Editorial Address & Advisory Board

Abstract

The first issue of volume six of the Journal of the Council for Research on Religion (JCREOR) is a special issue on Analyzing the Discourse of Religious Phobia. The issue focuses on topics discussed at the Religious Phobia Symposium, held at McGill's School of Religious Studies from October 25th to 27th, 2023, including Hinduphobia, Islamophobia, and Anti-Semitism in public discourse. The papers in this issue examine how misinformation, media distortions, political biases, and colonial stereotypes have fostered negative images and assumptions about various religions. The contributors aim to understand the specific fears associated with different religious traditions, and explore whether terms such as Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and Hinduphobia are useful, not only for understanding these fears, but also for effectively addressing and reducing them.