God on the Stage: A Text Analysis of Frederick Douglass’s Religiosity (1845–1887)

Advocacy groups' use of religious language can shape the public's political attitudes and can influence politicians' legislative behaviors, thereby potentially influencing both public and political agendas. However, most existing research on agendas does not examine advocacy groups' use of religious language, and the political scholarship that does consider religious language fails to examine its use across a variety of audiences. The current study fills these gaps by analyzing a myriad of written documents and the Web sites of 15 Washington offices, the advocacy arms of national religious bodies, to examine how they attempt to influence political and public agendas by using religious language to present their political positions to four different audiences. Results indicate that both institutional and theological religious themes are used by liberal and moderate, but not conservative offices to affect the political agenda, and all Washington offices primarily use theological religious themes to influence the public agenda.

This study aims to explore using religious language to socialize the COVID-19 vaccination in new media. This study is qualitative research. The source of data in this study is the official online platform of the Komite Penanganan COVID-19 Republic of Indonesia's, namely websites and social media. The data collected is related to the use of religious language in socializing the COVID-19 vaccination. Data collection is carried out through observation of the official online platform. The data obtained were then analyzed by means of an interactive qualitative analysis model of Miles and Huberman: data collection, data display, data reduction, and drawing conclusions. There are three findings in this study. First, religious terms and language used in the socialization of COVID-19 vaccination have a pattern based on the dynamics of socio-cultural reality and vaccination achievements. Second, the terms and religious language used to relate to the legitimacy of the permissibility and halalness of vaccines. This tendency aims to convince the public of the vaccination program. Third, religious figures, institutions, and facilities are used as tools to legitimize socialization messages. Departing from these findings, it can be concluded that religion is not only related to the dimension of spirituality but also consumed and commodified with a specific purpose. In the context of this study, the consumption and commodification of religion were carried out by the Komite Penanganan COVID-19 in the socialization of vaccination using religious terms, narratives, and language as legitimacy tools to convince the public about the importance of vaccination.

: A cacophony of religious voices seeking to influence public culture, opinion, and policy pervades the public discourse in the United States today. Some publicly-oriented religious claims are appropriate while others are not. Sorely needed are criteria for making that distinction. This essay asks: What are criteria for appropriate and valid use of religious claims, language, and symbols in deliberation about public policy? What particular gifts do Lutheran traditions bring to shaping those criteria? The essay then draws upon Lutheran theological resources to propose theologically grounded criteria for appropriate and valid use of religious language, claims, and symbols in public discourse.

When an incident or event in a certain region will be reported by the mass media in a different language, the choice of expressions, the perspective and aim of their message will differ. This study analyzes the news coverage of events related to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in German, American and Japanese newspapers. It will aim to uncover expressional differences in the coverage on a similar topic reported in different languages. This research especially focuses on the use of religious language in the coverage, which in this paper refers to religious metaphors and symbols originating from a Christian context. Previous research shows that the use of religious language in the media, affects consumers mentally and emotionally. Based on that theory, this study compares how religious language is used in the coverage and tries to clarify the functions of religious expressions through a critical discourse analysis. The results show that religious language appears continuously in German and American news reports related to the disaster. Religious language is mostly used symbolically as well as metaphorically in order to illustrate the destruction caused by the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, while at the same time conveying emotions such as the fear of the victims. It is also used to describe the difficulties, suffering and hope of the people in the disaster-hit area. Moreover religious language provokes emotions in the readers and makes it easier for them to understand the situation in Japan as well as the feelings of the disaster refugees. A difference between the German and American news coverage was seen in the description of the situation at the nuclear power plant and the state of the victims in Fukushima and the Tohoku region. In Germany, religious language can change the viewpoint of and provoke emotions in the readers. It is also employed to emphasize domestic social and political problems related to German energy policy.

Religious populism has strong and profound influence in Indonesia. It challenges the rational foundation of the democratic structure of the Indonesian Politics. This populist political movement utilizes religious language and symbols as their language of political articulation, negotiation, and contestation, which then occupies the real and virtual public sphere of the politics of Indonesia. Therefore, this use of religious language and symbols has placed democratic system in a serious risk. This critical study is intended to investigate the disadvantages of the use of religious language and symbols in the political arena in Indonesia. I will employ Paul Ricour’s thoughts in his writing , The Fragility of Political Language , as a lens of analysis for that phenomenon. Through that analysis I argue that the use of religious language and symbols in political discourse contradicts the provisional character of political language in democratic political settings. I suggest, therefore, the reenactment of the constitutional and rational foundation of democratic structure of Politics in Indonesia is seriously required.

Language does not only play an active part in all processes of comprehension, recognition and learning, it is also essential for specific religious learning processes. Religious experiences and traditions have their own characteristic linguistic forms, and religious education has come to realise the necessity for an appropriate sensibility in religious language. Yet while linguistic features of religion or tradition have been widely discussed and developed, the use of religious language with regard to the learning subjects remains a significant, if not unknown, variable. What do we actually know about the religious language of students? How do we systematically assess their linguistic competence? By presenting selected results regarding the God-talk of German secondary school students, this paper shows how empirical research based on a corpus linguistic approach can provide access to the use of religious language. As such, the paper first aims to initiate a paradigm shift from looking at the linguistic features of content to exploring the language use of learners. Second, it aims to present a research framework that offers possibilities for further comparable and comparative research well beyond the original German speaking context.

There is a curious asymmetry in cases where the use of religious language involves a breakdown in communication and leads to a seemingly intractable dispute. Why does the use of religious language in such cases almost always arise on the side of patients and their families, rather than on the side of clinicians or others who work in healthcare settings? I suggest that the intractable disputes arise when patients and their families use religious language to frame their problem and the possibilities of solution. Unlike clinicians, they are not bilingual and thus lack the capacity to understand and negotiate differences in terms that are responsive to those who work in healthcare settings. After considering a representative case, I explore whether an ethics consultant or chaplain can function as a translator and suggest that, at best, such efforts at mediation depend on contingent aspects of a case and will only be partially successful. To appreciate limits on the role for bilingual translators, I consider a futility dispute where a parent using religious language demands that everything be done for a permanently unconscious child. I challenge the traditional interpretation that says the parent values "mere duration of biological life irrespective of quality." From a religious perspective, human life is never "merely biological." This effort to slot the dispute into standard philosophical schemas misses what is crucial in the dispute. I suggest that a better interpretation views the dispute at a meta-level as one about whether withholding and withdrawing care is morally distinguishable from killing. Curiously, this interpretation makes the advocate of futile care into an ally of those "quality of life" advocates who also challenge this distinction. The crux of their dispute now rests on the normative ethics of killing. While I think my interpretation comes much closer to the views of many who demand 'futile care,' I suggest that it still falls short because of the way it reconstructs the religious concerns in nonreligious terms. I close by considering an analogy between the language of suffering and the language of faith, suggesting that both require a much richer understanding of the narratives that orient the lives of patients and their families.

Religion and film. Stylizationson religious language in films made by Wojciech Jerzy HasThe main aim of the article is to answer the question about, how religious language functions in cinematography. It is both about specifying an aim of introducing it to a plot or narration of a film and about when it is introduced. It will be crucial to specify what goal the director attains by using religious language in his films. How important it is for the plot development. Is it connected with the will to remind the viewers about the world which does not exist currently or is it rather parodying the defined view.The next stage is an analysis of the particular examples of the use of religious language in Wojciech Has’s films, for example The Codes, The Sandglass, The Manuscript Found in Saragossa, The Personal Diary of the Wicked… Written by Himself, The Amazing Journey of Balthazar Kober. Next, the ways of showing its functioning in cinematography: stylization, allusion, form of quotations, collage, parody, pastiche, travesty.Concluding, the director uses the religious language stylisations and quotations for example the Holy Scripture or other cultural texts, like Juliusz Słowacki’s Anhelli in the considerate way. Using the religious language, he characterizes setting and time of action, the film characters and, above all, his attitude towards religion. Love language gets the markers of religious language in his films. In this way, Has approaches to understanding the new version of religion and religiousness, not consistent with the Old Testament, but rather with New Testament’s message which means: “Love your neighbor as yourself”.

This thesis examines the religious language used by America’s Revolutionary leadership, particularly regarding days of fasting and prayer, the appointment of chaplains to the Continental Army, and the practice praying in the Continental Congress. These three occurrences indicate the presence of religious thought in the prosecution of the American Revolution and the establishment of an American nation. But it is an oversimplification to draw the conclusion that the founding of the United States was religious in nature simply because religious thought was involved in the process. Examining these three acts reveals the complex association of religious and political rhetoric, and at the same time helps to make sense of public religious expressions made by America’s political leadership in the Revolutionary context. By analyzing the language surrounding the proclamation of fast days, the appointment of chaplains, and the offering of prayer in Congress, we can achieve a better understanding of the role religion played in promoting a patriotic identity and securing a greater sense of American nationhood. In proclaiming fast days, appointing chaplains, and participating in congressional prayer, America’s Revolutionary leadership utilized the language of American providentialism, the belief that God intervened in the affairs of mankind and that America was ordained by God to play a pivotal role in that plan. Ultimately, this thesis argues that the founders’ public use of religious rhetoric, particularly that of providentialism, reveals less about the founders’ personal religious beliefs and more about how they perceived the religiosity of their constituents. The founders’ use of religious language to illicit a patriotic response from Americans indicates that they perceived most Americans possessed a non-secular, essentially Christian worldview.

God Talk in a Digital Age: How Members of Congress Use Religious Language on Twitter

According to Skladny more than twenty per cent of Proverbs 10.1-22.16 and 25-29 are concerned with the theme of speech and related matters. This chapter compares and contrasts the theme of speech in Proverbs with that in Arabic proverbial wisdom. It deals with the organs of speech and hearing (the tongue, the mouth, and the ear) and their relation to speech. The chapter explores various forms and aspects of speech. The chapter describes the theme of silence. It discusses the use of religious language in sayings on speech. In Proverbs the tongue is seen as causing harm to both the individual and the community. Speech is regarded as an important faculty in Arabic proverbs. In Arabic proverbs silence is regarded in many cases as superior to speech: Silence is wisdom and few keep silent .Keywords: Arabic proverbs; religious language; silence; speech

This article examines a trend in British Quaker use of religious language towards using lists of names for ‘that which we worship’, especially lists which include terms from other religions as well as traditionally Quaker terminology. It offers some tools for understanding language, drawn from the work of Wittgenstein and Lindbeck, and some key contexts, including a discussion of Quaker universalism about truth and the role this plays in the way that Quakers now speak about God. It finishes with a worked example which enables us to see how all these factors play into the construction of Quaker multi-theǝlogy remarks.

A peculiar and fascinating aspect of many responses to mass atrocities is the creative and eclectic use of religious language and frameworks. Some crimes are so extreme that they 'cry out to heaven', drawing people to employ religious vocabulary to make meaning of and to judge what happened, to deal with questions of guilt and responsibility, and to re-establish hope and trust in their lives. Moreover, in recent years, religious actors have become increasingly influential in worldwide contexts of conflict-resolution and transitional justice. This collection offers a critical assessment of the possibilities and problems pertaining to attempts to bring religious - or semi-religious - allegiances and perspectives to bear in responses to the mass atrocities of our time: When and how can religious language or religious beliefs and practices be either necessary or helpful? And what are the problems and reasons for caution or critique? In this book, a group of distinguished scholars explore these questions and offer a range of original explanatory and normative perspectives.

What are the consequences of the politicization of religious myths and symbols for religious communities? The ethnic cleansing that culminated in the massacre of Srebrenica was promoted to the Serbian population, both in Serbia proper and in Bosnia, through the use of religious mythology and symbols. In Bosnia, religious language lost its meaning, religious observance remained low and it became difficult for religious leaders to join together to address community issues. We see a similar use of religious language and symbolism today in the U.S., particularly from evangelical leaders justifying the current president and his jingoistic actions. We can look to the conflict in Bosnia as a warning to the U.S. not to link religion and nationalism.

The strategic use of religion plays an additive role in the ability of some Afghan political actors to legitimize their actions, mobilize support, undermine rivals, attract foreign aid, and control populations. Not all Afghan political actors can use religious language or sanction – only those who transcend divisions within a local, tribal, sectarian, ethnic, or national space and do not have a history of behavior considered “un-Islamic” can benefit from its advantages within that space, but not necessarily beyond it. These actors can aggressively leverage an Islamic agenda. Examples include several mujahideen organizations in the 1980s and the Taliban during their initial rise in 1994-2001 or during their insurgency against foreign occupation (2005–). Others, who do not have this kind of Islamic legitimacy, have to react to the strategic use of Islam by those who do. They may choose to adopt a strongly anti-Islamic agenda (e.g., the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan before 1985), make symbolic gestures to counter the delegitimization process (PDPA between 1985 and 1992), or be pressed to accommodate religious demands (Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani from 2004 until the present). In all cases, such actors are at a strong disadvantage in a very conservative and religious Muslim country. The strategic use of religion may not be necessary for Afghan political actors to be successful and it is certainly not sufficient for them to outperform their rivals. Other factors such as foreign aid, organizational development, and strategic sophistication can be more important; but the strategic use of religious language and symbols brings additional advantages in this traditional society and may have tipped the balance in a number of the brutal and closely contested conflicts that have plagued the country since 1979.