Minority Religions Research Articles

Meeting the majority religion. Majority church field trips and educational equality in Norwegian RE

ABSTRACT Field trips to faith communities are generally seen as a valuable way of learning about different religions. This article reports on a qualitative study exploring the practice of primary school field trips to the Church of Norway; the majority church that historically has had a religiously dominant role in Norwegian society. Utilising perspectives on place and space, the article investigates the encounters and learning opportunities the field trips provide space for. The article identifies how the churches studied become five different places during the field trips. It also identifies structures privileging field trips to the Church of Norway. In dialogue with findings from research on minority religion field trips, the article claims that the Christian majority religion, on the one hand, comes forth as a living tradition to a more limited extent, but on the other as more historically rooted and socially integrated. The article then discusses the implications of the findings for educational equality.

Digital Minority Religions

Abstract Religion has always been, to a certain extent, mediated. Communication practices are at the core of religious communities, but it is in recent decades that the rapid developments of media technologies have created new possibilities for interactions about religion. In this context, a focus on religious minorities represents a unique opportunity for scholars to analyze the internet in nuanced ways within the framework of digital religion. Through the analysis of minority groups, the internet can be understood both as a space of empowerment of marginal voices and as a venue that further increases social exclusion. In this editorial I outline previous works that show this double-faced role of the internet for minorities, and I offer some reflections on theoretical perspectives for the future of digital minority religions.

Islamic Finance in Ghana: Can MSMEs Benefit?

Objective – The purpose of this study is to examine the potential benefits of the implementation of Islamic Banking and Finance (IBF) in Ghana and opportunities for businesses using MSMEs as data source.Design/Methodology – Primary data were obtained using questionnaires, where 400 questionnaires were distributed to MSMEs operators with a final sample of 308 respondents. The data collected were analyzed with SPSS 26.0 and the results were discussed.Results – The findings reveal that MSMEs (businesses) are yearning for Islamic banking to reap several benefits such as alternative sources of funding, alternative source of savings, reduction of loan defaults and acceptance of Islamic banking among MSMEs. In addition, more males responded compared to females likewise majority of respondents are Muslims.Research limitations/implications – majority of the respondents were Muslims though Islam is a minority religion in Ghana, hence may not reflect the views of the entire Ghanaian population. Novelty/Originality – This study is the first of its kind in Ghana in terms of the data source and size of the sample used. This study is also a contribution to the limited literature of IBF in Ghana. The outcome of the study will guide government to design framework for IBF takeoff in Ghana.

Minority Religions and Society: Multiplicity of Social Actions

Minority Religions and Society: Multiplicity of Social Actions

A democratic approach to religion news: Newspaper coverage of Christianity and Islam in the UK and Turkey

ABSTRACT This paper introduces and utilizes a systematic and unified four-dimension democratic approach to the study of newspaper religion reporting to examine the coverage of faith, particularly Christianity and Islam, in the British and Turkish national press. While the research employs a sample from 2014 and uses framing analysis through content analysis of 1,022 news articles supplemented by qualitative examples, this democratic approach crosses time and country boundaries. The findings reveal that, in both countries, alongside the contrasting portrayals of the minority religions, even the dominant religions had disproportioned employment of the four dimensions: spiritual, world life, political, and conflict. The spiritual dimension had limited use in both countries, particularly in the UK. There was significantly less employment of context for putting faith in action in the reporting of Christians in the world life dimension in the UK compared to the coverage of Muslims in Turkey. The results suggest a potential, though untested, application of this approach as a democracy index against which the press can improve its faith coverage. This study’s theoretical and methodological contribution to scholarship outweighs its empirical findings in the fields of religion in the news, comparative journalism studies, and empirical research on news media’s democratic performance.

Constructions of Religion in Swedish Newspaper Articles on Funerals during the covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract This study examines the discursive construction of religion in Swedish newspaper articles on funerals during the covid-19 pandemic. Thirty articles from the six most prominent newspapers were analyzed using Multimodal cda and intersectionality. Most articles deal with religion as an institution, followed by religion as a group and individual religiosity. Religion is constructed in intersection with ethnicity and gender. The CoS is privileged, portraying Lutheran Christians as professionals. Minority religions are positioned as ‘the other’, something ‘problematic’ or ‘different’ from ‘Swedish (secular) values’ and ways of living. Migrant men and women are portrayed stereotypically. However, alternative narratives are told by well-educated and influential representatives of different minority religions, giving these religions a ‘voice’. I argue that increased religious literacy is needed among media workers if the reporting should be based on equality within and between the power categories of gender, ethnicity, and religion.

Unraveling narratives: Chinese official party media’s representation of Inner Mongolia amid reforms

This article examines narrative construction in the Chinese official Party newspaper Inner Mongolia Daily (IMD), analyzing narratives within the context of bilingual education reform among Mongolians. Three key frames emerge: collective development and prosperity under the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership, Inner Mongolia as a model of ethnic unity, and the integration of minority religions into socialist society. This study reveals how IMD portrays Inner Mongolia during education reforms using media framing theory.

Becoming a (Better) Muslim: A Connectivist Perspective on Learning Islam in Finland

Abstract The article explores the multisite learning of Islam by Finnish Muslims from the perspective of the connectivist learning theory, which makes visible the central contemporary ways of learning that emphasize the role of digitalization and collaborative learning with peers. We focus especially on learning in the context of Ramadan because, for many, the holy month is an essential time for apprehending Islamic tenets and practices. Our research indicates that the understanding of Islam among our research participants is a result of a complex set of connections and nodes of information, both online and offline. The research participants’ multisite learning was enriched with an abundance of horizontal (peer-to-peer) and vertical (teacher-to-student) connections, enabling multiple interpretations and reflective learning of Islam. Our research also suggests that in Finland, where Islam is a minority religion, the learning process to become a (better) Muslim contains many aspects shared equally by converts and those born Muslim.

Tribal mobilization for religious identity and political space: ongoing demand for inclusion of Sarna-Tribal religion in the census of India

ABSTRACT The public mobilization of religious communities to acquire political space has been a heated discussion among scholars worldwide. Research reveals a long history of religious communities participating in political movements. However, in India, the debate on the recognition and protection of religious identity has been reduced to a discourse of minority versus majority religion. This paper examines the ongoing political mobilization by tribal communities in the state of Jharkhand and its demand for a separate religious column in the census of India. The underlying motive of this mobilization is to establish their religious identity, which is separate from both Hinduism and Christianity, and to resist the encroachment of tribal land by campaigning for tribal control over state resources through strengthening the constitutional provisions. The study focuses on tribal protests on social media platforms, in addition to the 2019 protest at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, initiated by tribal groups demanding the Sarna-tribal religion as a legitimate religious choice in the census of India. The study used qualitative inductive analysis on data sourced through participant observation and 50 semi-structured interviews. The results prove that the ongoing protest for the recognition of the Sarna-tribal religion is stimulated by the threat to their religious identity and land rights. Additionally, social media played a crucial role in informing, mobilizing, and stimulating feelings of collective group identity.

Interaction and Confrontation of Islamic Civilization with Christian Civilization Post Eastern Roman Conquest in Europe

<em>For Christian nations, the fall of Constantinople symbolized the collapse of their defensive stronghold and highlighted the threat posed by the Islamic Ottoman Empire. This event marked the transition from the center of Christian civilization to Islamic civilization, sparking a process of adaptation and interaction between the two civilizations. This paper examines how this interaction took place, including the integration and conflicts recorded in history and their impacts up to the present day. The research method used is a literature study, where the author traces relevant documents with a focus on the study. After finding the relevant sources, the researcher reads and critically analyzes them to understand their content, evaluate their validity, and reliability. The research results show that the relationship between Islam and Christianity during the Ottoman Empire demonstrated complex dynamics, with a mixture of tolerance, cooperation, and conflict. Policies of tolerance and cultural exchange had a positive impact on the development of civilization in the region. However, confrontations between the two religions arose from various factors, such as: Differences in beliefs and traditions became sources of tension, especially in the Balkan region. Political rivalry between the Ottomans and European Christian powers impacted inter-religious relations. Both Christian and Islamic parties discriminated against minority religions. The conflicts and tensions that emerged are also part of history that needs to be studied to understand the complexity of inter-religious relations in the past.</em>

The psychological trauma causing isolation in Jeevan Jeevant's Charaiveti

The novel Charaiveti of Jeevan Jeevant is a Nepali flavoured writing which has the novelist's suffering after his father's refusal of keeping altar in own house amidst his two daughters' death; the forceful conversion of author's father into Christianity in the sense that he wants to regret of his past misdeed to his altar but the neighbours blame him continuously to have already left the Sanatan-Hindu religion; the consequent and unwilling migration from mountainous parental home to the Madhesh after the family clash; the police torture for adopting Christianity, and so on. This article broadly seeks the objectives that whether there are series of miseries and tortures after the works of religious conversion and migration from one place to another in the life of a person. To obtain the objectives, the writer of this article uses the qualitative method in which the Lacanian theory of trauma of the Real operates the matter. The researcher consults various texts including the novel, theoretical texts and some commentaries on the novel to reach the facts of the mental frame of the novelist's father of an islandish existence even in the society as central character. This study results a positive understanding of the life of any type of minority either religion or caste and region at new place. Such positive learning of life of a migrant and forceful religiously converted ownself will become a good moral lesson for the society to respect the individual's notions for social harmony and even to conservation of own religion and culture.

Nationalism and Economic Development in Lebanon: Challenges and Opportunities for Unity and Integration

Lebanon is a small country on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, known as a country with a strategic position geographically and politically. It was a divided country full of endless conflicts. This paper analyses the obstacles and opportunities to build Lebanese nationalism to realize the nation's integrity. Lebanon's main obstacles are the heterogeneity of society, foreign interference, and intergroup affiliations with other countries. At the same time, the foremost opportunity to build Lebanese nationalism is that they have the same language and culture, namely Arabic. Strong nationalism is the capital to build lasting political stability. This research is qualitative research that will collect specific qualitative data to create generalizations. Arabic as a language, identity, and culture is the most vital cohesive factor that unites the country and originates Lebanese nationalism. The problem of building Lebanese nationalism is mainly dependent on a strong government that can control the people. The challenge is that the ruling government comes from a minority religion, namely Maronite Christians dealing with Sunni and Shia Muslims and other Christian groups. Hence, a strategy is needed to create common interests that can be accepted by all groups, namely economic development amid the current Lebanese financial crisis. Received: 20 March 2024 / Accepted: 30 June 2024 / Published: 02 July 2024

Relevansi Pilar Moderasi Beragama Quraish Shihab pada Upacara Rambu Solo’ Toraja di Kelurahan Ratte Buttu, Tana Toraja

Indonesia, a country with a rich cultural tapestry, is not immune to the challenges posed by cultural conflicts. These conflicts are often rooted in historical tensions between tribes and religions, which continue to manifest in the form of respect, mutual respect, and the acceptance of differences. A solution is required to cultivate an attitude of religious moderation as a way of life in order to maintain harmony by upholding the pillars of justice, balance and tolerance. These pillars were initiated by Quriash Shihab using qualitative methods. It was found that the pillar of religious moderation has relevance to the traditions of the Tana Toraja people in the Rambu Solo event. The funeral tradition of Rambu Solo teaches about unity and social balance between people in ceremonial traditions, justice between followers of one religion and tolerance between adherents of Christianity as the majority and Islam as a minority religion.

Representation of Racial Disparity in Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give

Racism has become the biggest social issue in the world because of its constant unjust treatment that affects people from minority races, ethnicities, and religions. Related to this issue, The Hate U Give conveys the social condition where racial disparity towards black people is profoundly represented in the narrative. This study focuses on identifying the ideational metafunction elements, including transitivity and ergativity patterns found in the narrative. It reveals how the racial disparity is performed by the use of the meta function. Mixed method research was employed to collect and analyze the data to yield more insightful information that complements both methodologies’ findings. The theory of Systemic Functional Grammar was used to identify and classify the ideational metafunction elements from the collected narrative, and the Discourse Analysis approach was applied as a theoretical approach to support the observation. The result concluded that in the analysis of transitivity patterns, material and relational processes dominate the narrative by approximately 25% to 33% of the entire collected narrative. The findings show that racial disparity in analyzing black people that was performed by law enforcement in the collected narrative is manifested in three forms: police brutality, racial profiling, and sentencing policy.

Land, Property, Asatru

In 2015, the Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA), the flag-carrier of folkish Heathenry around the world, purchased a property in California to establish its first temple, Odinshof. Since that time, it has purchased additional properties across the United States and established hofs on those properties. As a result, there has arisen some controversy and opposition to the AFA’s presence, even making international news. Critics fear the spread of hate and racism under the guise of religion, while the AFA sees property ownership as protecting its religious freedom. This raises questions about the role of property in Pagan and Heathen religion and for minority religions more broadly. Who belongs? Who gets marginalized? And to whom does religious freedom extend? In the American context, property ownership is fundamental to social belonging. By purchasing property, the AFA is making a claim to belonging and establishing itself as part of the American society.

Risk assessment of diabetes using the Indian Diabetes Risk Score among older adults: Secondary analysis from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India

BackgroundThe Indian Diabetes Risk Score (IDRS) is a simple tool to assess the probability of an individual having type 2 diabetes (T2DM) but its applicability in community-dwelling older adults is lacking. This study aimed to estimate the risk of T2DM and its determinants among older adults without prior diabetes (DM) using the IDRS, while also assessing its sensitivity and specificity in individuals with a history of diabetes. MethodsWe analyzed cross-sectional data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) wave-1 (2017-18). IDRS was calculated amongst individuals aged ≥45 years considering waist circumference, physical activity, age and family history of DM. Risk was categorized as high (≥60), moderate (30–50), and low (<30). ResultsAmong 64541 individuals, 7.27 % (95 % CI: 6.78, 7.80) were at low risk, 61.80 % (95 % CI: 60.99, 62.61) at moderate risk, and 30.93 % (95 % CI: 30.19, 31.67) at high risk for T2DM. Adjusted analysis showed higher risk of T2DM among men, widowed/divorced, urban residents, minority religions, overweight, obese, and individuals with hypertension. ROC curve yielded an AUC of 0.67 (95 % CI: 0.66, 0.67, P < 0.001). The IDRS cutoff ≥50 had 73.69 % sensitivity and 51.40 % specificity for T2DM detection. ConclusionMore than 9 in 10 older adults in India without history of DM have high-moderate risk of T2DM when assessed with the IDRS risk-prediction tool. However, the low specificity and moderate sensitivity of IDRS in existing DM cases constraints its practical utility as a decision tool for screening.

Religious Minorities in the 2019 Hong Kong Protests

Based on a broader ethnographic study with Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh residents of Hong Kong, this article examines the role of minority religions, specifically Islam, in the 2019 Hong Kong protests. While the protests were dominated by the debates over the identities of Hong Kongers versus mainland Chinese, they also produced discussions over the positions and experiences of Hong Kong's “ethnic minorities,” many of whom are religious minorities. Often racialized and seen as outsiders by Han Hong Kongers, ethnoreligious minorities were reluctant to take sides out of worry for their livelihoods and fear of further marginalization. This sharply contrasts with the visibility of Christian communities in the protests. Christian leaders were publicly involved in prayer meetings and other forms of support for the protests, while the followers of minority religions either stayed away or organized prayer sessions in small, private settings. However, around October 2019, after a series of events described in this article, minorities either found themselves drawn into the protests or took the opportunity to participate to claim their Hong Konger identity. This held the potential to expand the political discourse and create a unified multicultural, multiracial identity of Hong Kongers. However, such aspirations were crushed against the walls of cultural-religious representation, and minorities felt that they remained misunderstood and unacknowledged as fellow citizens.

Design of an Ideal Mentoring Model for People Who Convert to Hinduism as a Minority Religion in Indonesia

Objective: As a religious minority in Indonesia, when someone from another religion converts to Hinduism they often encounter obstacles in obtaining assistance after their conversion. Most of them only study self-taught, which has an impact on their understanding and faith which is not optimal. Seeing these conditions, an ideal mentoring model is needed, which is able to increase their understanding and faith in a sustainable manner. For this reason, this research aims to formulate a model for assisting people who convert to Hinduism in Indonesia. Method: This research is initial research which aims to gather the needs of people who have converted to Hinduism and the opinions of experts regarding the ideal mentoring model. This research data was collected through documentation, observation and interviews. Data were analyzed qualitatively using ethnographic communication analysis. Results and Discussion: The results of this research show that the ideal model for mentoring after converting to Hinduism is a mentoring model that includes material on the Tri Basic Framework of Hinduism (Tattwa, Susila, Acara) which is delivered using the Sad Dharma strategy. Research Implications: The results of this research can be used as initial information in developing an effective mentoring model to be implemented in practice in the field in further research. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the development of theory of conducting mentoring for people who convert to Hinduism in Indonesia.

The struggle for the construction of places of worship of minority religions in Indonesia

The literature on the construction of places of worship has predominantly shown difficulties, rejection and disharmony among religious communities. This study aims to describe and analyzed the success story of the construction of the Santa Monica church in Tangerang. This is a qualitative study conducted over a month-long period using primary and secondary data. Primary data were obtained through observation and interviews, while secondary data were obtained through formal and informal policy reviews available online. The informants involved in this study amounted to eight people consisting of church leaders and administrators, local leaders, religious leaders, religious organizations and the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Data were analyzed using content analysis methods. The results of the study show that the ability of church leaders and administrators to build good social and cultural relations with the community was a key element in their success in obtaining permission to build the church. This was achieved through effective communication, dialogue and cooperation between the Catholic community, leaders and the predominantly Islamic local community. Active involvement in daily activities had a positive impact, fostering mutual trust and peaceful coexistence, ultimately resulting in the local community’s support and approval for the establishment of the place of worship. Thus, the church construction committee was able to meet all administrative requirements as stipulated by government regulations. This study recommends the importance of good social and cultural relations as the fundamental basis and determinant of success for religious communities seeking to construct places of worship.Contribution: This article contributes to the goal of HTS Theological Studies in promoting the transdisciplinary aspect of religious studies in the international theological arena, particularly in the study of religious harmony among communities in Indonesia.

Postcolonial imaginaries in the West: secular state-building and cultural defence in Québec since the Quiet Revolution

ABSTRACT This article addresses an understudied aspect of public secularity in the Canadian province of Québec, namely how its self-perception as a postcolonial nation vis-à-vis English Canada has shaped its secular state-building since the 1960s. In so doing, it shows that postcolonial legacies and imaginaries, a key theme for studying secularity in non-Western cases, may also prove productive for the North Atlantic world. The historical account proceeds in two parts. In the first period (1960-1980), the Quiet Revolution’s disestablishment of Catholicism was intimately linked to its anticolonial spirit, where the Church was identified as impeding development and self-determination. In the subsequent period (post-1980), the consolidation of Canadian multiculturalism and the rising accommodation demands of minority religions led to a contradictory form of ‘cultural defence’: an increased emphasis on Catholic heritage as well as on laïcité (state secularism), both deployed to underscore Québec’s unique society in distinction from English Canada. Exhibiting the consistent yet evolving effect of (post)colonial identity and memory in a North Atlantic example, and nuancing the concept of cultural defence by identifying its religious and secular forms, the article contributes to building a common vocabulary for the comparative analysis of secularities in Western and non-Western contexts.