"The personal is political": faith and religion in a public university

In this article, the authors argue that faith and religion can and must be exposed to academic scrutiny, and that the best place for such scrutiny is the public university. They illustrate how the great rallying cry of the early feminist movement to make the personal political can help in ensuring...

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Main Authors: Isabel Apawo Phiri, Sarojini Nadar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of the Free State 2011-06-01
Series:Acta Theologica
Online Access:https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/2408
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author Isabel Apawo Phiri
Sarojini Nadar
author_facet Isabel Apawo Phiri
Sarojini Nadar
author_sort Isabel Apawo Phiri
collection DOAJ
description In this article, the authors argue that faith and religion can and must be exposed to academic scrutiny, and that the best place for such scrutiny is the public university. They illustrate how the great rallying cry of the early feminist movement to make the personal political can help in ensuring that religion does not become a “private” matter. Drawing on empirical research with religious women who experience gender-based violence in various forms, the authors argue that when religious beliefs are put into practice without critical introspection, religion becomes dangerous at both the personal and public levels. In the end, the authors make a case for a multidisciplinary approach to the study of faith and religion at public universities, and they argue that closing down the study of religion and faith at universities, will cause an increase in religious fundamentalism and promote life-denying instead of life-enhancing practices in religion.
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publisher University of the Free State
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spelling doaj-art-f1ac37feb07947efbe59eee368246f792025-02-11T10:03:49ZengUniversity of the Free StateActa Theologica1015-87582309-90892011-06-011410.38140/at.v0i14.2408"The personal is political": faith and religion in a public universityIsabel Apawo Phiri0Sarojini Nadar1University of KwaZulu-Natal, South AfricaUniversity of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa In this article, the authors argue that faith and religion can and must be exposed to academic scrutiny, and that the best place for such scrutiny is the public university. They illustrate how the great rallying cry of the early feminist movement to make the personal political can help in ensuring that religion does not become a “private” matter. Drawing on empirical research with religious women who experience gender-based violence in various forms, the authors argue that when religious beliefs are put into practice without critical introspection, religion becomes dangerous at both the personal and public levels. In the end, the authors make a case for a multidisciplinary approach to the study of faith and religion at public universities, and they argue that closing down the study of religion and faith at universities, will cause an increase in religious fundamentalism and promote life-denying instead of life-enhancing practices in religion. https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/2408
spellingShingle Isabel Apawo Phiri
Sarojini Nadar
"The personal is political": faith and religion in a public university
Acta Theologica
title "The personal is political": faith and religion in a public university
title_full "The personal is political": faith and religion in a public university
title_fullStr "The personal is political": faith and religion in a public university
title_full_unstemmed "The personal is political": faith and religion in a public university
title_short "The personal is political": faith and religion in a public university
title_sort the personal is political faith and religion in a public university
url https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/2408
work_keys_str_mv AT isabelapawophiri thepersonalispoliticalfaithandreligioninapublicuniversity
AT sarojininadar thepersonalispoliticalfaithandreligioninapublicuniversity