"This paper explores the transformative impact of social media on mediumship practice within the context of Mother Goddesses worship (Dao Mâu) in contemporary Vietnam. By examining the ways in which spirit mediums and practitioners utilise social media platforms, the study reveals that these digita
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l spaces facilitate the open expression of belief, foster connections among practitioners, and enable the sharing and promotion of spiritual services as well asthe online trade in ritual costumes and objects. Furthermore, social media has become a catalyst for emerging trends directly influencing the ritual practices and increasing the visibility of spirit mediums in today's society, creating generational shifts between younger spirit mediums and their predecessors, who practiced their belief in pre-renovation Vietnam under precarious circumstances. As rituals become more visible and accessible through social media, the interplay between digital and spiritual realms becomes increasingly significant. The findings suggest that social media not only enhances a sense of community among practitioners that transcends geographical boundaries, but also shapes the continuing developments of this traditional practices, contributing to a dynamic landscape of Mother Goddesses worship in Vietnam today. This research underscores the agency and significance of digital platforms, in particular social media, in transforming spiritual expressions and adapting cultural traditions in the modern era." (Abstract)
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"Indigenous cultures have their belief systems, including the recognition of a supreme being, and with such recognition comes their moral systems, which guide how they live their lives. As for the Kankanaeys in the Cordillera Region of the Philippines, Kasiyana is one of the practices that portrays
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their belief in the divine and serves as a moral guide in their relationship with other people and the environment. The pervasiveness of Kasiyana in the Kankanaey cultures makes it a viable source of reflection in religious communication. Thus, the paper aims to make explicit how Kasiyana expressions and manifestations are forms of religious communication. The paper started by extracting how the COVID-19 survivor participants perceived, expressed, and manifested the Kasiyana. With the participants’ extracted manifestations of Kasiyana, the paper discussed how the Kankanaey concept of Kasiyana qualifies in some pertinent areas of religious communication. The paper also presented how Kasiyana is intertwined with Christian teachings, making it more sensible to discuss as religious communication." (Abstract)
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"Freedom of religion or belief is also a human right that is constantly being misunderstood. It is not about any religion, church or institution claiming their rights. And I am not a Commissioner for Religion. It is about the freedom of every individual to manifest their religion or belief, either a
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lone or in community with others, or to change it, or to not have any a religion or belief. Raising awareness of this and providing input for debates both in the political sphere and in society is one of the aims of the Third Report on the Global Status of Freedom of Religion or Belief [...] The report explores new ground above all with its thematic focus on the freedom of religion or belief of Indigenous peoples. There are about 5,000 such groups of people worldwide, with an estimated total population of more than 470 million. With this focus our report ties in with a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, developing the topic further. In the process of drafting the report, I realised that we are doing pioneering work, because there was and still is the belief that Indigenous spirituality has nothing to do with freedom of religion or belief.
The report provides an opportunity to look in a different way at conflicts over land and infrastructure that involve Indigenous communities. And to develop an understanding that often such conflicts are not just about resources but in fact have to do with Indigenous peoples’ belief that all natural things have a spirit or soul. My personal learning curve on this topic is closely connected with Indigenous communities in Guatemala and my experiences with conflictual infrastructure projects. When I visited Guatemala many years ago, I had difficulty understanding why people staged fierce and violent protests against small-scale hydropower plants that were actually environmentally friendly. Today I know that the areas surrounding a small river were regarded as important spiritual places, with Indigenous communities believing that the forest had a soul, and that interfering with nature there without giving any thought to the spiritual implications was not acceptable." (Foreword, page 3)
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"Freedom of religion or belief is an essential human right. Not a superordinate right, but not a marginal right either. It is closely intertwined with other rights such as freedom of opinion or assembly, or the right to be protected against discrimination. And that is the objective of my efforts: to
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embed this right firmly at the centre of the human rights agenda. There is still a long way to go to achieve this [...]
This report is about advancing the debate and it also enters new territory. It builds on the work done by my predecessor, Markus Grübel, but there are also some aspects where the report has been developed further. This is also reflected in the number of focus countries, which has been increased from 30 to 41. The German Parliament, the Bundestag, had asked for the country section to be expanded, and we were happy to comply with that request. Enlarging the range of countries covered by the report provides an opportunity to do two things at once: offer a regular report on developments in individual regions, and expand the focus in the light of new challenges. Among the focus countries that have been added this year are Armenia, Belarus, Guatemala, the Central African Republic, Lebanon, the Maldives and Syria. For some of them, the decision to add them was taken in the light of recent developments. With these aims in mind, the report will continue to be submitted at regular intervals as intended by the Bundestag, building on a solid basis of data and information.
The report explores new ground above all with its thematic focus on the freedom of religion or belief of Indigenous peoples. There are about 5,000 such groups of people worldwide, with an estimated total population of more than 470 million. With this focus our report ties in with a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, developing the topic further. In the process of drafting the report, I realised that we are doing pioneering work, because there was and still is the belief that Indigenous spirituality has nothing to do with freedom of religion or belief. The report provides an opportunity to look in a different way at conflicts over land and infrastructure that involve Indigenous communities. And to develop an understanding that often such conflicts are not just about resources but in fact have to do with Indigenous peoples’ belief that all natural things have a spirit or soul. My personal learning curve on this topic is closely connected with Indigenous communities in Guatemala and my experiences with conflictual infrastructure projects. When I visited Guatemala many years ago, I had difficulty understanding why people staged fierce and violent protests against small-scale hydropower plants that were actually environmentally friendly. Today I know that the areas surrounding a small river were regarded as important spiritual places, with Indigenous communities believing that the forest had a soul, and that interfering with nature there without giving any thought to the spiritual implications was not acceptable." (Preface, page 2)
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"Este artículo reflexiona sobre la reivindicación de una perspectiva amazónica de los Kukama Kukamiria expresada en las narraciones audiovisuales que Radio Ucamara realiza en esta región, principalmente en dos perspectivas: la temática regional e indígena como respuesta a las temáticas de los
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grandes medios nacionales, y la recuperación de la memoria y las historias de cada miembro de este pueblo indígena. A partir de una elección aleatoria, se analizaron tres videos de radio Ucamara —uno de cada categoría en la que clasificamos sus producciones—, los cuales fueron difundidos por su canal de YouTube durante el 2015 y 2016: un video musical titulado Parana (“río” en lengua Kukama Kukamiria), el video testimonial de abuelos y vecinos llamado Las Muyunas, y un reportaje realizado tras un nuevo derrame de petróleo causado por Petroperú en la comunidad nativa de Monterrico (Loreto). Los tres videos permiten notar las formas en la que las cosmologías amazónicas permiten la interacción e intercomprensión de los espacios de vida del mundo Kukama, en la medida en que los acontecimientos diarios ocurren en este mundo (por ejemplo, el derrame de petróleo) y en los otros mundos (las ciudades que existen debajo del agua, los humanos y los no-humanos, las muyunas, entre otras), con afectaciones a ambos espacios (denunciado por los jóvenes y los niños en “Parana”)." (Resumen)
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"Following the proposal of the Pan-Amazon Church Network (REPAM), the document is structured on the basis of three conversions to which Pope Francis invites us: the pastoral conversion to which he calls us in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (see-listen); the ecological conversion which t
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he Encyclical Laudato Si’ urges, setting the course (judge-act); and the conversion to church synodality detailed in the Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis Communio, that guides the walking together (judge-act). This Working Document is the fruit of a long process that includes the drafting of the Preparatory Document for the Synod in June 2018; and an extensive survey of Amazon communities." (Pages 3-4)
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"Ritual part of Taiwan's Atayal and Thao cultures are integrated into the innovative education of indigenous literature, and students are led to participate in field investigations of the ceremonies to complete the digital cultural documentary of the Atayal Thanksgiving ceremony and reach the innova
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tive teadring goal of digital humanities education. This ensures student participation in tribal ceremonies, which in turn leads to practical knowledge and experience of indigenous cultures. Such an attempt contrihutes towards an action study for the digitization of indigenous culture. The research method combines text teaching with the action research, and the specific multi-teaching through digital documentary. The findings from the study reveal that students learn literature through action research more realistically and accurately, and thereby save indigenous cultures." (Abstract)
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"[...] en el 2010 comenzamos un proceso inolvidable. Esta publicación es fruto del proceso de inter-aprendizaje que comunicadoras y comunicadores de la Asociación Mundial de Radios Comunitarias en Guatemala sostuvimos durante más de dos años con ajq’ijab’ (esto es, contadores del tiempo, gu
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as espirituales de los pueblos mayas) con el objetivo de formarnos en cosmovisión maya. En este proceso, participamos comunicadoras y comunicadores de las radios K’astajinel, La Niña, Sinakán, Stéreo Villanueva, La Compañera, Kamolb’e, Libertad, Dulzura, La Voz de Santa Catarina, San Pedro y el centro de comunicación comunitaria Aj TV. Como facilitadores y orientadores, formadores, contamos con guías espirituales como Cirilo Pérez Oxlaj, quien nos ayudó a diseñar el proceso; Donato Camey, ajq’ij maya kaqchikel que nos ayudó a sentar las bases del proceso enfocándonos en los principios esenciales de la cosmovisión maya; Simeón Takirá, sabio kamolb’e de Patzún, quien ha sistematizado la grandeza de las ciencias mayas y cuyo conocimiento ocupa la mayor parte del contenido de este libro en esta oportunidad; Sebastiana Pol Suy, guía espiritual maya kiché de inmenso gran corazón, que estuvo formando y guiando a las integrantes de la red de mujeres comunicadores de AMARC. Tuvimos otros espacios de formación con otros grandes ajq’ij’ab, cuyo conocimiento sobre los códices, los lugares sagrados, la medicina y otras sabidurías ancestrales es muy profundo." (Introducción, página 5)
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"One of the ways by which religious rituals communicate in African society is by maintaining cohesion in the culture. They connect participants to richer meanings and larger forces of their community. Even in representational models, rituals create solidarity in the form of subjective experiences of
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sharing the same meaningful world which is attained by participants through the condensed nature of symbols used therein. Traditional religion is one ritual that despite the influence of westernization and scientific developments in Africa, still holds meaningful implications in people’s everyday life. Thus, from day break to evening, people have religious rituals with which they communicate with their God or gods, deities and ancestors. Also from weeks to seasons, months to years, there are festivals and rituals both in private and in public situations which the African still celebrate in connection with the ‘living dead’ or those in the ‘spirit world’. This paper by means of nuanced textual analysis of some Nigerian home based films: Things Fall Apart (1986), Igodo: The Land of the Living Dead (1999), Sango, (1998), Festival of Fire, (1999), Bless Me, (2005) traces religion to the root paradigm of African cultures as a channel to the construction of African identity." (Abstract)
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"This issue of Australian Religion Studies Review examines the intersection of religion and celebrity, both major discourses in the modern world. The six articles examine the imbrication of celebrity with: three traditional religions, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism; the new religion of Candomblé;
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and contemporary spiritual trends such as spiritual tourism, secular equivalents of religion like the Olympic Games, and the veneration of sports stars by fans. The study of the impact of celebrity on religion is still in its infancy, and the contributions to this special issue of Australian Religion Studies Review demonstrate both the rich results that such studies can yield, and the range and diversity of subjects that would repay future research." (Page 227)
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"Organized alphabetically, this encyclopedia provides more than 90 entries on the larger religious traditions, the major film-producing regions of the globe, the films that have stirred controversy, the most significant religious symbols, and the more important filmmakers. The included topics provid
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e substantially more information on the intersection of religion and film than any of the similar volumes currently available. While the emphasis is on the English-speaking world and the films produced therein, there is also substantial representation of non-English, non-Western film and filmmakers, providing significant intercultural coverage to the topic." (Publisher description)
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"Outside the West, religion is an ever more prominent force in social and political movements of both reform and retrenchment. Across these contexts, no issue in religion is of as much concern as fundamentalism - or rather the fundamentalisms within various traditions - which are seen to be fomentin
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g religious, social, ethnic, and political tension and conflict. The contributions to this volume represent the first effort to look at ‘fundamentalisms’ and the ‘media’ together and address the resulting relations and interactions from critical perspectives of history, technology, geography, and practice." (Publisher description)
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"This book examines the incorporation of newly accessible mass media into practices of religious mediation in a variety of settings including the Pentecostal Church and Islamic movements, as well as the use of religious forms and image in the sphere of radio and cinema." (Publisher description)
"This volume breaks down disciplinary walls in numerous ways. First, it combines information about the intrapersonal, interpersonal, group, and societal levels of communication into a single resource. At the intrapersonal level, new issues are raised about communication between individuals and deity
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: Why is religious experience difficult to explain in rational terms? Why is silence more sacred than spoken prayer in some religious communities? What is the nature of “thought communication” in religious meditation? Why is the use of profanity justified in some religious circles? How does idolatry reinforce religious customs and values? Why was chanting one of the first forms of religious communication?
Religious information is also exchanged between individuals at the level of interpersonal communication. This volume identifies rituals that have not been adequately analyzed in terms of communication aspects: Why do some sects require public confession? Why is body decoration an acceptable form of worship in some religious groups, but not in others? How does dance communicate the sacred through metaphoric movement? What are the multiple forms of communication with the dead? Why are feasts a form of religious worship in all major religions? How does the study of organizational communication apply to religion?
This volume also aids study of mediated communication to larger groups both inside and outside religious denominations. Throughout history, technology has simultaneously aided and impeded communication processes; this also applies to religious culture: How did religion change during the historical transition from orality to literacy? How did printing contribute to the diffusion of religious values in the world? Why have religious novels grown in popularity? Is television considered a religious medium? How has the Internet affected religious congregations and communities? What is religious media literacy?
These are only a few of the questions addressed by this encyclopedia. Articles also deal with (1) concepts such as information, communication, and censorship, (2) denominations which exhibit different communication practices, and (3) the various media used in religious worship. Entries were contributed by scholars from various disciplines, including religious studies, communication, anthropology, sociology, ancient studies, religion and modern culture, theology, and many others." (Introduction, page xiii-xiv)
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