In early modern England, the practice of ritual or ceremonial magic - the attempted communication with angels and demons - both reinforced and subverted existing concepts of gender. The majority of male magicians acted from a position of control and command commensurate with their social position in a patriarchal society; other men, however, used the notion of magic to subvert gender ideals while still aiming to attain hegemony. Whilst women who claimed to perform magic were usually more submissive in their attempted dealings with the spirit world, some female practitioners employed magic to undermine the patriarchal culture and further their own agenda. Using unpublished diaries and journals, literature and legal records, Frances Timbers studies the practice of ritual magic in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries focusing especially on gender and sexual perspectives. Based on numerous case studies and using the examples of well-known individuals, including John Dee, Simon Forman and William Lilly, this book provides a unique analysis of early modern ceremonial magic from a gender perspective.

This book describes Rondine Cittadella della Pace and its unique residential peacebuilding program that works with young activists from some of the world's most dangerous conflict zones. Set in its own Tuscan village, Rondine invites students to its two-year long residential program that provides them with a master's degree, trauma healing, and training in peacebuilding. While at Rondine, students work in pairs representing "both sides" of a conflict and prepare projects that they will put into place when they return home. Half of the book is devoted to an in-depth description of the Rondine method by its founder, Franco Vaccari, while the remainder consists of essays by Italian and American experts, including the two editors, providing the religious, psychological, and political context for this innovative psycho-social method of conflict resolution.

Early medieval Ireland is remembered as the "Land of Saints and Scholars," due to the distinctive devotion to Christian faith and learning that permeated its culture. As early as the seventh century, however, questions were raised about Irish orthodoxy, primarily concerning Easter observances. Yet heresy trials did not occur in Ireland until significantly later, long after allegations of Irish apostasy from Christianity had sanctioned the English invasion of Ireland. In The Templars, the Witch, and the Wild Irish, Maeve Brigid Callan analyzes Ireland's medieval heresy trials, which all occurred in the volatile fourteenth century. These include the celebrated case of Alice Kyteler and her associates, prosecuted by Richard de Ledrede, bishop of Ossory, in 1324. This trial marks the dawn of the "devil-worshipping witch" in European prosecutions, with Ireland an unexpected birthplace.Callan divides Ireland's heresy trials into three categories. In the first stand those of the Templars and Philip de Braybrook, whose trial derived from the Templars', brought by their inquisitor against an old rival. Ledrede's prosecutions, against Kyteler and other prominent Anglo-Irish colonists, constitute the second category. The trials of native Irishmen who fell victim to the sort of propaganda that justified the twelfth-century invasion and subsequent colonization of Ireland make up the third. Callan contends that Ireland's trials resulted more from feuds than doctrinal deviance and reveal the range of relations between the English, the Irish, and the Anglo-Irish, and the church's role in these relations; tensions within ecclesiastical hierarchy and between secular and spiritual authority; Ireland's position within its broader European context; and political, cultural, ethnic, and gender concerns in the colony.

Violence has been a central feature of AmericaOCOs history, culture, and place in the world. It has taken many forms: from state-sponsored uses of force such as war or law enforcement, to revolution, secession, terrorism and other actions with important political and cultural implications. Religion also holds a crucial place in the American experience of violence, particularly for those who have found order and meaning in their worlds through religious texts, symbols, rituals, and ideas. Yet too often the religious dimensions of violence, especially in the American context, are ignored or overstatedOCoin either case, poorly understood. "From Jeremiad to Jihad: Religion, Violence, and America" corrects these misunderstandings. Charting and interpreting the tendrils of religion and violence, this book reveals how formative moments of their intersection in American history have influenced the ideas, institutions, and identities associated with the United States. Religion and violence provide crucial yet underutilized lenses for seeing America anewOCoincluding its outlook on, and relation to, the world.

'This elegantly written, erudite book is essential reading for all of us, whatever our identifications' - Lynne Segal Antisemitism is one of the most controversial topics of our time. The public, academics, journalists, activists and Jewish people themselves are divided over its meaning. Antony Lerman shows that this is a result of a 30-year process of redefinition of the phenomenon, casting Israel, problematically defined as the 'persecuted collective Jew', as one of its main targets. This political project has taken the notion of the 'new antisemitism' and codified it in the flawed International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's 'working definition' of antisemitism. This text is the glue holding together an international network comprising the Israeli government, pro-Israel advocacy groups, Zionist organisations, Jewish communal defence bodies and sympathetic governments fighting a war against those who would criticise Israel. The consequences of this redefinition have been alarming, supressing free speech on Palestine/Israel, legitimising Islamophobic right-wing forces, and politicising principled opposition to antisemitism.

In the minds of many Americans, Islam is synonymous with the Middle East, Muslim men with violence, and Muslim women with oppression. A clash of civilizations appears to be increasingly manifest and the war on terror seems a struggle against Islam. These are all symptoms of Islamophobia. Meanwhile, the current surge in nativist bias reveals the racism of anti-Muslim sentiment. This book explores these anxieties through political cartoons and film--media with immediate and important impact. After providing a background on Islamic traditions and their history with America, it graphically shows how political cartoons and films reveal Americans' casual demeaning and demonizing of Muslims and Islam--a phenomenon common among both liberals and conservatives. Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Sentiment offers both fascinating insights into our culture's ways of "picturing the enemy" as Muslim, and ways of moving beyond antagonism.

Deadly Clerics explains why some Muslim clerics adopt the ideology of militant jihadism while most do not. The book explores multiple pathways of cleric radicalization and shows that the interplay of academic, religious, and political institutions has influenced the rise of modern jihadism through a mechanism of blocked ambition. As long as clerics' academic ambitions remain attainable, they are unlikely to espouse violent jihad. Clerics who are forced out of academia are more likely to turn to jihad for two reasons: jihadist ideas are attractive to those who see the system as turning against them, and preaching a jihad ideology can help these outsider clerics attract supporters and funds. The book draws on evidence from various sources, including large-scale statistical analysis of texts and network data obtained from the Internet, case studies of clerics' lives, and ethnographic participant observations at sites in Cairo, Egypt.

In 2017, Myanmar's military launched a campaign of violence against the Rohingya minority that UN experts later said amounted to a genocide. More than seven hundred thousand civilians fled to Bangladesh in what became the most concentrated flight of refugees since the Rwanda genocide of 1994. The warning signs of impending catastrophe that had built over years were downplayed by Western backers of the political transition, and only when the exodus began did the world finally come to acknowledge a catastrophe that had been long in the making. In this updated edition of the book that foreshadowed a genocide, Francis Wade explores how the manipulation of identities by an anxious ruling elite laid the foundations for mass violence. It asks: who gets to define a nation? How can democratic rights be weaponised against a minority? And why, at a time when the majority of citizens in Myanmar had begun to experience freedoms unseen for half a century, did much-lauded civilian leaders like Aung San Suu Kyi become complicit in the most heinous of crimes?

After the rise of the Islamic State of Syria and Levant (ISIL), the world has been debating over an old issue, characterised by some as the clash of civilisations. Jihad, the Arabic term for struggle, was the target and Islamic terrorism and Islamic fascism became the popularised terms of the post-9/11 era. The following discourse has formed two theories attempting to define Islam and the role of Jihad in Islam. The first is that of the apologists that define Jihad as an internal struggle; the second sponsors the concept of offensive Jihad. In this book, existing theories are deconstructed to establish that there is no such thing as offensive Jihad or internal Jihad. Debunking both branches of political thought was possible using a cognition tool derived from the education system instituted by the Prophet Muhammad, the central figure of this controversy. The deconstruction is then followed up with an examination of an actual historical case, vis. the wars for Islam at the time of The Prophet as well as during the four rightly guided Caliphs. By doing so, this book systematically eliminates all confusion regarding Jihad. By addressing the fundamental premises involved in both sides of this controversy, the book develops an analytical tool that is free from dogmatic assertions and ensuing contradictions, eventually defining the significance of this analysis for a properly balanced understanding of Islamic foreign policy and Shariah law. A clear directive is produced in order to analyse any violence that takes place today and determine if the justification provided is Islamic or not.

Fur die dritte Auflage hat Wilfried Hartmann sein Standardwerk zum Investiturstreit umfassend uberarbeitet und die Forschungsdiskussionen komplett aktualisiert. Vor allem die Abschnitte uber Quellenausgaben, Biographien sowie uber das Konigtum wurden stark erweitert, da in diesen Bereichen die Forschung der letzten 15 Jahre besonders wichtige Beitrage erbracht hat. In einem eigenen Abschnitt wird die Literatur uber die "Wende des 11. Jahrhunderts" vorgestellt und kritisch bewertet. In bewahrter Weise erganzt die umfangreiche, thematisch gegliederte Bibliographie diese grundlegende Einfuhrung fur Studierende und Dozenten der Mittelalterlichen Geschichte."

This work, Radical Islam and Civil Conflict in Africa, is written by a two-time Fulbright-Hays Fellow who currently serves as course director of global and world history courses within the University of Maryland University College system. The author, Norman C. Rothman, Ph.D., has written numerous published works related to Islam. This work serves to highlight recent and continuous struggles between Islamic militant forces and civil societies in North Africa, West Africa, and East Africa. The countries that will represent these regions are Libya, Nigeria, and Somalia. These countries are currently witnessing conflicts with no end in sight. The book examines the roots of these conflicts and analyses the reasons for their continuance. It goes on to assess possible outcomes for these internecine struggles, which appear to have become endemic to these countries. This work also delves into the causes of the growth of radical movements and provides insight as to why they have attracted and continue to attract support. It concludes with recommendations for resolving these conflicts, which at present appear to be permanent and intractable. The book is directed to those who have both a general and specific interest in comparative religion, recent history, international relations, Africa, and Islam.

The ways in which religious communities interact with one another is an increasing focus of scholarly research and teaching. Issues of interreligious engagement, inclusive of dialogue more specifically and relations more generally, attract widespread interest and concern. In a religiously pluralist world, how different communities get along with each other is not just an academic question; it is very much a focus of socio-political and wider community attention. The study of religions and religion in the 21st century world must necessarily take account of relations within and between religions, whether this is approached from a theological, historical, political, or any other disciplinary point of view. Understanding Interreligious Relations is a reference work of relevance to students and scholars as well as of interest to a wider informed public. It comprises two main parts. The first provides expositions and critical discussions of the ways in which 'the other' has been construed and addressed from within the major religious traditions. The second presents analyses and discussions of key issues and topics in which interreligious relations are an integral constituent. The editors have assembled an authoritative and scholarly work that discusses perspectives on the religious 'other' and interreligious relations that are typical of the major religious traditions; together with substantial original chapters from a cross-section of emerging and established scholars on main debates and issues in the wider field of interreligious relations.

'Masterfully opens up a little explored realm: how the quest for religion and spirituality drives hundreds of millions of Chinese' Pankaj Mishra 'A fascinating odyssey ... a nuanced group portrait of Chinese citizens striving for non-material answers in an era of frenetic materialism' Julia Lovell, Guardian 'The reappearance and flourishing of religion is perhaps the most surprising aspect of the dramatic changes in China in recent decades...this is a beautiful, moving and insightful book' Michael Szonyi In no society on Earth was there such a ferocious attempt to eradicate all trace of religion as in modern China. But now, following a century of violent antireligious campaigns, China is awash with new temples, churches, and mosques - as well as cults, sects, and politicians trying to harness religion for their own ends. Driving this explosion of faith is uncertainty - over what it means to be Chinese, and how to live an ethical life in a country that discarded traditional morality and is still searching for new guideposts. The Souls of China is the result of some fifteen years of studying and travelling around China. The message of Ian Johnson's extraordinary book is that China is now experiencing a 'Great Awakening' on a vast scale. Everywhere long-suppressed religions are rebuilding, often in new forms, and reshaping the values and behaviours of entire communities. Ian Johnson is as happy explaining the wonders of the lunar calendar as talking to the yinyang man who ensures proper burials. He visits meditation masters and the charismatic head of a Chengdu church. The result is a rich and funny work that challenges conventional wisdom about China. Xi Jinping, China's current leader, has put a return to morality and Chinese tradition at the heart of his ideas for his country - but, Johnson asks, at what point will the rapid spread of belief form an unmanageable challenge to the Party's monopoly on power?

Arab debates about the critical relationship between religion and modernity began in the early nineteenth century and are now integral to the struggle for influence and power between a variety of political groups and their opponents. This unique anthology introduces the writings of several key Arab Muslim and Christian religious revisionists or radical "free thinkers" (believers, agnostics, and atheists) who have sought to define this relationship. Although they differ in significant ways, all have been united in disputing the notion that life should conform exclusively to a system of laws and values based upon the Qur'an or the Bible, or, less radically, upon these as they were widely understood before the modern period. Authors from the nineteenth century to the present are represented, including the internationally recognized playwright and novelist Nawal El Saadawi, as well as lesser known writers such as the Iraqi poet Jamil Sidqi al-Zahawi and the Syrian religious thinker Muhammad Shahrur. Many of the writings have hitherto been scattered, difficult to locate, or inaccessible, and most have been here translated into English for the first time. The editor's thoughtful overview and introductions to each author help to make the volume relevant to general readers as well as scholars of the Middle East, of Islamic and comparative literary studies, and of politics and modern history.

Karen Armstrong, bestselling author of A History of God, skillfully narrates this history of the Crusades with a view toward their profound and continuing influence.

In 1095 Pope Urban II summoned Christian warriors to take up the cross and reconquer the Holy Land. Thus began the holy wars that would focus the power of Europe against a common enemy and become the stuff of romantic legend. In reality the Crusades were a series of rabidly savage conflicts in the name of piety. And, as Armstrong demonstrates in this fascinating book, their legacy of religious violence continues today in the Middle East, where the age-old conflict of Christians, Jews, and Muslims persists.

One of the most pressing issues of our time is the outbreak of extremist violence and terrorism, done in the name of religion. This volume critically analyses the link made between religion and violence in contemporary theory and proposes that 'religion' does not have a special relation to violence in opposition to culture, ideology or nationalism. Rather, religion and violence must be understood with relation to fundamental anthropological and philosophical categories such as culture, desire, disaster and rivalry. Does Religion Cause Violence? explores contemporary instances of religious violence, such as Islamist terrorism and radicalization in its various political, economic, religious, military and technological dimensions, as well as the legitimacy and efficacy of modern cultural mechanisms to contain violence, such as nuclear deterrence. Including perspectives from experts in theology, philosophy, terrorism studies, and Islamic studies, this volume brings together the insights of Rene Girard, the premier theorist of violence in the 20th century, with the latest scholarship on religion and violence, particularly exploring the nature of extremist violence.

Fears and stories about an underground religion devoted to Satan, which demands and carries out child sacrifice, appeared in the United States in the late twentieth century and became the subject of media reports supported by some mental health professionals. Examining these modern fantasies leads us back to ancient stories which in some cases believers consider the height of religious devotion. Horrifying ideas about human sacrifice, child sacrifice, and the offering to the gods of a beloved only son by his father appear repeatedly in Western traditions, starting with the Greeks and the Hebrews. In Flesh and Blood: Interrogating Freud on Human Sacrifice, Real and Imagined, Beit-Hallahmi focuses on rituals of violence tied to religion, both imagined and real. The main focus of this work is the meaning of blood and ritual killing in the history of religion. The book examines the encounter with the idea of child sacrifice in the context of human hopes for salvation.

Religious Pluralism and the City challenges the notion that the city is a secular place, and calls for an analysis of how religion and the city are intertwined. It is the first book to analyze the explanatory value of a number of typologies already in use around this topic - from "holy city" to "secular city", from "fundamentalist" to "postsecular city". By intertwining the city and religion, urban theory and theories of religion, this is the first book to provide an international and interdisciplinary analysis of post-secular urbanism. The book argues that, given the rise of religiously inspired violence and the increasing significance of charismatic Christianity, Islam and other spiritual traditions, the master narrative that modern societies are secular societies has lost its empirical plausibility. Instead, we are seeing the pluralization of religion, the co-existence of different religious worldviews, and the simultaneity of secular and religious institutions that shape everyday life. These particular constellations of "religious pluralism" are, above all, played out in cities. Including contributions from Peter L. Berger and Nezar Alsayyad, this book conceptually and empirically revokes the dissolution between city and religion to unveil its intimate relationship, and offers an alternative view on the quotidian state of the global urban condition.

'This acutely argued book will engender a thousand conversations' Cynthia Ozick The prescient New York Times writer delivers an urgent wake-up call exposing the alarming rise of anti-semitism -- and explains what we can do to defeat it On 27 October 2018 Bari Weiss's childhood synagogue in Pittsburgh became the site of the deadliest attack on Jews in American history. For most of us, the massacre came as a total shock. But to those who have been paying attention, it was only a more violent, extreme expression of the broader trend that has been sweeping Europe and the United States for the past two decades. No longer the exclusive province of the far right and far left, anti-Semitism finds a home in identity politics, in the renewal of 'America first' isolationism and in the rise of one-world socialism. An ancient hatred increasingly allowed into modern political discussion, anti-Semitism has been migrating toward the mainstream in dangerous ways, amplified by social media and a culture of conspiracy that threatens us all. In this urgent book, New York Times writer Bari Weiss makes a powerful case for renewing Jewish and liberal values to guide us through this uncertain moment.

Belgium was the second country in the world to introduce same-sex marriage. It has an elaborate legal system for protecting the rights of LGBT individuals in general and LGBT asylum seekers in particular. At the same time, since 2015 the country has become known as the `jihadi centre of Europe' and criticized for its `homonationalism' where some queer subjects - such as ethnic, racial and religious minorities, or those with a migrant background - are excluded from the dominant discourse on LGBT rights. Queer Muslims living in the country exist in this complex context and their identities are often disregarded as implausible. This book foregrounds the lived experiences of queer Muslims who migrated to Belgium because of their sexuality and queer Muslims who are the children of economic migrants. Based on extensive fieldwork, Wim Peumans examines how these Muslims negotiate silence and disclosure around their sexuality and understand their religious beliefs. He also explores how the sexual identity of queer Muslims changes within a context of transnational migration. In focusing on people with different migration histories and ethnic backgrounds, this book challenges the heteronormativity of Migration Studies and reveals the interrelated issues involved in migration, sexuality and religion. The research will be valuable for those working on immigration, refugees, LGBT issues, public policy and contemporary Muslim studies.