Steffen Fuhrding – författare

Whether intentionally or not much of our public discourse on religion involves a subtle, but incredibly powerful, distinction between "good" and "bad" religion. The implications of these labeling practices are far-reaching, indeed, for such judgments manifest in terms such as "fundamentalist," "radical," and "extremist," words that are often the gauge by which governments worldwide determine everything from the parameters of religious freedom, to what constitutes an act of terrorism, to whether certain groups receive legal protections. Conversely, it is often surprising to see how different groups that may otherwise better typify the extremist profile remain unscathed by punitive governmental or social measures because of their pre-existing social popularity or perceived normalcy. This volume argues that public inquiry into religion is guided by unspoken value judgments, which are themselves the products of rarely-discussed political interests. This volume opens with a critical introduction which lays out the nature of the issue and its practical ramifications. The following chapter demonstrates how one can analytically critique the good/bad religion rhetoric as it appears in scholarship today. Hijacked is then organized around four different social institutions through which these value judgments have been established and deployed - namely, within politics, the media, the university, and the classroom. After a short introduction by the editors, each section begins with a chapter that highlights a particular case study or example of this good/bad distinction at work. The three to four responses that follow extrapolate from some element of the exemplar to provide an analysis on how such rhetoric operates in that particular social realm.

Whether intentionally or not much of our public discourse on religion involves a subtle, but incredibly powerful, distinction between "good" and "bad" religion. The implications of these labeling practices are far-reaching, indeed, for such judgments manifest in terms such as "fundamentalist," "radical," and "extremist," words that are often the gauge by which governments worldwide determine everything from the parameters of religious freedom, to what constitutes an act of terrorism, to whether certain groups receive legal protections. Conversely, it is often surprising to see how different groups that may otherwise better typify the extremist profile remain unscathed by punitive governmental or social measures because of their pre-existing social popularity or perceived normalcy. This volume argues that public inquiry into religion is guided by unspoken value judgments, which are themselves the products of rarely-discussed political interests. This volume opens with a critical introduction which lays out the nature of the issue and its practical ramifications. The following chapter demonstrates how one can analytically critique the good/bad religion rhetoric as it appears in scholarship today. Hijacked is then organized around four different social institutions through which these value judgments have been established and deployed - namely, within politics, the media, the university, and the classroom. After a short introduction by the editors, each section begins with a chapter that highlights a particular case study or example of this good/bad distinction at work. The three to four responses that follow extrapolate from some element of the exemplar to provide an analysis on how such rhetoric operates in that particular social realm.

Religious plurality, respectively religious pluralism in various epoches and regions of the world, mainly based on "Western" countries of the "modernity" have meanwhile been well studied not only by the Religionswissenschaft (Study of Religions), but also by other cultural and social sciences and by theologies. The study of secular worldviews, identities and of "secularism" as well as the relations of the religious field, however, is a desideratum."Secularsim and Religionswissenschaft (Study of Religions)" is meant to bring secularism, secular worldviews and secular identities into the focus of the research of Religionswissenschaft, contextually located and analyzed and thus presents both a new and important field of research for the Religionswissenschaft (Study of Religions).

For a number of years in modern societies processes of change can be observed which are distinguished by the apparently opposing processes of secularization and the return of the religious" as well as by developments in the course of processes of globalization (e.g. migration) and technical-(natural)-scientific innovations (i.e. genetic engineering, reproductive technologies). Those developments lead to an increased perception of the topic "Religion / s" in public. In reports, debates and documentaries, etc., worked off medially, the subjects of religion(s) and religiosity seem almost ubiquitous. In particular the questions about the religion(s) imputed conflict potential on the one hand, and their presumed socially integrative function on the other hand, are at the center of public discourse. The contentions with the often supposed potential for integration and/or conflict between religion(s) will be taken up in the contributions of this volume/the book and deepened/advanced from the perspective of Religious Studies by several examples."