The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Secrecy

"Secrecy is a central and arguably integral component of all religious traditions. Not limited simply to religious groups that engage in clandestine activities such as clerical abuse or terrorism, secrecy is inherent in the very fabric of religion itself. Its importance has perhaps never been more acutely relevant than in our own historical moment, particularly in the wake of 9/11 and other acts of religious terrorism and the rise of increasingly invasive national security states that often target religious minorities and pose profound challenges to the ideals of privacy and religious freedom. As such, questions of secrecy, privacy, surveillance, and security are among the most central and contested issues of twenty-first century religious life. The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Secrecy is an outstanding reference source for the key topics, problems and debates in this crucial field and is the first collection of its kind. Comprising twenty-nine chapters by a team of international contributors the Handbook is divided into five parts: Configurations of Religious Secrecy: Conceptual and Comparative Frameworks Secrecy as Religious Practice Secrecy and the Politics of the Present Secrecy and Social Resistance Secrecy, Terrorism, and Surveillance. This cutting-edge volume discusses secrecy in relation to other major categories of religious experience and individual religious traditions whilst also examining the transformations of secrecy in the modern period, with the rise of fraternal orders and the ongoing wars on terror, the ruse of far-right white supremacist groups, increasing concerns over religious freedom and privacy, and the role of the internet in the spread and surveillance of such groups. The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Secrecy is essential reading for students and researchers in religious studies, comparative religion, new religious movements and religion and politics as well as those in related disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, political science, security studies and cultural studies"--