How Secular Are Western Governments’ Religion Policies?

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Fox
Keyword(s):  
Financial Support ◽  
Religious Practices ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
The West ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Religion And State ◽  
Western Democracies

Abstract This study examines government religion policy in 26 Western democracies between 1990 and 2014 using the Religion and State round 3 (RAS3) dataset to determine whether these policies can be considered secular. While many assume that the West and its governments are secular and becoming more secular, the results contradict this assumption. All Western governments support religion in some manner, including financial support. All but Canada restrict the religious practices and/or religious institutions of religious minorities. All but Andorra and Italy restrict or regulate the majority religion. In addition religious both governmental and societal discrimination against religious minorities increased significantly between 1990 and 2014. All of this indicates religion remains a prominent factor in politics and society in the West.

scholarly journals RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION IN CHRISTIAN-MAJORITY DEMOCRACIES FROM 1990 TO 2014

2019 ◽  
pp. 285-308
Author(s):  
Jonathan Fox
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Religious Discrimination ◽  
The West ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Empirical Tests ◽  
Religion And State ◽  
Levels Of Support ◽  
Western Democracies

This study examines patterns in societal and government-based religious discrimination (SRD and GRD) against 307 religious minorities in 67 Christian-majority democracies using the Religion and State-Minorities round 3 (RASM3) dataset. Despite expectations that all forms of religious discrimination, especially GRD, should be lower in Western liberal democracies, it is, in fact, lower in developing countries. I argue that three factors explain this discrepancy. Economically developed countries have more resources available for discrimination. Western democracies have higher levels of support for religion than Christian-majority developing countries and countries which more strongly support religion are more likely to discriminate against religious minorities. Finally levels of SRD are higher in the West and SRD is posited to be a cause of GRD. Empirical tests support these propositions.

Separation of Religion and State in Stable Christian Democracies: Fact or Myth?

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Fox
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Religious Practices ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Political Concern ◽  
Religion And State ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Role Of Religion

This study compares separation of religion and state (SRAS) as it is conceived in theory with its realization in practice in 40 stable Christian democracies between 1990 and 2008 based on data from the Religion and State Round 2 dataset. There is no agreement in the literature on how SRAS ought to be conceived. Many scholars argue that SRAS is a necessary condition for liberal democracies. The present study examines four models of SRAS found in the literature, and a non-SRAS model that addresses the appropriate role of religion in democracies: secularism-laicism, absolute SRAS, neutral political concern, exclusion of ideals, and acceptable support for religion. The study analyzes three factors: (a) whether the state supports one or some religions more than others; (b) the extent of religious legislation; and (c) restrictions on the religious practices and institutions of religious minorities. The analysis shows that depending on the definition of SRAS used, between zero and eight of the 40 countries practice SRAS. Based on this finding, I conclude that either SRAS is not a necessary condition for liberal democracy or many states commonly considered to be liberal democracies are not.

scholarly journals Ensuring Individual Rights through Institutional Freedoms: The Role of Religious Institutions in Securing Religious Rights

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 273
Author(s):  
Jonathan Fox ◽  
Roger Finke
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Religious Organizations ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Individual Rights ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Religion And State

Understanding the restrictions placed on religious institutions and associations, or the freedoms that they are denied, is essential for understanding the limits placed on individual religious freedoms and human rights more generally. This study uses the Religion and State round 3 (RAS3) dataset to track restrictions faced by religious organizations and individuals between 1990 and 2014 and explores how reduced institutional freedoms results in fewer individual freedoms. We find that restrictions on both institutional and individual religious freedoms are common and rising. Restrictions on institutional religious freedom are harsher against religious minorities than restrictions on individual freedoms. However, against the majority religion, restrictions on individual religious freedoms are harsher.

The Religion and State-Minorities dataset

2011 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 807-816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasemin Akbaba ◽  
Jonathan Fox
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Similar Data ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Religious Discrimination ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Methodological Problems ◽  
Religion And State ◽  
Data Collections ◽  
The Relationship

This article presents the Religion and State-Minorities (RASM) dataset addressing its design, collection, and utility. RASM codes religious discrimination by governments against all 566 minorities in 175 countries which make a minimum population cutoff. It includes 24 specific types of religious discrimination coded yearly from 1990 to 2002. Religious discrimination measures the absence of the human right of religious freedom which includes limits on religious practices such as worship as well as limits on religious institutions such as churches and mosques which are not placed on the majority group. Thus the dataset focuses on the restriction of religious group rights. Most similar datasets, including those that focus on human rights in general, include a single discrimination score for a country. RASM is the first to contain an accounting of religious discrimination against all relevant religious minorities on an individual basis while avoiding some methodological problems of previous similar data collections. In order to demonstrate the utility of the dataset, we examine the relationship between religious identity and religious discrimination. We find that both majority and minority identities matter in predicting the treatment of religious minorities. This demonstration that codings for individual minorities add to our understanding of the correlates of religious discrimination is illustrative of the potential uses of this dataset. It also indicates that this type of data can be useful in other types of studies where dyads based on religious identity are relevant, such as studies of ethnic conflict and civil war.

The Western Connection: Western Support for the East German Opposition

2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 74-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Financial Support ◽  
East Germany ◽  
Secret Police ◽  
The West ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
East German ◽  
Environmental Network ◽  
The Relationship

Without help from the west, the small East German opposition,such as it was, never would have achieved as much as it did. Themoney, moral support, media attention, and protection provided bywestern supporters may have made as much of a difference to theopposition as West German financial support made to the East Germanstate. Yet this help was often resented and rarely acknowledgedby eastern activists. Between 1988 and 1990, I worked withArche, an environmental network created in 1988 by East Germandissidents. During that time, the assistance provided by West Germans,émigré East Germans, and foreigners met with a level of distrustthat cannot entirely be blamed on secret police intrigue.Outsiders who tried to help faced a barrage of allegations and criticismof their work and motives. Dissidents who elected to remain inEast Germany distrusted those who emigrated, and vice versa,reflecting an unfortunate tendency, even among dissidents, to internalizeelements of East German propaganda. Yet neither the helpand support the East German opposition received from outside northe mentalities that stood in its way have been much discussed. Thisessay offers a description and analysis of the relationship betweenthe opposition and its outside supporters, based largely on one person’sfirst-hand experience.

scholarly journals What is religious freedom and who has it?

2021 ◽  
pp. 003776862110123
Author(s):  
Jonathan Fox
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Economic Prosperity ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Religion And State

Religious freedom (RF) is important because it is posited to be a central element of liberal democracy and as having multiple additional benefits including increased security and economic prosperity. Yet, it is also a disputed concept and many liberal democracies restrict the freedoms of religious minorities. This study uses the Religion and State (RAS) dataset to examine the extent of RF in 183 countries based on six definitions of RF. The author examines whether religious minorities are restricted in a manner that the majority is not, regulation of the majority religion, and imposition of precepts of the majority religion on a country’s population. He finds that very few countries, including liberal democracies, meet any standard for RF, even when one allows for ‘loose’ standards where some violations of RF are allowed.

Sharing the Burden

2014 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 1014-1018
Author(s):  
Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp
Keyword(s):  
West Coast ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
The West ◽  
Spiritual But Not Religious ◽  
Church Building ◽  
The Church

Last week, sandwiched in between updates on Beyoncé's trip to the West Coast and sighting of the latest super moon, the Huffington Post featured an article by power preacher Lillian Daniels entitled “Spiritual But Not Religious? Please Stop Boring Me.” Daniels lamented her situation on long plane flights, where she had to endure the stories of fellow travelers who, upon finding out she is a minister, confessed their rejection of religious institutions in favor of finding spirituality in sunsets and walks on the beach. Inevitably, they would present their experience to her as a revelation: “Like people who go to church don't see God in the sunset! Like we are these monastic little hermits who never leave the church building. How lucky we are to have these geniuses inform us that God is in nature.” Daniels' article represents a backlash coming from the institutional end of the spectrum, but her plea for loyalty to religion-in-community was met by many who found her (apparently, according to the comments section) insulting, condescending, and close-minded.

Multiculturalism, Living Qur’an Islamic Objectives: Muhammadiyah’s Portrait In West Papua

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 508-512
Author(s):  
Muhammad Adnan Firdaus ◽  
Dudung Abdurahman ◽  
Yusuf Muri Salampessy ◽  
Ruslan Rasid
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Objectification Theory ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Economic Institutions ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
The West ◽  
Muslim Minority ◽  
West Papua ◽  
Health Institutions

Abstract The topic of Multiculturalism Living Quran Muhammadiyah Papua and Application of Islamic Objectification Theory Kuntowijoyo intends to highlight the application of Da'wah bil regards Persyarikatan Muhammadiyah West Papua. Where is the application of da'wah bil hal Muhammadiyah West Papua by pioneering educational institutions from kindergarten to college, religious institutions such as mosques, pesantren, taklim assemblies, missionary corps and so on. Social institutions such as orphanages. Economic institutions such as Baitul Maal wa Attamwil (BMT). Philanthropic institutions such as Lazis Muhammadiyah. Health institutions such as clinics, and others. In the opinion of the author, once again, is the application of da'wah bil hal. Where the da'wah bil thing is the Muhammadiyah pattern in general and the West Papua Muhammadiyah pattern, according to the author, is the application of Kuntowijoyo's social theory of objectification of Islam. Plus, because of the existence of Muhammadiyah West Papua in the Muslim Minority zone, this is also an application of the application of da'wah bil things that is unique in the frame of multi-culturalism and mainstreaming religious moderation.  Keyword: Multiculturalism, Living Qur'an, Muhammadiyah West Papua, Islamic Objectification .

scholarly journals SOM E FÉ: DA PRÁTICA COMUNITÁRIA RELIGIOSA PARA A COMPLEXIDADE DO PENSAMENTO MUSICAL ERUDITO DO ÚLTIMO QUARTEL DO SÉC. XX

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
José Luís Postiga
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Religious Practices ◽  
The West ◽  
Communicative Practice ◽  
Musical Concepts ◽  
Musical Works ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
Western Classical Music

When faced with the artistic-musical concepts developed in the second half of the twentieth century, it is common to observe them from the perspective of the scientific advances they have promoted or resulted from, the abstract organizations in which they are based, the aesthetic principles they create or and almost always fall within the individuality of the interpretation present in the creative act and its representativeness, regardless of the support in which it presents itself. Paradoxically, some of the main classical musical works written in the last quarter of the twentieth century resulted from the musicological study and/or musical representation of concepts, rites, religious practices representative of different cultures of the West and especially the East. In this sense, throughout the present article will be addressed works by composers of Western classical music, such as the case of Jonathan Harvey and Tristan Murail, characteristics of the musical currents that fit, from serialism to spectralism, as well as acoustic and electronic casts, which result. reinterpretations of religious practices of Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as sound behaviors of the communicative practice of peoples, such as the songs and instruments of Tibet and Mongolia.

Shariah and Islamic Law

Shariah ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Esposito ◽  
Natana J. Delong-Bas
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
The West ◽  
Religious Minorities

For many in the West today, “Shariah” is a word that evokes fear—fear of a medieval legal system that issues draconian punishments, fear of relegation of women and religious minorities to second-class citizenship, fear of Muslims living as separate communities who refuse to integrate with...

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