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Apologia Report 14:23
June 18, 2009
Subject: Some Hindus poised to "take yoga back"
In this issue:
HOMOSEXUALITY - book makes conservative Anglican case
+ sociological journal reports that orthodox Christian belief is a
deterrent to prejudice
NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS - a "bird's-eye view" of NRM study
+ overview of how the European Union and the Council of Europe deal with NRMs
YOGA - Hindu urges: "Let's take yoga back"
---
HOMOSEXUALITY
God, Gays and the Church, Christopher Sugden, Lisa Nolland, Peter
Ould, and James Parker, eds. [1] -- a conservative take on the subject
within the Anglican Church. It's difficult to tell if reviewer Andrew
Goddard places himself within this camp.
"I'm often asked 'Why do some Christians so passionately defend
traditional Christian teaching on sexual ethics and oppose
homosexuality?' This book helps answer this question and in turn
raises many key questions for the church. While far from all
'traditionalists' will agree with its content and tone, it captures
well what the most vocal see at stake in current debates. Written in
response to the General Synod debates of February 2007 (on what it
labels 'gay Wednesday') the book provides a variety of approaches and
expertise in 16 chapters....
"The reader by the end is left in no doubt as to why some sense
that so much is at stake in this debate and the book raises some valid
and important issues which require an urgent response. However, I was
also left at the end concerned that the book not only failed to engage
charitably with the best of their Christian opponents but also came
close to relying on 'scare' tactics, guilt by association and
provoking fear and disgust by providing explicit descriptions of the
excesses of our secular and sexualised society. What is more, it
illegitimately focused these excessively on homosexual forms of our
sexual malaise." Anvil, 26:1 - 2009, pp77-78. [3]
"The Unmaking of Prejudice" by Thomas E. Ford <tford@email.wcu.edu>,
Thomas Brignall, Thomas L. VanValey, and Michael J. Macaluso -- though
this paper is highly technical in nature, we suspect that the
following abstract will compel many of our readers to secure the
original for themselves and work their way through the full text: "We
propose that the internalization of orthodox Christian beliefs serves
as a basis for a personal moral standard that discourages prejudice
against others as well as for self-critical emotions that follow upon
behaving in a discriminatory manner. Two correlational studies tested
hypotheses derived from our theory. Study 1 demonstrated that to the
extent people endorse orthodox Christian beliefs, they report an
internal motivation to respond without prejudice toward homosexuals.
Study 2 demonstrated that, when controlling for the effects of
right-wing authoritarianism, endorsement of orthodox Christian beliefs
was related to positive attitudes toward homosexuals as individuals or
as a group, but not toward homosexuality as a behavior or lifestyle."
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 48:1 - 2009, pp146-160.
[5]
NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS
Researching New Religious Movements, by Elisabeth Arweck [2] -- Mikael
Rothstein's review makes this book appear very interesting.
"Historians of religions have been rather reluctant to enter the same
area of research [that has been the focus of other historians], which
is one of the reasons why most studies on new religions are
sociologically inclined. ... Studying new religions means entering a
public minefield, where much more than science is the name of the
game. Scholars of Islam may currently encounter some of the same
difficulties, but in so-called NRM studies ... it is almost a basic
condition: A lot of interested parties are engaged in the debate
regarding new religions, and the scholar's contribution will therefore
be born into a field of debate, fight, suspicion, accusations,
strategy, court cases, and public attention. The power struggle
between the involved parties is sometimes overwhelming, and the
academic will again and again be forced to take a stand or defend his
or her position against all sorts of accusations.
"Indeed, a bird's-eye view over the entire situation is needed, and
that is exactly what Elisabeth Arweck offers. Her book intends 'to
show the processes involved in bringing about the constellation of the
'players' in this field - the movements themselves, the media, the
parents, the 'anti-cult' movement, the churches, and the academic
community.' ...
"Arweck's book is a historical account of how this 'field' came
about and a sociological analysis of its inherent mechanisms, one
being the ways and ideologies of the 'academic cultures.' ... The
present volume provides an interesting account of debates and
conflicts, but, above all, it casts light upon the preconditons for
the many structural and strategic difficulties pertaining to the
social scientific study of new religions." History of Religions, 48:4
- 2009, pp309-310. [4]
"The European Union and the New Religious Movements" by Sabrina
Pastorelli -- the abstract reads: "This paper looks at how European
institutions, namely the European Union (EU) and the Council of
Europe, deal with new religious movements (NRMs). Drawing upon the
jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the European
Court of Justice, the paper addresses the question of the place of new
religions in the 'transparent dialogue' with the European Commission.
... The article points out what is at stake for a new religious
movement in participating in the EU debates over the role of religion
and its contribution to the construction of Europe. The preliminary
findings allow us to claim that some movements frequently considered
as 'cults' or 'sects' in the parliamentary reports of several member
states (as well as in reports of specialised state agencies of 'cult'
control) have been recognised as possible partners in discussions with
the EU Commission. Even though the dialogue is supposed to be open and
transparent, this paper raises the question of the qualities needed in
a religious movement to be represented at the EU level. The paper
shows European institutions have participated in the debate on NRMs
and raises questions over the possible influence of EU institutions,
direct or indirect, on the policy of member states on religious
matters. It also shows how governance in the relations between EU,
civil society and religions could constitute a possible model for
member states in dealing with the growing pluralistic landscape of the
EU." Religion, State & Society, 37:1/2 - 2009, pp194-206. [6]
YOGA
"Let's Take Yoga Back" by Sheetal Shah -- "As I slowly continue to
discover the true beauty of yoga, I find myself increasingly proud to
be Hindu; to be able to claim the religion that has brought this
amazing practice to the world as my own is truly empowering. Yet
through my work with the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), a nonprofit
advocacy organization, I have become keenly aware of an alarming trend
that disassociates yoga from its Hindu origins. I regularly read Yoga
Journal [7] at my gym and am continuously amazed at how many times its
editors blatantly avoid using the word 'Hindu.' As I perused the April
09 issue, I found the Upanishads described as 'Tantric yoga texts.'
Exactly one year ago, HAF wrote to the editors of Yoga Journal about
the clear disregard for Hinduism. Our letter was never published, and
upon following up with them, HAF was informed that the journal does
intentionally avoid using the word 'Hindu'....
"So, perhaps it's time for the Hindu community to look inward and
accept our share of the blame in losing the affiliation between
Hinduism and yoga. ... The West understood, fell in love with yoga,
morphed it into a physical and 'spiritual' practice - thereby removing
any religious association...." Hindu Currents, May 13 '09,
-------
Sources, Monographs:
1 - God, Gays and the Church, Christopher Sugden, Lisa Nolland, Peter
Ould, and James Parker, eds. (Latimer Trust, 2008, paperback, 256
pages) <www.tinyurl.com/noldls>
2 - Researching New Religious Movements: Responses and Redefinitions,
by Elisabeth Arweck (Routledge, 2005, paperback, 464 pages)
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