Religious Symbols and the Making of Contemporary Religious Identities

Symbols, religious or otherwise, play a large part in the life of individuals as they are closely linked to their cultural heritage and often contribute to the making of a person’s identity. A symbol may be a piece of jewellery such as a wedding ring, a kara bangle, ¹ a cross or a string, ² or it may be a particular form of dress (jilbab, ³ niqab, ⁴ sari ⁵ ) or head cover (Jewish skullcap, Muslim hijab, Sikh turban). Alternatively, it may take the shape of statues displayed in the home or carried by an individual. Symbols may be more or less visible, depending on their nature and on whether they are confined to the private sphere or carried into the public domain. Once in the public sphere, religious symbols are subject to a certain degree of scrutiny, often fuelled by curiosity, fear and sometimes ignorance. When associated with a particular ideology, symbols can indeed send negative messages – skinheads and swastikas for instance are often associated with far Right movements which promote racism and hatred. Religious symbols can be used to dissimulate terrorist plots, for example, Islamic dress can be used to disguise a suicide bomber (Haider, 2010).