Religious Works Research Articles

‘Making Religion’ as a Form of State Territorialisation in Southeastern Myanmar

This paper analyses religious infrastructure projects of saintly and charismatic Buddhist monks as a process of state territorialisation in conflict- affected areas of southeast Myanmar. Amongst lay Karen Buddhists, infrastructure projects which are conceived in the name of ‘making religion’ (thathana pyu) and spreading the sāsana are widely seen as an expression of compassion, so that they can make merit and build a peaceful Buddhist polity. However, in some areas, these missionisation projects have also inflicted brutal violence on local communities—both Buddhist and non-Buddhist. Drawing on a burgeoning anthropological literature that looks at religious works as a form of infrastructure, this paper explores projects of ‘making religion’ and demonstrates how they hold both enchanting and pernicious qualities for local people, when embedded in processes of state territorialisation. Coinciding with ongoing attempts by the Myanmar military to explicitly and actively missionise contested Karen territories, I argue that these projects can be understood as part of a broader nationalist project from the state to consolidate territorial control in restive parts of the country.

Humanist interest or Protestant faith? Ferenc Bornemisza of Pest and his book collection (Case study)

A lot of research has been done on the Habsburg Monarchy. We have gained insights into politics, economics and social history. More recently there has also been work on the administrative segment, but this field has not been studied from a religious and cultural history perspective. The study of the culture and literacy of the officials of the Habsburg Monarchy is a relatively new field of research. A more thorough analysis of individual book lists or libraries provides important information on the level of knowledge and education of individual officials and the group as a whole. Ferenc Bornemisza was one of the several officials of the Hungarian Chamber in the 16th century. A paper about his life was published earlier. But his knowledge and cultural background are as little known as those of his contemporaries. His list of books gives us an interesting insight into the contact between the Reformation and humanism among the office holders. As a clerk in the Hungarian Chamber, he was a devout Catholic, but his small collection of books shows that he was interested in the Reformation. He also had several clerical works and some high-quality humanist books. Luther, Melanchthon, Sylvester and Pesti are some of the authors in his collection. The religious works of these Lutheran reformers and humanist scholars of the period testify to the complex interest of a financial official.In my presentation, I will demonstrate Bornemisza’s personal contact to the Reformation. My main question is: was he a Protestant official? Was he a humanist with interest on the new spiritual and intellectual trends? Or his life and his booklist is telling us something different? Was he alone among his fellow officials in the chamber or were there others like him?

Fears about artificial intelligence across 20 countries and six domains of application.

The frontier of artificial intelligence (AI) is constantly moving, raising fears and concerns whenever AI is deployed in a new occupation. Some of these fears are legitimate and should be addressed by AI developers-but others may result from psychological barriers, suppressing the uptake of a beneficial technology. Here, we show that country-level variations across occupations can be predicted by a psychological model at the individual level. Individual fears of AI in a given occupation are associated with the mismatch between psychological traits people deem necessary for an occupation and perceived potential of AI to possess these traits. Country-level variations can then be predicted by the joint cultural variations in psychological requirements and AI potential. We validated this preregistered prediction for six occupations (doctors, judges, managers, care workers, religious workers, and journalists) on a representative sample of 500 participants from each of 20 countries (total N = 10,000). Our findings may help develop best practices for designing and communicating about AI in a principled yet culturally sensitive way, avoiding one-size-fits-all approaches centered on Western values and perceptions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Sasha, Hello! [Sasha, privet!] On philosophy of death in Dmitry Danilov’s novel

An exercise in close reading, the article explores D. Danilov’s novel Sasha, Hello! [Sasha, privet!] through critical reviews and perceptions of the novel and Danilov’s works in general. The critic considers the book in its axiological and ontological aspects as a reflection on life and death. While he found death abhorrent in his earlier works, Danilov reconsiders in 2022 and begins to perceive it as life’s successor — a ‘journey.’ His novel Sasha, Hello! serves as a philosophical bridge that spans the two concepts. The theme of death is instrumental in creating the book’s imagery and plot structure. In parallel to the philosophical quizzing about life and death, the novel portrays the modern society of ‘dead souls.’ The characters in the novel — professors, writers, and religious workers — appear prejudiced and petty-minded: people who have lost any concept of the true scale of human character. Critics have described Danilov’s novel as a humanistic dystopia. It is also possible to interpret it as a dystopia of liberalism, which robbed ‘progressive’ humanity of the notion that life and death are two legs of the same journey.

Archaeographical expeditions of Kazan University.

The article highlights the study of the history of the archaeological expeditions undertaken by Kazan University, their scientific and social significance and their role in the Tatar people’s life. The study is based on a review of handwritten and rare printed books found during these expeditions, organised over the course of half a century.Having worked in 900 settlements in 15 regions of five autonomous Russian republics, the archaeographic expeditions of Kazan University returned to the Tatar reader more than 10,000 manuscripts in the Turkic-Tatar, Arabic and Persian languages, about one and a half thousand printed books. Among the found manuscripts, the most prevalent are records of religious content: the Koran, Karim, Havtiyak, hadiths, prayer books, religious works on the history of the prophets, monuments of language, literature, oral folklore, history, medicine and ethics. The significance of these expeditions was not limited to the collection, accumulation and scientific study of the manuscript monuments, but at one time, it was the only way to preserve them from disappearance forever. This article makes this process the main object of our study, it specifies the contribution of archaeographic expeditions both to the history of the Tatar people, and to the development of literary criticism, determining its novelty and relevance.The main objective of the research within the article is to study the history, scientific and national cultural significance of the archaeographic expeditions carried out at Kazan University.

The new prison God Pods: Religious neoliberalism and evangelical “Inmate Field Ministry”

Recent exponential growth in immersive God Pod units operating in US prisons has engendered many new but still unexamined practices. Loosely-modeled off a Christian seminary planted inside Louisiana State Penitentiary, newer programs deploy privately-funded religious educators for the credentialing and training of “inmate field ministers” assigned religious work duties in public prisons. Funded by private foundations and unregulated by government oversight, Christian educators operating inside public prisons today directly influence the material conditions of incarceration for thousands of inmates. While previous God Pod programs were declared unconstitutional for use of government funding in proselytizing Christianity, newer programs use private resources for conduct of Christian ministry inside public prisons. Drawing from on-site and archival research, this article documents a shift in focus within immersive God Pod units from providing religious education at one institution to credentialing prisoners for “Inmate Field Ministry” systemwide. The article traces the ad hoc beginnings of privately-funded religious education inside US prisons, to today's emphasis on establishing Christian ministry as correctional rehabilitation. The article argues newer God Pod units engender a novel form of religious neoliberalism, abandoning previous commitments to religious neutrality while highlighting “moral rehabilitation” and deemphasizing secular rehabilitation. Directions for future research are discussed.

Mapping Muslim Chaplaincy: An Analytic Review of Publications between 1989 and 2023

Abstract This article analyses the emergent field of Muslim chaplaincy research by reviewing English-language publications in this growing area of professional religious work, especially in Europe and the United States. After presenting the method of our enquiry, we provide a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the literature reviewed. We then focus on three key topics in Muslim Chaplaincy Studies that derive from our quantitative and qualitative research. These are: the training of Muslim chaplains, which is strongly linked to professionalisation, the vocabulary and sources that underpin Muslim chaplaincy and, finally, the significance of the increasing involvement of Muslim women in this area of professional religious work and leadership. Having identified exactly 100 publications related to the development of Muslim chaplaincy, many of them arising from empirical research, serious practitioner reflections located in peer-review publications, and a small number of articles that are explicitly devoted to methodological considerations, we are suggesting in this article that a distinctive sub-field of Muslim Chaplaincy Studies can now be identified.

PELATIHAN MANAJEMEN DALAM MENCIPTAKAN LINGKUNGAN KERJA YANG KONDUSIF DAN RELIGIUS DI KANTOR CAMAT RAMBUTAN, BANYUASIN

This community service aims to improve the quality of the work environment at the Office of the Sub-District Head of Rambutan, Banyuasin through management training emphasizing the creation of a conducive and religious work atmosphere. The training is designed to span three days, covering planning, implementation, and evaluation. On the first day, the focus is on planning and preparation, including coordination with relevant parties, determining training materials and speakers, and logistical arrangements. The second day constitutes the core of the training, where participants receive instruction on productivity, religious values, and strategies for optimizing productivity in a conducive and religious work environment. This session also includes group discussions and practical exercises to apply the learned concepts. The third day involves training evaluation and policy formulation to ensure the sustainability of training outcomes. The expected outcomes of this training include improved mental well-being and work motivation among employees, reduced stress levels, and the establishment of a more harmonious and blessed work culture. Leaders with high ethics and empathy are expected to foster a positive organizational culture, enhance interpersonal relationships among employees, and advance the quality of public services. Expected outputs from this initiative include comprehensive documentation of training materials, an evaluative report, participant certificates, and a clear follow-up plan. This documentation will serve as a reference for future training sessions and educational resources. Through this training, it is anticipated that employees at the Office of the Sub-District Head of Rambutan will better appreciate religious values in their daily work, enhance teamwork among colleagues, and contribute to improved public services oriented toward community welfare

Improving positive work behavior of back office employees at sharia microfinance institutions with involvement in religious work life to anticipate fraud

Improving positive work behavior of back office employees at sharia microfinance institutions with involvement in religious work life to anticipate fraud

Lived Experiences of Domestic Violence and Coping Strategies among Female Secondary School Teachers in Uganda

This study investigated about lived experiences of domestic violence and coping strategies among female secondary school teachers in Uganda. The study employed qualitative approach within 23 secondary schools in Kitgum District. While through snowball sampling the study targeted all female teachers in these schools, who are victims of domestic violence, only 20 teachers who agreed to participate became the sample of the study. Furthermore, all the 23 head teachers of these schools participated in the study through purposive sampling. Data collection took place through in-depth interviews and data analysis took place through the thematic approach. While some of the domestic violence cases that took place include being beaten, tortured and injured, the victims used multiple ways to cope with the situations. The study recommends faith-based interventions as potential remedy for women who face domestic violence through deploying religious workers like school chaplains or other appropriate religious person to give support to such victims. The study further recommends supportive policy frameworks mainstreamed on tools for empowering female teachers and head teachers on support system for female teachers affected by domestic violence to allow them supportive work environment as well as provision of guidance and counselling experts in schools to provide similar services.

Biography, Works and Literary Personality of Mele Telheyê Şerefkî

Mele Telheyê Şerefkî, one of the literary scholars of Kurmanji literature, has not been the subject of an academic research so far with his biography, works and literary personality. Only a few of his poems were in the possession of a few local madrasah teachers. Apart from this, there was no information about him in the literature. Therefore, we identified this situation as a research problem and in order to introduce him with his biography, works and literary personality, we prepared our questions and entered the field of study. During the research process, we saw Şerefki and met him face to face. We asked him our questions and recorded his voice. We collected information several times through interviews, one of the qualitative research techniques. Later, we obtained his manuscript works and studied them. As a result of the research, we found out that this scholar studied in the madrasa environment of Diyarbakır and Batman region since the 1960s under the famous mudarrises of the region and received his madrasa icazet from Mele Mûsa, the scholar of Diyarbakır Cimikan Madrasa. He started to write poems in Turkish, Arabic and Kurmanji from his early youth. Since he was the son-in-law of Şêx Xalidê Zengokî and his family benefited from his religious works in Kurmanji, he was influenced by him in terms of religious literature. However, since he studied in various madrasas in Diyarbakır and Batman, he started to write Kurmanji poetry with the reflex and attitude of Mele Şêxmus (Cegexwîn) and Mele Ebdurrehmanê Muşî (Durre). Şerefkî wrote a poetic mawlid, two divans, a poetic autobiography and a prose biography in Kurmanji, as well as several poems in Arabic and Turkish. Until now, none of these works have been published and researchers of Kurmanji literature have not been aware of him. The theme of his poetry is usually national sentiments, but there are also many poems that deal with the values of Islam.

Then the Lord said, 'Let there be natural light': The naturalness preference in Tibetan Buddhists’ evaluations of light

The naturalness preference refers to the tendency of individuals to perceive natural items as inherently superior, healthier, or more desirable compared to artificial or synthetic alternatives. Previous research has provided evidence that this cognitive bias is also operative in people's appraisal of light. Here, we took advantage of a testbed in Tibetan areas to examine the hypothesis that religious work may moderate individuals' assessment of different light sources. Drawing upon the exclusive utilization of daylight in the printing practices of the Buddhists at the Dege Sutra-Printing House, we postulated that they would exhibit a stronger preference for natural light compared to their fellow Buddhists. Consistent with our hypothesis, Study 1 found that printers demonstrated a heightened inclination towards natural light compared to other Tibetan Buddhists, despite their shared commitment to the religion. In a field study (Study 2), printers exhibited a greater propensity to choose a decoration scheme featuring natural light resources when compared to other Tibetan Buddhists. Across both studies, our findings indicated that perceptions of the morality and sacredness of light explained the differences between groups. Together, these findings highlight the important role of religious work when examining phenomena related to the evaluation of natural and artificial elements.

The Literary Works of the Gentlemen of the Elizabethan Chapel Royal: Politics, Religion and Print

The Gentlemen of the Elizabethan Chapel Royal worked at the ecclesiastical heart of the English court. Their religious beliefs, when discussed by historians and musicologists, are usually characterised as ranging from crypto-Catholic conformity to the a-confessionalism of individuals keen to survive seismic religious change. This article revises orthodox images of the Gentlemen of the Elizabethan Chapel Royal as religious ‘conservatives’ drawn to royal employment by the ceremonialism of services, and instead emphasises their energetic theological interests and the strength of Protestant doctrinal opinion among their ranks. Their striking construction of public identities in printed religious works also illustrates the ways in which a group of ‘middling’ courtly churchmen and singing-men negotiated their own identities alongside and against that of their place of employment. 1 1 This article was awarded proxime accessit in the Court Historian Essay competition, 2023. The author also thanks Dr Alexandra Gajda, Dr Ellen Patterson, Professor Peter McCullough, Ms Helena Rutkowska, the attendees of the IHR Tudor-Stuart seminar and the reviewers at The Court Historian for their helpful comments and suggestions at various stages of this research. This work was funded by the AHRC and Merton College, Oxford.

Serving toward Release

Abstract Autonomy is not universally considered the basis of agency in all cultural and historical contexts, nor is it always seen as a prerequisite to “freedom” and “liberation,” standing in conceptual opposite to coercion. In Caribbean Hindu contexts, the notion of service (sevā) as a form of (religious) work is aimed at decentering and dissolving the self for ultimate release from worldly suffering. Historically, regarding post-indenture Suriname and Guyana, some social actors understood godnas—the tattoos of especially senior Hindu women who identified as descendants of Indian indentured laborers—as a means of capacitating women and female bodies toward this goal by allowing them to conduct religious work. Some women with these tattoos considered godnas as voluntary and enabling. Their interpretations diverged from contemporary discourse, which links these tattoos to a presumed compulsory Hindu tradition that subjugated wives to husbands and in-laws. These varied assessments along a continuum of coercion and voluntariness highlight a continued focus on the conceptual binary that (un-)freedom obscures other relevant aspects of the (indentured) workers’ experiences. It runs the risk of reproducing Eurocentric notions of freedom, coercion, and work/labor, shrouding the pertinence of spiritual capital and (religious) rewards in analyses of coercive practices and structural violence.

Explaining the distinction between religious and political activism in Islamism: evidence from the Tunisian case

AbstractTunisia's Islamist movement Ennahda has announced a separation of political and religious work, apparently reinforcing a “post-Islamist” argument that Islamic parties have left behind religious mobilization. However, the boundary between religious and political fields is highly porous. We ask why the distinction between religious and political activism remains a point of ambiguity within Islamism. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 48 men and women who participated in the movement in the 1970s and 1980s in Tunis and Sousse, we develop a microlevel explanation of Islamist mobilization. We argue that religious and social Islamist activism is replete with political intent, which worked through three mechanisms: a counter-hegemonic ideology, an activist engagement in social transformation, and a formal organization. These findings add empirical insights to the case of Ennahda, provide leverage in explaining the politicization of Salafist movements, and underscore the legacy of asymmetric party capacities in shaping outcomes in a democratic transition.

中国特色宗教工作自主知识体系的生成与演化研究

Abstract: The practice of religious work with Chinese characteristics promotes the emergence of religious work literature, which is the context of the evolution of religious work, the contextual evolution of textual value, historical value, theoretical value and practical value given by the changes in historical situations, and constantly promotes the creation of the artistic conception of the autonomous knowledge system of the macro structure, mesolevel and meso-mode of religious work. Based on the literature on religious work, this paper reviews the arduous process of religious work with Chinese characteristics, refines the essence, summarizes the experience, deeply explains the meaning of the times in the construction of an independent knowledge system of religious work, and deepens the “living” of religious work texts, the “proof” of history, and the “meaning” of reality.

Spiritualism and spiritual surgeries

In this article we will present Spiritism as a religion and the work of “spiritual surgery” as a healing activity, forming a peculiar type of gift system. To do this, we will use bibliographical research and field analysis, showing the activities and experience of the healing medium João Berbel, resident in Franca – SP and who works in spiritual surgery practices. In this sense, we will give conceptual emphasis to the idea of ​​the leader's charisma, combined with the recognition of the gift system as an important factor in Kardecist spiritualism, forging the exchange of non-equivalent values ​​within the logic of giving, receiving and reciprocating. At the Instituto de Medicina do Além, the research site, activities such as lectures are carried out; studies on doctrine; disobsession work; training and recreational activities with children, in addition to the aforementioned spiritual surgery. The latter is based on the belief that the medium carries out, in partnership with his mentor (a spirit), religious work, as in the case of João Berbel and his mentor Dr. Ismael Alonso, who was a doctor in the city of Franca in the 20th century. In this sense, we made use of reports from the center's collaborators, collected through semi-structured interviews, as well as the use of Weber's theories on the idea of ​​charisma and Marcel Mauss's gift system.

Global coronavirus vaccination campaign: The role of religious workers in vaccine distribution, public mobilization and the eradication of nationalism.

Throughout history, the world has faced numerous health challenges and outbreaks, but through the dedication of medical professionals, solutions have been found. Despite this, the emergence of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has presented a new and dangerous threat. Nevertheless, with unwavering commitment, health experts have triumphantly discovered a remedy. The study aimed to examine how religious workers worldwide could contribute positively to ensuring the fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, addressing vaccine hesitancy, encouraging people to get vaccinated, and preventing vaccine nationalism. Our study employed a refined qualitative content analysis methodology to categorize factual information and pave the way for subsequent policymakers. We meticulously curetted the most trustworthy secondary data sources and utilized them to analyze the study. The content analysis reveals that religious workers played an active role in the global coronavirus vaccination drive by working towards better vaccine distribution, encouraging people to get vaccinated and countering hesitation and nationalism. In light of the discoveries, it would be prudent for policymakers to engage religious workers in advancing the cause of public health, regardless of whether the health matters are localized, national, or global in scale. This strategy has the potential to be both alluring and convincing.

Solving the "Religious Problem": The Great Leap Forward of "Religious Work" and Protestant Communities in Pingyang, Wenzhou in 1958

Abstract: Chinese Christians have long held that the central government sought to eliminate religion in the Wenzhou region of Zhejiang Province in 1958 and even attempted to promote the Wenzhou experience nationally. Yet, to this day, details of the plight that religious communities endured in Wenzhou during the Great Leap Forward remain obscure. This article examines the origins, development, and after-math of the local campaign to solve the "religious problem" in Wenzhou in 1958, focusing on the experience of Protestant communities in Pingyang County. I argue that the antireligious movement in Wenzhou during the Great Leap Forward was not a central initiative. Instead, what happened was that local state agents seized the opportunity offered by the Great Leap Forward to crush religious communities, especially Christian communities, with which they had long had tensions. The result was an antireligious movement that went far beyond what the central government had originally envisioned.

Hedonist and Theologist Narratives in French Baroque Poetry and Spiritual Verses by the English Metaphysicals: Poetising Author’s Experience vs Sacralising Privy Feelings

In the poetic diversity of Western European Baroque, the worldview was dominated by the search for unity in the contradictions of existence, which almost always immersed the man in a theological context. This is especially evident in the works by the seventeenth-century English Metaphysicals, whose unique style is considered from the perspective of the European continental poetic tradition. At the same time, appealing to French Baroque poetry as a specific literary phenomenon compared to Donne’s school in England is determined by the historical and creative process that produces individual strategies of poetising an author`s experience vs sacralising privy feelings. The article discusses the originality of the means of poetic expression of worldview principles in French Baroque poetry and English metaphysical school, which are expressed in close connection with the author’s paradigms of hedonistic-religious vs spiritual vision of reality. These means are actualised at the image-plot and structural levels that determine the methodology based on conceptual approaches to comparative analysis with elements of hermeneutic, imagological, stylistic, and cultural-historical methods. The article emphasises that the profound considerations about the origins of the universe in love poems with hedonistic motives bring the works of the French authors (Théophile de Viau) closer to the verses of the English ones, who discuss serious issues of human existence, religion, world order, etc. (A. Marvell) even in love poems. The religious works of the French poets (d’Aubigné, de Sponde, La Ceppède) contrast with metaphysical ideas about the transcendent world (J. Donne, G. Herbert, F. Quarles, Н. Vaughan) precisely by interpreting the Baroque themes of the transience of earthly existence, imperfection of human being, that are represented defectively from the perspective of style. Metaphysical tension and emotional release of the most secret movements of the soul raise the spiritual verses to the level of contemplative poetry.