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Highlights • Religious pluralism (enhanced competition in the religion market) has increased religiosity by offering believers a greater variety and quality of choices. • The longstanding disagreement between economists and sociologists regarding the effect of pluralism on religiosity has stemmed from the omission of religion's ability to legitimize government in previous analysis. • For identification, we exploit the variation among countries in their proximity (cost of travel—walking time) to centers of universal religions. • Whereas the results of OLS analysis tentatively suggest a negative association between pluralism and religiosity, estimates from the method of instrumental variables reveal that the direct effect of pluralism is positive. Abstract Economists and sociologists have long disagreed over the effect of pluralism on religiosity, the question of whether the number religions in a society lessens or heightens people's beliefs and participation. The controversy stems from the omission of religion's role in legitimizing government, which has significantly biased previous estimates. We use a novel identification strategy that exploits the variation among countries in their proximity (cost of travel) to centers of universal religions of the world (Buddhism, Christianity, Islam). Whereas the results of OLS analysis tentatively suggest a negative association between pluralism and religiosity, estimates from the method of instrumental variables reveal that the direct effect of pluralism is positive. Our results support the argument that enhanced competition in the religion market would increase religiosity by offering believers a greater variety and quality of choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines a strand of William Blake criticism from the second quarter of the twentieth century that styled his work as an embodiment of a universal religious worldview. In particular, it focuses on the writings of Max Plowman and John Middleton Murry from the mid 1920s to the early 1940s, for whom Blake's works were portals into eternity and the future, and who celebrated Blake as prophet of a spiritual Weltanschauung for the modern age. The article examines similar principles in the work of British artists in this period, and is framed by exploring a parallel between the Blake of Plowman and Murry, and the use of painter-poet's name for the Australian Blake Prize for religious art, inaugurated in 1950-51. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religion is deeply rooted in man and his blood since many centuries ago. Still it has been dominating man and his way of thinking and behavior. Within the framework of human rights, religion is considered as an inherent and individual right of the man. Therefore, religion is a very personal matter in man and his life. Within the Eastern Philosophical traditions, we can find a great thinker and the religious man who was not limited to the East and the one who spread that new ideal of the religion to the Western world. He is Swami Vivekananda. He was born in 1863 and expired in 1902. Within that short period, he did excellent contribution to the tradition of the Vedantic religion. To him, Religion is not just a talk and doctrines or theories, nor is it sectarianism Religion cannot live in sects and societies. It is a relationship between soul and God. He explains that religion does not consist in erecting temples or building churches or attending public worship. As well as it cannot find in the books or in words or in lectures or in organizations. Religion consists on realization. Religion does not consist in subscribing to a particular creed or faith but in spiritual realization. Therefore, spiritual realization is religion. He said “I shall try to bring before you the Hindu theory that religions do not come from without, but from within. It is my belief that religious thought is in man’s very constitution, so much so that it is impossible for him to give up religion until he can give up his mind and body, until he can give up his thought and life.” Religion is inseparable with man and his life. Another thing is that, it is within the man. Each and every one should understand God within their soul through self-realization. Religion is the manifestation of the divinity already within man. Therefore, it is not necessary to have doctrines or dogmas and intellectual argumentation. It is realization in the heart of our hearts. It is touching God; it is feeling God and realizing that I am a spirit in relation with the universal spirit and all its great manifestations. In a simple manner, his way of understanding of religion is that man must realize God, feel God, see God, and talk to God. That is the religion. To him material prosperity and wealth is not an important thing. However, the wealth of the spiritual thought is needed for the human progress. All the religions of the world together constitute one whole. For him, there existed only one Eternal Religion of which all other religions were only variations. Each religion has a special bent, a unique trait, some good points and this uniqueness is not the different buildings, languages, rituals, books etc employed in various religions, but the internal soul of every religion. Every religion has a soul behind it, and that soul may differ from the soul of another religion. Thus, all these religions are different forces in the economy of God, working for the good of mankind. All the religions of the world together constitute one whole. All religions are valid means to the same end. It is not necessary to change the view point of one’s own religion. To enrich one’s life, one can accept some of the good points from another religion. Man and his true nature is already divine. But that divinity is hidden. Therefore, the realization of that divinity should be the purpose of life; that is the religion. It is the harmony of the all religions, so that it is one of best solutions for the prevalent religious conflicts in the world. This research paper will analyze Swami Vivekananda’s concept of universal religion and its implications on the prevalent religious conflicts in the world. In addition, the paper will try to investigate his views on the nature of postmodern world where we can say ‘is there need for universal religion?’ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay explores Moses Mendelssohn's concept of natural religion by contrasting it with the way it was understood by his contemporaries. An examination of key aspects--the role of pagans, knowledge transfer, the possible redundancy of revealed religion, and Judaism's attitude toward "unphilosophical" knowledge--suggests that Mendelssohn's view was not only shaped through direct and indirect reactions to his intellectual surrounding, but also that it employed Christian arguments in order to construct an unapologetic image of Judaism as a universal religion. This view challenged the designation of Christianity as a philosophical religion, and, by extension, the Christian understanding of the Enlightenment Project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

American sociology has not taken and does not take religion as seriously as it needs to in order to do the best sociology possible. Despite religion being an important and distinctive kind of practice in human social life, both historically and in the world today, American sociologists often neglect religion or treat it reductionistically. We explore several reasons for this negligence, focusing on key historical, conceptual, methodological, and institutional factors. We then turn to offer a number of proposals to help remedy American sociology's negligence of religion, advance the study of religion in particular, and enhance sociology's broader disciplinary capacity to improve our understanding and explanation of human social life. Our purpose in this analysis is to stimulate critical and constructive discussion about the significance of religion in human life and scholarly research on it. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This essay is about the way in which Muslim thinkers in 19th and 20th century South Asia started thinking about Islam as a universal religion. It argues that these men abandoned previous notions of Muslim universality to focus on the way in which Islam could be said to represent the human race as a new kind of enumerable entity. In the process, the multiple worlds and angelic or demonic beings who had populated them were dismissed from view in a secularization of the Islamic tradition. Beginning as a denial of the hierarchies of race and civilization that had become familiar themes in colonial sociology, this emphasis on Islam's purely human universality was theorized in terms of its fidelity to nature and natural law. By the 20th century, however, nature was replaced by history as the true sign of Islam's universality, with the Prophet coming to be seen as the first truly human recipient of divine revelation, one who laid no claim to the supernatural. It was precisely the secular nature of Muslim history, then, that guaranteed its universality. The essay then goes on to explore the intellectual implications and contradictions of such a position. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Throughout world it is possible to see various examples of the universal religions which have strong nationalistic echoes. We notice such examples particularly in Christian tradition. Anglican Church is an example of national and local adaptation of Christianity that has strong influence of English nationalism. It is known that there appeared some sectarian movements within Islamic tradition mainly due to various social and cultural backgrounds. In this context, it is noticeable particularly from late Ottoman period onwards Islamic understanding stressing Turkish culture and identity came into prominence in Anatolia, which is so-called "Turkish Islam" today. Popular ideology of Westernisation and nationalism of that time seemed quite influential in this understanding. After the collapse of the Empire, newly founded Republic carried out a policy concerning religion, mainly Islam, aiming to create an understanding of religion which is harmonious with the founding philosophy of the Republic, mainly Westernisation, nationalisation and secularism. That is why the State changed all present institutions concerning religion founding the new ones in accord to its policy, and tried to change traditional understanding of religion sometimes by force. However, the efforts forcing people to adapt the policy of religion have generally been unsuccessful. The characteristics of Islam have certainly played an important role in this. However, the period of multi-political parties has been a turning point since during this period the people have experienced a freedom in social and cultural context in some degree. During this period, it is noticeable that Islamic understanding with strong emphasis of Turkish culture and identity, so-called "Turkish Islam", has been adapted not only the religious institutions of the State but also by some religious communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout world it is possible to see various examples of the universal religions which have strong nationalistic echoes. We notice such examples particularly in Christian tradition. Anglican Church is an example of national and local adaptation of Christianity that has strong influence of English nationalism. It is known that there appeared some sectarian movements within Islamic tradition mainly due to various social and cultural backgrounds. In this context, it is noticeable particularly from late Ottoman period onwards Islamic understanding stressing Turkish culture and identity came into prominence in Anatolia, which is so-called "Turkish Islam" today. Popular ideology of Westernisation and nationalism of that time seemed quite influential in this understanding. After the collapse of the Empire, newly founded Republic carried out a policy concerning religion, mainly Islam, aiming to create an understanding of religion which is harmonious with the founding philosophy of the Republic, mainly Westernisation, nationalisation and secularism. That is why the State changed all present institutions concerning religion founding the new ones in accord to its policy, and tried to change traditional understanding of religion sometimes by force. However, the efforts forcing people to adapt the policy of religion have generally been unsuccessful. The characteristics of Islam have certainly played an important role in this. However, the period of multi-political parties has been a turning point since during this period the people have experienced a freedom in social and cultural context in some degree. During this period, it is noticeable that Islamic understanding with strong emphasis of Turkish culture and identity, so-called "Turkish Islam", has been adapted not only the religious institutions of the State but also by some religious communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will examine the loss of confidence in secular bases for the normative understanding of, and response to, the fundamental social and political problems. The recent arguments of Richard Falk in favour of a religious foundation for a humane globalization will be taken as paradigmatic. While the paper agrees that the normative core of major world religions supports Falk's particular conclusion that religion can provide the content for a universal critique of inhumane global governance, it will conclude that the universal claim that global human solidarity today can only be built on the basis of religious faith does not follow. The paper will contend that the required normative foundation for the positive project of constructing global human solidarity is neither religious nor secular, but synthetic, embracing both—in what I will call, following the work of John McMurtry—the “life-ground of value.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ben Hellman: “Curious How Similar Our Opinions Are...” The Unpublished Correspondence between L. N. Tolstoj and Carl Robert Sederholm In 1886, a book with the title Jesu budskap om Guds eller fornuftets rike appeared in Stockholm. The author was the Finn Carl Robert Sederholm (1818-1903), lieutenant-general in the Russian army. After studies at the Engineering Academy in St Petersburg he supervised fortification works in Southern Russia. He returned to Finland in 1883, as the commander of the local Russian engineering troops. Sederholm combined his military career with a strong interest in religious issues. In his books he interpreted Christianity as a universal religion with parallels to the teaching of Confucius, Buddha and the ancient Greek philosophers. The teaching of Christ was a rational religion and God was Spirit and Reason. Sederholm translated his book into German and sent the manuscript to Tolstoj. Tolstoj's three replies of August 1887 reveal that he attached great importance to the book. “Your thoughts about reason and the meaning of God are the same thoughts that I have tried to express in my works...,” he writes in his first letter. A few days later he writes again: “Curious how similar our opinions are...” In a third letter, Tolstoj was already more critical on some matters. He was also wondering how Sederholm could combine his belief in the teaching of Jesus with a military profession. Tolstoj's three letters to Carl Sederholm have never been published before in Russian. Together with Sederholm's two letters to Tolstoj they show what religious issues were of immediate concern for Tolstoj in 1887 and on what points he was more radical than his Finnish colleague. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 10 December 2008 ten senior religious representatives of different world religions will assemble in the Peace Palace in The Hague to declare their support to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the presence of a large gathering of dignitaries. They will be the first signatories of the Statement Faith in Human Rights, open for endorsement by other prominent religious leaders around the world. This article describes the origin, purpose and preparatory stages of this International Inter-religious Conference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article reports on the upsurge of religiosity signaling a cultural decline. It is stated that the greatest risk is the uniting of racial battle and class struggle in an attempt to put an end to the white world. Europe's indifference to formed religion notwithstanding, religious ideas have practiced the strongest possible influence on mankind. Fundamental religions execute a purpose of personal salvation for adherents under fluid scientific and social conditions.

This paper offers an economic interpretation of Christianity''s transformation from sect to universal religion in the Roman empire. It first points out paganism''s apparent inability to provide individual security in times of distress, such as the third century C.E., as a reason for the increasing demand for monotheism. It then reviews Christianity''s monotheistic competitors and points out the reasons why they lost out. Next, it addresses the Christian church''s choice between exclusive membership and open access to all applicants on the day of its triumph and shows, by means of a cooperative model, that open access and universal membership were a superior policy if coupled with doctrinal radicalization. Finally, it analyzes the theological controversies of the fourth and fifth centuries by means of a Hotelling-type linear spatial model of doctrinal strictness ranging from paganism to Judaism, and traces the theological choices that were made back to the church''s need to distance itself from its potential competitors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article reflects on the meaning of land as a material reality and a metaphor that embodies hopes and ideals. According to the author, land is the meaning of life itself, in rural communities, which bestows value on those who live on it. The author states that this could relate to the nature of Judaism that goes together with land, which is why it is an ethnic religion. However, Christianity is identified by having no such relationship to a land, which is why it is a universal religion.

Sri Ramakrishna, in whose name the Ramakrishna Math and Mission were created, and Swami Vivekananda, the disciple largely responsible for their organization, have been recognized as early examples of the "global gurus" who, over the last hundred years or so, have attracted both Hindus and those not born into Hinduism. This article will examine the establishment of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in the United States and London. As a consequence of its attachment to the ideal of an emergent universal religion, but one linked to the claim that Hinduism is the "mother of religions," the movement has looked to the Hindu tradition for authoritative paradigms. This tendency has been matched by an expectation on the part of followers not born into Hinduism that the movement's belief and ritual activity should reflect practice in India. It will be argued that this pattern cannot be explained adequately in terms of existing theoretical understandings of the interaction between globalization and localization. Instead, it will be argued that Vivekananda's teaching led to the emergence of the related yet distinct phenomenon of "imported localism," which has been at odds with the ideal of a universal religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the relationship between religion and globalization. Changes in the status of religious universes in the context of globalization; Investigation of the role of the process of globalization in modifying religion's position in the contemporary world; Themes in the debate on universal religions.

This article discusses cultural sources of support for occultism in contemporary society. One of the central problems for a sociology of the occult is to explain how it is that individuals develop both an interest in and a commitment to occult practices and beliefs, and although several useful and informative studies have been undertaken since 1977, it is still largely the case that a vast ignorance exists concerning the factors underlying the appeal of the occult. Folk religion is one concept which has an obvious close connection both with superstition and the occult. Conventionally, this term has been used to contrast to universal or official religion to denote a religion attached to and carried by the group, the folk, or tribe, while universal religions are defined as those aimed at self-conscious individuals. The importance of the mass media and popular culture in general in providing a supportive environment for occultism clearly needs to be noted, for although, at one level, the media can often be identified as acting on behalf of the guardians of official institutionalized knowledge, ridiculing those who believe in aliens or witchcraft, at another level, interest in the occult is taken for granted.

The article cites a study on the key elements in a religion. According to the American cleric Harry Emerson Fosdick presented essential elements that all religions will agree, it have to do with man's relationship with God, his religion and the relationship with his fellow men from his religion-based ethical behavior. It also explores that prayer have provided expression in all religions for the relationship of man with his God. It highlights the common theme in all religions that identified the lives guided by their purpose is the good of one's fellow men. Even though, religion is a personal matter that is rooted differently in an infinite variety of individual personalities.

This article presents comments of the author on the article "Is Religion Universal? Problems of Definition," by Werner Cohn that was published in the October 1, 1962 issue of the "Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion." Having argued that religion is not universal, yet observing that many students consider it so, Cohn conjectures about the source of their error. One source he says is the influence of the idea of "natural law." Since this principle holds that God has endowed all human beings with the capacity to be religious, then those influenced by it would conclude that religious universal. Even granting this doubtful sociology of knowledge, Cohn's conclusion does not follow from his premise. Thonistic philosophy, to which he refers, conceives of a capacity as a potency, something which may or may not be realized in actuality. Possessing the potency, man would not necessarily be religious nor religion universal. He blames what he asserts to be functionalism's conception of religion as a functional requirement of society as a second source of error. Actually, most functionalists hold that social integration is a functional requirement and that religious structures and ideas, along with other social structural arrangements, may contribute to social integration.

Focuses on the connection between enduring myths and symbols and psychic experience in the concept of analytical psychology. Elaboration of mythologies and symbol system; Identification of cultures and countries; Completion of the intrasubjective field.