Religion Clichés
Issue: Vol 44 No. 1 (2015)
Journal: Bulletin for the Study of Religion
Subject Areas: Religious Studies Buddhist Studies Islamic Studies Biblical Studies
Abstract:
Framed as a critique of a 1972 article by Ninian Smart, this essay seeks to expose some of the popular and academic clichés associated with the study of religion. Exploring the historical and philosophical context of clichés such as religion is the sacred or religion is about peace, the author suggests that the academic study of religion is intertwined with a series of essentializations that obscure the political context of the religious education. The essay is simultaneously an attempt to update the list of clichés first identified by Smart, and to expose the philosophical and political assumptions represented by the study of religion.
Author: Tenzan Eaghll
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