Consequences of religious and secular boundaries among the majority population for perceived discrimination among Muslim minorities in Western Europe

While the concept of symbolic boundaries and ethnic boundary-making is well established in social research, the direct consequences of these boundaries for the integration of migrants have not received much attention. This paper thus analyses whether religious and secular boundaries of national belonging among the majority population have an impact on perceived discrimination among Muslim minorities in Western Europe. To analyse this linkage, data from the International Social Survey Programme measuring the importance of religion as a symbolic boundary of national belonging among the majority have been aggregated as a regional context condition and combined with a Muslim minority subsample from the European Social Survey. The results of the multilevel models reveal that the salience of religious boundaries is associated with less perceived discrimination among Muslim minorities, while secular orientations among the majority seem to be more decisive for subjective perceptions of feeling discriminated against. Overall, the results thus challenge the role of religion as an ethno-religious demarcation and point to the relevance of secular boundaries of belonging for immigrant integration.     

壮族原生型民间宗教结构及其特点

壮族的宗教包括原始宗教、原生型民间宗教和外来创生型宗教三个层次,其中原生型民间宗教--麽教和师公教具有代表性.它们的内部结构比较完整,基本具备了宗教的构成元素.与世界各种创生型宗教相比,仅在无地区性和全民性宗教领袖、无绝对权威主神的不同.壮族宗教的特点主要有8个方面,其中多种宗教神灵和谐共处,为国内外少见.     

Family Formation and Close Social Ties Within Religious Congregations

The study of family and religion has yet to elaborate on the social ties that connect these two important and changing institutions. Specifically, how does family formation (i.e., marriage and childrearing) impact social ties to religious communities? Using longitudinal data from the Portraits of American Life Study (2006–2012) and fixed effects regression models that control for time‐stable heterogeneity (N = 1,314), this study tests the effects of marriage and childrearing on changes in close congregational social ties. Fixed effects estimates suggest that marriage actually decreases close social ties to religious congregations, whereas rearing children within marital unions increases them. Thus, it is children, not marriage per se, that actually integrates married couples into religious communities. These contrasting effects tend to be the strongest among young adults, but they weaken with age as well as marital duration.     

Negative Religious Rhetoric in the Lives of Black Cisgender Queer Emerging Adult Men: A Qualitative Analysis

Given the intersection of racial, religious, and sexual identities for Black queer populations, the current study examines sexuality-related religious rhetoric. Twenty Black cisgender queer men were recruited to participate in a qualitative interview. Using thematic analysis, the research team identified four themes: negative religious rhetoric, personal consequences of negative religious rhetoric, social consequences of negative religious rhetoric, and growth from negative religious rhetoric. Participants explained the pervasiveness of negative religious rhetoric within their churches and family structures. Men also conveyed how negative religious rhetoric frames societal ideologies around same-sex behavior, often condoning violence toward queer populations. Although men had negative experiences, participants articulated the importance of using oppression as a platform for growth. Black cisgender queer men are present within religious institutions; however, such negative religious rhetoric may negatively affect their mental and physical health. Researchers, clinicians, and clergy should consider the ways negative religious rhetoric marginalizes queer populations.     

‘Power Differences’ and ‘the Power of Difference’: The Dominance of Secularism as Ontological Injustice

Abstract

Recent religious studies and international relations scholarship has highlighted secularism as a critical element in dominant modes of identity, power, and exclusion in global politics. Yet, the implications of these insights for global justice theory and practice have rarely been considered. This article suggests that the current dominance of secularism within global justice theory and practice risks undermining the global justice project. Specifically, I argue that secularism’s dominance constitutes an ontological injustice, where both alternative non-secular visions of the world and visions of alternative non-secular worlds are subordinated to secular ontologies. However, this argument raises a crucial question: if, despite secularism’s claim to neutrality and universality, the dominance of secular ontologies contributes to rather than ameliorates injustice, the question that remains is: what are the alternatives? The article concludes by exploring some preliminary responses to this question.     

“It’s a generosity loop”: Religious and spiritual motivations of volunteers who glean produce to reduce food insecurity

Food insecurity is a common social issue and households look to assistance from food pantries, which often have difficulty supplying fresh or nutritious food. A substantial amount of produce is left in the fields, which can be collected through gleaning. In a focus group with volunteer gleaners at a faith-based nonprofit organization that attempts to fill the gaps of food insecurity, the motivations, challenges, and benefits of volunteering were examined. Volunteering in gleaning generated a sense of collective purpose and community; it addressed deeply held religious and spiritual impulses; and it puts volunteers directly in contact with nature.     

Death of a child: Perspective of Chinese mothers in Singapore

The grief of Chinese mothers is examined in a phenomenological exploratory study. Grieving for the deceased child is moderated by diverse Chinese religious beliefs intertwined with cultural practices. Five aspects of grieving include giving meaning to the child’s life and death, quality and assurance of the afterlife, the function of crying, and a continuing bond. Extrapolating from the mothers’ grieving are questions related to the implications of children’s death for other family members and the significance of the interconnectedness of the self, others, the environment and the universe in processing a crisis through religion and spirituality in multicultural social work.     

Religion and the environmental opinion in 22 countries: a comparative study

The objective is to test if religiosity affects environmental opinion in Europe. Using data from European Social Survey (ESS) 2002/2003, the study answers three questions. At the societal level: Is public opinion about the environment different in political systems with different Christian traditions? Is environmental concern less or higher in the public opinion depending on the degree of secularization in the political systems? At the individual level: Is the environmental opinion of the individual affected by the personal confession of faith, religious involvement, and the dominant religious context? At the societal level, the findings show stronger concern for the environment in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox countries than in Protestant countries. The tendency also shows a weakened concern for the environment in countries with a rather secular population. At the individual level, there are significant positive effects on environmental care from Catholic culture, negative effect from Protestant culture, and no effect from religious involvement.     

论中国人的信仰

在将"信仰"与"宗教"混同的情况下,西方一些人很难了解中华文化中的信仰状况,甚至以为中国人没有信仰。实际上,在中国传统文化的主流中,看似"无"宗教,却是"有"信仰的。从《周易》开始,中国人就确立了以"天"为最高信仰,以人为关怀对象,追求"顺天应人"的人本主义信仰方式。这种信仰方式有其合理先进之处:它借多元宗教和非宗教的外壳,保持了"以人为本"的内核,有利于避免西方特别是欧洲历史上多次发生的那种流血的宗教冲突,给社会的发展多保留了一点难得的稳定和安宁。但也有不合理的一面:它对现实中很严肃的重大问题关注得不够认真、不够执著、不够彻底,甚至对于自己的信仰对象也缺少彻底的追究和一贯的把握,而是任其含混不定,随意改变;对于"信仰"这种心理和行为本身,它更少有正面的、开诚布公的自觉、反思、追问和交代,而是将其当作心照不宣的约定,满足于"运用之妙,在乎一心",停留于自发选择和盲目运用的水平。其结果便是,使人容易满足于眼前的、似是而非的所"得",而忽略在那些更大、更深远、更宝贵的东西的所"失"。在新的时代,人们既要深入理解它的特点,这是解开中华文化之谜的一把钥匙;又要充分挖掘它的资源,依据民主法治原则处理好信仰与宗教的关系,这是中国当代先进文化建设的一项重要任务。     

现代化进程中的中国农村地区宗教管理

现代化对农村传统生活方式的冲击以及由此带来的不确定性,是中国农村地区宗教信仰的复兴之源。面对勃起的宗教团体,现有农村社会管理模式存在极大的弊端。对此,唯有转变传统观念,正确认识宗教价值,创新宗教管理模式,方能兴利除弊,防患于未然,以利于农村地区社会和谐发展。