Albertz in his two-volume Religionsgeschichte Israels in alttestamentlicher Zeit (History of Israelite religion in the Old Testament period, 1992. Albertz proposed that the history of religion should be restored to serve as the ‘more sensible discipline for abridging the Old Testament’. This article points out several advantages to this approach, namely a different kind of Old Testament theology, starting from current theological problems and searching through the thematic segments of Israel’s religious history and that of early Christianity for analogous insights relevant to the problems in question. This article develops the argument that Albertz’s suggestions open up possibilities for establishing a vibrant theological environment in South Africa, where theologians from a diverse society can start from different perspectives on current problems, consider the Bible as part of a uniquely defined set of relevant factors and present a kaleidoscope of cross-balancing ‘African’ theological perspectives. The aim of this approach is to enhance the possibilities of Albertz’s suggestions by relating them, in context, to insights from ethical theology in the hope of reviving the debate regarding repositioning the history of religion in a different kind of theological approach. This debate is long in coming: it may already have lost close to 20 years in deserved attention.

Intersections of Spirituality, Religion and Gender in Children's Literature

Science.gov (United States)

Trousdale, Ann M.

2005-01-01

This paper explores the intersections of spirituality, religion and gender in contemporary children's books published in the United States. Background for the discussion includes a history of religion in children's literature and the history of women's roles in the Christian tradition. Representative works of realistic fiction--historical and…

Interdisciplinary Education and Critical Thinking in Religion and History: The Delivery of Two "Content-Based" Linked Courses

Science.gov (United States)

McDougall, Roseanne; LaMonica, Jeffrey

2007-01-01

Primary sources in religion and history enable first year university students to connect "content-based" linked courses in the core curriculum. Fifty-four first year university students in three separate pairs of courses worked in teams to present oral critical reports on texts related to the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the…

Godsdiens het die politiek nodig en die politiek is weerloos daarsonder

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J.H. le Roux

1998-08-01

Full Text Available Religion needs politics and politics is powerless without it In 1996 Karel van der Toom published a very important book on family religion in Babylonia, Syria and Israel. He introduced us to the very exciting world of ancient man and his religion. This article stresses the importance of a history of religions approach. It furthermore focusses on the close link between religion and politics. Israel's religion was moulded and shaped by socio-economic powers; it was used by statesmen to support their political endeavours. Yahweh religion is thus the result of specific social powers which formed it in a specific era in Israel's history.

Religion, Education and the Politics of Recognition: A Critique and a Counter-Proposal

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Kamat, Sangeeta; Mathew, Biju

2010-01-01

How should religion be integrated into school curriculum? The authors compare two recent controversies about religion in school curriculum to provide an overarching perspective that can guide educators in their efforts to use religion for pedagogical purposes. The first controversy concerns curriculum approved by the California State Board of…

Review: Mohamed Saliou Camara, Political History of Guinea since World War Two (2014)

OpenAIRE

Carole Ammann; University of Basel

2015-01-01

Review of the monograph:Mohamed Saliou Camara, Political History of Guinea since World War Two, New York: Peter Lang, 2014, ISBN 9781433122439, 531 pp. Besprechung der Monographie:Mohamed Saliou Camara, Political History of Guinea since World War Two, New York: Peter Lang, 2014, ISBN 9781433122439, 531 Seiten

State, religion and toleration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Huggler, Jørgen

2009-01-01

Contribution to Religion and State - From separation to cooperation? Legal-philosophical reflections for a de-secularized world. (IVR Cracow Special Workshop). Eds. Bart. C. Labuschagne & Ari M. Solon. Abstract: Toleration is indeed a complex phenomenon. A discussion of the concept will have...... to underline not only the broadmindedness and liberty of individuals or of groups, but also the relevant distinctions and arguments in political philosophy, epistemology, philosophy of religion and philosophical anthropology and their connection with educational issues. Through a discussion of these relations......, the essay argues three theses: (1) Toleration is not reducible to an ethics of spiritual freedom. (2) Toleration is not neutral to fanatism. (3) Toleration involves esteem for the person....

Robert Bellah, religion og menneskelig evolution

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Hans Jørgen Lundager

2013-01-01

in the middle of 1st mill. BC, where new radical and intellectual ideas and practices, sceptial or world renouncing, appeared in China, India and Greece. Hopefully, Bellah's book will be a standard reference work in the academic study of religion and an inspiration for the history of religion in the future...

FREEDOM OF RELIGION IN THE PRINCIPLES OF THE ISLAMIC NOMOKRASI

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Putra Astomo

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Human thought about the country laws developed in various situations the history of human civilization. Although the concept of State law is regarded as a universal concept and are recognized by civilized nations, but at the level of implementation turns out to have a diverse character and traits. This happens because the influence of the historical situation in addition to the influence of the philosophy of the nation, schools of philosophy and the political ideology of a country. One of the substance of the State of law is the guarantee of the protection of human rights (human rights. Therefore, the context of the freedom of religion cannot be separated from the HAM as it is a human right that belongs to every citizen to embrace a religion according their respective beliefs. By understanding the existence of Nomokrasi Islam as the country's law that put the norms of Islamic law (Sharia in the Organization of the Government of a country, then the right of religious freedom also need to be protected

Studying Religion and Language Teaching and Learning: Building a Subfield

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Huamei

2018-01-01

The historical reversal over the course of several centuries in the West is striking: while language has become much "more" central to public life and "more" politically contentious, religion has become "less" central to public life and "less" politically contentious, notwithstanding the resurgence of public…

Global Halal: Meat, Money, and Religion

OpenAIRE

Mukherjee, S.

2014-01-01

The following article deconstructs (and demystifies) Halal with a view to unraveling how the religious, racial, economic, and ethico-political are articulated in and around material technologies of meat production and bodily techniques of religious consumption/the consumption of religion. It, thus, attempts to rethink the nexus of food, politics, and contesting visions of the sacred and the profane, from within the folds of the global and global Islam. Halal emerges as a terrain replete with ...

Rethinking Religion in Music Education

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffman, Adria R.

2011-01-01

A great deal of discussion of religious music in schools has been generated in our field. As we become increasingly sensitive to the diverse interests of the multiple stakeholders in public schools, issues of political correctness and pedagogical goals are raised. The author poses questions about religion and music education. To generate a…

The history of happiness.

Science.gov (United States)

Stearns, Peter N

2012-01-01

In the 18th century, the Enlightenment ushered in the notion that happiness was the attainment of a worthy life. Since then the pursuit of happiness has spread to every aspect of behavior, from religion and politics to work and parenting. Today the happiness imperative creates pressures that, paradoxically, can make us miserable. Sadness is often mistaken for a pathology. Understanding the cultural commitment to good cheer as an artifact of modern history, not as an inherent feature of the human condition, opens new opportunities for understanding key facets of our social and personal experience.

Reign and Religion in Palestine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lykke, Anne

and the political messages they wished to communicate. As religion was a highly complex aspect of the Jewish interrelations with other cultures, the utilization of sacred iconography is not only a precise indicator of cultural-religious affiliation, but also of cultural-religious changes occurring in the Jewish...... political messages. Accordingly, the visual appearance of the coinage was subject to continuous alterations. In this book, the iconography of the Jewish coinage as a whole and especially its sacred content is examined in order to shed light on the identities of the issuing authorities, their motivation...

Religion and bioethics: toward an expanded understanding.

Science.gov (United States)

Brody, Howard; Macdonald, Arlene

2013-04-01

Before asking what U.S. bioethics might learn from a more comprehensive and more nuanced understanding of Islamic religion, history, and culture, a prior question is, how should bioethics think about religion? Two sets of commonly held assumptions impede further progress and insight. The first involves what "religion" means and how one should study it. The second is a prominent philosophical view of the role of religion in a diverse, democratic society. To move beyond these assumptions, it helps to view religion as lived experience as well as a body of doctrine and to see that religious differences and controversies should be welcomed in the public square of a diverse democratic society rather than merely tolerated.

Religion and politics in conflict: Paul Stuart Wright and the 1964 coup

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Márcio Ananias Ferreira Vilela

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In this article, we seek to understand the implications of Paulo Stuart Wright´s political and religious action. Beginning with the civil and military coup of 1964, it suffered a strong reaction from majority sectors in the Presbyterian Church of Brazil that started to perceive him as a threat to the religious community and to society itself. The following period was marked by an intense political conflict in Brazil. This contributed for the person in question to be expelled from the Church, have his mandate as a state representative for Santa Catarina impeached, be exiled, live in clandestinity and, later on in the 1970s, be murdered by the organs of repression. Thus, his trajectory bears many similarities to those of others who marked the recent history of Brazil.

Politics, religion and space. About places of mediation and sacred space among the Gurage of Ethiopia

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PALMISANO, Antonio Luigi

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The main faiths among the Gurage of Ethiopia – Orthodox Christianity, Islam and autochthonous polytheism – provide a constellation of integrative principles for territorial and descent segmentation. Religious leaders and ritual specialists of the three confessions have always represented the unity of Gurage tribes facing the outside world and still receive tributes of cattle, sheep, goats, honey, ensete, money etc. The ethnic court of justice of the Gurage, the yejoka, has re-dimensioned its office, in order to prevent the rise of central instances within the process of political mediation between juxtaposed lineages and territorial segments. The article focuses on the identification and institutionalisation of sacred places among these tribes, the places where the personae, the lineages and residential groups interact within the self-representation processes of Gurage society. The theological and liturgical pluralism, practised by the three faiths, confirms the Gurage’s capacity to answer to the many and contradictory stimuli of modern society, of market economy, of political, administrative and territorial transformation which takes place in the world. This religious plurality in a single family, in a single person, unveils religion as an answer, or rather as a structure of satisfactory answers.

Material security, life history, and moralistic religions: A cross-cultural examination

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Cody T.; Apicella, Coren; Atkinson, Quentin D.; Cohen, Emma; McNamara, Rita Anne; Willard, Aiyana K.; Xygalatas, Dimitris; Norenzayan, Ara; Henrich, Joseph

2018-01-01

Researchers have recently proposed that “moralistic” religions—those with moral doctrines, moralistic supernatural punishment, and lower emphasis on ritual—emerged as an effect of greater wealth and material security. One interpretation appeals to life history theory, predicting that individuals with “slow life history” strategies will be more attracted to moralistic traditions as a means to judge those with “fast life history” strategies. As we had reservations about the validity of this application of life history theory, we tested these predictions with a data set consisting of 592 individuals from eight diverse societies. Our sample includes individuals from a wide range of traditions, including world religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity, but also local traditions rooted in beliefs in animism, ancestor worship, and worship of spirits associated with nature. We first test for the presence of associations between material security, years of formal education, and reproductive success. Consistent with popular life history predictions, we find evidence that material security and education are associated with reduced reproduction. Building on this, we then test whether or not these demographic factors predict the moral concern, punitiveness, attributed knowledge-breadth, and frequency of ritual devotions towards two deities in each society. Here, we find no reliable evidence of a relationship between number of children, material security, or formal education and the individual-level religious beliefs and behaviors. We conclude with a discussion of why life-history theory is an inadequate interpretation for the emergence of factors typifying the moralistic traditions. PMID:29513766

NVMEN, the Academic Study of Religion, and the IAHR

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Tim; Geertz, Armin W.

2015-01-01

This special volume of articles is compiled to celebrate the occasion of the 60th anniversary of NVMEN: International Review for the History of Religions in 2014. The articles in this volume have been selected under the auspices of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR)...

Methodological remarks on studying prehistoric Greek religion

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Petra Pakkanen

1999-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a methodological approach to the study of Greek religion of the period which lacks written documents, i.e. prehistory. The assumptions and interpretations of religion of that time have to be based on archaeological material. How do we define religion and cultic activity on the basis of primary archaeological material from this period, and which are the methodological tools for this difficult task? By asking questions on the nature and definition of religion and culture scholars of religion have provided us with some methodological apparatus to approach religion of the past in general, but there are models developed by archaeologists as well. Critical combination of these methodological tools leads to the best possible result. Archaeology studies the material culture of the past. History of religion studies the spiritual culture of the past. In the background the two have important theoretical and even philosophical speculations since they both deal with meanings (of things or practices and with interpretation.

The Politics and Anti-Politics of Social Movements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

This book explores the nature, significance and consequences of the religious activism surrounding AIDS in Africa. While African religion was relatively marginal in inspiring or contributing to AIDS activism during the early days of the epidemic, this situation has changed dramatically. In order...... to account for these changes, contributors provide answers to pressing questions. How does the entrance of religion into public debates about AIDS affect policymaking and implementation, church-state relations, and religion itself? How do religious actors draw on and reconfigure forms of transnational...... connectivity? How do resource flows from development and humanitarian aid that religious actors may access then affect relationships of power and authority in African societies? How does religious mobilization on AIDS reflect contestation over identity, cultural membership, theology, political participation...

Stealing land in the name of religion: A Rastafari religio-political critique of land theft by global imperial forces

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Roderick Hewitt

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The issue of land has been central to Rastafari origins and ideological construct. Ethiopia, Africa, Babylon, Zion and Jamaica are symbols that point not only to physical location but also their ideological and psychological identity formation. This article uses Rastafari hermeneutics to critique the phenomenon of African Jamaican uprooting and dispossession of and from their land by powerful and global conglomerate forces that use the instrument of politics, economic and religion to accomplish their agenda. This article uses the Rastafari theological reflections, a theoretical framework that employs the phenomenon of faith, tradition and experience to interrogate the phenomenon of displacement of people through land theft. The religio-political narrative of Jamar Rolando McNaughton Jr, a young Jamaican reggae artist popularly known by his stage name Chronixx, will serve as the principal lens through which to interrogate the phenomenon of landlessness among the poor, primarily within the Jamaican context.

An ethic for a politic of history in a democratic setting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Warring, Anette Elisabeth

2013-01-01

The article argues that the point of departure for the societal role of historians and of the science of history should be an ethic for a politic of history in a democratic setting designed to increase the individual's autonomous power to take action. The article discusses what this implies...

Ideologies of Religion and Diversity in Australian Public Schools

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Byrne, Catherine

2012-01-01

In many multicultural democracies, education has a Christian history. However, teaching religion has ideological variation. Progressives teach about many religions, while conservatives favor (often exclusive) instruction into one tradition. Australian secular education controversially prioritizes faith-forming instruction (mostly Christian). In…

Law, religion and the covenanted community: the impact of the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Zurich Reformation was actively supported by the Dutch East India Company in its care for the religious, political and legal needs of the early Cape settlement. Not only the promotion of the Reformed religion by the Classis of Amsterdam but also the political and legal interests of the settlement were advanced on the ...

Eski Mezopotamya’da Siyasi Örgütlenmede Din Olgusu Religion In The Political Structure Of Ancient Mesopotamia

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Yusuf KILIÇ

2013-07-01

Full Text Available As we know there are various ideas about how the firts statesestbalished and its parametres but we should consider that there is anintegrity of an organization on the basis of its concept. Historicalperiods begins at the same time in Mesopotamia and Egypt and the firstpolitical organizations appears in these lands too. In Mesopotamia, thetemples, called “Ziggurat”, was the center of the city-states inChalcolithic and Early Bronze age. The temple was not only the centerof religion also the center of economy. This multi-function of the temple,political and administrative mechanism was naturally affected by thereligion, a more accurate expression state mechansim expresses religionas a source. The main duty of the king, called EN, was to manage thetemple and the economy in the name of God. The most importance ofthe temple economy was to keep the control of the labor force. On theother hand, to continue the social and political life in an orderlymanner, to ensure the unity and the order in society, there neededsome rules. Religion, in terms of its results, had undertaken this socialtask. When we consider this situation in the concept of ancient history,we may have two different results. According to this, behind thequalification of “thousand of gods land”, Hittites used the religioustolerance in order to avoid a political threat against it self by the variouspeople which it reigned, and on the other hand, rather than thereligious toleration, there appeared gradually decreasing number ofgods and using the religion to centralize the function of establishing thestates of Semitic tribes like Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian States.In this study we will try to discuss the case of religion in the politicalorganizations of Ancient Near East. Devlet’in nasıl oluştuğu, parametrelerinin ne olduğu konusunda çeşitli görüşler bulunmakla beraber, hemen hemen hepsinin temelinde bir organizasyon bütünlüğü yatmaktadır. Bilindiği �

"Convivencia," Abrahamic Religions and Study Abroad in Spain

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McCoy, Mitchell A.; Holt, Sally

2018-01-01

As a point of departure for understanding the complexities of Spanish national and individual identities, it is incumbent that a student begin by investigating Spanish iterations of the three Abrahamic religions. This presupposition of religion's centrality in the pursuit of better informed understandings of the Spanish nation, people, history and…

Creativity, Religiosity, and Political Attitudes

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Zysberg, Leehu; Schenk, Tal

2013-01-01

Although theoretically proposed in the literature, the direct associations between political attitudes, religion, and creativity have been scarcely explored. A convenience sample of 123 adults working in Israel filled out questionnaires assessing political-social attitudes, religiosity, and background factors (e.g., age, gender, education, and…

Diffused Religion and Prayer

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Roberto Cipriani

2011-06-01

Full Text Available It is quite likely that the origins of prayer are to be found in ancient mourning and bereavement rites. Primeval ritual prayer was codified and handed down socially to become a deep-rooted feature of people’s cultural behavior, so much so, that it may surface again several years later, in the face of death, danger, need, even in the case of relapse from faith and religious practice. Modes of prayer depend on religious experience, on relations between personal prayer and political action, between prayer and forgiveness, and between prayer and approaches to religions. Various forms of prayer exist, from the covert-hidden to the overt-manifest kind. How can they be investigated? How can one, for instance, explore mental prayer? These issues regard the canon of diffused religion and, therefore, of diffused prayer.

Religion and Political Violence in Apartheid South Africa | Matheba ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In analyzing religion and violence in apartheid South Africa, the article expresses the hope that churches and other civil society organs will reclaim their watchdog role in entrenching democracy even more deeply in a post-apartheid South African society. (The Journal of Cultural Studies: 2001 3(1): 108-123) ...

Ideology, politics, and personality: shaping forces in Dutch psychology of religion, 1907-1957.

Science.gov (United States)

Belzen, Jacob A

2009-08-01

Although the academic establishment of the psychology of religion in the Netherlands has been stronger than in any other Western country, the start of these developments has been remarkably late (in 1957), especially when taking into account that Dutch academic life: (1) before World War II modeled itself after Germany (where psychology of religion flourished); and (2) was to a considerable extent included in the system of pillarization, which characterized Dutch society at large. The general factors that can be distinguished as having played an important role in the shaping of the situation for psychology of religion in the Netherlands had different impacts in the several universities under consideration.

The Politics of "P" and "F": A Linguistic History of Nation-Building in the Philippines

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Tupas, Ruanni

2015-01-01

This paper maps out the linguistic history of nation-building in the Philippines through the politics of "p" and "f" in the country. This politics concerns the various strategic acts of naming the national language at different periods of the country's history that have shaped its fate as the most hegemonic indigenous…

FAITH, INTOLERANCE, VIOLENCE AND BIGOTRY: Legal and Constitutional Issues of Freedom of Religion in Indonesia

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Adam J. Fenton

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Religious intolerance and bigotry indeed is a contri­buting factor in social and political conflict including manifestations of terrorist violence. While freedom of religion is enshrined in Indonesia’s Constitution, social practices and governmental regulations fall short of constitutional and international law guarantees, allowing institutionalised bias in the treatment of religious minorities. Such bias inhibits Indonesia’s transition to a fully-functioning pluralistic democracy and sacrifices democratic ideals of personal liberty and freedom of expression for the stated goals of religious and social harmony. The Ahok case precisely confirms that. The paper examines the constitutional bases of freedom of religion, Indonesia’s Blasphemy Law and takes account of the history and tenets of Pancasila which dictate a belief in God as the first principle of state ideology. The paper argues that the Indonesian state’s failure to recognise the legitimacy of alternate theological positions is a major obstacle to Indonesia recognising the ultimate ideal, enshrined in the national motto, of unity in diversity.

Religions without God? Hans Kelsen, Anthropologist of Modernity

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Paolo Di Lucia

2015-11-01

Full Text Available In 2012 an unpublished book by the Austrian legal philosopher Hans Kelsen, Secular Religion, has been posthumously published. This book, written by Kelsen between 1952 and 1964 in the United States, severely criticizes those theories of politics and culture that misinterpret modern social philosophy, science and politics as new religions, mainly adopting the controversial concept of “secular religión.” In the first part of the paper, we reconstruct the genesis of the book and the complex events that led to its final version, and we underline the motives that led Kelsen to write this vehement polemic in defense of the spirit of modernity, and eventually to withdraw it. In the second part of the paper, we investigate some of the main methodological and theoretical contributions that this work, albeit its critical tenor, is able to give to an anthropology of modernity.

[Civic religion, civil religion, secular religion. a historiographical investigation].

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Boucheron, Patrick

2013-01-01

Because of its conceptual plasiticity, the term civic religion is now widely used by historians, particularly historians of the Middle Ages. Yet, as this article suggests, historians would do well to interrogate the relationships (which can be hidden) that this term bears to similar concepts such as Greek Roman civic religion, Enlightenment civil religion or even the secular religion that emerged in the work of 20(th) century thinkers.

State formation, religion, and land tenure in Cameroon

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schilder, K.; African Studies Centre, Leiden

1988-01-01

The purpose of this analytical bibliography is to provide an overview of the recently published social science literature on State formation, religion, and land tenure in Cameroon. The 800 entries have been arranged under the following subject headings: The Cameroon State (nation building, political

389 The Role of Religion in Human Development Uchenna M ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Europe, Arab and numerous countries of the world. It also contributed to ... Religion laid the foundation for the sanctity of human life, ... favourable attitude to work. .... no other, this is because organized religion, on the balance sheet of history ...

Rȇver au temps des guerres de Religion (Dreaming in the Times of Wars of Religion

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David El Kenz

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The dream is a delicate subject of history. Between the pitfall of rhetorical pattern or, conversely, the psychological over-interpretation, this study aims at examining a few dreams as related by both captains during the Wars of Religion, in the late sixteenth century. Blaise de Montluc, lieutenant general in Guyenne, recounts the nightmares about the king’s death. This terror reflects the fragility of his political situation. The Protestant propaganda exploits this prophetic dream to denounce the iniquity of Valois. Agrippa d’Aubigné shows, meanwhile, the ambiguity of a humanist facing the dream. On the one hand, he makes fun of the credulity of those who see omens, on the other, he draws inspiration from it to write about the biblical prophets. The dream thus reflects the religious turmoils in the inner selves and in the partisan fight. The vision which Ravaillac, the regicide had about a bloody religious wafer refers to dangerous imagination. A negative view of what shall be called dream emerges.

Y. Laberge on Raphael-Hernadez and Steen’s AfroAsian encounters: Culture, History, Politics.

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2008-12-01

Full Text Available Heike Raphael-Hernadez and Shannon Steen,  Eds. AfroAsian encounters: Culture, History, Politics. New York: New York University Press, 2006.  xxiii + 342 p. An overlooked, interdisciplinary, often innovative book, Afroasian encounters: Culture, History, Politics offers a collection of seventeen new essays related to the African-Asian intersections, cosmopolitanism and cross-cultural theories. In terms of emerging disciplines, we already had Atlantic studies (or "Trans-Atlantic studies", an i...

Geology and religion in Portugal

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Carneiro, Ana; Simoes, Ana; Diogo, Maria Paula; Mota, Teresa Salomé

2013-01-01

This paper addresses the relationship between geology and religion in Portugal by focusing on three case studies of naturalists who produced original research and lived in different historical periods, from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Whereas in non-peripheral European countries religious themes and even controversies between science and religion were dealt with by scientists and discussed in scientific communities, in Portugal the absence of a debate between science and religion within scientific and intellectual circles is particularly striking. From the historiographic point of view, in a country such as Portugal, where Roman Catholicism is part of the religious and cultural tradition, the influence of religion in all aspects of life has been either taken for granted by those less familiar with the national context or dismissed by local intellectuals, who do not see it as relevant to science. The situation is more complex than these dichotomies, rendering the study of this question particularly appealing from the historiographic point of view, geology being by its very nature a well-suited point from which to approach the theme. We argue that there is a long tradition of independence between science and religion, agnosticism and even atheism among local elites. Especially from the eighteenth century onwards, they are usually portrayed as enlightened minds who struggled against religious and political obscurantism. Religion—or, to be more precise, the Roman Catholic Church and its institutions—was usually identified with backwardness, whereas science was seen as the path to progress; consequently men of science usually dissociated their scientific production from religious belief.

jo adetolu-ft 3 2 2014-religion postmodernism and postmodern

African Journals Online (AJOL)

JONATHAN

Filosofia Theoretica: Journal of African Philosophy, Culture and Religions ..... on the side of African political leaders and elites that globalization is “in essence ... religious worldview and the lived experiences of the Africans (NKWOKA 2007,.

School History as a Method of Formation of Political Consciousness in Contemporary France

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Nikolay V. Litvak

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the attitude of the ruling elite in modern France to the school teaching of history, as the primary method of formation of political consciousness and outlook of the new generations. To achieve these purposes the complex of scientific and political methods is created. The programs are constantly changing, reflecting the general political struggle in French society, whose protagonists seek the arguments in support of their positions in history. In this context, the school programs are periodically in focus of urgent debates, and each their change is a compromise. The political approach is to form a state point of view of history, recorded in the programs required to study in schools. Those programs include a carefully selected set of topics, facts and personalities to be studied. In addition, the internal political struggle is coming not just about the form but the content too. In particular, for a number of years in the program a separate theme "Islam"is included, but not, for example, the theme "Christianity." However, supporters of the preservation of study of the Christian contribution to the history and the culture of France retain extensive relevant material included in a number of various subjects not directly devoted to Christianity. Informational approach to education is that the resources of the psyche and student's instructional time are very limited. The freedom of school teachers to refer to historical sources and even to interpret them within the broad framework is formally proclaimed. However, a program and a limited time to study it in conjunction with the responsibility of teachers for the results of their work, checked in exams, in fact does not leave them enough time to study an other point of view that goes beyond the official program.

Enhancing Teachers' Awareness About Relations Between Science and Religion. The Debate Between Steady State and Big Bang Theories

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Bagdonas, Alexandre; Silva, Cibelle Celestino

2015-11-01

Educators advocate that science education can help the development of more responsible worldviews when students learn not only scientific concepts, but also about science, or "nature of science". Cosmology can help the formation of worldviews because this topic is embedded in socio-cultural and religious issues. Indeed, during the Cold War period, the cosmological controversy between Big Bang and Steady State theory was tied up with political and religious arguments. The present paper discusses a didactic sequence developed for and applied in a pre-service science teacher-training course on history of science. After studying the historical case, pre-service science teachers discussed how to deal with possible conflicts between scientific views and students' personal worldviews related to religion. The course focused on the study of primary and secondary sources about cosmology and religion written by cosmologists such as Georges Lemaître, Fred Hoyle and the Pope Pius XII. We used didactic strategies such as short seminars given by groups of pre-service teachers, videos, computer simulations, role-play, debates and preparation of written essays. Along the course, most pre-service teachers emphasized differences between science and religion and pointed out that they do not feel prepared to conduct classroom discussions about this topic. Discussing the relations between science and religion using the history of cosmology turned into an effective way to teach not only science concepts but also to stimulate reflections about nature of science. This topic may contribute to increasing students' critical stance on controversial issues, without the need to explicitly defend certain positions, or disapprove students' cultural traditions. Moreover, pre-service teachers practiced didactic strategies to deal with this kind of unusual content.

Biographical Metamorphoses in the History of Religion - Moshe Idel and Three Aspects of Mircea Eliade

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Eduard Iricinschi

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This paper includes an extended review of Moshe Idel’s Mircea Eliade: From Magic to Myth (New York: Peter Lang, 2014 through a triple analysis of Eliade’s early literary, epistolary, and academic texts. The paper examines Idel’s analysis of some important themes in Eliade’s research, such as his shift from understanding religion as magic to its interpretation as myth; the conception of the camouflage of sacred; the notions of androgyny and restoration; and also young Eliade’s theories of death. The paper also discusses Idel’s evaluation of Eliade’s programatic misunderstanding of Judaism and Kabbalah, and also of Eliade’s moral and professional abdication regarding the political and religious aspect of the Iron Guard, a Romanian nationalist extremist and anti-Semitic group he was affiliated with in 1930s.

Reclaiming Religion: New Historiographic Challenges in the Relationship of Religion and American Higher Education.

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Eisenmann, Linda

1999-01-01

Extends F. Michael Perko's literature review "Religious Higher Education in America: An Historiographic Survey" by discussing recent developments in the history of religion and U.S. higher education. Explores issues in secularization, the influence of Richard Hofstadter, the work of Julie Reuben, Douglas Sloan, George Marsden, and…

Ein Ende, das zum Anfang wurde: die Zeitschrift für Religionspsychologie, 1907-1913: zur (Vor)Geschichte der IAPR (1/4) - The end that turned into a new beginning: the journal for the psychology of religion, 1907-1913: on the (pre)history of the International Association for the Psychology of Religion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Belzen, J.A.

2013-01-01

In 2014, the International Association for the Psychology of Religion (IAPR) will have its centennial, and so will its scientific journal, the present Archive for the Psychology of Religion [Archiv für Religionspsychologie, ARp]. This first article on IAPR’s (pre)history analyses the fate of the

On the history of political diversity in social psychology.

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Binning, Kevin R; Sears, David O

2015-01-01

We argue that the history of political diversity in social psychology may be better characterized by stability than by a large shift toward liberalism. The branch of social psychology that focuses on political issues has defined social problems from a liberal perspective since at least the 1930s. Although a lack of ideological diversity within the discipline can pose many of the problems noted by Duarte et al., we suggest that these problems (a) are less apparent when the insights of social psychology are pitted against the insights from other social science disciplines, and (b) are less pressing than the need for other types of diversity in the field, especially ethnic and racial diversity.

Future Legacy of the Russian Revolution. Participatory Political Economies

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hrubec, Marek

2017-01-01

Roč. 7, č. 4 (2017), s. 565-580 ISSN 2159-8282 Institutional support: RVO:67985955 Keywords : revolution * participation * political economy * Russian revolution Subject RIV: AA - Philosophy ; Religion OBOR OECD: Political science

Mediality and Materiality in the History of Religions. A Medieval Case Study about Religion and Gender in In-Between Spaces

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Bärbel Beinhauer-Köhler

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The article discusses possible terminologies for labelling historical materials. Drawing on the history of the city of Cairo around the 12th century – to the Fatimid era and to later Ayyubid times – it looks at the documents of three religions on religious infrastructure donated by women. This reveals women’s ability to shape the public sphere. At least to a certain extent, the segregation of the sexes and the concept of the harem are questionable. This topic requires the reconstruction and re-reading of fragmental materials. Methodological reflections are helpful for dealing with different sources, mostly combinations of texts and archaeology, embedded in the current debate about material culture and media as well as materialization and mediation. It might seem anachronistic, but to specify these categories it is useful to compare this example with a contemporary study by Mia Lövheim on female Internet bloggers. In both cases we find women as self-confident agents in public spaces.

Michele Renee Salzman, Marvina A. Sweeney & William Adler (eds., The Cambridge History of Religions in the Ancient World (2 vols. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013

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Giorgio Baruchello

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Review of: Michele Renee Salzman, Marvina A. Sweeney & William Adler (eds., The Cambridge History of Religions in the Ancient World (2 vols. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013

Embodiment, Meaning and the Anthropology of Religion | Pillay ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2001-09-11

Since the events of September 11, 2001, the role of religion in modern political life, and its implication with “terrorism”, has come under scrutiny. In particular, this discussion has relied on a distinction between Islam and a secular modern West. This article revisits an important debate between two eminent anthropologists of ...

The relation between religion and state in Islam and Christianity in the rise of ISIS

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Timothy A. van Aarde

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The recent development of the Islamic State (ISIS 2010–2014 and IS 2014 is a radicalisation of the relation between religion and state in Islam. The relation of religion and state to Christianity has been shaped by the philosophy of dualism and Greek thought in the West. The relation of religion and state in Islam, however, has been shaped by a completely different tradition and conflicting view than Western thought and is based on the codified system of Shari’a law in Arabic thought. One of the most debated topics in Islamic studies is the inseparable nature of religion and state in Islam and the role of Shari’a law to the state. In the West the historical debate concerns the indiscriminate blending of church and state and the separation of church and state as indispensable to democracy and the modern question of the relation of Christian morality and public law. Islamic fundamentalism is a political and religious reform movement that indiscriminately blends the political and religious.

La religione come tecnica difensiva dell'identità soggettiva

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Sergio Fabio Berardini

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Religion as a Defensive Technique for Subjective Identity - From a naturalistic perspective, the study of religion immediately leads to a problematic point: if religion is so widespread, to the extent that it seems to be a trait inscribed in human nature, then it should have adaptive advantages or, at the very least, it should not have disadvantages that would stand in the way of the survival of those who practice religion. In the former case, we need to understand the function of religion, viz. a utility it confers that may justify its persistence across human history. Against the backdrop of an anthropological model that considers subjectivity identity to be characterized by ontological fragility, this article will offer a special version of the claim that religion, viewed as a byproduct, has a positive function: we will make the hypothesis that it contributes to the defense of the unity of self-consciousness. Thus our focus will be on religion construed as a repertoire of strategies designed to protect the self.

The Distinction Between the Essence and Reality of Religion: Resolving an Ambiguity in the Method of Phenomenology of Religion

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Mohammadreza Ghaeminik

2014-01-01

Full Text Available During recent centuries, under the influence of modern and postmodern ideas, religious studies have been exposed to new approaches and views. On the one hand, these approaches are not an extension of theology in the traditional sense and on the other hand, they give a remarkable role to method in religious studies. The importance of phenomenology and the eyes it has caught as a "method" in study of religion, as well as in such disciplines as philosophy of religion, sociology of religion, psychology of religion, history of religion  and so on,‌ have been due to the compatibility of this method or approach with different religions and as a result due to preparing the ground for comparative studies of religions, on the one hand, and because of being descriptive and non-judicative about beliefs and thoughts, on the other. Historically speaking, this method or approach is a product of the mixture of two intellectual currents in the nineteenth century west. These two currents comprise scientific research of religion and the philosophical phenomenology of the German philosopher, "Edmund Husserl". As compared to philosophical phenomenology, phenomenology of religion has undergone through dramatic changes in all its aspects. But we can't understand phenomenology of religion, particularly in the twentieth century, apart from philosophical phenomenology, specifically Husserl's phenomenology and its important concepts. However, there are two challenging problems in phenomenology of religion both historically and regarding its essential complexity as such: first, the existing variety of phenomenologies of religion in Rudolf Otto, Mircea Eliade, Max scheler, C. Jouco bleeker, Ninian Smart, Gerardus van der Leeuw and many others works has hardened the process of understanding of this method and thus it seems necessary to outline the underlying characteristics of this method. The second and more significant point is that the works of early phenomenologists

The Distinction Between the Essence and Reality of Religion: Resolving an Ambiguity in the Method of Phenomenology of Religion

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Mojtaba Zarvani

2013-12-01

Full Text Available During recent centuries, under the influence of modern and postmodern ideas, religious studies have been exposed to new approaches and views. On the one hand, these approaches are not an extension of theology in the traditional sense and on the other hand, they give a remarkable role to method in religious studies. The importance of phenomenology and the eyes it has caught as a "method" in study of religion, as well as in such disciplines as philosophy of religion, sociology of religion, psychology of religion, history of religion  and so on,‌ have been due to the compatibility of this method or approach with different religions and as a result due to preparing the ground for comparative studies of religions, on the one hand, and because of being descriptive and non-judicative about beliefs and thoughts, on the other. Historically speaking, this method or approach is a product of the mixture of two intellectual currents in the nineteenth century west. These two currents comprise scientific research of religion and the philosophical phenomenology of the German philosopher, "Edmund Husserl". As compared to philosophical phenomenology, phenomenology of religion has undergone through dramatic changes in all its aspects. But we can't understand phenomenology of religion, particularly in the twentieth century, apart from philosophical phenomenology, specifically Husserl's phenomenology and its important concepts. However, there are two challenging problems in phenomenology of religion both historically and regarding its essential complexity as such: first, the existing variety of phenomenologies of religion in Rudolf Otto, Mircea Eliade, Max scheler, C. Jouco bleeker, Ninian Smart, Gerardus van der Leeuw and many others works has hardened the process of understanding of this method and thus it seems necessary to outline the underlying characteristics of this method. The second and more significant point is that the works of early phenomenologists

Israeli and Palestinian Teachers' Self-Reported Motivations for Teaching Religion: An Exploratory Case Study

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Gilheany, Terence

2013-01-01

The teaching of religion raises opportunities to reduce prejudicial beliefs and attitudes among students. In this study, 30 religion, history, and civics teachers in Israel, East Jerusalem, and the Palestinian Territories were interviewed about their motivations for teaching religion. This study found that teachers expressed a variety of…

The development of early psychology of religion: a Dutch falsification of the received view

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van Belzen, J.A.

2008-01-01

This article takes issue with the received view of the history of the psychology of religion. Contrary to the presentation of the psychology of religion by Beit-Hallahmi in JHBS (1974) as declining after 1913, this article (1) states that the psychology of religion has never been a homogeneous

Religião, política e cultura Religion, politics and culture

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Joanildo A. Burity

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Este artigo se propõe a ser uma metareflexão sobre a construção de uma interrogação quanto ao vínculo entre religião e política na contemporaneidade. O que vemos entre religião e política na contemporaneidade? Como nos posicionamos - para ver e em face de que vemos? Que lugar é esse do/no qual vemos? Essas questões são formuladas ao longo do texto, a partir do que seria o cenário perceptível das relações entre religião e política: a no plano da cultura e do cotidiano, da esfera pública e da política, os atores religiosos se movimentam e trazem a público sua linguagem, ethos, demandas, nas mais diversas direções; b isso ora contribui para caracterizar formas pluralistas e dialógicas, ora aponta para o estreitamento dos canais de comunicação e para a escalada da violência e da intolerância; c articulando ou deixando-se cruzar por questões de identificação nacional/étnica/racial/de gênero/de classe/etária e reivindicações políticas, tais processos geram "reconhecimentos", "valorizações" e "diálogos" entre atores laicos e religiosos. O cenário suscita reposicionamentos temáticos e teóricos dos cientistas sociais, que são identificados e discutidos no texto.This article is offered as a meta-reflection on the links between religion and politics in the contemporary world. What do we see? How do we position ourselves - both in order to see and in response to what we see? What is this place in/from which we see? These questions are posed over the course of the text, which pursues the following hypotheses: a at the level of culture and everyday life, the public sphere and politics, religious actors circulate and publicly express their language, ethos and demands, with a variety of implications; b this either contributes to the emergence of pluralistic and dialogic forms, or indicates a narrowing of the communication channels and the escalation of violence and intolerance; c processes of 'recognition

Modernization and gender regimes, life histories of the wives of Turkish political leaders

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Yelsali Parmaksiz, Pinar Melis

2009-01-01

This work is a close look at the life histories of the top Turkish political leaders with the aim of analyzing changes in gender role and gender identity and tensions between the two in the history of Turkish modernization vis-à-vis with contemporaneous debates on gender. The main objective is to

The effects of social media on political party perception and voting behavior

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Riezebos, Peter; de Vries, Sjoerd A.; de Vries, Pieter Walter; de Zeeuw, Erik

2011-01-01

This study sought to determine to what extent social media influences political party perception (PPP) and political voting behavior. Based on literature a conceptual model was developed which measures political interest, political trust, religion and the use of social media and their effects on PPP

Faithless: The politics of new atheism

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Steven Kettell

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The emergence of ‘new atheism’ during the course of the last decade helped fuel an upsurge of interest in issues around religion. But scholarly analysis of new atheism, particularly its political dimensions, remains embryonic. This paper addresses this lacuna by examining the politics of new atheism across a variety of themes related to politics. These include the causal factors underpinning its emergence and development, its organisational structure and composition, the political strategies pursued by its proponents, and the various internal tensions and conflicts that these dynamics have produced.

Mourning, Memorials, and Religion: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on the Park51 Controversy

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Nathan Carlin

2011-06-01

Full Text Available This article summarizes a version of the “mourning religion” thesis—derived from the work of Peter Homans and further developed and advanced by William Parsons, Diane Jonte-Pace, and Susan Henking—and then demonstrates how this thesis can shed light on the Park51 controversy. We argue that the Park51 controversy represents a case of incomplete cultural mourning of an aspect of American civil religion that manifests itself in melancholic rage by means of protests, threats to burn the Qur’an (as well as actual burnings of the Qur’an, and vandalism of mosques around the United States. We explore various losses—military, economic, and symbolic—and note that these losses remain ambiguous, therefore preventing closure and productive mourning. The fact that a permanent memorial still has not been built at Ground Zero reflects, and perhaps exacerbates, this incomplete cultural mourning. Also, the fact that Freedom Tower, the building to replace the Twin Towers, is to be 1776 feet tall reflects that the losses related to 9/11 are connected to American civil religion, as 1776 is a sacred year in American history. Setting aside the ethics and the politics related to this controversy, we attempt here to understand this controversy from a psychoanalytic perspective.

"For They Knew Not What It Was": Rethinking the Tacit Narrative History of Religion and Health Research.

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Levin, Jeff

2017-02-01

Over the past couple of decades, research on religion and health has grown into a thriving field. Misperceptions about the history and scope of this field, however, continue to exist, especially among new investigators and commentators on this research. Contrary to the tacit narrative, published research and writing date to the nineteenth century, programmatic research to the 1950s, and NIH funding to 1990; elite medical journals have embraced this topic for over 100 years; study populations are religiously and sociodemographically diverse; and published findings are mostly positive, consistent with psychosocial theories of health and confirmed by comprehensive reviews and expert panels.

Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riis, Ole

2004-01-01

En sociologisk indgang til religion, som individuel religiøsitet, som organisation af et trossamfund og som samfundsinstitution. Religion betragtes både im- og eksplicit, og som både samlende og splittende for sociale fællesskaber.......En sociologisk indgang til religion, som individuel religiøsitet, som organisation af et trossamfund og som samfundsinstitution. Religion betragtes både im- og eksplicit, og som både samlende og splittende for sociale fællesskaber....

The changing face of American compassion: ethnicity, religion, and worldview conflicts

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J. Hexham

2010-07-01

Full Text Available When Barack Obama announced his support for “Faith Based Initiatives” in August 2008 many people were shocked. Others saw it as a political ploy because they regarded the policy as one of the Bush Administration’s more unpopular programmes. In fact, the idea of “Faith Based Initiatives” was first proposed during the Clinton Presidency with support from such liberals as Senator Joe Liebermann. In this article popular misunderstandings of the role of religion in the USA will be discussed to show that the issue is far more complex than the media and a host of critical authors want us to believe and that the attack on “Faith Based Initiatives” has far-reaching implications for the relationship between Christianity and politics in both America and the rest of the world. It also raises issues about ethnicity, religion and the conflict of worldviews.

The Holy and Dirty Money of Faith: Shapes of Religion in Contemporary Society

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Adrián Slavkovský

2015-05-01

Full Text Available A phenomenon, which is generally referred to as religion, has been present in various shapes throughout the whole history of humankind. Only the last centuries have brought a mass expansion of atheism. When many assumed that religion would successively expire, something else happened. At the end of the second millennium a new bloom of religion happened in many forms. But this is not a simple comeback of the good old times of religion, especially not of traditional religious communities and institutions.

Christian Privilege, History, and Trends in U.S. Religion

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Fairchild, Ellen E.

2009-01-01

In her seminal essay on white privilege, McIntosh (1988) began a discussion on privilege that has taken hold in areas outside her original intent. In this chapter, the author discusses privilege as it pertains not only to race and gender but to religion, especially the Christian faith. The author incorporates the current state of religious flux in…

THE POLITICS OF MULTICULTURALISM OF THE TOWANI TOLOTANG MINORITY IN SOUTH SULAWESI

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Zuly Qodir

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This article provides a description of the ethnographical and political issues of the minority group located in South Sulawesi, i.e. the believers of Towani Tolotang that still exist there even in the national political scene as they have representatives in the legislature. The community seems to be playing the politics of Towani Tolotang accommodating and making use of the will of the political regime of Muslims and Hindus, where both of them are scrambling for mutual acknowledgment and entering into the tradition of the religion: Islam or Hinduism. As a minority group, the Towani Tolotang community has a variety of strategies to survive and fight in various kinds of interest. Economic and political gain, and commodification of ethnicity and religion are rampant in the area due to decentralization. This article is based on field library and research on the minority people who have been dealing with political suppression and discriminatory treatment. Keywords: Towani, Tolotang and minority, political rights.

History of Slaves in Qatar: Social Reality and Contemporary Political Vision

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Mariam Ibrahim Al-Mulla

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Museums today play vital roles in the Arabian Peninsula in general and Qatar in particular. These functions vary between the social, economic and political. Recently, Qatar museums’ practices have focused on a political role. To highlight this role, I will take the recently opened slavery museum Bin Jelmood House (BJH as a case study in this article. This paper aims to discuss and analyse the use of BJH in a comprehensive ‘soft power’ strategy to deflect international criticism of Qatar following the decision to award the 2022 World Cup to the country. Analysing BJH’s narrative was problematic, as the museum chooses to display a particular history which has been politicized to fit directly into Qatar’s international politics. The central questions this paper focuses on are as follows: Why was this specific social history chosen? What purpose does BJH serve? Why is Qatar trying to portray itself as liberating and open? To find the answers, I first interviewed the museum’s researchers, who talked about the process of collecting that specific narrative of the museum and the audience’s reaction. Second, analysing the museum’s narrative shows that museum practice today creates a different starting point than it used to, such as new ideas, strategies and policies. That conveyance the museum’s desire to become more open and liberal compared to previous practices.

Past, Present, and Future in the Scientific Study of Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mccorkle, William W.; Xygalatas, Dimitris

2012-01-01

The study of religion is by its nature and by its history multi-disciplinary, incorporating diverse research paradigms ranging from historiography to experimental approaches and from scientific positivism to postmodern reflection. At a conference on the Past, Present, and Future in the Scientific...... in the humani- ties. The Laboratory for the Experimental Research of Religion in Brno, who hosted this conference, is the product of these developments...

Cognitive Evolution and Religion: Cognition and Religious Evolution

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Harvey Whitehouse

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This paper presents contemporary cognitive approaches to the evolution of religious beliefs. Arguments are put forward that different types of beliefs, or ‘modes of religiosity’, occur as a result of a number of evolutionary factors (biological, cultural, socio-political etc. At the same time, religions across the world retain a significant level of common and shared elements, also explained in evolutionary terms.

Appropriating religion: understanding religion as an object of science

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Donald Wiebe

1999-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the author focuses on the study of religion as a scientific project, for it is the scientific interest in religion which has constituted the grounds for admitting the study of religion into the curriculum of the modern Western university. Despite that academic legitimation, however, the study of religion in the setting of the modern research university is not held in high esteem relative to the other sciences. It if the scientific study of religion is to be legitimately ensconced in the modern research university, the notion of religion will have to be wholly appropriated by science; only then will we be able to establish a conceptual foundation from which to make valid knowledge claims about religion on a level commensurate with the pronouncements of the natural and social sciences. Indeed, to go one step further, given the hold on the concept of religion by those committed to the humanistic study of religion, we might need to talk here not of the appropriation but of expropriation of religion by science—that is, of wresting ownership of the concept from the humanists by using it solely as a taxonomic device to differentiate and explain a peculiar range of human behaviour demonstrated in religious practices.

Political Identitiy Of A Minority Group Study Of Noaulu State Community Survival Strategy In Sepa Central Maluku

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Abdul Manaf Tubaka

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This study has five objectives. Firstly why religion of Noaulu can survive in the Midst of social change Increasingly. Secondly how the relationship that has developed between Naulu Community and the government maintains Reviews their identity. Thirdly how the government treats the minority of Noaulu along with Reviews their existence. Fourthly how the factors of social culture and politics influence the sustainability of the political dynamic of Noaulu community in Sepa. Sixthly how the shared value that has been applied by Noaulu community and the political identity as addressing the political dynamic of the social structure of society. This study used a qualitative method with the approach of verstehen or understanding to dig the data is from inside inside view of values or meanings that comes from the subject of the study through the individuals and the phenomenon of political identity in Noaulu community. Data were gained through the observation depth interview and documentation. The analysis of data begins with making the abstraction Categorization coding checking the correctness of the data and then interpreting the data is and drawing the conclusion. Results of the study Showed that firstly the religion Becomes the adhesive strength of identity that Allows the sustainability of Noaulu Community. Secondly each of the minority community it will adapt Strategically to the power of the state in the relations of Resistance in compliance. Thirdly the New Order State has made the space plurality of race religion and ethnicity in the political stability that is rigid Thus it turns off the articulation space of religion and cultural identity of each minority group. Fourthly factors of social cultural political and give impact in the area of social relations culture and politics as well. Fifthly each of minority community always possess shared values such as high trust commitment to the religion loyaity to the group and the value of reciprocity

The fluctuating female vote: politics, religion, and the ovulatory cycle.

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Durante, Kristina M; Rae, Ashley; Griskevicius, Vladas

2013-06-01

Each month, many women experience an ovulatory cycle that regulates fertility. Although research has found that this cycle influences women's mating preferences, we proposed that it might also change women's political and religious views. Building on theory suggesting that political and religious orientation are linked to reproductive goals, we tested how fertility influenced women's politics, religiosity, and voting in the 2012 U.S. presidential election. In two studies with large and diverse samples, ovulation had drastically different effects on single women and women in committed relationships. Ovulation led single women to become more liberal, less religious, and more likely to vote for Barack Obama. In contrast, ovulation led women in committed relationships to become more conservative, more religious, and more likely to vote for Mitt Romney. In addition, ovulation-induced changes in political orientation mediated women's voting behavior. Overall, the ovulatory cycle not only influences women's politics but also appears to do so differently for single women than for women in relationships.

China Report, Political, Sociological and Military Affairs, No. 413

Science.gov (United States)

1983-04-28

country, Taoism has had over 1,700 years of history, Islamism has had over 1,300 years of history while Catholicism and Christianity have developed...beliefs. The major religions that are practiced in the areas inhabited by minority nationalities are Buddhism, Islamism , Christianity, Catholicism...Shamanism, the East Pakistan religion, Taoism and the Orthodox Eastern Church. Among them, Buddhism has enjoyed nearly 2,000 years of history in our

Religion and politics in sub-Saharan Africa

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Ellis, S.D.K.; Haar, Gerrie ter

1998-01-01

In the considerable number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa in which political institutions have largely broken down, religious discourse can be seen as an attempted remedy by means of a reordering of power. The numerous popular texts on witchcraft and other perceived forms of evil reflect the

Human Rights and Religion in the English Secondary RE Curriculum

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Bowie, Robert

2011-01-01

The relationship between religion and human rights is an ambiguous and complex one, but there are academic, moral and political arguments for the inclusion of human rights in religious education (RE). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights advocates education in human rights and the English school curriculum aims to encourage a commitment to…

Traditional African Religion: A Resource Unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Garland, William E.

This resource unit is based on research conducted by Lynn Mitchell and Ernest Valenzuela, experienced classroom teachers of African history and culture. The unit consists of an introduction by Mr. Garland and two major parts. Part I is an annotated bibliography of selected sources on various aspects of traditional African Religion useful in…

[Psychotherapy and Religion: A Representative Survey Among Psychotherapists in Southern Germany].

Science.gov (United States)

Marquardt, Michael; Demling, Joachim Heinrich

2016-12-01

Objective: Religion and spirituality play an appreciable role as a problem area or as a resource for patients with mental disorders. It is therefore of interest what attitudes psychotherapists assume towards this complex range of issues in their work, but also in their personal lives. The majority of empirical studies on this subject originate from the USA, with little data being available from Europe and Germany. Our own survey among practising psychotherapists was designed to elucidate these questions. Method and Study Population: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the form of a written survey of all accessible practising psychotherapists in the area of Northern Bavaria (Franconian administrative districts; n=1 081, return rate 65%). Results: Around two-thirds of the therapists consider religion to be an important subject in psychotherapy, but only one-fifth of them routinely take a history of the patients' religious beliefs. The therapists' own closeness to religion correlates positively with the tendency to incorporate religion in their therapy. In around one-third of the therapists, religion holds an important place within their own world view, although significantly fewer psychotherapists than the general population of Franconia are bound to a specific confession. Around one-quarter had at least once consulted a pastor due to a patient, while each seventh therapist had at least once actively mediated contact to a pastor. Conclusions: Religion is a subject that is relevant for therapeutic practice, but a history of religious beliefs is rarely taken on a routine basis. The incorporation of religion into psychotherapy correlates with religious characteristics of the therapists ("personal bias"). There appears to be a "religiosity gap" between psychotherapists and the general population. Advanced training on the subject of "religion/spirituality" and increased consideration in supervision may counteract the danger of religious needs and religion

The reformasi of Ayu Utami; Attacking the monopoly of the great religions

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Karel Steenbrink

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In eight novels, Ayu Utami has presented critical attacks on doctrines and practices of the major religions in Indonesia. The two books, that describe the spiritual struggle of the Catholic priest Saman (1998–2002, call for a religion that is more active in the political arena, but leaves sexual rules to the individual people. The novel Bilangan Fu (2008 condemns the monopoly of the great religions in favour of local and individual spirituality. This is developed in a series of novels of which two more have already appeared. A third cycle of three more or less autobiographic novels (2003–2013 sketch her personal quest from atheism towards a critical but positive spirituality condemning a clerical and monopolist trend in Catholicism. Utami’s criticism of the great religions is external (more players in the field should be recognised and internal (religious leaders should have more modest claims towards their faithful and leave more space for personal choice.

Appropriating religion: understanding religion as an object of science

OpenAIRE

Donald Wiebe

1999-01-01

In this paper, the author focuses on the study of religion as a scientific project, for it is the scientific interest in religion which has constituted the grounds for admitting the study of religion into the curriculum of the modern Western university. Despite that academic legitimation, however, the study of religion in the setting of the modern research university is not held in high esteem relative to the other sciences. It if the scientific study of religion is to be legitimately ensconc...

Religious Co-option in Autocracy: A Theory Inspired by History

OpenAIRE

Auriol, Emmanuelle; Platteau, Jean-Philippe

2016-01-01

The relationship between religion and politics is explored from a theoretical standpoint, assuming that religious clerics can be coopted by the ruler acting as an autocrat. The comparative effects of decentralized versus centralized religions on the optimal level of cooperation between the autocrat and the religious clerics, which itself impinges upon political stability, is analysed. The paper shows that the presence of a decentralized body of clerics makes autocratic regimes more unstable. ...

Libertà di religione e libertà dalla religione in Marocco: la revisione interpretativa sull’apostasia

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Fabio Franceschi

2017-11-01

ABSTRACT: The essay analyzes a recent step taken by the Kingdom’s Ulama that distances from the traditional meaning of apostasy and of the penalty given for this offense. According to this document, Murtadd would not be the one who leaves Islam for another religion, but the one who betrays the group he belongs to. Apostasy was therefore political, not doctrinal. In this sense, the document represents an essential progress for the qualification of religious freedom in Morocco (on the same way already indicated by the Marrakesh Declaration.

Fictionalized History: Signifying Changes to the Malaysian Nation and Identity

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Sim Chee Cheang

2016-04-01

Full Text Available As one of the cornerstones of fiction, writers often use and confront history in their claim to “reality” and “identity” in their writing. Linda Hutcheon’s claim for “a postmodern concern for the multiplicity and dispersion of truth(s; truth(s relative to the specificity of place and culture” (1988, p. 108 is relevant to the use of history in recent Malaysian literature. The multiple and varied claims of truth(s as reflected through the fictionalizing of Malaysian history is the focus of the analysis in this article, which aims to expose the social, economic, and political implications of the Malaysian identity. The analysis of three current works of fictionalized Malaysian history from the different fictional genres of comic series, children’s history, and occidental history, represents a cross section of genres that challenge the supremacy of history’s ontological claim over identity. The deliberate contestation of received Malaysian history in fictional modes acknowledges the peripheral identity structures of race, religion, and economics that are sensitive in a multiracial country such as Malaysia.

Spiritual Politics

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Frédéric Rambeau

2015-01-01

Full Text Available According to Foucault, the uprising of the Iranian people in the seventies reveals how much the political force of Islam is due precisely to the fact that it is not principally located in the field of politics, but in that of ethics. Religion (Shiite Islam appears as the guarantee of real change in the very mode of existence. This spiritual politics is marginalized by Marxism, where it is understood as a discontinuity in relation to proper politics, given that the latter is necessarily linked to a strategic rationalization. By indicating, at this juncture of what is intolerable, the living source and the critical impulse of the Foucauldian ethics, this spiritual politics also leads to recognize in the concept of “subjectivation” a dimension that might escape the circle of freedom as determined by a total immanence to power. This conceptual possibility is highly present in the aporias of the Foucauldian concept of the “relation to oneself”, both as a first condition of governmentality and the ultimate point of resistance against any governmentality. It thus reveals the difficulties in relating political to ethical subjectivation.

RADIKALISME ATAS NAMA AGAMA: Tafsir Historis Kepemimpinan Nabi Muhammad di Madinah

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Inayatul Ulya

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Lately the radicalism on behalf religion has been exposed more often through the media in the form of terror, bombing, some violent actions and a variety of other religion crime packaged. Religion is regarded to become a precise media as the reason for the emergence of terrorism. Religion in this matter is too sensitive for pitting on behalf of political expediency. The consequence of the radicalism movement in the name of religion can be bad record because religion should has been called for in peace. The emergence of issues and phenomena of Islamic radicalism become the transnational discourse which cornering the Islam and became a new challenge for Muslims to answer it. Islamic radicalism became a historical phenomenon and also sociological becomes a much talked in the political discourse and global civilization. The consequence of the discourse is then popped the stigma that felt less comfortable for Muslims. For example: the stigma about the Islamic radical movement, the Islamic hardliners, fundamentalism, militants, extremists, right Islam, to terrorism.

Displacements: Religion, Gender, and the Catachrestic Demands of Postcoloniality

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Sîan Melvill Hawthorne

2013-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper I examine the uneasy intersection between ‘religion’, ‘gender’ and ‘postcoloniality’ as it is staged in the sub-field of religion and gender within religious studies and theology. Noting the lack of sustained attention in this field to those postcolonial challenges that might question the prioritization of gender as the site from which critique should be originated, and suggesting that this neglect might compromise the assumption that, because of its alignment with the politics of the marginal, it is comparatively less implicated in colonial knowledge formations, I argue that scholars of religion and gender risk perpetuating imperialist figurations found elsewhere in the academic study of religions. I propose the figure of the catachresis, as theorized by Gayatri Spivak, as a potential step towards displacing those European concept-metaphors and value-codings that both derive from imperialist ideologies and sustain the fiction operational within much, though not all, religion and gender scholarship of a generalizable or normative epistemic subjectivity. I suggest these ideologies ultimately prevent an encounter with the women and men who exist beyond this mode of production and whose priorities may be configured entirely differently to those that seem currently to inform and produce the intellectual itineraries of the field.

Global Halal: Meat, Money, and Religion

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S. Romi Mukherjee

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The following article deconstructs (and demystifies Halal with a view to unraveling how the religious, racial, economic, and ethico-political are articulated in and around material technologies of meat production and bodily techniques of religious consumption/the consumption of religion. It, thus, attempts to rethink the nexus of food, politics, and contesting visions of the sacred and the profane, from within the folds of the global and global Islam. Halal emerges as a terrain replete with paradigmatic juridical and political questions about the impasses of social and culinary conviviality and cosmopolitanism. Although there is certainly nothing new about religious taboos on food on the body, Halal is far from being a personal or strictly communal set of strictures and practices. On the contrary, global Halal emerges as a new agonistic field typified by charged debates concerning the place of secularism, recognition, and “food diversity” in the global marketplace. This paper offers a cartography, both phenomenological and social scientific, of this multi-tiered site of meat, power, and belief.

Kinesisk Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreasen, Esben; Nielsen, Klaus Bo

Bogen Kinesisk Religion omhandler kongfuzianisme, daoisme, buddhisme, maoisme, folkereligion og nye religioner i ind- og udland. Den indeholder klassiske myter og magiske ritualer, historiske milepæle og moderne udfordringer, politisk religion og levende folkereligiøsitet. Bogen henvender sig...

A Brush Up on the ‘2015 Presidential Election of Nigeria’: The Chemistry between Religio-Political Manoeuvres and Propaganda Stratagems

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Joel Abah

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Religious bigotry and misinterpretation to serve personal interest in our world today have given birth to incessant wars, lawless and reckless killings, genocides and the birth of dreadful terrorism. Nonetheless, there is a paucity of empirical evidence on the topic in question. The objectives of this paper are to examine: (a the use of religion as a tool for political propaganda in the 2015 Presidential Election; (b the reason why politicians make use of religion for propaganda; (c the effects of using political propaganda. The study employed content, and descriptive analysis to synthesise data from newspapers, books and online works. Findings reveal that some key political parties made use of religion as a tool for political propaganda, at different ranges in print and electronic media. In effect, the use of religion by politicians was mainly due to the country’s regional divided front when it comes to religious beliefs; northern Muslims and the southern Christians. This abuse of religious rights breeds pathological hatred among the populace and there is a need to implement the tenets of secularism within the political framework to aid peace building.

‘Enlisting in the struggle to be free’: A feminist wrestle with gender and religion

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Kochurani Abraham

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This paper looks at the gendered underpinnings of religion using a feminist lens. It names the violence embedded in the gendered notions of religious ideology and praxis and shows how religion can be “injurious” to women’s growth because of the following factors: the hierarchical dualism that alienates them from the Spirit and identifies them with the body while marginalizing them through their positioning on the lower rungs of the hierarchical ladder; the exclusive male imagery of God and its mediation by an all male priestly class and the scriptural injunctions which are inscribed by patriarchal thought and deployed to keep women in defined roles and spaces. Catholic teachings and practices are taken as a case of analysis to unearth the political dynamics by which religion reinforces ‘gendering –women’s exclusion from theological knowledge making spaces and the gendered religious indoctrination which become hegemonic codes that shape women’s consciousness and keep them without grievance  in their  subjugated status.  It shows further how female body and sexuality are major sites of religious gender politics through the strict controls on women’s dress-codes  and the sexual servicing expected of them in marriage. Finally, the paper advocates critical thought as a tool for exploding the hardened rock of gendered religious foundations and shows how overcoming the contradictory consciousness and waking up to a critical consciousness becomes imperative for women  to be freed of the gender dictates of religion.   Key words: gender, religion, theological knowledge-making, sexuality, critical consciusness

Religion and Politics: The Intentions of the Authors of the First Amendment.

Science.gov (United States)

Malbin, Michael J.

The author demonstrates why he thinks the Supreme Court has misinterpreted the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." The author claims that the Supreme Court, based on flawed reading of the…

Fiktionsbaseret religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davidsen, Markus

2010-01-01

Jediismen er en ny religion, der bygger på George Lucas' Star Wars-film. Kernen i jediismen er medlemmernes identifikation med jedi-ridderne fra Star Wars, troen på, at Kraften eksisterer uden for det fiktive univers, samt rituel interaktion med Kraften. På baggrund af en analyse af syv jediistiske...... gruppers hjemmesider skitserer artiklen jediismens selvforståelse med fokus på selv-identifikation, læren om Kraften, praksis og etik samt forhandlingen af forholdet til Star Wars. Endvidere argumenteres for, hvorfor jediismen må fortolkes som en religion og ikke blot som et fanfænomen. Endelig foreslås...... kategorien 'fiktionsbaseret religion' introduceret i religionsvidenskaben som betegnelse for en række nye religioner baseret på 'fiktive religioner' indlejret i fiktionstekster....

Holy sci-fi! where science fiction and religion intersect

CERN Document Server

Nahin, Paul J

2014-01-01

Can a computer have a soul? Are religion and science mutually exclusive? Is there really such a thing as free will? If you could time travel to visit Jesus, would you (and should you)? For hundreds of years, philosophers, scientists, and science fiction writers have pondered these questions and many more. In Holy Sci-Fi!, popular writer Paul Nahin explores the fertile and sometimes uneasy relationship between science fiction and religion. With a scope spanning the history of religion, philosophy, and literature, Nahin follows religious themes in science fiction from Feynman to Foucault, and from Asimov to Aristotle. An intriguing journey through popular and well-loved books and stories, Holy Sci-Fi! shows how sci-fi has informed humanity's attitudes towards our faiths, our future, and ourselves.

Cognitive dissonance of science and religion in pre-service elementary school teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Malloy, Robert Earl, Sr.

Throughout history science and religion have been in conflict. Many of the theories of science do not agree with the religious beliefs of pre-service teachers. Those teachers who will be teaching in the science classroom, must be able to present science without prejudice of personal religious beliefs. Are pre-service teachers prepared for science/religion conflicts? How much conflict do pre-service teachers have between science and religion? This study suggests that pre-service teachers may have a high degree of conflict between science and religion, and that they have received no educational experience on how to deal with this conflict. Such conflict poses a potential problem when presenting science in the classroom, in that non-science information may not be separated from the science presented.

Re-envisioning the sites and sights of the late twentieth century study of religion

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Rosalind I. J. Hackett

1999-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper the author shares some of the findings, observations, and stimulating insights from colleagues and students gathered during visits to various parts of the world.The academic study of religion must now encompass more than it has done until now the effects of modern media and communications technologies, global consumption patterns, cultural mobility, and changing geo-political configurations. Scholars of religion are are being outpaced by these developments, whether because of the limitations of vision, or the shortsightedness of theoretical lenses.' The argument is that sites such as art, the media, Internet, outer space, diasporas, global culture, nature, and the public space deserve critical attention - not just for reasons of content, but because these new or neglected sites offer a potential challenge to our categories and concepts. Focus has to be shifted increasingly from bounded local cultures to transnational cultural flows and the significance of place has to be reexamined. This paper has suggests a number of pathways that are deserving of more exploration by scholars of religion. What we choose to include or exclude from our gaze affects the nature of our discourse(s through and through. The whole business of "seeing" is integral to both the academic enterprise as well as the political economy of the academic study of religion. This paper highlights some of the exciting new areas that face us as students of religious ideas and phenomena, and point to their methodological implications.

Religion, morality, evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Bloom, Paul

2012-01-01

How did religion evolve? What effect does religion have on our moral beliefs and moral actions? These questions are related, as some scholars propose that religion has evolved to enhance altruistic behavior toward members of one's group. I review here data from survey studies (both within and across countries), priming experiments, and correlational studies of the effects of religion on racial prejudice. I conclude that religion has powerfully good moral effects and powerfully bad moral effects, but these are due to aspects of religion that are shared by other human practices. There is surprisingly little evidence for a moral effect of specifically religious beliefs.

The Naturalization of Domination and Legitimate Power in Classical Political Theory

OpenAIRE

Eleni Varikas

2003-01-01

The reflection developed here deals with one of the greatest political paradoxes of modern political thought: the turning of a political community into a human artifact while basing it on premisses which are pre-political and therefore precede human action. As it reinvented the political as a free space, modernity reinvented the natural as a limit to this human freedom which religion could no longer contain. In such a context, the witch-hunt is a result both of a religious or s...

Religion, civil society and conflict: What is it that religion does for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Worldviews are socially created and determine human behaviour and, as such, most often find expression in religion. The discussion of conflict and the role of religion in civil society take place within the discourse of the sociology of religion. Religion is socially determined. Peter Berger's insight into the sociology of religion ...

Critical prophecy and political leadership in biblical, African and Islamic worldviews

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P.O. Abioje

2010-07-01

Full Text Available This article examines the socio-political influence of prophecy in traditional African and the biblical perspectives, in order to challenge contemporary African religious men and women to serve as the conscience of society. There is hardly any doubt that political leaders are usually prone to abuse of their positions and they need to be reprimanded and lampooned. A discussion on Islam is included, because, together with Christianity, it dominates, to a large extent, socio-political and economic leadership in Africa. It is the view of many scholars that neither Christianity nor Islam have been applied sufficiently to political leadership in Africa to have an impact on mass socio-political and economic welfare, although some heroic individual exceptions are noted. The materials were gathered through a literature study. The study is comparative in the sense that it compares prophecy in traditional Africa with what is obtained from the Bible and the church as we know it today. The study recommends critical prophecy in the two dominant Old Testament religions, namely Christianity and Islam, and in African Traditional Religion, for improved political leadership and development in Africa.

Soviet psyhology of religion in 1960–1970s: marginalia

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Elena Orel

2018-12-01

Full Text Available This brief outline deals with the history of development of psychology of religion in the USSR. The author concentrates on the analysis of the historical, social, ideological context, i. e. the analysis of those particular circumstances of the early 1960s when Russian thinkers in the domain of the Humanities turned to the subject of psychology of religion. Particular emphasis is given to the importance of the so-called Khrushchev’s thaw in the formation and development of this research area. The key metaphor of the study is seeing the psychology of religion as an opening in the austere ice of Soviet dictatorship. The author gives a description of the main trends and topics that were raised in discussions on psychology of religion in the 1960–1970s. Ideological interpretation of the position and role of psychology of religion in Soviet science draws on studies by D. Ugrinovich, one of the most infl uential authors of the period in question. The paper suggests that the change of the ideological background in the early 1970s naturally effected the refusal of most of the authors to carry out research in this area and their “switch” to problems of sociology of religion.

Sexual health and religion: a primer for the sexual health clinician (CME).

Science.gov (United States)

Kellogg Spadt, Susan; Rosenbaum, Talli Y; Dweck, Alyssa; Millheiser, Leah; Pillai-Friedman, Sabitha; Krychman, Michael

2014-07-01

Sexual health is an integral part of the multifaceted human experience that is driven both by biological factors and psychological facets. Religion may provide a moral code of conduct or a sexual compass as to sexual norms and behaviors. The aim of this study was to summarize the integration of sexuality and religion. A review of published literature and religious texts was conducted. The integration of religion with country or state politics and laws is a complicated dilemma and will not be discussed in the scope of this article. The extent to which an individual incorporates their religious doctrine into their sexual life is a personal and individualized choice. The sexual medicine health professional will likely encounter a diverse patient population of distinct religious backgrounds, and a primer on religion and sexuality is a much needed adjunctive tool for the clinician. Because religion can influence sexuality and dictate, in part, the behavioral and medical treatments for sexual complaints, the clinician should be familiar with religious guidelines regarding sexuality, and treatment should be customized and individualized. Failure to do so can impact compliance with the therapeutic interventions. Religious awareness also solidifies the therapeutic alliance between clinician and patient as it demonstrates respect and acknowledgment for patient's beliefs and autonomy. © 2014 International Society for Sexual Medicine.

Religions and extraterrestrial life how will we deal with it?

CERN Document Server

Weintraub, David A

2014-01-01

In the twenty-first century, the debate about life on other worlds is quickly changing from the realm of speculation to the domain of hard science. Within a few years, as a consequence of the rapid discovery by astronomers of planets around other stars, astronomers very likely will have discovered clear evidence of life beyond the Earth. Such a discovery of extraterrestrial life will change everything.  Knowing the answer as to whether humanity has company in the universe will trigger one of the greatest intellectual revolutions in history, not the least of which will be a challenge for at least some terrestrial religions. Which religions will handle the discovery of extraterrestrial life with ease and which will struggle to assimilate this new knowledge about our place in the universe? Some religions as currently practiced appear to only be viable on Earth. Other religions could be practiced on distant worlds but nevertheless identify both Earth as a place and humankind as a species of singular spiritual re...

Presentation: Twentieth-century Dictatorships and Religion

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Jan Nelis

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Este dossier agrupa trabajos que cubren una amplia zona geográfica, ofreciendo diferentes puntos de vista sobre aspectos concernientes a la relación entre políticas dictatoriales y religión. El resultado final es ocho artículos que abordan la cuestión en cuatro continentes: Asia, África, América y Europa. Por la diversidad de enfoques, los artículos tratan, desde perspectivas diferentes, las actitudes “pragmáticas” coloniales y postcoloniales hacia la religión en África (Grandhomme y Kroubo Dagnini, la identidad religiosa africana (Chande, el uso de la religión como una fuente de moral y ética en Argentina (Cousins y Francia (Stevens, el punto de tensión entre la religión y política tradicionales y el mito en China (Lee e Italia (Nelis, y las actitudes de la dictadura hacia la identidad religiosa en España (Beck.____________________ABSTRACT:This dossier contains essays that cover a broad geographic area, offering different points of view on various aspects concerning the relation between dictatorship policies and religion. The final result are eight articles, which deal with the situation on four continents: Asia, Africa, America and Europe. Presenting a great variety of approaches, the articles show different views on the “pragmatic” colonial and post-colonial attitudes towards religion in Africa (Grandhomme and Kroubo Dagnini, African religious identity (Chande, the use of religion as a source of morals and ethics in Argentina (Cousins and France (Stevens, the point of tension between traditional religion and politics and the myth in China (Lee and Italy (Nelis and the dictatorship’s attitude towards the religious identity in Spain (Beck.

Simbolisme Agama dalam Politik Islam

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Ibnu Rochman

2007-04-01

Full Text Available The study of the symbolism of religion in Islamic politic is necessary to conduct because it is vast opportunity avaliable in the reformation and democratization era for most of Indonesian representing Moslem to express thier insight and thought that various forms ranging from vulgar, the emotion and the rational one. There are among the expression using symbols, even many Moslem who are active in practical politics Islamic symbols. Considering the title of the study "the Symbolism of Religion Philosophy in Islamic Politic", the author will study the philosopher suggesting that human being is homo symbolicum and also the history of politics in Islam since the disciples of Muhammad to the present. It is expected that the method of study provide the finding that symbolism of religion in Islamic politic takes place not only at present, but also it evidences that human being is homo symbolicus. The study is literature study. The collected data is critically analyzed using interpretation and historical methods. The result of the study shows that the Moslem politicans in the history of Islamic politics used religious symbols in practice. The position of the symbolic action in religion representing the medium of human-cosmic commucation and the physical and spiritual religious communication, are also used in political practice

From the History of Islamic Studies: A.-M. Schimmel and Phenomenological Approach to Religion

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Samarina Tat’iana

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This article analyses key works of the well-known classic of Islamic studies A.-M. Schimmel and demonstrates that in her legacy the methodology of classical phenomenology of religion has found its fresh application to the study of Islam. The article focuses on essential points of A.-M. Schimmel’s biography that had infl uenced her academic career, and then analyses her phenomenological approach showing how she builds a system of description of Islam by means of systematising religious phenomena that proceeds from external forms (material objects to the centre of religion, God. Phenomenological analysis of Islam provides a base for comprehensive understanding and description of religious phenomena, starting from the perception of stone, holiday, clothes, myth in minds of ordinary Muslims. Schimmel’s phenomenological approach to Islam takes into account the specifi city of lived religion prior to the emergence of this trend. A.-M. Schimmel’s legacy therefore fits in the context of contemporary religious studies. The second part of the article examines the influence of leading scholars in phenomenology of religion (Mircea Eliade, Gerardus van der Leeuw, Friedrich Heiler on A.-M. Schimmel. It is concluded that the positive reception of her work among scholars of Islam and among Muslims themselves suggests that the language of the phenomenological description is the language of religious dialogue.

Gender, religion, and adolescent patterns of self-disclosure in the divided society of Northern Ireland.

Science.gov (United States)

Hargie, O D; Tourish, D; Curtis, L

2001-01-01

Adolescence is a period when levels of self-disclosure are often lowest. While studies have revealed a clear preference for female targets of disclosure, little research has been carried out on the effects of religion upon disclosure. The impact of religion was of importance in this investigation, given that it was conducted in Northern Ireland, where religion affects almost every aspect of social life. The aim was to ascertain the effects of gender and religious affiliation on adolescent disclosure to friends and strangers. Results revealed that while females were significantly higher disclosers than were males, religion per se did not play a key role. This suggests that even in a highly polarized society, gender is the central determinant of disclosure and is even more important than political identity. The implications of these findings are discussed, particularly with regard to the difficulty young males have in terms of revealing personal information.

Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lægaard, Sune

2018-01-01

Article on the different ways on which religion is relevant to discussions of discrimination and the normative issues this gives rise to.......Article on the different ways on which religion is relevant to discussions of discrimination and the normative issues this gives rise to....

Globalization and Religion in Historical Perspective: A Paradoxical Relationship

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Luke M. Herrington

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Religion has long been a driving force in the process of globalization. This idea is not controversial or novel thinking, nor is it meant to be. However, the dominant reasoning on the subject of globalization, expressed by authors like Thomas Friedman, places economics at the center of analysis, skewing focus from the ideational factors at work in this process. By expanding the definition of globalization to accommodate ideational factors and cultural exchange, religion’s agency in the process can be enabled. Interestingly, the story of religion and globalization is in some ways the history of globalization, but it is riddled with paradoxes, including the agent-opponent paradox, the subject of this article. Religion and globalization have a co-constitutive relationship, but religious actors are both agents of globalization and principals in its backlash. While some actors might benefit from a mutually reinforcing relationship with globalization, others are marginalized in some way or another, so it is necessary to expose the links and wedges that allow for such a paradox. To that end, the concepts of globalization and religious actors must be defined, and the history of the agent-opponent paradox, from the Buddhists of the Silk Road to the Jubilee campaign of 2000, must be elucidated.

Portraits of Religion in Introductory American Government Textbooks: Images of Tolerance or Intolerance

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenstein, Marie A.; Clark, April K.

2013-01-01

The link between religion and political tolerance in the United States, which has focused predominantly on Christianity, is replete with unfavorable images. Often, religious adherents (largely Evangelicals or the Christian right) are characterized as uneducated, poor, and white, suggesting that members of these groups may act in an intolerant…

Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Welz, Claudia

2017-01-01

In the world of Greek Comedy, the traditionally austere gods of Tragedy are lowered to fit the streets of Athens. Religion is omnipresent in comedy on many levels, and we find gods on stage, prayers and oaths performed, sacrifices narrated, festivals performed. Religion in comedy is generally...

Digital Image Collections for Asian Religion and Art History in a Small-Sized Liberal Arts College

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May Chang

2002-10-01

Full Text Available

頁次：6-15

This paper reviews the establishment of a digital image library from 35mm slides to support faculty and student needs in a small-sized liberal arts college. The framework consists of central local resources, distributed faculty collections, and external resources. Standards and guidelines for digital preservation and access are also discussed. The pilot collections were multi-disciplinary resources in Middle East art and architecture and faculty slide collections in East Asian religions and Asian art history. Technical and management issues of integrating digital technology in the traditional slide library are also discussed.

Zora’s Politics: A Brief Introduction

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Ernest Julius Mitchell II

2013-09-01

Full Text Available In his introduction to reading Zora Neale Hurston’s politics, Mitchell argues that contemporary scholarship has misread Hurston in significant ways, distorting Hurston’s work and reputation to serve contesting political agendas; thus, in recent years, she has been associated with “a bewildering array of affiliations: republican, libertarian, radical democrat, reactionary conservative, black cultural nationalist, anti-authoritarian feminist, and woman-hating protofascist.” Recuperating Hurston from this impossible political melee of labels, Mitchell argues, requires a careful reading of Hurston’s work dating from her earliest pieces in the late 1920s, as well as surveying her many yet to be published manuscripts and letters; it requires recognition of the transnational and comparative lens through which she reported on political maneuvers and military histories, as well as reading not only her strong criticisms but also her silences, ironic phrasings, and nuanced critiques in her writings on global colonial enterprises. Mitchell’s introduction to the two Hurston essays here reprinted, “I Saw Negro Votes Peddled” (1950 and “Why the Negro Won’t Buy Communism” (1951—courtesy of the American Legion Magazine—is set in the larger frame of his assertion that Hurston’s work should be read with a deep appreciation of her staunch anticolonialism. Tracing her political philosophy through her views of how race and religion are used to valorize an international culture of violence that serves imperialistic and colonial ends, Mitchell takes his reader on a tour of Hurston’s transnational commentary—from the US occupation of Haiti, to the Spanish and British on the Florida peninsula; from Communist Russia and China, to election practices in the US—to set the stage for our encounters with these rarely read Hurston essays. Reading Mitchell’s “Zora’s Politics: A Brief Introduction” provides a firm foundation for a more

Ideology, politics and personality: shaping forces in Dutch psychology of religion, 1907-1957

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Belzen, J.A.

2009-01-01

Although the academic establishment of the psychology of religion in the Netherlands has been stronger than in any other Western country, the start of these developments has been remarkably late (in 1957), especially when taking into account that Dutch academic life: (1) before World War II modeled

Defamation of Religions: A Vague and Overbroad Theory that Threatens Basic Human Rights

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Allison G. Belnap

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Il contributo è pubblicato con il permesso della Brigham Young University Law Review - dove è apparso nel vol. n. 2 del 2010 (Tribute to Professor Michael Goldsmith, alle pp. 101-148 - e dell‖Autrice, che ringraziamo sentitamente. SUMMARY: 1. Introduction - 2. History of and Motivations for the OIC Defamation of Religions Resolutions - 2.a - The OIC Exerts a Concerted Effort to Protect Islam - 2.b - Terrorist Attacks and Danish Cartoons Raise the Stakes - 3. Defamation of Religions: A Permissible Restraint on Freedom of Speech and Expression? - 3.a - History, Basic Elements, and Contemporary Usage of Defamation - 3.b - Interaction Between Defamation of Religions and the Basic Human Rights Enumerated in Major International Instruments - 4. The Evolution of a Resolution - 4.a. 1999-2000: Beginnings - 4.b. 2001: A Pre-9/11 World - 4.c. 2002: Reactions to the Violent Backlash Against Muslims - 4.d. 2003-2004: Fluctuations in Support - 4.e. 2005: Intensification of a Campaign - 4.f. 2006-2007: The Move to the General Assembly - 4.g. 2008: Decreasing Margins of Support - 4.h. 2009: Current Resolution and Recommendations for Application - 5. Consequences of Accepting the Resolutions and Subsequent Enactment of Statutes Designed to Prevent Defamation of Religions - 5.a. Human Rights Committee - 5.b. The European Court of Human Rights - 5.c. Blasphemy, Incitement, and Hate Speech Laws and Their Enforcement - 5.d. Possible Future Statutes and Enforcement Under Defamation of Religions Theory - 6. Alternatives to Defamation of Religions in the U.N. Resolutions - 7. Conclusion.

Ethnic vs. Evangelical Religions: Beyond Teaching the World Religion Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Tishken, Joel E.

2000-01-01

Offers background information on the formation of comparative religion. Demonstrates that the world religion approach is inadequate by examining case studies of Mithraism, Santeria, Mormonism, and Baha'i to illustrate the shortcomings of this approach. Advocates the use of an ethnic versus evangelical religion approach to teaching global…

Teaching World Religions without Teaching "World Religions"

Science.gov (United States)

Locklin, Reid B.; Tiemeier, Tracy; Vento, Johann M.

2012-01-01

Tomoko Masuzawa and a number of other contemporary scholars have recently problematized the categories of "religion" and "world religions" and, in some cases, called for its abandonment altogether as a discipline of scholarly study. In this collaborative essay, we respond to this critique by highlighting three attempts to teach…

Friedrich Heiler and the Psychology of Religion

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Tatiana Samarina

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The author examines the work of the celebrated German religious researcher Friedrich Heiler in relation to the problematic surrounding the psychology of religion. Heiler himself subtitled his first classic work, Prayer , with the words a study of religious-history and of religious-psychology . This presumably meant that he considered himself a student of the psychology of religion. The author contrasts Heiler’s ideas on this subject with those put forward by his contemporaries, all of whom studied the psychology of religion: William James, Evelyn Underhill, and Sigmund Freud. The author’s analysis reveals that Heiler was very familiar with the studies produced by several early students of the psychology of religion: Leub, Starbuck, and Sabbate. He often employs them to glean examples for his own research but does not take any of them seriously. James’ division of religious believers into the twice-born and the once-born has similarities with Heiler’s own types of mystic and prophetic religiosity. There are also many similarities between the theory of mystical ascension proposed by Evelyn Underhill and the examples of religious mysticism proposed by Heiler. While analyzing the phenomenon of matrimonial mysticism, Heiler often refers to elements of Freud’s psychoanalysis, thinking it adequate to explain certain erotic elements inherent in religious reflection, but at the same time, unable to explain the religious phenomenon on the whole.

Visual objects and universal meanings: AIDS posters and the politics of globalisation and history.

Science.gov (United States)

Stein, Claudia; Cooter, Roger

2011-01-01

Drawing on recent visual and spatial turns in history writing, this paper considers AIDS posters from the perspective of their museum 'afterlife' as collected material objects. Museum spaces serve changing political and epistemological projects, and the visual objects they house are not immune from them. A recent globally themed exhibition of AIDS posters at an arts and crafts museum in Hamburg is cited in illustration. The exhibition also serves to draw attention to institutional continuities in collecting agendas. Revealed, contrary to postmodernist expectations, is how today's application of aesthetic display for the purpose of making 'global connections' does not radically break with the virtues and morals attached to the visual at the end of the nineteenth century. The historicisation of such objects needs to take into account this complicated mix of change and continuity in aesthetic concepts and political inscriptions. Otherwise, historians fall prey to seductive aesthetics without being aware of the politics of them. This article submits that aesthetics is politics.

Visual Objects and Universal Meanings: AIDS Posters and the Politics of Globalisation and History

Science.gov (United States)

STEIN, CLAUDIA; COOTER, ROGER

2011-01-01

Drawing on recent visual and spatial turns in history writing, this paper considers AIDS posters from the perspective of their museum ‘afterlife’ as collected material objects. Museum spaces serve changing political and epistemological projects, and the visual objects they house are not immune from them. A recent globally themed exhibition of AIDS posters at an arts and crafts museum in Hamburg is cited in illustration. The exhibition also serves to draw attention to institutional continuities in collecting agendas. Revealed, contrary to postmodernist expectations, is how today’s application of aesthetic display for the purpose of making ‘global connections’ does not radically break with the virtues and morals attached to the visual at the end of the nineteenth century. The historicisation of such objects needs to take into account this complicated mix of change and continuity in aesthetic concepts and political inscriptions. Otherwise, historians fall prey to seductive aesthetics without being aware of the politics of them. This article submits that aesthetics is politics. PMID:23752866

Understanding the anatomy of religion as basis for religion in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article sprung from previous structural analyses of religion as onticity, but went somewhat further by placing more emphasis on encounters with the numinous as the core of religion, as well as on the dynamic character of religion. In doing so, this analysis methodologically transcended the limitations of a structuralist ...

Religion, Intersectionality, and Epistemic Habits of Academic Feminism. Perspectives from Global Feminist Theology

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Elina Vuola

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This article pays critical attention to the ways in which academic feminism has regarded religion. Issues related to religion and gender have by and large either been ignored or treated quite stereotypically. I have called this phenomenon a simultaneous under- and overestimation of religion. The phenomenon is not global. Feminists of the global south tend to pay much more and more multi-faceted attention to religion than scholars from the global north. I will illustrate this problem through a close reading of intersectionality in feminist research in religion, especially feminist theology. My argument – which can be supported by evidence from historical records – is that what has been called intersectionality since Kimberlé Crenshaw, has in fact been explicitly present in early feminist theology (1970s-. The reason why feminist liberation theologians stressed the interstructuring of gender, class, and race/ethnicity lies in their practical and theoretical cooperation with liberation and feminist theologians from the global south, for example through the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT. My article is a critical re-reading of the history of feminist theorizing from the perspective of religious feminists, academic feminist theologians and liberation theologians from both the global north and south (including black and womanist theologians from the USA, Latin America and Africa. My aim is to correct a long-held understanding of the history of feminist theorizing as purely “secular”.

International Religion Indexes: Government Regulation, Government Favoritism, and Social Regulation of Religion*

Science.gov (United States)

Grim, Brian J.; Finke, Roger

2014-01-01

The study of religion is severely handicapped by a lack of adequate cross-national data. Despite the prominence of religion in international events and recent theoretical models pointing to the consequences of regulating religion, cross-national research on religion has been lacking. We strive to fill this void by developing measurement models and indexes for government regulation, government favoritism, and social regulation of religion. The indexes rely on data from an extensive coding of the 2003 International Religious Freedom Report for 196 countries and territories. Using a series of tests to evaluate the new data and indexes, we find that the measures developed are highly reliable and valid. The three indexes will allow researchers and others to measure the government’s subsidy and regulation of religion as well as the restrictions placed on religion by social and cultural forces beyond the state. PMID:25484633

‘Aṣabiyyah, Religion and Regime Types: Re-reading Ibn Khaldūn

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Wahabuddin Ra’ees

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Ibn Khaldūn found a “causal determinative analytical tool” to explain development, progression and disintegration of ‘umrān (lit. culture. He argued that ‘umrān comes into existence as a result of five types of causes: (1 the “ultimate or first cause,” (2 final cause, (3 efficient cause, (4 formal cause, and (5 material cause. However, in Ibn Khaldūn’s scheme of analysis, the efficient cause of ‘umrān and political institutions consists of two factors: (1 ‘aṣabiyyah and (2 religion. Ibn Khaldūn believed that a meaningful investigation of the relationship between religion, ‘aṣabiyyah and ‘umrān is possible if investigation is narrowed down to the study of human nature. Hence, according to Ibn Khaldūn, what is true of human nature is also true of ‘umrān. Stated differently, the rules applicable to human nature are applicable to ‘umrān and political institutions.

Computing Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielbo, Kristoffer Laigaard; Braxton, Donald M.; Upal, Afzal

2012-01-01

The computational approach has become an invaluable tool in many fields that are directly relevant to research in religious phenomena. Yet the use of computational tools is almost absent in the study of religion. Given that religion is a cluster of interrelated phenomena and that research...... concerning these phenomena should strive for multilevel analysis, this article argues that the computational approach offers new methodological and theoretical opportunities to the study of religion. We argue that the computational approach offers 1.) an intermediary step between any theoretical construct...... and its targeted empirical space and 2.) a new kind of data which allows the researcher to observe abstract constructs, estimate likely outcomes, and optimize empirical designs. Because sophisticated mulitilevel research is a collaborative project we also seek to introduce to scholars of religion some...

Military Civic Action in Colombia

Science.gov (United States)

1985-08-01

because he knew too much about official scandals. G6mez responded to this political crisis with inflammatory editorials in his newspaper El Siglo ...significant changes: women received equal political rights with men; Roman Catholicism was again declared the religion of the state; Supreme Court members...consisting of courses on Colombian history, government, geography, patriotic songs, *sanitation, ethics, horticulture, religion , group activities, and

Religion and cognition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geertz, Armin W.

2008-01-01

This is an introductory article in a special issue of a bulletin for researchers and teachers in religion in the USA. The article sketches the main positions and recent trends in the cognitive science of religion, and it attempts to attract scholars of religion to this field. It also profiles...

AHP 28: Review: Tibet A History

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Ivette Vargas-O'Bryan

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Sam van Schaik, a lecturer at London's School of Oriental and African Studies, the British Library's expert on early Tibet, and author of an informative site on early Tibet, 1 has written a unique, extensive history of Tibet, encompassing the pre-imperial period to the present day. Given that works by Tsering Shakya (2000, Goldstein (1991, 2009, and Kapstein (2006 exist, why is another on the subject necessary? In the present work, the author calls into question many preconceptions the general reader and scholars may have about Tibet in terms of its religion, society, and politics. Anyone who has encountered Tibet is aware that its history is messy. What is most significant about this work is the narrative style, reminiscent of how Tibetans themselves often tell their own stories, colorfully intertwined with intrigue and diversions. This innovative tale of several cultures, cities, and persons reveals insight into the region. At times, this book resembles an intimate novella, rather than a dry catalogue of lists and dates, thus providing an authentic sense of the past.

Citation Behavior of Undergraduate Students: A Study of History, Political Science, and Sociology Papers

Science.gov (United States)

Hendley, Michelle

2012-01-01

The goal of this analysis was to obtain local citation behavior data on undergraduates researching history, political science, and sociology papers. The study found that students cited books and journals even with the availability of web sources; however, usage varied by subject. References to specific websites' domains also varied across subject…

Lived religion in a plural society: a resource or liability

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Ashok Kaul

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Recently there is a renewed academic interest in religion bringing it back on the global political agenda. Religion in the post modern global order is fast emerging as a new organizing principle in the face of multi-polarity, trans-nationality and sweeping pluralisation of peoples. Contrary to the secularist self believe, the modern has failed to take over the tradition including religion. Rather a logical opposite seems to be happening, questioning the very presumptions of the modernity project. The present paper is a narrative on this creative tension in the religious modern and post modern. The paper is crafted into four sections. First section seeks to pin down the genesis of “religious” in the search for social order and consciousness beyond the material world. Second section deals with the unfolding of enlightenment project and its manifest consequence with the birth of secularism master theory. Third section delves deep into the immediate Indian religious lived experiences under foreign rule up to the sweeping spell of globalisation. Fourth and last part of the essay makes a case for universality of a multicultural world and religious secularism.

Teaching Justice and Teaching Justly: Reflections on Teaching World Religions at a Jesuit Liberal Arts College

Science.gov (United States)

Schmalz, Mathew N.

2005-01-01

This paper examines how the teaching of world religions at Catholic Christians institutions can contribute to teaching justice and teaching justly. The paper compares central issues engaged by History of Religions as a discipline with those addressed within the Jesuit tradition of higher education as it developed in the wake of the Second Vatican…

The Impact of the Status of Religion in Contemporary Society upon Interreligious Learning

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Herman Lombaerts

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The author analyses the growing importance of IRL against the background of a changing European society. Based on sociological research, the traditional status of the Christian religion - and the monoreligious education that normally accompanies it - is seriously being challenged by the process of secularisation and the growing plurality or religious attitudes and beliefs among people in the West. Europe has become a complex network of in fl uences that constitute the actual symbolic fi eld employed by people in their search for truth. The interest for religion is still very much alive. People are not endlessly indifferent but still hope to fi nd (religious truth and meaning, even if this process has become much more complex today. In this context, interreligious dialogue itself becomes a religious act. The status given by a religion to other religions is of crucial importance for its ultimate credibility. In this line of thought, religious education should transcend both a purely monoreligious approach and a purely objective-comparative (multireligious approach, and instead should cultivate in the pupils - at the very borderlands of the different religious, cultural and geo-political territories - an attitude of practising interreligious dialogue as a religious event.

Culture (and religion in constitutional adjudication

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C Rautenbach

2003-10-01

Full Text Available The faculty of law of the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education in corroboration with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stifttung embarked on a study on Politics, Socio-Economic Issues and Culture in Constitutional Adjudication. The aim of the project is twofold. The first aim is to analyse the influence of political, socio-economic and cultural considerations on the constitutional court’s interpretation and application of the Bill of Rights. The second aim is to develop practical guidelines (based on the findings during the analysing process for South African courts confronted with issues of a political, socio-economic and cultural nature. This article is concerned with initiating discussions of the decisions of the constitutional court with regard to cultural and religious rights.Before we can explore the role of political, socio-economic and cultural (and religious rights in the decisions of the constitutional court it is important to discuss a few preliminary issues. In this article the meaning of culture and religion within the South African context receives some attention. Secondly, some preliminary comments regarding constitutional protection of culturally and religiously based rights will be made.We are well aware that this is a daunting task, not only in view of the seemingly abysmal gap between the applicable constitutional rights and values enshrined in the 1996 Constitution that, in some instances over centuries, brought about customs and practices within “traditional” communities which, seemingly, infringe on certain constitutional values and rights.

A political history of the Indian Health Service.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergman, A B; Grossman, D C; Erdrich, A M; Todd, J G; Forquera, R

1999-01-01

One of the few bright spots to emerge from the history of relations between American Indians and the federal government is the remarkable record of the Indian Health Service (IHS). The IHS has raised the health status of Indians to approximate that of most other Americans, a striking achievement in the light of the poverty and stark living conditions experienced by this population. The gains occurred in spite of chronically low funding and can be attributed to the combination of vision, stubbornness, and political savvy of the agency's physician directors and the support of a handful of tribal leaders and powerful allies in the Congress and the White House. Despite the agency's imperfections and the sizeable health problems that still exist among American Indians and Alaskan Natives, the IHS is an example of one federal program that has worked.

Cultural legacies and political preferences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siroky, David S.; Mueller, Sean; Hechter, Michael

2017-01-01

crucial in explaining the decision to secede, but not in a conventional pocketbook manner. To examine this theory, we analyze the 2013 referendum on the secession of the Jura Bernois region from the Canton of Berne in Switzerland, using municipal level census and referendum data. The results lend support......, ecological constraints such as geography and topography affect social interaction with like-minded individuals. On the basis of both these political preferences and ecological constraints, individuals then make rational choices about the desirability of secession. Instrumental considerations are therefore...... to the theory and suggest one way in which the politics of identity, based on factors like language and religion, can be fused with the politics of interest (preferences for more or less state intervention into the polity and economy) to better understand group behavior....

'Let it Become the Political Religion of the Nation': Liberal Democracy as Public Morality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zoethout, C.M.

2010-01-01

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, European societies reflect a great diversity of different religious and philosophical convictions. In order to guarantee that our future society will be just as varied as today's, attention should not only be focused at the different religions and life

A political end to a pioneering career: Marianne Beth and the psychology of religion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Belzen, J.A.

2011-01-01

Although forgotten in both Religionswissenschaft (the Science of Religion) and psychology, Marianne Beth (1880-1984), initially trained as a lawyer and already in 1928 called a "leading European woman", must be considered as one of the female pioneers of these fields. She has been active especially

PENETRATION OF COLONIAL CULTURES IN INDONESIAN HISTORY TEXT BOOKS OF CLASS XI

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Faidin Faidin

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This paper is commenced by the writing of study background that essentially explains the identity of the author of the Indonesian History Book, Wardaya. Then, it strives to identify the problems contained in the book. As a result, the word penetration is then chosen as the title. Specifically, penetration is a form of mixing between two different cultures either in good or hasty spheres. Correspondingly, the problem under study is on how is the form of penetration contained in textbooks, on special materials pertaining to the Dutch colonialism to Japan one. They ways they entered Indonesia, the system of government, economy, social politics, and religion were analyzed in the form of penetration in all forms of influence. The theory used in this study was the theory of diffusion that explained also the unification of culture. Therefore, the method used as the support to the writing process is a discourse analysis method developed by Hamad. This theory attempted to see and observe the discourses contained in history textbooks. Therefore, the result of this analysis was in a form of penetration implemented by the Dutch colonial in the fields of culture both in the context of the cultural element and in the context of the livelihoods. This form of penetration in this case was found in the economic field. Moreover, the field of economy can be seen in the colonial trade system. With respect to religions, it more concerned on the way a religion was introduced under Dutch colonialism. Therefore, there was a form of penetration of the influence of Dutch religious values on Indonesian society.  In regard to the politics, a system of government necessarily forced the native people to obey the colonial government, and in the same time, the rules were made by the colonial. As a result, Indonesian society that has no certain rules were forced to follow the colonial rules such as, in terms of trade, finance, taxation, rent of land. Those aforesaid facts

Sekularisering og religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Kirsten Margrethe

2015-01-01

Sammendrag: Sekularisering og religion: En studie i fortællingens nøglerolle i folkeskolens religionsundervisning Kirsten M. Andersen Ph.d. afhandling, indleveret ved institut for Uddannelse og Pædagogik, Aarhus Universitet, d. 23. oktober 2014 Indledning Afhandlingens sigte er at bidrage til en...... fortsat udvikling af religionsundervisningen i skolen ud fra en almen pædagogisk interesse. Skolen har sit eget formål og derfor må religion ombrydes, så den gøres pædagogisk. Religionshistorisk, religionssociologisk og antropologisk opfattes religion og kultur i et kontinuum. Det betyder, at religion...... fænomenologiske overvejelser over, hvorfor filosofien har behov for at formulere en religionshermeneutik med henblik på en almen pædagogisk begrundelse for skolens religionsundervisning. I Del: Kap. 2: Afhandlingen indledes med at indkredse og definere både religion og sekularisering som kulturelle og kollektive...

Sex, secularism and religious influence in US politics.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernstein, Elizabeth; Jakobsen, Janet R

2010-01-01

Through an analysis of alliances between secular and religious actors in US politics and a specific case study on anti-trafficking policy, we show that the intertwining of religion and politics in the US comes from two sources: 1) the secular political and cultural institutions of American public life that have developed historically out of Protestantism, and which predominantly operate by presuming Protestant norms and values; and 2) the direct influence on US politics of religious groups and organisations, particularly in the past quarter-century of lobby groups and political action committees identified with conservative evangelical Christianity. The sources of policies that promote gender and sexual inequality in the US are both secular and religious and we conclude that it is inaccurate to assume that religious influence in politics is necessarily conservative or that more secular politics will necessarily be more progressive than the religious varieties.

The return of religion

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S. Griffioen

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Religion is back in Philosophy as a respectable subject. Part 1 first charts what MacIntyre, Taylor and Derrida have meant in this regard. Subsequently, it turns to the Enlightenment to determine what constituted the breakthrough. It is found that even where the Enlightenment gave maximum room to religion i.e. as a civic religion and as “religion of the heart” it still excluded a constitutive relation to a transcendent revelation. Part 2 centres on the religion-faith distinction in reformational philosophy. Similar to the Enlightenment, religion is understood as part of human nature. However, human nature itself is conceived as intrinsically religious and depending for its light on revelation. Secondly, “religion” in this context also encompasses idols and religious substitutes. Thus, it directs attention to shopping malls, football stadiums, health policy, et cetera, as possible contexts of a return of religion. Examples show that this has become a popular approach. However, most of the publications surveyed fail to distinguish between an “analogical” and a “pistically qualified” use of religion, and are open to exaggerations (the shopping mall and football stadiums as temples, etc.. At this junction, the relevance is shown of the religion-faith distinction as well as of Elaine Botha’s theory of metaphors. The epilogue offers an integration of parts one and two.

Adapting to social and political transitions - the influence of history on health policy formation in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Burma).

Science.gov (United States)

Grundy, John; Annear, Peter; Ahmed, Shakil; Biggs, Beverley-Ann

2014-04-01

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Burma) has a long and complex history characterized by internal conflict and tense international relations. Post-independence, the health sector has gradually evolved, but with health service development and indicators lagging well behind regional expectations. In recent years, the country has initiated political reforms and a reorientation of development policy towards social sector investment. In this study, from a systems and historical perspective, we used publicly available data sources and grey literature to describe and analyze links between health policy and history from the post-independence period up until 2012. Three major periods are discernable in post war health system development and political history in Myanmar. The first post-independence period was associated with the development of the primary health care system extending up to the 1988 political events. The second period is from 1988 to 2005, when the country launched a free market economic model and was arguably experiencing its highest levels of international isolation as well as very low levels of national health investment. The third period (2005-2012) represents the first attempts at health reform and recovery, linked to emerging trends in national political reform and international politics. Based on the most recent period of macro-political reform, the central state is set to transition from a direct implementer of a command and control management system, towards stewardship of a significantly more complex and decentralized administrative order. Historical analysis demonstrates the extent to which these periodic shifts in the macro-political and economic order acts to reset the parameters for health policy making. This case demonstrates important lessons for other countries in transition by highlighting the extent to which analysis of political history can be instructive for determination of more feasible boundaries for future health policy action

'I am reading the history of religion': a contribution to the knowledge of Freud's building of a theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Cotti, Patricia

2014-06-01

Could Reinach's Cultes, mythes et religions (1908) have served as a model for the theory of religion that Freud was later to put forward in Totem and Taboo (1913)? This hypothesis has been tested by examining Freud's marginalia in his personal copy of Cultes, mythes et religions. In this way it is possible to reconstitute the line of thinking that led Freud to declare, in late summer 1911, that he had found an answer to the question of the origins of tragic guilt and religious sentiment. © The Author(s) 2014.

Acid rain science and politics in Japan: a history of knowledge and action toward sustainability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ken Wilkening

2004-07-01

This is a pioneering work in environmental and Asian history as well as an in-depth analysis of the influence of science on domestic and international environmental politics. The book is composed of the following chapters. Chapter 2 introduces the general set of concepts used to analyze the science-politics nexus. These concepts are employed in the remainder of the book to track and explain the relationship between science and policy related to the acid deposition problem in Japan. Chapter 3 discusses nature, culture, and the acid deposition problem in Japan. It begins with a brief introduction to the acid deposition problem in general. It continues with an overview of elements of Japan's natural environment and culture that are relevant to its acid deposition problems. This is followed by a quick sketch of the history of science in Japan, which in turn serves as a preamble for describing in the final section the environmental and acid deposition chronologies used to organize analysis of Japan's acid deposition history. The swath of history between 1868 and the present (circa 2000) is divided into five environmental eras and six acid deposition periods. Chapters 4-9 discuss in detail each of the six acid deposition periods. Chapter 10 synthesizes and summarizes what was learned in the process of analyzing Japan's acid deposition history, and draws lessons that might be applied to the challenge of creating sustainable societies in Japan, Asia, and the rest of the world. An appendix describes the present state of acid deposition science in Japan.

On the Origin of Ethics: is Ethics Dependent on Religion?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mindaugas Briedis

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the historical and intellectual linkage between two fundamental spheres of culture – religion and ethics. The theistic ethical perspective and its most radical “supranaturalistic” form are explored. On the other hand, the atheistic position is also revised and the notion of anti-theism is introduced. After that critical analysis is presented on a substantial question concerning the kind of relation between religion and ethics: subordination, assimilation, complementarity or opposition. This question, in turn, demands a careful observance of various religious and secular perspectives, concerning the sources of morality, and poses the problem of faith and knowledge in a new light. Ethical norms constitute crucial part of various religious doctrines and to a certain degree correlate with major shifts in the history of secular culture. However, are these historical and theoretical testimonies sufficient for maintaining that ethics depends on religion and if so, what kind of dependence is it? In the last part of the paper the author formulates a sketch of an answer to a major theoretical concern on the way of reconciling religion and ethics beyond subordination or assimilation. 

Secular Feminisms and Attitudes towards Religion in the Context of a West-European Society – Flanders, Belgium

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Brandt, H.P.

2014-01-01

Ideologies and politics of humanism and secularism in Western Europe historically have a tensioned relationship with religion as well as with feminism and the women's movement. In this article, I aim to demonstrate the multiplicity and complexity of several recent secular feminist responses to

Health Care between Medicine and Religion : The Case of Catholic Western Germany around 1800

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Bruchhausen, Walter

2007-12-01

Full Text Available The current revision of the relationship between religion and medicine in the ‘post-secular’ or ‘desecularised’ society invites a new look on their function for each other at the beginning of the modern era, i.e. the political and economic secularisation during the dissolution of the Ancient Empires in Europe. Exemplified by the Prince-Archbishoprics of Western Germany, the consequences of the church’s change from state power to mere pastoral care are demonstrated for the three groups of Catholic physicians in academic medicine, priests in rural health care and nuns in nursing. During the turn from the enlightenment idea of religion serving medicine to the romantic concept of medicine contributing to religion their activities shifted dramatically: Whereas more members of religious congregations entered nursing than before, priests had to give up any medical work and Christian doctors were forced to cope with the separation between academic medicine and the religious world view.

Is Asia a 'Post-Religional' Society? The Post-Religional Paradigm and its Others

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Daniel Franklin Estepa Pilario

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the relevance and applicability of the 'post-religional paradigm' as proposed by EATWOT (Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians in the Asian contexts. It also inquires on how the Asian phenomenon and its interpretations relate to the crisis of religions in Western societies. It attempts to answer this problematic through four steps: a summary of the theological proposal and its relationship with the Western sociologies of religion; a search for a viable framework with which to understand religions in post-secular societies; discussion on the "discourses of Asia" and the corresponding view on religion; an elaboration of my preferred framework with some examples from the Asian situation. I argue that a viable theological proposal on post-religional paradigm should start from the analysis of how religious discourses and practices navigate with concrete socio-historical forces on the ground. Consequent to this view is the assertion that there is no universal sociology/theology of religion's development but multiple and complex religious discourses in specific contexts.

[Religion and brain functioning (part 1): are our mental structures designed for religion?].

Science.gov (United States)

Kornreich, C; Neu, D

2010-01-01

Religions are seen everywhere in the world. Two main theories are competing to explain this phenomenon. The first one is based on the assumption that our cognitive structures are predisposing us to nurture religious beliefs. Religion would then be a by-product of mental functions useful for survival. Examples of these mental functions are children credulity, anthropomorphism and teleology. The second one hypothesizes that religion is maintained trough direct adaptation benefits occurring in cooperation exchanges. In particular, religion could function as an insurance mechanism given by the religious group. It is likely that both theories are complementary and useful to explain why religion is a universal phenomenon in the human species.

Danish Regulation of Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christoffersen, Lisbet; Vinding, Niels-Valdemar

Presentation and analysis of current and upcoming conflicts in relations between religion and family; labour market; religion in the public sphere and state support to religion. Part of a comparative European analysis in the context of www.religareproject.eu. based on 18 Danish elite interviews...

Religion, civil society and conflict: What is it that religion does for and to society?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaco Beyers

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Human consciousness instinctively tries to make sense of reality. Different human interpretations of reality lead to a world consisting of multiple realities. Conflict occurs when differing realities (worldviews encounter one another. Worldviews are socially created and determine human behaviour and, as such, most often find expression in religion. The discussion of conflict and the role of religion in civil society take place within the discourse of the sociology of religion. Religion is socially determined. Peter Berger’s insight into the sociology of religion therefore plays an important role in establishing the relationship between religion and civil society as one that takes on different forms. Thus, a clear definition of both civil society and religion was needed to understand the nature of these relationships. The role of religion in civil society with regard to the presence of conflict in society was further investigated in this article. The conditions under which conflict in society occurs were discussed, as were the conditions for tolerance in society, for religion ultimately becomes the provider of moral discernment when conflict occurs in civil society.

A Survey of the Origin and Evolution of Religion from the Points of View Edward Tylor and James Frazer

OpenAIRE

Alireza khajegir

2015-01-01

As a universal human phenomenon, religion is rooted in human nature, and human beings instinctively require a superior and supreme power. Besides this internal need for religion, attention to the meaning, function, and interpretation of religion has always been prevalent in the history of human thought from West to East, and scholars have always tried to comment on and analyze this fundamental issue of human life .  From among the approaches that arose about the interpretation and ex...

The Identity Politics of the Minority in Knitting the Constitutionality (The Legal review of Sunda Wiwitan Community of Cigugur, Kuningan, West Java

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Sarip Sarip

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract The Identity Politics of Sunda Wiwitan community, which nowadays is rated as a form of self-preservation to meet the economic needs of families, has been considered to get restraints from the state. The economic needs makes the identity politics as a means to save oneself. The Identification card, which is known as KTP and in which there is a religion column, has created discrimination of the identity for the Sunda Wiwitan Community (KSW. The obedience to the teachings of the ancestors is still run by the KSW but to save the economy, the status of the religion is willingly written to be recognized as other religions by the state. There is no other way to save the economic life for the sake of the family survival than to fill in the religion column with the the state-recognized religions. The situation is certainly influential for the KSW against other identities such as marriage and education cards. The discussion uses the result that comes from the interviews and some literature. Then the result becomes something ideal for KSW to save themselves in the economic field by changing the identity on the ID card. It is the way from KSW in passing the identity politics to meet the economic needs while the other side becomes the weakness of the Indonesian national law that does not provide any space for KSW in order to have equal opportunity as the Indonesian citizen.   Keywords: The Identity Politics, KSW, Constitutionality.

Rationality and religion in the public debate on embryo stem cell research and prenatal diagnostics.

Science.gov (United States)

Myskja, Bjørn K

2009-06-01

Jürgen Habermas has argued that religious views form a legitimate background for contributions to an open public debate, and that religion plays a particular role in formulating moral intuitions. Translating religious arguments into "generally accessible language" (Habermas, Eur J Philos 14(1):1-25, 2006) to enable them to play a role in political decisions is a common task for religious and non-religious citizens. The article discusses Habermas' view, questioning the particular role of religion, but accepting the significance of including such counter-voices to the predominant views. Furthermore it is pointed out that not only religious but also numerous secular views stand in need of translation to be able to bear on policy matters. Accepting Habermas' general framework, I raise the question whether experts (such as clinicians working in relevant specialised areas of care) participating in political debates on biomedical issues have a duty to state their religious worldview, and to what extent the American government decision to restrict embryo stem cell research is an illegitimate transgression of the State-Church divide.

Trisection of forces: gender, religion and the state--the case of state-run religious schools in Israel.

Science.gov (United States)

Herzog, Hanna

2006-06-01

This article discusses the theoretical claims that 'gender', 'religion' and 'state' are not universal nor essentialist entities, but rather contingent phenomena embedded in time, place, and changing historical circumstances. Historical analysis of social processes reveals the complex relations between the three categories, as they individually and as a whole are re/constituted as changing co-tangential and often unpredictable phenomena. One case study presented in this article that of state-run religious schools in Israel demonstrates how state, religion and gender intersect. Through the analysis presented here, we see examples of the permeable boundaries between these social categories as well as the inter-relationships and unintended consequences of the interplay between the three. Paradoxically, graduates of these schools, especially women, have evolved from being members of a marginalized - even ignored - social category, to being active participants in the religious and political life of their community and in the political struggle over state policy regarding the future of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

ISLAMIC PARTIES AND THE POLITICS OF CONSTITUTIONALISM IN INDONESIA

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Mukrimin Mukrimin

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This article examines the relationship between religion and the state in Indonesia by exploring how Islam is used by political parties to shape the politics. The study shows that Islamic politics is a complementary in both nationhood and statehood in Indonesia. From the early days of the new-born nation-state, Muslims in Indonesia had played significant role in shaping the nation; nonetheless, they have never dominated the political power. Fragmentation among Muslims themselves and internal political parties is among the reason why religious (Islamic parties failed in bringing religious identity to the state arena. Political subordination-inclusion-ignorance-confrontation is the circular game that features Islamic politics in Indonesia. The debatable issue on shari‘ah law, which is frequently used by Islamic parties, always becomes the core problem of the relation between Islam and the state. Even though Islam has played an important role in colouring the Indonesian politics, its existence remains complementary.

Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Niels Rosendal

2017-01-01

Anmeldelse af Niels Reehs "Secularization Revisited. Teaching of Religion and the State of Denmark" med afsæt i de nutidige kampe om kristendom og islam og med fremhævelse af Reehs forståelse af staten/religionen som en 'survival unit'.......Anmeldelse af Niels Reehs "Secularization Revisited. Teaching of Religion and the State of Denmark" med afsæt i de nutidige kampe om kristendom og islam og med fremhævelse af Reehs forståelse af staten/religionen som en 'survival unit'....

Religion as a Risk Factor for Suicide Attempt and Suicide Ideation Among Depressed Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, Ryan E; Brent, David; Mann, J John; Burke, Ainsley K; Grunebaum, Michael F; Galfalvy, Hanga C; Oquendo, Maria A

2016-11-01

We aimed to examine the relationship between religion and suicide attempt and ideation. Three hundred twenty-one depressed patients were recruited from mood-disorder research studies at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Participants were interviewed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders, Columbia University Suicide History form, Scale for Suicide Ideation, and Reasons for Living Inventory. Participants were asked about their religious affiliation, importance of religion, and religious service attendance. We found that past suicide attempts were more common among depressed patients with a religious affiliation (odds ratio, 2.25; p = 0.007). Suicide ideation was greater among depressed patients who considered religion more important (coefficient, 1.18; p = 0.026) and those who attended services more frequently (coefficient, 1.99; p = 0.001). We conclude that the relationship between religion and suicide risk factors is complex and can vary among different patient populations. Physicians should seek deeper understanding of the role of religion in an individual patient's life in order to understand the person's suicide risk factors more fully.

Back to the future: The AMA and religion, 1961-1974.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Daniel T; Curlin, Farr A; Wolenberg, Kelly M; Sulmasy, Daniel P

2014-12-01

U.S. medical scholarship and education regarding religion and spirituality has been growing rapidly in recent years. This rising interest, however, is not new; it is a renewal of significant interweavings that date back to the mid-20th century. In this Perspective, the authors draw attention to the little-known history of organized medicine's engagement with religion from 1961 to 1974. Relying on primary source documents, they recount the dramatic rise and fall of the Committee on Medicine and Religion (CMR) at the American Medical Association (AMA). At its height, there were state-level committees on medicine and religion in 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and there were county-level committees in over 800 county medical societies. Thousands of physicians attended annual conferences for clinicians and clergy, and direct outreach to patients included a film viewed by millions. The CMR arose in the context of rapid medical advances, the growth of professional chaplaincy, and concern for declining "humanism" in medicine-conditions with parallels in medicine today. The CMR was brought to a puzzling end in 1972 by the AMA's Board of Trustees. The authors argue that this termination was linked to the AMA's long and contentious debate on abortion. They conclude with the story's significance for today's explorations of the intersection of spirituality, religion, and medicine, focusing on the need for mutual respect, transparency, and dialogue around the needs of patients and physicians.

The Body Politic in Pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Linker, Beth

2017-01-01

In his 2015 book Pain: A Political History, Keith Wailoo demonstrates how a medicalized condition became central to defining party politics in the United States from World War II down to the present. Drawing on sources ranging from postwar Congressional hearings concerning the veteran welfare state to debates surrounding Rush Limbaugh's OxyContin addiction, Wailoo offers a fresh analysis of both U.S. political history and medical history, showing how today's highly polarized party system emerged in part from debates surrounding the existence and worth of pain, as well as its management.

Critique with Limits—The Construction of American Religion in BioShock: Infinite

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Jan Wysocki

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Released in 2013, BioShock: Infinite is a blockbuster first-person shooter which explores topics of American nationalism and religion. This article examines how religion is represented within the game and how motifs from American religious history are used to construct its game world. After an overview of the game’s production process and a literature review, several specific religious and historical motifs are discussed. Through a dissection of the aesthetic and narrative dimensions of the game, the article analyzes elements of religious history from which the developers of Infinite drew their inspiration, such as the biblical motif of Exodus or the still-popular concept of millennialism. The analysis shows how the game uses familiar but simultaneously transformed American imagery, such as a religiously legitimated American Exceptionalism in which George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin are worshiped as saintly figures. Infinite plays with popular notions of evangelical religion, mixed with themes related to so-called dangerous cults and sects. In this construction, Infinite strangely vacillates between a biting liberal caricature of religiously fueled nationalism and a nod to widespread moderate mainstream values in which unusual religious movements are negatively portrayed. The article argues that a critique of a mainstream religious movement such as evangelical Christianity is not possible for a multi-billion-dollar industry which is wary of critical topics that may potentially estrange its broad consumer base. In such instances, critique can only be applied to forms of religion that are already viewed as strange by the popular discourse.

What is religion? an African understanding

OpenAIRE

Beyers, Jaco

2010-01-01

Western thought has influenced the way that religion is understood. Western philosophy supported the separation between the sacred and the profane. Modernism, focusing on human rationality, reduced religion to a set of correctly formulated dogmas and doctrines. Western thought, dominated by Christianity, created a hierarchical structure of world religions through a theology of religions. Can an African understanding of religion make a contribution to the understanding of what religion is? Suc...

The cultural evolution of prosocial religions.

Science.gov (United States)

Norenzayan, Ara; Shariff, Azim F; Gervais, Will M; Willard, Aiyana K; McNamara, Rita A; Slingerland, Edward; Henrich, Joseph

2016-01-01

We develop a cultural evolutionary theory of the origins of prosocial religions and apply it to resolve two puzzles in human psychology and cultural history: (1) the rise of large-scale cooperation among strangers and, simultaneously, (2) the spread of prosocial religions in the last 10-12 millennia. We argue that these two developments were importantly linked and mutually energizing. We explain how a package of culturally evolved religious beliefs and practices characterized by increasingly potent, moralizing, supernatural agents, credible displays of faith, and other psychologically active elements conducive to social solidarity promoted high fertility rates and large-scale cooperation with co-religionists, often contributing to success in intergroup competition and conflict. In turn, prosocial religious beliefs and practices spread and aggregated as these successful groups expanded, or were copied by less successful groups. This synthesis is grounded in the idea that although religious beliefs and practices originally arose as nonadaptive by-products of innate cognitive functions, particular cultural variants were then selected for their prosocial effects in a long-term, cultural evolutionary process. This framework (1) reconciles key aspects of the adaptationist and by-product approaches to the origins of religion, (2) explains a variety of empirical observations that have not received adequate attention, and (3) generates novel predictions. Converging lines of evidence drawn from diverse disciplines provide empirical support while at the same time encouraging new research directions and opening up new questions for exploration and debate.

Comparative Theology: An Alternative to Religious Studies or Theology of Religions?

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Betül AVCI

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the relationship between Comparative Theology, Religious Studies and Theology of Religions and questions whether Comparative Theology is an alternative to the last two. Comparative Theology, a faith seeking understanding practice, may be viewed as an alternative to the Enlightenment ideal of Religious Studies, which seeks “impartiality” and “scientific objectivity” in contrast to Comparative Theology’s enquiry into “truth” and “meaning.” I suggest, however, that the comparative method employed by both Religious Studies and Comparative Theology is not a neutral space. Hence, the new comparativism in Religious Studies reinstates its search for understanding and its political stand, which blurs the boundaries between Comparative Theology and Religious Studies. Likewise, while Comparative Theology is distinct from the Theology of Religions, it does not pose an alternative to it because Comparative Theology, too, often embodies either a pluralist or an inclusivist approach.

CATHOLICS, MUSLIMS, AND GLOBAL POLITICS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

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Sumanto Al Qurtuby

2012-07-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the role of Catholics, Muslims, and civic associations in the global politics of the Philippines and Indonesia. The two countries have shared in common with regard to the geographical feature (both are archipelagic countries, the diversity of societies and cultures, and the history of colonialism, dictatorship, ethno-religious violence, and political movement, to name but a few. In addition to their similarities, both countries also have significant differences in particular pertaining to religious dominance (the Philippines dominated by Catholicism, while Indonesia by Islam and the structure of their societies: while the Philippines is a class-stratified society, Indonesia has long been ideologized by colonial and post-colonial religious and political powers. Apart from their parallels and distinctions, religion—both Catholicism and Islam—has marvellous role, negatively or positively, in global politics and public cultures, indicating its vigor and survival in global political domains. This comparative paper, more specifically, examines the historical dynamics of the interplay between religion, civil society, and political activism by using the Philippines and Indonesia as a case study and point of analysis.[Artikel ini mendiskusikan peran Katolik, Muslim dan asosiasi warga dalam politik global di dua negara; Indonesia dan Filipina. Kedua negara tersebut memiliki kesamaan, baik dalam hal ciri geografis sebagai negara kepulauan, keragaman masyarakat dan budayanya, sejarah kolonialisme, pemerintahan diktator, kekerasan etnik-agama, serta gerakan keagamaan. Terlepas dari kesamaan tersebut, keduanya memiliki perbedaan, utamanya menyangkut agama dominan (di Filipina didominasi oleh Katolik, sementara di Indonesia oleh Islam dan struktur masyarakatnya (Filipina ditandai dengan stratifikasi masyarakat berdasarkan klas sosial, sementara di Indonesia ditandai dengan ideologi agama kolonial, paska-kolonial, politik. Terlepas

Indiana Studies: Hoosier History, Government, and People. Unit III: From Sectional Division to Political Unity.

Science.gov (United States)

Barger, Harry D.; And Others

Unit 3 of a six-unit series on Indiana state history designed to be taught in Indiana secondary schools tells the story of Indiana from 1829 to 1908. Chapter 1 discusses national issues in an Indiana context. The effects of social movements such as Abolition, the underground railroad, and the Fugitive Slave Law on Indiana politics are examined.…

Hunter-Gatherers and the Origins of Religion.

Science.gov (United States)

Peoples, Hervey C; Duda, Pavel; Marlowe, Frank W

2016-09-01

Recent studies of the evolution of religion have revealed the cognitive underpinnings of belief in supernatural agents, the role of ritual in promoting cooperation, and the contribution of morally punishing high gods to the growth and stabilization of human society. The universality of religion across human society points to a deep evolutionary past. However, specific traits of nascent religiosity, and the sequence in which they emerged, have remained unknown. Here we reconstruct the evolution of religious beliefs and behaviors in early modern humans using a global sample of hunter-gatherers and seven traits describing hunter-gatherer religiosity: animism, belief in an afterlife, shamanism, ancestor worship, high gods, and worship of ancestors or high gods who are active in human affairs. We reconstruct ancestral character states using a time-calibrated supertree based on published phylogenetic trees and linguistic classification and then test for correlated evolution between the characters and for the direction of cultural change. Results indicate that the oldest trait of religion, present in the most recent common ancestor of present-day hunter-gatherers, was animism, in agreement with long-standing beliefs about the fundamental role of this trait. Belief in an afterlife emerged, followed by shamanism and ancestor worship. Ancestor spirits or high gods who are active in human affairs were absent in early humans, suggesting a deep history for the egalitarian nature of hunter-gatherer societies. There is a significant positive relationship between most characters investigated, but the trait "high gods" stands apart, suggesting that belief in a single creator deity can emerge in a society regardless of other aspects of its religion.

John Milton: Puritan Tradition and Political Languages in XVIIth Century

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Laura MITAROTONDO

2015-06-01

Full Text Available It is not simple to place John Milton in a specific political current of the English historical context of 17th century. In detail, we want to study Milton’s prose works to extract the topics of the English civic and political tradition in the First Revolution age. In these terms, we’ll analyze the Commonplace Book, a collection of commentaries about texts and authors, and about various subjects: the interpretations of Machiavelli in the Old English tradition of the Modern age, the idea of man’s freedom and his relationship with natural law and political authority, according to the general perspective of the Puritan religion, which characterizes Milton’s political language.

H R Trevor-Roper vs. Arnold Toynbee: A post-Christian Religion and a new Messiah in an age of reconciliation?

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Frederick Hale

2005-10-01

Full Text Available That the twentieth century witnessed massive secularisation in Europe and certain other parts of the world is beyond dispute, as is the fact that the general phenomenon of religion and its role as a factor shaping history remain potent on a broad, international scale. There is no consensus, however, about the future place or status of Western Christian civilisation or �Christendom� in a shrinking and pluralistic world also struggling with the challenge of reconciliation. During the 1950s two controversial giants of� British historiography, Arnold Toynbee and HR Trevor-Roper clashed on this issue. Their severe differences of opinion were conditioned in part by the Cold War, general retreat of imperialism from Africa and Asia, and the growth of the economic, military, and political power of previously colonised or otherwise subjugated nations.

Academic Politics and the History of Criminal Justice Education. Contributions in Criminology and Penology, No. 46.

Science.gov (United States)

Morn, Frank

This book reviews the history of academic criminal justice--the studying and teaching of crime, police, law and legal processes, and corrections--from 1870 to the present. The nine chapters have the following titles: (1) "Introduction: Academic Politics and Professionalism, 1870-1930"; (2) "Progressivism and Police Education,…

Religion and morality.

Science.gov (United States)

McKay, Ryan; Whitehouse, Harvey

2015-03-01

The relationship between religion and morality has long been hotly debated. Does religion make us more moral? Is it necessary for morality? Do moral inclinations emerge independently of religious intuitions? These debates, which nowadays rumble on in scientific journals as well as in public life, have frequently been marred by a series of conceptual confusions and limitations. Many scientific investigations have failed to decompose "religion" and "morality" into theoretically grounded elements; have adopted parochial conceptions of key concepts-in particular, sanitized conceptions of "prosocial" behavior; and have neglected to consider the complex interplay between cognition and culture. We argue that to make progress, the categories "religion" and "morality" must be fractionated into a set of biologically and psychologically cogent traits, revealing the cognitive foundations that shape and constrain relevant cultural variants. We adopt this fractionating strategy, setting out an encompassing evolutionary framework within which to situate and evaluate relevant evidence. Our goals are twofold: to produce a detailed picture of the current state of the field, and to provide a road map for future research on the relationship between religion and morality. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Beyond Freud in psychoanalytic psychology of religion? On the discussion of religion as projection

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Belzen, J.A.

2010-01-01

In 1907, Sigmund Freud initiated the psychoanalytic psychology of religion, until the present day the most important contributor to the psychology of religion literature in general, and the branch of psychological critique of religion best known outside of psychology circles (having drawn attention

Religion 2.0

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, René Dybdal

17 artikler som hver især fremviser og diskuterer aktuelle temaer i forhold til religion i Danmark i dag......17 artikler som hver især fremviser og diskuterer aktuelle temaer i forhold til religion i Danmark i dag...

History of Sport and Physical Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Louise, Ed.

The reports from this conference deal with the sources, manifestations, and influences of sports and physical education over time, geography, and cultures. Written in a non-technical manner, the twenty-eight articles deal with the relationship of sports to (among others) politics, art, dance, mythology, religion, economics, sociology, and…

The Political History of European Integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schulz-Forberg, Hagen; Stråth, Bo

This book adopts a historical perspective to explore the tensions between the idea of a European democracy through a European market, and the observations that there are signs of increasing social disintegration, political extremism and populism in the wake of economic integration. It was shortli......This book adopts a historical perspective to explore the tensions between the idea of a European democracy through a European market, and the observations that there are signs of increasing social disintegration, political extremism and populism in the wake of economic integration...

History of Great Ideas: An Honors Seminar.

Science.gov (United States)

Terrill, Marty; And Others

The History of Great Ideas is an interdisciplinary seminar course for sophomore honor students at North Arkansas Community Technical College that teaches the intellectual history of western civilization. Each semester, students study 14 ideas from science, philosophy, history, religion, sociology, and economics to discover how philosophical…

Religion and finance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Renneboog, L.D.R.; Spaenjers, C.; Baker, H.K.; Nofsinger, J.R.

2012-01-01

Individuals' economic attitudes are frequently observed to vary in a systematic manner with religious affiliation or religiosity. As a consequence, religion is also correlated with a range of financial-economic outcomes. Research has established the importance of religion at the macro-economic

Counter-Memory, Heterochronia, and “History Painting” (After Géricault: Dierk Schmidt’s SIEV-X—On a Case of Intensified Refugee Politics

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Veronica Tello

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This essay examines the disruption of linear time in experimental forms of “history painting” as represented by Dierk Schmidt’s SIEV-X—On a Case of Intensified Refugee Politics (2001-2005. It analyses how the aesthetics of heterochronoia—multiple temporalities—play a crucial role in the development of a new understanding of the politics of “history painting.” As Schmidt’s work reveals, a radical conception of history exists outside the “singular moment,” and in dialogue with heterogenous visual cultures (news media, art history, advertising. In attempting to understand the import of Schmidt’s work, this essay considers his methodologies for creating a heterochronous mode of history painting, particularly his anachronistic engagement with the work of Theodore Géricault and the iconic history painting, The Raft of the Medusa. Unlike previous critical responses to Schmidt’s work, this paper argues that (after Géricault the artist’s use of investigative “journalistic” methodologies for SIEV-X—On a Case of Intensified Refugee Politics do not generate an aesthetics of exposé but rather an aesthetics of “fictionalization.” This aesthetic is defined by the recalibration of documentary and speculative data as a means to reconceive the landscape of the perceptual. The findings of this research demonstrate that the use of disparate fragments—or data—to visualize otherwise diminishing historical events underpins contemporary history painting’s capacity for advancing a distinct economy of affect that circumvents the limitations of the news media and its “monopoly on reality.”

JOURNAL OF RELIGION 2014 CURVEEE

African Journals Online (AJOL)

IK

religion specifically x-rays the role religion play in nation-building. Since ... been found to be positively neglected to such organizational characteristics, as ... However, the power of religion to perform its function in any society depends on.

The Relationship between Islam and Democracy in Turkey: Employing Political Culture as an Indicator

Science.gov (United States)

Toros, Emre

2010-01-01

During the last decade the agenda of local and global politics is heavily marked by the encounter of two powerful currents, namely democracy and political Islam. On the one hand Islam as a religion itself is facing a cultural dialectic between a modern and an authentic form, producing a synthesis which is only to be criticized again by a new…

Religious People Are Trusted Because They Are Viewed as Slow Life-History Strategists.

Science.gov (United States)

Moon, Jordan W; Krems, Jaimie Arona; Cohen, Adam B

2018-03-01

Religious people are more trusted than nonreligious people. Although most theorists attribute these perceptions to the beliefs of religious targets, religious individuals also differ in behavioral ways that might cue trust. We examined whether perceivers might trust religious targets more because they heuristically associate religion with slow life-history strategies. In three experiments, we found that religious targets are viewed as slow life-history strategists and that these findings are not the result of a universally positive halo effect; that the effect of target religion on trust is significantly mediated by the target's life-history traits (i.e., perceived reproductive strategy); and that when perceivers have direct information about a target's reproductive strategy, their ratings of trust are driven primarily by his or her reproductive strategy, rather than religion. These effects operate over and above targets' belief in moralizing gods and offer a novel theoretical perspective on religion and trust.

Religion and Globalization in Laos Religion und Globalisierung in Laos

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Boike Rehbein

2009-04-01

Full Text Available According to Eurocentric sociology, modernization is supposed to make religion secular, a functional system, or a private matter. A closer analysis of the impact of contemporary globalization on religion in Laos shows that these tendencies can only be observed in certain social groups and in certain realms of religion. Some social groups preserve or reinvent religious traditions, others construct a new identity, and some do tend towards secularism or differentiation. The paper investigates these tendencies, referring to an empirical case study. It proposes to explain them within a conceptual framework adapted to societies of the global South which focuses on the concepts of social structure, division of work, socioculture, and institution. On the basis of these concepts, the paper proposes to distinguish between different religious realms, namely, belief, performance, and knowledge. In each of these three realms, different tendencies and social distributions can be observed. Der eurozentrischen Soziologie zufolge wird Religion im Zuge der Modernisierung entweder säkularisiert oder privatisiert oder in ein funktionales System verwandelt. Eine genauere Analyse des Einflusses, den die gegenwärtige Globalisierung auf die Religion in Laos ausübt, zeigt jedoch, dass diese Tendenzen auf bestimmte soziale Gruppen und Aspekte der Religion beschränkt sind. Einige soziale Gruppen bewahren oder rekonstruieren religiöse Traditionen, andere konstruieren eine neue Identität und wieder andere tendieren zu Säkularisierung oder funktionaler Differenzierung. Der Aufsatz analysiert diese Phänomene am Beispiel einer Fallstudie auf der Basis eines an den globalen Süden angepassten Begriffsapparats, der um die Begriffe Sozialstruktur, Tätigkeitsteilung, Soziokultur und Institution kreist. Der Aufsatz schlägt vor, zwischen den religiösen Sphären des Glaubens, der Performanz und des Wissens zu unterscheiden. In jeder Sphäre lassen sich unterschiedliche

Ethics, religion and humanity: Rethinking religion in 21 st century ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Thus, there is a relationship between religion, ethics and humanity. However, more often than not, religion is alleged for being a root cause of all human predicaments; that it provides viable and abundant fuel for conflict such that in every continent of the world, there are troubled spots rooted in religious conflicts. Although ...

Religion til Hverdag

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Dorthe Refslund

2006-01-01

Live rollespil er ikke religion men rollespillet bruges ofte hvor man ellers ville bruge religionens univers fx til mytologisering og ritualisering Udgivelsesdato: september......Live rollespil er ikke religion men rollespillet bruges ofte hvor man ellers ville bruge religionens univers fx til mytologisering og ritualisering Udgivelsesdato: september...

“I Stand Out Like a Raven”: Depicting the Female Detective and Tudor History in Nancy Bilyeau’s The Crown

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Beyer Charlotte

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This article examines the portrayal of female identity and crime in the Tudor period in Nancy Bilyeau’s contemporary historical crime fiction novel, The Crown (2012. Featuring a female detective figure, Joanna Stafford, Bilyeau’s novel forms part of the wealth of contemporary fiction using Tudor history as context, reflecting a continued interest in and fascination with this period and its prominent figures. This article examines Bilyeau’s representation of the Tudor period in The Crown through the depiction of English society and culture from a contemporary perspective, employing genre fiction in order to highlight issues of criminality. My investigation of The Crown as crime fiction specifically involves analysing gender-political questions and their portrayal within the novel and its tumultuous historical context. This investigation furthermore explores the depiction of agency, individuality, religion, and politics. The article concludes that Bilyeau’s suspense-filled novel provides an imaginative representation of Tudor history through the prism of the crime fiction genre. Central to this project is its employment of a resourceful and complex female detective figure at the heart of the narrative.

Science as an ally of religion: a Muslim appropriation of 'the conflict thesis'.

Science.gov (United States)

Yalcinkaya, M Alper

2011-06-01

John W. Draper's History of the Conflict between Religion and Science (1874) is commonly regarded as the manifesto of the 'conflict thesis'. The superficiality of this thesis has been demonstrated in recent studies, but to read Draper's work only as a text on 'science versus religion' is to miss half of its significance, as it also involved evaluations of individual religions with respect to their attitudes towards science. Due to Draper's favourable remarks on Islam, the Ottoman author Ahmed Midhat translated his work into Turkish, and published it along with his own comments on Draper's arguments. Midhat interpreted Islam using the cues provided by Draper, and portrayed it as the only religion compatible with science. While his Christian readers condemned Draper for his approach to Islam, Midhat transformed the 'conflict thesis' into a proclamation that Islam and science were allies in opposition to Christian encroachment on the Ottoman Empire. This paper analyses Midhat's appropriation of Draper's work and compares it to the reaction of Draper's Christian readers. It discusses the context that made an alliance between Islam and science so desirable for Midhat, and emphasizes the impact of the historico-geographical context on the encounters between and representations of science and religion.

Religion, civil society and conflict: What is it that religion does for and to society?

OpenAIRE

Jaco Beyers

2011-01-01

Human consciousness instinctively tries to make sense of reality. Different human interpretations of reality lead to a world consisting of multiple realities. Conflict occurs when differing realities (worldviews) encounter one another. Worldviews are socially created and determine human behaviour and, as such, most often find expression in religion. The discussion of conflict and the role of religion in civil society take place within the discourse of the sociology of religion. Religion is so...

Understanding the anatomy of religion as basis for religion in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2011-07-04

Jul 4, 2011 ... My aim is to approach the problem of religion in and/or education from a different viewpoint. I contend that the ... religion that I proffer to the test by applying it to the South .... Modern humanism is the faith that through science humankind can know the ..... This will be detrimental to their mastering of their.

'Grounded' Politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, Garbi

2012-01-01

play within one particular neighbourhood: Nørrebro in the Danish capital, Copenhagen. The article introduces the concept of grounded politics to analyse how groups of Muslim immigrants in Nørrebro use the space, relationships and history of the neighbourhood for identity political statements....... The article further describes how national political debates over the Muslim presence in Denmark affect identity political manifestations within Nørrebro. By using Duncan Bell’s concept of mythscape (Bell, 2003), the article shows how some political actors idealize Nørrebro’s past to contest the present...... ethnic and religious diversity of the neighbourhood and, further, to frame what they see as the deterioration of genuine Danish identity....

The triumph of politics over wilderness science

Science.gov (United States)

Craig W. Allin

2000-01-01

The National Wilderness Preservation System reflects the triumph of politics over science. The history of wilderness allocation has reflected political rather than scientific sensibilities. The preeminence of politics over science extends to wilderness management as well and is illustrated here by representative examples from the modern history of Yellowstone National...

[The origin, diffusion and development of healing doctrines in medical history--exemplified by homeopathy].

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Josef M

2007-01-01

As a paradigmatic case study of the origin, spread, and development of medical systems, this paper investigates the 200-years history of homeopathy from different perspectives of medical history. On the basis of new research on Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), first, a concise and critical overview on the principles, explanations, and implications of his doctrine is presented. The historical, conceptual, and social background of the founder of homeopathy is then elaborated in terms of history of medicine, science, philosophy, sociology, culture, and ideas, as well as theory of science, theory of communication, and sociology of science. The process of the world wide spread of homeopathy is examined from different points of view, ranging from history of heroes, institutions, professionalisation, politics, economics, religion, and organisations to history of patients, perception, and semiotics. Finally, a comparative approach to the different development and status of homeopathy in different countries results in the extraction of a set of crucial variables, such as charismatic personage, influential patronage, economic sponsorship, political protection, media support, and patients' demand, which might explane a major part of these differences. Eventually, the notorious splits of homeopathy's doctrine suggest the idea that--in analogy to theory of evolution--a variety of concurrent strains (rather than one monolithic block) of a doctrine may prove to be a kind of advantage for survival. In conclusion, acceptance and relevance of medical systems are determined by many factors. Since external ones are usually outweighing internal ones, medical history may offer a broader and more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of their spread and development than clinical trials and scientific objection alone.

The Concept of Neutrality with Regard to Gender and Religion: A Critique Exemplified by the Approach of Martha Nussbaum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cornelia Mügge

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This article is about the meaning and the plausibility of the concept of neutrality with regard to debates on gender and religion in political philosophy. As an example, it takes the Capabilities Approach of Martha Nussbaum, which is particularly instructive as she advocates neutrality between comprehensive doctrines and, at the same time, attends to the challenges posed by gender and religion. Starting from an explanation of the meaning of the concept of neutrality in Nussbaum’s approach, the article focuses on objections against neutrality raised by feminist approaches. It discusses Nussbaum’s defence of neutrality and asks whether it is convincing or not, and to what extent. The article suggests a differentiation between neutrality as an ideal and the attribution of neutrality to actual political norms. It further argues that, whereas Nussbaum’s approach implies the latter conception, the former better corresponds to the basic norm of equal respect.

Ethnicity and politics in the Romanian space. The case of northwestern Transylvania

OpenAIRE

Brie, Mircea

2014-01-01

The ethnic structure of this region has been heavily influenced by the evolution of the various historico-geographical factors and policies. Most of this structure, however, is linked to the evolution of the denominational structure. Ethnicity in this case is closely related to religion. The political reality, the events with political overtones that occurred during these centuries had a direct influence regarding the conduct of processes and phenomena related to the ethno-confessional evolut...

Deconstructing Kimilsungism: A Political and Ideological Analysis of the North Korean Regime

OpenAIRE

Sangiovanni, John James

2009-01-01

This thesis argues that the North Korean model of government is a unique model that is influenced, to varying degrees, by extreme leftist and rightist doctrines, including Marxism-Leninism, Stalinism, Maoism, fascism, and Nazism; and shares at least some similarities with all these established models. Rather than being a mere political model, the North Korean model is a political religion that incorporates traits of each of the above-noted models with Korean mythology, Confucianism, extreme ...

Jaina Religion and Psychiatry*

OpenAIRE

Gada, Manilal

2015-01-01

Jaina religion has existed for thousands of years. Lord Mahavir was the last of the 24 Tirthankaras, 23 having preceded him. The principals of Jaina religion teach us: (1) Self-control, which includes: (a) Control over physiological instinct of hunger and sex; (b) control over desires; (c) control over emotions; (2) meditation; (3) introspection; (4) concentration; and (5) healthy interpersonal relationship. The principles of Jaina Religion can contribute to Positive Mental Health.

Suicide and religion.

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Christopher C H

2014-01-01

Much of the evidence that religion provides a protective factor against completed suicide comes from cross-sectional studies. This issue of the Journal includes a report of a new prospective study. An understanding of the relationship between spirituality, religion and suicide is important in assessing and caring for those at risk.

The Effect of Religion on Candidate Preference in the 2008 and 2012 Republican Presidential Primaries.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradberry, Leigh A

2016-01-01

Thanks to the work of politics and religion scholars, we now know a lot about the relationship between religion and voting in American presidential general elections. However, we know less about the influence of religion on individual vote choice in presidential primaries. This article fills that gap by exploring the relationship between religion and candidate preference in the 2008 and 2012 Republican primaries. Using pre-Super Tuesday surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center, I find that the Republican candidate who most explicitly appealed to religious voters (Mike Huckabee in 2008 and Rick Santorum in 2012) was the preferred candidate of Republican respondents who attended religious services at the highest levels, and that as attendance increased, so did the likelihood of preferring that candidate. I also find that identification as a born again Christian mattered to candidate preference. Specifically, born again Christians were more likely than non-born again Christians to prefer Huckabee to Mitt Romney, John McCain and Ron Paul in 2008, and Santorum to Romney in 2012. Although ideology was not the primary subject of this article, I find that ideology was also a statistically significant predictor of Republican candidate preference in both 2008 and 2012. This robust finding reinforces scholars' prior work on the importance of ideology in explaining presidential primary vote choice. The overall findings of the paper provide evidence that religion variables can add to our understanding of why voters prefer one candidate over another in presidential primaries.

SOUTHEAST ASIA: HISTORY, MODERNITY, AND RELIGIOUS CHANGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sumanto Al Qurtuby

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia, with more than six hundred million populations, is home to millions of Buddhists, Muslims, Confucians, Protestants, Catholics, and now Pentecostals, as well as many followers of local religions and spiritual beliefs. Notwithstanding its great historical, political, cultural legacies, however, the region has long been neglected as a site for religious studies in the Western academia. Aiming at filling the gap in Asian and religious studies as well as exploring the richness of Southeast Asian cultures, this article discusses the dynamics, diversity, and complexity of Southeast Asian societies in their response to the region’s richly political, cultural, and religious traditions spanning from pre-modern era to modern one. The article also examines the “integrative revolutions” that shaped and reshaped warfare, state organization and economics of Southeast Asia, particularly in the pre-European colonial era. In addition, the work discusses the wave of Islamization, particularly since the nineteenth century, as well as the upsurge of religious resurgence that shift the nature of religiosity and the formation of religious groupings in the area. The advent of Islam, with some interventions of political regimes, had been an important cause for the decline of Hindu-Buddhist traditions in some areas of Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia, the coming of Pentecostalism has challenged the well-established mainstream Protestantism and Catholicism, especially in Indonesia and the Philippines. Keywords: history, modernity, religious change, Southeast Asia

Native Americans in Cold War Public Diplomacy: Indian Politics, American History, and the US Information Agency

Science.gov (United States)

Denson, Andrew

2012-01-01

This essay examines the depiction of Native Americans by the US Information Agency (USIA), the bureau charged with explaining American politics to the international public during the Cold War. In the 1950s and 1960s, the USIA broadcast the message that Americans had begun to acknowledge their nation's history of conquest and were working to…

Increased affluence explains the emergence of ascetic wisdoms and moralizing religions.

Science.gov (United States)

Baumard, Nicolas; Hyafil, Alexandre; Morris, Ian; Boyer, Pascal

2015-01-05

Between roughly 500 BCE and 300 BCE, three distinct regions, the Yangtze and Yellow River Valleys, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Ganges Valley, saw the emergence of highly similar religious traditions with an unprecedented emphasis on self-discipline and asceticism and with "otherworldly," often moralizing, doctrines, including Buddhism, Jainism, Brahmanism, Daoism, Second Temple Judaism, and Stoicism, with later offshoots, such as Christianity, Manichaeism, and Islam. This cultural convergence, often called the "Axial Age," presents a puzzle: why did this emerge at the same time as distinct moralizing religions, with highly similar features in different civilizations? The puzzle may be solved by quantitative historical evidence that demonstrates an exceptional uptake in energy capture (a proxy for general prosperity) just before the Axial Age in these three regions. Statistical modeling confirms that economic development, not political complexity or population size, accounts for the timing of the Axial Age. We discussed several possible causal pathways, including the development of literacy and urban life, and put forward the idea, inspired by life history theory, that absolute affluence would have impacted human motivation and reward systems, nudging people away from short-term strategies (resource acquisition and coercive interactions) and promoting long-term strategies (self-control techniques and cooperative interactions). Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Karl Marx, Civil Society And Political Community in the Context Of The Jewish Problem

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Yunus ENTERİLİ

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Today, debates and discourses developed over the concepts of civil society and political society are usually made through religious discourses or religious identities, and the individual emerges as a problem of emancipation. In his “Jewish Question”, which Marx wrote during his youthful period with Bauer’s thoughts, it is thought that the religious identities and rhetoric accompanied the present debate about the emergence of the emancipation of individuals in social and political contexts. It is thought that this problem, which emerged as the problem of individual liberation or citizenship, and which is regarded as a Jewish problem and emerged in different forms in different geographies, is the result of the fact that the religious identities can not be torn from the religious part of the world. Another reason for the lack of emancipation of the individual is the understanding of colonialism that is at the core of the capitalist system. In today’s society, it wants to keep up with the existence of religions or to keep up with the capitalist system and wants to influence the capitalist system with state policies by making itself active in the political arena. Judaism and Christianity in this context religion, the effects of the formation of capitalist society, will be discussed from the rhetoric of Marx and Bauer. The issue of the citizenship identity of the individual in this study will be addressed through the relationship between civil society and political society. There will also be mentioned here some other thinkers (Hegel, Feuerbach etc. that affect Marx’s ideas about civil society and political society, besides Marx and Bauer. Civil society, citizenship, liberation of religion, political emancipation, the effects of emancipation of individuals such as the state will be handled through the Jewish example. Prior to this assessment, a better understanding of the subject will be addressed to the civil society and state relationship

Religion and gender inequality: The status of women in the societies of world religions

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Klingorová Kamila

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The status of women in society is very diverse worldwide. Among many important traits associated with the differentiation of gender inequality is religion, which itself must be regarded as a fluid concept with interpretations and practices ‘embedded’ and thus varying with respect to cultural and historical relations. Admitting the complexity of the issues, some religious norms and traditions can contribute to the formation of gender inequalities and to subordinate the role of women in society. Using an exploratory quantitative analysis, the influence of religiosity on gender inequality in social, economic and political spheres is examined. Three categories of states have emerged from the analysis: (a states where the majority of inhabitants are without religious affiliation, which display the lowest levels of gender inequality; (b Christian and Buddhist societies, with average levels of gender inequality; and (c states with the highest levels of gender inequality across the observed variables, whose inhabitants adhere to Islam and Hinduism.

On Religion and Language Evolutions Seen Through Mathematical and Agent Based Models

Science.gov (United States)

Ausloos, M.

Religions and languages are social variables, like age, sex, wealth or political opinions, to be studied like any other organizational parameter. In fact, religiosity is one of the most important sociological aspects of populations. Languages are also obvious characteristics of the human species. Religions, languages appear though also disappear. All religions and languages evolve and survive when they adapt to the society developments. On the other hand, the number of adherents of a given religion, or the number of persons speaking a language is not fixed in time, - nor space. Several questions can be raised. E.g. from a oscopic point of view : How many religions/languages exist at a given time? What is their distribution? What is their life time? How do they evolve? From a "microscopic" view point: can one invent agent based models to describe oscopic aspects? Do simple evolution equations exist? How complicated must be a model? These aspects are considered in the present note. Basic evolution equations are outlined and critically, though briefly, discussed. Similarities and differences between religions and languages are summarized. Cases can be illustrated with historical facts and data. It is stressed that characteristic time scales are different. It is emphasized that "external fields" are historically very relevant in the case of religions, rending the study more " interesting" within a mechanistic approach based on parity and symmetry of clusters concepts. Yet the modern description of human societies through networks in reported simulations is still lacking some mandatory ingredients, i.e. the non scalar nature of the nodes, and the non binary aspects of nodes and links, though for the latter this is already often taken into account, including directions. From an analytical point of view one can consider a population independently of the others. It is intuitively accepted, but also found from the statistical analysis of the frequency distribution that an

Unity in Diversity: History and Religion in Indonesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Bruce William

This paper, intended as lecture material for university students or as background material for teachers of social studies and world history, assumes that students already have some knowledge about the origins, practices, and beliefs of Islam, but that they have no prior background about Indonesia or its history. The paper describes the diversity…

Al-Bīrūnī: Father of Comparative Religion

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Kamar Oniah Kamaruzzaman

2003-12-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} Abū Rayān al-Bīrūnī is famed as a great scientist and a polymath. The intellectual world, however, is less familiar with the fact that al-Bīrūnī is a great scholar of comparative religion. The religions he studied and the methodology he formulated for a “scientific method” of studying religion are impressive. That his works took place very early in the history of the disciplineof comparative religion, and the fact that no other works of his contemporaries came near in dimension and depth, indeed set him up as the forerunner of this discipline. Abū Rayān al-Bīrūnī should, therefore, be declared the Father of Comparative Religion or Religionswissenschaft.

Plurality of religion, plurality of justice : exploring the role of religion in disputing processes in Gorongosa, Central Mozambique

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jacobs, C.

2010-01-01

Religion is alive, especially - and increasingly - in the global South. What impact does religion have in everyday life as provider of normative orientations? This research investigates the role of religion in disputing processes in Gorongosa, Mozambique, where both traditional religion and

Approaches to the study of religion in Pierre Bourdieu’s social theory

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A V Sitnikov

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article considers Pierre Bourdieu’s approaches to the study of religion: the author analyzes basic concepts of Bourdieu’s sociology of religion and identifies religious spheres and traditions to which his ideas can be applied. The methods developed by Bourdieu, despite their limitations, successfully work in the contemporary studies. Bourdieu’s theory of religion became the starting point for some new approaches, in particular, for the study of ritual practices. His concept of religious habitus allows to analyze the mechanisms by which the religion generates certain practices, conventions, life styles, meanings and values according to its doctrine and experience. Representatives of one denomination usually not only follow the same rules and rituals, but also have a similar taste, life style and perception of religious leaders. The habitus embodies traditions and history of a denomination; it is a means of keeping up practices and their transfer to next generations. At the same time, Bourdieu’s approaches to the study of religion have some weaknesses: his theoretical model is too dependent on the French context and describes mainly the catholic church; his techniques aim to analyze the relationship between the state and the dominant church with its hierarchical structure. Another limitation of Bourdieu’s approach is that he attributes economic logic of supply and demand to the religious activities, and defines religion as determined exclusively to legalize and reproduce unequal and unjust social order. Bourdieu believed that the church was always linked with the mechanisms of social domination, exercise of power and consecration of the ruling classes’ privileges, i.e. with the merits of maintaining social order and legitimizing the power. Thus, Bourdieu credits the producers of religious capital with too much power and capabilities, which they do not really have. In Bourdieu’s theory, religion is an instrument of the struggle

The role of visual appearance in Punch’s early-Victorian satires on religion

OpenAIRE

Janes, Dominic

2014-01-01

Satires on various aspects of contemporary religion can frequently be found in the early Victorian editions of Punch. The more strident forms of Protestant evangelicalism, in the earlier 1840s, and Roman Catholic revivalism, around 1850, came in for particular attack. This pattern was partly the result of a drift in the editorial policy of the publication towards a less radical social and political position. However, Catholicism, in both its Roman and Anglican varieties, was particularly vuln...

The Green Revolution in the World’s Religions: Indonesian Examples in International Comparison

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Thomas A. Reuter

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Similar to progressive political movements, the programs of many religious and spiritual groups today are converging around a shared commitment to address the impending global ecological crisis. The paper explores this convergence by looking at the impact of environmentalist thought on religious discourses in modern Indonesia, the author’s primary research area, and comparing the findings to similar trends elsewhere. The research shows that the environmental movement is causing a transformation in how people understand the character and practical relevance of religion and spirituality today, in Indonesia and beyond. For some eco-spiritual groups, a heightened environmental awareness has become the central tenet of their monistic religious cosmology. The more significant phenomenon, however, is a socially much broader shift toward more science-friendly and contemporary religious cosmologies within the mainstream of major world religions. Islam and Christianity now officially accept that other forms of life have a right to exist and that humanity has a custodial obligation to protect nature. This new outlook rectifies the previous tendency within dualist religions to view nature as vastly inferior and servile to human interests. It simultaneously is a rejection of materialist-scientific cosmologies widely prevalent in late modern consumer societies, which deny any notion of the sacred. This trend in the world’s religions toward a re-evaluation of the cosmological status of humanity in relation to nature and the sacred, I argue, will enhance the prospects of the global environmental movement’s campaign for environmental sustainability.

Overview of religions.

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Nicky

2004-01-01

This article provides a brief overview of 9 religions: Christianity, Judaism, Jehovah's Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Christian Science, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism. Basic information on the origins, language, naming practices, diet, personal hygiene, and dress requirements is provided. For additional information, Web sites for each of these religions are also provided.

History of the Volga Bulgar in the Light of Archaeological Research

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K.A. Rudenko

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The Middle Volga-Kama region played a special role in Russian history. From ancient times this region was an important point for economic and commercial interests of Eastern and Western Europe as well as of the Oriental regions. The Volga-Kama region was affected in one degree or another by the global events of world history – the creation of world empires, such as the Turkic Khanate or the Golden Horde. The key moment of the regional history was the formation of the Volga Bulgaria state in the 10th century. It was a culture formed in the centre of the Volga-Kama region, which for more than two centuries determined the priorities in trade, economics, politics and cultural innovations. The system of settled communities of different organizational levels based on ethno-cultural characteristics of the local population was formed in the Volga Bulgar at different times. In the middle of the 11th century, Islam became the prevailing religion of the Volga Bulgarian population playing an important role in the development of the economic and political foundations of the state. The main development line of the Bulgarian material culture in the 11th–12th centuries was the displacement of ethnic preferences in standardized manufacture within the framework of public handcrafts and prevailing development of the most flexible elements of different ethnic culture. A new ethnos appeared to depend on its ethnic components and its development was largely determined by the initial substrate basis. The stability of this ethnosystem was determined by ethno-cultural tolerance.

Sport and politics in Croatia - Athletes as National Icons in History Textbooks

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Ivan Hrstić

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Strong relationship between sport and politics in everyday life is evident. Research on this topic has usually been concentrated on the relation between sport and nations. Despite that, research on the process of national identity (reconstruction is still relatively rare. Therefore, as one aspect of that process, we have decided to do a research on the role of representation of sport in history textbooks. History textbooks represent an important tool in the construction and dissemination process of „official“ historical narratives in all states and societies, because the nation-states impose themselves as representatives of general public interest and they seek to retain control over school curriculum in order to validate the current system. When it comes to nation-states, one of the main goals of education is (reconstruction of national identity among the youngest members of society. That was one of our initial theses in our analysis of the representation of sport in Croatian history textbooks for the final grades of primary and secondary schools in the period from 1918 to 2014. Our aim was to define the role of athletes and sport in general – both in the process of (reconstruction of national identity and in the context of the process of modernization.

The Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life for Religion and Theology

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Peters, Ted

2012-05-01

This paper asks about the future of religion: (1) Will confirmation of ETI cause terrestrial religion to collapse? "No" is the answer based upon a summary of the "Peters ETI Religious Crisis Survey." Then three questions are posed to the astrotheologian: (2) What is the scope of God's creation? (3) What can we expect when we encounter ETI? (4) Will contact with more advanced ETI diminish human dignity? The paper's thesis is that contact with extraterrestrial intelligence will expand the existing Christian vision that all of creation — including the 13.7 billion year history of the universe replete with all of God's creatures — is the gift of a loving and gracious God.

The liquidation of the church : From Parochial Religion to Religion on Stage

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Groot, Kees

2017-01-01

Is religion dying out in Western societies? Is personal spirituality taking its place? Both stories are inadequate. Institutional religion is not simply coming to an end in Western societies. Rather, its assets and properties are redistributed: large parts of the church have gone into liquidation.

Religion and priests in the Real Academia de Ciencias Morales y Políticas

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Pablo Ramírez Jerez

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, founded in Madrid in 1857, is a multidisciplinary institution where theological and religious studies have been widely dealt about, for more than twenty of its members have been priests or members of the Church hierarchy, so both their incorporation speeches and their academic interventions deal with religion. This article aims to analyze their academic figure as well as their bibliographical production within the Academy.

Disaggregating Corporate Freedom of Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lægaard, Sune

2015-01-01

The paper investigates arguments for the idea in recent American Supreme Court jurisprudence that freedom of religion should not simply be understood as an ordinary legal right within the framework of liberal constitutionalism but as an expression of deference by the state and its legal system...... to religion as a separate and independent jurisdiction with its own system of law over which religious groups are sovereign. I discuss the relationship between, on the one hand, ordinary rights of freedom of association and freedom of religion and, on the other hand, this idea of corporate freedom of religion...

Science as religion: when science becomes (too) irrational.

Science.gov (United States)

Muzur, Amir; Rinčić, Iva

2017-04-01

Science is expected to be objective: however, since practiced and produced by humans, it has to reflect human flows - prejudices, stubbornness, malice, and the tendency to be misused. No wonder an excellent scientist like John Eccles proclaimed science to be among the most personal activities he had known. By analysing a few examples from the history of science (in particular the intellectual development of Van Rensselaer Potter, the American onco-biochemist and bioethics pioneer), as well as the current trend of the evidence-based approach, the present paper will try to demonstrate that denying, distrusting, and opposing science for the sake of religion, as seen so many times in human history, has significant similarities to the overestimation of science we more often encounter in our times.

Writers into Intellectuals, Culture into Politics: Grappling with History in the NRF, 1920-1940

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Martyn CORNICK

2006-10-01

Full Text Available It is now commonplace to view the end of the Great War in 1918 as representing the beginnings of a new world order. The human losses, the vanished empires, the Bolshevik revolution and its lasting consequences, the collapse of the intellectual certainties of the pre-war order, all ensured the irruption of History and Politics into cultural spaces within the European public sphere. The politicisation of cultural spaces was inevitable, given that purveyors of culture—writers and intellectuals—w...

Our grandmothers, excluded from history, preservers and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Our grandmothers, excluded from history, preservers and transmitters of indegenous values: ecomaternalistic approach. ... Journal of Religion and Human Relations ... It further calls for the retrieval of the said hidden histories of women which would hopefully be a lesson for the contemporary and future women.

RELIGION IN FREUD’S APPROACH

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Mukrimin Mukrimin

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This article aimed to examine the essence of religion by using Sigmund Freud’ psychoanalysis. It looks at the Freud’s theories: “the ontogenic” and “the phylogenenic”. The origins of religious and belief traditions, as Freud had mapped, are neurosis, precarious future, and religion’s masculine roots. Freud’s realist approach on religion brought a controversy on the study of religion, i.e., by associating his patients and order cultural phenomena (art, literature, and philosophy. His falsification over religion mad Freud as the most controversial man in his time. For Freud, the truth-value of religious doctrines does not lie within the scope of the present enquiry. It is enough for us, as Freud asserts that we have recognized them as being, in their psychological nature, illusions. Key Words: religion, Freud, philosophy, psycho-analysis.

The Utilization of Local History in Teaching American Religious History: A Gilded Age and Progressive Era North Dakota Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Christopher Neal

2013-01-01

Teachers of college-level courses on American religious history generally leave out the importance of local and regional histories when telling the story of religion in America. The study of local history provides a fertile ground for understanding broad national trends in a local context. This dissertation focuses upon a little-studied religious…

Beyond identity politics: the making of an oral history of Hong Kong women who love women.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Day

2006-01-01

Oral history has long been an important resource for lesbian and other underprivileged groups in advancing identity politics. While there is an increased awareness of social construction of identity and the impact of race and class on the experiences of sexual identities, oral historians have yet to rethink their task in view of poststructuralists' and queer theorists' critique of identity. This paper examines the "Oral History Project of Hong Kong Women Who Love Women" as an attempt to construct histories that respect difference and minimize normalization. It discusses the project's significance in terms of its subversion of the heterosexual/homosexual binary and its queering of the notions of identity, community and coming out. The critique unfolded is one of anti-assimilation and anti-minoritization. doi:10.1300/J155v10n03_03.

New Religions and Globalization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bogen er en antologi af bidrag fra en konference under Research Network on New Religions (RENNER). Med bidrag fra specialister i nye religioner og globalisering fra hele verden introduceres empiriske resultater samt teoretiske og metodiske reflektioner over emnet....

Beyond Evolution: Addressing Broad Interactions between Science and Religion in Science Teacher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Shane, Joseph W.; Binns, Ian C.; Meadows, Lee; Hermann, Ronald S.; Benus, Matthew J.

2016-01-01

Science and religion are two indisputably profound and durable cultural forces with a complex history of interaction. As ASTE members are aware, these interactions often manifest themselves in classrooms and in the surrounding communities. In this essay, we encourage science teacher educators to broaden their perspectives of science-religion…

AUGUSTINIAN MODEL IN THE BYZANTINE POLITICAL THINKING. CASE STUDY: THE ELEMENTS OF POLITICAL AUGUSTINISM IN THE CURRENT ROMANIAN MENTALITY

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ANDREI TINU

2012-05-01

Full Text Available The byzantine society, de jure and de facto heir of the Greco-Roman world, has it’s own philosophy, it’s own structure model and policy thinking. Without doubt, for the New Rome this model is that sprang from the Christian teachings, and as a philosophy it harmoniously blends the legacy of the Roman world with Blessed Augustine’s thinking about man and city which itself is a symbiosis between the acquired pagan knowledge and Christian experience of the latter. The Byzantine fortress (The Empire-n.n. will use religion as the main instrument for political and social consolidation. Religion (Christianity – n.n. is, for the Byzantine monarchy , the path to divinity, immortality... The Byzantine Christianity is not just a "phrase invented by them" as in the words of Eminescu, but a complex mechanism which represents the totality of good concepts about the world and about life of the constantinopolitan city.In preparing this study we started from the model offered by St. Augustine, "De Civitate Dei", a model which compares the two types of cities - people's city, with all its flaws, and the City of God, personified by the Church to which the Christian Roman Empire provides the Regnum. Our study tries to reflect how the model of the two cities becomes a political ideology of the Byzantine Empire and, arch over time, how it is manifested in the public and political mind of the Romanian society. This research tries to increase the understanding of the mental archetypes amongst those who are active participants in public life in Romania. However, we want our message to be disseminated in a wider public and to provide the possibility of assimilation, as much as it can, of the participatory political culture. Thus, the study becomes an attempt of reporting the Byzantine society, respectively the current Romanian society, to the model of the three types of political culture offered by Almond and Verba - participatory, parochial and dependent.

When Religion Becomes Deviance: Introducing Religion in Deviance and Social Problems Courses.

Science.gov (United States)

Perrin, Robin D.

2001-01-01

Focuses on teaching new religious movements (NRMs), or cults, within deviance or social problems courses. Provides information about the conceptions and theories of deviance. Includes three illustrations of how to use deviant religions in a deviance course and offers insights into teaching religion as deviance. Includes references. (CMK)

Does the 'old' media's coverage of religion matter in times of 'digital' religion?

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Teemu Taira

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The study of digital religion and religion in the ‘new’ media, especially in tracing the transformation of communities, ideas, practices and forms of interaction which people tend to classify as religious, has already proved fruitful. What is not well-justified is the assumption that the ‘old’ media does not really matter anymore. This is something to be examined, although the structures and business models of the mainstream media are changing because of the ‘new’, digital media. Furthermore, we need to explore the interactions between ‘old’ and ‘new’ media, what emerges from their convergence, and start theorising about its implications in the context of religion. Some of the things that will be dealt with apply to the media in general. Only some are religion-specific. However, the intention is not to repeat what media scholars have already said about intermediality, media convergence and the relationship between ‘old’ and ‘new’ media. The reflections shared here are rather based on empirical research of religion in the media, especially in the ‘old’ mainstream mass media in Britain and Finland.

Religion is natural, atheism is not

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geertz, Armin W.; Markússon, Gudmundur Ingi

2010-01-01

After discussing evidence of irreligion and the rise of the so called "New Atheism", the authors refute the claim that this poses a problem for the cognitive science of religion and its hypothesis that religion is natural. The "naturalness hypothesis" is not deterministic but probabilistic and thus...... leaves room for atheism. This, the authors maintain, is true of both the by-product and adaptationist stances within the cognitive science of religion. In this context the authors also discuss the memetic or "unnaturalness" hypothesis, i.e. that religion is a "virus of the mind". The authors criticize...... accounts of atheism offered by cognitive scientists of religion as being based on unfounded assumptions about the psychology of atheists, and object to the notion that the natural aspects of religion by corollary make atheism unnatural. By considering human cognition in a semiotic framework and emphasizing...

Nietzsche – Psychologist of Religion

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Remedios Ávila Crespo

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of the following article is to fight some common misconceptions with respect to Nietzsche’s views on religion, and to show that these views are considerbly complex. Starting from the close relation between the human experience of suffering and the need for religion, as pointed out by Eliade, Freud and Schopenhauer, this essay focuses on the continuity between psychology and genealogy in Nietzsche’s analyses of religion and morality, it then responds to the questions about the essence, kinds and limits of the fact of religion, and ends by pointing out the different ontological status of Nietzsche’s principal philosophical positions.

Psychiatry and Religion: Opponents or Collaborators? The Power of Spirituality in Contemporary Psychiatry.

Science.gov (United States)

Jakovljević, Miro

2017-04-01

Religion and psychiatry have had complicated, sometimes neutral or friendly and cooperative, sometimes competitive and antagonistic relations over their long histories. Relations between psychiatry and religion are influenced by complex belief systems, each diverse and changing. Psychiatry has often ignored spiritual and religious dimension in health and illness while religions influenced the treatment of mental disorders directly by defining mental disorders as evil spirit possessions and prescribing exorcism as treatment. It has been a long way to prevail looking for natural over supra-natural explanations for mental disorders. Psychiatry and religion as social practices should be regarded as allies against pseudoscientific nonsense and superstitions. This alliance is based on the next evidence: 1. religious and spiritual well-being is an important component of mental health as well as of health in general; 2. research and empirical evidence reveals that healthy-minded and distorted or sick faith are quite distinct in the effects in the lives of the faithful; 3. psychiatrists are professionally expected to always respect and be sensitive to the spiritual and religious beliefs and practices of their patients; 4. religious and spiritual beliefs and practice is very important aspect of person-centered psychiatry. The enduring task for both psychiatry and religion is to enable human beings to live their lives with courage, sense, and optimism, to strive towards creating conditions of well-being and individual, public and global mental health as well as to dispel beliefs and patterns which trap people in lives of misery and mental disorders. Psychiatry and religion in creative dialogues as allies can significantly contribute to the healing of our broken world and promoting compassionate society and empathic civilization. When psychiatry and religion see each other as opponents or even enemies this is only because of their mutual misreading and pseudoscientific

When did religion, cognition and culture emerge?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geertz, Armin W.

2015-01-01

Et bidrag om religion, kognition og kultur i evolutionistisk perspektiv ved en Engelsberg konference om "Religion" afholdt i Avesta, Sverige i 2014.......Et bidrag om religion, kognition og kultur i evolutionistisk perspektiv ved en Engelsberg konference om "Religion" afholdt i Avesta, Sverige i 2014....

The Urgency Of Ijtihad By Judges In Effort Law Invention At The Religion Court In Indonesia

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Kiljamilawati

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The presence of renewals in Islamic law resulting in the emergence of various changes in the social order of Muslims either in relation to ideology political social cultural and so on. It later brings new challenges that must be answered and therefore ijtihad must be continuously made to find a solution to the various problems of new law which is required by Muslims. The type of research is a normative-juridical and empirical research. Normative research is trying to examine the problem of law invention by the judge in the Religion Courts with a case approach. Ijtihad has a very urgent role in efforts to carry out duties as law enforcer and justice by digging follow and understand the legal values that live and develop in the peoples and accommodate the developments of Islamic law. The method of ijtihad by judges in the Religion Court use maqashid al-sharia and maslahah and istihsan method. At the practical level so characteristic inherent in the religion courts persists then should any verdict must include argument of Islamic law sources.

Holocaust Education in the "Black Hole of Europe": Slovakia's Identity Politics and History Textbooks Pre- and Post-1989

Science.gov (United States)

Michaels, Deborah L.

2013-01-01

Holocaust education in Slovakia stands at the confluence of diverse discourses of state and supra-national legitimation. Principles of national self-determination, minority rights, and political ideologies inform and lend credence to how Slovaks' national and state identities are narrated in Slovak history textbooks. For small nation-states with…

Astronomy and Politics

Science.gov (United States)

Steele, John M.

The relationship between astronomy and politics is a complex but important part of understanding the practice of astronomy throughout history. This chapter explores some of the ways that astronomy, astrology, and politics have interacted, placing particular focus on the way that astronomy and astrology have been used for political purposes by both people in power and people who wish to influence a ruler's policy. Also discussed are the effects that politics has had on the development of astronomy and, in particular, upon the recording and preservation of astronomical knowledge.

The history of transdisciplinary race classification: methods, politics and institutions, 1840s-1940s.

Science.gov (United States)

McMahon, Richard

2018-03-01

A recently blossoming historiographical literature recognizes that physical anthropologists allied with scholars of diverse aspects of society and history to racially classify European peoples over a period of about a hundred years. They created three successive race classification coalitions - ethnology, from around 1840; anthropology, from the 1850s; and interwar raciology - each of which successively disintegrated. The present genealogical study argues that representing these coalitions as 'transdisciplinary' can enrich our understanding of challenges to disciplinary specialization. This is especially the case for the less well-studied nineteenth century, when disciplines and challenges to disciplinary specialization were both gradually emerging. Like Marxism or structuralism, race classification was a holistic interpretive framework, which, at its most ambitious, aimed to structure the human sciences as a whole. It resisted the organization of academia and knowledge into disciplines with separate organizational institutions and research practices. However, the 'transdisciplinarity' of this nationalistic project also bridged emerging borderlines between science and politics. I ascribe race classification's simultaneous longevity and instability to its complex and intricately entwined processes of political and interdisciplinary coalition building. Race classification's politically useful conclusions helped secure public support for institutionalizing the coalition's component disciplines. Institutionalization in turn stimulated disciplines to professionalize. They emphasized disciplinary boundaries and insisted on apolitical science, thus ultimately undermining the 'transdisciplinary' project.

Sultanov T.I. Historiography of the Ethnic and Political History of the Jochid and Chaghataid Uluses

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T.I. Sultanov

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Objective: The article is dedicated to basic stages of ethnic and political development of two heirs of the Mongol Empire – uluses of Jochi (Golden Horde and Chaghatai (in Central Asia and their own successors in the 13th–18th cc. Research materials: The sources mainly used in this study are historical works of contemporary Islamic authors: Jamal Qarshi, Rashid al-Din, Wassaf (turn of the 13th–14th cc., al-Omari and Hamdallah Qazwini (14th c., Mirza Muhammad Haydar, Seyfi Çelebi, Amin b. Ahmad Razi (16th c., Abu-l-Ghazi, Mahmud b. Wali, Hajji Khalifa (17th c. and others. Also opinions of leading Soviet and post-Soviet as well as foreign specialists on ethnical and political history of Central Asia (V. Barthold, A. Samoilovich, S. Ibragimov, A. Mokeev, B. Karmysheva, Sh. Ando, B.F. Manz, etc. have been taken into consideration in this study. Results and novelty of the research: The “reference point” of this article is epoch of Mongol invasions and establishment of the Mongol Empire. During this time earlier political and ethnical realities were crushed. Disintegration of the Empire and creation of independent Chinggisid states initiated new turn of ethno- and politogenesis continued until the fall of these states at the beginning of the 16th c. Thus, ethnical and political development of the Central Eurasia was a long-term process, and firstly the terms, which are used as ethnonyms today, reflected political and social but not a national characteristics of their holders. Only after disintegration of Chinggisid uluses of imperial type and appearance of new states (Kazakh khanate, Shibanid states on the territory of Chaghataid ulus, Moghulistan and Moghulia-Kashgaria in the Eastern Turkestan we could talk about formation of ethnical formations, which became a basis for the modern peoples of the Central Asia. Author pays attention to hypothetical nature of many conclusions of specialist in the ethnical history of Eurasia although they

Soteriology on the interface of traditional African religion and Christianity: Engaging Bediako’s soteriology and a soteriological alternative

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Vhumani Magezi

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Many African scholars such as Bolaji Idowu, Mbiti, Bediako and others have posed a question about the interrelationship between traditional African religion and Christianity. Some scholars tend to exalt traditional African religion at the expense of the biblical meaning of salvation, as well as undermining the value of traditional African religion. In seeking to establish the interface between traditional African religion and Christianity, this article engages Bediako as one of the most influential African theologians who has thoroughly considered traditional African religion as a preparation for the Gospel. This approach has a danger of misidentifying the unique place of Israel in God’s redemptive history, as well as diminishing the biblical meaning of conversion and the newness of the Gospel. Thus, in contrast to Bediako’s inclusivism position, the article offers an alternative approach which argues that God’s general revelation in all pre-Christian traditional religions is a non-preparation for the Gospel. This is because in Pauline theology (Rm 1:18–32, general revelation grants humanity a very limited insight into the divine nature.

National holidays. Civic religions and political rituals in the liberal Europe of the «long Nineteenth Century» | Las fiestas nacionales. Religiones de la patria y rituales políticos en la Europa liberal del «largo siglo XIX»

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Maurizio Ridolfi

2004-12-01

Full Text Available In nineteenth-century Europe, the symbolic conflicts involved in the construction of the so-called «civic religions» took place in a public sphere in which rituals from the past were performed with a double aim: that of representing the new bourgeois hierarchies and legitimising liberal institutions in the name of a new national sentiment. With regard to the devising of a calendar of public holidays and with reference to traditional religious rituals in Europe and America, two main patterns were established: these were the French and the North American models, which were conflicting but at the same time shared many common features. A comparative study of the civic religions of southern European countries has produced a classification based on the degree of interaction (or even conflict between traditional religion and the State, as well as the longevity of the nation State and its ability to influence the patriotic education of the ruling classes. Whereas in countries with more firmly established State institutions and a «glorious» imperial past –the case of Spain and Portugal–, a sense of national integration nourished by a return to historical-cultural tradition arose at the onset of decadence, in recently formed nation States – like Greece and Italy - political-military memories of the heroic phase of the fight for national independence acquired considerable importance. On more than one occasion, however, in Spain and Italy for example, the two mythical-symbolic factors (cultural and military combined to represent the national sentiment. In general, the adaptation of dynastic ceremonies to public holidays in the various nation States gave a new definition to political liturgies on different planes, with a complex transition, in some cases even contamination, between the various known models of political festivals: royal under the Ancien Régime, Caesarian under the Second French Empire, and civil and patriotic under the liberal

Religion, Human Rights and Constitutional-Contract Politics in Malaysia

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Marzuki Mohamad

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false EN-MY X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Abstract: The debate about human rights in Malaysia took a new turn in the early twenty-first century when it started to focus on the issue of religious freedom. The proponents of secular-liberal notion of religious freedom argued that religious and racial harmony would be better achieved if Malaysians of all races and religions enjoy absolute religious freedom, which includes the right to renounce Islam. However, the secular-liberal approach to religious freedom, contrary to the expectation of its proponents, accentuates religious and racial division in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Energy - politics - history. National and international energy politics since 1945

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hohensee, J.; Salewski, M.

1993-01-01

All articles focus on historical aspects of the development of energy politics in the Federal Republic of Germany (energy enconomy and industry, hard coal, nuclear energy). Some articles also look at international developments (oil boycott, Saudia Arabias's oil policies, International Energy Agency). (UA) [de

The Role of Culture on Joint Operations

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

McRae, Kenneth D

2006-01-01

.... These estimates would include, but are not limited to: ethnic groups, political authority, cultural attitudes, customs and beliefs, lifestyle, history, religion, language, ideologies, tribal affiliations, and social institutions...

Demographic and Political Influences on the Confessional Picture of East Slavonia

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Antun Šundalić

2003-03-01

Full Text Available East Slavonia is a region with a recognisable agrarian tradition and a culture specific to itself, in which religion has had great importance. Concretely, through a long period of history, Roman Catholicism was the most extensive confession and it has left the deepest traces in the spirituality, and also in the daily life of the area. Despite a dynamic past, frequent changes of states and rulers, penetration of Islam and Eastern Orthodoxy and a large number of other religious communities, Catholicism remained dominant in terms of numbers of adherents and also in regard to its influence on social processes in Slavonia and Baranja. The new historical reality in Croatia emphasised even more this presence of Catholicism. This paper studies the development and proportions of the Roman Catholic population in relation to the Eastern Orthodox and other communities in the example of six cities in Slavonia and Baranja. It confirms that just as at the end of the 19th century, at the end of the 20th century Roman Catholics is the most numerous confession: Roman Catholics make up 4/5 and more of the population. The paper also analyses “phases” in the relationship between politics and religion during the last ten years, and also indicates a more pronounced daily awareness of confessional adherence in East Slavonia, where the traces of the war are still very fresh, and where confessional and ethnic (national affiliations even today remain indivisible.

Grænser for religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lüchau, Peter

2013-01-01

Paper om hvor og under hvilke betingelser danskerne finder religion acceptabel og/eller passende......Paper om hvor og under hvilke betingelser danskerne finder religion acceptabel og/eller passende...

Political psychology.

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Susanna; Johnson, Kate M; Beall, Erica; Meindl, Peter; Smith, Benjamin; Graham, Jesse

2014-07-01

Political psychology is a dynamic field of research that offers a unique blend of approaches and methods in the social and cognitive sciences. Political psychologists explore the interactions between macrolevel political structures and microlevel factors such as decision-making processes, motivations, and perceptions. In this article, we provide a broad overview of the field, beginning with a brief history of political psychology research and a summary of the primary methodological approaches in the field. We then give a more detailed account of research on ideology and social justice, two topics experiencing a resurgence of interest in current political psychology. Finally, we cover research on political persuasion and voting behavior. By summarizing these major areas of political psychology research, we hope to highlight the wide variety of theoretical and methodological approaches of cognitive scientists working at the intersection of psychology and political science. WIREs Cogn Sci 2014, 5:373-385. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1293 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Religion, theology and cosmology

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John T. Fitzgerald

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Cosmology is one of the predominant research areas of the contemporary world. Advances in modern cosmology have prompted renewed interest in the intersections between religion, theology and cosmology. This article, which is intended as a brief introduction to the series of studies on theological cosmology in this journal, identifies three general areas of theological interest stemming from the modern scientific study of cosmology: contemporary theology and ethics; cosmology and world religions; and ancient cosmologies. These intersections raise important questions about the relationship of religion and cosmology, which has recently been addressed by William Scott Green and is the focus of the final portion of the article.

“Ancestors We Didn’t Even Know We Had”: Alice Walker, Asian Religion, and Ethnic Authenticity

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Kyle Garton-Gundling

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Recent debates about the ethics of identity in a global age have dealt with how to prioritize conflicting local and global allegiances. Guided by these concerns, the fiction of Alice Walker develops a distinctive view of how local cultures and global movements can fruitfully interact. This vision depends on concepts from Asian religions, a major influence that critics of Walker have largely overlooked. Walker promotes Hindu and Buddhist meditation in a context of widespread African American skepticism toward Asian religions. According to widespread notions of cultural authenticity, Asian religions cannot nourish an African American connection to ethnic roots. In response to this challenge, Alice Walker’s fiction portrays Hindu and Buddhist mystics as African Americans’ ancestors, thus positioning these faiths as authentically black. By creatively enfolding Asian religions into her sense of African American heritage, Walker builds a spiritual cosmopolitanism that relies on claims of ancestral affiliation even when these claims are not literal. This strategy is Walker’s effort to create a new paradigm of cultural authenticity, one that allows individuals and groups to choose their ancestors. Walker’s approach seeks to incorporate disparate global influences while still valorizing the figure of the ancestor. This innovative approach places Walker at the forefront of a growing number of African American artists and intellectuals who promote Asian religions to American minorities. Walker’s work vividly dramatizes larger concerns in transnational American Studies: Eastern philosophy’s relevance to identity politics, the tensions between universal ideals and cultural specifics, and the ethics of cross-cultural appropriation.

The religion paradox: if religion makes people happy, why are so many dropping out?

Science.gov (United States)

Diener, Ed; Tay, Louis; Myers, David G

2011-12-01

As we estimate here, 68% of human beings--4.6 billion people--would say that religion is important in their daily lives. Past studies have found that the religious, on average, have higher subjective well-being (SWB). Yet, people are rapidly leaving organized religion in economically developed nations where religious freedom is high. Why would people leave religion if it enhances their happiness? After controlling for circumstances in both the United States and world samples, we found that religiosity is associated with slightly higher SWB, and similarly so across four major world religions. The associations of religiosity and SWB were mediated by social support, feeling respected, and purpose or meaning in life. However, there was an interaction underlying the general trend such that the association of religion and well-being is conditional on societal circumstances. Nations and states with more difficult life conditions (e.g., widespread hunger and low life expectancy) were much more likely to be highly religious. In these nations, religiosity was associated with greater social support, respect, purpose or meaning, and all three types of SWB. In societies with more favorable circumstances, religiosity is less prevalent and religious and nonreligious individuals experience similar levels of SWB. There was also a person-culture fit effect such that religious people had higher SWB in religious nations but not in nonreligious nations. Thus, it appears that the benefits of religion for social relationships and SWB depend on the characteristics of the society.

The unborn child: history, philosophy and religion

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Lucan Maria Casandra

2017-12-01

Full Text Available All throughout history the unborn, and implicitly its protection, have been subject for academics and practitioners of various areas. The problem of the origin of the soul and the exact determination of the moment when it is united with the body was crucial in enabling us to define the exact moment when the human life begins, and, consequently, for providing proper protection for the unborn child. In this context visions of the Greek philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas, and of the Latin writer Tertullian, as well as Christian perspectives were analysed in order to identify the starting point of the human being to help determine the level of protection provided for the unborn in history. Finally, considering the fact that not even today has consensus been achieved concerning the beginning of human life, it was and still is difficult to provide proper legal protection for the unborn child, but in our opinion this is by far not impossible.

Roots of political corruption in ancient history

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Deretić Nataša Lj.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Corruption has always been regarded as a special form of enrichment, based on prohibited and unethical grounds. Hence 'political corruption' could be defined as the immorality of the powerful; as the use of political power for the purpose of getting rich without any legal basis. Immorality of the powerful is the root of all the abuses that occur in the society. Those who are at the top of the pyramid of power have been particularly prominent in acquiring as large a fortune as possible. The phenomenon of 'political corruption' has been known in all societies, from the oldest to modern ones. In the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia, there was an established custom of reciprocity between deliberate gifts and requested services. This phenomenon could be observed with Pericles, who is, among other things, attributed the idea of compensation for participation in state affairs. The phenomenon of 'political corruption' is referred to in Cicero's Rome, where bribery as a form of wealth acquisition without legal basis was formally condemned, but also widespread. Even today we can see that there are powerful persons who persist in the violation or circumvention of rules which guide any structured society: their wealth originates from the enormous acquisition of material things, but also the acquisition of various privileges which they are not entitled to, such as titles, promotions, etc. They are the ones who have brought about the demise of the Latin sentence that the basis of any developed society is: 'To live an honest life, hurt no one, and grant everyone their due.'.

Unbelievable?! Theistic/Epistemological Viewpoint Affects Religion-Health Relationship.

Science.gov (United States)

Speed, David

2017-02-01

Research suggests that Religion/Spirituality promotes a variety of positive health outcomes. However, despite reporting lower levels of Religion/Spirituality, non-believers report comparable levels of health to believers. The current study tested the hypothesis that Religion/Spirituality does not have a uniform effect on health for all persons, and tested theological/epistemological categories as moderators. Using the 2012 and 2014 General Social Survey (N = 2670), the relationship between Religion/Spirituality and happiness and self-rated health was investigated. Results indicated that Gnostic Theists experienced Religion/Spirituality more positively than their peers did; Agnostic Theists experienced Religion/Spirituality less positively than their peers did; and Negative Atheists experienced Religion/Spirituality less positively than their peers did. These findings suggested that Religion/Spirituality is not associated with salutary effects for all persons, and that whether a person believes in god(s) and how confident he/she was in god(s)' existence, influenced his/her experience with Religion/Spirituality.

The Politics of Physical Education

Science.gov (United States)

Claxton, David

2012-01-01

This paper, which was given as the Dudley Allen Sargent lecture at the 2012 conference of the National Association for Kinesiology and Physical Education in Higher Education, discusses the politics of physical education. It examines how both national politics and local/campus politics affect the discipline. Drawing from the history of national…

"Modern medical science and the divine providence of god": rethinking the place of religion in postwar U.S. medical history.

Science.gov (United States)

Golden, Janet; Abel, Emily K

2014-10-01

Drawing on a large cache of letters to John and Frances Gunther after the death of their son as well as memoirs and fiction by bereaved parents, this essay challenges the assumptions of secularization that infuse histories of twentieth-century American medicine. Many parents who experienced the death of children during the postwar period relied heavily on religion to help make sense of the tragedies medicine could not prevent. Parental accounts included expression of belief in divine intervention and the power of prayer, gratitude for God's role in minimizing suffering, confidence in the existence of an afterlife, and acceptance of the will of God. Historians seeking to understand how parents and families understood both the delivery of medical care and the cultural authority of medical science must integrate an understanding of religious experiences and faith into their work. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Religion, politics and gender equality in Turkey: implications of a democratic paradox?

Science.gov (United States)

Arat, Yeşim

2010-01-01

This article examines the gendered implications of the intertwining of Islam and politics that took shape after the process of democratisation in Turkey had brought a political party with an Islamist background to power. This development revived the spectre of restrictive sex roles for women. The country is thus confronted with a democratic paradox: the expansion of religious freedoms accompanying potential and/or real threats to gender equality. The ban on the Islamic headscarf in universities has been the most visible terrain of public controversy on Islam. However, the paper argues that a more threatening development is the propagation of patriarchal religious values, sanctioning secondary roles for women through the public bureaucracy as well as through the educational system and civil society organisations.

The "Make Your Own Religion" Project

Science.gov (United States)

Bauman, Chad M.; Hege, Brent A. R.; Kleckley, Russell; Willsky-Ciollo, Lydia; Lopez, Davina C.

2016-01-01

The "Make Your Own Religion" class project was designed to address a perceived need to introduce more theoretical thinking about religion into a typical religion survey course, and to do so in such a way that students would experience the wonder of theoretical discovery, and through or because of that discovery hopefully both better…

Computational and Simulation Modeling of Political Attitudes: The 'Tiger' Area of Political Culture Research

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Voinea, Camelia Florela

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In almost one century long history, political attitudes modeling research has accumulated a critical mass of theory and method. Its characteristics and particularities have often suggested that political attitude approach to political persuasion modeling reveals a strong theoretical autonomy of concept which entitles it to become a new separate discipline of research. Though this did not actually happen, political attitudes modeling research has remained the most challenging area – the “tiger” – of political culture modeling research. This paper reviews the research literature on the conceptual, computational and simulation modeling of political attitudes developed starting with the beginning of the 20th century until the present times. Several computational and simulation modeling paradigms have provided support to political attitudes modeling research. These paradigms and the shift from one to another are briefly presented for a period of time of almost one century. The dominant paradigmatic views are those inspired by the Newtonian mechanics, and those based on the principle of methodological individualism and the emergence of macro phenomena from the individual interactions at the micro level of a society. This period of time is divided in eight ages covering the history of ideas in a wide range of political domains, going from political attitudes to polity modeling. Internal and external pressures for paradigmatic change are briefly explained.

Kant and Demystification of Ethics and Religion

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Qodratullah Qorbani

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Kant's demystification is meant to put away any metaphysical and revealed elements from ethics and religion. Kant, fulfilling this, first argues that metaphysical questions of reason, from theoretical aspect, have no certain answers. In practical reason, he establishes his moral foundations, based on own human being without any referring to metaphysical bases. In fact, Kant places human being as the base, legislator and finally the end of ethics, so that the totality of morality is depended on itself him/her and there is no moral reality out of our humanly understanding. Kant, then, by confirming the necessity of rational religion, believes that the age of revealed religions have been expired, since they were belonged to the childhood age of human being’s reason, while in Kant’s rational religion, this is human being’s subjective intellect that defines the nature and function of God. Therefore, for Kant’s moral and rational religion, there is no credibility for affairs like miracles, blessings and prayers, since they indicate religious misguidance. In Kant’s rational pure religion, the religion is relied on human being’s pure reason in which his/her reason is the only criterion of religious beliefs. Therefore, for Kant, religion means recognizing our duties as divine judgments, and that such religion pertains to our mundane life not for worshiping God in order to get his satisfaction or benefitting his grace. In short, Kant’s religion and morality are totally depended on our humanly and earthy rationality and understanding, and that there is no mystery out of our humanly willing. So the mysteries that are claimed by revealed religions are meaningless, since our reason, itself, determines the nature, function and virtues of God, moral axioms and religious beliefs.

Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

This is a thematic issue of the journal Religion 47 (3) entitled Exploring Aniconism. It contains elleven research articles on the use of aniconism in different religious traditions. Table of Content 1. Aniconism: definitions, examples and comparative perspectives (Milette Gaifman, concluding...

Journal for the Study of Religion

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Journal for the Study of Religion is published twice a year in March and September by the Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa as a forum for scholarly contributions of up to 6000 words on topics of contemporary significance in the academic study of religion, in the form of articles, responses to articles, ...

Is Ancestor veneration the most universal of all world religions? A critique of modernist cosmological bias

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Thomas Reuter

2015-07-01

matter that has been a central theme within the cultural history of Western European thought. I argue for a deeper appreciation of Ancestor Religion as the oldest and most pervasive of all world religions.Keywords

History and Historians in the Soviet Political and Ideological Structure in 1930s – early 1940s (case study: the Siberian Region

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Dmitry V. Khaminov

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In paper deals with the issues of a place and a role of historical knowledge and historians as a special professional community (university professors, researchers and students of the history departments in the political and ideological structure of the Soviet state in the 1930s – early 1940s. The article restores politics of Communist Party and Soviet government in relation to historians on the example of a unique Siberian small region. The Author made an attempt, on the basis of party and government documents as well as archive materials, some of which were for the first time introduced in scientific circles, give a balanced assessment of these processes in the conditions of the most tragic and controversial periods in the Russian history.

Political Repression in U.S. History

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Minnen, C.A.

2009-01-01

The authors of the essays in this book amass considerable historical evidence illustrating various forms of political repression and its relationship with democracy in the United States, from the late-eighteenth century to the present. They discuss efforts, made mostly but not only by government

Multicultural Politics In Governor Candidates Of Dki Jakarta 2017 In Tempo.Co

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Diya Sri Widiyanti

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is how to comprehend the politics of Indonesian people for accepting ethnic, racial, religious and tribal diversity in occupying government seat (governor’s election of Jakarta in the context of multicultural country. This research uses Michel Foucaul’s theory, especially in implementing the discourse of  " indigenous Indonesian leader " in people’s mind.  Foucaul’s critical discourse analyses alone does not fully answer the issues of politics in Indonesia, therefore this research also uses Jacques Ranciere's theory in its democratic spirit and the multicultural view of Bhikhu Parekh. The result of the research are society’s heterophobia of multicultural politics, the emerging burden of multicultural politics in Indonesia, antagonism,  failures in politics, and epilogue, becoming a difference border. The conclusion is, issue of SARA (ethnicity, religion, race, intergroups still exists, especially in a country with multicultural status. Politics and multicultural discourses which do not find the logic of the equation is not the dissensus, but consensus.

Vietnam war literature: reflections of the sustained tension between politics, history, morality and the effect of war on human nature.

OpenAIRE

2007-01-01

Vietnam War literature is a reflection of a sustained tension between politics and history on the one hand and morality and the effect of the war on human nature on the other hand. Although the authors under discussion urge the reader to forget the political, moral and historical milieu of the Vietnam War, it is impossible to separate the war from those three factors and by extension, the literature that stems from it. I have chosen Philip Caputo’s A Rumor of War (1977) and Robert Mason’s Chi...

Inadvertent Evangalisms (Or Not): Teachers' Views on Religion, Religious Beliefs, Positionality and Presence and Their Influence on Their Curricular Choices in the Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Lipmen, Sara-Jean

2017-01-01

There has been very limited research on the possible role religion has in its influence on teacher choices, especially within a Social Science classroom. The purpose of this study was to examine how secondary Social Studies teachers explicitly and implicitly treat religion as a factor in the teaching of history and how their own affinity with/to a…

THE CHALLENGES POLITICAL LEADERSHIP FACES IN THE MODERN WORLD

OpenAIRE

T. N. Samsonova; E. S. Shpuga

2016-01-01

Political leadership is a concept central to understanding political processes and outcomes, yet its definition is elusive. The study of political leadership has a long history. Many disciplines have contributed to this study, including history, philosophy, political theory, psychology etc. Leadership is a process in which leaders and followers interact dynamically in a particular situation or context. Leaders must be able to connect with followers to understand their mood and their initiativ...

Rastafari: Alternative Religion and Resistance against “White” Christianity

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Jérémie Koubo Dagnini

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Depuis le début du seizième siècle, l’histoire de la Jamaïque a successivement été associée à l’esclavage, l’évangélisation, la colonisation et le néo-colonialisme, ce qui a engendré de nombreuses révolutions, émeutes et autres formes d’agitation sociale. Les Jamaïcains noirs ont toujours vécu dans un état de résistance, une mentalité qui a donné naissance, au début des années 1930, à une religion jamaïcaine appelée rastafari. Le but de cet article n’est pas seulement d’étudier les origines et le symbolisme de rastafari, mais également de définir le mouvement rasta comme une religion née en réponse légitime à l’oppression et l’évangélisation. En d’autres termes, cette étude analyse rastafari comme une version panafricaine et afrocentrique du christianisme « blanc ».  Since the early sixteenth century, the history of Jamaica has been associated successively with slavery, Christian Evangelization, colonialism and neocolonialism, which gave rise to numerous revolutions, riots and various other forms of social unrest. Black Jamaicans have always lived in a constant state of resistance, a mentality that gave birth, in the early thirties, to a Jamaican religion called Rastafari. Besides studying the roots and symbolism of Rastafari, my paper is aimed at defining the Rasta movement as a religion born as a legitimate response to oppression and Christian Evangelization. In other words, my work examines Rastafari as a Pan-African and Afrocentric version of “White” Christianity.

Religion and suicide: Buddhism, Native American and African religions, Atheism, and Agnosticism.

Science.gov (United States)

Lizardi, D; Gearing, R E

2010-09-01

Research has repeatedly demonstrated that religiosity can potentially serve as a protective factor against suicidal behavior. A clear understanding of the influence of religion on suicidality is required to more fully assess for the risk of suicide. The databases PsycINFO and MEDLINE were used to search peer-reviewed journals prior to 2008 focusing on religion and suicide. Articles focusing on suicidality across Buddhism, Native American and African religions, as well as on the relationship among Atheism, Agnosticism, and suicide were utilized for this review. Practice recommendations are offered for conducting accurate assessment of religiosity as it relates to suicidality in these populations. Given the influence of religious beliefs on suicide, it is important to examine each major religious group for its unique conceptualization and position on suicide to accurately identify a client's suicide risk.

Religion and stock price crash risk: Evidence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenfei Li

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates whether religious traditions influence firm-specific crash risk in China. Using a sample of A-share listed firms from 2003 to 2013, we provide evidence that the more intense the religious environment, the lower the stock price crash risk, implying that religion plays an important role in Chinese corporate governance. Further, we find that (1 religion affects stock price crash risk by reducing earnings management and the management perk problem; (2 different religions have different effects, and Taoism, in particular, is unrelated to crash risk; and (3 the effects of religion are more pronounced with higher quality corporate governance and a stronger legal environment. Religion constrains the management agency problem, thus reducing stock price crash risk in China. Our paper enriches the literature on stock price crash risk and religion, and on new economic geography.

Pentecostalism, gerontocratic rule and democratization in Malawi : the changing position of the young in political culture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijk, van R.A.; Haynes, J.

1999-01-01

This chapter explores the relationship between the father-metaphor, gerontocratic power, democratization and religion in the context of changing political culture in Malawi. It argues that democratization in Malawi signalled a change in the nature of the dominant gerontocratic power relations

Universality of revealed Law and reflections on religions in Medieval Islamic philosophy: a few considerations

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Sara Barchiesi

2015-05-01

Full Text Available By analysing some Medieval Islamic philosophical theories, this paper aims at investigating the approach adopted by authors such as Avicenna and Averroës in respect of religions different from those of origin (Judaism, Christianism, Zoroastrianism and Sabeism. Moreover, it reflects on the universality of Islamic religion. The author will examine these philosophers' thoughts on prophetic teaching, recalling the Platonic sources from which they were developed, she will motivate the relevance of such thoughts in political science and she will explain their purposes. Furthermore, through a comparison with several scholars who have focused on whether Islamic Law has a conventional or natural status, she will try to investigate the origins of this problem, by examining the universal message that those Islamic Medieval philosophers found in revealed Law and the reasons that led them to present it as addressed to the whole mankind.

Religion, Marriage Markets, and Assortative Mating in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

McClendon, David

2016-01-01

As interfaith marriage has become more common, religion is thought to be less important for sorting partners. However, prior studies on religious assortative mating use samples of prevailing marriages, which miss how local marriage markets shape both partner selection and marriage timing. Drawing on search theory and data from 8,699 young adults (ages 18–31) in the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997, the author examined the association between the concentration of co-religionists in local marriage markets and marriage timing and partner selection using event history methods. Religious concentration is associated with higher odds of transitioning to marriage and religious homogamy (conditional on marriage) for women and men at older ages (24–31) but not at younger ages (18–23). The association was also stronger for non-Hispanic Whites compared to other race-ethnic groups. The findings indicate that religion remains relevant in sorting partners for many young adults in today’s marriage market. PMID:27818530

Oltre il diritto. Per un approccio dialogico tra cittadinanza e religione

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Gianluca Tracuzzi

2016-11-01

ABSTRACT: This article aims at analyzing the relationship between citizenship and religion, taking its inspiration from the Thomas Hobbes’ thought. The Author try to propose a dialogue-based approach between the two different conceptual categories, also considering the fibrillations of today’s geo-political scenarios, starting from the Mediterranean area. In this perspective, he thinks that we need a necessary "transfiguration" of the Leviathan in order to promote – through a fertile dialogue between aims and values – a deeper revision of both the concept of sovereignty and the role of a constitutional State. Which is even more relevant with the reference to the issues of today’s multicultural society.

American religion: diaspora and syncretism from Old World to New

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Aisha Khan

2003-01-01

Full Text Available [First paragraph] Nation Dance: Religion, Identity, and Cultural Difference in the Caribbean. PATRICK TAYLOR (ed.. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001. x +220 pp. (Paper US$ 19.95 Translating Kali 's Feast: The Goddess in Indo-Caribbean Ritual and Fiction. STEPHANOS STEPHANIDES with KARNA SINGH. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000. xii + 200 pp. (Paper US$ 19.00 Between Babel and Pentecost: Transnational Pentecostalism in Africa and Latin America. ANDRÉ CORTEN & RUTH MARSHALL-FRATANI (eds.. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001. 270 pp. (Paper US$ 22.95 Encyclopedia of African and African-American Religions. STEPHEN D. GLAZIER (ed.. New York: Routledge, 2001. xx + 452 pp. (Cloth US$ 125.00 As paradigms and perspectives change within and across academie disciplines, certain motifs remain at the crux of our inquiries. Evident in these four new works on African and New World African and South Asian religions are two motifs that have long defined the Caribbean: the relationship between cultural transformation and cultural continuity, and that between cultural diversity and cultural commonality. In approaching religion from such revisionist sites as poststructuralism, diaspora, hybridity, and creolization, however, the works reviewed here attempt to move toward new and more productive ways of thinking about cultures and histories in the Americas. In the process, other questions arise. Particularly, can what are essentially redirected language and methodologies in the spirit of postmodern interventions teil us more about local interpretation, experience, and agency among Caribbean, African American, and African peoples than can more traditional approaches? While it is up to individual readers to decide this for themselves, my own feeling is that it is altogether a good thing that these works still echo long-standing conundrums: the Herskovits/Frazier debate over cultural origins, the tensions of assimilation in "plural societies," and the

Limits to expression on religion in France

OpenAIRE

Janssen, E.

2009-01-01

During the last decade conflicts about expression on religion have increased globally. Generally, these conflicts are regarded as a conflict between freedom of speech and freedom of thought, conscience and religion. In France there are many active religious interest groups that aim to protect a certain religion in society. They often initiate judicial proceedings seeking to prohibit certain kinds of speech on their religion. This practice has resulted in a rich case law on the limits of expre...

Beyond Evolution: Addressing Broad Interactions Between Science and Religion in Science Teacher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Shane, Joseph W.; Binns, Ian C.; Meadows, Lee; Hermann, Ronald S.; Benus, Matthew J.

2016-03-01

Science and religion are two indisputably profound and durable cultural forces with a complex history of interaction. As ASTE members are aware, these interactions often manifest themselves in classrooms and in the surrounding communities. In this essay, we encourage science teacher educators to broaden their perspectives of science-religion interactions so that they may better assist pre- and in-service science teachers with addressing topics such as the age and origins of the universe and biological evolution in an appropriate manner. We first introduce some foundational scholarship into the historical interactions between science and religion as well as current efforts to maintain healthy dialogue between perspectives that are frequently characterized as innately in conflict with or mutually exclusive of one another. Given that biological evolution is the dominant science-religion issue of our day, in particular in the USA, we next summarize the origins and strategies of anti-evolution movements via the rise and persistence of Christian Fundamentalism. We then summarize survey and qualitative sociological research indicating disparities between academic scientists and the general public with regard to religious beliefs to help us further understand our students' worldviews and the challenges they often face in campus-to-classroom transitions. We conclude the essay by providing resources and practical suggestions, including legal considerations, to assist science teacher educators with their curriculum and outreach.

Religion and violence in a globalised world

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Wolfgang Huber

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Violent religious extremism is seen as one of the mega-problems of the 21st century. This article � based on a key lecture at the conference on �Violence in a democratic South Africa� at the University of Pretoria and the David de Villiers memorial lecture at the University of Stellenbosch, both held during August 2010 � critically discussed the interaction between religion and violence in our present-day, globalised world. Three different propositions on the relationship between religion and violence were scrutinised. In countering the proposition that religion, or more specifically monotheism, necessarily leads to violence, it was argued that violence is not an inherent, but rather an acquired or even an ascribed quality of religion. The second proposition that religion leads to non-violence was affirmed to the extent that religions do provide a strong impulse to overcome violence. However, they also tend to accept violence as an inevitable part of reality and even justify the use of violence on religious grounds. The third proposition was regarded as the most convincing, for it argues that the link between religion and violence is contingent. Some situations do seem to make the use of violence inevitable; however, religions should refrain from justifying the use of violence and maintain a preferential option for nonviolence.

Mapping the Curriculum-Making Landscape of Religion Education ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Together with other scholars, Roux, a scholar-activist, has played a seminal role in conceptualising religion in the curriculum as religion in education (RiE) and more recently, religion and education (RaE). In disrupting the boundaries of religion, she has also made human rights the departure point for engagement with RaE.

The Naturalization of Domination and Legitimate Power in Classical Political Theory

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Eleni Varikas

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The reflection developed here deals with one of the greatest political paradoxes of modern political thought: the turning of a political community into a human artifact while basing it on premisses which are pre-political and therefore precede human action. As it reinvented the political as a free space, modernity reinvented the natural as a limit to this human freedom which religion could no longer contain. In such a context, the witch-hunt is a result both of a religious or superstitious obscurantism and of a rational enterprise based on efficacy. The political implications of cognitive polytheism, which explode in the plurality of scientific perceptions on human nature and on the nature of things, establish a close connection between the authority of modern “science” as a model for the knowledge of nature and that of a religious and temporal kind. The naturalization of the sexual hierarchy in the modern world is at the same time the archetype and the manifestation of this historical process which dislocates the legitimation of domination from the religious to the natural realm.

Religious Education and Freedom of Religion and Belief. Religion Education and Values. Volume 2

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Stephen, Ed.; Freathy, Rob, Ed.; Francis, Leslie J., Ed.

2012-01-01

What opportunities and challenges are presented to religious education across the globe by the basic human right of freedom of religion and belief? To what extent does religious education facilitate or inhibit "freedom of religion" in schools? What contribution can religious education make to freedom in the modern world? This volume…

Research Approaches in the Study of Religion

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Szocik Konrad

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Despite development of secular ideas and concepts in the Western world, we can observe increasing interest in the study of religion. However, this popularity of the study of religion and different research approaches has caused that in some sense scholars that were studying religion came to a dead point. Here I show that the most optimal research approach in the study of religion is pluralistic, integral paradigm which connects old traditional methods with naturalistic, cognitive and sometimes experimental approach.

Sex after Fascism. Sexualitätsgeschichte als Politikgeschichte? Sex after Fascism—The History of Sexuality as Political History?

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Pascal Eitler

2006-03-01

Full Text Available Dagmar Herzog bietet mit der vorliegenden Untersuchung einen ersten und in diesem Sinne beachtenswerten, körper- und geschlechtergeschichtlich aber grundsätzlich ergänzungsbedürftigen Überblick zur Geschichte der Sexualität in Deutschland im 20. Jahrhundert. Im Zentrum der Studie steht das sich wandelnde Verhältnis zwischen Sexualität und Vergangenheitspolitik in der Bundesrepublik, insbesondere die Politisierung der Sexualität um ‚1968‘. Eher rückblickend geraten die Adenauerära und der Nationalsozialismus in den Blick. Der Titel der amerikanischen Originalausgabe bringt diesen Themenschwerpunkt deutlich zum Ausdruck: Sex after Fascism.Dagmar Herzog’s study offers a first and therefore noteworthy overview of the history of sexuality in twentieth-century Germany from the perspective of the history of the body and gender, a study that, however, is in need of supplementation. The central focus of the study is the changing relationship between sexuality and the politics of confronting the past in the Federal Republic of Germany. The book pays particular attention to the politicization of sexuality around 1968. The Adenauer-Era and National Socialism are, for the most part, attended to merely in retrospective. The title of the American original edition expresses this focus clearly: Sex after Fascism.

Religion and Culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sabih, Joshua

group breaks totally with the existing Arabic Bible translations that they were in the habit of using. In this translation, the previously strenuous relationship between culture and religion is flattened in a binary sets of oppositions between an unaltered Devine message preserved in ancient Bible...... translation of the Holy Scriptures, and address how an originally-American Christian group re-constructs the relationship of religion –universality of one truth and its embodiment in one community of faith – and culture; and specifically, Arabic culture. Culture, in its manifold forms -Jehovah’s witnesses...

Clinical psychology of religion. A training model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Uden, M.H.F. van; Pieper, J.Z.T.

2003-01-01

In this paper we will show you a part of a course "Clinical Psychology of Religion" that has been developed in the Netherlands for introducing mental health professionals in the field of clinical psychology of religion. Clinical psychology of religion applies insights from general psychology of

POST-RELIGION: TRADITIONALISTS’ ANALYSIS

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Kirill M. Tovbin

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Aim of the study is to describe the phenomenon of post-religion as a specific spiritual sphere of the Post-modernity. Methodology. In the introduction analyzed a variety of methodological approaches, opening his inadequacy applied to the spiritual sphere of Post-modernity: «classic» religious studies, religious studies of traditional spiritual movements and the post-modern religious studies, partly produced Traditionalist school, could - according to the author's hypothesis - become a methodological basis for the most complete analysis of post-religion. Scientific novelty. In the main part of the article crystallized the authorized concept of post-religion, its relation with traditional and religious spiritual realms. Post-religion is positioned as the top of secularism enshrined in the departure from the straight and aggressive secularism of the Modernity, but without recourse to Tradition. Post-religion a simulation spirituality, skillfully imitating the outer areas of traditional spirituality and creates a planar religiosity, radically preventing attached to the vertical line of Traditions. In this regard, are the main artificially selected parameters of post-religion: deconstruction, splitting, virtualization, and collage. Deconstruction is a transformation of spirituality in semiotic set for egocentric selectivity of modern believer. Post-religion’s splitting is deprivation of spirituality center, destruction of sacral Center and the transformation of spirituality in the plane on which the intellectual and sensual wandering post-believer from one semiotic island to another. Virtualization is a displacement field of spiritual tension in a completely virtual area, isolated from the natural conditions of existence and created as his replacement, network discussion sites and galleries. Collage is an arbitrary combination of different semiotic pieces of Tradition with the aim of creating a believable picture of tradition; it is collage leads

ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE QUR’ANIC PERSPECTIVE: Freedom of Religion and the Rule of Apostasy

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Syafa’atun Almirzanah

2007-08-01

Full Text Available It is often argued that Islam is not compatible with modernity. This can be seen for instance in the fact of the problem that Islam faces to the challenge of universal values of human rights. Built on this supposition, the present article discusses on the great extent the question of religious freedom in Islam. As freedom of religion in the framework of universal declaration of human rights can mean as freedom to change religion, this contradicts to Islamic prohibition of apostasy, punishable with death penalty. The author argues that Islam in fact guarantees religious freedom. This is clear from the Quranic injunctions assuring the freedom of choice whether to embrace Islam or not. Such a freedom is however often contradicted to one prophetic tradition sanctioning death penalty for apostasy. In her view, the author believes that the hadith more in attunes to the political strategy of the prophet to safe Muslim community from any acts of treason or sedition. Death penalty for apostasy is thus not related to the mere personal crime of changing religion but more that of public law related to war or crimes against state. More relying on the modern interpretation of the Quranic verses as well as the prophetic traditions, the author concludes that Islam is in conjunction with the modern values of religious freedom in which personal choice of religion or belief is the backbone of human rights.

The Department of Boyacá on the basis of the political project of the regeneration 1886-1903. Thoughts from the political, administrative and religious views.

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Claudia Liliana Monroy Hernández

2010-07-01

Full Text Available This article pretends to analyze the project of nation in Colombia during the period of the Regeneration, taking the specific case of the Department of Boyacá. This was a project that pretended the consolidation of a modern state through the elements of power as the religion, the education and the language, which allowed organizing a new political – administrative system of a centralistic status, in other words, that through the constitution of 1886 a social order be imposed, establishing a strong State, moved by a central government. Through these elements, it will be explained how the change from a Sovereign State of Boyacá to a Political and Administrative Department happened, which lead to a series of reforms of an economical, political and social status, that next to the transition of a secular education to a confessional education, determined the destiny of the Department from a Political Project of the Regeneration.

Da religião do sacrifício à religião da fraternidade =From the religion of sacrifice to the religion of fraternity

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Susin, Luiz Carlos

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Há uma relação entre religião e violência que consiste basicamente em sacralização da violência através da sublimação da mesma como sacrifício. Ora, o sacrifício está no coração de toda religião, de forma descarada nas religiões arcaicas e de forma metamorfoseada e mascarada na evolução histórica da religião. A Escritura testemunha as ambiguidades do sacrifício e o choque profético entre o sacrifício e a misericórdia. O Cristianismo, em sua fonte, é a superação radical do sacrifício, mas, ao longo da história, novas metamorfoses do sacrifício surgem no Cristianismo. É a volta às fontes e a renovação de sua experiência na confraternização universal, testada pelos excluídos, que legitimam a originalidade do Cristianismo e um sentido realmente cristão para a palavra sacrifício. There is a relation between religion and violence that consists basically in making violence sacred through its sublimation as a sacrifice. Therefore, sacrifice is at the heart of all religion, in a blatant way in archaic religions and in a metamorphosed and masked way in the historical evolution of religion. The Scriptures witness the ambiguities of sacrifice and the prophetic shock between sacrifice and mercy. Christianity, in its origin, is the radical overcoming of sacrifice, but throughout history new ways sacrifice has metamorphosed appear in Christianity. It’s the return to the sources and the renewal of this experience in universal fellowship, tested by those excluded, who legitimate the uniqueness of Christianity and a true Christian meaning to the word sacrifice.

How Teachers Can Still Teach about Religion

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, Joanne M.

2004-01-01

The line between public and private expression of religion requires balancing the constitutional guarantee of the free exercise of religion and the constitutional prohibition against the establishment of religion. Public schools, as government entities, and the teachers in them are allowed neither to inhibit the free exercise of religious…

Religion and Social Hidden Curriculum--The Educative Influences of Christianity and Islam in Women

Science.gov (United States)

Llorent-Bedmar, Vincente; Llorent, Vicente J.

2014-01-01

In this paper we highlight the similarities and differences between Christianity and Islam, on the social functions of women based on the sacred texts of both, references to a hidden social curriculum in the history. Faced with the growing religious pluralism in contemporary societies, we believe that the debate on how the two main religions in…

Policy and Culture: From Machiavelli’s Political Philosophy to Kipling’s Political Prophecies

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Konstantin M. Dolgov

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The article is concerned with interrelationship of policy and culture, in particular N.Machiavelli's political philosophy and its reflection in some short stories by R.Kipling, one of the most recognized representatives of the British imperial thought. Policy and culture have traditionally been considered almost incompatible spheres of human activity as policy tended to become more and more severe, cynical, "dirty", while culture aspired to develop supreme values and perfect ideals. Sometimes the direct confrontation between policy and religion, policy and morals, policy and law, policy and literature, policy and art in the broad sense of the word could occur. The greatest Renaissance masters - Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Rafael etc. - actively opposed any evil manifestations: evil ideas, evil words, evil doings, expressing in their masterpieces the highest ideals and values. However, these ideals and values drastically diverged from the reality, political and public relations of the time, the "dirty" policy conducted by the rulers of numerous Italian principalities. It is no coincidence that N.Machiavelli develops his new political philosophy aiming not only to create the strong unitary state, but also to overcome this "dirty" policy at least to a certain extent. Therefore, describing the mechanism of the "dirty" policy that opposes high culture, N.Machiavelli introduces a new political philosophy which should be based on the highest ideals and values. As far as literary art is concerned, one can easily see that such world famous novelists as Kipling, Chekhov, Maupassant and many others reflected in their short stories that very longing for highest values and ideals which are almost absent in political doctrines and political practice. The true policy is necessarily based on the true culture and its values and ideals, whereas the true culture is indispensably connected with the true policy.

Dreaming as inspiration evidence from religion, philosophy, literature, and film.

Science.gov (United States)

Bulkeley, Kelly

2010-01-01

This paper presents evidence from the history of religion, philosophy, literature, and film to suggest that dreaming is a primal wellspring of creative inspiration. Powerful, reality-bending dreams have motivated the cultural creativity of people all over the world and throughout history. Examples include the dream revelations of Egyptian Pharaohs, the philosophical insights of Socrates, the dark literary themes of Fyodor Dostoevsky, and the cinematic artistry of Akira Kurusawa. Although the conclusions that can be drawn from these sources are limited by several methodological factors, the evidence gives contemporary researchers good reasons to explore the creative potentials of dreaming and the impact on waking life behavior of certain types of extraordinary dream experience. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Immigration and Religion in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christoffersen, Lisbet

2009-01-01

An overview over legal framework for immigration into Denmark, special clauses on religion as a parameter for residence permit and asylum in churches......An overview over legal framework for immigration into Denmark, special clauses on religion as a parameter for residence permit and asylum in churches...

Spirituality, Religion, and Peace Education

Science.gov (United States)

Brantmeier, Edward J., Ed.; Lin, Jing, Ed.; Miller, John P., Ed.

2010-01-01

"Spirituality, Religion, and Peace Education" attempts to deeply explore the universal and particular dimensions of education for inner and communal peace. This co-edited book contains fifteen chapters on world spiritual traditions, religions, and their connections and relevance to peacebuilding and peacemaking. This book examines the…

Religion in the Labour Market

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christoffersen, Lisbet

overview over case law in Denmark regarding religion on the labour market. From pragmatism to ideological secularisation and confessionalisation as result of politisation......overview over case law in Denmark regarding religion on the labour market. From pragmatism to ideological secularisation and confessionalisation as result of politisation...

Iconic Religion in Urban Space

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meyer, B.; Knott, Kim; Krech, Volkhard

2016-01-01

In order to understand current dynamics of religious diversity, a focus on the tangible presence of religion and the co-existence of new and longstanding religious buildings, sites and artifacts in urban spaces is a fruitful starting point. Launching the notion of iconic religion, this introduction

Crime fiction and mediatized religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Kim Toft

Scandinavian media where religion has become mediatized. Consumers of popular culture no longer endorse confidence in institutionalized religion, but that does not mean that people are losing faith: Faith only seems to adjust itself and tiptoe into popular media and popular fiction. Hence, this paper seeks...

Religion in Scandinavian Crime Fiction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Kim Toft

Scandinavian media where religion has become mediatized. Consumers of popular culture no longer endorse confidence in institutionalized religion, but that does not mean that people are losing faith: Faith only seem to adjust itself and tiptoe into popular media and popular fiction. Hence, this paper seeks...

Science, society, and flagship species: social and political history as keys to conservation outcomes in the Gulf of California

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Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Socio-political issues are important in environmental policy outcomes but are often overlooked in conservation planning. We analyze the effects of historical social, political, and ecological contexts on conservation policy outcomes as applied to the Upper Gulf of California and Colorado River Delta Biosphere Reserve. A rushed implementation, perhaps necessary for the protection of endangered totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi and vaquita (Phocoena sinus, occurred with little community consultation, resulting in enduring disgruntlement among stakeholders that undermined its effectiveness. Overfishing and habitat degradation continue both inside and outside the reserve, and totoaba and vaquita remain Critically Endangered, with the latter's population estimated at approximately 90 individuals. Marine reserves can be useful, but when top-down enforcement is unfeasible, effective environmental policy requires full recognition and integration of political history and social structures and needs, and open discussion on trade-offs when win-win situations are not possible.

Feminisms and Challenges to Institutionalized Philosophy of Religion

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Nathan Eric Dickman

2018-04-01

Full Text Available For my invited contribution to this special issue of Religions on “Feminisms and the Study of ‘Religions,’” I focus on philosophy of religion and contestations over its relevance to the academic field of Religious Studies. I amplify some feminist philosophers’ voices—especially Pamela Sue Anderson—in corroboration with recent calls from Religious Studies scholars to diversify philosophy of religions in the direction of locating it properly within the current state of Religious Studies. I want to do this by thinking through two proposals in productive tension: first, any philosophy of religions worthy of the name is intrinsically feminist; second, any philosophy of religions worthy of the name is intrinsically traditional. I want to use the productive tension between these two to illuminate ways calls for broadening the field can be enhanced when such calls are seen as both feminist and traditional. I proceed as follows. First, I note three instances of explicitly feminist work in philosophy of religions that do not suffer from the same narrowness as so-called “traditional” philosophy of religion. Religious Studies critics of philosophy of religion overstate the case in claiming feminist philosophy of religion is too narrow. Second, I develop a useful distinction between the concepts of “tradition” and “institution” to locate forces of oppression more precisely in dynamics of institutionalization so that we might rehabilitate tradition as a resource for combating institutionalized oppressiveness. I do this in response to the hegemony of current philosophers of religion who claim to speak about “the traditional god.” And third, I briefly coordinate four topics in religions from diverse feminist perspectives to help refine paths of inquiry for future philosophy of religions that is both feminist and traditional. My hope is that these clarify a philosophy of religions renewed through feminisms—moving from fringe to

Old and New Criteria for the Governance of Political and Economic Structures on the Basis of the Bible and the Quran

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Varga Norbert

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study presents a sociological analysis of the Holy Books of two world religions (the Bible and the Quran since, according to prognoses and risk analyses, a political, economic, cultural, and religious confrontation between the world religions will be unavoidable. Special economic and political aspects also contribute to the up-to-datedness of the topic in the democratic world; in fact: the economic crisis at the beginning of the 21st century, the difficulties of managing the crisis with traditional micro- and macroeconomic tools as well as the Europe-wide issue of migration processes. These challenges have directed our attention to alternative economic solutions and policy options, including theories on ethical basis. Modern academic discourse has recently started to direct research at leadership skills as acknowledged forms of talent. The priority of moral talent is never disputed in the Bible and the Quran, more so by certain leaders holding political or economic positions.

Review: Derek R. Peterson, Kodzo Gavua, and Ciraj Rassool (eds, The Politics of Heritage in Africa: Economies, Histories, and Infrastructures (2015

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Reinhart Kößler

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Review of the edited volume:Derek R. Peterson, Kodzo Gavua, and Ciraj Rassool (eds, The Politics of Heritage in Africa: Economies, Histories, and Infrastructures, London: International African Institute; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2015, ISBN 9781107094857, 291 pages

La religion à l’école en Allemagne

OpenAIRE

Schreiner, Peter

2012-01-01

L’Allemagne est un État séculier, philosophiquement neutre. La liberté de religion, garantie par la Constitution, comprend aussi bien la liberté d’avoir ou non une religion (liberté de religion négative) que la libre expression de cette religion (liberté de religion positive). La population appartient en majorité à l’une des deux grandes confessions chrétiennes : l’Église catholique ou l’Église protestante. Le nombre de musulmans est en augmentation ; les autres confessions représentent une p...

Religion zwischen Zugehörigkeit und Differenz Religion between Belonging and Difference

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Veronika Springmann

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Der vorliegende zweisprachige Sammelband präsentiert elf Beiträge einer Tagung, die 2003 an der Humboldt Universität zu Berlin stattfand. Vorgestellt werden unterschiedliche Zugriffe auf den Themenkomplex Geschlecht, Gewalt und Religion.The dual-language collected volume at hand presents eleven contributions based on a conference that took place at Humboldt University in 2003. The volume introduces different manners of accessing the network of themes of gender, violence, and religion.

Teaching religions in Indonesia Islamic Higher education: from comparative religion to Religious Studies

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Media Zainul Bahri

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article focuses on how the study of Comparative Religion conducted in Indonesian Islamic higher institutions, i.e. on both UIN Yogyakarta and Jakartasince the beginning of the New Order (1960s to Reform era (2014. The focus of the study was on models/approaches and main issues. In general, for more than half a century, the comparative study of religion is not been done for academic purposes an sich. Just within the new last decade that theoretical studies of Comparative Religion began developed. Another important thing that the study of Comparative Religion in Indonesia, although mostly referring to the methodological sources of the West and the Middle East, but ithas always been associated with religious and cultural context of Indonesia.Therefore, the study on both UIN Yogyakarta and Jakarta always deliver courseson religions that live in Indonesia alongside with Indonesian contemporary issues. In the reform era, though still using Comparative Religion’s term, butit looks religious studies such as used in the West. Thus, its “form” or “clothes”is Comparative Religion but it is religious studies. Artikel ini fokus pada bagaimana studi Perbandingan Agama yang dilakukan di lembaga-lembaga pendidikan tinggi Islam Indonesia, yaitu pada UIN Yogyakarta dan Jakarta sejak awal Orde Baru (1960 Reformasi era (2014. Fokus penelitian adalah pada model/pendekatan dan isu-isu utama. Secara umum, selama lebih dari setengah abad, studi perbandingan agama tidak dilakukan untuk tujuan akademik an sich. Hanya dalam dekade terakhir studi teoritis Perbandingan Agama mulai dikembangkan. Hal lain yang penting bahwa studi Perbandingan Agama di Indonesia, meskipun sebagian besar mengacu padasumber-sumber metodologi Barat dan Timur Tengah, tetapi selalu dikaitkan dengan konteks agama dan budaya Indonesia. Oleh karena itu, penelitian pada kedua UIN Yogyakarta dan Jakarta selalu memberikan kursus tentang agamayang hidup di Indonesia bersama dengan isu

Life Interpretation and Religion among Icelandic Teenagers

Science.gov (United States)

Gunnarsson, Gunnar J.

2009-01-01

Does religion play any specific part in Icelandic teenagers' life interpretation? This paper examines Icelandic teenagers' talk about religion and presents some of the findings in interviews with teenagers in a qualitative research project. The focus is especially on how three individuals express themselves about the influence of religion on their…

Aestheticized politics : the workings of North Korean art

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yoon, Min-Kyung

2014-01-01

My dissertation is a study of North Korean art as a site where politics, history, and culture meet. Art in North Korea fulfills a clear purpose. This is most apparent in the depiction of historical themes in North Korean art. History serves the political legitimization of the North Korean state and

Tuskegee as Sacred Rhetoric: Focal Point for the Emergent Field of African American Religion and Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Laws, Terri

2018-02-01

Scholars in African American religion engage the Tuskegee Syphilis Study as the focal point of the African American experience in institutional medicine. Seeking a way forward from this history and its intentional evil, the author proposes to position Tuskegee as a form of Lynch's culturally contextual sacred rhetoric to make use of its metaphoric value in the emerging field of African American religion and health. In this broader meaning-making frame, Tuskegee serves as a reminder that African American religious sensibility has long been an agential resource that counters abuse of the Black body. It also acknowledges the complex decisions facing African American clinical trial participants.

A complicated answer to a simple question: Are believers and members of minority religions, churches and religious communities in postdayton BiH discriminated?

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Nagradić Slobodan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The work treats the real social position of minority religions, denominations, religious communities and churches in postdayton Bosnia and Herzegovina. In other words, the author researches real social, political, legislative, mass-media-communicational, economic status and a status of so called small religious communities and churches in other spheres of existence like education, culture, public health etc., and seeks to answer to, from rhetorical point of view, simple question: are minority religions, denominations, religious communities and churches, as defined and treated by the Law on Freedom of Religion and Legal Position of Churches and Religious Communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, discriminated or not. In the focus of the author's analyses are equally institutional sphere or so called minority religious communities as such, but also and individuals, believers and followers of those institutionalized and formalized religious-denominational- ecclesial subjects having been named religious communities and churches. The results of the author's empirical-theoretical researches can be condensed into nuanced and complex answer whose content leads to conclusion that minority religions, churches and their members in several spheres of life are, after all, in inferior position, in spite of declarative equality of all religions, denominations, religious communities and churches. The author supports such conclusion with numerous and plausible arguments.

Politics: An Islamic Perspective

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Abdul Rashid Moten

1993-11-01

Full Text Available Muslim societies in all of their social and cultural variety are, as Donald E. Smith points out, ‘organic’ societies characterized by organic religious systems. In these societies, religion tends to permeate all institutions rather than to be differentiated and/or autonomous. The vast body of literature produced since the departure of the colonialists from the Muslim lands suggests, however, either the implicit existence of the dichotomy or at least the feasibility and advisability of radical separation between the spiritual and temporal realms. The seriousness of the issue, evidenced by an outpouring of studies, calls for an examination of the linkage between the two realms through textual (Qur’an and Hadith, intellectual (ideas of Muslim thinkers and historical evidence. Only in such a manner can the dynamics of the relationship between Islam and politics be understood and a determination made of what has changed and what has remained unchanged. This entails, first, an understanding of the meaning and nature of politics from the Western perspective to facilitate a comparison...

Teaching Religion and Material Culture

Science.gov (United States)

Carp, Richard M.

2007-01-01

Because religions discipline and interpret bodies; create and define sacred spaces; generate, adore and study images in all media; regulate the intake of food; structure temporal experience; and in general interpenetrate and are permeated by the cultural landscapes in which they exist, religious studies must engage material religion and religious…

Fantasy som religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davidsen, Markus

2010-01-01

Artiklen redegør for George Lucas' religionspædagogiske projekt med Star Wars og jediismens brug af Star Wars som religiøs tekst i en fantasybaseret religion. Afslutningsvist gives en række forslag til hvordan man kan anvende Star Wars og jediismen i folkeskolens religionsundervisning.......Artiklen redegør for George Lucas' religionspædagogiske projekt med Star Wars og jediismens brug af Star Wars som religiøs tekst i en fantasybaseret religion. Afslutningsvist gives en række forslag til hvordan man kan anvende Star Wars og jediismen i folkeskolens religionsundervisning....

MAIN PROBLEMS OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL CRITIQUE OF RELIGION

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Jowita Guja

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The paper is a synthetic overview of main problems of the philosophical critique of religion. In the beginning I identify and characterize three general threads of the critique: the enlightenment, the alienational and the thread which focuses on the problem of theodicy. The greater part of my article is devoted to the alienational critique of religion n its two types: atheistic (Feuerbach, Marx, Freud, Nietzsche, Sartre and theistic (Barth. The subjects of my analysis are the sources and foundations of the alienational critique of religion and the most important problems implied by it: the essence of religion, the ideal of the irreligious man, the prospect to remove religion. The analysis presents troubles and confusions connected to these subjects: they emerge in atheistic type of alienational critique of religion.

Reconfiguring Ethiopia: The Politics of Authoritarian Reform

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

reconfigured Ethiopian society and state in the past two decades. Yet, as the contributors to this volume demonstrate, ‘democracy’ in Ethiopia has not changed the authority structures and the culture of centralist decision-making of the past. The political system is tightly engineered and controlled from top...... that have marked the Ethiopian polity since the downfall of the socialist Derg regime. Chapters on ethnic federalism, 'revolutionary democracy', opposition parties, the press, the judiciary, state-religion, and state-foreign donor relations provide the most comprehensive and thought-provoking review...

Religion, Sexuality, and Internalized Homonegativity: Confronting Cognitive Dissonance in the Abrahamic Religions.

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Meladze, Pikria; Brown, Jac

2015-10-01

This research was aimed at investigating how religious beliefs and internalized shame predicted homonegativity. An online survey, which consisted of a self-report questionnaire assessing religious orientation, internalized shame, and internalized homonegativity, was completed by 133 Caucasian and Asian gay men. The respondents also were asked to write a short answer in which they had to explain how they integrated their religion and sexual practices. The quantitative analyses of data demonstrated no significant difference in internalized homonegativity among the two cultural groups. Internalized homonegativity was predicted by the main Abrahamic faiths (i.e. Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) and internalized shame. Qualitative analysis showed that gay men who adhere to a monotheistic religious faith follow a different path to reconciling their religion and homosexuality compared to gay men who adhere to Philosophical/New Age religions or to gay men who have no religious faith. The implications of these findings as well as directions for future research studies were discussed.

Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Stig Børsen

2011-01-01

This paper explores the relevance of Wittgenstein’s early work for treatments of religion. The first section briefly outlines some different interpretive possibilities with respect to early Wittgenstein’s thinking. The following section explores the idea that what is important about early...... play a role in treatments of religion. This they do either by exhibiting parallels between themes in theology and themes in logic, or they do so by playing a role in assessing cosmological arguments in the philosophy of religion....

Religion as a solvent: a lecture

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Antônio Flávio Pierucci

Full Text Available Contrary to Durkheim, for whom the role of religion is to reconnect the individual with the society to which he belongs, this essay argues that nowadays religion's social power lies in its capacity to dissolve old religious bonds and lineages. Taking Max Weber's work as its base, the text maintains that the universal religion of individual salvation, the religious form that tends to predominate above all others, works as a device that disconnects people from their mother-culture.

[Political psychology].

Science.gov (United States)

Resch, Mária; Bella, Tamás

2013-04-21

In Hungary one can mostly find references to the psychological processes of politics in the writings of publicists, public opinion pollsters, philosophers, social psychologists, and political analysts. It would be still important if not only legal scientists focusing on political institutions or sociologist-politologists concentrating on social structures could analyse the psychological aspects of political processes; but one could also do so through the application of the methods of political psychology. The authors review the history of political psychology, its position vis-à-vis other fields of science and the essential interfaces through which this field of science, which is still to be discovered in Hungary, connects to other social sciences. As far as its methodology comprising psycho-biographical analyses, questionnaire-based queries, cognitive mapping of interviews and statements are concerned, it is identical with the psychiatric tools of medical sciences. In the next part of this paper, the focus is shifted to the essence and contents of political psychology. Group dynamics properties, voters' attitudes, leaders' personalities and the behavioural patterns demonstrated by them in different political situations, authoritativeness, games, and charisma are all essential components of political psychology, which mostly analyses psychological-psychiatric processes and also involves medical sciences by relying on cognitive and behavioural sciences. This paper describes political psychology, which is basically part of social sciences, still, being an interdisciplinary science, has several ties to medical sciences through psychological and psychiatric aspects.

Religion Education Teaching in Zimbabwe Secondary Schools: The Search for an Authentic Values-Oriented Multi-Faith Religion Education Pedagogical Model

Science.gov (United States)

Ndlovu, Lovemore

2014-01-01

Religion Education teaching in post-independence Zimbabwe has remained bible-oriented and confessional at a time when most Religion Education stakeholders expect an "open", plural and authentic multi-faith Religion Education curriculum. Despite curriculum innovation initiatives aimed at introducing new approaches such as experiential…

Religious freedom and political correctness in United Europe.

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Ks. Artur Aleksiejuk

2014-11-01

Full Text Available We live in times that are particularly sensitive to issues such as freedom and are differentiated by strong aspirations for personal and societal freedom. One speaks of political-societal freedom, freedom of religion, artistic freedom and freedom to choose one’s own lifestyle. It would be possible to make a long list of the various kinds or manifestations of freedom, which modern individuals indentify in their lives. My essay considers the ways the law functions in regards to religious freedom in the context of the currently prevailing and implemented political visions in United Europe. Strictly speaking, this paper concerns the definition of place, which was assigned for religious convictions of citizens of the European Union and their role in shaping their personal and societal lives.

Divided Korea: United Future?

Science.gov (United States)

Cumings, Bruce

1995-01-01

Korea's recorded history extends back before the birth of Christ. Through their long history, the Koreans have endured a variety of social, political, and economical crises. Confucianism has long been one of the most popular religions by which the Korean people have lived. However, Koreans also have embraced Buddhism and Christianity while…

Religion, Education and Citizenship Education: The Challenge of Turning Religion Upside Down

OpenAIRE

Bakker, Cok

2013-01-01

Reflecting on the link between religion and religious tradition(s) on the one hand and school and education on the other, and reflecting on the reasoning strategy to make sense of this link, people seem to tend strongly to think, argue and reflect in a deductive mode (this point is elaborated in par. 3). This part of the argument is followed by considering the religious claims people make concerning the impact of religion on the day-to-day educational practice, it is, empirically speaking. It...

Religion, Poverty, and Politics: Their Impact on Women's Reproductive Health Outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Kimball, Richard; Wissner, Michael

2015-01-01

This study sought to explore the relationship(s) between U.S. states of selected social determinants of health (SDH) and three women's reproductive health outcomes including abortion, teen births, and infant mortality rates (IMR). The data from multiple population surveys were used to establish on a state-by-state basis, the interactions between selected SDH (religion, voting patterns, child poverty, and GINI) and their policy effects on three women's reproductive health outcomes (abortion, teen births, and IMRs) using publicly available national databases. Child poverty rates and the GINI coefficient were analyzed. Religiosity information was obtained from the Pew Forum's surveys. Voting results were collected from the 2008 congressional and presidential races and were used as proxy measures for conservative- versus liberal-leaning policies and policy makers. Using multiple regression analysis, higher IMRs were associated with higher religiosity scores. Lower abortion rates were associated with voting conservatively and higher income inequality. Higher teen birth rates were associated with higher child poverty rates and voting conservatively. This study shows that selected SDH may have substantial impacts on women's reproductive health outcomes at the state level. Significant inequalities exist between liberal and conservative states that affect women's health outcomes. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Teaching the History of Christianity: Critical Themes and Challenges

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Killen, Patricia O'Connell; Duntley, Madeline; Furey, Constance; Gilpin, W. Clark; Six-Means, Horace E.

2009-01-01

At the November 2008 meeting of the American Academy of Religion, the History of Christianity section sponsored a panel around the question: "What are the key challenges, opportunities, and goals in the History of Christianity classroom today and how best should teachers respond to them?" Beginning with brief sketches of institutional context and…

Iran: Politics, Gulf Security, and U.S. Policy

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-30

U.S. Policy Congressional Research Service Contents Political History ...Research Service 1 Political History Iran is a country of nearly 80 million people, located in the heart of the Persian Gulf region. The United...Iran government figure was 27), including a 19-year-old woman , Neda Soltani, who subsequently became an emblem of the uprising. The opposition

Religions in Fiction for Junior and Senior High Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Knafle, June D.

2001-01-01

Examines current adolescent fiction of award-winning and widely read authors according to religious themes concerning Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Native American religions, African spirit religions, and the occult, supernatural, and New Age. Finds that the portrayal of religions and its adherents is very mixed, depending upon the religion.…

The religion of thinness

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Michelle Lelwica

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the almost religious-like devotion of especially women in pursuing the goal of a thinner body. The quest for a slender body is analysed as a ‘cultural religion’, which the author calls the ‘Religion of Thinness’. The analysis revolves around four observations. The first is that for many women in the US today, the quest for a slender body serves what has historically been a ‘religious’ function: providing a sense of purpose that orients and gives meaning to their lives, especially in times of suffering and uncertainty. Second, this quest has many features in common with traditional religions, including beliefs, myths, rituals, moral codes, and sacred images—all of which encourage women to find ‘salvation’ (i.e., happiness and well-being through the pursuit of a ‘better’ (i.e., thinner body.Third, this secular faith draws so many adherents in large part because it appeals to and addresses what might be referred to as spiritual needs—including the need for a sense of purpose, inspiration, security, virtue, love, and well-being—even though it shortchanges these needs, and, in the long run, fails to deliver the salvation it promises. Fourth, a number of traditional religious ideas, paradigms and motifs tacit­ly inform and support the Religion of Thinness. More specifically, its soteri­ology resurrects and recycles the misogynist, anti-body, other-worldly, and exclusivist aspects of patriarchal religion. Ultimately, the analysis is not only critical of the Religion of Thinness; it also raises suspicions about any clear-cut divisions between ‘religion’, ‘culture’, and ‘the body’. In fact, examining the functions, features, and ideologies embedded in this secular devotion gives us insight into the constitutive role of the body in the production and apprehension of religious and cultural meanings.

The Need to Re-Conceptualize African 'Traditional' Religion

African Journals Online (AJOL)

First Lady

definitions of religion, point out the areas of misconception about African religion ... concrete deity or not‖ by William James (1902) opens up the idea of religion .... a belief which is also very central in the Judeo-Christian faith, especially in.

Religion, Psychology and Globalisation Process: Attitudinal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A key consequence of globalisation is the integrative approach to reality whereby emphasis is ... between psychology and religion has revolutionised the field of psychology of religion ..... paranormal or abnormal. In this wise, one is able to ...

Eating One’s Way Through History: Food and Politics in Manuka Wijesinghe’s Monsoons and Potholes

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Isabel Alonso Breto

2011-03-01

Full Text Available This paper consists of an analysis of Monsoons and Potholes (2006, the first novel by Sri Lankan playwright Manuka Wijesinghe. Attention is paid to the ways in which the text articulates relations between personal stories, food, history and politics. Food plays a central role in some novels published in the last years by Sri Lankan authors, as is the case, for instance, with Yasmine Gooneratne’s A Change of Skies (1984 and Mary Ann Mohanraj’s Bodies in Motion (2005. Both these works elaborate metaphors of identity through the dominant trope of food-encompassing cooking and the rituals of consumption. In Monsoons and Potholes, food accompanies and illustrates the autobiographical account of a Sri Lankan youngster born in the early 1960s, and revisits the first twenty years in her life together with the socio-political up and downs in her country. While it is a novel which to a great extent draws on metaphors of myth and history, scenes of food and eating appear consistently throughout the narration, which contribute in providing a down-to-earth (and highly satirical version of the life of the Sinhala upper-middle classes during the period. These images of food (and the sets of rituals, beliefs and constrictions around it are exploited by the author with the aim to explore, understand and denounce the historical process which precipitated Sri Lanka, at the beginning of the 1980s, “on the road to nowhere”.

Religion and Suicide Risk: A Systematic Review.

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Lawrence, Ryan E; Oquendo, Maria A; Stanley, Barbara

2016-01-01

Although religion is reported to be protective against suicide, the empirical evidence is inconsistent. Research is complicated by the fact that there are many dimensions to religion (affiliation, participation, doctrine) and suicide (ideation, attempt, completion). We systematically reviewed the literature on religion and suicide over the last 10 years (89 articles) with a goal of identifying what specific dimensions of religion are associated with specific aspects of suicide. We found that religious affiliation does not necessarily protect against suicidal ideation, but does protect against suicide attempts. Whether religious affiliation protects against suicide attempts may depend on the culture-specific implications of affiliating with a particular religion, since minority religious groups can feel socially isolated. After adjusting for social support measures, religious service attendance is not especially protective against suicidal ideation, but does protect against suicide attempts, and possibly protects against suicide. Future qualitative studies might further clarify these associations.

No Religion Is an Island: Teaching World Religions to Adolescents in a Jewish Educational Context

Science.gov (United States)

Reimer, Joseph

2013-01-01

What is the place of teaching about other world religions in a Jewish educational curriculum for adolescents? This article explores a course in world religions that has been taught at the Genesis Program at Brandeis University since 2001. Based on a participant observational study during 2002 and 2012, the author traces how the teachers construct…

Kolem Patočkovy politiky duchovního člověka

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Chvatík, Ivan

2015-01-01

Roč. 70, č. 6 (2015), s. 458-464 ISSN 0046-385X Institutional support: RVO:67985955 Keywords : philosophy * upswing to the political * meaning * history * solidarity of the shaken * Patočka Subject RIV: AA - Philosophy ; Religion

The School and Religion: Do They Need One Another?

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Anisimova, R. A.

1993-01-01

Asserts that certain issues that are connected in some way to religion continue to endure. Reports on a study of 227 Russian teachers regarding their views toward religion, atheism, and religion's role in society. Concludes that Russian educators should define their attitudes toward churches and use religion to help improve society. (CFR)

Religion, State and Nation in Spain and Mexico in the 19th Century: A Comparative Perspective

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Manuel Suárez Cortina

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This article studies the relationships between religion, state and nation in Spain and Mexico in the 19th Century. The comparison between the Mexican and Spanish experiences illustrates two approaches to the reaccommodation of the Catholic Church in societies that questioned the role of the church in a new political order but not the Catholic faith of their citizens. It also examines the role given to religion in the construction of national identity by both liberals and conservatives. Parallels can be observed among Spanish and Mexican conservatives in terms of identifying the nation with the colonial past, Catholic tradition and the monarchy. On the other hand, Spanish progressives and Mexican federalists both sided with an anticlericalism that nevertheless distanced itself from antireligious positions. Readings of the past and projects for the future in both Spain and Mexico established affinities and distances between the conservative and liberal wings of Spanish and Mexican liberalism.

Citizenship and Political Violence in Peru

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wilson, Fiona

Citizenship and Political Violence in Peru recounts the hidden history of how local processes of citizen formation in an Andean town were persistently overruled from the nineteenth century on, thereby perpetuating antagonism toward the Peruvian state and political centralism. The analysis points...

Religion and family planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinter, Bojana; Hakim, Marwan; Seidman, Daniel S; Kubba, Ali; Kishen, Meera; Di Carlo, Costantino

2016-12-01

Religion is embedded in the culture of all societies. It influences matters of morality, ideology and decision making, which concern every human being at some point in their life. Although the different religions often lack a united view on matters such contraception and abortion, there is sometimes some dogmatic overlap when general religious principles are subject to the influence of local customs. Immigration and population flow add further complexities to societal views on reproductive issues. For example, present day Europe has recently faced a dramatic increase in refugee influx, which raises questions about the health care of immigrants and the effects of cultural and religious differences on reproductive health. Religious beliefs on family planning in, for example, Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Hinduism have grown from different backgrounds and perspectives. Understanding these differences may result in more culturally competent delivery of care by health care providers. This paper presents the teachings of the most widespread religions in Europe with regard to contraception and reproduction.

Grænser for religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lüchau, Peter

2015-01-01

Analyse af danskernes holdning til religion i det private og offentlige rum med fokus på en distinktion mellem religiøs autoritetsudøvelse og religiøs selvudfoldelse.......Analyse af danskernes holdning til religion i det private og offentlige rum med fokus på en distinktion mellem religiøs autoritetsudøvelse og religiøs selvudfoldelse....

Religion as Bridging or Bonding Social Capital: Race, Religion, and Cross-Racial Interaction for College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Julie J.; Bowman, Nicholas A.

2015-01-01

Religion is the most segregated arena of American life, but its effect on collegiate diversity outcomes has been overlooked, despite the significance of both race and religion in many students' lives. This study examines whether religious observance, religious worldview identification, and participation in a religious student organization are…

Jan Patočkas politisches Denken. Anmerkungen mit Blick auf Hannah Arendt und Carl Schmitt

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hagedorn, Ludger

2007-01-01

Roč. 47, č. 2 (2007), s. 300-309 ISSN 0523-8587 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z90090514 Keywords : Political Theory – Existentialism – Liberty – Totalitarianism – Philosophy of History Subject RIV: AA - Philosophy ; Religion

Spirituality, Religion, and Suicidality Among Veterans: A Qualitative Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lusk, Jaimie; Dobscha, Steven K; Kopacz, Marek; Ritchie, Mary Frances; Ono, Sarah

2018-01-01

This qualitative study explores the relationship between veterans' spirituality/religion and suicide ideation and attempts. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 veterans who either endorsed chronic suicidal ideation or had made suicide attempt(s). Interviews explored the bi-directional relationship between spirituality/religion (e.g., beliefs, practices, and experiences), and suicide ideation and behaviors. Interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Veterans' responses indicate that spirituality/religion can discourage or permit suicidal ideation, help in coping with ideation, and facilitate meaning making and coping in the presence of self-perceived suffering. Veterans who survived a suicide attempt explored the impact of their spirituality/religion on their recovery. Findings highlight a complex and diverse relationship between spirituality/religion and suicidality. These findings may inform further research on treatment strategies that assess the function of spirituality/religion, and incorporate protective aspects of spirituality/religion into mental health treatment.

Agenda-setting, Religion and New Media: The Chabad Case Study

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Tsuriel Rashi

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Theoretically grounded in agenda setting, a theory focused on the transfer of influence from communication media to a public, this paper examines the media activity of Chabad, an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish movement that is committed both to making Judaism generally accessible and to influencing public discourse. Rabbi M. M. Schneerson, the movement’s late wise and charismatic leader, undertook this dual mission in light of his conception of the theological grounds for the exploitation of mass media. Our examination of Chabad’s agenda-setting communication strategy was guided by two research questions: 1. What is the range of communication media used by Chabad in an effort to achieve its goal? 2. What evidence is there regarding the agenda-setting success of these communication efforts? Although it is obviously difficult to judge the precise degree of success, it is clear that Chabad is involved in a wide range of media and public activity and has already influenced public discourse well beyond the range of the movement itself and of the Jewish religion. The answer to the two questions above will help us understand the various movements that try to influence the agenda on religious grounds, so that we can determine the interface between religion and setting the agenda. It may also assist the efforts of other religious groups that want to influence the media and the political agenda.

Fostering nurses' political knowledges and practices: education and political activation in relation to lesbian health.

Science.gov (United States)

MacDonnell, Judith A

2009-01-01

This article describes findings from a qualitative policy study focused on female nurses' activism in relation to lesbian health. Critical feminist analysis and comparative life history methodology were applied to career histories obtained from 10 diversely situated female nurses across Ontario, Canada. The findings show that nursing activist practices are informed by advocacy experiences that foster inclusive professional and community education plus formal education processes that shape their political socialization. Implications for nursing theory include the development of political knowledges and practices that support caring science, sociopolitical knowing, and primary healthcare nursing practice in a community context.

Apologising for the study of religion - no way!

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Tim

2017-01-01

the role of the scholar of religion,–and yet another example of the necessity of approaching Islam as any other religion, i.e. from a comparative, historical and critical-analytical point of view. Though the book (rightly) suggests that the academic study of religions is more novelty than norm...

Rituals between religion and politics: the case of VHP’s 2001-2002 Ayodhya-campaign

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Erik Reenberg Sand

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The present paper deals with rituals in a political discourse, namely the rituals employed by the right wing, Hindu nationalist movement, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP, in its campaign for a Rama temple in the north Indian town of Ayodhya. As is probably well-known, VHP is part of a group of organizations known as the Sangh Parivar, or sangh family, which also includes the presently ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, and the ultranationalistic organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS. The rituals of VHP are instruments of the construction of an ideal Hindu society and part of an encounter between Hindu-nationalist tenets and the secular, political establishment. However, the rituals employed by VHP can not be said to represent a separate ritual genre, since they are not different from similar, traditional Hindu rituals. What makes them different is their context and their motives, the fact that they do not serve ordinary material, eschatological, or soteriological aims, but rather political aims, as well as the fact that the ritual agents in this case do not seem to have a satisfactory juridical legitimacy to perform the rituals.

Pensiero post-moderno e religione (Post-modern thought and religion - DOI: 10.5752/P.2175-5841.2010v8n16p99

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Gilbert

2010-09-01

ção de um esse in, em um plano radicalmente distinto da experiência religiosa autêntica, que tem sua origem na interioridade pessoal, na afetividade de um esse ad. Palavras-chave: Religião, razão, pensamento pós-moderno, modernidade, cultura   Abstract The present article highlights the similarities and differences among religion, modern and postmodern thought. They all belong to cultures and their social histories, but such convergence does not guarantee the identification of their perspectives. Religion has consented in making irrational statements, beyond social and cultural conditions. The thought, even the postmodern one should be comprehended in its ideological and self-referential bias, and not separated from the concepts organized in a particular culture. Post-modernity, which has the intention to release itself from the tyranny of modern rationality, could offer an open horizon of though in order to establish an alliance with religion. But, after all, it has not worked. Postmodernism is still based in a conception of the individual under the emotion of the so called esse in, within a plan which is totally distinct of genuine religious experience, which has its origin in the inner personal emotion of the so called esse ad. Key words: Religion, reason, postmodern thought, modernity, culture

Religion as a Source of Evil

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jonkers, Peter

2017-01-01

The starting point is that there is a structural, although not necessary link between religion and two important expressions of religious evil, religious intolerance and violence. The origin of this link lies in the radicalism that is inherent in all religions. Although this radicalism often has

The Religion Teacher's Handbook: A Primer on the Vocation of Teaching Catholic High School Religion

Science.gov (United States)

Mueting, Timothy R.

2017-01-01

All Catholic school teachers are called to be evangelists and catechists. Religion teachers have a special duty to teach religion systematically in a classroom. This book is meant to be a handbook or guidebook with practical elements of teaching and sample lesson plans and projects.

[Religion and spirituality in education and nursing assistance].

Science.gov (United States)

Gussi, Maria Aparecida; Dytz, Jane Lynn Garrison

2008-01-01

Intersectional study between nursing discourse and precepts which embrace religion/religiousness and spirituality, and how these were incorporated and their reflection upon nursing practice, education and the history of the organization of the profession. For bibliographic review LILACS and BDENF databases of the Electronic Health Library were used. A total of 57 full-text articles, published from 1957 to 2007, were analyzed upon the light of the ideas of Maurice Halbwachs, about " collective memory" . The results show that Brazilian nursing has a religious root with profound ramifications on its development. This configuration is so embedded in the collective memory that, even with the expansion of non-religious institutions, the Christian precepts remain present and strong.

Political Socialization as a Sphere of Being of Homo Politicus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

И А Щеглов

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Political socialization means something more than political context of socialization. Study in political socialization must be oriented on political socialization as special science category with own history, opening by the logic of Homo politicus being content of political socialization. Homo politicus, rationalized and ideologized in its version, means technological view on the problem of political socialization.

Political Socialization as a Sphere of Being of Homo Politicus

OpenAIRE

И А Щеглов

2008-01-01

Political socialization means something more than political context of socialization. Study in political socialization must be oriented on political socialization as special science category with own history, opening by the logic of Homo politicus being content of political socialization. Homo politicus, rationalized and ideologized in its version, means technological view on the problem of political socialization.

Perspectives on Tolerance in Education Flowing from a Comparison of Religion Education in Estonia and South Africa

Science.gov (United States)

van der Walt, Johannes L.

2013-01-01

The question that prompted this investigation into religion education (RE) in Estonia and in South Africa was whether two countries from such totally different parts of the world, with such vastly different populations and cultures though with somewhat parallel histories, had tackled the same or similar problems regarding the provision of RE in…

Criminalising defamation of religion and belief

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Noorloos, L.A.

2014-01-01

This article deals with the role of criminal law in dealing with defamatory expressions about religion or belief. Defamation of religion and belief is a form of indirect defamation ‘via identification’ which, as the discussion about the Dutch group defamation law shows, stretches up the notion of

Florida's Instructional Materials Specifications. K-12 Social Studies, 2004-2005 Adoption.

Science.gov (United States)

Florida State Dept. of Education, Tallahassee.

An effective social studies program provides coordinated, systematic study, drawing upon such disciplines as economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and sociology. It prepares students to be personally and socially aware, promotes multiple perspectives, encourages intellectual curiosity, promotes…

Religion in Chinese Education: From Denial to Cooperation

Science.gov (United States)

Nanbu, Hirotaka

2008-01-01

In China, from the founding of the People's Republic of China to the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, it was thought that religion would disappear with the development of society and the freedom not to believe in religion was stressed. During the Cultural Revolution religion became the object of oppression. However, from the end of the…

The World Religions Paradigm Time for a Change

Science.gov (United States)

Owen, Suzanne

2011-01-01

The teaching of religions has long relied on the World Religions paradigm to guide curricula throughout education, which has led to a widening gap, on the one hand, between what is taught in schools and in universities and, on the other, between research and teaching. While the World Religions paradigm has allowed the inclusion of non-Christian…

Religious Musings de S. T. Coleridge: a theological and political interpretation for the romantic literature.

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Laura Gavilán

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The poem Religious Musings, a Desultory Poem, Written on the Christmas Eve of 1794 (1794-96 by Samuel Taylor Coleridge describes the French Revolution as a divine event that opens up the first stage of the Millennium. The active relationship between schemes of interpretation and categories that proceeds from literature and theology during in the late eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century is markedly important in order to analyze whereby romanticisms are constituted in Europe. In England, this connection has a distinctive feature since from the seventeenth century, the wars of religion, through government institutions –that is Parliament and the Crown- play a crucial role in politics. Coleridge’s later rejection of the millennial tradition of 1790’s literature, that which regards Revolution as a sign of the biblical prophesy’s fulfillment, occurs in time with the conservative turn of many poets that adhere to the high romanticism canon. Acknowledging the intensity of the link between the French Revolution and the rise of new forms of literary meanings, this article aims to look into the ways in which Religious Musings applies and elaborates upon theological concepts and subjects as a way of giving history a new significance.Keywords: literature – theology – revolution – history – romanticism.

Indigenous religions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geertz, Armin W.

2009-01-01

Dette essay diskuterer en publikation af James L. Cox med titlen From Primitive to Indigenous (2007). Bogen analyserer forskellige forfatteres holdninger til studiet af indfødte kulturers religioner. Cox's analyser tages op i dette essay og de problematiseres i forhold til mit eget arbejde....

Religion, Heuristics, and Intergenerational Risk Management

OpenAIRE

Rupert Read; Nassim Nicholas Taleb

2014-01-01

Religions come with risk-​managing interdicts and heuristics, and they carry such interdicts and heuristics across generations. We remark on such facets of religion in relation to a propensity among some decision scientists and others to regard practices that they cannot understand as being irrational, biased, and so on.

Christianity's Response to the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life: Insights from Science and Religion and the Sociology of Religion

Science.gov (United States)

Bertka, Constance M.

The question of whether or not extraterrestrial life exists and its potential impact for religions, especially Christianity, is an ancient one addressed in numerous historical publications. The contemporary discussion has been dominated by a few notable scientists from the SETI and astrobiology communities, and by a few Christian theologians active in the science and religion field. This discussion amounts to scientists outside of the faith tradition predicting the demise of Christianity if extraterrestrial intelligent life is discovered and theologians within the tradition predicting the enrichment and reformulation of Christian doctrine. Missing from this discussion is insight drawn more broadly from the science and religion field and from the sociology of religion. A consideration of how possibilities for relating science and religion are reflected in the US public's varied acceptance of the theory of evolution; the growth of Christianity in the Global South; and a revised theory of secularization which inversely correlates religiosity to existential security, gives credence to the proposal that the response from those outside of academia would be much more varied and uncertain.

500-year periodicity of political instability in the history of ancient Egypt and China. Androgens at work?

Science.gov (United States)

Páles, Emil; Mikulecký, Miroslav

2008-08-01

DISCOVERY: A periodicity of 500 years has been discovered in the political history of ancient Egypt and documented by means of inferential statistics. Periods of chaos and waning of central power (some of them called "intermediate periods") recurred every 500 years. Input for the computation is the mean duration of ruling dynasties calculated per each half century. Fisher's periodogram analysis and Halberg's cosinor regression have been used. A highly significant (p god Nergal. The same periodicity has been described by the Chinese philosopher Mencius in the 3rd century B.C. and attributed to the will of tian (heaven). Egyptians elevated their war god Seth every 500 years and European kings assumed masculine nicknames. This recurring cultural pattern of aggressiveness and strife resembles overall traits of male psyche or mid-life crisis. We suggest to look for an unknown cosmophysical factor impacting the neuroendocrine system of man by raising the levels of androgens periodically. EXPLANATION HYPOTHESES: Sun impacts global weather on Earth, but there is no known significant periodicity of 500 years in solar activity. The Wheeler weather cycle almost fits the cycle of Egyptian political history. But his cold-dry periods seem to lag behind the periods of social destabilization and hence can not cause them. An alternative view (based on idealistic rather than materialistic presuppositions) is, that periodic long-term shifts of archetypes take place within the collective unconscious of mankind independently of external environment.

State and religion in contemporary Iran modernity, tradition, and political Islam (1979-2005)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rad, Darius

2010-01-01

The title of this study raises questions about the meaning and the significance of the words 'modernity', 'tradition' and 'Political Islam' in contemporary Iran. The purpose of this study is to reveal true meanings of the thoughts and practises of the post-revolution Iranian elites and

Beyond Dualism: Expanded Understandings of Religion and Global Justice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wilson, Erin

2010-01-01

The world’s religions have strong traditions of contributing to theories and practices around justice. Recent debates on global justice within International Relations (IR), however, have largely overlooked possible contributions from religion. This article explores why religion is neglected, despite

La pirateria marittima negli stretti di Malacca e Singapore in prospettiva storica e attuale

OpenAIRE

Delogu, Emilio Paolo

2016-01-01

Maritime piracy is still one of the most interesting manifestations of human activity by reason of the fact that it has, directly or indirectly, a number of points of contact between different problems of social, religious, political, economical and, of course, historical matter. Specifically, South-east Asia is a great example of how history, politics and religion are strongly and crucially imbued with the maritime banditry phenomenology. During the era of great maritime political entities e...

"World Religions" in Introductory Sociology Textbooks

Science.gov (United States)

Carroll, Michael P.

2017-01-01

A section on "world religions" (WRs) is now routinely included in the religion chapters of introductory sociology textbooks. Looking carefully at these WR sections, however, two things seem puzzling. The first is that the criteria for defining a WR varies considerably from textbook to textbook; the second is that these WRs sections…

DSM-III-R and religion.

Science.gov (United States)

Post, S G

1992-07-01

The interpretation of religion in DSM-III-R contains considerable negative bias and contributes to unfair stereotypes of religious persons. Particularly new religious movements and religious conversion are unfairly interpreted under the DSM-III-R heading, 'Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified'. It is suggested that a more balanced and respectful interpretation of religion is needed in DSM-III-R, since psychiatry through its official nomenclature should not contribute to social intolerance of religious nonconformity.

Religion in Education in South Africa: Was Social Justice Served?

Science.gov (United States)

van der Walt, Johannes L.

2011-01-01

The promulgation of South African policy regarding the place of religion in public education was delayed until 2003, after a lively debate. The National Policy on Religion in Education effectively banned confessional, sectarian religion from public schools, but allowed for the teaching of Religion Studies as an academic subject and for religious…

Helisaeus Röslin and freedom of religion

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Miguel A. Granada

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Helisaeus Röslin does not figure significantly in historical surveys of religious tolerance. Nevertheless, Carlos Gilly has shown in several works that the Swabian-Alsatian physician tirelessly defended throughout his life the need to uphold the freedom of religion and of conscience, both as a religious postulate and as a factor for economic progress and social peace. This article focuses on Röslin’s concept of religious freedom in relation to his concept of history, his work on chronology and his interpretation of the celestial novelties of the period, particularly the nova of 1604 and Galileo’s discovery of the Medicean planets in 1610, just as they appear in two of Röslin’s later works: Mitternächtige Schiffarth (1611 and the Tabella des Welt Spiegels (1612.

The troubled relationship of state and religion in Eritrea

OpenAIRE

Mekonnen, Daniel R; Kidane, Selam

2014-01-01

Eritrea is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religion country. The country does not have an official state religion. However, since the country's independence in 1991, the relationship between state and religion has been a troubled one. At least four religions are officially recognised by the state: Islam, of the Sunni rite; the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church, part of the worldwide Coptic Orthodox Church of the eastern rite; the Eritrean Catholic Church, part of the worldwide Roman Ca...

Oral history en het vreemde sterven van het Nederlandse christendom

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P. van Rooden

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Oral history and the strange demise of Dutch ChristianityDuring the last forty years, Dutch society has gone through a sudden and far-reaching dechristianisation process. Sociologists specialising in religion have monitored this development and explained it using the secularist theory. However, an exploratory oral history approach, based on 43 interviews, and using the modern social history of West European religion, propels us in another direction. The vibrant Dutch Christianity of the 1950s was based on collective rituals and discursive practices that were taken for granted. Although it was possible for individuals to become well-versed in this religion, they did not use the religious rites and rituals in order to think about their own situation. This peculiar nature of Dutch Christianity made it very vulnerable to the cultural revolution of the 1960s, interpreted here as the rise within mass-culture of the practices and ideals of the expressive and reflexive self. People did not choose to leave the churches, but instead drifted away, almost without realising it, as the religious practices from their youth gradually became less important within their lives. The churches were unable to create a form of Christianity that could adapt itself to the new ideal and practices of the self and effectively compete in the cultural marketplace.

Religion, migration og integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borup, Jørn

2010-01-01

Sammenhængen mellem religion og integration har de sidste år været genstand for debat. Artiklen kommer ind på begreber og sammenhænge relateret til området (migration, diaspora, assimilation, etnicitet, kultur) og ser på religionens mulige rolle som negativ eller positiv ressource i integrationss......Sammenhængen mellem religion og integration har de sidste år været genstand for debat. Artiklen kommer ind på begreber og sammenhænge relateret til området (migration, diaspora, assimilation, etnicitet, kultur) og ser på religionens mulige rolle som negativ eller positiv ressource i...

Truth, body and religion

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Jarl-Thure Eriksson

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is based on the words of welcome to the symposium on Religion and the Body on 16 June 2010. In a religious context ‘truth’ is like a mantra, a certain imperative to believe in sacred things. The concept of truth and falseness arises, when we as humans compare reality, as we experience it through our senses, with the representation we have in our memory, a comparison of new information with stored information. If we look for the truth, we have to search in the human mind. There we will also find religion.

A PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATON INTO AFRICAN VALUES ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Dean SPGS NAU

to single autonomous towns and villages; hence, the veracity of the saying that political ... any regard to their history, religion, culture, or experience.”(33). And this is ..... and intrinsically African and Individualism that of the west. In this piece, we ...

Journal of Cultural Studies: Editorial Policies

African Journals Online (AJOL)

While it could be of natural relevance for scholars in Literary Studies, Sociology, History, Political Science, Anthropology, Fine Art, Religion and Philosophy, Linguistics, et cetera, to make contributions, it does also acknowledge that various disciplines within the sciences - management, environmental, engineering, medical, ...

FROM THE EDITORS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franck Salameh

2012-05-01

Full Text Available A peer-reviewed electronic journal, The Levantine Review publishes scholarship (in English, French, Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, Syriac, and Levantine vernaculars on the history, cultures, religions, politics, and the intellectual, philological, and literary traditions of the contemporary Levant and Near East.

Teaching Women's History.

Science.gov (United States)

Fain, George

1995-01-01

Argues that women's history should stress the broad sociological view of women's roles not only in politics but in mundane, day-to-day life throughout all of history, rather that reducing women's history to a few token figures. Notes that many college and secondary texts and testing materials have recognized the trend toward the inclusion of…

Beyond denial and exclusion: The history of relations between Christians and Muslims in the Cape Colony during the 17th–18th centuries with lessons for a post-colonial theology of religions

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Jaco Beyers

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Learning from the past prepares one for being able to cope with the future. History is made up of strings of relationships. This article follows a historical line from colonialism, through apartheid to post-colonialism in order to illustrate inter-religious relations in South-Africa and how each context determines these relations. Social cohesion is enhanced by a post-colonial theology of religions based on the current context. By describing the relationship between Christians and Muslims during the 17th–18th centuries in the Cape Colony, lessons can be deduced to guide inter-religious relations in a post-colonial era in South Africa. One of the most prominent Muslim leaders during the 17th century in the Cape Colony was Sheik Yusuf al-Makassari. His influence determined the future face of Islam in the Cape Colony and here, during the 18th century, ethics started playing a crucial role in determining the relationship between Christians and Muslims. The ethical guidance of the Imams formed the Muslim communities whilst ethical decline was apparent amongst the Christian colonists during the same period. The place of ethics as determinative of future inter-religious dialogue is emphasised. Denial and exclusion characterised relationships between Christians and Muslims. According to a post-colonial understanding of inter-religious contact the equality and dignity of non-Christian religions are to be acknowledged. In the postcolonial and postapartheid struggle for equality, also of religions, prof Graham Duncan, to whom this article is dedicated, contributed to the process of acknowledging the plurality of the religious reality in South Africa.

Later Wittgenstein and the Philosophy of Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Stig Børsen

2010-01-01

This article sets out by distinguishing Wittgenstein’s own views in the philosophy of religion from a school of thought in the philosophy of religion that relies on later Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language. After a survey of distinguishing features of Wittgenstein’s later philosophy, the third...... section explores Wittgenstein’s treatment of Frazer’s account of magic among primitive peoples. The following section offers an account of Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion, including the use of the notions of a language game and superstition. I conclude by criticizing a very influential argument...

Stefania Capone, Les Yoruba du Nouveau Monde. Religion, ethnicité et nationalisme noir aux États-UnisParis, Karthala, 2005, 395 p.Terry Rey

OpenAIRE

2008-01-01

The global diffusion of Yoruba religious culture is one of the most impressive stories in the modern history of religion. For a once local “traditional” West African religion to have not only survived the transatlantic slave trade but to have since grown to count tens of millions of adherents (mostly in Africa and the Americas, though increasingly in Europe and Asia) is testimony to the remarkable depth, beauty, and resilience of Yoruba orisha (spirit) cults and the ifá divinatory system, whi...

Cultural, Political, and Social Dimensions of Identity among Student

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Rahmatollah Sedigh Sarvestani

2010-01-01

Full Text Available As various Iranian theorists emphasis, challenge between tradition and modernity is among the most affective phenomena on Iranian identity. Thus, in the present study, different dimensions of Student’s identity have been evaluated regarding this challenge. According to the main hypothesis, student’s identity is a hybrid of traditional and modern elements. Each dimension of identity (either modern or traditional has been studied from the social, cultural, and political aspects. The study has been carried using questionnaire in 6 universities in Tehran –including University of Tehran, Shahid Beheshti, Allameh Tabatabaei, Sharif University of Technology, Al-Zahra, and University of Applied Science and Technology. Results show that in social and cultural aspects, modern elements of identity prevail, while in the political aspect it is the traditional elements that prevail. In another word, religion-politics blend and authoritarianism play crucial role in students’ identity rather than tendency to civil society. In addition, students’ identity is not simply a one-dimensional structure, but a bi-dimensional construction within which both modern and traditional elements are involved.

Identities of the political theory: among science, normativity and history

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Ricardo Silva

2008-12-01

Full Text Available This article aims to present a brief overview of the evolving debates on the problem of the identity of political theory, mainly in the Anglophone academic context since the end of the 1950’s. At least three ways of identifying the nature of political theory have shaped those de-bates: the scientistic, the normative and the historical.

Why do you hate me so much? An exploration of religious freedom from the perspective of African religion(s

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Sibusiso T. Masondo

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The advent of the 1996 constitution and the promotion of freedom of religion gave space to previously discriminated religious traditions to flourish. There have been a number of revivals of aspects of African Traditional Religion. The Bill of Rights guarantees Religious Freedom but tends to limit it to Freedom of belief. People have every right to believe and practice as long as their practice is in line with the law. This paper is a reflection on the difficulties posed by the notion of Religious Freedom as contained in the 1996 South African constitution for practitioners of African Indigenous Religions and other minority religions. In a case that captured the imagination of the legal fraternity, Gareth Prince, a practicing Rastafarian, was prevented from joining the Bar of the Western Cape because of a prior conviction of being caught in possession of dagga, an illegal substance. He argued that he used cannabis as part of his religious observance. Justice Ngcobo, in his judgement dismissing the case, made it very clear that ‘the right to freedom of religion is not absolute’. In other words, religious practices need to fall within the provisions of the law of the land. At the core of our argument is that the intellectual and cultural resources that were mobilised in writing the South African constitution failed to reflect on the religious practices of indigenous people and other minority religions.

Hvorfor, hvorfra (og hvornår) kom religion?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geertz, Armin W.

2018-01-01

dyr færdiggjort inden for en specifik kultur. Når man ser på de seneste landvindinger inden for neuropsykologien, er der fire kendetegn, som jeg mener, er konstituerende for mennesket. Disse er: en finudviklet social kognition, en kommunikations- og samarbejdsdrift, en bedragerisk hjerne samt en...... overtroisk hjerne med tendens til ualmindelige mentale og/eller emotionelle oplevelser. Disse egenskaber er en nødvendig forudsætning for religiøst adfærd. Når man ser på de arkæologiske vidnesbyrd i jagten på det religiøse menneske, skal man gå betydeligt længere tilbage end Homo sapiens, ja, man skal langt...... tilbage i homininlinjen. De første proto-religiøse træk synes at komme til syne med Homo heidelbergensis (mellem 600.000 og 400.000 år siden). KEYWORDS: religion; evolution; cognitive science of religion; definition of religion; neurobiology of religion; method and theory in the study of religion....

The influence of religion on sexual HIV risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, Stacey A; El-Bassel, Nabila

2014-08-01

This systematic review examines the relationship between religion and sexual HIV risk behavior. It focuses primarily on how studies have conceptualized and defined religion, methodologies, and sexual risk outcomes. We also describe regions where studies were conducted and mechanisms by which religion may be associated with sexual risk. We included 137 studies in this review, classifying them as measuring: (1) only religious affiliation (n = 57), (2) only religiosity (n = 48), and (3) both religious affiliation and religiosity (n = 32). A number of studies identified lower levels of sexual HIV risk among Muslims, although many of these examined HIV prevalence rather than specific behavioral risk outcomes. Most studies identified increased religiosity to be associated with lower levels of sexual HIV risk. This finding persists but is weaker when the outcome considered is condom use. The paper reviews ways in which religion may contribute to increase and reduction in sexual HIV risk, gaps in research, and implications for future research on religion and HIV.