Search results

This paper analyses opinions of political self-sacrifice amongst Tibetan refugees, and explores their meaning for wider debates on the evolving relationship between religion and politics in the Tibetan national struggle. This is a particularly pertinent question at present, given the recent prevalence of self-immolation in Tibet and connected debates about whether such protests are religious or political issues. Does the increase of self-sacrificial political methodology indicate a secularisation process of the Tibetan movement, as some have suggested, or is it simply reflective of the natural fluidity of religion's political influence? This paper supports the latter position and seeks to explore the nature of this dynamic relationship, including the positioning within it of the Dalai Lama.

This article aims to discuss the stereotyped view of other religious groups in al-Andalus during the Middle Ages based on literary texts. The study will focus on the image of the Christian and the Jew in the Andalusian culture through these texts, and will analyze how political disagreements, in particular, contributed to the emergence of negative stereotypes about these two groups without being the religious difference responsible for the intolerance or hate that appeared among the three monotheistic religions. The study will also reveal that once the political interest is absent, the vision of the other in religion becomes positive, since al-Andalus as a whole cannot be understood without its religious diversity, which is more important than any other cultural factor. ; El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo discutir la visión estereotipada del otro religioso en al-Ándalus durante la Edad Media basándose en los textos literarios. El estudio se centra en la imagen del cristiano y el judío en la cultura andalusí a través de dichos textos, y analiza cómo los desacuerdos políticos, sobre todo, contribuyeron al surgimiento de estereotipos negativos acerca de estos dos grupos sin que fuera la diferencia religiosa en sí misma la responsable de la intolerancia o el odio surgidos entre las tres religiones monoteístas. El estudio desvela igualmente que, una vez se ausenta el interés político, la visión del otro en religión se vuelve positiva, ya que al-Ándalus en su conjunto no se entiende fuera de su diversidad religiosa, por encima de cualquier otro factor cultural.

Wars are often associated with a rhetoric of renewal or new beginnings. This essay explores this claim through the lens of civil religion and a recent book by Carolyn Marvin and David Ingle, Blood Sacrifice and the Nation, which combines Emile Durkheim with Réné Girard in proposing that modern national cohesion depends on blood sacrifice. I unpack some of the paradoxes raised by this theory of national renewal in the context of 9/11, with a special focus on the sacred status of the flag and the special attention given to uniformed serviceman in the American body politic.

Das Buch stellt sich den essenziellen Fragen von Krieg und Frieden aus ethischer und religiöser Perspektive. Ziel ist es, die gegenwärtig stark umstrittene Lehre vom gerechten Krieg in den globalen Kontext einzubinden und aktuelle Weiterentwicklungen innerhalb - sowie außerhalb - dieser stark vom Christentum geprägten Lehre zu analysieren. Erörtert werden aktuelle theoretische Ansätze des gerechten Krieges, Gegenkonzepte wie das von den beiden großen Kirchen in Deutschland unterstützte und mitformulierte Konzept des Gerechten Friedens sowie Konzepte über Krieg und Frieden in anderen Weltreligionen. Gerade mit den weltpolitischen Veränderungen nach 1989/90 ist eine systematische Reflexion der Kriterien, unter denen militärische Interventionen erlaubt sein könnten, wieder dringend geworden, und dies nicht nur im abendländisch christlichen, sondern vor allem auch im globalen, multikulturellen und multireligiösen Kontext.

Abstract : This research was conducted to reveal the relationship between kiai and politics in its journey in Indonesia. Also, it explores whether the relationship that occurred to be a pattern of religious and political reconciliation. Therefore, it is obvious that the kiai's interaction as a religious figure which holds political power has a principal meaning in bringing peace. Furthermore, it find out whether the kiai's involvement in politics solely for the sake of power itself, or for the benefit of the ummah and humanity. This research collected data by in-depth interviews with kiai who became head of the region, and political observers from universities, also supported by the search of existing literature either online or offline. The findings showed that there are at least five relationship models identified. Furthermore, the relationship became one of the media for the establishment of political harmony which is considered dirty and full of intrigue with religion. Finally, it is suggested that more specific research is required on what factors influencing to be the conservation of political and religious harmony in Indonesia, thus, the involvement of religious leaders/kiai in politics never leads to conflict.الملخص :جري هذا البحث العلمي لجلاء علاقة خاصة بين العلماء و السياسية في إندونيسيا منذ إستقلال هذا البلاد حتى الأن. تبعا لهذ, تستفاد هذا البحث لإلمام نوع هذه العلاقة, أهي كإحدى الوسائل في اتحاد بين الدين و السياسية كالأسس الحياة الوطنية في إندونسيا. و لعلّ بهذا البحث ظهر مباني العلاقة علماء إندونيسيا بقواد السياسية (على قصد قوة السياسية كان أم فردية, أو غيره) في تحصيل إتحاد الجماعة والإجتماعية معنا حقيقيا. جمع هذا البحث البيانات المتنوعة مما يتعلق بهذا البحث و ملاحظة وقيعية. و بجانب ذالك جمع البيانات من كتب و رسائل العلمية بما يتعلق به. و في تفسير البيانات جاء بمقابلات عميقة بالأفراد الذي يعتبر كالعلماء أو القواد السياسي أو المراقب في مجال السياسي. وأما نتيجة لهذا البحث هو هناك خمسة علاقة مهمة التي تأثرت به الموازنة في حياة الإجتماعية أو السياسية في إندونيسيا.Abstrak: Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengetahui relasi yang terjadi antara kiai dan politik dalam perjalanannya dari waktu ke waktu di Indonesia. Hal ini sekaligus untuk mendalami apakah relasi yang terjadi menjadi salah satu pola mendamaikan agama dan politik. Sehingga dengan begitu akan menjadi lebih jelas interaksi kiai sebagai tokoh agama dengan kekuasaan politik, memiliki makna penting dalam perdamaian. Apakah keterlibatan kiai dalam politik semata-mata untuk kepentingan kekuasaan itu sendiri, atau karena kepentingan umat dan kemanusiaan. Penelitian ini mengumpulkan data dengan wawancara mendalam (indeph interview) dengan kiai yang menjadi kepala daerah, dan pengamat politik dari perguruan tinggi, juga ditopang dengan penelusuran literatur yang ada baik yang bersifat daring maupun luring. Dari penelitian yang dilakukan, ditemukan beragam relasi politik dan kiai yang terjadi di Indonesia. Sedikitnya ada lima model relasi yang berhasil diidentifikasi dalam kajian ini. Selanjutnya relasi tersebut menjadi salah satu katalisator bagi terjalinnya harmoni politik yang selama dianggap kotor dan penuh intrik dengan agama yang dianggap suci. Diperlukan penelitian lebih spesifik mengenai faktor apa saja yang akan terus menjadi kelestarian harmoni politik dan agama di Indonesia, sehingga keterlibatan tokoh agama, kiai dalam politik tidak pernah berujung pada konflik.

This article examines how the engagement of diverse religious organisations and individuals in grassroots politics impacts the nature of politics and coalition building through a case study of an urban grassroots political coalition in Australia: the Sydney Alliance. Based on eight-months of exploratory ethnographic fieldwork in one campaign team, this article argues that whilst religious organisations bring significant symbolic and institutional resources to political coalitions, and can be flexible coalition partners, they tend to moderate both conservative and progressive political tendencies within a coalition and demand focused attention from organisers and leaders to manage the coalition dynamics. This article examines the way many religious activists understand their political action to be an inherent and necessary part of their religious practice: problematizing the characterisation common in much social science literature that religious engagement in more progressive politics primarily serves political, and not religious, ends. In doing so, it shows how political action can be directed both outward towards the work, and inward towards the &lsquo ; church&rsquo ; .