"This eBook provides a follow-up conversation with key contributors from The Distanced Church, published in April 2020, which explored how church leaders were responding and adapting to the need move their traditional services online during the first lockdown of the covid-19 pandemic. Revisiting the
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Distanced Church offers not only a "then and now" reflection on how pastors and scholar see the evolving relationship between the church and digital media one year later after the global migration of the church online. It also provides a unique look into the long term implications of these technology choices and experimentation on the church, how leaders and scholars are reflecting on the present-future of digital ministry, and the areas in need of further theological reflection due to these changes." (Abstract)
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"This essay centres on the role of religion in the era of Covid-19. We juxtapose social media and religious practices in a way that challenges the conventional religion of the pulpit to deconstruct the myths and misconceptions around spirituality in the era of Covid-19. We show the transformation of
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worship from physical worship places, particularly churches, to virtual engagements through social media. Through observation, close relations’ accounts, personal experiences and media perspectives, we analyze the politics that surrounded religious observances in the first 7 months of Covid-19 pandemic in Kenya. We make a case that, discoveries made in these seven and other months to come, will most likely influenced the myths and misconceptions about religion and religious practices in the country. From these accounts, we project a future that is likely to reap from the benefits of technology, and especially social media, which has revolutionized exchange of ideas, sermons, prayers and music. We challenge the very notion of pulpit religiosity, and the myths and misconceptions that religion cannot be without physical fellowships." (Abstract)
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"The subject of religion and the behaviour of religious actors in the COVID-19 crisis appear at first glance to constitute either just marginal issues or factors which tend to be negative. On the other hand, there is far less public discussion on the key role played by religious communities as civil
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society partners of governments or the WHO, as agencies providing charitable and pastoral assistance, and as a resource for hope and contingency management so as to successfully cope with the pandemic. This study analyses the ambivalent role of actors in the COVID-19 pandemic within the framework of a theory-based empirical analysis, presents the most important developments, learning effects and problem areas yet to be addressed and finally, based on this, draws up policy recommendations for action." (Summary, page 6)
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"This resource helps church leaders and Christian organisations consider how they can apply their faith in a practical way and use their influence in society to: œ reduce misinformation and confusion œ build a good understanding of, and trust in, the Covid-19 vaccines œ help shape and su
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pport vaccination programmes that are good for society, particularly the most vulnerable and marginalised. The aim of this resource is to provide general guidance based on trustworthy sources of information and previous experience. It should be adapted as needed for use in different cultural and faith contexts. Within the core resource there are links that lead to more in-depth information, guidance and tools, allowing readers to go deeper into particular issues if they want to." (Why this resource, page 2)
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"Este artigo discute a interseção entre desinformação e religião a partir de canais do YouTube tendo como cenário a pandemia de COVID-19. Para tanto, são analisados 75 materiais audiovisuais postados em dois canais do YouTube – do Pastor Silas Malafaia e do Instituto Plinio Corrêa de Olive
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ira. No contexto da pandemia, tal tema permeou o debate de distintas áreas, dentre elas a religiosa. No entanto, muitas vezes esses conteúdos corroboravam com o que a OMS denominou como “infodemia” e com o processo de desinformação, já que diversos elementos contestatórios aos protocolos de saúde e sem qualquer evidência científica eram divulgados e circulavam, em especial, a partir de vídeos em mídias sociais, incluindo o YouTube. Em função da centralidade que a religião ocupa no cenário brasileiro, tais discursos possuem alcance e relevância na conformação do ambiente informacional dos indivíduos. Portanto, nesta pesquisa, buscou-se identificar as principais narrativas e elementos argumentativos encontrados nos vídeos dos dois canais que faziam qualquer tipo de referência à pandemia. Dentre os principais resultados destacam-se as narrativas que evidenciam teorias conspiratórias, o descredito à imprensa e a associação ao pânico e ao excesso de atenção em relação ao tema. Ademais, tais discursos são múltiplos e aparecem de forma distinta nos canais, o que reforça a complexidade do diálogo entre a desordem informativa e o papel desempenhado por influenciadores religiosos no ambiente digital." (Abstract)
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"In March/April 2020 most churches around the world have been forced to close their doors due to the need for social distancing and local lock-downs in order to fight off the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The result was traditional churches had to make an unplanned and swift transition towards techn
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ologically-driven forms of gathering. Many church leaders felt out of their comfort zone, while experimenting with doing church online. At the same time, scholars and theologians began studying this new trends in how churches perform worship online. “The Distanced Church” brings together religious leaders and scholar in conversation in this eBook where each group and offer reflection on lessons learned, answer questions that have been raised, and present insights gleaned from researching religion online. Contributors to this eBook come from ten different countries—within North America, Europe, and the Antipodes—and represent 12 different Christian denominations including Mainline, Catholic, and Nondenominational churches." (Publisher description)
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"Issues of verification in the age of mass media, and now social media, have been a long-discussed topic among Islamic media scholars. While Islam might be a common thread in COVID-19 religious misinformation, there is nothing inherently Islamic to the religious tinged elements of misinformation on
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social media, beyond its use for financial or political expediency. Furthermore, religious misinformation can be used by opponents of Islam to further undermine the religion and its adherents, prompting Islamophobia. Religious misinformation comes from various types of actors. On one hand, we saw examples of top-down misinformation from certain religious leaders who benefit from social media platforms to spread false remedies. Incidents of bottom-up misinformation, on the other hand, demonstrate content creators taking advantage of pandemic-induced uncertainty to attract new subscribers and followers. While the content and the actors behind religious misinformation are significant, in McLuhan’s terms, the medium is the real message (McLuhan, 1964). Social media platforms are defining new parameters for religious dynamics and authority. They are the impetus behind why religious misinformation is contributing to this infodemic. Social media platforms have become digital worship spaces for some believers. In recent years, religious leaders were able to share their teachings, while repurposing and remixing Holy scripture to bolster religious participation (Brubaker & Haigh, 2017; Cheong, 2014). Social media have in some instances disrupted and challenged the traditional forms of religious authority structures. Now, anyone can claim religious authority, or assume religious leadership, something ordinarily be out of reach without social media. This form of misinformation finds a home among an online audience eager for peace at a time of crisis. Conspiracy-based content reduces the complexity of reality and simplifies causation in times of uncertainty." (Conclusion)
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"O escopo desta pesquisa abarcou algumas narrativas digitais do catolicismo no Facebook, buscando compreender a construção do imaginário da religião Católica na visibilidade mediática, a partir do contexto da pós-modernidade, pelos meios digitais. O corpus da pesquisa é composto por análise
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s de fanpages ligadas ao catolicismo no período de 2016 a 2020, com destaque para as mudanças ocorridas na Igreja Católica causadas pela pandemia de Covid-19 no mundo. A problemática central da pesquisa assenta-se nas seguintes perguntas: Em que medida e sob quais procedimentos de comunicação, mediados pelas tecnologias, há mudanças no imaginário e no comportamento da religião Católica em razão de sua inserção na cibercultura? Há deslocamento de espaço no acesso aos bens da fé do catolicismo? O diálogo estabelecido nas redes e/ou o consumo dos bens da fé sinalizam um novo cenário da Igreja? A hipótese inicial concentra-se na ideia de que as redes sociais estão formando um complexo esquema de transmutações rápidas no catolicismo, do local das manifestações de fé para o glocal das experiências de fé. Devido à natureza híbrida do objeto de análise, o referencial conceitual utiliza como alicerces a teoria do glocal e da visibilidade mediática desenvolvida por Eugênio Trivinho, sob inspiração na sociodromologia fenomenológica, e a teoria das narrativas digitais de Paul Ricoeur e Janet Murray. Para a compreensão das redes, a análise apoiou-se em Manuel Castells; e das redes sociais, em Raquel Recuero. Além disso, foram utilizadas as obras de teóricos como David Harvey e Fredric Jameson, no que tange à teoria e à crítica da modernidade e pós-modernidade; e de Cornelius Castoriadis, Maffesoli e Juremir Machado Silva, para tratar da teoria do imaginário. Para a compreensão do fenômeno religioso e da religião mediática, a análise recorreu às contribuições de Mircea Eliade, Peter Berger, Pierre Bourdieu e Luís Mauro de Sá Martino. Para a compreensão de consumo religioso, apoiou-se em Dom Slater, Nestor Canclini e Luiz Peres-Neto. Os conceitos de narrativas digitais, redes sociais, catolicismo, sagrado, cibercultura, cyberspace, dromocracia, glocal, hibridação, compressão do espaço-tempo foram necessários para o entendimento das manifestações narrativas do catolicismo nas redes sociais. Os resultados da investigação apontam para dados novos, entre os quais de que há uma nova configuração da religião Católica mediada pelas redes sociais, com contornos renovados nos ambientes interativos, em que o “controle” religioso muda o locus da cátedra para o fiel, que dita a mensagem a ser consumida." (Resumo)
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"The authors contributing to this book do not mean to provide solutions to the pandemic. We mean only to offer resources, based on our studies and experiences, to help our readers to better cope with situations resulting from this crisis, and to assure you that even in the darkest moments of humanit
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y our faith is not hopeless. The aim and purpose of this book transcends the conventions of scholarship. It pertains to faith and humanity, not industry." (Page 7)
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"In Brazil, the Covid-19 pandemic is triggering tensions in health management that provoke, among others, a political crisis led by the federal government, characterized by negationist postures regarding the seriousness of the disease and lack of focus on public health policies. There is also an inf
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ormation crisis enabled by the political strategy of dissemination of disinformation that disqualifies scientific parameters and the role of the press. In this context, churches and Christian religious leaders who have risen to power in recent years play a fundamental role, which allows them to be analyzed from their performance as a public religion. By decreeing the closure of religious temples, as a preventive measure for the advance of the disease, evangelical pentecostal churches insert into the public debate the defense of the essentiality of religious service as a fundamental dimension for society, conferring support and legitimacy to the action of the government. In this sense, this paper argues that the Brazilian scenario, when compared to other Latin American countries, is an outlier. Based on ethnographic research within online media and the religious media circuit, this paper maintains that, nationally, religion takes the lead in the political and information crisis. At the same time, this study affirms that, approaching other countries of the region, the churches reinvented mediatized religious practices, deriving from the social distancing and isolation, and offered new meanings and religious moralities around the health crisis." (Abstract)
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