scholarly journals A LOOK AT RELIGION IN JAPAN

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-23
Author(s):  
Reimon Bachika
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
Religious Institution ◽  
Additional Note ◽  
The Future ◽  
Yasukuni Shrine ◽  
Popular Image

Seen in terms of culture, the theme of religion and politics in Japan, as everywhere else, is complicated, the more so because religion in this country is highly complicated. This essay—the aim of which is descriptive, not analytic—is an attempt at drawing a concrete picture of Shinto and Buddhism, both of which incorporate multiple strands of traditional religion. It is these that have shaped Japanese religiosity and culture. Politically prominent features are put up in front so to speak: that is, impressions of a visit to the Yasukuni Shrine and a note on Yasukuni as a religious institution. An account of religious pluralism and the ‘religious division of labor’ constitute the central part, followed by a section on the characteristics of religion in Japan. Further, because religiously and politically momentous, an additional note is included about the popular image of Japan’s imperial throne. Finally, to emphasize the significance of religion, the essay ends with a word of hope for the future of religion.

scholarly journals Women in Igbo traditional religion and politics: prospects for women’s political leadership role in Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Michael Muonwe
Keyword(s):  
Political Leadership ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
Present Situation ◽  
Leadership Role ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
Popular Opinion ◽  
Western Countries ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future

The struggle for political visibility, participation, and leadership of women has been a recurrent issue in all societies, including the most developed democracies. Whereas an appreciable improvement has been recorded in many western countries, Africa still ranks low generally as far as gender inclusivity in political leadership is concerned. Some scholars on Igbo society and culture cling to the popular opinion of blaming this scenario on colonialism. Such scholars usually paint an image of an ideal, precolonial, egalitarian Igbo society where women were more or less accorded more political and leadership space than in the present. In their opinion, reclaiming the past is a sure way to better gender inclusivity in politics. This paper is designed to interrogate critically such images of the past Igbo society. The author approaches the paper with the belief that such romantic view of the past, if not cautiously guided and critically appraised, may well result in nostalgia for a past that never was. The paper aims at hermeneutical-critical reading of women’s visibility and/or invisibility in the pre-colonial Igbo political leadership landscape, with the view of presenting a possible link of the present situation with the past, as well as tracing from this a path for the future of women’s political visibility, participation, and leadership in Nigeria. Keywords: Igbo, women, politics, leadership, colonialism

International Human Rights, Religious Pluralism and the Future of Chieftaincy in Ghana

Exchange ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 360-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abamfo Atiemo
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Religious Commitment ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The Future ◽  
New Nation ◽  
Religious Reasons ◽  
Customary Practices

AbstractA revolutionary development that resulted from Africa's experience of colonialism was the emergence of the nation-state made up of previously separate ethnic states. By the end of the colonial period the rulers of these ethnic states — the chiefs — had lost most of their real political and judicial powers to the political leaders of the new nation-states. But in spite of the loss of effective political power the chiefs continued to wield moral influence over members of their ethnic groups. The limited reach of the nation-state in the post-colonial era has also meant a dependence on the chiefs, in many cases, for aspects of local governance. This, for example, is the case of Ghana. However, in the modern context of religious pluralism the intimate bond between the chiefs and the traditional religion exacerbates tension in situations of conflict between people's loyalty to the traditional state and their religious commitment. In some cases, chiefs invoke customary laws in attempt to enforce sanctions against individuals who refuse to observe certain customary practices for religious reasons. But this has implications for the human rights of citizens. This article discusses the implications of this situation for the future of chieftaincy as well as prospects for the protection of the human rights of citizens who for religious reasons choose to stay away from certain communal customary practices.

scholarly journals THE YASUKUNI SHRINE PROBLEM IN THE EAST ASIAN CONTEXT: RELIGION AND POLITICS IN MODERN JAPAN

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-251
Author(s):  
Okuyama Michiaki
Keyword(s):  
East Asian ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Documentary Films ◽  
Court Cases ◽  
War Criminals ◽  
Chinese Official ◽  
Asian Context ◽  
Yasukuni Shrine ◽  
Asian People

The problem of issues surrounding Yasukuni Shrine is one of the main topics in religion and politics in contemporary Japan. This paper tries to approach the Yasukuni Shrine problem, first by contextualizing this problem in the East Asian settings, then by reviewing the recent court cases surrounding Yasukuni Shrine, and finally by commenting on two documentary films focusing on this problem. Examining the reactions by the Chinese government to the visits paid by Japanese politicians since the mid-1970s shows that these visits, to the place where the class A war criminals are enshrined, has been regarded in the Chinese official view as offensive to the victims of the aggressive wars of Japan. The recent court cases targeting mainly the former Prime Minister Koizumi’s repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine are worth special attention because they have involved Koreans and Taiwanese besides Japanese as the plaintiffs. These cases have presented constitutional points of dispute for both Japanese and other Asian people. These situations have set the backdrop of the production and screening of the documentary films, Annyong, Sayonara (2005), and Yasukuni (2007). These two films illustrate not only the current problem of Yasukuni Shrine but also the surrounding setting of this problem in East Asia.

The Secularization Debate

2020 ◽  
pp. 37-45
Author(s):  
Ronald F. Inglehart
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Church Attendance ◽  
Belief System ◽  
Religious Attendance ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
Religious Competition ◽  
The World

Well into the 20th century, leading social thinkers argued that religious beliefs reflected a prescientific worldview that would disappear as scientific rationality spread throughout the world. Though the creationism of traditional religion did give way to evolutionary worldviews, this failed to discredit religion among the general public. Religious markets theory argues that the key to flourishing religiosity is strong religious competition, but recent research found no relationship between religious pluralism and religious attendance. The individualization thesis claims that declining church attendance does not reflect declining religiosity; subjective forms of religion are simply replacing institutionalized ones. But empirical evidence indicates that individual religious belief is declining even more rapidly than church attendance. Secularization’s opponents hold that humans will always need religion. This claim seems true if it is broadened to hold that humans will always need a belief system. Norris and Inglehart argue that as survival becomes more secure, it reduces the demand for religion.

scholarly journals Religion and Politics in Africa: The Future of “The Secular”

2014 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 83-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Abbink
Keyword(s):  
Identity Politics ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
Philosophical Argument ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Public Spheres ◽  
The Public ◽  
African Populations ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Secular State

This essay discusses the continued importance that religion holds in African life, not only in terms of numbers of believers, but also regarding the varieties of religious experience and its links with politics and the “public sphere(s)”. Coinciding with the wave of democratization and economic liberalization efforts since about 1990, a notable growth of the public presence of religion and its political referents in Africa has been witnessed; alongside “development”, religion will remain a hot issue in the future political trajectory of the continent. Its renewed presence in public spheres has also led to new understandings of what religion means and how it figures into both “world-making” and identity politics. This will prolong the challenges associated with the role and status of religion in the “secular state model” found in most African countries. Can these states, while “besieged” by believers, maintain neutrality among diverse worldviews, and if so, how? The paper discusses these issues in a general manner with reference to African examples, some taken from fieldwork by the author, and makes a philosophical argument for the development of a new kind of “secular state” that can respect the religious commitments of African populations.

Feminist Theology, Roman Catholicism, and Alienation

Horizons ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 280-300
Author(s):  
Chester Gillis
Keyword(s):  
Feminist Theology ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Religious Institution ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Roman Catholicism ◽  
Religious Identification ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Church

AbstractThe topic of this article is the effects that the writings of feminist theologians, many of whom are Roman Catholic, have upon Catholic students. The questions it attempts to answer are: Has feminist theology served to alienate American Catholics further from the church, discouraging them from identifying with the tradition or institution, or has it awakened them to retrieve the tradition in a creative way and to take responsibility within the institution and reshape it? The article further seeks to differentiate between spirituality, theology, and religious institution. How will Catholicism affect the larger culture if this generation is alienated from institutional identification? If they settle permanently on alternative forms of religious identification and spiritual fulfillment the face of Catholicism in the future will be even more conservative than it is today. However, feminist theology may be the basis for hope. Seriously attended to by the church, it could help to inform the consciousness of the next generation.

Religion and politics: The future agenda

1985 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-17
Author(s):  
Joseph Cardinal Bernardin
Keyword(s):  
Religion And Politics ◽  
The Future

The Origin of Indiana's Dry Leader: The Reverend Edward S. Shumaker and Midwestern Dry Culture

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-98
Author(s):  
Jason S. Lantzer
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Influences ◽  
State Level ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
Social Gospel ◽  
Reform Movement ◽  
Moral Reform ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Activist ◽  
Late Nineteenth

This article examines the dry crusade that brought Prohibition to the nation by tracing the early life and career of one of its chief state-level leaders. Born in Ohio and raised in Illinois, Edward S. Shumaker made a career for himself in Indiana, where he led the Indiana branch of the Anti Saloon League from the early 1900s until his death in 1929. His story demonstrates how religious and cultural influences merged in the American heartland into a moral reform movement that combined elements of traditional religion and politics with the Social Gospel and progressivism. As Shumaker saw it, the prohibition movement rested upon a fundamental argument about what it meant to be an American during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A powerful force in Shumaker's life as in the nation overall, the dry reform transformed Shumaker from a young man seemingly destined to hold a conventional Methodist pastorate into a political activist who helped make the nation dry.

scholarly journals PENCEGAHAN KEKERASAN SEKSUAL TERHADAP ANAK BERBASIS MASJID DI KOTA BUKITTINGGI

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-66
Author(s):  
Bustamar . ◽  
Dahyul Daipon
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Religious Institution ◽  
Violence Against Children ◽  
The Future ◽  
The City

Sexual violence against children is one of the most damaging problems for the future of humans and this nation. Indonesia was once an emergency of sexual violence against children, because the data from year to year always increases significantly, including in the City of Bukittinggi. For this reason, it is necessary to prevent this case. One of the roles for this prevention is the mosque as a religious institution. Mosques must be institutions that are concerned with this prevention, because mosques carry out religious and learning activities that educate their people. Such a role can be used as a medium for prevention of this case. Mosques can play a role as a place for handling, prevention and at the same time forming a character to prevent such cases.

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