Ethnoreligious group

Characteristics

The elements that are defined as characteristics of an ethnoreligious group are "social character, historical experience, and theological beliefs".

A closing of the community takes place through a strict endogamy, which is specifically for the community and that distinguishes an ethno-religious community, that is, as distinct from any other group.

Defining an ethnoreligious group

In general, ethnoreligious communities define their ethnic identity by their religious affiliation or a combination of religious affiliation and other factors, such as language, territorial origin etc. Sometimes, ethnoreligious communities can be defined as ethnic groups with close associations with a religion that can be practiced by other ethnicities, such as Irish Catholics and Swedish Lutherans.Hammond and Warner, p.59: "1. Religion is the major foundation of ethnicity, examples include the Amish, Hutterites, Jews, and Mormons. Ethnicity in this pattern, so to speak, equals religion, and if the religious identity is denied, so is the ethnic identity. Footnote: In actuality, of course, there can be exceptions, as the labels "[Jack Mormon", "banned Amish", or "cultural Jew" suggest.] Let us call this pattern "ethnic fusion".

2. Religion may be one of several foundations of ethnicity, the others commonly being language and territorial origin; examples are the Greek or Russian Orthodox and the Dutch Reformed. Ethnicity in this pattern extends beyond religion in the sense that ethnic identification can be claimed without claiming the religious identification, but the reverse is rare. Let us call this pattern "ethnic religion".

3. An ethnic group may be linked to a religious tradition, but other ethnic groups will be linked to it, too. Examples include Irish, Italian, and Polish Catholics; Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish Lutherans. Religion in this pattern extends beyond ethnicity, reversing the previous pattern, and religious identification can be claimed without claiming the ethnic identification. Let us call this pattern "religious ethnicity""

Some ethnoreligious groups' identities are reinforced by the experience of living within a larger community as a distinct minority. Ethnoreligious groups can be tied to ethnic nationalism if the ethnoreligious group possesses a historical base in a specific region. In many ethnoreligious groups emphasis is placed upon religious endogamy, and the concurrent discouragement of interfaith marriages or intercourse, as a means of preserving the stability and historical longevity of the community and culture.

Jews

Main article: Who is a Jew?, Jewish identity

Prior to the Babylonian exile in the late 7th century BC and early 6th century BC, the Israelites had already emerged as an ethnoreligious group, probably before the time of Hosea in 8th century BC. The ethno-religious character of the Jewish people in antiquity has been expounded upon by scholars such as Salo W. Baron, who spoke of "the ethnoreligious unity of [the Israelite] people", This was expounded upon in 2001 by Shaye J. D. Cohen, when describing Jewish identity during the late Second Temple period.

Since the 19th century, Reform Judaism has differed from Orthodox Judaism on matters of theology and practice; however, toward the end of the 20th century and into the 21st century, the Reform movement has reoriented itself back toward certain traditions and practices it had previously relinquished (for example, wearing the tallit and/or the kippah; the use of Hebrew in the liturgy).

In the United States, the increasing rate of mixed marriages has led to attempts to facilitate conversion of the spouse, although conversion to facilitate marriage is strongly discouraged by traditional Jewish law. If a non-Jewish woman marrying a Jewish man does not convert, then although traditional interpretations of Jewish law recognize only descent along the maternal line, Reform Judaism will recognize a child born of the marriage as Jewish based on patrilineal descent if that child has "established through appropriate and timely public and formal acts of identification with the Jewish faith and people" that the child self-identifies as Jewish. In actual practice, most Reform Jews affirm patrilineal descent as a valid means of Jewish identification, particularly if the individual was "raised Jewish".

Israeli national identity is linked with Jewish identity as a result of Zionism. In Israel, Jewish religious courts have authority over personal status matters, which has led to friction with secular Jews who sometimes find they must leave the country in order to marry or divorce, particularly in relation to the inherited status of mamzer, the marriage of males from the priestly line, persons not recognized as Jewish by the rabbinate, and in cases of agunot. The Israeli rabbinate only recognizes certain approved Orthodox rabbis as legitimate, which has led to friction with Diaspora Jews who for centuries never had an overarching authority.

Anabaptists

Main article: Ethnic Mennonite, Amish, Hutterites

Other classical examples for ethnoreligious groups are traditional Anabaptist groups like the Old Order Amish, the Hutterites, the Old Order Mennonites and traditional groups of Plautdietsch-speaking Russian Mennonites, like the Old Colony Mennonites. All these groups have a shared cultural background, a shared dialect as their everyday language (Pennsylvania German, Hutterisch, Plautdietsch), a shared version of their Anabaptist faith, a shared history of several hundred years and they have accepted very few outsiders into their communities in the last 250 years. They may also share common foods, dress, and other customs. Modern proselytizing Mennonite groups, such as the Evangelical Mennonite Conference whose members have lost their shared ancestry, their common ethnic language Plautdietsch, their traditional dress, and other typical ethnic traditions, are no longer seen as an ethnoreligious group, although members within these groups may still identify with the term Mennonite as an ethnic identifier.

Examples

The concepts of ethnoreligious fusion and ethnic religion have been applied by reliable sources to the following groups:

In a broader sense, the concept of a religious ethnicity has been applied to communities—particularly minorities living in religious borderlands, belonging to distinctive religions or sects, and maintaining in-group boundaries—where religious and ethnic identities have historically reinforced one another through endogamy, sociopolitical and cultural separation, and clear religious distinction from neighboring groups. The following is a selective, non-exhaustive list of religious ethnicities, meeting several of the aforementioned criteria: Armenians, Assyrians,For Assyrians as a Christian people, see:

• Joel J. Elias, The Genetics of Modern Assyrians and their Relationship to Other People of the Middle East
• Steven L. Danver, Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of Groups, Cultures and Contemporary Issues, p. 517 Baharna, Balinese, Bosniaks, Carpatho-Rusyns, Copts, Croats, Gorani, Greeks, Hui-Dungans,{{Cite web | access-date = 12 March 2020

As a legal concept

Australia

In Australian law, the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 of New South Wales defines "race" to include "ethnic, ethno-religious, or national origin". The reference to "ethno-religious" was added by the Anti-Discrimination (Amendment) Act 1994 (NSW). John Hannaford, the NSW Attorney-General at the time, explained, "The effect of the latter amendment is to clarify that ethno-religious groups, such as Jews, Muslims, and Sikhs, have access to the racial vilification and discrimination provisions of the Act.... extensions of the Anti-Discrimination Act to ethno-religious groups will not extend to discrimination on the ground of religion".

The definition of "race" in Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (Tasmania) likewise includes "ethnic, ethno-religious, or national origin". However, unlike the NSW Act, it also prohibits discrimination on the grounds of "religious belief or affiliation" or "religious activity".

United Kingdom

Main article: Mandla v Dowell-Lee

In the United Kingdom the landmark legal case Mandla v Dowell-Lee (1982) placed a legal definition on ethnic groups with religious ties, which, in turn, has paved the way for the definition of an ethnoreligious group. Both Jews and Sikhs were determined to be considered ethnoreligious groups under the Anti-Discrimination (Amendment) Act 1994 (see above).

The Anti-Discrimination (Amendment) Act 1994 made reference to Mandla v Dowell-Lee, which defined ethnic groups as:

1. a long shared history, of which the group is conscious as distinguishing it from other groups, and the memory of which it keeps alive;
2. a cultural tradition of its own, including family and social customs and manners, often but not necessarily associated with religious observance;
3. either a common geographical origin, or descent from a small number of common ancestors;
4. a common language, not necessarily peculiar to the group;
5. a common literature peculiar to the group;
6. a common religion different from that of neighbouring groups or from the general community surrounding it;
7. being a minority or being an oppressed or dominant group within a larger community. For example, a conquered people (say, the inhabitants of England shortly after the Norman Conquest) and their conquerors might both be ethnic groups.

The significance of the case was that groups like Sikhs and Jews could now be protected under the Race Relations Act 1976.

Malaysia

In Malaysian law, as per Article 160(2), it is stipulated that an individual classified as Malay must be a Muslim, converse in the Malay language, and adhere to Malay customs.

According to this legal framework, a Malay man or woman who undergoes conversion from Islam to another religion ceases to be recognized as Malay. Consequently, the privileges accorded to so-called Bumiputra, specifically the entitlements outlined in Article 153 of the Constitution, the New Economic Policy (NEP), and other related provisions, are forfeited in the event of such conversions.

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Yang, F. and Ebaugh, H. R. (2001), Religion and Ethnicity Among New Immigrants: The Impact of Majority/Minority Status in Home and Host Countries . Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 40: 367–378. doi:10.1111/0021-8294.00063
• Phillip E. Hammond and Kee Warner, Religion and Ethnicity in Late-Twentieth-Century America, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social, Vol. 527, Religion in the Nineties (May, 1993), pp. 55–66

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