Religious Persecution Research Articles

The two parts of Kant’s moral religion

Why in the Critique of Practical Reason is moral religion presented as a doctrine of the postulates of pure practical reason, of which Christian morality, considered as a philosophical doctrine, is an illustration, whereas in the Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason moral religion is ultimately identified with a particular moral interpretation of the religious dogmas of Christianity? In this essay, I propose to answer this question by examining a thesis of Kant’s that has scarcely been considered. This is the thesis that, as with other philosophical disciplines, moral religion consists of a pure part and an applied part. The reasons for the bipartite division of moral religion—confirmed also by the findings of Kant’s third Critique—not only provide a direct, explicit, and maybe sufficient answer to the question posed, but also shed light on the role of Christianity in Kant’s conception of religion.

Exploring the Scientific Research in Religious Painting Works in Renaissance Period-Taking Durer's Etchings Knight, Death and Devil As an Example

The development of Renaissance painting evolved into the development of humanism and the in-depth study of science and nature under the changes of the times. While getting rid of religious dogma, artists were finally able to look at the world from a rational perspective. Continuous exploration and research not only made Germany open the prelude of modern art, but also stood at the forefront of the historical stage together with other regions of Europe. Among them, the talented artists represented by Durer with the spirit of innovation and exploration raised the original social status of artists to an unprecedented height. The spirit of humanism spread freely in the European continent, and the creation of art nouveau fanaticism, accompanied by the artist's distinct and strong personal artistic color, became the most powerful proof of the attack on dogmatism in painting, and had a profound influence on European modern art. This paper will introduce the transformation of religious art painting during the Renaissance from the scientific direction and it proves that adding scientific innovation to religious painting has brought great influence on later generations.

2017-2018 arasında Türkçe internet sitelerinde aşı eleştirisi: Tanımlayıcı bir analiz

Objective: This study aimed to quantify the content and design attributes of Turkish vaccine critical websites and list the arguments used between 2017 and 2018 when reportedly 23000 families refused childhood vaccines.
 
 Methods: Websites were screened by two researchers using Google, between October 30-November 23, 2017. Every researcher screened 30 results for every word query. Exclusion criteria were implemented based on Wolfe’s (2002) and Kata’s (2010) research. A third researcher acted as a referee and produced a final list on February 04, 2018. The websites were analyzed between April 2-August 28, 2018 according to the criteria developed in Kata’s study. The criteria contained 50 items under content and design headings. 
 
 Results: Most of the resultant 16 websites were not vaccine specific and transmitted already available information. The criteria searched were generally less frequent in Turkish websites than in English and French websites. Criticism of biomedicine, superiority of alternative medicine, sharing of personal stories and use of imagery had low presence. Commercialization was observed less and religious reasons were observed higher in Turkish websites. Websites that supported religious tenets were usually about halal food and used American anti-vaccine websites as resources. 
 
 Conclusion: Turkish vaccine critical websites referring to foreign resources were usually less developed than their foreign counterparts. Network analysis of vaccine critical websites would yield more in-depth knowledge of the relationship between them. Ministry of Health should invest more in the Web, specifically targeting its response according to the criteria available in vaccine critical websites

Is solar power an emergency solution to electricity access? Findings from the largest Rohingya refugee camps

Globally, the solar home system (SHS) has proven to be a sustainable solution for providing basic access to electricity to the energy poor in developing countries, and has been well covered in the literature. However, the role of solar photovoltaic (PV) during emergencies such as war or natural disaster has rarely been discussed, and is the focus of this study. In particular, how solar PV could act as an emergency source of energy to ensure basic access to electricity for the Rohingya refugees is explored in this study. The Rohingyas have experienced racial and religious oppression in Myanmar for decades. Consequently, a significant number of Rohingya have escaped to Bangladesh and stayed in refugee camps. Ninety households in six Rohingya camps in Ukhia and Teknaf, Bangladesh, were surveyed. Results show that solar PV acted as an emergency source of energy for the Rohingyas in the camps and on their way to Bangladesh. They charged their cell phones using solar energy and were able to communicate with their relatives to find safe routes to Bangladesh from Myanmar. Cell phone charging and ensuring safety at night along with other benefits were found to be the significant drivers or enablers for adopting SHSs in the camps. The average satisfaction level of using SHS was found to be 6.84 on a scale of 1–10. Overall, the Rohingyas were found satisfied with the SHS as the 25th and 75th percentiles varied between 6 and 8. One of the crucial reasons for this satisfaction level is that they received very basic energy support (e.g., for charging cell phones, light in the jungle at night) from the system during a highly critical emergency situation.

Schools, religion, and affect: unpacking Australian educator discomfort

ABSTRACT Religious bigotry, including incidents of discrimination and violence based on religion, continues to rise across Australia. Religion is consequently considered a destabilising factor in Australia’s commitment to diversity. But does Australia’s religious diversity pose a threat to social cohesion or an opportunity? In Australia’s public schools, despite significant curricular and pedagogical advances in the areas of equity and inclusion, it remains unclear how and to what extent educators support the diverse religious identities of learners. Informed by an affective-discursive analytic, this study unpacks a series of emotional encounters at one primary public school in Sydney that serves a community where most families self-identify with a religion. Educators were invited to discuss how their school responds to religious diversity. This article explores the discomforting affects that entangle liberal humanist commitments to freedoms and secular schooling that emerged in focus groups. The article argues that emotional responses to learners’ religious diversity, particularly of fear or apprehension, speak to a broader national teacher education context in which how religious and secular beliefs and knowledges should come into conversation remains unsettled. If Australian teacher education is to prepare educators for social cohesion, how can learners’ religious identities be genuinely included in curriculum and pedagogy?

Containing Contagion in a Garrison State

Containing Contagion in a Garrison State

Religious Intolerance in America: A Documentary History

Religious Intolerance in America: A Documentary History

The influence of Church membership on the socio-political consciousness of Russians

The subject of this article is the process of the influence of churching on the socio–political consciousness of Russians. The purpose of the work is to reveal the role of the influence of religious values inherent in a believer and a church-bound person on his socio-political consciousness. Russian Russian Orthodox Church religious dogmas, sociological research, "Fundamentals of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church", data from the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, the Public Chamber of St. Petersburg, etc. are used in the work. The following methods were used in the research: historical and philosophical analysis, comparative analysis, interdisciplinary approach. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that the role of the influence of churching on the socio-political consciousness of Russians is revealed. Today, the topic of the influence of religious freedom on the socio-political consciousness of Russians is little studied. As a rule, in this context, more general concepts such as humanity, morality and morality are considered without significant reference to religious principles and without proper understanding of this issue in the context of socio-political consciousness. In this study, the analysis is carried out from the historical and modern points of view. The main conclusions of the study are the following: 1. Professing religion, a person adopts the values and moral guidelines that are inherent in this religion. 2. The religious idea somehow begins to be projected onto the surrounding world, including in secular everyday life. 3. Based on the results of the study, it can be argued about the influence of church membership on the socio-political consciousness of Russians.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF AHMAD DONISH TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION IN THE EMIRATE OF BUKHARA

The article analyses the philosophical views and ideas of the thinker Ahmad Donish. However, in works that are semi-artistic in form, the thinker poses and tries to solve philosophical questions, in his own way criticizes religious dogmas. So, he asks the question: “If God, creating a person, predetermined the fate of a builder for him in advance, why did he not immediately, from birth, endow the person with the ability to build? Why is it necessary, while fulfilling the predestination of God, to study any other professions?

The Metaphors of ‟God” in Orthodox Prayers

"The Metaphors of God in Orthodox Prayers. In this paper we look at the conceptual metaphors of God that we encountered in a collection of Orthodox prayers. Prayers are a type of discourse genre belonging to liturgical sublanguage, which is described as conservatory and intangible. We aim at identifying the way in which religious imaginary is configured as part of the linguistic heritage. We do not only intend to analyse the mechanisms of the conceptualization of God in the discourse of devotions, but also to connect it to religious teachings and dogmas, to have a better understanding of the outlined imaginary. The concept of God is deeply rooted in prayers and is lexicalized into coherent and logical structures, interwoven into a pluralist perspective on divinity. Keywords: God, Cognitivism, conceptual metaphor, linguistic imaginary, Orthodox prayers "

IMPACT OF WORLD RELIGIONS ON THE NEED TO CONSIDER THE PRINCIPLE OF TRUTH IN THE JUDICIAL DECISIONMAKING PROCESS

The article analyzes the influence of world religions on the awareness of the need to consider the principle of truth in the process of making Court decisions as a relevant scientific issue, the solution of which will allow establishing ideological grounds for the implementation of moral principles through justice. The author analyzes specific religious norms of the pre-state period, Christian beliefs, Judaism, norms of Muslim law, Buddhism. Taking into account the review, conclusions regarding the influence of world religions on the awareness of the need consider the principle of truth in the process of making Court decisions are formulated. Religions are the ideological basis for the implementation of moral principles through justice, based on the socio-ethical and cultural systems of their dissemination. Common to all religious dogmas is the need to protect against the basic violations embodied in the commandment; the definition of “evil” by specific religions and the cultivation of its eradication, both by the person himself or herself and through the bodies endowed with the right to administer justice. Religion also obliges a person to obey and take for granted what is unfair and wrong for an individual, promises rewards for suffering in another life, imposes duties for past sins, or promises to punish those responsible for injustice with “bad karma” in the future. The very semantics of the concepts of justice are contextually distinctive in different religious, historical, and socio-cultural systems. The etymological origin of the concept of “justice” is much more complex for a cohesive conceptualization and is derived from such meanings as coercion, fear, violence, and necessity. Justice in the context of asserting justice can be considered in various categories, notably it must be an unbiased assessment of circumstances based on the “truth” on the basis of equality of the parties, and as our research demonstrates – as a tool for creating safe and harmonious environment for the existence of society. Justice is deemed to be a certain standard of established truth, cultivated by religious norms that are partly beneficial to the authorities. Accordingly, we can define the relativity of the concepts of “just” or “unfair”, since they can be considered both through the Aristotelian suum cuique (to each his own), and through the principle of equality and impartiality, as well as a means of influencing society to ensure its security and (or) the interests of the authorities.

Jeff Eden. God Save the USSR: Soviet Muslims and the Second World War.

In this enlightening and highly original book, God Save the USSR: Soviet Muslims and the Second World War, Jeff Eden scrutinizes the experiences of Soviet Muslims during World War II. He successfully knits together the stories of a diverse range of Muslim peoples, including Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Kalmyks, Tatars, Tajiks, and others, to tell the story of how Soviet religious repression retreated and changed shape over the course of the war and how Soviet Muslim communities, both at home and at the front, responded to these shifts. For Eden, this period, which saw the reopening of mosques, the celebration of previously banned Islamic holidays, and the creation of officially sanctioned Muslim institutions (“muftiates”), represented nothing less than a “religious revolution” (1) in Soviet Islamic life, an event he sees as fomented simultaneously by religious Soviet citizens and the regime. Even within the context of an atheist state, he finds, Muslim citizens were able to carve out “a distinctly religious patriotism that they could present—or take for granted—as entirely compatible with Soviet ideals” (167).

Democracy and the Economic Development of Nigeria: Contentions and Reflections

The development of any country is hinged on the pattern and dynamics of its governance. Nigeria has practiced democratic process of governance over a long period of time, since 1999. The dividend of this democratic process, in terms of economic development, was the preoccupation of this paper. The paper concludes that the tenet of democracy at every level of governance in the Nigerian context has been greatly encroached which is due largely to factors including: party politics, ethnicity, bad leadership, religious bigotry and corruption. These are born out of lack of political will by some individuals in leadership position. Therefore, if an enabling ground that is conducive enough to foster human rights, liberty and liberation is not created, the needed gains of democratic processes will remain an illusion. The paper recommends the need for the country to come to terms with regional inclinations and use it for its advantage, through policies that acknowledge the interest of all the regions and harmonize it to the development of the country at large. But this can only be possible if individual self-aggrandizement is overcome by politicians and their supporters, so that democracy is pursued through the establishment and observance of the rule of law, with complete separation of power and independence of all the three arms of government.

Survival Strategies for Nigerian Youths

Honestly speaking, Nigeria is blessed with abundant natural, human and material resources yet her citizens are suffering tremendously especially the youths. This is caused by bad leadership cum lackadaisical attitudes orchestrated by greedy and disgruntled politicians. The conspicuous immediate effect is that the poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer on daily basis. It is also obvious that there are problems already on ground in the country ranging from social problems (poverty, unemployment, unequal opportunity, racism, crime, cultism, terrorism, human trafficking, employment discrimination and malnutrition), religious bigotry, economic quagmire, political to environmental problems. These existing problems have done more harm than good especially on the parts of our youths at present. Our youths have resorted to banditry, kidnapping, ritual killings, prostitution, terrorism, child trafficking, yahoo yahoo plus and other innumerable nefarious acts as a result alarming rate of unemployment in the country. This paper unequivocally x-rays the survival strategies for Nigerian youths amidst obstacles in Nigeria. Also, it exposes some of the barriers that could militate against survival strategies. This paper is purely conceptual in nature. The survival strategies include POS Business, Graphic Designs, Food Community Business, Home Lessons, Writing and Selling of E-Books, Home Cleaning Services, Affiliate Marketing e.t.c. while the barriers include Negative Mindset, Pride(the killer of destiny),paucity of vision and faith, religious fraud. We concluded that Nigerian Youths need to desist from seeking white collar jobs to creating viable jobs for themselves and others via the entrepreneurial activities deliberated on so far. We, therefore, recommend and encourage youths to just positively do what they can with all they have, wherever they are and the sky will be their stepping stones.

Forced Organ Harvesting

Forced Organ Harvesting

Whose Midwest?

Whose Midwest? Paul Finkelman (bio) "They're Selling postcards of the hanging,they're painting the passports brown,The beauty parlor is filled with sailors,the circus is in town… And I look out tonight From Desolation Row." Bob Dylan, 1965 Much of my scholarship has focused on race and race relations in the Midwest. Thus, I was genuinely delighted to review a book that would help explain the very complicated and contentious history of race in the Midwest and how such issues play out today. For example, I thought the authors might explore why Iowa, which jump-started Barack Obama's presidential aspirations in the 2008 caucuses, and voted for him twice for president, then twice voted for Donald Trump. Sadly, this book offers few answers or insights to such questions. One major problem with this book is its use—or failure to use—evidence, and the authors' apparent lack of understanding of basic U.S. history. They make assertions that are only partially accurate or demonstrably untrue, such as the truly weird claim that such states as Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan "all enrolled more soldiers [in the Civil War] than New York or anywhere else in the East." (61) In fact, New York enrolled more than 400,000 soldiers in the War, about the same as the combined total of these four states. Pennsylvania, another eastern state, enrolled 360,000 soldiers. The authors are quite open about their strategy of skewing evidence to make their points, noting they will make their arguments "through a selective analysis" of data. (40) They are also aggressive about reading into the past what they "see" as the intentions of actors. This is not exactly the "alternative facts" of Kellyanne Conway, but it comes close. [End Page 111] I: Who Can Write About the Midwest? Throughout this book the authors tell personal stories—they call them "reflections." They seem to feel a need to establish their bona fides to write about the Midwest. Professor Halvorson grew up in Muskegon, Michigan, which establishes her Midwest-street cred. Professor Reno went to graduate school in Ann Arbor and lived in Livonia and Ypsilanti, Michigan and we assume this makes him an expert on the vast area of the Midwest. For a scholarly book, I find this odd. By their standard, the Englishman Edward Gibbon should never have written The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Robert Caro, the son of a Jewish immigrant from Poland, should not have won a Pulitzer for writing about Lyndon Johnson of Texas, and David Blight, a White man from Flint, Michigan, should not have won the Pulitzer for a book about Frederick Douglass, a Black man from Maryland. But, since the authors think that one must be connected to the Midwest to understand it, I suppose I should establish my street cred. I did my Ph.D. in Chicago, lived in South Shore and Hyde Park, and delivered pizzas and once served as an election judge on the south side. I later taught at Chicago-Kent Law School, living in downtown Chicago. I currently hold a chair at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. I have taught at Hamline University in St. Paul, Cleveland State University, University of Akron, and Washington University in St. Louis. I edit a book series on the Midwest at Ohio University Press, and I have been a consultant to historic homes in both St. Louis and in Muscatine, Iowa. I have published many articles and book chapters on slavery and civil rights, Native American history, and ethnic and religious persecution in the Midwest. I am the co-editor of A History of Michigan Law, which won a "best book" prize from the Michigan Historical Society and was named a notable Michigan book by the Library of Michigan. And I once got fogged in for two days after lecturing at Michigan Tech, on the Upper Peninsula. So much for my bona fides. II: Defining the Midwest This book is supposed to be about "the Midwest," but we are quickly told it is "not a book about the Midwest, the place, or Midwesterners." Rather it is about something called "place making." (11) The...

UNDER-AGE AND FORCED MARRIAGES: AN ANATHEMA OF PAKISTANI SOCIETY

Child marriage as a social norm has been in practice in most societies around the world. The socio-political and scientific development in last few decades made known the harmful consequences of the practice on the victims’ emotional and physical health, their educational attainment, impairment of their employment opportunities and gender parity. Appreciating the ramification of child marriage at individual level, the global conscience under the UN acknowledged the right to enter into marriage with free and full consent as a basic human right. Pakistan is signatory to various international treaties that aim to curb the practice of child marriage, and to meet the commitments under these instruments have tried to bring some reforms in the legal framework dealing with the practice. There are, however, issues of socio-cultural traditions, religious beliefs and economic compulsions that contribute in continuation of the practice in Pakistan. The instant paper attempts to contribute in appraisal of the existing legal framework on the subject and analyze the determinants of the practice and explore their causal relationship in context of Pakistan’s socio-cultural norms.
 Data analysis from various reports of Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey shows that the economic determinants of poverty and education attainment predominantly influence the age at which girls are married. Then owing to their limited social exposure and level of education, the parents of poor and rural household are more likely to get influenced by orthodox socio-cultural traditions and religious dogmas.
 Relying on evidence-based analysis, the paper derives that any meaningful policy initiative to curb the practice should primarily focus on education attainment and poverty alleviation of vulnerable population. Besides, a well-knit awareness campaign need to be carried out to clarify the misinterpretation of Islamic teachings related to girl’s maturity and preferred age for marriage along with highlighting the harmful consequences of child marriage

Erich Fromm und Das Freie Jüdische Lehrhaus in Frankfurt

This article examines Erich Fromm (1900-1980) within the context of the so-called “renaissance of Jewish religious thought” in Germany during the early 20th century. It is well known that Fromm was a member of the Institute for Social Research, later called the Frankfurt School. The focus of this study, however, is on what has received little attention in research, namely Fromm’s involvement in founding the Freies jüdisches Lehrhaus (the Jewish House of Free Study) in Frankfurt. Fromm participated in the founding of the Lehrhaus as a student and later as a lecturer. During this time, Fromm also wrote his dissertation on Judaism at Heidelberg University. Methodologically, this paper intertwines the historical-biographical axis, which deals with Fromm’s connections to several thinkers: Rabbi Nehemia Nobel, Rabbi Georg Salzberger, Baruch Salman Rabinkow, Franz Rosenzweig, Ernest Simon and others, and the philosophical axis, which focuses on his dissertation, The Jewish Law. The Freies jüdisches Lehrhaus in Frankfurt is primarily associated with Franz Rosenzweig and other thinkers who worked there, such as Gershom Scholem, Ernest Simon, Leo Löwenthal and Martin Buber, who wrote Ich und Du during the years he taught there. With the exception of Buber, the Lehrhaus was their first official teaching venue. The Lehrhaus was characterized by its dialogical atmosphere, and symmetrical relationships between teachers and students, which softened some of the rigidity that was the norm at German educational frameworks at the time. This atmosphere continued to influence Fromm in his adult life, in terms of his attitude towards religion, questioning of authority and his understanding of human nature. Finally, it later played a role in his departure from Freudian libido theory. This study presents some key ideas from his dissertation, including his position on religious dogma, particularly concerning the Karaite sect, a subject that he later taught as a lecturer at the Lehrhaus. Fromm’s dissertation expresses his preoccupation with his Jewish identity and his examination of the complex theopolitical reality in which the Jews of Germany found themselves at the beginning of the 20th century, including the debates between Orthodox Jews and reformers, and between Zionists and anti-Zionists. This article supports the claim that Fromm’s position that religious factors play a central role in the historical process, which he held throughout his life, was formed in these early years. The article strengthens the scholarly position that Fromm’s Jewish background is relevant to understanding his thought in general.

Religious Hate Propaganda: Dangerous Accusations and the Meaning of Religious Persecution in Light of the Cognitive Science of Religion

Religious hate propaganda, which is sustained communication by an authority that attempts to guide an audience towards persecuting others based on religion, is a speech crime. Yet, it is one of the least understood and most difficult speech crimes to prosecute. This is due to misunderstandings and epistemic gaps regarding how persecutory language, which would otherwise have little significance for prosocial religious adherents, becomes meaningful for a religious community. Drawing from the cognitive science of religion (CSR), this article develops and explores the hypothesis that for some religious communities, discursive attacks on others become meaningful when they center on dangerous accusations. Dangerous accusations portray the other as capable of mystical harm and, when made by cultural authorities, become socially accepted truths if repeated during rituals of veridiction. This article shows that dangerous accusations are at the heart of religious hate propaganda and exploit cognitive biases for threat perception, coalitional psychology, and costly signaling. Moreover, dangerous accusations can reinforce the social order and maintain social cohesion. Together, an analysis of speech crimes and dangerous accusations shed light on how religious hate propaganda works, how it can offer meaning to religious communities, and how it can justify persecution in certain environments.

“Exile on narrow paths”

The Hungarian word bujdosás originally referred to both exile and travel in general; thus, peregrination was understood as “bujdosás or travel in foreign lands”. This was not without a reason, as public safety, harsh travel conditions and unfamiliar foreign customs made exile and travel similar to each other. The genre of the exile song, which deals with wandering and leaving one’s homeland, already in the Middle Ages was connected to the image of hopelessness caused by leaving and saying farewell, as well as with the encounter with the unfathomable nature of one’s fate. The real model for later Hungarian farewell and exile songs is two poems by Bálint Balassi (cca. 1589). Seventeenth–eighteenth century complaint songs were increasingly concerned with the private sphere, turning more and more towards the lyric self. This is the experience that connects political and religious refugees, people in exile for private reasons, travellers and peregrines. Therefore, the genres of the complaint song and the exile song are markedly present in early modern popular poetry. The genre of exile song occurs with an increasing frequency already in the first half of the seventeenth century. In the early eighteenth century, the emigration waves following the end of the Rákóczi Insurgence turned exile into an everyday experience for both the exiled and those staying behind. Biblical reminiscences and the exodus motif known from the Old Testament were increasingly frequent, at times even at the expense of description of personal life. The exile song is an important and complex genre in Hungarian migration literature. These songs discuss central questions of several centuries, from fleeing personal problems to religious and political persecution, from the peregrine student’s desire for freedom to the risks taken for one’s worldview. They present all this in an empathetic, personal and rewritable way, constantly modifying the model at the same time.