Asians in black Africa between the millstones

In H. G. Wells's vision of a Utopian world state, a separate Jewish culture represented a corrupt and reactionary impediment to progress and order. Wells stopped short of advocating annihilation but he blamed the existence of antisemitism on the Jew's failure to assimilate to the universalist mainstream.     

宽容的写意分析:流变及合理性

宽容是政治文明的标志性价值,是政治民主、政治自由的最重要的考量标准.然而当前人们对于宽容的理解并不一致,有着原始宽容与现代宽容、消极宽容和积极宽容之分,而且宽容概念也逐渐走进了私领域和国际法领域.宽容的写意分析,以写意的手法,历数了近代以降学者对于宽容的不同理解.宽容的本质就是对于"他者"的尊重,来自于人类族群自我持存努力的智慧.当然无止境的宽容是不可容忍的.     

Religious Conflicts in Cyberage

The rise of the Internet has a profound impact on the way conflicts are carried out and the faithful practice their religions. This article explores new dimensions of religious conflicts by theoretically reflecting on new developments in cyberage and by substantiating this with an empirical case study—the Moluccan conflict (Eastern Indonesia). Due to the exponential growth of Internet access worldwide, religions and their followers are increasingly expanding into the online world as a new “marketplace” for religious symbols and identities that fosters religious transnationalism. At the same time conflict actors worldwide have been making increasing use of the Internet to expand their networks, plan actions and fight their enemies. While scholars have so far primarily focused on more globalized online terrorism, this paper analyses a conflict that has mainly been fought out between Christians and Muslims in a remote part of this world, but then expanded into cyberspace. Local conflict actors have used the Internet as a global stage for their cause, to connect to and seek support from their transnational religious communities, but also to manipulate the outside world's perception of the Moluccan conflict. Researching the online projects and identity politics of these actors and their offline contexts, it becomes clear that the Internet has helped to essentialize (religious) identities and to influence the conflict at the local level through the networking and mobilization of people worldwide.     

论贺麟的宗教观

贺麟的宗教观既不同于"五四"时期反宗教运动对宗教的态度,也不像其他新儒家人物那样主张以道德或哲学去取代宗教.他的宗教观所关注的不是对人格神的信仰,而是宗教精神特别是基督教精神的文化价值,目的在于会通中西文化,谋求"儒家思想的新开展".贺麟认为,基督教是西方文化之体,研究和借鉴西方文化必须以理性的态度转化和吸收基督教精神的精华,认识其与西方的科学、民主、工业化以及人的精神世界的关系,以便为中国的新文化建设提供资源和借鉴.     

Religious Participation and Economic Conservatism

Why do some individuals engage in more religious activity than others? And how does this religious activity influence their economic attitudes? We present a formal model in which individuals derive utility from both secular and religious sources. Our model, which incorporates both demand‐side and supply‐side explanations of religion, is unusual in that it endogenizes both an individual's religious participation and her preferences over economic policy. Using data on over 70 countries from the pooled World Values Survey, we find that religious participation declines with societal development, an individual's ability to produce secular goods, and state regulations on religion, but that it increases with inequality. We also find that religious participation increases economic conservatism among the poor but decreases it among the rich. Our analysis has important insights for the debate about secularization theory and challenges conventional wisdom regarding the relationship between religious participation and economic conservatism.     

论宗教对社会主义道德建设的积极作用

宗教道德是宗教教义的一个重要内容,也是社会道德的一个重要组成部分。充分发扬宗教道德与社会主义道德的相通之处,发挥其积极因素,摒弃其消极的方面,使其为社会主义道德建设发挥积极的作用。     

Pope Benedict XVI Confronts Religious Relativism

Pope Benedict XVI’s inflammatory speech at Regensburg highlights a subtle difference between Benedict and John Paul II. John Paul called Muslims and Jews “sons of Abraham,” and he organized high-profile interfaith events. Benedict is more skeptical of interreligious dialog and more confrontational toward Islam than was his predecessor. This shift in tone toward Islam stems from changed historical circumstances. Islam has replaced communism as Europe’s biggest ideological challenge. But, there are also subtle theological differences between the two Popes. John Paul was trained by Dominicans, and throughout his papacy, he was a champion of St. Thomas Aquinas. St. Augustine, with his bleaker view of non-Christian cultures, is the dominant influence on Benedict. Benedict believes that theologies of religious pluralism, which lead to metaphysical and religious relativism, have replaced liberation theologies as the most serious threats to Catholic orthodoxy.

Fiscal Federalism in South Africa

The constitutional change in South Africa in the 1990s broughtabout the decentralization of substantial budgetary responsibilityto newly created provincial governments. This study capturesthe new assignment of functions and resources to the differentspheres of government in South Africa and provides an assessmenton the basis of a framework derived from fiscal federalism principles.It concludes that there is a substantial congruence betweenwhat can be viewed as theoretically desirable and what is outlinedin the South African Constitution of 1996, but observes significantdivergences between the Constitution and actual practice.     

Campus Religious Life in America: Revitalization and Renewal

What role does organized religion play in the life of the American campus? Among both scholarly and popular observers, the university has long been regarded as secular territory. Contrary to the .cphsecularization thesis, the history of campus religion is not a declension narrative. This essay provides an overview of the student religious landscape in America, focusing most of its attention on schools that are not affiliated with a religious tradition. It identifies six signs of religious vitality on campus: 1) the expansion of evangelicalism; 2) the revitalization of Catholic student organizations; 3) the reinvention of campus Judaism; 4) the growth of new immigrant and alternative religions; 5) the beginnings of renewal in mainline Protestant campus ministries; 6) the embrace of spirituality by student affairs professionals. Noting several recent studies on education and religiosity, it concludes that college is not especially damaging to religious commitment.