The on-disk journal of international Religious Studies
Editor: Brian Bocking
Consulting Editor: Gavin Flood
ISSN 0967-8948
WELCOME TO DISKUS
DISKUS "a disembodied journal of international religious studies" was
first published in the UK in Spring 1993 by Brian Bocking (Study of
Religions Dept., Bath) and Gavin Flood (Theology & Religious Studies
Dept., Lampeter). DISKUS was issued on computer disk only, using
simple ASCII text which could - like e-mail today - be read in any
word-processor. In 1993, printed journals were becoming expensive, and
most academics had acquired a personal computer. Publishing on-disk
seemed an obvious step. DISKUS - whose name reflects its purpose of stimulating on-DISK DISCUSsion - focuses on contemporary religions. DISKUS aims to publish scholarly articles of a broadly phenomenological character, covering a range of different religous traditions and topics and written in a lucid and accessible manner so as to be useful to a wide readership of academics, students, teachers and others involved in the academic study of religions.
Technology has moved on, and sending disks through the mail is no longer the simplest way of bringing DISKUS to the majority of its readers. Because DISKUS started life as an electronic journal, it is ideally suited to the internet, and we welcome the opportunity to be part of IJR. The DISKUS articles you will find here appear exactly as they were first issued on-disk.
We hope that you will enjoy DISKUS. Please submit articles for consideration or send your comments to
Professor Brian Bocking
Editor, DISKUS
Email: b.bocking@bathspa.ac.uk
Study of Religions Dept.
Bath College of HE
Newton Park
Bath BA2 9BN
UK.
Issues indexed:
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DISKUS Volume 1 No. 1 (Spring 1993)
Editorial
Welcome to DISKUS, the first computer disk-based Religious Studies journal in the UK. The first issue contains five papers which cover a range of subjects and issues within the field, with a focus on contemporary religious traditions. Future issues of the journal will continue, as we have begun, with an emphasis on the analysis and understanding of religious traditions in the contemporary world.
The first article by Ninian Smart is a short piece which makes the point that the formation of a religious tradition may be distinct from its origin. Professor Smart illustrates his idea with several examples. Klaus-Dieter Stoll traces the development of the 'Electronic Church', Peter Woodward examines issues arising in the study of Jewish children in the UK, and Kim Knott explores some recent developments in Hare Krishna theology. Finally, a longer article by Andrew Rawlinson surveys the history of Western Sufism. Our thanks are due to these authors for their contributions to the launch issue of DISKUS.
In future issues we plan to include articles of varying lengths, and we are willing to consider for publication correspondence, announcements, reviews and information relevant to scholars, educators and all readers interested in the open-ended study of religions.
We hope that you enjoy the first issue of DISKUS and find something of interest.
The Editors
- Ninian SMART
'The Formation rather than the Origin
of a Tradition'
Abstract Article - Klaus-Dieter STOLL
'Pay now, Pray later:
Part 1: The emergence of the Electronic Church'
Abstract Article - Peter WOODWARD
'Empathetic Guidelines for the Ethnographic
Study of Jewish Children in Britain'
Abstract Article - Kim KNOTT
'Contemporary Theological Trends in the
Hare Krishna Movement'
Abstract
Article
- Andrew RAWLINSON
'A History of Western Sufism'
Abstract Article
DISKUS Volume 1 No. 2 (Autumn 1993)
Editorial
Welcome to the second issue of DISKUS. Response to the launch of the UK's first disk-based Religious Studies journal has been very encouraging. Our thanks to those readers who commented on the high quality of the articles in the last issue and have wished DISKUS well. Only a few users reported technical problems, and these seem to have been overcome without much difficulty. So far so good! Various helpful suggestions have been adopted - please keep suggestions coming, and please continue to mention DISKUS to others who may be interested.
Issue no.2 contains four very different papers, each fascinating in its own way. Bryan Wilson in 'The Persistence of Sects' examines with characteristic lucidity five contemporary Christian sects which have retained their separate and distinctive identity over several generations, yet have very different forms of organisation, ranging from the minimalist structures of the secretive 'Testimony' sect to what amount almost to a 'mini-state' administered by Seventh-Day Adventists. Despite considerable differences in their degree of organisational development, each has maintained a truly 'sectarian' stance. James Grayson's article on Christianity and State Shinto in Colonial Korea, as well as illuminating the religious events of a profoundly troubled era in the making of modern Korea, helps us to understand why nationalism and religion, competing focuses of ultimate loyalty in the modern world, are related to each other in such markedly different ways in Korea and Japan.
Ian Harris' paper is a contribution to the continuing debate on the nature of the self in contemporary societies. Querying the widely accepted Dumontian claim that the European 'individual' cannot be found in Hindu culture, Harris invites us to look more closely and self-critically at the facts of the case, draws comparisons with Japan and proposes some lines of further enquiry. Nicholas Sutton's paper on Theology and Religious Studies was presented at the Annual Conference of the British Association for the Study of Religions in Newcastle earlier this year. It captures a central, if unintended, preoccupation of that conference with the distinctions between Religious Studies and Theology. While Sutton's views will not necessarily be shared by all, they emerge from the real and recent experience of a young scholar; questions are raised about the nature of Religious Studies and Theology as taught in Britain today which should be answered. DISKUS seeks among other things to provoke DISKUSsion, and another upcoming scholar, Helen Waterhouse, has offered her comments on Sutton's thesis in this issue. Further brief or lengthy contributions to this debate, which is far from over, are most welcome.
Our sincere apologies to those waiting for part 2 of the 'Electronic Church'. This has been held over to the next issue, in order to incorporate statistical data as yet unpublished.
The Editors
- Bryan WILSON
'The Persistence of Sects'
Abstract Article - James H GRAYSON
'Christianity and State Shinto in Colonial Korea:
A Clash of Nationalisms and Religious Beliefs'
Abstract Article - Ian HARRIS
'Individualism in its Indian Context'
Abstract Article - Nicholas SUTTON
'Issues Arising from the Distinctions Drawn
Between Theology and Religious Studies'
Abstract Article - Helen WATERHOUSE
A short critique of Nick Sutton's paper:
"Issues Arising from the Distinctions Drawn
Between Theology and Religious Studies."
Abstract Article
DISKUS Volume 2 No. 1 (Spring 1994)
Editorial
Welcome to the third issue of DISKUS, which contains papers by five authors. The papers are apparently diverse, ranging from Rudolf Otto and Aid-il-fitr to medieval sexuality, Romanian interethnicity and Virtual Reality. In fact, such diversity or 'proliferation' in the subject-matter of the study of religions is one of the very issues confronted by Peter McKenzie in his stimulating discussion of 'Otto, Wach and Heiler ...'. McKenzie's paper is an exceptionally clear, wise and substantial contribution to understanding what is meant by the phenomenological study of religion. Even allowing for proliferation, an article on medieval women's sexuality might seem out of place in DISKUS, a journal which claims to focus on contemporary religions, but Fiona Bowie's paper addresses thoroughly contemporary issues in her exploration of influential and enduring male medieval theological attitudes towards, and gynaecological theories about, women, contrasting these with the affirmation of a very different image of the female in Christianity presented by Hildegard of Bingen.
Hildegard herself appeared (virtually) on BBC television recently, portrayed with gusto by the actress Patricia Routledge. Enthusiastic promotion of 'alternative' views about Christianity such as Hildegard's were definitely not the sort of thing envisaged by the BBC when it first ventured into religious broadcasting in the 1920's. As Klaus-Dieter Stoll points out in the concluding part of his 'Pay Now, Pray Later', one of the BBC's earliest principles was 'no representation of non-mainstream groups and heterodox ideas'. Stoll reminds us how far we have come but warns us also to watch where we are going, in the wake of the 'big bang' of broadcasting deregulation in 1990.
Lia Pop in 'Religion in a Romanian Town' explores the particular problems of multiculturalism in contemporary Romania, focusing on ethnicity and religious affiliation as both determinants of difference, and starting-points for openness to a positive valuation of multiculturalism. The institutional contexts of church and hospital provide arenas in which different values are accentuated or dissolved, whether through the exercise of choice or the exigency of illness. We hope there will be many further contributions from Eastern European scholars of religion in future issues of DISKUS.
The same issue of multiculturalism but in an altogether different context is the theme of 'Islam, Adat and Multiculturalism in Malaysia', Marion Bowman's comparison between Gulf and Malaysian Islam in which the author generates, from a study of everyday items such as dress, food and greeting cards, significant insights into contemporary trends in Islam in different parts of the world. Such a study supports the claim made by Peter McKenzie that, while the value of anthropological, historical etc. approaches to religion is not in dispute, the phenomenological study of religion has its own distinctive standpoint, one which keeps religion in the foreground and enables fruitful comparison across time and cultures without sacrificing detail.
We hope you enjoy this issue of DISKUS.
The Editors
- Fiona BOWIE
'Hildegard of Bingen and Medieval Women's
Sexuality'
Abstract Article - Marion BOWMAN
'Islam, Adat and Multiculturalism in Malaysia'
Abstract Article - Peter McKENZIE
'Otto, Wach and Heiler: Towards a Systematic
Phenomenology of Religion'
Abstract Article - Lia POP
'Religion in a Romanian Town: Values and
"Interethnicity" in Oradea'
Abstract Article - Klaus-Dieter STOLL
'Pay Now, Pray Later - Part 2:
The Electronic Church in the United Kingdom
Abstract Article
DISKUS Volume 2 No. 2 (Autumn 1994)
Editorial
A warm welcome to the fourth issue of DISKUS. The DISKUS readership continues to grow, suggesting that those interested in Religious Studies have taken the revolutionary concept of an on-disk journal in their stride! If you do encounter technical problems in either reading or printing DISKUS the editors are always willing to help.
There are five papers in this issue dealing with aspects of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and New Religions and embracing a variety of methods and approaches in Religious Studies.
The first two papers are by anthropologists of religion and they should perhaps be read together, since both develop the theme of religiously effective performance, though in markedly different social contexts. J R Freeman's paper deals with Hindu tantric possession rites in Northern Kerala, while Sandra Bell's article is based on her study of the English Sangha Trust's practice of Theravada Buddhism at Amaravati, just outside London.
While Amaravati is home to mainly European 'converted' British Buddhists, the Sikh community in Britain while increasingly UK-born still maintains strong links with its Punjabi and East African history and culture. Seva Singh Kalsi's research among Sikhs in Leeds and elsewhere lends authority to his account of sacred symbols in Sikhism, which is interwoven with pages from the story of the continuing development of British Sikhism from the 1950's to the present day.
Denise Cush and Catherine Robinson have collaborated on an article which deals with the interaction between Hinduism as it is and Hinduism as it is often perceived to be. Disturbances at Ayodhya have challenged the widely-taught view that Hinduism is a religion marked by tolerance of other faiths. Distinguishing two main strands - of Hindu nationalism and Hindu universalism - the authors are able to explain how an image of tolerance has emerged from only one side of the complex modern religious and political history of Hinduism.
Last but not least, George Chryssides takes a step back from studying new religions to ask the basic methodological question, 'what is a new religious movement?'. Chryssides' aim is to bring into the open some unacknowledged assumptions which appear to be shared by both academics and 'anti-cultists', and to distil a definition of 'New Religious Movement' which will be helpful and acceptable to all parties including the religions themselves.
We hope that you enjoy this issue of DISKUS.
The Editors
- J R FREEMAN
Possession Rites and the Tantric Temple:
A Case-Study from Northern Kerala
Abstract Article - Sandra BELL
Practice Makes Perfect - Symbolic Behaviour
and Experience in Western Buddhism
Abstract Article - Sewa Singh KALSI
Sacred Symbols in British Sikhism
Abstract Article - Denise CUSH and Catherine ROBINSON
The Contemporary Construction of Hindu Identity:
Hindu Universalism and Hindu Nationalism
Abstract Article - George D CHRYSSIDES
New Religious Movements:
Some Problems of definition
Abstract Article
DISKUS Volume 3 No. 1 (Spring 1995)
Editorial
We wish you a sincere if belated welcome to DISKUS Vol.3, No.1. The five papers in this issue have been contributed by scholars in the UK, Japan, Hong Kong and Africa, and fall broadly into two groups. Those by Tim Fitzgerald and Peter Connolly have to do with the nature of religion and Religious Studies and with the concepts and the explanations appropriate to the academic study of the wide (and according to Fitzgerald, ill-conceived) field of 'religion'. The papers by Beatrice Leung, A.M. Okorie and Peter Woodward deal with religion as practised in a variety of contexts, from Christianity in the People's Republic of China to traditional religion in an African village and Judaism in contemporary Britain.
Constant critical reflection on the methods and assumptions of the academic study of religions is a central and essential part of the discipline. Tim Fitzgerald's claim that Religious Studies perpetuates a kind of theological/supernaturalist imperialism and that it should be replaced by cultural studies focusing on values and power relations deserves to be taken seriously. Fitzgerald's is a careful argument backed up by comparative empirical data from Japan and India and a review of mainstream Religious Studies literature. Peter Connolly's discussion of the nature of hypnosis and its relation to religious world-views is similarly stimulating and challenging for Religious Studies methodology. Connolly's argument indicates that we may be wrongly marginalising salient explanations of religion by characterising them as 'reductionist'.
Of the papers dealing with specific examples of religious practice and belief, A. M. Okorie's paper enables us to listen to different voices in an oral tradition of African village religiosity, while both Leung and Woodward address issues of global significance - religion, law and state, and religion and gender respectively - in relation to their own detailed research findings. We are grateful to all these authors for their contributions to the study of religion through the pages - or rather the screen - of DISKUS. There is a great deal of interesting and stimulating writing in this edition of DISKUS; we hope that you enjoy reading this issue as we have enjoyed editing it.
The Editors
- Beatrice LEUNG
Religious Freedom and the Constitution in the
People's Republic of China:
Interpretation and Implementation
Abstract Article - Peter CONNOLLY
Hypnotic Dimensions of Religious Worldviews
Abstract Article - Tim FITZGERALD
Religious Studies as Cultural Studies:
A Philosophical and Anthropological Critique of the concept of Religion
Abstract Article - A. M. OKORIE
Ala-Umuokoroala: the Divinity of an African
Igbo Village
Abstract Article - Peter WOODWARD
The Kitchen and the Study: An Examination of Selected
Gender-Related Issues as seen in Jewish Families and
in the Upbringing of Jewish Children
Abstract Article
DISKUS Volume 3 No. 2 (Autumn 1995)
Editorial
This issue of DISKUS and the next (Vols.3 No.2, 1995 and 4 No.1, 1996) present a selection of twelve papers, six in each issue, first presented at the 41st Annual Conference of the British Association for the Study of Religions (BASR), held at the University of Wolverhampton in September 1995. The conference theme was 'Authority and Religious Traditions' and the papers selected for publication in DISKUS address questions of authority in a wide variety of contexts.
Authority is a live issue for religions, as traditional authority structures crumble and new sources of authority appear. One is tempted to add - 'as usual', but the strong claims of loyalty and devotion to institutions, individuals and other sources of authority found in religions the world over do not diminish in significance just because they change in character. It may be, as many would claim, that 'traditional' religious forms of authority are sharing the fate of other modernist discourses and have less hold on individuals and communities than they used to do. On the other hand, scholars of religion (such as Shimazono, Susumu in his recent discussion of Aum Shinrikyo*) can point with some force to 'the revenge of religion' in contemporary societies and the rise of deep faith in new gods, as doubts spread about the ability of secular rationality to deliver on its promises. There is not one type or meaning of 'authority', and the scholars whose papers are included in this issue draw on their individual expertise and experience to address fundamental questions of the source, nature and significance of authority in very different religious traditions.
Papers in this issue deal with authority in the Mormon church (Douglas Davies), in contemporary Malaysia (Theodore Gabriel), at the New Age centre of Findhorn (Steven Sutcliffe), among Sikhs both in India and abroad (Sewa Singh Kalsi) and among British Buddhists following a Tibetan tradition (Helen Waterhouse) and Sai Baba devotees in Leeds (Bob Exon).
The forthcoming issue (Volume 4 No. 1) will include papers by Paul Badham (authority in Christian ethics), George Chryssides (Unitarianism), Simonetta Calderini (medieval Ismailism), Peggy Morgan (the believer's authority in the study of religions), Doug Brear (the Swaminarayan movement) and Graham Harvey (Paganism and Goddess spirituality).
We hope that you will appreciate this and the following 'themed' issues of DISKUS.
The Editors
* Ref: Shimazono, Susumu 'In the Wake of Aum.' Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 22/3-4 (1995), pp.381-417.
- Douglas DAVIES
Jural and Mystical Authority in
Religions: Exploring a Typology
Abstract Article - Theodore GABRIEL
The Malaysian Government and Christian-Muslim
Relations in Malaysia
Abstract Article - Steven SUTCLIFFE
The Authority of the Self in New Age religiosity:
the example of the Findhorn Community
Abstract Article - Sewa Singh KALSI
Problems of Defining Authority in Sikhism
Abstract Article - Helen WATERHOUSE
Who is the Karmapa? Western Buddhist Responses to
a Challenge to Traditional Religious Authority
Abstract Article - Bob EXON
Research Report: Self-accounting for Conversion
by Western Devotees of Modern Hindu
Religious Movements
Abstract Article
DISKUS Volume 4 No. 1 (Spring 1996)
Editorial
Volume 4, No.1 of DISKUS is, as previously announced, devoted to Part Two of the collection of papers on 'Authority and Religious Traditions' initially presented at the 41st Annual Conference of the British Association for the Study of Religions, at the University of Wolverhampton in September 1995.
This issue of DISKUS begins with a reflective paper by Peggy Morgan on issues relating to the believer's authority in the study of religions. Simonetta Calderini explores hierarchical structures within the cosmology of Medieval Ismailism and Doug Brear addresses both the role and the perceived qualities of Pramukh Swami, charismatic head of the Swaminarayan Hindu Mission, whose new temple in Neasden, North London was opened recently, attracting substantial public and media interest. The name of Martin Luther is not normally associated with contemporary paganism but as Graham Harvey suggests, pagans do not accept traditional 'religious' sources of authority and instead may see themselves as 'a priesthood of all believers'. George Chryssides' discussion of the work of James Martineau pinpoints a watershed in the development of Unitarian thought, when the yardstick of scriptural authority gave way to reason, and Paul Badham's examination of the changing sources of authority in Christian ethics develops from exactly the kind of issue that might have troubled Martineau; 'Christians ought to feel uneasy when their moral code differs from that of an informed and ethically aware non-Christian'.
Part One of the 'Authority' collection, presented in the previous issue (DISKUS Vol.3, No.2) contained papers dealing with authority in the Mormon church (Douglas Davies), in contemporary Malaysia (Theodore Gabriel), at the New Age centre of Findhorn (Steven Sutcliffe), among Sikhs both in India and abroad (Sewa Singh Kalsi) and among British Buddhists following a Tibetan tradition (Helen Waterhouse) and Sai Baba devotees in Leeds (Bob Exon).
We hope that you enjoy this issue of DISKUS.
The Editors
- Peggy MORGAN
The Authority of Believers in The Study
of Religions
Abstract Article - Simonetta CALDERINI
Cosmology and authority in medieval Ismailism
Abstract Article - A. D. BREAR
The Authority of Pramukh Swami within the
Swaminarayan Hindu Mission
Abstract Article - Graham HARVEY
The Authority of Intimacy in Paganism and
Goddess Spirituality
Abstract Article - George D CHRYSSIDES
The Seat of Authority in Unitarianism
Abstract Article - Paul BADHAM
Sources of Authority in Christian Ethics
Abstract Article
DISKUS Volume 4 No. 2 (Autumn 1996)
Editorial
Welcome to DISKUS, Volume 4, No. 2. The articles in this issue cover a wide range of matters in a number of different religious contexts, but they have perhaps in common the issue of 'representation': who represents what religion, by what means, to whom? Andreas Christmann in his study of Ramadan in Syria points out that Ramadan TV plays an active role in the representation of Islam, contemporary society and the meaning of Ramadan for the Syrian people. Michael York tackles head-on the problem of 'cults' and the use of the term 'cult' in the representation of religion, with a plea to fellow-educators not to allow ourselves to be elbowed out of the public arena of debate by the powerful but often questionable projects of mass media and government. Ron Geaves' discussion of Baba Balaknath happens to illustrate York's point; not only is the article intrinsically interesting as an account of contemporary Punjabi religiosity, in the UK as much as in India, but it also highlights the problems which arise when textbooks, teachers and representatives of 'orthodoxy' line up to generate 'official' conceptions of religion which do not fit the facts. Finally George Chryssides points to the possibilities and perils of internet-based research and information-gathering in the field of new religious movements; cyberspace can be a hall of mirrors, in which a site listed as the Jehovah's Witnesses Official Homepage turns out to be produced by their opponents. At least you may be assured that this is a genuine issue of DISKUS........!
We hope that you enjoy this issue of DISKUS, which is the last to be distributed on-disk, by what has now come to be called 'snail mail'. Technology has moved on and DISKUS with it. Past and future issues of DISKUS will henceforth be published only on the internet at: http://www.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/diskus
Thank you, DISKUS subscribers, for your support and your interest in DISKUS since its inception in 1993.
The Editors
- Andreas CHRISTMANN
An Invented Piety: Ramadan on Syrian TV
Abstract
Article - Michael YORK
BACRA and the Media: Defending the Cult in the
Politics of Representation
Abstract
Article - Ron GEAVES
Baba Balaknath: An exploration of Religious
Identity
Abstract
Article - George D CHRYSSIDES
New Religions and the Internet
Abstract
Article
MULTICULTURALISM AND THE RECOGNITION OF RELIGION
Editorial
Welcome to DISKUS Volume 5, which focuses on the theme
of 'Multiculturalism and the Recognition of Religion'. As we all know,
'multiculturalism' has become a buzz-word. Nevertheless, as a key term
used in describing and debating the plurality of national, cultural and
religious groups in post-modern societies (and elsewhere) it cannot go
unnoticed by scholars of the history of religions. As such, this volume
draws attention to a wide area of research fields, pointing to the significance
of the 'religious factor' within existing multicultural contexts, as well
as highlighting some of the implications multiculturalism might have for
religious traditions.
Looking at the phenomenon of multiculturality from a Religious Studies
point of view, the situation appears historically neither so new
nor particularly exceptional (in the sense of occurring only in societies
of Western late modernity). The first essay by Max Deeg, pointing to examples
in India, Central Asia and China in ancient times, underscores the fact
that multicultural situations can be observed more than 2,000 years ago.
In a nearby region of the world but two millenia later, Andreas Ackermann
demonstrates how the modern Singaporean government officially manages
multiculturalism by deliberately filtering out folk beliefs and
practices and thus virtually taking control of the city state's religious
traditions. In a comparable although less authoritarian way, the Canadian
government has spread its policy of equal multiculturalism. However, as
Reginald Bibby surprisingly argues, this national policy is to a large
extent founded on a culturally diverse and apparently growing Christian
monopoly and actually fails to reflect the real character of religious
heterogeneity. Heading Westwards to the next continent, Michelle Spuler
sketches the development of multiculturalism in contemporary Australia,
focusing on Australia's religious diversity. Despite an officially praised
religious pluralism, a bias towards an Anglo-Celtic understanding of religion
remains dominant, as a case study of Aboriginal religion in a legal court
claim shows.
Coming finally to Europe, Gerrie ter Haar points to the seldom recognized
group(s) of African Christians in the Netherlands. She discusses the use
or rather mis-use of the concepts of cultural identity and ethnicity and
asks us to look closely at who fixes 'ethnic' categories and who is then
allocated to these. Helena Helve in Finland looks at multiculturalism
(primarily in the sense of a variety of youth cultures) and by way of
setting up a typology analyses how and in which way the younger generation
today responds to multiculturalism. Denise Cush vigorously draws attention
to the importance of Religious Education and its potential for a major
contribution to intercultural education and the fostering of 'positive
pluralism' in Great Britain. Finally, Martin Baumann points to the fact
that in existing discussions on and about multiculturalism the focus on
'ethnicity' has relegated 'religion' to second place, if indeed it is
noticed at all. Establishing the 'still' on-going importance of religion,
it is argued that living within a multicultural context has a lasting
effect on the various religious traditions. This is made evident by the
example of inter-faith encounters and their consequences for organisational
representation and conceptual presentation.
This small selection of papers certainly cannot encompass all of the many
facets and faces of multiculturalism in relation to religion. Historically,
many more cases such as those from Hellenist times or Roman Antiquity
are well worth investigating. Regionally, examples from Africa or Southern
America would also be of much interest. However, since a pertinent feature
of current discussions on multiculturality is the failure to take religion
into consideration, this collection of essays at least concentrates on
this 'neglected factor', pointing up the significance of religion in a
variety of concrete social and political contexts.
Some of the papers in this volume were originally presented at the IAHR
Congress for the History of Religions in Europe held at Hildesheim in
May 1998. Some additional papers have been solicited, to enrich the scope
of this thematic issue. I would like to express my gratitude to the authors
for their fine contributions to this volume.
Martin Baumann
Guest Editor, DISKUS
Email: martin.baumann@uni-bielefeld.de
- Max DEEG
MULTICULTURALISM IN ASIAN RELIGIONS: NORTH INDIA, CENTRAL ASIA AND CHINA IN ANCIENT TIMES
Abstract
Article
- Andreas ACKERMANN
THE SOCIAL ENGINEERING OF CULTURE AND RELIGION IN SINGAPORE
Abstract
Article
- Reginald W. BIBBY
MULTICULTURALISM IN CANADA: A METHODOLOGICALLY INADEQUATE POLITICAL VIRTUE
Abstract
Article
- Michelle SPULER
THE IMPACT OF MULTICULTURALISM ON AUSTRALIAN RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS
Abstract
Article
- Gerrie ter HAAR
IMPOSING IDENTITY: THE CASE OF AFRICAN CHRISTIANS IN THE NETHERLANDS
Abstract
Article
- Helena HELVE
MULTICULTURALISM AND VALUES OF YOUNG PEOPLE
Abstract
Article
- Denise CUSH
POTENTIAL PIONEERS OF PLURALISM: THE CONTRIBUTION OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION TO INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION IN MULTICULTURAL SOCIETIES
Abstract
Article
- Martin BAUMANN
MULTICULTURALISM AND THE AMBIGUITY OF RECOGNIZING RELIGION
Abstract
Article
PAGAN IDENTITIES
Editorial
It is now widely recognised, within and beyond the academy, that growing numbers of people are self-identifying as Pagans and that, despite both emic and etic debates concerning its historicity, authenticity and the nature of its spirituality, there is a contemporary religious phenomenon broadly characterised as Paganism. Study of Paganism (that is, academic study of the phenomena of contemporary Paganism) has become an increasingly popular field within Study of Religions in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In addition to the growth of higher education courses relating to Paganism, Pagan Studies in Britain benefited from a series of ground-breaking conferences in the 1990's - New Age and Paganism (Bath Spa University College, 1993), Contemporary Paganism in the British Isles (Newcastle University, 1994); Nature Religion Today (Lancaster University 1996); Re-Enchantment (King Alfred's College, Winchester, 1997) - and publications which resulted from them. Some of the papers in this collection had their genesis in the Lancaster and Winchester conferences. A feature of all these conferences was that academics with research interests in contemporary Paganism, Pagans, and Pagan academics were brought together for stimulating (sometimes controversial) papers, and the exchange of opinions and information. This special issue of DISKUS continues this tradition in exploring the theme of Pagan Identities from a variety of angles and perspectives. We are grateful to the contributors for the clarity, diversity and in some cases candour of their presentations. The topic of Pagan identity is examined here through a number of broad, often overlapping, themes: the role of 'Nature' in Pagan identity (York, Letcher, Bowman); identities within Paganism and the articulation of difference, even disapproval, among Pagans (Pearson, Gallagher); Pagan identity and its impact on the individual, both in relation to mainstream society and academia (Foltz, Rabinovitch, Blain) and 'external' representations of Pagans and the extent to which Pagans can or cannot identify with these representations (Harvey, Robinson). The reader will encounter a range of authorial stances, and some articles may seem more akin to Theology than Religious Studies in both tenor and content. This breadth is fairly typical of Pagan Studies. In challenging some of the 'received wisdom' concerning Paganism - for example questioning the centrality of 'Nature' in Pagan identity, or if Pagans undergo what in other traditions would be described as 'conversion', or whether the ideals of individual freedom and personal responsibility can be squared with the desire to express disapproval of fellow Pagans - we hope to fuel further reflection on myriad Pagan identities, expressions of identity and demarcations of identity within Paganism itself. Moreover, broader methodological issues are raised by these papers, such as the extent to which an academic writer can or should draw upon or 'own' her or his experiences as data, and the emic and etic construction of religious identity. Is Paganism one identifiable phenomenon, albeit with many sub-divisions, or have many different (indeed potentially conflicting) phenomena been lumped together either for academic convenience or for mutual support in the face of mainstream opposition? This collection of papers reflects the dynamic, plural and sometimes contested nature of both Paganism and Study of Paganism. By examining Pagan Identities in various ways, we hope not only to disseminate the results of research about a particular contemporary religion, but to contribute to continuing debates about methodology and issues in Study of Religions per se.
Marion Bowman (Open University) and Graham Harvey (King
Alfred's Winchester)
Guest editors, DISKUS
Email: m.i.bowman@open.ac.uk,
g.harvey@wkac.ac.uk
- Jenny BLAIN
SPEAKING SHAMANISTICALLY: SEIDR, ACADEMIA AND RATIONALITY
Abstract
Article
- Marion BOWMAN
NATURE, THE NATURAL AND PAGAN IDENTITY
Abstract
Article
- Tanice G. FOLTZ
SOBER WITCHES AND GODDESS PRACTITIONERS: WOMEN'S SPIRITUALITY AND SOBRIETY <1>
Abstract
Article
- Ann-Marie GALLAGHER
WEAVING A TANGLED WEB? PAGAN ETHICS AND ISSUES OF HISTORY, 'RACE' AND ETHNICITY IN PAGAN IDENTITY
Abstract
Article
- Melissa HARRINGTON
'CONVERSION' TO WICCA?
Abstract
Article
- Graham HARVEY
FANTASY IN THE STUDY OF RELIGIONS: PAGANISM AS OBSERVED AND ENHANCED BY TERRY PRATCHETT.
Abstract
Article
- Andy LETCHER
'VIRTUAL PAGANISM' OR DIRECT ACTION? THE IMPLICATIONS OF ROAD PROTESTING FOR MODERN PAGANISM
Abstract
Article
- Jo PEARSON
DEMARCATING THE FIELD: PAGANISM, WICCA AND WITCHCRAFT
Abstract
Article
- Shelley Tsivia RABINOVITCH
HEAL THE UNIVERSE AND HEAL THE SELF: BATESON'S DOUBLE-BIND AND NORTH AMERICAN WICCAN PRACTICE
Abstract
Article
- Catherine ROBINSON
DRUIDS AND BRAHMINS: A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY?
Abstract
Article
- Michael YORK
NATURE RELIGION AS A CONTEMPORARY SECTARIAN DEVELOPMENT
Abstract
Article
[INDEX]
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Last Update: December 17, 2000
DISKUS is part of Internet Journal of Religion