Religious Propaganda Research Articles

Through superheroes, America spreading religious propaganda

This article explores the role of propaganda in shaping religious narratives through the lens of superhero films. Propaganda's ability to frame narratives and influence how individuals interpret historical events is crucial in determining whether an event or history is perceived as good or bad. By selectively highlighting aspects that serve specific agendas, propaganda integrates its messages into our daily lives almost unnoticed. Various mediums, particularly film, serve as effective tools for disseminating propaganda, with superhero films like "Captain America: The First Avenger" (2011) exemplifying how entertainment intertwines with ideological messages. These films offer heroic narratives that entertain audiences while subtly promoting underlying agendas that reflect nationalistic or religious values. The study emphasizes the need for critical engagement with media beyond entertainment, recognizing that films are not just escapism but convey influential ideologies needing scrutiny. By examining the intersection of propaganda and superhero narratives, this article aims to enhance understanding of how media influences our perceptions of history and religion, encouraging a more critical approach to interpreting these narratives.

Postage Stamps as Political and Religious Propaganda: The Case of Hamas

The article, “Postage Stamps as Political and Religious Propaganda: The Case of Hamas,” analyzes the use of postage stamps by Hamas between 2009 and 2019 as a medium for disseminating political, religious, and nationalist messages. After assuming control of Gaza in 2007, Hamas issued 148 stamps, utilizing them to assert its legitimacy, promote resistance to Israel, and shape a Palestinian historical narrative. Although these stamps were not recognized by the Universal Postal Union, they served as an important communication tool within Gaza. The study reveals that over half of the stamps focus on themes related to the national struggle, including martyrdom, military operations, and Palestinian unity. Additionally, religious symbols, particularly those related to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and international commemorative events are prominent features. The findings suggest that stamps were strategically employed by Hamas to strengthen its role in the Palestinian struggle and to enhance its domestic legitimacy. The article concludes by proposing further comparative research between the stamps of Hamas and those issued by other non-recognized entities, while also addressing the potential influence of the 2023 Gaza conflict on future stamp issuance.

Zeus-Amun from the Perspective of the Concept of Divine Revelation and Manifestations of Political and Religious Propaganda in the Siwa Oasis "Applied Study on A group of Unpublished Greco- Roman Coins

Zeus-Amun from the Perspective of the Concept of Divine Revelation and Manifestations of Political and Religious Propaganda in the Siwa Oasis "Applied Study on A group of Unpublished Greco- Roman Coins

Saudi Arabia and daʿwa Mission: The Role of Muslim World League and Islamic University of Medina in Spreading Wahhabi-Salafi Doctrine in the 1960s.

Starting from the 1960s, Saudi Arabia began an international daʿwa campaign with the aim of positioning itself as the representative of the international Muslim community and spreading its religious beliefs, identified in the Wahhabi-Salafi doctrine. At the head of the process, controlling the whole system, there were two institutions, the Muslim World League (Rābiṭa al-ʿālam al-islāmī) and the Islamic University of Medina (al-jamiʿa al-islamiyya al-Madīna al-munawwara). Focusing on the socio-political and ethical-academic aspects, MWL and IUM tried to exercise their influence over the umma by controlling Islamic institutional, religious, and youth centres globally, and taking care of the ideological formation by managing educational centres, school, and universities; most of the scholars formed in Medina – both professors and students - held positions of high relevance in some MWL-circuit organizations established in different countries, with the aim of disseminating the teachings and playing an active geopolitical role. MWL and IUM represented the primary tools for religious propaganda and worked towards creating an international network that directly or indirectly served the Saudi agenda.

Martyr’s Rose - Imaginary Arms of St. Adalbert in Polish and Czech Tradition

An ideal of nation and freedom, characteristic of the 19th century, constituted the grounds for the patriotic image of St. Adalbert. In the circumstances of the loss of national independence, the first patron saint of the motherland managed to thrive as a potent symbol of independent Poland. An analysis of selected texts of patriotic and religious propaganda revealed its background. It is the language of myth that transforms the historic person of Wojciech (Adalbert) Slawnikowicz into a model hero, who makes a comeback to the glorious and commendable beginnings in the history of the nation possible in order to restore the religious and independent Poland.

Simile and Metaphor in the Religious Propaganda for the king: A Case Study of Edfou VIII

Simile and Metaphor in the Religious Propaganda for the king: A Case Study of Edfou VIII

Western Religious Propaganda in the Holy Land in the Correspondence of V.N. Khitrovo and K.P. Pobedonostsev in the 1880s

The author has examined the correspondence of socio-religious figure and founder of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS) V.N. Khitrovo with Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod K.P. Pobedonostsev in the 1880s; the problem of propaganda of the Catholic and Protestant churches in the Holy Land is explored. It is shown that in his detailed reports, historical essays and letters V.N. Khitrovo informed K.P. Pobedonostsev about threats to Orthodoxy in the Holy Land. V.N. Khitrovo rightly supposed that the success of Western propaganda was due to the Western powers’ implementation of their national interests. The religious policy of France and the Protestant powers (England and Germany) was a “tool” for promoting their national interests. “Propaganda” and religious penetration of Western faiths manifested themselves in religious and political forms, which was embodied in the creation of educational institutions, hospitals, the spread of semi-secular women’s orders, and the education of the local population. V.N. Khitrovo associated the success of Catholicism with the activities of Latin Patriarch I. Valerga. A special way of penetration into the Holy Land was biblical research, one example of which was the activities of Victorian General Gordon. V.N. Khitrovo considered that the weakening of Orthodoxy in the Holy Land was due to not only modest funding, but also insufficient coordination of secular and church institutions of the Russian Empire in the implementation of state religious policy. The author comes to the conclusion that the correspondents had trust-based relations and similar views on major religious and political issues.

Arab Sunni-Wahhâbism and Shia Iran: From Sectarian Conflict, to the Domination of the Gulf Region

Discussions regarding the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Middle East have always been framed as a sectarian conflict between Sunni-Wahhābism and Shia. The study data presented in this article provide a distinct, exhaustive empirical picture. This study aims to present a conceptual framework for the relationship between religious theology in Islam (Sunni Wahhābi and Shia-ism) and the competitive conflict in the Gulf region, the struggle for dominance in the Middle East region, as a variable for the protracted conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and to predict the future of relations between the two countries following the foreign policy of Muhammad bin Salman. A review of the discussion employing an inductive library research methodology. To generalize a deviation from purely accidental phenomena. In order to analyze this topic in greater depth, the author borrows theory from Max Weber regarding the protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism by placing religion as a belief system and state conflict as a structure of social group action. This study's findings assume that the issue of Sunni-Shia sectarianism is religious propaganda used to win the hegemonic competition in the struggle for territory and dominance in the Gulf region of the Middle East. Before the reign of Muhammad bin Salman, this condition had not changed substantially. In Weber's framework, there has been a distinction known as "ethical inter-minism" between two ethics. On the one hand, the structure of moral ethics is founded on the moral values of Sunni and Shia Islam. But on the political side, moral responsibility confronts the obligation to maintain the disintegration of the nation and state, which is a means to wage war.

The bishop’s ‘fine tact’: the ambiguity, ambivalence, and relationality of Catholic peacebuilding from Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Flores, Indonesia during the Asia-Pacific War

In the ongoing debate about the role of religion in peacebuilding, particular attention has been paid to religious attitudes toward violence as a locus of the peacebuilding potential of religions. In this article, I turn to the case of the Catholic Church’s ambiguous and ambivalent relationship to Japan’s war in the Asia-Pacific region. The focus of my analysis is an exceptionally well-documented case of four Japanese Catholic priests on a Japanese Imperial Navy-sponsored ‘religious propaganda’ mission to Flores, Indonesia during the Japanese occupation. The four priests, including two leaders of the Catholic Church in Japan at the time—Bishop Yamaguchi Aijiro of Nagasaki and Apostolic Administrator Ogihara Akira of Hiroshima—worked closely with European missionaries left on the island of Flores to protect the church’s interests against Japanese military aggression. This unusual case of war-time cooperation between civilians from enemy nations in the context of the otherwise brutal war in Asia offers a rare glimpse into Japanese Catholic Church leaders’ engagement with Japan’s war efforts. The article demonstrates tact as a self-consciously limited and yet distinctively relational mode of peacebuilding that capitalises on layers of ambiguity and ambivalence.

Особенности взаимодействия государства и РПЦ в современном российском обществе

The Russian Orthodox Church has been an integral institution of social development for many centuries. The history of the relationship between the State and the Church is very rich and, at different times, there have been a number of peculiarities. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the development of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the state received a new impetus, and today it is difficult to imagine the devel-opment of a large number of public institutions without the participation of the Church. In Russia there is a tradi-tional relationship between the Church and the state, which has its own specificity. According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Church and the state relate to separate spheres of activity and cannot interact with each other in the areas of governance and politics. However, in Russia there is a tradition of recognizing religion as an important component of the country’s cultural heritage, as well as recognizing religious organiza-tions as social institutions that have the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression. Church and state can interact within the framework of legislation, for example, in the field of charity, the protection of cultur-al heritage, religious propaganda and education. Nevertheless, any form of Church interference in political processes is prohibited by law. State support for religious organizations is also provided, including tax exemp-tions and the provision of land for the construction of churches and monasteries. In general, this support is based on general grounds and is not tied to the Church’s political influence on the state. Overall, the interaction between the Church and the State in Russia is characterized by the observance of the principle of separation of powers and respect for the rights to freedom of religion and freedom of speech. The paper attempts to exam-ine the key features of the interaction between the State and the Church as a model of communication of the Russian Federation’s modern society.

SOME ASPECTS OF THE CORRELATION BETWEEN FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND FREEDOM OF RELIGIOUS PROPAGANDA IN ORTHODOX THEOLOGY OF THE XIX - EARLY XX CENTURIES

The article discusses the relationship between the understanding of such categories as “freedom of religion” and “freedom of religious propaganda” by Orthodox theologians and jurists at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. The Russian legislation of this period of time, protecting the position of the Orthodox Church as “primary and dominant” in the state, limited the possibility of religious propaganda, giving this right only to the Russian Orthodox Church. However, the proclaimed freedom of religion caused a number of discussions regarding the completeness of religious tolerance in Russia and the place of freedom of religious propaganda within the framework of freedom of religion.

Chosen Peoples: Christianity and Political Imagination in South Sudan

Chosen Peoples: Christianity and Political Imagination in South Sudan

INTERNALIZING THE VALUES OF RELIGIOUS MODERATION IN “JEDA NULIS” CHANNEL FOR MILLENIALS

The bombing of the Makassar Cathedral Church and the shooting at the National Police Headquarters reflects radicalism among the youth. The two perpetrators before carrying out their actions both wrote messages to their families that they were ready to be martyred to carry out jihad as the highest practice in Islam. The internalization of radicalism among millennials through religious propaganda on social media shows the importance of platforms to counter these issues. Therefore, the author makes phenomenological research using the concept of internalization as the formal and material object in form of videos on the "pause writing" channel. In this case, the author uses the descriptive-analytic-critical method through his youtube content about religious moderation. The results show that Habib Hussein Ja'far Al-Hadar has carried out three stages of value internalization consisting of value transformation, value transactions, and trans-internalization. It demonstrates that the YouTube channel's programming is beneficial in combating extremism and educating millennials about religious tolerance.Keywords: moderation; social media; millennials.

Impact of Cyber Crime in Religious Life: Bangladesh Perspective

Religion is as the way of life of a human being in which there are two types of ideas to guide life namely worldly and spiritual. There are some financial, social, political, personal, family and other necessary guidelines for the conduct of worldly life along with some guidelines for success in the hereafter. From the beginning of creation, there is a tendency to use different religions and religious doctrines in a criminal manner and to counteract them various religious precepts have been sent down through the ages by the Creator, and various steps have been taken by the State to keep them from criminality. From ancient times, these crimes were organized by physical presence word of mouth and various activities. In the modern age, i.e. internet-based civilization a different dimension has been added where these crimes are mostly creating various crazes through the internet, and by this later physical crime, the trend is appearing in society. From the beginning of the 20th century, the level of religious propaganda on social media based on different religious ideologies increased in different parts of Bangladesh. Under the cover of this propaganda, one kind of criminal gang engaged in an attempt to bring the state and religion face to face, and from there, the Internet took a dormant place. Ramu accident, Nasir nagar accident and Comilla accident are notable as crime-based or cyber crime results. All the above accidents were organized by spreading rumors through social media.

ALATYR THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL AND ALATYR UYEZD CHURCHES IN 1917–1922

This article examines closing of the Alatyr theological school and a number of churches in the Alatyr uyezd during the years of the Soviet rule in the Simbirsk province. The article focuses on the peculiarities of the structure and the significance of the religion and the operation of the Alatyr Theological School. It is noted that the Soviet government could not accept the existence of the school and churches, because it considered them to be an obstacle to spreading atheistic beliefs among the population and strengthening their own authority in the eyes of citizens. The population as a whole did not oppose the closure of these religious buildings, but the Soviet authorities could not immediately close down the religious school because of the struggle of the Red Army with units of the People’s Army of KOMUCH that was taking place on the territory of the Simbirsk province at that time. Therefore, its liquidation stretched from 1918 to 1919. During that time, the school continued to operate, despite the official closure. The Soviet government paid great attention to the development of education of citizens. Education was an important means of propaganda, including anti-religious one. The councils wanted as many people as possible to be involved in education. The teachers had the responsibility of educating citizens, and there was not supposed to be a question the teacher could give an evasive answer to or leave it aside. The main ideologist of Soviet anti-religious propaganda was E.M. Yaroslavsky. He believed that the work of teachers had to be set on the path of anti-religious propaganda. The Soviet government created all the conditions for the population to renounce the Christianity. The existence of the Alatyr theological school, in which, from the point of view of the Soviet regime, representatives of the exploiting classes of the population studied, contradicted religious propaganda and questioned the success of this propaganda. The churches were gradually closed down by the Soviet regime, so fewer and fewer priests were required. In 1917–1922, the Soviet government managed to significantly weaken the position of the Russian orthodox church in the Alatyr district.

Vernacular Books and Religious Dissent in Early Modern Italy: A Study of the Ahmanson-Murphy Aldine Collection at UCLA

The sixteenth century was a period of tumultuous religious change in Europe as a whole. Italian Cinquecento culture was profoundly shaped by currents for reform and counter-reform; printed vernacular literature soon came to represent an excellent vehicle for spreading philo-Protestant religious propaganda, but it became a powerful weapon of the Roman counterpart as well. In this article, I will outline a survey of textual materials preserved in the Ahmanson-Murphy Aldine Collection at UCLA, focusing on Italian vernacular works printed between the 1540s and the 1580s. I will consider three aspects of the history of Italian print as related to the Cinquecento religious turmoil: the use of Nicodemite strategies and their effectiveness; the role of Petrarchist poetry as a privileged conduit for evangelizing dissenting doctrinal content; and the development of (para)textual apparatuses intended for instruction and guidance to the reader.

Islamic Propaganda by the French During the Occupation of Egypt (1798-1801)

This article examines the propaganda put forth by the French during their invasion of Egypt between 1798 and 1801. The French occupation and control of Egypt was realized through two important elements, invasion/war (military control/hard power) and propaganda (textual control/soft power). Military and textual strategies should be viewed as not only complementary but also integral parts of each other. The French constantly and persistently issued proclamations from the first day of the invasion to the last moment. They primarily sought to set the stage for what they aimed with forthcoming propaganda. Their propaganda had political and religious aspects. The political propaganda was seemingly created in the context of the French rivalry with the Mamluks. The religious propaganda, on the other hand, was based on the claim that the French were the best friends of Egyptian Muslims, whom the French insistently tried to persuade. Their friendship with Muslims gradually developed to a point that some Frenchmen appeared to have converted to Islam. The propaganda apparatus in terms of its practice had visual and textual aspects that the French applied simultaneously. Opposite to what had been claimed, this paper asserts that their propaganda had absolutely nothing to do with the Enlightenment or the ideas of the French Revolution. This research also argues the primary impetus of the invasion to have been the global capitalist rivalry between the British and the French.

Information and propaganda activities of Religious Communities in the Internet Space

The article discusses the features of the information and propaganda activities of religious communities and associations on the Internet. The essence of the concepts of "information" and "propaganda" is analyzed and studied based on socio-legal discourse on information and propaganda activities. The methods and features of propaganda of religious communities and associations in the Internet space are analyzed. The features of information and propaganda activities and threats from excessive actions are revealed. The issues of propaganda of religious extremist and terrorist organizations via the Internet, whose activities are prohibited by the court in the country, and ways of remotely informing their supporters will be considered. The article also notes that religious communities pay special attention to propaganda that promotes the spread of their ideologies on the Internet, and prefer to create media sites that disseminate information. Features of religious propaganda activities that are the result of the implementation of the goals and objectives of religious associations and groups. The use of the Internet reveals manifestations of illegal propaganda of religious communities and religious associations that poison the consciousness of young people, propagandizing deviation from traditional religion, homeland, native language. The characteristics of religious communities that have turned social networks into a means of propaganda are analyzed. A comparative analysis of the works of researchers from near and far abroad is carried out, conclusions are evaluated and drawn. Keywords: information and propaganda services, Religious Community, Religious Association, Internet Space, Propaganda

Religious Syncretism and Control Over the Territory: Pharaohs in Southern Levant During the Late Bronze Age

Egyptian domination on the territories of Southern Levant during the Late Bronze Age brought the conquerors to maintain close contacts with the local population. Among other techniques of domination, the Pharaohs made massive use of political and religious propaganda. The identification of some divinities of the Egyptian and Palestinian Pantheons enabled both populations to share the same places of worship, which promoted contact with local communities and made integration and life together possible. This cultural entanglement operation had both ideological and functional goals. Palestinian shrines and temples became multifunctional centers well integrated into the socio-cultural context, used as the centers for the collection of taxes imposed by the Egyptian rulers.

Children during the Winter Traditions in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (1944–1961)

The Soviet power sought to liquidate the old traditions and to invent revolutionary ones, as well as to transform some Christian traditions into communist ones in order to constitute a new culture – of Soviet type. Following the analysis of winter traditions in the MSSR that involved children, we conclude that the transformation of the tradition took place only in the official calendar, due to which it could not decisively influence the formation of the ethnocultural identity of the young generation. Despite all the efforts of the political factor, the traditional calendar could not be changed. Regardless of the hostile political and ideological environment, the attachment of the population to traditions, customs, and the Christian Orthodox faith has not been liquidated. The sustainability of the traditions in the consciousness of the society prevented their displacement; they were partially filled with some elements with ideological content. The influence of the environment – partly of the atheist propaganda on behalf of the school and children’s organizations and the religious propaganda on behalf of the family – formed a duplicitous attitude towards religion, forcing children to secretly follow religious cultures. The children found themselves caught between two contradictory worlds: the official Soviet world and the traditional environment from which they originated (family, village, relatives). Authentic values ultimately prevailed spiritually.