Modern Religious Satanism

Author(s):  
Jesper Aagaard Petersen

Modern religious Satanism is a diverse movement of groups and individuals using Satan as a symbol for their oppositional identity. Translating Satan as “opposer” or “adversary” from the book of Job, Satanism co-opts the Satan-myth and reinterprets it as an antinomian critique of traditional mores championing radical individualism, using the language and aesthetics of magic, esotericism, and the occult. As the history of the development of the character of Satan—theologically, politically, socially, mythologically—is one of opposition and conflict, modern religious Satanism is a constant negotiation with its own marginal status and inherent tensions. Satanism’s position on the fringe is a balancing act between its contentious popular reputation, media treatments, academic portrayals, legal status, critique of social conventions, and disagreement among and between self-identified satanic persons and groups. This paper examines Satanism’s embrace of a symbol of opposition—Satan—as it negotiates the very tensions and challenges of its adopted social marginality.

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mbuzeni Mathenjwa

The history of local government in South Africa dates back to a time during the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. With regard to the status of local government, the Union of South Africa Act placed local government under the jurisdiction of the provinces. The status of local government was not changed by the formation of the Republic of South Africa in 1961 because local government was placed under the further jurisdiction of the provinces. Local government was enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa arguably for the first time in 1993. Under the interim Constitution local government was rendered autonomous and empowered to regulate its affairs. Local government was further enshrined in the final Constitution of 1996, which commenced on 4 February 1997. The Constitution refers to local government together with the national and provincial governments as spheres of government which are distinctive, interdependent and interrelated. This article discusses the autonomy of local government under the 1996 Constitution. This it does by analysing case law on the evolution of the status of local government. The discussion on the powers and functions of local government explains the scheme by which government powers are allocated, where the 1996 Constitution distributes powers to the different spheres of government. Finally, a conclusion is drawn on the legal status of local government within the new constitutional dispensation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey Lyamzin

This article publishes and analyses an interview with Lieutenant Colonel V. V. Skoryak, a Soviet military specialist who took part in the Vietnam War for eleven months in 1970. The interview describes little-known facts about military advisers’ stay in the country, when they mostly stayed far away from the frontline and dealt with the preparation and maintenance of the S‑75 high-altitude air defence systems. Special attention is paid to the everyday life of the advisers and their legal status, which helps reveal new aspects of the “everyday history” of war. Skoryak speaks about the ideological, moral, and psychological preparedness of the Soviet people to fulfil their “international duty”, which, according to him, was internally motivated. He also analyses post-traumatic syndromes in Soviet military men: it was especially frequent and profound in the early stages of the conflict. Additionally, the interview contains information about the medical care provided to the participants of the conflict and the consequences for their health. It puts forward some ideas about how the chemical weapons used by the Americans affected the human reproductive system. The interview provides an emotional assessment of the war and their place in the biography of a Soviet officer.


Author(s):  
Нодиржон Хайриев ◽  
Nodirzhon Khayriev

This article studies historical-legal aspects of such issues as organization and development of criminal procedure in Ancient Rome, types of criminal procedure in this state, peculiarities of criminal procedure organization on the basis of the Laws of the twelve tables, legal status of officials, reviewing cases, as well as issues of guaranteeing fairness of the courts, specific to the ancient roman legal and institutional framework. Based on the historical development of the state and law, the author presents a different classification of the development stages of Ancient Rome and history of the Roman (Civil) Law. The author pays special attention to studying procedural law aspects, in particular, to the issues of particular characteristics of criminal procedure and judicial examination, evidence law, procedure of instituting court proceedings, hearings of cases in courts and adoption of relevant court decisions. The author conducts thorough analysis of the main stages of a criminal process, which, as the author assumes, consist of two parts — bringing of a suit, evaluation of evidence and documents, checking the accuser’s requirements, as well as reviewing claims under the lawsuit and submitted evidence, judicial examination.


Author(s):  
Ardak Kapyshev

At  the  present  stage  one  of  the  unsolved   problems in  interstate relations of  Caspian bordering countries is defining international­legal status of the Caspian Sea. It is noted in the article that this problem is not a new one at all. The history of “division” of the Caspian Sea begins in the ancient age, namely in VIII century. It is underlined that the basic stumbling block  is the position of Iran on the right to use the Caspian Sea, and also occurrence of extra regional players, such as  the USA, China, etc. First of  all, it is connected with rich oil fields and other minerals, and also with convenient geopolitical and geostrategic position. The only way to worry out the international­legal delimitation of the Caspian Sea problem is a negotiating process. By now, despite of  certain disagreements on  legal status of  the Caspian Sea, five Caspian bordering countries managed to achieve certain progress, admitting the possibility of applying the principle of sectorial sectioning on the Caspian Sea.  Clear proof  of  it is the agreements on  division of ground on the northern part of Caspian Sea signed between Kazakhstan, Russia and Azerbaijan. It is important that Kazakhstan, Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan clearly stated their positions and agreed to make a compromise in their official statements. More than likely, in the near future Iran will soften its position, considering its present  situation and   strained relations with the USA. It has been alleged that the constructive  dialog  already  started; everything depends on  the mobility,  concurrency and rationality of actions of all Caspian bordering countries.


Author(s):  
Faridun Z. Zavurbekov

The article deals with the rights of women in the Fatimid Caliphate (10th to 12th centuries) by analysing the judicial practice of the time, the decisions of the Sharia and Mazalim courts. The author focuses on the legal status of women in the sphere of marriage, family and criminal law in the Ismaili tradition. Historical-legal and comparative-legal methods are used in the analysis of sources. The study begins with a short digression into the history of the Fatimid Caliphate. The features of the judicial system, the role of the cadi and its competence are described. There are a number of court cases, one of the parties to which was a woman. Based on the analysis, the author makes a conclusion about the specifi city of the Fatimid approach to marriage, in comparison with the Sunni and Imamite legal schools. The special role of guardians at the conclusion of the marriage contract and restriction of freedom of its termination is noted. Attention is drawn to the fact of extremely negative attitude to marriage between Muslim women and representatives of other religious movements, as well as to such an institution of family law as temporary marriage, legalised in the Imamite school of law. The fi nal part deals with criminal cases in which a woman is both the victim and the accused. Based on these precedents, it is a non-trivial conclusion that the judges of the Fatimid Caliphate did not always rely on Sharia norms when making decisions against women, which is completely atypical for Muslim traditions in general. At the same time, any crimes against this group of the population were punished rather severely. Particular attention is drawn to the state’s approach to women plaintiffs, depending on the degree of their personal participation in the judicial process.


Lex Russica ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 161-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. O. Chetverikov

   Сontinued. See: LEX RUSSICA. 2019. № 4. Pp. 151—169This paper is the first in Russia comprehensive theoretical and practical study of one of the world’s largest international scientific installations of the «megasience» class — the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) — from the standpoint of legal science.The author focuses on the unique legal status and legal nature of international scientific collaborations, with the help ofwhichscientistsfromdozensofcountries, including Russia, carry outresearchandmakescientificdiscoveries on the LHC. The paper considers and analyzed the following: the history of development, general principles of the LHC and the European organization for nuclear research (CERN), under the auspices of which its construction was carried out; the principles of the structure and functioning of international scientific collaborations around the LHC; the legal nature of their constituent documents as acts of soft law; the ratio of soft and hard law mechanisms in the regulation of international scientific collaborations around the LHC.The final section presents data and proposals on the use of the legal mechanisms studied in other countries and international organizations, including for the purpose of the construction of scientific installations of the «megasience» class under the auspices of the national scientific organizations of Russia and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna (Moscow region).


Author(s):  
I. V. Karpova ◽  
K. A. Karpov

The paper is aimed at studying the features of the migration legislation of Japan and the study of the legal status of the immigration bureau of this state. Japan is a country that has passed a special path of historical development. In many ways, this specificity was due to the state policy of isolationism. The existing cultural traditions largely determine the attitude of the Japanese government to immigration. The paper studies the history of the formation of migration control authorities of the state in question, the peculiarities of the legal status of the Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice of Japan and its structure, analyzes the powers of the Immigration Bureau employees. The paper also provides information on the size of the Immigration Bureau and state funding of the activities of this body.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander N. Demidov

Introduction. The article considers the publication of a unique source for the history of the Mordovian people, the “protective memory” dated by 1572 addressed to the princes and Murzes of Mordovia. The “protective memory” is considered in comparison with the “romadanovsky” list belonging to the descendants of the Mordovian prince Romadan, seeking the return of the nobility, the non-criminal record of the Temnik-Kadom Mordva, published in the XVIII century, similar to the records of Tatar Sovereigns to the Temnik-Kadom Mordva. Materials and methods. The author focused on studying the content of the source, revealing the identities of the recipients, analyzing the composition of the princes and Murz of Mordovian records, spelling of the names, origin, and family ties. The genealogy of the princes Edelevs is being reconstructed, the history of their kind is described together with the history of Mordovian Murzas and their representatives in the context of social and historical ties. Results and discussion. The article describes the social situation of Princes Edelevs, the features of land ownership, land use, property and ownership of serfs. The article discusses the history of the discovery and use of the source in the clerical work of the aristocratic deputies’ assemblies and the Governing Senate at the request of the descendants of Mordovian princes and Muzes from the Edelev family to restore the rights of the noble state. It poses the problem of studying the social stratification in Mordovian society, the typology and origin of the Mordovian aristocracy, the peculiarities of the titling and inheritance of power, its role in the historical and social development of the Mordovian people, as well as its legal status in the Russian Empire. It compares the situation of the Temnikov-Kadom Mordovian Tarkhans, Cossacks, White Field and Alatyr princes and Mordovian Murzes, serving Mordovians and Tatars. Conclusion. “Protective memory” indicates that in the XVI century there was a national Mordovian aristocracy, collaborating with Moscow and being in the service of Great Sovereigns, and subsequently becoming part of the nobility and other classes of Russian society. The choice of Mordovian princes ensured the relatively peaceful entry of Mordovian lands into the Russian Empire.


2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 49-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Stearns

The intellectual history of the Muslim world during the post-formative period is poorly understood compared to the centuries in which the initial development of the principal Islamic intellectual traditions occurred. This article examines the legal status of the natural sciences in the thought of the Moroccan scholar al-Ḥasan al-Yūsī (d. 1102/1691) and his contemporaries, both in terms of the categorization of knowledge and in terms of developments in conceptions of causality in post-formative Ashʿarī theology. In the latter respect, al-Yūsī’s writings on causality are compared to those of his contemporary in Damascus, ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī, with attention to the broader historiographic perils in comparing intellectual developments in the Early Modern period to those occurring in Europe. By placing al-Yūsī’s views in intellectual context, I seek to demonstrate how a more productive history of the natural sciences in the post-formative Muslim world might be written.



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