{"id":3717,"date":"2023-09-13T14:11:34","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T13:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stgilescentre.org\/?p=3717"},"modified":"2023-09-13T14:11:34","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T13:11:34","slug":"read-about-the-latest-challenging-religious-issues-in-our-on-line-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stgilescentre.org\/cy\/2023\/09\/13\/read-about-the-latest-challenging-religious-issues-in-our-on-line-journal\/","title":{"rendered":"Read about the latest challenging religious issues in our on-line journal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Issue 20 of Challenging Religious Issues <\/em>is now available for free download on the St Giles’ Centre<\/a> website. In this latest issue, academic experts introduce and reflect upon five more challenging religious issues for teachers and students, including: Virtue ethics in business; Making sense of ‘non-religion’; Was Hinduism invented?; Should Buddhists abandon rites and rituals?; and Sikh discernment of the divine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brief article descriptions and a direct link to issue 20 of the journal are provided below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virtue Ethics in Business Organisations<\/strong> by Professor Geoff Moore<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first part of this two-part article a brief summary of virtue ethics is provided before turning to construct a framework of practices, institutions, goods and virtues that Alasdair MacIntyre offers in his book After Virtue. In the second part, the implications of this framework for business organisations are explored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making Sense of Non-religion: Revisiting Secularisation from the Other Side<\/strong> \u2026 by Professor Matthew Guest<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article considers the question of secularisation from the point of view of those who identify as \u2018non-religious\u2019 and asks what this label might mean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was Hinduism Invented?<\/strong> by Dr Stephen Jacobs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article addresses how and when Hinduism was conceived as a distinctive religion that could be compared with other religions. While the roots of Hinduism may possibly be traced back to the Indus Valley Civilisation (c.2500BCE\u20131700BCE), the term \u2018Hinduism\u2019 was not widely used until the 19th century. The article focuses on the encounter between Indians and Europeans during the colonial period, which was the context for the emergence of the idea of Hinduism as a coherent and unified religious tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should Buddhists abandon rites and rituals?<\/strong> by Phra Dr Nicholas Thanissaro<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although rites and rituals appear to be widespread in traditional Buddhism, some ambiguity surrounds whether historically ceremonies were to be encouraged or abandoned, especially when \u2018adherence to rites and rituals\u2019 is listed amongst the fetters holding a practitioner back from enlightenment. This debate has resurfaced in present-day Western Buddhism where those influenced by Protestantism tend to deprioritise ceremony in favour of meditation. This article examines possible attitudes to ceremony that can reconcile both sides of the argument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sikh Discernment of the Divine<\/strong> by Dr Opinderjit Kaur Takhar<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article focuses on the Sikh perspective on the nature and discernment of the Divine. Teachings from the Guru Granth Sahib portray the Ultimate Divine as gender-free, formless and experienced through the senses \u2013 especially by the process of \u2018seeing\u2019 the Divine [dar\u015ban]. The devotees\u2019 experience of the Divine (often referred to as Waheguru) is compared to the blissful union with one\u2019s Beloved. This union is understood as the mechanism by which the devotee can elevate their consciousness from the worldly [manmukh] to the Divine [gurmukh]. This personal relationship with the Divine is explained as experiencing this essence within, rather than looking for the Divine in spaces external to the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read \/ download the journal here:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n