Pandemic Religion in Brazil—Temptation and Responsibility

Religious incidence in Brazilian public space is a widespread fact that has been gaining new visibility in pandemic times. Responsibility in liminal situations represents specific theological hermeneutics, as well as what matters for the respective religious agents. Thus, based on a bibliographical review connected to an analysis of websites, this article aims to reflect on the current Brazilian context, the challenges to doing theology in Brazil today and points to some possible responses. “Pandemic religion”, as we call it, is the synthesis of theologies and religious practices that legitimise irresponsible approaches to life, vulnerabilising the other instead of assuming care-based ethics. Firstly, we briefly describe current theological trends, followed by an analysis of the Brazilian scenario by way of three representative scenes of public religious incidence that reflect a lack of responsibility in view of the pandemic challenges caused by COVID-19. Subsequently, we look back into history for alternative responses to public health crises that required theological positioning. In a Brazilian perspective of a public theology, we finally reflect on a responsible ethics that may help respond to the current challenges, particularly for pandemic religion.

REVISITING JAVANESE ISLAM

This article tends to revisiting Javanese Islamic studies. This study began from the European travelers’ period who noted some aspects of society such as the religious life. Those notes show the negative label that is addressed to the Javanese religious practices. These negative labels are often reproduced in Javanese Islam studies to this day. This article argues that the negative labels in Javanese Islamic studies tend to be misrepresentative. These kinds of results cannot be separated from certain paradigms in religious studies. There are two paradigms in the study of religion which are discussed in this article. First, the world religion paradigm. This paradigm, consciously or not, is often used in Javanese Islamic studies. The implication is Javanese religious practices are often portrayed as animist, syncretic, and so on. Second, the indigenous religion paradigm. This article elaborates this paradigm because of its potential in understanding Javanese Islamic religious practice more properly. The basis of this paradigm is intersubjective relation with ethical commitment, responsibility, and reciprocity.

Care for the spiritual dimension provided by caregivers in a nursing home

ABSTRACT Objectives: to understand care for the spiritual dimension provided by caregivers in a Nursing Home. Methods: this is a qualitative research, carried out in a geriatric center of a philanthropic hospital in the city of Salvador, Bahia. Eighteen formal caregivers participated, through a semi-structured interview, between January and February 2019. The data were analyzed in the light of Jean Watson’s Theory of Transpersonal Caring. Results: formal caregivers discuss the spiritual dimension based on older adults’ religious beliefs, encourage religious practices and exercise spiritual care according to older adults’ physical, emotional and spiritual demands. Final Considerations: formal caregivers understand that older adults’ religious or spiritual experiences should be included in their work routine. Care for the spiritual dimension occurs by stimulating faith in God, encouraging religious practices and embracing their beliefs in the face of physical, emotional and spiritual demands.

Literature as a Source of Ecological Sustainability with reference to Feminist Writings

Eco Feminist Literature has successfully addressed many ecological and environmental concerns in relation to the exploitation of women in various forms. It has been long that the relationship between the ecology and literature is established with the wide range of literary works having its base on environment and its issues. Women Autobiographies are a form of literature that are used by women writers to express their feelings of themselves in the forms of Memoirs .In certain cases people living in certain geographical regions are captivated by their staunch religious practices which plays an adverse role in preserving the ecological balance. Therefore this paper is an attempt to portray the extremism that exists in the Swat valley and how women autobiographies can contribute to the maintaining the eco system.

Religion in the Workplace

This chapter is an exploratory study that explores the issues of the religious fact in Bahraini banks. The chapter will produce an understanding of this phenomenon, the different religious forms it takes, and its impact on the management of organizational functioning in Bahraini banks. First, a questionnaire will be distributed among 125 employees and managers working in Bahraini banks. The questionnaire will report the workplace religious positions and manifestations perceived by the employees. It will also say what religious facts and managerial solutions based on religion employees observe in the workplace. Then, semi-direct interviews conducted with 15 managers will help explore the challenges and issues related to religious practices. Finally, the data collected will be analyzed based on themes developed from the literature review. The results will show how religious values impact Bahraini bank management practices and functioning.

SOCIAL DISTANCING POLICY AND RESPONSES BY INDONESIAN MUSLIM INTELLECTUALS

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected Muslim religious practices. Social distancing policy, which requires not to gather for any activities, are contradictory to the Muslim’s religious ritual which promotes congregational worship. It accidentally becomes concerns of Muslim intellectuals. Therefore, they publish their thoughts in either national or international journals. This article focuses on the results of the intellectual thoughts published in national journals. It employs descriptive qualitative method through journal searches. There are 16 related journals deemed to meet the requirements. The results of the study show that the social distancing policy is responded in pros and cons. Those who go with cons do not intend to refuse the government policies but to purely adhere to religious tenet because religion has long been believed while Covid-19 is perceived as a threat. In this sense, they are afraid of religion more than the Covid-19. Meanwhile, those who are pro are subject to not only government regulations but also religion. Therefore, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought about an adaptive attitude of Muslims to remain obedient to the government regulations by carrying out independent religious practices or through virtual spaces. Pendemi Covid-19 telah berdampak pada praktik keagamaan umat Islam. Kebijakan Social Distancing yang menghendaki tidak berkumpul, bertentangan dengan ritual umat Islam yang mewajibkan ibadah berjemaah. Inilah menjadi daya tarik kaum intelektual. Oleh karena itu, mereka mempublikasikan pemikirannya di berbagai jurnal baik internasional maupun nasional. Artikel ini berfokus pada hasil pemikiran intelektual yang dipublikasikan di jurnal nasional. Penelitian kualitatif deskriptif diperoleh melalui penelusuran jurnal, terdapat 16 jurnal bertema Islam yang dianggap memenuhi persyaratan. Hasil pemikiran kaum intelektual menunjukkan bahwa Kebijakan Social Distancing direspons pro dan kontra. Golongan yang kontra dalam hal ini bukan menolak kebijakan pemerintah tetapi lebih pada menunjukkan ketaatan pada agama yang jauh sebelumnya diyakini, sedangkan Covid-19 adalah ancaman. Dalam posisi ini mereka lebih takut pada agama daripada Covid-19. Sedangkan yang pro tidak hanya tunduk pada peraturan pemerintah, tetapi juga tunduk pada agama. Dengan demikian, pandemi Covid-19 membawa sikap adaptif umat Islam untuk tetap patuh pada peraturan pemerintah dengan menjalankan praktik keagamaan secara mandiri atau melalui ruang virtual.

Local Rural Holidays of Russian Peasants as a System of Sacred Communication (based on the materials of the Nizhny Novgorod region)

Introduction. The article proposes a worldview approach for typologizing local religious holidays of the rural population of the Nizhny Novgorod region, in which they are considered as a system of communication between the human collective and the divine. Results. The life of the Russian peasant was built up in a constant dialogue with the divine, the mediators of this dialogue were the patron saints of the community, communication with whom was carried out through local holidays established in their honor. Various forms of celebration correlated in the worldview of Russian peasants with different reasons for turning to the patron saints, which allowed the author to distinguish two types of local religious holidays that differ in their functions: petition holidays and thanksgiving holidays. Discussion and Conclusion. The system of local religious holidays was not only an accessible mechanism of religious practices for Russian peasants, but also a traditional way of life support. The holidays of supplication and the holidays of thanksgiving, complementing each other in a number of functions, were closely connected with the life of the peasant community. The former was responsible for earthly goods and united people using common natural resources in religious communication, the latter ensured the spiritual kinship of members of tribal groups united in a single veneration of their patron saint. Every significant event in the secular and spiritual life of the peasant world found its expression in the local holiday calendar.

The Experience of Ethnic Estrangement of Sephardi Students in Israeli Yeshiva High Schools in the 1980s

The article deals with remembered experiences of estrangement and devaluation among Mizrahi graduates of yeshiva high schools in the late 1980s. Most of the literature on the experience of estrangement in educational institutions suggests that it derives from cultural or ethno-religious hierarchies. The singularity of this study is the link it finds between the experience of estrangement and the correlation of religious hierarchies with ethnic hierarchies, which in turn, produce an experience of estrangement. The research indicates a construction of Ashkenazi religiosity as standard and Mizrahi religiosity as faulty and out of place in yeshiva high schools. The religious practices and liturgy of the yeshiva high schools in this study followed a purely Ashkenazi tradition. In addition, in their remarks the educational staff focused attention on the inferiority of Mizrahi religiosity and religious practices, perceived as faulty, or devalued them by giving prominence to inversion rites. Internalization of this tagging caused the students to doubt the appropriateness of their family religious practices. At the same time, they were criticized by their families for adopting Ashkenazi religious practices. All this created an experience of estrangement, both in the yeshiva and at home.

FIELD RESEARCH AND VISUAL RECORDING OF RELIGIOUS PRACTICES IN THE SOVIET PERIOD (CASE STUDY OF THE FILM AND VIDEO ARCHIVES OF THE ESTONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM)

The article describes and analyzes film and video materials containing information on the topic of religious practices of the Finno-Ugric peoples in the Soviet period. The main sources of the research are archival audiovisual records created by the staff of the Estonian National Museum in the period from the 1960s to the early 1990 s, as well as field diaries of participants in the Finno-Ugric expeditions. This was the time when official atheism prevailed in the Soviet Union, the main blow of which was directed primarily at the churches. At the same time, this was a period when open persecution of traditional rituals was not observed, and the study of the worldview aspects of the traditional culture of different ethnic groups was strongly encouraged by ethnology. On the basis ofaudiovisual materials, the article analyzes which fragments of the religious practices of the Finno-Ugric peoples are reflected in the museum archives, and which methods were used by researchers to record different rituals. Much attention is paid to building the relationship between the ethnologist and the bearer of the tradition in the field, as well as the special role of the local mediator in the study of religious rituals through a film or video camera. The considered examples of collecting audiovisual material confirm that in the Soviet period, in contrast to today's digital technologies and the usual practice of photographing and filming various (including sacred) events, researchers with a camera were not always welcomed at prayers. In the audiovisual study of religious rites, the process of adaptation to the environment of the culture under study and the effect of building a first impression acquired particular importance for ethnologists, largely related to the authority of the local mediator who brought them to prayers.