Search Results (356)

The growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping religious communication, including Islamic preaching. However, little is known about how AI-mediated preaching transforms religious authority, particularly in post-Soviet Muslim contexts such as Kazakhstan. This study addresses this gap by examining how AI reshapes the foundations of religious authority in Kazakhstan. It aims to conceptualize emerging forms of authority and to compare communicative patterns across AI-generated, hybrid, and human-led preaching. The qualitative comparative design was employed, analyzing 90 social media posts from six accounts across various social media platforms. The study integrates digital discourse analysis, rhetorical analysis (ethos, pathos, logos), and audience engagement analysis to examine content structure, authority construction, and interaction patterns. The findings reveal the emergence of algorithmic religious authority, grounded in visibility, consistency, and platform alignment rather than traditional scholarly legitimacy. AI-generated preaching demonstrates high standardization, simulated credibility, and passive engagement, while hybrid preaching combines algorithmic optimization with human contextualization. Human-led preaching retains interpretive depth, relational authority, and stronger dialogical interaction. Together, these forms create a stratified and pluralized system of authority. The study concludes that AI is not merely a tool but a structuring force that redefines the epistemic foundations of religious authority, introducing conditions of “authority without accountability” in digitally mediated Islamic preaching. Full article

This article explores, within the historical context of two-way exchanges between Chinese and Arab-Islamic civilizations, the profound relationship between the communal ethos embedded in these traditions and the construction of a “community with a shared future for mankind.” By examining and comparing the “Tianxia worldview” and the wisdom of “harmony and integration” in Chinese civilization with the concept of “Ummah” and the peace-oriented ideal of “Salam” in Islamic civilization, this study reveals deep commonalities. Both civilizations share a focus on humanity’s collective well-being, the establishment of a moral order, the assumption of ethical responsibilities, and the management of the relationship between diversity and unity. The research demonstrates that the concept of a “community with a shared future for mankind” is deeply rooted in the philosophical traditions of both civilizations; it represents a modern transformation and integrated innovation of their core spirits. As such, it provides essential intellectual resources and practical pathways for transcending Western-centric governance paradigms, promoting substantive civilizational dialogue, and building a more just and inclusive global order. Full article

Background: The use of creative methods, including immersive digital media such as virtual reality (VR), has grown in popularity over the past decade. At the same time, the power of co-creation within transformative research has also strengthened. Together, co-creation and digital immersive methods offer the potential for the intended audience, including decision-makers, to deeply engage with the information communicated through focused immersion in people’s stories and familiar local settings. Method/Reflections: In this article, the process of co-creation through a digital VR storytelling approach is discussed and reflected upon from the perspectives of co-creators from regional cities and towns across Australia. Our team included three young adults with disabilities, an academic researcher with a disability, and an independent researcher. This includes 1. presenting an overview of co-creation itself as both an ethos and method; 2. describing our experiences of co-creation using online storyboarding and script-writing workshops to portray the reality of local community experiences, and re-imagining what an inclusive community would look like; 3. reflecting on our completed stories made into VR short films and their potential to impact decision-making to improve urban and regional planning and design; and 4. discussing reflections and insights into the challenges, benefits, and key considerations for applying co-creation and VR storytelling in research and public planning engagement. Full article

Serious leisure theory proposes that deep engagement in leisure activities yields personal and social benefits, yet its application to adolescent risk behavior remains unexplored. This cross-sectional study examined whether specific qualities of serious leisure (effort/perseverance, talents/skills, self-expression, activity outcomes, financial benefit, and ethos) predicted four risk behavior domains (delinquency, cyberbullying, eating disorders, sexual risk) among 1141 Croatian adolescents (64.8% female; 60.0% younger cohort aged 14–17, 40.0% older cohort aged 18–20). Serious leisure qualities were assessed with subscales adapted from the Serious Leisure Inventory and Measure (SLIM) and risk behaviors with validated self-report instruments, both administered through an anonymous online questionnaire. Hierarchical regression models revealed that serious leisure qualities explained 5–11% of variance in risk behaviors beyond demographics, with significant age-moderation effects. For younger adolescents, effort and perseverance in leisure activities served as the primary protective factor (r = −0.14 to −0.17), whereas for older adolescents, perceived activity outcomes (satisfaction and personal growth) emerged as the dominant protector (r = −0.12 to −0.21). Conversely, financial benefit derived from leisure consistently predicted higher risk across all domains, particularly cyberbullying (r = 0.35 among younger participants). A significant developmental shift in leisure preferences was observed, with structured activities declining from 27.6% to 18.6% as participants aged (χ² = 36.91, p < 0.001). These findings suggest that the subjective quality of leisure engagement, rather than the type of activity alone, shapes risk trajectories, with distinct protective mechanisms operating at different developmental stages. Implications for age-tailored leisure-based prevention programs are discussed. Full article

This paper investigates the settlement experiences of Hong Kong British National (Overseas) [BN(O)] migrants in the UK, with a particular focus on housing as a central mechanism shaping their wellbeing, security, and integration. Following the introduction of the BN(O) visa route in 2021, this study draws on qualitative interviews with migrants in the North of England to explore how housing mediates conditional settlement under a marketised migration regime. Findings reveal that housing functions as the primary infrastructure of settlement, influencing employment, education, and family life, while access is conditioned by migrants’ capacity to absorb market risks such as advance rent payments and landlord discretion. The study highlights significant intra-group stratification shaped by financial resources, family composition, and transnational support, with family responsibilities intensifying housing precarity and constraining choices. Moreover, a moralised ethos of self-reliance among migrants normalises hidden insecurity and limits formal support-seeking. This research contributes to migration and housing scholarship by demonstrating how ostensibly humanitarian migration pathways reproduce uneven security through housing systems, underscoring the need for policy interventions that address the cumulative effects of housing insecurity on settlement and wellbeing. Full article

Environmental education projects can often be short-term or in extra-curricular spaces, rather than holistically nestled into a way of teaching and learning. Research has highlighted the importance of considering the emotional and active aspects of learning, arguing that we must address education for sustainability through the hands (doing) and the heart (feeling) as well as the head (thinking). Here we ask how this consciousness can be embedded into a school ethos. This paper reports on a co-created ethnographic case study, drawing primarily on observation data, aiming to understand how connectivity with nature is cultivated within a Steiner Waldorf school in the UK. We found that Steiner Waldorf Education cultivates connectivity with nature through play and creativity, the use of songs and verses, prevalence of natural materials, a reverence for Mother Earth and a focus on the rhythm of the seasons through festivals. Through this holistic practice, a strong connectivity with nature is fostered. Based on the evidence that connectivity with nature increases pro-environmental behaviours, we seek to contribute to the environmental education literature the potential of a holistic approach to education that foregrounds the hands and heart in the elementary stages of education rather than addressing environmental challenges head on. We argue that this approach can inspire change through strengthening our relationship to the natural world, thus empowering young people to shape a more sustainable future. Full article

Christian ethics are often associated with dichotomies such as right versus wrong, good versus evil, and moral versus immoral. How do young Black people with diverse sexual identities who also embrace Christianity understand such ethics? What constitutes Christian ethics for people who live on the margins and are often vilified for their racial and sexual identities? This mixed-methodological study considers these questions for a group of 76 young Black members of the LGBTQIA community aged 18–30 years old. The study is also designed to theorize and apply the concept of everyday sacredness as an ethos to illuminate the religious and spiritual experiences of Black sexual minorities. Three themes emerge that focus on ethical expectations. The initial theme reflects common questions about historic and present-day unethical practices in certain Black churches linked to homophobia and heterosexism found in current studies. The second, more spiritually focused theme, presents agape love as an ethical response to all God’s creation. The final practically focused theme emphasizes holistic health as an ethical response to health inequities in the Black LGBTQIA community. Full article

Africans are widely recognised for their deeply rooted communal orientation. This ethos is intricately embedded in cultural practices such as burial rites, matrimonial customs, ritual observances, and broader conceptions of kinship. Within many African societies, the notion of family transcends the boundaries of the living, encompassing ancestors often conceptualised as the “living-dead” as well as extended familial networks. Despite the historical introduction and sustained influence of missionary and colonial religions, particularly Christianity, African Traditional Religion (ATR) continues to shape the beliefs and practices of many South Africans. Although Christianity remains a dominant religious tradition in South Africa, the persistence of ATR generates both points of convergence and sites of tension within the lived religious experiences of adherents. Against this backdrop, the present study critically examines the intersections and complexities between ATR and Christianity in South Africa, with particular emphasis on the African philosophy of community. Employing a qualitative research design informed by social cognitive theory and utilising a self-selection sampling strategy, data were collected through interviews with young adults (aged 25–40) affiliated with three mainline churches in Mamelodi, Pretoria, South Africa. The findings indicate that, while notable convergences exist between ATR and Christianity, significant complexities persist, particularly when interpreted through the lens of African communal philosophy. Full article

This article explores the contemporary landscape of Athonic monasticism, examining how the Holy Mountain (Ἅγιον Ὄρος) preserves its identity within the framework of modern Christianity. Moving beyond a purely archival study, the analysis is deeply informed by long-term personal engagement and experiential observation. Through a synthesis of historical-theological inquiry and first-hand experience, it analyzes the demographic shift toward a younger, highly educated monastic population and the universal restoration of coenobitic structures, interpreting these developments as tangible signs of a spiritual renaissance. The study addresses the growing tension between the traditional hesychastic ethos and the pressures of globalization, technological mediation, and mass pilgrimage. These observations highlight the nuanced ways in which Athonite communities negotiate visibility and withdrawal, creating a “monastic firewall” to protect inner stillness (hesychia). It argues that contemporary Athonic identity is best understood as a form of dynamic traditionalism—a living synthesis of rigorous fidelity to Byzantine liturgical and spiritual typika with a prudent, selective engagement with modern realities. Ultimately, the paper suggests that Mount Athos offers a paradigmatic model of continuity without fossilization, standing as a “spiritual battery” and a theological reference point for global Orthodoxy. By maintaining a balance between solitude and hospitality, the Holy Mountain contributes meaningfully to current discussions on the future of religious tradition, providing a solid counter-narrative to the “liquid” identities of modernity. Full article

This study proposes an innovative instructional approach to promote scientific literacy by integrating the Nature of Science and the Nature of Scientific Inquiry with experimental practice and the history of physics. The aim is to foster a deep understanding of how scientific knowledge is constructed and to promote informed trust in science. Using an explicit and reflective methodology, the intervention combines experimental activities with historical reflection. The core of the learning sequence is the experimental reconstruction of Galileo’s studies on falling bodies, based on the historical manuscript folio 116v, an original document that provides the empirical evidence for the law of falling bodies, illustrating the transition from raw experimental data to mathematical formalization. Through this activity, students engage with key epistemic aspects of scientific practice, including the management of uncertainty—distinguished into statistical/aleatory and structural/epistemic forms—the probabilistic nature of scientific knowledge, the predictive power of models and theories, and the underdetermination of scientific theories. Additional themes addressed include the role of thought experiments, the importance of communicating results for scrutiny and validation, the function of models as mediators between theory and phenomena, and the process of de-idealization. The study also challenges the persistent myth of a single, linear “scientific method,” highlighting instead the theory-laden character of scientific inquiry and the central role of the scientific community. This dimension is explored through the historical comparison between Galileo and Mersenne, which illustrates elements of the scientific ethos and the role of peer review as a mechanism for the correction and refinement of knowledge. The results obtained with pre-service teachers, with whom this instructional sequence was implemented, indicate that this contextualized approach facilitates the overcoming of a view of science as a set of absolute truths. Instead, it promotes a more mature understanding of science as a dynamic, provisional, and self-correcting human enterprise, while equipping future citizens with the critical tools necessary to navigate the challenges of the twenty-first century. Full article

Det Norske Misjonsselskap (Norwegian Missionary Society, NMS) was founded in Stavanger, Norway, in 1842. Having established its first mission field in Africa, it then made plans to work in Asia. In 1902, the first missionaries were sent out to Hunan, an inland, culturally isolated, and conservative Chinese province that experienced particularly strong anti-foreigner and anti-Christian waves. This article argues that the NMS developed a distinctive, pragmatic strategy of political accommodation—rooted in its Pietistic Lutheran social ethos and a Norwegian pioneering spirit—to ensure its institutional survival in Hunan. Examining the NMS’s responses to two major political turning points, the Anti-Christian Movement (1924–1927) and the New Life Movement (1934–1937), the article reveals three key findings: First, the NMS’s proclaimed “neutrality” was not merely a passive stance but an active survival tactic, evolving from a claim grounded in Norway’s geopolitical neutrality into a strategic rhetoric for navigating local political risks. Second, the missionaries’ “excessive expectations” of the Nationalist government, particularly during the New Life Movement, stemmed from a structural cognitive bias shaped by their deep institutional embedding in the KMT-governed local order. Third, their ultimate withdrawal was less a simple political misjudgement than the logical endpoint of a survival model that lacked a contingency plan for revolutionary change. By tracing this specific case, the article contributes to the historiography of Christianity in modern China by illuminating the diversity of missionary strategies beyond the dominant Anglo-American coastal narratives. Full article

Fact-checking appeared as one of the responses to disinformation, establishing itself inside the journalism profession as another of its ethos. However, its social relevance relies on public perception and engagement. Despite growing evidence of approval, low familiarity and limited active use of fact-checking news remain common patterns, particularly among younger audiences. This study examines familiarity, contact, and attitudes toward fact-checking in a convenience sample of Portuguese university students, exploring associations with news consumption habits, political interest, skepticism, and ideological orientation through an online survey, with 356 university students, across different scientific areas. Results indicate that students show favorable attitudes toward fact-checking (M = 3.70) and recognize its social value but report moderate-to-low familiarity with its practices (M = 2.85), infrequent access (M = 2.37), and minimal sharing behavior (M = 1.82). Interest in reading fact-checking content emerged as the strongest predictor of positive attitudes (β = 0.506), outperforming familiarity and access frequency. Lower skepticism was associated with more favorable attitudes and showed no significant relationship with political orientation. Those more conservative displayed slightly less favorable attitudes. Our findings suggest that the primary challenge for fact-checking is not normative acceptance, but motivational engagement since favorable dispositions do not automatically translate into active consumption or sharing within everyday routines. Full article

This paper investigates the anthropological and ethical roots of the global ecological and social crisis, centered on Pope Francis’s critique of the “throwaway culture” (Laudato Si’, LS). While LS identifies this crisis in the linear “take–make–dispose” model and the technocratic paradigm—which prioritizes efficiency over moral reflection—this research argues that these macro-societal failures originate in a foundational spiritual pathology: concupiscence. Drawing upon St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body (TOB), we analyze concupiscence as “appropriation,” the direct antithesis to the human vocation of the “sincere gift of self.” This study aligns LS’s socio-economic critique with Karol Wojtyła’s personalist anthropology, asserting that the systemic exploitation of nature and the marginalization of the vulnerable are structural extensions of the human failure to reread the “language of the body” in truth. The throwaway culture is thus revealed as an axiological reduction—a societal manifestation of lust that reduces both the body and creation to mere objects of utility. Consequently, a genuine ecological conversion (LS) necessitates embracing the “ethos of redemption” (TOB). This transformation of desire is essential to restoring the harmony between humanity and nature, recognizing that the ‘cry of the earth’ and the ‘cry of the poor’ are inextricably linked within an integral ecology. Full article

Addressing the prevalent issue of “physical preservation but spiritual silence” in the revitalisation of China’s national industrial heritage, this study proposes and empirically validates a “dual-track narrative” design framework that systematically translates cultural values into spatial experiences. The framework integrates a “figure–history” narrative, which crystallises historical lineage and symbolic spirit through spatial sequences, commemorative landmarks, and authentic remains, with a “scene–activity” narrative, which transforms former production spaces into dynamic, culturally vibrant stages through ecological restoration displays, industrial landscape transformation, and flexible activity implantation. Using Nantong Guangsheng Oil Mill as a single-case study, the research employs qualitative methods including archival analysis, field observation, and semi-structured interviews to examine how the dual-track framework operates in practice. The findings reveal that the “figure–history” narrative manifests in a walkable “time corridor” along the north–south axis, where architectural remnants from different eras are organised to materialise Zhang Jian’s industrial salvation ethos and the collective memory of generations of workers. Meanwhile, the “scene–activity” narrative activates underutilised spaces—such as the repurposing of acid treatment ponds into constructed wetlands and paved grounds into public stages—enabling ongoing cultural production, community interaction, and ecological healing. The study demonstrates that the dual-track framework bridges the historical and contemporary dimensions often treated separately in heritage practice, establishing a systematic “translation mechanism” from cultural decoding to design intervention. Theoretically, it contributes to industrial heritage research by integrating narratology, memory studies, heritage interpretation, and situationism into a coherent design methodology. Practically, it offers decision-makers evaluation criteria beyond the preservation-versus-development binary, provides designers with a mode of creative transformation grounded in material authenticity, and suggests to operators a content-driven, event-based model for sustaining heritage spaces. By spatialising and eventising narratives, the dual-track approach enables industrial heritage to function as a catalyst for cultural identity, social vitality, and economic sustainability, offering a transferable paradigm for the adaptive reuse of industrial heritage in contemporary urban contexts. Full article

This article reexamines Paul’s use of athletic imagery in 1 Corinthians 9:24–27 within the broader argument of chapters 8–10. Against readings that treat the passage as a call to individual moral striving or competition for salvation, this study situates Paul’s metaphor within the honor–shame dynamics of Greco-Roman Corinth and his own defense of apostolic self-restraint. Paul’s “race” and “imperishable wreath” do not exhort believers to outperform one another but dramatize the paradox of freedom expressed through voluntary limitation. Drawing on insights from social-scientific and rhetorical criticism, the essay demonstrates that Paul’s imagery functions as the rhetorical climax of the section, translating his ethical argument into the moral grammar of the agon. By reconfiguring the contest from rivalry to service, Paul transforms the competitive ethos of Corinth into a vision of communal flourishing in which believers “compete” for the good of others. The passage thus offers a distinctly Pauline theology of self-control as the discipline of love, turning the agonistic spirit of the games into an image of the gospel itself. Full article