Media Images of Islamophobia on Cable News Network (CNN) and Implications for International Relations

This study focuses on media images of islamophobia as portrayed by Cable News Network (CNN) and its implications for international relations. The study employed qualitative methodology. Data was collected using key informant interviews, while documentary search was done using CNN current affairs videos. The study findings indicated that the media has the power to influence human perceptions towards stereotyping Islam as a terrorist organisation and conflating the Islamic religion and the Muslim culture with terrorism. The study also found out that islamophobia really has a relationship with how Muslims are represented in the media. The study recommends that media houses should have media ethics, laws and policies which force journalists to be more accountable and objective when reporting issues of religion, race and culture as a way of eliminating offensive communication and religious intolerance.

The Haredi Scholar-Society and the Military Draft in Israel

This chapter examines the phenomenon of deferments of army enlistment in Israel of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men studying in yeshivas. The author claims that counter-nationalist argument enables us to understand the progress that the haredi scholar-society has made from a sectorial entity that kept itself removed from the nation-state, and viewed the state as an undesired political fact, to an entity that maintains its own counter-nationalism. This social cultural religious entity regards itself as a symbiotic or active partner in the national endeavor, specifically through the insular haredi ethos. The author employs the term counter-nationalism to describe an approach that takes a critical view of nationalism, but has in effect adapted it to the structure of the discourse, organization, and aims of the hegemonic national ideology. This perspective raises the possibility that the ultra-Orthodox are beginning to view themselves as maintaining a complementary partnership with the Israeli culture, and to a considerable extent have even constructed a similar cultural structure, a sort of mirror-image of the militaristic one. Moreover, this study even suggests that the haredi mainstream seeks recognition for itself as the spiritual elite troops of the State of Israel.

Reconciling Homosexuality and Spirituality in Africa as a Heresy and Survival Strategy

The fight against homophobia in Africa has motivated the emergence of various advocacy initiatives including pro-gay religious forces. One of such initiatives – which have audaciously Christianized homosexuality – has been the Nigerian based, House of Rainbow (LGBT church). Using observations and a critical exploitation of secondary sources, this book chapter critically appraises this church in the light of four socio-religious theories namely, secular humanism, postmodernism, religious liberalism and African conservatism. The chapter is divided into four main parts. The first part provides a theoretical framework composed of four movements namely postmodernism, secular humanism, religious liberalism and African conservatism. The second part explores the origin, mission and structure of House of Rainbow. The third part examines House of Rainbow as postmodernist and religious humanist Christianity; while the last part examines the extent to which the gay-only church is more a survival strategy for Nigerian LGBT people than it is a heresy.

The Clash of Civil Religions in Post-Revolutionary Egypt

The 2013 counter-revolution that led to the removal of President Mohammad Morsi and the election of former military chief, ‘Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi, as president indicate that Egypt has chosen the unifying framework of Egyptian nationalism and rejected the Islamic one proposed by the Muslim Brothers. These dichotomous categories obscure more than they reveal, because Egyptian politics after the 2011 revolution is also polarized between different visions of the 'civil state'. The civil religion paradigm and the conception of the clash of civil religions as analytical models will be used to enhance our understanding of the relationships between the religious and the civil models and to identify certain characteristics of one of the most striking outcomes of this revolution: the clash between civil models and, more precisely, the clash of civil religions.

The Role of Women in the Development of New Religious Movements in Latin America

In this chapter we focus on the growth of “new religions” and new religious movements in Latin America and attempt to find explanations for this growth. Although other explanations for the increase in religious plurality exist, we focus on the role of women in this development. The expansion of movements such as Pentecostalism is challenging the centrality of Catholicism in many Latin American countries. Basically, we therefore aim to answer the following question: Why has Pentecostalism grown so much in some Latin American countries while Catholicism has experienced a certain decline? One possible explanation for this is the role of women in this expansion, which has fostered greater social cohesion within families and communities. Pentecostalism has led to a certain empowerment of the women living in precarious conditions, affording them greater visibility and importance within their communities and giving them a role in the re-education of behaviours that are rooted in male domination.

Women, Faith, and Social Cohesion

This chapter presents findings from a research study examining the relationship between faith communities, social cohesion activity and the leadership role of women. The study examined women's exercise of leadership or influence in small intercultural, interfaith projects, which they had developed to improve social cohesion in their local communities. Data were gathered using qualitative interviews and participatory research methods, predominantly with women from a range of religious backgrounds. Findings indicated that women involved in interfaith activity often occupied roles with relatively little power within their communities. Despite this they were at times able to affect considerable influence within their own contexts. Contrary to expectations from existing evidence, changes resulting from the interfaith activities under consideration occurred despite rather than because of formal leadership. The concept and practice of leadership in interfaith activity and how this might relate to different conceptualizations of social cohesion and leadership within faith communities are discussed.

Values, Constraints, and Maneuvers

For about a decade, ultra-Orthodox and Bedouin women have been applying to higher education academic institutions in Israel in order to study despite bans from their conservative communities. Academic studies instill learning and culture, create an encounter with knowledge for the individual and thus carry a high degree of threat to the rigid conservative enclave. This article examines how conservative societies cope with the wheels of change as the process of higher education for women expands. The case studies in this article are 60 educated women from Jewish ultra-Orthodox society and from Negev Bedouin groups in Israel. As shown by the findings, a theoretical flow model based on three parameters emerges: value-constraint-maneuver. In summary, it appears that this model reflects the development of a new conservative female model that combines traditional values with contemporary indicators.

The Economics of Religious Tourism (Hajj and Umrah) in Saudi Arabia

Even though great oil wealth has freed Saudi Arabia from economic dependence on Hajj and Umrah revenues, diversification of economic base and sources of income necessitates taking the economic impacts of these revenues into account. Therefore, this chapter aims to discuss the economic impact of religious tourism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Tourism worldwide is a risky business. Nevertheless, religious motives of Muslim pilgrims have never been noticeably vulnerable to any circumstances. Furthermore, religious tourists are the highest spenders compared with other types of tourists in Saudi Arabia. Subsequently, annual pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia for Hajj and Umrah can play an increasingly vital role in economic growth and development. In its broadest generic sense, religious tourism plays a vital role as foreign exchange earner, a creator of job opportunities, and a tool for improving the balance of payments. Its contribution to the economic welfare, if well planned, can be more significant than any other economic force known.

Revisiting Companionship and the Socio-Economy of the Islamic Guilds

This chapter is an introduction to the history of the formation of guilds and how they connect them to the religious and social structures that molded them. The craft-guilds are one of the most interesting and characteristic phenomena of medieval Muslim civilization. The guild in Muslim life was built essentially on the idea of the market and based on the needs of the guildsmen. Many different countries officially claim their commitment to Islam and Islamic economics. However, Islam and Islamic economic systems differ significantly from one country to another. Analysis of the Islamic economic system is impossible without a clear understanding of the legal parameters that shaped such a system. The legal foundation of the Islamic society, known as Shari'a, is considered eternally valid and applicable to all times and places. Islamic laws not only provide society with collections of laws and prescriptions which indicate the Islamic path, they also focus on specific human activities and classify them according to their degree of desirability from God's perspective. Different viewpoints on the relationship between religion, culture, and economic performance are investigated here. Finally, the role of the central bank and Islamic banking and finance will be discussed in detail. While Islamic banks play roles similar to conventional banks, fundamental differences exist between the two models. The main difference between Islamic and conventional banks is that the former operate in accordance with the rules of Shari'a, the legal code of Islam. The central concept in Islamic banking and finance is justice, which is achieved mainly through the sharing of risk. Stakeholders are supposed to share profits and losses, and charging interest is prohibited.

An Islamic Faith Perspective on Using Social Media / Mainstream Media to Prompt Organ Donation/ Transplantation Awareness

This article describes how with exception to individuals with severe learning difficulties and neurological illnesses, which of course are devastating in their own right, there has never existed a human being who has not been aware not only of his body but also of his individuality, both physically and spiritually. Human beings are consciously aware of their own lives and, it's through understanding that awareness of a consciously constructed self is identified. The use of social media (SM) today provides unparalleled opportunities for research data collection, wider access for communication and engagement. SM/ mainstream media (MM) such as television, newspapers, magazines, and radio stations are also being used to prompt research funding for specific Long-Term Conditions (LTCs), however these forms of ‘advertising' have not been explored from an Islamic stance to prompt organ donation/ transplantation awareness on using SM/ MM. This article examines Islamic teachings to examine the action of organ transplantation.