Universal Religion Research Articles

Some Aspects of Malay‑Muslim Ethnicity in Peninsular Malaysia

Islam is a universal religion which transcends ethnic and national boundaries. Recognition of this fact does not, however, preclude the perception of religion as an essential element of ethnic identity. In the context of ethnicity in Malaysia, it is more accurate to attach the hyphenated ethnic label Malay-Muslim to the com munity popularly known as Malay because their ethnic identity is exclusively tied to Islam. This insight leads us to new perceptions of various aspects of socio-cultural, political, ,and economic develop ments in contemporary Malaysia.

Islamic Conversion and Social Change in a Senegalese Village

Religious conversion is a highly varied phenomenon. In American culture one generally thinks of conversion as an awakened personal commitment to one's own (or a similar) religious tradition, as in the case of the rebirth of a nominal Christian. Conversion also may serve as the basis for recruitment to a movement which defines and constitutes one's tradition anew. The prophetic movement among the eighteenth century Seneca Iroquois so richly portrayed in the work of Wallace (I 969) is an example of this latter possibility. Conversion also may facilitate change across cultural boundaries as in the case of conversion from a traditional to a universal religion. At the symbolic level, conversion can be dehned as a change in one's mode of attachment to sacred symbols or a replacement of one set of sacred symbols by another. By change in mode of attachment I mean change in feelings, perception, and communication regarding one's sacred symbols. A nominal Christian does not convert to a new set of religious symbols but rather changes in his or her internal commitment to existing symbols. A West African converting from his ancestral religion to a universal religion such as Christianity or Islam may believe that he is worshipping the same deity before conversion as after, yet through conversion acquires a broader knowledge of this deity and access to new ritual methods for communicating with him. Conversion also may be discontinuous in the sense that traditional symbols are wholly rejected and replaced by new ones. One good example of this comparatively unusual pattern would be the conversion to Puritan Christianity by certain New England Indian groups in the seventeenth century (Salisbury I974; Segal and Stineback I977). Most historical examples of conversion, including the one analyzed in this article, involve a mixture cf symbolic continuity, and the introduction of new modes of attachment as well as new sacred symbols. Conversion does not occur at the symbolic level alone. The sym-

Matriarchy Study Group Papers

The Matriarchy Study Group is a group of women in London who came together in 1976 to examine the basis of assumptions arising from a culture based on patriarchal religion. They are attempting to look beyond patriarchy at different forms of social organization, to indicate still-existing evidence for a previous universal Goddess religion. They hope through their work to influence the present, by encouraging women to take control of our spirits as well as our bodies. They believe that to do so is essential if we are to overcome the oppression that results from male-based conditioning.

Missionaries and West African Nationalism

T HE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT in Africa was a product of pleas by Africans for equality. Nationalism was basically a secondary aspiration until Africans were convinced that equality with Europeans was not going to be achieved. The basic characteristic of so-called African nationalist movements was concept of equality. Ever-pervasive, concept of equality was one of reasons for problems encountered by early independent African states of late 1950s and 1960s of African nationalism. The results of missionary activities in Africa were paradoxical. In propagating gospel, although Europeans paved way for their political domination and imposition of their culture, African nationalism turned out to be a consequence. Sithole believed that the church has only been a blind instrument in whole process of African nationalism.l Virgil E. Robinson credited nationalism with being antithesis of Christian activities in Africa.2 Not only were missions antithetical to nationalism, but their activities bore dual results: they united and divided. Nationalism expanded and reduced loyalties in Africa. It reduced tribal or ethnic alliances. Bonds of nationalism became nucleus of much ethnic antagonism.3 European missionaries in Africa were symbol of economic uplift, private enterprise, technology, Christian values, Western schools, hospitals and churches.4 Nevertheless, Christian mission, one of largest supporters of European rule, unwittingly began process of decolonization. Specifically, Christian missionaries attempted, in many parts Of West Africa, to replace and supplement African traditional religions. The substitute was a universal religion which encompassed and attempted to merge all ethnic groups in West Africa. Without a doubt, this heightened communication on continent, but it also pitted ethnic groups against one another in a new kind of strife.5 The church was one of few vocal forums of rebellion until beginning of African printing presses of late nineteenth century.6 One of missionaries' initial maneuvers was to introduce a common European language into different native language areas. As this occurred, problem of language barriers began to decline. (The common language was

Editor's Note

In the Fall 1973 issue of Chinese Studies in Philosophy we presented translations of some selected writings of Professor T'ang Chün-i, whose Confucianistic-Humanistic philosophy is well known in Asia and beginning to be appreciated in this country. In this sequel to that issue we present Professor T'ang's expositions of his thoughts on the reconstruction of the humanistic spirit, on the development of the Chinese humanistic spirit, as well as on the relation between cultural consciousness and moral reason. In these writings Professor T'ang argues that a universal religion can be founded on the moral conscience of man and that specifically it can be founded on the moral nature or mind of man as understood by Confucianism. He also presents his critique of some Western and Buddhistic philosophical doctrines or views in a framework of distinctions between the proper humanistic thought on the one hand and the super-, non-, and subhumanistic thoughts on the other.

Historical periods, trends, and cycles in international relations

One of the most prominent features of Quincy Wright's comprehensive approach to the study of international relations was his knowledge of historical events and scholarly thought through the ages and his emphasis on historical continuity and development. The first volume of A Study of War was devoted to the history of war, and included analyses of animal, primitive, traditional, and modern warfare, along with special chapters on the character of modern and contradictions of modern civilization. Wright was particularly interested in discovering ways of analyzing and measuring historical events and trends objectively. He also believed that empirical studies could not be very fruitful unless the scholar knew history well unless he acquired a sense of the continuity of human affairs, of change, and of the uniqueness of every nation, every period, and every individual; disclosures of apparent repetitions; light upon the causes of human action; emphasis on the role of contingency; a sense of the influence of choice and of values in human affairs (historians are seldom materialists); and standards of evaluation (Wright, 1955, pp. 86-87). In his classes Quincy Wright often astonished his students by the depth and detail of his historical knowledge, which he used frequently to illustrate his major points. He focused especially on differing periods and trends. For example, he divided the history of modern military techniques into four periods: (1) experimental adaptation of firearms and religious wars, 1450-1648; (2) professional armies and dynastic wars, 1648-1789; (3) industrialization and nationalist wars the capitalization of war-1789-1914; and (4) the airplane and totalitarian war, 1914 on (Wright, 1942, pp. 294-303). His students in the late 1930s were introduced to Arnold J. Toynbee's four phases in the rise and fall of a civilization (Heroic Age, Time of Troubles, Universal State, and the rise of a new Universal Religion in the time of decline). Although the coming of World War II heightened his students' anxiety about the prospects for Western civilization, Wright continued his studies and consultant activities apparently without loss of faith or hope in mankind and in ultimate peace. Three aspects of his concerns and research interests inspired my own work: predicting war as a function of attitudinal factors (Klingberg, 1941); predicting the end of war as a function of casualties (Klingberg, 1966); and predicting national policies of expansion or withdrawal on the basis of national moods (Klingberg, 1952). In terms of today's concerns a number of hypotheses emerging from these studies testify to the permanence of Wright's place both in methodology and in substantive focus. For instance, one's interest in the end of fighting in Vietnam might lead one to refer to Wright's historical data of combat duration

Islamic Political Thought and Cultural Revival in Modern Indonesia

Views of Islamic political thought, at least there are three currents of thought among Indonesian Muslim intellectuals; formalistic currents, currents substantivistik, and fundamentalist currents. One view of current formalistic, he said Islam is a universal religion and overall (total). He emphasized the power of God on earth and as the views of Islamic fundamentalism, the danger of "Westoxication" or "jahili modern society". For this group, Islam must be instituted in order to be a force for liberation in this world. This institutionalization will pave the way for the formation of modern society Qur'anis.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v2i4.820

"Religion" in Non-Western Cultures?

I wish to suggest in this brief communication that most of the best-known anthropological writings on 'religion in non-Western cultures contain as their central assumption a proposition that is based on an error in reasoning. The proposition is that can usefully be thought of as existing universally, and the error in reasoning consists of an unacknowledged and apparently unrecognized switch of meaning for the term religion in the middle of the argument. My thesis may be summarized as follows: when the term religion appears in the ethnographies of non-Western peoples, there is always an implicit comparison with the West. But ethnographers use one set of criteria for determining outside the West and another set of criteria for determining in the West. If the ethnographer were to use the same criteria for the West that he uses for the non-West, the effect would be a serious undermining of current notions regarding the universality of religion. Let me now try to make a very brief inventory of the various ways in which the term religion is used in the social science literature. The one common denominator all usages seem to encompass is that of a relatively high degree of emotional investment on the part of the social actor. Following Howard Becker (1957), I shall call this the realm of the sacred.2 Within this realm there are two major types of action: what I shall call nacirema and sacred institution.

Adat and Islam: An Examination of Conflict in Minangkabau

The area, which lies on the west coast of Sumatra, is one of the most Islamized regions in Indonesia. At the same time it is famous for its strong attachment to its adat (body of local customs), which, it has commonly been assumed, stands opposed to islamic law. It is this contradiction that causes Bosquet to find the case remarkable paradox in the sociology of Islam(1) and Van Ronkel to ponder how the antithesis between adat and Islam, between the local custom and the universal religion, can make a synthesis that becomes the foundation of the Minangkabau character.(2) I wish to consider here the extent to which the eternal conflict between adat and Islam exists, whether it creates a situation in which a certain reconciliation can be achieved, and how the people of the area themselves see a situation in which the apparently opposing systems are able to impose simultaneously their patterns of behavior and standards of values. The question, it seems to me, involves the whole problem of the position and function of conflict in society.

Seeking Universal ReligionThe Pilgrimage of Faith in the World of Modern Thought. Douglas Clyde Macintosh

Previous articleNext article No AccessCritical ReviewsSeeking Universal Religion The Pilgrimage of Faith in the World of Modern Thought. Douglas Clyde Macintosh Henry N. WiemanHenry N. Wieman Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Religion Volume 12, Number 3Jul., 1932 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/481233 Views: 2Total views on this site PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Heroic Lives in Universal Religion: A Manual for Religious Instruction in Junior Grades. Albert R. Vail , Emily McClellan Vail

<i>Heroic Lives in Universal Religion: A Manual for Religious Instruction in Junior Grades</i>. Albert R. Vail , Emily McClellan Vail

Serapis, Isis, and Mithras as Essays towards a Universal Religion

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

Tests of a Universal Religion

Tests of a Universal Religion