Proselytizing Research Articles

인도 선교와 교회, 세례(개종)의 문제

인도의 기독교 역사는 사도 도마에 의해서 1세기 중반부터 시작되었다. 그러나 기독교, 특히 교회와 세례는 비기독교 인도인들뿐만 아니라 인도 신학자들 사이에서조차도 논쟁과 비판의 대상이 되어 왔다. 가장 큰 이유는 역사적으로 16세기 초에 인도 남부를 장악하기 시작한 포르투갈의 가톨릭 선교가 힌두교를 억압하고 사람들을 강제적으로 개종시키려고 했기 때문이다. 이런 개종 중심의 선교는 가톨릭 선교뿐만 아니라 이후 개신교 선교에서도 강조되었다. 기독교에 대한 이와 같은 경험은 결과적으로 기독교가 “위험한 타자”로서 인도의 종교가 아닌 외래의 서구 종교로서 인식되기 시작했다. 이것은 인도 신학자들이 교회와 세례를 비판하는 배경이 되기도 했다. 예를 들어, 깔라고라 수바 라오의 경우 세례와 관련하여 기독교 지도자들이 기독교를 세례와 같은 의식을 통해서만 들어갈 수 있는 종교로 만들었다고 비판하면서 개종을 중시하는 세례 중심적 사고에 대해 “세례의 광기”라고 표현한다. 뿐만 아니라 신학자들은 인도 기독교의 외래성, 반사회성, 반힌두적 문화, 힌두교에 대한 배타주의 등을 비판하면서 “힌두적 기독교,” “교회 밖 그리스도 중심의 세속 공동체”를 지향할 것을 주장하기도 한다. 저자는 인도 선교와 관련하여 인도 교회가 교회와 세례에 대한 왜곡과 오해를 불식시키고 선교라는 교회의 본질을 실현하기 위한 선교적 과제로서 첫째, 인도 교회가 교회와 세례에 대한 인도 신학자들의 비판적 목소리에 귀를 기울일 필요가 있다는 것과, 둘째 보다 예언자적으로 카스트(caste)로 인한 불평등, 인권, 화해, 사회적 정의의 문제를 해결하려는 모습을 교회 안에서부터 먼저 보여줄 필요가 있다는 것과, 셋째 그리스도의 사랑과 섬김으로 타 종교인들을 존중하고 세심하게 배려하는 태도를 인도 교회가 가질 필요가 있다는 것과, 마지막으로 교회 밖의 비교회적, 비세례적 예수 박티(bhakti) 운동에 대해 열린 자세를 가지면서 인도 선교를 위해 그들과 대화하고 협력할 필요가 있다는 점을 지적한다.

Book review: Sahoo, Sarbeswar. 2017: Pentecostalism and Politics of Conversion in India and Bauman, Chad M. 2015. Pentecostals, Proselytization and Anti-Christian Violence in Contemporary India

Sahoo, Sarbeswar. 2017: Pentecostalism and Politics of Conversion in India. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. xviii + 205 pp. £75.00. ISBN: 978-1-108-41612-2 (hardback). Bauman, Chad M. 2015. Pentecostals, Proselytization and Anti-Christian Violence in Contemporary India. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. xvi + 208 pp. £20.49. ISBN: 978-0-19-020210-1 (paperback).

"I want you to be a Muslim"

“Jeg kan ikke presse dig. Jeg vil have, at du bliver muslim. Du kunne dø i aften!” I denne artikel undersøges nogle tilbagevendende etiske og metodologiske tvetydigheder i antropologisk feltarbejde blandt danske muslimer, der involverer gentagende konfrontationer med muslimsk rekruttering og da’wā (invitation). Jeg argumenterer for, at etnografens religiøse subjektivitet samt den måde et etnografisk selv konstrueres, forhandles og placeres i felten på, direkte vedrører muligheden for et intimt engagement med den muslimske fortælling, hvilket påvirker analysens pålidelighed og etnografiens succes. Jeg introducerer også begrebet “diskursiv konvertering” for at beskrive det stadium, hvor internaliseringen af troens sprog og frivillig accept af lokale kategorier giver mulighed for direkte invitation til islam.

Libertà religiosa e secolarismo

SOMMARIO: 1. Una premessa - 2. Liberta religiosa e secolarizzazione - 3. L’odierna crisi della liberta religiosa - 4. Secolarismo e liberta religiosa - 5. Conclusione. Religious freedom and secularism ABSTRACT: The essay questions about the singular phenomenon for which, in front of the numerous and serious violations that are daily perpetrated in the world, towards the right of religious freedom, the West appears so detached and generally reluctant to political and diplomatic intervention. The fact is even more singular, if one compares this phenomenon with the general commitment that the West demonstrates for the planetary affirmation of the human rights, in a spirit almost of proselytism. In the opinion of the Author, the inactivity must be connected to the dominant secularist culture that has removed the sacred from the horizon of human meaning, with the consequence of the insignificance of the religious sentiment, of the irrelevance of the religious practice and, therefore, of the unreasonableness of fighting for their survival.

Natività e laicità: i presepi in Francia tra religione e secolarizzazione

SOMMARIO: 1. La legge del 1905 e la sua applicazione: osservazioni introduttive - 2. Edifici pubblici e presepi: l’argomento religioso - 3. Edifici pubblici e presepi: l’argomento culturale-secolarizzato - 4. Simboli religiosi e laicita: l’imporsi di un proselitismo civile? ABSTRACT: In France, the principle of separation between State and religious denominations, established in reference to public buildings by Article 28 of Law 1905, does not prohibit the presence of a Christmas crib within a municipal building. The Nativity scene is authorized provided that, in general, this facility does not express any form of religious proselytism or recognition of a cult, but a cultural, artistic or festive event forming part of the celebrations planned for Christmas; if the building in question is the headquarters of a territorial organization or a public service, representation, in order to be authorized, must meet particular requirements, for example, in local historical traditions.

Trans-European Adaptations in the Diamond Way: Negotiating Public Opinions on Homosexuality in Russia and in the U.K.

This paper focuses on a Neo-Orthodox Tibetan Buddhist movement’s shiftingtrans-European positioning on the web and in its media self-representation withregard to public discourses around homosexuality. The analysis presented alsoproves methodologically relevant, exemplifying through reflexive ethnographyhow outsider/insider scholars can manoeuvre religious politics.As a global movement of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, theDiamond Way of the Danish lay teacher Ole Nydahl has been particularlysuccessful in its proselytising efforts throughout Eastern and Central Europe.Previous research has noted the selectively socially conservative and mildlyhomophobic tendencies of the Diamond Way (Scherer 2011; 2013). In the trans-European context, from Russia to the U.K., Nydahls and themovement’s mild homophobia/strained LGBT-neutrality appears to draw publiccriticism for either being too pro-LGBT or too anti-LGBT. The investigationhighlights the shifting public perceptions and socio-religious political frontlines inRussia and the U.K. and reveals a pattern of opportunism and (non-)negotiatingpublic opinions.

Norm Proselytizers Create a Privacy Entitlement in Cyberspace

This article explores an important development in the informal regulation of online privacy. Privacy norm proselytizers have been the leading contributors toward the recognition by Internet users of a moral entitlement to privacy in cyberspace. This article begins by examining the non-moral social meaning of the original personal data collection practices that emerged at the World Wide Web's inception in the early 1990s. Next, it analyzes methods by which privacy activists endeavored to moralize the social meaning of online data collection. It also emphasizes that other norm entrepreneurs, namely, the Federal Trade Commission and creators of new software privacy solutions, have subsequently supported an entitlement to privacy for reasons less selfless, but no less efficacious, in terms of helping to stimulate demand for increased privacy protections. The article concludes that even though a grundnorm of respect for consumer data privacy has generally emerged in American culture, American society is only at the beginning of the difficult task of incorporating this grundnorm into its social and business practices.

真宗的伝道

真宗的伝道

Souffrances sociales, parler ordinaire, imaginaires religieux et expression politique

Si la souffrance a depuis toujours entretenu un rapport intime avec le langage et qu’aucun pouvoir n’a pu l’extraire du parler ordinaire, a surgi, depuis une quinzaine d’années, un discours sur les souffrances sociales qui a évolué en discours d’experts: médicaux, anthropologues, humanitaires, spécialistes des religions, etc. Maintenant l’association entre religion populaire et religion savante, le christianisme a longtemps empêché cette extraction. Paradoxalement, le prosélytisme caractéristique des mouvements évangéliques constitue une nouvelle manière de résister à cette extraction de la souffrance du parler ordinaire. Conformistes dans leurs contenus, les nouveaux imaginaires religieux ont progressivement habitué une partie de la population à négliger les principes de rangement portés par les imaginaires politiques du droit. L’homme et la femme de la rue sont amenés, sur cette base, à poser dans le parler ordinaire des apories sociétales. Y est réappropriée comme sociale la souffrance. S’y ouvrent en même temps de nouveaux espaces politiques.

The Art of Propaganda. The Model of Proselytism in the Italian Socialist Party between late 19th and early 20th centuries

The Art of Propaganda. The Model of Proselytism in the Italian Socialist Party between late 19th and early 20th centuries

Publicist and Proselytizer: The Officer-Hunter as Scientist and Naturalist

Publicist and Proselytizer: The Officer-Hunter as Scientist and Naturalist

What's Wrong With Deliberately Proselytizing Patients?

What's Wrong With Deliberately Proselytizing Patients?

Flirty Fishing in the Children of God : the sexual body as a site of proselytization and salvation

The Children of God [now called The Family] emerged as an apocalyptic new religious movement in the late 1960s. By the late 1970s, the group had engendered a great deal of academic and popular debate due to, among other things, its controversial sexual practices. In this article, I examine one such practice, namely, Flirty Fishing, in which many women in the group used their sexuality in combination with scriptural discussions as a method of proselytization. Utilizing social theories of the body, I explore the ways that many of the women may have adopted strategies that helped them to perceive their bodies and their behaviours in ways that did not threaten their senses of self. I consider both how women were able to endure the physical and emotional aspects of Flirty Fishing, and how they contextualized their behaviour in terms of the group’s general dynamics and belief system. Thus, I explore not only the organizational imposition of certain modes of behaviour on the body, but also individual perceptions of, responses to, and negotiations of them. Importantly, this article applies a theoretical approach to the study of new religious movements that few scholars thus far have explored.

A Response to Sophia Senyk on Nationalism and Proselytism among Greek-Catholics in Ukraine

A Response to Sophia Senyk on Nationalism and Proselytism among Greek-Catholics in Ukraine

Evangelism and Proselytism in Russia: Synonyms or Antonyms?

Evangelism and Proselytism in Russia: Synonyms or Antonyms?

Pitkevich v. Russia

Judge dismissed for allegedly having abused her office to proselytise

God versus Caesar: Belief, Worship, and Proselytizing under the First Amendment

God versus Caesar: Belief, Worship, and Proselytizing under the First Amendment

A Response to Sophia Senyk on Nationalism and Proselytism among Greek-Catholics in Ukraine

A Response to Sophia Senyk on Nationalism and Proselytism among Greek-Catholics in Ukraine

God versus Caesar: belief, worship, and proselytizing under the First Amendment

God versus Caesar: belief, worship, and proselytizing under the First Amendment

Proselytism and Privacy

Proselytism and Privacy