Secular Tradition Research Articles

The Reconciliation Policy Factory in the Mediterranean Area: Transitional Justice as a Model for Managing a Violent Past (Part II)

The Maghreb space was and remains a specific one, conservative and little affected by European democratic processes, despite the fact that it has secular traditions with European states, especially with France, Spain and Italy. The last decades of the 20th century have radically changed the mentality of the class politics of this region, including thanks to external factors, but also internal ones, dictated by the visions of the new generation influenced by Western democratic values. However, the reconciliation process of the Maghreb countries’ societies cannot be viewed outside of the evolutionary processes that strongly influenced the respective political regimes and produced major effects on the progressive changes in the interest of the citizen. At the same time, we cannot examine the respective societies as a package, each of them having its own traditions, be it political, legal, cultural or social. In such conditions, the practice accumulated by the Maghreb countries in the implementation of transitional justice, the final objective being national reconciliation, is of increased interest for post-conflict societies, including the Republic of Moldova.

Traditions of the Independence Day Celebrations in Poland and the Baltic States

The system of public holidays and rituals developed by people is an important indication of the transformation of the spiritual culture of each European nation. At the same time, they return to the origins – the historical past and declare the vectors of development for the future. The article is aimed at the investigation and analysis of the typology of the formation of state independence holidays in Poland and the Baltic states, correlating it with key, fateful moments in the history of each nation. Poland has rebuilt radically all spheres of material and spiritual life after the fall of the communist regime. The formation of society on new democratic essential principles reflects the calendar of festive and commemorative dates of the modern Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It includes major and minor holidays of the liturgical (Catholic) year and secular traditions of various origins. A notable attitude of the Poles is to celebrate officially both religious and important civil anniversaries on the same day. The special historical significance of the Polish Independence Day is given by the chronological reference to the date of the end of the First World War (November 11, 1918). The contemporary holiday culture of Poland is characterized by a symbiosis of ethnic and confessional elements. At the everyday level the state holiday of independence is combined harmoniously with folklore and ethnographic traditions of St. Martin’s Day. Along with Poland, the Baltic countries - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - whose history has a lot in common, have fought radically and consistently with the heritage of the communist past. Song holidays and festivals are of a great significance in preserving the national identity of the Baltic states. Today there are, in fact, two independence holidays in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The first is connected with 1918, when all these republics have gained statehood on the ruins of the Russian Empire, the second one - in honor of the events of 1990-1991, finished with the decay of the USSR. The conducted research has proved that the peoples of Poland and the Baltic states at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries have been able to free themselves from the heritage of the communist past and the totalitarian dictation of the aggressive Russian Federation, becoming full members of the European Union and NATO. The system of currently acting official holidays and rituals can serve as a clear evidence of the radical restructuring of ideology and culture in these countries.

The Role of Religion in Triggering Radicalism in Northern Nigeria

Abstract This paper studies the role of religion in driving radicalism in northern Nigeria, based on the example of Boko Haram. It examines how Islam is instrumentalised by the leaders of the organisation to earn legitimacy, radicalise and mobilise new adherents. It also analyses the ways in which spiritual matters motivate ordinary people’s support for the organisation. It discusses how Muhammad Yusuf and Abubakar Shekau, the two most charismatic leaders of the organisation, exploited religion to justify their violent actions. Furthermore, it traces the methods in which the former utilised religion and the weakness of any secular tradition in northern-Nigerian society, driving a collective identity based on an ‘us versus them’ concept and instrumentalising the sense of humiliation of northern-Nigerian Muslims and the victimising of co-believers.

GENEALOGY OF HADEWIJCH'S CONCEPT OF MINNE: SECULAR AND RELIGIOUS ASPECTS

B a c k g r o u n d . The article is devoted to the Minnemystik of Hadewijch of Brabant in the XIII century. It deals with the genesis of Hadewijch's concept of Minne in its relation to the monastic Cistercian mysticism of Bernard of Clairvaux, William of Saint-Thierry in the XII century and Beatrice of Nazareth in the XIII century. It also considers the conception of theologist and philosopher Richard of Saint-Victor in the XII century. Considering the existing advances of researchers on Hadewijch's Minnemystik, since the XX century, this investigation especially focuses on the primary role of the secular tradition of minnesingers and trobairitz of the mid-XIII century in her texts. M e t h o d s. The main method of the article is a comparative analysis. It is used to find the common meaning of Minne in two traditions: secular and religious minnesingers. The historical-philosophical approach allows us to demonstrate the conceptual link between monastic theology in the XII–XIII centuries and Hadewijch's beguinal Minnemystik. R e s u l t s. The article sheds light on Hadewijch's concept of the Minne and stresses the primary role of the secular and religious conceptions of predecessors and contemporaries in Hadewich's Minnemystik. C o n c l u s i o n . The author underlines that Hadewijch's concept of Minne comes from the secular tradition of minnesingers and, especially, trobairitz. It also derives from the XII-century male and female mystic theology, which follows Augustine. Thus, the concept of the Minne is deeply connected with the notion of Amor and the tradition of "courtly love", and with Caritas and the tradition of "pure love".

Can Commonwealth values be grounded in religion? Resources from the Christian tradition

ABSTRACT Although religion has played a significant historical role in forming the political culture of most Commonwealth members, the Commonwealth has mostly refrained from engaging with religious thought and practice. This article proposes that the core values embodied in the Commonwealth Charter could offer a promising focus for a new engagement between the Commonwealth and the diverse religious traditions represented among its members. It offers a case study of modern Christian political thought to show how one religious tradition might go about constructing a foundation for a constitutional democracy consonant with Christian values, identifying five central themes in Christian political thought that speak to Charter values. It calls for Christian individuals and denominational bodies to signal strong support for the Charter and together with other religious and secular traditions to engage in exploration, critique and dialogue.

Can there be a Godly ethnography? Islamic anthropology, epistemic decolonization, and the ethnographic stance

AbstractCan there be a Godly ethnography? This article explores how the epistemic entailments of this question trouble our taken‐for‐granted notions about what decolonizing anthropology demands. Disciplinary decolonization aims at more‐just futures through interrogating Eurocentric ways of knowing and approaching marginalized histories and perspectives as good to think with, not merely about. I argue that far from being a radical challenge, such decolonizing calls are internal to a secular liberal anthropology. The ethical norms they embed take paradigmatic form in the ethnographic stance and its imperative to take difference seriously as a way toward self‐transformation. This stance needs to itself be provincialized as belonging to secular traditions of critical inquiry and their attendant emancipatory politics. By contrast, a Godly ethnography, as put forth in the 1980s call for an “Islamic anthropology” by some Muslim scholars working within a broader Islamization of knowledge movement, is a more radical challenge to the discipline. Here, the study of human differences is oriented neither towards self‐determination nor solidarity but towards divine devotion. Indeed, Islamic anthropology's transcendent telos is difficult to reconcile with the secular ethic of “taking seriously” motivating call for epistemic decolonization. This difficulty necessitates more‐carefully disentangling the question of disciplinary decolonization from political liberation, asking what happens the day after epistemic decolonization.

Hindu Milliyetçiliği ve Hindistan’da Yükselen İslam Kaşıtlığı

The weakening of the secular tradition, which has been influential in Indian political life since its inception, and the political rise of the Hindu right culminated in the overwhelming mandate of the Hindu nationalist BJP led by Narendra Modi in the 2014 elections. In 2014, the Hindutva ideology that the BJP was fuelled by had the opportunity to spread to all segments of society. As the BJP consolidated its political support from the community in 2019, it became even more prominent as a widespread worldview in India. Backed by the power of Hindutva supporters, the BJP systematically and deliberately targets the non-Hindu population, especially Muslims. Hindutva ideology, the Hindu right wing's ideology of ethnoreligious exclusion, has begun to affect Muslims through political decisions taken by the government and socially triggered acts of oppression and violence, often with the government's deliberate silence. This study discusses the historical and intellectual origins of the Hindutva ideology to reveal the current trends of the BJP's Islamophobic policies through a literature review. In this study, in which the current tendencies of the BJP's Islamophobic policies are tried to be revealed by reviewing the literature, the historical and intellectual origins of the Hindutva ideology are mentioned. The article also analyses the role of the media, which the Modi government uses for its main interests, in fuelling Islamophobia through misinformation and the discourse of 'corona jihad’, particularly in the aftermath of the global Covid-19 pandemic. Ultimately, it is argued that the anti-Islamic policies in contemporary India - even though they have come to light with the BJP's rule - should be seen as the social and political projections of the Hindutva ideology, which sees India's ethnic and religious diversity as a threat rather than an opportunity and which was 'constructed' long before the BJP.

The Transformation of Secularism and the BJP’s Hindu Nationalism

Since Modi came into power in 2014, secularism has significantly retreated in India’s State machinery, institutions and political discourse. Exploring the history of secularism after India’s independence, it can be concluded that India has never achieved a complete separation between the State and the religion. On the contrary, the State has rebuilt its relationship with religion by social reforms. Secularism advocated by the Indian National Congress was a mixture of both Nehru’s ideal of separation between the State and the religion and Gandhi’s ideal of religious tolerance. On many issues the latter’s stand is similar to what the Hindu nationalists argue for. The opportunistic strategy of the Congress on religion-related issues since the late 1970s further opened the door for Hindu communalism. By stigmatizing and redefining the secularism framed by the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reconstructed a political discourse about India being a secular State based on Hindu nationalism. At present, the Congress has no intention of reviving the Nehru-style tradition of secularism and other regional parties once advocating secularism have abandoned the ideal. A rightward shift in Indian party politics is inevitable. Under the BJP’s rule, a secular Indian State based on communal (religious) politics is taking shape.

Review Essay on Jacques Berlinerblau, Secularism: The Basics

Abstract Jacques Berlinerblau’s “Secularism: The Basics” asks how much and what kind of state separation from religion is required to secure the multiple notions of secularism that have come to dominate debates on faith in the global context. By organizing the book around a distinct set of issues, including questions about the meanings of secularism and its appearance in different contexts that benefit liberal democracy, Berlinerblau implicitly gives voice to the continuity of the tradition of secularism for a large segment of the academic field that has been evolving for the last three decades. While opposing secularism as a monocultural phenomenon, he grapples with the normative pre-definition of political secularism that refers to legally binding actions of the secular state that seek to regulate the relationship between itself and religious citizens and between religious citizens.

The Reconciliation Policy Factory in the Mediterranean Area: Transitional Justice as a Model for Managing a Violent Past (Part I)

The Maghreb space was and remains a specific one, conservative and little affected by European democratic processes, despite the fact that it has secular traditions with European states, especially with France, Spain and Italy. The last decades of the 20th century have radically changed the mentality of the class politics of this region, including thanks to external factors, but also internal ones, dictated by the visions of the new generation influenced by Western democratic values. However, the reconciliation process of the Maghreb countries’ societies cannot be viewed outside of the evolutionary processes that strongly influenced the respective political regimes and produced major effects on the progressive changes in the interest of the citizen. At the same time, we cannot examine the respective societies as a package, each of them having its own traditions, be it political, legal, cultural or social. In such conditions, the practice accumulated by the Maghreb countries in the implementation of transitional justice, the final objective being national reconciliation, is of increased interest for post-conflict societies, including the Republic of Moldova.

Signs of ‘New Sincerity’ Literature in Vanessa Dieffenbach’s Novel “The Language of Flowers”

The theme of ‘new sincerity’ in literature is considered on the material of the novel “The Language of Flowers” by the American writer Vanessa Dieffenbach, published in 2011. The relevance of the study lies in the keen interest of literary scholars in the 21st century to the issues of ‘new sincerity’ and florpoetics. It is shown that in Dieffenbach modern novel, these themes are revealed through the reconstruction of the ancient secular tradition and the literary genre “language of flowers”. The author of the article traces the history of the formation of ‘new sincerity’ literature at the end of the XX — early XXI centuries. On the example of V. Dieffenbach’s novel, signs of ‘new sincerity’ literature are revealed in fragments of the novel related to the “language of flowers” (as floral communication between heroes), the botanical theme and the recreation of the novel heroines of the forgotten literary genre history of the 19th century with the corresponding name. It has been established that in the past the “language of flowers” was necessary to veil one’s feelings, and in the present, when people lack live communication, it helps to open up. In the conclusion, the author of the article points out the features that characterize V. Dieffenbach’s novel as the literature of ‘new sincerity’. Among them are the emotionality of the text, the search for new means of communication between people, the appeal to Christian values and the tradition of the “language of flowers”, which helps people communicate with each other.

The Conceptualization of Legal Harmonization Approach in Malaysia

The term "harmonization," derived from "harmony," encompasses various meanings. In the context of this discussion, it refers to the willingness and openness to recognize, acknowledge, adopt, or accept elements produced by man-made laws, modern secular traditions, customs, cultures, and institutions that are perceived to align with or not contradict the worldview, principles, values, teachings, and norms of Islam. Therefore, the conceptual approach to harmonizing legal knowledge and education is a process of actualizing divine imperatives within the legal sphere. Legal harmonization is a fundamental concept in comparative law that has gained prominence on both international and national agendas over the past decade. In Malaysia, numerous efforts have been made to identify similarities among legal rules across different jurisdictions; however, these efforts have faced challenges due to a lack of comprehensive understanding regarding the nature and scope of harmonization. This article examines various dimensions of harmonization, treating it as a legal phenomenon rather than merely a process of drafting similar rules. A thorough understanding of harmonization as a legal phenomenon can enhance the evaluation of implementation processes and inform the formulation of new legal initiatives.

The Rhetorical Arts in Late Antique and Early Medieval Ireland, by Brian James Stone

The Rhetorical Arts in Late Antique and Early Medieval Ireland, by Brian James Stone

«Вторая жена» в Дагестане: мотивация брачного поведения и социальное самочувствие

Introduction. The article raises the problem of polygamy, which is relevant for the Dagestan society, as a family and marriage practice, revived in the post-Soviet period of Russian statehood. This practice is negatively perceived by the majority of the population of the republic, despite the fact that it is not becoming less common. The attempt to answer the question of what this is connected with determined the main goal of this work - to reveal the opinion of the “second wives” themselves about the reasons for entering into Muslim marriage with a man already connected by family ties, and also to assess their social well-being in the context of the situation that has developed for them. Aspects of society of negative attitudes and problems that they have to face as a result of the chosen strategy of marital behavior. Methods. The article uses the results of the author's sociological surveys: a mass survey conducted in 2021 in the Republic of Dagestan (N=507) on a representative sample (taking into account such social characteristics of respondents as age, education, place of residence, attitude to religion, income level, social status), as well as a semi-structured interview among Dagestan women who are in the status of "second wife" (N=29). Results of research and its discussion. According to the results of the study, it was found that the women surveyed argued their decision to start a family with a married man by the desire to have a child in a legal, from the point of view of Islam, marriage union. The motivation for entering into a Muslim marriage in the status of a “second wife” is also a feeling of love, as well as the conviction of the legality of such a marriage and its equivalence with a marriage formalized according to secular traditions. The results of the interview testify to the perception of their social status by “second wives” that is adequate to the realities, which is determined by the negative attitude towards polygamy in Dagestan society and the low responsibility of Muslim husbands, who often do not follow the norms of Islamic ethics regarding family life in the format of polygamy. Many of the respondents would not dare to take this step again if there was an opportunity to return to the past. The subject of frustration is the difficulty resulting from the inability or unwillingness of Muslim husbands to equally distribute financial and emotional resources equally between wives and children in both families. In view of this, the problem of infringement of the rights of "second wives", their children and, in general, polygamy is being actively discussed in the socio-political and scientific circles of Dagestan society.

How Chanting Relates to Cognitive Function, Altered States and Quality of Life.

Chanting is practiced in many religious and secular traditions and involves rhythmic vocalization or mental repetition of a sound or phrase. This study examined how chanting relates to cognitive function, altered states, and quality of life across a wide range of traditions. A global survey was used to assess experiences during chanting including flow states, mystical experiences, mindfulness, and mind wandering. Further, attributes of chanting were assessed to determine their association with altered states and cognitive benefits, and whether psychological correlates of chanting are associated with quality of life. Responses were analyzed from 456 English speaking participants who regularly chant across 32 countries and various chanting traditions. Results revealed that different aspects of chanting were associated with distinctive experiential outcomes. Stronger intentionality (devotion, intention, sound) and higher chanting engagement (experience, practice duration, regularity) were associated with altered states and cognitive benefits. Participants whose main practice was call and response chanting reported higher scores of mystical experiences. Participants whose main practice was repetitive prayer reported lower mind wandering. Lastly, intentionality and engagement were associated with quality of life indirectly through altered states and cognitive benefits. This research sheds new light on the phenomenology and psychological consequences of chanting across a range of practices and traditions.

Patricia Crone and the “secular tradition” of early Islamic historiography: An exegesis

AbstractPatricia Crone famously identified three distinct sub‐traditions within early Islamic historiography: a “religious tradition”, a “tribal tradition”, and a “secular tradition”. Whereas the first is extremely unreliable and the second is partially unreliable regarding early Islamic history in general (c. 600–750 CE), Crone argued that the third provides “a coherent historical account”, at least as far back as the beginning of the Umayyad period (c. 661 CE). Some confusion has since arisen over the identity of this “secular tradition” (thanks to Crone's famously terse and technical style), but a close examination of her work reveals that she had in mind state‐oriented chronology and prosopography (i.e., basic political information on early Muslim caliphs, governors, judges, and commanders) or proto‐taʾrīkh. Crone argued that this material (which mostly survives intermingled with the religious and tribal traditions in extant Islamic literary sources) derives via continuous written transmission from rudimentary state‐oriented chronicles and prosopographies composed by pro‐Marwanid Muslim writers in eighth‐century Syria. Although these proto‐tawārīkh are now lost, Crone argued that their eighth‐century existence can be inferred from contemporaneous references thereto in extant Christian chronicles—a conclusion strengthened by more recent scholarship. For this reason, the “secular tradition” is substantially more reliable than the other traditions within early Islamic historiography, which underwent a protracted process of oral transmission and consequent mutation, distortion, and growth.

Peculiarities of plastic image creation in Maria Coțofan’s tapestry

The creation of the painter Maria Coțofan inscribes in the history of decorative arts of the Republic Moldova an original page in which, significant motifs of everyday reality and important iconographic landmarks, typical of popular plastic creation, blend artistically and harmoniously. It contributes to the conception of works where tradition and contemporaneity work aesthetically together. In some works, the traditional motifs of the popular carpet, such as those of anthropomorphic, aviomorphic, arboreal, phytomorphic and geometric origin, being judiciously revalued, endow the image with distinguished aesthetic expressions and valuable messages. In others, the memorable iconographic landmarks of Orthodox Christian and historical defense architecture serve as a starting point in the composition of images and highlight artistically the non-transient essences and local cultural values. In the protagonist’s works, the morphological and syntactic repertoire of plastic realization of image completes a wide range of means and processes, which originate both in the secular tradition of technological weaving of folk carpets, as well as in the various plastic paradigms, whose conceptual and aesthetic coordinates are rooted in the stylistics of European avant-garde movements and in the unique local stylistic strands of tapestry art from the second half of the twentieth century.

Remembering Italian America: Memory, Migration, Identity

Remembering Italian America: Memory, Migration, Identity

『진묵조사유적고』와 『전경』에 나타난 진묵 설화의 차이에 대한 재해석

Concerning the differences in the tales between the Investigation of Historical Remains of Patriarch Jinmuk (hereafter, IHRPJ), as well as those which appear in Jeungsanist Thought and Daesoon Thought, previous studies view such differences as Jeungsan’s intentional modification of the original intent of the narratives or as indicating differences in beliefs and values. This style of interpretation seeks to reconcile both Korean Buddhism and Jeungsanist and Daesoon Thought based on the premise that the former and the latter two exhibit differences in values. This study accepts the above view of the differences in description according to values. However, the differences between the tales of Jinmuk that appears in IHRPJ versus those in The Canonical Scripture can be approached from a new perspective, i.e., the differences that exist between literary and oral traditions; rather than only stemming from potential differences in the world views espoused by Buddhism and Daesoon Thought. These refer to the IHRPJ, which was constructed first as literary narratives in the 19th century; however, there was also folklore that had been handed down from the 18th century. As a result of examining the relationship between Jinmuk and Bonggok via this interpretive horizon, the contents of the IHRPJ are found to reflect the values and intentions of the intellectual class, such those held by Master Cho-ui and Kim Ki-jong, whereas oral traditions can be seen as a reflection of the hopes of the people of the late Joseon Dynasty. Jeungsan should also be interpreted as having utilized folklore in his teachings. Meanwhile, the circumstances and intentions behind publishing the IHRPJ are analyzed in the context of the text’s historical background and the relationship between Confucianism and Buddhism during the 16th through 19th centuries. In particular, through the Compilations of Wandang and the collection of writings of Buddhist monastics, I have evaluated that Confucianism needed to purify and correct materials according to the ideology of the times in order to promote a spirit of morality and courtesy. Likewise, Buddhist Master Cho-Ui also embellished records to benefit Buddhism and deleted oral records that could harm the reputation of Buddhism. On the other hand, when viewing Records of Shrine Renovation and existing oral traditions, it can be shown that some Jinmuk tales existed in the 18th century which were not included in the IHRPJ. Thereby, Jeungsan’s description of Jinmuk tales can be reappraised as accepting the oral secular tradition that conveyed the wishes of the people. In other words, compared to the IHRPJ, which reflects only the harmonious content of Confucianism and Buddhism due to political and social factors, The Canonical Scripture reflects oral traditions that were widespread during the late Joseon Dynasty. As evidence, it can be suggested that there are many narratives about the relationship between Jinmuk and Bonggok that center on Bonggok’s jealousy and the murder of Jinmuk. Jeungsan aimed to encompass people of all classes according to their minds and wills rather than their political positions or statuses. Therefore, Jeungsan did not need to rewrite the narrative content that had been passed down via oral tradition. Instead he embraced those narratives as a projection of the voices of the people.

Antimicrobial potentials of Lantana camara montevidensis leaf extract on wounds infected with Candida isolates

The use of medicinal plants for therapeutic purposes is a secular tradition in different cultures. The emergence of antimicrobial resistance among microorganisms calls for alternative sources. Plants having antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant fungi may be considered good assets. In this study, we investigated the effect of different concentrations of Lantana camara leaf extract against Candida isolates from infected wounds in vitro and in vivo using animal models. Aqueous and methanol extraction was done using Soxhlet apparatus. Candida albicans isolates associated with wound infections were used for the study. Antifungal susceptibility testing was done using the E-Test strips. Male Wistar rats were used for the study. The rats were anesthetized before incision wounds were made. The rats were treated with 100mg/mL, 50mg/mL and 25mg/mL concentration of extract topically. The skin tissues of the sacrificed rats were obtained for histological examination using Haematoxylin and eosin technique. The susceptibility rate of the Candida isolates ranged from (0.0% - 40.0%). Rats treated with 100mg/mL methanol extract had best mean wound contractions of 70.3±0.58 with damaged tissue repair. Methanol extract of Lantana camara leaf had antimicrobial activity and topical healing effect on Candida infected wounds. It could be used as an alternative for Candida wound management.