Esra Özyürek
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691162782
- eISBN:
- 9781400852710
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691162782.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
Every year more and more Europeans, including Germans, are embracing Islam. It is estimated that there are now up to 100,000 German converts—a number similar to that in France and the United Kingdom. ...
More
Every year more and more Europeans, including Germans, are embracing Islam. It is estimated that there are now up to 100,000 German converts—a number similar to that in France and the United Kingdom. What stands out about recent conversions is that they take place at a time when Islam is increasingly seen as contrary to European values. This book explores how Germans come to Islam within this antagonistic climate, how they manage to balance their love for Islam with their society's fear of it, how they relate to immigrant Muslims, and how they shape debates about race, religion, and belonging in today's Europe. The book looks at how mainstream society marginalizes converts and questions their national loyalties. In turn, converts try to disassociate themselves from migrants of Muslim-majority countries and promote a denationalized Islam untainted by Turkish or Arab traditions. Some German Muslims believe that once cleansed of these accretions, the Islam that surfaces fits in well with German values and lifestyle. Others even argue that being a German Muslim is wholly compatible with the older values of the German Enlightenment. This book provides a fresh window into the connections and tensions stemming from a growing religious phenomenon in Germany and beyond.Less
Every year more and more Europeans, including Germans, are embracing Islam. It is estimated that there are now up to 100,000 German converts—a number similar to that in France and the United Kingdom. What stands out about recent conversions is that they take place at a time when Islam is increasingly seen as contrary to European values. This book explores how Germans come to Islam within this antagonistic climate, how they manage to balance their love for Islam with their society's fear of it, how they relate to immigrant Muslims, and how they shape debates about race, religion, and belonging in today's Europe. The book looks at how mainstream society marginalizes converts and questions their national loyalties. In turn, converts try to disassociate themselves from migrants of Muslim-majority countries and promote a denationalized Islam untainted by Turkish or Arab traditions. Some German Muslims believe that once cleansed of these accretions, the Islam that surfaces fits in well with German values and lifestyle. Others even argue that being a German Muslim is wholly compatible with the older values of the German Enlightenment. This book provides a fresh window into the connections and tensions stemming from a growing religious phenomenon in Germany and beyond.
Beth Almeida, Kelly Kenneally, and David Madland
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199573349
- eISBN:
- 9780191721946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199573349.003.0016
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Public Management, Pensions and Pension Management
State and local pensions have been a cost-effective way to ensure that those retiring from public service will have adequate retirement income after a lifetime of work. Despite their strengths, ...
More
State and local pensions have been a cost-effective way to ensure that those retiring from public service will have adequate retirement income after a lifetime of work. Despite their strengths, opposition to public pensions has emerged in recent years. This chapter examines the economics of public pensions and outlines the role of public perceptions, politics, and interest groups in the public pension debate.Less
State and local pensions have been a cost-effective way to ensure that those retiring from public service will have adequate retirement income after a lifetime of work. Despite their strengths, opposition to public pensions has emerged in recent years. This chapter examines the economics of public pensions and outlines the role of public perceptions, politics, and interest groups in the public pension debate.
Suzanne Vromen
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195181289
- eISBN:
- 9780199870752
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195181289.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
The chapter is based on interviews with formerly hidden children and is illustrated by numerous quotes. It describes various responses to the wearing of the yellow star and the desperate search for ...
More
The chapter is based on interviews with formerly hidden children and is illustrated by numerous quotes. It describes various responses to the wearing of the yellow star and the desperate search for hiding places that follows the sudden and brutal roundups of the Jewish population in the summer of 1942. Life in the convents in which the children are hidden is detailed through the reactions of the children to prayers, baptism, confession, and communion. These reactions vary greatly from resistance to acceptance; remnants of Judaism persist for some. New attitudes to the body considered as shameful are learned, and lice fought, hunger endured, native language and identity concealed. Relationships with priests and nuns range from caring, tender, and maternal to cruel and punishing. In the aftermath of the liberation, the impact of Catholic institutions varies; many hidden children return to their Jewish identity and a few remain converted. The children face great difficulties due to the ravages in their families, and gender differences in opportunities offered to orphans are resented to this day.Less
The chapter is based on interviews with formerly hidden children and is illustrated by numerous quotes. It describes various responses to the wearing of the yellow star and the desperate search for hiding places that follows the sudden and brutal roundups of the Jewish population in the summer of 1942. Life in the convents in which the children are hidden is detailed through the reactions of the children to prayers, baptism, confession, and communion. These reactions vary greatly from resistance to acceptance; remnants of Judaism persist for some. New attitudes to the body considered as shameful are learned, and lice fought, hunger endured, native language and identity concealed. Relationships with priests and nuns range from caring, tender, and maternal to cruel and punishing. In the aftermath of the liberation, the impact of Catholic institutions varies; many hidden children return to their Jewish identity and a few remain converted. The children face great difficulties due to the ravages in their families, and gender differences in opportunities offered to orphans are resented to this day.
Lamin Sanneh
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195189605
- eISBN:
- 9780199868582
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195189605.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Synopsis: The chapter examines Christianity's formative Western assimilation as a prelude to its overseas post‐Western development. The chapter turns to Roland Allen and the stirrings in China to ...
More
Synopsis: The chapter examines Christianity's formative Western assimilation as a prelude to its overseas post‐Western development. The chapter turns to Roland Allen and the stirrings in China to disentangle Western civilization from Christian civilization, and to show how cultural assimilation falls short of radical conversion. The material, technical infrastructure of mission hindered access in hinterland regions, and impeded the training of local leaders. The chapter recalls the Gentile basis of affirming non‐Western cultures and values. The chapter shifts to Vincent Donovan and the Catholic response to Allen. Donovan agrees with Allen, and calls for changes in Catholic missionary practice, restating the missionary mandate by redefining creed and church. The chapter presents outlines of the Maasai African Creed as an example of the indigenous discovery of the Gospel, showing how that results in Christianity being rediscovered. That is the background of the worldwide resurgence.Less
Synopsis: The chapter examines Christianity's formative Western assimilation as a prelude to its overseas post‐Western development. The chapter turns to Roland Allen and the stirrings in China to disentangle Western civilization from Christian civilization, and to show how cultural assimilation falls short of radical conversion. The material, technical infrastructure of mission hindered access in hinterland regions, and impeded the training of local leaders. The chapter recalls the Gentile basis of affirming non‐Western cultures and values. The chapter shifts to Vincent Donovan and the Catholic response to Allen. Donovan agrees with Allen, and calls for changes in Catholic missionary practice, restating the missionary mandate by redefining creed and church. The chapter presents outlines of the Maasai African Creed as an example of the indigenous discovery of the Gospel, showing how that results in Christianity being rediscovered. That is the background of the worldwide resurgence.
Ross Shepard Kraemer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199743186
- eISBN:
- 9780199894680
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199743186.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion in the Ancient World
In this chapter, Kraemer examines an account not considered in her earlier work: the Letter of Severus of Minorca on the Conversion of the Jews, which narrates the conversion of the entire Jewish ...
More
In this chapter, Kraemer examines an account not considered in her earlier work: the Letter of Severus of Minorca on the Conversion of the Jews, which narrates the conversion of the entire Jewish population of the island in the space of one week in February, 418 C.E. Based on the text’s representation of women as the last to convert, some scholars have read it as a reliable account of Jewish women’s principled resistance to Christianity. Kraemer argues instead that Severus casts Jewish women as the last hold-outs against Christian pressure to convert, not to show us their courage and faithfulness, but rather so that he can depict Christians as models of proper gender relations (with women submissive to men, male bishops, Christ, and God), and Jews as paradigms of gender dis-order (with disobedient women, still the daughters of Eve, whose husbands are unable to control them).Less
In this chapter, Kraemer examines an account not considered in her earlier work: the Letter of Severus of Minorca on the Conversion of the Jews, which narrates the conversion of the entire Jewish population of the island in the space of one week in February, 418 C.E. Based on the text’s representation of women as the last to convert, some scholars have read it as a reliable account of Jewish women’s principled resistance to Christianity. Kraemer argues instead that Severus casts Jewish women as the last hold-outs against Christian pressure to convert, not to show us their courage and faithfulness, but rather so that he can depict Christians as models of proper gender relations (with women submissive to men, male bishops, Christ, and God), and Jews as paradigms of gender dis-order (with disobedient women, still the daughters of Eve, whose husbands are unable to control them).
Esra Özyürek
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691162782
- eISBN:
- 9781400852710
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691162782.003.0002
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter explores the many unique experiences of converted German Muslims. When they convert, they have to deal with a dramatic loss of status in society—something for which they were not ...
More
This chapter explores the many unique experiences of converted German Muslims. When they convert, they have to deal with a dramatic loss of status in society—something for which they were not prepared. Born Muslims grew up learning the limits that society set for them. Even if they struggle against and challenge them, the marginalization they experience is a routine phenomenon. After being marginalized in the mainstream society to which they once unproblematically belonged, German Muslims face another unwelcome surprise when they realize that they do not fit in or not are welcomed by the existing Muslim communities in Germany, predominantly made up of Turkish and Arab communities that constitute the poorest, least educated segments of German society.Less
This chapter explores the many unique experiences of converted German Muslims. When they convert, they have to deal with a dramatic loss of status in society—something for which they were not prepared. Born Muslims grew up learning the limits that society set for them. Even if they struggle against and challenge them, the marginalization they experience is a routine phenomenon. After being marginalized in the mainstream society to which they once unproblematically belonged, German Muslims face another unwelcome surprise when they realize that they do not fit in or not are welcomed by the existing Muslim communities in Germany, predominantly made up of Turkish and Arab communities that constitute the poorest, least educated segments of German society.
Esra Özyürek
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691162782
- eISBN:
- 9781400852710
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691162782.003.0007
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter offers some concluding thoughts on how German converts to Islam apply different and at times conflicting strategies in order to demonstrate how Islam is a perfect—and indeed better—fit ...
More
This chapter offers some concluding thoughts on how German converts to Islam apply different and at times conflicting strategies in order to demonstrate how Islam is a perfect—and indeed better—fit for German/European society. It also briefly discusses the significance of Salafi communities in this context. In addition, the chapter tells the story of a moral panic over converts to Islam that swept Germany in the 2000s, which suddenly moved German converts from their previously invisible position to center stage in the media. This account highlights the most novel aspects of Islamophobia, with the reason for the panic being the fear of a potential terrorist attack.Less
This chapter offers some concluding thoughts on how German converts to Islam apply different and at times conflicting strategies in order to demonstrate how Islam is a perfect—and indeed better—fit for German/European society. It also briefly discusses the significance of Salafi communities in this context. In addition, the chapter tells the story of a moral panic over converts to Islam that swept Germany in the 2000s, which suddenly moved German converts from their previously invisible position to center stage in the media. This account highlights the most novel aspects of Islamophobia, with the reason for the panic being the fear of a potential terrorist attack.
Esra Özyürek
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691162782
- eISBN:
- 9781400852710
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691162782.003.0004
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter analyzes the conversion and life-story narratives of two East Germans who both grew up during the closed, authoritarian regime of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). When the wall ...
More
This chapter analyzes the conversion and life-story narratives of two East Germans who both grew up during the closed, authoritarian regime of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). When the wall fell, Zehra was a twenty-year-old woman from a family of regime opponents just about to begin her life after graduating from high school. Usman was a thirty-year-old man with an established position as a chemist at an East German state-run factory. The fall of the wall transformed both their lives radically, recasting them as second-class citizens with no foreseeable way out in the united Germany. Both Zehra and Usman converted to Islam shortly after the collapse of the East German Communist regime in 1989.Less
This chapter analyzes the conversion and life-story narratives of two East Germans who both grew up during the closed, authoritarian regime of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). When the wall fell, Zehra was a twenty-year-old woman from a family of regime opponents just about to begin her life after graduating from high school. Usman was a thirty-year-old man with an established position as a chemist at an East German state-run factory. The fall of the wall transformed both their lives radically, recasting them as second-class citizens with no foreseeable way out in the united Germany. Both Zehra and Usman converted to Islam shortly after the collapse of the East German Communist regime in 1989.
Christopher Harding
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199548224
- eISBN:
- 9780191720697
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199548224.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Asian History, History of Religion
This chapter looks at missionary and convert attempts to construct a Christian community life in the wake of the mass movements, including attempted socialization through education, ceremony, and ...
More
This chapter looks at missionary and convert attempts to construct a Christian community life in the wake of the mass movements, including attempted socialization through education, ceremony, and general welfare. Frustrations on all sides are highly revealing of the expectations with which mission personnel and converts entered uncertain associations with one another. Contests over the question of ‘what does it mean to be a Christian?’ and attempts by the CMS and the Capuchins to win influence in scattered convert communities are the principal focus, setting the tone as they did for future generations of Punjabi Christians.Less
This chapter looks at missionary and convert attempts to construct a Christian community life in the wake of the mass movements, including attempted socialization through education, ceremony, and general welfare. Frustrations on all sides are highly revealing of the expectations with which mission personnel and converts entered uncertain associations with one another. Contests over the question of ‘what does it mean to be a Christian?’ and attempts by the CMS and the Capuchins to win influence in scattered convert communities are the principal focus, setting the tone as they did for future generations of Punjabi Christians.
Philip N. Mulder
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195131635
- eISBN:
- 9780199834525
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195131630.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
With the Revolutionary trauma and Anglican Church swept away, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists could turn their full attention to each other as they competed for converts and ascendancy in the ...
More
With the Revolutionary trauma and Anglican Church swept away, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists could turn their full attention to each other as they competed for converts and ascendancy in the religiously free nation. The insular Presbyterians and Baptists struggled to keep pace with the Methodists by experimenting with some of their tactics, including warm, extemporaneous preaching, lively music, and itinerancy, yet ultimately they relied on their traditional distinctions in appeals for converts. Methodists forged ahead with their universal designs and waves of quarterly and annual meetings that fostered outdoor preaching events and camp meetings, but as they encountered their competitors, they had to define their distinctive message, and, doing so, they addressed their Calvinist rivals on the enemies’ terms: the controversial spirit that the Methodists had hoped to convert.Less
With the Revolutionary trauma and Anglican Church swept away, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists could turn their full attention to each other as they competed for converts and ascendancy in the religiously free nation. The insular Presbyterians and Baptists struggled to keep pace with the Methodists by experimenting with some of their tactics, including warm, extemporaneous preaching, lively music, and itinerancy, yet ultimately they relied on their traditional distinctions in appeals for converts. Methodists forged ahead with their universal designs and waves of quarterly and annual meetings that fostered outdoor preaching events and camp meetings, but as they encountered their competitors, they had to define their distinctive message, and, doing so, they addressed their Calvinist rivals on the enemies’ terms: the controversial spirit that the Methodists had hoped to convert.
Robert B. Jones and Margot Toomer Latimer (eds)
- Published in print:
- 1988
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807842096
- eISBN:
- 9781469616421
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9781469616414_Jones
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature
This volume is a collected edition of poems by Jean Toomer, the enigmatic American writer, Gurdjieffian guru, and Quaker convert who is perhaps best known for his 1923 lyrical narrative Cane. The ...
More
This volume is a collected edition of poems by Jean Toomer, the enigmatic American writer, Gurdjieffian guru, and Quaker convert who is perhaps best known for his 1923 lyrical narrative Cane. The fifty-five poems here chart an evolution of artistic consciousness. The book is divided into sections reflecting four distinct periods of creativity in Toomer's career. The Aesthetic period includes Imagist, symbolist, and other experimental pieces, such as “Five Vignettes,” while “Georgia Dusk” and the newly discovered poem “Tell Me” come from Toomer's Ancestral Consciousness period in the early 1920s. “The Blue Meridian” and other Objective Consciousness poems reveal the influence of idealist philosopher Georges Gurdjieff. Among the works of this period the book presents a group of local color poems picturing the landscape of the American Southwest, including “Imprint for Rio Grande.” “It Is Everywhere,” another newly discovered poem, celebrates America and democratic idealism. The Quaker religious philosophy of Toomer's final years is demonstrated in such Christian Existential works as “They Are Not Missed” and “To Gurdjieff Dying.” The introduction examines the major poems in this volume and serves as a guide through the stages of Toomer's evolution as an artist and thinker.Less
This volume is a collected edition of poems by Jean Toomer, the enigmatic American writer, Gurdjieffian guru, and Quaker convert who is perhaps best known for his 1923 lyrical narrative Cane. The fifty-five poems here chart an evolution of artistic consciousness. The book is divided into sections reflecting four distinct periods of creativity in Toomer's career. The Aesthetic period includes Imagist, symbolist, and other experimental pieces, such as “Five Vignettes,” while “Georgia Dusk” and the newly discovered poem “Tell Me” come from Toomer's Ancestral Consciousness period in the early 1920s. “The Blue Meridian” and other Objective Consciousness poems reveal the influence of idealist philosopher Georges Gurdjieff. Among the works of this period the book presents a group of local color poems picturing the landscape of the American Southwest, including “Imprint for Rio Grande.” “It Is Everywhere,” another newly discovered poem, celebrates America and democratic idealism. The Quaker religious philosophy of Toomer's final years is demonstrated in such Christian Existential works as “They Are Not Missed” and “To Gurdjieff Dying.” The introduction examines the major poems in this volume and serves as a guide through the stages of Toomer's evolution as an artist and thinker.
Christine E. Hayes
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195151206
- eISBN:
- 9780199834273
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195151208.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The rabbis break with Ezra, Jubilees, and sectarian sources that democratize the priestly requirement of genealogical purity. According to the rabbis, genealogical purity is not an end in itself for ...
More
The rabbis break with Ezra, Jubilees, and sectarian sources that democratize the priestly requirement of genealogical purity. According to the rabbis, genealogical purity is not an end in itself for ordinary Jews, but an optional matter relevant only in determining fitness for marriage into the priesthood and appointment to certain positions of leadership. Over the course of centuries, the rabbis took steps to eliminate the disadvantages of genealogical blemish and narrow the gap between native‐born and nonnative Jews. Two halakhic developments brought greater parity between native‐born Jews and converts: the gradual prohibition of unions between converts and persons prohibited to native‐born Jews (e.g., the mamzer) and the campaign to permit intermarriage between converts (or their descendants) and priests.Less
The rabbis break with Ezra, Jubilees, and sectarian sources that democratize the priestly requirement of genealogical purity. According to the rabbis, genealogical purity is not an end in itself for ordinary Jews, but an optional matter relevant only in determining fitness for marriage into the priesthood and appointment to certain positions of leadership. Over the course of centuries, the rabbis took steps to eliminate the disadvantages of genealogical blemish and narrow the gap between native‐born and nonnative Jews. Two halakhic developments brought greater parity between native‐born Jews and converts: the gradual prohibition of unions between converts and persons prohibited to native‐born Jews (e.g., the mamzer) and the campaign to permit intermarriage between converts (or their descendants) and priests.
Jerome Murphy-O'Connor
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- November 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199266531
- eISBN:
- 9780191601583
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199266530.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Missionary expansion through converts returning to their homes and businesses. As a first step in claiming her daughter churches, Antioch sent a Judaising delegation to correct the theology of the ...
More
Missionary expansion through converts returning to their homes and businesses. As a first step in claiming her daughter churches, Antioch sent a Judaising delegation to correct the theology of the Galatians. Celtic reluctance to make a decision obliged consultation with Paul, who responded in Galatians. Ostensibly addressed to the Galatians, its real audience was the intruders.Less
Missionary expansion through converts returning to their homes and businesses. As a first step in claiming her daughter churches, Antioch sent a Judaising delegation to correct the theology of the Galatians. Celtic reluctance to make a decision obliged consultation with Paul, who responded in Galatians. Ostensibly addressed to the Galatians, its real audience was the intruders.
Elizabeth Elkin Grammer
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195139617
- eISBN:
- 9780199834242
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195139615.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
The seven female itinerant preachers in this study made good literary use of nineteenth‐century American culture's idealization of productivity and competitive individualism, and its belief in ...
More
The seven female itinerant preachers in this study made good literary use of nineteenth‐century American culture's idealization of productivity and competitive individualism, and its belief in quantification as a reliable measure of success. They present themselves in their autobiographies as fantastically productive—and extraordinarily successful—spiritual capitalists, minimizing the details of their conversion experiences to make room in their books, as did many Protestant evangelists, for their work. These “female strangers” write “masculine” stories of productivity and competitive individualism in part because they participated in—as did Protestantism, evangelicalism, and revivalism generally—an increasingly commercial world in which religion had to sell itself to consumers. They did so also as part of their campaign to understand, define, and advertise themselves (and female preaching itself) in a marketplace in which they faced considerable opposition. They resort to quantification (of miles traveled, hours worked, and converts gained) to measure, almost literally, the unorthodox life.Less
The seven female itinerant preachers in this study made good literary use of nineteenth‐century American culture's idealization of productivity and competitive individualism, and its belief in quantification as a reliable measure of success. They present themselves in their autobiographies as fantastically productive—and extraordinarily successful—spiritual capitalists, minimizing the details of their conversion experiences to make room in their books, as did many Protestant evangelists, for their work. These “female strangers” write “masculine” stories of productivity and competitive individualism in part because they participated in—as did Protestantism, evangelicalism, and revivalism generally—an increasingly commercial world in which religion had to sell itself to consumers. They did so also as part of their campaign to understand, define, and advertise themselves (and female preaching itself) in a marketplace in which they faced considerable opposition. They resort to quantification (of miles traveled, hours worked, and converts gained) to measure, almost literally, the unorthodox life.
Francisco Núñez Muley
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226547268
- eISBN:
- 9780226547282
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226547282.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
Conquered in 1492 and colonized by invading Castilians, the city and kingdom of Granada faced radical changes imposed by its occupiers throughout the first half of the sixteenth century—including the ...
More
Conquered in 1492 and colonized by invading Castilians, the city and kingdom of Granada faced radical changes imposed by its occupiers throughout the first half of the sixteenth century—including the forced conversion of its native Muslim population. Written by one of many coerced Christian converts, this letter lodges a clear-sighted, impassioned protest against the unreasonable and strongly assimilationist laws that required all converted Muslims in Granada to dress, speak, eat, marry, celebrate festivals, and be buried exactly as the Castilian settler population did. Now available in an English translation, the account is an example of how Spain's former Muslims made active use of the written word to challenge and openly resist the progressively intolerant policies of the Spanish Crown.Less
Conquered in 1492 and colonized by invading Castilians, the city and kingdom of Granada faced radical changes imposed by its occupiers throughout the first half of the sixteenth century—including the forced conversion of its native Muslim population. Written by one of many coerced Christian converts, this letter lodges a clear-sighted, impassioned protest against the unreasonable and strongly assimilationist laws that required all converted Muslims in Granada to dress, speak, eat, marry, celebrate festivals, and be buried exactly as the Castilian settler population did. Now available in an English translation, the account is an example of how Spain's former Muslims made active use of the written word to challenge and openly resist the progressively intolerant policies of the Spanish Crown.
Paul Marshall and Nina Shea
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199812264
- eISBN:
- 9780199919383
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812264.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Since its 1979 revolution, Iran has suppressed its population in the name of enforcing the state's religious orthodoxy. Private attacks on those deemed religiously deviant are relatively scarce, but ...
More
Since its 1979 revolution, Iran has suppressed its population in the name of enforcing the state's religious orthodoxy. Private attacks on those deemed religiously deviant are relatively scarce, but the regime itself targets Baha’is, Jews, converts, Sufis and Sunnis, and increasingly, anyone seen as a political threat. Those deemed possibly dangerous to the regime include human rights and women's activists and, especially, Shia intellectuals and clergy who criticize the regime. Since the government claims that Shia Islam is its source of authority, it is particularly susceptible to critiques based on alternative interpretations of Islam. For example, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a theological architects of Iran's ruling system, was detained for six years for his religious criticism of the structure he helped create. In giving rulings on blasphemy and apostasy, Iran's judges frequently reference their own interpretations of sharia. With little consistency, they may convict people on undefined charges such as “friendship with the enemies of God,” “dissension from religious dogma,” or “propagation of spiritual liberalism.” Punishments include amputation, burning, starvation, and execution. Under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, conditions have deteriorated further.Less
Since its 1979 revolution, Iran has suppressed its population in the name of enforcing the state's religious orthodoxy. Private attacks on those deemed religiously deviant are relatively scarce, but the regime itself targets Baha’is, Jews, converts, Sufis and Sunnis, and increasingly, anyone seen as a political threat. Those deemed possibly dangerous to the regime include human rights and women's activists and, especially, Shia intellectuals and clergy who criticize the regime. Since the government claims that Shia Islam is its source of authority, it is particularly susceptible to critiques based on alternative interpretations of Islam. For example, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a theological architects of Iran's ruling system, was detained for six years for his religious criticism of the structure he helped create. In giving rulings on blasphemy and apostasy, Iran's judges frequently reference their own interpretations of sharia. With little consistency, they may convict people on undefined charges such as “friendship with the enemies of God,” “dissension from religious dogma,” or “propagation of spiritual liberalism.” Punishments include amputation, burning, starvation, and execution. Under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, conditions have deteriorated further.
Eliza F. Kent
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195165074
- eISBN:
- 9780199835171
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195165071.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Descriptions of the social lives and customs of low castes in the 19th century India come from two main sources: missionary accounts and administrative records. This chapter explores the categories ...
More
Descriptions of the social lives and customs of low castes in the 19th century India come from two main sources: missionary accounts and administrative records. This chapter explores the categories and concepts generated by missionaries and colonial administrators from their studies on Indian culture, religion, physiognomy, economics, etc. It then examines how these were appropriated and deployed by Shanar converts in the creation of a new, respectable identity as Nadar Kshatriyas.Less
Descriptions of the social lives and customs of low castes in the 19th century India come from two main sources: missionary accounts and administrative records. This chapter explores the categories and concepts generated by missionaries and colonial administrators from their studies on Indian culture, religion, physiognomy, economics, etc. It then examines how these were appropriated and deployed by Shanar converts in the creation of a new, respectable identity as Nadar Kshatriyas.
Paul Marshall and Nina Shea
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199812264
- eISBN:
- 9780199919383
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812264.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Chapter Nine, “South and South East Asia,” covers Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Maldives. The Maldives bans all religion except Sunni Islam and has used religious restrictions to crack ...
More
Chapter Nine, “South and South East Asia,” covers Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Maldives. The Maldives bans all religion except Sunni Islam and has used religious restrictions to crack down on religious and political reformers. The other three countries have reputations for moderation, some of them deserved, but there seems to have been an intensification of religious repression in recent years. In Bangladesh and Indonesia, Ahmadis are repressed, as are heterodox groups and Muslims who express reformist and modernist views. While there is government repression, a larger problem is violence by mobs and militias that the government cannot or does not control. Malaysia has had ongoing legal struggles over the conversion of Muslims to other religions, is trying to restrict the religious words that non-Muslims may use, and, claiming that its population is easily confused and so should not be exposed to a range of views, is also repressing heterodox and reformist Muslims.Less
Chapter Nine, “South and South East Asia,” covers Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Maldives. The Maldives bans all religion except Sunni Islam and has used religious restrictions to crack down on religious and political reformers. The other three countries have reputations for moderation, some of them deserved, but there seems to have been an intensification of religious repression in recent years. In Bangladesh and Indonesia, Ahmadis are repressed, as are heterodox groups and Muslims who express reformist and modernist views. While there is government repression, a larger problem is violence by mobs and militias that the government cannot or does not control. Malaysia has had ongoing legal struggles over the conversion of Muslims to other religions, is trying to restrict the religious words that non-Muslims may use, and, claiming that its population is easily confused and so should not be exposed to a range of views, is also repressing heterodox and reformist Muslims.
Joseph Cheah
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199756285
- eISBN:
- 9780199918874
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199756285.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter introduces key concepts, terms, and theories from multiple disciplines: history, religious studies, ethnic (Asian American) studies, new immigrant studies, sociology, and ethnography. It ...
More
This chapter introduces key concepts, terms, and theories from multiple disciplines: history, religious studies, ethnic (Asian American) studies, new immigrant studies, sociology, and ethnography. It highlights the neglect of race and racialization in the studies of American Buddhism. It provides a basic outline of addressing under-theorization of race in new immigrant Buddhist Studies by examining how the racial ideology of white supremacy has been operated in the two drastically different ways in which convert Buddhists and sympathizers on the one hand, and ethnic Buddhists on the other, have adapted Buddhist practices to the American context.Less
This chapter introduces key concepts, terms, and theories from multiple disciplines: history, religious studies, ethnic (Asian American) studies, new immigrant studies, sociology, and ethnography. It highlights the neglect of race and racialization in the studies of American Buddhism. It provides a basic outline of addressing under-theorization of race in new immigrant Buddhist Studies by examining how the racial ideology of white supremacy has been operated in the two drastically different ways in which convert Buddhists and sympathizers on the one hand, and ethnic Buddhists on the other, have adapted Buddhist practices to the American context.
GOODMAN MARTIN
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263876
- eISBN:
- 9780191682674
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263876.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion in the Ancient World, Judaism
This chapter explores the Christian mission in the early church. To some extent, some early Christian institutions mirrored those in contemporary Jewish society. The biggest agent of transformation ...
More
This chapter explores the Christian mission in the early church. To some extent, some early Christian institutions mirrored those in contemporary Jewish society. The biggest agent of transformation for the convert was negative: withdrawal from pagan worship. Withdrawal from cult separated Christians from the surrounding society. The pressure of such separation from ordinary people led Christians to stick together to form their own alternative communities. In any case, converts were welcomed into the communities and given a status equal in theory to that of the existing members of the community.Less
This chapter explores the Christian mission in the early church. To some extent, some early Christian institutions mirrored those in contemporary Jewish society. The biggest agent of transformation for the convert was negative: withdrawal from pagan worship. Withdrawal from cult separated Christians from the surrounding society. The pressure of such separation from ordinary people led Christians to stick together to form their own alternative communities. In any case, converts were welcomed into the communities and given a status equal in theory to that of the existing members of the community.
