Religion, Media, and Culture Research Papers (original) (raw)

2025

O presente trabalho propõe uma reflexão acerca das lideranças femininas de duas Igrejas de grande relevância no campo neopentecostal brasileiro, Cristiane Cardoso, liderança da Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus (IURD) e Denise Seixas pastora e uma das fundadoras Bola de Neve (BNC). Apesar da gestão das duas igrejas ficar concentrada majoritariamente em figuras masculinas, ambas se apresentam como referências femininas de suas Igrejas, como escritoras e artistas sendo, inclusive, responsáveis pela elaboração de teorias sobre os modos de ser e estar das mulheres religiosas neopentecostais brasileiras. Assim, esse trabalho se propõe a refletir sobre as aproximações e divergências criadas pelas duas lideranças acerca de temas como maternidade, casamento, bem como as definições sobre a conduta da mulher cristã na atualidade. Para viabilizar o estudo, serão analisados o livro "A mulher V: Moderna à moda antiga", escrito por Cristiane Cardoso e "A essência da mulher: espalhando o aroma de Cristo" de Denise

2025, Institut Universitaire Elie Wiesel, Paris (France)

L'entrée des juifs dans la modernité ouvre une réflexion nouvelle sur l'identité juive et ses implications quotidiennes, notamment religieuses. Ce questionnement inspire propositions et innovations, révélant une créativité souvent empreinte d'optimisme. Les grandes synagogues consistoriales incarnent cette transformation de l'identité juive moderne, lorsqu’elles allient architecture inspirante, compositions liturgiques originales et traduction française des prières, pour offrir ainsi une expérience renouvelée du vécu de la Synagogue.

2025

BA dissertation on Cultural Genocide in Tibet

2025

IDSS Commentaries are intended to provide timely and, where appropriate, policy relevant background and analysis of contemporary developments. The views of the authors are their own and do not represent the official position of IDSS.

2025, Studies in Indian Politics

2025, Studies in Media and Communication

In the Information Era, audience participation has gradually become an important activity in the media field, including reality television. Under the present convergence of media and culture, it is also valuable to review the audiences themselves and their participation in regional contexts. This study adopts case study method using online observation of audiences in two Chinese social media platforms (Sina Weibo and Baidu Tieba), exploring the online audiences' participation in 'Sing! China' and the participatory culture they formed during this process. Through this analysis, participation can be regarded as a sort of pleasure for online audiences, where the meanings of television programs can be creatively processed and utilized for daily entertainment or communication. To some extent, audiences' interpretations of media texts are complicated, rather than being limited to mere acceptance or outright rejection as suggested by traditional models. Sometimes, audiences know the existence of authenticity issues in reality television (including performing authenticity of tutors) and some allow its coexistence within reality shows. In terms of authenticity issues on reality television, there are some audiences that create new cultural products based on their own watching experience and understanding that belongs to a part of popular culture, which is beyond the media content itself or may be different from what the media producers want to convey. Such audiences can also be viewed as media producers or free laborers of media not merely media consumers. All these individuals constitute a sort of participatory culture that circulates in society or exists in mass discourse. Through this study, the researcher attempts to provide a reference from the perspective of the audiences for the field of both academia and the media industry.

2025

Estudo histórico contextual que investiga, em perspectiva genealógica, como a mídia evangélica desenvolveu-se no país, examinando as condições de midiatização desse segmento social. A questão é provocada no presente e busca no percurso histórico da mídia evangélica relações de três narrativas/histórias/fatos do passado: o Centro Audio Visual Evangélico, CAVE; a história da mídia evangélica; a história do protestantismo no Brasil, conforme elaborada por Mendonça (2005; 2008). Aponta para as experiências midiáticas evangélicas do passado como integradas aos recentes processos de midiatização do grupo socia

2025, Annual Review of Anthropology

While debates over freedom of speech have been a focus of renewed public and media attention over the past decade, anthropological literature focusing self-consciously and explicitly on the topic remained, until very recently, relatively thin on the ground. And yet questions of freedom of expression are treated tangentially in a range of anthropological literatures, including studies of publics, media and mediation, expertise, political subjectivity, or humor. We draw these contributions together to build a synthetic account of what anthropology has had to say—directly or indirectly—about freedom of speech. Building on this literature, the article argues that rather than imagine freedom of speech as the illusory opposite of our preferential understanding of communication as necessarily constrained, a more ethnographic and less parochial approach would seek to interrogate the different modalities in which freedoms of speech are evoked, invoked, imagined, and practiced.

2025, self

This thesis reconstructs the legendary Book of Raziel—a divine text said to contain the foundational secrets of creation, passed from the angel Raziel to Adam. Integrating mystical sources including Ruah YHWH in Ezekiel, Sefer ha-Malbush, and The Book of Noah, this modern synthesis weaves together ancient traditions, sacred geometry, and esoteric knowledge. It proposes that the book encoded not only words but frequencies, light, and divine architecture—revealing its role in the Ark of the Covenant, Enochian visions, and Solomon’s magical dominion. This work revives the lost knowledge with reverence and modern gnosis, illuminating a cosmic inheritance once whispered in sapphire and gold.

2025

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that addictive behaviours are not the result of moral failings but rather emerge from basic human needs going unmet during key developmental phases of life. Each of the seven deadly sins will be examined in direct relation to a specific level of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, revealing a psychological and behavioural pattern rooted in deprivation rather than inherent vice. This paper argues that the connection between unmet needs and the manifestation of sin-like behaviours is not merely theoretical-it is observable, evidence-based, and supported by both modern psychological research and real-world examples.

2025, Pacific World

This is an eclectic and experimental comparative philosophical analysis of the soteriological thought of Rennyo Shōnin, the eighth monshu of the Honganji temple of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism, and Plotinus, the founder of Neoplatonism. Both thinkers emphasize the necessity of an understanding that transcends mere intellectual knowledge in the liberative process. Rennyo's soteriology, articulated through his "fivefold method," underscores the importance of past good conditions (shukuzen), the role of the good teacher (zenchishiki), and active discourse in realizing faith (shinjin or anjin) leading to birth in the Pure Land. Similarly, Plotinus highlights the dialectic as a means of spiritual ascent, where the teacher acts as a philosophical midwife guiding the soul toward union with the One. By focusing on three key elements-understanding, the role of the teacher, and spiritual ascent-this paper explores the parallels between Rennyo's soteriology and Plotinus' idea of ascent. This comparative study offers a new systematic expression of Rennyo's soteriological model and its potential parallels to the Neoplatonic dialectic, illustrating how both traditions perceive wisdom beyond intellectual knowledge and the transformative power of discourse in guiding individuals from ignorance to liberation.

2025

Conteudo : Prefaciando... E o que ela encontrou por la / Iuri Andreas Reblin e Julio Cezar Adam. -- A cultura pop chegou a academia. E agora? / Iuri Andreas Reblin. -- Do nascimento da rede ate a ciberteologia / Fernanda Estrella. -- Religiao e Poder: a midia no fogo cruzado / Luciana Santos Bispo. -- Westworld: perspectivas sobre narratividade, identidade e religiao / Israel Mazzacorati Gomes. -- Sons of anarchy: de Hamlet a Jesus Cristo, da tragedia a esperanca / Andre Daniel Reinke. -- Sobre a musculacao edificarei a minha religiao: entrelacamento entre teologia pratica e religiao vivida a partir de expressoes de fe proprias da cultura fitness e obtidas em rede social / Marco Antonio Guermandi Sueitti. -- Pele: ruidos nas comunicacoes afetivas e sociais / Neilson Xavier de Brito. -- Da ficcao cientifica para a ficcao religiosa: ideias para pensar o cinema de ficcao cientifica como o culto da religiao vivida / Julio Cezar Adam. -- A pregacao do avatar: uma analise teologica do cin...

2025, De Gruyter eBooks

Trajectoires radiophoniques de la Modernité islamique au Nord-Cameroun (1958-2010) 83 Djiby Ndiaye Flaming et pratiques d'irrévérence des « musulmans connectés » au Sénégal 105 Bourahima Diomandé Les « imams chocos » ou la mutation de la figure de l'autorité religieuse musulmane en Côte d'Ivoire contemporaine 125 Fulera Issaka-Toure Trajectories and Practices of Islamic Family Law in Accra: A Perspective on a Malam 151 Ulrike Freitag The Projection of Saudi Arabian Influence to West Africa 173 Issouf Binaté Turkey's Religious Soft Power in Côte d'Ivoire: Practices and Constraints in Muslim Communities 207 List of Contributors 233 Liste des contributeurs 235 VI Contents This publication is the product of a 3-year collaboration between scholars who research, teach and write about Islam and Muslim societies, focusing primarily on West Africa. Coming from different disciplinary backgrounds, these scholars bring together perspectives on contemporary experiences of Islam and being Muslim in the region. We hope it adds to the knowledge of the region and charts new territories in the study of Islam and Muslim societies in general. The first expression of gratitude goes to these colleagues who accepted to join the adventure that led to this volume. We thank them for their patience with our endless requests and suggestions, their resilience and trust. Most of the contributions are authored by junior scholars some of whom signed here their first academic publications. We hope this fulfils the promise we have made to give them the floor to voice their ideas, one of the goals of this collaboration. Co-organized by the Laboratoire d'études et de recherches sur les dynamiques sociales et le développement local (Lasdel, Niamey, Niger . lasdel.net/) and Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO, Berlin, Germany ) the workshop, "From Senegal to Nigeria: The Modernity of Islam in Contemporary West Africa -Practices, Influences and Trajectories" (Niamey, 18 th to the 23 rd of November 2019) started the whole process. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Lasdel for hosting the workshop and Volkswagen (Knowledge for Tomorrow Program, grant 94910) for funding it. Leibniz and ZMO funded the open access option of this volume. Without the efforts of Siddo Moumouni, Professeur Tidjani Alou and Abdoua Elhadj Dagobi at Lasdel, Miriam Reinhardt at Volkswagen Foundation, Rakiya El Matine, Svenja Becherer and Nico Putz at ZMO, this collaboration and the volume would not have been possible. Your attention to details and patience with us made this book. Behind the scenes and quietly, you have helped us take this collaborative project to fruition. Many thanks also to Catherine Howard who translated from French the contributions by Binaté and Kaboré and the two external reviewers whose critical eye and suggestions helped improve the quality of the contributions.

2025, cedeplar.ufmg.br

desenvolvido a partir da pesquisa Valores e Representações da Sexualidade na perspectiva protestante, apoiada pela FAPEMIG

2025, journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

In this article, I focus on three embodied aspects of the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jewish Shabbat: clothing, meals, and appropriate conversation topics. Jewish law, alongside traditions and customs developed over the years, mandates changes during the Sabbath, including prohibitions and restrictions. However, interviews with ultra-Orthodox Israelis reveal a more complex picture. Rather than perceiving religious law as limiting, they view these practices as creating a sacred religious world that transcends the ordinary and is linked to feelings of choice and liberation. Observing these Shabbat laws connects individuals to sacred time and transforms what may seem restrictive into an empowering experience. By analyzing the emotional and experiential dimensions of devout Shabbat observance, this article offers a broader theoretical perspective on how embodied religious practices shape community and religious-cultural traditions while contributing to a deeper understanding of personal agency in creating sacred experiences as part of the wider context of religious life. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

2025, REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE CIÊNCIAS DO ESPORTE

Este artigo situa o espetáculo esportivo televisivo no contexto da mundialização do entrete-nimento, da cultura do consumo e, conseqüentemente, da apropriação dos usos e vivências, do espaço e do tempo na vida das pessoas. Focaliza a... more

2025, Religions

This study explored the role of digital platforms in shaping gender dynamics within Christian religious leadership in Nigeria. Historically, religious leadership in Nigerian Christianity has been predominantly male-dominated, with women often relegated to subordinate roles despite their significant contributions as preachers, healers, and founders. The advent of digital platforms has introduced a new paradigm, offering both male and female leaders with avenues to expand their communication, authority, and influence. Utilizing mediatization theory, this research investigated how online spaces allow women to bypass traditional patriarchal structures, engage broader audiences, and influence religious narratives. Through in-depth interviews with twenty religious leaders across Nigeria's six geopolitical zones and comment analysis from online community interactions, the study identified eight main themes that reveal the complex interactions between gender, authority, and influence in both digital and offline contexts. The findings suggest that while digital platforms provide women with increased visibility and opportunities, male leaders retain a higher level of authority and reach, even in online spaces. The study highlights the dual nature of digital media as both liberating and limiting for female leaders, presenting an environment where empowerment coexists with persistent gendered expectations. This research contributes to understanding how digital platforms impact gendered access to religious authority, revealing the ongoing struggle for gender equality within Christian leadership in Nigeria.

2025, Journal of Science and Technology of the Arts (JSTA), Vol.16 (2): 56-73

The haptic dimension of cinema has been described in several theoretical studies that revalue the role of corporeality in filmic perception, as opposed to the idealist tradition approaches, which tend to promote the intelligible to the detriment of the sensitive. For defenders of the haptic dimension of cinema, film reception is multisensory, implying a dialogue (pre-reflective and direct) between the audiovisual senses and the haptic senses. This theoretical stance is not without difficulties: even accepting the paradoxical character of notions such as "haptic visibility", the theses on this dimension of cinema sometimes run the risk of falling into radicalisms that are no less problematic than those that these same theses try to rebut. An alternative approach, which we will deepen in this paper, consists of circumscribing the haptic dimension using concepts such as avatar, virtuality, and absence, starting precisely from the observation that cinema, in its classical technical conception, as an audiovisual medium, offers us no more than images and sounds.

2025, Asdiwal, Revue genevoise d'anthropologie des religions

2025, AUC: Asian Journal of Religious Studies

Everybody aims and desires-peace and harmony in life, society, nation and the world. This aim might be accomplished when every human perceives "the other" person as "a human being". The 2025 Jubilee celebration reminds the Church of her dedication to work for peace, reconciliation and social justice among all nations, peoples, cultures and faiths. This paper here suggests that one of the ways to attain such goal is through inter-religious dialogue, which obliges the Christians to work with the jubilee spirit for enhancing healthy bonds across religions and cultures upon mutual collaboration and support for the common good of all peoples, and to make the world a better place to live in with peace, harmony, love, joy and happiness.

2025, IISS Online Analysis

Indonesia's foreign policy may soon get its first reset in a decade. Upon assuming the presidency on 20 October, retired general Prabowo Subianto appointed Sugiono, a long-time member of Prabowo's Gerindra Party, as foreign minister along with three deputy foreign ministers, a first in Indonesian politics. It remains unclear exactly how the three deputies -two senior diplomats and a political party chief -will manage the foreign ministry's diverse portfolio between themselves. They are nevertheless designated to assist and coordinate the foreign minister's role in supporting Prabowo's hands-on, personalist approach to foreign policy. As defence minister over the past five years, Prabowo has perhaps had greater international engagement than former president Joko Widodo (Jokowi). Since winning the election in February 2024, Prabowo has held at least 84 meetings with foreign officials from 38 countries. Any foreign-policy reset, however, will face legacy constraints. For the better part of a decade, Indonesia's foreign policy has narrowly focused on obtaining transactional economic benefits and prioritising issues with domestic resonance, such as the Israel-Palestine conflict. In this period, Indonesia exerted more effort in producing diplomatic reference-point products rather than shaping strategic outcomes.

2025, Rijecki Teoloski Casopis

Izvorni znanstveni rad Primljeno: 03.11.2011. Kaznena djela protiv spolne slobode i ćudoređa posljednjih su godina jedna od glavnih tema izvještavanja o Katoličkoj crkvi u medijima. Jedan od slučajeva koji je privukao najveću pozornost medija u Hrvatskoj su zlostavljanja u katoličkim odgojnim ustanovama u Irskoj, čemu je i posvećen ovaj rad. Naime, u radu se analizira izvještavanje dnevnih novina o tom problemu. Istraživanje je provedeno na sedam hrvatskih dnevnih novina -Jutarnjem listu, Večernjem listu, Novom listu, Slobodnoj Dalmaciji, Glasu Slavonije, 24 sata i Vjesniku. Analizirano je 111 priloga kojima se htjelo istražiti osnovne karakteristike takvih priloga, značajke izvora informacija, tematike i grafičke opreme priloga te karakteristike naslova priloga. Osobita je pozornost u radu posvećena medijskom prikazu zlostavljanja u katoličkim odgojnim ustanovama u Irskoj, povezanosti s takvim slučajevima u drugim državama, zaštićenosti identiteta osumnjičenih svećenika i žrtava zlostavljanja, generaliziranju pojedinačnih slučajeva te donošenju preuranjenih zaključaka i napada na papu i druge crkvene službenike. Ključne riječi: mediji, zlostavljanje, Katolička Crkva. Riječki teološki časopis, god. 19 (2011), br. 2 U svijetu djeluje preko 400.000 svećenika, više od milijun redovnika i redovnica te milijuni katoličkih laika koji se zauzimaju za siromašne i bolesne, potlačene i ugnjetene, marginalizirane i odbačene, jednostavno, za bolje društvo za koje su neki čak dali i život. Katolička crkva uzdržava oko 70.000 bolnica, zdravstvenih stanica, prihvatilišta za gubavce, invalide i oboljele od AIDS-a, prihvatilišta za siročad i dječje vrtiće. U svijetu oko 40.000.000 djece pohađa katoličke škole, a od toga na primjer u Njemačkoj oko 370.000 djece, pri čemu broj svake godine raste. Ta činjenica govori o sve većem povjerenju u Crkvu, pa i u Hrvatskoj. Prema istraživanju Gfk iz lipnja 2011. godine, Crkva je institucija kojoj u Hrvatskoj vjeruje najviše ljudi, a zanimljivo je istaknuti kako je u odnosu na 2007. godinu to povjerenje čak i poraslo. 1

2025, ייצוג תיאורי, מכסות ושוליות מרובה: המקרה של נשים חרדיות בישראל

לקראת הבחירות לכנסת ישראל בשנת 2013 הקימה קבוצת נשים חרדיות דף פייסבוק בשם "לא נבחרות, לא בוחרות", אשר קרא לראשונה בתולדות ישראל לנשים חרדיות שלא להצביע למפלגות החרדיות – ש"ס ויהדות התורה – כל עוד המפלגות הללו אינן מציבות נשים ברשימתן לכנסת. מאמר זה מבוסס על ראיונות עומק חצי מובנים עם 15 נשים חרדיות, ומבקש לבחון בעזרת המקרה שלהן מספר שאלות עקרוניות בסוגיה זו: האם נשים מקבוצות מיעוט תופסות עצמן מיוצגות בידי נשים מאותה קבוצת מיעוט בלבד, או שמא גם גברים מקבוצת המיעוט או נשים מקבוצת הרוב יכולים לייצגן באותה מידה? כיצד נשים חרדיות תופסות את ייצוגן הפוליטי במפלגות חילוניות? האם הביקורת על ייצוג נשים בעזרת מכסות תקפה גם במקרה של נשים חרדיות בישראל?
המחקר העלה כי השוליות המרובה של נשים חרדיות בישראל והצרכים הייחודיים שלהן הובילו אותן לדרוש ייצוג תיאורי של נשים חרדיות במפלגות החרדיות – ולא במפלגות חילוניות, או בידי גברים חרדים או נשים חילוניות. עוד עולה כי ככל שגדלה השוליות המרובה של נשים מקבוצות מיעוט, כך גדלה הדרישה לייצוג תיאורי של קבוצת הזהות בידי חברות אותה קבוצה בלבד.

2025, Lutheran Quarterly Vol. 28, No.2

Christianophobia is a book about the plight and persecution of Christians around the world, especially under Islam, a topic many shy away from confronting much less writing about. The author is an editor at The Times Literary Supplement, a weekly journal offering coverage on the latest and most important publications. The author presents his case about the plight of Christians through engaging interviews, human rights reports, speeches, and various forms of journalistic reporting.

2025, Research project

This study sets out to identify and examine exposure to religious broadcast programme and level of spirituality among tertiary education students in ilorin Metropolis. It adopted quantitative research and used survey as means of obtaining data. A sampling technique was adopted to select the respondent. This involved systematic and simple random selection. This study demonstrates student exposure to religious broadcast programme and their level of spirituality.

2025, EL NUEVO CONSERVADOR

Personal experience at Lourdes, France. Visit the grotto and the Basilica.
Miracles and experiences.

2025, Religions

Following the reopening of the Rasa Trulnang Tsuklhakhang, the central temple in Lhasa, all of the new images of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and famous lamas were placed behind glass except for those in the sancta sanctorum, the "Jokhang". When a pilgrim approaches the central figure, the Jowo Śākyamuni, she climbs a ladder on his right side, lays a ceremonial scarf across his lap, and then lays her head there, like a child seeking solace from her mother. A wealthy pilgrim might return in the late afternoon, when the temple is closed to visitors, to sponsor a regilding ceremony, in which the sponsor can spend up to an hour nearly alone with the Jowo watching his whole body be repainted in gold. Based on participant observation, pilgrimage guides, and verses of praise offered to the Jowo, this paper considers how the cult of the Jowo uses moments of private intimacy to bridge the distance, both physically and historically, between a devotee and the Buddha.

2025, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

A presente dissertação é um estudo acerca de práticas de conversão religiosa da sexualidade e as relações estabelecidas entre o conhecimento científico e religioso na sua produção. Discute-se a proibição como uma forma de produção discursiva para compreender a disputa pública sobre a "cura gay" e as formas pelas quais a homossexualidade se dá como uma experiência dentro dos contextos evangélicos. Para tal, elabora-se uma revisão teórica sobre protestantismo e ascensão das igrejas pentecostais e neopentecostais no Brasil durante o século XX, e as particularidades teológicas da experiência evangélica, dando enfoque ao seu caráter carismático e a centralidade a experiência do avivamento, também chamado "Batismo no Espírito Santo", e da conversão religiosa. A partir da análise documental e da apresentação de testemunhos de experiências numa igreja evangélica em Belo Horizonte, apresenta-se a metodologia de retiros espirituais e os seus fundamentos teológicos e psicológicos. Delimita-se a conversão religiosa como um processo de transformação moral e um ato performativo, cujo objetivo é inaugurar discursivamente um novo sujeito "santificado". Paralelamente, analisa-se a construção discursiva da homossexualidade como uma "patologia moral" em 65 boletins publicados entre os anos de 2006 e 2015 na mesma igreja igreja, e como a psicologia é articulada nos anúncios de serviços de aconselhamento pastoral e de atendimento psicológico. Argumenta-se que os serviços psicológicos e pastorais adquirem equivalência quando articulados ao redor dos significantes de "cura", "feridas", "restauração" e "libertação", e da compreensão do exercício profissional como uma dádiva, ou dom, para cumprimento de um chamado ministerial. Em seguida, discute-se sobre os movimentos de inclusão e exclusão de pessoas homossexuais dentro da igreja, analisando os posicionamentos públicos do ministério evangelístico para pessoas homossexuais, testemunhos e ministrações de sua líder, em comparação aos discursos de membros da família que ocupa a presidência da referida igreja desde os anos 70. Para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa foi elaborada uma metodologia qualitativa que combina dados de natureza etnográfica, análise documental e reconstituição histórica a partir do testemunho. Os resultados da pesquisa apontam para a necessidade de ampliação do debate sobre as práticas de "cura gay" para além das práticas médicas e psicológicas, e para a importância da investigação da religião e sexualidade como um fenômeno de ordem psicopolítica.

2025, Key Words in Religion, Media and Culture

Overview of key themes, writers, methods, and concepts in the cultural study of religion and media that define the field of religion, media, and culture, and introduce the essays of key words in the book.

2025, Tannishō: A Primer

Two translations of Tannishō, including a phrase-by-phrase translation correlated with the Japanese text and romanization. Intended to aid readers of Tannishō interested in tracing the movement and logic of Shinran’s words.

2025, Addaiyan Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

This discourse, using the analytical method of philosophical investigation, sets to examine the economic and socio-political implications of the Nigerian national anthem and pledge. In doing this, selected lines from the Nigerian national anthem and pledge were analyzed within the socio-political and developmental process that confronts Nigeria society. The paper, therefore, presents a metaphysical understanding of the life-style of the political elites and civil servants as it is being affected by the wordings of the anthem and pledge. The treatise adopts the meaning of anthem as a song that has special importance for a country, an organization or a particular group of people and is sung on special occasions while the pledge is conceived as a formal promise to be loyal often make by people standing in front of the flag with their right hand on their heart. The paper concludes with a meta-logical argument that the wordings of the anthem and pledge though look ordinary possesses far-reaching implications that could be positive or negative, despite the contemporary realities that suggested that the powers and significance of the words that constitute the anthem and pledge seem to have been lost.

2025, Critical Research on Religion

This article considers recent changes in the definition of religion and of media as the basis for framing the study of their relation to one another and recent research in the intersection they have come to form over the last two decades or so. The history, materiality, and reception of each have colored scholarly work, and made ethnography, practice, material culture, and embodiment key aspects of scholarship. A new paradigm for some scholars for studying mediation is aesthetics-no longer understood as the ''philosophy of the beautiful,'' but as the study of perception in the mediated practices that make up lived religion.

2025

Since the 1980s, Christianity in Europe has undergone major changes which apply mostly to both the ritual and leadership style. The former stands for religious practices focused on evoking supernatural phenomena whose emergence aims to empower an individual to take a particular action whereas the latter concerns efficient management, based on the modus operandi typical of the corporate environment. John Wimber and Charles Peter Wagner are claimed to have been the key figures responsible for the aforementioned shift. Wimber introduced the so-called Signs and Wonders Movement, followed by a world-famous preaching strategy known as power evangelism. He gave rise to the birth of the Third Wave Pentecostalism, also recognized as Neo-Pentecostalism. Wagner on the other hand, initiated the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), that is, a theological belief and movement at the same time whose core themes include transforming societies through strategic-level spiritual warfare (SLSW) and in consequence, advancing the kingdom of God. Interestingly, those two approaches complement each other what can be observed when exploring the discourse. The principal objective of this study is to investigate how the present-day Polish and Italian evangelists following the strategy of power evangelism negotiate attitudes and how it affects recipients' selfimage. Data were collected by means of participant observation, computer-mediated interviewing as well as written and spoken text analysis.

2025, Između dva zla Između scile i haribde

Izvrsna historijska knjiga izašla iz pera penzionisanog ali aktivnog naučnika i istraživača povijesne istine.

2025, Novi Muallim

Ključne riječi: Rešid Hafizović, vještačka inteligencija, Evropa, zapadnoevropska kultura, Srpska pravoslavna crkva, politička filozofija, selefizam

2025

Predmet ovog rada je slika islama u katoličkom sedmičnjaku Glas Koncila shodno objavljenim tekstovima različitih novinskih žanrova u periodu od 1991. do 2005. godine.

2025, «EL ESTUDIO DE LA DOCTRINA DE HONEN SOBRE EL AKUNIN-SHOKI« (El hombre malo como objeto de salvación) – Fujimoto Kiyohiko –

«EL ESTUDIO DE LA DOCTRINA DE HONEN SOBRE EL AKUNIN-SHOKI«

(El hombre malo como objeto de salvación)

– Fujimoto Kiyohiko –

2025, Global Affairs

The shift from the Asia-Pacific to the Indo-Pacific as the focal point of geopolitical dynamics situates Indonesia, an archipelagic republic, precisely within this transitional zone as a strategic space. Indonesia not only wields direct influence over the Malacca Strait but also controls the other two interoceanic passages connecting the Indian and Pacific Oceans. However, Indonesia’s consolidation as the indispensable nation of Southeast Asia is not solely attributable to its geography. As the birthplace of the Bandung Conference, a multiethnic, multireligious, and multicultural nation, leading ASEAN and driving economic growth across the region, Indonesia has emerged as a key reference point in balancing the interests of the U.S. and China. This article argues that, from this characterization, Indonesia fulfills both the material and attitudinal criteria required to assume the role of a middle power and is steadily advancing in solidifying this position.

2025, Filosofija. Sociologija

The phenomenon of veganism is not new in the World, but it was only in the first decade of this century that it became the subject of wider sociological and other research. The concept of veganism is complex, associated with consumption, lifestyle, social group, social movement, subculture, and other social phenomena, but researchers’ attention to the complexity of this phenomenon is limited. The article examines the multidimensionality of the phenomenon of veganism, which has so far been poorly analysed in the works of Lithuanian researchers, the diversity of its concepts and research directions, and summarises the levels of analysis of the phenomenon of veganism and research directions.

2025, Audience Interactions in Contemporary Celebrity Culture Approaches from across Disciplines, In Gaëlle Ouvrein, Ana Jorge, Hilde Van den Bulck (eds),. Lexington Books. The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group.

The analysis of online texts of interactions between celebrity-priests and their followers show that they are turning from mediators of communication with the divinity to celebrity worship objects. In their interactions with their followers, they are providing solutions mainly to issues related to the world here (therapeutic function), ranging from physical and mental illnesses to tips about career success. They are functioning as a moral beacon, often against dogmas (see their attitude on women or the LGBT), they are (omni)present at each stage of their followers’ lives, modelling their social identity. Some of these para-social relationships (McCutcheon, 2013) are (according to posted texts) a testimony of extreme adoration. They have generated support reactions (often fanatical ones), especially in the scandals involving some of the celebrity priests (the paedophilia allegations against Cristian Pomohaci or those concerning falsifying an icon’s miracles, related to Vasile Ioana). While much research in the cultural studies area has been following the mechanism of celebrity sacralization (Coman, 2011, Rojek, 2001, Ward, 2010), this study shows the process of de-sacralization of priests, through an atypical mechanism of cancel-religious-culture.

2025, ICA

This article makes a comparative analysis of structures of distribution and exhibition for Indian and Turkish films in the Belgian city of Antwerp. First, we examine the historical development from private screenings into regular multiplex screenings. Second, the local and international activities of both distributors and exhibitors in the cinema context are examined. Finally, we explore alternative formats, such as film festivals, the art house circuit and domestic film watching (official and informal DVD markets and satellite TV). Based on interviews with 33 key players in the field and on historical research, this study reveals a myriad of transnational distribution and exhibition channels, mapping a diverse diasporic cinema landscape. We demonstrate the necessity of a political economy inspired approach to fully analyse the diasporic cinema phenomenon, to discover how transnational power relations are defined and to expose dynamic relationships with global cultural traffic.

2024, Society for Research and Academic Excellence University of Nigeria, Nsukka

The Catholic Church officially declares Dec. 8, 2015 to Nov. 20, 2016 as Holy Year of Mercy otherwise known as a Jubilee of Mercy. By this singular act the Church calls on Christ faithful, and reminds them of the demand "to be merciful to all as their heavenly Father" (Lk. 6:36),thus the Jubilee motto: "Merciful Like the Father," The call serves as a free and open invitation to follow the merciful example of the Father. The concern of the study, however, is the challenges and responsibilities that the motto of the Jubilee of Mercy imposes on members of Christ faithful as children of God. The study traces the motto back to the Sermon on the Plain as recorded by Luke, hence the concept of "mercy" in Luke-Acts. It examines the various lexemes associated with mercy in Luke-Acts, and hermeneutically draws out some of their possible implications. The study adopts word-study exegetical method. The study argues that the notion of "merciful Father" connotes moral and ethical qualities that aptly summarises God's relationship with human in salvation history. Consequently, the Church's invitation to members of Christ faithful, and the human race in general, is understood as a call to retrace the history of salvation and follow the path of the Father in human dealings with fellow. human, and with the environment
K eyword : Jubilee, mercy, holy year, father, salvation, Luke-Acts

2024

Nonetheless, this volume, the brainchild and product of the industry and dogged persistence of Justin Beaumont, has gotten us to an amazing start. We must begin somewhere. The stage is now set. Laughter, even Borgeisan, maybe the shortest distance between two people. But it's not enough. One must attempt to make sense of our times. It is undeniably tempting to relate the growing relevance of postsecularity to ongoing crises throughout the world: climate change, and the resultant severe weather that is creating climate refugees, fuelling resource wars, catalyzing massive migrations, which in turn have given rise to many humanitarian crises; we could also refer to Brexit, the Catalan referendum and Spanish constitutional crisis, the austerity measure imposed on Greece, and the rise of xenophobic, nationalistic, and, in many cases, racist populist movements that have turned many polities towards authoritarian governments that are imposing draconian measures and legislating policies that affect perceived foreigners, refugees, and migrants. It is difficult not to approach the terms under these darkening skies. On the other hand, the Me Too (# MeToo) Movement, as well as many protests, in the USA, against Trump, and the rise of the, lets us call them, in short, the Occupy and Indignados mobilizations in the West, and the many uprisings throughout the Middle East, are different, if not positive, signs of alternative forces at play. Absent sociological data on whether a postsecular orientation towards the world results in specific attitudes about climate injustice, gender, migrants, and so on, we can only speculate. Still, it is not difficult to acknowledge that critiques of the rapacious commodification and monetization of nature are entangled with appraisals of certain views of Christianity, God, the religious, and the sacred. Similarly, critiques of jingoistic and racist xenophobia are entangled with critiques of certain views of religious traditions that have fomented racist views of strangers. It bears asking: to what extent Brexit and the emergence of the Trump phenomenon are related to religious trends, or whether these two phenomena instead rather belie any such connections? In the USA, Republican Politics have been closely allied with Evangelicals and conservative Protestant denominations that advance conservative social agendas, at least since Richard Nixon, who exemplified what has been called the Southern Strategy. In the case of Trump, conservative Protestants wilfully turned a blind eye from his blatant sexism, racism, and evident lack of personal character, because he promised to appoint pro-life judges to the Supreme Court. The lack indeed of serious critique and call to accountability by religious groups was noteworthy and sobering. These reflections aside, which localize partly our locus of enunciation, it is important to ask: in what sense is the term postsecular more than a moniker for an intellectual fashion, one that, despite the trend, captures both a shift in the way scholars of the social sciences and humanities ponder our global predicament and the role of religion in modern societies, and one that, more specifically, acts as a seismograph, registering tectonic shift in social reality. Alternatively, it can be asked: in what sense is postsecular a theoretically useful concept that illuminates, in enlightened and perspicacious ways, our now global social reality that would not otherwise be illuminated if we either lacked the concept or left it to the side? And, let's not forget, how would the concept contribute to a social-empirical research agenda. In order to provide some preliminary answers to these questions, in what follows, we would like to take up the demand of what is or was the secular and secularization. After all, the term postsecular makes sense as either taking leave of the secular and the halting of secularization, or as a problematization of these two terms, that is, we no longer really recognize them simpliciter, unconditionally. We want to argue that the secular is what results from the process of secularization. Analogous here would be to say that race is the detritus of racism, and that concepts of race do not precede practices of racism. The secular is the name for what secularization has left in its wake.

2024, História: Questões e Debates

Em 2020, a cantora Priscilla Alcântara foi uma das ministrantes nos momentos musicais do The Send Brasil, evento evangélico ocorrido simultaneamente em Brasília e São Paulo. Em 2023, a mesma artista apresentou-se no Carnaval de Salvador com o trio elétrico de Ivete Sangalo. Esta participação recebeu críticas no meio evangélico, tradicionalmente avesso a esta festa popular. Entre os principais críticos esteve o pastor Teófilo "Téo" Hayashi, um dos líderes do movimento The Send Brasil, que fez um vídeo em sua conta na rede social Instagram atacando a performance como algo que representa “adoração a tudo menos Jesus Cristo”. O presente trabalho pretende analisar o pronunciamento de Hayashi e sua repercussão a partir do conceito de identidade cultural, conforme formulado por Stuart Hall. Entende-se que a forma como o público evangélico manifestou-se – em apoio a Hayashi, a Alcântara ou nenhum dos dois – corresponde a uma espécie de fechamento ou demarcação de fronteiras identitárias, tanto pelo ponto de vista da ortodoxia religiosa como de posições políticas e ideológicas.

2024, N/A

This paper describes the contours of a particular cultural identity that developed in the 1990s among American evangelical youth: "Christian punk." The paper argues that this identity is rooted in a quest for a particular type of... more