Search Results (165)

While Korean Protestantism prides itself on being the driving force of the nation’s modernization, it has also been criticized for promoting kibok sinang (祈福信仰), or fortune-seeking faith, allegedly rooted in the superstitious tradition of shamanism. Drawing on Robert Merton’s notion of sociological ambivalence and the East Asian literary trope of kyerŭk (鷄肋; chicken rib), something ‘too bad to keep, yet too good to throw away,’ this article argues that the wavering between condemnation and silent retention of kibok sinang in Korean Protestantism is not a sign of inconsistency but its structural feature. Such strategic ambivalence, I argue, has given the churches a double advantage: periodic condemnation of kibok sinang demonstrates their modernizing respectability, while its silent accommodation appeals to the popular demand that sustains their growth. In doing so, it recasts the continuity-versus-discontinuity debate in the anthropology of Christianity, treating the two not as rival descriptions but as poles between which Korean Christians and their churches waver. I explore three historical episodes: the heresy charges against Cho Yong-gi and their reversal in the 1980s and ’90s; Yu Tong-sik’s ambivalent appraisal of shamanism in the 1960s; and Western missionaries’ critique and appropriation of Korean folk belief at the turn of the 20th century. These cases show that claims of religious continuity and rupture have long served as internal political instruments for negotiating the boundary between ‘religion’ and ‘superstition’ in modern Korea, one instance of a boundary contested across East Asia wherever religious traditions met. Full article

This article offers a thematic classification of traditions attributed to the Companions (ṣaḥāba), the Successors (tābiʿūn), and early Islamic scholars and rulers concerning ring engravings, situating these inscriptions within the framework of aniconism in early Islamic culture. It should be stressed at the outset that the evidence examined here consists of later hadith compilations and ṭabaqāt (biographical) works rather than dated artefacts; the study therefore analyses how the Companions, Successors, and early authorities were remembered and portrayed within a textual tradition committed to writing in subsequent generations, not the objective material history of the earliest Muslim community. The study argues that such engravings were not merely expressions of individual preference, but rather constituted a cultural practice shaped by the aesthetic constraints generated by hadith literature’s cautious stance toward figural representation, a practice that became a shared, collective idiom. The inscriptions are examined under four thematic headings: religious expressions, reminders of death and the transience of worldly life, inscriptions conveying identity and moral counsel, and figural symbols. The expressions and symbols found on rings are then subjected to a sociological reading drawing on the concepts of collective memory, symbolic capital, and productive constraint, within the paradigm of material religion. The findings indicate that figural motifs were at least partially present in the early period, and that written inscriptions subsequently came to occupy a dominant position. This transformation demonstrates that the aniconism in hadith did not merely suppress visual imagery, but functioned as the generative force behind a distinctive symbolic idiom centered on the letter and the word. Furthermore, drawing on Birgit Meyer’s notion of sensational forms, it argues that the ring bound the sacred to sensory experience through legally regulated matter: the prophetic preference for silver over gold, copper, and iron; the Abyssinian stone; the turning of the bezel toward the palm; and the pressure of the seal into clay. Aniconism thus operated not only as a rule about images but as a regime governing the material, tactile, and even olfactory life of a wearable object. While scholarship on Islamic aniconism has focused primarily on monumental art, architecture, and manuscript illustration, this study redirects attention to ring inscriptions as an underexplored domain of material culture, showing that ring inscriptions, though largely overlooked, are informative witnesses to Islamic culture and theology at the most intimate scale of everyday devotional and political life. Full article

Battlefield preservation is commonly understood as a matter of heritage management, historical education, or cultural tourism. This article argues that its origins and enduring significance lie elsewhere. Modern battlefield preservation emerged as a direct consequence of the transformation of warfare between the late eighteenth and twentieth centuries. Beginning with the French Revolution and the levée en masse, military service became increasingly associated with citizenship, national identity, and mass participation, while industrialization provided the logistical and technological foundations necessary for warfare on an unprecedented scale. As warfare expanded, so too did its human consequences, transforming military death from the experience of a relatively small warrior elite into a shared social reality affecting entire populations. Drawing upon military history, memory studies, sociology, religious studies, and heritage scholarship, this article examines how mass warfare generated new forms of collective bereavement, ritual commemoration, battlefield pilgrimage, and historical preservation. Through case studies ranging from the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars to the Crimean War, Gettysburg, the World Wars, and the conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, it demonstrates how expanding mobilization, industrialized conflict, and rising casualty rates produced enduring landscapes of memory. The article argues that battlefield preservation developed through a cumulative historical process linking mass warfare, mass casualties, collective trauma, commemorative practices, and the creation of commemorative landscapes. Preserved battlefields are not merely remnants of past conflicts; they are cultural institutions through which societies negotiate memory, identity, and meaning. As traditional sources of collective authority weakened in modern societies, battlefields increasingly acquired functions associated with ritual, pilgrimage, and civil religion. The expansion of warfare produced an expansion of remembrance, and the preserved battlefield emerged as one of the most enduring cultural responses to the human consequences of modern conflict. Full article

Suffering and theodicy are two interconnected concepts: while the former indicates the embodied personal experience of pain, the latter represents the theological effort to explain the existence of suffering and evil by reconciling them with the idea of a world created by an omnipotent, omniscient, and infinitely good God. From a sociological perspective, the first scholar to address the problematic relationship between these two concepts was Max Weber. The problem of suffering in Weber was linked, first of all, to the process of social rationalization, that is, to the growing predominance of formal rationality in Western social life, the ultimate outcome of which he famously described through the metaphor of the “iron cage” as the existential suffering of modern Western humanity. Subsequently, in his Sociology of Religion, he adopted the concept of “disenchantment” to refer to the cultural rationalization of worldviews as a process characterizing most Asian religions within a broader universal perspective. According to Weber’s comparative investigation, at the origin of all attempts at religious rationalization lies the same universal problem of theodicy, namely the search for an explanation capable of justifying the unequal distribution of the goods of happiness among human beings and the resulting suffering, perceived as unjust. For Weber, the paradox of theodicy consists in the fact that the rationalization of thought (worldviews) and action (conducts of life), in an attempt to confer meaning on and alleviate suffering on the basis of one of the two conceptions of salvation (rebirth or redemption), instead produces the unintended consequence of making the human condition even more vulnerable to the experience of suffering, since it comes to be regarded as morally more outrageous and intellectually more unacceptable. Later, the founders of the Frankfurt School, Horkheimer and Adorno, essentially took up and expanded the Weberian thesis of the paradox of theodicy by showing that the second disenchantment brought about by modernity affected the rationalization of metaphysical–religious worldviews through the return of the irrational mythical–magical forces that had once been subjugated and turned into myth by the Enlightenment. As a consequence, the loss of individual freedom, reduced to a mere functional response within modern political and economic bureaucratic systems, comes to coincide with the loss of meaning of any autonomous cultural framework rationally grounded in value orientations. Habermas further developed Weber’s thesis of the loss of freedom by situating the process of social rationalization within a broader paradox that illustrates the contemporary inability of colonized lifeworlds, now completely bureaucratized and technicized, to confer meaning on the subjective experience of suffering. More recently, in the so-called Anthropocene, a non-linear and non-unidirectional dialectic of disenchantment and re-enchantment has emerged, in which the two coexist as constitutive processes of modernity, allowing the paradox of theodicy and suffering to be reconsidered in terms of a new anthropodicy. Full article

This article examines developmental communication as one of the key factors influencing health and the overall functioning of the family. The aim of the study is to highlight the importance of interpersonal communication and religious values in fostering family bonds, shaping health-promoting attitudes, and enhancing the psychological, social, and spiritual well-being of family members. The article is theoretical and analytical in nature and is based on a literature review spanning family studies, pedagogy, sociology, psychology, and the psychology of religion. The findings indicate that open, dialogue-oriented communication supports the development of strong emotional bonds, a sense of security, and family resilience in the face of crisis situations. The importance of marital relationships, parent–child communication, and intergenerational relations for the psychosocial health of family members is emphasized. The study also highlights the role of religion and spiritual values as factors that strengthen family cohesion, foster a sense of meaning in life, and enhance coping with adversity. The conclusions suggest that developmental communication, supported by moral and spiritual values, is a key element in building a healthy and sustainable family system. Full article

This article studies the relationship between social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, spirituality, religiosity, and economic system justification in the general population of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in a sample of 843 participants (52% men and 48% women) aged 18 to 88 years (M_age = 46; SD = 15.78). The study contextualizes social psychological approaches to system justification through a review of sociological literature on domination, religion, and legitimacy. According to the results, system justification is positively associated with social dominance orientation (r = 0.40), right-wing authoritarianism (r = 0.56) and dimensions of religiosity, particularly extrinsic religious orientation (0.12 ≤ r ≤ 0.21). Regression analyses indicated that social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, and extrinsic religious orientation were the variables most strongly associated with economic system justification. Full article

This study examines the schooling experiences of transgender students in Malta within the broader historical and sociocultural influence of the Catholic religion, focusing on how religious discourse shapes processes of inclusion and exclusion. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with transgender students, parents, educators, and school administrators, the findings reveal that Catholic doctrine and its presence within school contexts contribute to the erasure of transgender identities from early childhood onward. In contrast to ecclesiastical narratives that frame transgender identity as a form of “gender ideology,” participants’ accounts demonstrate that social and medical transitions function as critical strategies for survival, well-being, and self-recognition. Methodologically, the study employs qualitative thematic analysis informed by a critical anticolonial framework, enabling an interrogation of how religious authority intersects with colonial legacies to regulate gender and embodiment. The analysis further highlights tensions between the Catholic religion and contemporary human rights and ethical frameworks, particularly in relation to inclusion. The study concludes that if the Catholic religion is to retain relevance within school contexts, it must undergo a substantive ethical reorientation toward inclusivity, recognizing transgender embodiment and agency. In line with emancipatory pedagogical traditions, this entails reimagining the role of the Catholic religion as one that actively supports social justice, critical consciousness, and transformative practices of inclusion. Full article

Christian communities and Churches in non-Western contexts, such as Lebanon, face numerous challenges, including the distancing of youth from religious practice and reduced belonging. Simultaneously, they experience tensions between attachment to tradition and emerging forms of outreach capable of engaging younger generations. The visit of Padre Guilherme, a Latin Rite Catholic priest known for blending electronic music with religious expression, generated a nationwide debate during his visit in January 2026. While some viewed his outreach as an innovative initiative capable of bringing youth closer to the Church, others rejected it, with some describing it as sacrilegious. This study examines social media reactions to his outreach to explore how contemporary forms of religious engagement are perceived within a tradition-oriented society. Comments from multiple social media platforms were analyzed through thematic reflexive analysis, complemented by a brief sentiment analysis. Positive reactions framed Padre Guilherme’s initiative as a strategy for reconnecting younger generations with the Church. Critical views emphasized the importance of preserving traditional forms of religious expression, particularly within Eastern Christian traditions, with some participants portraying the initiative as heretical or evil. The controversy highlights how new forms of religious outreach can trigger tensions related to identity, tradition, globalization, and institutional adaptation. Full article

This article examines how social science has recurrently positioned Islam as a problem-case for European narratives of modernity, simultaneously comparable as ‘a religion’ yet cast as the religion that ‘doesn’t fit’ secularisation, differentiation, and liberal public-reason expectations. Moving beyond the view that social science merely misdescribed Islam, this article argues that Islam has often been made to carry an explanatory burden internal to Europe’s self-narration, a limit-case through which stalled secularisation, anxious liberalism, and contested universals are rendered intelligible and governable. The article returns to canonical texts that helped establish such comparative imagination, including Hegel’s philosophy of history, Weber’s typologies of religious ‘bearers,’ and Gellner’s account of Islam as a comprehensive ‘blueprint’ of social order, to show how durable contrast effects were installed and later reactivated in contemporary debates on secularism, gender, security, and belonging. Drawing on Asad’s critique of the category ‘religion’, the article theorises ‘disruption’ as a recurring genre through which Islam is made exceptional, disruptive to secularisation theory, to accounts of modern differentiation, and to liberal self-understanding. It concludes by appealing to a reflexive sociology of religion that historicises its own categories, compares entanglements rather than civilisations, and treats Muslim intellectual traditions as theory-producing interlocutors rather than merely empirical ‘data’. Full article

This article examines Muslim responses to two blasphemy controversies that provoked widespread public backlash in Türkiye in 2022 and 2024. Drawing on news coverage from three leading conservative newspapers (Sabah, Yeni Şafak, and Yeni Akit) and user commentary on X, the analysis explores how these reactions complicate the conventional religious–secular binary often applied to blasphemy disputes. The findings show that while piety and devotion to the Prophet Muhammad were central, responses also heavily employed the language of possession, identity, dignity, collective honor, and experiences of discrimination and exclusion. These dynamics demonstrate that Muslim reactions are not confined to religious experience, which may appear inaccessible to secular reasoning, but also draw on secular reflections that can be articulated within European human rights frameworks and resonate in broader public discourse. Given their deep attachment to faith, some Muslims may perceive such expressions as attacks on their religious feelings, identity, dignity, and security. At the same time, some may seek political advantage by demanding heightened deference to religious sensibilities or attempting to suppress critical opinions. Claims of religious injury in blasphemy disputes may therefore operate either as defenses of self and faith or assertions of identity and strategies of political contestation. The article concludes by highlighting the complex task of balancing the protection of believers with the safeguarding of freedom of expression. Full article

The main purpose of the current study is to investigate how the beliefs and values of Alevism are transmitted to young people in the city and to examine the problems that arise in the process, drawing on the daily life experiences and perspectives of Alevi dedes (religious guides). This study primarily examines the difficulties that dedes encounter in transmitting Alevi beliefs and values to young people in urban settings, as well as the innovative methods they develop to address these challenges. The present study used a phenomenological design to answer the research question. Furthermore, the interview technique was preferred to collect research data, and semi-structured interview questions were asked to dedes. Sixteen Alevi dedes residing in Eskişehir, Ankara, Afyon, and Kütahya provinces in Türkiye were selected as the study sample. The findings show that young people’s participation in cem ceremonies declines due to the city’s intense work pace, their desire to pursue education and careers, and their fear of exclusion. Despite these challenges, dedes strive to ease the conditions for participation in cem ceremonies and to shorten their duration, to transmit Alevi beliefs and values to young people, and to increase their participation in cem ceremonies. Full article

This article examines the interplay of memory, politics, and religion at the Buchenwald Memorial, focusing on the 2024 edition of the Genius Loci festival. Once staged by the German Democratic Republic as a monumental site of antifascist resistance, the memorial has undergone multiple reinterpretations, reflecting shifting regimes of remembrance and contested political claims, and an architectural vocabulary informed by Christian metaphors. Drawing on Durkheim’s sociology of religion and concepts of memory (Nora, Assmann), the analysis highlights how memorial architecture, ritual practices, and artistic interventions frame collective memory as both a political resource and a civic challenge. The Genius Loci festival exemplifies how contemporary art can reactivate debates around memorial spaces, exposing their religious frame of reference while simultaneously opening them to contemporary renegotiation. Full article

Through the process of modernization, Turkish literature transcends aesthetics to reflect sociological and cultural changes. The tensions between the individual and society, tradition and modernity, and religion that emerged with Westernization are particularly reflected in the novel. Religious discourse takes different forms at each historical threshold during the modernization process. During the Tanzimat, Servet-i Fünûn, Milli Edebiyat and Socialist Realist periods, it served as a defensive or critical reference point in the face of debates on modernization and Westernization. With the secular policies of the Republic, its public function transformed, evolving into an arena for cultural and moral debate, and it increased its visibility within the multiparty political structure after 1950. From the 1980s onwards, Islamic discourse became an artistic and ideological force in both the social and literary spheres. This article examines the stages of Islamic discourse in Turkish novels within a historical framework, arguing that religious representations are not merely elements reflecting social change, but also play an active role in the reconstruction of identity formation and narrative aesthetics. The study analyzes the functions of religious elements using a text-centered approach. The findings show that religion is not merely a theme in literary texts, but a living element that transforms alongside society, influences identity formation, and shapes narrative aesthetics. Full article

This article investigates how site-specific audiovisual performances can reconfigure the contemporary relationship between art and the sacred in contexts characterised by religious plurality and late-modern disenchantment. In response to the erosion of traditional religious language, it examines how non-verbal mediation through sound, moving images and embodied presence can enable alternative ways of engaging with sacred spaces. Drawing on three artistic interventions created within different religious contexts, the article shows that performative memory emerges as a presence-in-absence phenomenon, activated through sensory, spatial and atmospheric engagement. The analysis reveals that religious spaces act as active agents in the process of performative remembrance, generating shared experiences centred on themes of shelter, humility, and fragility. Methodologically, the research takes a practice-as-research approach, informed by an emergent research design. This approach combines site immersion, audiovisual performance and reflexive analysis in order to articulate the knowledge produced through artistic practice. The findings suggest that these performances counter the accelerated temporal regimes characteristic of late-modern life by cultivating slowness, attentiveness, and affective resonance. The article concludes that performative memory functions as a relational practice through which the sacred persists and is reimagined beyond doctrinal representation, fostering inclusive forms of encounter within plural religious environments. In this way, the study contributes to broader sociological and humanistic debates on art, religion, and the transformation of sacred experience in contemporary society. Full article

Frank Herbert’s Dune (1965) establishes a universe defined by the “Butlerian Jihad”, a historical crusade that banned artificial intelligence and created a vacuum filled by religious engineering. This paper argues that in this post-cybernetic setting, religion functions as a sociological operating system designed for political control rather than a metaphysical connection to the divine. The study analyzes the Missionaria Protectiva to demonstrate how the Bene Gesserit order creates belief systems by co-opting and re-engineering Islamic theology. It suggests that the order’s manual of superstitions serves as a library of cultural scripts that primes the indigenous population to accept a manufactured Messiah, specifically the Mahdi. Consequently, the protagonist Paul Atreides is reinterpreted not as a traditional “White Savior” or authentic religious prophet but as a “hacker” who utilizes these pre-planted Islamic codes to access and manipulate the social infrastructure of Arrakis. His prescience functions as a form of biological predictive analytics that traps him in a deterministic loop of his own calculation. Ultimately, this reading suggests that Dune offers a critique of “techno-theology” by showing how the instrumentalization of the Mahdi figure transforms the concept of Jihad from a spiritual struggle into an unstoppable, automated algorithm of violence. Full article