Religion and Politics

Priestly Power and Probity on the Battlefield: Examining the Politico-Religious Origins of the Just War Doctrine

by David Drissel

The secular state and religious conflict: liberal neutrality and the Indian case of pluralism

by Jakob De Roover

Co-authored with S.N. Balagangadhara, published in Journal of Political Philosophy.

There are few places in the contemporary world where the problems of religious pluralism are as acute as they are in... more There are few places in the contemporary world where the problems of religious pluralism are as acute as they are in India. The Indian case poses fundamental challenges to the political theory of toleration. By tackling the problem of religious conversion, our analysis shows that the dominant way of conceiving state neutrality becomes untenable in the Indian context. The Indian state, modelled after the liberal democracies in the West, is the harbinger of religious conflict in India because of its conception of state neutrality. More of ‘secularism’ in India will end up feeding what it fights: the so-called ‘Hindu fundamentalism’.

Grievances Against the GOP from a (former?) Republican Woman by Katie German

by Feminism and Religion

Originally posted on the Feminism and Religion Project
This article is cross-posted at Confessions of a Thinking Woman.

I was raised in a conservative, Republican, military family. I support personal freedom and personal responsibility. I... more I was raised in a conservative, Republican, military family. I support personal freedom and personal responsibility. I support the military. I support a balanced budget. I support individual rights and the constitution. I support small government. But I find myself increasingly separated from the Republican Party, and this is why:

I cannot align myself with a party that repeatedly acts to restrict the rights of women, to deny women protection from abuse and violence, and to trample the rights of women to make their own medical decisions. I cannot support a party where individual rights and freedoms are only protected for people with a penis (so long as they are not gay).

The Legacy of Original Intentions: The Non Violence of Wonder Woman by Nick Pumphrey

by Feminism and Religion

Originally posted on the Feminism and Religion project

What would a superhero comic be without Pow, wham!, Zap, and even a Boom! (insert your own campy sound bites from... more What would a superhero comic be without Pow, wham!, Zap, and even a Boom! (insert your own campy sound bites from Batman).  Oddly enough, when psychologist William Marston created the character of Wonder Woman, he did not intend for her to be a violent character.  When villains shot their mere bullets, she simply would deflect them with her indestructible bracelets.  Instead of stooping to the level of her attackers, she would wield the lasso of truth, capture her foes, and force them to admit their malevolent deeds.  Meanwhile, creator William Marston was actually developing the first polygraph using changes in blood pressure as exemplified in Wonder Woman’s lasso.  Wonder Woman was not the first female superhero; however, she was the first non-violent one.  While other writers like Siegel and Shuster (Superman’s creators) were using their religion as inspiration, Marston drew on the women of his life as example.  He intended to have a peaceful, warrior woman, who was more than equal on grounds of “sex,” and could stop the tyranny created by war and hatred (i.e. men) without having to embrace it.  He wanted an example for young girls to idolize and a way for boys to embrace feminine power. 

Peace Begins at Home by Gina Messina-Dysert

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

I began my career in the field of social services as a woman’s advocate for rape and domestic violence... more I began my career in the field of social services as a woman’s advocate for rape and domestic violence survivors.  The motto for an organization I was employed with early on was “peace begins at home,” a significant point that must be acknowledged. While much attention around women’s involvement in peacebuilding efforts have been focused at the macro level, there has been little consideration of women’s efforts towards peace at the micro level.  Certainly, women’s involvement in formal peacebuilding processes at the larger public level is crucial.  This being said, we must not undermine the leadership roles that women play in their homes, their families, and their religious and immediate communities, and how those roles can have an incredible impact on greater society.

I would like to start off by defining “peace.”  It is a word that we all use quite frequently and often with different meanings......  Some would claim that peace equates the cessation of conflict.

1-2-3-4 Feminists Don't Want Another War by Carol P. Christ

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

War is a feminist issue for many reasons, most importantly because war is always war against women.
more War is a feminist issue for many reasons, most importantly because war is always war against women.

Patriarchy, war, rape as the “spoils” of war, and the taking of women and children as slaves in the wake of war arose together.  Recent blogs on Feminism and Religion have addressed the war on women—from the rape culture, to Humane Vitae, to the Catholic Church’s and other church’s  attempts to remove birth control from health care, to the tolerance of sexist hate speech in the culture at large. While the issue of Rush Limbaugh calling Sandra Fluke a slut is being focused on in the press, the drums of war are being sounded again in the Middle East:  the US is considering bombing Iran or supporting Israel if it decides to do so.  Feminists must stand together against war and the harm it does to women, children, and all living things.

'Not in the Atlantic Provinces': The Abortion Debate in New Brunswick, 1980-1987

by Katrina Rose Ackerman

Article published in Acadiensis 41, 1 (Winter/Spring 2012).

Correspondence between Premier Richard Hatfield’s Progressive Conservative government and pro-choice and pro-life... more Correspondence between Premier Richard Hatfield’s Progressive Conservative government and pro-choice and pro-life activists indicates that regionalism and religion were central to the pervasiveness of pro-life ideology and the rejection of pro-choice activism between 1980 and 1987. Despite statistical evidence that proved abortion services were inaccessible, the government received assistance from the medical community to pass anti-abortion legislation that prohibited abortion clinics and appeared to maintain the status quo. This paper provides a regional perspective on the history of abortion in Canada, but it more importantly probes how religious and cultural beliefs shaped politics and society.

No One Is Safe from the Parodist (Part 3) by Barbara Ardinger

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

Vader has lost the helmet and is now old and fat and speaks in a tenor voice. He’s obviously the smartest guy in the... more Vader has lost the helmet and is now old and fat and speaks in a tenor voice. He’s obviously the smartest guy in the room.

I am not the first to mess with Shakespeare. In 1680, a hack named Nahum Tate rewrote King Lear to give it a happy ending (Cordelia marries Edgar and they assume the throne), and in 1699, Colley Cibber “adapted” Richard III. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Shakespeare’s plays were operacized, balletized, and Broadwayized (The Boys from Syracuse, West Side Story) In 1868, French operatic composer Ambroise Thomas wrote a Hamlet in which Ophelia sings a long aria and dies. After wild applause, she gets up and sings some more. I’ve seen this opera.

WOMEN ARE NOT SLUTS, RUSH, DOUCHE-BAG IS NOT FUNNY, JON, AND SEXISM IS MORE THAN “INAPPROPRIATE,” MR. WHITEHOUSE SPOKESPERSON! by Carol P. Christ

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

Why is it OK to insult women, our bodies, and our sexuality in ways that it is no longer OK to insult other groups?more Why is it OK to insult women, our bodies, and our sexuality in ways that it is no longer OK to insult other groups?

The recent controversy over Rush Limbaugh’s rant about Sandra Fluke would not be so important if Limbaugh were not the “voice” allowed to say things that Republican politicians cannot say in public. Republican politicians wish to appeal to men who would say exactly what Rush said, while watching Fox News or over a beer with their buddies.

The Virgin-Whore split is alive and well in our culture. Sandra Fluke  finally did get to testify in a hearing called by Nancy Pelosi.  She  assumed a woman’s right to choose when and with whom we have sex and whether and when we will have children, but she did not focus on sexual freedom. One of her examples was a married woman who could not afford birth control and another was a woman who needed birth control pills for reasons having nothing to do with sex or sexual activity. She did not appear in Congress in a mini-skirt (though she should have had every right to do so) but in a business suit. Yet she was called a slut and a prostitute and asked to post porno films of herself on the internet.

No One Is Safe from the Parodist (Part 1) by Barbara Ardinger

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

Now, with only a minimum purchase, you can save your loved ones—your friends—your neighbors—your business... more Now, with only a minimum purchase, you can save your loved ones—your friends—your neighbors—your business associates—from eternities of suffering and torment. Our new Multi-Level Marketing company guarantees Eternal Salvation for you and your entire downline.

Missionaria o in pericolo di apostasia? Donne cattoliche e matrimoni misti nei dibattiti del Sant’Ufficio, in: Famiglia e religione nella prima eta` moderna. Saggi in onore di Silvana Seidel Menchi, Hg. Ciappelli, G., Luzzi, S., Rospocher, M. (Roma: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2011), 175-186.

by Cecilia Cristellon

Does the Priest Have to Be There? Contested Marriages Before Roman Tribunals. Italy, Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries. In: Österreichische Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaften, 3, 2009, 10-30.

by Cecilia Cristellon

The Council of Trent established the requirements that a marriage be celebrated by the parish priest and two or more... more The Council of Trent established the requirements that a marriage be celebrated by the parish priest and two or more witnesses be present at the marriage (1563), but neglected to specify who the parish priest was. The decrees provoked confusion among both laymen and churchmen. Traces thereof can be found in the hitherto essentially unexplored documentation of The Congregation of the Council. This institution was founded in 1564 specifically to resolve the questions that arose all over the catholic world by the application of the decrees promulgated at Trent. The related records are held in the Vatican Secret Archive. Through an examination of this documentation, complemented by files of the Holy Office the author analyzes how the new rules were understood, experienced, used, circumvented, and manipulated both by laymen and churchmen in order to end an unwanted marriage, to facilitate a union that was socially transgressive, opposed by family, or even heterodox, and to respond to pastoral concerns.

Religion made me free. Cultural construction of Female Religiosity

by Rosa Traversa

Traversa, R. (2012). ‘Religion made me free’. Cultural construction of female religiosity, Culture & Psychology, 18 -1: 34 - 59, Sage.

The cultural constructions of what ‘‘religious woman’’ means usually imply gender and
religion as reified... more The cultural constructions of what ‘‘religious woman’’ means usually imply gender and
religion as reified entities. Such constructions have prominent place in the social life of a
society. Narratives of women of Catholic and Muslim faith in Italy allow us to analyse
the meaning-making processes involved in defining themselves as women, as human
beings and as religious persons. Being immersed in a religious belief system enhances
empowerment through—and not in spite of—feelings constrained to the faith. Cultural
psychology of religious feelings needs to understand the processes involved in religious
commitment, as this is strongly related to the cultural discourse about other interrelated
human differences—such as gender—and the renovated demands for metaphysical
sense-making in post-modern era. The present study revealed the particular
elaboration of personal narratives about how these women use religion to approach
differences and similarities in society, as well as to stress the local and multifaceted
construction related both to religion- and gender-belonging.

Catholicism, Contraception, and Conscience: Church Imposed Teaching, God’s Gift of Free Will, and Political Rhetoric by Michele Stopera Freyhauf

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

ertainly one cannot turn on the news without seeing a story about the feud over the Catholic Church’s stance on... more ertainly one cannot turn on the news without seeing a story about the feud over the Catholic Church’s stance on forbidding the use of contraception and Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that mandates free contraception to women.  In preparing this article, I took the time to review many articles from liberal and conservative news outlets, law professors who are experts on constitutional law, and statements from the USCCB and Bishops.  Before asking questions, I want to outline the following points:

    *In the literature reviewed, only two women, Sr. Carol Keehan and Sr. Mary Ann Walsh, made a statement against this policy stating that the government is interfering with the working of the Church.  Most voices heard and shouting the loudest are members of the clergy.

    *Hospitals considered “Catholic” hire people of all faiths and various beliefs.  They also treat patients of all faiths.  They are not exclusively “Catholic.”

    *Catholic identified Colleges hire professors and staff that are not Catholic.  Moreover, their student body is not totally Catholic.

    *Catholic Charities, once again, hire non-Catholics.

  * Insurance plans currently in place often offer contraception prescriptions at a zero to low co-pay price.  These plans are in-force at many Catholic Institutions.

    *Under HIPAA, healthcare of employees are protected and the Employer, even the Catholic Church cannot violate the privacy of the patient, even if it is an employee.

    *Birth Control Pills are often prescribed for women with endometriosis or other “female” reproductive disorders and not birth control.

    Women pregnant, carrying a dead baby, cannot have surgery due to risks are given medication to induce abortion are given

Do We Need More “Ministerial Exceptions”? by Kile B. Jones

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published by the Feminism and Religion project

In a recent unanimous and precedent-setting Supreme Court ruling, a “ministerial exception” was given to Hosanna-Tabor... more In a recent unanimous and precedent-setting Supreme Court ruling, a “ministerial exception” was given to Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School regarding employment discrimination.  Cheryl Perich, a “called teacher” at Hosanna-Tabor, was fired after issues surrounding her narcolepsy developed.  As is well known in the United States, innumerable federal, state, and local laws exist to protect employees from discrimination based on race, sex, age, disability, and so forth.  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (1964) prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin.  In the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, signed in 1990), employers are also held liable for discrimination based on an employees’ disability.  The “ministerial exception” excludes religious institutions and ministers from the ADA.  It is important to note that the ADA protects employees hired by private companies as well as public ones.

In the slip opinion, the Supreme Court argues that, “The Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment bar suits brought on behalf of ministers against their churches, claiming termination in violation of employment discrimination laws.”

Religion, Legislative Coalitions and Terrorism

by Nil Satana

Co-authored with Molly Inman and Johanna Birnir, forthcoming at December 2012 issue of Terrorism and Political Violence.

Still religious parties in Belgium? The decline of the denominational cleavage in the Belgian consociational democracy

by Giulia Sandri

Divinity and Power in ancient Rome

by Greg Woolf

Crítica genética y sociología de redes: relaciones entre producción y reconocimiento en un caso de discurso político-religioso

by Juan Eduardo Bonnin

IV Coloquio de Investigadores en Estudios del Discurso. I Jornadas Internacionales sobre Discurso e Interdisciplina, Córdoba, 16 al 18 de abril de 2009

En este trabajo presentamos algunos resultados de nuestra investigación doctoral, dedicada al análisis de los procesos... more En este trabajo presentamos algunos resultados de nuestra investigación doctoral, dedicada al análisis de los procesos de génesis, circulación y recepción del documento del episcopado católico argentino Iglesia y comunidad nacional (1981). Para ello hemos articulado los aportes de dos campos disciplinares: a) la sociología de redes: que nos permitió explorar los actores, grupos e instituciones que participaron tanto en la producción como en la recepción del texto; b) la crítica genética: que nos proveyó de herramientas para dar cuenta del proceso de redacción a partir de la evidencia textual de cinco etapas redaccionales. El problema teórico que abordamos es el de las relaciones entre génesis textual y recepción discursiva. Para ello formulamos un interrogante de tipo práctico: ¿Qué continuidades se puede establecer entre las opciones descartadas durante el proceso de redacción de Iglesia y comunidad nacional y los efectos de reconocimiento producidos en diferentes actores provenientes de redes diversas?

Posiciones y posicionamientos: Análisis comparativo de discursos religiosos y políticos

by Juan Eduardo Bonnin

ReVEL. Revista Virtual de Estudos da Linguagem, 4 (6), 2006.

El objetivo general de este trabajo es dar cuenta de las relaciones entre discurso religioso y discurso político... more El objetivo general de este trabajo es dar cuenta de las relaciones entre discurso religioso y discurso político durante la transición democrática en la Argentina. Para ello nos detenemos en el caso de las alocuciones publicas producidas en la Jornada Nacional de la Juventud (1985) por un conjunto de obispos y de autoridades gubernamentales. Metodológicamente, analizamos las operaciones de reformulación interdiscursiva del documento episcopal "Juventud: presencia y desafío" operada por dichos actores en sus textos individuales. Como conclusión, encontramos que es posible distinguir obispos que asumen posicionamientos propios del discurso político y líderes políticos que asumen posicionamientos del ámbito religioso.