作者為玄奘大學宗教學系教授兼系主任、文理學院院長=Professor & Chairman of Department of Religious Studies ; Dean of College of Arts and Sciences, Hsuan Chuang University, Taiwan
關鍵詞
寺院經濟=monastery and economy; 寺產=monastery and asset; 土地登記=property registration; 監督寺廟條例=law and supervision on religious organization; 寺廟登記=monastery registration
Religious affairs are consisted of both sacred and profane aspects. The sacred aspect includes religious precepts, religious rituals, ways of religious conversion, cleric stratification, etc. All of these directly affect the autonomy of a religion and should not be interfered by bureaucrats, scholars in the area of religious studies, the social mass or any other in the secular realm. However, religion has great influence on the devotees’ belief or lives. Since the source of a religious organization often depends on the devotees’ donation, the society in general tends to examine the operation of a religious organization through a high standard and forgoes concerns such as religious autonomy. This essay will examine two major problems confronted by Taiwan monasteries — economic development and asset management. Due to the limitation of the scope of this paper, I am unable to offer a better investigation. But hopefully, through this paper’s examination on various problems, a solution might still be found.
