Definition Of Religion Research Articles

What is the relationship of religion to economics?

In this journal, Welch and Mueller (WM) (2001) demonstrated a classificatory method for conceptualizing relationships between religion and economics. No judgement can be drawn from WM as to which of their four classifications might be a, or the, correct one. They conclude that the relationships are “both complex and controversial”, and that before any assessment can be apprehended adequately of how the two fields interact, “the permutations and subcategories implied by the system” used need to be identified and explored more thoroughly. This paper pursues that path, but argues that a more determinate verdict than WM's is possible. Here, an alternative interpretation of the relationship between religion and economics is investigated, in which WM's categories are assessed. In the alternative, WM's four classes are not taken to possess equal intellectual merit, as they appear to be. Using more current and comprehensive definitions of religion than WM's, a case is constructed that three of their four categories possess greater intellectual value than the remaining one. These three are here collapsed into one new mega-category regarded as that most validly describing the relationship between religion and economics.

Religion and the Law of Charities

This article attempts an overview of the application of the law of charities to religion. Charity law is currently subject to revision. The advancement of religion has been one of the traditional charitable purposes defined as such in the common law. In this area of law both the courts and the Charity Commission have applied a neutral approach toward all religious denominations. This approach is in principle consistent with the content of the Human Rights Act 1998. Nevertheless the growth of religious pluralism in society and the appearance of new religions and groups generate many doubts about the definition of religion as charity. On the one hand, the courts have offered a theistic definition of religion, which is not applicable to all religious groups. On the other, in every charitable purpose some element of public benefit must be present. For religious purposes the courts assume the presence of a public benefit unless the contrary is shown, but it is not clear that all religious practices are beneficial to the community. The aim of this article is to promote a discussion about the definition of religion as a charitable purpose, to identify the problems connected with the growth of religious pluralism, and to offer some remarks about the impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 on the law of charities.

The Question of Religion and World Politics

ABSTRACT In this essay we introduce this special volume on the role of religion in world conflict. We develop a common definition of religion which focuses on five ways religion can influence society and politics: (1) as a basis for identify; (2) as a belief system that influences behavior; (3) through formal religious doctrines; (4) as a source of legitimacy; and (5) through its religious institutions. We discuss why the issue of religion has in the past received little attention from social scientists. Finally, we develop a set of common questions which the other authors in this volume address. These questions are designed to create a better understanding of the role religion plays in world conflict as well as how international relations theory can help us understand this role.

On the Heuristic Value of the Concept of Political Religion and its Application

The thesis here is that the concept of political religion (PR) is useful as a heuristic device or model to explore certain unique features of modern secular revolutionary and/or ultra‐nationalist movements and regimes which develop elaborate ideologies and public rituals. It depends on a broad or ‘Durkheimian’ definition of religion and is not to be confused with the politicisation of traditional religion, which can be found in varying forms in nearly all historic polities. The differences between modern civil religion (CR) and PR are examined, and some of the principal regimes and movements for whom PR may be a useful concept are analysed with regard to their similarities and differences. The conclusion is that both the politicisation of religion and the cultic forms of PR continue to characterise in varying ways some of the major radical new forces of the twentieth century, while much of the Western world tends toward an inchoate kind of incipient, not fully coded PR most simply characterised as Multicultural Political Correctness.

Following Muhammad

Following Muhammad is a scholarly, but not academic, book directed atthe general reading public. Written by a religious studies scholar with anevident sympathy for Islam, it seeks to address western prejudices about Islam by presenting a clear, concise, and accessible picture of the faith incontext. Although the author explores Islam’s historical evolution, his primaryfocus is to balance this with insights into how Muslims themselvesunderstand their religion in contemporary as well as historical times.Although primarily directed toward non-Muslims, whose essentialistmedia-driven assumptions about Islam are constantly lamented by Ernst,it is also of interest to the Muslim reading public as a refreshing departurefrom standard accounts of Muslims and Islam. Although not a textbook,it could be profitably used as a text for discussion in a variety ofcourses.Two key issues to which Ernst returns repeatedly are, first, the erroneouswestern tendency of assuming that fundamentalists are the “true”representatives of Islam, and, second, the importance of recognizing thepart colonialism has played in shaping contemporary developments in theMuslim world. By drawing comparisons with Christianity, Judaism, andother faiths, he highlights the unacceptability – and indeed absurdity – ofmany generic assumptions about Islam and Muslims. Instead, he stressesthe importance of non-Muslims recognizing the diversity of faith and practicein time and space that characterizes Islam, just as it does all other worldreligions.The book is divided into six chapters organized in a thematic ratherthan a chronological manner in order to reflect the author’s self-proclaimedemphasis on “rethinking” Islam today. Chapter 1 explores western perceptionsof, and prejudices toward, Islam in modern and medieval times andsuggests ways to avoid such prejudices in our own time. Chapter 2 looks atwhat is meant by the term religion and how evolving western definitions ofreligion have shaped western perceptions of other faiths, including Islam.This is counterbalanced by a survey of how Muslims have defined Islam byassessing its historical vocabulary and the vocabulary used by present-dayMuslims ...

Religion: the modern theories

Over the course of the 20th century, thinkers from Marx and Weber to Freud, Jung and Campbell transformed the way we understand the religious experience. Within the field of religious studies, various intellectual approaches - from feminism to phenomenology - have further shaped the ways in which scholars examine rituals, symbols, and belief systems. In this book, Seth D. Kunin provides an accessible yet comprehensive introduction to the social-scientific theories of religion that developed during the 20th century, explaining the most significant theories of religion and their precursors. Kunin begins with a detailed discussion of the century's major theorists of religion, their ideas and their influence, among them Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Freud, Jung and Otto. He next explores how various disciplines - sociology, psychology, phenomenology, gender studies and anthropology - have affected the study of religion. Kunin then analyses the constituent elements of religion itself: ritual, symbolism and myth. Throughout, the author emphasizes the need to question and reassess accepted theories and definitions of religion, and he concludes with suggestions for framing new definitions of religion that provide more culturally sensitive and open-ended ways of understanding.

Sacred changes: Spiritual conversion and transformation.

We use Pargament's (1997) definition of religion-"the search for significance in ways related to the sacred"-as a framework to understand spiritual conversion. Like other life-changing transformations, spiritual conversion alters the destinations that clients perceive to be of greatest importance in life (significance) and the pathways by which clients discover what is most significant in life (search). Unlike other transformative experiences, however, spiritual conversion incorporates the third element of religion, "the sacred," into the content of change. To illustrate these points, we discuss two theological models of spiritual conversion rooted in Christianity: a traditional model based on classic western theology and an alternative model based on feminist theology. We then compare processes of spiritual conversion to nonreligious models of transformation. We also highlight the importance for clinical work of the fit between the context of a client's life and the type of spiritual conversion experienced.

Receptivity and the Nature of Religion

Responding to Neyrinck & Hutsebaut and to Van Uden, Pieper & Alma (both in this edition), the author addresses the topic of receptivity, a religious coping style that does not involve a personal view of God. Although Neyrinck & Hutsebaut focus on receptivity in relation to religious styles and Van Uden, Pieper & Alma deal with receptivity and coping, both research teams note that in the secularized context of the Netherlands religious coping concepts with all too personal God views fail to measure an important religious style. The author discusses some conceptual and methodological issues in this research and reflects on the theological ramifications. He critiques the interpretation of the Receptivity subscales and argues that the relation to the sacred is the distinguishing element. Finally, he offers some preliminary theological reflections on receptivity and the sacred in light of a dynamic understanding of transcendence and a relational definition of religion.

Popular culture fandoms, the boundaries of religious studies, and the project of the self

The starting point of this paper will be studies that view popular culture as religion. First, I examine a selection of recent works that argue certain popular culture communities—namely, music subcultures, sports, and television and celebrity fandoms—look like, act like, and indeed are religions for participants. Methodologically, the studies under examination proceed by starting with a definition of religion and then looking for parallels between the pop culture fandom and the definition. I suggest that popular culture as religion scholarship is at best creative, always problematic, and tends toward what Samuel calls ‘parallelomania’. In the second part of the paper, I use the studies under examination, as well as original research, to argue that contemporary fandoms are better understood as late modern ‘projects of the self’, affiliational choices that act to establish self-identity and community in a time period when these things are not given, but reflexively made and remade.

The Confucian Body

© 2004 by University of Hawai'i Press There was a time, as late as the first half of the twentieth century, when Western academic readers were likely to come across the statement that Buddhism was not a religion but rather a secular system of philosophy or mental cultivation. Such a claim would be based on a very selective reading of Buddhist texts; an absence of other kinds of investigation, such as observation of Buddhist practices other than meditation; and a set of assumptions about what constitutes religion that was based on a Western, primarily Christian, standard. When religion is defined as the belief in a supreme being, for example, Theravada Buddhism clearly falls out side that category~especially if one limits investigation to normative religious texts. (Asking ordinary lay Buddhists in Sri Lanka what they believe might yield different conclusions.) Those days are, happily, over. The Western understanding of Buddhism has grown broader and deeper, while implicit theological agendas informing scholarship, when they exist at all, are no longer as simplistic as they once were (although they will probably seem so to our successors). But to those scholars who consider Confucianism to be a religious tradition (and I am one), the cur rent state of scholarship may still seem like the dark ages. Precisely the same con ditions that gave rise to the misunderstanding of Buddhism in the past are today continuing to reinforce old notions of Confucianism as merely a socio-ethical political system of thought. We occasionally find this even in sophisticated sinological scholarship on Chinese religions.1 Further reinforcement often comes from Chinese from the People's Republic~where there are five officially recog nized religions, and Confucianism is not one of them—many of whom have grown up under a regime that had very specific things to say about Confucianism. There are two ways of examining this question, one falling roughly under the humanities disciplines and the other under the social sciences. The humanities approach often starts by proposing or choosing a definition of religion and then proceeds to demonstrate that Confucian writings—not limited to the Analects or the Classics~display the necessary characteristics of a religious tradition. An ex ample of this kind of approach is Rodney Taylor's collection of essays, The Reli gious Dimensions of Confucianism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1990). Taylor, relying pri marily on Frederick Strengs definition of religion, shows convincingly that

Chinese Law and the International Protection of Religious Freedom

This article gives an overview of the international law of religious freedom and also Chinese laws regarding the practice of religion. It then compares Chinese laws with the international standards in three particular areas: the definition of religion or belief (using the case study of Falun Gong); the scope of protected manifestations of religion or belief (using the case study of politico-religious activity in Tibet); and the role of the state in controlling religious groups and practices. It concludes that, while China certainly deals more harshly with religious groups than most states, many of the problems that it faces are also faced by other states and are areas where it is difficult to find clear guidance in international law. The exception to this is the high level of state control exercised over official religions and the discouragement of unofficial religions.

William James and the religious experience.

A centenary is often an excuse for reminding people of the life and work of a predecessor, especially if the material is of contemporary relevance. Published 100 years ago, William James' The Varieties of Religious Experience, remains the most revealing investigation into the psychology of religion. James, a nonpracticing MD, turned his thoughts to psychology and philosophy. The book was considered “one of the great books of our time” and in it, James bravely tackled a subject that many then, and perhaps now, considered taboo.James' aim was to study religious experiences as he would any other psychological phenomena, accepting their reality and vulnerability to scientific enquiry. His definition of religion was “the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine.” He was concerned with immediate personal experiences, which he considered to be universal to humanity.In his lecture, “Religion and Neurology,” he explored the potential psychophysical associations of religious feelings. In order to understand the nature of religious experience, James emphasized the need to study those for whom religion was “an acute fever,” and not to dwell long on those whose commerce with the deity was “second hand.” The ones to study were the “geniuses of the religious line.” However, he warned that they “like many other geniuses that have brought forth fruits effective enough for commemoration in the pages of biography, have often shown symptoms of nervous instability.” He pointed out that “insane conditions” have a considerable advantage for studies of this kind because they isolate specific factors of the mental life that become available for investigation.

The Non-Optional Basis of Religion

This article discusses the theoretical differences between civil religion, political religion and religion and their relationship based on the non-optional. While Emilio Gentile has provided a foundation to explore civil and political religions, he has not provided a definition for his understanding of what a religion is and the possible antithesis to religious organisation. In order to define the civil and political variants of religion accurately, a solid understanding of religion, its place in history and how it has changed needs to be addressed. This article explores a definition of religion that understands the civil and political variants by situating them within the non-optional element of religion. Crucial to the non-optional element is the idea of 'choice'. It is, therefore, the conclusion of this article that choice, the non-optional basis of religion, is the core difference between what is a civil religion, a political religion and a religion.

Chinese Law and the International Protection of Religious Freedom

This article gives an overview of the international law of religious freedom and also Chinese laws regarding the practice of religion. It then compares Chinese laws with the international standards in three particular areas: the definition of religion or belief (using the case study of Falun Gong); the scope of protected manifestations of religion or belief (using the case study of politico-religious activity in Tibet); and the role of the state in controlling religious groups and practices. It concludes that, while China certainly deals more harshly with religious groups than most states, many of the problems that it faces are also faced by other states and are areas where it is difficult to find clear guidance in international law. The exception to this is the high level of state control exercised over official religions and the discouragement of unofficial religions.

Words and Things: Religious and Political Domains

One of the more compelling starting points in social theory is defining the experience that one is studying. This Aristotelian exercise is irresistible when comparing two or more experiences that are demarcated for reasons independent of any research or linguistic project, and seem deficient accordingly. Church and state, for example, are separated in the United States on constitutional grounds, and almost never defined within constitutional law as organizations, institutions, or practices. Yet the reasons for separating church and state must rely to some degree on what we make of religion and politics. If the two (in this case) practices are identical or essentially similar, then arguments for separating church and state would be different than if the practices are radically unlike one another. My effort in these opening chapters will be to engage in what might be called concept-formation (or discovery). I will offer definitions of religion and politics, and explore the defining strategies that yield various productive concepts of church and state with the thought of providing a first cut into the distinctions, overlaps and mutual effects of the two institutions in democratic political systems.

The Prospect of Theory of Religious Markets

The purpose of this paper is to examine the validity of the new sociological theory of religion that goes beyond the framework of the traditional debate on secularization, and, constructed on that theoretical basis, the theory of religious markets. Both of these theories are recently advocated by Rodney Stark and his research partners in the US. First, I will take up their definition of religion and their opinions on the deprivation theory to clarify their theoretical grounds against the secularization theory. Furthermore their theory of religious change will be discussed. In particular, their typology of religious groups (church, sect, cult), the view they hold on the relationship between religion, magic and science and their view of the three elements of religious change (secularization, revival, religious innovation) will be dealt with here. Next, their theory of religious markets will be investigated. This theory, which is based on, among others, the rational choice theory, insists that religion become more active in a pluralistic religious market. Using this point of view, we can explain the rise and fall of the traditional religions and the emergence of religious cult movements.Finally, I will point out some problems in their theory, and consider how to overcome them. This discussion will reveal how much prospect their theory holds.

Que(e)rying Religion: A Critical Anthology

This text includes, but moves beyond, tradition-based experiential writing by turning to the academic study of religion. It includes work that compares or focuses on different religious traditions, such as various forms of Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Native American spiritualities. It also incorporates writing on various geographical areas and historical time periods. By assuming a wide definition of religion, it raises questions about the terms religion and religious themselves.

LIBERAL ECONOMICS AND THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF SIN: CHRISTIAN AND STOIC VESTIGES IN ECONOMIC RATIONALITY

AbstractThe recognition that ecological problems often extend beyond nation-state boundaries has prompted environmentalists, politicians, and academics to call for and generate problem-solving discourses meant to be global in perspective. Free-market rhetoric has emerged as one of the more prominent of the global discourses, even though the free market's commodification of human beings and nature causes many environmental problems. To discredit this economic rationality, many scholars have compared it to religion. These comparisons are intriguing, but they have lacked the critical analysis necessary to appear as anything more than name-calling. This paper clarifies the definition of religion and uses it to examine the origins of economic rationality's fundamental presupposition—that greedy self-interested competition generates more social benefits than altruistic cooperation—within eighteenth-century Natural Law vs. Ecclesiastical Law debates. Despite economic rationality's adoption of sophisticated empirical methods and mathematical rigor over the past two centuries, it is a religion because it retains vestiges of the Protestant Christian and Stoic beliefs of how social life is governed by supernatural intervention when it uncritically promotes policies based on that presupposition. Recognizing economic rationality is a religion may benefit those who are striving to develop systems of governance based on democratic principles by leading to a greater understanding of economic rationality's normative attraction.

Searching for Religious Eroticism: The Solitary and the Ocular in Gay Religious Studies

In this article Jay Johnson responds to the previous papers which have argued for the religious significance of particular forms of gay eroticism. Jay is critical of the definitions of religions employed, which he believes are far too broad to be helpful. He also questions the assumption, which he believes to be prominent in the work of many gay scholars of religion, that for gay men ‘our eroticism is our religion’. Jay makes the point that this is an extravagant claim that may contribute to a near narcissistic obsession with the male form which is already a dangerous undercurrent in Western theology. However, he nevertheless believes that the papers he critiques are reaching, through the vehicle of religious eroticism, towards an intense longing for communion. This, Christians believe, results from God's own desire for humanity which finds its resolution through incorporation into the erotic community of the body of Christ.

“The Late Niklas Luhmann” on Religion: An Overview

The authors present an overview of the main developments in Niklas Luhmann's approach to religion after the publication of Funktion der Religion (1977). Particular attention is given to Luhmann's definition of religion in terms of the distinction between the observable and the unobservable. This characterization corresponds to a highly specific view of religion as a functional subsystem within modern society. Religious communication, argues Luhmann, is distinguished from all other forms of communication because of its reference to the binary code of immanence/transcendence.