Religion and conflict attribution : an empirical study of the religious meaning system of Christian, Muslim and Hindu students in Tamil Nadu, India /
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Religion can play a dual role with regard to conflict. It can promote either violence or peace. Religion and Conflict Attribution seeks to clarify the causes of religious conflict as perceived by Christian, Muslim and Hindu college students in Tamil Nadu, India. These students in varying degrees attribute conflict to force-driven causes, namely to coercive power as a means of achieving the economic, political or socio-cultural goals of religious groups. The study reveals how force-driven religious conflict is influenced by prescriptive beliefs like religious practice and mystical experience, and descriptive beliefs such as the interpretation of religious plurality and religiocentrism. It also elaborates on the practical consequences of the salient findings for the educational process.
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1 online resource (xii, 287 pages) : illustrations, color map. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004270862 :
2213-9729 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Bridge or Barrier : Religion, Violence and Visions for Peace /
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The book discusses the transformative role of religion in situations of violent conflict. It considers both the constructive and destructive sides of religious belief and particularly explores ways in which religion(s) may contribute to transforming conflict into peace. This volume analyses the role of religion in its current manifestations and provides alternative views of it. It is concerned with the role of religion as a source of conflict that often takes violent forms, thus contributing significantly to current problems. Attention also focuses on questions of peace from the perspective of the religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. A number of essays actualize a vision for peace based on religion and situate visions for peace in the wider context of human security. All chapters consider the policy implications of the theoretical and practical perspectives offered on questions of conflict and peace. The most important documents that have emerged from a variety of religious groups, notably those represented in the book, outlining their view on issues of peace and human rights are collected here, showing how religious believers have engaged with questions similar to those suggested by the principles of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047405733
9789004139435
Violence in ancient Christianity : victims and perpetrators /
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Ancient Christianity had an ambivalent stance toward violence. Jesus had instructed his disciples to love their enemies, and in the first centuries Christians were proud of this lofty teaching and tried to apply it to their persecutors and to competing religious groups. Yet at the same time they testify to their virulent verbal criticism of Jews, heretics and pagans, who could not accept the Christian exclusiveness. After emperor Constantine had turned to Christianity, Christians acquired the opportunity to use violence toward competing groups and pagans, even though they were instructed to love them personally and Jewish-Christian relationships flourished at grass root level. General analyses and case studies demonstrate that the fashionable distinction between intolerant monotheism and tolerant polytheism must be qualified.
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1 online resource (viii, 252 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004274907 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Postcolonial Europe in the crucible of cultures : reckoning with God in a world of conflicts /
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Over the past forty years Europe has grown as a global presence and today it plays an important role in a variety of ways: politically, socially, economically, and culturally. European theologians have no choice but to take cognizance of this fact and respond to the broad social challenges by clarifying their views on God and being a prophetic voice in cultural, political and social decision-making. The authors in this volume take up four main contemporary global challenges, id est globalization, violence, gender, and the environment, and the volume provides its readers with first-rate theological reflections in Europe. The articles offered here are the result of an intensive workshop held in Leuven in September 2004 and are sponsored by the European Commission and the VLIR, as part of a three-year study program on the understanding of God in Europe.
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International conference proceedings. :
1 online resource (253 pages) :
9789401204699 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.