scholarly journals Faith in the Times of COVID-19: Integrating Religion in the Fight against COVID-19 in Tanzania

2021 ◽  
Vol 82 ◽  
pp. 117-134
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Ndaluka ◽  
◽  
Magolanga Shagembe ◽  
Jonas Kinanda ◽  
Vendelin Simon ◽  
...  

When and where a crisis such as a pandemic arises, people turn to religion in pursuit/search of comfort, justifications, and explanations. This article describes the role of religion in Tanzania in the times of COVID-19. The data collected through a questionnaire from 258 participants asserts that COVID-19 increased the intensity level of religiosity in Tanzania. This was seen in peoples’ participation in religious activities, i.e., religious gatherings, frequent prayers, and other religious practices. This article has established that the process of de-secularization was strong, and religion became a provider of hope, unity, solace, and socialization. Moreover, COVID-19 has also facilitated the convergence of different religions and thus ecumenism and pluralism of faiths have been strengthened in the country.

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 292-302
Author(s):  
Heidi Wendt

Abstract James C. Hanges’ new book raises a number of important questions about what it means to situate Paul’s religious activities within his own historical context, and also models one possible methodology for doing so. In this review, I interrogate some of the assumptions underpinning Hanges’ approach, namely, ones having to do with the cultural particularity of certain discourses and religious practices, as well as the utility of the concept “identity” as it pertains to the study of religion. I also attempt to draw the author’s conclusions into wider and ongoing efforts to theorize ancient Mediterranean religion by proposing that many of the actors whom he introduces as comparanda for Paul fall within a discrete class of religious activity, populated by varieties of freelance experts.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-184
Author(s):  
Ellychristina D Hutubessy

The purpose of this study is to find out the role of religion in Siddhartha’s self-actualization process in Hesse’s Siddhartha. The analysis applies Rogers’ humanistic psychology focusing on self-actualization. The method used was qualitative with content analysis. The data were taken from the texts contained in the novel. Data analysis used triangulation techniques. The results showed that Buddhism and Hinduism had taught various things through religious activities conducted by Siddhartha to find out his actualization.


2019 ◽  
Vol 87 ◽  
pp. 1-45
Author(s):  
Maureen Carroll

This study explores social and gendered aspects of female fertility in popular religious practices in Italy in the last four centuries BC, and it investigates the role of supplication and votive dedications in promoting maternal health and family continuity. It tackles modern assumptions which have strongly aligned the religious activities of women in Republican Italy with their generative interests and specific ‘fertility cults’ or ‘women's goddesses’. Divinities associated with fertility are explored here, with particular emphasis on Mater Matuta who is often defined in modern research as a ‘mother goddess’. The study shows that cults purely concerned with fertility are unlikely to have existed. Fertility was only one of several fundamental personal concerns brought by women and men to the generalist and polyvalent deities of Republican Italy. Items associated with fertility, such as terracotta wombs, male and female genitals, and swaddled infants, always occur together with other anatomical ex-votos across a wide range of sites and were dedicated to many deities. Considering the archaeological and textual evidence, Mater Matuta can be shown to have occupied a more flexible and encompassing space in the pantheon, and her involvement in marriage, motherhood and childbearing was part of a wider repertoire of responsibilities. The study also focuses attention on a distinctive, but largely overlooked, votive assemblage from Capua which includes numerous tufa statues of women and babies. The paper proposes that they should be understood as votive objects offered to an unknown deity by Capuan women as thanks for support in the generative enterprise, personally and more broadly in the context of the city's religious and civic identity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 180-196
Author(s):  
Aigerim Zhampetova

Together with independence, the Republic of Kazakhstan reacquired its lost traditional values; religion, controlled and suppressed by the Soviet atheist ideology, being one of the most important elements along with the growing number of religious communities and associations, as well as places of public worship. Today, religiosity is on the rise, especially among the younger generation: everyday religious practices are observed by individuals or groups of people at workplaces and homes and in the course of communication. The author has analyzed the role of religion in axiological orientation and the level of religious feelings of the young people aged 18-22 on the basis of sociological poll results.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-186
Author(s):  
M. Ikhwan ◽  
Anton Jamal

This paper explain the discourse of Islamic law in the Indonesian context in order to understand the substantive values of religion in national life. The development of the times raises the complexity of problems in life, including the presence of Islamic law in the nation-state, this of course requires a comprehensive discourse in order to answer each of these problems. This paper uses a qualitative research method with a narrative approach by referring to secondary sources so that it can be concluded. First, the formulation of Islamic law in Indonesia needs to be considered in terms of prioritizing the application of the noble values of religion itself (substantive). Second, the role of religion is very large in public life, hence the exclusion of religion from the private sphere or vice versa (placing religious law into the public sphere) needs to be viewed from various aspects. Third, the formalization of Islamic law in several perspectives of the Indonesian legal system is relatively difficult to materialize because of historical, ideological, sociological, political, juridical, religious and cultural considerations, both at the national and international levels.


2015 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Hetmanczyk

AbstractIn recent years, religious policy in China has faced an increasingly dynamic panorama of religious actors. The implementation of particular policies has proven to be at times pragmatic, at times incoherent and arbitrary. This may be interpreted as an intentional strategy that allows for a certain flexibility arbitrarily to tolerate or to suppress religious activities. At the same time, it can just as well be a result of institutional incoherence and incompetence. As this incoherence has the potential of endangering the legitimacy of religious politics, authorities resort to ideology as a means to solve these contradictions by integrating religion as a growing social factor, while still leaving space for flexible and sometimes inconsistent administration. The present paper shows that religious policy is framed into two directions: on the one hand, the inherited United Front approach is modified by a gradual revaluation of religion. On the other hand, what used to be labeled “superstition” is transformed into a resource for propagating cultural nationalism and patriotism.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Fox

This study compares separation of religion and state (SRAS) as it is conceived in theory with its realization in practice in 40 stable Christian democracies between 1990 and 2008 based on data from the Religion and State Round 2 dataset. There is no agreement in the literature on how SRAS ought to be conceived. Many scholars argue that SRAS is a necessary condition for liberal democracies. The present study examines four models of SRAS found in the literature, and a non-SRAS model that addresses the appropriate role of religion in democracies: secularism-laicism, absolute SRAS, neutral political concern, exclusion of ideals, and acceptable support for religion. The study analyzes three factors: (a) whether the state supports one or some religions more than others; (b) the extent of religious legislation; and (c) restrictions on the religious practices and institutions of religious minorities. The analysis shows that depending on the definition of SRAS used, between zero and eight of the 40 countries practice SRAS. Based on this finding, I conclude that either SRAS is not a necessary condition for liberal democracy or many states commonly considered to be liberal democracies are not.


2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Orogun ◽  
Jerry Pillay

In an ideal context, religious tenets are perceived as antithetical to corruption on all fronts. Sadly, Africa takes a frontline in religious activities, yet is bedevilled by corruption aided poverty. Viewing some Neo-Pentecostal practices with the lens of contemporary Marxism hypothesis, and philosophical consciencism of Kwame Nkrumah and Fela Anikulapo, this article examined the role of religion in the spread of poverty in Africa. It further held that while a few religious leaders speak against corruption aided poverty, institutionalised and deliberate strategic plans have not been set up to combat corruption aided poverty. Subsequently, through strategic and implementable recommendations, this article serves as a wake-up call for Africa’s religious institutions to jettison alliance with corrupt political entities and support anti-corruption crusades in Africa.Contribution: Employing the multi-play of Sociology, Economics, Philosophy and Theology, this article contributes to the interdisciplinary and international research of HTS Theological Studies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 137
Author(s):  
Hasse Jubba ◽  
Ahmad Sultra Rustan ◽  
Juhansar Juhansar

<p>This article explores the form of compromise between Islam and local tradition (adat) in the religious practices of Muslims in Bugis community in South Sulawesi. Islam is an integral part of Bugis lives and is positioned as the main reference so that it encourages Bugis community members to become more fanatic than others. However, in some cases, it is not uncommon for religious practices that have traditional nuances. In fact, the local tradition is in a position that exceeds the role of religion as reflected in the celebration of Islamic holidays. This condition allows the attraction between religion and local tradition to occur in the practice of everyday life of the Bugis community. The question is at what level do conflicts and compromises occur between local tradition and religion among the Bugis community? To answer this question, an investigation was carried out using qualitative methods that put forward and applying the techniques of participant observation and literature study. The results show that points of compromise were discovered where religion and local tradition complemented each other. The tendency to compromise Islam and local tradition is motivated by not only the low understanding of religion itself but also the desire to maintain the ancestral local traditions that have been practiced for a long time in their community. The compromise of Islam and local tradition in religious practices have resulted in the escape of their respective positions, and it makes the role of religion tends to weaken.</p>


Author(s):  
Patsy McGarry

Patsy McGarry draws on the knowledge of the changed role of religion in Irish society that he has accumulated as religious affairs correspondent of The Irish Times through the troubled recent decades. He points out that until the Church hierarchy is prepared to acknowledge responsibility for their poor handling of the clerical abuse scandals and the pain inflicted on the survivors, there will be no healing. His treatment of the various scandals and the role of Irish bishops in trying to limit reputational damage to the Church, illustrate McGarry’s contention that the times are definitely ‘a changin’’ and they will continue to do so for some time to come in Ireland.


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