The Importance of Understanding the Sociology of Religion

http://hds.harvard.edu/news/2016/01/20/importance-understanding-sociology-religion#

The Importance of Understanding the Sociology of Religion

Warren Goldstein is a sociologist of religion teaching at HDS. While his research aims to develop a critical sociology of religion as a "new paradigm" in the sociology of religion, he is more broadly interested in the development of a critical paradigm in the study of religion as a whole.

INFORM AUTUMN SEMINAR

INFORM AUTUMN SEMINAR
Children, Minority Religions, and the Law

Date - Saturday, 17 October 2015; 9.30am – 4.30pm
Location – Clement House, London School of Economics 

Registration is now open and can be done using a credit/debit card through PayPal or by posting a booking form and a cheque payable to 'Inform' to Inform, Houghton St., London WC2A 2AE. Tickets (including buffet lunch, coffee and tea) paid by 28 September 2015 are £38 each (£18 students/unwaged). Tickets booked after 28 September 2015 will cost £48 each (£28 students/unwaged). 

What is in the best interests of a child?

All states who are members of the UN (except the United States) have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), which requires the State to act in the best interest of the child. Since ratification, there have been several occasions when States have intervened in what was perceived as infringement of the well-being and/or rights of children living in religious communities. But have these states (or their local authorities) acted in the best interest of the child?

While there are documented cases where children have been neglected and/or harmed when raised within religious communities (both new and old), some minority religions argue that what society proposes (in its culture, education, medical provisions) is not at all in the best interest of the child, and aim to protect their children from such negative influences. Who should decide on what is in a child’s best interest? In this seminar we will concentrate on legal issues surrounding children in minority religious communities, from a variety of perspectives.

Provisional Programme 

9.30 - 10.00         REGISTRATION

10.00 - 10.15       Eileen Barker (Founder and Honorary Research Fellow, Inform) Welcome and Housekeeping

10.15 - 10.40       Amanda van Eck (Deputy Director, Inform) Introduction

10.40 - 11.05       Heiner Bielefeldt (UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief)Religious Socialization in Light of Article 14 of the Conventions on the Rights of a Child

11.05 – 11.30      Alain Garay (Lawyer in Paris, France) Children, Minority Religions and the European Court of Human Rights Case Laws 

11.30 – 11.55      TEA/COFFEE

11.55 – 12.20      Jean Swantko Wiseman (Twelve Tribes lawyer since 1983, USA) Germany to Twelve Tribes Parents: You can Get Your Children Back if You Leave Twelve Tribes

12.20 – 12.45      Tony Brace (Legal Department, Watch Tower Society) Jehovah’s Witnesses: Children, Blood Transfusions and the Law (Who Holds the Key or Controls the ‘Flack Jacket’?)

12.45 - 13.45       LUNCH

13.45 - 14.10       Roger Kiska (Senior Counsel, Deputy Director, ADF International) Judicial Dogmatism: Home Education and the Rise of Humanist Statism in Europe

14.10 - 14.35       David Waldock Reflections on a Tennis Shoe

14.35 - 15.00       TEA/COFFEE

15.00 - 15.25       Anat Scolnicov (University of Winchester) Children, Family and Community - A Clash of Rights?

15.25 – 15.50      Lorraine Derocher  

15.50 – 16.30      GENERAL PANEL DISCUSSION   

HuffPost: The Future of Buddhism: Race, Money, Mindfulness and the World

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yael-shy/the-future-of-buddhism_b_7225290.html

The Future of Buddhism: Race, Money, Mindfulness and the World

by Yael Shy

China's super-rich communist Buddhists

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30983402

China's super-rich communist Buddhists

By John SudworthBBC News, Shanghai

Could China be bringing Tibetan Buddhism in from the cold? There are new signs that while a crackdown on Tibetan nationalism continues, the atheist state may be softening its position towards the religion - and even the Dalai Lama.

That a former senior Communist Party official would invite the BBC into his home might, to most foreign journalists in China, seem an unlikely prospect.

CityLab: The Link Between Religious Diversity and Economic Development

http://www.citylab.com/politics/2014/12/the-link-between-religious-diversity-and-economic-development/372585/

The Link Between Religious Diversity and Economic Development

Economic success may be tied to the fact that not all of your neighbors are celebrating the same winter holiday as you.

Richard Florida  Dec 19, 2014

LSE: Innovation, Violence and Paralysis: How do Minority Religions Cope with Uncertainty?

Inform Winter Seminar
Innovation, Violence and Paralysis: How do Minority Religions Cope with Uncertainty?

Date - Saturday, 7 February 2015; 9.30am – 5.00pm
Location – New Academic Building, London School of Economics

 

What happens when groups lose control of their own destiny? Whether it leads to violence, as in the case of Aum Shinrikyo’s response to a potential police investigation in 1995, or to non-violent innovations, as found in minority religions following the death of their founders or leaders, uncertainty and insecurity can lead to great change in the mission and even teachings of religious groups. What does it take to bring back certainty? This seminar will explore how minority religions and their members work with notions of uncertainty and insecurity.

 

 

9.30 - 10.00         REGISTRATION

10.00 - 10.05       Eileen Barker (Founder and Honorary Research Fellow, Inform) Welcome and Housekeeping

10.05 - 10.15       Kim Knott (Professor of Religious and Secular Studies in the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University) Introduction

10.15 - 10.45       Graham Macklin

10.45 – 11.15      TBC

11.15 – 11.40      TEA/COFFEE

11.40 – 12.10      Suzanne Newcombe (Research Officer at Inform) Certain Beliefs and Uncertain Evidence: The Case of Shugden

12.10 – 12.40      Lois Kendall

12.40 - 13.10       Dawn Marie Gibson (Lecturer, Royal Holloway, University of London) Uncertain times in the Nation of Islam’s Past and Present

13.10 - 14.10       LUNCH

14.10 - 14.40       George Sieg (Adjunct Professor, University of New Mexico)

14.40 - 15.10       Anthony Fiscella (Doctoral Student, Lund University) Moving Mountains: From Colonial Orders to Universal Change

15.10 - 15.40       TEA/COFFEE

15.40 – 16.10      TBC

16.10 – 16.50      GENERAL PANEL DISCUSSION

 

 

Registration is now open and can be done using a credit/debit card through PayPal or by posting a booking form and a cheque payable to 'Inform' to Inform, Houghton St., London WC2A 2AE. Tickets (including buffet lunch, coffee and tea) paid by 19 January 2015 are £38 each (£18 students/unwaged). Tickets booked after 19 January 2015 will cost £48 each (£28 students/unwaged). 

 

 

Please access the attached hyperlink for an important electronic communications disclaimer: http://lse.ac.uk/emailDisclaimer

Innovation, Violence and Paralysis: How do Minority Religions Cope with Uncertainty?

Inform Winter Seminar
Innovation, Violence and Paralysis: How do Minority Religions Cope with Uncertainty?

Date - Saturday, 7 February 2015; 9.30am – 5.00pm
Location – New Academic Building, London School of Economics

 

What happens when groups lose control of their own destiny? Whether it leads to violence, as in the case of Aum Shinrikyo’s response to a potential police investigation in 1995, or to non-violent innovations, as found in minority religions following the death of their founders or leaders, uncertainty and insecurity can lead to great change in the mission and even teachings of religious groups. What does it take to bring back certainty? Bringing together past and current members, as well as academics and practitioners this seminar will explore how minority religions and their members work with notions of uncertainty and insecurity.

 

 

Registration is now open and can be done using a credit/debit card through PayPal or by posting a booking form and a cheque payable to 'Inform' to Inform, Houghton St., London WC2A 2AE. Tickets (including buffet lunch, coffee and tea) paid by 19 January 2015 are £38 each (£18 students/unwaged). Tickets booked after 19 January 2015 will cost £48 each (£28 students/unwaged). 

 

LSE: Inform Autumn Seminar - Minority Religions and Schooling

http://www.inform.ac/node/1576

Inform Autumn Seminar - Minority Religions and Schooling

Saturday, 6 December 2014; 9.30am - 4.45pm
New Academic Building, London School of Economics.

State multiculturalism has failed’, declared David Cameron in 2011. Yet there is a continued expansion in state-funded religious schooling in Britain. This expansion has gone hand-in-hand with legal rulings that have placed minority religions on stronger footing next to the more established faiths. After exponential growth of Academies operating outside of local authority control since 2000, and three years after the first Free Schools opened their doors (a programme which has assisted the expansion of a diversity of faith-based schools), it is a good opportunity to take stock and reflect on the nature of minority faith schooling in Britain.

Provisional Programme

The presence of speakers on an Inform programme does not mean that Inform endorses their position. The aim of Inform Seminars is to help participants to understand, or at least recognise, different perspectives.

9.30 - 10.00 REGISTRATION

10.00 - 10.10 Eileen Barker (Founder and Honorary Research Fellow, Inform)

Welcome and Housekeeping

10.10 - 10.35 Amanda van Eck Duymaer van Twist (Deputy Director, Inform) and Suzanne Newcombe (Research Officer at Inform)

Minority Religions and Schooling

10.35 - 11.00 Farid Panjwani (Director of the Centre for Research and Evaluation in Muslim Education at the Institute of Education, University of London)

Muslims and Faith Schools: identity and social aspiration in a minority religion

11.00 – 11.25 Damon Boxer (Assistant Director, Academies and Free Schools Policy, Department for Education)

Government Policy on Minority Religions and Schools

11.25 – 11.50 TEA/COFFEE

11.50 – 12.15 Ozcan Keles (Executive Director of the Dialogue Society)

Fethullah Gulen-inspired Hizmet schools from an alumnus: basics, characteristics and critique

12.15 – 12.40 Usha Sahni (Education Director, Avanti Schools Trust)

Inclusivity and Fidelity

12.40 - 13.05 Richy Thompson (Campaigns Officer (Faith Schools and Education), British Humanist Association)

A Humanist Perspective on Minority Religions and Schooling

13.05 - 14.15 LUNCH/BOOK LAUNCH

14.15 - 14.40 Graham Kennish

Vision as Mediator between Faith, Belief, Experience and Knowledge

14.40 - 15.05 Jonny Scaramanga (Doctoral student at the Institute of Education)

The History of Accelerated Christian Education in the United Kingdom

15.05 - 15.30 TEA/COFFEE

15.30 - 15.55 Jo Fageant (SIAMS inspector and Principal RE Adviser, Oxford Diocesan Board of Education)

Faith and Inspection in Church of England schools

15.55 – 16.45 GENERAL PANEL DISCUSSION

Registration is now open and can be done using a credit/debit card through PayPal or by posting a booking form and a cheque payable to 'Inform' to Inform, Houghton St., London WC2A 2AE.
Tickets (including buffet lunch, coffee and tea) paid by 10 November 2014 cost £38 each (£18 students/unwaged). Tickets booked after 10 November 2014 will cost £48 each (£28 students/unwaged). A limited number of seats will be made available to A-Level students at £10 before 10 November 2014 (£20 after 10 November).

LSE: Inform Seminar : Innovation, violence and paralysis: how do minority religions cope with uncertainty?

Inform Seminar

7^th February 2015
London School of Economics, London, UK

This is advance notice for theFebruary Inform seminar.

Innovation, violence and paralysis: how do minority religions cope with uncertainty?

What happens when groups lose control of their own destiny? Whether it leads to violence, as in the case of Aum Shinrikyo’s response to a potential police investigation in 1995, or to non-violent innovations, as found in minority religions following the death of their founders or leaders, uncertainty and insecurity can lead to great change in the mission and even teachings of religious groups. What does it take to bring back certainty? Bringing together past and current members, as well as academics and practitioners this seminar will explore how minority religions and their members work with notions of uncertainty and insecurity.

More information will follow shortly. Please forward this information to your contacts and networks as appropriate.

-----------------------------
Inform
Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
020 7955 7654

www.inform.ac

How Americans Feel About Religious Groups

http://www.pewforum.org/2014/07/16/how-americans-feel-about-religious-groups/

July 16, 2014

How Americans Feel About Religious Groups

Jews, Catholics & Evangelicals Rated Warmly, Atheists and Muslims More Coldly

ESRI: Religiosity and Education in Europe

https://www.esri.ie/research/research_areas/education/Remc/working_papers/REMC_Religiosity_Education.pdf

ESRI: Religiosity and Education in Europe

by Silvia Avram, Jaap Dronkers, European University Institute

Table of contents:

1 Introduction........3
2 Religiosity in Europe........3
2.1 Indicators of religiosity.....4
2.2 Religiosity and demographics....7
2.3 Religiosity and tolerance.......8
2.4 Religiosity and gender attitudes.....9
2.5 Final remarks.....10
3 Educational Systems in Europe......11
4 School Choice Processes in Europe....16
5 Linking religiosity, educational system design and school selection processes..20
Appendix 1: Religious belonging in various demographic groups-by country..22
Appendix 2: Religious believing in various demographic groups-by country..30
Appendix 3: Educational systems in the European Union...38
Appendix 4: Variables used to predict school choice.......63
Appendix 5: The coefficients of the logistic regression predicting the choice of a private-dependent school relative to a public school per country, including tuition......69

PEW: How religious harassment varies by region across the globe

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/05/02/how-religious-harassment-varies-by-region-across-the-globe/

How religious harassment varies by region across the globe

In nearly three out of every four countries of the world, religious groups experience harassment by individuals or groups in society. See link for full article

U.S. Religious Landscape Survey

 Children making their own choices:
http://www.vox.com/2014/4/28/5659984/only-30-percent-of-kids-raised-as-atheists-stay-that-way-as-adults

 The 2008 Religious Landscape survey  (full doc, 210 pages): http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/report-religious-landscape-study-full.pdf

Introduction:

About the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
 
This report was produced by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. The Forum delivers timely,
impartial information on issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs. The Forum is a
nonpartisan organization and does not take positions on policy debates. Based in Washington,
D.C., the Forum is a project of the Pew Research Center, which is funded by the Pew Charitable
Trusts.
 
This report is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of the following individuals:
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Luis Lugo, Director
Sandra Stencel, Deputy Director
John Green, Senior Fellow in Religion and American Politics
Gregory Smith, Research Fellow
Dan Cox and Allison Pond, Research Associates
Tracy Miller, Editor
Elizabeth Podrebarac and Michelle Ralston, Research Assistants
Pew Research Center
Andrew Kohut, President
Paul Taylor, Executive Vice President
Scott Keeter, Director of Survey Research
Visit religions.pewforum.org for the online presentation of the findings of the Landscape Survey.
Pew Forum Web Publishing and Communications
Mark O’Keefe, Oliver Read and Chris Ingraham, Web Publishing
Erin O’Connell, Robbie Mills and Liga Plaveniece, Communications
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
1615 L Street, NW, Suite 700
Washington, D.C. 20036-5610
Phone (202) 419-4550
Fax (202) 419-4559
www.pewforum.org
© 2008 Pew Research Center
 
U.S. Religious Landscape Survey
 
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................1
Summary of Key Findings .............................................................................................................5
Chapter 1: The Religious Composition of the United States ...................................................... 10
Chapter 2: Changes in Americans’ Religious Affiliation ..............................................................22
Chapter 3: Religious Affiliation and Demographic Groups ..........................................................36
Appendix 1: Detailed Data Tables ...............................................................................................72
Appendix 2: Classification of Protestant Denominations .......................................................... 101
Appendix 3: A Brief History of Religion and the U.S. Census ................................................... 108
Appendix 4: Survey Methodology .............................................................................................113
Topline ......................................................................................................................................119Introduction
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life / U.S. Religious Landscape Survey

 
Introduction
 
From the beginning of the Colonial period, religion has been a major factor in shaping the identity
and values of the American people. Despite predictions that the United States would follow
Europe’s path toward widespread secularization, the U.S. population remains highly religious in
its beliefs and practices, and religion continues to play a prominent role in American public life.
In recent decades, much high-quality research has been done on the religious makeup of the
United States and on the way religion relates to politics and public life. Nevertheless, there are
still major gaps in our knowledge of the American religious landscape. For instance, estimates of
the size of religious communities in the U.S. – especially the smaller groups – are often contested,
basic information on the religious beliefs and practices of many groups is lacking and there is little
solid data on the demographic characteristics of many of America’s newer faiths. The increasing
diversity of the American religious landscape, the remarkable dynamism of its faith communities
and the pervasive presence of religion in the American public square all serve to underscore the
pressing need for up-to-date, reliable information on these and other questions.
Building on our own work as well as others’ previous research, the Pew Forum on Religion &
Public Life has conducted a pathbreaking survey on American religion that seeks to address many
of these important issues. The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey includes reliable estimates of the
size of religious groups in the United States as well as detailed information on their demographic
characteristics, religious beliefs and practices, and basic social and political values. Based on
interviews with a representative sample of more than 35,000 Americans, this study will serve as
the baseline for similar large-scale surveys the Forum plans to conduct periodically.

Former archbishop of Canterbury: We are a post-Christian nation

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10790495/Former-archbishop-of-Canterbury-We-are-a-post-Christian-nation.html

Exclusive: Former archbishop of Canterbury says Britain is no longer a nation of believers, as Telegraph poll reveals Christians are reluctant to express their faith

GOV:Permanent Holocaust memorial ?

Subject: [NBO Information] Should Britain have a permanent Holocaust memorial?

For your information and possible interest:

The Prime Minister’s Commission on the Holocaust is a national, cross-party commission, established to investigate whether further measures should be taken to ensure Britain has a permanent and fitting Holocaust memorial and meaningful educational resources for generations to come.

Your views are sought in this online consultation:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-holocaust-commission-keeping-the-memory-alive

Religious education: What's it for and how well are we teaching it?

http://voiceofrussia.com/uk/news/2014_03_18/Religious-education-Whats-it-for-and-how-well-are-we-teaching-it-2667/

Download podcast

Religious leaders in Britain have warned that neglecting religious studies in school will lead to serious social problems. It’s being claimed that a subject vital for community cohesion is being side-lined by UK schools with few resources devoted to RE and an unwillingness in some schools to teach it. VoR's Flora Neve reports.

Debate has been growing over the quality and purpose of religious education in UK schools.

Last year, research showed less that £1 per child per year is spent on religious studies in most state schools, and in some it’s as low as 75 pence.

When Education Secretary Michael Gove announced his plans for the new English baccalaureate, religious studies was conspicuously absent. 

MP Steve Lloyd is chairing a parliamentary report on religious education in school.

He believes the government is neglecting a subject which is not only of academic importance, but essential for reducing religious intolerance and the likelihood of extremism.

"If you have two communities and neither have accurate information about the others beliefs or value system it tends to lead to aggravation- sometimes violence and certainly not harmonious community relations. If you have a complete misinformation about a different group that’s where we tend to stereotype, we tend to scapegoat and we tend to turn people into ‘the other’."

Although a secular country, Christian morals and Bible studies are crucial to understanding literature and the arts over a thousand-year period.

Diversity of faith

But religious studies classes do not only teach about Christianity.

The UK is made up of a number of different religions: According to the latest figures, London was the most diverse region in the country, with the highest proportion of people identifying themselves as Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and Jewish.

State schools generally aim to reflect this diversity by teaching all the major religions.

However, an Ofsted report published at the end of last year claimed more than half UK state schools have been failing pupils in their religious education.

Dr. David Lundie is a lecturer in education studies at the University of Glasgow and has done extensive research on RE teaching.

He says one of the problems, alongside cuts to resources, is a growing uncertainty over what the subject is actually about.

"Its purpose has constantly been challenged. Is religious education, as one school put it, 'respect' study? Is it primarily the academic study of the doctrines of different faiths? Is it a study about the human condition? I think these anxieties about the very purpose of the subject remain unresolved. That leads to professional anxiety amongst teachers. There’s simply no way they can cover such a breadth of entailments."

For many the biggest threat to religious education is not from within the state system but from elsewhere.

The government is now funding a significant number of free schools, and many of those are faith schools.

According to the latest figures a around a third of government-funded schools are schools with a religious character .

They have no obligations to teach about different religious and non-religious beliefs, and they are selective.

This does not bode well for community cohesion, according to Richy Thompson, campaigns officer at The British Humanist Association.

"In a full discussion about community cohesion in respect to schools we need to look at all sorts of things," he says. "Most faith schools use selective admissions. This has a negative impact on community cohesion. Anything they do in their curriculum can only go some way to overcome the problems. Teaching about religious beliefs is not as good as teaching in a mixed environment. Some academies and free schools allow some schools to not only teach in a less inclusive manner but also to set up their admissions and employment polices in a more narrow way. And that’s going to add to their problems.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Religious Education presented their report to the Education Secretary on March 17.

(VoR)

Flora Neve
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/uk/news/2014_03_18/Religious-education-Whats-it-for-and-how-well-are-we-teaching-it-2667/

IFN February 2014 e-bulletin

Full document:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lno3f5aar18oq9y/IFN_e-bulletin_February_2014.pdf

CONTENTS

The e-bulletin can be read by scrolling through it. If you prefer to go directly to a particular section, click the relevant blue underlined title in the ‘Sections’ list immediately below. To go directly to particular individual items, click on the relevant blue underlined ‘Read more’ links in the list of these in the ‘Items’ list. 

SECTIONS

UK/national updates

Projects

Funding opportunities

Resources and Training

Jobs and Volunteering

Calls for information, Competitions and Tenders

Special Weeks/Days

Diary Dates

ITEMS

 

UK/national updates

Inter Faith Network website
Inter Faith Week 2014
Faith communities and flooding
Regional Faith Forums in England

Guidance on Transparency of Lobbying Act
Appeal ruling on Catholic adoption agency
Civil partnership update
All Party Parliamentary Group on RE

Projects

Women in focus Council of Christians and Jews Student Presidents
Cornwall Inter Faith Centre University of Gloucestershire Faith Space
 Faiths in Harmony
 Sacred Music inter faith radio station
Hounslow inter faith knitting group

Funding opportunities

Together in Service Fund

 Church Urban Fund Mustard Seed programme

  Funding Central website

  Comic Relief Stronger Communities grants

   Big Lottery Fund 

Resources and Training

‘Youth on Religion’ report
Multi faith spaces project  
Cambridge Inter-faith Programme Summer School  
Faith in Maintenance course  
Training for Big Lunchers

Jobs and Volunteering

Training Manager at 3FF 
Building Bridges Pendle – Reaching Communities Project
Together in Service Volunteers -
Bristol Civil Justice Centre – Multi faith support volunteers
Interfaith Scotland – Young volunteers
Three Faiths Forum – Interns
IFN Volunteering

Calls for information, Competitions and Tenders

2013 Inter Faith Week feedback
National Diversity Awards
NATRE’s ‘Art in Heaven’ competition
World Interfaith Harmony Week Prize 

Special Weeks/Days  

Fairtrade Fortnight

 Climate Week

Islam Awareness Week

Diary dates

Information on some of the inter faith events taking place around the UK. 

For information about the work of the Inter Faith Network for the UK visit:

WWW.INTERFAITH.ORG.UK         

Inform : Faith Minorities, Friday 31 January 2014 to Sunday 2 February 2014 at the London School of Economics in London.

Inform is hosting its Anniversary Conference from Friday 31 January 2014 to Sunday 2 February 2014 at the London School of Economics in London.  The theme is ‘Minority Religions: Contemplating the Past and Anticipating the Future’.  To register, visit http://www.inform.ac.uk.  Registration opens on 1 November 2013.