Religious Duty Research Articles

Green as the gospel: The power of stewardship messages to improve climate change attitudes.

Three studies (N = 1,389) investigate how attitudes toward the environment and climate change may be informed by stewardship beliefs (care for the Earth as a sacred religious duty) or dominion beliefs (God-given dominance over nature). Pro-environmental measures were positively associated with stewardship belief and negatively associated with dominion belief, moderated by religiosity (Study 1). When religious participants read passages from the Bible supporting stewardship, they expressed greater concern for climate change, compared with those who read dominion messages or a control passage (Study 2). Reading the Pro-environmental encyclical by Pope Francis increased participants’ belief in and moralization of climate change, but this was moderated by favorable attitudes toward the Pope. These findings suggest that environmental attitudes can be shaped by views of religious authorities and present an optimistic view that environmental stewardship can be used to improve concern for climate change among religious believers.

Sangam literature showing about Veera Mangaiyar

Since ancient times, the Tamil community has given great value to women. It is said that in the Vedic period men had equal rights with women and husband and wife had equal rights in religious and social duties. The position of women during the Sangam period, similar to the Vedic period, was highly admirable. Women were considered to be of the highest character to household duties. Chastity is with loving virtues patience, morality, maintaining the heart, hospitality, circumference, etc., are the characteristics of the wife. The women of the sangam age considered Nanam better than the best life of all, that innocent chastity was better than that Nanam, and that their husband was life for wives. Women have maintained a good place of Nanam and chastity. She considered it is duty to give birth to the people and to be heroic. The purpose of this article is to express the heroic feelings of women in sangam literature.

Finding a ‘Shi’a voice’ in Europe: minority representation and the unsettling of secular humanitarianism in the discourse of ‘Shi’a rights’

ABSTRACT In contemporary Europe, where the hegemony of modern secular governance remains largely uncontested, how do minority religious communities – especially Muslims – negotiate the tension between religious duty and forms of secularised civic belonging? This contribution takes Twelver Shi’a Muslim activism in Europe as a starting place to interrogate the encounter between Islamic and secular values. In particular, I examine the emergence of what I call the discourse of ‘Shi’a rights’, through which Shi’a Muslims are seeking to gain minority recognition within the European context. Combining elements of Shi’a Islamic ethics with the language of secular humanitarianism, the discourse of ‘Shi’a rights’ is emancipatory and outward-facing while simultaneously being exclusionary and particularistic in the way it promotes specific understandings of what it means to be ‘Shi’a’. Crucially, I argue that this ambivalent nature of ‘Shi’a rights’ is a product of the encounter with secular liberal governance, especially the secular ideal of religious equality. Rather than representing a natural division between religion and society, contemporary secularism cultivates particular ethical attachments that ultimately serve to problematise the status of religious minorities. A focus on ‘Shi’a rights’ in Europe thus serves to illuminate the fractures and fissures that contemporary secular discourse seeks to hide.

Kurban Bayramında Yoğun Et Tüketimi Kronik Böbrek Hasarını Hızlandırır mı? Yoğun Et Tüketiminin Kronik Böbrek Hastalığına Etkisi

Objective: Chronic kidney failure (CKF) is precisely described as the availability of kidney damage or decreased kidney funciton that lasts for three months or more, regardless of its cause. Dietary factors may affect the progression and complications of the disease. Our aim is to investigate the effects of excessive meat consumption of Muslims on CKF during the Feast of Sacrifice. Methods:The study was conducted on 203 patients with stage III-V CKF. At least one month before and after the Feast of Sacrifice, 12-hour fasting blood samples were collected from the patients in the morning. Results: The blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, albumin, potassium (K), calcium (Ca), vitamin D, andbase excess (BE) levels of the patients were found to be significantly higher after the feast of Sacrifice (p=0.014, p<0.001, p=0.031, p<0.001, p=0.002, p<0.001and p=0.009). The mean eGFR of the patients before the Feast of Sacrifice was 32.221±14.756. It was found to be 31.474±15.229 after the feast of sacrifice, indicating a statistically significant decrease (p=0.042). A slight decrease was observed in the blood pH (p=0.002) and bicarbonate (HCO3) (p=0.002) levels of the patients. The change in the amount of creatinine with the feast showed a significant difference by CKF stages (p<0.001). Conclusion: The subjects with CKF had a progressive deterioration in their kidney functions due to the high-protein diet caused by excessive meat consumption during the Feast of Sacrifice, which is a religious duty.

Civic Engagement as Religious Duty among American Muslims: Between “Muslim Charity” and “Collective Goodness” in a Muslim Food Pantry

How do American Muslims make sense of their engagement in U.S. civic spaces? Research has mostly focused on determining whether the level of civic engagement of American Muslims has increased or decreased following 9/11. But we know little about how American Muslims participate in U.S. civic spaces and which kinds of meanings are used to make sense of their civic participation. Drawing on participant observation in a Muslim food pantry, this article identifies two different styles of civic engagement in service provision, the “Muslim charity” and the “Collective goodness” style. Both these styles envision civic engagement as a religious duty but interpret it differently. The Collective goodness construes civic engagement as a religious duty to be performed showing group pride. The Muslim charity style connects civic engagement with individual humbleness, instead. I show how these different styles of American Muslims' civic engagement produce meaningful contradictions and I gauge their potential effects on defusing of anti-Muslim sentiments.

TAMIḺAR VAḺIPĀṬṬUC CAṬAṄKUKAḶ [RITUALS OF TAMILS IN WORSHIPING

This article is about the rituals of Tamils in worshiping. Rituals have appeared since the human was born. This article seeks to understand how such emerging rituals are intertwined in the lives of Tamil. The ancient Tamil people practiced many land-based deities. Such as Aṇaṅku, cūr, cūrara makaḷir, nīraṭi makaḷir, varaiyara makaḷir, and koṟṟavai are worshipped. The objective of this paper is to prove that certain rituals are performed in order to fulfill religious duties. The study involved library research and was followed by explanatory analysis. A few rituals are performed for the spiritual and emotional satisfaction of the performer. There are various rituals associated with human life. This study has shown that rituals from birth to death are related to people’s lives. Findings and the implementation of this research emphasizes that man and his society embody the moral rituals that are created to regulate life.

Forgiveness as a technology of the state

Forgiveness as a technology of the state

Classification of Body Position During Muslim Prayer Using the Convolutional Neural Network

Background: Muslim prayer (Namaz) is the most important obligatory religious duty in Islam that is regularly performed five times per day at specific prescribed times by Muslims. Due to the fact that change of body position affects brain activity, Namaz can be considered as a suitable model to assess the effect of quick changes of the body position on brain activity measured by electroencephalography (EEG). Methods: Forty Muslim participants performed a four-cycle Namaz while their brain activity was being recorded using a 14-channel EEG recorder. The brain connectivity (as defined by a mutual correlation between EEG channels in this study) in different frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma) was measured in various positions of Namaz including standing, bowing, prostration, and sitting. Results: The results indicated that the delta band demonstrates the most changes in cross-correlation between the recorded channels, and finally, the accuracy of 73.8% was obtained in the data classification.

A Comparison Between The Concept Of Meditation In Buddhism And Mur┐Qabah In Islam

Mysticism and the spiritual experiences that lie in mysticism in different world religions have always fascinated me, and a source of attraction to me. With regards to Islam and Buddhism, I believe that devotion to religious morals and duties is the key to reach contentment in life.
 Meditation is a vital component of almost all the religions whether revealed or non-revealed. It is a mental and a physical discipline by which the meditator strives to reach beyond the material world into the realm of the spiritual and divine world. Different religions adopt different forms of meditational techniques that emphasize on different goals. It can be union with the absolute as in Hinduism. Or it can be getting close to Allah as in Islam or to reach a highest bliss that lies beyond the mortal world that is Nirvana[i] in Buddhism, etc. It is also practiced outside the religious tradition for simply soothing and calming the mind. Many people practice meditation as a way to improve one’s mental, spiritual and also physical health. Whatever goals are sought through meditation, it is quite evident that meditation is related to spirituality and spirituality is a basic part of religion.
 In this article I have discussed some of the major concepts in the spiritual journey of meditation in both the disciplines and compared between them.

Understanding kinship care of older persons: social constructions of family preservation and survival in a South African Muslim community

ABSTRACT This study examined kinship care arrangements of older persons in a South African Muslim community. The aim was to understand kinship care in this community in the context of culturally sensitive welfare services delivery. Using a Grounded Theory approach, older persons and their caregivers living in intergenerational households were interviewed about their living and care arrangements. A societal context of family life in circumstances of a socio-historical legacy of colonialism and apartheid formed the backdrop of the research. Religion and the country’s poor socio-economic conditions emerged as important drivers of kinship care. Family preservation and survival, constructed through maintaining intergenerational living, reciprocity and mutual support, and the authoritative status of the older persons in the home, characterised this environment. Kinship care was a means of fulfilling a religious duty and living in accordance with an Islamic life. However, these arrangements occurred both in support and at the expense of the older persons. Kinship care arrangements are replicated globally in both Muslim majority countries and where Muslims live as minorities in secular societies; they are not static and are influenced by societal conditions that can impact on the lives of older persons. These findings thus have relevance for Muslim communities generally.

Intermittent fasting in adrenal insufficiency patients: a review and guidelines for practice.

Ramadan fasting is a religious duty for adult Muslims. Even though sick people are exempted from fasting, numerous are those who insist on fasting, and seek advice from their physicians. The role of the physician is to support his patient and preserve his health. However, little is known about intermittent fasting in adrenal insufficiency. The aim of this review was to determine the risks of fasting in patients with adrenal insufficiency, the subjects at risk of complications, and the measures that can be undertaken for safe fasting. The analysis of the data of the different studies showed that there is a risk of complications during fasting in these patients. Optimal glucocorticoid replacement therapy for safe fasting has not yet been determined. Finally, a risk stratification and the modalities of the pre-Ramadan visit for adrenal insufficiency fasting patients have been suggested.

God will reward you: Muslim practices of caring for precarious migrants in the context of secular suspicion

In recent years, Muslims have become more visibly invested in humanitarian work in France. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Marseille, this article examines local initiatives to care for precarious others whose lives are neither materially supported nor socially recognized within the current French political regime. Engaging with critical French scholarship on humanitarianism as care for others associated with emergency, suffering and the politics of compassion, I show how food-distribution (maraudes) by Muslim-run humanitarian associations also draw from Islamic ethics of care. While social dynamics related to gender, class, race and generation structure the maraudes, the foregrounding of shared precarity, and of religious duty and piety over pity, challenges the ‘hierarchies of deservingness’ established by humanitarian border regimes. In caring for precarious others, Muslims must navigate both the secular suspicion directed towards Islam and the securitization of migration. Carrying out the religious duty of helping those in need, they are ‘laying claim to public space’ for both Muslims and precarious migrants.

Redemption from Tyranny: Herman Husband’s American Revolution

Redemption from Tyranny: Herman Husband’s American Revolution

Effects of the Facebook Boycott Campaign on Turkish Products and its Influence on Demand of Kurdish Consumers 2020

Boycotting is one of the most effective anti-consumption tactics used against practices deemed unethical or unjustifiable, and calling to boycott products through social media platforms has become a trend recently among young people. This paper studies the motives and causes of boycotting Turkish products among Iraqi Kurds and highlights the effects of the Facebook Boycott Campaign on Turkish products and Kurdish consumer demand. The research data has been collected through an online survey posted and published on several Facebook pages and groups in Iraqi Kurdistan. The findings from 1378 Facebook users who participated in the Facebook Boycott Campaign of Turkish products in Iraqi Kurdistan show that indirect support for Turkish policies to exterminate and invade Kurdish communities constitutes the leading cause of the Boycott Campaign. In addition, participation in the Facebook Boycott Campaign against Turkish products is considered a national duty more than an ethnic, ethical, religious, or other duty to humanity. The majority of participants believe that continuing to participate in the Facebook Boycott Campaign against Turkish products will have a huge impact on the Turkish economy and it is a warning to the Turkish government regarding its foreign policy towards Kurds.

Between Welfare and Vagrancy: Migrants, Refugees and Travellers between Hamburg and the Mediterranean in the Seventeenth Century

As in many other merchant nations of early modern Europe, the communities of the Western Sephardic Diaspora assumed as one of their main responsibilities the social and religious duty of assisting their coreligionists, both within and beyond the boundaries of their congregations. Within this context, a wide range of charitable and social activities were provided directly by their communal governments, including travel allowances and grants for the needy and foreigners, as well as communal aid for captives and Jewish communities throughout the Holy Land. This article aims thus to understand how the philanthropic policies of Northern European Sephardic communities affected the lives of Jews in the Mediterranean basin and, conversely, how Jewish mobility to and from the Mediterranean impacted on these communities, their agents and their philanthropic networks, with the Portuguese-Jewish community of Hamburg in the seventeenth century being taken as a case study. This article is part of the special theme section on Mobility and Displacement in and around the Mediterranean: A Historical Approach, guest-edited by Cátia Antunes and Giedrė Blažytė.

Reliugisitas Pada Waria Usia Muda

Regardless of identity, transvestites are also human beings who must have the character to be pious. A human being with faith can be seen from how obedient he is to God or also called religiosity. Transsexual life in Banjarmasin is not very visible in the community, but in its community religious activities themselves continue to be carried out. This type of research is field research using a qualitative approach and case studies because the phenomenon of adolescent transsexual religiosity is unique to study. Data collection techniques used were the scale of religiosity, semi-structured interviews, and non-participant observation with subjects totaling two people with characteristics of transsexuals who were 18-21 years old, Muslim, were members of the IWB community and Paris Barantai, and lived in the Banjarmasin area. Both subjects have a high level of religiosity. It can also be seen that there are five dimensions of religiosity in transvestites, where both have a size of faith in a strong pillar of hope, an aspect of worship in doing fewer religious duties, a relatively good spiritual dimension, quite a proportion of religious knowledge because they at least know the basics religion, lack of practice in relations with the community and relationships with God, and the factors that influence their religiosity are the main factors, namely social influence and need elements as supporting factors.

Jewish Law, Roman Law, and the Accordance of Hospitality to Refugees and Climate-Change Migrants

This article examines Jewish law’s approach to forced migration. It explains the difference under Jewish law between forced migration brought about by disasters and the state of being a refugee—which is directly associated with war and armed conflict. It continues by demonstrating how these distinctions influenced the religious Jewish authors of the 1951 Refugee Convention. It concludes with the fundamental distinction between Jewish law and Roman law, concerning the latter’s application of a strong differentiation between citizens and migrant foreigners, which under Jewish law was entirely proscribed as per the religious duty to accord hospitality to forced migrants irrespective of their background.

초기 기독교와 도덕

Christian researchers have regarded the moral life as the main feature of early Christians. This paper studied the reasons and meanings of moral life of the early Christians. The Jewish law consisted of religious and moral rules. It is generally said that early Christianity was born as a new religion, abolishing the Jewish law. However, the apostle Paul proposed a new law that abolished the part related to rituals and strengthened the part related to morality. He called the new law ‘the law of Christ’. Early Christianity became very unusual in the ancient world as the early Christianity abandoned religious laws. All ancient religions had many rules related to religious duties for believers. However, early Christianity had very few regulations dealing with religious obligations. The fact that the early Christianity particularly emphasized the morality of early Christianity is confirmed in the literature of Christians. The apologists argued that Christians were moralists. In addition, the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus of Rome, which shows the operation of the third-century Roman church, regulated that the believers should live a moral life. Roman intellectuals also said that it was an important feature for Christians to live morally. This fact is confirmed in the writings of Plinius and Galenos. The early Christianity''s emphasis on morality was one of the important features of early Christian identity. (Kunsan National University/gmjung@kunsan.ac.kr)

The Trump Prophecies and the Mobilization of Evangelical Voters

The Evangelical vote played a major role when Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election. Although various factors may explain this result, we should not overlook the influence of the alliance that emerged between Trump and leading Evangelicals during the campaign. In this article, I present four books written before and after the election that illustrate how Trump prophecies and the portrayal of Trump as a national savior were used deliberately to convince conservative Christians that voting for him was their religious duty. With the help of framing theory, I analyze this rhetorical strategy of Trump’s allies, and show how it not only has influenced Christian voters, but also the president himself

Radical Existentialist Exercise

Radical Existentialist Exercise