Good Works and the Question of Self-Presentation in Tenrikyo

2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saburo Morishita
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Spiritual Development ◽  
Public Image ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Welfare Work ◽  
Good Works

As one of the older "new" religious movements in Japan, Tenrikyo has often struggled with its self-presentation to the public. This was especially so in its quest for legal recognition at certain times in its long history, but also in response to broader public suspicions. However, work by Tenrikyo members to benefit society should not be seen as public relations efforts to create a positive image for institutional growth and acceptance. A case in point is social welfare work undertaken quite early in the movement's history. Drawing on in-progress research and interviews focusing on Tenrikyo members' work with people suffering from Hansen's Disease (leprosy) in Japan, this essay makes the case that good works are not carried out to create a positive public image, but rather are pursued for the betterment of society and personal spiritual development.

On the Volatile Relationship of Secularization and New Religious Movements

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Holland
Keyword(s):  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Christian Science ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Action ◽  
Public Square ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter considers the complex relationship between secularization and the emergence of new religious movements. Drawing from countervailing research, some of which insists that new religious movements abet secularizing processes and some of which sees these movements as disproving the secularization thesis, the chapter presents the relationship as inherently unstable. To the extent that new religious movements maintain a precarious balance of familiarity and foreignness—remaining familiar enough to stretch the definitional boundaries of religion—they contribute to secularization. However, new religious movements frequently lean to one side or other of that median, either promoting religious power in the public square by identifying with the interests of existing religious groups, or emphasizing their distinctiveness from these groups and thus provoking aggressive public action by the antagonized religious mainstream. This chapter centres on an illustrative case from Christian Science history.

The Public Image of Eastern Orthodoxy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather L. Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Public Image ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Crimean War ◽  
The West ◽  
Eastern Orthodoxy ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The Public ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Public Relations Campaign

Focusing on the period between the revolutions of 1848 to 1849 and the First Vatican Council (1869–1870), this book explores the circumstances under which westerners, concerned about the fate of the papacy, the Ottoman Empire, Poland, and Russian imperial power, began to conflate the Russian Orthodox Church with the state and to portray the Church as the political tool of despotic tsars. As the book demonstrates, in response to this reductionist view, Russian Orthodox publicists launched a public relations campaign in the West, especially in France, in the 1850s and 1860s. The linchpin of their campaign was the building of the impressive Saint Alexander Nevsky Church in Paris, consecrated in 1861. The book posits that, as the embodiment of the belief that Russia had a great historical purpose inextricably tied to Orthodoxy, the Paris church both reflected and contributed to the rise of religious nationalism in Russia that followed the Crimean War. At the same time, the confrontation with westerners' negative ideas about the Eastern Church fueled a reformist spirit in Russia while contributing to a better understanding of Eastern Orthodoxy in the West.

#GirlGamers, Soldiers, and Public Relations: Analyzing Gender Representation in U.S. Army Esports

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jolene Fisher ◽  
Joshua Foust
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Public Image ◽  
Team Members ◽  
The Public ◽  
Video Game Play ◽  
Media Channels

Abstract While interest in esports is widespread across demographic categories, the gendered norms surrounding video game play have been replicated, resulting in a male-dominated space. Scholars argue that broadening representations of gamers is necessary to normalizing women’s presence in esports. As nongaming organizations enter the space, they have a unique opportunity to disrupt established norms through their representations of esports competitors. This study analyzes the representation of U.S. Army Esports (USAE) team members via official social media channels. USAE was created as a public relations tool to engage with a younger audience, redefine the public image of the Army, and recruit soldiers. Using a critical public relations framework and critical discourse analysis, we examine the discourse around gender and esports constructed through USAE’s representation of team members and the role of public relations practice in reinforcing or disrupting existing norms.

“What if it is actually true?”

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 74-100
Author(s):  
Joanna Urbańczyk
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Spiritual Development ◽  
General Characteristic ◽  
Religious Movement ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Common Elements ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Generational Shift ◽  
Former Soviet Republics

The Siberian community of Vissarion (Last Testament Church) is a new religious movement established at the beginning of 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Among its members (estimated at several thousand), who come mainly from Russia and former Soviet republics, there is also a large group of Vissarion’s followers from Eastern Europe. In this article, I present a general characteristic of the movement and four stories from adherents. I indicate common elements in their narratives of coming to and living in the community, such as belief in continuing spiritual development, the importance of living close to nature, the focus on feelings, and concern for future generations. I also point out a “generational shift” among members of the importance of the breakup of the Soviet Union and suggest the need for scholarly consideration of its decreasing significance for adherents of new religious movements in the post-socialist region.

"I Saw You Disappear with My Own Eyes": Hidden Transcripts of New York Black Israelite Bricolage

2007 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob S. Dorman
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
African American ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Black Religion ◽  
Secret Societies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sunday Schools

To date, scholars have tended to view Black Israelites as mercenary, derivative, or imitative. However, this microhistorical reading of the public, partial, and hidden transcripts of New York Rabbi Wentworth Arthur Matthew's beliefs and ritual practices demonstrates that Black Israelites did not simply imitate Jews, but rather they were bricoleurs who constructed a polycultural religion that creatively reworked threads from religious faiths, secret societies, and magical grimoires. Black Israelite religious identity was imagined and performed in sidewalk lectures and in Marcus Garvey's Liberty Hall; it was embodied through Caribbean pageants, and acted out in parades. Black Israelism was lived through secret Spiritualist and Kabbalistic rituals, and taught openly through Sunday Schools and Masonic affiliates. Finally, it was an identity that was formed and performed in a mixture of Sanctified and Judaic rites. Print culture, performance, and complex social networks were all important to the imagination and realization of this new Israelite religious identity. Recognizing the subversive quality of this bricolage and the complexity of its partial and hidden transcripts belies attempts to exclude esoteric African American new religious movements from the categories of protest religion and black religion. When one combines the study of Black Israelism with similar studies of African American NRM's of the 1920s, it is possible to appreciate a remarkable wave of overlapping esoteric religious creativity that accompanied the much more famous artistic creativity of the Harlem Renaissance.

Contemporary Japanese Buddhist Traditions

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Porcu
Keyword(s):  
Social Engagement ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
The Public ◽  
Japanese Buddhism ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Historical Developments

Based on the premise that there is no single and homogeneous Japanese Buddhism but a multifaceted religious tradition resulting from a long history of adaptations and cross-cultural interactions, this chapter explores some aspects of Buddhism in Japan, including Buddhism-based new religious movements, in connection to the challenges of contemporary society. These include the structure of today’s temples in terms of membership and activities, issues of politics and social engagement closely linked to the role of Buddhism in the public sphere, the innovative ways through which Buddhist institutions are reacting to a deeply mediatized society, and overseas developments. Before proceeding to the contemporary period, the chapter provides a brief overview of the historical developments of Buddhism from its inception to the postwar period.

The Public Response to New Religious Movements in Britain

1983 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Beckford
Keyword(s):  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Public Response ◽  
The Public

Quoique de nombreux mouvements religieux agissent de manière plus ou moins standardisée dans de nombreux pays, leurs succès dans le recrutement et la mise en place d'une base solide pour leurs activités dépendent largement des réactions locales de l'opinion publique à leur égard. Le cas de la Grande Bretagne illustre bien l'importance des réactions du public, dans la mesure où elles sont à la source de la force des groupements opposés aux nouveaux mouvements religieux tout comme de l'attitude de la presse. Le contexte britannique se singularise dans la mesure où il rend les nouveaux mouvements religieux vulnérables à des sanc tions administratives, étant donné l'absence d'une politique offi cielle et d'une responsabilité gouvernementale concernant les affaires religieuses, familiales et de jeunesse. En même temps, il faut souligner que, en Grande Bretagne, les nouveaux mouve ments religieux sont moins l'expression de problèmes psychologi ques qu'aux États-Unis ou d'un problème social comme en Alle magne Fédérale. Ici, c'est l'atteinte à l'intégrité du modèle fami lial qui constitue la rispote la plus significative aux mouvements religieux

scholarly journals Means of communication of new religious movements in the Republic of Belarus

2021 ◽  
pp. 75-83
Author(s):  
Vladimir A. Martinovich
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
The Public ◽  
Constructive Dialogue ◽  
New Religions ◽  
Scientific Analysis ◽  
Methodological Problems ◽  
The Republic ◽  
High Level

This article is devoted to the analysis of the means of communication of new religious movements in the Republic of Belarus. Due to the high level of closeness of the overwhelming number of new religions for questioning, interviews, observation and experiment, their means of communication with society are the most accessible documentary source of primary sociological information for research. As part of the monitoring of the confessional space of the country, conducted since 1997, information was collected on 1113 new religious movements. The means of communication used by them to broadcast religious ideas and teachings, including in the public space of the Republic of Belarus, are documented. A number of methodological problems related to the analysis of the means of communication of new religious movements are identified. The frequency of appeals of new religions to print media, the Internet, leaflets, books and specialised periodicals has been established. The entire set of means, depending on the target audience, is divided into internal, external and universal. The degree of informativeness of external and universal means of communication for scientific analysis, is analysed. It is noted that the openness of the new religious movements to society, which implies the disclosure of a significant part of their internal information, does not automatically mean recognition and acceptance of society, readiness for a constructive dialogue with it. The connection between the type of structure of the new religious movements and the number of different means of communication used by them is revealed. The minimum provable number of new religious movements working in the public space through means of communication accessible to the general population has been established.

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