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Covid-19 and the Theodicy

Date:07 March 2022
The Covid-19 pandemic has influenced people’s religious and spiritual lives, and has exposed a variety of existential questions; questions concerning the ultimate meaning of life. In this blog series, scholars of religion, culture and theology reflect on the relationship between Covid-19, religion and meaning-making. Each blog discusses research that was conducted during the pandemic, and that was recently published in the Dutch journal Religie & Samenleving. This week, Frank Bosman and Archibald van Wieringen on Covid-19 and the Theodicy.
Picture by Gabriella Clare Marino

Nodig: een goed – religieus – verhaal over solidariteit

Date:28 February 2022
Author:Sjaak Korver

Onlangs analyseerden twee redactieleden van De Groene Amsterdammer het beleid van de Nederlandse overheid met betrekking tot de coronacrisis. Margreet Fogteloo laat zien dat door het gebrek aan een duidelijk verhaal van de overheid de onderlinge...

Picture by Gabriella Clare Marino

Needed: A good – religious – story about solidarity

Date:28 February 2022
Author:Sjaak Korver

Recently, two editorial members of De Groene Amsterdammer analyzed the policy of the Dutch government with regards to the Covid crisis. Margreet Fogteloo shows that due to a lack of a clear narrative from the government, mutual solidarity between...

Pic by Robert Bye

Spiritual Hierarchy of Being: The Embodied-Cognitive Perspective

Date:31 January 2022
Author:Gorazd AndrejĨ & Olivier van Baars
Have you ever wondered why gods and angels are ‘above’, while devils and demons are ‘below’? And, why ‘stooping low’ and ‘falling’ are metaphors for something morally or spiritually bad, while doing something ‘uplifting’ and ‘rising to the occasion’ are good? 
Picture by Gayatri Malhotra

Why does Catholicism matter to reproductive technologies in Argentina?

Date:10 January 2022
Author:Ana Lucía Olmos Álvarez, María Cecilia Johnson & Victoria Sotelo

The Catholic Church is a global actor that still matters when sexuality and reproduction are at stake, and Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) are not an exception.

Multifaith groups dedicated to challenging climate change are on the rise. Takver/Flickr, CC BY-SA

Religious communities can make the difference in winning the fight against climate change

Date:13 December 2021
Author:Tobias Müller & Esra Özyürek

The threat of climate change signals a “code red for humanity”, and we are running out of time to transition away from carbon and prevent catastrophic planetary warming. Our best chance is to convince existing organisations with financial, political and...

Meaning on Monday

Spiegeltje, spiegeltje aan de wand, wie is het rijk aan zin in ’t land?

Date:29 November 2021

Onlangs was ik te gast bij zorgboerderij Refaja in Drenthe. Aanleiding was de 70 ste verjaardag van Harm, een van de medewerkers. Als cadeau krijgt hij van zorgboer Freek een podcast met verhalen over zijn leven en werk. Werk en zingeving is daarbij een...

Picture by Gayatri Malhotra

Reproductive Rights and Religion in the Netherlands

Date:24 November 2021
Author:Jelle Wiering

For me, a cultural anthropologist working on the entanglements of religion, secularity and sexuality, the term ‘reproductive rights’ evokes associations with internationally-operating NGOs. The people working for NGOs that I met in my fieldwork drew on a...

The Religion Factor has changed! 

Date:22 November 2021
The Religion Factor The Centre for Religion, Conflict and Globalization is thrilled to announce the new format of The Religion Factor blog. From now on, the content will be organized in curated thematic series to facilitate your engagement and promote debate.