Recently, Europe’s highest court ruled that “workers can be prohibited from wearing any kind of religious symbol to work.” (Neffinger, www.christianheadlines.com) In Belgium, a woman claimed she was fired from her job at a security company due to religious discrimination because she wore a hijab to work. (Neffinger, www.christianheadlines.com) The high court ruled against her however, saying that prohibiting the wearing of religious symbols isn’t direct discrimination. (Neffinger, www.christianheadlines.com) The court did add, however, that the ban has to apply to all religious symbols in order for it to be counted as not being religious discrimination. (Neffinger, www.christianheadlines.com) Some would say this is fair, others would say this is still a blow to religions. Also, one has to wonder if this an example of Europe’s growing secularization. Fewer and fewer people attend religious services in Europe now more than ever. (Berger, Davie, Fokas, Pg. 11) There are also less clergy, and “the churches have largely lost their former importance in public life.” (Berger, Davie, Fokas, Pg. 11) Also, “European politics [have eschewed] the sort of religiously tinged rhetoric” that is found elsewhere. (Berger, Davie, Fokas, Pg. 11) Is this case an example of these politics or is it something else completely? The point is that religion is fading in many aspects of European life and this might be one of the ways in which it’s happening.
Employers in EU can ban visible religious symbols
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/03/14/top-eu-court-rules-employers-can-ban-visible-religious-symbols-including-islamic-headscarves/99156814/
The European Court of Justice ruled recently that employers in countries governed by the EU can ban employees for wearing visible symbols of religious affiliation, such as Muslim headscarves or Christian crosses. This decision was reached after two Muslim women, fired from jobs in Belgium and France for wearing headscarves, took their cases to court. The court ruled that it was up to the employers to decide whether or not they would ban visible symbols indicating religious or political beliefs.
The two cases concerned Samira Achbita and Asma Bougnaoui. The former was a receptionist for Belgian security services firm G4S. There was an “unwritten rule” in the workplace stating that employees could not wear visible religious symbols, but when Achbita informed the firm in 2016 that she intended to wear her headscarf, the ban was made official, leading to Achbita’s firing and subsequent court case. The latter, Asma Bougnaoui, was an engineer at Micropole, a French consulting, engineering, and training firm, but was fired when a customer complained about her headscarf. The firm asked her not to wear it, and when she refused, she was fired. The ECJ did decide that workplaces could not demand that customers not wear religious symbols based solely on customer wishes if there was no policy in place banning them.
The court ruling has sparked much controversy throughout the EU, with many claiming that it supports prejudice and discrimination.
Pope Francis Open to Idea of Ordaining Married Priests
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/03/10/pope-francis-suggests-an-openness-to-ordaining-married-men-as-priests/?utm_term=.4da0bf122515
In 1965, there were 58,000 priests in the U.S. and in 2016 there were only 37,000. Catholic priests are in high demand and less men are wanting to become priests each year. Pope Francis has suggested that he would be open to thinking about allowing married men to become priests, especially in remote areas of the world. For example, the Amazon has only 1 priest for every 10,000 Catholics, so allowing married men to become priests would be extremely beneficial to these Catholic communities. It is unclear if this idea would extend to the United States if approved or if it would just extend to communities around the world that need it the most. Stephen Rossetti, a Catholic University of America Professor, says that Pope Francis would most likely not extend this to the West, but make an exception and allow it in remote countries as a merciful gesture.
The idea might anger some members of the Catholic Church because of the issue of celibacy. Celibacy is what separates Catholic priests from Protestant ones and Catholics view this as something special that their priests have. Pope Francis has said in the past that priests should be celibate, but he also said that it is not technically dogma so it is open to change. Massimo Faggioli, a Church historian at Villanova University, states that the idea of celibate priests is more institutional, financial, and cultural than it is theological.
This potential shift away from traditional rules in the Catholic Church may lead the Church to greater acceptance by secular culture and may make the Church more appealing to outsiders. It would allow more members of society to become leaders in the Church. Having married priests would also make them more relatable, which is likely to attract new members.
Southern Baptist’s Job on the Line Due to Politics
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/03/13/could-southern-baptist-leader-russell-moore-lose-his-job-churches-threaten-funding-after-months-of-trump-controversy/?utm_term=.cbae1ce03f81
Russell Moore’s position as the president of the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Church is in contention. The Washington Post article outlines how Moore has continuously critiqued President Trump throughout the campaign period and his first few months of presidency. The Southern Baptist Church is traditionally conservative, and thus typically support Trump’s platform– more than 80 percent of white evangelicals voted for Trump. The article notes that this could be tied to a hope for nominating a Supreme Court Judge that would oppose abortion rights. Moore’s disagreement with Trump has consequently caused contention between the congregation members and leadership. Furthermore, “46,000 churches have threatened to cut off financial support for the SBC’s umbrella fund,” according to the president of the executive committee, Frank Page. This deprivation of funds could cause serious strife for the Southern Baptists. Page continued to insinuate that asking for Moore’s resignation is not out of the question, although he hopes that he can work with those who oppose him to reconcile the disagreement. Moore has been complimented for working towards racial justice, and for encouraging older generations to appeal to more modern politics (this is an inference from the article, but I am assuming this means a push from conservatism towards more liberal politics). The article notes that having Moore removed from the church would be a loss in terms of implementing racial equality within congregations.
This news story is yet another example of the close tie between politics and religion. I find this story to be particularly interesting, however, because it outlines the contention that takes place when their is political disagreement within a church, when I would assume that religious beliefs could be separate from political party affiliation. This has seemingly proved to be false, which is demonstrated with the potential loss of Moore’s job.
Discrimination in Religion Against Women
In America there is a picture that is painted stating that Islamic religion discriminates heavily against women, but is it the only religion that does so? Graham Perrett, a writer for the Huffington Post, dives into the question, are other religions promoting inequality among gender? He claims that discrimination against women in religion is so embedded that many men don’t even see it as inequality. They feel that it is simply the way religion has always and is supposed to be done. In the Catholic church there are many places were the discrimination shows such as; women had to cover their head with a mantilla, girls can not be alter servers, boys can avoid politely shaking the hand of a woman at a formal functions and women cannot be priests only nuns. In Orthodox Judaism, some believe that women cannot talk to god and only men get to go to heaven unless the women is brought to heaven by her man. It is unfair to point the finger at Islam and say that they do not treat women fairly when many religions do. Although, the role of women in churches has slowly become prominent, and religion is catching up to social norms. An example of this is some churches allowing women to give sermons, or giving the chance for a young girl to be an alter server. It is important to see these inequalities in all religions and address them as inequalities, instead of the norms of religion life.
Religion and Social Change
Last week in class we discussed religion and social change, while also preparing for our midterm. On Monday we watched a film documenting the role of religion in African Americans’ lives and its significant influence. I really enjoyed the film as I have never considered the role of religion in African Americans’ lives, and it was interesting to see how many funcitons religion really can serve. In the film, it was apparent that religion was more than just a way to become closer to God. Religion and the church provided a sense of community and a safe space for those involved in the church. The film portrayed the church to be a place of acceptance and a place everyone can come together as equal. Especially in a society in which African Americans have faced prejudice and unfair treatment, having a safe space like a church to turn to feel like you’re a part of a larger community really is essential. It was clear to see that religion to those documented in the film was so much more than just going to church every week.
Reflection 3/12/17
This week we discussed religion and its impact on social change, in addition to preparing for our midterm. We took a very interesting in-depth look at African American religiosity and its role in the social world, which was a fascinating look at a culture that I, as a white man, am obviously very unfamiliar with. But it also proved to be one of the best examples I can think of for the influence religion has on society, and I greatly enjoyed getting to learn so much about it. Another fascinating aspect of this week’s class was the insight into how religion can influence its own community. The one we looked at was a fascinating example of how religion can protect a community’s unique cultural identity from the cultural bias around them; the community of the church viewed in the film reclaimed their congregation from a more white way of thinking about society, and made their service unique to their cultural identity.
Moving forward I look forward to discussing the excerpt of this next chapter, Religion in the Modern World, and the four narratives it proposed. This is clearly going to be a very complex and in-depth issue, and I cannot wait to explore it in more depth.
Religion and bias
The movie we watched in class showed us that how religion can ties people together to create social movement against social bias. In the movie, black church creates place to keep people together and protect their identity from bias. It was also those people’s way to protest, and fight back against unreasonable bias. Their effect to social change is huge, and it contributes to both conflict and cohesion through fighting against society and getting equality.
However, part of reason that there is social inequality, not just racism but also gender role and other social premise is religion itself. Religion contributed to give white people priority and set gender role for man and woman. The way, despite the direction of movement, of how religion affected to society is same for both white privilege and movement against bias. Both creates or changes certain trend in society, and both protects certain group. Movement against woman gender role is more preferable to people compared to back then, when traditional woman gender role is more preferable. I think only difference is time, situation, and the existed social trend. The result of how people use religion in social movement can be anything, even opposite, which shows how big the influence of religion is on people and society.
Modern Religious Narratives
The narratives discussed in Religion in the Modern World as well as in Narrative vs. Theory rang especially true to my experience with American religion and its landscape across our nation. The prominence of secularization got me thinking about how different our world would be if religion had more cultural authority, and the morality behind that thought. This has made me wonder if religion has not been secularized, if the behaviors and actions of our communities would be less diverse. If religious organizations had more power, and communities subscribed to the same religion, and individuals were held accountable for acting in congruence with their faith, it seems that we would end up without much diversity in our society. In terms of our government, McGuire’s text discusses how the courts are independent of religion, and in the past, state and nation governments could make charges with a religious foundation. In this regard, secularization of religion has allowed for more religious diversity and freedom in our nation. That being said, although the United States does practice separation of church and state, our government still seems to have Christian morals at its foundation, and even mentions God in its pledge. I am wondering what the relationship between this civil religion and secularization is.
Impact of Religion on Social Change
The sociology of religion asks: Under what conditions does religion have the greatest impact on society, and under what conditions is religion’s influence likely to inhibit or promote change change? The inequalities throughout history to modern time and institutions of oppression have stemmed from religious beliefs. Religion began with giving status to some while inadvertently creating levels of hierarchy, gender roles, and racial power dynamics. Ch. 7 of Mcguire’s “Social Context” conveys that religious organizations have frequently vested interests in protecting their own alliance with dominant groups in political and economic spheres. Through religious belief the idea of the white supremacy has legitimized racism that is now imbedded in our institutions. Religious people supported colonization and imperialism which in the United States turned into legitimizing slavery. This has kept one power and privilege to a certain group, while marginalizing others.
Yet, religion can serve has a platform to create social change with their beliefs. In class we discussed that religion changes society when religious people act out of faith and moral sense of what it means to be human, paired with the social setting of the point in history. Out of all the pain the slaves endured during the slavery times in the US, the one thing they had was religion. As a result the civil rights stemmed from Black preachers in Black churches. MLK’s voice of a preacher made his speeches all that more powerful. Religions have the ability to organize hundreds if not thousands of people to have similar beliefs, and could influence change in society.