Buddhism has very specific ideas about an idealized form of government in Asia. These ideas may be ancient but they very often play a part in the background of politics up to modernity. Even within republics where religious monarchy has long since disappeared, a certain supernatural foundation on the basis of which a government functions may still be present. Opposition to a government can often imply resistance to a world order that is actually of supranatural origin. This article focuses on historical dimensions of this phenomenon (the position of the Buddha, the origin of the monarchy and Emperor Ashoka), but also on modern forms (Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar). Concerning Myanmar, the recent developments around the Rohingyas are placed in a cultural perspective.

This article investigates the role of ‘implicit religion’ in extremism, including those forms that do not explicitly call upon formal religion. Extremist quasi-religious narratives expose an exclusionary logic, which is mirrored by radical ways of thinking about counter-extremism. This unfailingly leads to more polarization. Extremism can only be countered by radical openness. Resilient democracy requires that citizens, politicians and professionals are willing and able to maintain open hearts and minds. Implicit religion can support this. Spiritual counselors and scientists of religion need to support the creation of spiritual narratives and rituals that strengthen democratic resilience.

The authors establish that in the West mercy in public life, in particular as acts of judges and governors, underwent a wrongful decline. This decline is an effect of the tension between mercy and justice that grew during the transition of medieval, Christian into modern, secular law and justice. To prove this, the authors present a broad historical overview. Eventually, they argue in favour of an incidental application of mercy in public life, under strict conditions. However, in a secular society and law system mercy can be made acceptable only for the political and public debate. In this situation, an appeal to a more neutral sounding virtue such as compassion will be more convincing.

The article discusses the implications of the Refah Partisi vs. Turkey case. The Court has made onerous assumptions about the notion sharia by declaring it a ‘violation of [European Human Rights] Convention values’. The Court should not have ventured into an interpretation of a highly technical and controversial term like ‘sharia’, especially when done so in connection with the inciting use of that term by Refat Partisi members. Moreover, given the fact that sharia also encompasses religious rituals like prayer, fasting and burial, calling sharia a violation of human rights is a misnomer. The Court should not have allowed itself to get lured into a domain it is not knowledgeable about but should have stuck to strict legal reasoning.

In this article, the Roman perspective on the relations between the Roman imperial cult and monotheistic movements in the same period will be investigated. In modern scholarship, this Roman point of view has been underrepresented. This article will aim to create a better understanding of the religious conflicts that arose between ca. 44 B.C.E. and 313 C.E and serve as an example for attempting to understand the ‘alien’ side in religious conflict. This article will conclude that Roman religion has to be seen in the context of imperial politics to explain not only the conflicts between the Roman state, Jews and Christians, but also the rise of the imperial cult.

In 2011 the Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilders was acquitted of group defamation pursuant to article 137c of the Penal Code. The court ruled that the qualification ‘concerning a group of people because of their religion’ had not been fulfilled because Wilders had spoken about the religion of Islam but not about people. This recent juridical shortcut has various foundational problems in semantics and jurisprudence. In view of the impact that defamation of religion can have via the modern media, violent disturbance of public order should be reintroduced as a ground of liability.

In the recover phase following every disaster or crisis, the challenges are plenty. Government agencies and other organizations and individuals have to deal with activities ranging from medical care for victims, to judicial procedures and environmental cleaning. Religious organizations have important added value in providing spiritual and social care. They might provide necessary information to victims and others who are directly or indirectly affected by a crisis. This is something that needs to be recognized in both planning and recovery activities by local government. A correct diagnose of the recovery phase must include an analysis of the affected groups and the necessary stakeholders.