Sex, Marriage and Family in World Religions Read Online Free PDF Page B

secularism, socialism, and pluralism alike have eroded these state-sanctioned religious understandings of marriage and family. In some communities, such as Europe and Canada, dominant religious communities have largely acqui-esced in these movements or have had insufficient power to resist them. In other communities, such as Latin America, Russia, South Africa, and the Indian subcontinent, once dominant religious communities have developed their own internal religious legal systems to govern the marriage and family affairs of their own voluntary members.
    Sixteenth, although the origins of Hinduism, Judaism, and Confucianism are obscure, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism are more open to historical i n t r o d u c t i o n
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    investigation. Early Christianity and Islam were more progressive in their treatment of gender issues, women, and children than later expressions of the religion, especially as it became more established by the state, closer to powerful political and economic interests, and therefore mirrored some of the hierar-chical structures of empires, kings, and caliphs. Studying the origins of a religion is helpful in determining some of its basic impulses, directions, and resources on sex, marriage, and family. At the same time, religions do indeed complicate and mature as time passes. Understanding a religion from the perspective of its more complex later legal and philosophical developments, as in the case of twelfth-and thirteenth-century Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and later developments in Confucianism (neo-Confucianism) is crucial for understanding the wisdom of a religious tradition on sex, marriage, and family.
    HOW AND BY WHOM SHOULD THE BOOK
    BE USED?
    We envision this book as a basic textbook for courses in colleges, universities, and professional schools. It should work for both undergraduates and graduates.
    Of course, the text must be adapted, supplemented, and used selectively depending on the context and purpose of the class where it is used. In addition, the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University that supported the creation of this text hopes to provide other resources that will help professors and students carry the dialogue more directly into the twenty-first century.8
    More specifically, we think this text can be used to teach comparative religion and history of religions. Most of the distinctive features of these religions can be discerned through the prism of their teachings on sex, marriage, and family. In addition, what the concepts, symbols, and teachings of these religions really meant can sometimes be seen with vivid clarity when viewed from the perspective of their implications for the sexual and familial field of meaning.
    This leads to a deeper and more concrete understanding of the religion itself.
    But, as we have pointed out in this introduction, the field of sexuality is in and of itself worth studying from the perspective of these religions. There is little doubt that defining and guiding sexuality in marriage, in family, and perhaps outside of marriage and family will be one of the major preoccupations of the twenty-first century. As we have said above, we expect a grand cultural dialogue on these issues. We expect, and hope, that the great world religions will be a part of this dialogue.
    We also believe that this text can be used in a variety of more specialized settings. We will list a few of them. We believe that academic programs in the sociology and psychology of the family should introduce courses using this resource. We believe that social work schools preparing students to work with xxviii introduction
    families from increasingly more diverse religious and cultural backgrounds should offer such courses. The field of family law should help its students understand the family codes and legal rationalities within these religious traditions. Psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and school counselors working with diverse families should know much of