DOCSLIB.ORG

The Role of Religious Actors in the COVID-19 Pandemic. a Theory

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Role of Religious Actors in the COVID-19 Pandemic. a Theory www.ssoar.info The Role of Religious Actors in the COVID-19 Pandemic: a theory-based empirical analysis with policy recommendations for action Yendell, Alexander; Hidalgo, Oliver; Hillenbrand, Carolin Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Forschungsbericht / research report Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Yendell, A., Hidalgo, O., & Hillenbrand, C. (2021). The Role of Religious Actors in the COVID-19 Pandemic: a theory- based empirical analysis with policy recommendations for action. (ifa-Edition Kultur und Außenpolitik). Stuttgart: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen). https://doi.org/10.17901/akbp1.10.2021 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer CC BY-NC-ND Lizenz This document is made available under a CC BY-NC-ND Licence (Namensnennung-Nicht-kommerziell-Keine Bearbeitung) zur (Attribution-Non Comercial-NoDerivatives). For more Information Verfügung gestellt. Nähere Auskünfte zu den CC-Lizenzen finden see: Sie hier: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.de Diese Version ist zitierbar unter / This version is citable under: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-73685-7 ifa Edition Culture and Foreign Policy The Role of Religious Actors in the COVID-19 Pandemic A theory-based empirical analysis with policy recommendations for action Alexander Yendell, Oliver Hidalgo and Carolin Hillenbrand ifa Edition Culture and Foreign Policy The Role of Religious Actors in the COVID-19 Pandemic A theory-based empirical analysis with policy recommendations for action Alexander Yendell, Oliver Hidalgo, Carolin Hillenbrand Table of Contents Table of Contents Preface ...............................................................................................................................5 Summary ............................................................................................................................6 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................7 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 13 1.1 An outline of the problem: religious actors in the COVID-19 pandemic and their significance for foreign cultural and educational policies .......................................... 13 1.2 Objective and structure of the study ......................................................................... 19 1.3 Conceptual, theoretical and methodological preliminary remarks ............................ 20 2. Theoretical Concepts .................................................................................................. 24 2.1 Religion as a multi-level phenomenon: the macro-, meso- and micro-level .............. 24 2.2 Religion and the diagnosis of the COVID-19 crisis in the web of social (sub-) systems ...................................................................................................................... 26 2.3 Conspiracy theories, authoritarianism and religion ................................................... 34 2.4 Criteria for Best and Worst Practices ......................................................................... 37 3. Religious Actors as Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem? – Best and Worst Practices ..................................................................................................................... 41 3.1 Macro-level ................................................................................................................ 41 3.2 Meso-level .................................................................................................................. 60 3.3 Micro-level ................................................................................................................. 78 3.4 Summary of findings .................................................................................................. 95 4. Recommendations for Action for Political and Religious Actors ................................ 100 4.1 Involvement, dialogue and networking.................................................................... 101 4.2 Religious actors’ tasks and competencies in times of crises as well as the prerequisites and resources required for these ...................................................... 107 4.3 Information processes, conspiracy theories and vaccination hesitancy .................. 114 5. Conclusion and Outlook ............................................................................................ 121 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ 124 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 125 Appendix ........................................................................................................................ 141 About the Authors .......................................................................................................... 144 ifa Edition Culture and Foreign Policy The Role of Religious Actors in the COVID-19 Pandemic 4 Preface Preface The COVID 19 pandemic is a tectonic shock for almost all countries and societies on earth. The economic and socio-political consequences are not yet foreseeable, nor are the long- term psychological effects at the individual level. Within their societies, religious actors take on functions of contingency management and often also of social welfare. At the same time, they are often transnationally networked. Their structural, cultural and institu- tional characteristics vary among societies, which is why modernisation developments are not easily transferable. Nevertheless, characteristics can be identified that favour a con- structive approach to pandemic management. The following study explores this question by examining actors and communities whose activities and statements had a de-escalating or escalating effect. What recommendations for politics and religious actors can be de- rived from the analysis? I would like to sincerely thank the authors, Dr Alexander Yendell (Leipzig Univer- sity), Prof Dr Oliver Hidalgo (University of Münster) and Carolin Hillenbrand (Cluster of Excellence Religion and Politics at the University of Münster), for this excellent collabora- tion and their commitment to this research project. My thanks also go to my colleagues in the Research Programme “Culture and Foreign Policy”, Sarah Widmaier and Anja Schön, who supported the project by providing conceptual and editorial guidance. Religious actors have strong orientation functions within societies and can thus make an important contribution to crisis management and peacekeeping. This study is the fourth to be published by the ifa research programme on the topic of the peace potential of religions. The three previous studies analysed the peace potential of Abrahamic religions, Asian religious actors and free churches in Latin America and the USA. As part of ifa’s Research Programme "Culture and Foreign Policy", experts examine current issues in foreign cultural and educational policy and formulate recommendations for action for foreign cultural policy actors. International cultural relations must be sys- tematically studied in order to develop viable future strategies for transnational cultural exchange. Kind regards, Odila Triebel Head of the Dialogue and Research Unit “Culture and Foreign Policy” ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) 5 ifa Edition Culture and Foreign Policy The Role of Religious Actors in the COVID-19 Pandemic Summary Summary The subject of religion and the behaviour of religious actors in the COVID-19 crisis appear at first glance to constitute either just marginal issues or factors which tend to be negative. On the other hand, there is far less public discussion on the key role played by religious communities as civil society partners of governments or the WHO, as agencies providing charitable and pastoral assistance, and as a resource for hope and contingency manage- ment so as to successfully cope with the pandemic. This study analyses the ambivalent role of actors in the COVID-19 pandemic within the framework of a theory-based empiri- cal analysis, presents the most important developments, learning effects and problem ar- eas yet to be addressed and finally, based on this, draws up policy recommendations for action. ifa Edition Culture and Foreign Policy The Role of Religious Actors in the COVID-19 Pandemic 6 Executive Summary Executive Summary The subject of religion and the behaviour of religious actors in the COVID-19 crisis appear at first glance to constitute either just marginal issues or factors which tend to be negative. Without doubt, many people remember that religious services, especially at the beginning of this global infection, often made the headlines as ‘super spreader events’, whether it was the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu, South Korea, the evangelical churches in the USA or Brazil, the Islamic missionary movement Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi and Kuala Lum- pur, or the Baptist communities in Frankfurt/Main, Germany. On the other hand, there is far less public discussion on the key role played by religious communities as civil society partners of governments or the WHO, as agencies providing charitable and pastoral assis- tance, and as a resource for hope and contingency management so as to successfully cope with the pandemic.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Review Article International Journal of Biological & Medical Research
    Int J Biol Med Res.2018;9(3):6460-6465 Int J Biol Med Res www.biomedscidirect.com Volume 6, Issue 2, April 2015 Contents lists available at BioMedSciDirect Publications International Journal of Biological & Medical Research Journal homepage: www.biomedscidirect.com BioMedSciDirect International Journal of Publications BIOLOGICAL AND MEDICAL RESEARCH Review article Title: Prophetic Medicine, Islamic Medicine, Traditional Arabic and Islamic Medicine (TAIM): Revisiting Concepts & Definitions Hussein AA*, Albar MA**, Alsanad SM***. *Asim Abdelmoneim Hussein, MD/Fellowship, Consultant/Associate Professor, Head of Islamic Medicine Unit, The National Center of Complementary, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. ** Mohamed Ali Albar, FRCP, Head of Medical Ethics Department, The International Medical Center, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. *** Saud Mohamed Alsanad [Alsanad M Saud]: PhD, Assistant Professor Imam Saud University / Executive Director, The National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Keywords: At the present time, attention to traditional, protective, complementary and natural Prophetic Medicine applications of medicine is on the rise. Religious medical therapies is a special case of curiosity. al­Ṭibb al­Nabawi For Muslims, Prophetic Medicine (al­Ṭibb al­Nabawi) & Islamic Medicine, are gaining Islamic Medicine popularity as a reflection of love to their Prophet, Mohamed, and Sunnah (his traditions) Traditional Arabic & Islamic Medicine perception. Al­Tıb al­Nabaw refers to the curative treatments and preventive medicine Alternative & Complementary Medicine reported in the Prophetic guidance and practice. After the demise of the Prophet and the rise of Islam, a vast literature had been written in these fields.
    [Show full text]
  • Abrahamic Alternatives To
    UNiteD StateS iNStitUte of peaCe www.usip.org SpeCial REPORT 1200 17th Street NW • Washington, DC 20036 • 202.457.1700 • fax 202.429.6063 ABOUT THE REPO R T Susan Thistlethwaite and Glen Stassen* Eight Muslim scholar-leaders, six Jewish scholar-leaders, and eight Christian scholar-leaders met from June 13 to 15, 2007, in Stony Point, N.Y., at a conference sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace and the Churches’ Center for Theology and Public Policy. Conference participants specified practices abrahamic alternatives within each of the three faith traditions that could lay the groundwork for nonviolent alternatives to resolving conflict and addressing injustice, while also identifying roadblocks in the sacred texts of their traditions to creating such processes. The to War scholars ’ teachings found that these ancient religious teachings on peace and justice are often consistent with modern conflict- resolution theory. This report examines passages that support violence in each tradition’s scripture, presents definitions of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim “just peacemaking” in each tradition, summarizes places of convergence that might create the foundation for a program perspectives on Just peacemaking offering an Abrahamic alternative to war and presents a joint statement and series of commitments reached at the end of the conference. Summary • Jewish, Muslim, and Christian sacred texts all contain sections that support *With contributions by Mohammed Abu-Nimer, violence and justify warfare as a means to achieve certain goals. In particular Jamal Badawi, Robert Eisen, and Reuven Kimelman. historical circumstances, these texts have served as the basis to legitimate violent campaigns, oftentimes against other faith communities.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 John 1 Test.Pdf
    THE BIBLE NOTEBOOK Verse By Verse Bible Studies © 2006 Johnny L. Sanders TO KNOW AND KNOW YOU KNOW A Study Guide To The Epistles of John Volume I By Johnny L. Sanders, D. Min. Copyright© 2006 Johnny L. Sanders DEDICATION To Carolyn Sanders & Susan Sanders Thanks you for those nieces and nephews! 3 FOREWORD In this study of one of my favorite books in the Bible, I am going to do something I have never done in any other study. I have prepared verse by verse studies (some 30 volumes) on various books of the Bible. Some I have developed into commentaries, others need a lot of work. For that reason, I think of these studies simply as my Bible notebook, or THE BIBLE NOTEBOOK. Some 24 or 25 volumes may be found in the PastorLife.Com website, as well as about 150 ser- mon manuscripts (THE SERMON NOTEBOOK). PastorLife.Com is the creation of Dr. Mike Minnix of the Georgia Baptist Convention. Dr. Minnix has made a commitment to make avail- able to pastors and teachers a vast library of resources free of charge. In this study, for the first time, I have blended THE BIBLE NOTEBOOK and selections from THE SERMON NOTEBOOK. Some changes have been made to selections from THE SERMON NOTEBOOK in order condense, to some extent. For years, I preached from the KJV after studying various translations, primarily the NASB. At this time I am using the Holman Christian Standard Bible as my primary study Bible. I had the privilege of voting on the translation and publication of this Bible.
    [Show full text]
  • Embodied Authority in the Spiritual Autobiographies of Four Early Modern Women from Spain and Mexico
    EMBODIED AUTHORITY IN THE SPIRITUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHIES OF FOUR EARLY MODERN WOMEN FROM SPAIN AND MEXICO DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Christine M. Cloud, M.A. * * * * * The Ohio State University 2006 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Maureen Ahern, Adviser Professor Elizabeth Davis ________________________ Professor Julia Watson Adviser Spanish and Portuguese Graduate Program Copyright by Christine M. Cloud 2006 ABSTRACT This dissertation is a study of how four early modern Hispanic women religious constructed embodied authority through their fusion of different hagiographic models with their bodies and their lived bodily experiences within their spiritual autobiographical writing, or vidas, and in the process transformed the formulaic nature of the genre. Six chapters analyze the four distinct, complex autobiographical narratives of the Spanish religious Isabel de Jesús (1586-1648) and Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza (1566-1641) and the Mexican nuns María Magdalena Lorravaquio Muñoz (1576-1636) and María de San José, (1576-1636). The chapters explore how these four women accomplished this goal by talking back to enforced enclosure by re-defining their “unruly” or “unenclosed” feminine bodies in the interest of obtaining and/or justifying a position of religious and spiritual authority. The introductory chapter offers an explanation of the hypothesis, the theoretical framework and methodology, a summary of
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of Early Anabaptism As Minority Religion in German Fiction
    Heresy or Ideal Society? A Study of Early Anabaptism as Minority Religion in German Fiction DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Ursula Berit Jany Graduate Program in Germanic Languages and Literatures The Ohio State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Professor Barbara Becker-Cantarino, Advisor Professor Katra A. Byram Professor Anna Grotans Copyright by Ursula Berit Jany 2013 Abstract Anabaptism, a radical reform movement originating during the sixteenth-century European Reformation, sought to attain discipleship to Christ by a separation from the religious and worldly powers of early modern society. In my critical reading of the movement’s representations in German fiction dating from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, I explore how authors have fictionalized the religious minority, its commitment to particular theological and ethical aspects, its separation from society, and its experience of persecution. As part of my analysis, I trace the early historical development of the group and take inventory of its chief characteristics to observe which of these aspects are selected for portrayal in fictional texts. Within this research framework, my study investigates which social and religious principles drawn from historical accounts and sources influence the minority’s image as an ideal society, on the one hand, and its stigmatization as a heretical and seditious sect, on the other. As a result of this analysis, my study reveals authors’ underlying programmatic aims and ideological convictions cloaked by their literary articulations of conflict-laden encounters between society and the religious minority.
    [Show full text]
  • Theodosia 2017,2
    Theodosia 2017/ 2 Quarterly of the Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross Institute Ingenbohl CH-6440 Brunnen 132 Volume 2017 / 2 Editorial Team: Sister Christiane Jungo Sister Edelgund Kuhn Sister Anna Affolter Sister Elsit J. Ampattu Sister Dorothee Halbach English version: Sr. Roseline Kujur, India 2 Theodosia 2017, 2 Contents Picture 04 “Lord, When Were You in 29 Prison...?” Mt.25:39 Editorial 05 Sr. Linda Songy, Merill, Sr. Christiane Jungo USA Province More Ranft – Power from 07 “Faith Comes from What 32 the Depth is Heard” Rom. 10:17 Sermon by Fr. Konrad Burri on the Sr. Anne-Roger Prétôt, Fribourg, pilgrim day, 16th February, 2017 Province West Switzerland Two Different Reformers 11 The Vicariate Uganda Lives 35 Dr. Anselm Kraus OFM Conv., Four Articles by Sr. Sheeja Kolacherril, Kloster Schwarzenberg D Anna Wolz, Dr. Benno Kreienbühl, Sandra Aschwanden So that the Word of God 17 Short Reports from Our 42 Becomes Alive Provinces und Vicariates From the yearly letter 2017 by Book-Release Function Sr. Marija Brizar, the Superior General Sr. Tresa Paul, Delhi, Spiritual Place 18 North-East Province, India Experiences in the World Information from the 45 Monastery in Radolfzell General Leadership Sr. Canisia Mack, Hegne, Province Baden-Würtemberg Spiritual Place 25 “House of Religions” in Berne Sr. Yves Germann, Ingenbohl, Motherprovince, Switzerland 3 Brother-Klaus-Wheel in the convent church Ingenbohl. Design: Ruedi Gut 4 Editorial Anyone who presides over the liturgy on the pilgrim day tries to build a bridge to the life of mother M. Theresa from the given readings. Thus over the years, her portrait has gained many colors and aspects.
    [Show full text]
  • Review Article Reflections on Palliative Care from the Jewish And
    Hindawi Publishing Corporation Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Volume 2012, Article ID 693092, 8 pages doi:10.1155/2012/693092 Review Article Reflections on Palliative Care from the Jewish and Islamic Tradition Michael Schultz,1 Kassim Baddarni,2 and Gil Bar-Sela1 1 Division of Oncology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Faculty of Medicine, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 9602, Haifa 31096, Israel 2 Al-Taj for Health and Heritage Organization, Arraba 30812, Israel Correspondence should be addressed to Michael Schultz, m [email protected] Received 21 September 2011; Accepted 24 October 2011 Academic Editor: Peter Heusser Copyright © 2012 Michael Schultz et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Spiritual care is a vital part of holistic patient care. Awareness of common patient beliefs will facilitate discussions about spirituality. Such conversations are inherently good for the patient, deepen the caring staff-patient-family relationship, and enhance understanding of how beliefs influence care decisions. All healthcare providers are likely to encounter Muslim patients, yet many lack basic knowledge of the Muslim faith and of the applications of Islamic teachings to palliative care. Similarly, some of the concepts underlying positive Jewish approaches to palliative care are not well known. We outline Jewish and Islamic attitudes toward suffering, treatment, and the end of life. We discuss our religions’ approaches to treatments deemed unnecessary by medical staff, and consider some of the cultural reasons that patients and family members might object to palliative care, concluding with specific suggestions for the medical team.
    [Show full text]
  • Martyrdom As a Spiritual Test in the Luciferian Libellus Precum
    Nonne gratum habere debuerunt: Martyrdom as a Spiritual Test in the Luciferian Libellus Precum One of the many ways in which Christians throughout antiquity defined themselves in relation to Jews and pagans was the special role that martyrs played in the Christian tradition.1 Ironically, in the fourth century martyrdom frequently served to draw boundaries not between Christians and Jews or pagans, but between different groups of Christians. Christians readily adapted their old mental frameworks to fit the new circumstances of an empire supportive of Christianity. This process is most clearly apparent with regard to one such group, the Luciferians. No scholar has yet pointed out how the Luciferians construct their group’s history by who persecutes and who is persecuted. Their unique emphasis on martyrdom as a spiritual test has also escaped notice. Although in many respects these are typical behaviors for late antique Christians, the Luciferians offer a great – and overlooked – example of a schismatic group developing a separate identity from these same, typical behaviors. This schismatic group developed after a disciplinary dispute. The Council of Alexandria was called in 362 to decide if a group of bishops who had signed the “Sirmian Creed” at the Council of Rimini should be allowed to return to the Church and retain their clerical rank – bishops remaining bishops, deacons remaining deacons, and so on.2 They agreed to this. A small group of Christians, however, disagreed with the decision of the council. Lucifer of Cagliari, an exiled bishop who had expressed dissatisfaction with the council, probably led this group. They called the bishops who had sworn to the Arian creed “praevaricatores” (‘traitors’), much like the Donatists called their enemies “traditores.” They refused to hold communion with most other bishops of the Church, because those bishops held communion with these praevaricatores.
    [Show full text]
  • Pilgrimage, Spatial Interaction, and Memory at Three Marian Sites
    University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2016 Pilgrimage, Spatial Interaction, and Memory at Three Marian Sites Katherine Rousseau University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, and the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Rousseau, Katherine, "Pilgrimage, Spatial Interaction, and Memory at Three Marian Sites" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1129. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1129 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. Pilgrimage, Spatial Interaction, and Memory at Three Marian Sites __________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology Joint PhD Program University of Denver __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________ by T.K. Rousseau June 2016 Advisor: Scott Montgomery ©Copyright by T.K. Rousseau 2016 All Rights Reserved Author: T.K. Rousseau Title: Pilgrimage, Spatial Interaction, and Memory at Three Marian Sites Advisor: Scott Montgomery Degree Date: June 2016 Abstract Global mediation, communication, and technology facilitate pilgrimage places with porous boundaries, and the dynamics of porousness are complex and varied. Three Marian, Catholic pilgrimage places demonstrate the potential for variation in porous boundaries: Chartres cathedral; the Marian apparition location of Medjugorje; and the House of the Virgin Mary near Ephesus.
    [Show full text]
  • SHULER Not Only Back to a Saviour Who Home Again His Banished.'
    ai-Ls.'c'lco SI PAU, AMERICAS PROPHETIC WEEKLY HE Redeemer's gift ; waiting for the com- second appear- ing of our Lord Jesus Ting has been, Christ." i Corinthians through all ages, the : 7. To the Philippians pole star of the Christian Paul wrote : "Our conver- church. During all the sation is in heaven ; from past centuries, the good and whence also we look for the holy have looked forward Saviour, the Lord Jesus with great anticipation to this Christ." Philippians 3: 20. Peter glorious event. "To God's pil- describes the early Christians as grim people, so long left to so- "looking for and hastening the journ in 'the region and shadow coming of the day of God.' 2 of death,' a precious, joy-inspiring Peter 3: 12, margin. hope is given in the promise of h3 JOHN L. It is evident from these texts His appearing, who is 'the resur- that the early Christians looked rection and the life,' to 'bring SHULER not only back to a Saviour who home again His banished.' . had died for them, but forward to From the day when the first pair a Saviour who was to come, to turned their sorrowing steps from consummate the great plan of re- Eden, the children of faith have waited for the com- demption. These scriptures also make plain that the ing of the Promised One to break the destroyer's second coming of the Saviour occupied a most im- power and bring them again to the lost Paradise." portant place in the gospel which the apostles Paul has expressed it in these words': "Looking preached, and which these Christians received.
    [Show full text]
  • The Final Journey
    A bimonthly magazine devoted to the teachings revealed through Emanuel Swedenborg, as they apply to life. JULY/AUGUST 2019 The Final Journey In a charming essay – Cramming for Our Finals – the Rev. Robert Jungé says we’ll all pass our final test for heaven – individually, as a couple, or temporarily separated by death – if we just let the Lord lead. (Page 293) new church life (usps 378-180) published bimonthly by the general church of the new jerusalem Bruce Henderson, Editor | [email protected] Rev. Walter Orthwein, Spiritual Editor | [email protected] Michelle Chapin, Layout subscription: $30 to any address. To order: 267-502-4990 or [email protected] Postmaster: Send address changes to: New Church Life, PO Box 708, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009 or e-mail: [email protected] Vol. MMXIX July/August 2019 No. 4 New Church Life A bimonthly magazine devoted to the teachings revealed through Emanuel Swedenborg, as they relate to life. 277 In this Issue 280 Editorials: Between Dream and Destiny • The Conjugial Element in All Doctrine 285 Proudly General Church: A Status Report on the General Church The Rt. Rev. Peter M. Buss Jr. 293 Cramming for Our Finals – The Rev. Robert S. Jungé 300 Bryn Athyn College Commencement Address: ‘Transformative’ Gregory L. Baker Ph.D. 303 Academy Secondary Schools Commencement Address: Choices, Consequences, Responsibility – Gail R. Cooper 308 Loving and Serving One’s Country – A Sermon The Rev. Michael D. Gladish 314 A Song for the Sabbath Day – A Sermon by the Rev. Grant H. Odhner 321 Book Review: Rise Above It: Spiritual Development for College Students by the Rev.
    [Show full text]
  • Switzerland 2019 International Religious Freedom Report
    SWITZERLAND 2019 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT Executive Summary The constitution guarantees freedom of faith and conscience, and it and the penal code prohibit discrimination against any religion or its members. The constitution delegates regulation of the relationship between government and religious groups to the 26 cantons. A law in the canton of St. Gallen entered into force barring the wearing of facial concealments in public if deemed a threat to security or peace. A Federal Council decree to provide 500,000 Swiss francs ($518,000) annually to enhance protection of Jewish, Muslim, and other religious minority institutions went into effect in November. In February the state prosecutor in Schaffhausen Canton rejected a complaint against a cantonal police officer who fined a Muslim man for publicly saying “Allahu akbar” while greeting a friend in 2018. In February voters in Geneva Canton approved a law banning the wearing of visible religious symbols in the workplace by cantonal government officials, but a Geneva court exempted cantonal and communal parliamentarians. In March the Zurich High Court upheld a ruling that a Muslim father violated the law when he failed to send his sons to school rehearsals of a Christmas song. In February the same court upheld a lower court’s 2018 conviction of a man for shouting anti-Semitic epithets at an Orthodox Jew, but it reduced his prison sentence and ruled the man’s cry of “Heil Hitler!” did not constitute Nazi propaganda. A University of Fribourg study said politicians approached non-Christian religions, especially Islam, with caution and showed little political will to award minority religions privileges similar to those of Christian churches.
    [Show full text]