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

Danfulani, Umar H.D.

University of Jos, Nigeria

The Cobra Is Running Wild: Narrating the Events and Evaluating Causes of the Jos Crisis since September 7th 2001(01V)

The Jos crisis, which started on Friday 7th September 2001, was obscured from international attention because of the terrorist attack on the US that occurred a few days later. The crisis started in Jos, the Tin City, and gradually spread to some of the surrounding towns and villages, all within the Northern Senatorial District of Plateau State. Then in a dramatic turn of events, it jumped over the Central Senatorial District and completely engulfed the Southern Senatorial District of the State. This paper focuses on chronicling the events of the Jos crisis from the time it started to the present time. It intends to answer a series of vital questions with a view to providing a comparative analysis between the events in Jos and in the US in the month of September 2001. It will also explore the possibility of putting in place a strategy that will lead both Muslims and Christians living in Jos to say "Never Again" to the gloomy events that started on the 7th of September, 2001.

Organized panel, English
Danfulani, Umar H.D.

University of Jos, Nigeria

Terrorists and Religious Fanatics in the Middle-Belt: Towards a Blueprint for Sustainable Peace in Nigeria(02V)

The paper examines the causes of crises in the Middle-Belt of Nigeria, locating the problem partly in the area of the world-wide Islamic resurgence and the attempt by some Islamists to launch a modern jihad in the area. It explores possible links between the attacks of Islamic jihadists in the Middle-Belt with terrorist networks elsewhere in the world. The other causal factors of the conflict border on the struggle over economic, political and social control in the Middle-Belt. Thus, the struggle has been between so-called minority Muslim settler communities and predominantly Christian indigenous peoples. The paper provides a blueprint for peace in the Middle-Belt by formulating a community-based conflict resolution/prevention program and by calling on the Federal Government of Nigeria to enforce the provisions of the Constitution with regards to so-called settler communities throughout Nigeria.

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Davis, Scott

Miyazaki International College, Japan

Head Splitting Laughter in East Asian Religion(02P)

In this presentation I will examine vocabulary pertaining to ancient Chinese ritual as seen on oracle bones from the Shang dynasty, as well as the extension of these concepts into classical Chinese texts. Concepts of splitting, speaking and sacred interaction are expressed in related ways, to present an anatomy of humor and religion in archaic China. By exploring families of words linked etymologically to these concepts, one obtains a set of associated phenomenological qualities for the setting of humor as the sacred. Moreover, consideration of the ways these concepts are prolonged in the classical textual corpus gives us a sense of the modalities of usage of these religious factors throughout the millennia of Chinese tradition. Splitting operations are axiomatic to container-content symbolism such as gourds/pumpkins/melons that play a prominent place throughout myth and humorous imagination in East Asia. Japanese folk narrative especially puts these images to frequent use.

Organized panel, English
Daw, Carl P. Jr.

The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, USA

The Theme of Peace in English-Language Hymnody(11S)

If it is possible to see a correlation between the colonizing and expansionist assumptions of the primary English-speaking nations of the 19th-century and popular Christian hymns with militaristic motifs ("Onward, Christian Soldiers," "Lead On, O King Eternal," etc.), it is no less evident that the experience of two world wars led to disenchantment with such imagery in the latter half of the 20th century. Spurred by the witness of the traditional Peace Churches, Christians of all denominations have given new attention to the centrality of peace in the teaching of Jesus and in Hebrew scripture. In particular, understandings of peace have shifted from the private realm of spiritual contentment and the public Constantinian model of pax (the cessation of hostility) to scriptural communal goal of shalom (an environment of mutual goodwill, cooperation, and shared prosperity). This new emphasis in faith and action is both reflected in and stimulated by a significant body of new hymns, particularly from the United Kingdom, the United States, and New Zealand.

Symposium, English
De la Garza, Mercedes

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico

Gods and Supernatural Beings Among Mayan People(03R)

The religious world among the pre-Colombian Mayan people was expressed in very different images on many of their master pieces. We can still admire, after centuries, wonderful examples of them. Many of these images are clear references to supernatural beings, but not all of them were Mayan gods. How do Mayas think about gods? Which were their characteristics and qualities? Which one of these gods was the most important and why? How have these gods changed over the centuries, and between one city and another? These and other questions about Mayan gods, and their symbolic structure, will be my focus in this paper. Topics such as worship, changes and continuity in sacred Mayan thoughts after the Conquest, will be the subject of the second symposium.

Symposium, * Session Abstract, English
De la Garza, Mercedes

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico

The Solar God In Maya Religion(*co-author with Rothstein, Mikael)(03R)

In this paper I talk about the meaning of the Sun in Maya Religion. Drawing upon evidence from sculptural representations, architectural creations, hieroglyphic inscriptions and other myths gathered in colonial times -in Mayan language but Latin characters- I propose that the Sun was the supreme celestial deity of the Maya. The Sun, called in Yucatan Maya Kinich Ahau (Lord of the Solar Eye), was identified with Itzamna, the celestial dragon, life principle associated with water. This is why it was also called Itzamna Kinich Ahau by the Yucatan Maya. This deity was represented with symbolic elements of both manifestations in sculpture. Also, the structure of the cosmos in Maya thought answers to the solar trajectory. The equinox and the solstices determining the four quadrants in which the three cosmic levels -heaven, earth and underworld- are divided; and, at the same time, determining the four seasons, joining in this quadrangular status, the space and the time.

Symposium, English
De Liberal, Marcia Mello Costa

Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, Brazil

Religion, Negotiation and Peace: A Biblical Analysis and its Present-Day Social Representation(01N)

Peace is a theme broadly addressed by religions. In everyday life people face various situations of conflict which require solutions focused on solidarity rather than violence. Very often, negotiation establishes the possibility of a solution that searches for justice. Thus, this paper, in the light of an analysis on the category "negotiation", will have as a starting point the biblical passage of 1 Samuel 25:18-35. The theoretical contribution of Herkenhoff (1990:119), on the universal value of "equality", the repudiation of discrimination and rejection of intolerance, will be considered. Peace in a broader sense has to do with survival, well-being, identity and freedom. Religions based on negotiation can contribute to the promotion of peace.

Organized panel, English
De Roover, Jacob

Ghent University, Belgium

Freedom of Conscience and the Right to Convert: Human Values or Christian Precepts? ( * joint presentation with Claerhout, Sarah)(04H)

In modern India, religious conversion has become a bone of contention. Christians and secularists claim that the right to propagate and change one's religion is part of the freedom of conscience. This freedom, they say, is a fundamental human right, which should be protected by any secular democracy. In contrast, many Hindus – including the advocates of Hindutva, but also moderate Gandhians and traditional swamis – claim religious conversion violates the very foundations of the Indian social fabric. Some even plead for a constitutional ban on conversion in India. In our paper, we argue that freedom of conscience is not as secular or neutral as it claims to be and that the same holds for the right to religious conversion. These notions make senseonly against the background of a religion like Christianity, which divides the human world into one true religion and many false religions. Historically, freedom of conscience became crucial in the Christian West, because of the basic belief that all human souls ought to be left free to be converted by the true God and His Spirit. Within this particular theological framework, religious conversion became a fundamental right never to be violated by the human authorities. Therefore, when Hindu spokesmen refuse to acknowledge "the universal human right to conversion," they have a leg to stand on. However, the fact that freedom of conscience is not a secular value does not imply it should be replaced by a legal ban on conversion. The predicament of religious conversion in India, we argue, should be revisited by examining the way it was successfully resolved in the past, when a plural society consisting of Hindus and Christians (and many other groups) was not torn apart by the issue of religious conversion.

Symposium, English
De Roover, Jakob

Ghent University, Belgium

Religion, Secularism, and the Rule of Law: The Rule of Violence?(10C)

Today, the rule of law is viewed as the safeguard of society against the threat of violence. Historically, law became the means to the moral reform of western societies, when Christian confessions began to impose a strict church discipline. In this early modern development, traditional practices were destroyed to be replaced with a legal system. Often, these systems were imposed violently by church and state. Over time, law became the foundation of harmony in the West, for our societies turned into communities as a result of being re-structured by law. Today, we confront a new predicament: various non-western groups are entering western society who were not part of this historical development. Therefore, the rule of law will again become a source of violence, as it tries to reform the traditional practices of these groups through the imposition of a legal framework.

Organized panel, English
Deeg, Max

Unreal Opponents: The Chinese Polemic against Hinayana Buddhism(03S)

In this paper the validity of the strict and often polemic disctinction between Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna for a general Buddhist and especially for the Indian context will be questioned. Following the scholarly discussion of the rise of Mahāyāna-Buddhism as a religious movement it will be argued that at least for the early period of Mahāyāna-Buddhism, its formative stage, the term Hīnayāna (Chin. Xiaosheng or xiaocheng) and the implicite critic of some of its teachings has been mainly used and been introduced in(to) Chinese Buddhist texts – translation texts and others – in order to support the validity of Mahāyāna ideals. In a Chinese context, dominated by Mahāyāna concepts like the Bodhisattva ideal from the very beginning, this devaluation of Hīnayāna was polemic against an unreal opponent because there was no such a thing as "pure" Hīnayāna-Buddhism. The underlying reason, it will be concluded, may habe been the strengthening of Buddhist apologetics against Confucian and Daoist criticism.

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Deegale, Mahinda

Bath Spa University College, England

Indigenous Religions and Environment: Toward Sustainable Societies(10L)

*respondent

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Deegalle, Mahinda

Bath Spa University College, England

One or Many Buddhism/s?: Japanese Buddhism from a South Asian Perspective(02S)

This is an exploration of unity and diversity of Buddhism in Asia. Japanese Buddhist schools and doctrines will be evaluated to decipher any underlying, intrinsic links within the Buddhist traditions across Asia.

Organized panel, English
Deegalle, Mahinda

Bath Spa University College, England

Buddhist Responses to Violence: Contemporary Situation in Creating Peace in Sri Lanka(15G)

"Buddhist Responses to Violence" examines the challenges that Buddhists face in contemporary Sri Lanka in creating peace while eliminating terrorist activities and unhealthy social and political forces that devastate religious atmosphere by making it impossible to be genuinely religious. Identifying several nationalist and religious movements and political activists, it argues the importance of taking into account the 'religious agency' that has been so far largely ignored in finding a viable solution to the conflict in the process of creating peace. Three potential threats to peace - LTTE, JVP and JHU - will be examined to understand nationalist and religious opposition to the peace process. In particular, the attention will be paid on the politics of the Jathika Hela Urumaya Monks who have successfully entered into the Sri Lankan Parliament in April 2004 election in the hope of creating a righteous state as a solution to violence, terrorism and conflict in Sri Lanka.

Organized panel, English
Demura, Kazuhiko

Okayama University, Japan

Religious Struggle and Dialogue in Ancient Christianity(12N)

*chairperson

Organized panel
Demura, Miyako

University of the Sacred Heart, Japan

Religious Struggle and Dialogue in Origen of Alexandria(12N)

Although Origen caused much controversy during his lifetime and his many writings were lost because of the heresy charges against him in the 6th century, he had a strong influence on Western spirituality (dogmatic development, Biblical exegesis, Monasticism, and the Orthodox Church). With the process of globalization, we can recognize new and important approaches which take the cultural situation of Alexandria as Origen's religious background into consideration. In this study, I consider the religious-cultural situation of Alexandria behind such an ambivalent estimation, and approach the problem of the religious conflicts (anti-paganism, anti-Judaism, anti-Gnosticism) and dialogues and gender in the context of the religious pluralism of Alexandria.

Organized panel
Dessi, Ugo

University of Marburg, Germany

Conflicting Notions of Peace: the Interplay between Institutionalized Religions and the Mission of Secular States(16C)

The interplay between religion and the interests of the secular state in Japan has been the recent subject of a number of detailed studies, especially in relation to the WWII period. In the case of Shin Buddhism, it has been suggested that a certain adaptability of the doctrines and the lack of a fixed code of precepts might have followed from a conformity of interests with secular state, interests which ran counter to a number of doctrinal assumptions. Through a comparative approach to different reactions by religious institutions to the tragic events of the last years, this paper describes the efficacy of Shin Buddhism in facing these concrete situations without being unfaithful to the universalistic spirit of Buddhism. This paper also highlights the ambiguities of a 'social engagement' that is not always aware of its socio-political context and so exposed to the risk of manipulation.

Organized panel, English
DeVido, Elise Anne

National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan

Mapping the Trajectories of Engaged Buddhism in Taiwan and Vietnam(17M)

The impetus for this paper arose at the Fourth Annual Conference on the Thought of Yinshun (Taiwan 2003) when Taiwanese scholars assured me that Thich Nhat Hanh's concept of "Engaged Buddhism" derived from Yinshun's (b. 1906) ideas about "Humanistic Buddhism." After investigation, I found that in the 1930s-40s, Vietnamese Buddhist reformers were directly inspired by not Yinshun but Chinese Buddhist reformer Taixu's (1890-1947)" Humanistic Buddhism." The seeds planted by Taixu's ideas in Vietnam not only resulted in institutions that organized and educated a modernized samgha, but lay the framework for Thich Nhat Hanh's and others' actualized Buddhism in the 1960s. By tracing the paths of humanistic Buddhism from Taixu to Vietnam and from Taixu to Taiwan, it is hoped that this paper may contribute to ongoing debates about the origin, definitions, and varieties of Engaged Buddhism as it highlights both the innovations and limitations of Humanistic Buddhism in Taiwan.

Organized panel, English
Dewey, William Joseph

The University of Tennessee, USA

Africans in India: Worship at the 'Tombs' of Baba Ghor(14R)

Baba Ghor is the most important African Islamic saint (pir) honored in scores of Indian cities and among the Indian Islamic diaspora. His durga (tomb) in Ratanpur, Gujarat and the numerous chillas, or memorial tombs, found elsewhere, are the principal foci of worship of many Sidi (or African descent) Muslims. As a mystic Sufi saint, Baba Ghor's divine blessing (or baraka) is mediated through the active participation of devotees in music and dance. Using film clips and slide illustrations this paper will focus on performances associated with worship and healing performed in the tomb site at Ratanpur and a memorial tomb in Mumbai. The expressive and material culture displayed at these devotional sites represent an intense (and at times blurred) synthesis of African, Hindi and Muslim religious traditions. The religion and expressive culture of this African diasporic community illustrates the active fusion of both present and past, and imagined practices.

Organized panel, English
Dobbelaere, Karel

Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium

Comparative Research(12I)

Invited to Japan by Shin Anzai-sensei in 1984, I was advised by Yoshiya Abe-sensei not to apply automatically to Japan sociological concepts developed in the West, such as secularization and pillarization, without first undertaking a comparative study of both societies. So I spent the last three months of 1984 in Japan trying to understand this country and its religions. In my paper, I want to reflect on the impact my study of Japanese society and religion had on the development of my thinking. I will discuss the following points: the importance of rites - which are rather under-valued in religions of the book like Christianity; the emergence of institutionalized pillars in NRMs; and finally, the cross-fertilization of theoretical approaches by suggesting a way of integrating aspects of Rational Choice Theory in order to extend our study of the process of secularization.

Organized panel, English
Dodina, Yevgeniya Yevgenievna

Odessa National Academy of Law, Ukraine

Interreligious Dialogue: Ways of Conflict Resolution(01G)

Many people consider inter-religious conflict to be a natural element of social life, a regular product of social development, the principal feature of which is dissociation and conflict of interests of among different religious groups, as well as the confrontation between the believers and non-believers. The analysis of inter-denomination and inter-church conflicts in Ukraine centers upon the following areas of conflict: a) between the Orthodox and Catholic churches; b) between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (belonging to the Moscow patriarchy), the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (belonging to the Kiev patriarchy) and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church; c) between the churches traditional for Ukraine, and the New Religious movement.This article will propose ways of solving these conflicts, such as creation of an appropriate legal base aimed at the perfection of the laws concerning the freedom of religion, as well as carrying out certain state activities directed at the separation of the church from the state.

Organized panel, English
Doi, Hiroshi

Monotsukuri Institute of Technologists, Japan

Memorial Service of New Religion for the War Dead in Modern Japan: Case Study of Konkokyo(Konko Faith) Rites(05J)

This presentation runs as fellows; 1. How memorial service for the war dead have been studied in postwar Japan 2. Shinto and new religion as vernacular religion of Japan 3. Memorial service of Konkokyo(Konko faith) for the war dead The aim of this pre

Symposium, English
Doi, Hiroshi

Monotsukuri Instisute of Technologists, Japan

Cremation in Nineteenth Century Japan-from Buddhist Custom to Hygienic Method(10M)

The purpose of this presentation is to explore how cremation reconstructed in nineteenth century Japan. The cremation has hardly any religious significance in present-day Japan. But this custom was once one of the most important political/religious issues of Japan. Until the last quarter of nineteenth century, cremation was constructed as a Buddhist custom by anti-Buddhists. But, since the ban on cremation in 1873, this method of disposal of the dead was argued in not only the (anti-)Buddhism context but also in public health and/or the civic problem context. This ban was lifted in 1875 and the cremation has been reconstructed as a hygienic method for the disposal of the dead, out of the Buddhism context. In the following years, the cremation/burial has been constructed in a Buddhist/anti-Buddhist style. After this era, the cremation/burial has been reconstructed as a hygienic/unsanitary method for the disposal of the dead. The differences in cremation and burial come from the level of modernity and do not come from religious ideas.

Organized panel, English
Doi, Hiroto

University of Tsukuba, Japan

Application of Modeling to Religious Studies(14K)

In religious research, the study of language is important. But we often face limits to language. Although our study depends on language, illustrating concepts and key terms structurally will make characteristics and problems clear. This report tries to attempt systematic modeling on some religious thought by using UML (Unified Modeling Language) and to find its application in comparative studies. We know UML has many insufficiencies for its use in religious research, because originally UML is a modeling language for software programming. But UML also shares various concepts or systems of unified notation, and enables us to communicate with each other and solve problems. I will show how this approach will contribute to religious research, especially to inter-religious dialogue.

Organized panel, Japanese
Doi, Yumi

University of Tokyo, Japan

Transition in the Study of the Passion Narratives(10S)

European text critiques of the Bible began at the end of the 17th century by the Lutherans, who applied this method to the texts of the Old Testament. At the beginning of the 19th century, it was applied to the New Testament and developed along the basis of the rise of historicism. Out of this, the Passion Narratives of the Gospels of the New Testament were notable materials that evoked interest. Diverse trends such as Judaism and Christianity, Hellenism and Hebraism, anti-Semitism, Nazism, religion and violence, soteriology, eschatology, and so forth, have affected the interpretation of the Passion Narratives. This presentation intends to summarize the studies on the Passion Narratives from the 19th century up to the contemporary period, by taking into consideration the above-mentioned social and ideological backgrounds.

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