Sacred Matters, Stately Concerns ― Faith and Politics in Asia, Past and Present

This is the first volume in a new series titled Washington College Studies in Religion, Politics, and Culture. The series is committed to publishing cutting-edge research on the intersections of faith, culture, and public life in the United States and around the world through contemporary and historical studies as well as empirical and theoretical explorations. In this volume eight contributions represent scholarship from the disciplines of history, religious studies, political science, international relations, and geography. Topics include Empress Wu as Chinese Cakravartin, ritual meat avoidance and Japanese state systems, sacred feminine voices in Ryukyuan polity, Islam in contemporary Indonesia, and competing religious and ethnic nationalisms in Pakistan, and Jackie Chan as Confucian critic. Annotation c2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

John M. Thompson is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Christopher Newport University, where he teaches courses in philosophy, religious studies, Asian studies, and the honors program. He earned his BA in philosophy at William and Mary, his Master’s of Theological Studies at Boston University, and did his doctoral work at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, in the cultural and historical study of religion. He is the author of two books as well as numerous scholarly articles, book chapters, and book reviews. Although his primary areas of expertise are Buddhism and East Asian traditions, Thompson has a strong background in Western philosophy and Christian theology. He is keenly interested in the intersection of religion, politics, and violence through history and in cross-cultural interactions both past and present.