Haptics of the heart: The sense of touch in American religion and culture

This essay undertakes a tactile exploration of the sense of touch in contemporary American culture and religion. After briefly recalling the denigration of tactility in Western thought, I consider the usefulness of the work of two theorists, Emmanuel Levinas and Walter Benjamin, in recovering the sense of touch—the intimate caress, the violent shock—as deep background for tracking basic modes of religious tactility. By paying attention to sensory media and metaphors, I hope to suggest some features of religious tactility that are not necessarily seen or heard but nevertheless pervade contemporary religion and culture. Schematically, I proceed from cutaneous binding and burning, through kinaesthetic moving, to haptic handling in order to enter this field of tactile meaning and power. Along the way, I touch on specific cases of religious tactility—sometimes caressing, more often striking—that include US President Bill Clinton, firewalking, flag burning, alien abduction, global capitalism, and cellular microbiology. Although this exploratory essay replicates a tactile experience by renouncing visual mapping and verbal argumentation, it points to the presence of a tactile politics of perception that operates at the intersections between human subjectivity and the social collectivity.     

Scotland: religion,culture and national identity

In this initial article of the International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church's special issue on Perspectives on the Church in Scotland, as well as offering a wider context for the contributions that follow, I want to explore what connections in general might be said to exist between Scottish identity and Christianity, and then, more particularly, the impact of religion on the country's artistic culture, written as well as visual. Even those whose interest in the Scottish dimension may be marginal at best may find the discussion of broader relevance, since all nations now face to varying degrees the problem of how to relate their present pluriform identity to a narrower past. England, for instance, is ethnically much more diverse than its near neighbour and so struggles to find an appropriate contemporary self-definition. This can be seen reflected in the way in which politicians, in speaking of ‘British core values’, often merely reiterate what are universals in the western world, such as democracy, equal respect before the law, gender equality and so on, as with Nick Clegg's recent list on the Today programme on Radio 4 (10 June 2014) in which Gordon Brown's similar list during his premiership was simply reiterated. Others, though, continue to wrestle with what appeal to England's past history might mean and even with whether the established Church might have some continuing role within it, with the philosopher Roger Scruton offering a particularly intriguing instance in his Our Church: A Personal History of the Church of England (2012).     

中国民间教门与教门文化(二)

民间教门在中国历史上长期存在,不仅影响渗透到中国社会的各个领域,控制着千百万下层群众生活,时刻威胁着封建政权,而且延续到现实的社会生活。当今一些邪教和黑社会组织,与它们有着一定的渊源关系。民间教门是民间神灵信仰的组织化和团体化,具有宗教性与叛逆性双重属性。根据民间教门历史演变轨迹呈现出的阶段性特征。可划分为发生发展、活跃发展、繁盛发展、分化转折等四个历史阶段。教门文化既有精华又有糟粕,随着历史条件的变迁,到晚清和民国时期,总体上演变为对抗民主与科学、阻挡社会进步的最顽固、最落后的腐朽文化。用马克思主义唯物史观和宗教观研究中国民间教门与教门文化,对深入开展同邪教组织的斗争,可从多方面获得智慧和启示。     

中国民间教门与教门文化（四）

民间教门在中国历史上长期存在,不仅影响渗透到中国社会的各个领域,控制着千百万下层群众生活．时刻威胁着封建政权,而且延续到现实的社会生活。当今一些邪教和黑社会组织．与它们有着一定的渊源关系。民间教门是民间神灵信仰的组织化和团体化,具有宗教性与叛逆性双重属性。根据民间教门历史演变轨迹呈现出的阶段性特征．可划分为发生发展、活跃发展、繁盛发展、分化转折等四个历史阶段。教门文化既有精华又有糟粕．随着历史条件的变迁．到晚清和民国时期,总体上演变为对抗民主与科学、阻挡社会进步的最顽固、最落后的腐朽文化。用马克思主义唯物史观和宗教观研究中国民间教门与教门文化．对深入开展同邪教组织的斗争．可从多方面获得智慧和启示．     

中国民间教门与教门文化(三)

民间教门在中国历史上长期存在,不仅影响渗透到中国社会的各个领域,控制着千百万下层群众生活,时刻威胁着封建政权,而且延续到现实的社会生活。当今一些邪教和黑社会组织,与它们有着一定的渊源关系。民间教门是民间神灵信仰的组织化和团体化．具有宗教性与叛逆性双重属性。根据民间教门历史演变轨迹呈现出的阶段性特征．可划分为发生发展、活跃发展、繁盛发展、分化转折等四个历史阶段。教门文化既有精华又有糟粕,随着历史条件的变迁,到晚清和民国时期,总体上演变为对抗民主与科学、阻挡社会进步的最顽固、最落后的腐朽文化。用马克思主义唯物史观和宗教观研究中国民间教门与教门文化。对深入开展同邪教组织的斗争,可从多方面获得智慧和启示。     

Interpreting signals in other people's behavior to sense things about them and to infer things about their world

In this article, we propose a new framework for investigating how accurately and by what process people read others' minds—a process that requires perceivers to make a retrodictive inference. In this context, we discuss the value of a novel methodological approach that complements the conceptual framework. This framework is formulated on the basis of a series of empirical articles emerging over the past few years in which the ideas appear in nascent form. Retrodiction is the process in which, on observing a person's behavior (often but not exclusively a facial expression), people are equipped not only to sense the underlying inner state but also to infer the event that caused that inner state. Indeed, the goal of mindreading need not always be to identify an inner state explicitly but to infer the event that caused the inner state. Doing so is adaptive in that it permits access to a more expansive view of the world through the lens of another mind. This view of mindreading naturally leads to a reconsideration of methods that are fit for purpose and leads to testable hypotheses.     

关于“宗教与文化关系”问题的思考

近年来,关于＂宗教与文化关系＂问题的讨论引起人们的关注和议论,宗教文化的内涵是什么、怎样认识宗教与文化的关系、执政党如何对待和处理宗教与文化的关系问题……对这一涉及宗教工作的重要理论问题,还需要进一步从马克思主义宗教观角度进行较为深入系统的基础性研究。     

The study of American religion: looming through the glim

The study of American religion has been expanding to include new perspectives, previously neglected characters, and new geographic insights, driven by critical reflection on the assumptions and ideologies that historically have shaped the field, such as its focus on institutions, doctrines, and texts, its nationalistic westward-expansion historical narrative, and its Protestant biases. The past two decades have seen illuminating work emerge on race and gender, popular culture, class, and the marketplace. But we need to push beyond filling in gaps in the historical record to engage methodological and theoretical concerns in the academic study of religion. Exploring the development of theories of religion in the context of global networks of exchange shaped by 19^th-century seafarers is one example of how Tom Tweed's recent call in this journal for a geographic and temporal expansion of the study of religion in America might raise new questions and perspectives for the field.     

Mental health,religion & culture

It has been found that the Muslim population in the UK seek spiritual advice from traditional faith healers for psychiatric and related problems. The important role that religious beliefs may have on perceptions of mental illness and substance misuse warrants further investigation. The aims were to examine the views of Muslims faith healers on symptoms and changes in behaviour commonly described as “psychosis” and “substance misuse”. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with Muslim faith healers from various backgrounds. Data were analysed according to the conventions of qualitative research using grounded theory methods. Religious conceptualisations played a key role in the understanding of both the disorders and consequently the guidance given. There were similarities and differences in the narratives given for psychosis and substance misuse. Healers expressed doubt towards other faith healers and the methods utilised by scientific means. The findings suggest a need for close collaboration between faith healers and mental health workers in order to achieve a culturally sensitive health care system.     

Native American religion versus archaeological science: A pernicious dichotomy revisited

Adversarial relations between science and religion have recurred throughout Western History. Archaeologists figure prominently in a recent incarnation of this debate as members of a hegemonic scientific elite. Postmodern debates situate disagreements in cosmological differences between innocent, traditional, native peoples and insensitive, career-mad, colonialist scientists. This simplistic dichotomy patronizes both First Peoples and archaeologists, pitting two economically marginal groups in a political struggle that neither can win. Although a few scholars have discussed the tyrannical nature of anthropological models of tradition and culture, little consideration has been given to the fact that archaeology as a scientific discipline is drastically under-funded, with little research support and few jobs. Reconsideration of which political and economic groups actually benefit from the dramatization of a dichotomy between traditional and academic perspectives indicates some interesting patterns. The search for common ground is shown to have ethical implications for both the futures of First Peoples and the future of archaeology. An earlier version of this paper was presented at a symposium entitled “Ethics in Science: Special Problems in Anthropology and Archaeology” held at the 1998 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Philadelphia, PA, 15 February, 1998.     

The protestant secular in the study of American religion: reappraisal and suggestions

This article provides a theoretical and historiographical overview of secularism in the study of American religion. It focuses on how scholars have used the concept of the ‘Protestant secular’ in works on law, politics, and culture. Although it has been useful, we argue that this concept has lost some of its analytical utility in the effort to explain secularism predominantly in terms of its Protestant nature. In turn, this article looks to literature on secularism globally in order to suggest ways forward. Refocusing on secularism as a strategy of state governance ought to bring precision to both ‘Protestantism’ and ‘the secular,’ as well as shift attention toward state power and the high stakes of classification. An analysis of this strategy requires investigation into how states produce and police the category ‘religion’ and its neighboring concepts – for example, the ‘secular’ and the ‘superstitious’ – in order to render, manage, and colonize various populations.