Vol. 7 No. 1 (2026): Sources of Religious Nationalism

This issue of the Journal of the Council for Research on Religion (JCREOR) examines the category of religious nationalism by interrogating what constitutes both the “religious” and the “national.” It foregrounds the central role of society’s mythic structures and frameworks, showing how myth-histories often take precedence over empirical accounts of the past. These narratives function to unify the nation, elevating particular stories and symbols to the status of the sacred, such that challenging them is perceived as an attack on the nation itself.

The volume brings together essays that trace how religious nationalism is produced through textual practices, interpretive traditions, and the construction of scholarly canons, as well as through institutions such as education, pilgrimage, and policy. Contributions also examine how historical memory is curated and sacralized, how transnational networks mobilize religious narratives for political ends, and how legal and theological language codifies structures of domination. Collectively, the issue highlights how religious nationalism is authored, circulated, institutionalized, and strategically sustained across diverse contexts.