Religious Studies

Towards a New Comparative Methodology in Religious Studies

Academic, Published, Religious Studies

The following was published on Religious Theory, e-supplement to the Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory. You can read it here. 

Author Note: The following was originally written as the introduction to a much longer comparative project between two religious myths. Additionally, the creation of the following model for comparative methodology in religious studies could not have been possible without the help and guidance of Dr. Amy Balogh. 

The field of comparative religious studies has a negative reputation in the broader umbrella of religious studies.[1] However, despite the failings of past comparative endeavors – which this article will detail – there is an imperative within the study of religion that comparisons among religions continue to be done: the act of comparison allows the comparativist and the readers to understand the original comparands in even greater depth than individual analysis. As a religious studies researcher, I believe that one of the duties of religious studies scholarship is to seek to understand the individual components that comprise a religion – practice, belief, and artifact – and (ideally) the religion as a whole. While the latter may be too lofty of an aspiration, it remains a goal of religious studies.

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A Discussion on Spirituality and Religion

Academic, Anthropology, Religious Studies

The notion of spirituality as being distinct from institutionalized religions is highlighted in both Talal Asad’s Reading a Modern Classic: W. C. Smith’s The Meaning and End of Religion and in Courtney Bender’s The New Metaphysicals, Spirituality and the American Religious Imagination.  The distinction between religious life and spirituality represents a modern-day aversion to the institutional distortion of the individual’s uniquely transcendental experience. Further, the hope that spirituality should reside within the walls of a religious setting must be forgotten by those who desire a truly individual awakening without the coercive dogmas unnecessarily tied to religion’s doors. While spirituality and religion are thought to work in tandem, the clear divide, and yet unmistakable relationship, between the two presented by Asad and Bender epitomizes the underlying strife of both to seek that which can never fully be understood—the connection with the divine.

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Religious Ideology and its Propensity Towards Violence

Academic, Religious Studies

Introduction

In the contemporary age, which is characterized by the phenomenon of globalization and an interconnected global-political economy, communication and interaction among previously disparate cultures and civilizations is becoming increasingly more common. The results of encounters between various modern cultures have the potential to create a world of bonded nations—fostered by positive trade relations and open borders—or a world divided by ideology. According to Samuel Huntington, his theory regarding “The Clash of Civilizations[1]” argues that the fundamental source of conflict in this new age of globalization will primarily consist of ideological divisions of humankind, whereby cultural or religious distinctions between civilizations will encourage the greatest levels of violence and alienation, more so than any other distinction of humanity. Since the publication of Huntington’s theory, catastrophic events have been understood through this lens: the case of Charlie Hebdo, the events of September 11th, and the invasion of Iraq are seen as clashes between the civilizations of the West and Islam; wars in Croatia and Slovenia, as well as the crises in Ukraine constitute clashes between Orthodoxy civilizations and the West; and Boko Haram is seen as a clash between the civilizations of Islam and Africa[2].

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Religion versus the Global Culture: The News Media’s Role in Navigating Conflict

Academic, Intercultural Communication, Political Science, Religious Studies

Introduction

In the contemporary world, characterized by an increasing interconnectedness among all human civilizations, it is vital to understand the phenomenon of globalization, what it means to live in a global culture, and what our roles are as transnational citizens of the world. As the abilities of our advancing human population increase to allow for a greater sense of connection between individual human civilizations—aided by technology, such as communication technologies (mass media and computerization) and transportation technologies[1]—conflicts between the preservation of, and respect for, the particularities of individual cultures and the encroachment of outside values have become a significant part of our changing world. Though some theorists take opinionated stances encouraging the positive effects of a globalized world society—a hyperglobalist approach[2]—and others take the opposing side, vilifying it for its detrimental effects on the uniqueness of human civilizations—a theorist of the cultural imperialism perspective would take this approach, potentially[3]—the fact of the matter is that it is occurring and we are faced with the responsibility to understand what our role is in this new globalized society.

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The Gathering: A Symbiotic Relationship of Mormonism and Utah

Academic, Anthropology, Religious Studies

The establishment of place has been the defining element of Mormonism throughout its creation, development, struggles, and successes. The birth of Mormonism within the American landscape emerged with the aid of the right prophet—Joseph Smith—and with the right theological foundation and backstory to attract the attentions of those disenfranchised with the available religions of the time[1].

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Possessed: The Role of the Yogini in Tantra Practices

Academic, Religious Studies

Early Hindu Tantra was intertwined with yogini worship and possession, beginning as early as the 6th century CE (White, “Origins”). The evolution of what we now term “Tantra” coincided with an evolution of the yogini “cult”; while both “Tantra” and the yogini cult are amorphous terms for a series of complex practices, rites, and doctrines (in the case of Tantra) and a variety of groupings of female deities (in the case of the Yogini cults), the intersection of the two created a specific role for the yogini as a “messenger” within the hierarchy of transcendental beings and humans. In understanding a brief evolution of Tantra and of yogini goddesses, features of the goddesses, and Tantra’s specific creation of identity, one can better understand the role of the yogini.

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