Suchergebnisse

How to think philosophically about religion? The separation of church and state takes form in the nineteenth century. In public universities in the Netherlands, systematic, church-related theology is replaced by philosophy of religion. As a window on academic thinking about faith, Willem B. Drees, Leiden University's last professor of philosophy of religion, reads the work of his predecessors. They were mostly modernists, who expected to find their footing in the use of reason, in historical knowledge about religions, or in personal faith. After World War I, faith is perceived more as a wager, to trust that life is meaningful. Later, we see agnostic reticence that is religiously motivated, because God is always greater than we think, a mystery. And scholarly reticence, because in academic terms nothing definitive can be said about God. Do we thus see a development from modern certitude to charged silence?

In 2008, the Dutch politician Geert Wilders (Partij voor de Vrijheid PVV, Party For Freedom) published on the Internet his film Fitna, discussing the Islam in what the author of the present article calls an amateurish series of stereotypes, prejudices, decontextualized images and (purposeful) mistranslations. The Dutch debate surrounding the movies was almost exclusively directed in terms of freedom of opinion and expression, and their alleged threat. An upheaval amongst the Dutch political elite and within media circles that was, however, disappointingly short. In the present article, the author discusses the obsession for Islam as a symptom of growing political incapacity to make a rational and nuanced analysis of the diversity and complexity of the Islam on the one hand, and the role and place of religion in the 21st century in general. The first part is a criticism of the conducted debate, the second part an effort to formulate the right questions that can lead to some realistic answers. References. O. van Zijl

Third and last part of the basic work 'Thinking about religion' by Valeer Neckebrouck Met Part III. Contemporary Perspectives, author Valeer Neckebrouck has come to the conclusion of the chronologically conceived series Thinking about Religion. Anthropological theory and religion. The study of the anthropology of religion is discussed in this last part from the most leading contemporary models and perspectives. The secularization theories, postmodernism, feminism, neo-Darwinism and the cognitive anthropology of religion are discussed in detail, but also thinkers such as René Girard, Walter Burkert, Edward O. Wilson and Richard Dawkins are reviewed. The treatment of contemporary theoretical perspectives in the anthropological study of religion concerns areas of research that are still in constant flux, insights that are still in full development. Almost every day new discoveries are made in biology, some of which require a radical revision of insights that were previously regarded as established achievements. Because our knowledge of biology and neurology is constantly evolving, its balance has to be rewritten again and again. With this third part of the Thinking about religion series, Valeer Neckebrouck has undeniably made an important contribution to this. In this final volume Neckebrouck presents the reader with a thorough analysis and critical evaluation of the various theoretical systems with which great and lesser minds from recent Western cultural history have attempted to clarify the enigmatic phenomenon of "religion" from an anthropological point of view. For anyone interested in the phenomenon of "religion" and wanting to know how anthropologists have thought about religion throughout history, this trilogy is an indispensable and very richly detailed reference book. Until now, such a detailed description and critical evaluation of the subject matter has not been available in any language area

Nieuwe technieken maken het opslaan en verwerken van informatie eenvoudiger. Sterker nog: ze maken de weg vrij om gegevens vast te leggen voordat duidelijk is welk inzicht we eigenlijk nastreven. Toezicht wint zo terrein ten opzichte van de kennisverwerving. Voorbeelden van toenemend toezicht zijn elektronische dossiers over burgers, informatievergaring door de politie en in private initiatieven zoals Google Earth. Deze systemen maken het mogelijk om op grote schaal verbanden te ontdekken en afwijkingen op te sporen, zonder dat er duidelijke kennisvragen aan vooraf gaan. De relatie tussen inzi

Following some general observations on the growing secularization of Western societies & after producing statistical data documenting the percentages of Muslim populations in Belgium & the Netherlands, three major issues are addressed from a Belgian perspective: (1) Islam bashing in the context of the recognition of freedom of religions & worldviews in a modern democratic society, (2) policies & attitudes toward visible religious symbols worn in public places; the banning of the hijab (the headscarf worn by Muslim females) in Antwerp public schools, & (3) the degree of separation between state & religion in Belgium. It is argued that the Islamic religion should not be associated with violence, terrorism, or oppression of women; Islam should be integrated on equal rights with other religions into the Belgian society, while emancipative & liberal movements within it should be actively supported. The banning of head scarves for Muslim teachers & students in Flanders is assessed from the broader perspective of similar policies, either implemented or planned, in France, Germany, & other European countries. Articles from the Belgian constitution are quoted to illustrate that the separation between state & religion in this country is incomplete; although the government adopts a neutral stance toward all worldviews, the state recognizes six official religions whose practice is partially supported with tax-payer's money & their clergy receive state pension; the favoring of the Catholic Church in this arrangement is pointed out. It is concluded on a general note that despite the secularization of the society, religious issues figure prominently in the public sphere. Z. Dubiel