The Transition of Religion to Culture in Law and Public Discourse

The Transition of Religion to Culture in Law and Public Discourse
Author: Lori G. Beaman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 229
Release: 2020-03-27
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1000050556

This book explores the recent trend toward the transformation of religious symbols and practices into culture in Western democracies. Analyses of three legal cases involving religion in the public sphere are used to illuminate this trend: a municipal council chamber; a town hall; and town board meetings. Each case involves a different national context—Canada, France and the United States—and each illustrates something interesting about the shape-shifting nature of religion, specifically its flexibility and dexterity in the face of the secular, the religious and the plural. Despite the differences in national contexts, in each instance religion is transformed into culture or heritage by the courts to justify or excuse its presence and to distance the state from the possibility that it is violating legal norms of distance from religion. The cultural practice or symbol is represented as a shared national value or activity. Transforming the ‘Other’ into ‘Us’ through reconstitution is also possible. Finally, anxiety about the ‘Other’ becomes part of the story of rendering religion as culture, resulting in the impugning of anyone who dares to question the putative shared culture. The book will be essential reading for students, academics and policy-makers working in the areas of sociology of religion, religious studies, socio-legal studies, law and public policy, constitutional law, religion and politics, and cultural studies.

Religion and Public Discourse in an Age of Transition

Religion and Public Discourse in an Age of Transition
Author: Geoffrey Cameron
Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2018-01-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 177112332X

Technology, tourism, politics, and law have connected human beings around the world more closely than ever before, but this closeness has, paradoxically, given rise to fear, distrust, and misunderstanding between nation-states and religions. In light of the tensions and conflicts that arise from these complex relationships, many search for ways to find peace and understanding through a “global public sphere.” There citizens can deliberate on issues of worldwide concern. Their voices can be heard by institutions able to translate public opinion into public policy that embraces more than simply the interests and ideas of the wealthy and the empowered. Contributors to this volume address various aspects of this challenge within the context of Bahá’í thought and practice, whose goal is to lay the foundations for a new world civilization that harmonizes the spiritual and material aspects of human existence. Bahá’í teachings view religion as a source of enduring insight that can enable humanity to repair and transcend patterns of disunity, to foster justice within the structures of society, and to advance the cause of peace. Accordingly, religion can and ought to play a role in the broader project of creating a pattern of public discourse capable of supporting humanity’s transition to the next stage in its collective development. The essays in this book make novel contributions to the growing literature on post-secularism and on religion and the public sphere. The authors additionally present new areas of inquiry for future research on the Bahá’í faith.

New Spiritualities and the Cultures of Well-being

New Spiritualities and the Cultures of Well-being
Author: Géraldine Mossière
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 188
Release: 2022-07-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3031062639

Inspired by the neoliberal paradigm that transposes religious behaviors into a religious marketplace framed by consumerist and capitalist models, this volume draws on ethnographic fieldwork to discuss the assemblage between the well-being trope and the rise of new spiritualities, as well as their deep permeation within mainstream culture. Building on previous literature that addresses the relationship between spirituality, healing and well-being, this text discusses the religious roots of mind-body practices. The contributions offer a critical perspective on the scope, limits and impacts of the current celebration of spiritualities. Part I provides theoretical insights for thinking about ways in which the prevalent ethics of well-being reframes subjectivities within the margins of neoliberal order. Part II demonstrates how spiritual economies are promoted, shaped and regulated by institutional forces such as States, law and the labor market. In part III, contributors describe in detail how spiritual economies unfold in specific cultural and social settings. The text appeals to students and researchers working on the spirituality and sociology of religion.

The Transition of Religion to Culture in Law and Public Discourse

The Transition of Religion to Culture in Law and Public Discourse
Author: Lori Beaman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2021-12-13
Genre:
ISBN: 9781032237459

This book explores the recent trend toward the transformation of religious symbols and practices into culture in Western democracies. Analyses of three legal cases involving religion in the public sphere are used to illuminate this trend: a municipal council chamber; a town hall; and town board meetings. Each case involves a different national context-Canada, France and the United States-and each illustrates something interesting about the shape-shifting nature of religion, specifically its flexibility and dexterity in the face of the secular, the religious and the plural. Despite the differences in national contexts, in each instance religion is transformed into culture or heritage by the courts to justify or excuse its presence and to distance the state from the possibility that it is violating legal norms of distance from religion. The cultural practice or symbol is represented as a shared national value or activity. Transforming the 'Other' into 'Us' through reconstitution is also possible. Finally, anxiety about the 'Other' becomes part of the story of rendering religion as culture, resulting in the impugning of anyone who dares to question the putative shared culture. The book will be essential reading for students, academics and policy-makers working in the areas of sociology of religion, religious studies, socio-legal studies, law and public policy, constitutional law, religion and politics, and cultural studies.

Exploring Cross-Cultural Psychology

Exploring Cross-Cultural Psychology
Author: David C Devonis
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2023-10-13
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1000985377

Exploring Cross-Cultural Psychology: Exercises for Instructors and Students is an accessible text that provides material for generating interactive discussion of a broad sampling of topics in cross-cultural psychology. This new edition (previously Interactive Exercises for Cross-Cultural Psychology) expands the range of topics of cultural interest to psychology and connects cultural study to health, forensic, organizational, and other applied psychology fields. Each chapter offers suggestions for exposition, simulation, and confrontation of current cultural issues while allowing for creativity in instructional design. Topics covered include regional and Indigenous psychology; expression and play; language; identity; social perception and cognition; interpersonal interaction; emotion, motivation, and health; development and family; government and law; economics and work; environmental psychology; and animals and other species. This revised edition includes new coverage of WEIRD psychology, vaccination, well-being, tight vs. loose cultures, and home and homelessness. Thoroughly and currently referenced, with connections to a wide range of accessible web-based and open-source materials, this user-friendly text is ideal for students and instructors of cross-cultural psychology across the spectrum of classroom and workshop applications.

Legal Code of Religious Minority Rights

Legal Code of Religious Minority Rights
Author: Daniele Ferrari
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2021-08-12
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1000424006

This volume presents a systematic collection of the various international legal sources that define the rights of religious minorities. In a time of increasing tensions around religious minorities, this volume presents a systematic collection of international and European documents on the protection and promotion of religious minorities’ rights. The code includes documents from the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the European Union. An index system connects the various sources and norms, and emphasizes the strengths and the weaknesses in the legal frameworks of international and European institutions. While allowing for further research on the historical and conceptual development in the area, the code provides the reader with a new, easily accessible tool facilitating experts and actors who wish to improve the knowledge and protection of religious minorities. This book will be an invaluable resource for students, academics and researchers interested in law and religion, international law, public law and human rights law, the code is also a powerful tool for minorities themselves, and for advocates of their rights.

Law and Religious Diversity in Education

Law and Religious Diversity in Education
Author: Kyriaki Topidi
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2020-08-05
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0429803931

Religion is a prominent legal force despite the premise constructed and promoted by Western constitutionalism that it must be separated from the State in democracies. Education constitutes an area of human life that leaves ample scope for the expression of religious identity and shapes the citizens of the future. It is also the place of origin of a considerable number of normative conflicts involving religious identity that arise today in multicultural settings. The book deals with the interplay of law and religion in education through the versatility of religious law and legal pluralism, as well as religion’s possible adaptation and reconciliation with modernity, in order to consider and reflect on normative conflicts. It adopts the angle of the constitutional dimension of religion narrated in a comparative perspective and critically reflects on regulatory attempts by the State and the international community to promote new ways of living together.

Religious Diversity in Canadian Public Schools

Religious Diversity in Canadian Public Schools
Author: Dia Dabby
Publisher: UBC Press
Total Pages: 302
Release: 2022-02-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0774864664

Canadian public schools have long been entrusted with the mandate of socializing children. Yet this duty can rest uneasily alongside religious diversity questions. Grounding its analysis in three seminal Supreme Court cases involving religion in schools, Religious Diversity in Canadian Public Schools reveals legal processes that are unduly linear, compressing multidimensional conversations into an oppositional format and stripping away the voices of children themselves. Dia Dabby contends that schools are in fact microsystems worthy of their own consideration, and with the power to construct their own rules and relationships. This compelling work connects many of the themes that have animated public discourse since multiculturalism was officially enacted in Canada. Situating its analysis in relation to concepts of nation, education, and diversity, Religious Diversity in Canadian Public Schools encourages a deeper conversation about how religion is mediated through public schools and invites a critical reassessment of the role of law in education.

Urban Religious Events

Urban Religious Events
Author: Paul Bramadat
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2021-04-08
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1350175498

How might we best understand the relationship between the vibrant religious landscapes we see in many cities and contemporary urban social processes? Through case studies drawn from around the world, contributors explore the ways in which these processes interact in cities. This book argues that religious events – including rituals, processions, and festivals – are not only choreographies of sacred traditions, but they are also creative disruptions that reveal how urban cultural hierarchies are experienced and contested. Exposing the power dynamics behind these events, this book shows how performative uses of urban space serve to destabilize dominant genealogies and lineages around urban identities just as they lay claims to cultural supremacy or heritage. Through exploring the affective disruptions and political controversies caused by religious events, the contributors engage theoretical discussions in urban studies, the sociology of religion and the ethnography of ritual. This book is a significant contribution to understanding emerging patterns in contemporary religion and also for theories related to heritagization, eventization, and urbanization.