Contemporary conflicts about secularity in ‘the West’ tend to focus on public space. Although collective Christian heritage means that space is rarely exclusively neutral, continue arise over the relationship between and religious symbolism, especially those symbols which derive from minorities. This contribution critically considers designation of as either sacred or secular political imaginar...

Tree worship is very common worldwide. This field study surveys the ceremonies and customs related to sacred trees in present-day Israel; it includes the results of interviews with 98 informants in thirty-one Arab, Bedouin, and Druze villages in the Galilee. The main results are: 1. Sacred trees were treated as another kind of sacred entity with all their metaphysical as well as physical manife...

Conflicts over sacred values may be particularly difficult to resolve. Because sacred values are nonfungible with material values, standard attempts to negotiate, such as offering material incentives to compromise, often backfire, increasing moral outrage and support for violent action. We present studies with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza demonstrating three other ways sacred values m...

Sacred natural sites have played important social and cultural roles in many cultures around the world for centuries. More recently, scientists have shown that sacred sites act as de facto protected areas. However , the potential for sacred sites to be integrated into conservation strategies depends on the motivations of people to protect them. The objective of this study is to understand peopl...

Sacred forest groves in the Western Ghats of India are small fragments of tropical forest that have received protection due to religious beliefs and cultural practices. These forest fragments are an example of community-based conservation and they serve as refugia for many forest-dwelling species in otherwise highly anthropogenic tropical forest-agriculture landscapes of the Indian Western Ghat...

A space can be sacred, providing those who inhabit a particular space with sense of transcendence-being connected to something greater than oneself. The sacredness may be inherent in the space, as for a religious institution or a serene place outdoors. Alternatively, a space may be made sacred by the people within it and events that occur there. As medical providers, we have the opportunity to ...

English as well as French differentiates the term holy from the term sacred – in fact, Levinas' book "Du sacré au saint" is translated as "From the Sacred to the Holy". This is illustrative of the extent to which the meanings of the two words differ. God is called "The Holy One Blessed be He", but we would find it peculiar to refer to Him as "The Sacred One". By contrast, when referring to plac...