Religion among People: Essays on Religions and Politics

At the deepest level religious traditions determine what goes on between one human being and another between one community and another and between human beings and whoever holds power over them. Kees Bolles original passionate scholarship veered away from things handed down and standard in our thought about religions. In this his final book he explores how religious paradigms have given rise to particular structures of power and how religious myths compel particular human actions: the possibility of interpretation the necessity for recognizing religious forms where they appear the relationship of secularization and sacredness. And at every turn Bolle examines the notion that Western intellectuals are nonreligious. He confronts the responsibility mere scholarship bears for events--sometimes terrible events--in the real world. We move from David and Nathan to Antigone from Brahmanism and Buddhism to the familial struggle between Christianity and Islam. The book concludes with Bolles striking reflections on how modern man has become inherently religious in concurrence with modern manifestations of power. Bolle is a fascinating figure. He loved the immediacy of lessons found in Hasidic stories and his own thought may be said to approach the wholeness the immediacy of religion. Religion among People is the culmination of a life-long career devoted to the understanding of religion written in a clear style devoid of fashionable jargon. Always an opponent of reductionist theories and of religion as personal inner experience Kees Bolles project has been the study of religion that sees individuals as inextricably rooted in their respective cultural-historic circumstances. Throughout the book he follows his dictum: to know just one religion is to know none at all. --William Malandra University of Minnesota Kees Bolles posthumous work Religion among People is a most appropriate summary of his thoughts regarding the theory and practice of the study of religion. In his clear precise and dispassionate writing style he has taken on a variety of topics in the study of religion. Following the title of the text Kees has emphasized the public or communal aspect of religion; he has thus paid special attention to ritual cult institutions etc. This has enabled him to properly situate the role and nature of the inward aspects and dimensions of religion . . . Given the topics dealt with and the order and tone of presentation I would recommend this work as one of the best texts for introducing the study of religion to the college student. It is a fitting tribute to Kees Bolles life and work. --Charles H. Long author of Significations: Signs Symbols and Images in the Study of Religion Sharp and never satisfied with the obvious Kees Bolle handles key subjects like secularization fundamentalism and the religious structure of modern man. Listening to him when he is speaking in-depth about politics and religion that are inevitably intertwined whether in Islam Hinduism Buddhism or Christianity opens our eyes to all those easy statements of today that commonly spring from what the author aptly calls knowledge-cum-ignorance. This book will last and encourage us for a long time. --Karel R. van Kooij Professor Emeritus University of Leiden The Netherlands This book like Kees other ones compels us to confront the role of religion in the lives of both individual and social bodies. By exploring the religion of ancient cities (Egyptian and Greek) Near Eastern high god traditions (Judaism Christianity and Islam) and Indian and Buddhist traditions he is actually inviting us to better understand ourselves. --Jennifer Reid from the foreword Kees W. Bolle (1927-2012) a native of the Netherlands studied at the University of Leiden and the University of Chicago. He taught at Brown University UCLA Reed College and the University of New England. He is the author of The Persis