http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification 720 https://escholarship.org/uc/ucr_chass_relstud_oapolicydeposits/rss Recent eScholarship items from Department of Study of Religion Open Access Policy Deposits Thu, 2 Jul 2026 04:26:47 +0000 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3t47n1kj This article explores the state of fearlessness and human justice through an examination of five celebrated couplets from Guru Tegh Bahadur’s bāṇī (‘inspired utterances’) by placing them in their immediate historical context, followed by an understanding of their wider significance from a global perspective. The main arguments of this essay revolve around the critical situation in Mughal India leading to the ninth Guru’s execution at Chandni Chowk in Delhi on 11 November 1675, by the orders of Emperor Aurangzeb. Rectifying skewed perspectives offered by modern historians in which the death of the ninth Guru is simply an accident of history and therefore of no consequence to wider humanity, this essay offers a critical review of historical readings of events that forced Guru Tegh Bahadur to intervene in the flow of history on behalf of downtrodden and minority voices. To bring the people out of their vulnerability he inspired them with a bold message of resistance against the tyrannical... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3t47n1kj Thu, 7 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Singh, Pashaura https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0538f3f5 Sikh Kirtan & its journeys: Instruments, theories, technologies https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0538f3f5 Thu, 7 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Singh, Pashaura https://escholarship.org/uc/item/58k503kf The French Mediterranean city of Marseille is typically imagined as a city of unparalleled multicultural diversity. Yet, this view overlooks how Marseillais residents of African, Arab, and Muslim origin are progressively driven out of their homes, since the 1990s, by urban renewal projects seeking to redevelop ‘unsightly’ working-class neighbourhoods downtown into upscale commercial zones. This article offers an account of a central paradox undergirding Marseille’s redevelopment: As working-class minority residents are expelled from downtown spaces, city authorities continue to mine them, as emblematic figures of Marseille’s multicultural diversity, for extractive cultural and economic capital to buttress the city’s cosmopolitan image. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/58k503kf Wed, 15 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Aziz, Amir https://escholarship.org/uc/item/827247kw Abstract: For all its transdisciplinarity, religious studies remains a field focused on boundaries, especially those between scholars and practitioners and between confessional and nonconfessional scholarship. The disciplinary use of the confessional in religious studies calls for a Foucauldian analysis that has not yet been central to our discussion of methods, despite important work on Foucault and religion from a number of prominent scholars. Disentangling the threads of the disciplinary and the confessional in religious studies and (re)articulating scholars’ often disjointed response to the uncanniness of the worlds beyond the human, I build on the critiques offered by scholars such as Masuzawa, Beliso-De Jesús, Driscoll and Miller, and Schaefer to argue for methodological numenism and an engaged, embodied study of religion as critical steps in the decolonization of the field. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/827247kw Thu, 15 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Wilcox, Melissa M https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1vb21951 Abstract: This article explores the notion of immortality in Jaina philosophy by focusing on the problem of the persistence of the self. It considers the concept of persistence within the broader context of Jaina metaphysics and its specific application to living beings. The article analyses the relationship between the immaterial self and its material body to determine which aspects of living beings can be deemed immortal or persisting beyond death. It also investigates the state of liberation as an immortal condition. Drawing from the Tattvârtha-sūtra and four of its commentaries, the article demonstrates the complexity of the Jaina treatment of the issue of the self's persistence over time and its commitment to the doctrine of non-one-sidedness. It also shows that Jaina philosophers deal with this critical philosophical problem in a way that reflects their engagement with the intellectual debates of their time. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1vb21951 Thu, 9 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Bajželj, Ana https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6299151d This essay will examine the contemporary issue of the television broadcasting of the sacred Gurbani from the Darbar Sahib to set the stage for understanding the historical context of the musical sessions (chauṅkīs) of devotional singing, followed by the process of decolonizing the musical performances in modern times, including religious aesthetics and sacred time and the processional chauṅkīs in the Darbar Sahib Complex. The continuous singing of the Guru’s hymns (Gurbani kirtan) resounds inside the Darbar Sahib (“the Divine Court”), popularly known as the Golden Temple of Amritsar. This special mode of worship consists of singing and listening to the hymns of the Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred scripture of the Sikhs. The heart of Sikh devotional experience lies in the performance of scriptural hymns in a congregational setting. Notably, different sessions of devotional singing go on day and night from 2.45 a.m. to 10.45 p.m. at the Golden Temple, following a celebrated tradition... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6299151d Thu, 25 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Singh, Pashaura https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4g78s74t Growing pains in the field of Sikh Studies in the Western Academy https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4g78s74t Thu, 25 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Singh, Pashaura https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7sq681t7 Fatwas on Inter-faith Marriage in Indonesia https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7sq681t7 Wed, 17 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Ali, Muhamad https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7hn8b480 The problem of the relationship between nationalism and Islam has historicallyrevealed dynamic discourses, but seems to have gained little attention.This problem is important not only in understanding the modern discourseon Islam and nationalism but also in promoting a dialogue between Islamand the West. This paper attempts to show how the best known of Muslimintellectuals from Egypt and Syria during the 19th and first half of the 20thcentury, managed to fuse Islamic concepts and nationalism together into asingle, unified discourse. This paper approaches the question in two differentways. In order to provide a context, the first section reviews how nationalismemerged and influenced the Muslims. The next section studies how Muslimintellectuals have responded to foreign ideas in general and nationalism inparticular, and how some of them have attempted to work out a compromisebetween nationalism and Islam.Masalah hubungan antara nasionalisme dan Islam secara historismengungkapkan... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7hn8b480 Wed, 17 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Ali, Muhamad https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6bd940z5 Indonesia and Malaysia offer comparative perspectives concerning the relationship between loyalties to the Muslim umma, local ethnicity, and the modern nation-state, and how interpretations of the sharia and modern constitution, laws, politics, and policies intersect in multiple and changing ways. This article seeks to compare and contrast some of the contemporary discourses on sharia and citizenship as demonstrated by Indonesian and Malaysian scholars, politicians, and activists. Both Indonesian and Malaysian constitutions were born out of the modern notion of citizenship that recognizes religious diversity. On the one hand, the Constitution of Indonesia does not specify Islam as the state religion, but the government promotes official religions. On the other hand, the Constitution of Malaysia makes it explicit that Islam is the state religion while recognizing religious diversity. The Indonesian government does not conflate particular ethnicity with Islam, whereas Malaysia integrates... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6bd940z5 Wed, 17 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Ali, Muhamad https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3qw6v2c4 Between Faith and Social Relations: The Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama’s Fatwas and Ideas on Non‐Muslims and Interreligious Relations https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3qw6v2c4 Wed, 17 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Ali, Muhamad https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9h88q31f Abstract Article 534 of the Lebanese Penal Code, effectively, criminalizes homosexual practices. Most commentators have claimed that its existence in modern Lebanon is a “colonial relic,” specifically of the French Mandate, 1920–1946. But since 1791, French penal codes have not criminalized same-sex relations. I argue, instead, that Article 534 was the product of native religious, legal, and moral thinking among the Maronites, reinforced by the Thomistic and post-Tridentine moral theology taught in Lebanon by the Jesuit missions. Thomistic and post-Tridentine moral theology classified same-sex relations as worthy of condemnation as “unnatural acts”—the same language used in Article 534. Therefore, as a product of Lebanese political and religious sectarianism, Article 534 is a specific case of a congenial collaboration of Jesuit moral theology and a conservative Maronite ethical and legal koine. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9h88q31f Thu, 8 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Strenski, Ivan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7702-7891 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5g66d2pk The 7-2 decision of SCOTUS on 8 July 2020, favoring “The Little Sisters v. Pennsylvania” should remind us of the highly charged nature of so-called “religious liberty,” or “free exercise.” Central to the case was the issue of religious exemption from generally applicable laws. By an overwhelming majority, SCOTUS ruled that the Little Sisters were exempt from this provision of the ACA. I shall argue how one might frame a novel counter-argument against, at least, one class of religious exemptions. As one knows, the legal and political status of religious exemptions is amplified by religious passions, stirred through a long history of competing court decisions and legislation. For that reason alone, a full and proper treatment of religious exemption calls for a major investment of specialized intellectual effort. But I shall only be arguing that those outside the specialized legal discourse community may notice oddities escaping the attention of insiders. In such a spirit of an... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5g66d2pk Thu, 8 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Strenski, Ivan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7702-7891 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7tm8z6sf Apocalypse, Revolution and Terrorism: From the Sicari to the American Revolt against the Modern World https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7tm8z6sf Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Strenski, Ivan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7702-7891 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/66p6k946 What is moderate Islam? https://escholarship.org/uc/item/66p6k946 Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Strenski, Ivan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7702-7891 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/54x2205g Prospects for the Death of Europe: Islam, Christianity, the Future Identity of Europe https://escholarship.org/uc/item/54x2205g Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Strenski, Ivan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7702-7891 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2nt373g2 "On an Antinomy in the Discourses of Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience" https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2nt373g2 Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Strenski, Ivan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7702-7891 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2d08x346 What Do Religious Corporations Owe for Burdening Individual Civil Rights https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2d08x346 Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 University of California, Riverside Strenski, Ivan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7702-7891 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/02h0t55z Women in the crossfire: understanding and ending honor killing https://escholarship.org/uc/item/02h0t55z Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Strenski, Ivan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7702-7891 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/84v0g5q9 The Varieties of Religious Repression: Why Governments Restrict Religion . By Ani Sarkissian https://escholarship.org/uc/item/84v0g5q9 Tue, 13 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Strenski, Ivan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7702-7891 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7dr6p75r “Do unto Others before They Do unto You” https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7dr6p75r Tue, 13 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Strenski, Ivan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7702-7891 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2p074341 The paper critiques the prevailing liberal market economy models of religious liberty and religious encounter. In place of market models, this paper argues that values inscribed in gift exchange, hospitality, guest/host relations, in many cases, and to varying degrees, provide better alternative values to govern religious interaction than those of the market model. Instead of conceiving religion as commodity for “sale” – adoption, conversion – and instead of conceiving missionaries as salespeople for their religions, I propose that the encounter of religions could be better conceived in terms of guest/host, gift giver/gift receiver relations. “Freakonomics”, therefore, – whether in free market or monopoly form – does not, therefore, write the last page in the story of religious liberty. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2p074341 Tue, 13 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Strenski, Ivan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7702-7891 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/12v8d9s7 Failure and Nerve in the Academic Study of Religion: Essays in Honor of Donald Wiebe . Edited by William Arnal, Willi Braun, and Russell T. McCutcheon. Sheffield: Equinox, 2012. Pp. ix+243. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/12v8d9s7 Thu, 11 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Strenski, Ivan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7702-7891 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/95m595z1 Review Article: the Norton anthology of world religions https://escholarship.org/uc/item/95m595z1 Tue, 19 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Strenski, I https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7702-7891 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8wt2t9p6 Martin Riesebrodt The Promise of Salvation: A Theory of Religion The Promise of Salvation: A Theory of Religion . By Martin Riesebrodt. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. Pp. xiv+228. $37.50. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8wt2t9p6 Tue, 19 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Strenski, Ivan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7702-7891 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4zh5n53t Ari Shavit Broods Over Israel's Sins and Celebrates Its Virtues https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4zh5n53t Tue, 19 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Strenski, Ivan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7702-7891