K. M. University, India Christianity in the Land of Santhals: a study of Resistance and Acceptance in Historical Perspective(03U)

Muncada, Felipe L.

Nanzan University, Japan

Work Attitudes in Japan(06U)

The Japanese economy is finally showing some signs of recovery. Consumer sales have started to pick up and bankruptcy rates slowed down. When our survey was done in 1998 and 2001, the outlook was quite and pessimistic. Unemployment rate as in its all-time high and so was company bankruptcies. It was during those period that the paper looked into the different Japanese attitudes towards work. Among other things, we asked our respondents about their attitudes like "pride in one's job," perceived feeling of "job stability," "decision making," and "satisfaction in their jobs." We also looked into different situational conflicts between personal relationships and professionalism in the workplace; and between work and patronage. We also looked into the job priorities in times of scarce job opportunities. This paper explores the differences or lack of it, during the two periods -- within gender and type of work. Initial findings show that there are attitudes which do not easily change even in the face of economic difficulties. Why would some attitudes change and some not? The author proposes several elements that could enhance or dampen changes in work attitudes.

Organized panel, English
Munk, Kirstine

University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

Signs of the Times: Identity Formation and the Use of Astrology in a Globalized World(12R)

One of the characteristics of religion in late modernity is the growing detachment of personal religiosity from institutionalised structures. The internet and other modern media have made the spread of non-institutionalised religion possible, whereby astrology has now become the world's most popular religious system according to ratings on the internet. Modern astrology can be seen as a set of symbolic forms, a sense-making toolkit, by which individuals represent themselves and connect to the world. This paper explores how human beings from Tokyo to Los Angeles, Johannesburg and Copenhagen today make use of astrology as a particular kind of input in their reflexive projects of identity formation and narratives of self.

Organized panel, English
Munk, Kirstine

University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

Why Men Make Love to Ugly Women: The Relationship between Religion, War, and Magic Reconsidered(15O)

This paper takes its point of departure in accounts of magical practices and war rituals in traditional Zulu religion. The Zulus were one of the most famous warrior nations in pre-colonial Africa. During the reign of Shaka and under subsequent kings, the culture and religious system of the Zulus were closely connected to, and to a large extent moulded by, the high frequency of wars. Zulu warfare has been analysed intensively in terms of military tactics or by other rationality discourses, whereby the brutality of war and experiences of death have been dimmed. This paper explores some of the rituals that prepared warriors to the battlefields and those that enabled the survivors to resume their lives when war was over. Hence, the paper will take a bottom-up approach, focusing on the individual at war and his relations in order to gain an understanding of the seemingly irrational or even horrid ritualisations that are found in Zulu war practice and among soldiers at war at other times and places.

Organized panel, English
Murakami, Kiyoshi

Rissho University, Japan

Heidegger's Fundamental Ontology and Theology(08E)

There is no doubt that Heidegger had a great influence on the theology of the twentieth century, and it may be affirmed that theology had a great influence conversely on Heidegger's philosophy. The historical interaction between both positions used to be researched so clearly that we could survey the development of Heidegger's philosophy from theological viewpoints. We seem to have no problem to discuss it thusly. I think, however, a very important problem is left unsolved. In BEING and TIME, Heidegger said, all other ontologies are based on fundamental ontology which consists in the existential analytic of Dasein. If so, theology must be based on a fundamental ontology which has roots in authentic human being. Is that possible? Is an authentic human being compatible with a devout Christian being? These are not historical problems, but ontological ones. I reconsider them critically from a phenomenological viewpoint.

Organized panel, Japanese
Murakami, Kokyo

University of Tokyo, Japan

Individualization of Funeral Customs in Japan: An Analysis of Survey Findings(04J)

Since the Second World War, Japanese funeral customs have undergone major changes. These changes have been influenced by the process of urbanization and the new life styles it brought with it. On the other hand, it has been reported that other religious customs, such as visiting graves and daily offerings made to the butsudan (Buddhist family altar) have persisted unchanged. I will examine the results of a number of recently conducted surveys to elucidate the nature of changes occurring in funeral customs. Between 1995 and 2001 the Tokyo Metropolitan Government conducted surveys on the cost of funerals in the Tokyo metropolitan area and on the opinions of persons who hold or attend funerals. The surveys reveal that the middle-aged population (those in their 40s-50s) prefers to hold small-scale funerals attended by close relatives and friends. Interestingly, the number of people who do not want a funeral at all has increased, although it has to be said that the number of such people is still very small. Also, the wishes of the deceased regarding his/her funeral have become to be respected more. These findings show that funerals have changed from being a social event to being a more private matter. In all over Japan, the research group I belong to has conducted surveys on the opinions/consciousness regarding graves. Three questions about Japanese funeral services were included in these surveys. Comparing my findings with the results of the surveys conducted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, I examine whether this new tendency among residents of Tokyo can also be found in other prefectures.

Symposium, English
Murakami, Sadayuki

Free Methodist Church of Japan, Japan

General Completion or Eschatology from Christian Ethics(12T)

I want to try to answer the following contradictions between scientific progress and Eschatology, which we find in many religious. My purpose is not to overly focus on Christian theology, but to introduce Biblical answers in this politically mixed society as a social ethic problem. Secondly, to this point, we must answer how to deal with other religions. How does my own faith deal with them? Have I a standard for the ethical study as I have in Christian theology? This is the question for the Christian ethics.

Organized panel, Japanese
Murakami, Shinkan

Tohoku University, Japan

Calmness as a Dominant Trend of Buddhism when Contrasted to Other Religions(15C)

What is peculiar to Buddhism when contrasted to other religions? Its peculiarity should be found in its dominant trend. The most dominant trend of Buddhism must be to aim at the calmness or tranquility of mind, which should be free from anger, mental excitement, etc. This trend has been shown in the final goal of Buddhism, I.e. nirvana (calm peacefulness, extinction of transmigration), and in the Buddha's teaching that one should abandon hatred, anger, desire, etc. The biographical texts of the Buddha tell us of His compassionate and merciful stories but never hints of His anger, even toward evil. Generally speaking, this trend has been dominant in the development and spread of Buddhism in many countries and districts over two millenniums. This trend of Buddhism contrasts to other religions such as Christianity, Shintoism, etc.

Organized panel, English
Murakami, Tatsuo

Kokushikan University, Japan

Creation Myth in Contact Zones - Cases from the 18th Century Gold Coast(01F)

In his Mission from Cape Coast to Ashantee (1819), T. Edward Bowdich recounts an allegedly well-known creation story among the natives on the west coast of Africa and comments on how it was accepted as the explanation for the black's polytheism as well as the whites' superiority over the blacks. The similar creation story, however, was already cited a century earlier by William Bosman in his A New and Accurate Description of the Coast of Guinea (1704). Unlike traditional myths, both versions of this creation emerged out of the encounter between Europeans and Africans, expressing the worldview that resulted from that contact situation. In this new contact myth, ideology production was certainly at work; at the same time, there seem to be more layers of meanings, rejecting a single authoritative agency, expressing irony, and even witnessing the birth of new values for the New World.

Organized panel, English
Murakami, Yoichiro

International Christian University, Japan

Cloning and Human Diginity(01J)

It is commonly argued that the creation of human clones goes against human dignity. Based on the question whether, then, identical twins would likewise violate human dignity, I want to critically question this position.

Organized panel, English
Murata, Michiya

Hannan University, Japan

The Experience of Happiness and Misery Among Japan's Calvinists(01D)

The speaker is a Calvinist Christian. In 2002, our denomination comprised 134 churches and 157 ministers in Japan. The total community of believers is 9,274. The total number attending Sunday morning services is 4,761. Our denomination is extraordinarily small. I was baptized in 1975 at the age of twenty-three years. I was a deacon for 4 years, and since 1986 I have been an elder. It may seem strange to uphold a Christian way of life in Japanese society. In this paper, I want to address the questions of why we continue to be Christians and the kind of meaning Calvinist Christianity gives our lives. From the point of view of clinical sociology and the theory of Theodizee des Glückes und Leidens (God appears to us in happy and sad times) expounded by Max Weber, I will present a detailed view of the processes through which happiness and misery are experienced by a Japanese Calvinist Christian.

Symposium, Japanese
Murayama, Motomasa

Tokiwa University, Japan

Philosophy of Soji - Spirituality of a Japanese Business Leader(05B)

Spirituality in the workplace has been a topic of growing interest in the US over the last decade. This is even becoming a new area of management study. So how do we understand spirituality and business in present-day Japan? The success of the Japanese manufacturing industry after WWII owes much to the quality control movement initiated by Dr. Deming. This involves behavior in relation to oneself and beyond oneself. Japanese are able to see the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Action) cycle as a spiritual discipline. Western scholars understand these Japanese community-oriented actions and their purpose as spirituality. Japanese people seem to have a religious tradition in which they find the sacred in the secular world. Traditionally speaking, work is sacred for Japanese. With particular reference to a renowned business leader in Japan, who also has cleaned toilets in his company over the last thirty years, I would like to examine the Japanese spiritual dimension in corporate life. While religious organizations are declining, the search for spirituality continues in Japanese business.

Symposium, English
Murken, Sebastian

University of Trier, Germany

Becoming a Member of a Religious Group: Psychological Perspective(06T)

In this paper, results from a longitudinal study on membership in New Religious Movements (NRM) will be presented. The research project studies 71 individuals, who as adults, by their own choice, decided to become a member with a particular religious group. All subjects joined one of three so-called NRMs - Jehovah's Witnesses, the New Apostolic Church, and a local Pentecostal Church - a relatively short time ago (max. 2 years baptized respectively sealed). With a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods subjects where interviewed three times between March 2002 and July 2003. Results are presented regarding motives and consequences of membership and course of membership (staying or leaving). Since the project is rooted both in religious studies and in psychology of religion the results are discussed from a methodological perspective as well as in the context of the debate on New Religious Movements (NRM).

Organized panel
Murone, Ikuo

The Japan Society of Christian Studies, Japan

The Historical Inevitabilities of the Presence of Barth(K.)'s Theology and Heidegger(M.)'s Philosophy in the Period of the Weimar Republic. -In Relation to Civil Society(08E)

1. I examine two writings ; the 'epistle of Romans' and the 'being and time' in an awareness of the issue of the overcome of modernity. 2. Barth said that modern religion neglected the infinite qualitative difference between god and human-being, and thus, he concluded that the modern theology was no more than the anthropology. 3. Heidegger related that the Descartes' 'res extensa' was able to connect with the 'Raumlichkeit' in the world-being, and, furthermore, extended to 'Das Mann' on his ontic-ontologic theory. In addition, ' Das Mann' has dual paradoxical ways in oneself. The ordinary one is the way of daily, non-essential existence. Heidegger proposes that one must abandon such a way and ought to return the essential existence due to the reason why the ordinary way was formed by the equalization of modernity. 4. Finally, the both thoughts were swallowed by the stream of the III Reich's heterogeneous logic of modernity.

Organized panel
Murphy, Anne

Columbia University, USA

Pluralism in the U.S. after 9/11(03L)

This paper takes as its starting point the contemporary context for pluralism in the United States, in a post-9/11 world. I will first highlight challenges and failures in the American pluralist ideals, and present examples of how religious communities have been impacted by and responded to the 9/11 and post-9/11 environment. I will then consider the role of the historian of religion in the academy in the post-9/11 United States in relation to the current environment, when issues related to pluralism have taken on a particular importance on international and national, moral and pragmatic levels. The goal in doing so is to encourage discussion of how the historical study of religious traditions must intersect with presentist concerns over pluralism and civil rights, in multiple ways.

Organized panel, English
Muthei, Ruth

Kenyatta University, Kenya

Resolving Conflicts in the Quest for Peace in Pentecostal and African Instituted Churches Founded by Women(15O)

Kenya, like many countries in Africa, continues to experience conflicts in the political, social, economic, as well as religious realms. Christian churches have not escaped this. Quite often, the media reports conflicts within churches, some leading to deaths and destruction of property. These conflicts are experienced in churches of various traditions including the mainline, Pentecostal, and the African Instituted Churches. This paper examines conflicts in churches within the Pentecostal and African Instituted traditions founded by women. The paper first identifies and analyzes the causes and manifestations of conflicts in these churches, and then explores methods used to resolve them. In the course of the analysis, emphasis is laid on the role of gender dynamics in conflict resolutions and the search for peace. Finally, the paper makes suggestions on methods that could be adopted by other stakeholders to restore peace within religious communities, and the society at large.

Organized panel, English
Muto, Shinichi

Osaka Prefectural College of Technology, Japan

Christianity as a Local Culture in Fourth-Century Iraq: Its Self-Identity as a Minority(13N)

In modern times, it is a common assumption that Christianity as a universal religion encounters local cultures when it first comes into contact with a particular population. But is this really inherently the case with Christianity? What can be discerned about Christianity, if it was itself in the position of these local cultures? I believe that fourth-century Iraq can provide us with an answer to this intriguing question. In Mesopotamia under the rule of the powerful Sassanian dynasty, Christianity, along with Judaism, formed the common cultural ground for the Aramaic-speaking minority and the indigenous Semitic population. How did they react when the dominant religion of the Sassanian realm, Zoroastrianism, penetrated into their homeland? How did the Christians of this time perceive themselves? This study discusses issues related to the self-perception of these Christians as reflected mainly in Demonstrations, written by Aphrahat the Persian Sage.

Symposium, English
Mwaura, Philomena Njeri

Kenyatta University, Kenya

Ritual Healing and Re-Definition of Individual Personality in African Instituted Churches in Kenya(10T)

This paper explores the power dynamic in African Instituted Churches (AIC) in Kenya, particularly as it relates to healing in terms of the mediator and recipient of healing. It seeks to answer the following questions : How do AIC's understand the nature of conflict and peace in terms of healing? What mechanisms do they employ to mediate peace in the self-understanding of the individual and the church community? The paper thus analyses the power inherent in the healing ritual, how it is brokered by agencies involved and its implications in terms of reconciliation for the individual and the community that receives the healing. The gender dynamics in the ritual process are also explored. The paper concludes by showing that religion is an instrument for enhancing peace building and healing through its symbolic action of ritual. Both primary and secondary sources will be utilised in compiling this paper.

Organized panel, English
Nabeshima, Naoki

Ryukoku University, Japan

(05I)

In all periods of human history, we have seen conflict between good and evil. Human beings have been fighting each other with swords and shields of justice. In a sense, these are battles of one goodness against another goodness. We see hatred, antagonism, torture, murder, and war. All are created out of the ignorance and hatred which originates in the self-centered darkness of the mind (mumyo). What then is "evil"? How can we seek peace of mind in the midst of the dualistic conflict of good and evil? In this presentation, I will first introduce the Buddhist concepts of good and evil and the significance of the realization of enlightenment, which is beyond good and evil. Then, I would like to discuss the Pure Land teaching of the emancipation of evil persons, especially that of Shinran (1173–1262). The Pure Land teaching helps its followers understand the defilement of the world and the evilness within themselves. The goal of this teaching is to lead all living beings to the path to enlightenment, by crossing the ocean of suffering and attaining birth in the Pure Land, through the working of Amida Buddha's compassion. Shinran particularly emphasizes the path for the emancipation of evil persons. But why are evil people saved? Shinran's concept of akunin shoki (evil people are the right beings for salvation by Amida Buddha) clearly arose from the egalitarian teaching of Buddhism.

Organized panel
Nag, Woon-Hae

Presbyterian College, Japan

Globalization and 'Theology of Japan' in an Asian Context(04A)

Japanese modernization policies from the Meiji era until the defeat in the war caused serious problems in Asia, and these have had lasting effects. For example, the current partition of the Korean Peninsula is an unsolved problem caused by Japanese modernization policies and other forces at work in the international arena. Considered in this Asian context, the problems of Japan, first, should be approached deeply as concerns of Asia before they are considered simply as independent Japanese problems. By 'deeply' I mean that they are closely connected to the entire Asian context and history. A 'theology of Japan' that deals with Japan as an object of theological inquiry in the context of globalization should for the first time conceive of Japan as a member of the Asian community through the dimension of transcendence. This would require liberating Japan from its sense of superiority over Asian nations, which still persists in the Japanese mentality today.

Organized panel
Nagai, Mikiko

Kokugakuin University, Japan

Aspects of Religious Consciousness in Japan(06U)

Previous surveys on religious consciousness in Japan have consistently indicated a low level of religious affiliation combined with a high level of participation in religious practices. This provides a stark contrast with the situation in Europe, indicating that patterns of secularization are significantly different in the two regions. The results of a survey conducted in Japan in 2001 indicate a high level of distrust for religion as an institution, which could be the key to understanding patterns of religious affiliation and participation in this country. Also, religious rituals have become a matter of custom, leading to the question as to how the evolution of the Japanese animistic consciousness has developed. Does this indicate another pattern of secularization? This thesis will be tested and its implications for evaluating secularization theory will be explored through an evaluation of the results concerning religious consciousness in the Japanese Value Study conducted in 2001.

Organized panel
Nagasawa, Sohei

University of Tsukuba, Japan

The Field of Performance in Take-Kagura(16G)

Take-Kagura is one of the folkloric performing arts, which is now transmitted in Iwate prefecture and is thought to have been stylized in the medieval period. It has adapted to the modern environment, changing into a cultural heritage and resource of tourism, despite maintaining its old fashion and traditional practice. My basic question is to ask how the state of Take-Kagura is in such a situation. Take-Kagura is performed all over Japan, sometimes abroad. This time I focus on the field of performance in a local area. The field of performance consists of symbolic forms, practice, and the interrelation of these two aspects. I will also discuss what meaning the field of performance has and how the process of emergence of the field is, by considering the meanings and functions of the symbol at first, then the practitioner's subjectivity as the force to emerge in the field of performance which I mostly stress, and by interpreting the interrelation between these two aspects.

Organized panel, English
Nagashima, Keiichi

NHK Broadcasting Culture Reserch Institute, Japan

American Values in the World(12C)

The U.S. Constitution includes, at the beginning of the Bill of Rights, a statement on the separation of church and state and freedom of religion and speech, all notions that have gained critical importance in the post 9 -11 world. This paper interprets the U.S. division of church and state in terms of a distillation of American values that becomes a particular form of civil religion. Although such values as freedom, equality, the pursuit of happiness and democracy are described in non-religious language in the Constitution, they have also given rise to sharp domestic divisions between conservatives and liberals at home and assumed a universalistic character in external relations. This study identifies "civil religion" with American values and examines how the U.S. media have discussed these questions post-9.11. It also asks what should be expected of American media and journalism in promoting mutual understanding and international cooperation in the 21-st century.

Organized panel, English