Wisdom Traditions, Religion, and the Global Era
A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 August 2026 | Viewed by 119
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In Until Our Lungs Give Out, George D. Yancy challenges readers to embrace love as a means to heal injustice, violence, and trauma. However, he makes clear that this love is neither sentimental nor romantic. Rather, he takes inspiration from Baldwin who stated that love is not the “infantile…sense of being made happy but…[a] tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth” (p. 4). From Freire Yancy, he borrows the idea that love is an “act of bravery, love cannot be sentimental; as an act of freedom, it must not serve as a pretext for manipulation. It must generate other acts of freedom; otherwise, it is not love” (p. 5). In his own words, love is a “risk”, an opening up and laying bare one’s self in dialogue with others. It requires self-reflection and the strength of vulnerability as well as the suspension of one’s assumptions and beliefs regarding both oneself and others. In looking at conflicts, violence, and injustice throughout the world, one wonders if this type of love can be applied. This Special Issue seeks scholars willing to use their expertise to answer questions involving the purpose of religions (or wisdom traditions, as they were called by Huston Smith) in current events. As Smith explored various wisdom traditions, he too found it to be a daring quest of growth as well as a search for strength through understanding. Similarly, Elaine Pagels’ book Why Religion?: A Personal Story examines the role of religion in individual and community trauma. She notes that religion embodies the quest for growth while embracing the challenges of human existence, both of which require nonsentimental and nonmanipulative love. This Special Issue calls scholars (academic or activist) to participate in dialogues regarding the roles of wisdom traditions in local, national, and international controversy and conflict. Topics may include, but are not restricted to, the following:
- Is it possible to stand beside each other in Yancy’s dialogue of love given the differences in wisdom traditions?
- What would be required to engage in the complex and challenging love dialogues oriented around peace?
- Can wisdom traditions enter into social and political dialogues as deescalating partners rather than escalating ones?
- What, if any, are the obligations of religious scholars in current social and political situations?
Dr. Lavonna Lovern
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- wisdom traditions
- religion
- spirituality
- health
- culture
- community
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