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Sinceits founding by Jacques Waardenburg in 1971, Religion and Reason has been a leading forum for contributions on theories, theoretical issues and agendas related to the phenomenon and the study of religion. Topics include (among others) category formation, comparison, ethnophilosophy, hermeneutics, methodology, myth, phenomenology, philosophy of science, scientific atheism, structuralism, and theories of religion. From time to time the series publishes volumes that map the state of the art and the history of the discipline.

The past few decades have witnessed a radical religious revival in China, where economic inequality has been sharply increasing as well. This study examines the impact of religion on the Chinese public's perceptions of income disparity and political trust. The findings show that there is a significant difference in the perceived fairness of personal income distribution between religious and non-religious people. As the opiate thesis on religion predicts, religious beliefs are positively associated with a high level of perceived fairness about personal and national income distribution. Such perceptions of fairness contribute to fostering citizens' trust in both political institutions and government officials. However, contrary to the opiate thesis, religious beliefs are negatively associated with institutional trust. Moreover, religious beliefs offset the positive effect of the perceived fairness of income distribution on institutional trust. Hence, when income distribution is perceived to be unfair, institutional trust declines more drastically among religious believers than among their non-religious counterparts.

TAKING SHELTER BEHIND A FICTIONAL ACCOUNT OF HAPPENINGS IN AN IRANIAN SERAGLIO AND IN A PRESUMABLY ISLAMIC PARADISE, MONTESQUIEU ATTACKED THE ORTHODOXY IN BIBLICAL RELIGIONS. PROFESSOR KESSLER EXAMINE MONTESQUIEU'S TREATMENT OF RELIGION IN THE PERSIAN LETTERS AND ARGUES THAT IT WOULD HELP US UNDERSTAND, AND PERHAPS EVEN RESPOND TO, THE CURRENTLY GROWING CONFLICT BETWEEN LIBERALISM AND RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM IN THE UNITED STATES AND ELSEWHERE.

Though social sciences in general do deal with religion as a feature in society & politics, there has been no sufficient treatment in the field of social movement research. Characterizing religion as traditional & anti-modern causes a cognitive barrier. But examining it critically, the blind spot cannot be sustained. The article develops four dimensions in the relation between religion & social movements as there are (1) religion as a source of social movements, (2) both face the same challenges, (3) new religious movements as protagonists causing political & social change, & (4) the religious dimension of new social movements. 41 References. Adapted from the source document.

Die Beiträge des Sammelbandes "Die Ambivalenz des Religiösen - Religionen als Friedensstifter und Gewalterzeuger" resümierend fragt der Verfasser nach Strukturmomenten, die Religionen friedensstiftend oder gewaltfördernd wirken lassen. Zunächst wird das - insbesondere monotheistischen - Religionen inhärente Gewaltpotenzial herausgestellt, um dann auf "Teilambivalenzen" hinzuweisen, die eine Aussage über die Anfälligkeit von Religionen für Gewalt schwierig machen. Ein Großteil des Gewaltaufkommens im Kontext von Religionen gilt der Erhaltung der inneren Einheit von Religionsgemeinschaften. Der Verfasser identifiziert vier gewaltträchtige Konstellationen: radikale Gemeinschaften, religiöse Erweckungs- und Erneuerungsbewegungen, Geistliche in Machtpositionen sowie Exil und Diaspora. Merkmale religiöser Gewalt sind ein zeremonieller Charakter der Gewalt, sakrale Überhöhung von Gewalt, eine starke moralisch-normative Rahmung sowie die Schlüsselrolle der Geistlichen. Gewaltdynamik und Friedenschancen, so der Verfasser abschließend, sind beide in Religionen angelegt, und es bleibt nichts anderes übrig, als nach Strukturelementen Ausschau zu halten, durch die Religionen eher zur Förderung des Friedens beitragen können. (ICE2)

The author of the article addressed the issue of the fundamental problem of religion, which is embezzlement of its basic spiritual (saving) function and focus on the implementation of substitute functions, especially in the area of politics. Its expression is the emergence of a political religion, understood as a form of placing politics in the service of religion or religion in the service of politics. The article has been divided into three parts, which present the nature of religion itself (1), selected threats related to its politicization (2) and the basic ways of preventing the emergence and maintenance of political religion (3). ; Autor artykułu podjął kwestię fundamentalnego problemu religii, którym jest sprzeniewierzenie się swej podstawowej funkcji duchowej (zbawczej) i skoncentrowanie się na realizacji funkcji zastępczych, zwłaszcza w obszarze polityki. Jej wyrazem jest powstanie religii politycznej, rozumianej jako forma umieszczania polityki w służbie religii lub religii w służbie polityki. Artykuł został podzielony na trzy części, w których przedstawiono naturę samej religii (1), wybrane zagrożenia związane z jej upolitycznieniem (2) oraz podstawowe sposoby zapobiegania powstawaniu i utrzymaniu religii politycznej (3).

This review discusses Arvind-Pal S. Mandair's Religion and the Specter of the West: Sikhism, India, Postcoloniality, and the Politics of Translation (hereafter RSW), published in 2009 by Columbia University Press.

Religion and spirituality have been scarcely addressed in heritage preservation history, discourse, and practice. More recently, increased interest in the intersections between the study of religion and heritage preservation in both academic studies and institutional initiatives highlight obstacles that the field has yet to overcome theoretically and methodologically. This Element surveys the convergences of religious and heritage traditions. It argues that the critical heritage turn has not adequately considered the legacy of secularism that underpins the history and contemporary practices of heritage preservation. This omission is what has left the field of heritage studies ill-equipped to support the study and management of a heritage of religion broadly construed