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The study of religions and the dialogue of religions (Shûkyôgaku to shûkyôtaiwa)
No full textDistinguishing between science of religions and dialogue of religions The purpose of this paper is to consider some of the ways in which the scientific study of religions1 might have implications for the continuing process of dialogue between religions. While the study of religions itself is a non-religious activity, the dialogue between religions, on the other hand, certainly is in some sense a religious activity. It involves the presentation and exchange of religious experiences and religious positions. It is possible for such dialogues to take place without reference to the study of religions. However it is possible that those involved in such dialogues might benefit from the perspectives opened up in the scientific study of religions. The present paper, based on a lecture given at Ôtani University in Kyôto, makes some suggestions in this direction
Fanden er løs! En utviklingshistorisk fremstilling av "satanisme" som moderne ondskapsforestilling.
No full textThis essay traces the development of some of the central ideas behind the 1980s and 1990s Satanism scare. In the first part of the essay I trace some of the ideas that were disseminated in Norway in 1991-1992 back to their (primarily) American origins in different professions and ideologies. Some of the ideas, such as the "brainwashing" motif and the framework of a dangerous, subversive movement are well-established in "traditional" American subversion myths. Others seem to have been shaped around interpretations of troubling events or claims in popular books. In the essay, I emphasize the interplay between the ideas brought up by interest groups and by ideologists as well as the interplay between highly profiled events and later allegations
Building Bridges and Barricades
No full textThe Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) has been identified as a distinct brand of Christianity which has much affinity with the Yoruba cultural matrix. CCC on the other hand maintains its self-image as a Christian Church sui generis and vehemently refuses any connecting nexus with traditional religious thought and praxis. In our view, CCC cosmology is a synthesis of biblical belief, christian liturgical tradition and elements from Yoruba cultural milieux. This paper is concerned with situating Celestial Christianity holistically within the wider Yoruba religio-cultural context. It will examine whether and to what extent the Yoruba understanding of the cosmos has shaped CCC\u27s worldview in their construction of ritual space. It also investigates their attitudes towards supernatural forces, and probes into how the members manipulate these forces in their church life and worship for individual and collective benefits
PARADIGMER: Hva Kuhns vitenskapsteori kan fortelle om religionshistorisk faghistorie
No full textThis article argues that Kuhn\u27s theory of scientific development may be fruitfully applied to the humanities and social sciences. Central to the discussion are problems concerning Kuhn\u27s terms paradigm and anomaly (unwarranted scientific result), and possible analogies within the human sciences. Drawing on examples from the history of religions, the article points to resemblances and differences between the natural sciences and the humanities, without granting the socalled hard sciences a privileged position as providing a norm for scientific activity. The articles sees Kuhn\u27s main contribution as providing a framework for self-criticism and discussions of norms and values as an integral part of the activities pursued by a scientific community
Martin Repp: Aum Shinrikyo. Ein Kapitel krimineller Religionsgeschichte
No full textThis important work is a well considered and reliable account of the Japanese religion Aum Shinrikyo, leading members of which, including the founder, have recently been accused of very serious crimes. These crimes include a series of individual murders and two mass terrorist attacks with the use of sarin gas, in Matsumoto and in Toyko, which led to several deaths and numerous severe injuries. The author, Martin Repp, is the associate director of the NCC (National Christian Council) Center for the Study of Japanese Religions, and, being based in Kyoto, Japan, has been able to follow the relevant events very closely in the media. In this review attention will be drawn to just a few salient points, but in whatever way the discussion continues on these, the book itself is an important resource, and one of the earliest documentations of Aum written with academic care
Ursula Spuler-Stegemann: Muslime in Deutschland. Nebeneinander oder Miteinander?
No full textDas Buch ist die z.Zt. umfassendste und beste Darstellung der Thematik, die auf vielfachen Gesprächen mit Türkinnen und Türken in der Bundesrepublik sowie in der Türkei beruht, alle für die Thematik relevante Literatur auf Deutsch wie auf Türkisch einbezieht und von daher einen Überblick bietet, der in seiner Breite und Tiefe mit keinem anderen schon veröffentlichten Buch vergleichbar ist. Das in 17 Kapitel untergliederte Buch beginnt mit einem sehr eindrucksvollen Bericht über einen Besuch der Yavuz Sultan Selim-Moschee in Mannheim, gibt dann einen kurzen Überblick mit Bewertung der zur Thematik vorliegenden Literatur, geht des weiteren auf die Geschichte des Islam in Deutschland und auf die Vielfalt des Islam im gegenwärtigen Deutschland ein, um dann Islamisten und Extremisten aus diesem Bereich vorzustellen. Es ist bemerkenswert, daß dort vor allem ausführlich die taqîya, das Gebot der "Verstellung" im "Feindesland", angesprochen wird und daraus Schlüsse bezüglich der Vertrauenswürdigkeit öffentlicher Stellungnahmen gezogen werden. Danach werden die islamischen Organisationen in Deutschland sowie Sufi und ordensähnliche Gruppierungen und die Moscheen vorgestellt
THE AGE OF GLOBAL DIALOGUE
No full textThose scholars who earlier in the twentieth century with a great show of scholarship and historical/sociological analysis predicted the impending demise of Western Civilization were "dead wrong." After World War I, in 1922, Oswald Spengler wrote his widely acclaimed book, The Decline of the West 2 . After the beginning of World War II Pitirim A. Sorokin published in 1941 his likewise popular book, The Crisis of Our Age 3 . Given the massive, world-wide scale of the unprecedented destruction and horror of the world\u27s first global war, 1914-18, and the even vastly greater of the second global conflict, 1939-45, the pessimistic predictions of these scholars and the great following they found are not ununderstandable
Platonic Eros, Ottonian Numinour and Spiritual Longing in Otaku Culture
No full textLess than a month ago I was in North Korea seeing the sights and engaging in some general research into the philosophical mood of its people. After exploring the desolate, zombie-like town of Kaesong, I happened upon a small shop selling such things as the North’s own brand of Coca-Cola, stamps with Kim Jung Il’s face on them, a myriad of different types of Chinese medicine and, of all things, a manhwa – the Korean name for manga – containing some of the most impressive art I had ever seen; indeed, to my utter surprise, the images in the North Korean manhwa filled me with a deep yearning for something quite inexplicable. Naturally, as a professor of philosophy, I felt obliged to investigate this phenomenon further.And as I did so, I started to realize that certain manga and anime – arguably, the two most sacred objects of otaku culture – have been stirring in me these kinds of feelings ever since I could remember. As a result of this, I immediately came to see that it did not matter whether the culture producing the anime and manga was largely atheistic, like North Korea, Shinto-Buddhist, like Japan, or Christian, like the USA: otaku culture produced anywhere and by any type of believer or nonbeliever seemed to be capable of awakening in me what Plato calls eros and Rudolph Otto calls the numinous.As I moved beyond my own personal reflections to see what scholars of otaku culture have already written on this subject, I found some precedent for my own ideas in the work of Teri Silvio, who has examined the relationship between religious icons and character toys in Taiwan, i Hiroshi Yamanaka, who has discussed “pop cultural spirituality” in the work of Hayao Miyazaki, ii and Susan Napier, who, influenced by Roger Aden’s book Popular Stories and Promised Land: Fan Cultures and Symbolic Pilgrimages, has written about western otaku making “pilgrimages to Akihabara” and has wisely labelled certain anime and manga chatrooms “sacred spaces.” iii Nevertheless, while I agreed with the insights of all these scholars, I felt they did not go far enough in linking their observations to larger philosophical issues. Thus, in this paper I would like to explore the idea of spiritual longing in otaku culture, firstly, by elucidating Plato’s eros and Otto’s numinous, and then, secondly, by examining a few examples from anime and manga which have instilled in me, or others I know, a deep desire for something that can only be described as mysterious, irreducible and spiritual
Von betenden Avataren in virtuellen Welten. Methodologische und methodische Überlegungen zur religionswissenschaftlichen Forschung in virtuellen 3D Welten
No full textSpätestens seit dem ‚Medienhype’ im Jahr 2007 dürfte vielen Menschen die virtuelle Welt ‚Second Life’ (SL) ein Begriff sein. Es war die Rede vom „Digitalen Maskenball“ i, den die Menschen in SL veranstalten würden und die virtuelle Mafia stand ebenso wie das digitale Studium ii im Mittelpunkt der Aufmerksamkeit der Printmedien. Nach einer anfänglichen Euphorie, in der SL teilweise als ein neues Utopia stilisiert wurde, kehrte sich die Berichterstattung bald ins Gegenteil um. iii Nun war die Rede von verödeten virtuellen Landschaften, in denen kaum Menschen anzutreffen seien. Auch die zuvor noch bewunderten Chancen im unternehmerischen Bereich wurden nun als Spinnereien und Zeitverschwendung abgetan. Jenseits des mittlerweile abgeebten Medienhypes bleibt jedoch zu fragen, wie Menschen, die regelmäßig in virtuellen 3D Welten besuchen, diese nutzen und welche Kommunikations- und Aushandlungsprozesse dort stattfinden. Wie erste Untersuchungen belegen konnten iv, stellen solche soziokulturellen Austauschprozesse einen der wichtigsten Faktoren innerhalb dieser Welten dar. Die daraus resultierenden Fragstellungen ergeben daher ein neues, spannendes Feld für kulturwissenschaftlich orientierte Forschung. Auch die Religionswissenschaft sollte dieses noch junge Forschungsfeld nicht außer Acht lassen, denn nicht nur SL, sondern auch weitere virtuelle 3D Welten v bieten den Wissenschaftlern ein breites Spektrum Untersuchungsperspektiven. In vielen dieser Welten zählen religiöse Gemeinschaften zu den Pionieren vi, die den virtuellen Raum für sich erobert haben. Es finden regelmäßige Treffen statt, bei denen über religiöse Themen gesprochen wird und in vielen Fällen ist zu beobachten, dass auch die religiöse Praxis zumeist in Form von Online-Ritualen Einzug in die virtuellen Welten gefunden hat. So stellen religiöse Vergemeinschaftungs-formen ebenso wie einzelne religiöse Akteure mit ihren diskursiven Aushandlungs- und Deutungsprozessen von Religiosität in virtuellen Welten einen spannenden und lohnenden Untersuchungsfokus für religionswissenschaftliches Arbeiten dar. Dies setzt allerdings voraus, dass Forscher bereit sind, bekannte Forschungsfelder und -methoden zu verlassen und sich auf virtuelles Neuland zu begeben
Att analysera och teoretisera kön och religion. Förslag till nytt religionsbegrepp
No full textWhile specialists in gender studies often refer to religion they seldom have recourse to carefully conceived definitions of it. The problem of definition is explored here in terms of its plurality of expressions and interpretation, internal tensions and change, and similarities and relations which cross traditions which are often perceived as being separate and distinct. Myth and ritual are taken to be of central importance, both being understood as gendered and bodily constituted. Theoretical inspiration is drawn from Wittgenstein\u27s understanding of meaning as being constituted contextually and bodily and thus inseparable from social life. In this persepctive, religious language is a more or less precise act whose meaning will differ depending on the context, agents and agendas involved. Specific arguments relating to meaning and action are also drawn from the work of M. Douglas and L. Bäckman, both of whom have deconstructed and discussed (post-)colonial conceptualizations of culture. Their elaboration of potentiality and change has been of special interest. In sum, religion is regarded as (1)a dynamic and ambiguous field of meanings that is continuously created and constituted through human interaction (2) always gendered (3)bodily expressed and constituted (4) composed of myth, ritual and time concepts (5) a cource of continuity as well as of change in present social interaction (6) transmitted and renewed through mytho-poets, and (7)subject to analysis in terms of power, with reference to social interaction, socioeconomic conditions and the wider context