Suchergebnisse

This article reviews the economic policy of Turkey's ruling Justice & Development Party. We'll see, that, contrary to the Islamic tenets, which it is bound to espouse, the Party has been making the country ever more dependent on the external sources of finance. On the one hand, the inflow of the foreign capital has fostered the rapid economic growth. But on the other hand, Turkey already is and obviously, will continue to be hostage to increased dependence on the inflow/outflow of funds from the outside.

AbstractSince Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014), federal and state religious freedom restoration acts now extend the right to free exercise of religion to businesses. But what does it mean for businesses to have such a right? In this paper, I identify three implications of these new rights: they shift the burden for fulfilling the right to private citizens, and they conflict with businesses' both commercial and democratic obligations. To illustrate how they become problematic, I draw on the case of In re Wathen (2015) where the owners of a bed and breakfast cited their business's religion as their reason for refusing to host a wedding reception for a same-sex couple, even though state law specifically prohibited commercial businesses from discriminating based on sexual orientation.

Beyond offering guidelines for voting, Faithful Citizenship represents an attempt by the U.S. Catholic bishops to articulate a theological vision of political engagement. One may examine the theological vision of Faithful Citizenship according to three textual viewpoints: what it says (content); theological understandings (problematics); and possibilities for conceptual development (implications). Addressing the dynamics of political engagement in contemporary society is a complex task. While this analysis maintains that Faithful Citizenship constitutes a useful conceptual resource insofar as signaling the basic theological terms of Catholic political engagement, there are areas of conceptual underdevelopment. Accordingly, the analysis suggests paths toward a deeper conceptual engagement with political philosophy, especially understandings of constitutional democracy.

AbstractInterreligious relations remain an important dimension of human coexistence and we currently observe an increase in religiously motivated violence and discrimination. Hence, we need to better understand determinants of interreligious peace. Building on a new concept of interreligious peace which includes but exceeds the absence of interreligious physical violence, we provide a systematic review of 83 quantitative empirical studies examining religious determinants of interreligious physical violence, hostile attitudes, threat perceptions, trust, and cooperation. We find that religious ideas foster or hinder interreligious peace depending on their content. Religious identities have negative effects but must be considered in context. Evidence regarding the role of religious practice is mixed and the role of religious actors and institutions remains understudied. Our results show the need for (1) more conceptual clarity, (2) replications in different contexts, (3) research on dimensions of religion beyond identities, and (4) a better integration of different strands of literature.

AbstractThis article examines interethnic tensions in Russia within the framework of the "post-Soviet religious model." This term is understood as a set of mechanisms of cooperation between the state and representatives of "traditional" religious organizations. The article includes an analytical overview of the state of interethnic relations in Russia and how this issue is approached by the state and "traditional" religions. Based on this analysis, the author tries to expose weaknesses of the model and point out possible future problems.

Es wird der Zugang und der Umgang der Soziologie mit Religion und Weltkultur thematisiert. Argumentiert wird, daß die Soziologie Religion begrifflich als "Phänomen Religion" verformt hat. Als vorbegrifflichtes "Phänomen Religion" ist es selber unmittelbarer Ausdruck einer Verformung soziologischen Denkens. Es sagt so selber mehr über das soziologische Denken aus als über die "Sachen", auf die es sich bezieht; wohl aber wird deren Wahrnehmung nun über die Optik dieses Konstrukts gebrochen. Die Ursache für dieses Vorgehen wird in der fehlenden kulturgeschichtlichen Aufklärung gesehen. Am Beispiel der Debatte um die "Säkularisierungsthese" wird der Umgang der westlichen Religionssoziologie mit Religion verdeutlicht. (GF)