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Book SynopsisIt?s time to talk honestly about the gulf between institutional Christianity and the ideals embodied by Jesus. With courage and compassion, Regina V. Cates asks thought-provoking questions about why present-day Christianity is often characterized by fear, judgment, and egotism. Imagining Jesus would be appalled by much that is said in his name, Regina points readers toward Christ?s lovingkindness, inclusivity, and humility. In so doing, she challenges readers to align their hearts more closely with Jesus?s teachings and honestly address the harm caused by so much institutional religion. ?God?s loving grace within our heart is the power of light that gives us strength to honestly examine the oppressive attitudes and behaviors alive within much of Christianity?attitudes and behaviors that, to Jesus?s heart, would not be either logical or kind.? As part of this challenge, Regina initiates thoughtful conversations about topics including sexual abuse, racism, religious and political corruption, abortion, and sexual orientation. Part memoir, part social commentary, and part call to action, this book invites all people of good faith to more fully embody Jesus?s message by taking up his call to love our neighbors as ourselves.?Let?s demonstrate our love for Jesus by asking and answering the questions I imagine he would ask. . . . I believe to truly follow him, it is imperative we help create the caring, peaceful, and respectful world he envisioned.?

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsIntroduction: Being as Tradition Aristotle Papanikolaou and George E. Demacopoulos | 1 SECULARIZATION Secularism: The Golden Lie Graham Ward | 21 Collectivistic Christianities and Pluralism: An Inquiry into Agency and Responsibility Slavica Jakelić | 36 What Difference Do Women Make? Retelling the Story of Catholic Responses to Secularism Brenna Moore | 60 The Secular Pilgrimage of Orthodoxy in America Vigen Guroian | 80 Saeculum–Ecclesia–Caliphate: An Eternal Golden Braid Paul J. Griffiths | 94 A Secularism of the Royal Doors: Toward an Eastern Orthodox Christian Theology of Secularism Brandon Gallaher | 108 FUNDAMENTALISM Fundamentalism: Not Just a Cautionary Tale Edith M. Humphrey | 133 Resolving the Tension between Tradition and Restorationism in American Orthodoxy Dellas Oliver Herbel | 152 Fundamentalists, Rigorists, and Traditionalists: An Unorthodox Trinity R. Scott Appleby | 165 “Orthodoxy or Death”: Religious Fundamentalism during the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries Nikolaos Asproulis | 180 Confession and the Sacrament of Penance after Communism Nadieszda Kizenko | 204 Conscience and Catholic Identity Darlene Fozard Weaver | 223 Fundamentalism as a Preconscious Response to a Perceived Threat Wendy Mayer | 241 Acknowledgments | 261 Contributors | 263 Index | 265

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsIntroduction Matthew T. Eggemeier, Peter Joseph Fritz, and Karen V. Guth | 1 Part I: Upheaval Under Capitalism 1. Capital’s “Secret Orders”: A Du Boisian Lens on the Alt- Right and White Supremacy Mark Lewis Taylor | 13 2. Protest at the Void: Theological Challenges to Capitalist Totality Devin Singh | 49 3. As the World Burns: Laudato Si’, the Climate Crisis, and the Limits of Papal Power Mary Doak | 69 Part II: Race, Aesthetics, and Religion 4. Whiteness and Civilization: Shame, Race, and the Rhetoric of Donald Trump Donovan O. Schaefer | 93 5. Rootedness on the Slippery Earth: Migration in a Time of Social Upheaval Nichole M. Flores | 112 6. Christian Responses to the “Revolutionary Aesthetic” of Black Lives Matter Jermaine M. McDonald | 124 Part III: Migration, Labor Movements, and Islam 7. Caught in the Crosshairs: Muslims and Migration Zayn Kassam | 143 8. Iftars, Prayer Rooms, and #DeleteUber: Postsecularity and the Promise/ Perils of Muslim Labor Organizing C. Melissa Snarr | 161 Part IV: Thresholds in Gender, Sexuality, and Christianity 9. Slogan, Women’s Protest, and Religion Kwok Pui-lan | 177 10. LGBTQ+ Politics and the Queer Thresholds of Heresy Ju Hui Judy Han | 195 Acknowledgments | 217 List of Contributors | 219 Index | 221

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Book SynopsisWhat is causing the American public to move more openly into alt-right terrain? What explains the uptick in anti-immigrant hysteria, isolationism, and an increasing willingness to support alternatives to democratic governance? The Everyday Crusade provides an answer. The book points to American Religious Exceptionalism (ARE), a widely held religious nationalist ideology steeped in myth about the nation''s original purpose. The book opens with a comprehensive synthesis of research on nationalism and religion in American public opinion. Making use of survey data spanning three different presidential administrations, it then develops a new theory of why Americans form extremist attitudes, based on religious exceptionalism myths. The book closes with an examination of what''s next for an American public that confronts new global issues, alongside existing challenges to perceived cultural authority. Timely and enlightening, The Everyday Crusade offers a critical touchstone for better undersTrade Review'This ambitious book succeeds in demonstrating how our national myth of American Religious Exceptionalism profoundly shapes the world around us. Marshalling survey data from a variety of sources gathered over a decade, McDaniel, Nooruddin, and Shortle provide us a systematic framework sure to influence research agendas for years to come.' Andrew L. Whitehead, author of Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States.'In this timely and important contribution, McDaniel, Nooruddin, and Shortle masterfully illuminate how the myth of American Religious Exceptionalism has shaped popular and dominant conceptions of what it means to be an American. Their work is crucial to understanding historic and contemporary political battles over the country's most pressing and defining issues, including immigration, citizenship, and American identity.' Ashley Jardina, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Duke University'In The Everyday Crusade, an impressive group of scholars combines their individual expertise to conduct a strikingly thorough exploration of religious exceptionalism. Not only do they draw evidence from numerous surveys over the course of a decade, but they also examine how religious exceptionalism manifests across groups and even in global contexts. This book will undoubtedly be of great interest to scholars for years to come.' Nicole Yadon, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Ohio State University'Blending meticulous analyses of survey data with deep, nuanced interrogation of history, The Everyday Crusade illuminates the longstanding hold of American religious exceptionalism on policy preferences, political beliefs, and American identity. This exploration of the far-reaching imprints of America's founding mythology offers timely insights for our current state of affairs.' Davin L. Phoenix, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of California, Irvine'This outstanding book couples compelling historical examples and a wealth of data capturing public views to reveal the deep roots and ideological staying power of a potent mix of race, religion, and nationalism shaping U.S. politics today.' Janelle Wong, author of Immigrants, Evangelicals, and Politics in an Era of Demographic ChangeTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Myths, Gods, and Nations; 2. Who are the Believers?; 3. Who Dwells in His House?; 4. What Do We Owe Strangers?; 5. Evangelizing American Religious Exceptionalism; 6. Governing the Temple; 7. The View from the Back Pews; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisLaudianism was both a way of being Christian and a political ideology. This definitive account of this intensely controversial movement explores how it helped cause the English civil war, but over the long term provided one of the visions of the national church, one that has been in contention to define ''Anglicanism'' ever since--Table of ContentsIntroduction: Part I. Laudianism, where it Came From: 1. A Trinitarian and incarnational theology; 2. Andrewes' political theology; 3. Andrewes' anti-puritanism; 4. Puritan politics; 5. The tree of repentance and its fruits; 6. Absent presences; the role of predestination in Andrewes' divinity; 7. The visible church and its ordinances; Part II. Laudianism, what it was: 8. The house of God; 9. The house of God and the beauty of holiness; 10. The beauty of holiness and ceremonial conformity; 11. Church ceremonies, the authority of the church and the authority of scripture; 12. Prayer; 13. Preaching; 14. The sacrament and the altar; 15. The sacrament and the social body of the church; 16. The altar and visible succession; 17. The feasts and festivals of the church, or putting the sabbath in its place; 18.Sunday sports and the re/constitution of the Christian community and the social order; 19. The sabbath and the Laudian attitude to authority; Part III. Laudianism, what it was n't: 20. Order, puritanism and the state of the English church; 21. Puritan 'privacy', or the forms of puritan voluntary religion anatomized; 22. A religion of the word and the question of authority; 23. Puritanism, popularity and politics; 24. Of moderate puritans and popular prelates; 25. The puritan threat, the church of England and the Personal Rule as a period of reformation; Part IV. Laudianism and Predestination: 26. Laudianism, puritanism and Arminianism revisited; 27. The language of mystery; 28. Fatal necessity; 29. Predestination, the positive case: of justice and mercy, prescience and predestination; 30. Faith, hope and charity; 31. Effort without merit; repentance, amendment and the works of penitence; Part V. Laudianism as Coalition, the Constituent Parts: 32. Dis-aggregating, or the pleasures and benefits of splitting; 33. Of converts, collaborators and apostates, i, puritans; 34. Of converts, collaborators and apostates, ii, Calvinist conformists; 35. Of apparatchiks, zealots and coming men; 36. The Laudian avant garde, (i) young men in a hurry; Cambridge University in the 1630s; 37. The Laudian avant garde, (ii) old men in a hurry; Robert Shelford, James Buck and Edward Kellett; 38. Tacking and trimming; negotiating the end of 'the Laudian moment'; 39. Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisThis book introduces the American Evangelical movement and the role it played in the support of Donald Trump. It is an essential read for all students and researchers of Evangelicalism, Religion in America, Political Theology, or Religion and Politics.Table of ContentsPreface Introduction 1. The New Cyrus and the "Seven Mountains" of Culture 2. Apostles: Religious and Political Entrepeneurs 3. Spiritual Warfare and the Specter of Civil War 4. When Is the End of the World? Eschatological Fictions and Their Political Consequences Conclusion Epilogue Bibliography Name Index Subject Index Scripture Index

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Book SynopsisProtestant Christian historiography has persistently erased unmarried, childless women from the story of faith in Australia. When women are mentioned, they are judged according to a heteronormative, maternalist framework built upon the ideology of separate spheres. This paradigm creates a lopsided picture, whereby women are celebrated for their social and moral influence, but are absent from rational, intellectual discourse. This book asks the question, why have unmarried women who devoted themselves to social justice activism motivated by their Christian faith been erased from the pages of Australian religious histories? It does this through biographies of two unmarried women, each engaged in very different work aimed at creating a more just and equitable Australia.Queer Omissions uses biographical case studies of two unmarried, childless women, Frances Levvy (1831-1924) and Constance Duncan (1896-1970), to critique the writing of Protestant religious histories in Aus

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Book SynopsisIn The Unfree Exercise of Religion Jonathan Fox examines how we understand concepts like religious discrimination and religious freedom, and why countries discriminate. He makes a study of religious discrimination against 597 religious minorities in 177 countries between 1990 and 2008.Trade Review'The Unfree Exercise of Religion, Jonathan Fox's latest global analysis of the status of religions, solidifies his standing as the leading empirical scholar on the subject. He shows that discrimination against the practices and institutions of 597 minority religions is ubiquitous. More than six out of ten minorities in this new study faced discrimination on one and usually many of 29 indicators. Causal analyses show that no one or handful of conditions can explain why. Whether the state has an official religion, and whether the minority is seen as a security threat, are relevant but so are many other factors. It may be unsurprising that discrimination against religious minorities of every major sect, in every world region, has increased since 1990. But who would have thought that the prosperous Christian democracies would be more discriminatory than their democratic counterparts in the Third World? Could we have anticipated that, globally, Christian religious minorities are most likely to be subject to discrimination and Muslim minorities least so? Unfree Exercise is a remarkable data-based study that spans the entire range of questions, both descriptive and casual, about the nature, causes, and impact of discrimination against religious minorities in 177 countries.' Ted Robert Gurr, University of Maryland, College Park'Political scientist Jonathan Fox brings his characteristic blend of analytic acuity, encyclopedic coverage, and moral concern to the phenomenon of religious discrimination. Drawing from the extraordinary dataset that he has constructed over several years, he brings striking results to bear: all across the globe, religious discrimination is widespread and is getting worse.' Daniel Philpott, Center for Civil and Human RightsTable of Contents1. Introduction; 2. What is religious discrimination?; 3. The causes and consequences of religious discrimination; 4. Christian majority states 1 - Western democracies and the former Soviet bloc; 5. Christian majority countries 2 - the Third World; 6. Muslim majority countries; 7. Other countries; 8. Conclusions.

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Book SynopsisIt is because Catholicism played such a formative role in the construction of Western legal culture that it is the focal point of this enquiry. The account of international law from its origin in the treaties of Westphalia, and located in the writing of the Grotian tradition, had lost contact with another cosmopolitan history of international law that reappeared with the growth of the early twentieth century human rights movement. The beginnings of the human rights movement, grounded in democratic sovereign power, returned to that moral vocabulary to promote the further growth of international order in the twentieth century. In recognising this technique of periodically returning to Western cosmopolitan legal culture, this book endeavours to provide a more complete account of the human rights project that factors in the contribution that cosmopolitan Catholicism made to a general theory of sovereignty, international law and human rights.Trade Review'Catholic cosmopolitanism has made an essential contribution to the rise of human rights law in the twentieth century. This well-researched book convincingly demonstrates that such an approach to international law did not come out of the blue but instead built on a millennium of Catholic legal, political and theological thought from the medieval period to the modern. It also leaves the reader with a pressing question: will the fruitful alliance of cosmopolitan traditions stemming from the Enlightenment and Christianity hold? Swimming somewhat against the tide, the author makes a case for why this would be desirable while acknowledging that it appears increasingly unlikely.' Hans-Martien ten Napel, Universiteit Leiden'This timely and challenging book takes us beyond the traditional histories of human rights law, exploring its often neglected roots in and links to the contested cosmopolitanism of Catholicism. Understanding the roots and limits of the modern human rights project requires continuous reflection and an openness to new ways of thinking about the ruptures that human rights claims seek to provoke. Catholic Cosmopolitanism and Human Rights will be an indispensable resource for all scholars and historians of the human rights project, and for critical and sympathetic observers of Catholicism's claims to universalism.' Siobhán Mullally, Established Professor of Human Rights Law and Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at National University of Ireland GalwayTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Catholic cosmopolitan and the birth of human rights; 2. Catholic cosmopolitanism from the centre to the periphery; 3. Catholic cosmopolitanism from the periphery to international concern; 4. Locating a modern Christian cosmopolitanism; 5. An imperfect cosmopolitan project; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisThis book examines Anglo-Italian political and cultural relations and analyses the importance of religion in the British 'Orientalist' perception of Italy. It puts religion at the centre of a harsh political and cultural war, one that was fought on international, diplomatic, and domestic levels.Trade Review“Raponi’s monograph improves our understanding of the British enthusiasm for the Risorgimento by exploring how religion and politics fused together when Italian affairs were on the agenda. … Raponi has consulted a very impressive range of sources. … The book is beautifully written, Raponi’s style being lively and engaging.” (Owain Wright, Journal of Religious History Literature and Culture Reviews, June, 2016)Table of ContentsIntroduction: Britain and Italy, Religion and Politics 1. Italy as the 'European India': British Orientalism, Cultural Imperialism, and Anti-Catholicism, c. 1850-1870 2. British Missionary Societies in Italy: Evangelising a Hostile Land, 1850-1862 3. Religion and Foreign Policy: From Unification to the 'Desperate Folly' of the Syllabus (1861-1864) 4. British Missionary Societies in Italy: Searching the Soul of the New Nation, 1862-1872 5. Protestant Foreign Policy and the Last Years of the Roman Question, 1865-1875 Conclusion: 'Great' because Protestant, 'Oriental' because Catholic

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Book SynopsisThis book draws upon theory and theology to consider how religious institutions engage with post-conflict statebuilding and why they would choose to lend their resources to the endeavour. Drawing from the theologies of Roman Catholicism and Sunni Islam, Dragovic explores their possible motivations to engage alongside the international community.Trade Review''As an international civil servant, Denis Dragovic has seen the importance of religion in political life while serving in conflict zones around the world. This fascinating study adds to that lived experience rigour and scholarship, resulting in an insightful comparative study of Catholicism and Islam. Building on the themes of salvation and justice, Dragovic provides new insights into how the deep purpose that underlies religious belief plays a crucial role in politics.'' - Professor Anthony F Lang, Chair in International Political Theory in the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews and Director of the Centre for Global Constitutionalism ''This book is striking in its appreciation of how religious communities might play a constructive role in rebuilding the state following conflict. It examines Roman Catholic Christian and Sunni Islamic traditions and then focuses in particular on Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dragovic is especially impressive in his commitment to understanding religious perspectives from the inside and also in his description of the role of religious institutions on the ground.'' - Professor George Rupp, Columbia University, formerly Dean of the Harvard School of Divinity and President of International Rescue CommitteeTable of ContentsSeries Editor Introduction; John Brewer Author Preface Introduction 1. Religion and Post-Conflict Statebuilding 2. Roman Catholic View of the State 3. Salvation as the Catholic Post-Conflict Statebuilding Imperative 4. Sunni Islam and the State 5. Justice as the Sunni Post-Conflict Statebuilding Imperative 6. Bosnia and Herzegovina Conclusion

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Book SynopsisPer-Erik Nilsson takes a religious studies approach to analyse the intersections of secularism, nationhood and populism in contemporary France. This book provides insight into the French and European radical-nationalist ideology and activism, and contributes to our understanding of the complex relationship between religion and the state in contemporary Europe and beyond. When Marine Le Pen became the leader of the radical nationalist and populist party National Front in 2011, she made clear that secularism was a core value of party. This signalled a significant shift in the party''s rhetorical strategies and previous reluctance to embrace secularism. Nilsson argues that this conspicuous appropriation first came about as a logical result of the obsession of the established mainstream political parties and news media with questions of secularism, national identity and Islam. He shows that a key player in understanding the National Front's change is the web-based journal RipTrade ReviewIn this in-depth dissection of an important French identitarian far-right movement, Per- Erik Nilsson gives us a clear insight into how these anti-Muslim activists, misleadingly claiming to work in the cause of secularism, argue and mobilize in their frightening attempt to carry out a religious cleansing of France. * John R. Bowen, Dunbar-Van Cleve Professor in Arts & Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, USA, and author of On British Islam (2006) and Can Islam be French? (2009). *To stand out from a crowd of researchers, one has to take a very unusual and creative approach to the topic. In his book French Populism and Discourses on Secularism Per-Erik Nilsson does just this by exploring the phenomenon of populism from a unique perspective. * Journal of Language and Politics *This timely book is a must-read for those interested in (and concerned by) how laïcité has been mobilized for nationalist, racist and xenophobic ends. Why laïcité and why now? Scholars in a diverse range of fields will find answers in this empirically and theoretically rich monograph. * Jennifer A. Selby, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, and author of Questioning French Secularism (2012). *Table of ContentsPreface 1 Under Siege: Approaching Secularism, Populism, and Nationhood in France 2 A Green Cancer: The Construction of an External Enemy 3 Collaborators and Traitors: The Construction of Internal Enemies 4 The Real People: Identifying the True People of France 5 Reconquista or Death: The Exploration of Strategies to Purify the Nation 6 Echoes from the Past: An Outlook on Europe Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisThis book offers a novel approach to considering Brazilian Christianity's interplay with global processes from its inception to the present day. It adopts a multi-scalar approach to Brazilian Christianity, linking local grassroots practices and beliefs with processes at the various spatio-temporal levels. These include regional (rural-urban diversification), national (secularization, the radical pluralization of the Christian field, and intensified detraditionalization and retraditionalization) and transnational. Sílvia Fernandes also identifies longue durée dynamics that connect colonial Christianity with current events, including the rise, crisis, and resurgence of Progressive Catholicism, and the election of right-wing populist Jair Bolsonaro with support from a sizable number of Evangelical Protestants and Charismatic Catholics, as well as traditionalist Catholics. This book demonstrates that as Christianity enters its third millennium, it is increasingly shaped by churchesTrade ReviewThe book is definitely worth approaching and recommended not only to all those who will simply find the topic interesting, but also perhaps even as one of the obligatory, comprehensive readings, to all new adepts of religious studies focused on Brazil and, in more detail, on Brazilian Christianity. * International Journal of Latin American Religions *{The author} presents a book that comes fill a gap ... [making] a considerable contribution. * Religião e Sociedade (Bloomsbury Translation) *Silvia Fernandes combines theoretical insight with her experience in the field, to provide an accessible and rigorous overview of the dynamics that have shaped Brazilian Christianity, as well as its contributions to global Luso-religiosity. * Gustavo Morello SJ, Associate Professor of Sociology, Boston College, USA. Author of Lived Religion in Latin America (2021). *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Global Significance of Brazilian Christianity 1. Christianity Comes to Brazil: Hybridity, Domination, and Resistance 2. Competing and Cross-Fertilizing Structures of Feeling: Ways of Being Christian in Brazil 3. Religious Innovators and Entrepreneurs: The Builders of Brazilian Christianity 4. Topographies of Brazilian Christianity: Regional and Urban-Rural Continuities and Discontinuities 5. A Multi-Faceted Christianity: A Denominational View 6. Brazilian Christianity, Politics, and Society Conclusion: Quo Vadis Brazilian Christianity? Bibliography List of Abbreviations Index

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Book SynopsisThis book interrogates the patterns and discursive structures that have generated the seeming urgency of Muslims' integration. Focusing on Germany, it problematizes the grounds on which politics of integration are justified and reasoned upon, and thereby investigates divergent operations of power vis-à-vis Muslims and Islam in a formally liberal-secular society. The integration paradigm in Germany has been predicated on an imperial knowledge regime, in which Islam figures as the external friend or enemy of an imagined Christian secular. This book analyzes three kinds of integration practices as symptomatic sites for the multifaceted dimensions of power in this paradigm: the scientific measurement of Muslims' degrees of integration which are correlated with their degrees of religiosity; the politics of recognition promoted by state-organized dialogue with Muslims; and the threat of sanction, found in the regulations of citizenship and explicitly in citizenship tests. Centrally, thTrade ReviewWell-written, perceptive, and un-flinching in its analysis, Schirin Amir-Moazami’s Interrogating Muslims is an important and timely intervention into the conversations and contestations around the Muslim Question in Germany. Amir-Moazami shows with rare clarity that we should think of ‘integration’ less as the incontrovertible good in the contested terrain of majority-minority relations and more as a crucial element in the governance of Muslim minorities—and in the identity formation of the majority. Through the lens of the Muslim Question, what comes into focus here is in fact the question of Germany’s liberal identity itself. * Heiko Henkel, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark *Schirin Amir-Moazami carefully studies how the structural interrogation of Muslims by state institutions in Europe forms an intrinsic part of the politics of integration. It does not stem from 9/11 and its aftermath, but has a much longer and more structural genealogy that connects it to the ‘liberal-secular matrix,’ the politics of recognition, and the colonial mindset. This book provides the fundamental critique of integration in relation to Muslims in Europe that we needed. * Yolande Jansen, Associate Professor of Social and Political Philosophy, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands *By tracing the connections between the current political occupation with the integration of Muslims and the longer trajectories of nation-state building and European colonial projects, this book provides an important and refreshing contribution to the literature on integration and its discontent. * Birgitte Schepelern Johansen, Associate Professor of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen, Denmark *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction 1. Genealogies of Integration and Islampolitik 2. Integration and the emergence of a “Muslim Question” 3. Measuring Integration: Governing through Knowledge 4. Dialogue with Muslims: Governing through Recognition 5. Blood, Race, Religion: Governing through Discipline Conclusion References Notes Index

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Book SynopsisWin the War for Your Own IntegrityAfter Phil Robertson quoted Scripture in an interview with a national magazine, his hit show, Duck Dynasty, put him on “indefinite hiatus.” Phil immediately knew what had happened: he had become a target of cancel culture.Since that time, Phil has spoken out against public shaming, strategic campaigns to get Bible-believing employees fired, and other tactics that are wreaking havoc in our society. In a deeply divided country, with so many bent on condemning and silencing others, Phil calls for us to carry out the unifying message of Jesus Christ.In Uncanceled, Phil shares his own experiences with cancel culture as he encourages us to turn to Scripture as we navigate politics, personal conversations, and new cultural norms; helps us see the psychological and political motivations behind silencing conservative voices; reminds us that the goal is not

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a survey of Islam in Turkey since the founding of the modern republic in 1923. It examines the secularising policies of Turkey's founders and how these policies have shaped the development of religious institutions and social expectations around religious practice up to the present day.

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Book SynopsisThis book is a translation of Aziz al-Azmeh's seminal work Al-'Ilmaniya min mandhur mukhtalif that was first published in Beirut in 1992.

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Book SynopsisA compelling account of how race and politics have affected Iranian immigrants in the United Statesand GermanyIranians have a complex and contradictory relationship with race. Though categorized as white by the US census, many Iranian Americans remain marginalized, and experience racial and political stigma daily. On the other hand, Iranian Germans who have been in Germany for decades, and are typically regarded as 'good foreigners,' continue to experience marginality and discrimination illustrating the limitations of integration and citizenship. Conditional Belonging explores these apparent contradictions through a comparative analysis of the Iranian diasporic experience in the United States and Germany, focusing particularly on the different processes of racialization of the immigrants. Drawing from eighty-eight interviews with first- and second-generation Iranians living in California and Hamburg, Sahar Sadeghi illuminates how international events, global political policy, and natTrade ReviewConditional Belonging is a serious, timely contribution to scholarship on the racialization and migration experiences of Iranians. By providing the first in-depth, comparative analysis of Iranian immigrants in the United States and Germany, Sahar Sadeghi deepens our understanding of national and cultural membership in both societies. Clear, readable, and effective, this is an important book that answers the call for a more global and comparative Iranian diaspora studies * Neda Maghbouleh, author of The Limits of Whiteness *Conditional Belonging is a brilliant, piercing ethnographic portrayal of how first-and second-generation Iranians in the United States and Germany navigate the complexities of racialization while struggling to gain full recognition and social belonging—without ever quite succeeding. Gripping first-hand accounts reveal how race-based nationalism continues to inform the social order in liberal, democratic states and amplify the sidelining of so-called foreign others. This timely book is a must-read for understanding both the visible and hidden racial projects that undermine collective commitments to unconditional inclusion and equality. * Manata Hashemi, author of Coming of Age in Iran *Conditional Belonging demonstrates the ways in which empire (US) and racial nationalism (Germany) operate to situate Iranians as perpetual foreigners, including among the linguistically and culturally adept second generation and the most socially integrated of immigrants. Sadeghi’s fine attention to empirical detail shows us how these variations play out and how the rise of white nationalism in both countries has produced new yet divergent strategies of resistance. * Louise Cainkar, author of Homeland Insecurity *Review on Faculti Podcast, https://faculti.net/conditional-belonging/ -- Muhlenberg College * Faculti Podcast *

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Book SynopsisExplores the complex role that Black religious leaders playor don't playin twenty-first-century racial justice effortsDr. Martin Luther King Jr. along with many of his Black religious contemporaries courageously mobilized for freedom, ushering in the civil rights movement of the mid-twentieth century. Their efforts laid the groundwork for some of the greatest legislative changes in American history. Today, however, there is relatively limited mass mobilization led by Black religious leaders against systemic racism and racial inequality. Why don't we see more Black religious leadership in today's civil rights movements, such as Black Lives Matter?Drawing on fifty-four in-depth interviews with Black religious leaders and civic leaders in Ohio, Korie Litte Edwards and Michelle Oyakawa uncover several reasons, including a move away from engagement with independent Black-led civic groups toward white-controlled faith-based organizations, religious leaders' nostalgia for and personal links tTrade Review"An excellent analysis of how dynamics such as the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and a Black Protestant ethic shaped successful efforts by Black clergy in Ohio to get out the vote during the 2012 presidential election. The book also vividly chronicles local tensions between politics and theologies that undermined participation by many of these same leaders with activist groups like Black Lives Matter. Smart Suits, Tattered Boots is a must read for anyone interested in leadership and civic engagement among contemporary Black ministers and the processes that can foster and/or undermine such efforts." -- Sandra L. Barnes, C. V. Starr Professor of Sociology, Brown University"Featuring high quality social science research and drawing richly on a wide and appropriate range of works, Smart Suits, Tattered Boots makes an important contribution to the field." -- Michael Emerson, co-author of Blacks and Whites in Christian America: How Racial Discrimination Shapes Religious Convictions"One must go quite far back to find articles that highlight the impact of Black church leadership (or really any congregational factors) on social movements … That makes the exposure to a top-notch analysis of the kinds of religious actors that Smart Suits, Tattered Boots provides especially important." * Mobilization *

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Book SynopsisThe religion of Orange politics offers an in-depth anthropological account of the Orange Order in Scotland. Based on ethnographic research collected before, during, and after the Scottish independence referendum, Joseph Webster details how Scotland’s largest Protestant-only fraternity shapes the lives of its members and the communities in which they live. Within this Masonic-inspired 'society with secrets', Scottish Orangemen learn how transform themselves and their fellow brethren into what they regard to be ideal British citizens. It is from this ethnographic context – framed by ritual initiations, loyalist marches, fraternal drinking, and constitutional campaigning – that the key questions of the book emerge: What is the relationship between fraternal love and sectarian hate? Can religiously motivated bigotry and exclusion be part of human experiences of ‘The Good?’ What does it mean to claim that one’s religious community is utterly exceptional – a literal ‘race apart’?Trade Review'Joseph Webster here confirms his reputation as an anthropologist of the hidden orders of power, prophecy, and secrecy that lie behind the everyday world. The religion of Orange politics is a timely reminder that religion, politics, and nationalism are intertwined in our identities in complex historic knots. Above all, it is a book about people, in all their flawed and noble humanity.'David G. Robertson, The Open University'Joseph Webster’s fascinating book is the most insightful, balanced and convincing study of the Orange Order in modern Scotland yet published. It deserves a wide readership.'Sir Tom Devine, University of Edinburgh -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction: Orangeism, Protestantism, anthropology1 Situating Scottish Orangeism2 The menace of Rome3 A society with secrets4 Fraternity and hate5 British togetherConclusion: ‘The Good’ of Orange exceptionalismBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisSurviving repression tells the story of the Muslim Brotherhood following the 2013 coup d'état in Egypt. The Brotherhood gained legal recognition and quickly rose to power after the 2011 Arab uprisings, but its subsequent removal from office marked the beginning of the harshest repression of its troubled history. Forced into exile, the Brotherhood and its members are now faced with a monumental task as they rebuild this fragmented organisation. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and interviews with current and former members of the Brotherhood, the book explores this new era in the movement’s history, emphasising first-hand experiences, perspectives and emotions to better understand how individual responses to repression are affecting the movement as a whole.Surviving repression offers a unique insight into the main strategic, ideological and organizational debates dividing the Brotherhood.Table of ContentsIntroduction1 The Freedom and Justice Party in power: Islam is (not) the solution?2 The fall from grace3 The tanzim, shattered4 Lessons learnt? Stagnation vs adaptation5 Divided, togetherConclusionGlossaryBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisThis study utilises John Donne’s works concerning the Jacobean Settlement as a contextualised case study to examine a seriously pressing issue in contemporary society: the issue of Catholic loyalism post-1603 and the disputes that thistopic sparked over the matter of conformity.Altman examines Donne’s polemic in line with the vast expanse of literature relating to the pamphlet war and situates Donne’s arguments within a strong contemporary tradition of conformist thought. Within this context, the study argues that Donne articulated a theory of royal absolutism that would have struck home with many contemporaries who, whether Catholic or not, were faced with a regime determined to bring them into conformity. It further contends that the religio-political standpoint represented by Donne was not only fairly obvious to the English state but was also widely accepted by it.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Situating John Donne within post-Reformation studies1 Absolutism and the moderation of religion2 Resistance theory, tyrannicide and the trope of the ‘Evil Jesuit’ 3 Volunteerism and self- sovereignty in discourses on martyrdomConclusion: John Donne studies and the “Revisionist” paradigmIndex

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Book SynopsisIn "Religion, Fundamentalism, and Violence", Andrew L. Gluck brings together distinguished scholars to address a fiercely debated topic: the intersection of religion and violence. Among the contributions is an anthropological analysis of the violence associated with the Abrahamic monotheistic religions of the Middle East, a compelling essay accounting for the violence in Hindu religious traditions, an informative look at the Israeli-Palestinian tensions of more recent times, and an essay on the Catholic just war theory. Each chapter is followed by a commentary and reply, making this volume indispensable for students and scholars of the history of religions.

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Book SynopsisThe first systematic study of the Qur’ān and Islamic history in the light of René Girard’s mimetic theory.This groundbreaking book offers the first systematic study of the Qurʾān and Islamic history in the light of René Girard’s mimetic theory. Girard did not deal deeply with Islam, offering only scattered hints in some interviews after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. Addressing this gap in Girardian studies, Adnane Mokrani aims to develop an Islamic theology that goes beyond just war theory to adopt a radical nonviolent approach. He analyzes the Qurʾānic text and classical and modern exegetical literature, focusing on the Qurʾānic narratives, then extends his research to the history of Islam, removing the sacred character attributed to some events and human choices in order to disarm theology and dismantle the ideologies of power. This same critique is also applied to the unprecedented levels of violence in modern and contemporary history. A radical and politically committed theology of peace is needed to recover the spiritual dimension of religion that frees people from the temptations of the individual and collective ego. It is a mystical and narrative theology in dialogue with other world theologies on the future of humanity—an urgent appeal needed now more than ever.Trade Review“Adnane Mokrani’s book is an original and enlightening effort in reinterpreting the Islamic historical narrative in the mirror of RenÉ Girard’s mimetic theory. The greatest merit of Mokrani’s work is his clarity and audacity in presenting Islam as a post-sacrificial religion. As such, this book opens a new consideration in the field of nonviolent Islam by demonstrating the need to move beyond a limited and stereotyped view of this religion."—Ramin Jahanbegloo, professor, vice dean, and executive director, Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Peace Studies, Jindal Global Law School, India

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Book Synopsis"Socialists Don't Sleep is one of those timely books that just points out the roots of what's gone wrong in America, how we can get our country back on track to what founders envisioned and the Judeo-Christian community that holds the key to America's long-term successes." — Gov. Mike Huckabee, New York Times Bestselling author & Host of HuckabeeSocialists Don't Sleep: Christians Must Rise or America Will Fall is about all the sneaky ways the secular left has pressed Socialism into American politics and life – AND WHY CHRISTIANS ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN STOP IT!Socialists Don't Sleep tells how America has gone from a country of rights coming from God – NOT government – to a country that embraces Socialism – where the US government is now expected to pretty much provide from cradle to the grave. Cheryl K. Chumley, an award-winning journalist and contributing editor to The Washington Times, explains how to return the country to its glory days of God-given, and why Christians, more than any other group, are best equipped to lead the way.“Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — when it comes to socialism in America, these two aren't the problem. Per se. They're simply symptoms of the real problems that usher in Socialism: a dysfunctional entitlement-minded society, a propaganda-pushing school system, a decayed culture, a sieve-like border. As Cheryl Chumley points out in Socialists Don't Sleep, we can't root out socialism unless we first address the real problems.” — Michael Savage, New York Times Bestselling author & host of The Savage NationTrade ReviewPraise for Socialists Don't Sleep: Christians Must Rise or America Will Fall by Cheryl K. Chumley "Socialists Don't Sleep is one of those timely books that just points out the roots of what's gone wrong in America, how we can get our country back on track to what founders envisioned and the Judeo-Christian community that holds the key to America's long-term successes." — Gov. Mike Huckabee, New York Times Bestselling author & Host of Huckabee “Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — when it comes to socialism in America, these two aren't the problem. Per se. They're simply symptoms of the real problems that usher in Socialism: a dysfunctional entitlement-minded society, a propaganda-pushing school system, a decayed culture, a sieve-like border. As Cheryl Chumley points out in Socialists Don't Sleep, we can't root out socialism unless we first address the real problems.” — Michael Savage, New York Times Bestselling author & host of The Savage Nation “What is it about the founding principles of America that the secular progressive left would make better? The answer is: Nothing. In her new book, Cheryl Chumley reminds us of those principles and calls on those who still believe in them to engage the failed policies and ideology of Socialism and atheism and to fight back.” — Cal Thomas, Nationally-syndicated Conservative Columnist “If you think socialism will inevitably lose at the polls, think again! As Cheryl shows in Socialists Don't Sleep, the far Left — in both political parties — has been eroding our freedoms for decades. The long-term solution must come from the Judeo-Christian community. If the churches don't rise, America is sunk.” — Sam & Kevin Sorbo, Writer-Producer-Director Team for Let There Be Light “An important book that shows just how close our country is from losing its freedoms — and why the younger generations need to learn truthful history about capitalism, freedom, and socialism.” — Will Witt, PragerU Personality “Socialists Don’t Sleep exposes the flawed thinking of the socialist left.” — Phil Robertson, New York Times Bestselling author & Star of Duck Dynasty "Cheryl Chumley’s book, Socialists Don’t Sleep: Why Christians Must Rise, Or America Will Fall, is a masterpiece. Unlike most politicians and academicians, she keenly understands the true greatness of America, and unequivocally sounds an alarm of caution if our nation continues down its current path of blindness toward our founding principles and values. There are few books that I believe should be read by everyone, this is one of them. The message Chumley lays forth is clear, profound, disturbing, and hopeful. It’s time for America to have a reality check, a deep, soul-searching reality check. This is a great place to start." — Representative Jody B. Hice, R-GATable of ContentsSocialists Don't Sleep: Christians Must Rise or America Will Fall Table of Contents 1. Why America is GREAT in the first place America was founded on a principle that rights come from God, not government. And this, simply put, is what makes us great. Atheists, secularists, humanists, progressives, the far left, socialists and the like would have it believed otherwise; they scoff at any notion that framers and founders would want any mention or influence of God at all in the public arena. But fact is: Take God out of America’s society, and first the culture, then the politics, fall. The concept that “we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights” isn’t just a guarantee – it’s a responsibility. If we want America the free to stay free, then we have to make sure government doesn’t grow so big as to supplant God and squelch our individual rights. This chapter looks at some of the key principles that make America great in the first place, including the bedrock idea of individual rights coming from God, not government, and makes the case that without this core idea, without preserving the principle of the God-given, not the government granted, the country will crumble from within – America the Free, America the Great, will exist no more. 2. What’s Happened to the Democrats? Once upon a time, Democrats used to stand for the little guy, the oppressed woman, the blue-collar worker, the union member – or did they? This chapter looks at the morphing of the Democrat Party through the years, from one of an “ask not what you your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” kind of attitude, to one of becoming the protector of the illegal immigrant, the voice of the abortion-on-demand crowd. This chapter also separates the truths from fiction, and shows how some misconceptions over the years about what this party has actually represented have hardened into rather ridiculous beliefs. (Democrats, for instance, have been able to lay claim to being the party of minorities despite the fact that in 1964, a greater percentage of Republicans than Democrats voted for the Civil Rights Act – despite the fact the Democrat Sen. Robert Byrd, a former Ku Klux Klan leader, filibustered the measure for more than 14 hours). Regardless, the lurch left of the Democrat Party in the most recent years has not only divided the party and set the stage for in-fighting for years to come, but also ushered in a brash brand of “democrat” politics that is nothing like the Democrats of John F. Kennedy days. The overall effect to the nation has been dramatic as its portrayed conservativism as radicals, shifted moderate Democrats to the side and seemingly embraced the most socialistic of ideas as practical. As the country moves ever farther left, another question looms: Can today’s Democrats simultaneously serve both party and God? This is a grave matter of importance that goes to the ability of our nation to keep its republic – to preserve this form of government that demands a virtuous and principled people. This chapter challenges the reader to take a hard look at the party, its platforms and politics, its rhetoric and leanings – and decide. 3. Republicans Have Some Explaining to Do, Too It’s not as if an Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sprung into socialist being in the House overnight. Or, a self-declared Democratic-Socialist like Sen. Bernie Sanders, for that matter. For decades, a committed, well-funded, organized and determined left has been pressing forward an agenda that, as President Donald Trump might say, puts America second, not first. But while Democrats have walked rather rapidly in recent years down the path toward socialism, Republicans haven’t exactly been keepers of the freedom flame. Plenty of Republicans protecting their big business interests and payrolls and profits have gone silent when it comes to clamping the borders, or arresting illegals at work, or fining companies that hire illegals. Too many Republicans have turned blind eyes and deaf ears on the encroaching Big Government designs, and put personal finances or private interests before those of the people. One way to look at it: If Democrats have become the party of the give-away to illegals and minorities, Republicans have become the party of the give-away to big business – and either way, it’s the individual whose rights are being trounced. It’s the notion of God-given rights that’s being crushed, in favor of government-granted. Republicans have also bent backwards, post-September 11, especially, to make sure police and law enforcement have all the tools they need to keep communities safe – even when those tools come with questionable civil rights and privacy dings, and give negligible results. This chapter looks at the damage Republicans have done to America’s sovereignty in recent years, all in the name of “for the people,” “for the children,” or “for the safety and security of the nation,” and provides the reader with an understanding of how the socialist mindset can travel just as quickly on wings of fear, which Republicans often float, as on wings of entitlement. 4. Education or Propaganda? Selling Socialism Through the Schools For the longest of time, America’s public school systems were routinely tops in world rankings. Now? The most recent Pew Research Center findings from 2018 show that the United States places 38th of 70 countries when it comes to math scores, and 24th on science. Curiously, this fall has taken place most dramatically in the last few years. In 1990, for example, America was ranked in this same Pew poll as sixth in the world for education and for health care. What’s going on? Schools have forgotten their primary jobs: to educate. Today’s schools are now more interested in making sure diversity and tolerance are their priorities for teaching; math, English, science, social studies, the second-tier concerns. America’s public schools have become less places of reading, writing and arithmetic and more places for filling the minds of youth with propaganda, where the likes of Founding Fathers are presented as racist white men who, by logical extension, created for America some racist governing documents – and therefore, that means America is inherently racist. The propaganda persists at the places of higher learning. America’s colleges and universities, many of which were founded on the principles of advancing Christian evangelism and Judeo-Christian virtues – think Harvard, Yale, Princeton – have become breeding grounds for leftist professors and administrators, who bring forth the next generation of leaders and movers and shakers in this country. So what to do? How to deal? Radical solutions are necessary. Parents who can afford to take their children from public schools and teach them at home, or place them in private schools, ought to do so. Immediately. Public schools receive funding in part based on head-counts of students; one surefire way of grabbing administrators’ attention to talk about necessary reforms is to hit them in the pocketbooks. Another way to push the schools in the direction of teaching actual core course, not just social justice? Have more Christian conservatives and constitutionally-minded, limited government types run for School Board. Their voices will help balance the board discussions. These are but a couple of solutions this chapter explores. 5. Jesus the Socialist, Jesus the Capitalist Progressives in the 1920s insisted their giveaways of government entitlements were rooted clearly in Christian teachings, backed by biblical verses. Today’s Christian conservative camp would say otherwise – that the Bible unequivocally states that only those who work should eat, and that government handouts are hardly the way of Jesus. So who’s right? Who’s wrong? Fact is, there has been a movement of late in certain church circles and in some spiritual denominations to cite Bible verses as justification for opening America’s borders wide; for sheltering illegals from the deportation storm; for providing free – that is, tax payer funded – healthcare to all, including those in-country illegally; for providing all with free college, low-cost housing, free prescription pills, and more. And while some in this church-based movement might very well believe America’s government must do all it can to help the less fortunate, even if it means losing borders, or prosperity, or security, fact is, many in these denominations are false teachers of biblical principles of convenience. They’re leaders of LGBTQ rights’ movements, for instance, or gay pastors pushing same-sex marriage onto the next generation of believers, or simply open border zealots and social justice warriors masquerading as clerical servants of the faith. Whatever their calling, it’s not so much one for Jesus as for personal ambition or political gain. This chapter looks at some of these church-tied organizations and at the backgrounds of the leaders and members, to show how they’re pressing into society a socialist vision that tears down traditional norms and subs in radicalized notions of identity, family and even faith. The message is simple: Before joining these ranks, at least know their true intents. At root, the question becomes: Is the Bible a living breathing document – or not? This chapter challenges the reader to decide. The larger point, as it pertains to American politics, is this: If the Bible is living and breathing, open to interpretation, subject to whims of mankind, then a nation that’s built on Judeo-Christian principles is certainly changeable. If the Bible can mean what we want, certainly the Constitution, the framers’ limited government views, the founders’ free market ideals, can just as easily be shifted and tossed. 6. Children and Guns and Chaos in the Streets Twenty-five million children are being raised in homes without fathers, according to statistics from the Center for Children and Families. Meanwhile, other stats show 90 percent of welfare recipients are single mothers; 70 percent of gang members, teen suicides, teen pregnancies and teen drug and alcohol abusers come from home without fathers. And statistically speaking, children raised in single-parent households are more likely to live in poverty, drop out of school, commit crimes, and land in jail. No wonder our nation’s youth are fighting in the streets. No wonder the media world is filled with stories of mass shootings and horrific murders in our schools. No wonder we have Black Lives Matter and antifa violence, rebelling against everything from police to Confederate monuments with violence. These are the natural consequences of removing God from all-things-public – from taking a secular path and walking a godless road. Not only individuals and families, but communities and societies – culture and politics – become poisoned in an atmosphere that doesn’t teach rights versus wrongs, and therefore disdains morals and absolutes, and ultimately, loses all sense of proper humanity. But it’s into this chaos that big government and socialism step. After all, if there’s chaos in the streets, who better to come in to control it, than government? And when government fails to control – as it will, because problems of drugs and crime and murder cannot be solved by regulation and law, but only by changes of heart, only by God – well then, the call from the political world is to bring in even bigger government, even more rules and regulations and laws. Even more socialist-style solutions, like higher taxes and more entitlement spending and larger social justice outreach using larger pots of tax dollars. This is futile fighting. The solution is not more government, bigger government, socialist “spread the wealth” government. The solution is the private sector and the Christian heart. Joe Gibbs, former Washington Redskins football coach, had a heart for troubled youth and a spirit of Christian love – so he started Youth for Tomorrow, a non-profit that takes in children from broken homes and teaches them the godly principles they need to lead lives of fulfilment and purpose. That’s just one guy, one organization. Think of the lives that can be redirected if more money was directed to groups like Big Brothers and Big Sisters and YMCAs and any number of other organizations with similar life-changing missions. Now add the church missions to the mix. With direction, organization and motivation, much can be done through the private sector, through the church sector, to help America’s struggling youth – and it can all be accomplished without expanding government and adding to the socialist entitlement mindsets that only serve to destroy our great nation. 7. Pressures Within, Pressures Without: Global Go-Gooders Who Actually Do No Good Americans have been bombarded with pleas from the global communities, particularly from the United Nations, to contribute more to overseas’ aid to help eradicate poverty, feed children, educate women and girls, bring about world peace. But there’s a warning in the Bible that aptly applies – the one where Jesus tells his disciples, “Children, be not deceived – I send you out as sheep among wolves.” And before committing any more dollars to the global parties, Americans should be aware of what these non-governmental groups, led in large part by the United Nations, actually advance both around the world, and in the United States. It’s not as it seems. These groups speak a good game; they promote their missions as charitable and focused on the regions with most need. But there are stark differences between programs run by the United Nations and, say, the International Committee of the Red Cross. This chapter looks at the politics behind many of these supposed charitably minded global nonprofits, many operating under the umbrella of the United Nations, and reveals to the reader where the money actually goes, how contributions from the U.S. taxpayer are actually spent -- and how most of these groups actually further big government, corruption, socialist principles and reliance on hand-outs rather than foster independence, sovereignty and self-rule. What’s worse, many of the socialist principles furthered by the global groups actually wind their way into America’s political world, beginning at the federal level and seeping, eventually, into local governments. (Think the U.N.’s sustainable development program, for example, which uses U.S. tax dollars to control human development around the world – and in America’s own back yards). This is top-down socialism being pressed into America’s supposed sovereign system of governance. There are much better ways to help eradicate poverty around the world that won’t involve socialist – even anti-American – U.N. and global-minded non-governmental groups’ missions. This chapter exposes the socialist-advancing dangers of seeing the United Nations and other NGOs in positive lights, as well as provides the charitable minded in America numerous other ways of helping the needy around the world via the private sector, the business world and the churches. America, land of the free, land of the limited government, should not be playing into that socialist lie that only government can provide for the needy. Christians, in particular, know better – and Christians, in particular, are well-positioned to show how to provide for the less fortunate without turning to government. 8. The Politics of Pagans, The Socialism of Secularists One of socialism’s favored ways of advancing a spread the wealth vision is via environmental regulation, the kind pushed by the United Nations (sustainable development), the kind favored by hard-left Green groups in America (Smart Growth), the kind that basically controls any human activity at all on lands, in oceans and other bodies of water, and in the air space above the lands and bodies of water. Not all environmentalism is socialist; not all environmentalists are socialists. But the overall environmental mindset that’s been pushed these past few years has been one of elevating nature to the level of God – and making it seem as if those who oppose the radical agenda are evil capitalists, bent of razing the earth for personal, greedy profit. Big Green is just one indirect way socialism has stolen into the policies of America’s government, though. Just look at some of the programs and systems we have in place that are largely unquestioned, largely embraced and accepted – yet just as largely socialist. The Department of Education? That’s simply the government’s way of taking over the education of youth. The whole Social Security system – the whole Medicare for All conversation that creeps into political talk now and again? Socialist; nothing in the Constitution, nothing in the Bible, nothing in America’s limited government system allows for any sort of rightful use of tax dollars to pay for retirement, or health care, or prescription pills for citizens. There are more, many more. This is what you get when secularists dominate government – a government that treads where it really doesn’t belong and expands where it really shouldn’t be. But let’s start by calling out these programs for what they are – socialist. Then, we can decide whether they’re worthy of keeping, of reforming or of outright abolishing. Putting the government in charge of the education of our youth, for example, has proven alarmingly disastrous; Christians and conservatives could make a solid case for getting rid of the Education Department entirely, and reeling in the teachers’ unions that advance so much of the propaganda training of our youth. But perhaps Social Security could be salvaged, at least until a phase-out plan that doesn’t unfairly punish the contributors is devised – or, perhaps it could be kept untouched, as a tradeoff for doing away with some of the government’s entitlement spending. The point of this chapter is mostly to raise awareness of how Americans have come to accept programs that are inherently socialists – which only opens the door to creating the mindset of the next generation that socialism, in some forms, is not so bad after all. But Christians, instead of advocating for more government, more socialist programs, more entitlement spending, ought to take a stand and show how churches, through tithes, and local charities, through heartfelt donations, can provide many of the socialist services currently offered by our own government. 9. The War on Words – A Very Socialist Battle Control the press, control the messaging, and you control the people. That’s been a guiding principle of tyrants since the dawn of time. Mainstream media bias in favor of Democrats and social media censorship of conservative and Christian views – such as has been happening in recent years -- aren’t just annoying offenses. They’re targeted attacks by the left aimed at shuttering and stifling any views that counter and reject Big Government and oppose socialist principles. This chapter takes a look at the polls and surveys that show the decided left-leaning slants of those in the press – the decided anti-Christian slants, as well -- and then reveals how these leftist viewpoints seep into coverage, regardless of claims to the contrary. This chapter also takes a particularly hard look at social media, and chronicles the rising censorship of specifically conservative and Christian viewpoints. Lila Rose, for example, was recently booted from one social media site because her pro-life views on abortion were deemed hate speech. The Christian Post, for another example, which is a newspaper with a religious worldview, was just blacklisted by Google for its supposed hateful reporting, according to one tech world whistleblower. It was bad enough when conservatives and Christians just had to fight, say, The New York Times for fair and balanced coverage. But now, it’s social media and search engines – a whole online force. So how can conservatives and Christians fight this censorship? First off, by recognizing the extent of the bias and realizing that while some journalists aren’t purposely attacking the ideological right, or purposely using the media to tear down traditional and Christian views, there are enough high-placed, high-ranking editors and executives with influence who are purposely doing just that – and they’re able to sway the coverage on a wide scale. And second off? Conservatives and Christians must use their voices and counter leftist media punch with media punches of their own. Writing letters to the editors; visiting online news sites and adding comments to the comments’ sections; calling broadcast stations and supporting or opposing the editorial direction and content of news stories; starting blogs and even newspapers or newsletters that counter the liberal/socialist lines and offer a conservative, even Christian, view – these are all viable ways of making it clear: the Christian conservative voice will not be stifled. If the left-leaning, largely secular media is allowed to control the messaging and dominate the online social media world, the only voices allowed to exist will be those that advance the far left, socialist, Big Government ideas. 10. Artificial intelligence, and How Emerging Technology Feeds the Socialist Beast According to various polls and surveys, most scientists are not only liberals in their politics, but secular in their beliefs. Yet these are the same people who are leading the technological charge in America, across the world? No wonder, then, social media’s artificial intelligence systems lean left and label conservative and Christian views as hateful or discriminatory; the programs, the models, the software are all designed by those with either far leftist or globalist views. But that’s only part of what makes today’s emerging technologies a real threat to freedom-loving Americans in general, and Christian, conservative voices in particular. Some of A.I.’s applications outright flip the Constitution on its head by tossing presumption of innocence standards to the side and treating innocent Americans as if they’re guilty; by giving police the technological power to arrest “criminals” who’ve not yet committed crimes; by allowing government to place surveillance and identification technology in all places public; and more. As if that’s not bad enough, there’s this, from Feng Xiang, a professor of law at Tsinghua University: “More than anything else, the inevitability of mass unemployment [from emerging technologies] and the demand for universal welfare will drive the idea of socializing or nationalizing A.I.,” he said, back in May of 2018. His idea? To use A.I. to reallocate resources – or, as socialists might put it, to spread the wealth. He’s not alone in looking to use A.I. to create social justice on a global scale. Others in this vein of socialist thinking see the need to establish a universal basic income standard for workers who are displaced by technology. The Socialist Party itself sees A.I. as death knell for capitalism. Meanwhile, there’s that whole A.I. movement dedicated to creating its own god – or, at the least, a better breed of humans with godlike technological powers. This is one of the biggest fights Christians and constitutionalists face in the coming years – and it’s going to be the most challenging one to win. In the long-term, Christians need to encourage more of the faithful to enter the fields of science and technology, so that tomorrow’s A.I. experts will be schooled in Bible truths. In the short-term? Christians and conservatives need to first educate themselves on the A.I. threats to faith, individual freedoms and American sovereignty. And second, Christians and conservatives need to stop letting technology take over their own lives – to stop trading the convenience of certain cell phone apps, say, for personal privacies that track geographical movements. With technology, Christians have become just as secular as the world they’re supposed to live in but not of, and if we want to put a stop to runaway technologies that threaten to steal freedoms and bring about a more socialist existence, then it’s the Christian community that has to raise up and raise questions (because the secular world isn’t going to do it). 11. If Malachi Were Here, What Would He Say? In 2016, one Morning Consult poll found that 60 percent of Americans believed America was great and 68 percent said they were proud to be an American. In July 2019, a Gallup poll found that American pride had hit an all-time low – that only 45 percent said they were proud to be American, versus 47 percent in Gallup’s poll of the previous year. And in April 2019, Rasmussen found that Americans, by and large, were feeling better about the future than they had in the previous 12 years of asking that same survey question. The point it: Ask Americans what they feel about America, and the answers will be as different as the polling companies. The only “survey” that really matters is the one from above – the one that rates how a nation and how a nation’s people stand with God. And on that score, maybe it’s arguable: America’s lost its Judeo-Christian way because God has removed His blessings from the country. It’s possible. Surely, this socialism that’s taken root in a nation that was supposed to be dedicated to individual rights first, collectivism second – if at all – hasn’t come by way of chance, or absent God’s knowledge. Or, perhaps, absent God’s influence. Look to Malachi for mulling. Consider these biblical passages: “If you will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; indeed I have already cursed them.” Or this: “You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, ‘How have we wearied him?’ By saying ‘Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.’ Or by asking, ‘Where is the God of justice?’” Isn’t this what just what we do when things don’t go our way – pretend as if our intents were good and that God, in His injustice, is ignoring our plights or imposing an unfair outcome? Perhaps it’s as Malachi suggests – the curse has already come upon our nation. That would certainly explain how we could move from a nation built by Judeo-Christian principles, fast-tracked to great heights of globally ranked exceptionalism, to a country torn by political and cultural fighting, being pulled ever farther from God, ever closer to Big Government. This chapter looks at the cultural decay we embrace, and the political corruption we accept – from abortion to rated-R sexualized entertainment – from the perspective of biblical teachings, and raises the all-important question: Are we now experiencing, with all this loss of freedom and expansion of socialist governance, the removal of God’s blessings on America? It seems a crucial point to consider, given the obvious solution would lie in its answer. As the Bible also teaches: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will hear their land.” What better way for God to heal a country founded on principles of limited government – than to return the government to a system of limited reach and authority? 12. The Answer is Christianity, and ONLY Christianity There’s a temptation in First Amendment-friendly America for some to embrace religious freedom to the point where Christianity is Islam is Hinduism is Wiccan – where one religion is just as good as another, and that praying to the Christian God is the same as praying to any other god. But here in America, the foundation has always been Judeo-Christian beliefs, as illustrated in the Bible. Treating Christianity as if it’s just another religion, on par with any other is the type of thinking that brings about Satanic Temple statues on government properties, or Satanist “prayers’ to open City Council meetings – or, strict Islamic and sharia principles pushed into our culture and politics. America wasn’t built to be a Christian nation, with a state-run church that dictated Christian principles through the government. But America was indeed built from the bottom up by Europeans fleeing their homes for the pursuit of religious freedom – for the pursuit of Christian religious freedom. America was indeed built by framers who may not have worshipped similarly, or at all, but who nonetheless forged a government based on biblical moral truths, including the idea that humans are fallible (born in Original Sin) – not only Muslim beliefs, or Hindu teachings. The 1993 book, “One Nation Under God: Religion in Contemporary American Society,” reports that in 1776, an estimated 98 percent of colonists were Protestants; the other 2 percent claimed Roman Catholicism as their faith. To the extent that religion influenced our framers, it was Christianity, not any other faith, held in the highest regard. Why it matters is simple: When we speak of America’s greatness coming from the notion that individual rights come from God, not government, it’s important to understand we’re not talking about God, in a general and generic any-religion-goes sense, or the god of Muslims, Allah. We’re talking about the God of the Bible. If this is the God who gave us a country of rights coming from God, not government – this is the only God who can keep our moral compass and political world in the proper places. The solution for a country that’s stretched into socialism and lost its concept of God-given rights is to reel back government and return God – the proper God – to the helm. Only Christianity can win this war against socialism in America; only Christians can effectively fight to return the nation to its moral, virtuous, principled society of limited governance and individual freedom. 13. Inspiring Acts of Courage, Both Big and Small This chapter looks at real life examples of people who’ve stood strong for America, for God, for Judeo-Christian principles, for the Constitution and limited government and capitalism – and in so doing, have won. The fight to control America’s moral compass and reel in an ever-expanding and corrupt government has been long and wearying, often futile and overwhelming. And no matter who wins the White House, regardless of which political party takes control of the House and Senate – or of which political party holds the leadership positions in state and local governments – fact is, the fight is far from finished. The sneaky socialist seepage into America’s culture and politics will continue far into the future. So, as motivation for the long haul, this chapter looks at instances where Christians and conservatives and other patriotic Americans with love of the Constitution and limits on government have stood against strong secular, socialist, Big Government forces in recent times – and won. An example? When far-left anti-gun politicians in Washington passed sweeping new restrictions on semi-automatic rifles – despite clear court guidance that called such restrictions unconstitutional – sheriffs in a dozen counties around the state rose up and said: We’re not enforcing that. As Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones explained: “I swore an oath to defend our citizens and their constitutionally protected rights. I do not believe the popular vote overrules that.” Another example? When a Satanic Temple member won the court right to open a Kenai Peninsula Borough meeting in Alaska with a “Hail, Satan” invocation, a dozen of the region’s governing officials walked out, while dozens in the community rallied outside the building, holding signs that said, “reject Satan and his works” and “know Jesus and his love” – showing in the process that court rulings cannot compel hearts to obey. Sometimes, even the smallest of gestures, the tiniest of principled stands, can nevertheless pack big punches. As Ecclesiastes teaches, the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong. This chapter wraps on a positive note, giving readers the sense that yes, America may be in the throes of determining its government of the future, and debating the idea of more socialism versus a return to democratic-republicanism – but that if Christians in particular and patriots in general keep plugging away and fighting effectively, the country can and will see a widespread return to the God-given.

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Book SynopsisAt a time when the values of Catholic Ireland are so often viewed in a negative, even hostile, light, Mary Kenny?s approach is a balanced and measured recollection of the Ireland of our times - and of times past, since the foundation of the Irish state a hundred years ago. She focuses on the people and personalities involved in our social history, seeing Ireland from 1922 to 2022 through their stories, and the events in which they were involved. Yes, there have been stark failings in Irish society, involving the position and power of the Catholic church, and these must be honestly described. Yet our values, our heritage, our own family members also included many kind, intelligent and patriotic people doing their best, who built up the Irish state from a fragile beginning. Mary interweaves some of her own life-experiences, and the people she knew into this complex portrait of Irish life providing a stimulating, informative and enjoyable read.

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Book SynopsisHow can we live in such a way that we die only once? How can we organise a society that gives us a better chance to be fully alive? How can we reinvent religion so that it liberates us instead of consoling us?These questions stand at the centre of Roberto Mangabeira Unger's The Religion of the Future. Both a book about religion and a religious work in its own right, it proposes the content of a religion that can survive faith in a transcendent God and in life after death. According to this religion-the religion of the future-human beings can be more human by becoming more godlike, not just later, in another life or another time, but right now, on Earth and in their own lives.Unger begins by facing the irreparable flaws in the human condition: our mortality, groundlessness, and insatiability. He goes on to discuss the conflicting approaches to existence that have dominated the last 2,500 years of the history of religion. Turning next to the religious revolution that we now require, he explores the political ideal of this revolution, an idea of deep freedom. And he develops its moral vision, focused on a refusal to squander life.The Religion of the Future advances Unger's philosophical program: a philosophy for which history is open, the new can happen, and belittlement need not be our fate.Trade ReviewA philosophical mind out of the Third World turning tables, to become a synoptist and seer of the First. -- Perry AndersonA restless visionary. * New York Times *One of the few living philosophers whose thinking has the range of the great philosophers of the past. -- Lee Smolin * Times Higher Education Supplement *His ideas are wide-ranging but essentially amount to a passionate call to stop thinking about everything in terms of economics and finance, what he calls "the dictatorship of no alternatives". * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisThis timely 2 volume edited collection looks at the extent and nature of global jihad, focusing on the often-exoticised hinterlands of jihad beyond the traditionally viewed Middle Eastern ‘centre’. As ISIS loses its footing in Syria and Iraq and al-Qaeda regroups this comprehensive account will be a key work in the on-going battle to better understand the dynamics of the jihads global reality. Critically examining the global reach of the jihad in these peripheries has the potential to tell us much about patterns of both local mobilisation, and local rejection of a grander centrally themed and administered jihad. Has the periphery been receptive to an exported jihad from the centre or does the local rooted cosmopolitanism of the jihad in the periphery suggest a more complex glocal relationship? These questions and challenges are more pertinent than ever as the likes of ISIS and many commentators, attempt to globally rebrand the jihad and as the centre reasserts its claims to the exotic periphery. Edited by Tom Smith (Portsmouth), Kirsten E. Schulze (LSE) and Hussein Solomon (UFS) the two volumes critically examine the various claims of connections between jihadist terrorism in the ‘periphery’, remote Islamist insurgencies of the ‘periphery’ and the global jihad. Each volume draws on experts in each of the geographies in question. The global nature of the jihad is too often taken for granted; yet the extent of the glocal connections deserve focused investigation. Without such inquiry we risk a reductive understanding of the global jihad, further fostering Orientalist and Eurocentric attitudes towards local conflicts and remote violence in the periphery. This book will therefore draw attention to those who overlook and undermine the distinct and rich particularities of the often-contradictory and cosmopolitan global jihad. In many of the peripheries, particularly those with intensive large-scale insurgencies, there is extensive international military alliance. The Bush doctrine to ‘fight them over there, so we don't have to fight them over here’ certainly looks to be alive and well in places like Somalia, the Philippines and Niger amongst many others. Crucially we must ask - is such reasoning sound – is the threat global and if so in what way? Furthermore - is action in the peripheries under the guise of combating the global jihad overlooking the local issues and threatening to make a wider threat where it was otherwise contained? Diagnosing nations or regions as ‘breeding grounds’ or ‘sanctuaries’ of global jihad carries the spectre of having to chose sides in a battle of civilisations, which looms over a number of developing nations reliant on good western relations.Trade ReviewOne topic, two volumes, three editors, four continents, 23 chapters and 28 authors. And a bibliography that sources thousands of others. No other collection could claim to come close to such comprehensive coverage on ‘Global Jihad’. These volumes are a requisite on the connections between center and periphery and glocal - the cosmopolitan global. * Dr Glen Segell, University of Haifa *Table of ContentsABOUT THE EDITORS CONTRIBUTOR BIOS INTRODUCTION: EXAMINING THE GLOBAL LINKAGES OF AFRICAN AND EUROPEAN JIHADISTS ‘GLOCALISED’ JIHAD, POLITICAL CONFLICT, AND CONSPIRACY THEORISATION ACROSS A FRAGMENTED SOMALIA GLOBAL OR LOCAL? EXPLORING THE EMERGENCE AND OPERATION OF A VIOLENT ISLAMIST NETWORK IN KENYA REFLECTIONS ON ISLAMIST MILITANCY IN THE SAHEL JIHAD IN MALI: REGIONAL CONDITIONS, REGIONAL GOALS, GLOBAL IMPORTANCE NIGERIA: THE RISE AND ‘FALL’ OF BOKO HARAM LIBYAN JIHADISM: FROM GADHAFI AND TRIBALISM TO THE ARAB SPRING AND TRIBALISM JIHAD AND THE UNITED KINGDOM CONFRONTING ORIENTALISM, COLONIALISM AND DETERMINISM: DE-CONSTRUCTING CONTEMPORARY FRENCH JIHADISM EXPORTING JIHAD FROM THE STREET-LEVEL GROUPS IN THE LOW COUNTRIES SCANDINAVIAN JIHAD THE EVOLUTION OF THE JIHAD IN GERMANY AL-ANDALUS: THE CALIPHATE OF CORDOBA REIMAGINED

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Book SynopsisA counterbalance to the predominant study of Islam's role in social and political struggles, this book examines life in Ede, south-west Nigeria, offering important analyses of religious co-existence. Since the end of the Cold War, and especially since 9/11, religion has become an increasingly important factor of personal and group identification. Based on an African case study, this book calls for new ways of thinking about diversity that go "beyond religious tolerance". Focusing on the predominantly Muslim Yoruba town of Ede, the authors challenge the assumption that religious difference automatically leads to conflict: in south-west Nigeria, Muslims,Christians and traditionalists have co-existed largely peacefully since the early twentieth century. In some contexts, Ede's citizens emphasise the importance and significance of religious difference, and the need for tolerance.But elsewhere they refer to religious boundaries in passing, or even celebrate and transcend religious divisions. Drawing on detailed ethnographic and historical research, survey work, oral histories and poetry by UK- and Nigeria- based researchers, the book examines how Ede's citizens experience religious difference in their everyday lives. It examines the town's royal history and relationship with the deity Sàngó, its old Islamic compounds and itsChristian institutions, as well as marriage and family life across religious boundaries, to illustrate the multiplicity of religious practices in the life of the town and its citizens and to suggest an alternative approach to religious difference. Insa Nolte is Reader in African Studies at the University of Birmingham, and Visiting Research Professor at Osun State University, Osogbo. She is President of the African Studies Association of the UK(2016-18) and Principal Investigator of the ERC project "Knowing Each Other: Everyday Religious Encounters, Social Identities and Tolerance in Southwest Nigeria". Olukoya Ogen is Provost of Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo; Professor of History at Osun State University, Osogbo; and Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham. He is the Nigerian coordinator of the "Knowing Each Other" project. Rebecca Jones is Postdoctoral Research Fellow on the "Knowing Each Other" project. Her book, A Cultural History of Nigerian Travel Writing, will be published by James Currey in 2017. Nigeria: Adeyemi College Academic Press (paperback)Trade ReviewThe clarity of expression, accompanied by pictorial representations, makes the book appealing and also makes for good reading to both the academic and the nonacademic audience. This work not only showcases the unique historical and cultural realities of Yoruba, it also illustrates the strong bond that exists among the Yoruba beyond the divisive power of religion. It has added to reliable materials for further research in the area of religious diversity in Africa and beyond. * RELIGIOUS STUDIES REVIEW *[A]t a moment when many Westerners perceive an inevitable 'clash of civilizations' between Islam and the West/Christendom, Beyond Religious Tolerance offers a valuable alternative where Americans and Europeans would be least likely to look for one. . . . [It reveals] that both tolerance and secularism as typically conceived are products of Western cultural and historical experience, which can be and have been conceived differently-if at all-in other times and places. * READING RELIGION *A truly comprehensive and well-balanced overview of religious life in Ede from many different angles . this book is a must not only for scholars interested in Islam, Christianity, and African religion in Yorubaland, but for anybody interested in the governance of religious diversity. * AFRICA SPECTRUM *This book, a refreshing and articulate addition to ethnographies of religion in West Africa, captures the resiliency of peaceful coexistence across a multiplicity of religions. It should be of interest to anthropologists, historians, religious scholars, and policy makers alike, giving tangible hope to those who think peaceful existence among religions is intractable. * AMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST *This book is the product of a remarkably successful project of North-South collaboration between the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom and Osun State University in Nigeria. The result is something quite different from a standard edited volume in which the chapters reflect the preoccupations and perspectives of individual authors rather than of the common theme of the book. Instead, the different chapters articulate closely with one another, exploring a single concrete problem from different but complementary angles. * THE JOURNAL OF AFRICAN HISTORY *Table of ContentsBeyond Religious Tolerance: Muslims, Christians and Traditionalists in a Yoruba Town - Insa Nolte Beyond Religious Tolerance: Muslims, Christians and Traditionalists in a Yoruba Town - Ogen Olukoya Kingship and Religion: An Introduction to the History of Ede - Siyan Oyeweso Ambivalence and Transgression in the Practice of Sàngó - Aderemi Suleiman Ajala and Insa Nolte Sàngó's Thunder: Poetic Challenges to Islam and Christianity - George Olusola Abijade Compound Life and Religious Control in Ede's Muslim Community - Amusa Saheed Balogun Challenges and Affirmations of Islamic Practice: The Tablighi Jamaat - Adeyemi Balogun The Baptist Church in Ede: Christian Struggles over Education and Land - Ogen Olukoya and Amusa Saheed Balogun Freedom and Control: Islam and Christianity at the Federal Polytechnic - Akin Iwilade and Oladipo Fadayomi Religious Accommodation in Two Generations of the Adeleke Family - Hakeem Ibikunle Tijani Marrying Out: Gender and Religious Mediation in Interfaith Marriages - Insa Nolte and Tosin Akinjobe-Babatunde Everyday Inter-Religious Encounters and Attitudes - Rebecca Jones and Insa Nolte Outlook: Religious Difference, the Yoruba and Beyond - Insa Nolte and Ogen Olukoya Appendix 1: Ede Anthem Appendix 2: Songs of Ede Appendix 3: Oríkì of the Tìmì of Ede, present and past

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Book SynopsisThis book examines the unintended consequences of top-down reforms in Iran, analysing how the Iranian reformist governments (1997–2005) sought to utilise gradual reforms to control independent activism, and how citizens responded to such a disciplinary action. While the governments successfully ‘set the field’ of permitted political participation, part of the civil society that took shape was unexpectedly independent. Despite being a minority, independent activists were not marginal: without them, in fact, the Green Movement of 2009 would not have taken shape. Building on in-depth empirical analysis, the author explains how autonomous activism forms and survives in a semi-authoritarian country. The book contributes to the debate about the implications of elite-led reforms for social reproduction, offering an innovative interpretation and an original analysis of social movements from a political science perspective.Table of ContentsChapter 1 - Reformism and political participation in Iran Chapter 2 - Political participation in context: Reformism and elite factionalism after the Iran-Iraq war Chapter 3 - Reformism as a governmental project: The ‘reform discourse’ and political participationChapter 4 - Civil society: Crafting consensus from above, appropriating reformism from belowChapter 5 - The formation of residual counterpower and autonomous subjectivity during and after the reform eraChapter 6 - Cycles of hope, eslahat, and the state

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Book SynopsisDrawing on qualitative research conducted in Brussels, Wallonia and Flanders, Islam and Turks in Belgium examines the interdependence between Muslim community and association. With a focus on social groups, religious structures and circles within Turkish populations, this book demonstrates how communal and associative movements operate through a combination of relationships of proximity and distance. Proximity is a way in which Muslim organisations establish religious, social, and cultural ties with communities. Distance, on the other hand, takes into account social, historical, and political elements from abroad, and refers to the relationship with the Muslim world more broadly. As this reciprocal web of relations gives rise to Islamic mobilisations, it leads to the emergence or persistence of different figures of authority within associations and communities who articulate traditional, charismatic, and bureaucratic legitimacies.This book will be of interest to students and scholars of the sociology of religion, migration, race, ethnicity and Islamic studies. Table of Contents1. Introduction2. Religious Movements Among the Turks in Belgium3. Islamic Movement, Mobilization, and Authority4. Conclusion: Community (Cemaat) and Association (Cemiyet)

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Book SynopsisThere is a growing realization that religion plays a major role in development, particularly in the Global South. Whereas theories of secularization assumed that religion would disappear, the reality is that religion has demonstrated its tenacity. In the specific case of Zimbabwe, religion has remained a positive social force and has made a significant contribution to development, particularly through the Zimbabwe Council of Churches. This has been through political activism, contribution to health, education, women’s emancipation, and ethical reconstruction. This volume analyzes the contribution of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches to development in the country. Table of Contents1. Introduction: The Zimbabwe Council of Churches and Development in Zimbabwe - Ezra Chitando 2. Chapter 1 The Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Politics and Development from 1980 to 2015 - Munetsi Ruzivo 3. Chapter 2 Together for Development? The Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe - Molly Manyonganise 4. Chapter 3 Quo vadis the Catholic Church and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches? Exploring the ‘mine is right’ dilemmas in the path to Christian unity in Zimbabwe - Canisius Mwandayi and Theresa Mugwidi 5. Chapter 4 The Zimbabwe Council of Churches and ‘Crisis’ Ecumenical Groups - Joram Tarusarira 6. Chapter 5 The Church, Praxis Theology and Development in Zimbabwe - Richard S. Maposa 7. Chapter 6 Church-Politics nexus: An analysis of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) and political engagement - Ashton Murwira and Charity Manyeruke 8. Chapter 7 The Zimbabwe Council of Churches and the Ethical Reconstruction of Zimbabwe - Tarisayi A. Chimuka 9. Chapter 8 Church-related Hospitals and Health-care provision in Zimbabwe - Sophia Chirongoma 10. Chapter 9 Church Women’s Organisations: Responding to HIV and AIDS in Contemporary Zimbabwe - Tabona Shoko and Tapiwa P. Mapuranga 11. Chapter 10 The Significance of Church Related Universities in the Reconstruction of Zimbabwe - Solmon Zwana 12. Chapter 11 The Zimbabwe Council of Churches and Women’s Empowerment - Tapiwa P. Mapuranga 13. Chapter 12 The Zimbabwe Council of Churches and the Prophetic Mission of the Church - Jimmy Dube 14. Chapter 13 The Theology of Enough: An Agenda for the 21st Century Church in Zimbabwe - Bednicho Nyoni

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Book SynopsisThe late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have been a period of mass production and proliferation of Jewish ideas, and have witnessed major changes in Jewish life and stimulated major debates. The New Jewish Canon offers a conceptual roadmap to make sense of such rapid change. With over eighty excerpts from key primary source texts and insightful corresponding essays by leading scholars, on topics of history and memory, Jewish politics and the public square, religion and religiosity, and identities and communities, The New Jewish Canon promises to start conversations from the seminar room to the dinner table. The New Jewish Canon is both text and textbook of the Jewish intellectual and communal zeitgeist for the contemporary period and the recent past, canonizing our most important ideas and debates of the past two generations; and just as importantly, stimulating debate and scholarship about what is yet to come.Trade Review“Extraordinarily rich, lively and illuminating. … [The editors] have succeeded magnificently in achieving their goal.” —Jonathan Kirsch, the Jewish Journal“This is a rich col­lec­tion that pro­vides a win­dow into many of the key debates that have raged, and still rage, in the Jew­ish world. It rais­es many provoca­tive ques­tions about the nature of con­tem­po­rary Judaism and its future.” —Martin Green, Jewish Book CouncilTable of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: "The State of Jewish Ideas: Towards a New Jewish Canon" I. Jewish Politics and the Public Square 1. Michael Walzer, Exodus and Revolution, 1985 Essay: William Galston 2. George Steiner, "Our Homeland, the Text," 1985; Judith Butler, "Judith Butler's Remarks to Brooklyn College on BDS," 2013 Essay: Julie Cooper 3. Jonathan Woocher, Sacred Survival: The Civil Religion of American Jews, 1986 Essay: Sylvia Fishman 4. Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949, 1987; and The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, 2004;Ari Shavit, "Survival of the Fittest? An Interview with Benny Morris," 2004 and "Lydda, 1948," 2013 Essay: Daniel Kurtzer 5. Irving (Yitz) Greenberg vs. Meir Kahane, Public Debate at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 1988 Essay: Shaul Magid 6. Yeshayahu Leibowitz, Eliezer Goldman (ed.), Judaism, Human Values, and the Jewish State, 1992 Essay: Joshua Shanes 7. Israeli Supreme Court Part 1: Israeli Knesset Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, 1992; Aharon Barak, "A Judge on Judging: The Role of a Supreme Court in a Democracy," January 2002 Essay: Yigal Mersel 8. Aharon Lichtenstein, "On the Murder of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin z"l," 1995 Essay: David Wolkenfeld 9. Aviezer Ravitzky, Messianism, Zionism, and Jewish Religious Radicalism, 1996 Essay: Yehuda Magid 10. Israeli Supreme Court Part 2: The Israeli Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of Justice, Horev v. Minister of Transportation, 1997; The Israeli Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of Justice: Baruch Marzel v. Jerusalem District Police Commander, Mr. Aharon Franco, 2002 Essay: Donniel Hartman 11. Samuel G. Freedman, Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry, 2000 Essay: Noam Pianko 12. Breaking the Silence Testimonies, Founded in 2004 Essay: Sarah Anne Minkin 13. Steven M. Cohen and Jack Wertheimer, "Whatever Happened to the Jewish People?," 2006 Essay: Erica Brown 14. Yitzhak Shapira and Yosef Elitzur, Torat HaMelekh, 2009 Essay: Hillel Ben-Sasson 15. Moshe Halbertal, "The Goldstone Illusion," 2009 Essay: Elana Stein Hain 16. Peter Beinart, "The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment," 2010 Essay: Sara Yael Hirschhorn 17. Daniel Gordis, "When Balance Becomes Betrayal" and Sharon Brous, "Lowering the Bar," 2012 Essay: Yehuda Kurtzer 18. Matti Friedman, "An Insider's Guide to the Most Important Story on Earth," 2014 Essay: Rachel Fish II. History, Memory and Narrative 1. David Hartman, "Auschwitz or Sinai?," 1982 Essay: Rachel Sabath Beit Halachmi 2. Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory, 1982 Essay: Alexander Kaye 3. Emil Fackenheim, To Mend the World, 1982 Essay: Benjamin Pollock 4. Robert M. Cover, "The Supreme Court, 1982 Term—Foreword: Nomosand Narrative," 1983 Essay: Christine Hayes 5. Kahan Commission (Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Events at the Refugee Camps in Beirut), 1983 Essay: Yehuda Kurtzer 6. Amos Oz, In the Land of Israel, 1983 Essay: Wendy Zierler 7. David Biale, Power and Powerlessness in Jewish History, 1986 Essay: Judah Bernstein 8. Elie Wiesel, Acceptance Speech, on the Occasion of the Award of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, 1986 Essay: Claire E. Sufrin 9. Primo Levi, The Drowned and the Saved, 1986 Essay: Sarah Cushman 10. Irving (Yitz) Greenberg, "The Third Great Cycle of Jewish History," 1987 Essay: Joshua Feigelson 11. Deborah Lipstadt, Denying the Holocaust, 1993; Yaffa Eliach, There Once Was a World: A 900-Year Chronicle of the Shtetl of Eishyshok, 1998 Essay: Yehuda Kurtzer 12. Haym Soloveitchik, "Rupture and Reconstruction," 1994 Essay: Yehuda Kurtzer 13. Naomi Seidman, "Elie Wiesel and the Scandal of Jewish Rage," 1996 Essay: Erin Leib Smokler 14. Dabru Emet, New York Times, 2000 Essay: Marcie Lenk 15. Jonathan Sarna, American Judaism: A History, 2004 Essay: Marc Dollinger 16. David Weiss Halivni, Breaking the Tablets: Jewish Theology After the Shoah,2007 Essay: Daniel Weiss 17. Ruth Wisse, "How Not to Remember and How Not to Forget," 2008 Essay: Dara Horn 18. Yossi Klein Halevi, Like Dreamers, 2013 Essay: Hannah Kober III. Religion and Religiosity 1. Joseph Soloveitchik,Halakhic Man, 1983 Essay: Shlomo Zuckier 2. Yehoshua Yeshaya Neuwirth, Shemirath Shabbath Kehilchathah, 1984 Essay: David Bashevkin 3. David Hartman, A Living Covenant: The Innovative Spirit in Traditional Judaism, 1985 Essay: David Ellenson 4. The Complete Artscroll Siddur, 1984 Essay: David Zvi Kalman 5. Neil Gillman, Sacred Fragments: Recovering Theology for the Modern Jew, 1990; Eugene Borowitz, Renewing the Covenant: A Theology for the Postmodern Jew, 1991 Essay: Michael Marmur 6. Rachel Adler "In Your Blood, Live: Re-visions of a Theological Purity," 1993 Essay: Gail Labovitz 7. Rodger Kamenetz, The Jew in the Lotus: A Poet's Rediscovery of Jewish Identity in Buddhist India, 1994 Essay: Or Rose 8. Avivah Gottleib Zornberg, Genesis: The Beginning of Desire, 1995 Essay: Shira Hecht-Koller 9. Abraham Joshua Heschel, Susannah Heschel (ed.), Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity, 1996 Essay: William Plevan 10. Noam Zion and David Dishon, A Different Night: The Family Participation Haggadah, 1997 Essay: Emily Filler 11. Mendel Shapiro, "Qeri'at HaTorah by Women: A Halakhic Analysis," 2001 Essay: Tova Hartman 12. Jonathan Sacks, Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations, London: Continuum,2002 Essay: Michal Raucher 13. Rav Shagar, Broken Vessels, 2004 Essay: Tomer Persico 14. Arthur Green, Radical Judaism: Rethinking God and Tradition, 2010; Daniel Landes, "Hidden Master," 2010; Arthur Green and Daniel Landes, "God, Torah, and Israel: An Exchange," 2011 Essay: Samuel Hayim Brody 15. Elie Kaunfer, Empowered Judaism: What Independent Minyanim Can Teach Us About Building Vibrant Jewish Communities, 2010 Essay: Shawn Landres and Josh Avedon IV. Identities and Communities 1. Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Letter to the Jewish Community of Teaneck, 1981 Essay: Jonathan Sarna 2. Blu Greenberg, On Women and Judaism: A View from Tradition, 1981 Essay: Rachel Gordan 3. Harold Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, 1981; Alan Lew, This is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation, 2003 Essay: Joshua Ladon 4. Evelyn Torton Beck (ed.), Nice Jewish Girls: A Lesbian Anthology, 1982; Susannah Heschel (ed.), On Being a Jewish Feminist, 1983 Essay: Claire E. Sufrin 5. Paul Cowan with Rachel Cowan, Mixed Blessings: Overcoming the Stumbling Blocks in an Interfaith Marriage, 1988 Essay: Samira Mehta 6. Judith Plaskow, Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective, 1990 Essay: Judith Rosenbaum 7. Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female and Jewish in America, 1991 Essay: Arielle Levites 8. Barry Kosmin, "Highlights of the CJF 1990 National Jewish Population Survey," 1991; "A Portrait of Jewish Americans," 2013 Essay: Mijal Bitton 9. Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Literacy, 1991; Paula Hyman, "Who is an Educated Jew?" 2002; Vanessa Ochs, "Ten Jewish Sensibilities," 2003 Essay: Hannah Pressman 10. Yaakov Levado, "Gayness and God: Wrestlings of an Orthodox Rabbi," 1993 Essay: Zev Farber 11. Leonard Fein, "Smashing Idols and Other Prescriptions for Jewish Continuity," 1994 Essay: Aryeh Cohen 12. Steven M. Cohen and Arnold M. Eisen, The Jew Within: Self, Family, and Community in America, 2000 Essay: Alan Brill 13. A. B. Yehoshua, "The Meaning of Homeland," 2006 Essay: James Loeffler 14. Elliot N. Dorff, Daniel S. Nevins, and Avram I. Reisner, "Homosexuality, Human Dignity, and Halakhah: A Combined Responsum for the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards," 2006 Essay: Jane Kanarek 15. Noah Feldman "Orthodox Paradox," 2007; Jay Lefkowitz, "The Rise of Social Orthodoxy: A Personal Account," 2014 Essay: Elli Fischer 16. Tamar Biala and Nechama Weingarten-Mintz (eds.), Dirshuni: Midrashei Nashim, 2009 Essay: Sarah Mulhern 17. Leon Wieseltier, "Language, Identity, and the Scandal of American Jewry," 2011 Essay: Jon Levisohn 18. Ruth Calderon, Inaugural Knesset Speech, "The Heritage of All Israel," 2013 Essay: Yossi Klein Halevi 19. Rick Jacobs, "The Genesis of Our Future," 2013 Essay: Dan Friedman

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