Blasphemy and terrorism in the Muslim world

This article examines the effect of blasphemy laws on Islamist terrorism in Muslim-majority countries. Although passed with the ostensibly noble purpose of defending religion, I argue that blasphemy laws encourage terrorism by creating a culture of vigilantism in which terrorists, claiming to be the defenders of Islam, attack those they believe are guilty of heresy. This study empirically tests this proposition, along with alternative hypotheses, using a time-series, cross-national negative binomial analysis of 51 Muslim-majority states from 1991–2013. It finds that states that enforce blasphemy laws are indeed statistically more likely to experience Islamist terrorist attacks than countries where such laws do not exist. The statistical analysis is supplemented with a brief case study of blasphemy laws and terrorism in Pakistan. The conclusion situates the findings in the context of policy.     

神判起源考略

神判是一种古老的、世界性的法人类学现象,神判的诸种形式反映了神判和早期法律的一些特点。神判中的血迹判、铁火判、宣誓判起源于原始巫术形式,而神判中的捞沸判则可能起源于早期人类生活实践。此外,通过对捞沸判的分析还可以看到《秦律》中"三环"之说实为公拒绝私之义,由此把"三环"理解为国家司法机关对自诉案件的三种拒绝受理的理由,应当是一种较合理的解释。     

化解全球化过程中宗教冲突的儒学资源

全球化其实是世界上各种不同文化传统之间“趋同”与“求异”的一体两面。“求异”的根源在于不同宗教传统之间的差别 ,而如何对待宗教传统的差异 ,从而化解愈演愈烈的宗教冲突所导致的文明冲突 ,如今尤为迫切。儒学传统并非西亚一神教意义上的宗教 ,但具有独特而深厚的宗教性。其中蕴涵的“理一分殊”的多元主义宗教观 ,在明代的阳明学中趋于成熟。而这种“理一分殊”的多元主义宗教观 ,可以为化解全球化过程中的宗教冲突提供一笔丰厚的资源。     

Religious Intellectuals, the “Woman Question,” and the Struggle for the Creation of a Democratic Public Sphere in Iran

The ideas of the new generation of religious intellectuals in Iran have been the main engine for the call for reform. These intellectuals have attempted to locate their views about the way women are and should be treated in Islamic societies in their much broader—and to them more significant—attempt to offer a modernist religious understanding and a more democratic reading of the role of religion in modern polity. Iranian feminists, on the other hand, have begun to insist that the particular situation of women in Iran is in need of more attention. Religious intellectuals have responded by engaging in reluctant analysis of the way the woman question poses itself in the Iranian context. So far, their analyses fail to take into account the gender implications of the struggle against absolutism and traditional authority. However, the dynamic interaction of the reform project with demands and aspirations of various sectors of Iranian public life will not allow the issue to rest here. Religious intellectuals, in their attempt to recreate essential religious truth in the form of new intellectual concepts and systems, will increasingly have to deal with systemic gender inequalities in a more systematic manner.     

神秘瑰丽的大自然的歌手——艾米莉·狄金森自然诗作初探

本文从社会历史研究的角度剖析艾米莉·狄金森的自然诗作 ,指出狄金森笔下的自然对人类时而慈爱友善 ,时而充满敌意 ,既带给人类愉悦与和谐 ,又给人类以伤害。论文深入个人的、文化的和历史的背景 ,剖析造就这种矛盾的自然观的原因 ,从而揭示了困扰众多中国读者的“狄金森之迷”     

科学发展观与宗教工作

宗教工作是社会政治生活领域涉及到国家全局的重要工作,必须对我国宗教的现状和发展中存在的问题有清醒而正确的认识.以科学发展观统领宗教工作,加强对信教群众、宗教界教职人员以及宗教事务管理部门人员的教育培训工作,引导宗教健康发展,凝聚全社会的智慧和力量为社会主义现代化建设、为构建社会主义和谐社会作贡献.     

关于做好信教群众工作的思考

信教群众工作是我们党的重要工作.做好信教群众工作既是理论问题更是实际问题,在全面建设小康社会的新的历史时期,如何做好广大信教群众的工作是值得我们每个理论工作者和实际工作者探讨的重大课题.我们既要充分认识到信教群众的历史地位、信教群众工作的重要性和必要性,还要从战略高度做好信教群众工作.     

马克思主义宗教意识形态批判理论及其当代进展

马克思通过对宗教意识形态的批判,阐述了宗教意识形态的派生性和依赖性,并将宗教批判引向政治社会批判。中国共产党将马克思主义宗教理论与当代中国实际相结合,在尊重宗教信仰自由、正确处理宗教与国家关系等方面进行了积极探索和创新,积极引导宗教与社会主义社会相适应,充分发挥宗教界人士和信教群众的积极作用,形成了中国特色社会主义;宗教理论。     

PREVENT: creating “radicals” to strengthen anti-Muslim narratives

“She is of good behaviour and a good Muslim. Against this background, I accept on the evidence before me that this defendant gathered together the contents of the SD card in order to explore and understand the charges which her brothers faced. There is no evidence that she was motivated by their ideology or was preparing to follow them.” The judge in the case of Umm Ahmed clarified to the court that she had not been involved in illegality or had any intention to pose a threat to the UK. Despite this recognition, he sentenced Begum to a 12-month prison term for possessing the magazine Inspire which she had been reading to understand her charged brother’s case. What is unknown is the story of how Umm Ahmed was subjected to a deradicalisation programme, under the auspices of PREVENT and CHANNEL, without any indication of actual involvement in terrorism. The use of deradicalisation narratives in schools, universities and hospitals has led to the criminalisation of large sections of the various Muslim communities in the UK. Based on our experience of cases such as Umm Ahmed, we hope to present a view of how an aggressive anti-Muslim narrative that is based on assumptions subverts the political expression/identity of individuals by turning them into potential threats. The advocacy group CAGE has been working with Umm Ahmed in order to highlight the abuse of the terrorism narrative in her case, but also to understand the actual implementation of PREVENT and CHANNEL beyond their conceptual promotion as a safeguarding tool. By understanding the everyday interactions with PREVENT, a picture can be formed of the way that a false presentation of narratives can lead to a person becoming an “extremist” or “terrorist”, while the truth may lie in a completely alternative place.     

关于宗教文明建设的几个问题

本文从全球宗教的状况和中国宗教现实的需要出发,提出了提倡宗教文明建设的必要性和怎样进行建设的问题。