Religious Democracy Research Articles

Political Organization in Multicultural Societies Based on Religious Democracy

Multicultural societies have special conditions that do not reply to any political system. Therefore, a special structure of democracy should be designed to bring security and progress to these societies. The common version of religious democracy based on a majority vote is unsuitable for multicultural societies. Therefore, the mentioned societies need a special version of religious democracy that can provide justice and security in these societies. The question raised here is what political structure is suitable for multicultural societies? Using descriptive and prescriptive methods and based on the main principles and components of religious democracy such as social justice, political pluralism, popular acceptance, sovereignty of religious laws, and its supervision over power, the current research proposes a special structure in four territorials, legislative, administrative and judicial domains for these societies. The results of the research show that the federal system, with its two-pillar administrative structure composed of the president elected by the people and the prime minister elected by the parliament and the proportional distribution of power and benefits at different levels, along with a unicameral structure based on a proportional electoral system in which religious laws prevail, along with a religious supervisory body on the legislative process and judicial structure based on judicial independence in personal status, the use of independent courts, strengthening human rights institutions and the use of accepted laws of human rights and Islamic human rights is the most appropriate structure in multicultural societies.

Muhammad Khatami’s Reforms in Iran from the Perspective of Transitology and the Outlook for Democratic Change

On May 23, 1997, a victory of Muhammad Khatami in the presidential election in the Islamic Republic of Iran started a brief period of liberalization in the country long mired in a repressive and authoritarian political regime. The new government loosened the restrictions imposed on the public space, widened the scope of some civil liberties and under the slogans of “religious democracy”, “rule of law” and “participation” aroused expectations of a further political change. Nevertheless these expectations were futile and the widely popular reform movement was stifled by a repression on the part of the conservative core of the regime. This study attempts to analyze these events as a failed attempt to democratic transition, leaning on the theory of Guillermo O’Donnell and Philipe Schmitter. It demonstrates that the transitive period under Khatami’s presidency followed the typical path of the disintegration of the post-World War II authoritarian regimes, which usually begins by the split within the governing elite of the régime itself and proceed through gradual and contingent introduction of liberalizing and democratizing reforms by its “soft-liner”. On this basis it attempts to capture the overall dynamic of the transitive process, define its turning points, identify the causes of its ultimate successful obstruction by the “hard-line” conservatives and derive from this experience implications for a possibility of democratic change in future.

Mapping a good society model in Ayatollah Khomeini’s religious political thought: Possibilities and challenges

This article identifies the components of a good society in the thought of Ayatollah Khomeini. Over several decades, he experienced a voluntary and compulsory odyssey-like journey, the result of which was theorizing about a good society and Islamic government. From the young Ayatollah Khomeini to the late “Imam” Khomeini, several images are attributed to him. We find that the good society can be realized according to pure Mohammadian Islam and religious democracy. We claim that Khomeini’s thought evolved in the face of the Other and this Other has changed the perception of his identity and thought over time. This study shows that in a historical continuum, there are two breaks along the religious-political thought of Khomeini. Contrary to the common orthodox image of him, we claim that despite the contradictions, his thought has the capacity to reconcile Islam and modernity in a new religious-political framework. Nevertheless, one can observe the transformation, the elitist view, and the multiplicity of positions in his political, cultural, and social opinions.

Investigating the Theological Foundations of Religious Democracy from the Perspective of Nahj al-Balagha

Undoubtedly, Nahj al-Balagha is one of the most important Islamic texts after the Noble Qur’an, serving as a comprehensive guide for human life in all aspects and providing direction in various fields. One of the areas that Nahj al-Balagha strongly emphasizes is governance and politics. The prominent view of Nahj al-Balagha on governance is religious democracy. This study, through an analytical and descriptive method, seeks to explore the question: What is the meaning of religious democracy from the perspective of Nahj al-Balagha and what are its theological foundations? In Nahj al-Balagha, divine governance is intertwined with democratic governance; if people desire to establish democracy, it must occur under the umbrella of divine governance. This notion is demonstrable within the theological foundations of monotheism, resurrection, prophethood, and Imamate. As a result, the theological foundation of religious democracy in Nahj al-Balagha can be summarized in this statement by the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (peace be upon him): “All of you are shepherds, and all of you are responsible for your flock.” Thus, religious democracy means the realization of divine vicegerency and the rule of the oppressed on earth, as also emphasized in the Noble Qur’an.

How the Nineteenth-century Evangelical Revival Strengthened Faith and Undermined Christendom

This article deals with the paradoxical relationship between the nineteenth-century Evangelical Revival and secularization. It is argued here that the revival and its worldview played a role in increasing pluralism and choice in the nineteenth century – a process often related to secularization. The Evangelical movement both attempted to oppose modernity and rationalism and emphasized religious freedom, voluntarism, and individualism. It therefore induced and popularized self-reflection, doubt, and deconversion. It also favoured religious democracy in opposition to a state-imposed religious monopoly (at least in northern Europe). Furthermore, by dividing people into believers and nonbelievers, it emphasized religious polarization. This contributed to an undermining of established religious structures, fragmenting and pluralizing the religious landscape and giving people the option to abstain completely from religious commitment. The Swedish confessional (inner mission) revivalist denomination Evangeliska Fosterlands-Stiftelsen (EFS – approx. the Swedish Evangelical Mission Society), founded in 1856, is used as a case. The popular literature they published and distributed manifested an evangelical worldview. In this article four themes, based on the popular literature, are used to study empirically the changing role of religion in relation to nineteenth-century revivalism: ‘the dualistic worldview’; ‘conversion’; ‘activism’; and ‘self-reflection’.

Iran’s uprisings for ‘Women, Life, Freedom’: Over-determination, crisis, and the lineages of revolt

This article explores the manifold lineages of crisis and revolt currently afflicting the Islamic Republic of Iran, most recently bursting forth in the 2022/2023 national uprisings where women-led mass protests and forceful rejection of mandatory veiling laws captured global attention. This interdisciplinary piece of research, bringing together several different theoretical approaches and historical literatures, interrogates and reflects upon what I call following Stuart Hall a ‘conjunctural crisis’ along the four major axes of (1) gender oppression and social reproduction; (2) the ethnocentric, dominative, and centralising nation-state and the still unresolved ‘ethno-national question’; (3) ‘religious democracy’ and the impasse of the Reform movement; and (4) authoritarian neoliberalism and the Islamic Republic’s political economy of predation. The article aims to show not only how these distinct crises have longer and more complicated lineages than might initially appear to be the case but also demonstrate how they have mutually constituted and shaped one another over the course of several decades, constituting part of a larger political and social system. Moreover, it aspires to provide a systematic and historically contextualised account of ongoing emancipatory struggles for democratic rights and liberation in today’s Iran.

Comparison of Imam Ali's views on democracy and religious democracy

To handle its affairs, each country needs to form a government because man is inherently social and needs a social life. There must be a government in place to lead the society and prevent chaos; in the meantime, a government that, in addition to legislating and executing laws, engages its people in their destiny, is either a democratic government or a religiously founded democratic government. This article aims to investigate two types of governments and their characteristics as well as democratic failures and to describe the differences between democracy and religious democracy. It also uses Imam Ali's perspectives to reveal whether a religious democracy or a democracy prevails in an Islamic political system.

A Study of the Intellectual Roots of Negotiation Planning and Its Analysis from the Perspective of Western Democracy and Religious Democracy

A Study of the Intellectual Roots of Negotiation Planning and Its Analysis from the Perspective of Western Democracy and Religious Democracy

Internet sebagai Ruang Baru Kontestasi Diskursus Agama dan Politik: Kajian atas Diskursus Islam, Demokrasi dan Pancasila pada Website Keislaman Populer di Indonesia

The internet as a new medium has now become a contested space for political discourse. Focusing its analysis on eight popular Islamic websites in Indonesia, this paper examines how popular Islamic websites promote the concept of Islam and politic as seen in the issues of Pancasila, democracy, and Islamic state. The required data were collected through the method of web scraping. By using Lutfi Assyaukani's theory of three models of democracy in Indonesia, the results of this study indicate that the selected eight websites were classified into three variants of the political ideology model: First, websites that support religious democracy that are represented by the websites Nu.or.id, Islami.co, Ibtimes.id, and Bincangsyariah.com; second, websites that support Islamic democracy that are represented by Hidayatullah.com and Eramuslim.co.; and third, websites that support the Islamic caliphate that are represented by Voa-Islam.com and Nahimunkar.org, which rejected the form of a democratic state, both Islamic democracy and religious democracy, but accepted the Pancasila version of the Jakarta Charter.

Cursing the Sacred:

Islam and blasphemy have repeatedly emerged as the center of Indonesian public discourse and debate after the fall of Suharto. The debate becomes intense in a democratic society when people feel free to speak and deliver their opinions. When their speeches and opinions are regarded to have offences against a particular religion, the followers will protest against them. In Indonesia, these offences can be brought to court due to the presence of the blasphemy law in the Indonesian Criminal Code. Some scholars and religious leaders believe that the law have to be removed because it is not compatible with the principles of religious freedom and democracy. Others believe the law have to be defended because it is needed to regulate religious lives and maintain religious tolerance in the society. This article will investigate the diverse opinions among Muslim activists and leaders from various Muslim organizations including Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah. This article attempts to answer two questions of what are the social and cultural backgrounds of the debates on blasphemy and how religious freedom is defined through these debates in contemporary Indonesia? The data are collected from the document and the recorded video of the judicial review of the blasphemy law in Indonesian constitutional court in 2010 and the interviews concerning the decision of the judicial review. This article suggests that religious freedom is limited by the majority of opinions in favor with the blasphemy law which discriminate free speech and religious minority groups

Our pedagogical charge: Weaving hope and justice into the gossamer‐thin fabric of religious democracy

Teaching Theology & ReligionEarly View SPECIAL ARTICLE Our pedagogical charge: Weaving hope and justice into the gossamer-thin fabric of religious democracy Valerie Miles-Tribble, Corresponding Author Valerie Miles-Tribble vmiles-tribble@bst.edu Berkeley School of Theology, Berkeley, California, USA Correspondence Valerie Miles-Tribble, PhD, Professor, Berkeley School of Theology, Berkeley, CA 94704-3029, USA. Email: vmiles-tribble@bst.eduSearch for more papers by this author Valerie Miles-Tribble, Corresponding Author Valerie Miles-Tribble vmiles-tribble@bst.edu Berkeley School of Theology, Berkeley, California, USA Correspondence Valerie Miles-Tribble, PhD, Professor, Berkeley School of Theology, Berkeley, CA 94704-3029, USA. Email: vmiles-tribble@bst.eduSearch for more papers by this author First published: 07 January 2022 https://doi.org/10.1111/teth.12597 Originally presented as the Distinguished Faculty Lecture at Graduate Theological Union, given November 17, 2021. This article is a series of themed segments for meditative discernment about the nature of the times for theological education and urgency to embody a transcendent pedagogical charge. Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Early ViewOnline Version of Record before inclusion in an issue RelatedInformation

The Radical Christian Witness of Daniel Philpott’s Scholarship

A radical Christian witness underlies Daniel Philpott’s scholarship, a witness especially rooted in his Catholic vision and practice. Philpott’s work on religious freedom, human rights, and democracy is anchored in the Christian conception that all humans are stamped with the divine likeness and thus endowed with surpassing equal worth and dignity. His work on post-conflict reconciliation and peacemaking flows from the gospel mandate that followers of Christ must love sacrificially and forgive those who harm them, even enemies. Finally, his work on justice is inspired and guided by the biblical vision of comprehensive righteousness, of justice as restoration of right relations.

Adolescent religious engagement and democracy: a comparison of student attitudes in Hong Kong and South Korea

ABSTRACT Although the development of Asia adolescents’ citizenship values has been widely discussed, limited attention has been paid for the role of religion in shaping those values. The possibility has been suggested that Asian religious contexts may be understood differently from those in the West and research findings in those contexts are not necessarily applicable to Asia. This study, therefore, sought to understand further the association between the religious engagement of Asian adolescents’ and democratic values. The results indicated that attitudes to equality were moderately influenced by an understanding of democracy while religious engagement showed small, negative or non-significant associations with equality. Students’ understanding of democracy did not mediate the effect of students’ religious engagement. These results provide further support for the view that in Asian contexts religious engagement may not necessarily provide a conductive environment for supporting traditional democratic values.

Kompatibilitas Islam dan Demokrasi: Tantangan dan Hambatan Demokratisasi di Dunia Islam

[THE COMPATIBILITY OF ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY: CHALLENGES AND OBSTACLES OF DEMOCRATIZATION IN ISLAMIC WORLD] This study aims to find out whether Islam and democracy are compatible, as well as how the challenges and obstacles of democratization in the Muslim world. This research is in the form of a pure library (library research) using descriptive qualitative methods. Data analysis of the discussion uses the inductive approach, which is to draw general conclusions from specific conclusions. In principle, not all democratic teachings are relevant to Islamic teachings. When democracy becomes a commitment for the state to be put into practice, then all aspects of life cannot be separated from a touch of democracy, including religion. In Muslim countries, especially Asia and North Africa, religious democracy does not necessarily go hand in hand with the practice of political democracy. Doctrinally, Islam and democracy are two different things, but substantively there are democratic principles that are compatible with Islamic teachings. The principle of justice in law enforcement, equality in community life, nation and state, as well as freedom of opinion, religion, and belief. These principles are ideally contained in a written document, the Medina Charter

MUI and Its Fatwa: The Articulation of Modern Authority in a Religious Democracy of Indonesia

Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI) has been politically the most influential religious organization in Indonesia since its initial establishment in 1975. By issuing a series of fatwa, this organization has religiously encouraged Indonesian Muslim to behave and take any decision within their life in accordance with Islamic stipulation based on the institutional interpretation. Though known and widely accepted as legal opinion on religious issues, one of among the most controversial fatwa recently issued by the MUI was, in fact, related to the civil participation in the last but most contentious general election. The fatwa theologically declared a religious status of being abstain (golput) in the election; that is religiously disallowed (haram). By referring to the statistic data of golput, it is shockingly evidenced that the fatwa has somehow influenced Muslim voters to use their civil rights properly in this presidential election. Considering those startling facts, this paper aims to see how religious precepts are efficaciously employed by MUI to endorse the democratic system of Indonesia. Through broader analytical observation on the dynamic of MUI’s political movement in the light of Menchikian periodization of MUI’s authority, I argued that modern strategies, such as those including mass mobilization, lobbying, and coercive power, are currently applied to claim their authority amid Indonesian society.

The Legitimacy of Religious Democracy

The religious democracy observes a type of government, in which its spirit and management are based on human’s characteristics and realities while it is aimed at enhancing both physical and spiritual dimensions toward perfection and achieving a rational life. According to right and fact, which have been received from Divine Revelation and people might not intervene in issuance of constitution and governmental principles in religious democracy, people’s freedom and activity and other groups’ are stipulated within the law and some limits that have been interpreted by the religion so that legitimacy of this government has been verified with divine- public dimension. Given that God’ will and command is the basis for legitimacy in this system and not people’s wish so it seems unlikely that religious systems lack the competence of democracies. Thus, with respect to importance and sensitivity of the subject of legitimacy in religious democracy and its pivotal position, it has been tried to explore into this topic by means of descriptive- analytical method and from thinkers’ views in religious democracy.

For Whom the Bell Tolls in the American Dream?

This paper sheds some light on how the American Dream was galvanized with the discovery of America and how it was evolved into a glimmer of hope for social, sexual, racial, economic and religious equality, democracy, wealth and freedom, which sugars the pills of negative consequences of the American Dream. Considering that dream is something which has not been achieved yet, the American Dream is nothing less than a social criticism of society and a preview of their struggle for the rights that they deserved, and yet they did not have. Although the American Dream was launched innocently and optimistically for a better life, it fell short of expectations in the end. On the contrary, it turns to a nightmare haunting American people with the fear of intolerance of difference, violence, alienation, isolation, ostracism, scapegoating, discrimination, materialism and capitalism. In this paper, the low-down of the American Dream behind its dazzling display will be analysed through two plays: Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story. Ultimately, it will be concluded that the American Dream is a bomb programmed to exterminate itself and only human virtues such as compassion, forgiveness, love, empathy and sacrifice can bring salvation to mankind in the grip of injustice, depression, emotional breakdown, moral decline, and social collapse.

О религиозном либерализме и демократии в российской науке

О религиозном либерализме и демократии в российской науке

Religious Belief, Human Rights, and Social Democracy: Catholic Reflections on Abortion in Iceland

Religious Belief, Human Rights, and Social Democracy: Catholic Reflections on Abortion in Iceland

Gender-based Religious Democracy: A Study of Umi Azizah’s Winning and Women Political Movement of Tegal Regent Election in 2018

The winning of Umi Azizah as a Tegal Regent in the period of 2018-2023 describes the achievement of the democracy which tends to be religious in Tegal. She is the first woman regent in the history of Tegal Regency. Before that, in the period of 2013-2018, she acted as the Vice Regent of Ki Enthus Susmono in leading Tegal Regency. WTP opinion was achieved by Tegal Regency after waiting for 13 years. In June 2018, Umi Azizah got 70% votes, she is chosen as the Tegal Regent after replacing Ki Enthus Susmono who passed away. Before dying, in the occasion of Halaqoh of 999 Ulama in Tegal regency, Ki Enthus said that if in the period of 2018-2023 Umi Azizah steps forward to be the candidate of Tegal Regent, then Ki Enthus will not be against her. Moreover, Ki Enthus said that he will be her supporter. In spite of her position as a political figure, Umi Azizah is also the leader of Muslimat NU (Autonomous Organization in NU) in Tegal regency. She has a strategic position as the majority of Tegal residents are Moslem and affiliated to NU. This article describes the power of Umi Azizah as a woman who is chosen to be a regent, builds political connections, and also faces political escalation with religious doctrinal campaign which has a gender bias.