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Religion is a complex construct that defines not only the historical and social identity of a nation, but also the personal identity of an individual. The attitude towards religion can be conditioned by tradition, political ideology, true faith, education, etc. In our research, we have tried to establish the level of religiousness of the female students of teacher education faculties in Serbia, belonging to the Orthodox Christianity as the dominant confession in Serbia. We examined their attitudes towards some of the moral challenges encountered by believers, including abortion, prostitution, same-sex marriages, the use of cannabis, and euthanasia. Using a snowball non-discriminative online sample of 336 female Orthodox students, we found that the students assessed themselves as above-average religious and that out of three dimensions of religiousness measured in the questionnaire, the lowest scores were recorded for the dimension of the effect of faith on their behavior. The study showed that the level of religiousness is a good predictor of attitudes towards abortion, prostitution, and same-sex marriages, but not towards the use of cannabis. Moreover, religiousness and attitudes towards prostitution are positively correlated, which is directly opposite to religious teachings. This is why a question arises as to whether we can speak about a return to faith or merely a return to the traditional model of manifesting the religious as an antipode to the secular organization in force until 1989. The results of our research point to the latter conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The foundation of religious measurement in surveys presumes that individual religious affiliation ("What is your present religion, if any?") accurately describes the religious community in which respondents are involved. But what if it doesn't? In a recent survey of 4,000 Americans, we asked whether their current congregation matches their religious identity and about a fifth of Americans indicated that it does not. We document the degree of this inconsistency, its correlates, and its implications, focusing primarily on the politics that congregants are exposed to from clergy and the attitudes they hold about salient political matters. The identity‐inconsistent attenders often vary significantly from identity‐consistent attenders, which serves to introduce considerable measurement error in the use of a religious tradition measure to depict American religion. The results suggest that salient disagreement induces a sizable population to migrate to a congregation outside their religious identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural traditions, including religions, are central to understanding and practising citizenship. The complex relationships between religion and citizenship should be explored in depth. Both citizenship and Christianity were transplanted from the West to Hong Kong during the colonial era, and Christianity still occupies an important place in public life and civil society today. In the specific context of state – civil society, we discuss the development of citizenship and Christianity in Hong Kong and illustrate how some Christian organisations and leaders exercise their cultural agency in social activism through a wide range of social and political events. Their work creates a strong civic culture of Hong Kong Chinese Christians, advances citizenship and supports a vibrant civil society. By examining the roles of individual and collective agents in the formation and contextualisation of a Christian tradition, we develop a framework for faith-based active citizenship and expand the discussion of Chinese citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The practice of female circumcision in Malaysia has been heavily criticized for being like the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Africa. This criticism started from the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 2018, organized by the United Nations Human Rights (UNHR), which called on Malaysia to stop the practice of female circumcision. Among the accusations made were that the practice of female circumcision was merely a tradition and not a religious requirement. In addition, they denied the authority of the hadith used as evidence for the legitimization of female circumcision, claiming that they were weak and lacked authority. Therefore, this study aims to reassess and re-evaluate the validity and authority of the hadith used as evidence for the legitimization of female circumcision. This study uses a qualitative method, employing historical-textual analysis, to analyze the opinions of hadith scholars regarding the sanad (Transmission) and matan (Text) of the hadith. The results of this study found that the hadith regarding female circumcision has various pathways that can support each other and can be upgraded to hasan li ghayrihi. In conclusion, this study found that the hadith used as evidence for the legitimization of female circumcision is authoritative, thereby affirming that this practice is part of Islamic law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Domingo de Ramos, or Palm Sunday, is a traditional Christian religious event where devotees use ramos, which are bouquets currently elaborated from palm leaves and other natural elements. In various countries, it is assumed this use of biodiversity leads to the depletion of the species involved. However, other important aspects must be considered, including the role of the people who produce and sell these ramos, the associated symbolism that has been overlooked, as well as commercial aspects that have barely been documented. This ethnobotanical study evaluates the regional-scale cultural, biological and socioeconomic aspects associated with Domingo de Ramos in central Mexico from an emic perspective. Methods: Ethnographic and commercial information was obtained through interviews with ramos sellers in 28 municipalities in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. We specifically sought sociodemographic data regarding the interviewees, as well as information pertaining to the ramos themselves and the palms. These aspects were explored with all of the sellers. The free list method was used to describe the uses and key elements associated with the ramos. Results: Although the ramos are used for religious purposes, they have eight different uses in the daily life of the sellers, the main one being "protection." They serve to protect families, crops and animals, as well as against several diseases. Likewise, they are considered valuable for diminishing strong storms. This belief in the protection conferred by the ramos preserves pre-Hispanic concepts and is combined with their use in blessing corresponding to Western beliefs. Ramos are made from 35 introduced and native plant species and comprise a base (made of palm, wheat or sotol), a "reliquia" (palm, rosemary, chamomile and laurel) and natural or artificial flowers. The ramos sellers are mostly adult women of indigenous origin and heads of family. Conclusions: This study of Domingo de Ramos, carried out at a regional scale, highlights a syncretism that is reflected in both the symbolic importance of ramos palm and in the species used, as well as socioeconomic aspects that had not previously been identified in the study area and reflect the occurrence of complex relationships in non-timber forest products that remain little addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since comparative theology involves leaving one's religious home, at least temporarily, to explore other religious traditions to advance the understanding and experience of religious truth, the question of the importance of a particular home tradition has come into question. This article argues for the added value of continued commitment to an existing religious tradition insofar as it provides direction to the work of comparative theology, a community of thinkers who can assist in the process of discernment, and a target audience for theological refection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sir Robert Bristow, popularly called Bristow Sahib, is recognized as a path-breaker in the field of port construction in the historical consciousness and cultural imaginary of the people of Kerala, the southernmost state of India. His memoir, Cochin Saga, published in 1959, records both his professional experiences as a harbour engineer and his personal reminiscences as a British resident posted in Cochin. Maritime scholarship has paid scant attention to this literary document, which is a crucial record of how Bristow succeeded in winning hearts in an alien culture, overcoming hostile environmental situations. This article attempts to reconsider Bristow's memories as recorded in Cochin Saga from a post-colonial perspective, and tries to examine whether Bristow's accounts fall prey to employing universalizing tendencies and a hegemonic world view of India and its culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article dedicated to Lev P. Karsavin's creative path, I focus mainly on the evolution of the thinker's religious–philosophical ideas. I consider the reasons that prompted the professional historian to choose the path of a free philosopher, defending an argument about the interrelation of Karsavin's historiosophical ideas and the key provisions of his metaphysics. The article assesses the philosopher's legacy in the context of the problem of Russian religious metaphysics as an independent and significant intellectual tradition that has shaped Russian cultural history among other spiritual–intellectual practices. In denoting the perspective of Karsavin's activity, the author suggests key tasks in studying the philosopher's work. These include, on the one hand, revising the corpus of Karsavin studies, and on the other hand, polemicizing with already existing interpretations of his work in Karsavin studies both in Russia and abroad. This strategy allows the author to conduct reinterpretations of Karsavin's personological, onto-epistemological, and cultural–historical understandings that constitute the theoretical core of his religious metaphysics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relation between Buddhist tradition and employee compensation. Using a large sample of Chinese listed companies from 2007 through 2017, we find that the average employee compensation is higher in companies located in more religious areas. This effect is more pronounced during the 2007−2009 financial crisis. Additional analyses indicate that these companies have smaller pay disparity between executives and employees and are ranked higher in the employee relationship component of corporate social responsibility (CSR). These findings contribute to our understanding of the relation between religious tradition and employee compensation and provide insights into how social norms can influence corporate practices. JEL Classifications: G41; J30. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors conclude that numerous reports on the performance of prayers on the days of religious holidays, even in settlements where there were no religious buildings and registered communities of believers, indicate that in the daily practices of the post-war collective farm peasantry, religion was assigned a major role. The study is based on archival documents (State Archives of the Ulyanovsk Region, Central State Archives of the Samara Region, State Archives of the Russian Federation), most of which are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. As in the previous period, in the post-war collective farm village, which was in difficult material conditions, suffered from a lack of social infrastructure and socio-cultural benefits, representatives of rural society used the compensatory function of religion to preserve their peasant identity. They saw in religious traditions not only a means of consolidating society, but also a mechanism of cultural continuity, capable of uniting the past and future into a single whole, filling it with hopes for positive changes that could alleviate the difficult fate of the collective farm peasantry.

John Nicol Farquhar was a Scottish missionary and orientalist, well-known even today for his ideas on fulfilment theology. Whereas Farquhar's position on Hinduism vis-a-vis Christianity is still widely discussed, few are aware of what he wrote about Islam. This is because it is assumed that his view of Islam was no different from his view of other religious traditions. This article discusses the question of whether Islam was merely part of Farquhar's broader conception of religious traditions in their Christ-ward journey. My provisional answer to this question is that while it is true that for Farquhar, Islam was part of the broader context of religions, he also viewed Islam as being distinct from other religious traditions, both mainstream and marginal. His view was that Islam stood alongside Christianity as an ally, as a catalyst of reform in religions, and as such, Islam was not just an object of Christ-ward transformation. In this article, I focus on three of Farquhar's major writings containing material on Islam, which may not be very well-known to readers and commentators today. It is aimed at theological students and teachers, particularly those interested in the theology of religions and dialogue with Islam, so that they can build on what they already know, and shape their thinking about how to relate to Islam and Muslims as partners, not merely as objects in God's mission. Resumen: John Nicol Farquhar fue un misionero y orientalista escocés, conocido hasta hoy por sus ideas sobre la teología del cumplimiento. Mientras que la posición de Farquhar sobre el hinduismo con respecto al cristianismo sigue siendo ampliamente discutida, pocos conocen lo que escribió sobre el islamismo. Esto se debe a que se supone que su concepción del islam no era diferente de su posición sobre otras tradiciones religiosas. Este artículo se pregunta si el islam era simplementeuna parte de la concepción más amplia de Farquhar de las tradiciones religiosas en su camino hacia Cristo. Mi respuesta provisional es que, si bien es cierto que para Farquhar, el islam era parte del contexto más amplio de las religiones, también veía al islam como distinto de otras tradiciones religiosas, tantoprincipales como secundarias. Su punto de vista era que el islam estaba situado junto al cristianismo como un aliado, como un catalizador de la reforma en las religiones, y como tal, el islam no era sólo un objeto de transformación hacia Cristo. En este artículo, me centro en tres de los principales escritos de Farquhar que contienen material sobre el islam, que puede no ser muy conocidopor los lectores ni los comentaristas de hoy. Está dirigido a estudiantes y profesores de teología, particularmente aquellos interesados en la teología de las religiones y el diálogo conel islam, para que puedan construir sobre lo que conocen y moldear sus ideas sobre cómo relacionarse con el islam y los musulmanes como pares,y no simplemente como objetos en la misión de Dios. 摘要: 约翰尼科尔法夸尔是苏格兰传教士和东方学专家，即使在今天也因其关于应验神学的思想而闻名。尽管法夸尔关于印度教相对于基督教的立场仍然被广泛讨论，但很少有人知道他写的关于伊斯兰教的内容。这是因为人们假定他对伊斯兰教的看法与对其他宗教传统的看法没有什么不同。本文讨论的问题是，伊斯兰教是否只是法夸尔更广泛的宗教传统概念走向基督之旅中的一部分。我对这个问题的临时回答是，虽然对于法夸尔来说，伊斯兰教确实是更广泛的宗教背景的一部分，但他也认为伊斯兰教与主流和边缘的其他宗教传统不同。他的观点是，伊斯兰教作为一个盟友和宗教改革的催化剂，与基督教并肩作战，因此，伊斯兰教不仅仅是向基督转化的对象。在这篇文章中，我将重点关注法夸尔的三部主要著作，其中包含有关伊斯兰教的材料，这些著作对于今天的读者和评论员来说可能并不为人所知。它面向神学生和教师，特别是那些对宗教神学和与伊斯兰教对话感兴趣的人，以致他们可以在已知的基础上再接再厉，并塑造他们关于如何与伊斯兰教和穆斯林为伙伴关系的思考，而不仅仅是将其作为上帝宣教的对象。 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Fear of crime is not only a reflection of the prevalence of crime and victimization but also varies by individual and social characteristics such as gender and social integration. Religion is another attribute that influences worldviews and structures social interactions, and thus may affect fear of crime. Purpose: Given the importance of religion in American life and the micro and macro costs associated with fear of crime, we examine the associations between various aspects of religion (i.e. religious tradition, service attendance, prayer, biblical literalism, born-again identity, and changes in religious affiliation) and Americans' fear of crime. Methods: We use nationally representative survey data collected between 2004 and 2018 and binary logistic regression models with relevant controls. Results: Partial models each with a single measure of religion and control variables show that service attendance, prayer, biblical literalism, born-again identity, and transitioning from no religious affiliation to having a religious affiliation are all positively associated with fear of crime while mainline Protestant affiliation is negatively associated with fear of crime. In full models that include all the religion variables, however, born-again identification is the only religion measure with a robust association with fear of crime, though this association appears to decline in magnitude over time. Changes in religious affiliation and prayer have more moderate, positive associations with fear of crime in the full models. Conclusions and Implications: Religion appears to influence fear of crime through worldviews and both static and dynamic identities, particularly the born-again Christian identity. With the born-again label becoming more prevalent, and the nation becoming more polarized, fear of crime may remain high, regardless of the level of crime and victimization; and heightened fear of crime can have negative consequences for individuals and communities, such as the potential negative repercussions for born-again Christians' mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religious traditions become a form of community religiosity. One’s religious attitude can be manifested in religious forms and actions through religious rituals such as prayer, fasting, zakat, pilgrimage, and other rituals such as tahlil, istighasha, and salawat. Public openness to religious traditions will close the space for radicalization. The research method uses a qualitative approach with data collection techniques, Interviews, documentation and focus group discussion. The findings of this study: first, the salawat council becomes a forum for people who have a spirit of religiosity in carrying out religious traditions. The development of salawat assemblies in the Mataraman region is quite a lot, but there are salawat assemblies having affiliations with FPI and defend against HTI. Second, the salawat council's existence received a response from Gus (young Kyai) who then brought the salawat council as a counterweight to the previous assembly. Its presence becomes a choice for the people in neutralizing radical understanding. As the community's religious universe grows, it needs an assembly that can lead to Islam's concept wasathiyah. Tradisi keagamaan menjadi wujud dari religiusitas masayarakat. Sikap religiusitas seseorang dapat diwujudkan dalam bentuk dan tindakan keagamaan melalui ritual-ritual kegamaan seperti, salat, puasa, zakat, haji, dan ritual lain seperti tahlil, istighasha, dan salawat. Keterbukaan masyarakat pada tradisi agama akan menutup ruang gerak radikalisasi. Metode penelitian menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan teknik pengumpulan data, wawancara, dokumentasi dan FGD. Temuan penelitian ini: pertama, majelis salawat menjadi wadah bagi masyarakat yang mimiliki spirit religiusitas dalam menjalankan tradisi keagamaan. Perkembangan majelis salawat di wilayah Mataraman cukup banyak, akan tetapi ada majelis salawat yang memiliki afiliasi dengan FPI dan melakukan pembelaan terhadap HTI. Kedua, keberadaan majelis salawat tersebut mendapat respon dari Gus (kyai muda) yang kemudian memunculkan majelis salawat sebagai penyeimbang majelis sebelumnya. Kehadirannya menjadi pilihan bagi umat dalam menetralisir paham radikal. Seiring meningkatnya semangat keagamaan masyarakat, maka dibutuhkan majelis yang dapat mengarahkan pada konsep Islam wasatiyah.

In the vast scope of mankind’s socio-political life, extremism has appeared in various forms including both political and cultural aspects related to race, ethnicity, and religion. Considering that extremism is a highly broad phenomenon, this article intends to focus on religious extremism and possible reactions to this phenomenon. In the world of politics, religious extremism is demarcated as an immediate source of violence and insecurity. Political actors’ attempts in decision making over policy and security issues are mainly concentrated on coping with this phenomenon thus controlling this issue is prioritized in their agenda. Nevertheless, minimizing reversibility is considered as the most central issue in resolving the dilemma of extremism in crisis management. In addition, non-military responses, represented in cultural products such as films, novels, and music, can play a constructive role in introducing remedies for limiting the re-emergence of extremism and its spread. Accordingly, applying a descriptive-analytical method, the present study aims to explain how Husseini employs novels, as a cultural form of a political response, to address various dimensions of religious extremism. It is presupposed that novels, by illustrating various religious interpretations and perceptions, inform the audience about the presence of multiple interactions of actors regarding restricting the reversibility of extremism in the process of cultural-political changes.

In providing holistic care, nurses should address patients' spiritual needs, including participating in religious traditions such as fasting. Risks and benefits of participating in religious fasts should be determined to ensure patient safety and well-being managing chronic conditions such as diabetes. Awareness of guidelines will help nurses address patients' knowledge deficits and concerns about participating in religious fasts while managing their diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is generally assumed that colonial institutions and ideologies shaped the contours of masculinity in British India. This paper explores endogenous factors and attempts to supplement as well as contest such approaches and interpretations which claim that masculinity in India was a colonial construction. The emphasis is on folk traditions, religious customs, qaumi (folk) tales and physical culture akhāŗās (gymnasia) among the Jats in colonial Haryana,1 which went into the making of dominant masculinity in this region. The paper draws upon vernacular language materials and newspapers to analyse the different ways in which the socially endogenous forces constructed this masculinity. It argues that a complex interaction of popular religious traditions, qaumi narratives, military recruitment, marital caste designation, ownership of land, superior caste behaviour and strong bodily physique came to ideologically link and construct dominant masculinity in colonial Haryana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Profound socio-economic disparities that exist among American religious groups are largely driven by the quantity and quality of education they receive. Furthermore, given the U.S. schooling system is rooted in Protestant ideals, it is possible that students with Protestant commitments have an academic advantage. This article synthesizes literature on how adolescents' religious commitment and background are associated with their short- and long-term academic outcomes. A literature search identified 42 relevant studies published in 1990-present. These studies were reviewed to identify: (1) the mechanisms through which religion affects educational outcomes—moral, social, and cultural; (2) the main operationalized measures of religion—religious tradition and individual religiosity; and (3) the most frequent academic outcomes studied—secondary school grades, truancy, test scores, educational aspirations, and educational attainment. Of the 42 studies, 95% were based exclusively on quantitative survey data, 95% examined only religiosity or religious tradition, and 66% focused on educational attainment. There were three major findings. First, research has advanced from correlational studies to methodologically rigorous designs suggesting religion can play a causal role in academic success. Second, research reveals a religiosity-religious tradition paradox: Adolescents with stronger religiosity earn better grades, are less truant in secondary school, and complete more years of higher education. A large proportion of highly religious adolescents are likely to be conservative Protestants, but the research on religious tradition suggests that conservative Protestants are among the least educated religious groups. Third, it is unclear if religious adolescents only fare better on academic outcomes that reward their personality, such as grades, or whether they also perform better on more objective measures, such as standardized tests. This systematic review reveals a paradoxical "effect" of academic achievement and religiosity versus-religious tradition. The overall results indicate the need to: (a) identify the interaction between religious tradition and religiosity, (b) distinguish between subjective versus objective academic outcomes; (c) examine heterogeneity among non-religious adolescents; (d) study the interplay between institutional schooling and institutional religion; (e) investigate the religion/cultural match between teachers and students; (f) pursue qualitative research to better understand mechanisms; and (g) expand research about non-Christians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on three public holidays celebrated in the Czech Republic (28 September , 28 October, 17 November ), and shows the relationships between the Catholic confessional identity and memory and the Czech national identity and memory.

Sociology has largely ignored class differences between American religious groups under the assumption that those differences “are smaller than they used to be and are getting smaller all of the time” (Pyle & Davidson, 2014, p. 195). This article demonstrates that profound class differences remain amongst American religious groups. These differences are as large as—or larger than—commonly examined forms of inequality such as the gender pay gap and the race achievement gap. Using the most popular categorization of American religious groups, we find that regardless of the particular measure examined (years of education, income, socioeconomic index score, and proportion of members with at least a bachelor’s degree) Jews and Mainline Protestants are at the top of the socioeconomic ladder and Evangelical Protestants, both black and white, are at the bottom. Furthermore, religious group significantly predicts both years of education and the overall socioeconomic standing of respondents by itself with basic controls. Likewise, both socioeconomic indicators and education significantly predict the likelihood of being in a specific religious tradition on their own with basic controls. Some religious groups, namely Evangelical Protestants at the low end and Jews and the high end, are relatively educationally homogeneous. Others, such as Catholics, Mainline Protestants and the nonreligious are much more educationally heterogeneous. The picture is the same when socioeconomic heterogeneity is examined, except that Mainline Protestants emerge as more clearly advantaged socioeconomically. In sum, religious inequality remains in America, it is robust, and it appears to be quite durable.

Racially diverse congregations have become an important part of the American religious landscape. We use data from the National Congregations Study (NCS), notably including data from the fourth wave, collected in 2018–2019, to examine 20 years of racial diversity in congregations. We find that racial diversity within congregations has increased substantially between 1998 and 2019. There are more congregations in which no one racial or ethnic group comprises more than 80 percent of the people, congregations' average diversity level has increased, and the percentage of all‐white congregations has declined. Nearly a quarter of evangelical churches now have no one ethnic group constituting more than 80 percent of the people, a rate comparable to what we observe among Catholic churches. Moreover, congregations that meet this 80‐percent threshold are more likely to be led by black clergy in 2019 than they were in 1998. We end with a note of caution about concluding that diverse congregations necessarily promote racial justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following my earlier collaboration with Martin Prozesky, my essay links with three major concerns in Prozesky's work as he has engaged with a radical critique of religious traditions and structures in the South African context of the end of apartheid: the involvement of dominant religious traditions in sustaining power structures and inequality; the nexus between religious beliefs and organizations and violence; and the failure of many 'religions' to meet the needs of serious seekers after meaning and truth. In this context, I examine the life and thought of M.K. Gandhi, particularly the way he addressed the nature of India and its problems as British imperial rule ended. It also focuses on Gandhi's critique of Hindu tradition as a powerful buttress of profound social inequality particularly relating to caste and gender; his response to violence in the name of religion and community; and finally his underlying belief that true religion was the individual's search for the divine and that all religious traditions by contrast have very partial visions of truth. Finally, in my view, Gandhi should be seen not just as an important historical figure but very much as a man for our times also.

The article attempts to speculate on two topical issues of the modern socio-cultural and religious dynamics: religious renovation of the modernity and it relation to the religious renovation in general. These issues are relatively independent, but at the same time they are inseparable since the format of future socio-cultural community depends on their correlation. In other words, any discussion on this topic rests on the following questions: is it acceptable to reduce the religious renovation of the modernity only to a «turn to religion» or «return of religion»; what gives the right to form the ethos or does the religious renovation of the modernity involve renovation of religion, intensification of theological self-reflection and new forms of religious reformation? As the secular and Christian discourse at the turn of the 20–21st centuries indicates, the religious renovation of the modernity is conceptualized as the religion’s social action strategy that concedes an inclusion of religious and non-religious ideologies and worldviews into this process. It rises up from the religious renovation as a version of the religious reformation and combines elements of religious fundamentalism and religious modernism, that interact and creatively re-construct under the secular influence and thus convert the religious tradition. As a result, the religious renovation of the modernity and the religious renovation close on each other. It is a kind of a cultural «middle way» that lies between the religious tradition and innovation and focuses on development of alternative options of the social development.

Social scientists have generally adopted one of three analytical approaches to understanding evangelicalism and those who thereby fall within the ranks of evangelicals. The choice of which approach one adopts is not "neutral," as each approach embodies different theoretical perspectives related to evangelicals, posits different means by which religion is linked to attitudes and behavior, entails different measurement issues, and captures somewhat different segments of society as being evangelical. This article delineates and explicates the inherent conceptual differences among the three approaches and examines the measurement issues associated with each approach. Given this reassessment, the article concludes by contending that the relative merits of the affiliation (or RELTRAD) approach generally outweigh those of the other two approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To worship in the suburbs, religious congregations often have to apply to local governments for zoning and building approval. Examining 40 proposals from religious groups in three Chicago suburbs between January 2010 and December 2014 shows that local governments approved the majority of requests. For the proposals that received more negative attention or "no" votes from government bodies, opposition was related to locations adjacent to residences, experiences with one local government, and requests from Muslim groups. These findings have implications for how suburbs address pluralism and new development as the application of zoning guidelines can make it more difficult for religious groups, particularly ones involving immigrants or racial/ethnic minorities, to find and establish a permanent presence in suburban communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dieser Beitrag beschäftigt sich am Beispiel des islamischen Diskursfeldes mit der metasprachlichen Beschreibung objektsprachlicher Ab- und Ausgrenzungsdiskurse. Dies bringt zwangsläufig eine Auseinandersetzung mit den Dynamiken zwischen objekt- und metasprachlicher Begriffsebene mit sich. Der Artikel diskutiert in einem ersten Schritt Talal Asads Konzeption islamischer Orthodoxie und den ihr zugrundeliegenden Traditionsbegriff. In einem zweiten Schritt werden anhand von Beispielen aus dem nordamerikanischen Sufidiskurs und dem modernen türkischen Religionsdiskurs objektsprachliche Grenzziehungsdynamiken innerhalb des islamischen Diskursfeldes analysiert. Der letzte Teil des Aufsatzes widmet sich der Metaebene und führt, in Abgrenzung zum statischen Stammbaummodell, einen dynamischen Begriff von religiöser Tradition ein, der es ermöglichen soll, Überlagerungen zwischen religiösen Formationen niedrigen Verdichtungsgrades sowie Prozesse der Religionisierung ins Blickfeld zu nehmen. Drawing on the example of the discursive field of Islam, this article poses the question of how scholarly discourse can represent object language discourses of religious distinction. This necessarily requires engagement with the intricate dynamics between object language and metalanguage. As a first step, the article discusses Talal Asad's conception of Islamic orthodoxy and its underlying concept of discursive tradition. Drawing on examples from North American Sufi discourses and the modern Turkish discourse on religion, the text discusses, as a second step, the dynamics of object language boundary construction and the confinement of "Islam" that it produces. The final part of the article introduces, in contradistinction to the static family tree model, a dynamic concept of religious tradition, which enables us to focus on the overlaps and interactions between religious formations of low density and on processes of religionization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]