Ethnoreligious group

This article is about groups that share both an ethnic and a religious background. For religions that are closely tied to a particular ethnic group, see ethnic religion.

An ethnoreligious group (or an ethno-religious group) is a grouping of people who are unified by a common religious and ethnic background.^[1]

Furthermore, the term ethno-religious group, along with ethno-regional and ethno-linguistic groups, is a sub-category of ethnicity and is used as evidence of belief in a common culture and ancestry.^[2]

In a narrower sense, they refer to groups whose religious and ethnic traditions are historically linked.^[3]

Characteristics

The elements that are defined as characteristics of an ethnoreligious group are "social character, historical experience, and theological beliefs".^[4]

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.^[5]

Defining an ethnoreligious group

In general, ethnoreligious communities define their ethnic identity not only by ancestral heritage nor simply by religious affiliation but normally through a combination of both. An ethnoreligious group has a shared history and a cultural tradition – which can be defined as religious – of its own. In many cases ethnoreligious groups are ethno-cultural groups with a traditional ethnic religion; in other cases ethnoreligious groups begin as communities united by a common faith which through endogamy developed cultural and ancestral ties.^[6][7]

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.^[8] 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.

Examples

The term "ethnoreligious" has been applied by a reliable source to the following groups

Ethnic fusion	Ethnic religion	Religious ethnicity
Alawites^[9] Amish^[10] Doukhobors^[11] Druze^[10] Hutterites^[12] Jews^[13]^[14]^[15] Mandaeans Maronites^[16] Mennonites^[17] Molokan^[18] Mormons^[19]^[7] Samaritans^[20] Saint Thomas Christians^[21] Shabaks Sikhs^[22]^[23] Yazidis (disputed)^[24]^[25] Parsis^[26]	Afar people^[27] Armenians^[9]^[28] Assyrians^[29]^[30]^[31] Balinese Hindus Copts^[32] Deccanis Dutch Reformed^[6]^[7] Greeks^[6]^[7] Kalash^[33] Mahar^[34] Malay Russian Orthodox^[6]^[7] Somalis^[35]^[27] Setos^[36] Syrian Turkmens^[9]	Antiochian Greek Christians^[37] Croats^[38] Macedonian Muslims Muslims (ethnoreligious group) Gorani^[39] Bosniaks^[38] Pomaks Serbs^[38] Irish Catholic^[40]^[41]^[42] Ulster Protestants^[43]^[44]^[45]

Jews

Main articles: Who is a Jew?, Beta Israel, and Bene Israel

Prior to the Babylonian exile, the Israelites had already emerged as an ethnoreligious group, probably before the time of Hosea.^[46]

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).^[47] 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.^[48] If the spouse does not convert, the Reform movement will recognize patrilineal descent. Traditional interpretations of Jewish law only recognize descent along the maternal line. Many children of mixed marriages do not identify as Jews and the Reform movement only recognizes children of mixed marriages as Jewish if they "established through appropriate and timely public and formal acts of identification with the Jewish faith and people."^[49] In actual practice, most Reform Jews affirm patrilineal descent as a valid means of Jewish identification, particularly if the individual was "raised Jewish".^[50][51]

Since the mid 1960s, Israeli national identity has become linked with Jewish identity as a result of Zionism.^[52][53] 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

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.^[54][55]

As 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".^[56] The reference to "ethno-religious" was added by the Anti-Discrimination (Amendment) Act 1994 (NSW).^[57] 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".^[22][23]

The definition of "race" in Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (Tas) likewise includes "ethnic, ethno-religious or national origin".^[58] However, unlike the NSW Act, it also prohibits discrimination on the grounds of "religious belief or affiliation" or "religious activity".^[59]

United Kingdom

Main article: Mandla v Dowell-Lee

In the United Kingdom the landmark legal case Mandla v Dowell-Lee placed a legal definition on ethnic groups with religious ties, which, in turn, has paved the way for the definition of an ethnoreligious^[60] group. Both Jews^[13][14][15] and Sikhs^[61][62][63] 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. In addition to those two essential characteristics the following characteristics are, in my opinion, relevant:
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.^[62]

See also

• Religious assimilation
• Folk religion
• Religious segregation
• Symbolic ethnicity
• Ethnolinguistic group

References

1. Raymond Taras; Rajat Ganguly (7 August 2015). Understanding Ethnic Conflict. Taylor & Francis. pp. 31–. ISBN 978-1-317-34282-3.
2. Müller, Marion; Zifonun, Darius (2010-08-05). Ethnowissen: Soziologische Beiträge zu ethnischer Differenzierung und Migration (in German). Springer-Verlag. pp. 102–103. ISBN 978-3-531-92449-6.
3. Valerio-Jimenez, Omar; Vaquera-Vasquez, Santiago (2017-06-30). Latina/o Midwest Reader. University of Illinois Press. p. 319. ISBN 978-0-252-09980-9.
4. Greer, Joanne Marie; Moberg, David O.; Lynn, Monty L. (2001-04-01). Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion. BRILL. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-55938-893-1. Historically, each ethnoreligious group had its own social character, historical experience and theological beliefs. (Robert P. Swierenga 1990, p. 149)
5. Asatrian, Garnik S.; Arakelova, Victoria (2014-09-03). The Religion of the Peacock Angel: The Yezidis and Their Spirit World. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-54428-9.
6. Yang and Ebaugh, p.369: "Andrew Greeley (1971) identified three types of relationships in the United States: some religious people who do not hold an ethnic identity; some people who have an ethnic identity but are not religious; and cases in which religion and ethnicity are intertwined. Phillip Hammond and Kee Warner (1993), following Harold J. Abramson (1973), further explicated the “intertwining relationships” into a typology. First is “ethnic fusion,” where religion is the foundation of ethnicity, or, ethnicity equals religion, such as in the case of the Amish and Jews. The second pattern is that of “ethnic religion,” where religion is one of several foundations of ethnicity. The Greek or Russian Orthodox and the Dutch Reformed are examples of this type. In this pattern, ethnic identification can be claimed without claiming the religious identification but the reverse is rare. The third form, “religious ethnicity,” occurs where an ethnic group is linked to a religious tradition that is shared by other ethnic groups. The Irish, Italian, and Polish Catholics are such cases. In this pattern, religious identification can be claimed without claiming ethnic identification. Hammond and Warner also suggest that the relationship of religion and ethnicity is strongest in “ethnic fusion” and least strong in “religious ethnicity.” Recently, some scholars have argued that even Jews’ religion and culture (ethnicity) can be distinguished from each other and are separable (Chervyakov, Gitelman, and Shapiro 1997; Gans 1994)."
7. 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""
8. Andreas Wimmer. "Democracy and ethno-religious conflict in Iraq" (PDF). www.econstor.eu.
9. Thomas 2006
10. Simon Harrison (2006). Fracturing Resemblances: Identity and Mimetic Conflict in Melanesia and the West. Berghahn Books. pp. 121–. ISBN 978-1-57181-680-1.
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12. Janzen, Rod; Stanton, Max (2010-09-01). The Hutterites in North America. JHU Press. ISBN 9780801899256.
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14. Ethnic minorities in English law – Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved on 2010-12-23.
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16. Reyes, Adelaida (2014). Music and Minorities from Around the World: Research, Documentation and Interdisciplinary Study. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 45. ISBN 9781443870948. The Maronites are an ethnoreligious group in the Levant.
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18. Wiley Hardwick, Susan (1993). Russian Refuge: Religion, Migration, and Settlement on the North American Pacific Rim. University of Chicago Press. p. 178. ISBN 9780226316116.
19. . ebooks.cambridge.org. Archived from the original on 2020-05-16. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
20. Ireton 2003
21. Perczel (2013), p. 416.
22. . Parliament of New South Wales. 2007-05-12. Archived from the original on 2011-04-04. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
23. Gareth Griffith (February 2006). (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service. p. 52. ISBN 0-7313-1792-0. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 May 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
24. Allison, Christine (20 February 2004). "Yazidis i: General". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
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26. Paul R. Ehrlich; Anne H. Ehrlich (30 June 2008). The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment. Island Press. p. 315. ISBN 978-1-59726-096-1.
27. Desplat, Patrick; Østebø, Terje (2013-04-18). Muslim Ethiopia: The Christian Legacy, Identity Politics, and Islamic Reformism. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137322081.
28. Dekmejian, R. Hrair (1994). "Reviewed Work: Revolution and Genocide: On the Origins of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust by Robert F. Melson". The International History Review. 16 (2): 377. JSTOR 40107201. ...both victimized groups [Armenians & Jews] were ethno-religious minorities...
29. 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
30. R. Williams, Victoria (2020). Indigenous Peoples: An Encyclopedia of Culture, History, and Threats to Survival [4 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 110. ISBN 9781440861185. The Assyrians are a Middle Eastern ethnoreligious group also known as the Syriacs, Chaldeans, or Arameans.
31. H. Becker, Adam (2015). Revival and Awakening: American Evangelical Missionaries in Iran and the Origins of Assyrian Nationalism. University of Chicago Press. p. 8. ISBN 9780226145310.
32. Catlos, Brian (2014). "Accursed, Superior Men: Ethno-Religious Minorities and Politics in the Medieval Mediterranean". Comparative Studies in Society and History. Cambridge University Press. 56 (4): 844–869. doi:10.1017/S0010417514000425. S2CID 145603557.
33. Michael Witzel (2004). (PDF). In A. Griffiths; J.E.M. Houben (eds.). The Vedas: Texts, Language and Ritual. Groningen: Forsten. pp. 581–636.
34. Ponna Wignaraja; Akmal Hussain, eds. (1989). The Challenge in South Asia: Development, Democracy and Regional Cooperation. United Nations University Press. p. 278. ISBN 9780803996038.
35. 2016 Report on International Religious Freedom - Somalia
36. Ladykowski, P., Estonian Cottage. Setu – ethno-religious borderland group., Warsaw University Press
37. Gorman, Anthony (2015). Diasporas of the Modern Middle East: Contextualising Community. Edinburgh University Press. p. 32. ISBN 9780748686131.
38. Marty, Martin E. (1997). Religion, Ethnicity, and Self-Identity: Nations in Turmoil. University Press of New England. ISBN 0-87451-815-6. [...] the three ethnoreligious groups that have played the roles of the protagonists in the bloody tragedy that has unfolded in the former Yugoslavia: the Christian Orthodox Serbs, the Roman Catholic Croats, and the Muslim Slavs of Bosnia.
39. Zemon, Rubin. "The development of identities among the Muslim population in the Balkans in an era of globalization and Europeanization: Cases of Torbeshi, Gorani and Pomaci".
40. Evans, Jocelyn; Tonge, Jonathan (2013). "Catholic, Irish and Nationalist: evaluating the importance of ethno-national and ethno-religious variables in determining nationalist political allegiance in Northern Ireland". Nations and Nationalism. 19 (2): 357–375. doi:10.1111/nana.12005.
41. Monson, J. Quin (2014). Seeking the Promised Land: Mormons and American Politics. Cambridge University Press. p. 39. ISBN 9781107027978.
42. J. Pulera, Dominic (2002). Visible Differences: Why Race Will Matter to Americans in the Twenty-First Century. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 49. ISBN 9781441170897.
43. Hunt, Stephen (13 May 2016). "Chapter 7: Christians and Gays in Northern Ireland". Contemporary Christianity and LGBT Sexualities. ISBN 9781317160922. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
44. Byrne, Sean (2000). Social Conflicts and Collective Identities. p. 94. ISBN 9780742500518. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
45. Ó Lúing, Seán (1953). Art Ó Griofa. Dublin: Sairséal agus Dill. p. 217.
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47. "History of the Reform Movement". My Jewish Learning. 70/Faces. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
48. "Conversion and Marriage". www.chabad.org.
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51. Fischman, Sylvia Barack. "Fathers of the Faith? Three Decades of Patrilineal Descent in American Reform Judaism" (PDF). JPPI. JPPI. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
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53. Shlomo Fischer. "Israelis Are Divided Over Whether They Are 'Jewish' Or 'Israeli.'". Forward. Retrieved 25 Oct 2018.
54. John H. Redekop: A People Apart: Ethnicity and the Mennonite Brethren, 1987.
55. Royden Loewen: The Poetics of Peoplehood: Ethnicity and Religion among Canada's Mennonites in Paul Bramadat, David Seljak: Christianity and Ethnicity in Canada, 2008.
56. "Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 Section 4".
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58. "ANTI-DISCRIMINATION ACT 1998 – SECT 3". Tasmanian Consolidated Acts. AustLII. 2 February 2010. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
59. "ANTI-DISCRIMINATION ACT 1998 – SECT 16". Tasmanian Consolidated Acts. AustLII. 2 February 2010. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
60. policypaperdraft. Policy.hu. Retrieved on 2010-12-23.
61. Immigrant Sub-National Ethnicity: Bengali-Hindus and Punjabi-Sikhs in the San Francisco Bay Area. Allacademic.com. Retrieved on 2010-12-23.
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