Dangerous Freedoms: Jehovah's Witnesses, Religious Liberty, and the Questions of Sexual Abusers and Disfellowshipped Ex-Members
Sociologist Hans Joas sees the coexistence, and sometimes conflict, of three form of sacralizations in modern history: religious sacralization, and the sacralizations of the nation and the person. The article argues that today the "religion of God" defends its religious liberty against som...
| Published in: | The journal of CESNUR |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
[2021]
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| In: |
The journal of CESNUR
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Jehovah's Witnesses
/ Religious freedom
/ Sexual abuse
/ Member
/ Exclusion
/ Social
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| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AZ New religious movements KDH Christian sects |
| Further subjects: | B
freedom of religion and belief
B Jehovah's Witnesses B Religious Liberty B Ostracism B Shunning and Religion B Sexual Abuse and Religion |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Sociologist Hans Joas sees the coexistence, and sometimes conflict, of three form of sacralizations in modern history: religious sacralization, and the sacralizations of the nation and the person. The article argues that today the "religion of God" defends its religious liberty against some excessive claims both by the "religion of the state" and the "religion of the person." Like canaries in the coal mine, Jehovah's Witnesses are often the first to be hit, both by the "religion of the state" in nondemocratic regimes that deny their individual religious liberty, and by the "religion of the person" in modern democracies where their corporate religious liberty is under attack. By defending their rights to be free from interferences of the states when they decide which members should be disfellowshipped (and as a consequence shunned or "ostracized"), even when these members are accused of sexual abuse (a different question with respect to whether they should be reported to secular authorities), the Jehovah's Witnesses are again today at the cutting edge of the defense of religious liberty against the most subtle and dangerous forms of assault. |
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| ISSN: | 2532-2990 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of CESNUR
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.26338/tjoc.2021.5.1.4 |