Download

A Multireligious Approach to the Integration of Migrants in Europe: An Examination of Migrants’ Views on and Experiences of Taking Part in Multireligious Integration Projects

Author(s): Majbritt Lyck-Bowen / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2019

Violent conflicts continue to force many migrants to seek protection outside their own country. Some of these migrants have come to Europe, leading to states relying on assistance from civil society organisations, some of which are Faith-based Organisations (FBOs), to meet the migrants’ complex needs. Whereas the important roles religious actors can play in integration processes have been increasingly addressed and acknowledged in the literature, multireligious cooperation on integration has yet to attract the same attention and recognition. Hence, in the first phase of the research project, A Multireligious Approach to Integration, a range of possible advantages of multireligious cooperation, from an organisational point of view, were identified. These included four benefits for the integration of migrants: 1) Understand and meet the religious/cultural needs of migrants; 2) Help migrants understand the roles of religion in their host community; 3) Counter the narrative that it is more important to help migrants from a particular religion and 4) Opportunity to meet the “other” and build relationships. Acknowledging that further research was needed, phase two has focused on migrants’ opinions on, and experiences of, multireligious cooperation on integration. Data was collected via a survey and semi-structured interviews with migrants that have participated in multireligious projects in Germany, Sweden and the UK. In this article, the data is used to interrogate the organisational perspectives. The article concludes that in certain contexts multireligious cooperation has some distinctive benefits for the integration of migrants and calls for the further development of a multireligious approach to integration.

More...

Download

A Perspective Over Religious, Political and Economic Decisions in Romania after 1989

Author(s): Andreea Maria Kurtuhuz,Ion Vasilescu / Language(s): English / Issue: S2/2009

One of the greatest Romanian ‘organization’ that has the highest roots in history than any others, Romanian Orthodox Church, provided many actions for the political and economic lives, but also improved and developed different and new strategies for a better management to a high level. During the past twenty years, the decisions taken in the religious area had a huge impact over the political arena, even if it was wide open or out of see actions. The European Union and the enlargement were seen also like political and economic strategies, but in fact it was just another objective that the Church had to accomplish.

More...

2.00 €

Preview

A PRIVILEGED RELATIONSHIP. THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH AND THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IN THE 1960s

Author(s): Gabriel Stelian MANEA / Language(s): English / Issue: XV/2018

In the interwar period, there was a certain proximity between the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Anglican Church, materialized at that time through bilateral visits at the highest level, such as that of Patriarch Miron Cristea in 1936, and discussions on theological themes that emphasized the elements of doctrine and worship similar for the two churches.However, the fracture produced by the Second World War, then the establishment of a regime of Soviet inspiration in Romania, have tempered, almost canceled these links. Moreover, in the years of consolidation of the new regime, its antioccidental phobia and gross interference in the affairs of various denominations and ecclesiastical institutions contributed further to the alienation of the two Churches.All these drawbacks had to be recovered through a mutual effort, which happened after 1960 and especially at the middle of the decade, taking full advantage of a certain conjuncture of Romania's political relations with the West and a certain course of his foreign policy intentions. As such, the mutual visits of theologians have resumed, the doctrinal discussions on remote scenarios of union have become constant, the activity of the Romanian Orthodox parish in London has intensified, and the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury in Bucharest in 1965, and of the Patriarch Justinian in London in 1966, marked an apogee of this evolution.

More...

Download

A PSEUDO-SECULAR SPACE, RELIGIOUS MINORITY AND REASONS FOR EXCLUSION: THE AHMADIYYA MINORITY GROUP IN CONTEMPORARY INDONESIA

Author(s): Max Regus / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2019

This paper examines the intersection of religion and politics and its consequences on religious minorities in Indonesia. This paper is based on a case study of the current position of the Ahmadiyya minority group in the Indonesian Islamic majority. The tension arises from a specific circumstance: This large Muslim country uses democracy as a political system, but the involvement of religious politics is evident. This situation directly endangers the presence of the Ahmadi-yya group.

More...

Download

A vallásszabadság mint európai alapjog egyes mai dilemmái

Author(s): Dávid Gyerő / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 3/2018

This articlepresents some of the current dilemmas around religious freedom as a fundamental right in the European Union, and contributes to its appreciation as one of the main values of European cultural heritage. 2018 was a good year for this research, as it offered the 450th anniversary of the oldest European declaration to promote religious tolerance and diversity: the Edict of Torda. In the religious context of the churches, the terms religious freedom, religious tolerance, and freedom of conscience and thought are often joined together, or even mixed up sometimes; their legal meaning is, however, distinct or even incompatible. Today, the social and political relevance of these terms is nevertheless consistent and consonant, and gives a chance to consider their inquiry as timely and even necessary. In the 21st century, religious freedom is, in theory, not only acknowledged as part of the European culture, but also recognized by the European Union as a fundamental right. At the same time, the social and political impacts on Europe challenge the unconditional expressions of religious freedom. In European communities we are witnesses to new forms of violation of this right. The religious map of the continent is more diverse than ever, and the coexistence of many nations and religions is growing. Therefore, the terms and conditions of this symbiosis ask for new forms of regulation as well. As a foundation of everyday life, religious freedom needs to be included in new initiatives in education, promotion, and protection.

More...

2.50 €

Preview

A violence against women in Afghanistan after Taliban occupation – outline of the issue

Author(s): Katarzyna Sadowa / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2015

This publication deals with the current legal and social situation of women in Afghanistan. The author analyzes the process of formation of the legal position of Afghan women from the moment of the country’s liberation from under the Taliban occupation in 2001. She concentrates on indicating relevant legal regulations and guarantees, as well as – primarily – analyzes the degree of respecting them. Consequently, she discusses selected forms of violence against women which is persistently present on the territory of Afghanistan. The author elaborates on specific cultural phenomena and acts against fundamental women’s rights, such as baad, baadal, the so-called “honor” killings, and punishing women for running away. These points lead to the conclusion that the enacted laws are merely an empty shell and women’s situation is far from stable.

More...

Download

Access to Media for European Muslims

Author(s): Isabelle Rigoni / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Despite its rank as the second-largest religion in several European countries, Islam is facing severe resistance at both state and societal level. Certain conservative political and media discourses associate Islam with violence and fanaticism. For most Muslims, however, their religion is associated with notions of justice and democracy. The conflict between these two conceptualisations of Islam has reinforced defensive attitudes on both sides. While Muslim stereotypes have increased since 9/11, so have the voices in favour of civil liberties for Muslims in Europe. As is argued here, ethnic media (i.e. Muslim media) are playing a major role on both sides of the debate. These questions are of common concern to many EU member states and associated states and European institutions. They are based on three assumptions. Firstly, new information and communication technology (ICT) has reshaped the media scene, which is now accessible to increasing numbers of people, including exchanges between European countries and third countries. Secondly, the transnational mobilisations are increasingly influenced by ICT, which makes it possible for individuals to travel – both virtually and in reality – between several countries. Thirdly, the representation of the minority or marginalised groups, particularly in the case of Muslims, has become one of the key questions of European sociopolitical debate, and at the same time can be seen as a test for European democracy. I would like to propose a historical reading of the representation of Muslims and Islam in the media. It is a question of understanding how media discourse evolved as it did and how and when Muslims are portrayed in the media. Several questions can be raised: How do media technologies influence conditions within both the Muslim community and the mainstream? What are the consequences of national and EU policies for Muslim citizens and their media regarding their social and political inclusion? How do European Muslims aggregate interests in a more effective and efficient way via their own media? Do Muslim media advocate social inclusion or pursue narrow interests?

More...

Download

Actions against the Catholic Church in Polish People’s Republic till 1953

Author(s): Adam Dziurok / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2019

In the years 1944–1948, the authorities of communist Poland, for tactical reasons abstained from direct attacks on the Catholic Church. After the establishment of the authorities’ structures and once the political opposition and armed forces underground were defeated, systematic restriction on the influence of the Church begun. Back then, the Catholic Church was the only independent social institution in the country. What was attacked then was, among others, religious education in schools (religious education, crosses and catechists were removed from schools, Catholic education was limited), catholic organisations, charitable and care activities of the Church (at the beginning of 1950, the state took over “Caritas” and kindergartens, children’s homes, hospitals were taken from the Church) as well as publishing activities (Catholic press releases were being restricted). The repressions were hindered by the signature of the Church-State Agreement in April 1950. When in 1952, the activities aimed at the removal of religious education from schools were intensified, several dozens of theological seminaries were dissolved and some of the boarding-schools run by the Church were taken over, then Primate Stefan Wyszyński defined the relations between the Church and the State as a “state of emergency”.

More...

Download

ADAPTABILITY AS A SURVIVAL STRATEGY UNDER COMMUNISM: RECONSIDERING THE APPROACH OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

Author(s): Natalia Shlikhta / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2019

Adaptability is a broad and crucial topic for the Soviet-period history of the Russian Orthodox Church that has not received the scholarly attention that it merits. An important reason for this scholarly neglect is in the highly negative connotation of the very concept, as it was not easy and arguably not right for the Church to adapt to Soviet sociopolitical circumstances. Such a view was formed back in the Soviet era under a combined influence of church opposition’s and Soviet officials’ critique.

More...

Download

Afghanistan: The Shifting Religio-Order and Islamic Democracy

Author(s): Anwar Ouassini / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2018

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the Islamic religio-order and the fledgling democratic institutions in contemporary Afghanistan. This paper challenges the predominant notion that Islam and democracy are not compatible in Afghanistan by producing a historical account that traces the history of the Afghan religio-order in relation to the ever-changing political sphere. I argue that the Afghan religio-order has historically been co-opted and controlled by Afghan political institutions, no matter what political and ideological system was in place. The legitimation of the political sphere by the Islamic religio-order reveals that Islamic authority and legitimacy given to political institutions is shaped by political interests as opposed to religious doctrine. Finally, this paper builds on the historical analysis to argue that the contemporary Islamic democratic system provides for the first time in contemporary Afghan history an autonomous Islamic religio-order via the Afghan judiciary.

More...

Download

AGNOSTICIZAM I VJERSKI INDIFERENTIZAM

Author(s): Lino Veljak / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 2/2013

This paper will try to investigate the nature of relation between secularization, agnosticism (as well as atheism) and the growth of religious indifferentism and practical indifference concerning the questions of faith and transcendental dimensions of being. Secularization didn’t produce indifferentism (with the exception of the growth of relativism and pluralization of conceptions of world), but the Enlightenment influenced the progression of religious indifferentism and in the same time the growth of practical indifference; modern materialistic atheism produced antitheistic practices, especially in the countries of socalled real socialism. The repression against religion and religious practice didn’t produce the marginalization of religiosity, but practical materialism of modern and postmodern consumerist societies is producing the progression of contemporary moral relativism and indifference. The open question whether religious people are in the moral sense better than irreligous people could be resolved through the answer to the question: are evil, violence and inhumanity in our times of progression of theoretical agnosticism and practical indifferentism more visible than in classic times of unity between State and Church? The question of morality could be resolved only through practice, not through doctrinarian discussions about faith and agnosticism.

More...

Download

AK PARTİ DÖNEMİ SÜNNİ VE ALEVİ ZAZALARIN SEÇMEN DAVRANIŞLARI

Author(s): Murat Kaçer,Yılmaz BİNGÖL / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 15/2018

This study aims to examine the political behavior of Zazas living in Turkey in the frame of their sectarian differences during the AK Party era. The voting behavior of Sunni and Alevi Zazas in general and local elections (municipal presidency, provincial council membership, municipal council membership), referendums and presidential election results between 2002 and 2017 were examined during this period. Considering the purpose and scope of the work, Tunceli was chosen as the representative of Turkey's Alevi Zazas and Bingol as Turkey's Sunni Zazas. This study is concluded as follows: In all general and local elections, Sunni Zazas voted for the AK Party; Alevi Zazas voted for the leftist parties and ethnic Kurdish parties. In the referendums,  while Sunnis Zazas voted "yes" in favor of the AK Party and therefore the government; Alevi Zazas voted "no". In the presidential elections, Sunni Zazas voted for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is also a candidate for the AK Party and also its former chairman, while Alevi Zazas voted for Selahattin Demirtas, the candidate of the ethnic Kurdish movement, for the most part.

More...

Download

Akomodacija ideologije političnega katolicizma na Slovenskem - primer Ušeničnikove "teorije vrednosti", Mahničeve "definicije naroda" in "suverenosti ljudstva"

Author(s): Egon Pelikan / Language(s): Slovenian / Issue: 1-2/1995

In the paper the author deals with the question of the ideological accommodation of political Catholicism in Slovenia, from the end of the nineteenth century to World War II. He presents the attitude of two leading Slovene ideologists of political Catholicism (Anton Mahnič and Aleš Ušeničnik) towards some crucial social questions (those regarding national identity, sovereignty and value theory), exposes their common features and strategies with regards to modernisation, and arrives at a conclusion that their views were changing and even became self-contradictory. The process of accommodation was conditioned by individual political interests and ideological disorientation in the Catholic camp caused by rapid modernisation.

More...

Download

Aksjologia bezpieczeństwa narodowego w wypowiedziach biskupów polowych Wojska Polskiego

Author(s): Daria Godek / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 4/2018

This text on the scope of security sciences is an analysis of thecontent of sermons preached in the years 1991-2017 on the occasion of the national Independence Day by the Roman Catholicfield bishops of the Polish Army. The article indicates and describes “what is important” according to hierarchs for creatingPoland’s national security

More...

Download

Aktivity nižšieho katolíckeho kléru zamerané na demokratizáciu a modernizáciu cirkvi v čase vzniku Československej republiky

Author(s): Peter Olekšak / Language(s): Slovak / Issue: 1/2015

The essay deals with an inquiry that was initiated by the Czech priest Bohuslav Zahradník-Brodský (1862 – 1939). This inquiry can be considered as an attempt to democratise the church in Czechoslovakia. Its character itself was a remarkable outflow of democracy put into action. Zahradník-Brodský's initiative followed the very ideas of Catholic Modernism that had been unexpectedly suppressed by the encyclical Pascendi Dominici of 1907. After a longer period of reticence, the reformative flow began to surface in a morphed shape. The most strident manifestation can be allotted to Zahradník-Brodský who was a member of a radical splinter group. The intention of his inquiry was to find out the priests' opinions on reforms within the church. His postulations highlighted the idea of an egalitarian system of material provision for the clergy and the inclusion of laymen into the administration of the church, as well as the election of bishops and the abolition of celibacy, monasteries and clerical apparel. The inquiry showed that his postulations had been supported by a huge part of the clergy. Reformation movements existed in the Czech region as well as in Slovakia. One of the representatives of the radical wing in Slovakia was Ferdinand Juriga (1874 – 1950) who was also an elected member of the parliament and who forged out of the clerical demands and postulations a political cause. After a failed meeting of the clergy in Žilina he laid them down in a political memorandum which he then forwarded to the Ministry for the Administration of Slovakia. This must be considered to a very high degree as a spontaneous reaction to the current situation, which especially has to be analysed within the context of an overall social upheaval. It needs to be stated that the Slovak radicals remained a small group in an ever-widening state of dissolution. In the Czech region the group of priests that refused to abandon their emancipatory activities decided to put their reformation program into action without respect for the position of the Holy See and the ecclesiastical hierarchy at home. This fact can probably be judged as a symbolic vanishing point of a timeline that starts within Catholic Modernism. It, however, had not been the goal, as defined by the realisation of an ideal, for which the majority of the reform minded clergy had set out.

More...

Download

Aktualność reformacyjnego przesłania we współczesnej etyce ewangelickiej

Author(s): Marcin Hintz / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 11/2017

The Ethical Issue of the Reformer Martin Luther is still an important impulse for the Protestant Churches today. The article shows that Ethics does not belong to the largest part of Luther’s writing. There some different models of interpretation of Luther`s Ethics especially in the understanding of the relationship of Christians to the politics.The article is an attempt to find relevance of Luther`s Moral Thinking to the postmodern World. His moral advice is still present in the theological and Church discussion. On the other hand, the moral teaching of Luther is completely irrelevant to philosophical discourse.

More...

Download

Aktuelle Verbreitung Sowie Rechtliche und Politisch-Soziale Situationen, Bedingungen und Probleme der Aleviten, Bektaschi und Anderer Heterodox Beeinflusster Sufi-Orden in Südosteuropa

Author(s): Christoph Giesel / Language(s): German / Issue: 15/2017

The Islamic mystic and heterodox groups of the Alevites and Bektashi in Southeast Europe, which are partially characterised by Shiite elements, are idiosyncratic and divergent phenomena that have so far attracted little academic or public attention. They exist in the strongly Sunni environment that characterises Islam in the Balkans and have exerted a partial religious influence on some of the originally Sufi orders that can be found in the region. After the end of Ottoman rule, the Alevites and Bektashi experienced a particularly serious loss of significance and numeric decline. Since the 1990s, modest religious revival processes occurred amongst these groups. These, however, coincided and interacted with dynamic and ambivalent processes of further religious, cultural and socio-political marginalisation and assimilation (and entailed a corresponding loss of knowledge and significance). This paper sketches the contemporary condition of the remaining Alevites and Bektashi in the Southeast European states whilst occasionally mentioning other Sufi orders which are closely related to these groups. It describes and analyses the extraordinarily diverse and complicated legal, political and social situations, conditions and problems which they face in this region.

More...

4.99 €

Preview

Alevi Diasporası ve ‘resmi din’ olarak Alevilikte çoklu kimlik

Author(s): Zeynep Arslan / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 2/2017

This paper focuses on the Anatolian Alevis, whose identity is often defined externally by others and they face political manipulation as a leverage group against fundamentalist Islamic tendencies. The way in which Alevism is commonly defined in contrast to Sunni-Orthodox Islam, an institutional and hegemonic faith in Turkey continues with Alevi Diaspora in Europe49 too. In particular, in the case of Austria (German: Anerkennung als Religionsgesellschaft), where the recognition of Alevism as a religion dates back to 2008/2009 and it shows how the state manipulates the Alevi population’s goals for her own purposes (Amendment of the 1912 Islam Law). This study focuses on the way in which Alevi faith group is divided into two at the end of this process of regcognition in Austria. These groups are the Islam Alevis and the (Syncretic) Alevis. This paper analyses the roles of the Austrian Alevi associations and the Austrian state in this process of division and official recognition. The analyses are based on content analysis of documents on current political and judicial decisions and benefits from critical discourse analysis approach. The intersectional theoretical approach is tested when the dominance and hegemony aspects, mutual influences of internal and external factors as well as identity buildings through categorization are analysed.

More...

Download

Alevi Gençliğinin Siyasi ve Sosyo-Kültürel Kimlik Mücadelesi I

Author(s): Fazilet Ahu Özmen / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 1/2011

With its different definitions, its pluralist structure and its contribution to the political, social and cultural space of Turkey, besides constituting an important factor; Alevism; is a often debated concept and a mobilization tool nowadays. Since the Ottoman period Alevism has a struggle of identity. Their marginalization in the Ottoman Empire as well as in the later periods of the Republic due to the characteristics of their belief system, their definition as the „other‟ by the opposition forces have caused great difficulties for Alevis. Because of the oppression they have experienced, they could not sufficiently express themselves and could not attain a cultural autonomy. However, with the transition to the multi-party system and migration flows from the country-sides to the cities, the situation has began to change and especially with the effect of the political activities of the mid-1960‟s, the Alevi community, especially the young generation has began to take its places in the society. Alevis that formed an important fraction of the 68 generation have adopted leftist orientations that formed the basis of their identity formation. This process has continued throughout the 1970‟s. But events between 1978-80 have once more deeply affected the Alevis and they once more retired into themselves. Besides observing the identity formation of the Alevi youth between 1968-80, this article also highlights the importance of their contributions to the political development and to the direction of this development in these periods.

More...

Download

Aleviler Ve Yeni Merkezileştirme Politikalari

Author(s): Nil Mutluer / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 2/2015

Historically, from Ottoman to the Republican era, Alevis have been subjected to centralization policies which ignored and sought to homogenize the diversity of faith within the Alevi community. Even though the era of AKP represents a turning point in that the Alevi community has been recognized by the government as a player in the political field for the first time, it does not represent a disruption in the historic continuity of centralization policies. Using field data gathered from in-depth interviews, this article examines the new form that the centralization policies took in the AKP era, as well as Alevis' responses to those policies, in three particular issue areas, namely the trans-mission of belief, the attempts to restructure the dedelik institution, and the granting of the status of official house of prayer to cemevi.

More...