Download PDF: Menhinick, Searching, not Leaving For the first time in recorded history, religious membership in the United States has dropped below 50%. Earlier this year, in March 2021, Gallop released this finding in its most recent poll, which tracks
Microaggressions as Violence
Download PDF: Hamilton, Microaggressions as Violence Abstract The most common critique levelled against the concept of microaggressions is that it involves a dangerous exaggeration, treating simple mistakes or miscommunications as acts of violence. I argue in this essay that microaggressions
Reflecting on Fieldwork in Tijuana: Embodied Ethnography and Lingering Concerns
Download PDF: Reimer-Barry, Reflecting on Fieldwork I’ve been at this Tijuana migrant safe house for about five hours, and I start to pack up my things. Jimena stops me. “Stay for lunch. You have to stay for lunch.” “I was
Writing “the Truth”
Download PDF: Jordan, Writing The Truth * Editors’ Note: This essay is part of the Roundtable on Ethnography and Religion. Robert Orsi makes the proposal-at once extravagant and astute-that all graduate students of religion be required to enter into “a
Exploring Conflict and Peacebuilding through Sacred Space: A Course on World Religions
Download PDF: Exploring Conflict and Peacebuilding Exploring World Religions through the Lens of Sacred Space “Sacred Space in World Religions” is a course taught at Candler School of Theology as a summer intensive. In it, we take advantage of the
Good Coffee
“Good Coffee” is the first-person story of Ethiopian civil war refugee Keleme Bayu. In this documentary, we witness one example of the often resilient power of hope in the lives of those affected by mass violence. Ms. Bayu is no
The Mormon Menace: Violence and Anti-Mormonism in the Postbellum South
Download PDF: RV Baker, The Mormon Menace By Patrick Q. Mason New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. 264 pages. $29.95 Patrick Mason’s The Mormon Menace: Violence and Anti-Mormonism in the Postbellum South begins with the murder of Elder Parley Pratt. This tragic event
When Religion Becomes Lethal: The Explosive Mix of Politics and Religion in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Download PDF: RV Holt, When Religion Becomes Lethal By Charles Kimball San Francisco: Wiley, Jossey-Bass, 2011. 272 pages. $27.95. As the title of the book When Religion Becomes Lethal implies, author Charles Kimball aims to educate the reader about the sensitive relationship between the great monotheistic
Restoring Rosewood: Movements from Pain to Power to Peace
Download PDF: Mingo, Restoring Rosewood Abstract1 January 1, 1923, marked the beginning of a massacre that abolished the small, predominantly Black town of Rosewood, Florida, following an alleged rape of a young White woman. Rosewood is a story of physical, emotional,
The Crossroads of Religion, Violence, and Peace: An Introduction to Issue Five of Practical Matters
Download PDF: The Crossroads of Religion, Violence, and Peace We welcome you to the fifth issue of Practical Matters. This issue is dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of the ways that religion and religious practices contribute to both violence and peace.
Teaching ‘Overcoming Violence’: Reflections on Violence, Peace, and Practical Theology
Download PDF: Teaching Overcoming Violence Editor’s Note: The following reflection is based on the authors’ experiences teaching a collaborative course entitled, “Overcoming Violence”. The syllabus and supplemental materials for this course can be downloaded here. The Decline of Violence? By the recent
Religious Violence: The Strong, the Weak, and the Pathological
Download PDF: Appleby, Religious Violence Abstract The literature on religious violence is contested to such a degree that one is uncertain what to call the field of study. This essay argues that there is such a thing as religion and
Violence and New Religious Movements
Download PDF: RV Smith, Violence and New Religious Movements Edited by James R. Lewis New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. 456 pages. $35.00 Arguably, it is difficult to imagine the serious study of New Religious Movement (NRMs) without the contributions of
The Continuum of Violence and Peace: Applying a Contemplative Framework for Turning the Problem into the Solution
[S]ince war begins in the minds of men [humans], it is in the minds of men [humans] that defenses of peace must be constructed. This quote prominently embedded in the UNESCO Constitution is certainly not an original thought. It is
Compassion-Based Practices of Personal and Social Restoration
Download PDF: Rogers, Compassion-Based Practices Abstract After describing those components that encompass the essence of compassion, this article explores compassion-based methods of personal healing and restoration rooted in Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) and contemplative practice; it describes the role and
Eating Together: The Hidden Story of the International Summer School on Religion and Public Life
Download PDF: Wasserfall, Eating Together Abstract 1 The International Summer School on Religion and Public Life (ISSRPL) annually brings people from different religions to experiment and explore how to live together with difference. This article examines one aspect of the ISSRPL—how we
The Perils of Public Scholarship on Islam after 9/11
Download PDF: Curtis, Perils of Public Scholarship Abstract This paper examines the challenges of public scholarship on religion and Islam in the post-9/11 era. The first section, which focuses on Stephen Prothero’s introduction of Islam in God Is Not One, identifies a
Buddhist Warfare
Download PDF: RV Whitaker, Buddhist Warfare By Michael K. Jerryson and Mark Juergensmeyer New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. 272 pages. $29.95 According to Michael Jerryson, one of the two editors of this important work, the main reason for writing