scholarly journals The Politics of Christian Love: Shaping Everyday Social Interaction and Political Sensibilities Among Coptic Egyptians

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 105
Author(s):  
An Van Raemdonck
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Personal Narratives ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Divine Love ◽  
The Status ◽  
Christian Love ◽  
Muslim Majority ◽  
Theological Study ◽  
Political Dimensions

Christian love has historically been subject of extensive theological study but has rarely been studied within anthropology. Contemporary Coptic society receives growing attention over the last two decades as a minority in Egyptian Muslim majority society. An important bulk of this scholarship involves a discussion of the community’s sometimes self-defined and sometimes ascribed characterization as a persecuted minority. Particular attention has gone to how social and political dimensions of minority life lead tochanges in Christian theological understandings This paper builds on these insights and examines how Christian love is experienced, and shapes feelings of belonging, everyday morality and political sensibilities vis-à-vis Muslim majority society. It draws from ethnographic observations and meetings with Copts living in Egypt between 2014–2017. It focuses on three personal narratives that reveal the complex ways in which a theology of love affects social and political stances. An anthropological focus reveals the fluid boundaries between secular and religious expressions of Christian love. Love for God and for humans are seen as partaking in one divine love. Practicing this love, however, shapes very different responses and can lead to what has been described as Coptic ‘passive victim behaviour’, but also to political activity against the status-quo.

scholarly journals Decentering the Status Quo : The Rhetorically Sanctioned Political Engagement of Groen van Prinsterer

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-159
Author(s):  
Jan Adriaan Schlebusch
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Narrative Approach ◽  
Constitutional Democracy ◽  
Strategic Framework ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Status

Abstract In his strategic political positioning and engagement in the nineteenth century, Groen van Prinsterer looked towards both the past and the future. Rhetorically, he appealed to the past as a vindication of the truth and practicality of his anti-revolutionary position. He also expressed optimism for the success of his convictions and political goals in the future. This optimism was reflected in the confidence with which he engaged politically, despite experiencing numerous setbacks in his career. Relying on the phenomenological-narrative approach of David Carr, I highlight the motives and strategies behind Groen’s political activity, and reveal that the past and the future in Groen’s narrative provide the strategic framework for his rhetoric, and the basis for his activism. I accentuate how the emphasis of his narrative shifts away from the status quo and thus enables a type of political engagement that proved historically significant for the early consolidation of the Dutch constitutional democracy.

Ideology, Identity, and the 2014 National Elections

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pradeep K. Chhibber ◽  
Rahul Verma
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Regional Parties ◽  
The Status ◽  
Party Members

The 2014 national elections were an ideological showdown between the main political parties with distinctly different visions offered to Indian voters. The BJP advocated a de-emphasis on statism and recognition whereas the Congress and many regional parties favored the status quo. Voter surveys of the 2014 election provide clear evidence of this ideological divide both among party members and voters of particular parties. The divide was furthered by Narendra Modi, the chief campaigner for the BJP, whose personal appeal was important to the electoral success of the BJP. Consistent with theoretical expectations ideologically motivated voters were more likely to participate in political activity around election time. They are also able to distinguish between the ideological vision offered by the various parties and coalitions.

scholarly journals Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World

2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-136
Author(s):  
Magnus T. Bernhardsson
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Jewish Communities ◽  
Arab Nationalism ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Important Study ◽  
The Status ◽  
Advantageous Position ◽  
Muslim Majority

1n this interesting and well-researched book, Bruce Masters analyses the historyof Chris tian and Jewish communities in the Ottoman Empire's Arabprovinces and how they fared within a Muslim majority and hierarchy. Byand large, this important study is a story of modernization, identity, and ecclesiasticalpolitics that focuses primarily on Christian communities in Aleppo,Syria. The book's main themes are somewhat familiar: How Christian andJewish communities were in an advantageous position to benefit fromincreasing European influence in the Middle East, and how a secular politicalidentity (Arab nationalism) emerged in the Levant. The book's value liesnot in its overarching thesis, but rather in the details of the story and theimpressive research upon which this well-crafted narrative is based.Masters chronicles how the identities of Christians and Jews evolveddue to their increasing contact with western influences, or, as Masters labelsit, "intrusion." The status quo was forever transformed because manyChristians began to distance themselves, economically and socially, fromtheir Muslim neighbors. Masters, a historian who teaches at Connecticut'sWesleyan University, contends that the western intrusion altered Muslimattitudes toward native Christians. In the nineteenth century, local Christianswould serve for some Muslims as "convenient surrogates for the anger thatcould only rarely be expressed directly against the Europeans."Although the Arab provinces experienced serious sectarian strife in thenineteenth century, these antagonisms were, by and large, absent in the ...

scholarly journals Education and Resentment

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-32
Author(s):  
Daniel Anderson ◽  
Susan Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Iterative Process ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Reactive Attitudes ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
Tedious Process

That the world is awash with resentment poses a genuine question for educators. Here, we will suggest that resentment can be better harnessed for good if we stop focusing on people and tribes and, instead, focus on systems: those invisible norms that often produce locked-in structures of social interaction. A “systems lens” is vast, so fixes will have to be an iterative process of reflection, and revision toward a more just system. Nonetheless, resentment toward the status quo may be an important element in keeping that otherwise tedious process going, with the caveat that resentment is only productive when it is combined with reason, and that, therefore, educators, rather than privileging participant reactive attitudes, ought, instead, to promote participant reactive reasoning, as the latter can be a genuine force for both personal and interpersonal growth, while the former might very well do the reverse.

scholarly journals Basic epistemology of biographical research: a review based on the extraordinary life history of a young offender

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. e086
Author(s):  
David Herrera Pastor ◽  
Nick Frost
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Biographical Research ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
Methodological Aspects

This article analyses the basic epistemology of biographical research methodology. This analysis is grounded on the life history of a Moroccan boy who entered Spain illegally, but after being processed by the juvenile justice system, became a social educator. Some methodological aspects of this case are examined, including biographical hermeneutics; the often-confused concepts of 'life story' and 'life history'; the main characteristics of the method, including the usually neglected vision of the 'other'; life as a process; and the idea of subject. The educational, ethical, and political dimensions analysed make visible counter-narratives that question the status quo and pursue social justice.

scholarly journals “Jesus is a Stranger Here”: The Healing Jesus Crusade and its Perception by the Muslim Community of Ede (Southwest Nigeria)

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-141
Author(s):  
Raheem Oluwafunminiyi ◽  
Siyan Oyeweso
Keyword(s):  
Status Quo ◽  
Radical Reactions ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Extant Literature ◽  
The Status ◽  
Southwest Nigeria ◽  
Muslim Majority ◽  
The Town

This article examines the nature of religious interactions in the Muslim stronghold town of Ede in southwest Nigeria between the Muslim majority and the Christian minority. In particular, it examines the conflict that arose between Muslim and Christian groups in the town over the famous Christian programme, “Healing Jesus Crusade” in 2011. The programme represents the height of religious misunderstanding in Ede as the situation almost degenerated into open conflict between Muslims and Christians during this period. This article looks at the fundamental and immediate causes of the conflict, as well as the nature of the conflict, its implications for religious interactions in Ede, and the methods adopted in resolving the conflict. Based on oral interviews and the use of extant literature, this article contends that the crisis surrounding the “Healing Jesus Crusade” was a manifestation of the “aggressive” Christian evangelism in the Muslim-dominated town of Ede, and the “radical” reactions of the Muslim majority to maintain the status quo of the dominance of Islam in the town.

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