scholarly journals Religion, Institutionalization and Legitimation of the Creed: Beyond Institutional Fundamentalism

Numen ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leno Francisco Danner ◽  
Agemir Bavaresco ◽  
Fernando Danner

This article argues that the association between institutionalization and strong epistemological, political, anthropological and ontological objectivity leads to institutional fundamentalism in three basic and problematic aspects for societal-cultural-institutional current dynamics: first, the institution’s centralization and monopolization of the constitution, legitimation and public foment of the creed, so that the institution becomes self-referential, self-subsisting and autonomous regarding common sense and common people, as opposed to other religious institutions; second, the institution’s vertical and direct affirmation and imposition on believers and non-believers of essentialist and naturalized foundations which do not seriously consider the differences as epistemological-political subjects, practices and codes; third, the institution’s self-affirmation of its special core-role in terms of linking Earth and Heaven, people and God, so that it becomes the one and supreme institution representing God on Earth, delegitimizing other religious institutions and popular practices as alternative ways to God, alternative ways of life and epistemological, political, anthropological and ontological grounding. From that point, the article advocates that only the weakening of the essentialist and naturalized foundations, the moderation or even the abandonment of their problematic parts, as the deconstruction of institutional self-referentiality, self-subsistence and autonomy regarding common sense and common people, as well as of the opposition between religious institutions one to each other, can tackle the problem of fundamentalism, enabling the valuing of differences as epistemological-political subjects and the performance of an ecumenical and pluralistic dialog-praxis which assembles all peoples into a same minimal project of global peace, justice and solidarity.

1970 ◽  
pp. 38-45
Author(s):  
May Abu Jaber

Violence against women (VAW) continues to exist as a pervasive, structural,systematic, and institutionalized violation of women’s basic human rights (UNDivision of Advancement for Women, 2006). It cuts across the boundaries of age, race, class, education, and religion which affect women of all ages and all backgrounds in every corner of the world. Such violence is used to control and subjugate women by instilling a sense of insecurity that keeps them “bound to the home, economically exploited and socially suppressed” (Mathu, 2008, p. 65). It is estimated that one out of every five women worldwide will be abused during her lifetime with rates reaching up to 70 percent in some countries (WHO, 2005). Whether this abuse is perpetrated by the state and its agents, by family members, or even by strangers, VAW is closely related to the regulation of sexuality in a gender specific (patriarchal) manner. This regulation is, on the one hand, maintained through the implementation of strict cultural, communal, and religious norms, and on the other hand, through particular legal measures that sustain these norms. Therefore, religious institutions, the media, the family/tribe, cultural networks, and the legal system continually disciplinewomen’s sexuality and punish those women (and in some instances men) who have transgressed or allegedly contravened the social boundaries of ‘appropriateness’ as delineated by each society. Such women/men may include lesbians/gays, women who appear ‘too masculine’ or men who appear ‘too feminine,’ women who try to exercise their rights freely or men who do not assert their rights as ‘real men’ should, women/men who have been sexually assaulted or raped, and women/men who challenge male/older male authority.


2004 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-58
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Galko ◽  

The ontological question of what there is, from the perspective of common sense, is intricately bound to what can be perceived. The above observation, when combined with the fact that nouns within language can be divided between nouns that admit counting, such as ‘pen’ or ‘human’, and those that do not, such as ‘water’ or ‘gold’, provides the starting point for the following investigation into the foundations of our linguistic and conceptual phenomena. The purpose of this paper is to claim that such phenomena are facilitated by, on the one hand, an intricate cognitive capacity, and on the other by the complex environment within which we live. We are, in a sense, cognitively equipped to perceive discrete instances of matter such as bodies of water. This equipment is related to, but also differs from, that devoted to the perception of objects such as this computer. Behind this difference in cognitive equipment underlies a rich ontology, the beginnings of which lies in the distinction between matter and objects. The following paper is an attempt to make explicit the relationship between matter and objects and also provide a window to our cognition of such entities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 149 ◽  
pp. 02003
Author(s):  
Ammar Dhouib

Faced with the complexity of urban construction projects and difficulties in the field, engineers must, on the one hand, dimension with rigor and common sense the foundations with all the requirements of today of quality, conformity and respect of deadlines and budget and take into account, on the other hand, safety and environmental requirements and societal and sustainable development criteria, the purpose of this communication is to present concrete projects of foundations and excavation deep in geologically heterogeneous and highly urbanized sites, with monitoring and displacement measurements in order to compare predictions with reality and to promote the "observational method".


2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 117-131
Author(s):  
Vandana Lunyal

In the world that promotes consumerism, companies are in a competition to produce a variety of commodities and to convert people into consumers of their products whether they need them or not. The abundance of consumer products is promoted through advertisements. These advertisements persuade the common people to become consumers for which they use a variety of strategies, the most common being the use of problem-solution format in language and an effective use of the verbal and the non-verbal. This paper focuses on investigating the verbal and the non-verbal aspects of the text to examine how ideological constructs function in the discourse of advertisingthrough the use of hegemony. A perfume advertisement has been selected for a detailed analysis of the verbal and the visual elements to illustrate how advertisers commonly attempt to transmit some underlying, yet unasserted, meanings to unsuspecting readers who may understand the intentions of the advertisers i.e. to promote consumption but may not understand that the aim is achieved by generally promoting cultural stereotypes which work towards the disadvantage of one social group vis-à-vis the other especially the one that the advertisement is addressed to. The tool for the analysis of the advertisement is Fairclough’s model of critical discourse analysis (CDA) that uses the analysis of the verbal and the visual to reveal ideological underpinnings. CDA also has pedagogical implications for instance the language used for describing products, if analysed critically by language learners, helps them to unfold the hidden meanings as is illustrated through the analysis. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/nelta.v19i1-2.12085 Journal of NELTA, Vol 19 No. 1-2, December 2014: 117-131


2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 915
Author(s):  
Klaudia Nowicka

All tangible and intangible elements of cultural heritage that the past has conceded to local communities create unique landscapes shaped by tightly connected anthropogenic and natural factors. This heritage is a keystone of local identity which plays a significant role in politics, economic development, society and world view. In some regions, such as in the Vistula delta in Poland, the cultural heritage has been created by consecutive groups of settlers who represented different values, beliefs and ways of life. On the one hand, such a rich heritage may be perceived as a valuable asset and become a landmark or tourism product of a region. On the other hand, it may be perceived as alien and unwanted by contemporary residents, especially when they are not descendants of the former communities. The main objective of the study presented herein is to analyse how the residents of the Vistula delta region, called Żuławy Wiślane, perceive and use cultural heritage of the Mennonites, representing the most extraordinary group of settlers who used to live in the region. The analysis covers original data gathered during survey research in the period of 2017–2018 under the project Miniatura I “Perception and usage of cultural heritage of the Vistula delta Mennonites” financed by the National Science Centre in Poland.


Author(s):  
Howard Sankey

This note poses a dilemma for scientific realism which stems from the apparent conflict between science and common sense. On the one hand, we may accept scientific realism and agree that there is a conflict between science and common sense. If we do this, we remove the evidential basis for science and have no reason to accept science in the first place. On the other hand, we may accept scientific realism and endorse common sense. If we do this, we must reject the conflict between science and common sense. The dilemma is to be resolved by distinguishing between basic common sense and widely held beliefs. Basic common sense survives the advance of science and may serve as the evidential basis for science.


Author(s):  
Witold Klaus

All authorities desire to control various aspects of their subjects’ lives. Those in power claim to do it in the name of protecting the peace and safety of all citizens. For one of groups perceived to be the most dangerous is the one whose members evade formal or informal social control – they do not work, do not have a family or are estranged from them, they have no permanent home. Therefore, to make sure that no one is out of the reach of governmental control, criminal law is utilised against them and whole ways of life, and the everyday behaviours of vagrants and homeless people began to be criminalised. And this process is still ongoing. The law thus punishes a person for their personal identity, and not for specific improper or harmful behaviour undertaken by them. In this paper I would like to analyse the problem of criminalisation of beggars throughout Polish history, and present how it impacted (and still impacts) upon the lives of the poorest and the most excluded parts of Polish society.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-98
Author(s):  
Stephen Adam Schwartz

In his text on the ‘Exposition Universelle 1855’, Baudelaire upholds what he calls ‘cosmopolitisme’ as the antidote to the constraining influence of universalizing principles of taste that are meant to define beauty for all times and places. Baudelaire’s view is that such aesthetic systems close off the possibility of beauty, which, he maintains must contain an element of novelty. Accordingly, the proper attitude for the viewer (or reader or spectator) to take before a work of art is one that remains always open to novelty and to the ‘universal vitality’ out of which it springs. This attitude is the cosmopolitan one. Yet Baudelaire characterizes this attitude in ways that seem fundamentally incompatible if not diametrically opposed. On the one hand, cosmopolitanism as described in this text seems to involve the slow, lived apprenticeship in the values, ways of life, and criteria of judgement of those in other places, the better to be able to appreciate the beauty of the objects produced in them. On the other, he speaks of the appropriate attitude toward an aesthetic object — indeed toward any object that presents itself to our senses — as one resulting solely from the spectator’s exertions on his or her own mind and will, exertions by which the spectator refrains from imposing criteria of judgement upon the putative aesthetic object in order, instead, to derive one’s criteria from it. While the text on the ‘Exposition’ provides the reader with no way of resolving this contradiction, Baudelaire’s remarks on fashion in ‘Le Peintre de la vie moderne’ (1863) provide a dialectical resolution.


Author(s):  
Sruti Bala

Chapter V examines an installation-based project titled Nomad City Passage (2005-2009) by the German scenographic and visual artists Rebekka Reich and Oliver Gather, in which visitors are invited to spend a night in a tent in an unconventional urban site, such as the top floor of a high-rise building or inside a shopping mall. The analysis focuses on how common-sense assumptions around audience participation in theatre and performance theory are called into question by the artwork’s foregrounding of sleep as a mode of participation. The delicacy of this is evidenced in the ambivalence of sleep in a scenically prepared setting, oscillating between being an intense, active, dynamic experience on the one side, and a non-performance, an absence of activity on the other. The chapter suggests that audience participation in the artwork and in the artwork’s participation in urban spaces differ in significant ways from sociological and political concepts of participation. Where social theory conceives of civic participation in terms of being a part of a social unit, the aesthetics of Nomad City Passage emphasizes participation in a counterintuitive way: it becomes possible to participate precisely because of not being a part of some shared community ideal.


2019 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
S. Elizabeth Penry

In the sixteenth century, Spaniards forcibly resettled Andeans into planned towns called reducciones. Andeans adapted the political and religious institutions of the new towns, the cabildo (town council) and the cofradías (confraternities), and made them their own, organizing them by the Andean social form, the ayllu. Over time, political legitimacy and authority within towns was transferred from traditional native hereditary lords, the caciques, to the common people of the town, who called themselves the común. Although a Spanish word, común took on Andean meaning as it was the word used to translate terms for collective land and the collective people of a town. It became a recognized shorthand for a political philosophy empowering common people. In the late eighteenth-century era of Atlantic Revolutions, the común rose up against its caciques, in an Enlightenment-from-below moment of popular sovereignty.


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