The Spirit of Matter discusses excessive objects: those things that move people but whose existence is often denied by modern wishful thinking about ‘mind over matter’, and that things are... Show moreThe Spirit of Matter discusses excessive objects: those things that move people but whose existence is often denied by modern wishful thinking about ‘mind over matter’, and that things are supposedly ‘dead’. Such wishful thinking can be traced back to Protestant Christian influences, that were secularized in the course of modern and colonial history. A range of excessive objects – exhibits of human remains or live people, fetishes, objects in a Catholic museum, exotic photographs, commodities, and computers – demonstrate a subordinate modern consciousness about powerful objects and their ‘life’. If humanity wants to survive current planetary socio-ecological crises, it should learn from its humility towards both artefacts and non-human things. Show less
Thunder and lightning have been seen from time immemorial as God’s instruments of punishment. Until the invention of the lightning rod by Benjamin Franklin in 1752. In Lightning in the Age of... Show moreThunder and lightning have been seen from time immemorial as God’s instruments of punishment. Until the invention of the lightning rod by Benjamin Franklin in 1752. In Lightning in the Age of Benjamin Franklin. Facts and Fictions in Science, Religion, and Art Jan Wim Buisman shows how the Enlightenment and Romanticism have changed our scientific, religious and artistic image of natural violence forever. In the eighteenth century, thunderstorms are experienced less and less as a threat and more and more as something extraordinary. The image of God and the image of nature changed radically. The religion of enlightened people, for example, was more determined by joy than by fear. And nature was almost experienced as a girlfriend. That had significant consequences because those who no longer had to be afraid of the thunderstorm could play with it without hesitation. That’s what poets, painters and musicians did to their heart’s content. Never before the beauty of the storm was depicted as much in the western culture as during the transition from the Enlightenment to Romanticism. Show less
There are many publications dealing with the political career of Ruhollah Khomeini (1902–1989), who transformed the political landscape of Iran and the Middle East after the Islamic Revolution of... Show moreThere are many publications dealing with the political career of Ruhollah Khomeini (1902–1989), who transformed the political landscape of Iran and the Middle East after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Most of the research conducted in the West is on Khomeini’s political strategies, while the influential role of mysticism in all facets of his life is ignored. This book is the first study examining Khomeini’s poetry, mysticism and the reception of his poetry both in Iran and the West. It investigates how Khomeini integrated various doctrines and ideas of Islamic mysticism and Shiiism such as the Perfect Man into his poetry. Show less
Beleidsmakers krijgen veel lastige vragen rond de Islam en moslims. Ze moeten vaak het antwoord daarop schuldig blijven omdat ze niet weten welke beelden over islam en moslims juist zijn en welke... Show moreBeleidsmakers krijgen veel lastige vragen rond de Islam en moslims. Ze moeten vaak het antwoord daarop schuldig blijven omdat ze niet weten welke beelden over islam en moslims juist zijn en welke niet. Veel Westerse landen, inclusief Nederland zijn het laatste decennium sterk gepolariseerd. Onze vroegere reputatie van tolerantie en kosmopolitisme gaat langzaam in rook op. In 'Delicate Debates on Islam' proberen wetenschappers antwoorden te vinden op een aantal van de vragen. Zij zijn bijeengebracht door het Centrum voor de studie van Islam en Samenleving van de Leidse Universiteit (LUCIS). Het boek gaat over binnenlands en buitenlands beleid. Het laat Nederlanders en Amerikanen uit de werelden van beleid en wetenschap aan het woord, onder meer over problemen van vrede en conflict, democratie, de positie van de vrouw en mensenrechten. Dit boek leert ons ook meer over de relatie tussen wetenschappers en beleidsmakers in een debat dat wordt gedomineerd door de media en politiek. De onderzoekers van het jonge LUCIS en de befaamde Amerikanen als John Esposito en Dalia Mogahed proberen antwoorden te vinden op de lastige kwesties die oud-bestuurders als Job Cohen en Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, oud-diplomaat Van Dam en WRR-directeur Asbeek Brusse aan de orde stellen. Delicate debates on Islam are all around us: Opinions seem readily formed, but what are they based on? How do prominent policy makers like Job Cohen, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and Nikolaos van Dam or academics like John Esposito and Dalia Mogahed react to these urgent questions? This book shows some of the nagging questions from policymakers who face complex issues in their day-to-day operations. The book shows that the picture of Islam is often distorted. Many Western countries, including the Netherlands with its former reputation of tolerance and cosmopolitanism, have seen an increasing polarisation in the past decade. Delicate Debates on Islam offers the reader the academic responses of the Leiden University Centre for the Study of Islam and Society, LUCIS, to a selection of hotly-contested issues including Islam and democracy, the position of women and human rights. With these topics Delicate Debates on Islam addresses the relation between academics and policymakers in a debate dominated by media and politics that will continue to dominate in the years to come. Show less
What does it mean to be human in a world of technology? What could be the role of religion in responding to the ecological crisis? Should we be concerned about the modification of food, and even of... Show moreWhat does it mean to be human in a world of technology? What could be the role of religion in responding to the ecological crisis? Should we be concerned about the modification of food, and even of ourselves? Who do we trust to make decisions regarding our common future? What do we use our technology for? These are not questions for experts only. How can the wider public be involved? Do experts and the general public trust each other sufficiently? Or is the public ignorant, in the eyes of the scientists? And are too many engineers narrow minded, according to the general public? The contributors to this timely and necessary volume address expertise, trust and engagement, as we consider our technological condition , religious resources for the ecological crisis , biotechnology , and matters of trust between scientists and the general public. With contributions from leading scholars in the field, including James Miller from Queen's University, Canada and Tony Watling from the University College, London, this book will captivate a range of readers interested in the spirtitual dimension of of our culture and society Show less
Religious scholarship can be offensive to believers, as conflicts from the time of Galileo and Spinoza to the recent critique of Danish religious scholars in the wake of the infamous Muhammad... Show moreReligious scholarship can be offensive to believers, as conflicts from the time of Galileo and Spinoza to the recent critique of Danish religious scholars in the wake of the infamous Muhammad cartoons have shown. Studies of this type of scholarship have been appropriated by believers as a means of reinventing their own identities - as the training of twentieth-century Muslim clergy demonstrates. This volume offers a unique collection of training materials from European Muslim clergy since the 1940s - including Third Reich reports on debriefing imams, surveillance files on Muslim activists, and information on Bosnian clergy and their training centres - as well as an exploration of religion and academic freedom in general, accompanied by appendices in both Arabic and English Show less
