Governing the Sacred

Governing the Sacred PDF Author: Yuval Jobani
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0190932384
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
""Contested sacred sites pose a difficult challenge in the field of toleration. Holy sites are often at the center of intense contestation between different groups regarding a wide variety of issues, including ownership, access, usage rights, permissible religious conduct, and many other aspects. As such, they are often the source of immense levels of violence, and intractable, long standing conflicts. Governing the Sacred profiles five central contested sacred sites which exemplify the immense difficulties associated with such sites: Devils Tower National Monument (Wyoming, U.S.), Babri Masjid/Ram Janmabhoomi (Uttar-Pradesh, India), the Western Wall (Jerusalem), The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem) and the Temple Mount/Haram esh-Sharif (Jerusalem). The in-depth, contextual and casuistic study of these sites, which differ in spatial, cultural and religious settings, enables the construction of a novel, critical typology of five corresponding models or ways of governing the sacred. By telling the fascinating stories of five high-profile contested sacred sites, Governing the Sacred develops and critically explores five different models of governing contested sacred sites: 'non-interference', 'separation and division', 'preference', 'status-quo', and 'closure'. Each model, in turn, relies on different sets of considerations, central among them, trade-offs between religious liberty and social order. Beyond its scholarly contribution, the novel typology, developed in Governing the Sacred, aims to assist democratic governments in their attempt to secure public order and mutual toleration among opposed groups in contested sacred sites""--

Governing the Sacred

Governing the Sacred PDF Author: Yuval Jobani
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0190932384
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 217

Get Book

Book Description
""Contested sacred sites pose a difficult challenge in the field of toleration. Holy sites are often at the center of intense contestation between different groups regarding a wide variety of issues, including ownership, access, usage rights, permissible religious conduct, and many other aspects. As such, they are often the source of immense levels of violence, and intractable, long standing conflicts. Governing the Sacred profiles five central contested sacred sites which exemplify the immense difficulties associated with such sites: Devils Tower National Monument (Wyoming, U.S.), Babri Masjid/Ram Janmabhoomi (Uttar-Pradesh, India), the Western Wall (Jerusalem), The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem) and the Temple Mount/Haram esh-Sharif (Jerusalem). The in-depth, contextual and casuistic study of these sites, which differ in spatial, cultural and religious settings, enables the construction of a novel, critical typology of five corresponding models or ways of governing the sacred. By telling the fascinating stories of five high-profile contested sacred sites, Governing the Sacred develops and critically explores five different models of governing contested sacred sites: 'non-interference', 'separation and division', 'preference', 'status-quo', and 'closure'. Each model, in turn, relies on different sets of considerations, central among them, trade-offs between religious liberty and social order. Beyond its scholarly contribution, the novel typology, developed in Governing the Sacred, aims to assist democratic governments in their attempt to secure public order and mutual toleration among opposed groups in contested sacred sites""--

Indigenous Sacred Natural Sites and Spiritual Governance

Indigenous Sacred Natural Sites and Spiritual Governance PDF Author: John Studley
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429849796
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 120

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Book Description
Since time immemorial indigenous people have engaged in legal relationships with other-than-human-persons. These relationships are exemplified in enspirited sacred natural sites, which are owned and governed by numina spirits that can potentially place legal demands on humankind in return for protection and blessing. Although conservationists recognise the biodiverse significance of most sacred natural sites, the role of spiritual agency by other-than-human-persons is not well understood. Consequently, sacred natural sites typically lack legal status and IUCN-designated protection. More recent ecocentric and posthuman worldviews and polycentric legal frameworks have allowed courts and legislatures to grant 'rights' to nature and 'juristic personhood' and standing to biophysical entities. This book examines the indigenous literature and recent legal cases as a pretext for granting juristic personhood to enspirited sacred natural sites. The author draws on two decades of his research among Tibetans in Kham (southwest China), to provide a detailed case study. It is argued that juristic personhood is contingent upon the presence and agency of a resident numina and that recognition should be given to their role in spiritual governance over their jurisdiction. The book concludes by recommending that advocacy organisations help indigenous people with test cases to secure standing for threatened sacred natural sites (SNS) and calls upon IUCN, UNESCO (MAB and WHS), ASEAN Heritage and EuroNatura to retrospectively re-designate their properties, reserves, parks and initiatives so that SNS and spiritual governance are fully recognised and embraced. It will be of great interest to advanced students and researchers in environmental law, nature conservation, religion and anthropology.

Worldly Politics and Divine Institutions

Worldly Politics and Divine Institutions PDF Author: Nahshon Perez
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019757971X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
"Worldly Politics and Divine Institutions explores the entanglement of religion and government in a comparative, case-based analysis of several major court cases from the European Court of Human Rights, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court of the U.K. The entanglement of religion and state is prevalent in many democratic countries however it is understudied. Worldly Politics and Divine Institutions aims to fill this blind spot. Categories and cases such as discrimination conducted by governmentally funded religious associations and the governmental endorsement of religious symbols in public spaces create hybrid institutions, that are difficult to analyse, compare and manage. The structuring of an adequate, novel framework of analysis and comparison is one core goal of Worldly Politics and Divine Institutions"--

Indigenous Perspectives on Sacred Natural Sites

Indigenous Perspectives on Sacred Natural Sites PDF Author: Jonathan Liljeblad
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351234889
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
Much previous literature on sacred natural sites has been written from a non-indigenous perspective. In contrast, this book facilitates a greater self-expression of indigenous perspectives regarding treatment of the sacred and its protection and governance in the face of threats from various forms of natural resource exploitation and development. It provides indigenous custodians the opportunity to explain how they view and treat the sacred through a written account that is available to a global audience. It thus illuminates similarities and differences of both definitions, interpretations and governance approaches regarding sacred natural phenomena and their conservation. The volume presents an international range of case studies, from the recent controversy of pipeline construction at Standing Rock, a sacred site for the Sioux people spanning North and South Dakota, to others located in Australia, Canada, East Timor, Hawaii, India, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria and the Philippines. Each chapter includes an analytical introduction and conclusion written by the editors to identify common themes, unique insights and key messages. The book is therefore a valuable teaching resource for students of indigenous studies, anthropology, religion, heritage, human rights and law, nature conservation and environmental protection. It will also be of great interest to professionals and NGOs concerned with nature and heritage conservation.

A Sacred People

A Sacred People PDF Author: Leo Killsback
Publisher: Plains Histories
ISBN: 9781682830352
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
(Volume 1 of 2) Killsback, a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Nation, reconstructs and rekindles an ancient Cheyenne world--ways of living and thinking that became casualties of colonization and forced assimilation. Spanning more than a millennium of antiquity and recovering stories and ideas interpreted from a Cheyenne worldview, the works' joint purpose is rooted as much in a decolonization roadmap as it is in preservation of culture and identity for the next generations of Cheyenne people. Dividing the story of the Cheyenne Nation into pre- and post-contact, A Sacred People and A Sovereign People lay out indigenously conceived possibilities for employing traditional worldviews to replace unhealthy and dysfunctional ones bred of territorial, cultural, and psychological colonization.

The Sacred Centre as the Focus of Political Interest

The Sacred Centre as the Focus of Political Interest PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004646612
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
The central theme of the symposium was elaborated upon according to various religions, periods and areas, such as North India (historical) by H. Kulke, A. Wink, J. C. Heesterman and H. T. Bakker; South India (historical) by D. Shulman, B. Stein and G. Berkemer; contemporary India by C.J. Fuller, L.P. van den Bosch and J. P. Parry; Sri Lanka by G. Obeyesekere; the Byzantine Empire by A. N. Palmer; the Moroccan Sultanate by H. Beck, and the European Middle Ages by M. Gosman. This systematic approach focusing on a well-defined theme in a widely differentiated context appears to be fruitful. An often little recognized, though essential, universal aspect of important places of pilgrimage is their embedment in political ramifications. Analysis of religious structures and representations which are concentrated and reified in sacred centres, shows remarkable agreement and linkage with political institutions and ideology through a common symbolism. The contributions to the symposium establish that sacred centres are the places par excellence where political authority is legitimized; they help to articulate these systematic aspects by making them the focus of scholarly discourse starting from different disciplines.

Choreographies of Shared Sacred Sites

Choreographies of Shared Sacred Sites PDF Author: Elazar Barkan
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231538065
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 437

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Book Description
This anthology explores the dynamics of shared religious sites in Turkey, the Balkans, Palestine/Israel, Cyprus, and Algeria, indicating where local and national stakeholders maneuver between competition and cooperation, coexistence and conflict. Contributors probe the notion of coexistence and the logic that underlies centuries of "sharing," exploring when and why sharing gets interrupted—or not—by conflict, and the policy consequences. These essays map the choreographies of shared sacred spaces within the framework of state-society relations, juxtaposing a site's political and religious features and exploring whether sharing or contestation is primarily religious or politically motivated. Although religion and politics are intertwined phenomena, the contributors to this volume understand the category of "religion" and the "political" as devices meant to distinguish between the theological and confessional aspects of religion and the political goals of groups. Their comparative approach better represents the transition in some cases of sites into places of hatred and violence, while in other instances they remain noncontroversial. The essays clearly delineate the religious and political factors that contribute to the context and causality of conflict at these sites and draw on history and anthropology to shed light on the often rapid switch from relative tolerance to distress to peace and calm.

Sacred Forests of Asia

Sacred Forests of Asia PDF Author: Chris Coggins
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000577805
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
Presenting a thorough examination of the sacred forests of Asia, this volume engages with dynamic new scholarly dialogues on the nature of sacred space, place, landscape, and ecology in the context of the sharply contested ideas of the Anthropocene. Given the vast geographic range of sacred groves in Asia, this volume discusses the diversity of associated cosmologies, ecologies, traditional local resource management practices, and environmental governance systems developed during the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial periods. Adopting theoretical perspectives from political ecology, the book views ecology and polity as constitutive elements interacting within local, regional, and global networks. Readers will find the very first systematic comparative analysis of sacred forests that include the karchall mabhuy of the Katu people of Central Vietnam, the leuweng kolot of the Baduy people of West Java, the fengshui forests of southern China, the groves to the goddess Sarna Mata worshiped by the Oraon people of Jharkhand India, the mauelsoop and bibosoop of Korea, and many more. Comprising in-depth, field-based case studies, each chapter shows how the forest’s sacrality must not be conceptually delinked from its roles in common property regimes, resource security, spiritual matters of ultimate concern, and cultural identity. This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of indigenous studies, environmental anthropology, political ecology, geography, religion and heritage, nature conservation, environmental protection, and Asian studies.

Asian Sacred Natural Sites

Asian Sacred Natural Sites PDF Author: Bas Verschuuren
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317384679
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 399

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Book Description
Nature conservation planning tends to be driven by models based on Western norms and science, but these may not represent the cultural, philosophical and religious contexts of much of Asia. This book provides a new perspective on the topic of sacred natural sites and cultural heritage by linking Asian cultures, religions and worldviews with contemporary conservation practices and approaches. The chapters focus on the modern significance of sacred natural sites in Asian protected areas with reference, where appropriate, to an Asian philosophy of protected areas. Drawn from over 20 different countries, the book covers examples of sacred natural sites from all of IUCN’s protected area categories and governance types. The authors demonstrate the challenges faced to maintain culture and support spiritual and religious governance and management structures in the face of strong modernisation across Asia. The book shows how sacred natural sites contribute to defining new, more sustainable and more equitable forms of protected areas and conservation that reflect the worldviews and beliefs of their respective cultures and religions. The book contributes to a paradigm-shift in conservation and protected areas as it advocates for greater recognition of culture and spirituality through the adoption of biocultural conservation approaches.

Lincoln's Sacred Effort

Lincoln's Sacred Effort PDF Author: Lucas E. Morel
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739157205
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
Lucas Morel examines what the public life of Abraham Lincoln teaches about the role of religion in a self-governing society. Lincoln's understanding of the requirements of republican government led him to accommodate and direct religious sentiment toward responsible self-government. As a successful republic requires a moral or self-controlled people, Lincoln believed, the moral and religious sensibilities of a society should be nurtured.