The Portable Bullhe Shah: Biography, Categorization, and Authorship in the Study Of Punjabi Sufi Poetry

Numen ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Rinehart
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Extensive Body

AbstractThe Punjabi poet Bullhe Shah (1680-1758) is revered by Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. In the extensive body of interpretive literature devoted to his life and work, scholars have contested his religious identity, characterizing Bullhe Shah in various ways, e. g. as a Sufi, a Vedantic Sufi, or a Vai ava Vedantic Sufi. This article examines the nature of the debates about Bullhe Shah's identity, and how these debates have shaped the varying portrayals of Bullhe Shah's life, the corpus of his poetry, and the characterization of his religious affiliation. I argue that a series of unexamined assumptions — about the nature of biography and its relation to the development of a worldview, about the categorization of religious identity, and about the nature of authorship — have created these conflicting portrayals of the poet and his work, making Bullhe Shah a kind of "portable" figure who is placed in widely divergent contexts. I conclude by arguing that Bullhe Shah's portability, or his placement within different contexts (for different purposes), is itself a useful topic for analysis, and provides the basis for a potentially more fruitful study not only of Bullhe Shah's life and work, but also of his audiences and their responses to him.

Religious Identity: Reflections on Revelation and Rationality

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-459
Author(s):  
Majid Amini
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Individual Identity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
Ethnic Origins

AbstractThere is a widespread assumption that ethnic origins substantially contribute, if not constitute, the identity of individuals. In particular, among the ethnic elements, it is claimed that religion takes precedence and people could be individuated in terms of their religious affiliations. Indeed, public theology as an attempt to expand on the public consequences of religious doctrines and beliefs is predicated on the legitimacy of the idea of religious identity. However, the purpose of this article is to show that strictly speaking identity cannot be constituted by religion. More precisely, it is argued that a phenomenological characterization of individual identity fails to do justice to the philosophical requirements of identity. The argument is obviously philosophical by nature and is developed through an analysis of the concept of revelation. The phenomenon of revelation plays a pivotal role in the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions, yet by its very nature owes its authenticity to something prior to itself; namely, reason. This entails the priority of reason over revelation and as such undermines claims that purport to define identity in terms of revelation/religion. This detachment of identity from religion would clearly have far reaching socio-political implications for issues such as religious diversity, pluralism and multiculturalism in particular and public theology in general.

Православізація як суспільний феномен та категорія історичної соціолінгвістики

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 23-33
Author(s):  
Галина Мацюк
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Historical Sociolinguistics ◽  
Linguistic Markers ◽  
The Third ◽  
Linguistic Approach ◽  
Second World

The purpose of the article is to introduce the concept of „conversion to Orthodoxy ” into the analysis of historical sociolinguistics for the characterization of a language situation caused by the redistribution of Ukrainian territories after the third division of Poland and during the Second World War. The objectives of the article are to reveal the meaning of the concept of „conversion to Orthodoxy” and to identify the linguistic markers of this phenomenon in contemporary religious and secular discourse. The author studies the content of the category „conversion to Orthodoxy” based on new sources that have not yet been put into circulation by sociolinguistics. Methods of analysis: case study, discourse analysis, sociolinguistic correlations, comparative and biographical method, which allowed applying socio-cultural linguistic approach to studying the database. The results related to the conversion to Orthodoxy obtained in the article prove the destruction of the national and religious identity of the Ukrainian territories in the 18th-20th centuries and illustrate intercultural communication under the scheme of integration with assimilation based on a geopolitical factor, violence and terror.

scholarly journals THE CHURCH AND CONGRESS: RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS AND FOREIGN POLICY VOTING IN THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-371
Author(s):  
Todd Collins ◽  
Kenneth A. Wink ◽  
James L. Guth ◽  
C. Don Livingston
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Religious Orientation ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
National Journal ◽  
The U.S

Recent literature in the religion and politics area has focused on the effect of various measures of religious affiliation on the political behavior of the mass public. Here we add to the evolving literature examining the influence of religious orientation on political elite behavior, focusing on the U.S. House of Representatives. Method. We use data on the religious affiliations of U.S. House members and National Journal scores of foreign policy voting to test the influence of religion on foreign policy ideology from 1998-2003. Our findings indicate that even after controlling for traditional political factors, religious identity influenced foreign policy voting in the House. African-American Protestants, Latter-day Saints (Mormons), and Evangelical Protestants present the most distinctive patterns. Conclusions. From this analysis we see further indications that religion influences legislative behavior in a way that, although intertwined with political partisanship, appears distinct from traditional political factors.

scholarly journals Religiousness and civic identity of youth in the Republic of Dagestan: current state.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 90-102
Author(s):  
Yusup D. Dzhabrailov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Sociological Study ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Republic ◽  
High Level

The article is devoted to determining the level of religiosity of Dagestan youth and its influence on the process of forming civil identity. Based on the results of a sociological study, the author states that there is a direct relationship between the level of youth religiosity and their civic identification. He states that the high level of religious identity of young people does not weaken the position of civic identification. At the same time, pronounced religious ties contribute to the formation of a culture of trust in persons of other confessional and ethnic groups at the level of interpersonal relations. The experience of close connection with co-religionists develops a culture of trust in a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional environment. Nevertheless, the author draws attention to the difference in indicators of civil identification in the Islamic-Christian border area, which is associated with the predominance in the mass consciousness of muslims and representatives of non-Russian nationality of the feeling of violation of civil rights on a confessional basis. It is concluded that with the adoption of the practice of meeting religious requests of communities throughout the Russian Federation, regardless of religious affiliation, it is expected to increase the indicators of civil identification of young people. The article notes that the regional level is dominated by trends for favorable interfaith communication. To a decisive extent, they may depend on the socio-political attitudes at the federal level.

Religious victimization as social empowerment in discrimination narratives from California’s Proposition 8 campaign

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris VanderStouwe
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Survey Question ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Proposition 8 ◽  
Same Sex Couples ◽  
Institutional Positioning

One of the premier social issues in contemporary US politics is that of same-sex marriage. This research explores language use and identity construction by same-sex marriage supporters through narratives of discrimination. This paper analyzes data collected through the non-profit Marriage Equality USA, wherein narrators respond to a survey question about experiences of discrimination during California’s Proposition 8 campaign, a statewide initiative that repealed the rights of same-sex couples to marry. In doing so, narrators use ideologies of religion and religious affiliation to: (1) construct a victim identity in relation to their experiences, (2) use this as a springboard to challenge their victimization, (3) establish opposition between individual and institutional positioning of religious identity, and (4) switch roles with their victimizers with respect to victim and empowered positions. In doing so, narrators use victimization as empowerment to convey a progressive position in an inevitably successful social movement.

Exploring Township Youth Perceptions: Vulnerable Girls and Their Caregivers in Chatsworth, Durban

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 292-302
Author(s):  
Gerelene Jagganath
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Substance Abusers ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Drug Addicts ◽  
Female Youth ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Youth Perceptions

This article is based on a longitudinal, ethnographic study conducted in 2010, 2011, and 2012 among caregivers of female youth substance abusers in Chatsworth. Together with personnel of the Anti Drug Forum (ADF), the researcher used several qualitative research techniques, including participant observation, interviews, and focus group meetings to compile in-depth case studies of a small sample of vulnerable female youth drug addicts, primarily from the perspective of their caregivers. While the research questions focused on their substance-abuse experiences and challenges, the religious perceptions and spiritual practices of the young women and their caregivers raised several pertinent debates relating to religious identity specific to Chatsworth. The article also draws on a number of studies, news articles, and community discussions to supplement a topic that has been under-researched. For the purposes of this article and the religious affiliation of the sample, a snapshot of youth perceptions on Christianity and Hinduism in the township context will be examined.

scholarly journals A CATHOLIC VIEW OF INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE IN THE TIME OF POPE FRANCIS

2019 ◽  
pp. 205-224
Author(s):  
Mato Zovkić
Keyword(s):  
Religious Education ◽  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Interreligious Dialogue ◽  
Pope Francis ◽  
Benedict Xvi ◽  
Mixed Marriages ◽  
Role Of Religion

The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) drew the attention of Catholics to human dignity of non-Christian believers who have right to their religious identity. After the Council Popes Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI established and supported the Pontifical Council for Interreligious dialogue with the task to study other religions as they perceive themselves and to organize friendly encounters with their representatives. Pope Francis, elected on 13 March 2013, brought into his ministry the experience of a Church leader in South America. This is why in his teaching documents, encounters and discourses he points out the social role of religion (Evangelii Gaudium, nos 176-258), the need for preserving environment as our common home (Laudato si, 199-245) and special pastoral care of couples in mixed marriages as believers who can practice interreligious dialogue by persevering in their religious affiliation (Amoris Laetitia, 247-248). On his apostolic journeys to Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Egypt he met representatives of civil authorities and Muslim religious leaders. Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmed Al Tayeb gave him the opportunity to address the Muslim participants at the Peace Conference in Cairo on 28 April 2017. Pope Francis’s acts and speeches can inspire Religious Education teachers in Bosnia and Herzegovina to develop respective religious identities in their students by preserving shared values and introducing them to universal ethics.

scholarly journals Religious identity of the urban population of Dagestan in the structure of social identity.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-108
Author(s):  
Madina M. Shakhbanova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Urban Population ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Ethnic Community ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Mass Consciousness ◽  
Contradictory Behavior ◽  
Confessional Identity

The article deals with the manifestation of the religious identity of the urban population of Dagestan. The obtained empirical data show the dominance of the Republican type of social identity with a large preponderance in the mass consciousness of the respondents. The author's hypothesis about the importance of religious identity for respondents was not confirmed by the results of the study, because the designation of unity with co-religionists by respondents prevails only in a subgroup of convinced believers. In addition, the awareness of community with representatives of their ethnic community is of great importance for citizens. At the same time, the study revealed contradictory behavior of citizens: for example, the study of the religious identity of the urban population indicates the prevalence of the importance of religious affiliation. In addition, empirical data shows the existence in the attitudes of citizens of the consideration of religion as an integral part of ethno-culture, which is quite natural in the observed synthesis of ethnic and religious factors in the form of ethno-confessional identity. The level of trust in various social spheres, in particular religious institutions, contributes to the formation of a positive religious identity to a certain extent. The survey data indicates a weak level of trust in co-religionists, while at the same time its high manifestation to the near radius.

scholarly journals Halide Edip and the Turkifi cation of Armenian Children: Enigmas, Problems and Questions

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-79
Author(s):  
Shushan Khachatryan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
State Policy ◽  
English Language ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
Problem Area ◽  
Armenian Genocide ◽  
Whole Process

It is a well-known fact that the Islamisation of Christian children in the Ottoman Empire has a long history. In the great majority of cases Islamisation was carried out forcibly, accompanied by the erasure of a child’s ethnic-religious identity for those who remembered it and totally hiding their ethnic roots and religious affiliation from those who didn’t. The whole process of cultivating a new identity and character was a matter of time and of contested methods. This article identifies a problem area, raising questions and analyzing the role of Turkish intellectual Halidé Edip in the state policy of Turkification of Armenian children at the Antoura orphanage during the Armenian Genocide. It draws comparisons between the three memoirs of Armenian orphans from that orphanage that are known to date, those of Garnik Banean (Karnig Panian as written in his English language memoir), Harutyun Alboyajyan, and Melgon Petrosean and that written by Halidé Edip. As a result, certain essential differences, ploys, as well as facts disguised by Edip have been collected and presented in this article. Therefore, the research carried out identifies the problems areas relating to various aspects of the Antoura orphanage by raising new questions, offering explanations and new approaches as well as highlighting issues that need to be researched further.

Scientists and Scholars

2020 ◽  
pp. 85-115
Author(s):  
Jeff Levin
Keyword(s):  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Biomedical Sciences ◽  
Services Research ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
Health Studies ◽  
Psychiatric Outcomes ◽  
Extensive Body ◽  
The Impact

Chapter 5 summarizes the extensive body of empirical research studies that identify health impacts of religious practice, identity, and beliefs. These include thousands of epidemiologic, clinical, social, and behavioral studies, as well as investigations from other fields, notably health services research, the biomedical sciences, and psychiatry and clinical psychology. Population-health studies are emphasized, and the latest findings are summarized on the impact of religion, for better or worse, on medical and psychiatric outcomes and rates of morbidity, mortality, and disability, both in the United States and globally, and across religious affiliation. The work of Jeff Levin and his colleagues is highlighted here. Also summarized and critiqued are the controversial clinical trials of healing prayer that have received so much attention since the late 1980s

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