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

Dolce, Lucia

SOAS, University of London, UK

Localizing Buddhism in the Japanese Cultic Context: A Ritual Approach(02S)

While it is difficult to speak of a single 'European' approach to Japanese Buddhism, it may be noted that its study in European institutions has been mainly carried out as part of Japanese studies rather than 'Buddhology.' In the mid-nineteenth century there already was in Europe a specific knowledge of the Japanese Buddhist pantheon and an interest in its ritual use, as the collections of von Siebold in The Netherlands and Guimet in France demonstrate. Early research in Japanese Buddhism reveals an attention to its liturgical and devotional dimensions and its association with the workship of kami, a pioneering approach that has continued in much of twenty-century scholarship. This approach highlights the value of what we may call an anthropological perspective on the study of Buddhism, and it is helpful in rethinking the categories through which Buddhism (in the singular) has been interpreted and in balancing the marginal treatment that Japanese Buddhism receives in general works on Buddhism, where its 'uniqueness' unfolds only in negative terms.

Organized panel, English
Dopamu, Ade P.

University of Ilorin, Nigeria

Religious Understanding and Peaceful Coexistence in Nigeria: The Yoruba Example(02V)

The impression that has gone abroad is that Nigeria is the home of religious conflict. Many foreigners are scared of traveling to Nigeria, and many investors are unwilling to come because of the religious and ethnic conflicts allegedly tearing Nigeria apart. We sometimes forget that Nigeria is a large country with over one hundred and twenty million people, and when there is a crisis in one or two towns in Nigeria, we erroneously assume that the whole of Nigeria is on fire. The intolerant attitude that usually leads to such crises is not a phenomenon common to all Nigerian people. This is why religious and ethnic crises are seldom found in some parts of Nigeria. For example, cases of religious conflict in Yorubaland are far fewer than those of other areas of Nigeria. It is known that religious pluralism is a permanent feature in Nigeria, and one consequence of this condition is religious conflict. At the moment the conflict between Islam and Christianity is more intense than in the past particularly in the northern parts of Nigeria. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to show that the conditions that exacerbate religious conflicts are not allowed by the Yoruba to create tension. The Yoruba cultural system creates an interesting web of social and religious integration. The most important contribution of this paper is to demonstrate how religious pluralism among the Yoruba offers to Nigeria a concrete example of how to "live and let live" through religious understanding, tolerance and harmony.

Organized panel, English
Dore, Mani-Samouth

National University of Laos, Laos

The State and the Statue - A Study of the Socio-Political Role of Religious and Royal Symbolisms in Today's Laos(02W)

On the 5th January 2003, an official ceremony was held in Vientiane (Lao D.R.P.) to erect a 3.5 ton bronze statue of King Fa-Ngum, founder of the ancient Kingdom of Lane-Xang. In its superficial contradictions (for instance those between the actual communist ideology and the former symbolism of monarchy), this event has a deeper significance in the field of economics, history, culture and religion. This paper will demonstrate how, following the economic opening of the country in the late 1980's and the ensuing adverse social and cultural consequences, the Lao communist party has been stressing the role of the sangha (monks community) in the field of education, ethics and tradition. To sum up, Buddhism together with the historical Lao dynasty formed the main pillars of the Lao identity. Viewed from this point of view, King Fa-Ngum who had conquered the Middle Mekong Valley during the 14th century A.D. and had united it ideologically under Hinayana Buddhism, was a national hero. In this paper, by showing on the one hand the historical relationships of Buddhism to the State in Laos, and on the other hand the aims of the Lao Government in organizing such an event and its impact, we will focus on the re-establishment of religious and royal symbolism and their role in modern Lao society.

Organized panel, English
Dorman, Benjamin

Nanzan University, Japan

Media "Ijime" and New Religious Movements: Violence or Virtue?(01R)

This paper will examine the reporting of issues concerning new religious movements by weekly magazines in the post-Aum era, and will discuss media "ijime" (bullying by the media of individuals and groups) as a form of violence. A former writer for one of Japan's ubiquitous weekly magazines has used the term media "ijime" to describe the tactics employed by these prominent and highly influential publications in order to boost sales in an increasingly competitive market. New religious movements, which have historically been treated negatively by the media in general, are a regular target for many weekly magazines. Supporters argue that these publications provide a welcome outlet for genuine news that is largely unreported in the mainstream press due to the restrictive "press club system" and other social constraints. Critics, on the other hand, hold that these publications trample human rights, abuse freedoms, and trigger unnecessary social concern and hysteria.

Organized panel, English
Dorman, Benjamin

Nanzan University, Japan

Peace or Pressure? Religious Reporting during the Occupation of Japan(12C)

This paper will discuss issues related to religion, peace, and the media during the Occupation era (1945–1952), a period of fundamental change for Japanese society. During the first years of the Occupation, a paradoxical part of the wide-ranging democratic program employed by the SCAP authorities was strict media censorship. The media, which had for years promoted the official tenets of State Shinto, were granted freedom of speech albeit with significant restrictions, particularly when it came to the reporting of religion. Censors often baulked at mere references to Shinto deities, leading one Occupation official to remark that censorship was "a continual object of attack for much of which there was considerable justification." On the other hand, the reporting of Christianity, widely viewed as the religion of the conquerors and promoted as a fundamental teaching of peace by the seemingly omnipotent figure of General MacArthur himself, presented another set of problems.

Organized panel, English
Dorman, Benjamin

Nanzan University, Japan

Religion, Peace and the Media(12C)

This panel aims to explore some of the tensions, contradictions, and paradoxes that can arise when investigating interconnections and convergences between three broad categories —"religion," "peace," and "media." It is inevitable that when looking at these terms, questions are raised not only over definitions themselves, but also who the definers are and to what purpose the language used serves. Such questions are critical when considering issues relating to how media reporting reflects values that may be assumed to be universal by some yet remain contested by others. Terms that stand in contradistinction to each other — freedom and repression, equality and inequality, democracy and tyranny — are often used in various media concerning religion and peace, particularly during, or in the wake of, war. Using theoretical perspectives, historical and contemporary examples with reference to Japan and the United States, and responses by women to religious violence promoted in cyberspace, the papers seek to identify some of the issues involved.

Organized panel, * Session Abstract, English
Dourley, John Patrick

Carleton University (ret.), Canada

Religious and Secular Views: Clash of Civilization?(03K)

*chairperson

Organized panel
Dourley, John Patrick

Carleton University (ret.), Canada

Carl Jung and S.P.Huntington and the Search for Commonalities Beneath the Clash of Civilzations.(03K)

The paper would briefly and appreciatively present Huntington's thesis that future wars will be fought between civilizations bonded by differing religions. It would go on to show a profound initial agreement between Huntington and Carl Jung whose ideas of the participation mystique, representations collectives, (both borrowed from Levi Strauss), the "isms" and the collective shadow jointly contend that civilizations are bonded by archetypal powers. The more effective the bonding, the less conscious and so less morally sensitive are those bonded in relation to the differently bonded. Jung goes beyond Huntington in his contention that the psyche itself moves to a conscious and historical actualization of the human commonalities that Huntington refers to in passing as the distant solution to the clash of civilizations. In identifying these commonalities and their psychodynamics Jung completes Huntington in the search for a humanity cognizant that its cultural/religious differences derive from a common source and so should be an occasion for mutual embrace and enrichment rather than enmity.

Organized panel, English
Dovlo, Elom

University of Ghana, Ghana

(14L)

Organized panel

Drott, Edward

University of Pennsylvania, Japan

Disharmony in the Land of Wa: Challenging "Official" Buddhism in Pre-Modern Japan(12E)

It is commonly asserted that Japanese religions demonstrate a keener attention to questions of orthopraxis than to orthodoxy. Examples from pre-modern Buddhism generally support this assumption. It can be argued that major medieval controversies did not involve heresies but disagreements over the relative importance of certain forms of religious practice. Another framework for understanding rifts in pre-modern Japanese Buddhism focuses on the division between "official" ordained priests and representatives of "unofficial" Buddhism: un-ordained ascetics, hermits and wanders. Examples from medieval art and literature depicting religious wanderers challenging ordained priests demonstrate the resonance of these categories in the religious imagination of the day. The ways in which these conflicts and their resolutions are framed illuminates the unique dynamics at work in Japanese and particularly medieval Japanese religiosity.

Organized panel, English
Dube, Musa Wenkosi

Scripps College, USA

Talitha Cum Hermeneutics: Some African Women's Ways of Reading the Bible(10N)

This paper will explore the various methods of reading the Bible proposed and used by African women in the past fifteen years, especially within the forum of The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. The story of the bleeding woman and the little girl who returns from death to life in Mark 5: 21-43 has become a central lenses/language. The paper will focus on selected African women readers: It will highlight Mercy Oduyoye's inculturation hermeneutics; Teresa Okure's hermeneutics of Life; Musimbi R. A. Kanyoro's feminist cultural hermeneutics; Madipoane Masenya's bosadi/womanhood hermeneutics and Musa W. Dube's postcolonial feminist project of biblical interpretation and HIV/AIDS hermeneutics of liberation.

Organized panel, English
DuBois, Thomas David

National University of Singapore, Singapore

Local religion in Manchuria: Cultural imaginary and the popular press, 1908-1944(12C)

Recent studies have discussed how states and scholars shaped the idea of religion, and how representations of colonial religion advanced discourses of modernity and civilization. Scholars of the Japanese empire have examined such portrayals produced in Japan and the colonies. This paper will add a third element to this discussion, the popular press, by discussing the portrayal of local religion in Chinese newspapers during the early twentieth century. Specifically, it will focus on the Shengjing ribao, a Chinese language daily that was under Japanese ownership in the northeastern city of Shenyang (Mukden) from the fall of the Qing empire through the lifetime of the state of Manshukoku (1908-1944). During this period, the presentation of local religion was influenced by the themes in official and scholarly portrayals, but as a consumer product, newspapers also remained partially independent of them, even during the war years.

Organized panel, English
Dumbrava, Daniela

Association Roumaine d'Histoire des Religions, Italy

Cosmography and Cartography, Dynamics on Mapping Territories. The Case of Russia, Inner Asia and North China (XVI-XVII centuries)(17Q)

Strabo considers the geographic knowledge "dignified to the competences of philosophers" (Strabo, Geography I, 1, 1), such as the Anaximander of Miletus, Democritus, Diacearco, and even Homer, Hecateus and Polybius. He explains that investigating the divine (the celestial phenomena, the animals from the earth and from the sea) and human realities (art of life and felicity) constitute elements fundamental to philosophy. From this heterogeneous analysis, the reasons for travel are divided between knowledge, material reasons (commerce, politics, war), and at last, cultural and religious interactions. The enormous amount of primary and secondary literature or contributions on the contacts, commerce, and interactions from the period of the Asian conquest of Alexander the Great until the Oriental times of the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity, are now divided into very specific studies along disciplinary lines. This paper offers a short note on the impact of geographic knowledge in the "Religions and Dialogue Civilisations". It does this by analyzing the dynamics and the morphology of mapping territories and by describing the transitions from the mythical representations of Terra Incognita to the technical Asian process of mapping assumed by the Jesuits, by the Russians or by the Qing elites. It also includes accounts of the fantastic tales of ancient geographers to the new techniques and knowledge of mapping. This entails looking at official reports, the diaries of ambassadors and travellers in the early modern period-from the imaginary lines drawn between Europe and Asia, to the real measures of overland and of Siberian and Inner Asian rivers.

Organized panel, English
Dungaciu, Dan

University of Bucharest, Romania

Rethinking Nationalism and Religious Pluralism in Post-Totalitarian Countries: the case of Ukraine, Republic of Moldavia and Serbia-Montenegro(05E)

Religious pluralism usually means that in a society there is no single religious tradition with a monolithic, unchallenged worldview of the supernatural, but rather many divergent views. In modern, religiously pluralistic societies, the religions can play vital roles as sources of meaning for their adherents, but the state or the government should not force people into sectarian religious observances, nor favor some religions over others, or punish people for their religiosity. This is a typical Western scenario. I will argue in my paper that the situation is different in South Eastern Europe, and one main reason is the relationship between religion and nationalism in this region. Due to the complicated (sometimes dangerous) mixture between these two elements, the national state in this region influenced, explicitly or implicitly, the religious attitude or beliefs of people. To prove this, I shall focus on three case studies, Ukraine --the case of the three Orthodox Churches; Republic of Moldavia --the case of Metropolis of Bessarabia, and Serbia-Muntenegru --the case of Romanian/Vlah population.

Organized panel, English
Ehara, Takekazu

Kyoto University, Japan

Religious Education as a Form of Values Education in the State-system : From a Comparative Perspective(02D)

In contemporary educational reform around the world, the need to improve cognitive education, the central task of schooling, primarily through strengthening basic academic subjects, has been widely acknowledged. At the same time, however, the demand for developing values education in tune with the multicultural society in which multiple value systems coexist has also gained prominence. In particular, the role of religion in public education has become one of the foci of educational debate. Values education refers to the teaching and learning of principles, ideals, standards, and life styles, which serve as general guidelines of behavior, and as frames of reference in deciding and judging beliefs and actions. Values education includes not only religious education, but also citizenship education, moral education, multicultural education, etc. The overarching principle of various forms of values education is that they assume the coexistence of multiple value systems. This paper, based on the comparative study of religious education in 12 countries including Japan, will present an analysis of the different roles religious education play in the school curricula, followed by a discussion on the potential of religious education as a form of values education.

Organized panel
Ejima, Naotoshi

Taisho University, Japan

The View of Asia by Buddhist Groups in Modern Japan(07S)

In this presentation, I'll show clearly how traditional Buddhism groups in modern Japan have positioned themselves toward Asia, and what their self-image is in respect to Asia. It is said that the Sino-Japanese War have been an opportunity in which Japanese people began to be have a strong consciousness of Asia. Following this opinion, I formulated the hypothesis that Japanese Buddhism began to be aware of the Buddhism "of Japan" at this time. Then I collected articles related Asia (period: before and after the Sino-Japanese War) within Jodo-kyoho, which was the bulletin by Jodo-shu, and clarified the self-image to Asia stated there. Moreover, the self-image was also able to strongly have a correlation simultaneously with their own state and Christianity. In this presentation, I will extend the period and groups and discuss the relation between their self image and Asia, their own state, and Christianity until World War I.

Organized panel, Japanese
El Sharkawy, Pakinam

Cairo University, Egypt

Muslims as a Minority and the American Political System(13O)

The main aim of the paper will be to present the political status of Muslim in America from a comparative perspective. The relationship between the Muslim and the American political system will be discussed through two level of comparison: the first will deal with the situation of other religious minorities, while the second will analyses the differences between before 9/11 and its aftermath.

Organized panel, English
Ellis, Stephen Derek

African Studies Centre, Netherlands

Religion in War and Peace in Liberia(15O)

In the wars that have occurred in Liberia since 1989, religion has played a notable role both in the organisation of violence and in its dramaturgy. Fighters have committed atrocities that graphically recall, or caricature, rituals that are central to some of Liberia's main religious traditions. This paper considers the continuity of such practices in war and peace and draws conclusions on the nature of stability in society.

Organized panel, English
Ellis, Stephen Derek

African Studies Centre, Netherlands

Religious Dimensions of Wars in Africa(15O)

*chairperson

Organized panel
Elmi, Qorban

Tehran University, Iran

Religion and Human Rights from the Viewpoint of Islam(06C)

This paper attempts to study the relation between religion and human rights from the viewpoint of Islam. The issue of human rights is one of the most fundamental issues confronting humanity today, and also one of the most sensitive and controversial. Observance of human rights in the world should be a top priority. Respect for human rights and compliance with their relevant norms and standards is not a posture adopted out of political expediency or conformity with others. Rather it is the natural consequence of religious teachings and precepts. It is possible to argue that in the absence of an absolute morality and spiritual vision, which only religion can provide, human rights may be hard, if not impossible, to observe. Islam, like other religions, especially theistic religions, emphasizes the importance of human rights. Truth, peace, justice, tolerance, equality and brotherhood are the principles that enjoy a special position in Islam. The Islamic teachings oppose all types of discrimination based on color, race and economic divisions. Piety is the only criterion for the superiority of a human being, which can be attained only as a person moves towards perfection.

Organized panel, English
Elmi, Qorban

Tehran University, Iran

Peace and War from Islamic Viewpoint(12O)

Religions have played a crucial role in the history of humankind, particularly in regard to conflict and peace. Religions have justified, motivated and mandated violence and war. At the same time, they have encouraged the resolution of conflict and the need to create conditions of global peace. Understanding the role of religion, both as a source of conflict and of peace, is indispensable for all peace-makers. One guarantee of peace between cultures and civilizations is peace between religions. We can say that there will be 'no peace in the world until there is peace between the religions.' Islam is a religion of peace. A systematic examination of Islamic texts and Muslim history shows that peace is and has always been the original position and final aim of Islam. From its inception, the Qur'an emphasized peace as an intrinsic Islamic value. This fact is borne by both Islamic teachings and the very name of "Islam." The terms "Islam" and "peace" have the same root, Salaam. The expansion of Islam is to be achieved through persuasion and the use of peaceful means, not by force and compulsion. One can clearly see that peace was always the original position of Muslims, and that war was either a punitive measure to annihilate tyranny and oppression, or a defensive measure to stop aggression. Islam considers that real peace can only be attained when justice prevails.

Organized panel, English
Engler, Steven Joseph

Mount Royal College, Canada

Religion, Agency, and Order: Theoretical Issues and Historical Cases(01K)

The panel considers relations between the themes of religion, agency, and order. Three issues are addressed: (1) the extent to which religion is concerned with, or constituted by, relations between individual and collective human agency, on the one hand, and views of order, on the other (e.g., to what extent are obedience to divine commands, action in emulation of sacred models, ritual propriety, godly self-interest, etc., held to constitute, or their to obverse threaten, social and political order?); (2) the extent to which transformations of these relations play a role in religious history; and (3) the extent to which this hypothesized linkage is predominantly Western.

Organized panel, * Session Abstract, English
Engler, Steven Joseph

Mount Royal College, Canada

Religion, Agency, and Order: Theoretical Issues and Historical Cases(01K)

*chairperson

Organized panel
Engler, Steven Joseph

Mount Royal College, Canada

Ritual and Cognitive Aspects of Agency(01K)

This paper discusses cognitive aspects of agency in relation to ritual behaviour. In it, I discuss several cognitive and semiotic aspects of how rituals alter conceptions of agency and thereby actively enhance representations of so-called 'magical agency', I.e. some ritual entity believed to contain an essence that enables the ritual action to have some sort of efficacy.

Organized panel, English