Expression Of Faith Research Articles

"Solemn Expression of Faith": Muslims and Belonging in Peronist Argentina, 1946–1955

The ascendance of Juan Domingo Perón to Argentina's presidency in 1946 led to fundamental changes in the way the country was ruled, producing a reformulation of ideas of citizenship and belonging among large portions of the population. While certainly influencing and benefiting from organized labor and the working poor, Perón also inspired immigrants and their descendants to imagine anew their place in national society. The sizable Muslim communities, primarily originating from contemporary Syria and Lebanon, mark an important example of the novel political arrangements creating new sensibilities of association. Segments of the Syrian-Lebanese colonies in Argentina had prospered prior to Perón's rise, integrating into local communities and playing leading roles in the economy and political and social institutions. The emergence of Peronism permitted many wealthy and politically active immigrants and their children access to corridors of power previously unavailable, achieving important roles in the foreign ministry, the national bank, and the military. Yet Perón's program "New Argentina," advocating social justice, political sovereignty, and economic independence, called for nothing less than a total redefinition of the social compact. Peronism permeated and penetrated all aspects of Argentine life, from the Church to the public schools, from the football pitch to the radio waves, becoming the hegemonic discourse through which supporters viewed their world and dissidents shaped their critiques. In this environment, Muslims in Argentina, wealthy and poor alike, attempted to build a mosque and cultural center featuring Islamic architecture, thus inscribing this confessional minority onto the religious landscape of Buenos Aires. At the same time, the new order brought in by Perón inspired Muslims to refashion their understandings of self and community, weaving their religious identities into the larger Argentine social fabric.

“Solemn Expression of Faith”: Muslims and Belonging in Peronist Argentina, 1946-1955

“Solemn Expression of Faith”: Muslims and Belonging in Peronist Argentina, 1946-1955

Die gewonde God: ’n Teologies-etiese besinning, veral vanuit Khoisan-perspektief

This article presupposes the right of the faithful to pose critical questions about God. God-concepts cannot be distanced or freed from ideology. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the reflection on Jahwe and Elohim are mostly influenced by Israel’s exodus experience. The liberating God becomes a theme that legitimises their faith, but is ultimately coloured by their patrarchal Sitz im Leben. For black theologians, the image of God as the Liberator stands foremost as the Crucified. This has clear connections with Western thinking such as that of Jürgen Moltmann. The ancient native people of southern Africa developed a consciousness regarding a Higher Being through many years, eventually integrating it into their holistic worldview. God’s involvement in human suffering plays a significant role in all of these expressions of faith. The different views of God as the transcendant, yet involved God, should be revisited within the context of our current society characterised by human suffering, chronic poor communities, gaping inequality and increasing corruption. The theological-ethical question is whether the Khoisan people’s view of a wounded God is more suitable to help faithful people to engage with the world in a meaningful way.

The impact of trust and commitment on value creation in asymmetric buyer–seller relationships: the mediation effect of specific asset investments

PurposePrevious studies have argued that trust and commitment can create value in cooperative relationships. However, this study observed that, in practice, trust and commitment alone may not ensure value creation in asymmetric relationships. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the mediating role of specific assets in the effects of trust and commitment on value creation in asymmetric buyer–seller relationships.Design/methodology/approachContract manufacturers (CMs) in Asia were sampled to validate the argument proposed by this study. Most Taiwanese CMs are partnered with international brands (original equipment manufacturers [OEMs]) that have stronger bargaining power. This cooperative relationship is characteristically asymmetric. A questionnaire method was applied, and structural equation modeling was performed to verify the proposed hypotheses.FindingsSpecific asset investment (SAI) was a crucial mediator that explained the effects of trust and commitment on the relationship value of an asymmetric cooperative relationship. Past studies have claimed that power asymmetry results in an unequal distribution of benefits. Nevertheless, regarding the relationship between CMs and OEMs, the study revealed that relationship value could still be increased once the congruent goals have been achieved by both parties. This finding contradicts past theoretical predictions.Practical implicationsCharacteristically asymmetric CMs–OEMs (seller–buyer) relationships cannot be maintained merely through trust and commitment, particularly in the context of power and resource imbalances in which the stronger party often possesses a wider selection of prospective partners. The results of this study suggested that the CM should unilaterally invest in specific assets conducive to a cooperative relationship as an expression of faith in the relationship with the stronger firm, thereby creating opportunities for value cocreation.Originality/valueThe analysis of the relevance of relationship quality in the context of asymmetric cooperative relationships confirmed the mediating influences of SAI on ensuring value creation and the maintenance of the relationships. Relationship value could still be created despite the highly asymmetry power relationship. The CMs’ SAI is the key mechanism for this achievement.

Technological parables and iconic illustrations: American technocracy and the rhetoric of the technological fix

This paper traces the role of American technocrats in popularizing the notion later dubbed the ‘technological fix’. Channeled by their long-term ‘chief’, Howard Scott, their claim was that technology always provides the most effective solution to modern social, cultural and political problems. The account focuses on the expression of this technological faith, and how it was proselytized, from the era of high industrialism between the World Wars through, and beyond, the nuclear age. I argue that the packaging and promotion of these ideas relied on allegorical technological tales and readily-absorbed graphic imagery. Combined with what Scott called ‘symbolization’, this seductive discourse preached beliefs about technology to broad audiences. The style and conviction of the messages were echoed by establishment figures such as National Lab director Alvin Weinberg, who employed the techniques to convert mainstream and elite audiences through the end of the twentieth century.

Rediscovering Rural Territories by Means of Religious Route Planning

Since ancient times, pilgrimages have been an important expression of faith because slow-paced traveling, physical effort, and a closer relationship with nature favor introspection. Protecting pilgrimage routes means transforming them into a medium to rediscover and guide landscape development while avoiding possible speculative drifts. Such an approach is particularly important in rural areas often relegated to a marginal role in planning strategies, but frequently traversed by these itineraries. This paper deals with pilgrimage routes in Sardinia (Italy) and their chance to become an integral part of composite territorial infrastructures for triggering regeneration processes in rural areas. First, we introduce the topic with reference to planning literature and various case studies. Then, we select four pilgrimage itineraries that extend through different parts of the island, and compare them using a set of indicators regarding landscape, accessibility, visibility, equipment, planning, and management. A composite index has been developed to classify paths with respect to their potential to become part of a system of greenways, providing facilities and benefits to surrounding areas. The analysis highlights the strengths and weaknesses of local realities. It underlines factors, such as intrinsic characteristics of territories, local management, and decision-making circumstances, which affect trail potentialities to activate greenway projects to trace a new development perspective for rural areas.

Trans-disciplinary research on religious formations in urban Africa: Towards liberative methodological approaches

In this article, we are exploring a methodological approach to research on faith and religious expressions in urban Africa. We are committed to trans-disciplinary work that pursues research methods mutually liberating for researchers, co-researchers and community participants and that results in long-term benefits and strengthened agency on the part of the host communities. Our reflections in this article are based on a collaborative research project1 in two regions of Pretoria, Tshwane2 – Pretoria Central and Mamelodi East – in which we explore how religious innovation and competition in and amongst churches contribute to the healing or perpetuation of urban fractures.

Local congregations: Engaging neighbors of other faiths

When I was growing up in rural north Georgia in the 1950s and 60s, religious diversity meant there might be a Pentecostal church tucked in among the Baptist and Methodist churches. Today, congregations typically do not live in communities in which religious diversity is so narrowly experienced. Diversity no longer even signals that there are Protestant, Pentecostal, Catholic, and Jewish houses of worship present. The increase in the scope of diversity in almost every community means there are representatives of various non-Abrahamic religions present as well. Members of these different faith expressions live together in community, send their children to the same public schools, participate in local civic events, and serve one another as physicians, pharmacists, teachers, restauranteurs, hoteliers, and retailers. In short, people of diverse religions live, work, and worship in close proximity. How, then, do they form community in which the social fabric of the city, county, or state in which they live, and ultimately that of the nation, is strengthened by a commitment to the common good that secures for all the blessings of security, peace, and justice? In this multi-religious context, how are Christian congregations enhancing rather than hindering the building of community in diversity?

La connaissance de la loi ecclésiastique chez Socrate de Constantinople en confrontation avec l‘oeuvre de Hermias Sozomène

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Faith and Form on Screen

To understand any aspect of being-in-the-world in general or cinematic experience in particular, both reductionist and holistic approaches are needed. Psychological accounts can give us only functional explanations of human behaviour or responses to signifying artifacts such as art. To understand the significance of these experiences the psychological must be complemented by a study on a level which may be termed spiritual. This line of thought is applied to analyses of Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket, starting from David Bordwell’s formalist and cognitive account of why many people experience this film as religious despite there being no explicit reference to religion. Paul Schrader’s analysis of the formal structure of this film in terms of his notion of transcendental style in film goes a step forward by explaining how the formal structure as he analyses it suggests a transcendental dimension which cannot be addressed directly. This approach connects in an illuminating way with Slavoj Žižek’s notions of the imaginary and the symbolic sphere. Bordwell’s approach, functioning on the psychological level, is basically reductionist, while Schrader’s, boosted with Žižek’s ideas as appropriated for the purposes of this article, is holistic and operative on the spiritual level. This two-tiered analysis reveals how cinematic form in Pickpocket serves as an indirect expression of faith.

Celtic and Aboriginal Pathways toward a Contemporary Ecospirituality

In the fifth century a contextualized expression of Christianity emerged in Ireland that profoundly revitalized the church across Europe. The encounter of St. Patrick’s Gospel proclamation with the Irish sense of natural mysticism and sacredness of the world produced an expression of faith that was decidedly earth-affirming. Themes of ecospirituality emerged from this Gospel-culture encounter that are shared with the aboriginal cultures of North America. As we seek to re-express Christian faith in response to today’s ecological crisis, we may shape our conversation by the insights gained by the Christian encounter with Celtic and aboriginal cultures.

Cross-cultural comparisons of religion as “character”: Football and soccer in the United States and Germany

This study compares sports media coverage of American football (“football”) in the United States and association football (“soccer”) in Germany, with a specific focus on the portrayal of Christian athletes. Specifically, we contend that media coverage of Christian football players in the United States presupposes that religiosity necessarily equates with good character. Thus, American athletes are encouraged to make public declarations of faith and are accordingly viewed as better leaders on the field and better citizens off it. Meanwhile, media coverage of soccer players in Germany presupposes that religiosity is incidental to good character. Thus, German athletes are encouraged to keep their faith to themselves; for those who do make public declarations of faith, media coverage is skeptical, tending to view athletic success to be in spite of, rather than because of, Christian identification. This cross-cultural examination, then, has implications for public expressions of faith in sport, as well as media coverage of sport and religion.

God and the Concept of Death and Suffering in the Philippine Context

The article traces the historical development of ‘religiosity in the Philippines’. It began with a description of the people’s faith expression in the pre-Hispanic times, and proceeded to discuss how those expressions were influenced and reshaped by the entry of Christianity to the country through the efforts of Spanish missionaries. But, the more than three hundred years rule of the Spaniards was also followed by the Americans who in turn brought with them the ‘protestant faith’, which has also contributed to the emergence of Catholic religious movements and renewal in the contemporary times. As it unfolds the contours of this historical development, the article also attempts to discuss the evolution that the concepts of death and suffering had to undergo vis-a-vis the transformation of the consciousness of the people as it has been formed and reformed by the emergence of several religions and faith-expressions.

The Law of Regional Trade Agreements in the WTO Dispute Settlement System: Lessons from the Peru-Agricultural Products Case

The recently pronounced decision of the panel and Appellate Body in the Peru-Agricultural Products case brings with it a set of legal issues related to the relationship between RTA law and WTO rules and the application of the principle of good faith in the WTO dispute settlement system. This article is divided into two parts. The first part explicates the difficulties in rebutting the presumption of good faith in international disputes such as those of the WTO, as well as the boundaries of the principle of good faith regarding its necessary consistency with WTO law and the requirement of a “legal hook” with a specific good faith standard under the DSU. The second part examines the scope and effect of the principle of prevalence of RTA law over WTO rules echoed in some RTAs. This paper deals with the manner in which the panel and Appellate Body responded to these principles invoked by Peru. The subject is further explained by studying the practice of RTA tribunals as regards the utilization of WTO rules as a defence to set aside RTA rules in the RTA context. For this reason, the paper explains as far as possible the case law of RTA tribunals showing how they frame the relationship between RTAs and WTO law. The paper finds that despite the incorporation of the principle of prevalence of RTA law over WTO rules, the former cannot set aside the latter. It also concludes that good faith obligations under general international law can only find room in WTO proceedings through specific good faith expressions under WTO law.

Confessional Theology in Public Places

This article considers the nature of public theology by assessing essential features of western public space and precisely how Christian confession takes shape in those contexts. In doing so the article argues that instead of understanding theology as something done primarily from the church to the world, perhaps it is best acknowledged that theology is done within the setting of common societal structures, in particular locations and in situations where believers are enabled to confess the hope within them. An understanding of this dynamic nature of Christian confession and the variegated expositions of theological reflection corresponds to the dynamic expressions of faith, in word and deed, which correspond to the Christian missionary impulse.

’n (Outo)biografiese Twitter-teologie

An (auto)biographical Twitter-theology. Due to the increasing challenges created by an evolving digital world, traditional expressions of the Christian faith could become irrelevant for a fast-paced world. Through an autobiographical orientation, a search for meaningful personal expressions of the Christian faith on Twitter is traced and mapped down. Facilitated through a practical-theological inquiry and employing a qualitative empirical research methodology, personal aphorisms of the Christian faith on Twitter are traced down and presented as possible examples of a relevant digital autobiographical theology. Through the contribution of these empirical realities, new hermeneutical outcomes and a strategic involvement are facilitated. The creation, development and meaning of new theological formulations and articulations are explored and described through these expressions. In the tracing of and in the mapping down of these new expressions of faith, demarcations of a possible lived spirituality in the digital sphere are sounded out and verbalised. Through the documentation of these new and relevant articulations of the language of faith, a contribution is made to a meaningful digital autobiographical theology.

The role of despair and anger in Christian spirituality

The purpose of the article is to affirm that there is a proper role for despair and anger in the development of a Christian spirituality. Persons dealing with chronic or terminal disease will often experience feelings of despair and anger. Yet traditional understandings of faith and worship often ignore the role of pain and agony in human life, resulting in a situation in which those who are broken and hurting feel they have no place. A survey of Scripture, and particularly the psalms of lament, will demonstrate that feelings of anguish are an honest expression of the biblical faith, and distraught believers need to be heard and affirmed, not labeled as unfaithful. One can respond to the question of God’s presence at times of human suffering by developing a rational theodicy, or subjectively by developing a spirituality that recognizes the reality of human anguish. Focusing on the crucifixion event provides helpful insight in the attempt to enunciate a more inclusive spirituality encompassing the shadow side of life. The works of Soren Kierkegaard go even further, demonstrating not just a possible role, but a necessary role that despair plays in the development of faith. The article is written with reference to persons dealing with issues of chronic and terminal illness, with particular reference to William E. Hull.

The Highways and Byways of Ritual: Pascal and Xunzi on Faith, Virtue, and Religious Practice

Blaise Pascal contends that ritual is not simply an expression of religious faith; it is also the means by which religious faith is cultivated. While Pascal fails to offer a plausible account of how ritual can lead to faith, the classical Confucian philosopher Xunzi’s account of ritual – especially his account of how rituals shape a person’s character and how one comes to “acquire a taste” for the things that rituals achieve – is a helpful resource for extending and refining Pascal’s account of how ritual works to transform not just our actions but our feelings, desires, and beliefs, as well.

Verlorene Sprache: Das Ezechielbuch als literarische Auseinandersetzung mit dem Trauma des babylonischen Exils

The article uses insights of trauma therapy in order to describe and understand passages of the Book of Ezekiel. They contain expressions of trauma symptoms, examples of the search for helpful expressions of faith, and of finding words for what cannot be said. Thus, such biblical texts may become meaningful for dealing with traumas today.

Service and Advocacy: Matters of Faith?

Service and Advocacy: Matters of Faith?