Publikationsserver der UB Marburg
Not a member yet
601 research outputs found
Sort by
Lorne L. Dawson (ed.): Cults and New Religious Movements. A Reader
No full textThe book „Cults and New Religious Movements. A Reader” edited by Lorne L. Dawson provides a selection of articles by historians, sociologists and psychologists of religion, mainly from North America or England, which have been published before in different contexts. In line with the policy of the series of which this book is a part (Blackwell Readings in Religion) the expected readership comprises undergraduate students, as well as scholars and other interested readers
Scientology and the European Human Rights Debate: A Reply to Leisa Goodman, J. Gordon Melton, and the European Rehabilitation Project Force Study
No full textAt stake in the European human rights debate over Scientology is the legitimacy of various governmental responses to the organization that limit, and potentially prevent, its activities and those of its members. By any means, at all costs, Scientology must portray itself as an aggrieved party whose rights are being trampled by officials who are fostering bigotry, discrimination, rabid secularism, and denominational protectionism of historic faiths. Seen in this context, my lengthy and detailed publications about Scientology\u27s near-certain human rights violations cannot go unchallenged by the organization and its defenders. Most serious are my conclusions that Scientology operates a forced labour and re-education program against reputedly delinquent members of its \u27elite\u27 Sea Org(anization)-a program that has included teenagers and children as young as twelve years old (Kent 1999c: 9). Called the Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF), this program, I concluded,fits social scientific definitions of brainwashing efforts (Kent 2000; 2001a; b). The program should be (and is) of particular concern for Europeans because its totalitarian nature harkens back to other anti-democratic ideologies that they have witnessed firsthand
Kisala, Robert & Mullins, Mark: Religion and Social Crisis in Japan. Understanding Japanese Society through the Aum Affair
No full textEver since the new religious movement Aum Shinrikyō released Sarin Gas in several Tok yo subway stations in March 1995, much has been published about that particular religious group and new religious movements in general. Naturally, these publications often deal with either the reasons or the consequences of that incident. Shimazono Susumu, for example, presented a study on the history, teachings and practice of Aum Shinrikyō shortly after the attack in order to explain the radicalization of the group by referring to its “universe of belief”. Similarly, Ian Reader 2 asks after the doctrinal legitimization of Aum’s violent acts, whereas Martin Repp3 links the history and teachings of Aum to deficiencies prevalent in Japanese society in general. Moreover, the incident challenged the study of religions as an academic discipline: It raised the question whether scholars of religions should provide information and warnings to the public if they consider a certain religious group as potentially aggressive. Michael Pye suggests making a clear distinction between the academic postulate of independent, objective research on the one hand and the right to participate and make judgements in public discussions as a well-informed private person on the other. 4 Another conclusion is drawn by Ian Reader: He advocates a detailed fieldwork approach to the study of new religious movements instead of the more general studies that in his opinion are favoured by Japanese scholars
Inken Prohl: Die "spirituellen Intellektuellen" und das New Age in Japan
No full textWhether there is, or was, a "New Age" culture in Japan is not entirely clear, since those elements which characterise such a phase of "spirituality" in the western world were available in any case in Japan before the movement captured with this designation got going in the sixties and seventies elsewhere. The main focus of this work, however, is the productions of five writers who have been characterised as "spiritual intellectuals" and it is certainly helpful to have their ideas presented in a systematic and reflected manner, as is done here. The five writers in question are Umehara Takeshi, Nakazawa Shin\u27ichi, Yamaori Tetsuo, Kamata Toji and Yuasa Yasuo, all of whom have commented extensively on "religion" and proposed, with variations, that Japanese religion, being integrative and mysterious, is generally superior to western religion which is dualistic and destructive of the environment
Catherine Ludvik: Sarasvatī. Riverine Goddess of Knowledge. From the Manuscript-carrying Vīṇā-player to the Weapon-wielding Defender of Dharma
No full textSarasvatī is the name of an Indian deity who was taken up into Buddhist tradition and carried along into East Asia as far as Japan, where she is generally known as Benzaiten. In a way, therefore, this impressive book serves two sets of readers, first and foremost Indologists – hence its place in an indological series – but also those who are interested in the wider history of Buddhism or more generally of Asian religions. The later part of the work offers a study of relevant parts of the Buddhist Sutra of Golden Light, of which the Chinese versions represent a major source, even for the Indian developments
Paul L. Swanson and Clark Chilson: Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions
No full textStraight off. This is a substantial work which promises to define "Japanese religions" as a field for some time to come. It is produced by a wonderful constellation of expert writers who have evidently been persistently cajoled and organised by Paul Swanson of the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture and Clark Chilson of Ithaca, New York (and previously associated with Nanzan). These are both well known and highly competent editors who humbly admit that they were assisted by others at every turn, including two of the contributors themselves, namely Trevor Astley and Robert Kisala, three Japanese members of the "project team", namely Horo Atsuhiko, Okuyama Michiaki and Terao Kazuyoshi, and the brilliantly indefatigable James Heisig, who not only advised from the stratosphere but also found time to handle the very nice layout
Church or Sect? Exploring a Church of New Chinese Immigrants in Southern California
No full textExisting studies document that while sharing many similarities among themselves, Asian immigrant churches in the United States differ from American mainline churches in certain distinguishing aspects. These distinguishing aspects and the reasons behind them, however, have rarely been subject to theoretical analysis. This study examines a church of new Chinese immigrants within the church-sect theory and market metaphor by analyzing participant observation and interview data. The data reveal that the church in question stands half way along the church-sect continuum, being close to the sect pole in terms of its theologies, while approaching the church pole in terms of its organization. By being a church-sect hybrid, it meets the particular needs of the well-educated, yet marginalized, Chinese immigrants. The findings show that although the church-sect theory is derived from European cases, it can be well applied to Chinese immigrant Christians. The cultural and ethnic backgrounds of Chinese immigrants nonetheless affect their Christian experiences profoundly. In a market-economy metaphor derived from the church-sect theory, such backgrounds situate them in a segmented rather than an entirely free religious market
Kim Knott. The Location of Religion. A Spatial Analysis
No full textProf. Kim Knott ist Direktorin des AHRC Research Programme on Diaspora, Migration and Identities (2005-2010) an der University of Leeds (Theology and Religious Studies). In Bezug auf ihren eigenen Standpunkt ist sie direkt und deutlich; und ihre Positionierung scheint mir für ihre ganze Arbeit charakteristisch: „ … in addition to my secular background, I also have an acquired religious identity as a liberal Quaker, and admire Quakerism’s critical dissenting approach to the institutions, beliefs, and practices of the historical churches and the laws and values of the secular nation state“ (92)
Nationale Selbstbehauptung in neuen religiösen Bewegungen in Japan - das Beispiel Kōfuku no Kagaku
No full textThe combination of national self-assertion with a critical attitude towards ‘modern’ values is not unusual among post-war Japanese New Religions. By taking up the example of Kōfuku no Kagaku I want to raise the question why and how New Religions construct a national identity. In particular, I ask about the role of historiography in that process. The paper examines ‘historical’ comics and writings by the founder Ōkawa Ryūhō with regard to the strategies that are used to convey a Japanese identity and legitimise resulting moral claims. Interestingly, the national image created by this particular historiography is not essentialist, as are the various forms of the so-called Nihonjinron (i.e. discourses on the ‘essence’ of being Japanese). For Ōkawa, national identity is tied to the wider context of an Asian civilisation that rests on a specific set of values (in opposition to a western civilisation), and of a global identity as the basis of Japan’s universal mission
David L. Gosling: Science and the Indian Tradition. When Einstein met Tagore
No full textThis fine book could probably only have been written by David Gosling, who combines an advanced education in physics (including research experience, if of some vintage) with a substantial knowledge of Indian religious traditions resulting from a life-time of research and teaching in religious studies, and considerable experience in India and South-East Asia. The publishers have packed a lot of print on to the 186 pages of what used to be called a "slim volume", so that in reality it is a bigger book than meets the eye. Be prepared for substantial chapters on a number of intertwined topics, but be prepared also to enjoy this most instructive account of a complex encounter between civilisations and thought-worlds. Somehow Gosling also manages to tell us where physics in general has got to, in a manner which seems rather understandable to the nonexpert in that field