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Historische Verletzungen zwischen Angehörigen von Großgruppen verblassen nicht einfach über die Zeit hinweg. Am empirischen Fallbeispiel der alevitisch-sunnitischen Verletzungsbeziehungen zeigt sich, dass postmigrantische Gesellschaften durch vielfältige, oftmals unsichtbare Verletzungsverhältnisse ihrer Einwanderungsgruppen mitstrukturiert sind. Diese innere Diversität bleibt jedoch häufig verborgen, weil die Migrationsdebatte oftmals vereinfacht auf „den“ Islam und „die“ Muslim•innen verengt wird. Die vorliegende Untersuchung zeigt stattdessen die Binnendiversität der türkeistämmigen Einwanderungsgruppe(n) auf und nimmt die Verletzungsrisiken junger Alevit•innen und Sunnit•innen in der postmigrantischen Gesellschaft in den Blick. Die empirischen Ergebnisse verdeutlichen zwar gemeinsame Differenzerfahrungen der alevitisch-sunnitischen Jugend als Postmigrant•innen, aber sie legen auch erhöhte Verletzungsrisiken und -potentiale der alevitischen Jugend offen. Dieses zentrale Ergebnis ist relevant für die Integrations- und Migrationsforschung, denn es zeigt wichtige interne Differenzierungen und erhöhte Verletzungsrisiken in heterogenen Einwanderungsgruppen auf.

This edited volume proffers a sociological outlook on the challenges contemporary societies face when states attempt to govern religious and cultural diversity and still protect freedoms of and from religion claimed by individuals, communities, and institutions. The collection of chapters brings readers into both theoretical discussions and empirical research. It illustrates how the promise of religious freedom has become a burgeoning social issue at the center of struggles over equity, inclusion, and cohesion in both public institutions and everyday interactions. The book is divided into three parts: the state's legal and political mechanisms governing religious freedom; the challenges of religious pluralism for public institutions and global communities; social perceptions of religious freedom as an indicator and criterion of human rights culture in society. An international group of authors provide reviews, case studies, and data-driven research for students, researchers and practitioners working in the sociology of religion.

Labor Evangelicals studies theologically conservative working class evangelicals in the United States who resist the common preconception that they eagerly embrace deregulation, unfettered markets, and globalized capital. Methodologically, this book studies evangelical workers at the grassroots level to discern the complexity of their perspectives about work, unions, class, and power. This book shows how white and African American evangelicals think about labor in working-class communities in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Moncure, North Carolina.

The book explores the evolving relationships between parents and children, the significance of the Jewish school in their lives, how young people think about religious practices, and their lives in the UK. It addresses issues related to families and schooling and pays special attention to the transitions to secondary school and then to life opportunities in the following years. It also uncovers the effect of these transitions on the family, and of the family on those transitions. The book views these phenomena through the prism of a ten-year period from when research participants were eleven years old until they were twenty-one, drawing on a range of theoretical frameworks to help make sense of what was observed. The data help clarify how Jewish schools function as both public and community-based institutions, and what they do and do not contribute to the lives of young people. The research reported includes large scale survey data sets as well as repeated in-depth interviewswith parents and their children. The findings have multiple implications for practitioners, policy makers and researchers as they seek ways to understand and engage with families and schools. This book also appeals to researchers who are interested in the development of religious and cultural identity in the context of minority groups within multicultural societies.

This book applies the most recent research in social psychology to decisive historical events that arguably built white supremacy as a cultural force, institutional system, and dominant social character. Simultaneously, the discussion considers the progressive counter-forces that have and continue to challenge white supremacy, and how this dialectical battle has brought the United States to the polarizations of the present day. The book builds a four-part argument. First, it considers the origins of white supremacy in the United States, and how some people uphold it today. Second, it discusses personality types that find white supremacy appealing. Third, it lays out the sociohistorical patterns that promoted white supremacy, rewarded people who practiced it, and created generations of people who find meaning and comfort in racist, misogynist, and heteronormative domination. Fourth, it discusses the social counterforces that challenge white supremacy and links these to personality types as well. Overall, the book examines how social character correlates with differing personality types, resulting in very different social movements, cultural expressions, political activities, and daily interactions.

Socio-Anthropological Approaches to Religion: Environmental Hope interprets the fundamental functions of spirituality through the theories and practices of hope and understanding the futuristic aspiration of new religious movements. The book portrays a neutral notion of hope that can be either religious or humanistic in the face of the suffering or despair of present reality. The concept of hope (or hopelessness) is demonstrated in each chapter under the global circumstance of health risk. Part One represents the various theories of hope in Christian history, ecology and climate, the Sabbath and surveillance, and the triune God. The insecure situation that creates the expectation of hope is demonstrated in Part Two, where the case studies of terrorist attacks, immigration, volunteering behavior, religious education, and medieval Islamic tradition indicate social unbalance. The last section illustrates the cultural anthropology of hope through the activities of different native new religious movements including the Moonies'Unification movement, Yoruba Nigerian indigenous spirituality, and Cosmovisions of Sepik New Guinea. This book examines hope as a crucial element of human's internal healing beyond medical technology.

This book proposes a broad synthesis of the state of the art regarding the debate on the phenomenon of Emergence. Discussing from a theoretical and a theological perspective, it aims to propose a new interpretation, according to the theological and metaphysical framework offered by St Bonaventure and the Franciscan school. Identifying the main concepts, the salient, and questions that characterize the phenomenon of Emergence, the book employs a complex, multilevel and wide-ranging analysis between the wisdom of Bonaventurean theology, metaphysics, and modern scientific and metaphysical knowledge. This book is a must read for scholars and academics interested in new sapiential depths to extract and make the new and the ancient interact.

This work delves into the fundamental issue of Otherness, from both sacred texts and communal experiences. While the title adopts the dyad of “inclusion” or “exclusion”, these analyses broadly reflect nuanced critical considerations. Filled with profound psychological, theological, sociological, anthropological, and ethical dimensions, experiencing the Other is richly expressed within religious traditions. This book is a must for scholars interested in a multi-disciplinary approach to inclusivity and religion.

Die interreligiöse Hermeneutik erweist sich in einer von kultureller Vielfalt und religiöser Pluralität geprägten globalisierten Welt als unverzichtbar für den interreligiösen Diskurs. Sie bietet einen Rahmen für einen konstruktiven Dialog zwischen verschiedenen Glaubensrichtungen und ermöglicht den Brückenschlag zwischen unterschiedlichen religiösen Traditionen. Vor diesem Hintergrund leistet der vorliegende Sammelband zu theologischen und religionspädagogischen Begründungen einer interreligiösen Hermeneutik einen wichtigen Beitrag. Die Autor•innen reflektieren aus theologischer und philosophisch-hermeneutischer Perspektive und untersuchen verschiedene Aspekte, darunter interreligiöse Ansätze der Weltreligionen, theologische Grundlagen für den Dialog, die Ableitung einer interreligiösen Hermeneutik aus den heiligen Schriften und die Nutzung philosophisch-hermeneutischer Konzepte für die theologische Begründung des interreligiösen Dialogs. Diese kritische Reflexion und Weiterentwicklung einer pluralitätsfähigen Perspektive im interreligiösen Dialog trägt dazu bei, neue Wege für den theologischen Umgang mit religiöser Vielfalt zu eröffnen.

Die englische Religionssoziologin Grace Davie hat das Konzept der vicarious religion entwickelt. Gemeint ist ein unausgesprochenes Übereinkommen zwischen einer religiös hochaktiven Minderheit und einer eher abständigen, aber der Religion grundsätzlich gewogenen Mehrheit. Letztere ermöglicht der Minderheit, den Glauben zu praktizieren, die dies wiederum'stellvertretend'für die sympathisierende Mehrheit tut. Im Hintergrund von Davies Konzept steht die Situation in England, doch kann es auch auf den deutschsprachigen Raum angewendet werden.

This book explores and sheds light on the contemporary discourse between science and religion. Employing the methodological approach of modern science, Overcoming Reductionism aims to explain natural phenomena not in isolation from philosophical or theological interpretations. The book then focuses on the concept of pain. Although pain is a phenomenon familiar to all humans, defining it exclusively in terms of nociception proves challenging. This book therefore delves into the intricate nature of the phenomenon, critically acknowledging the way pain profoundly influences the construction of one's existential meaning, particularly concerning matters of faith.

This book explores modern European religious and non-religious rituals and their main features by focusing on music as a key element required for the full expression of beliefs. It specifically examines the relationship between religious, non-religious, pagan, cultural, celebratory, and traditional rituals. In doing so, this text focuses on the extent to which the rituals overlap, replace, or feed religious or pseudo-religious beliefs to create alternative beliefs (individual or collective) that systematically ignore any religion. The book further analyses the relationship between daily habits, holidays, sports, politics, culture, and other pagan rituals as forms that represent social feelings by identifying, enjoying, or impersonating emotions; and transversally, it explores how music facilitates and fosters those emotions. The volume also investigates how rituals coexist and mutually influence each other through a representation of religious and non-religious rituals, and how music plays a central role in that phenomenology. The author argues that music is a key part of various types of rituals (e.g. rites of passage), and that music supports and enriches the meaning of the ritual, to ultimately strengthen the bond of communication with the individual and the group. This monograph appeals to students and researchers working in religious studies and in music theory.

Living Mantra ist eine Anthropologie der Mantra-Erfahrung unter hinduistisch-tantrischen Praktizierenden. In alten indischen Lehren und Legenden rufen Mantras, die von Rishis (Sehern) wahrgenommen werden, Gottheiten an und haben transformative Kräfte. Mit einer Methodik, die Wissenschaft und Praxis verbindet, entdeckt Mani Rao eine fortdauernde Tradition von Visionären (Rishis/Sehern) und Offenbarungen im südindischen Bundesstaat Andhra-Telangana. Das tiefgründig recherchierte und mit faszinierenden Erzählungen gespickte Buch formuliert die Poetik der Mantra-Praxis neu, während es gleichzeitig praktische Fragen erforscht. Kann man wissen, ob eine Vision real oder eingebildet ist? Ist eine Vision visuell? Werden Gottheitsvisionen durch die Kultur vermittelt? Wenn Mantras wirksam sind, welche Rolle spielt dann die Hingabe? Sind Mantras Sprache? Living Mantra stellt nicht nur theoretische Fragen, sondern auch solche, die sich ein Praktizierender stellen würde: Wie wählt man zumBeispiel eine Gottheit aus oder was bindet einen an einen Guru? Rao betritt Neuland, indem er die Aufmerksamkeit auf die Momente lenkt, die der Systematisierung und Kanonbildung vorausgehen, und zeigt, wie autoritative Quellen entstehen.

This book explores the phenomenon of conversion to Shi'a Islam in Italy. It thoroughly examines the motivations behind this religious transition and scrutinizes the doctrinal characteristics that Shiism incorporates thanks to the contributions of Italian converts. The text emphasizes the significance of René Guénon's Traditionalism as a pivotal factor in driving this religious mobility. Additionally, the book delves into the writings of figures such as Julius Evola, who introduced Guénon to Italy, shedding light on Evola's impact on the youth in the post-World War II era. Furthermore, it evaluates the influence of Henry Corbin on this spiritual journey. To realize this study, between 2018 and 2023, Minoo Mirshahvalad employed multidisciplinary methods that integrated sociology and history.

A quasi vent'anni dall'omonimo volume di «Reset», Giuliano Amato e Vincenzo Paglia, un laico e un credente, riprendono il loro dialogo, questa volta insieme a Giancarlo Bosetti, direttore di Reset Dialogues on Civilizations, nello spirito «post-secolare» teorizzato da Jürgen Habermas, alla ricerca di un'alleanza tra fede e ragione laica. La domanda che ispira questa riflessione prende le mosse da un'analisi lucida della realtà in cui viviamo. A fronte di una serie di emergenze e di cambiamenti epocali – le guerre, la pandemia, il riscaldamento globale, l'inverno demografico europeo, i grandi flussi di migranti e rifugiati – i leader e i partiti, siano di governo o all'opposizione, non sembrano attrezzati per guidare l'opinione pubblica verso piani di azione a medio e lungo termine, mentre cresce la conflittualità per accaparrarsi voti e consensi sulla base di interessi di corto respiro. Come rispondere, dunque, a questa crisi? Ereditando la lezione filosofica e intellettuale di Habermas e riprendendo il celebre «sogno» di Nicola Cusano, gli autori propongono in queste pagine un'idea di intervento sulla società, ma un intervento possibile solo se corale, sostenuto dalla partecipazione alla sfera politica di tutte le sensibilità. Fede e ragione, insomma, sono chiamate a una nuova alleanza di fronte alla crisi profonda in cui versa l'intero pianeta, e possono riuscirvi solamente superando le armature concettuali che le pretendono alternative e inconciliabili. Uno sforzo condiviso, capace di abbracciare posizioni e ideali anche molto differenti, nel nome del bene comune e, del futuro.

Supermarktketten produzieren jedes Jahr zu Weihnachten eigene Werbespots. Diese greifen aktuelle gesellschaftliche Entwicklungen auf und inszenieren diese sozialkritisch. Von Fragen des Umgangs mit Künstlicher Intelligenz bis hin zu den Folgen von Corona für Jugendliche spannt sich mittlerweile der Bogen. Diese Clips sind zu einem eigenen Genre geworden. Im Grunde sind es kleine Krippenspiele, die nun nicht mehr in der Kirche aufgeführt werden, sondern über die verschiedenen Medien verbreitet werden. Ein direktes Vorbild für die Clips sind die Werbefilme zum Super Bowl in den USA.

Die qualitative Studie zielt darauf ab, die Motivation und Haltung angehender Religionslehrkräfte verschiedener Glaubensrichtungen zu untersuchen. Das Forschungsteam führte insgesamt 83 vertiefende Einzelinterviews durch (34 Studierende der Islamischen Theologie mit Lehramtsoption und 19 Studierende ohne Lehramtsoption sowie 30 Studierende der Katholischen Theologie mit Lehramtsoption). Die Ergebnisse geben Einblicke in die Herausforderungen und Chancen des Religionsunterrichts in einer pluralistischen Gesellschaft. Darüber hinaus könnten sie wertvolle Impulse für die Gestaltung einer integrativen Bildungspolitik bieten, die auf Respekt und interreligiöser Verständigung basiert.

In recent years, the relevance of religious freedom has spread well beyond academia, becoming a reference point for international relations, multi-level policy development, as well as interfaith negotiations. Meanwhile, scholarship on religious freedom has flourished on the boundaries of sociology, law, comparative politics, history, and theology. This book presents a systematic sociological analysis of religious freedom, bringing together classical sociological theories and empirical perspectives developed during the last three decades. It addresses three major questions involved in any sociology of religious freedom. First: considering its complex and controversial nature, how can religious freedom be defined? Second: what are the recurrent sociological conditions and relevant social perceptions that will foster an understanding of religious freedom in varying political, legal, and socioreligious contexts? And third, what are the mechanisms of social implementation of religious freedom that contribute to making it a fundamental value in a society? Olga Breskaya, Giuseppe Giordan, and James T. Richardson suggest that a sociological definition of religious freedom requires us to take into account historical, philosophical, legal, religious, and political considerations of a given society-and that the social dimensions of religious freedom are as important as the legal ones.

This book explores the decolonization of Holy Cross education in Bangladesh. It reveals how the church's educational mission adapted to decolonization processes over time, including Bangladesh's handover from British India to Pakistan in 1947, and its independence and national development from 1971 to the present day. This book describes the ongoing decolonization of Catholic education in Bangladesh, with the use of archival texts as well as interviews with local and foreign personnel, who are based in two of the most prestigious Holy Cross educational institutions in Dhaka. Providing a close examination of the impact of colonization on Bangladeshi education, it serves as a useful reference to students, scholars, and educators of Bangladeshi and South Asian studies, and postcolonial and decolonial educational and religious studies.

How Much Religion is Good for Us? is a provocative book which examines parallels between play and religion from a philosophical, theological, and anthropological perspective.Understanding “religion as a game” in the context of secular culture, it explores the “playful” patterning of spiritual and religious belief in modern societies. Drawing on the Nietzschean concept of a dead but powerful God, the book depicts modern civilizations as players treading a secular age in which the spirit of religion unconsciously survives. It argues that the spirit of religion is preserved in cultures in the form of a spiritual game, distilling moral precepts and imperatives much like poetry and works of art do. Comparative in scope, it references Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Sufism, and Daoism.This interdisciplinary volume is an outstanding resource for students and scholars of Religious Studies, Islamic Studies, Cultural Studies, Philosophy, and Anthropology.

This book introduces the prominent role that fundamentalists play in religious, cultural, and political arenas.It begins by investigating religious fundamentalist groups and their psychological motivations for this counter-cultural adherence. Their extremely varied actions, argues the author, are based on two fundamental beliefs: that God speaks to them personally through his Word; and that they are involved in a cosmic war between God and Satan.. Subsequent chapters explore how fundamentalisms meet universal psychological needs for meaning, identity, agency, and self-esteem. Moving from individual psychology to social context, the latter half of the book explores how fundamentalist movements derive and exercise their authority and how leaders may strategise to appeal to external societies. The closing chapters seek to place the growth of fundamentalisms and their continued popularity in the social context of modernity and populism.With engaging discussion questions and suggestions for further reading, this book is ideal for students of social science and religion, as well as readers interested in the psychological roots of fundamentalism.

This book is a comprehensive study of the intersection of religion, Indigenous culture, and community life, featuring an in-depth examination of the Orang Asli in Malaysia and the Santals in Bangladesh that aims for a socially inclusive, harmonious, and peaceful society. It dives into the impact of conversion on Indigenous identities, employing extensive ethnographic and phenomenological methodologies. The authors explore the conversion process attentively, revealing hidden isolation. This compact volume offers intriguing insights into Southeast and South Asia's rich tapestry, including nuance to discussions concerning religious pluralism, human rights, and the pursuit of social justice. Readers gain a better understanding of varied religious communities and Indigenous perspectives in order to promote a more inclusive and fair society. In the book, the authors provide real-life experiences, extensive analysis, and practical solutions for Indigenous populations in Malaysia and Bangladesh. They blend together thoughts and narratives, encompassing sociopolitical and historical themes. With visuals, case studies, and varied views, the volume builds respect for global variety while driving societal inclusion with the spirit of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The Intersection of Faith, Culture, and Indigenous Community in Malaysia and Bangladesh addresses pressing social justice and human rights issues, pushing for rights-based society and diversity, while balancing academic rigor and accessibility. The book is intended for scholars and researchers interested in Indigenous peoples, religious conversion, social justice, and human rights. It offers detailed insights into the conversion experiences of Malaysian Orang Asli and Bangladeshi Santal groups, and provides commentary on civil freedoms following conversion and reveals complex views of these communities, making the volume useful for scholars researching intersectionality in religious conversions and the dynamics surrounding Indigenous populations. Policymakers in Malaysia, Bangladesh, and other Asian countries dealing with comparable concerns with converted Indigenous people might benefit from the book's evidence-based insights and challenges, promoting more inclusive and culturally sensitive policies and urging Malaysian and Bangladeshi governments to recognize conversion-related issues.

This volume outlines various religious practices followed across the global south and highlights their correlation to sustainability. It features more than 30 chapters from scholars across diverse disciplines, including philosophy, economics, ethics, theology, sociology, ritual studies, and education. The interdisciplinary volume mines religious rituals and practices for answers that could aid and alleviate unsustainable lifestyles. Delving deep into the cultural practices of tribal religions in India, the book highlights humanistic elements to establish sustainable ways of thinking, feeling, acting, and being. Including perspectives from Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity, and tribal religious traditions, this book is a must for scholars interested in sustainability and religion in the global south.

More than half a century ago, sociologist J. Milton Yinger remarked about religion,'There are few major subjects about which men know so little, yet feel so certain.'Samuel L. Perry says that Yinger had it right. Americans--and Westerners more generally--neglect the scientific study of religion, and we do so at our peril. In Religion for Realists, Perry argues that we need the scientific study of religion--the rational, data-driven analysis of religious life-now more than ever. Contrary to the fears of many religious Americans, the scientific study of religion only threatens empirical falsehoods, promulgated often to the benefit of charlatans and demagogues. And contrary to the silent hopes of many secular academics, religion doesn't go away when you ignore it. Instead, interest groups fill the void to shape the public's understanding of religious reality: sometimes well, usually poorly. Perry makes the case that, as people in the West self-sort into partisan tribes, all of us--religious and irreligious alike--need the scientific study of religion. This book presents a practical roadmap for ensuring that its insights are widely available, accessible, and impactful.

Religion ist ein gesellschaftliches Feld, das starken Dynamiken unterworfen ist: Religion und Religiosität reagieren sensibel auf sozialen Wandel, treiben ihn mit ihren Eigendynamiken voran oder blockieren ihn. Der vorliegende Band entstand im Anschluss an eine Tagung anlässlich des 25-jährigen Bestehens der Sektion Religionssoziologie der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie. Die Beiträge spiegeln die lebendige soziologische Forschung zu der engen Koppelung von Religion(en) und Gesellschaft und haben eine explizit feld-historische Perspektive: Sie thematisieren sowohl Veränderungen dieser Verzahnungen als auch die theoretischen und empirischen Erforschungsperspektiven und bilden die damit verbundenen aktuellen Diskurse innerhalb der deutschen Religionssoziologie ab.

Die'muslimische Frau'ist in europäischen Gesellschaften Objekt politischer Sorge. Ihre vermeintlichen Lebensumstände werden emotional diskutiert, wobei Sprecher•innen laufend präskriptive Aussagen darüber produzieren, wie eine'muslimische Frau'zu sein hat. Diese Studie fokussiert hingegen die Perspektive von sich als muslimisch verstehenden Akteuren: Am Fall deutschsprachiger YouTube-Videos muslimischer Produzent•innen rekonstruiert sie Subjektmodelle, die Vorschläge unterbreiten, wie ein moralisch und ästhetisch'korrektes'Leben als muslimische Frau im säkularen Kontext geführt werden kann. In dieser digitalen Diskurs-Arena treffen konservative Prediger, muslimische Lifestyle-Influencer•innen und feministische Aktivist•innen aufeinander und bringen widersprüchliche Schablonen eines muslimischen Lebens im Spannungsfeld säkularer und religiöser Geschlechterdiskurse hervor. Dabei bietet die Untersuchung durch die Verschränkung post-strukturalistischer Subjekttheorien und neo-materialistischer Affekttheorien eine innovative konzeptuelle Option für das wachsende Feld der Subjektivierungsforschung an und stellt Werkzeuge für die Analyse von Diskursen in digitalen Medien bereit.

This volume brings together emerging and established religious ethicists to investigate how those in the field carry forward the practice and tradition of social criticism and, at the same time, how social criticism informs the scholarly values of their field. Contributors reflect on the nature of the moral subject and the ethical weight of human dignity and consider the limits and possibilities of religious humanism in orienting the work of social criticism. They compare religious sources and forms of research in religious ethics to secular sources and the tradition of liberal social criticism. And they offer proposals for how religious ethics can help humanists navigate our complex and multicultural moral landscape and what this field reveals about the ultimate ends of humanistic scholarship.

Die vorliegende qualitativ-empirische Studie untersucht religiöse Orientierungen von Student:innen der Erziehungswissenschaften und der Lehrämter. Sie geht der noch nicht erforschten Frage nach, wie angehende Pädagog:innen ihre Religiosität mit Wissensinhalten ihres Studiums biographisch vermitteln und inwiefern dabei Subjektivierungseffekte eine Rolle spielen. Anhand einer Verknüpfung von Biographie- und Diskursanalyse werden übergeordnete kollektive Wissensordnungen in den Blick genommen, die im Kontext religionsbezogener und professionalisierungsspezifischer Diskurse zirkulieren und deren Analyse Hinweise darauf gibt, wie sich Student:innen im Spannungsfeld diskursiver Ordnungsstrukturen positionieren. Solcherart gibt die Studie Einblicke in Prozesse, die als Subjektivierungs- bzw. Professionalisierungsmomente gelesen werden können

In the 19th century Friedrich Nietzsche infamously declared that'God is dead.'It turns out he was on to something. Across the western world, churches are emptying out and closing their doors, and more and more people are rejecting organized religion. In the early 2000s a group of intellectuals who collectively came to be known as the'new atheists'capitalized on this fact, capturing the imagination of young skeptics and igniting a movement for secularism by arguing that religion is the source of most of our social ills. They believed that the decline of religious belief could be attributed to the rise of modern science. This was only the most recent incarnation of a story that has been told since the 18th century Enlightenment, which forged a myth of social progress and western cultural supremacy that has lent legitimacy to the projects of imperialism and global capitalism ever since. The social sciences have another story to tell. It is the story of secularization: a theory that grapples with the astonishing fact of Christianity's fall from its position at the center of western culture. In this version of the story, God was not killed by science, but by a complex set of social and economic changes that have produced greater overall well-being and equality, and by shifting moral values that lead people to view religious ethics as a relic of a bygone era. Stephen LeDrew argues that only the social sciences can explain religion's fall from grace--and the dangers of its resurgence. A coalition of far-right religious extremists is currently working to dismantle democracy in order to preserve white Christian privilege. The evidence from secularization shows that only by working to achieve greater security and equality for all can we halt a descent into an abyss of nihilistic greed and intolerance.

This work offers a “symposium” on the nature of human sexual difference drawing on Plato's masterpiece: having explored the observed phenomena of sexual difference, four stories are told of the origins, essence, and ends of the human male and female. First, the evolutionists, and then Simone de Beauvoir, and Judith Butler present their accounts. Next, a fourth (and unique vision for our age) is added: the thought of Thomas Aquinas is placed in dialogue with the evolutionists, Beauvoir, and Butler, thereby introducing into contemporary discourse a voice that is both ancient and new. The work seeks to trace each protagonist's account to its fonts, so providing a perspective from which various streams of thought might be understood both in their divergence and common origins. It thus hopes to offer a common language and an interpretive key in a realm where confusion and misunderstanding too often reign.

This book examines the discourse of Muslim televangelism in the West, particularly looking at the emergence of'home-grown'televangelists who grew up in the West and deliver their sermons in English, addressing audiences in contexts such as the UK and the USA. In their sermons, televangelists address topics that are relevant to the everyday life of Muslims and Muslim youth such as friendship, marriage and the misrepresentation of Islam/Muslims in mass media. This book explores contemporary Muslim televangelism and its manifestations in other forms of digital religion, including YouTube, websites and social media which mediate religious content. Using a Critical Discourse Studies approach, the author explores the power structures underpinning the popularity of Muslim televangelism, investigates the linguistic strategies used by Muslim televangelists to construct their identities online, and analyses how Islam and Muslims are represented in their sermons. This book will be of interest to religious studies, media studies, and discourse studies scholars, and to anyone interested in the topic of Islam/Muslims in the West in the contemporary age.

The effects of social media can be observed particularly in relation to the religious commitment and religious practices of young people - who today are summarized under terms such as'internet generation','media generation'or'digital natives'. Online media exert a major influence on their lives, their understanding of the world, their religious orientations and actions. Their identity constructions, their cultural and religious orientations are closely intertwined with social media. This is precisely where the present study started with the question of what subjective consequences interaction on the social web has for the religious orientations, practices and self-conceptions of Muslim young people in Austria. The focus was on the connections between media use, media images of Islam and lived religiosity. On the one hand, the results show that the use of social media creates objective spaces of opportunity that can go hand in hand with an expansion of individual scope for action, whereby religious authority is increasingly being questioned. On the other hand, the study also shows that the use of digital media can also lead to a narrowing of individual religious orientations.

Religion plays a central role in a variety of social movements, including many that are not explicitly faith-based. This book provides the first systematic analysis of the ways religion contributes to diverse movements for social change. It draws on a variety of case studies, from the US and globally, to build an argument about religion's distinctive capacity to provide logistical support, to inspire and legitimize activist practices, to connect different spatial scales, and to link big ideas to everyday experiences. The book's analysis rests on three foundational arguments. First and most fundamentally, it is impossible to understand movements for social change without analyzing the multiple ways that religion shapes their ideas, communities, and practices. Second, religion is always in mutually transformative interaction with social and political forces and can never be entirely separated from them. In social movements and in the public sphere more generally, people interpret politics with values and concepts drawn from religion and understand their activism as spiritually meaningful. This challenges the assumption that religion is a largely a private matter. Third, scholars must treat religion as a relatively independent variable, which actively shapes social processes just as it is shaped by them. We cannot make sense of religion's role in social movements without acknowledging that religious institutions and traditions have, to some extent, a life of their own.

This book constitutes the second volume of'Religion Matters: The Contemporary Relevance of Religion'(Springer, 2020). Offering a fresh and much-needed perspective, it explores the role of religion in the modern, neo-liberal world. The book acclaims that'religion'is a contextual and contested term, which is extensively discussed in the Introduction.Designed to be read selectively, this book allows readers to delve into topics and traditions of specific interest without the necessity of reading the entire volume. In contrast to volume 1, where contributors critically engaged with religion and various disciplines, this book poses a fundamental question: Can religion contribute to the discipline under consideration?Authors were selected based on their ability to address this question. Some chapters concluded that religion may offer very little to the discipline under consideration, highlighting the value of volume 1's critical stance on the place of religion incontemporary society. However, the project's overall aim remained somewhat unfulfilled, leading to the creation of this second volume.The primary omission from the first book was a comprehensive exploration of the sciences and health sciences, which this second volume aims to rectify. Furthermore, additional authors were chosen to investigate the nature of connectedness facilitated by religion, horizontally through membership within wider communities, societies, cultures, or religious traditions, and vertically by examining historical relationships within a particular faith tradition, culture, community, or society. This volume also broadens its focus to include non-Christian perspectives, Indigenous perspectives, and an increased representation of female contributors.

This edited volume offers new and exciting perspectives on the social study of science and religion through current scholarship grounded in Science and Technology Studies (STS). The contributors explore how STS theories, methods, and concepts can be applied to the study of religion, as well as how to incorporate aspects of religion into STS. The purpose of the volume is to advance the social study of science and religion by fostering the already interdisciplinary nature of the field and to encourage engagement with the intersection between science and religion from a wide range of perspectives.

This book takes its motive force from our contemporary climate crisis. It seeks to reorient human (and especially Christian) understanding, towards a more ecologically-focused, indigenously-informed way-of-living. James W. Perkinson argues that our current eco-climatic and socio-political emergency is the culmination of a 5,000-year history of supremacist “settlement,” in which city-states first emergent in Mesopotamia and Egypt not only begin coercively organizing labor into surplus production and ecosystems into inordinate and destructive yields of “goods,” but in the process, also simultaneously “deform” the Spirit-World “haloing” of natural phenomenon into outsized service of imperial reach. Perkinson recognizes globalized humanity as an emerging monstrosity destroying both human culture and the world. How we re-envision and revalue, at our critical juncture, our inescapable interdependence with the more-than-human world as peer and teacher and even “elder,” is the central theme that throbs below the surface of the very disparate topics commanding attention in each chapter.

This volume aims to revitalize the exchange between sociological differentiation theory and the sociology of religion, which previously held center stage among the sociological classics. It brings together contributions from different disciplines, as well as various forms of regional and historical expertise, which are indispensable in forming a globally oriented sociological perspective today. Secularization is understood as a process of boundary demarcation, that is, as the enactment of semantic, practical, and institutional distinctions between religion and other spheres of activity and knowledge. These distinctions may emerge from within the religious field itself, or may be absorbed into the field having originally emerged elsewhere. They may even be directly imposed upon religion by external forces. The volume is therefore based on the premise that societal differentiation – and secularity as a specific expression of it – is a widespread structural feature that nonetheless takes on various forms, depending on its historical and cultural context. In order to make this diversity visible, the volume adopts a global comparative perspective, and examines historical distinctions and differentiations in the West and beyond. By examining different forms and modes of secularity in statu nascendi, the volume contributes to developing a better understanding of the diversity of secularities, even of those found in the present day, in terms of their historicity and their specific path dependencies. With this shift in perspective, this special volume initiates a global and historical turn in the theory of differentiation, as well as in the study of secularity.

This book extends Alfred Schutz's “On Multiple Realities” by describing the provinces of meaning of play, music, religious ritual, and African-American folkloric humor. Throughout these provinces, the author traces two themes: resilience and responsiveness. In resilience, individuals or communities run up against obstacles, imposed relevances, which they come to terms with, or give meaning to (in phenomenological parlance), by modifying, evading, overcoming, or accepting them. Responsiveness emerges from Schutz's idea of making music together, which the author takes further by analyzing the mimetic encounter with the other and the asymmetries in listening to music, and, especially, by showing how the features of the cognitive style of music as a province of meaning affect sociality, disposing us to be more vulnerable and attentive to each other's non-conceptual, musical meanings. This text appeals to upper-level undergraduate students and graduate students as well as to faculty in philosophy.

A smart, irreverent, and accessible guide to thinking more deeply about how religion permeates and shapes the world around us –and why you need to understand the work it's doingReligion lurks in the floorboards of our daily lives, whether we want it to or not. A departure from more traditional approaches to'Religion 101,'Religion Is Not Done with You gives thought-provoking context to the basics of religious studies by challenging readers to consider the origins of their assumptions about religion and broaden their perspectives on what religion is and does.Religion scholars and Keeping It 101 podcast duo Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst and Megan Goodwin offer their straightforward, plainspoken overviews of religious studies theory: that religion is what people do (not just beliefs or individual practices); that people are complicated and messy and constantly changing, which means religion is also complicated and messy and constantly changing; that religion shapes what choices you get to make. Choices like what you can learn in school; how your government works; what kind of options you have (or increasingly don't have) in caring for your own body.Sure, you have the choice to participate in religion or not. But how you make that choice builds on your entire personal history, your connection to communities and regions, and the systems that surround you. All of which have been shaped by religion.Religion is systems and structures and assumptions we didn't create or choose – and, to be honest, we might not even like or agree with. You can feel however you want to feel about religion, but religion is shaping your world whether you like it or not. And if you don't like how religion is shaping our world? This book might just be your first step in diagnosing the problems and agitating for positive change. Even if you are done with religion, religion is not done with you.

Altruismus scheint im Alltagsverständnis seinen uneingeschränkt positiven Ruf als ebenso wünschenswerte wie seltene Tugend verloren zu haben und durch ein Ethos des Eigennutzens ersetzt worden zu sein. Angesichts globaler Krisen wie dem Klimawandel, großer Flüchtlingsbewegungen, Kriege und Armut ist die Bereitschaft zur Verhaltensänderung bzw. zum Verzicht zugunsten kommender Generationen oder hilfsbedürftiger Menschen weniger selbstverständlich als das Phänomen der psychologischen Reaktanz und die Weigerung, Einschränkungen der persönlichen Freiheit oder des Konsums hinzunehmen. Zeitgenössische Ethikerinnen und Ethiker müssen sich demnach mit der Frage nach der Motivation für ein Handeln auseinandersetzen, das in erster Linie nicht dem eigenen Wohl, sondern dem Wohl anderer dient. In diesem Sinne beleuchtet der vorliegende Band das Thema Altruismus in seinen verschiedenen, wechselseitig aufeinander verweisenden Facetten: Wie ist das Wesen altruistischen Handelns zu bestimmen? Liegt Altruismus in der Natur des Menschen? Lässt sich Altruismus widerspruchsfrei in verschiedene Ethiktypen einordnen? Wie verstehen verschiedene philosophische Traditionen und Religionen den Altruismus? In welchem Verhältnis steht der Altruismus zum guten Leben? Und: Wie ist altruistisches Handeln motiviert? Da diese Fragen in verschiedenen Fachwissenschaften und mit unterschiedlichen Perspektivierungen gestellt werden, ist dieser Sammelband interdisziplinär konzipiert: Philosophie und Religionswissenschaft kommen ebenso zu Wort wie Verhaltensökonomie und Evolutionsbiologie. Auch anthropologische, soziologische und psychologische Zusammenhänge werden beleuchtet. Dementsprechend richten sich die hier versammelten Aufsätze an ein sehr breit gefächertes akademisches Publikum, aber auch an eine interessierte öffentliche Leserschaft außerhalb des universitären Kontexts. Mit Blick auf diese Zielgruppen führen die einzelnen Beiträge in das jeweilige Thema ein und präsentieren gleichzeitig eine eigene Forschungsposition der Autorin bzw. des Autors.

The main objective of this book is to add, from a humanist perspective, new interdisciplinary insights and research results to the current academic debate on aging. The collection aims to enhance and complement the predominantly biomedical and sociological debates and provide a more comprehensive and highly topical view on aging and old age. By purveying a meaning-in-life perspective to the current debate we want to enrich and to deepen the research on aging, thus aspiring to an ideal of meaningful aging. The starting point of this book is a humanistic meaning frame for addressing basic needs of a meaningful existence, such as having goals in life, a sense of self-worth, connectedness with others, moral justification, a certain degree of understanding (comprehensibility), direction and influence with a view to cohesion in life, and not in the least place: (living) pleasure or excitement. Taken together, the essays show that experiencing a meaningful life contributes to one's mentalresilience, conceived as the ability to realize a humane individuality (autonomy) in thinking and acting in situations of adversity and vulnerability, particularly those faced by older people.

'Focuses on the role of mediation in the Christian tradition'--