March 2014 (Vol. 29, No. 5)

Attention to the nexus between religion and HIV/AIDS policy in sub-Saharan Africa has started to emerge as a new field of inquiry since the late 1990s, at the same time healthcare professionals have started to see religious organizations as potential partners in the fight against the epidemic after years of suspicion, writes Philippe Denis (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) in the Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions (October/December 2013).

The desire to better understand the role of faith-based organizations has provided opportunities for research sponsored both by religious and health and development organizations. While theologians in South Africa had already been reflecting on AIDS since the early 1990s, the boom in literature started after 2000.

In quantitative terms, South Africa stands at the top of that production, due to the intensity of the crisis as well as to the quality of research infrastructure and strength of Christianity there. Very few publications deal with Islam, and a small number with traditional religion, with most focusing on Christianity.

Denis identifies four leading areas of research. The first one is religious affiliation as a predictor of HIV infection and the effectiveness of church-based prevention. Assessments are contrasted between those who claim that religion has little impact on sexual behavior of most Africans and those who suggest it has an impact, though not in those groups with an emphasis on faith healing, where HIV prevalence is reported to be highest.

The second area of research is on religion and public health. Christian involvement in health matters has been present since colonial times in Africa, but HIV/AIDS has boosted it, with international institutions selecting Christian healthcare institutions as funding conduits. They are present on the ground and are assumed to be reliable. A challenge may be coming, however, with international organizations intending to use more the national public health systems in African countries, which might force religious institutions to create new partnerships with them.

The third area of research has been treatment, care and the operation of therapeutic communities. It appears that Christians are at the forefront of efforts to mitigate the effects of the epidemic more than Muslims, possibly because Christians tend to be better educated and better organized. The religious sector is particularly active in aspects such as support groups or orphan care, however, this remains underresearched.

A fourth area of research has been a “theology of HIV/AIDS.” It has become clear that “the thinking of religious leaders is, or has become, less monolithic than is commonly thought,” at least among Christians, since much less is known about Muslims. This can probably be explained by the considerable amount of theological work on HIV/AIDS. Denis notes that such reflection started early, but it has become increasingly institutionalized, with the World Council of Churches establishing the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa in 2002.

Denis concludes that there is a growing recognition that HIV/AIDS is not only a biomedical phenomenon, but that it affects other fields, including religion.

(Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions, 10 rue Monsieur le Prince, 75006 Paris, France, http://assr.revues.org.)

The latest statistics from the Church of England show that under-30s make up 23 per cent of those entering ministry – a 20 year high, reports The Independent newspaper (Feb. 20).

The numbers of new vocations are not high — 113 out of the 501 that began training in 2013 were 20-somethings and late teens — there are proportionally more younger trainee vicars. The church is attributing the growth of seminarians and new clergy to the rise of online and offline promotion as well as a shift in thinking away from the view that ordinands should not be fresh out of school or university. Each of the 43 dioceses has its own chaplains focusing on young vocations, and a pilot Ministry Experience Scheme that allows potential ordinands to experience life as a vicar for a year, reports Sally Newall.

There is also the Call Waiting website, launched in 2008, targeting 13- to 30-year-olds considering ordained ministry, and Step Forward, an annual day conference for those aged 18-30, in Durham. From the interviews in the article, it seems that the Fresh Expressions movement, which pioneers in planting alternative churches and services, has generated religious vocations.

At St. Mellitus College in west London, which prides itself on embracing the digital age, the number of ordinands under the age of 35 has risen from nine in 2011 to 29 in 2013. “All of my lecturers are on Twitter,” says Liz Clutterbuck, 32, who is in her third year at St. Mellitus. “There’s a lot of good theological debate going on.”

Although there is no such relationship between Orthodox Church and economics as the one observed by Max Weber regarding Protestantism and the work ethic a century ago, one can observe many connections between Orthodox religion and entrepreneurial activities in today’s Russia, writes Tobias Köllner (Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany) in Religion & Gesellschaft in Ost und West (February).

This may contradict both Western perceptions of Orthodox Churches and the poor image of Russian corrupt businessmen. However, field research conducted in Russia over several years convinced Köllner that local entrepreneurs are not only concerned with maximizing profits. While they are eager to earn money, a growing number of small- and medium-sized businesses give a good deal of significance to religion and moral discourses in their work. He finds that the moral framework of the Soviet times has been replaced with the one provided by the Church.

Entrepreneurs also have religious concerns, even if there may be a dimension of ambivalence, with partly utilitarian considerations. During interviews, the German researcher observed how many of them share widespread beliefs on dark powers or are afraid of divine punishment for misdeeds. Thus they ask priests to come and bless their houses, or hope that priestly blessings will help their business to prosper.

In return, businessmen are also willing to support the Orthodox Church financially, especially when it comes to building or maintaining churches, since results are visible. Such donations are also a way to keep at bay the greed of State institutions by showing that a rich businessman is already taking his share of financial responsibility for the good of society.

Köllner has also observed how pilgrimages of entire firms have become popular in Russia since the late 1990s. While one may suspect such travels are made only for entertainment, the reality is more nuanced and rather shows a combination between religious and leisure activities. Quite often, religious motives are prevalent during travel to the pilgrimage place, while tourist motives dominate during the return trip.

For entrepreneurs who organize such pilgrimages for their staff, various elements are playing a role. They are a way to continue the excursions on the pattern of the socialist brigades as practiced during the Soviet period. But entrepreneurs also assign a moral and educational role to such pilgrimages, seen as a way to bring their employees closer to the Orthodox Church. They present that as part of their individual duty for contributing to social improvement. Ambivalence between one’s own interests and religious as well as social motivations interweave such activities.

A primary source of religious inspiration for businessmen with religious leanings is the priest whom they consider as their confessor and/or spiritual father. This matters more to them than community life. The spiritual teacher is chosen based on personal preferences. The link to him is strong and tends to be a lasting one. Much more than the formal teachings of the Church, the advice received in personal interaction with one’s spiritual father will matter. This allows for a flexible adjustment to each person’s specific circumstances.

(Religion & Gesellschaft in Ost und West, P.O. Box 9329, 8036 Zürich, Switzerland, www.g2w.eu. Köllner is also the author of a book in English: Practicing Without Belonging? Entrepreneurship, Morality, and Religion in Contemporary Russia, Berlin: LIT Verlag, 2012.)

Islamic marketing and the creation of a “Muslim brand” is becoming a new marketing sub-discipline, as well as generating growing global interest in the worlds of industry and academia, writes Jonathan A.J. Wilson in The Guardian (Feb. 17), a British newspaper.

Concerns particular to Muslims, such as wearing head-coverings, might have been dealt with under the banner of multicultural or ethnic marketing, but now “Islamic marketing seems ready to become another must-have in a growing portfolio of marketing degree and professional courses on your CV.” As economies with large Muslim population (with large proportions under the age of 25) are growing in importance in the global market, catering to an Islamic identity is becoming popular with both marketers and governments.

In 2010, business leader Miles Young described Muslims as the “third one billion” in terms of market opportunity, and bigger news than the Indian and Chinese billions. Wilson reports that at the end of 2013, at the ninth World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF), held for the first time outside of the Muslim world in London, and at the first Global Islamic Economy Summit (GIES), “speakers stressed that Muslim majority and minority markets, while rooted in Islamic principles, transcend faith.”

Thus there is considerable attention paid to the Muslim consumers on halal food and lifestyle products (estimated at $2.3 trillion). Islamic financial assets are growing at 15-20 percent a year.

He adds that an “Islamic identity has risen as something that homogenizes diverse audiences and governs key behavioral traits. Furthermore, as with other niche segments, there is evidence to show that there are patterns of higher consumption and greater loyalty, when aligned with Islam…Brand Islam is joining sectors together, including fashion, cosmetics, entertainment, tourism, education, pharma, professional services and others under one narrative.”

He cites author John Grant as drawing parallels between the Muslim world (which he calls the Interland) and the rise of Japanese brands, like Sony, which showed a desire to change negative world perceptions towards Japan after the postwar occupation in 1945. “We are seeing Muslims searching for a way to reach out and harness spirituality in a post 9/11 era.”

One contribution of Islamic marketing is the idea that professionalism cannot be judged by products and services alone. Islam exacts that individuals, in both their professional and private lives, stand beside their offerings and audiences – you practice what you preach. This is not unique to Islam or Muslims, but they are at the forefront of this wider agenda.”