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Editor
Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices
Thomson Gale
27500 Drake Road
Farmington Hills, Michigan 48331
Editor's Preface
In 2001 Thomson Gale had a simple but ambitious goal: to produce an encyclopedia outlining the contemporary religious practices of every country in the world—from the very largest, such as China, India, Brazil, and Russia, to the smallest, such as Tuvalu, Andorra, and Antigua and Barbuda. Because this information has not been readily available in books or other sources in libraries, as well as on the Internet, the project required years of planning and hard work by a large group of people: our distinguished board of 10 advisers, the 245 scholars and other subject specialists commissioned to write essays or to review the text of their colleagues, and the editorial staff of Thomson Gale. The result was this publication, the Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices. It joins an already existing series of Worldmark encyclopedias, including the Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations and the Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life.
Organization
The Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices has three volumes. Volume 1 includes essays on the history, beliefs, and contemporary practices of 13 major faith groups—African Traditional Religions, Bahá'í, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Shinto, Sikhism, Taoism, and Zoroastrianism—and 28 of their subgroups, such as Anglicanism, Reform Judaism, Mahayana Buddhism, and Vaishnavism. These essay topics, selected by our advisory board, represent not only the world's largest religious groups but also smaller faiths that have had significant historical, cultural, or theological impact. Because of space limitations, we could not include essays on all groups worthy of discussion. Each essay in volume 1 is organized with the same subject headings—for example, "Moral Code of Conduct" and "Sacred Symbols"—allowing easy comparison of a topic from one religion or subgroup to another. Printed at the top of each essay in volume 1 is a population map displaying the group's distribution throughout the world.
By discussing broadly various religions and sub-groups, volume 1 provides the background or context for more fully understanding the information in volumes 2 and 3. These subsequent volumes together contain 193 essays, each focusing on the contemporary religious practices of a particular country. Organizing the topic of religious practices by country assumes that geographical and, in particular, political boundaries—because in varying degrees they mark off areas of unique history, culture, and influence—encourage distinctive ways in which a religion is practiced, despite shared beliefs held by all members of a religion.
The essays in volumes 2 and 3 follow a standard format: statistical information, an overview of the country, one or more sections on major religions, a discussion of other religions, and a bibliography. The statistical information includes the country's total population and a breakdown by percentage of the major religious groups. The "Country Overview" section contains an "Introduction," providing a geographical or historical summary of the country needed to understand religious activities in the area, and a subsection on "Religious Tolerance," discussing such topics as freedom of worship, religious discrimination, ecumenical movements, and the relationship between church and state.
Every country essay then proceeds with a major religion section on each religion whose followers make up 25 percent or more of the country's population. In some countries just one religion, such as Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism, has at least this percentage of followers, but in other countries two or three religions each have more than 25 percent, thus resulting in the essay including two or three major religion sections. Exceptions to the rule were made for a small number of essays, most notably for China, where Buddhism, at 8 percent of thepopulation, and Christianity, at 6.5 percent, were given their own sections. China's population, however, is immense, and Buddhism's 8 percent, for example, represents 103 million people, more than the entire population of most countries. In some essays the major religion section is on a religious subgroup; this occurs when a subgroup, such as Roman Catholicism, dominates the country or when the country, such as Sweden, has had a historically important state church.
Each major religion section is broken down into the following 18 subsections, which describe the religion's distinctive qualities in that country. "Date of origin," for example, refers to the year not when the religion was founded but when it was introduced into the country. "Major Theologians and Authors" discusses significant religious writers from the country. "Mode of Dress" details any clothing or styles distinctive to adherents in the country. Because each major religion section is divided into the same 18 subject headings, religions can be easily compared from one country to another.
- Date of Origin
- Number of Followers
- History
- Early and Modern Leaders
- Major Theologians and Authors
- Houses of Worship and Holy Places
- What is Sacred?
- Holidays and Festivals
- Mode of Dress
- Dietary Practices
- Rituals (outlining such practices as worship services, prayer, and pilgrimages)
- Rites of Passage
- Membership (discussing ways of encouraging new members)
- Social Justice (in relation to poverty, education, and human rights)
- Social Aspects (focusing on marriage and family)
- Political Impact
- Controversial Issues
- Cultural Impact (in the arts, such as literature, painting, music, dance, and architecture)
Each country essay ends with a summary of other religions—those that make up less than 25 percent of the population—and a bibliography, which recommends other books and articles for further reading.
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my appreciation to the encyclopedia's editorial staff. Among those in-house at Thomson Gale are Bonnie Whitaker, who helped identify the need for the book and develop its main outline; Bernard Grunow, who calmly guided the early in-house steps; Thomas Carson, whose wisdom and background in religious studies kept the encyclopedia on the right path; Rita Runchock, whose editorial judgment proved essential at various stages of the project; Carol Nagel, who in the final months provided editorial focus, in the process finding solutions to lingering problems; and Michael LaBlanc, whose good humor, common sense, and fine editorial skills helped bring the project to a needed and gentle ending.
I am also grateful to Stephen Meyer, the associate editor, who was involved from the very beginning of the project, helping develop the book's editorial plan, contacting scholars to write essays and working with them on their revisions, and involving himself in other tasks too numerous to list; Mariko Fujinaka, an assistant editor, whose day-to-day organizational skills made all our lives easier; Erin Brown, our other assistant editor, who was involved in photo selection, contacting and corresponding with peer reviewers, and many other areas; Joyce Meyer, who translated a number of essays from French into English; Robert Rauch, the senior line editor, who helped create the editing guidelines and oversee the other line editors; and the line editors themselves—Lee Esbenshade, Laura Gabler, Natalie Goldstein, Anne Healey, Elizabeth Henry, and Janet Moredock—who were asked to ensure that the text, even when containing challenging or esoteric information, be accessible to a wide range of readers.
Finally, I would like to thank the advisers and contributors. Much of the information in the essays cannot be readily found in any other source, and without the involvement of our advisers and contributors, this encyclopedia, of course, could not have been produced.
Thomas J. Riggs
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