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Religion, Ethnicity, and Gender in Western Hunan during the Modern Era: The Dao among the Miao? (Academia Sinica on East Asia)
by Paul R. KatzThis book explores how beliefs and practices have shaped the interactions between different ethnic groups in Western Hunan, as well as considering how religious life has adapted to the challenges of modern Chinese history. Combining historical and ethnographic methodologies, chapters in this book are structured around changes that occurred during the interaction between Miao ritual traditions and religions such as Daoism, with particular focus on the commonalities and differences seen between Western Hunan and other areas of Southwest China. In addition, investigation is made into how gender and ethnicity have shaped such processes, and what these phenomena can teach about larger questions of modern Chinese history. As such, this study transcends existing scholarship on Western Hunan – which has stressed the impact of state policies and elite agendas – by focusing instead on the roles played by ritual specialists. Such findings call into question conventional wisdom about the ‘standardization’ of Chinese culture, as well as the integration of local society into the state by means of written texts. Religion, Ethnicity, and Gender in Western Hunan during the Modern Era will prove valuable to students and scholars of history, ethnography, anthropology, ethnic studies, and Asian studies more broadly.
Religion, Expression, and Patriotism in Russia: Essays on Post-Soviet Society and the State (Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society #213)
by Sanna TuromaThe 2010s saw an introduction of legislative acts about religion, sexuality, and culture in Russia, which caused an uproar of protests. They politicized areas of life commonly perceived as private and expected to be free of the state's control. As a result, political activism and radical grassroots movements engaged many Russians in controversies about religion and culture and polarized popular opinion in the capitals and regions alike. This volume presents seven case studies that probe into the politics of religion and culture in today's Russia. The contributions highlight the diversity of Russia's religious communities and cultural practices by analyzing Hasidic Jewish identities, popular culture sponsored by the Orthodox Church, literary mobilization of the National Bolshevik Party, cinematic narratives of the Chechen wars, militarization of political Orthodoxy, and moral debates caused by opera as well as film productions. The authors draw on a variety of theoretical approaches and methodologies, including opinion surveys, ethnological fieldwork, narrative analysis, Foucault's conceptualization of biopower, catachrestic politics, and sociological theories of desecularization. The volume’s contributors are Sanna Turoma, Kaarina Aitamurto, Tomi Huttunen, Susan Ikonen, Boris Knorre, Irina Kotkina, Jussi Lassila, Andrey Makarychev, Elena Ostrovskaya, and Mikhail Suslov.
Religion, Extremism and Violence in South Asia (Politics of South Asia)
by Imran Ahmed Shahram Akbarzadeh Howard Brasted Zahid Shahab AhmedThis book sheds light on religiously motivated extremism and violence in South Asia, a phenomenon which ostensibly poses critical and unique challenges to the peace, security and governance not only of the region, but also of the world at large. The book is distinctive in-so-far as it reexamines conventional wisdom held about religious extremism in South Asia and departs from the literature which centres its analyses on Islamic militancy based on the questions and assumptions of the West’s ‘war on terror’. This volume also offers a comprehensive analysis of new extremist movements and how their emergence and success places existing theoretical frameworks in the study of religious extremism into question. It further examines topical issues including the study of social media and its impact on the evolution and operation of violent extremism. The book also analyses grassroots and innovative non-state initiatives aimed to counter extremist ideologies. Through case studies focusing on Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, this collection examines extremist materials, methods of political mobilisation and recruitment processes and maps the interconnected nature of sociological change with the ideological transformations of extremist movements.
Religion, Feminism, and Idoloclasm: Being and Becoming in the Women's Liberation Movement (Gender, Theology and Spirituality)
by Melissa RaphaelReligion, Feminism, and Idoloclasm identifies religious and secular feminism’s common critical moment as that of idol-breaking. It reads the women’s liberation movement as founded upon a philosophically and emotionally risky attempt to liberate women’s consciousness from a three-fold cognitive captivity to the self-idolizing god called ‘Man’; the ‘God’ who is a projection of his power, and the idol of the feminine called ‘Woman’ that the god-called-God created for ‘Man’. Examining a period of feminist theory, theology, and culture from about 1965 to 2010, this book shows that secular, as well as Christian, Jewish, and post-Christian feminists drew on ancient and modern tropes of redemption from slavery to idols or false ideas as a means of overcoming the alienation of women’s being from their own becoming. With an understanding of feminist theology as a pivotal contribution to the feminist criticism of culture, this original book also examines idoloclasm in feminist visual art, literature, direct action, and theory, not least that of the sexual politics of romantic love, the diet and beauty industry, sex robots, and other phenomena whose idolization of women reduces them to figures of the feminine same, experienced as a de-realization or death of the self. This book demonstrates that secular and religious feminist critical engagements with the modern trauma of dehumanization were far more closely related than is often supposed. As such, it will be vital reading for scholars in theology, religious studies, gender studies, visual studies, and philosophy.
Religion, Food, and Eating in North America (Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History)
by Benjamin E. Zeller Marie W. Dallam Reid L. Neilson Nora L. RubelThe way in which religious people eat reflects not only their understanding of food and religious practice but also their conception of society and their place within it. This anthology considers theological foodways, identity foodways, negotiated foodways, and activist foodways in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. Original essays explore the role of food and eating in defining theologies and belief structures, creating personal and collective identities, establishing and challenging boundaries and borders, and helping to negotiate issues of community, religion, race, and nationality.Contributors consider food practices and beliefs among Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists, as well as members of new religious movements, Afro-Caribbean religions, interfaith families, and individuals who consider food itself a religion. They traverse a range of geographic regions, from the Southern Appalachian Mountains to North America's urban centers, and span historical periods from the colonial era to the present. These essays contain a variety of methodological and theoretical perspectives, emphasizing the embeddedness of food and eating practices within specific religions and the embeddedness of religion within society and culture. The volume makes an excellent resource for scholars hoping to add greater depth to their research and for instructors seeking a thematically rich, vivid, and relevant tool for the classroom.
Religion, Food, and Eating in North America
by Benjamin E. Zeller Reid L. Neilson Nora L. Rubel Martha L. Finch Marie W. DallamThe way in which religious people eat reflects not only their understanding of food and religious practice but also their conception of society and their place within it. This anthology considers theological foodways, identity foodways, negotiated foodways, and activist foodways in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. Original essays explore the role of food and eating in defining theologies and belief structures, creating personal and collective identities, establishing and challenging boundaries and borders, and helping to negotiate issues of community, religion, race, and nationality. Contributors consider food practices and beliefs among Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists, as well as members of new religious movements, Afro-Carribean religions, interfaith families, and individuals who consider food itself a religion. They traverse a range of geographic regions, from the Southern Appalachian Mountains to North America's urban centers, and span historical periods from the colonial era to the present. These essays contain a variety of methodological and theoretical perspectives, emphasizing the embeddedness of food and eating practices within specific religions and the embeddedness of religion within society and culture. The volume makes an excellent resource for scholars hoping to add greater depth to their research and for instructors seeking a thematically rich, vivid, and relevant tool for the classroom.
Religion for a Secular Age: Max Müller, Swami Vivekananda and Vedānta
by Thomas J. GreenReligion for a Secular Age provides a transnational history of modern Vedānta through a comparative study of two of its most important exponents, Friedrich Max Muller (1823–1900) and Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902). This book explains why Vedānta's appeal spanned the ostensibly very different contexts of colonial India and Victorian Britain and America, and how this ancient form of thought was translated by Muller and Vivekananda into a modern form of philosophy or religion. These religiously-committed men attempted to reconcile religion with modernity by appealing to Advaita (literally, 'non-dualistic') Vedānta's monistic interpretation of reality. The 'scientific' study of religion allegedly demonstrated the evolutionary superiority of Vedānta and the possibility of religion's survival in 'the light of modern science'. They believed Vedānta could also provide the religious basis for moral engagement in this world, even as the hold of orthodox Christianity and traditional Hinduism appeared to be weakening. Vedānta thus served as a way of articulating a form of religion suitable for a secular age – religion which has embraced modern forms of thought while breaking away from creeds, scriptures and institutions to thrive in the spheres of public debate of London, Calcutta and New York.
Religion for Atheists
by Alain De BottonWhat if religions are neither all true nor all nonsense? The long-running and often boring debate between fundamentalist believers and non-believers is finally moved forward by Alain de Botton's inspiring new book, which boldly argues that the supernatural claims of religion are entirely false--but that it still has some very important things to teach the secular world. Religion for Atheists suggests that rather than mocking religion, agnostics and atheists should instead steal from it--because the world's religions are packed with good ideas on how we might live and arrange our societies. Blending deep respect with total impiety, de Botton (a non-believer himself) proposes that we look to religion for insights into how to, among other concerns, build a sense of community, make our relationships last, overcome feelings of envy and inadequacy, inspire travel and reconnect with the natural world. For too long non-believers have faced a stark choice between either swallowing some peculiar doctrines or doing away with a range of consoling and beautiful rituals and ideas. At last, in Religion for Atheists, Alain de Botton has fashioned a far more interesting and truly helpful alternative.
Religion for Common Entrance 13+
by Susan Grenfell Michael WilcocksonTrust the experts; let Religious Studies specialists Susan Grenfell and Michael Wilcockson guide you through the new World Religions content of the 2018 ISEB Theology, Philosophy and Religion syllabus for Common Entrance 13+.- Enables students to develop and review their knowledge through discussion points and a variety of activities designed to encourage active research and engagement- Builds the skills that students need for the exam by providing questions that focus on the three assessment objectives- Boosts students' confidence approaching assessment with exam-style practice questions at the end of each section- Offers a flexible route through the new syllabus with clear coverage of all six world religionsThis Student Book is fully supported by the accompanying Teacher Resource Book, which contains helpful Teachers' Overviews for each chapter, guidance on delivering the content and classroom-ready worksheets.
Religion For Dummies
by Rabbi Marc Gellman Monsignor Thomas HartmanWhy are we here? How should we live? What happens after we die? Why does evil exist? Religion For Dummies explains how the world's great religions answer questions that persist through generations. Authors Rabbi Marc Gellman and Monsignor Thomas Hartman are trusted religious advisors known as the God Squad. With wonderful wit and incredible wisdom, they host a daily talk show which reaches nearly 4 million homes in the New York area, and have appeared on numerous TV and radio shows. This book is not a scholarly theological treatise; it's a lively, practical, hands-on resource that will help you better understand your own religion and others. You'll explore: Religion's role in the family and in the workplace The beliefs and practices of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other religions Religion's impact during major passages in life such as birth, death, and marriage How to join a religion and how to pray How religion can help you deal with issues in every day life such as conflict, adversity, marriage, divorce, and more Religious rituals and ethics Religion for Dummies touches on lesser-known religions (such as, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Sikhism). It explores how people of various faiths pray, celebrate life and death, and view moral issues. The book does not tell you what to believe, but rather encourages you to live as you believe and let your religion infuse every aspect of your life. It doesn't give simple answers to haunting, complex questions; it helps you find your own answers and pursue your own spiritual path!
Religion For Reluctant Believers
by Leonard J. SwidlerThis is a volume written for persons who live in the mental world of modernity--that is, in a world that cherishes (1) freedom as the core of being human; (2) critical-thinking reason as the arbiter of what to affirm or not; (3) history, process, and dynamism at the heart of human life and society; and (4) dialogue with those who think differently yet who sense that there is somehow more to life, to reality, than meets the eye: that there is a depth or spiritual dimension not captured in our everyday experiences, which is customarily called religion. <P><P>Religion for Reluctant Believers explores the meaning of life: its joys, problems, and terrors, its pluses and minuses. In short, it asks the question, do you want to buy into Religion with a capital r, into a particular religion, or into no religion at all?
Religion From the Essays of Arhur Schopenhauer
by Arthur SchopenhauerCollected here are five short essays, A Dialogue, A Few Words on Pantheism, On Books and Reading, Physiognomy, and, Psychological Observations, by the world renowned philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.
Religion from Tolstoy to Camus
by Walter KaufmannFirst published in 1961, this volume brings together basic writings and religious truths and morals from a wide range of sources.Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Plus II, Leo XIII, Nietzsche, James, Royce, Wilde, Freud, Niemöller, Barth, Maritain, Tillich, Schweitzer, Buber, Camus, and others, all have sought the religious truth about man, and have in the last three quarters of our century made great contributions to religious thought, critical often of the accepted and fashionable religion of their day, but greatly concerned to purify religion as they understood it.Dr. Waller Kaufman, of Princeton University, who has already written extensively on philosophy and religion, supplies an editorial and critical note for each of his subject, thus providing valuable continuity and evaluation.Such a book as this deserves a place in all libraries, public and private, so that it will be possible to quote these men from knowledge, rather than hearsay many times removed from the original.“The point is not to win friends for religion, or enemies, but to provoke greater thoughtfulness. Here are texts that deserve to be pondered and discussed. Some of them I have criticized in other volumes; in such cases, the references are given. But in the present book nothing is included merely to be disparaged, nor is anything offered only to be praised. The hope is that those who read this book will gain a deeper understanding of religion.”—Walter Kaufmann, Preface
Religion from Tolstoy to Camus
by Walter Kaufmann Paul GottfriedWalter Kaufmann devoted his life to exploring the religious implications of literary and philosophical texts. Deeply skeptical about the human and moral benets of modern secularism, he also criticized the quest for certainty pursued through dogma. Kaufmann saw a risk of loss of authenticity in what he described as unjustied retreats into the past. This is a compilation of signicant texts on religious thought that he selected and introduced.
Religion, Gender and Race in Western European Arts and Culture: Thinking Through Religious Transformation (Routledge Critical Studies in Religion, Gender and Sexuality)
by Nella van den BrandtThis book examines narratives of individual religious transformation in Western European literature and culture. Religious individuals, themes, experiences and communities are widely represented in diverse literature and culture, including literary texts and visual arts and media. Taking the subject of religious transformation as an angle from which to study constructions of religion, gender and race, this book reveals through various case studies what authors, documentary makers, film makers and playwrights consider to be important (possible) shifts between the old and the new, continuities and discontinuities, and the formation of the self. The chapters demonstrate how individual religious transformations are understood to be shaped by various intersections of difference, and point at the need to consider gender as always related to and co-constructing religion and race. This transdisciplinary and intimate study provides a fresh lens through which to examine pressing questions regarding the place and future of religion, gender and race in contemporary Western Europe.
Religion, Gender, and the Public Sphere: Religion, Gender, And The Public Sphere (Routledge Studies in Religion)
by Niamh Reilly Stacey ScriverThe re-emergence of religion as a significant cultural, social and political, force is not gender neutral. Tensions between claims for women’s equality and the rights of sexual minorities on one side and the claims of religions on the other side are well-documented across all major religions and regions. It is also well recognized in feminist scholarship that gender identities and ethno-religious identities work together in complex ways that are often exploited by dominant groups. Hence, a more comprehensive understanding of the changing role and influence of religion in the public sphere more widely requires complex, multidisciplinary and comparative gender analyses. Most recent discussion on these matters, however, especially in Europe, has focused primarily on the perceived subordinate status of Muslim women. These debates are a reminder of the deep interrelation of questions of gender, identity, human rights and religious freedom more generally. The relatively narrow (albeit important) purview of such discussions so far, however, underscores the need to extend the horizon of enquiry vis-à-vis religion, gender and the public sphere beyond the binary of ‘Islam versus the West’. Religion, Gender and the Public Sphere moves gender from the periphery to the centre of contemporary debates about the role of religion in public and political life. It offers a timely, multidisciplinary collection of gender-focused essays that address an array of challenges arising from the changing role and influence of religious organisations, identities, actors and values in the public sphere in contemporary multicultural and democratic societies.
Religion Gone Bad: The Hidden Dangers of the Christian Right
by Mel White"In Religion Gone Bad, Christian activist Mel White documents the alarming rise to power of fundamentalist Christians in American politics and religion. He reveals a vicious campaign that fundamentalists are waging against homosexuality and gay Americans in order to raise funds and mobilize volunteers in a much broader war to control church and state alike. White makes it abundantly clear that the true goals of today's fundamentalist leaders are nothing less than to break down the wall that separates church and state, superimpose their "moral values" on the U.S. Constitution, replace democracy with theocratic rule, and ultimately to create a new "Christian nation" ruled exclusively by "righteous men." Religion Gone Bad is a wake-up call for all of us to take heed."--BOOK JACKET.
Religion, Human Rights, and the Workplace: Judicial Balancing in the United States Federal Courts and the European Court of Human Rights (ICLARS Series on Law and Religion)
by Gregory MoseReligious freedom is a fundamental and relatively uncontested right in both the United States and Europe. But other values like equality, justice, and the right to a private life are just as precious. Managing such conflicts has become a highly contested and politicized area of law and nowhere are such conflicts more evident – or more challenging – than those arising in the workplace. By comparing United States Federal Courts’ approach to free exercise in the workplace with that of the European Court of Human Rights, this book explores two very different methodologies for adjudicating rights conflicts. In examining methods and results, case by case, issue by issue and addressing each step of the analytical processes taken by judges, it becomes apparent that the United States has lost its way in the quest for equality and justice. It is argued here that while the European approach has its own flaws, its proportionality approach may offer vital lessons for United States practice. The book will make compelling reading for researchers, academics, and policy-makers working in the areas of law and religion, human rights law, constitutional law, and comparative law.
Religion: A Humanist Interpretation
by Raymond FirthReligion: A Humanist Interpretation represents a lifetime's work on the anthropology of religion from a rather unusual personal viewpoint. Raymond Firth treats religion as a human art, capable of great intellectual and artistic achievements, but also of complex manipulation to serve the human interests of those who believe in it and operate it. His study is comparative, drawing material from a range of religions around the world. Its findings are a challenge to established beliefs. This anthropological approach to the study of religion covers themes ranging from; religious belief and personal adjustment; gods and God; offering and sacrifice;religion and politics; Malay magic and spirit mediumship; truth and paradox in religion.
Religion, Identity and Change: Perspectives on Global Transformations (Theology and Religion in Interdisciplinary Perspective Series in Association with the BSA Sociology of Religion Study Group)
by Simon Coleman Peter CollinsReligion is of enduring importance in the lives of many people, yet the religious landscape has been dramatically transformed in recent decades. Established churches have been challenged by eastern faiths, revivals of Christian and Islamic fundamentalism, and the eclectic spiritualities of the New Age. Religion has long been regarded by social scientists and psychologists as a key source of identity formation, ranging from personal conversion experiences to collective association with fellow believers. This book addresses the need for a reassessment of issues relating to identity in the light of current transformations in society as a whole and religion in particular. Drawing together case-studies from many different expressions of faith and belief - Hindu, Muslim, Roman Catholic, Anglican, New Age - leading scholars ask how contemporary religions or spiritualities respond to the challenge of forming individual and collective identities in a nation context marked by secularisation and postmodern decentring of culture, as well as religious revitalisation. The book focuses on Britain as a context for religious change, but asks important questions that are of universal significance for those studying religion: How is personal and collective identity constructed in a world of multiple social and cultural influences? What role can religion play in creating, reinforcing or even transforming such identity?
Religion, Identity and Politics: Germany and Turkey in Interaction (Studies in European Sociology)
by Haldun Gülalp Günter SeufertGerman–Turkish relations, which have a long history and generally unrecognized depth, have rarely been examined as mutually formative processes. Isolated instances of influence have been examined in detail, but the historical and still ongoing processes of mutual interaction have rarely been seriously considered. The ruling assumption has been that Germany may have an impact on Turkey, but not the other way around. Religion, Identity and Politics examines this mutual interaction, specifically with regard to religious identities and institutions. It opposes the commonly held assumption that Europe is the abode of secularism and enlightenment, while the lands of Islam are the realm of backwardness and fundamentalism. Both historically and contemporarily, Germany has treated religion as a core aspect of communal and civilizational identity and framed its institutions accordingly; the book explores how there has been, and continues to be, a mutual exchange in this regard between Germany and both the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey. The authors show that the definition of identity and regulation of communities have been explicitly based on religion until the early and since the late twentieth century; the period in between– the age of secular nationalism– which has always been treated as the norm, now appears more clearly as an exception. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of sociology, politics, history and religion.
Religion, Identity and Politics in Northern Ireland: Boundaries of Belonging and Belief
by Claire MitchellHas conflict in Northern Ireland kept political dimensions of religion alive, and has religion played a role in fuelling conflict? Conflict in Northern Ireland is not and never will be a holy war. Yet religion is more socially and politically significant than many commentators presume. In fact, religion has remained a central feature of social identity and politics throughout conflict as well as recent change. There has been an acceleration of interest in the relationship between religion, identity and politics in modern societies. Building on this debate, Claire Mitchell presents a challenging analysis of religion in contemporary Northern Ireland, arguing that religion is not merely a marker of ethnicity and that it continues to provide many of the meanings of identity, community and politics. In light of the multifaceted nature of the conflict in Northern Ireland, Mitchell explains that, for Catholics, religion is primarily important in its social and institutional forms, whereas for many Protestants its theological and ideological dimensions are more pressing. Even those who no longer go to church tend to reproduce religious stereotypes of 'them and us'. Drawing on a range of unique interview material, this book traces how individuals and groups in Northern Ireland have absorbed religious types of cultural knowledge, belonging and morality, and how they reproduce these as they go about their daily lives. Despite recent religious and political changes, the author concludes that perceptions of religious difference help keep communities in Northern Ireland socially separate and often in conflict with one another.
Religion in 50 More Words: A Redescriptive Vocabulary
by Aaron W. Hughes Russell T. McCutcheonReligion in 50 More Words: A Redescriptive Vocabulary provides a succinct historical, social, and political examination of some of the key words used in the modern study of religion. Differing from the first volume’s more theoretical focus, this volume analyzes more common first order descriptive terms that are used throughout the field, inviting readers to theorize their traditional vocabulary. Topics covered include: • Atheism/Theism • Conversion • Cult • Evil • Fundamentalism • Idol • Magic • Pilgrimage • Ritual • Sacrifice Religion in 50 More Words submits such terms to a critical interrogation and subsequent redescription. This paves the way for a collective and more critical reframing of the field. The volume, along with Religion in 50 Words, provides an indispensable resource for students and academics working in the field of religious studies and cognate disciplines.
Religion in 50 Words: A Critical Vocabulary
by Aaron W. Hughes Russell T. McCutcheonReligion in 50 Words: A Critical Vocabulary is the first of a two-volume work that seeks to transform the study of religion by offering a radically critical perspective. It does so by providing a succinct and critical examination of the key words used in the modern study of religion. Arranged alphabetically, the book explores the historic roots, varied uses, and current significance and utility of the technical terms used within the current field of religious studies. These are the terms that both students and scholars routinely deploy to think about, describe, and analyze data—sometimes without realizing that they are themselves technical tools in need of attention. Among the topics covered: Belief Critical Culture Definition Environment Gender Ideology Lived religion Material religion Orthodoxy Politics Race Sacred/profane Secular Theory This book submits all of its terms to a critical interrogation and subsequent re-description, thereby allowing a collective reframing of the field. This volume is an indispensable resource for students and academics working in religious studies.
Religion in a Liberal State
by Gavin D'Costa Malcolm Evans Tariq Modood Julian Rivers Gavin D'Costa Malcolm Evans Tariq ModoodAs religion has become more visible in public life, with closer relations of co-operation with government as well as a force in some political campaigns, its place in public life has become more contested. Fudged compromises of the past are giving way to a desire for clear lines and moral principles. This book brings the disciplines of law, sociology, politics and theology into conversation with one anther to shed light on the questions thrown up by 'religion in a liberal state'. It discusses practical problems in a British context, such as the accommodation of religious dress, discrimination against sexual minorities and state support for historic religions; considers legal frameworks of equality and human rights; and elucidates leading ideas of neutrality, pluralism, secularism and public reason. Fundamentally, it asks what it means to be liberal in a world in which religious diversity is becoming more present and more problematic.