The World Religions paradigm Time for a change

Owen, Suzanne

doi:10.1177/1474022211408038

Cited by 71 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This paradigm, originally designed to emancipate the study of religion from its Christian confines, has been enthusiastically adopted in public discourse globally. However, its critics argue that such a perspective is an expression of modern Western hegemony which imposes a particular understanding of religion upon very diverse traditions (Gregg and Scholefield 2015;Owen 2011;Masuzawa 2005); Orsi 1997Orsi , 2002 Others maintain that such a perspective does conceptual violence to the nature of cultural worlds where a creedal or institutional affiliation to only one tradition is not the norm. The concept of 'religion' is then shaped by Christian expectations regarding religion, namely, creedal affirmation, sacred-secular contrast, and exclusive membership (Sharma 2011).…”

Section: Cultural Imperialism Multiple Framework and The World Relimentioning

confidence: 99%

The Promise and Challenge of Multireligious Peacebuilding in the 21st Century: A Myanmar Case Study

King

Owen

2020

Religions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article explores whether a relational approach to peacebuilding, shared multireligious perspectives and widening networks can bring sources of strength which enable positive peacebuilding and create grassroots, cross-community peace. While religious peacebuilding organizations have become the object of a burgeoning literature, the role of multireligious organisations in peacebuilding has received far less attention. The purpose of this paper is to redress this lack. By examining the influence, challenges and benefits of multireligious approaches to transnational peacebuilding, we hope to develop a sharper and more critically nuanced understanding of the potential role of multireligious organisations in global peacebuilding, and consider what, if anything, distinguishes them from secular and other faith-based organisations. We do so by analysing the impact of a project carried out in Myanmar by Religions for Peace. The project provides three case studies which offer unique opportunities to consider the limits and potential of multireligious grassroots interventions in conflict contexts with very different histories and cultural configurations.

show abstract

Section: Cultural Imperialism Multiple Framework and The World Relimentioning

confidence: 99%

The Promise and Challenge of Multireligious Peacebuilding in the 21st Century: A Myanmar Case Study

King

Owen

2020

Religions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…When tasked to design a new religious studies program, we took seriously longstanding academic critiques levied against the world religions paradigm (WRP). While the common conception of the study of religion is that it focuses on religions geographically according to diverse traditions, recent scholarship has demonstrated that this model is rooted in a Western‐centric colonialism and is now considered ethnocentric and outdated (Cotter & Robertson, ; Masuzawa, ; Owen, ). Much has been written on how to address problems with the WRP in the classroom; much less has been written on how to address it at the level of program design.…”

Section: Alignment With Discipline (Program and Religious Studies)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching in contexts: Designing a competency‐based religious studies program

Gray-Hildenbrand

King

2019

Teaching Theology & Religion

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Over the last decade, the discipline of religious studies has promoted religious literacy as both an invaluable contribution to curriculum and an indispensable social good. While much has been written on the importance of the study of religion for the development of religious literacy, little attention has been given to the identification of the disciplinary skills and content knowledge (or what we refer to as religious studies competencies) a student develops through extended study of religion. In this essay, we present an example of how to integrate a religious studies competency-based model into program design and implementation. We argue that the transition to a competency-based religious studies program has two potential benefits. First, competency program design provides an opportunity to redesign and update religious studies programs in a more responsible manner that aligns with our students, institution, discipline, and profession. Second, competency program design facilitates the conditions where we can better avoid duplicating the much criticized world religions paradigm. KEYWORDS alignment, competency-based education, program design, religious literacy, world religions paradigm

show abstract

“…In doing so, there is the potential for the psychology of religion to integrate itself more fully into the broader discipline as well as related disciplines such as the sociology of religion. Such a shift in perspective also reflects the evolution within the field of religious studies, where the world religions paradigm that implicitly underpins much psychological research has been robustly critiqued (Fitzgerald, 1990;Owen, 2011). Only a multi-level, interdisciplinary approach (Emmons & Paloutzian, 2003) can adequately explore all the aspects of religiosity and spirituality, and this paper concludes by arguing for the utilization of under-used methodologies to create a more inclusive understanding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Beyond “Religion” and “Spirituality”

Murphy

2017

Archive for the Psychology of Religion

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A review of recent research suggests that academic and popular distinctions between “religion” and “spirituality” are unfounded. Working from a meaning systems perspective, it is argued that recognizing that “religious” and “spiritual” are part of the same broad category does not go far enough. It is argued that a wider perspective that considers the interplay of many different cultural and social factors on both beliefs and practices is more useful. This broadening of the multi-level, interdisciplinary paradigm to examine all existential cultures, including the secular and non-religious, offers the potential to better understand the complexity and diversity of lived religion. Increased use of idiographic methodologies and a more reflective approach to the constructs used in nomothetic methodologies are advocated as a way to advance the field and better explore beliefs and practices in a more ecologically valid way.

show abstract

The World Religions paradigm Time for a change

Cited by 71 publications

References 16 publications

The Promise and Challenge of Multireligious Peacebuilding in the 21st Century: A Myanmar Case Study

The Promise and Challenge of Multireligious Peacebuilding in the 21st Century: A Myanmar Case Study

Teaching in contexts: Designing a competency‐based religious studies program

Beyond “Religion” and “Spirituality”

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About