Spanning Malaysia’s post-independence period and using the repression-mobilization nexus as a key theoretical framework, this study outlines how its Christian community delicately and... Show moreSpanning Malaysia’s post-independence period and using the repression-mobilization nexus as a key theoretical framework, this study outlines how its Christian community delicately and simultaneously defends its religious rights without being construed as anti-Islam in the face of state-led “Islamization”. This study charts the changes in the community's resistance tactics by primarily focusing on the 1980s to the contemporary period while considering subnational differences between East and West Malaysia. It explains why it adopted a non-partisan and non-violent approach despite targeted repression. In outlining the interplay between a minority community’s mobilization and national-level contestation, it focuses especially on the role played by the Christian elites. Additionally, it raises key questions that remain relevant in the study of contentious politics: How do minority communities in semi-democratic contexts protect their rights? What are their options and constraints for resistance? And how do changes in the political environment mould their strategy and resistance tactics? Show less
Defaming the Freedom of Religion or Belief: A Historical and Conceptual Analysis of the United Nations analyses the development of and the controversy around the formulation and interpretation of... Show moreDefaming the Freedom of Religion or Belief: A Historical and Conceptual Analysis of the United Nations analyses the development of and the controversy around the formulation and interpretation of the freedom of religion or belief as a universal right within the United Nations. The legal, philosophical, and political dimensions of the subject are discussed.This study demonstrates that the universality, content, and non-discriminatory implementation of the freedom of religion or belief has been questioned since its drafting process, not only on a theoretical level by postmodern views, but also, throughout the years, from a legal and political perspective within the UN. From various angles, these actors seem to ‘defame’ the freedom of religion or belief—hence the title of this study—and have succeeded in changing the provision by interpreting it differently than its original 1948 objectives. These developments have continued and will most likely continue to lead to a diminishment of the normative force of the legal provisions regarding the freedom of religion or belief. Various topics, such as religious tolerance, blasphemy, defamation of religion, and apostasy, are discussed in this context. Show less
Abby Day transformed research into nonreligion by demonstrating how to talk about belief without asking religious questions. This article aims to go a step further by demonstrating a way of... Show moreAbby Day transformed research into nonreligion by demonstrating how to talk about belief without asking religious questions. This article aims to go a step further by demonstrating a way of exploring (non)religious imaginaries without asking belief-centred questions. It does so by suggesting that researchers 1) ask what people are willing to commit their precious time to doing and subsequently 2) pay attention to the myths they tell in sustaining these actions and the way that the imagination brings these to life.I suggest that asking people what they believe may force them into a response that forecloses the complexity of their imagination. Focusing on the belief-based distinctions between purportedly ‘religious’ and ‘nonreligious’ people as has proved particularly popular in the psychology of religion reproduces a (post)Protestant understanding of religion as deeply held belief. Recent developments in sociology and anthropology suggest that this is an inaccurate understanding of many religious people. I suggest that it also places conceptual constraints on explorations of nonreligious imaginaries.Perhaps it does not matter whether people believe that a literary figure really existed or whether or not people believe in life after death. Instead what matters is the agentive force the characters they are imagining have over their lives. Show less
This study is dedicated to the Belgian constitutional organization regarding the question of the separation of church and state. The principle of separation, also known as secularism, is one... Show moreThis study is dedicated to the Belgian constitutional organization regarding the question of the separation of church and state. The principle of separation, also known as secularism, is one that was predominantly developed in France, but has also had an influence on other countries in Europe (and outside of Europe, in the United States of America). Secularism is on the one hand seen as a leading idea of modern state theory, on the other hand it is also open to a great deal of criticism. Proponents aim to further shape this aspiration in the domain of education, and in the organization of state institutions, others seek to moderate the principle, or even curtail it. Belgium itself has always given a wide berth to radical secularism, and this owing to the system of the officially recognized religions that relied on state support.The key question behind this study is how these developments should be appreciated. What was the actual intention of the framers of the constitution? How did it all come to be? Is this system still something to be maintained, or do the drawbacks outweigh the benefits in modern times? Should secularism be bolstered or weakened? What are the challenges? Unlike a political and philosophical discourse that normatively defends secularism against competing models, this study chiefly aims to help, through historical exploration, recall the reasons for the development of Belgian constitutional philosophical thinking. The author feels that this historic quest, this history of ideas, is essential in tracking down the factors at play, to capture the impact thereof on the definitive form of the Belgian Constitution, and to assess the strength and sustainability of the commitments made. This exploration is also a prerequisite for suggesting possible alternatives. The conclusion of this study will be dedicated to these alternatives, whereby the author makes the case for finding such an alternative in the guise of an assertive secularism. Show less
This book is propelled by the following question: How can free and equal citizens who are deeply divided by conflicting (religious) disagreements endorse the same set of political principles in a... Show moreThis book is propelled by the following question: How can free and equal citizens who are deeply divided by conflicting (religious) disagreements endorse the same set of political principles in a constitutional democratic regime and live together peacefully? I propose an answer to that question, and it takes me six chapters to argue for it: the answer lies in the general endorsement of the political principle of “public reason secularism,” comprised of liberty of conscience and the separation of state and religion. Particularly, the separation of state and religion that I argue for is a separation in the robust sense that religion ought to be excluded from the public sphere. That is to say, religious arguments should not play any role in public matters, especially in lawmaking. Show less
Three Christian films have become popular in the Commune of Cobly of today's Republic of Benin, notably the American "Jesus Film" (1979), the American-Ivorian film "La Solution" (1994) and the... Show moreThree Christian films have become popular in the Commune of Cobly of today's Republic of Benin, notably the American "Jesus Film" (1979), the American-Ivorian film "La Solution" (1994) and the Beninese video film "Yatin: Lieu de souffrance" (2002). The discussion centres on how people receive and understand these films together with the digital video technology that facilitate their recent success. Christian films are so important in this part of Benin that the question needs to be raised whether Christianity is shifting from a religion of the book towards a religion of film. The theoretical starting point is semiotics, a theory that has been foundational not only for film, media and media reception studies, but more recently also for the study of materiality. This thesis' main theoretical contribution is a critique of semiotics, arguing that this theory, which has been foundational to Western science, is in fact too limiting. Semiotics, even in its Peircean orientation, cannot sufficiently explain how people in the Commune of Cobly understand shrines, film and media more generally, both through their material manifestations and interactively in terms of communication. Instead, a process called "presencing", which goes beyond semiotics, can explain better people's understanding of shrines and media. Show less
The ‘Islam and secularism’ debate began a century ago and does not seem to have progressed. Prevailing attitudes, both ‘pro’ and ‘con’, are apparently locked in a stalemate and an endless ‘war of... Show moreThe ‘Islam and secularism’ debate began a century ago and does not seem to have progressed. Prevailing attitudes, both ‘pro’ and ‘con’, are apparently locked in a stalemate and an endless ‘war of positions’. Why are the actors of different trends restating more or less the same formulations on this issue? Is it possible to find a likely interpretation for such a phenomenon? Show less
