Failed Secular Revolutions: Religious Belief, Competition, and Extremism

Plantinga’s Reformed Epistemology and Religious Extremism: Some Historical Evidences

مطابق معرفت­شناسی اصلاح شده آلوین پلانتینگا، باورهای دینی همچون باورهای ادراکی، پایه هستند و از این رو نیازی به توجیه بیشتر ندارند. اما همانگونه که بارها گفته شده است این عقیده به نسبی­گرایی منتهی می­شود. ما در این مقاله ابتدا استدلال می­کنیم که نه فقط بعد نسبی­گرایانه آن نظریه به افراط­گرایی دینی منجر می­شود، بلکه می­توان از آن برای توجیه افراط­گرایی نیز استفاده کرد. سپس با ذکر چند گواهی تاریخ...

Religious-Secular Cleavage and Political Stability in Israel

Due to its artificial and unnatural structure, Israeli society has since the beginning of its establishment, been a context for the emergence of different kinds of cleavages and tensions. This state of affairs has endangered the political stability of the Israeli regime. The present research is trying to answer this question: what is the effect of religious-secular cleavages in Israel on the fu...

Religious extremism: the good, the bad, and the deadly

This paper challenges conventional views of violent religious extremism, particularly those that emphasize militant theology. We offer an alternative analysis that helps explain the persistent demand for religion, the different types of religious that naturally arise, and the special attributes of the “sectarian” type. Sects are adept at producing club goods – both spiritual and material. Where...

Social Norms and Religious Belief

It may seem odd to bring up the topic of religious belief in connection with sociology in any way other than to examine examples of specific norms advocated by particular religious traditions. But that is exactly what I intend to do here. My title should be taken in the broadest possible sense. It means to raise the question of how, in general, religious beliefs impact our concepts of social no...

The Secular Benefits of Comparative Religious Education