Mikael Rothstein

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Mikael Rothstein
Born (1961-05-08) 8 May 1961 (age 60)
NationalityDanish
Alma materUniversity of Copenhagen
Scientific career
FieldsReligious studies
InstitutionsUniversity of Copenhagen

Mikael Rothstein (born 8 May 1961) is an associate professor of religious history at the University of Copenhagen in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Rothstein earned his PhD in 1993 and became a Lector at the University of Copenhagen in 2001.[1] He has been on the board of the (DAHR) and the editorial boards of the publications Renner Studies on New Religions (Aarhus University Press) and Nye Religioner (Gyldendal).[2]

Rothstein has been called one of Denmark's top researchers in new religious movements,[3] and has been credited with making them a topic of scholarship.[1]

Another area of scholarly interest is indigenous religions; he was the first researcher to describe the Penan people of Borneo.[1]

Among books he has written or co-edited are: Belief Transformations: Some Aspects of the Relation between Science and Religion in Transcendental Meditation (TM) and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) (1996), Secular Theories on Religion: Current Perspectives (2000) (co-author with Tim Jensen), New Age Religion and Globalization (2002), New Religions in a Postmodern World (2003) (co-editor with Reender Kranenborg) and The Cambridge Companion to New Religious Movements (2012) (co-editor with Olav Hammer).[3]

Rothstein has been involved in some conflicts in the media. In 2007 he was criticized after defending Ungdomshuset.[1] In 2011 he was one of those criticizing the rephrasing of the mission of Denmark's state-owned broadcasting service, DR, to include promoting Christian values, which he called "a way of making us all hostages to a nationalist Christian project".[4][5] He has called Lars Hedegaard "an assailant" (Danish: en voldsmand), leading to criticism from other free speech advocates.[6] He has been described in a Christian periodical as "uncompromising [and] a wonderful, intelligent man who is both warm, caring and generous with praise for both colleagues and students"[1] and by another commentator in the same publication as demonstrating "one-sided bile" and "hatred" in his utterances concerning Christianity.[7] An opinion article in another newspaper likewise portrayed him as a hater of religion.[8]

Rothstein and his wife, Mie, have two children.[1] His brother, , is a well known TV journalist.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Bente Clausen, "Kompromisløs forsker med bløde sider", Kristeligt Dagblad, May 7, 2011 (in Danish).
  2. ^ Institut for Religionshistorie Archived 2007-06-14 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Jens-André Herbener, "Interview med religionshistoriker Mikael Rothstein", Politiken, October 10, 2012 (in Danish).
  4. ^ Rasmus Bo Sørensen and Anita Brask Rasmussen, "Danmarks Radio er nu officielt kristen", Information.dk, February 8, 2011: "en måde at tage os allesammen som gidsler i et nationalistisk kristent projekt".
  5. ^ Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, "Danish Radio embraces 'Christian values' in new contract", Hürriyet Daily News, February 13, 2011.
  6. ^ Henrik Dahl and Birgithe Kosovic, "De afskyelige meninger", Politiken, March 6, 2013 (in Danish).
  7. ^ Sørine Gotfredsen, "Den lidt for lidenskabelige forsker", Kristeligt Dagblad, May 30, 2014 (in Danish).
  8. ^ Claes Kastholm Hansen, "Religionshistorikerens selvhad", Berlingske, January 3, 2015 (in Danish).

External links[]

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