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Based on observations obtained with the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) we investigate the spectral variability of the Herbig Ae star RR Tau. This star belongs to the UX Ori family, characterized by very deep fadings caused by the screening of the star with opaque fragments (clouds) of the protoplanetary discs. At the moments of such minima one observes strong spectral variability due to the fact t
Among the signs and symbols carried during the attack on the United States Capitol on 6 January 2021, a picture of Jesus stood out – a white Jesus, wearing a red cap with the caption ‘Make America Great Again’. This chapter concentrates on the Christian nationalism captured in this picture. Considering European and American contexts, the author charts concepts, complications, and critiques of (neo
Charting the conversation between Robert N. Bellah and Martin E. Marty in which the concept of public theology was coined, this chapter contends that public theologies have been haunted by a ghost – the ghost of theological liberalism, concretized in Paul Tillich. Instead of casting out the ghost, however, the chapter re-claims this legacy in order to carve out the contours of a criterion that all
Studies scrutinizing the significance of religion for populism are still scarce, but one metaphor has been adopted across almost all of them—the metaphor of the hijacked faith. This chapter sketches the nexus between metaphor and method in the study of populism, before it introduces the contributions to this compilation. Ulrich Schmiedel suggest that there are structural similarities between popul
In what is commonly called the current refugee crisis, Christian values are claimed by both the defenders and the despisers of migrants coming from countries with Muslim majorities. The conflict between them has been captured using the category of “Christianism” which contrasts “honest Christianity,” which is hospitable to Muslim migrants, with “hijacked Christianity,” which is hostile to Muslim m
Migration challenges democracies characterized by the assumption that the citizens who are affected by the law are also its authors and that the citizens who are its authors are also affected by the law. Taking the “hijab affair” in France as a point of departure, this chapter aims to confront the constitution of the law in decisionist political theology and dialectical political theology with the
For populists inside and outside of the German parliaments, Christianity is about belonging rather than believing. Yet identity politics are politics of exclusion that stifle democratic participation. In order to escape the anti-pluralist populist pattern, a starting point is to recognise Germany for what it is: a country whose citizens share multiple cultures and identities, all of which need to
In the Introduction, Ulrich Schmiedel and Graeme Smith chart the context for the contributions to this compilation by scrutinizing the controversies stirred up by the conceptualization and characterization of the current situation of Europe as a crisis. Are the refugees in crisis? Are the receivers in crisis? Whose crisis was—or indeed is—it? While religion is a resource for refugees on the flight
In the conclusion, Ulrich Schmiedel and Graeme Smith summarize the role of religion in the current refugee crisis by suggesting that civil and notso-civil theologies have taken over the public square. Their suggestion, inspired by Robert Bellah’s concept of civil religion, points to the significance of theologies that are always already operant in the controversies stirred up by immigration into E
Throughout Europe, the populist protests of PEGIDA (Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes) have stirred up controversy during the current refugee crisis. Applying the political philosophy of Judith Butler to these protests, Ulrich Schmiedel analyzes the political performances as well as the political propositions of Pegida, arguing that a tacit political theology underpins
What is Christianity? Ernst Troeltsch combines theological and sociological accounts of Christianity’s history in order to identify Christianity. But his interdisciplinary conceptualization(s) of Christianity continue to cause frustration and fascination alike, because he draws no clear-cut distinction between what is Christian and what is non-Christian. Countering the assumption that such a disti
