Religious Sphere Research Articles

Universalism as a Political Theology: Tamil Saivism, Neo-Saivism and Dravidian Movement

Tamil Saivism broadly consists of two doctrines: the dualistic, Bhakti Brahmanism, and the monistic, Cittar tradition. The monistic enlightenment philosophy of the Cittar tradition advocates the self-criticality/rationality of an individual in search of the ultimate truth of the cosmos. Since the Medieval period, Bhakti Brahmanism has been deeply rooted in Tamil society by controlling the temples. It aggrandizes the concepts of purity-pollution, Varna-jati, Sanskritisation, and patriarchy. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, the neo-Saivites strived to revive Tamil Saivism from Brahmanism by creating a “Tamil Religion” which had to be secular, non-Brahmanical, non-Sanskrit, and anti-caste based on the Universalistic appeal of the Cittar tradition. For more than a century, the Dravidian Movement has been working towards de-Brahmanisation of the religious sphere. The de-Brahmaniastion began with the Statehood of temples and their properties by the Justice Party in the British Raj. In independent India, DMK extended it by making Tamil along with Sanskrit as a liturgical language, and priesthood was opened to non-Brahmins. The Dravidian Movement kept religion outside the political sphere, but its social justice policy revolved around the Universalistic philosophy. It viewed God as one and also regarded that god can be seen in a poor’s smile. Presently, the DMK government has opened the priesthood to women and proposed to establish an international centre for Vallalar, a 19th-century Cittar, to propagate his teaching of Universalism. The Universalistic political theology of the Dravidian movement has resulted in social harmony coupled with egalitarianism.

Astronomical Clocks and the Evolution of Ancient Cosmology in Gothic Architecture

This paper offers a review of the location and imagery of astronomical clocks. The zodiacs are highlighted as religious symbols taken from antiquity and transferred into the Middle Ages. The clocks contain imagery similar to other religious spaces such as cathedrals and Books of Hours, which imbues them with meaning while linking them to sacred spaces. The ancient lares created a sacred space outside temples. A comparison of them to the astronomical clocks suggests that the clocks also create a sacred space based on location and iconography. This paper will argue that astronomical clocks extended the religious sphere through their placement in public spaces.

Citra Perempuan Kolonial dalam Kehidupan Beragama di Sumatera Timur, 1870-1942

The opening of tobacco plantations in East Coast Sumatra in 1870 became a major factor in the creation of ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity in there. All the Malays there were Muslim, then the Europeans came with their Christianity, which was followed by most of the Batak people, the Indians brought Hinduism and Sikhism, and the Chinese brought Buddhism. East Coast Sumatra is a pluralistic region, but there has never been a conflict between ethnicities or religions. Very interesting. However, the reality of the religious life of the people at that time had never been revealed in detail. Furthermore, during the 1930 census it was recorded that there were 4.293 Europeans in Medan and 2.001 of them were women, but their presence in the religious sphere has not been exposed. Therefore, this study aims to narrate the image of colonial women in religion in East Coast Sumatra. The images of colonial women in this study are all forms of mental, spiritual, and daily behaviour expressed by women in religion, including the outward appearance that appears in women and their religious activities in East Coast Sumatra in the period 1870-1942. This study uses the historical method, and the primary data are the Dutch Colonial Government Report (verslag),Volkstelling 1930, maps, newspapers, bulletins and magazines, photographs depicting the religious life of the people of East Sumatra in the period 1870-1942.

Romancing the Anchorhold: Romance Motives in Ancrene Wisse, “Guide for Anchoresses”

Sweeping economic and social developments in the twelfth century gave rise to a series of intellectual and spiritual changes which laid emphasis on exploring and cultivating the self via personal experience and refining one’s virtues, which became the pivot of the romance genre. In the religious sphere, such tendencies gave rise to the emergence of new forms of religious life. One of these was anchoritism, striving to replicate the vita apostolica of the first followers of Christ. Ancrene Wisse was composed to provide spiritual guidance originally to three sisters from one noble family who devoted their lives to God as anchoresses. The text of the guide typically uses secular imagery, including romance motifs, for spiritual ends. This article discusses which romance motifs can be discerned in the text of Ancrene Wisse and assesses their function. It concentrates on comparing the romance topos of the lady in the bower with the symbolic space of the anchorhold and considers the issue of permeability of its borders in terms of the genres of anchoritic guide and romance. It also comments on the active/passive role of the romance lady and the anchoress, on their roles as a receiver and an initiator of action.

ОПИСАНИЕ И АНАЛИЗ АРХИТЕКТУРНОГО СООРУЖЕНИЯ В КОНТЕКСТЕ ЯПОНСКОЙ ТРАДИЦИИ НА ПРИМЕРЕ «ЦЕРКВИ СВЕТА» ТАДАО АНДО.

In the modern socio-cultural situation of the world, there is a change in the value system, which largely determines the interpretation of past meanings in religious art. Christianity is the world's largest religion, which has its own attributes of faith, for example, such as temples. The task of building temples in the context of modern times is to interpret the idea of Christianity as such with the help of new materials, new ideas, and taking into account the modern concept of human thinking. In the era of postmodernism, a distinctive feature of society is the high segmentation of various spheres of human activity, which makes the individual necessarily participate in all these spheres of life. To realize such an opportunity, a person is forced to accelerate and even superficially participate in one or another sphere of life. The trend described above can also be traced in the religious sphere of a Christian's life. Thus, a thinking creator cannot help but have a desire, through his work of art, to return the Christian's thought to the mainstream of Christian aesthetics, which states that communication with God is comprehended through sensory cognition, through beauty and art. Religious revival is impossible without the restoration, preservation and use of cult art – the most important component of church life. The subject of this research is the study of the theological, material and index signs of the cult architectural structure "Church of Light". In the study of the "Church of Light" designed and built by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando in 1989 in Osaka, a conceptual approach will be used to take into account the modern reflection of old meanings.

Children’s Imagination of the Divine: Creativity Across Religions

ABSTRACT Earlier studies have concluded that the religious sphere is less open to creativity than are other areas of human activities. Also, it has been suggested that artistic freedom and creative expression are unwelcome in the domain of religious iconography. In the present study, we address this subject with regard to children’s artistic expression of the divine (n = 1703) in five different cultural and religious environments: Japanese (Buddhism and Shinto), Iranian (Islam), Russian-Buryat (Buddhism, shamanism), Russian Slavic (Christian Orthodoxy) and French-speaking Swiss (Catholic and reformed Christianity). The Consensual Assessment Technique was used to access the creativity. The results globally supported the previous research on the positive role that domain knowledge plays in creativity. It is likely that the exposure to knowledge in the religious domain through education would not negatively impact on children’s creativity in the domain of pictorial representations of the divine, at least in secularized societies. Results also revealed that a child’s creative expression could be a function of his or her age. Obviously, with age and knowledge of the religious domain, older children would go more often beyond the simplistic or conventional representations of the divine. As for gender, no effect was found in four out of five samples.

Bava Gor and the Myth of Makhan Devi (Butter Goddess)

Siddis are a microscopic community of African Indians who are part of multiple migrations stretching over several centuries in India from numerous locations inthe East and North Africa. The myth of Bava Gor and Makhan Devi hides within it multiple contestations and adaptations in the religio-cultural landscape of Siddis through an encounter with native Hindu/Aboriginal religious beliefs. The paper seeksto study these transitions in the mythic landscape of Bava Gor and how it reflects the syncretic dynamics of Siddis’ relation with majority communities. For it, I propose to foreground interrelations between gender, ethnic, and religious identities and how these identities get transmuted through transferences between socio-political and religious spheres.

Are Christian politics possible? A Kierkegaardian perspective

AbstractThis paper provides a rereading of Søren Kierkegaard's attack upon Christendom in light of his theory of spheres of existence to examine whether Christian politics are possible after Kierkegaard. Talking of Christian politics makes sense only in the esthetic and the religious spheres of existence. However, Kierkegaard argues that politics worthy of the title Christian are impossible. Either such politics are simply Christendom far removed from New Testament Christianity, or Christian politics are faced with the paradox of existing before God and cannot proceed.

Technologies of external infl uence on the policy of the Russian Federation in the context of a special military operation in Ukraine

The article is devoted to study of the ethical and religious context of external influence to the Russian Federation aft er the start of a Special military operation in Ukraine. As an introduction showed a retrospective overview of use external infl uence against Russia at various historical stages. Th e main part of the study includes theoretical developments that are used to create pressure on the Russian Federation ethnic and religious sphere. It shows how these ideas were radicalized aft er the start of a Special military operation in Ukraine, including the discourse of “decolonization of Russia”, which poses as mostly as a process of liberation from the “prison of nations”, and associated with an orientation to masses, what directly indicates the use of this discourse as a destabilization technology of Russia. The purpose of the study is to analyze the external infl uence on the ethnic and religious spheres of the Russian Federation, as well as to develop methods of counteraction. Th e main results of the study are a description and structuring of external influence on the ethnic and religious sphere of the Russian Federation, a link between the theory of destabilization technologies and practice of “Russian Federation decolonization”, also a two main lines of external influence to Russia.

Secular State in Colombia: An Unnamed Principle and Right

The present article focuses on analyzing the influence of the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court in Colombia regarding the consolidation of the secular state and the protection of human rights. In this regard, we will examine how the decisions of the Constitutional Court have contributed to guaranteeing the separation between church and state, promoting religious neutrality in public institutions, and ensuring the free exercise of different beliefs and religious practices. Additionally, we will explore how these judicial decisions have strengthened the protection of human rights, ensuring equality, freedom of conscience, and non-discrimination in the religious sphere. From another perspective, and as an integral part of the development of this article, we will analyze how the tax exemption granted to churches has resulted in a contradiction to the principles of equality and neutrality that the state should uphold concerning religion. The research problem that underlies the respective inquiries and the process of theoretical synthesis can be summarized in two questions: What is the impact of the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court on the consolidation of the secular state and the protection of human rights in Colombia? And how has the tax exemption of churches become a historical debt of the secular state in the country? Finally, it was concluded that thanks to the jurisprudential development of the Constitutional Court, there was a crucial impact on the establishment of the Secular State by expanding the interpretation of its elements, scope, and undeniable relationship with Human Rights.

One Out of Many: The Civic and Religious in American Muslim Life

American Muslims regularly encounter a tacit distinction between the civic and religious spheres of their daily lives. Islamic legal norms are not invoked incessantly to highlight the differences between Muslims and their fellow citizens, but instead are considered relevant for particular issues at particular times. Through examining examples of how Muslims engage with the American economic and legal system, it is shown that much of one’s engagement with the civic structures of American life is seen as unproblematic. Understanding this distinction helps Muslims participating in American life to properly conceptualize the relationship between their religious faith and their roles as citizens in the larger body politic.

Chosen Peoples: Christianity and Political Imagination in South Sudan

Chosen Peoples: Christianity and Political Imagination in South Sudan

Elucidating humour in Kierkegaard’s philosophy

Søren Kierkegaard recognised that humour belongs to the highest stages of life among the ethical and religious spheres of existence but not the aesthetic one. In Kierkegaard’s philosophy, humour aids in maintaining a true self, which requires constantly striving to remain in communion, to attain synthesis, to balance a multitude of different humours, and to oppose aspirations that exist within the personal self. Through the analysis of the contrasting and conflicting views of Kierkegaard’s humour as the highest stage of life, Hegel’s objective humour, Freud’s relief theory linking humour to the unconscious, and Shakespeare’s tragicomedy Hamlet, the aim is to understand how humour contributes to the existence of being and whether the initial ontological meaning of the word humour managed to transport itself from the sphere of life in the 19th century into our contemporary world view, into our state of mind, and into our life philosophy.

Interconfessional Contacts and Conflicts in the Peloponnesos (Thirteenth to Fourteenth Century)

The purpose of this article is to analyze the features of interconfessional interaction of the Romaioi, Franks, and Venetians in the Peloponnesos in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, from the Latin invasion to the period when certain traditions of interconfessional communication between the conquerors and the Romaioi developed. Using the accounts of the Chronicle of the Moraia, resolutions of the Venetian Senate, Venetian private-law documents, as well as Byzantine historical (George Akropolites, George Pachymeres, John VI Kantakouzenos), polemical (John VI Kan- takouzenos), and epistolary (Gregory Akindynos) writings, the article has analyzed the features of Greek-Latin contacts in the religious sphere, the nature of the contra- dictions between the Orthodox and the Catholics, the cases of change of confession and combined worship, considering the incidence of the said phenomena. The con- clusion is that the gateway to the long-term and relatively peaceful coexistence of the Greeks and Latins in the Peloponnesos was the Latins’ loyal policy towards the other-believers performed from the moment they initially appeared on the peninsula. In case of the biggest part of the Greek-Latin population of the Moraia, their relations with neighbours were most often of a compromise nature. Peaceful forms of inter- confessional contacts between the Latins and the Romaioi were more common than open conflicts on religious grounds. The arousing conflicts were generally associated with the actions of specific figures of strangers who represented the central government, and often had a pronounced political colouring.

Церковь / храм / собор в эпическом пространстве былин

The aim of this article is to consider plots and motifs of Russian epic poems (byliny) that mention churches and to determine the place and semantics of the church in the imagery of the byliny. The study uses the continuous sampling method to select certain byliny from the multitude of the Northern Russian epic texts that were recorded on the rivers Pechora, Mezen, Kuloi, Pinega, on the Winter Coast of the White Sea, and in the Pudozh region and that were published in volumes of the Svod russkogo folklora (Code of Russian folklore). Special attention is paid to the way and the contexts in which churches are mentioned in these texts. The study considers different types of churches, their founders and clergymen, their dedications, elements of their exterior and interior, and church sacraments and services. The analysis leads to the conclusion that a “church” was a well established key locus on the map of the Russian epic world and that its semantics does not only pertain to the religious sphere but also reveals distinct shades of meaning, which are related to politics, economy, and social life. In fact, although the Slovar’ iazyka russkogo folklora (Dictionary of the language of Russian folklore) shows that “church” is the most common lexeme (concept) in the “Religion” cluster, it is of little value for the study of the religious sphere that is reflected in the byliny. It provides, however, an opportunity for a multidimensional analysis of the imagery of the Russian epics.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ РЕАЛІЗАЦІЇ СВОБОДИ РЕЛІГІЇ В УМОВАХ СУЧАСНИХ ВИКЛИКІВ

The issues and problematic points of freedom of conscience, religion and belief, enshrined in the constitutions and primary normative documents of many countries of the world, were considered. It is pointed out that law and religion act as important social regulators in the life of society, influencing the consciousness of subjects through the general rules and norms of behavior established in a certain way, encouraging them to perform lawful actions. Law and religion in their interaction are endowed with a significant potential to influence human activity in the process of realization by subjects of their rights and duties. The controversial points and shortcomings of the world organizations, in particular the UN, in the religious sphere are highlighted, and the ways of solving crisis situations related to religious issues are outlined. The modern limitations of the right to freedom of ideology and religion in war conditions are considered. The problem of ensuring freedom of religion and belief in the conditions of war acquires special relevance and reaches a new level since the religious factor has always been used as a powerful weapon aimed at disuniting the spiritual and value bases of Ukrainian society. Repression, discrimination and restrictions in religious freedom directly affect the development, activities of religious organizations and the everyday life of their followers, which constitutes a threat to a democratic society. Observance and protection of human rights in the sphere of freedom of religion and belief is an important issue of domestic policy of every state and the subject of special attention of the entire international community. Freedom of conscience and religion is the foundation of a democratic society, an important prerequisite for legal democracy and the existence of other rights and freedoms of a person as an individual. Special attention should be paid to religious freedom during the crisis exacerbations, the article contains some suggestions for improving the state of religious freedom in Ukraine.

Religijność i poczucie tożsamości studentów z Czech, Polski i Słowacji

The subject matter explored in the article include the issues related to religiousness of university students. This category comprises their denominational structure, their attitude to religion, their self-evaluation of the essence of religion in life, the frequency of participation in religious practices. These categories are shown in relation to their sense of identity. The research with the use of the survey method was conducted among students from the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia who live in culturally diverse territories. The research results show the ongoing changes in Polish and Slovak societies. Young people take advantage of the possibility of making choices and their choices concern not only education and professional paths, but also the beliefs, behaviour and activities in the religious sphere. The surveyed students’ freedom of choice is manifested, among others, in their sense of a multidimensional identity and in the consciousness of belonging to the Church. Among the surveyed university youth – in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia – one can observe the individualization of religiousness in the form of the departure from religious affiliation, as well as in “belonging without faith”.

Iconography of Buddhism: The Tradition of Depicting the Old White Man

The Old White Man is a local deity revered by Buddhists in Russia. His image, based on textual traditions and Buddhist iconography, prompted the name — the Old White Man, now widely accepted. In the written sources he is also known as the “Conqueror and subduer of the [master spirits] of earth and water”. The early images appeared in Mongolia under the influence of the Chinese traditional pictures of Tú Dì, ancient deities associated with localities, while later they were influenced by traditional images of Shòuxing, the deity of longevity. At an early stage of the iconographic tradition, the Old White Man is depicted as a priest or a high official; his functions are rendered via the characters of his companions, the host spirits of mountains (sabdaks) that have the features of man and animal or animals, such as a pair of deer, chained leopard (wolf), as well as ritual objects, including a carved staff or a dragon head staff. At a later stage, there may be symbols associated with the giver of longevity and fertility (bald phallic head, cave, and peach). The text of the “Sutra of the Old White Man” includes the description of his appearance (a white-bearded, bare-headed old man in a white robe), attributes (a dragon head staff) and an allegorical landscape of a mountain and fruit trees. Neither early nor recent Mongolian and Buryat pictures fully correspond to the description. Much closer to it is the Kalmyk iconographic tradition. The Old White Man’s image of the Kalmyk nomads goes back to the ancient mythological idea of the deity as the keeper of domestic animals. Due to transformations in the religious sphere, the keeper of domestic animals becomes the Old White Man, the lord of all living beings and all earthly space. Traditionally, he is presented as a standing old man, bare-headed and his long gray hair gathered in the form of a triratna. He is dressed in a belted robe, with another swinging robe thrown on it. In his right hand, he holds a staff with a dragon’s head and a rosary in his left. There are no companions or animals. The symbolic landscape serves to enhance the grandiose figure of the old man. The details of the attire and the landscape refer to the former Chinese influence.

Information War in the Religious Sphere in the Context of the "Battle" for the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra

Information War in the Religious Sphere in the Context of the "Battle" for the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra

ЯЗЫК РЕЛИГИОЗНОЙ СФЕРЫ КАК ОБЪЕКТ ИЗУЧЕНИЯ СОВРЕМЕННОЙ ЛИНГВИСТИКИ

ЯЗЫК РЕЛИГИОЗНОЙ СФЕРЫ КАК ОБЪЕКТ ИЗУЧЕНИЯ СОВРЕМЕННОЙ ЛИНГВИСТИКИ