LAW, RELIGION, AND SOCIETY IN CHINA: A CONTESTED TERRAIN

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua T. Mauldin
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Revolution ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Chinese Society ◽  
Rapid Changes ◽  
Reform And Opening Up ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
Opening Up

AbstractThe tumult of the twentieth century had a great impact on the role of religion in Chinese society. Antipathy toward religion reached its height in China during the Cultural Revolution, one of the few times in history when religion was almost completely wiped out in a single country. Religion in China has experienced a resurgence since the beginning of the Reform and Opening Up period in 1978. With the renewal of religious practice, new proposals have been put forward for the role of religious ideas in public life. In addition to the endurance of Marxist and liberal conceptions of the place of religion in society, new voices have emerged, arguing for return to Confucianism as the source of moral vitality in public life, or advancing Christian public theology as a moral resource for individuals adrift and alienated by the rapid changes of a modernizing economy. These realities have reshaped debates about the protection of religious freedom in China. This article introduces these new social and discursive realities and sets the stage for the articles that follow.

Geschenkte Freiheit. Von welchen Voraussetzungen lebt der demokratische Staat?

2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 248-265
Author(s):  
Heinrich Bedford-Strohm
Keyword(s):  
Public Life ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Civil Religion ◽  
The Other ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Discourse Model ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
Secular State

Abstract What are the sources from which the liberal secular state regenerates itself? The article describes four answers: the model of civil religion (1), the »Christian occident« model (2), the discourse model (3) and the model of critical integration (4). Drawing on Habermas' and Rawls' late acknowledgment of the important role of religion for public life, the article shows how the model of critical integration of discursive reason and religion is a vital basis for the regeneration of a democratic state. The idea of freedom as a gift is shown to be one example of the contributions public theology can make to the debate on the sources of regeneration of the democratic state. Honoring the dignity of the human person as something given not earned, means building the moral infrastructure of society not on merit but on gratuitousness and the free engagement for the other.

THE RIGHT TO RITUAL SLAUGHTER IN AFRICA: A COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 470-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enyinna S. Nwauche
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Public Interests ◽  
Constitutional Development ◽  
The Right ◽  
Role Of Religion

AbstractUsing examples of ritual slaughter recognized by different religions in Africa, this paper examines the regulated and unregulated exercise of the right to ritual slaughter as a manifestation of the right to freedom of religion in three constitutional traditions in Africa.This article commences with an evaluation of the existence of the right to ritual slaughter either as a freestanding right or a derivative right from the right to freedom of religion in the bills of rights of African constitutions. The article argues that the ritual slaughter at this stage of constitutional development in Africa is at best a derivative right partly anchored on the communal dimensions of the right to freedom of religion. The article closely examines the bearers and content of the right to ritual slaughter through a brief overview of the practices of ritual slaughter recognized by African traditional religion and Islam. In addition, the syncretic nature of religious practice in Africa identified as the multiple or concurrent witness to different faiths is also considered to provide a realistic account of ritual slaughter in Africa.Since the right to ritual slaughter is identified as a derivative right from the right to freedom of religion, the article examines different constitutional traditions in Africa to determine how religion is conceived in constitutional governance that in turn affects the feasibility of the right to ritual slaughter within constitutional designs and capacity of other public interests such as animal welfare to limit the exercise of the right to ritual slaughter.Three constitutional designs of the role of religion in constitutional governance are identified in this regard. The article concludes on a number of points, including the recognition of the importance of the articulation of the human rights that underpin animal welfare concerns and the fact that a regulated right to ritual slaughter appears feasible in a number of African countries.

scholarly journals Hinduism in the News: The Shifting Role of Religion and the Media in Canadian Public Life

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Mann
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
The Media ◽  
Role Of Religion

This article studies Canadian and international newspaper reports from September, 1995, of the Ganesha milk drinking miracle. It analyzes the chronology of the newspaper reports as the story develops from an account of a miracle in the “exotic” East to an account of a miracle also occurring in Canada. The evidence demonstrates an inability on the part of the Canadian news media to view religion as hard news with broad social and political implications. The comparison with international reports demonstrates that the story had a significant political dimension and was viewed as hard news in other parts of the world. The comparison questions the assumed boundaries between the public and private spheres in relation to religion and demonstrates that such boundaries are constructed through power relationships and the news media itself.Cette etude examine des articles canadiens et internationaux parus en septembre 1995 concernant le miracle de la consommation du lait de Ganesha. Elle analyse la chronologie des articles de journaux tenant compte du développement du miracle de l’Orient ‘exotique’ vers le développement de ce même miracle au Canada. La discussion l’analyse fait valoir l’incapacité de la part des médias canadiens de percevoir la religion comme étant au centre des actualités sérieuses ayant des conséquences sociales graves et des implications politiques. La comparaison des rapports internationaux montre que ce sujet a une dimension politique importante et est considéré d’actualit sérieuse. La comparaison remet en question les frontières définissant les sphères publiques et privées en matière de religion et démontre que de telles limites sont construites par l’entremise des relations de pouvoir et des médias eux - mêmes.

scholarly journals Публичное и частное в философии религии Ричарда Рорти

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Khitruk ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Richard Rorty ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Religious Philosophy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Parish Community ◽  
Religious Institutes ◽  
Role Of Religion

The article covers the religious conception in the work of the famous American philosopher Richard Rorty. The author emphasises the secular and finalist views of R. Rorty on the nature of religion, and on the philosopher’s gradual perception of the need for their creative reinterpretation due to the actualisation of the role of religion in intellectual and political spheres. The article uncovers two fundamental constituents of Richard Rorty’s religious philosophy. The first of them is associated with R. Rorty’s perception of the ‘weak thinking’ concept in the writings of Italian philosopher Gianni Vattimo. R. Rorty holds ‘weak thinking’ and ‘kenosis’ to be the key to understanding the possibility of religion in the postmodern era. The second aspect concerns the existence of religion in the public space. Here the distinction between ‘strong’ narratives and ‘weak’ thinking correlates with the politically significant distinction between ‘strong’ religious institutions and private (parish, community) religious practice. Rorty believes that the activity of ‘strong’ religious structures threatens liberal ‘social hope’ on the gradual democratisation of mankind. The article concludes that Richard Rorty’s philosophy of religion presents an original conception of religion in the context of modern temporal humanism; the concept positively evaluates religious experience to the extent that it does not become a basis for theoretical and political manipulations on the part of ‘strong’ religious institutes.

scholarly journals Religious Organizations and Social Transformations in Ukraine: New Vectors of Mutual Influences

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (19) ◽  
pp. 96-98
Author(s):  
Yaroslav Yuvsechko
Keyword(s):  
World View ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Religious Organizations ◽  
Direct Part ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
Political Consolidation ◽  
Role Of Religion

The modern role of religion in society proves that, in a world-view and institutional manifestation, it is capable of performing and successfully fulfilling the functions of social and political consolidation. Church institutions have long been not only present in public life, but often have a direct influence on the activity of power structures. Religious organizations take a direct part in political life, through their influence, widely involve various secular organizations, and sometimes even create them, for the fulfillment of socio-political tasks.

scholarly journals Migration and religiousness

2020 ◽  
pp. 486-493
Author(s):  
Nemanja Vukcevic ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Legislative Framework ◽  
Religious Factor ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Academic Authors ◽  
Role Of Religion

The subject of the research is the relationship between the phenomena of religion and migrations. The problem of their interaction has been inherent in human society since the ancient times; this problem is relevant one in nova days too. The consequences and prospects of development of this complex phenomenon in contemporary society are not sufficiently examined in science yet, especially in Sociology. In the paper, the role of religion in migration processes is studied based on the analysis of various sources, synthesis, induction, analogy, and abstraction. In course of research were analyzed numerous religious treatises, fiction works and classical sociological works, as well as works by foreign and Russian contemporary academic authors. The paper notes that the migration discourse has now shifted from the geographic and demographic to the socio-political domain. Religion has begun to play an important role at all stages of migration, both from the perspective of neoliberal and humanistic approaches. The paper aims to identify the role of the religious factor in the migration process and the role and logic of migration not only in inter-faith but also in intra-faith relations. It is shown that migration either serves as a catalyst for religious feelings and behavior or it strengthens the existing religious identity of migrants and enhances the quality of their religious feelings. The study highlights the need to improve the legislative framework of religious freedom, but also raises the question of how far religious communities can go in the process of advancing religious practice. In this regard, migrations often become a challenge for a secular state. Therefore, it is concluded that only an integrated approach would contribute to solving this problem.

Litigating Religions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher McCrudden
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Religious Schools ◽  
Close Attention ◽  
Legal Context ◽  
Religious Dress ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
Religion In Public Life

Religions are a problem for human rights, and human rights are a problem for religions. And both are problems for courts. This essay presents an interpretation of how religion and human rights interrelate in the legal context, and how this relationship might be reconceived to make this relationship somewhat less fraught. It examines how the resurgent role of religion in public life gives rise to tensions with key aspects of human rights doctrine, including freedom of religion and anti-discrimination law, and how these tensions cannot be considered as simply transitional. The context for the discussion is the increasingly troubled area of human rights litigation involving religious arguments, such as wearing religious dress at work, conscientious objections by marriage registrars, admission of children to religious schools, prohibitions on same-sex marriage, and access to abortion. This essay examines doctrinal developments in these areas, where standoffs between organized religions and human rights advocates in the courts have been common. The essay argues that, if we wish to establish a better dialogue between the contending views, we must first identify a set of recurring problems identifiable in such litigation. But to address these recurring problems requires more than simply identifying these problems and requires changes both in human rights theory and in religious understandings of human rights. The essay argues that, by paying close attention to developments in human rights litigation, we can make theoretical progress.

Religion, Nationalism, and the Politics of Secularism

2015 ◽  
pp. 99-123
Author(s):  
Scott Hibbard
Keyword(s):  
Public Life ◽  
Proper Role ◽  
Modern Politics ◽  
Religion And Nationalism ◽  
Exclusive Or ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Religion In Public Life ◽  
Point Of Departure

This chapter examines the relationship between religion, nationalism, and the state and advocates a truly neutral conception of secularism. The point of departure is an analysis of the recurring debate over the proper role of religion in public life. Particular attention is given to the relationship between religion and nationalism, the secularization thesis, and the reasons religion remains an important part of modern politics. The chapter then turns toward the “politics of secularism,” and the tension between liberal (or ecumenical) secularism in theory and its practice. At issue is whether the secular tradition is invariably exclusive, or whether secularism as implemented has simply failed to live up to its ecumenical promise. The closing section examines this question in light of the justpeace tradition, and offers an endorsement for a re-conceptualized vision of secularism that is genuinely defined by neutrality in matters of religion and belief.

scholarly journals African Christianities and the politics of development from below

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Afe Adogame
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Economic Dimension ◽  
Spiritual Dimension ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Role Of Religion

Religion and development are two ambiguous phenomena, yet we can map their creative interaction and intricate interconnectedness. In public discourse, ideas about development generally undermine the complex role of religion, or it is assumed that religion would be relegated to a matter of private belief in Africa, as secular states burgeoned, or even saw religion as an obstacle to development. Development was largely conceived of primarily in economic terms or as economic development. In contemporary era, the concept of human development has come into vogue, accentuating aspects of people’s lives that go beyond the economic dimension. There is no gainsaying in the fact that religion has been a dynamic entity and remains a growing force in public life in Africa. This article critiques vague definitions of religion and development and contends that human development should be understood as including the religious and spiritual dimension of life. Drawing upon concrete examples from my religious ethnography, the article seeks to explore the ambivalent role of religion in Africa’s development, and Africa’s development within the purview of the everyday lived religious and spiritual dimensions of life.

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