Sanctuary Practices in Perspective examines the diverse, complex, and mutating practice of providing sanctuary to asylum-seekers. The ancient tradition of church sanctuary underwent a revival in the late 1970s. Christian churches began providing physical protection to migrants living without legal status and who were facing imminent deportation in church buildings and communities: first in the United Kingdom and then in the United States, Canada, and several other European countries. These practices arose amidst a dramatic increase in the number of asylum-seekers arriving in the West, and a corresponding escalation in national and international efforts to discourage and control their arrival through myriad threats of deportation and other means. This collection of papers by prominent US, European, and Canadian scholars is the first to place contemporary sanctuary practices in international, theoretical, and historical perspective. Moving beyond isolated case studies of sanctuary activities and movements, it reveals sanctuary as a far more complex, regional, theoretically-rich, and institutionally adaptable set of practices.

This book investigates and re-evaluates the remains of the two most important sanctuaries in ancient Greece.

A comprehensive narrative history of the ancient world's center, from its founding to its modern rediscovery The oracle and sanctuary of the Greek god Apollo at Delphi were known as the "omphalos"—the "center" or "navel"—of the ancient world for more than 1,000 years. Individuals, city leaders, and kings came from all over the Mediterranean and beyond to consult Delphi's oracular priestess; to set up monuments to the gods; and to take part in competitions. In this richly illustrated account, Michael Scott covers the history and nature of Delphi, from the literary and archaeological evidence surrounding the site, to its rise as a center of worship, to the constant appeal of the oracle despite her cryptic prophecies. He describes how Delphi became a contested sacred site for Greeks and Romans and a storehouse for the treasures of rival city-states and foreign kings. He also examines the eventual decline of the site and how its meaning and importance have continued to be reshaped. A unique window into the center of the ancient world, Delphi will appeal to general readers, tourists, students, and specialists.

The history of Greek sanctuaries reflects the development of ancient Greek culture and civilization. Traditionally studies of sanctuaries have been mainly descriptive, with much emphasis on the architectural features. This collection rakes a wider view. The articles, all by archaeologists or historians of religion, explore the ongm and development of sanctuaries through detailed investigations of some of the most major and some less well-known sites. They stress the social significance of sanctuaries, as well as the important role they played within particular cults. Greek Sanctuaries: New Approaches is important and engaging reading for students of ancient Greek history or archaeology. Ir will also be of interest to people visiting the sites.

Modern sport cannot be understood without ancient sport. Sport saturates contemporary society and the global reach of sport and its intense popularity characterizes the modern world. But, at the same time, sport is one of the most ancient human pursuits. In the globalized sport of today, the type of athletic performance and the ideology of sport and its apparent origins are mostly derived from the model of one pre-modern civilization: Graeco-Roman antiquity. Juxtaposing ancient writers with recent ones, including the modern Olympic founder Pierre de Coubertin and physical fitness impresario Bernarr Macfadden, and by examining the representation of sport in Olympic films, Miller demonstrates the ancient heritage of contemporary sport, and the creative ways in which ancient sport has been adapted, appropriated, mishandled and reimagined. Sport today contains a surprising contradiction: its explicit modernity (from its technological sophistication and integration into capitalist markets to its institutionalization and celebrity culture) and its supposed antiquity (from the mythology of the Olympics to the ancient roots of sporting civic and national pride, and the emotional and near religious fervour of sports fans). This book intervenes in one of the most important of the receptions of classical antiquity by examining how sports personalities, agencies, institutions and movements have consciously connected themselves to the Graeco-Roman past, even as they continue to insist on their own centrality in the modern world.

Behind the walls of a church, Liliana and her baby eat, sleep, and wait. Outside, protestors shout "Go back to Mexico!" and "Even heaven has a gate!" They demand that the U.S. government deport Liliana, which would separate her from her husband and children. Who is Liliana? A criminal? A hero? And why does the church protect her? In One Family Under God, Grace Yukich draws on extensive field observation and interviews to reveal how immigration is changing religious activism in the U.S. In the face of nationwide immigration raids and public hostility toward "illegal" immigration, the New Sanctuary Movement emerged in 2007 as a religious force seeking to humanize the image of undocumented immigrants. Building coalitions between religious and ethnic groups that had rarely worked together in the past, activists revived and adapted sanctuary, the tradition of providing shelter for fugitives in houses of worship. Through sanctuary, they called on Americans to support legislation that would keep immigrant families together. But they sought more than political change: they also pursued religious transformation, challenging the religious nationalism in America's faith communities by portraying undocumented immigrants as fellow children of God. Yukich shows progressive religious activists struggling with the competing goals of newly diverse coalitions, fighting to expand the meaning of "family values" in a diversifying nation. Through these struggles, the activists are both challenging the public dominance of the religious right and creating conflicts that could doom their chances of impacting immigration reform.