Pub Date : 2024-05-14DOI: 10.30965/27507955-20230035
Philip Fountain
{"title":"Development in Spirit: Religious Transformation and Everyday Politics in Vietnam’s Highlands, written by Seb Rumsby","authors":"Philip Fountain","doi":"10.30965/27507955-20230035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30965/27507955-20230035","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":358878,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Development","volume":"16 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140980708","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-06DOI: 10.30965/27507955-20230034
Nicolaas Matthee
This article presents a theoretical exploration of the notion of embodiment as it pertains to practical theology and lived religion. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, religious communities responded by increasing engagement with digital spaces and digital forms of worship. This necessarily challenges traditional notions around the idea of embodiment and how the body is understood in non-corporeal religious space. Contemporary memorial culture and its ritualised behaviour provides an effective lens with which to observe and study the evolving role and understanding of digital embodiment. This article uses a ritual perspective to deconstruct traditional notions around the corporeal body and explores the role of memory as an important consideration at the nexus of offline-online life.
{"title":"Towards an Understanding of Embodiment in Digital Space – A Practical Theological Perspective","authors":"Nicolaas Matthee","doi":"10.30965/27507955-20230034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30965/27507955-20230034","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This article presents a theoretical exploration of the notion of embodiment as it pertains to practical theology and lived religion. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, religious communities responded by increasing engagement with digital spaces and digital forms of worship. This necessarily challenges traditional notions around the idea of embodiment and how the body is understood in non-corporeal religious space. Contemporary memorial culture and its ritualised behaviour provides an effective lens with which to observe and study the evolving role and understanding of digital embodiment. This article uses a ritual perspective to deconstruct traditional notions around the corporeal body and explores the role of memory as an important consideration at the nexus of offline-online life.","PeriodicalId":358878,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Development","volume":"62 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141007836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-15DOI: 10.30965/27507955-20230033
T. Madigele
The demographic landscape in Southern Africa is experiencing a shift toward an older age group, and traditional family structures are being influenced by factors such as rural – urban migration and industrialization. This article examines the socioeconomic determinants of successful aging in Southern Africa, with a focus on the intersection of socioeconomic factors and theological perspectives on aging. It utilizes data collected in a 2018–2019 study that explored pastoral care for elderly caregivers of HIV and AIDS-affected children in Ramotswa, Botswana. The article employs a socio-theological gerontology framework to understand how socioeconomic determinants can support or hinder successful aging in the region. It emphasizes the importance of integrating contextual factors and intrapersonal aspects in addressing the aging phenomenon and provides recommendations for contextually informed policies and practices.
{"title":"Socioeconomic Determinants of Successful Aging in Southern Africa: Socio-Theological Gerontology","authors":"T. Madigele","doi":"10.30965/27507955-20230033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30965/27507955-20230033","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The demographic landscape in Southern Africa is experiencing a shift toward an older age group, and traditional family structures are being influenced by factors such as rural – urban migration and industrialization. This article examines the socioeconomic determinants of successful aging in Southern Africa, with a focus on the intersection of socioeconomic factors and theological perspectives on aging. It utilizes data collected in a 2018–2019 study that explored pastoral care for elderly caregivers of HIV and AIDS-affected children in Ramotswa, Botswana. The article employs a socio-theological gerontology framework to understand how socioeconomic determinants can support or hinder successful aging in the region. It emphasizes the importance of integrating contextual factors and intrapersonal aspects in addressing the aging phenomenon and provides recommendations for contextually informed policies and practices.","PeriodicalId":358878,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Development","volume":"320 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140703512","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-13DOI: 10.30965/27507955-20230030
A. Renger, J. Stork, Philipp Öhlmann
This editorial introduces Religion & Development Vol. 2, Issue 3 – Special Issue on “Religion and Ecology: Perspectives on Environment and Sustainability across Religious Traditions.” The articles delve into the intricate relationship between religion and ecology from diverse perspectives. The prevailing academic discourse on religion and ecology is centered on three fundamental aspects. Firstly, it underscores the potential of religious communities to actively combat climate change by shaping worldviews and guiding community and personal activities. Secondly, it scrutinizes the practical implementation of these contributions by religious communities, exploring both obstacles and facilitators for their environmental engagement. Lastly, it emphasizes how religious communities furnish theological and spiritual arguments in support of environmental protection, thereby motivating believers to take proactive measures. This special issue contributes to these ongoing discussions by presenting insights from all three perspectives, enhancing the discourse with distinctive viewpoints from Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, African Traditional Religions, Indigenous Religious Traditions, and interfaith perspectives. The incorporation of diverse religious traditions complements recent dialogues on development and sustainability, thereby providing a more comprehensive understanding of the intersection between religion and ecology.
{"title":"Religion and Ecology: Perspectives on Environment and Sustainability across Religious Traditions","authors":"A. Renger, J. Stork, Philipp Öhlmann","doi":"10.30965/27507955-20230030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30965/27507955-20230030","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This editorial introduces Religion & Development Vol. 2, Issue 3 – Special Issue on “Religion and Ecology: Perspectives on Environment and Sustainability across Religious Traditions.” The articles delve into the intricate relationship between religion and ecology from diverse perspectives. The prevailing academic discourse on religion and ecology is centered on three fundamental aspects. Firstly, it underscores the potential of religious communities to actively combat climate change by shaping worldviews and guiding community and personal activities. Secondly, it scrutinizes the practical implementation of these contributions by religious communities, exploring both obstacles and facilitators for their environmental engagement. Lastly, it emphasizes how religious communities furnish theological and spiritual arguments in support of environmental protection, thereby motivating believers to take proactive measures. This special issue contributes to these ongoing discussions by presenting insights from all three perspectives, enhancing the discourse with distinctive viewpoints from Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, African Traditional Religions, Indigenous Religious Traditions, and interfaith perspectives. The incorporation of diverse religious traditions complements recent dialogues on development and sustainability, thereby providing a more comprehensive understanding of the intersection between religion and ecology.","PeriodicalId":358878,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Development","volume":"173 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140247146","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-13DOI: 10.30965/27507955-20230032
E. Tomalin
In this paper I examine the construction of Hinduism as inherently “environmentally friendly” within religions and ecology discourses and how this construction has been appropriated by the Hindu nationalist movement in India to serve ends that are at odds with the pursuit of sustainable development. I begin by tracing the emergence of religions and ecology discourses and the assertion that Asian or Eastern religions are inherently environmentally friendly. This is followed by critiques of this neo-traditionalist approach for being anachronistic and essentialist, as well as for promoting a “myth of primitive ecological wisdom” that can have damaging effects on communities who live close to nature. This is because it reduces them to idealisations to serve other ends and has little impact on effecting policies that can improve their lives as well as addressing anthropogenic climate change. Next, I consider the construction of Hinduism as environmentally friendly within the context of the ascendency of Hindu nationalism. I examine the ways in which the claim to support sustainable development, alongside invoking neo-traditionalist religions and ecology discourse, is at odds with the actual policies pursued by Hindu nationalists, whose Bharatiya Janata Party has been in power since 2014. I will demonstrate that in its bid to spread a particular version of Hinduism across India alongside the growth of the market economy, some traditional livelihoods that are more sustainable than modern alternatives, such as nomadic pastoralism or Adivasi (tribal) economies, and the religio-cultural traditions that surround them, are being undermined and threatened with extinction.
{"title":"Religion, Ecology and Hindu Nationalism in India","authors":"E. Tomalin","doi":"10.30965/27507955-20230032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30965/27507955-20230032","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000In this paper I examine the construction of Hinduism as inherently “environmentally friendly” within religions and ecology discourses and how this construction has been appropriated by the Hindu nationalist movement in India to serve ends that are at odds with the pursuit of sustainable development. I begin by tracing the emergence of religions and ecology discourses and the assertion that Asian or Eastern religions are inherently environmentally friendly. This is followed by critiques of this neo-traditionalist approach for being anachronistic and essentialist, as well as for promoting a “myth of primitive ecological wisdom” that can have damaging effects on communities who live close to nature. This is because it reduces them to idealisations to serve other ends and has little impact on effecting policies that can improve their lives as well as addressing anthropogenic climate change. Next, I consider the construction of Hinduism as environmentally friendly within the context of the ascendency of Hindu nationalism. I examine the ways in which the claim to support sustainable development, alongside invoking neo-traditionalist religions and ecology discourse, is at odds with the actual policies pursued by Hindu nationalists, whose Bharatiya Janata Party has been in power since 2014. I will demonstrate that in its bid to spread a particular version of Hinduism across India alongside the growth of the market economy, some traditional livelihoods that are more sustainable than modern alternatives, such as nomadic pastoralism or Adivasi (tribal) economies, and the religio-cultural traditions that surround them, are being undermined and threatened with extinction.","PeriodicalId":358878,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Development","volume":"2016 34","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140246172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-13DOI: 10.30965/27507955-20230025
Lidia Guzy
This article discusses shamanic worldviews theoretically and empirically based on the author’s long-term comparative studies in rural regions of Odisha, India. It deals with local eco-cosmological worldviews expressed in trance traditions, interpreted by the author as expressions of contemporary shamanic worldviews and an indication of ways of transmission of indigenous knowledge. In this sense the comparative examples of shamanic traditions of nag bacca (snake children) and alekh gurumai (ritual specialists) in Odisha are examples of transformative healing through trance rituals based both on concepts of holy craziness and sacred play (baaya/kheelo) and on spirit possession rituals (boil), widely spread in cultures of orality. In shamanic worldviews, therianthropic transformations of animal human and ecological encounters are transmitted in a rich culture of orality expressed in songs, performances, and trance dances. In this indigenous knowledge transmission, visions and dreams are the most important expressions of shamanic imaginaries, realities, epistemologies, and ontologies, revealing imagined, dreamt, and lived experiences of local shamanic societies. In this way, the visual mental imagery experiences construe the inner and outer knowledge of shamanic life worlds and worldviews.
{"title":"Indigenous Shamanic Worldviews as Eco-cosmologies and Indigenous Knowledge Systems of Sustainability","authors":"Lidia Guzy","doi":"10.30965/27507955-20230025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30965/27507955-20230025","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This article discusses shamanic worldviews theoretically and empirically based on the author’s long-term comparative studies in rural regions of Odisha, India. It deals with local eco-cosmological worldviews expressed in trance traditions, interpreted by the author as expressions of contemporary shamanic worldviews and an indication of ways of transmission of indigenous knowledge. In this sense the comparative examples of shamanic traditions of nag bacca (snake children) and alekh gurumai (ritual specialists) in Odisha are examples of transformative healing through trance rituals based both on concepts of holy craziness and sacred play (baaya/kheelo) and on spirit possession rituals (boil), widely spread in cultures of orality.\u0000In shamanic worldviews, therianthropic transformations of animal human and ecological encounters are transmitted in a rich culture of orality expressed in songs, performances, and trance dances. In this indigenous knowledge transmission, visions and dreams are the most important expressions of shamanic imaginaries, realities, epistemologies, and ontologies, revealing imagined, dreamt, and lived experiences of local shamanic societies. In this way, the visual mental imagery experiences construe the inner and outer knowledge of shamanic life worlds and worldviews.","PeriodicalId":358878,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Development","volume":"31 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140247701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-13DOI: 10.30965/27507955-20230031
J. Amanze
In Africa the environment is sacrosanct and treated with great respect, particularly in communities where traditional beliefs and practices prevail. The sacredness of the environment is based on the African people’s fundamental belief that the spiritual and the secular worlds are two sides of the same coin endowed with divine power and presence. As a result, the line of demarcation between the two worlds is blurred. They complement each other in the sense that each derives its meaning, significance and importance from the other. Since the natural world is imbued with the divine, it is considered an extension of the supernatural world. In the absence of written legal frameworks, the environment, in indigenous communities, is protected through religious beliefs and practices. This article analyses the basic approaches of the African people towards nature and their fundamental belief that the environment is an integral part of God’s creation and must therefore be preserved and conserved for future generations. The article notes that in contemporary Africa the emphasis on material values is leading towards the total destruction of the environment, thus putting humanity at the intersection of self-destruction – something that needs to be avoided at all costs.
{"title":"African Approaches to the Protection and Conservation of the Environment: The Role of African Traditional Religions","authors":"J. Amanze","doi":"10.30965/27507955-20230031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30965/27507955-20230031","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000In Africa the environment is sacrosanct and treated with great respect, particularly in communities where traditional beliefs and practices prevail. The sacredness of the environment is based on the African people’s fundamental belief that the spiritual and the secular worlds are two sides of the same coin endowed with divine power and presence. As a result, the line of demarcation between the two worlds is blurred. They complement each other in the sense that each derives its meaning, significance and importance from the other. Since the natural world is imbued with the divine, it is considered an extension of the supernatural world. In the absence of written legal frameworks, the environment, in indigenous communities, is protected through religious beliefs and practices. This article analyses the basic approaches of the African people towards nature and their fundamental belief that the environment is an integral part of God’s creation and must therefore be preserved and conserved for future generations. The article notes that in contemporary Africa the emphasis on material values is leading towards the total destruction of the environment, thus putting humanity at the intersection of self-destruction – something that needs to be avoided at all costs.","PeriodicalId":358878,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Development","volume":"2007 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140246325","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-13DOI: 10.30965/27507955-20230026
H. Tirosh-Samuelson
Concern for the environment is recognizably present in contemporary Judaism, especially in the United States. Along with practitioners of other world religions, Jews have responded to the eco-crisis by reinterpreting canonic texts, articulating eco-theologies, and reenvisioning traditional Jewish rituals. Today there are Jewish environmental organizations and Jewish thinkers who inspire Jews to appreciate the agricultural roots of Judaism, cultivate an environmentally concerned lifestyle, green the practices of Jewish institutions, and advocate the ethics of creation care. Together these activities constitute a Jewish environmental sensibility that allows us to generalize about “Jewish environmentalism,” although it falls short of constituting a cohesive “environmental movement.” Focusing exclusively on Jewish environmentalism in the U.S., this essay features the academic discourse on Judaism and ecology, the official resolutions of Jewish denominations about environmental matters, and the main activities of Jewish environmental organizations. Judaism is a highly variegated religious tradition that speaks in many voices. Nonetheless, there are shared canonic texts, foundational beliefs, ethical values, and literary tropes that characterize a distinctive Judaic perspective. From that vantage point, development of the physical world is religiously permissible, but it must cohere with the ethical values and legal principles of Judaism. It is not surprising, therefore, that socially progressive Jewish environmentalists have been vocal critics of the extraction industries, transnational capitalism, and wasteful consumerism that have greatly contributed to the eco-crisis. Highlighting the biblical commandment to pursue justice (tzedek), some Jewish environmentalists have applied social justice to ecological matters and promoted the ideal of tikkun olam (“repair of the world”). The essay surveys the achievements of Jewish environmentalism and notes persistent challenges.
{"title":"Jewish Environmentalism in the United States: Achievements, Characteristics, and Challenges","authors":"H. Tirosh-Samuelson","doi":"10.30965/27507955-20230026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30965/27507955-20230026","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Concern for the environment is recognizably present in contemporary Judaism, especially in the United States. Along with practitioners of other world religions, Jews have responded to the eco-crisis by reinterpreting canonic texts, articulating eco-theologies, and reenvisioning traditional Jewish rituals. Today there are Jewish environmental organizations and Jewish thinkers who inspire Jews to appreciate the agricultural roots of Judaism, cultivate an environmentally concerned lifestyle, green the practices of Jewish institutions, and advocate the ethics of creation care. Together these activities constitute a Jewish environmental sensibility that allows us to generalize about “Jewish environmentalism,” although it falls short of constituting a cohesive “environmental movement.” Focusing exclusively on Jewish environmentalism in the U.S., this essay features the academic discourse on Judaism and ecology, the official resolutions of Jewish denominations about environmental matters, and the main activities of Jewish environmental organizations. Judaism is a highly variegated religious tradition that speaks in many voices. Nonetheless, there are shared canonic texts, foundational beliefs, ethical values, and literary tropes that characterize a distinctive Judaic perspective. From that vantage point, development of the physical world is religiously permissible, but it must cohere with the ethical values and legal principles of Judaism. It is not surprising, therefore, that socially progressive Jewish environmentalists have been vocal critics of the extraction industries, transnational capitalism, and wasteful consumerism that have greatly contributed to the eco-crisis. Highlighting the biblical commandment to pursue justice (tzedek), some Jewish environmentalists have applied social justice to ecological matters and promoted the ideal of tikkun olam (“repair of the world”). The essay surveys the achievements of Jewish environmentalism and notes persistent challenges.","PeriodicalId":358878,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Development","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140246152","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-17DOI: 10.30965/27507955-20230028
Zo Ramiandra Rakotoarison
Managing power relations is a development concern, and this study adds to research addressing questions of power and gender balance in local community development projects. It analyses power relations and gender roles within a Malagasy congregational asset-based community development project called “Use Your Talents”. In local communities as well as in larger society, power relations and gender injustice are interlinked. This paper is part of a qualitative study with data collected in 2018 at four Lutheran congregations in Madagascar with forty-one female and male informants. In analysing the interview, the following themes emerged: “power over” in favour of adult men, ‘power to’ that differentiates between women’s and men’s possibilities and limitations, ‘power with’ as collaboration between women, men and young people and activities based on gender and age, and “power within” from God and from skills based on gender. The study revealed that Use Your Talents mostly emphasises the ‘power within/with’, and where power is exercised ‘to and over’, it is mainly adult men exercising power. The study also found that women contributed significantly to congregational community development projects. The study concludes that the church provides both women and men opportunities for development through the Use Your Talents approach, but they exercise different aspects of power. This is reinforced by Use Your Talents and affected their roles, relations and activities in congregational community development. The difference in power favours adult men, while limiting economic and social possibilities for women.
{"title":"Gender and Power Relations in a Malagasy Congregational Asset-Based Community Development Project","authors":"Zo Ramiandra Rakotoarison","doi":"10.30965/27507955-20230028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30965/27507955-20230028","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Managing power relations is a development concern, and this study adds to research addressing questions of power and gender balance in local community development projects. It analyses power relations and gender roles within a Malagasy congregational asset-based community development project called “Use Your Talents”. In local communities as well as in larger society, power relations and gender injustice are interlinked. This paper is part of a qualitative study with data collected in 2018 at four Lutheran congregations in Madagascar with forty-one female and male informants. In analysing the interview, the following themes emerged: “power over” in favour of adult men, ‘power to’ that differentiates between women’s and men’s possibilities and limitations, ‘power with’ as collaboration between women, men and young people and activities based on gender and age, and “power within” from God and from skills based on gender. The study revealed that Use Your Talents mostly emphasises the ‘power within/with’, and where power is exercised ‘to and over’, it is mainly adult men exercising power. The study also found that women contributed significantly to congregational community development projects. The study concludes that the church provides both women and men opportunities for development through the Use Your Talents approach, but they exercise different aspects of power. This is reinforced by Use Your Talents and affected their roles, relations and activities in congregational community development. The difference in power favours adult men, while limiting economic and social possibilities for women.","PeriodicalId":358878,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Development","volume":" January","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139617994","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-17DOI: 10.30965/27507955-20230027
Susanna Trotta, D. S. Iannotti, Boris Rähme
In recent years, the intersection between religion and artificial intelligence (AI) has spurred discussions of a philosophical and theological nature in the academic literature and in public debates. These discussions have often focused on the potential of “general” and “strong AI” to replace God and/or human intelligence. However, this does not reflect the state of the technologies currently in use. We argue that there are several ways in which religious actors interact with existing “narrow” or “weak” AI tools that merit the attention of researchers working on religions and AI. We look at the practical ways in which religious actors use existing AI tools for their activities, while also considering their engagements in terms of education-, advocacy- and policy-related initiatives in the field of AI. Based on a range of examples of how religious actors employ and assess AI technologies within and beyond their religious practices, we present preliminary reflections on these interactions and suggest questions for further research.
{"title":"Religious Actors and Artificial Intelligence: Examples from the Field and Suggestions for Further Research","authors":"Susanna Trotta, D. S. Iannotti, Boris Rähme","doi":"10.30965/27507955-20230027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30965/27507955-20230027","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000In recent years, the intersection between religion and artificial intelligence (AI) has spurred discussions of a philosophical and theological nature in the academic literature and in public debates. These discussions have often focused on the potential of “general” and “strong AI” to replace God and/or human intelligence. However, this does not reflect the state of the technologies currently in use. We argue that there are several ways in which religious actors interact with existing “narrow” or “weak” AI tools that merit the attention of researchers working on religions and AI. We look at the practical ways in which religious actors use existing AI tools for their activities, while also considering their engagements in terms of education-, advocacy- and policy-related initiatives in the field of AI. Based on a range of examples of how religious actors employ and assess AI technologies within and beyond their religious practices, we present preliminary reflections on these interactions and suggest questions for further research.","PeriodicalId":358878,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Development","volume":" 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139616887","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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