Proselytization Revisited: Rights Talk, Free Markets and Culture Wars

by Hackett,Rosalind I. J.

• ISBN13: 9781845532284
• ISBN10: 1845532287
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2014-08-08
• Publisher: Acumen Pub Ltd

Summary

Changing and disseminating one's religion have become even more controversial and problematic than they were when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights took form in 1948. Many religious groups decry proselytizing activity, yet arguably still engage in it. Some see the war for souls as an aggressive act of political domination in a postcolonial, multicultural world. Others view it more positively as healthy cultural exchange in our rights-oriented world. The current volume updates and expands earlier studies of proselytism, and explores more thoroughly the theoretical and practical implications of proselytization and anti-proselytization, particularly within the current phase of democratization and globalization. Several authors offer analyses of newer movements and territories now associated with the proselytic impulse, demonstrating its global significance. A particular emphasis of the book is on the diverse conversionist strategies being deployed by various religious organizations to contest, accommodate, or circumvent changing patterns of state regulation. Modern media technologies feature prominently in many of the studies. To complement this, some contributors examine the histories of those contexts where the entanglements of colonialism, missionization, and nationalism have shaped current environments of hostility or hospitality with regard to religious activism. The cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary orientation of this edited work provides a new perspective on this increasingly salient and controversial topic.

Table of Contents

Revisiting Proselytization in the Context of Rights Talk, Free Markets and Culture Wars	p. 1
Conflicts over Proselytism - An Overview and Comparative Perspectivective	p. 35
Conversion of the World: Proselytization in India and the Universalization of Christianity	p. 53
The Logic of Anti-Proselytization, Revisited	p. 77
The Changing Face of Christian Proselytizarion: New Actors from the Global South	p. 109
Muslim Apostasy, Christian Conversion, and Religious Freedom in Egypt	p. 139
Seeing is More Than Believing: Posters and Proselytization in Nigeria	p. 167
Buddhism and the Politics of Conversion in Sri Lanka	p. 199
Merit and the Search for Inner Peace: the Discourses and Technologies of Dhammakaya Proselytization	p. 231
Asia's Antioch: Evangelical Christianity and Proselytism in Singapore	p. 253
False Consciousness and the Jargon of Authenticity: Religion and Nationalism in the Christianised Lowland Philippines	p. 283
Salvation through Secular Protest: the Development of Falun Gong Proselytization	p. 301
The Social and Legal Context of Proselytization in Contemporary Japanese Religions	p. 321
Negotiating Proselytism in 21st Century Russia	p. 339
Between Da'wa and Mission: Turkish Islamic Movements in the Turkic World (Central Asia and the Caucasus)	p. 365
Spiritual Wars in the 10-40 Window: Korean Proselytism among Russia's Asian Minorities	p. 389
Proselytization or Information? Wicca and the Internet	p. 409
You Can't Talk to an Empty Stomach: Faith-based Activism, Holistic Evangelism, and the Publicity of Evangelical Engagement	p. 431
Proselytization: Closing Thoughts from a Sociologist	p. 455
Index	p. 465
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