Religion In Society Research Articles

Religious policy of Kazakhstan in the years of restriction (1985–1991)

The State’s religious policy was part of a policy of restructuring during the period under review. However, the early years of restructuring ideological inertia were still strong, and preserved inductions into the increas- ing atheistic educational work. Authorities considered ideological rival in the religion not an ally. It was due to the inadequate dissemination of democratic processes in the public life of the Republic. Another reason for the stability of the state policy towards religious organizations and believers, especially Muslims, was the for- eign policy factor. The meeting between N. Nazarbaev and representatives of religions was an important event which had a great importance in implementing new approaches. Special emphasis was placed on the need for clergymen to do more to disseminate and observe universal human moral and ethical principles, mercy, charity, protection of motherhood and childhood, and help the disabled and the elderly people. There was adopted the Law of the USSR “On freedom of conscience and religious organizations”. The document changed the situation of religious organizations in the country, proclaiming democratic principles and norms. The new law reflected a new balanced and objective approach to religion and religious organizations. The rights of religious organizations have been considerably expanded and many unjustified restrictions have been removed from their activities in public life. The law enshrines respect for believers and religious organizations. The role of religion and religious organizations in society is being redefined and it grows the significance of confessions in the history and culture of the people. The religious policy of the state during the years of reconstruction served as a basis for the creation of a modern model of interfaith harmony in the country and contributed to the process of religious revival which is connected with the interest to religion as part of culture.

Hak Waris Terhadap Individu yang Berpindah-Pindah Agama (Studi Kasus Putusan Nomor : 483/Pdt.G/2020/PN Dps)

There are many cases of inheritance rights issues in Balinese indigenous peoples, which often cannot be resolved by means of deliberation (mediation) in traditional villages. These problems are mostly resolved through the Judiciary (Litigation). One of the problems that is being discussed is the inheritance rights of individuals who change religions in Balinese society. This research was conducted to examine the inheritance rights of individuals who change religions in Balinese society. The research method used in this research is normative legal research. This research uses a statutory approach. Sources of data used in this research are primary and secondary data. The data were analyzed using qualitative methods. The results of this research are: The regulation of inheritance rights has failed because in the Decree of the Main Assembly of Pekraman Village (MDP) Bali Number: 01/Kep/Psm-3/MDP Bali/X/2010 clearly states that descendants who move religion (ninggal kedaton) did not get the right to inherit. And inheritance for men who change religions is the same as (left kedaton) where the man does not get the right to inherit.

Review: Baha’i Faith: The Basics, by Christopher Buck

The activities, focus, and concepts in the Baha’i world are changing so rapidly at present, especially in the area of developing new approaches to community building, that any published introductory book soon becomes out-of-date. So it is good to see another introductory book on the Baha’i Faith published, in particular since it surveys recent developments well. For anyone wishing to find out about the Baha’i Faith and the current activities of the Baha’i community, this book can be recommended. Christopher Buck presents an insider view of the Baha’i Faith, but one that is descriptive rather than prescriptive. It is perhaps just as well that he is an insider since an outsider might have difficulty keeping up with, and understanding, the changes that are occurring in the Baha’i community, especially since these changes are occurring at varying rates in different communities.After an introduction, Buck focuses on Baha’i theological and ethical teachings, which he puts under the general rubric of “Spiritual Teachings.” In the third chapter he moves on to the social teachings. Chapter 4 deals with the history of the Baha’i Faith, in which the author also outlines an important topic in the Baha’i teachings—the Covenant, which authorizes the succession of leadership in the Baha’i Faith. The next chapter looks at Baha’i scripture and authoritative texts. Buck discusses some of the key texts and gives examples of the different types of works written by the founders and central figures of the Baha’i Faith, as well as texts from the present leadership, the Universal House of Justice and its ancillary institutions. Chapter 6 looks at the organizational structure of the global Baha’i community, examining its elected and appointed institutions at the global, national, regional, and local levels.The next chapters address Baha’i community life, social action, and how contemporary events are affecting discussions within the Baha’i Faith. Much of Baha’i community life at present revolves around bringing the Baha’i social teachings to the level of social action in community development activities. Parallel to this activity is the endeavor by Baha’is to enter into the relevant discourses—such as the equality of women and men, human rights, community building, the role of religion in society—that are going on in the wider community and to bring to bear on these their insights based on the Baha’i teachings and community experiences. The book concludes by surveying the vision of the Baha’i Faith for the world of the future. What sort of world are Baha’is trying to create?Buck presents all of this information in a clear and well-structured manner. He accompanies his own words with appropriate extracts from authoritative Baha’i texts to illustrate the points that he is making. He also draws on examples of the activities of the Baha’i community from different locations across the world.There are several minor points of criticism I would like to make, however. The history chapter focuses almost exclusively on the central leadership of the Baha’i community in each era. I found very little information about what was happening in the wider Baha’i community. A reader who knew little about the Baha’i Faith would learn nothing from the chapter about the growth and expansion of the Baha’i community during its history. A paragraph describing the development of the Baha’i community in each historical period examined would have provided a much broader understanding of the history of the Baha’i Faith. Similarly, although some very basic global statistics about the Baha’i community are given at the beginning, and anecdotal glimpses of various Baha’i communities around the world are provided throughout, a reader who is relying on this book alone for information would come away with no clear idea about the distribution or pattern of growth of Baha’i communities around the world.In summary, there are a good many introductory books on the market but this one can be recommended for two reasons. First, it is well-written and as reasonably comprehensive as such brief introductory books can hope to be. Second, it is up-to-date covering many of the recent changes in the Baha’i community that older similar books do not.

SYSTEMIC CHARACTER OF THE FUNCTIONS OF RELIGION

The relevance of the article is due to the need to systematize the functions of religion in society, since different authors offer different sets of these functions, each of which individually can be adequate to the particular objectives of the study. In accordance with this, the goal is to interpret the functions of religion as a response to the system’s request for the need to form human thinking and society as a whole. As a paradigm, the well-known Kantian position was chosen, which emphasizes the duality of the rational and moral systems of reference in religion, or, in other words, the synthesis of the cognitive and normative aspects. In accordance with these criteria, an analysis of the works of researchers of social processes at the early stages of the development of human societies is carried out. According to the proposed concept, the functions of religion can be divided into two complementary groups - cognitive and regulatory. The first will include the epistemological and symbolization function, the second - axiological, normative, consolidating-demarcation and legitimizing. They are defined as basic, of which the implicitly contained in them worldview, compensatory, motivational, etc. As a result, it is concluded that religion is a systemic integrity, it becomes more complex as the human community develops, its new functions appear (new ones are always only additional, including old ones), which are differentiated and institutionalized as the tasks solved by the cultural system become more complex.

The Orientation of the Kofun Tombs

The Kofun period of the history of Japan—between the 3rd and the 7th century AD—bears its name from the construction of huge, earth mound tombs called Kofun. Among them, the largest have a keyhole shape and are attributed to the first, semi-legendary emperors. The study of the orientation of ancient tombs is usually a powerful tool to better understand the cognitive aspects of religion and power in ancient societies. This study has never been carried out in Japan due to the very large number of Kofun and to the fact that access to the perimeter is usually forbidden. For these reasons, to investigate Kofun orientations, simple tools of satellite imagery are used here. Our results strongly point to a connection of all Kofun entrance corridors with the arc of the sky where the Sun and the Moon are visible every day of the year; additionally, these show an orientation of the keyhole Kofun to the arc of the rising/shining Sun, the goddess that the Japanese emperors put at the mythical origin of their dynasty.

Kepemimpinan Kyai Dalam Memberdayakan Keagamaan Di Masyarakat (Studi Tokoh K.H. Achmad Muchtar Ghozali pengasuh Pesantren PPAI Darun Najah Desa Ngijo Kec. Karangploso Kab. Malang)

The leadership of the Kyai is special because it is not yet known in depth by the society. A Kyai has a very important role in providing religious education to the society. The leadership of the Kyai has another feature, which is to make the society more easily influenced and obedient to the matters conveyed by the Kyai. Likewise with the leadership of KH. Ahmad Muchtar Ghozali. He has an important role in providing Islamic religious education to the society. The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze the type of leadership KH. Ahmad Muchtar Ghozali, his efforts in empowering religion in society, as well as describing the implications of the leadership results of KH. Ahmad Muchtar Ghozali in empowering the society. The method used in this study is a qualitative method and the research approach used is descriptive qualitative with the type of life-history research. Data collection techniques through interviews, observation, and documentation study. The research instrument was the researcher. Checking the validity of the data using triangulation techniques, peer checking, and member checking. This research results indicates that: (1) the type of leadership KH. Ahmad Muchtar Ghozali is charismatic and democratic. (2) KH. Ahmad Muchtar Ghozali in empowering religion is by becoming a mosque stakeholder, mubaligh (preaching), teaching, being active in ORMAS activities (society organizations) to establishing a Islamic boarding school and formal education, (3) the implication of KH leadership. Ahmad Muchtar Ghozali in empowering religion in society is the creation of a society that upholds Islamic values and is able to produce the younger generation to become an ulama’ (scholar).

The Situation of Religious Communities in Western Siberia in the Context of the State Confessional Policy in the Mid-1950s — Early 1960s

State resolutions issued during the period under review were aimed at strengthening scientific and atheistic propaganda and eradicating religion in society, as a result of which religious communities trying to obtain registration faced hidden opposition from the authorities. At the same time, registered communities were forced to account for numerous regulations of the state authorities. Otherwise, they could lose their state registration and cease their activities. This situation provoked the emergence of a large number of unregistered religious groups, and on the other, strengthened the position of registered associations due to the constant influx of new believers into them. Special attention is paid to the study of the situation of religious communities in Western Siberia in the late 1950s — early 1960s, when a new wave of church closures took place within the framework of the anti- religious campaign of N. S. Khrushchev. During this period, not only clergymen, but also ordinary parishioners came under the special control of state authorities. In addition, the activities of the so-called “forbidden sects” were completely banned, the list of which was defined in the instructions for the application of legislation on cults, published in 1961. In addition, in order to reduce the role of religion in Soviet society, resolutions were issued that negatively affected the economic situation of churches. The study concluded that the administrative pressure exerted by the authorities on religious associations, the introduction of a system of registration of persons who attend church, and the repressive methods of work of state regulatory bodies, not only provoked the growth of illegally operating religious groups, but also increased the number of people hiding their religious beliefs.

Rethinking Religion in Chinese Society——Comment on Religion in Chinese Society

In the 1990s, foreign sociological theories of religion were introduced into China on a large scale, and a large number of excellent translations appeared. However, many scholars have found that the research theories and research results in many translations are difficult to explore the religious phenomenon in Chinese society. The publication of Yang Qingkun’s book "Religion in Chinese Society" can be said to have created a new chapter in the study of Chinese society and religion. Yang creatively regarded religious organizations and religious phenomena in Chinese society as "divergent religions", which roughly summed up the essential characteristics and manifestations of religions in Chinese society. This book comprehensively and systematically studies the relationship between religious entities, religious ceremonies, and grassroots society in Chinese society. His research involves the growth and development of Chinese mainstream religions in rural communities, trying to break free from Western definitions of religion. It is a pioneering work to study Chinese religion from a sociological perspective. From the perspective of social structural functionalism, it is important to study the formation, characteristics and relationships of "divergent" religions in our country. This paper briefly reviews Yang's works, and explores the formation of rural social order with the help of Yang's research vision and research methods on Chinese social religion.

ПОЛИТИЧЕСКАЯ ТЕОЛОГИЯ: ГЕНЕЗИС КОНЦЕПТА

Modern socio-political sciences associate «political theology» with the secularization of the social world. The sacralization and theologization of politics allow us to talk about the formation of a secular type of political religiosity, replacing the traditional religion in society. Political theology is understood as a way of thinking about the foundations of power in modern societies, whose symbolic structures, responsible for the foundation of social order and maintaining its coherence, are being destroyed and experiencing a crisis of legitimacy. The article attempts to trace the genesis of the concept of political theology, starting from Greco- Roman antiquity, by explicating key positions that influenced its internal semantic dynamics and conceptual development. As a result, the author concludes that all the key socio-political categories and oppositions underlying the structural and symbolic order of secular society are somehow connected with the theological and political issues. It is argued that all attempts to separate the political from the theological, and the theological from the political, or to subordinate one to the other are doomed to failure in advance, but it is this struggle between the political and the theological, that presupposes the «unity of opposites», that determines the functioning of the theological-political «machine» of Western society.

ГЕНДЕРНАЯ СПЕЦИФИКА РЕЛИГИОЗНОГО ПОВЕДЕНИЯ (НА ПРИМЕРЕ ДАГЕСТАНСКОГО НАСЕЛЕНИЯ)

The issue of religiosity and resulting from it religious behavior manifested itself vividly in the post-Soviet period against the background of secularization of Russian society. There is no doubt that religion in society as a whole and in the personal life of an individual plays an essential role, which may be ambiguous in different historical periods. Therefore, the vector of development for religious revival will determine the positive/negative scenario and the climate in society. The marker for diagnosing the religious behavior of the Dagestan population is the content of the concept “true believer”, which defines normative religious practice. Verification of the empirical material shows the existence of certain differences in the attitudes of the interviewed men and women in the designation “a true believer”: the latter focus on the moral and moral attribute, the presence of certain moral properties that allow identifying a person as a “true believer”.

РОЛЬ ДУХОВНОСТІ В РОЗВИТКУ ІНКЛЮЗИВНОЇ ОСВІТИ В УКРАЇНІ

The article examines the concept of spirituality as an expression of the important socio-cultural heritage of Ukrainians; the development of inclusive education through spirituality and religion in Ukrainian society is analyzed; the main ways of forming the attitude of Ukrainians towards people with disabilities are revealed; the problems of the development of inclusive education in Ukraine through spirituality are determined

About the Authors

Other| January 01 2022 About the Authors American Journal of Theology & Philosophy (2022) 43 (1): 93. https://doi.org/10.5406/21564795.43.1.05 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation About the Authors. American Journal of Theology & Philosophy 1 January 2022; 43 (1): 93. doi: https://doi.org/10.5406/21564795.43.1.05 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveUniversity of Illinois PressAmerican Journal of Theology & Philosophy Search Advanced Search Mary-Jane Rubenstein is Professor of Religion and Science in Society at Wesleyan University. She holds a B.A. from Williams College, an M.Phil. from Cambridge University, and a Ph.D. in from Columbia University. Her research unearths the philosophies and histories of religion and science, especially in relation to cosmology, ecology, and space travel. She is the author of Pantheologies: Gods, Worlds, Monsters (Columbia University Press, 2018). Her book in progress is called Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race.Donald A. Crosby is Professor of Philosophy Emeritus of Colorado State University. His current main research interests are in the areas of religious naturalism, metaphysics, American philosophy, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of religion. His most recent (2022) books are Sacred and Secular: Responses to Life in a Finite World (SUNY) and The Multiplicity of Interpreted Worlds: Inner and Outer Perspectives (Lexington Books).Laura J. Mueller is an... Issue Section: About the Authors You do not currently have access to this content.

Pandemia na era secular: Liberdade religiosa em Portugal nos inícios do surto da COVID-19

This paper analyses the impact of restrictions on religious freedom, caused by the state of health emergency, related to the COVID-19 pandemic, during the first period of lockdown in Portugal. Against the backdrop of the secular age and secularism, this research allows for the interpretation of the place of religion in societies marked by cultures of secularity through a qualitative, hypothetical-deductive, analysis. It concludes that the normalisation of the subordination of religious values and practices to those of the political sphere, highlighted by the hierarchisation of essential and non-essential activities, and its promotion through self-secularity empties the presence of religion in the public sphere and helps the development of a culture of secularity.

Słownik jednojęzyczny jako czynnik utrwalający i kształtujący status religii w społeczeństwie. Casus prawosławia w języku greckim

Modern Greek dictionaries LKNE (The Institute of Modern Greek Studies, the Manolis Triandafilidis Foundation) and LNEG (Georgios Bambiniotis) are considered canonical. The aim of the analysis is to verify that the meanings of the lemma [orθoδoksía] preserve the status of Orthodox Christianity in Greek society and shape it for the future. Comparisons of dictionary meanings use the lens of semantic-lexical relationships. Analysis of relationships between dictionary meanings and the socio-religious situation considers extra-linguistics factors, including the dictionary users’ profile. Positively verified consistency between the dictionary meaning and the Greek socio-religious situation will mean that the monolingual dictionary preserves and shapes the status of a specific religion in Greek society.

Who Criticizes the Clergy in Contemporary Lithuania? A Sociohistorical Analysis of Anticlericalism

This paper analyzes the phenomenon of anticlericalism in contemporary Lithuania, applying a sociohistorical approach. It starts with a discussion on the problem of criticism of religion and anticlericalism in contemporary societies, and particularly Lithuania. The empirical part of the paper provides a statistical data analysis of two surveys, conducted in 2012 and 2018. The secondary data analysis showed that age and place of residence of Roman Catholics in Lithuania were statistically meaningful factors for the formation of anticlerical stances. Younger respondents expressed more critical stances towards the clergy, while respondents living in large cities of the country had more relaxed stances towards clergy than those living in small towns and rural areas. Living in a proximity to a Roman Catholic church in rural areas determined the prevalent anticlerical attitudes among the Lithuanian population.

La grande fracture de la politique moderne sur le pouvoir: Hobbes et la raison d’Etat

Modern political thought is crossed by a fundamental divide. This divide opposes the theorists of sovereignty since Bodin, on one side, and the current of conceptions about the reason of state since Botero, on the other. The two currents were born practically at the same time, in the last quarter of the sixteenth century. On the side of the thinkers on sovereignty, it is a question of thinking about political autonomy in relation to all other orders of society (religion, economy, various legal bodies, police, public order, etc.). Here the principal question concerns the formation and exercise of political will and its relation to the citizens. On the side of the thinkers on the reason of state, it is no longer political autonomy which is at the centre of reflection, but the relationship between politics and religion. On the other side, the political problem is centred on the question of the preservation of the state (more than the conditions of its acquisition or its growth) and the rules of government practice likely to lead to it. These are not only different but divergent visions of politics and the exercise of power, the implications of which are felt even in contemporary democracies.

Features of sociological analysis of religion in Russia during the imperial period of its history

The article deals with the features of sociological analysis of religion in Russia during the imperial period of its history. The national sociological tradition of study of religion as a socio-cultural phenomenon and a social institution, which was developed during this period, had its own unique and peculiar appearance and was just begun to revive again in post-Soviet Russia, is sharply different from the tradition that took place in the West. In this context, the appeal to the works of classics of Russian religious, socio-political thought, unfortunately undeservedly forgotten, is a very promising area of modern sociological research.When studying this problem, the author emphasizes the study of the works of representatives of three ideological areas of Russian religious and socio-political thought: conservatism, liberalism and socialism, as well as the peculiarities of the historical development of Russian society and the state and those events that had a significant impact on the formation and development of scientific understanding of religion in Russia. Among such features, the author, in particular, refers to the formation of an “antisystem” (systemic integrity of people who are negative about their homeland, hate their own nation, its values and culture, history, traditional religious, political and social systems) among the Russian intelligentsia, bureaucracy and part of the elite of Russian society, under a certain influence of Westernism, as a consequence of the spiritual schism of the 18th century, which occurred in the educated strata and elite of Russian society.The author of the article analyzing the views of A.I. Herzen, P.L. Lavrov, M.A. Bakunin, P.A. Kropotkin, G.V. Plekhanov, V.I. Lenin, emphasizes the understanding of religious issues by representatives, primarily the socialist camp, who dreamed of carrying out a socialist revolution in Russia and who were extremely negative about religion, religious institutions and the traditional life of society. He notes the fact that the authors mentioned above were more concerned with introducing various ideological stamps into science, as well as using political technologies to discredit in a destructive way for society and the State, this traditionally important sphere of life for any society and an influential social institution. Against this background, a peculiar exception to the rules was the balanced, scientifically based approach to sociological analysis of religion in society developed by P.A. Sorokin, with an emphasis on the study of the integrating role of religion in social stratification.

Peran Guru dalam Pengajaran Pendidikan Multikultural: Inisiasi dan Praktek

Indonesia is a multicultural nation that has very high diversity. This diversity can be a potential for the nation's progress as well as its decline, depending on the quality of the management of this heterogeneity. It is undeniable that conflicts with the background of ethnicity, religion and race between groups (SARA) still often occur in Indonesia. This shows the importance of strengthening multicultural education in Indonesia. This study aims to review the urgency of multicultural teaching in schools. The research method used is literature study, explaining the phenomena that occur based on scientific studies that have been done before. Based on the discussion, it can be concluded that multicultural education in schools is very important to do so that students are able to accept all differences from an early age. In this process, the teacher has a very big role. Teachers must be able to master the teaching methods and concepts of multicultural learning itself. The teaching of multicultural education is so that students are able to be active and critical in facing all differences ranging from religion, language, ethnicity, gender, and social status in society.

Media and Religion in (Post)Colonial Societies: Dynamics of Power and Resistance

Media and religion (broadly conceived) are often cooperating as the backdrop, and at the forefront of power struggles, in dominant and subaltern narratives, conflict and protest. Religious practices are visual and material practices that communicate meaning, and media thrive on harnessing the cognitive and affective power of religious symbols or narratives. Many media producers draw on the ability of religions, as communicative systems, to distill human experience and to create particularly powerful structures of affect. The intricate and dynamic relationships between media and religion are part of the cultural efforts of inscribing and embodying meaning on an individual and collective level, and thus to turn chaos into order, to establish and communicate categories and boundaries. Thus in this issue of JRFM, we focus on how religion and media participate in and complicate the power relationships between (western) colonizers and (non-western) colonized during the historical period of colonialism and in “coloniality”, a term introduced by Anibal Quijano to describe the ways in which colonial dynamics of othering and difference, as well as western epistemologies continue to shape the cultural, economic, political, and religious forces within and between communities.

Covid-19, Free Exercise, and the Changing Constitution.

The Covid‐19 pandemic has brought bioethics back to five topics—justice, autonomy, expert authority, religion, and judicial decisions—that were central during its formative period but has cast a new light on each, while also tangling public health policy in the current, rather radical, reshaping of the role of organized religion in society.