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John Owen IV on Confronting Political Islam, Historical Lessons

tonygill — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 09:00:22 +0000

Can 16th century rebellions in Scotland, France, and the Netherlands be useful in helping us understand the international politics of ISIS, the Arab Spring, and other popular movements surrounding the rise of political Islam? What about how the US reacted to various socialists during the Cold War? Prof. John Owen IV, professor of politics at the University of Virginia, explores these unique historical comparisons and more as a means of understanding how the United States and Europe engage the ideological phenomenon known broadly as Islamism. This intriguing interview is sure to be an eye-opener!

Despite discussing a book entitled Confronting Political Islam (see link below), we begin with an examination of three Calvinist rebellions in 16th century Europe involving Scotland, France, and the Netherlands. Prof. Owen points out that the title of his book is “Six Lessons from the West’s Past” and notes how these old conflicts had several things in common that are important for understanding contemporary challenges in the world. These three revolts all involved ideologically-committed partisans that had transnational alliances and provoked foreign interventions into the domestic landscape of where these battles were fought, much like the situations we see today in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia.

Tony quickly takes to challenging Dr. Owen on such an odd comparison, which might be likened to comparing apples and oranges. This leads to a discussion on the important role of understanding the past and how history may not repeat itself, but often rhymes (with John citing Mark Twain’s quote to this effect). We also spend a short segment on discussing the important role of ideas in motivating human behavior and international intrigue. Tony admits he is highly partial to “interest-based” explanations and downplays the role that ideology plays in fostering human action, often seeing ideologies as ex post facto justifications for behavior. John counters with some excellent examples where ideas motivated important change even against the interest of the individuals promoting that change, including Martin Luther. Tony yields this point but notes how some individuals, such as Henry IV who accepted Catholicism so he could conquer Paris, have very malleable belief systems. John agrees and we both note that there is a spectrum of individuals from those who hold fast to their ideologies and act vociferously upon them to others who willingly jettison their convictions at moment’s notice (and everything in between).

Following this theoretical and methodological discussion, we turn attention to the comparison between political Islam and various ideological conflicts in the West’s past, including the aforementioned Calvinist rebellions as well as the struggle between democratic capitalism and communism. John spells out what he means by Islamism and denotes why he focused his book largely on the Middle East and North Africa, where the heart of a new contemporary ideological battle between Islamism and secularism is taking place. He provides a nice history of this ideological tension dating back to the 19th century, covering the push towards secular modernization that occurred first with Mutafa Kemal Ataturk in Turkey and then the more religiously-based pushback following the failure of many of these secular regimes.

The remaining part of the interview is devoted to several of Prof. Owen’s six lessons from history. While we do not cover all six, we do spend significant time on four of them. First, John reminds us not to sell Islamism short in that ideologies that seem “out of place and time” often have significant staying power and are very salient to individuals who hold them. While those in the West may see Islamism as a throwback to a “medieval time,” partisans of this political theology see themselves as moving history forward. He likens this to the battle for liberal democracy in the face of monarchism during the 18th and1th centuries. Second, John points out that ideological struggles frequently involve foreign intervention so that the interveners can gain foreign allies in international struggles and so that those same intervening governments can quell domestic threats. Here we see comparisons between the civil war in Syria with England’s action of the Calvinist rebellions in the 1560s.

Third, Prof. Owen notes that ideologies are not monolithic and foreign policy should not be made on that basis. He introduces a new word into Tony’s vocabulary — polylithic. Here, the historical lesson of the West comes from the Cold War era when Harry Truman pursued a policy that differentiated between various flavors of socialism in Europe and communism, finding allies amongst some of the more anti-Soviet variants. He cautions policymakers from seeing Islamism as a single monolithic entity and notes how cooperation with Iran may be worthwhile in some instances. Finally, John urges us to watch the exemplar cases of Turkey and Iran to see how various ideologies play out over time as there is always a disconnect between promoting an ideology and having to “pick up the garbage” (i.e., rule on a daily basis). John pulls from his studies of The Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries to show how religious conflict was finally moderated and how the lessons of Dutch toleration were adopted by others including Britain and the US.

Prof. Owen finishes the discussion with his musings about what he learned throughout the process of researching and writing his book, including some reflections on his own biases going into the study. Recorded: December 29, 2014.

Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture.

Confronting Political Islam: Six Lessons from the West’s Past, by John Owen.

The Clash of Ideas in World Politics: Transnational Networks, States, and Regime Change, by John Owen.

Liberal Peace, Liberal War: American Politics and International Security, by John Owen.

Philip Jenkins on Religion & World War I.

Kevan Harris on Iran’s Islamic Revolution and Green Movement.

Matthew Derrick on the Geography of the Umma.

William Inboden on Religious Liberty, Foreign Policy, and the Arab Spring.

Jared Rubin on Christian and Islamic Economic History.

Daniel Philpott on Religious Resurgence and Democratization.

Monica Toft on Religion, Terrorism, and Civil War.

Darren Slade on Missionizing North Korea

tonygill — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 08:00:20 +0000

Missionizing North Korea? Is that even possible? Darren Slade, a Ph.D. student of Christian theology and apologetics at Liberty University, covers some of the strategies that have been used and might be used when evangelizing one of the world’s most repressive and atheistic regimes.

After letting Darren plug a few of his other projects, we ask him how he ever became interested in the topic of missionizing North Korea. He shares a rather personal story about hearing of religious persecution in that country and how that led him to connect with the Voice of the Martyrs’ Safe Houses Project. We then cover some historical ground, reviewing the religious landscape of North Korea, how Christianity came to the Korean peninsula in the 18th and 19th centuries, and then how the Japanese occupation, communist revolution, and Korean War played a role in shaping the region. We also review the rise of the personality cult surrounding Kim Il-Sung and, to a lesser extent, Kim Jong-Il. This cult of personality plays a large role in determining missionary strategy, a topic we cover later.

Tony then asks Darren why any Christian would want to put North Korea on the evangelization map. Given the closed and tightly-closed nature of the society, not to mention the high level of persecution for Christians, one would imagine that this would be one place to avoid. Darren notes that Christians are not called to avoid difficult populations and also recognizes that even small gains in such a desolate nation represent major achievements.

Our conversation then turns to different missionary strategies. Darren divides up the efforts into two categories: humanitarian effort and covert evangelization. The former includes Christian foreign aid groups (e.g., World Vision) that enter the country to provide food, medicine, and clothing, as well as building and operating things such as soy milk and noodle factories. Building trust of foreigners is a significant part of this type of missionizing, given that years of propaganda has made the population leery of outsiders, most notably Americans and Japanese. Tony asks how overt proselytism is in these factories. We also discuss the bleak socio-economic situation of the vast majority of the population, which presents an interesting tension within the governing regime — while the juche philosophy of self-reliance would tend to downplay the role of foreign aid missions, the government fully realizes that it needs such aid to prevent a catastrophic collapse of their population.

Darren also talks about covert missionizing and here we have a number of creative methods of getting Christian missions in. Darren’s favorite tactic is “balloon drops,” wherein hydrogen-filled “mini blimps” are floated across the border from South Korea with Gospel tracts, Bibles, radios, and food/medicine. Low-frequency radio broadcasts are also used. Later, Darren suggests that writing Bible tracts on pictures of the Great Leaders, or hiding Bibles inside of books that have images of Kim Il-Sung on them might also be a useful strategy. Darren also offers up some cautionary notes on evangelization, warning that these efforts need to proceed with great patience and that it is important to respect the extant culture of the population. Building trust is of primary concern, and any efforts to attack the regime or otherwise engage in politics may be counterproductive.

We finish with Darren’s thoughts about the future of North Korea. While it is a bleak situation, he remains cautiously optimistic about changes that may be occurring. Recorded: August 25, 2014.

RELATED LINKS

Daren M. Slade on Academia.edu (where you can find links to his writings).

Voice of the Martyrs.

RELATED PODCASTS

Karrie Koesel on House Churches in China.

Karrie Koesel on Religion & Politics in China.

Kevin Cooney on Religion and the Rule of Law in China.

Kevin Cooney on Christianity in Japan.

Lan Chu on Catholicism in Vietnam.

Roger Finke on Religious Persecution.

Joel Fetzer on Confucianism and Democracy.

Religious Freedom and Political Flourishing: A Panel Discussion.

Religious Freedom and Economic Prosperity: A Panel Discussion.

Ani Sarkissian on Religious Liberty in the Post-Soviet World.

Catherine Wanner on Religion in Russia.

James Felak on Vatican Council II

tonygill — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 09:00:13 +0000

In October of 1962, several thousand cardinals, bishops and other dignitaries met at the Vatican to initiate what would become a three year “meeting of minds” that became known as The Second Vatican Council (a.k.a., Vatican Council II or Vatican II). To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the beginning of this momentous gathering, we invite back our favorite historian of modern Catholicism, James Felak, professor of history at the University of Washington. James guides us through a brief history of Christian/Catholic councils dating back to the First Council of Nicaea. All told, there have been 21 general (major) councils. We talk about their general purpose and also note how there was a roughly 300 year gap in major councils before Vatican Council I was called 1868. We review what happened at The First Vatican Council as a way of setting the table for the second one, which was to follow a century later. Prof. Felak lays out the historical context of the mid-19th century that helped to motivate Vatican I, as well as the main issues that were debated and decided at that council, including papal infallibility and the role and autonomy of the bishops. Interestingly, the specific role of the bishops and collegiality was never fully resolved, something that had an impact on Vatican II. We then catapult ourselves into the 20th century to discuss the motivations behind the convening of VCII. James points out, contrary to some popular opinion, that the Catholic Church was not in crisis during the mid-1990s and “crisis” was not a motivating factor behind this council. Although VCII is most associated with John XXIII, James notes that Pope Pius XII was making plans for a general council to reaffirm what was decided at Vatican I. With Pius’s death, though, things change and Prof. Felak nicely summarizes the differences between these two popes and how this shapes what would become VCII. He notes that some of the changes that would occur within the liturgy began with Pius XII, contrary to his image as being more conservative pontiff. Likewise, John XXIII was not as theologically liberal as many people now assume; he just liked to hug people in public, which seems somewhat liberal. Interestingly, we learn that John XXIII was considered to be a “caretaker” pontiff, something that is not uncommon within Catholic history; given John XXIII’s age it was assumed that he would maintain the status of the Church while considerations would be given to who the next pope would be. But lo and behold, John XXIII, who was not likely in on Pius XII’s plans, suprisingly calls a council in 1959. This propels Tony into a little bit of mathematical calculation, noting that there is a 3 1/2 year gap between when Vacican II is announced and when it actually convenes. This generates a discussion about the logistics for such a large event. James fills us in on how decisions were made about who to invite, how much of the council would be open to the general public (via modern media) and other faiths, and who will be setting the intellectual underpinnings of the meeting itself. We even discuss the critical issue of how to house all these people, including members of the media and observers from other faiths who were invited as a means of opening a dialogue about ecumenism. After soliciting opinions about what should be discussed, we discover that the agenda starts to spiral in all different directions, which gives rise to the council’s three-year duration. We start that discussion by noting what was not talked about at the conclave, including birth control, clerical celibacy, and the role of the Curia. James then goes into the wide range of issues that were addressed and brings up the various important documents such as Dignitatis Humanae, Gaudium et Spes and Lumen Gentium. We also chat about the politicking that went on behind the scenes, how media leaks influenced the conference, and what role the US government might have tried to play during the proceedings. In the last 20 minutes of the interview, James discusses the impact that Vatican II has had on the Catholic Church since the 1960s and emphasizes the “spirit of Vatican II” and the tension of getting back to basics (ressourcement) and growing organically with a changing world (aggiornamento). Tony shares his experiences with the folk Mass that he remembers from his childhood. James then disavows some of his misplaced notions about how John Paul II has tried to reverse the reforms of Vatican II; just as John XXIII was not as liberal as popular media portrays him, neither was John Paul II the conservative that he is often made out to be. We finish with Prof. Felak’s thoughts about where the Catholic Church is heading over the next several years. Recorded: December 18, 2012.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. James Felak’s biography at the University of Washington.

After Hitler, Before Stalin: Catholics, Communists, and Democrats in Slovakia, 1945-1948, by James Felak.

RELATED PODCASTS

James Felak on Pope John Paul II and Communism.

James Felak on Pope Pius XII, The Wartime Pontiff.

Lan Chu on Catholicism in Vietnam.

Margarita Mooney on Pope Benedict XVI & Cuba

tonygill — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 08:00:34 +0000

We celebrate our 100th episode with returning guest Prof. Margarita Mooney discussing Pope Benedict XVI’s historic visit to Cuba. Prof. Mooney is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Faculty Fellow at the Carolina Population Center. As a Cuban-American, she has maintained a personal link to the island nation, has made several trips to Cuba and maintains contact with a variety of individuals still residing there. Our conversation begins with a general survey of the religious landscape in Cuba since the 1959 communist revolution. Prof. Mooney details how religion, and particularly the Catholic Church, was repressed by the Castro regime. Priests were imprisoned and bishops excluded from the island, serving to weaken the institutional strength of the Catholic Church, but not extinguish its presence entirely. We also discuss how communism served to create what Prof. Mooney terms “anthropological impact,” a concept that basically relates to how social relations between individuals are damaged. As we discuss later, repairing this damage was a centerpiece of Pope Benedict’s message to Cubans. The recent religious history of Cuba also covers the relative thawing between the communist regime and the Church following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Cuban government’s subsequent loss of subsidies. The need to rely upon religious institutions for help in dealing basic social services was one of the concerns here. We also talk about the importance of Pope John Paul II’s historic visit to the island in 1998. Following this discussion, Margarita summarizes the main points made by Pope Benedict XVI in his “Homily in Havana.” The issue of promoting “authetic liberty” as well as promoting virtue as a basis for creating an “authentic fatherland” were central to the pope’s message to Cubans. Prof. Mooney also notes Pope Benedict’s emphasis on marriage, an aspect of the homily overlooked by the media, and why this was such an important point of emphasis for an ailing culture in Cuba. She also notes that the pope brought up the issues of faith & reason and his concern over the relativism that has been creeping into the intellectual thought of many Western nations. We finish off the interview with Margarita’s thoughts on how the pope’s visit has affected the Cuban Catholic Church and whether it exaccerbated or healed some rifts within the institutional leadership as to how the Church must deal with the regime. It is noted that some priests have preferred a more confrontational approach while the hierarchy has urged more prudence in dealing with a regime that appears to be at an important crossroads with both Fidel and his brother Raúl entering their twighlight years. Prof. Mooney closes with some optimistic thoughts about the future of Cuba and the role that faith will play in that nation. Recorded: April 16, 2012.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Margarita Mooney’s webpage.

The Black, White and Gray blog on Patheos.com.

Direct links to Prof. Mooney’s blog postings on Cuba at Black, White, and Gray.

Faith Makes Us Live: Surviving and Thriving in the Haitian Diaspora, by Margarita Mooney.

RELATED PODCASTS

Margarita Mooney on Religion & Haitian Immigrants.

Roger Finke on Religious Persecution.

Scott Poole on Monsters

tonygill — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:00:44 +0000

What do monsters tell us about ourselves — our fears, anxieties and history in general? W. Scott Poole, professor of history at the College of Charleston, dives into this somewhat disturbing question and reveals a darker side to American history via his book Monsters in America (Baylor University Press). We start by examining why monsters are fascinating to us and whether or not they shed light into the darkened corners of history. Tony asks whether or not this is a universal phenomenon and whether the negative aspects of American history can be highlighted too much as sometimes the notion of American innocence can, leading to an interesting discussion of the role of the historian as a particularist and what America’s place in history really is. We then take a non-chronological tour of the world of American monsters, starting with Tony’s favorite genre, alien invaders and radioactive lizards o the 1950s-60s. Scott talks about the anxiety over nuclear annihilation and the external (and internal) threat of communism that defined the era. We then note another new trend in horror stories that emerged at this time and continued to the present day — what Prof. Poole calls “deviant bodies,” refering to the “true crime” stories of serial killers. We then rewind the clock to our colonial beginnings and talk about witches, frontier monsters and sea serpents, including a surprising discussion of why Herman Melville’s classic Moby Dick qualifies as a horror story. The role of slavery in generating monstrous imagery is also examined. We then take a journey into Gothic America, from the Legend of Sleepy Hollow to more recent incarnations. America’s interesting anxiety about science then becomes our focus looking at the world of Frankenstein through recent movies such as Contagion and The Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Scott finishes with some observations about the wide variety of contemporary monsters, including strains of the things that appeared in the past with a strong dose of zombies, and what that may all mean for what fears lurk in the back of our minds today. Recorded: October 7, 2011.

RELATED LINKS

Scott Poole’s website at College of Charleston.

Monsters in America: Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and the Haunting, by Scott Poole.

Monsters in America official website (complete with cool flash animation). WARNING: Potentially disturbing imagery.

Scott Poole at PopMatters.com

RELATED PODCASTS

Chris Bader on Ghosts, UFOs, and the Paranormal.

Lan Chu on Catholicism in Vietnam

tonygill — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 08:00:12 +0000

Despite having lived under a highly-nationalistic and communist regime for over three decades (and a half century in the northern part of the country), the Catholic Church continues to makes its spiritual and social presence felt in Vietnam. Prof. Lan Chu, an assistant professor in the Department of Diplomacy and World Affairs at Occidental College, explains how the Catholic Church has survived in this turbulent and often repressive environment. We start with a brief discussion of the Catholic Church in Southeast Asia, noting how it came with Portuguese missionaries but was then largely associated with French colonization. Prof. Chu notes how Catholic priests assisted in forging a national identity during the Japanese occupation of the region during World War II, and then how things changed following the 1954 Geneva Accords that divided Vietnam into two separate countries, North and South. We track both the conditions and reactions of the Church in both the North and South, noting how each developed a different culture. Interestingly, whereas the presence of the southern Vietnamese Catholic bishops at Vatican II helped to create a more critical position of the Diem regime and a more conciliatory attitude towards communism, the bishops in the north were prevented from travelling to Rome, isolated from Vatican II’s message and subsequently developed a more hard-line stance to the communist regime. Despite the fact that the Viet Minh regime exercised control over the selection of bishops and controlled the ordination of priests, the limited pool of candidates from which to choose from meant that Catholic leaders were still able to maintain a degree of independence. We discuss what happens to the Church following the North Vietnamese invasion of the south and unification of the country in 1975. Prof. Chu notes how Catholic leaders have been able to carve out a social space for themselves by using the regime’s own rhetoric on human rights to assert their own political rights and social activity in society. The current regime has often encouraged the Church’s charitable activity as a means of providing needed social services for the population. Throughout the interview we make comparative references to the Catholic Church in other communist countries such as Poland and Cuba. We finish with some speculation about the likelihood that Catholics will help promote political liberalization in the country. Recorded: August 10, 2011.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Lan Chu’s website at Occidental College.

RELATED PODCASTS

Karrie Koesel on House Churches in China.

Karrie Koesel on Religion & Politics in China.

Roger Finke on Religious Persecution.

Catherine Wanner on Religion in Russia.

James Felak on John Paul II & Communism.

Daniel Philpott on Religious Resurgence & Democratization

tonygill — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:00:21 +0000

Over the past four decades, there have been two global trends that have caught the attention of social scientists — the public resurgence of global religiosity and the increasing movement towards democratic governance. Daniel Philpott — associate professor of political science at Notre Dame and fellow at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies — discusses both of these trends and his latest book, God’s Century (co-authored with Monica Duffy Toft and Timothy Samuel Shah). We begin the interview with a historical survey of how church-state relations have changed over the past two or three millenia, a broad sweep of history indeed, but one that is crucial to understanding why religion has made such a strong comeback in recent decades. Prof. Philpott shows how early in human history religious and secular authority split apart and how both types of leadership existed in a situation of mutual dependence — secular leaders required the legitimating endorsement of religious leaders, whereas religious leaders relied upon the material support of secular rulers. During the early modern period (c. 1450-1750) this mutual balance began to tip in favor of secular rulers who exercised greater control over religious groups in a paternalistic manner. Interestingly, this was a global trend. Beginning in the late 1700s, particularly with the French Revolution, we witness a global trend where religion is subjugated (and sometimes decimated) by secular rulers, particular in communist and socialist nations. Ironically, this subjugation gave religious organizations a greater degree of independence from secular government in some parts of the world that allowed new political theologies to develop and the institutional ability to organize against secular rulers. We discuss the formation, nature and influence of these political theologies, from the ideas promoted at Vatican Council II to Hindu and Buddhist nationalism to Islamic fundamentalism. In some areas such as Latin America, Indonesia, and parts of Asia these new political theologies and resurgent religious organizations helped to promote democracy, whereas in other parts of the world (e.g., the Middle East) it has led to less sanguine outcomes. Our discussion also touches upon the role of ideas in motivating human events, and we finish the discussion with some thoughts on the 2011 “Arab Spring” and whether or not that this will result in more democratic nations. This is the first part of a discussion of the book God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics. We will be focusing on the issue of religious violence with one of the other authors of the book in an upcoming episode. Stay tuned. Recorded: July 7, 2011.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Daniel Philpott’s website at the University of Notre Dame.

Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame.

God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics, by Monica Duffy Toft, Daniel Philpott, and Timoth Samuel Shah.

Revolutions in Sovereignty: How Ideas Shaped Modern International Relations, by Daniel Philpott.

Just and Unjust Peace: An Ethic of Political Reconciliation, by Daniel Philpott (forthcoming).

RELATED PODCASTS

Philip Jenkins on Global Christianity.

Ruth Melkonian on Latin American Protestants.

James Felak on John Paul II and Communism.

Catherine Wanner on Religion in Russia.

Karrie Koesel on Religion & Politics in China.

Karrie Koesel on House Churches in China.

Nathan Brown on the Muslim Brotherhood.

Thomas Farr on Religion, Religious Liberty & US Diplomacy.

Karrie Koesel on House Churches in China

tonygill — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 08:00:33 +0000

Professor Karrie Koesel — assistant professor of political science at the University of Oregon — returns to Research on Religion with an update on her recent research on “house churches” in China. That research was sponsored by a grant from the Templeton Foundation’s Pentecostal and Charismatic Research Initiative managed by Dr. Don Miller at the University of Southern California. While conducting fieldwork in China during the fall of 2010, Prof. Koesel had the opportunity to interact and learn about various house churches in the country. She discusses what a “house church” is, how they are organized, and the wide variety of theological styles found within that rather large movement. We talk about this in the context of a regime that gives official sanction to five different churches (the “red market”), and what it means to be part of the “gray” or “black market” religious scene in China. Karrie makes the interesting observation that while leaders from house churches were often sent to labor camps for operating illegally, their presence in these camps allowed them, ironically, to recruit new adherents and grow. The Chinese government has since then responded by using “indirect pressure” to force these churches out of business or to associate with officially sanctioned groups such as the Three Self Patriotic Movement. Prof. Koesel then argues that the organizational strategies and tactics employed by clandestine “house churches” were very similar to the same methods employed by the Chinese Communist Party prior to the 1949 revolution. We also talk about the challenges and difficulties associated with doing research on underground movements. Finally, the podcast ends with some speculation as to how these “house churches” (and other religious revival groups) will affect Chinese society and politics in the near future. Recorded: May 25, 2011.

RELATED LINKS

Karrie Koesel’s website.

Templeton Foundation’s Pentecostal and Charismatic Research Initiative.

Religion in American History: A Group Blog on American Religious History and Culture. (A special thanks for directing traffic our way!)

RELATED PODCASTS

Karrie Koesel on Religion & Politics in China.

Roger Finke on Religious Persecution.

Catherine Wanner on Religion in Russia

tonygill — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:00:58 +0000

How successful were the leaders of the Soviet Union in eradicating religion? Are the countries of the former Soviet Union experience a religious revival? Catherine Wanner, associate professor of history, anthropology, and religious studies at the Pennsylvania State University, recounts the history of religion in Russia and the Ukraine from the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 to present. The Soviet Union’s policies aimed at secularizing society are discussed — from suppression to educational efforts to atheist organizations. Despite the brutal repression of churches (particularly the Russian Orthodox Church), Prof. Wanner shows how rulers such as Stalin, Brezhnev, and Gorbachev pursued rather pragmatic policies toward religious groups at times. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the general policies toward religion changed, initially allowing a number of missionary groups to enter. However, in 1997 a new law in Russia restricted what various religious groups could do. Prof. Wanner shares her thoughts on the Ukraine throughout the podcast as well. Find out whether these two countries are experiencing a religious rennaissance and what factors may be affecting the growth of belief and the future of disbelief. Recorded: May 11, 2010.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Catherine Wanner’s website.

Communities of the Converted: Ukranians and Global Evangelism by Catherine Wanner.

Burden of Dreams: History and Identity in Post-Soviet Ukraine by Catherine Wanner.

RELATED PODCASTS

James Felak on John Paul II and Communism

Karrie Koesel on Religion and Politics in China

Karrie Koesel on Religion & Politics in China

tonygill — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 06:44:41 +0000

Despite being an officially atheist country, China has witnessed an increasing growth in Christianity, Islam and other religions such as Falun Gong. How have religious groups negotiated their relationship with the state? Karrie Koesel, assistant professor of political science at the University of Oregon, talks about the critical role of church-state relations at the local level in China. The podcast covers the changing religious landscape in China and what is entailed in becoming an “official” religion. Despite official policy emanating from Beijing, relations between religious groups and local party officials are much more ambiguous, allowing for more fluid and negotiated relationships. Koesel shares interesting stories about what local churches must do to avoid harassment from the government and the interesting nexus between churches and private enterprise. Koesel discusses the prospects for Christianity creating a democratic ethos in the nation. Recorded: May 6, 2010.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Karrie Koesel’s website.