Colloquium Response

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Kenny

The problem for Study of Religions (sor) in the academy is the dearth of successful theory-as-explanation in the field and the consequential domination of the public square by other voices namely theology, apologetics, humanist study that privileges belief and New Atheism. There is theory-as-critique aplenty and it is applied to both religious truth claims and to explanatory theories about religion. Scholars ofsorhave the critical tools, methods, expertise and weight of scholarship to error check and to disprove naturalistic explanations but finding explanatory ground to stand on is very hard indeed. This piece argues that it is important to renew and revitalise the search for explanation.

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-66
Author(s):  
Zaprulkhan Zaprulkhan

Articulation of religion in the public sphere of Indonesia is still much to be exclusive and puritan, unilateral in monopolizing the truth claims of religious truth, and intolerance towards various religious disagreement. Whereas in the context of a pluralistic Indonesian nation, whether of race, ethnicity, culture, class, and religion, religious messages should be delivered by inclusive proselytizing. Anyone who would articulate religious discourses in the public sphere of Indonesia, should ideally be through inclusive proselytizing. In the context of inclusive proselytizing, Islamic values such as justice (al-'adl), human rights, freedom (Hurriyah), democracy (Shura), universal benevolence (Khoir), egalitarian (Musawah), tolerance (tasamuh), balance ( tawazun), social ethics (morals), universal humanity (an-nas), as well as peace and safety contained in the doctrine of principle Islam but those are inclusive. Inclusive priciples could embrace all people regardless of race, culture, race, class, and even religion. This article is going to discuss the significance of Nurcholish Madjid‟s inclusive proselytizing for pluralistic Indonesian society.


2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-222
Author(s):  
Terrence Reynolds

AbstractThis article argues that the rules governing religious contributions to public debates are unnecessarily restrictive and grounded in a faulty understanding of the nature of all truth claims. After critically assessing the current limits on arguments made in the public domain, this study analyses the Ramsey Colloquium’s statement on ‘The Homosexual Movement’ as a paradigmatic illustration of the difficulties that accompany the public proclamation of religious convictions. It suggests that the rules currently governing cultural conversations marginalize distinctive religious contributions and call into question the reality of a genuine marketplace of ideas.


Author(s):  
David Holland

This chapter considers the complex relationship between secularization and the emergence of new religious movements. Drawing from countervailing research, some of which insists that new religious movements abet secularizing processes and some of which sees these movements as disproving the secularization thesis, the chapter presents the relationship as inherently unstable. To the extent that new religious movements maintain a precarious balance of familiarity and foreignness—remaining familiar enough to stretch the definitional boundaries of religion—they contribute to secularization. However, new religious movements frequently lean to one side or other of that median, either promoting religious power in the public square by identifying with the interests of existing religious groups, or emphasizing their distinctiveness from these groups and thus provoking aggressive public action by the antagonized religious mainstream. This chapter centres on an illustrative case from Christian Science history.


2021 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 418-430
Author(s):  
Jonathan Tobias

In For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church, there is a clear preference for the “democratic genius of the modern age.” This preference for democracy is due, in part, to the long experience of the Orthodox Church with other governmental forms, especially autocratic and authoritarian states.


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