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Volume 6
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Religions, Volume 6, Issue 4 (December 2015) – 19 articles , Pages 1137-1470

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31 pages, 2183 KiB  
Article
Explaining Support for Sectarian Terrorism in Pakistan: Piety, Maslak and Sharia
by C. Christine Fair
Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, 3600 N. St., Washington, DC 2007, USA
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1137-1167; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041137 - 25 Sep 2015
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 9824
Abstract
In the discourse around sectarian violence in Pakistan, two concerns are prominent. The first is the contention that piety, or the intensity of Muslim religious practice, predicts support for sectarian and other forms of Islamist violence. The second is the belief that personal [...] Read more.
In the discourse around sectarian violence in Pakistan, two concerns are prominent. The first is the contention that piety, or the intensity of Muslim religious practice, predicts support for sectarian and other forms of Islamist violence. The second is the belief that personal preferences for some forms of sharia also explain such support. As I describe herein, scholars first articulated these concerns in the “clash of civilizations” thesis. Subsequent researchers developed them further in the scholarly and policy analytical literatures that explored these linkages through qualitative and quantitative methodologies. I revisit these claims in the particular context of sectarian violence in Pakistan. To do so, I use several questions included in a recent and large national survey of Pakistanis to create indices of both piety and support for three dimensions of sharia. I use these indices as explanatory variables, along with other explanatory and control variables, in a regression analysis of support for sectarian violence, the dependent variable. I find that the piety index and dimensions of sharia support are significant only when district fixed effects are excluded; however, personal characteristics (i.e., the particular school of Islam respondents espouse, ethnicity, several demographics) most consistently predict support for sectarian violence. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion & Violence)
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14 pages, 253 KiB  
Article
Religion and Ethical Attitudes toward Accepting a Bribe: A Comparative Study
by Robert W. McGee 1, Serkan Benk 2,* and Bahadır Yüzbaşı 2
1 School of Business and Economics, Fayetteville State University, 1200 Murchison Road Fayetteville, NC 28301, USA
2 Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Inonu University, 44280 Malatya, Turkey
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1168-1181; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041168 - 29 Sep 2015
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 6190
Abstract
This study presents the results of an empirical study of ethical attitudes toward bribe taking in six religions—Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, the Baha’i faith, Hinduism, and Judaism. The paper begins with a discussion of the theoretical and empirical literature on the subject. The empirical [...] Read more.
This study presents the results of an empirical study of ethical attitudes toward bribe taking in six religions—Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, the Baha’i faith, Hinduism, and Judaism. The paper begins with a discussion of the theoretical and empirical literature on the subject. The empirical part of the study examines attitudes toward accepting bribes in 57 countries from the perspectives of six religions using the data from Wave 6 (2010–2014) of the World Values Survey. The sample population is more than 52,000. More than a dozen demographic variables were examined. The study found that attitude toward bribe taking does differ by religion. Full article
21 pages, 246 KiB  
Article
Boko Haram: Religion and Violence in the 21st Century
by John O. Voll
Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20016, USA
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1182-1202; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041182 - 30 Sep 2015
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 19346
Abstract
Boko Haram in Nigeria provides an important example of the combination of religion and violence in the conditions of the twenty-first century. It is both a movement in the pattern of religiously-justified violence and a significant representative of the emergence of new types [...] Read more.
Boko Haram in Nigeria provides an important example of the combination of religion and violence in the conditions of the twenty-first century. It is both a movement in the pattern of religiously-justified violence and a significant representative of the emergence of new types of modern terrorism in recent years. This article examines both of these aspects of Boko Haram as an example of religious violence. In the general development of religiously justified violence, Boko Haram is the heir to a long jihad tradition in West Africa. Its emergence follows well-established patterns of older militant Muslim groups, but it also departs significantly from those patterns as it shapes itself as a movement in the patterns of contemporary, twenty-first century modes of religious violence. Boko Haram is also identified, in twenty-first century terms, as a religious terrorist organization. As a religious terrorist group, it fits the pattern of what David Rapoport calls the fourth wave—the religious wave—of modern terrorism. However, in the second decade of the twenty-first century, Boko Haram exhibits characteristics of a new style of religious terrorism that is more like the so-called Islamic State than the older type of terrorist organization of al-Qa’idah. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion & Violence)
14 pages, 212 KiB  
Article
Violent Jihad and Beheadings in the Land of Al Fatoni Darussalam
by Virginie Andre
Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, VIC 3125 Burwood, Australia
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1203-1216; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041203 - 14 Oct 2015
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6666
Abstract
The early 2000s has seen a revival of the Patani resistance manifesting in a violent jihad and new forms of extreme violence never witnessed before in the century-long Southern Thailand conflict. Transported by neojihadism, this new energised generation of fighters is injecting new [...] Read more.
The early 2000s has seen a revival of the Patani resistance manifesting in a violent jihad and new forms of extreme violence never witnessed before in the century-long Southern Thailand conflict. Transported by neojihadism, this new energised generation of fighters is injecting new meaning to their struggle, re-identifying friends and foes, spreading terror in hearts and minds to control mental and physical spaces through the slashing of the body, all in the hope of establishing Al Fatoni Darussalam. This article examines the reflexive repositioning of the Patani struggle through the process of transference of neojihadism and its transformation into a glocalised violent jihad. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion & Violence)
15 pages, 196 KiB  
Article
The Green Revolution in the World’s Religions: Indonesian Examples in International Comparison
by Thomas A. Reuter
Asia Institute, University of Melbourne, Vic 3010, Australia
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1217-1231; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041217 - 16 Oct 2015
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 6850
Abstract
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 [...] Read more.
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. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Ecology in the Anthropocene)
17 pages, 235 KiB  
Article
The Social Democrats of Scholarship: Austrian Imperial Peripheries and the Making of a Progressive Science of Nationality, 1885–1903
by Thomas R. Prendergast
Department of History, Duke University, Durham, NC 27705, USA
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1232-1248; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041232 - 21 Oct 2015
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 5331
Abstract
To what extent and in what ways did the intellectual climate of Austria’s often ethnolinguistically heterogeneous borderlands contribute to the formation, institutionalization and diffusion of emerging social scientific discourses during the final decades of the 19th century? Investigating the intellectual exchange between two [...] Read more.
To what extent and in what ways did the intellectual climate of Austria’s often ethnolinguistically heterogeneous borderlands contribute to the formation, institutionalization and diffusion of emerging social scientific discourses during the final decades of the 19th century? Investigating the intellectual exchange between two early proponents of folklore studies (Volkskunde)—the Slavonian-German-Jewish Friedrich Salomon Krauss (1859–1938) and Bukovinian-German Raimund Friedrich Kaindl (1866–1930)—this paper argues that imperial peripheries, while traditionally overlooked as sites of knowledge production, in fact played a pivotal role in the development of an important brand of “progressive” social scientific research, one defined by a critical stance toward the prevailing historicist paradigms of the time. These self-described “social democrats of scholarship” collaborated, both formally and informally, on a number of related theoretical projects aimed at disrupting the exclusionary narratives of the academic establishment and re-focusing scholarly attention on the sociological, rather than historical, character of ethnonational difference. In this way, the nationalities question spurred, both in the center and at the margins of the monarchy, the development of new sciences of nationality intended to sustain Austria’s imperial structure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Empire, Socialism and Jews: Writing the Monarchy Back into Austrian History)
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14 pages, 212 KiB  
Article
Associations among Spirituality, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Depression in Pre-Dialysis Chronic Kidney Disease Patients: An Exploratory Analysis in Thai Buddhist Patients
by Waraporn Saisunantararom 1, Areewan Cheawchanwattana 2,*, Talerngsak Kanjanabuch 3, Maliwan Buranapatana 4 and Kornkaew Chanthapasa 2
1 Graduate School, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand
2 Social and Administrative Pharmacy Department, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand
3 Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine and Kidney & Metabolic Disorders Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
4 Thai Language Department, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1249-1262; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041249 - 22 Oct 2015
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 7142
Abstract
There are numerous studies of quality of life (QOL) in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients; however, there are a few studies of spirituality and its association with QOL. Previous studies were done focusing on Western cultures; thus, the study of CKD patients in [...] Read more.
There are numerous studies of quality of life (QOL) in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients; however, there are a few studies of spirituality and its association with QOL. Previous studies were done focusing on Western cultures; thus, the study of CKD patients in Eastern cultures would reveal interesting insights. This study was conducted to explore the spirituality, QOL, and depression of Thai CKD patients, and the associations between spirituality, QOL, and depression. This cross-sectional descriptive study using structured questionnaires was approved by the Khon Kaen University Ethics Committee in Human Research, Thailand. A total of 63 pre-dialysis CKD stage V patients who visited the kidney diseases clinic as appointed at the outpatient department in a community hospital in northeastern Thailand were recruited. The patients were asked for consent and then interviewed. Spirituality was assessed by using the WHOQOL Spirituality, Religiousness and Personal Beliefs (WHOQOL-SRPB) and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being Scale (FACIT-Sp). The 9-item Thai Health Status Assessment Instrument (9-THAI) was used to assess QOL. The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) was used to evaluate the depression. The study patients had high WHOQOL-SRPB and FACIT-Sp spirituality scores (median = 18.0, and 44.0, respectively). The 9-THAI QOL scores were within the normal range of the Thai general, healthy population (physical health score [PHS]; median = 48.0, mental health score [MHS]; median = 32.0). Based on BDI-II scores, most patients were in the minimal depression group (63.5%). The Spearman rho correlation coefficients (rs) of PHS and WHOQOL-SRPB and FACIT-Sp were moderate with 0.34 for both spirituality measures. Similarly, also the mental health scores (MHS) correlated moderately with WHOQOL-SRPB (rs = 0.46) and FACIT-Sp (rs = 0.37). Depressive symptoms (BDI-II) strongly negatively correlated with WHOQOL-SRPB (rs = −0.58) and FACIT-Sp (rs = −0.55). Overall results were consistent with previous studies in Western contexts. Understanding spirituality would lead to the better management of depression and improving patient survival. These significant associations suggest that further research is needed on how provider knowledge of patient spirituality could affect the outcomes for patients both in terms of depression and patient survival. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrating Religion and Spirituality into Clinical Practice)
14 pages, 207 KiB  
Article
The Role of Religion among Sex Workers in Thailand
by Siroj Sorajjakool * and Arelis Benitez
School of Religion, Loma Linda University, 24760 Stewart Street, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1263-1276; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041263 - 23 Oct 2015
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 13599
Abstract
This qualitative research seeks the understanding of the role of religion in the lives of sex workers in Thailand. It is based on interviews conducted among sex workers working in karaoke bars in Bangkok. Findings show that most sex workers experience different levels [...] Read more.
This qualitative research seeks the understanding of the role of religion in the lives of sex workers in Thailand. It is based on interviews conducted among sex workers working in karaoke bars in Bangkok. Findings show that most sex workers experience different levels of life difficulty. The level of life difficulty also affects the experience of internal conflicts regarding sex and morality. Finally religion has been used as a form of ritual purification in dealing with internal sense of conflicts. Full article
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37 pages, 359 KiB  
Article
When Art Is the Weapon: Culture and Resistance Confronting Violence in the Post-Uprisings Arab World
by Mark LeVine 1,2
1 Department of History, University of California, Irvine, Krieger Hall 220, Irvine, CA 92697-3275, USA
2 Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University, Finngatan 16, 223 62 Lund, Sweden
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1277-1313; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041277 - 5 Nov 2015
Cited by 38 | Viewed by 17153
Abstract
This articles explores the explosion of artistic production in the Arab world during the so-called Arab Spring. Focusing on music, poetry, theatre, and graffiti and related visual arts, I explore how these “do-it-yourself” scenes represent, at least potentially, a “return of the aura” [...] Read more.
This articles explores the explosion of artistic production in the Arab world during the so-called Arab Spring. Focusing on music, poetry, theatre, and graffiti and related visual arts, I explore how these “do-it-yourself” scenes represent, at least potentially, a “return of the aura” to the production of culture at the edge of social and political transformation. At the same time, the struggle to retain a revolutionary grounding in the wake of successful counter-revolutionary moves highlights the essentially “religious” grounding of “committed” art at the intersection of intense creativity and conflict across the Arab world. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion & Violence)
16 pages, 236 KiB  
Article
The Role of Religious Beliefs and Institutions in Disaster Management: A Case Study
by Kyoo-Man Ha
Department of Emergency Management, Inje University, 197 Inje-ro, Gimhae-city, Gyeongnam 50834, Korea
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1314-1329; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041314 - 11 Nov 2015
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 18015
Abstract
Religion in Korea has been shaped by its followers to a degree, but the role of religion in Korea has been largely unexamined. This study examines the role of religion and the incorporation of religious beliefs and institutions in the field of disaster [...] Read more.
Religion in Korea has been shaped by its followers to a degree, but the role of religion in Korea has been largely unexamined. This study examines the role of religion and the incorporation of religious beliefs and institutions in the field of disaster management. In doing so, the study examines how three religions—Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianism—operate in Korea, in particular in terms of both care-oriented management and mitigation-oriented management approaches. While utilizing descriptive research as a methodology, policy measures have been suggested with the support of theological perspectives. Despite some difficulties in making a generalization, the major finding is that religion has a role to play in supplementing care-oriented management, with mitigation-oriented management approaches, by better grasping the nature of a disaster and its effective management while responding to regional culture. In addition, the Ministry of Public Safety and Security, local governments, and other government institutions must play new roles in incorporating religion in disaster management. Full article
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15 pages, 222 KiB  
Article
Religion and Politics: What Does God Have To Do with It?
by Jocelyne Cesari
Senior Research Fellow and Professor of the Practice of Religion, Peace, and Conflict Resolution; Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, Georgetown University, 3307 M St NW, Washington, DC 20007, USA
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1330-1344; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041330 - 12 Nov 2015
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 8029
Abstract
Since 9/11, and even more so with the atrocities committed by ISIS in Iraq and Syria, violence in the name of God is predominantly perceived as a “different” kind of violence, which triggers more “absolute” and radical manifestations than its secular counter parts. [...] Read more.
Since 9/11, and even more so with the atrocities committed by ISIS in Iraq and Syria, violence in the name of God is predominantly perceived as a “different” kind of violence, which triggers more “absolute” and radical manifestations than its secular counter parts. In its first part, this article will challenge this so called exceptionalism of religious violence by questioning the neat divide between politics and religion that makes any forms of interactions between the two illegitimate or dangerous. It will look specifically at state actions vis-à-vis religions since the inception of the nation-state and show that the most extreme cases of violence in the name of religion are actually closely associated with specific forms of politicization of religion initiated by “secular” state actors and/or institutions. It argues that the “hegemonic” status granted to a religion by the state is often associated with greater political violence, building on research conducted in Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, and Pakistan. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion & Violence)
1 pages, 140 KiB  
Correction
Correction: Rakošec, Ž., et al. Psychometric Characteristics of Croatian Version of the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale. Religions 6 (2015): 712–23
by Željko Rakošec 1,*, Štefica Mikšić 2, Brankica Juranić 2 and Lana Batinić 3
1 Faculty of Philosophy of the Society of Jesus-Centre for Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb, Jordanovac 110, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
2 Faculty of Medicine Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Cara Hadrijana 10/E, 31000 Osijek, Croatia
3 Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Croatia, Ilica 242, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1345; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041345 - 20 Nov 2015
Viewed by 3810
Abstract
The authors wish to make the following correction to [1]. The copyright attribution for Appendix A1 and Appendix A2 were missing. For Appendix A1, the caption should include “© Lynn Underwood. Permission required to copy or distribute. www.dsescale.org.” For Appendix B2, the caption [...] Read more.
The authors wish to make the following correction to [1]. The copyright attribution for Appendix A1 and Appendix A2 were missing. For Appendix A1, the caption should include “© Lynn Underwood. Permission required to copy or distribute. www.dsescale.org.” For Appendix B2, the caption should include “© Lynn Underwood Permission required to copy or distribute. www.dsescale.org; Translation collaboration with Ž. Rakošec, Š. Mikšić, and B. Juranić.” [...] Full article
12 pages, 260 KiB  
Article
Nurses’ Perceptions of Spirituality and Spiritual Care in Different Health Care Settings in the Netherlands
by René Van Leeuwen † and Annemiek Schep-Akkerman *,†
1 Knowledge Center Spirituality and Health Care, Christian University of Applied Sciences Viaa, PO Box 10030, 8000 GA Zwolle, The Netherlands
† These authors contributed equally to this work.
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1346-1357; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041346 - 27 Nov 2015
Cited by 53 | Viewed by 9997
Abstract
This paper shows similarities and differences in perceptions and competences regarding spirituality and spiritual care of nurses in different health care settings. Research on this specific topic is limited and can contribute towards a nuanced implementation of spiritual care in different nursing care [...] Read more.
This paper shows similarities and differences in perceptions and competences regarding spirituality and spiritual care of nurses in different health care settings. Research on this specific topic is limited and can contribute towards a nuanced implementation of spiritual care in different nursing care settings. Four hundred forty nine nurses in different health care settings completed a questionnaire concerning spirituality and spiritual care, spiritual care competence, and personal spirituality. Respondents reported a generic (instead of more specific) view of spirituality and spiritual care, and they perceived themselves to be competent in providing spiritual care. Compared to nurses in hospital settings, nurses in mental health care and home care have a more generic view of spirituality and spiritual care and report a higher level of competence. Next to this, they perceive themselves more as spiritual persons. Future research is needed to develop further understanding in setting specific factors and their influence on nurses’ views and competence regarding spiritual care. Nursing education and management should consider an emphasis on spiritual competence development related to working settings of nurses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from Spirituality in Healthcare Conference 2015 “Sowing the Seeds”)
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10 pages, 242 KiB  
Article
Reliance on God’s Help Scale as a Measure of Religious Trust—A Summary of Findings
by Arndt Büssing 1,*, Daniela Rodrigues Recchia 1 and Klaus Baumann 2
1 Quality of Life, Spirituality and Coping, Institute for Integrative Medicine, Witten/Herdecke University, Gerhard-Kienle-Weg 4, 58313 Herdecke, Germany
2 Caritas Science and Christian Social Work, Faculty of Theology, Albert-Ludwig University, Platz der Universität 3, 79098 Freiburg, Germany
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1358-1367; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041358 - 27 Nov 2015
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 7767
Abstract
This paper gives a summary of findings from studies using the five-item Reliance on God’s Help (RGH) scale, which was developed a decade ago as an integral part of a comprehensive measure to differentiate between external and internal adaptive coping strategies. It has [...] Read more.
This paper gives a summary of findings from studies using the five-item Reliance on God’s Help (RGH) scale, which was developed a decade ago as an integral part of a comprehensive measure to differentiate between external and internal adaptive coping strategies. It has been used for both healthy and diseased persons. We will summarize data on internal reliability scores and the distribution of mean values for the respective items in the different study samples. Also, we will present a structural equation model (SEM) to confirm the scale’s validity. Our analysis shows that the RGH scale is a short, valid, and reliable measure of a person’s strong basic trust in God (faith), regardless of what life brings. The items do not address aspects such as well-being, inner peace, or specific moods. Thus, it is important to note that the RGH scale was not per se associated with indicators of well-being or health-related quality of life, indicating distinct dimensions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Measures of Spirituality/Religiosity—Description of Concepts and Validation of Instruments)
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23 pages, 265 KiB  
Article
Negative Ecodomy in Romanian Politics and Religion: Anti-Muslim Attitudes in the Bucharest Mosque Scandal during the Summer of 2015
by Corneliu C. Simuț
Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, Lynnwood Road and Roper Street, Hatfield/Pretoria 0083, South Africa
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1368-1390; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041368 - 3 Dec 2015
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4992
Abstract
This paper focuses on a chronology of events presented by the Romanian media, especially newspapers with national coverage and impact like Gândul and Adevărul, between the first week of June to the first week of September 2015, when the issue of having [...] Read more.
This paper focuses on a chronology of events presented by the Romanian media, especially newspapers with national coverage and impact like Gândul and Adevărul, between the first week of June to the first week of September 2015, when the issue of having a mosque erected in Bucharest, the capital city of Romania, was intensely debated by intellectuals, politicians, and religious professionals. The debates were intensely heated from the onset of these events and most of them revealed that most of the participants were driven by anti-Muslim attitudes, xenophobia, and assertive nationalism, a complex of feelings that I called “negative ecodomy”. The concept of “negative ecodomy” presupposes an attempt to built a safe environment, in this case for Romanians in their own country, but the adjective “negative” was added to the the positive idea of “ecodomy” because these efforts to offer a safe context for Romanians were accompanied by the negativity of anti-Muslim, xenophobic, and nationalistic activities. This array of negative ecodomic attitudes were displayed by Romanians not only in online media but also in the street through protests and other similar actions in a country which has been a member of the European Union for almost a decade and was supposed to adhere to the European Union’s basic principles of multiculturalism and the free circulation of persons. The totality of these events show that Romanians are still rather far from accepting the European Union’s fundamental philosophy or perhaps these principles themselves should be reconsidered and reinterpreted in the context of the massive Middle Eastern and African immigration and the constant, if not increasing threat of Islamic terrorism. Full article
20 pages, 264 KiB  
Article
Glocalization of “Christian Social Responsibility”: The Contested Legacy of the Lausanne Movement among Neo-Evangelicals in South Korea1
by Myung-Sahm Suh
Divinity School, The University of Chicago, 1025 East 58th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1391-1410; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041391 - 9 Dec 2015
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 6990
Abstract
This paper examines the contested legacy of the First Lausanne Congress in South Korean neo-evangelical communities. In response to growing political and social conflicts in the Global South during the 1960s and 1970s, thousands of evangelical leaders from more than 150 countries gathered [...] Read more.
This paper examines the contested legacy of the First Lausanne Congress in South Korean neo-evangelical communities. In response to growing political and social conflicts in the Global South during the 1960s and 1970s, thousands of evangelical leaders from more than 150 countries gathered at Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1974 to discuss the proper relationship between evangelism and social action. The meeting culminated with the proclamation of the Lausanne Covenant, which affirmed both evangelism and public involvement as essential elements of the Christian faith. However, the absence of practical guidelines in the Covenant opened the door for all sorts of evangelical social activism, whether from the Evangelical Right or the Evangelical Left, for years to come. In light of such diverse ramifications of the Congress at both the global and local level, this paper explores the various ways in which the idea of “Christian social responsibility” has been interpreted and implemented by two distinct generations of neo-evangelical social activists in contemporary South Korea in relation to their respective socio-historical experiences of the Cold War and the 1980s democratic movement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Glocal Religions)
22 pages, 224 KiB  
Article
The Catholic Bishops vs. the Contraceptive Mandate
by Leslie C. Griffin
UNLV Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1411-1432; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041411 - 18 Dec 2015
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 10522
Abstract
The Roman Catholic bishops of the United States have publicly opposed artificial contraception since they first issued a public statement condemning it in 1919. Thereafter, the bishops were generally unsuccessful in persuading the public that contraceptive access should be restricted. Recently, however, the [...] Read more.
The Roman Catholic bishops of the United States have publicly opposed artificial contraception since they first issued a public statement condemning it in 1919. Thereafter, the bishops were generally unsuccessful in persuading the public that contraceptive access should be restricted. Recently, however, the bishops succeeded in a campaign to restrict access to contraceptives for Catholic and non-Catholic women alike. Their lobbying and public criticism of the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which requires employer health plans to offer preventive reproductive care coverage, forced Obama administration officials into a series of accommodations that gutted portions of the law intended to provide contraception to employees without copayment or cost sharing. In contrast to their earlier efforts to restrict reproductive freedom, the bishops successfully characterized their efforts against the ACA as a battle for religious freedom rather than against reproductive rights. This successful strategy may lead to future setbacks for women’s reproductive liberty. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholic Bishops in US Politics)
24 pages, 2523 KiB  
Article
Sensing Religion in Alfonso Cuarón’s “Children of Men”
by M. Gail Hamner
Arts and Sciences Faculty, Syracuse University, 301 Hall of Languages, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA
Religions 2015, 6(4), 1433-1456; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041433 - 19 Dec 2015
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 15932
Abstract
This essay attends closely to the affective excess of Children of Men, arguing that this excess generates two modalities of religion—nostalgic and emergent—primarily through a sensitive use of color and music. These affective religious modalities are justly termed “religion” not only because they [...] Read more.
This essay attends closely to the affective excess of Children of Men, arguing that this excess generates two modalities of religion—nostalgic and emergent—primarily through a sensitive use of color and music. These affective religious modalities are justly termed “religion” not only because they are sutured to overtly Christian names, images, and thematics, but also because they signal the sacred and transcendence, respectively. The essay reads the protagonist, Theo Faron (Clive Owen), as navigating these two modalities of religion, not as a hero but as what Giorgio Agamben terms “whatever-being.” Noting Theo’s religious function draws attention to transformations of political being and human hope. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Film and Lived Theology)
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