November, 2003 (Vol. 19, No. 1)

The escalation of the Intifada and the loss of faith in Zionism in Israel have spurred a movement of secular Israelis engaged in a study of Jewish texts and a search for religious identity.

At the SSSR conference, Adina Newberg of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College presented a paper on the growth of liberal Jewish houses of study (known traditionally as Beit Midrash) in Israel. These informal groups study an accepted Jewish text, such as the Talmud or Torah and relate it to the search for personal meaning outside of conventional Judaism. There are now over 80 such liberal Beit Midrash programs–often with their own staffs– and they are gaining attention for their successful attempts to expand Jewish education and identity to a largely secular segment of Israeli society.

In interviewing participants, Newberg finds that the decreasing relevance of secular Zionist ideals for Israeli identity along with uncertainty and fear over the present Intifada, has led to the interest in tracing one’s Jewish roots, ” even while maintaining their “secular, humanistic, pluralistic thinking and lifestyle.” While many participants may start out with a curiosity about Jewish texts, they often find themselves identifying more with Judaism and developing an interest in social action — from volunteering with tutoring programs to working on issues surrounding the Intifada.

Newberg says that “The next step beyond the Jewish texts study in terms of ritual practice is also happening to a more minor degree,” with some expressing an interest in religious services,  though without traditional observances.  The programs mainly draw well-educated Ashkenazi Jews (descenents of Jews from Western Europe), though there is an attempt to bring them to Middle Eastern Jews and even Arabs.

The wearing of a scarf by Muslim girls at French schools has been an ongoing topic of controversy since the 1980s. But the situation  has gained new intensity in October, after two Muslim girls were barred from going back to (government) school because they refused to remove their scarves.

There have been many articles and TV shows in France related to the case. The case raises again the issue of legal regulations regarding the use of religious symbols in French public schools. Currently, the situation may be different from one school to another, since the decision is left to the local school authorities, following a legal decision in 1989.

The issue revolves around the question of whether the scarf (or any religious symbol)  is “ostentatious” or is used for the purpose of “proselytizing.” There are different ways to apply those rules. A report in the daily La Voix du Nord (Oct. 23) showed that principals in the same city in Northern France accepted the scarf under certain conditions in one school and refused it as a matter of principle in another one. Support for girls who want to wear the scarf is practically non existent in the political class, since most French politicians tend to associate it with fundamentalism. Moreover, even among believers among politicians, the principle of state secularism is more or less unanimously accepted.

Some politicians believe a law might be needed in order to ban “ostentatious religious signs” in schools, reports  Le Figaro (October. 28). Others fear a law might make Muslims feel targeted, leading them to open separate schools. Justice Minister Dominique Perben suggested that the fact that the two girls were expelled from the school clearly showed that it was possible to act without a law. In addition, according to monitoring by French intelligence agencies, the number of Muslim girls who want to wear the scarf at schools is said to have decreased over the past ten years and to be down to a few hundred cases every year.

In no other Western European country has the scarf issue at school created such controversy. It is related both to mixed reactions in France toward a large and growing Muslim presence, and to the complex legacy of sometimes heated church-state issues since the French Revolution. The Muslim factor has become one element in a debate on the future place and role of religion in French secular society.

— By Jean-François Mayer

American Catholic publishing houses are in the process of consolidation to make up for declines, but it appears that conservative publishers are faring better, reports the online newsletter, Religion Bookline (Oct. 21). Consolidation in the Catholic market seems to be the order of the day, with Ave Maria acquiring the Thomas More, Christian Classics and Forest of

Peace imprints this summer and SAMP purchasing Charis in September. Liturgical Press’s Peter Dwyer predicts there will be more consolidation and noted that Catholic publishers “want the economies of scale, and we’re all sharing the same customer anyway. But it’s also about the maturing of a certain kind of publishing. Smaller, more progressive Catholic publishers run out of steam from time to time, so they get sold or consolidated.”

Dwyer notes that it is the conservative publishers who are on the rise.  He adds that “The country has become more conservative generally. That may be nearing its peak, but who knows?” Meanwhile, there has also been a decline in the Catholic grad student publishing market due to the declining number of those entering the priesthood. But books on faith formation programs for laity — who are taking over many parish duties — are growing.

Another Catholic publisher finds less interest in pop spirituality; adding that “people are looking for higher level books than in the past.” He cites Paulist’s “Classics of Western Spirituality,” which is being used as a religion course text in secular universities.

There are new ties between the American Muslim community and the FBI even in the midst of continuing fears and tensions among Muslims after Sept. 11.

An outreach campaign launched by the FBI is intended  to show the Muslim community a “less threatening visage” than investigations and `voluntary interviews’with more than 8,000 Middle Eastern men following the attacks of 9/11. The Baltimore Sun (Oct. 27) reports that some FBI agents note a sense of partnership is emerging after the trust-building efforts of the past two years. Regular meetings with Muslim groups continue to take place. Members of the Muslim community have also come to see that there are advantages in cultivating such relationships. And the FBI itself has a strong interest in recruiting new agents and translators from the Muslim community.

But there is currently a more immediate concern for Muslims, and one which is also linked to the campaign against terrorism. During the holy month of Ramadan, which began this year in late October, Muslims are obligated to give generously to charitable organizations. Because several Islamic charities were investigated following 9/11, many Muslims are afraid they might get into trouble when fulfilling their religious obligation, reports Maureen Hayden in the Evansville Courier & Press (Oct. 27).

Actually, direct donations to Muslim charities are said to have declined by 20 percent in 2002. At a recent meeting with Justice Department officials, representatives of Muslim communities say they suggested to develop more practical guidelines than the ones currently offered, which have had negative effects on donations for helping Muslim countries. It has also been suggested to unfreeze $8 million in assets of the three suspected charities in order to give these funds to US-approved Muslim charities.

— By Jean-François Mayer, RW contributing editor and founder of the website Religioscope (http://www.religioscope.com)

The growth of immigrant religions in the U.S. has often been associated with increasing civic involvement as congregations create “social capital” (skills and resources) for their members to participate in their wider communities.

But recent studies suggest that other dynamics and demands made upon congregations may not always generate expected civic commitments. At the late October conference of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR) RW attended in Norfolk, Va., three presentations highlighted some of the ways that immigrant congregations and religions may resist or struggle with civic involvement.

In an analysis of the Putnam Social Capital Benchmark Survey of nearly 29,000 Americans, Elaine Howard Ecklund of Cornell University and Jerry Z. Park of Notre Dame University found the data on Asian-Americans showing a mixed picture when it comes to civic involvement. Asian-American Christians were more likely to volunteer in non-religious activities than other Asian-Americans. Participation in church activities, including attendance, appears to lead to greater involvement with their community (outside of the congregation).

With some surprise, Ecklund and Park found that  those involved in Eastern religious traditions are no more likely to participate in their communities than are the unaffilated. The researchers speculate that it may be that Christian congregations are more established and accepted in American society and provide an easier way to volunteer with others than more ethnic Eastern religious groups.

While Eastern Orthodoxy has been present in the U.S. for well over two centuries, new waves of immigration in the 1990s may be reviving the strong ethnic and cultural dimensions of these churches. One consequence of this process is the decreasing civic involvement of Orthodox churches in wider American society. That was one of the conclusions of a presentation by Russian sociologist Alexey D. Krindatch at the SSSR. In presenting results from a study on Eastern Christianity in North America completed in 2000-2002 (more information is available at:http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/research_orthodoxindex.html), Krindatch finds that about 40 percent of the membership of the Eastern Orthodox churches studied (Ukrainian, Albanian, Romanian, Syrian and Russian jurisdictions) are first-generation immigrants, thereby increasing the role that ethnicity plays in parish life.

This is also leading to new conflicts between older Americanized members and new immigrant members [see last month’s cover article on converts and ethnic parishes]  and to more opposition among clergy to inter-Christian marriages (between Orthodox and Christian)  and ecumenical activities.

Most of the churches surveyed showed a low level of interest in active social participation in wider American society, and in many cases social services (such as soup kitchens) that are provided  by the parishes are frequently offered exclusively to the members of the parish and not to all members of the surrounding community. Krindatch expected that the greater the duration of a U.S.-born group or parish in the U.S., the more involvement they would have in society.

But the influence of a parish’s particular ethnic heritage and “mother church” [most U.S. Orthodox churches are still tied to the national churches of their origin] have more influence than the duration of their presence in the U.S. Krindatch found that even American born priests reflect these traditional views because clergy  “are more likely to be found among those persons for whom the keeping of traditional ethnic culture and identity is of essential significance.”

Although not focusing on Islam and civic life, Ihsan Bagby’s presentation of a survey of Muslims also suggest a pattern of resistance to integration into mainstream American society and political life. In a survey of six mosques with 600 respondents, the University of Kentucky’s Bagby found that 28 percent of leaders and 26 percent of laity strongly agree that America is immoral.

Two-thirds of all respondents agree that America is corrupt. Those taking the Koran most literally and Sunni Muslim groups were the most likely to agree that the U.S. is immoral, while African-American Muslims showed the lowest rate of agreement. Bagby did find that those agreeing with the statement that the U.S. is immoral tended to show lower political activiity. But this greater reluctance to be politically involved did not translate into rejection of all community involvement.

Bagby’s conclusion may apply to other immigrants showing resistance to integration into American civil life: “They’re negotiating their position in the dominant culture….It’s not so much isolation as insulation. They go into society but want to be insulated from the negative effects of U.S. society, just as Catholics and Mormons did before them.”