1-31-2012 CURRICULUM VITAE John Gordon Melton Personal Born
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Conversion to Tibetan Buddhism: Some Reflections Bei Dawei
4 Conversion to Tibetan Buddhism: Some Reflections Bei Dawei Abstract Tibetan Buddhism, it is often said, discourages conversion. The Dalai Lama is one of many Buddhist leaders who have urged spiritual seekers not to convert to Tibetan Buddhism, but to remain with their own religions. And yet, despite such admonitions, conversions somehow occur—Tibetan dharma centers throughout the Americas, Europe, Oceania, and East/Southeast Asia are filled with people raised as Jews, Christians, or followers of the Chinese folk religion. It is appropriate to ask what these new converts have gained, or lost; and what Tibetan Buddhism and other religions might do to better adapt. One paradox that emerges is that Western liberals, who recoil before the fundamentalists of their original religions, have embraced similarly authoritarian, literalist values in foreign garb. This is not simply an issue of superficial cultural differences, or of misbehavior by a few individuals, but a systematic clash of ideals. As the experiences of Stephen Batchelor, June Campbell, and Tara Carreon illustrate, it does not seem possible for a viable “Reform” version of Tibetan Buddhism (along the lines of Reform Judaism, or Unitarian Universalism) ever to arise—such an egalitarian, democratic, critical ethos would tend to undermine the institution of Lamaism, without which Tibetan Buddhism would lose its raison d’être. The contrast with the Chinese folk religion is less obvious, since Tibetan Buddhism appeals to many of the same superstitious compulsions, and there is little direct disagreement. Perhaps the key difference is that Tibetan Buddhism (in common with certain institutionalized forms of Chinese Buddhism) expands through predation upon weaker forms of religious identity and praxis. -
Crafting Lutheran Pastors in Tanzania Perceptions of Theological Education and Formation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania
STUDIA MISSIONALIA SVECANA CXIX Johannes Habib Zeiler Crafting Lutheran Pastors in Tanzania Perceptions of Theological Education and Formation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania To Lukas and Julia Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Sal IV, Universitetshuset, Biskopsgatan 3, Uppsala, Friday, 7 December 2018 at 10:15 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Faculty of Theology). The examination will be conducted in English. Faculty examiner: Professor Knut Holter (VID Specialized University, Norway; Faculty of Theology, Diaconia and Leadership Studies). Abstract Habib Zeiler, J. 2018. Crafting Lutheran Pastors in Tanzania. Perceptions of Theological Education and Formation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. Studia Missionalia Svecana 119. 222 pp. Uppsala: Department of Theology, Uppsala University. ISBN 978-91-506-2725-1. The quest for theological education is embedded in the history of the churches in sub-Saharan Africa and is, at the same time, inherently linked to how the churches continue to evolve and shift in character over time. It relates to the self-understanding of the churches and their role in society, including their academic and pastoral obligations to adequately educate and train leaders to work in the localities. With its estimated 6.5 million members, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) is today one of the largest Lutheran churches in the world. The role and impact of institutions for theological education are high on the agenda in the ELCT, not least as the various educational institutions for ministerial training are often seen as important means in the processes of theologising and strategising for the future. -
Expert Opinion Holly Folk Massimo Introvigne J. Gordon Melton 1. We
Expert Opinion Holly Folk Massimo Introvigne J. Gordon Melton 1. We have been requested by the law firm of Mr. Shane Brady, representing the “Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Netherlands”, to examine the report “Sexual Abuse and Willingness to Report Within the Community of Jehovah’s Witnesses,” authored by Kees van den Bos, Marie- Jeanne Schiffelers, Michèlle Bal, Hilke Grootelaar, Isa Bertram and Amarins Jansma, with the cooperation of Stans de Haas, and commissioned by the Research and Documentation Centre of the Ministry of Justice and Safety (Utrecht, December 2019: hereinafter “the Report”), and to comment on it based on our experience of several decades in the study of minority religions and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. None of us reads Dutch, and we have worked on an English translation supplied by the law firm of Mr. Brady. We cannot, of course, verify the quality of the translation, although we did double-check the tables and figures in the original Dutch version we also received. 2. We are scholars of religion specialized in the study of new religious movements and minority religions, and members of the group “New Religious Movements” of the American Academy of Religion. We have observed the Jehovah’s Witnesses internationally for several decades. 3. J. Gordon Melton is the Distinguished Professor of American Religious History at Baylor University, Waco, Texas. He is the author of numerous books on new religions, in many of which he has discussed the Jehovah’s Witnesses, which he has monitored for more than 50 years. As a former president of the Communal Studies Association, he is also familiar with “closed” and other religious communities, both those who live a geographically isolated existence and those who try to create strong social boundaries with the world of non-members. -
Print This Article
Journal of Global Buddhism 2020, Vol.21 51–69 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4030975 www.globalbuddhism.org ISSN: 1527-6457 (online) © The author(s) Special Focus: Alternate Buddhist Modernities Buddhist Contramodernism: Reconfigurations of Tradition for Modernity Casey R. Collins University of British Columbia Shinnyo-en, and other twentieth-century Buddhist lay movements emerging from older monastic and temple institutions, reconfigures elements of “traditional” Buddhism and “folk” religion to meet the conditions of modernity. Shinnyo-en’s founders and their successors envisioned a particular strategy for being Buddhist in modernity, one which aligns with some, but not all, scholarly characterizations of Buddhist modernism. As a result, Shinnyo-en and other lay organizations have largely remained on the margins of Buddhist studies despite their apparent popularity and proliferation. This article offers a new category for theorizing and positioning such organizations as contramodern—connected with, but divergent from mainstream forms of Buddhist modernism. In this light the emergence of Shinnyo-en in the 1930s, and the soteriological centrality of its founders’ lives, can be better understood in their historical and social contexts as being both connected to over one-thousand years of Shingon tradition and completely unique. The concept of contramodernism opens scholarly discussion of the many forms of Buddhism extant in modernity to those movements and organizations that are historically new, yet not entirely modernist. Keywords: Shinnyo-en: Shingon: Buddhist modernism: contramodernism: new religions he concept of contramodernism I introduce in this article is intended to open studies of contemporary Buddhism to studies of Buddhist “new religions,” their founders, the identities they inform, and Buddhist communities that defy the boundaries of Buddhist Tmodernism. -
Deteriorating Religious Liberties in Europe
105th CONGRESS Printed for the use of the 2nd Session Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe Deteriorating Religious Liberties in Europe July 30, 1998 Briefing of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 234 Ford House Office Building Washington, Dc 20515-6460 (202) 225-1901 [email protected] Http://www.house.gov/csce/ LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS HOUSE SENATE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey (VACANT) Co-Chairman Co-Chairman JOHN EDWARD PORTER, Illinois BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado FRANK R. WOLF, Virginia KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas MATT SALMON, Arizona SPENCER ABRAHAM, Michigan (VACANT) SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas STENY H. HOYER, Maryland FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts HARRY REID, Nevada BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland BOB GRAHAM, Florida LOUISE MCINTOSH SLAUGHTER, New York RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS (VACANT), Department of State (VACANT), Department of Defense (VACANT), Department of Commerce COMMISSION STAFF DOROTHY DOUGLAS TAFT, Chief of Staff MICHAEL R. HATHAWAY, Deputy Chief of Staff ELIZABETH M. CAMPBELL, Staff Assistant\Systems Administrator MARIA V. COLL, Office Administrator OREST DEYCHAKIWSKY, Staff Advisor JOHN F. FINERTY, Staff Advisor CHADWICK R. GORE, Communications Director, Digest Editor ROBERT HAND, Staff Advisor JANICE HELWIG, Staff Advisor MARLENE KAUFMANN, Counsel for International Trade MICHAEL KOBY, Special Counsel KAREN S. LORD, Counsel for Freedom of Religion RONALD J. MCNAMARA, Staff Advisor MICHAEL J. OCHS, Staff Advisor ERIKA B. SCHLAGER, Counsel for International Law MAUREEN T. WALSH, Counsel ii ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION (OSCE) The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki process, traces its origin to the signing of the Helsinki Final Act in Finland on August 1, 1975, by the leaders of 33 European countries, the United States and Canada. -
Keichū, Motoori Norinaga, and Kokugaku in Early Modern Japan
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles The Jeweled Broom and the Dust of the World: Keichū, Motoori Norinaga, and Kokugaku in Early Modern Japan A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Emi Joanne Foulk 2016 © Copyright by Emi Joanne Foulk 2016 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION The Jeweled Broom and the Dust of the World: Keichū, Motoori Norinaga, and Kokugaku in Early Modern Japan by Emi Joanne Foulk Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Los Angeles, 2016 Professor Herman Ooms, Chair This dissertation seeks to reconsider the eighteenth-century kokugaku scholar Motoori Norinaga’s (1730-1801) conceptions of language, and in doing so also reformulate the manner in which we understand early modern kokugaku and its role in Japanese history. Previous studies have interpreted kokugaku as a linguistically constituted communitarian movement that paved the way for the makings of Japanese national identity. My analysis demonstrates, however, that Norinaga¾by far the most well-known kokugaku thinker¾was more interested in pulling a fundamental ontology out from language than tying a politics of identity into it: grammatical codes, prosodic rhythms, and sounds and their attendant sensations were taken not as tools for interpersonal communication but as themselves visible and/or audible threads in the fabric of the cosmos. Norinaga’s work was thus undergirded by a positive understanding ii of language as ontologically grounded within the cosmos, a framework he borrowed implicitly from the seventeenth-century Shingon monk Keichū (1640-1701) and esoteric Buddhist (mikkyō) theories of language. Through philological investigation into ancient texts, both Norinaga and Keichū believed, the profane dust that clouded (sacred, cosmic) truth could be swept away, as if by a jeweled broom. -
Soka Gakkai's Human Revolution: the Rise of a Mimetic Nation in Modern
University of Hawai'i Manoa Kahualike UH Press Book Previews University of Hawai`i Press Fall 12-31-2018 Soka Gakkai’s Human Revolution: The Rise of a Mimetic Nation in Modern Japan Levi McLaughlin Follow this and additional works at: https://kahualike.manoa.hawaii.edu/uhpbr Part of the Asian History Commons, Buddhist Studies Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation McLaughlin, Levi, "Soka Gakkai’s Human Revolution: The Rise of a Mimetic Nation in Modern Japan" (2018). UH Press Book Previews. 20. https://kahualike.manoa.hawaii.edu/uhpbr/20 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Hawai`i Press at Kahualike. It has been accepted for inclusion in UH Press Book Previews by an authorized administrator of Kahualike. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Soka Gakkai’s Human Revolution Contemporary Buddhism MARK M. ROWE, SERIES EDITOR Architects of Buddhist Leisure: Socially Disengaged Buddhism in Asia’s Museums, Monuments, and Amusement Parks Justin Thomas McDaniel Educating Monks: Minority Buddhism on China’s Southwest Border Thomas A. Borchert From the Mountains to the Cities: A History of Buddhist Propagation in Modern Korea Mark A. Nathan From Indra’s Net to Internet: Communication, Technology, and the Evolution of Buddhist Ideas Daniel Veidlinger Soka Gakkai’s Human Revolution: The Rise of a Mimetic Nation in Modern Japan Levi McLaughlin Soka Gakkai’s Human Revolution The Rise of a Mimetic Nation in Modern Japan Levi McLaughlin UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I PRESS HONOLULU © 2019 University of Hawai‘i Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 24 23 22 21 20 19 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: McLaughlin, Levi, author. -
Chinese Redemptive Societies and Salvationist Religion: Historical
Redemptive Societies: Historical Phenomenon or Sociological Category? Chinese Redemptive Societies and Salvationist Religion: Historical Phenomenon or Sociological Category? David A. Palmer Assistant Professor University of Hong Kong Dept. of Sociology and Centre for Anthropological Research1 PRE-PUBLICATION VERSION Published in Journal of Chinese Theatre, Ritual and Folklore/ Minsu Quyi 172 (2011), pp. 21-72. Abstract This paper outlines a conceptual framework for research on Chinese redemptive societies and salvationist religion. I begin with a review of past scholarship on Republican-era salvationist movements and their contemporary communities, comparing their treatment in three bodies of scholarly literature dealing with the history and scriptures of “sectarianism” in the late imperial era, the history of “secret societies” of the republican period, and the ethnography of “popular religion” in the contemporary Chinese world. I then assess Prasenjit Duara’s formulation of “redemptive societies” as a label for a constellation of religious groups active in the republican period, and, after comparing the characteristics of the main groups in question (such as the Tongshanshe, Daoyuan, Yiguandao and others), argue that an anaytical distinction needs to be made between “salvationist movements” as a sociological category, which have appeared throughout Chinese history and until today, and redemptive societies as one historical instance of a wave of salvationist movements, which appeared in the republican period and bear the imprint of the socio-cultural conditions and concerns of that period. Finally, I discuss issues for future research and the significance of redemptive societies in the social, political and intellectual history of modern China, and in the modern history of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. -
LDS Prospects in Italy for the Twenty-First Century
LDS Prospects in Italy for the Twenty-first Century Michael W. Homer WHEN APOSTLE LORENZO SNOW WAS CALLED in 1849 to "establish a mission in Italy and wherever the spirit should direct/'1 he was initially optimis- tic that the Waldensians, a Protestant group in the Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont), would be receptive. Like others, he believed they had "been the means of preserving the doctrines of the gospel in their primitive sim- plicity."2 He hoped that Waldensian converts would spread the gospel message to the larger Catholic population in Piedmont and the other sta- tarelli on the Italian peninsula.3 Snow was disappointed, for the Italian 1. Eliza R. Snow Smith, Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow (Salt Lake City: De- seret News Co., 1884). A comprehensive history of the Italian mission has not been written. For a short sketch, see my "The Italian Mission, 1850-1867," Sunstone 7 (May-June 1982): 16- 21. 2. Sketches of the Waldenses (London: Religious Tract Society, 1846), 14-15, quoting Alexis Mustin, Histoire des Vaudois (Paris: F. G. Levrault, 1834), v. Although Snow did not identify this Religious Tract Society publication, the content of his letters written during his mission (see Snow, The Italian Mission [London: W. Aubrey, 1851]) demonstrates that it influenced his initial enthusiasm about the Waldensians. The theme of the tract—commonly accepted by many Protestants in the nineteenth century—is that the Waldensians were preserved from the corruption of the Catholic church and were a remnant of the primitive church because of their remote mountain location. -
Researching New Religious Movements
Researching New Religious Movements ‘The most important “first” that this book achieves is its bold questioning of the whole intellectual apparatus of the sociology of religion as it has been applied to the understanding of the new religious movements. I am confident that Elisabeth Arweck’s study will quickly become required reading in the sociology of new religious movements.’ Professor David Martin, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, London School of Economics, University of London ‘Powerful and original . it succeeds triumphantly in being at the same time an important, high-quality academic study and a book for our times.’ Professor David Marsland, Professorial Research Fellow in Sociology, University of Buckingham New religious movements such as Scientology, Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Unification Church (Moonies) are now well established in mainstream cul- tural consciousness. However, responses to these ‘cult’ groups still tend to be overwhelmingly negative, characterized by the furious reactions that they evoke from majority interests. Modern societies need to learn how to respond to such movements and how to interpret their benefits and dangers. Researching New Religious Movements provides a fresh look at the history and development of ‘anti-cult’ groups and the response of main- stream churches to these new movements. In this unique reception study, Elisabeth Arweck traces the path of scholarship of new religious move- ments, exploring the development of research in this growing field. She con- siders academic and media interventions on both sides, with special emphasis on the problems of objectivity inherent in terminologies of ‘sects’, ‘cults’, and ‘brainwashing’. Ideal for students and researchers, this much- needed book takes the debate over new religious movements to a more sophisticated level. -
Christians and Muslims Together on the Way
LWF Studies 01/2003 Dialogue and Beyond: Christians and Muslims Together on the Way Dialogue and Beyond: Christians and Muslims Together Dialogue and Beyond: Christians and Muslims Together on the Way LWF LWF The Lutheran World Federation Studies 150, rte de Ferney 01/2003 CH-1211 Geneva 2 ISSN 1025-2290 Switzerland ISBN 3-905676-21-4 The Lutheran World Federation Dialogue and Beyond: Christians and Muslims Together on the Way LWF Studies 2003 March 2003 Edited by Sigvard von Sicard and Ingo Wulfhorst on behalf of The Lutheran World Federation Department for Theology and Studies Office for the Church and People of Other Faiths Dialogue and Beyond: Christians and Muslims Together on the Way The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the position of the Lutheran World Federation. LWF Studies, 2003 Published by Editorial assistance: The Lutheran World Federation 150, rte de Ferney Iris J. Benesch, LWF-DTS P.O. Box 2100 CH-1211 Geneva 2 Switzerland Design: © The Lutheran World Federation Stéphane Gallay, LWF-OCS Printed in Switzerland by Atar Roto Presse ISSN 1025-2290 ISBN 3-905676-21-4 LWF Studies 01/2003 Contents Contents 7........ Preface Ishmael Noko 9........ Introduction Sigvard von Sicard and Ingo Wulfhorst 11 .......Some Reflections on the Meaning and Aims of Interfaith Dialogue Olaf Schumann 23...... Christian–Muslim Relations: A Study Program of the Luther- an World Federation, 1992–2002 Roland E. Miller 35...... Greeting of the Governor of the Special District of Yogyakar- ta to the Dialogue Meeting between Christians and Muslims Sri Hamengku Buwono X 39...... Human Growth and Responsibility Komaruddin Hidayat 47..... -
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Encyclopedia of Buddhism J: AF Encyclopedia of Buddhism Encyclopedia of Catholicism Encyclopedia of Hinduism Encyclopedia of Islam Encyclopedia of Judaism Encyclopedia of Protestantism Encyclopedia of World Religions nnnnnnnnnnn Encyclopedia of Buddhism J: AF Edward A. Irons J. Gordon Melton, Series Editor Encyclopedia of Buddhism Copyright © 2008 by Edward A. Irons All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the pub- lisher. For information contact: Facts On File, Inc. An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Irons, Edward A. Encyclopedia of Buddhism / Edward A. Irons. p. cm. — (Encyclopedia of world religions) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8160-5459-6 (alk. paper) 1. Buddhism—Encyclopedias. I. Title. BQ128.I76 2007 294.303—dc22 2007004503 Facts On File books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quanti- ties for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Spe- cial Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. You can find Facts On File on the World Wide Web at http://www.factsonfile.com Text design by Erika Arroyo Cover design by Cathy Rincon Maps by Dale Williams Printed in the United States of America VB FOF 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on acid-free paper and contains 30% post-consumer recycled content.