Witchcraft and final reflections

This weeks presentation final presentation on witchcraft was really interesting and of particular interest to me as it is the topic I will be writing my final essay on. I really liked the inclusion of the modern day witches/supernatural world through the third part of the presentation that covered modern representations of witches in film and what this means for feminism. For my own research essay, I will be focusing upon the representation of demonic possession in film in contemporary cinema. I am interested in engaging with the reasons the devil and the portrayal of demons are used in film to portray fear and create uneasiness. This ties in with Professor Phillip Almonds lecture on the “re-enchantment” of the world with the supernatural (eg Twilight, Harry Potter, The Exorcist) and why we still feel drawn to these tropes within religion after thousands of years.

As this is my final blog post, I would like to reflect on what I have learnt throughout the course. I have discovered that I am very keen to find out what the actual future for religion is in our world. As religious powers and groups become more prominent, for example ISIS, what will the worlds reaction be to religion? As a pre -service teacher hoping to teach The Study of Religions, I am hopeful that the future holds a generation who wishes to understand those around them and see the merits and the detriments of religion on society and how people can have their own perspective while also respecting others. One of the main things I will take away from this course however is that religion does have a future, even if we can’t quite say what that is. It is evident through our classes research that individual and group belief is still relevant to society and will impact upon our lives to come.

Who will we become? – Issues with Transhumanism

I would like to discuss for this post the issue that Sylvie raised at the start of the second Trans humanism presentation. The issue that Sylvie raises is that of the ethical dilemmas involved with the idea of merging technology and humans. As she discusses, where does this leave us as not just ‘bodies’ but as humans, individuals with individual emotions and ways of living our lives.

I think that these are important questions to ask right now, before technology progresses to a stage where it has already gone too far and humans possibly lose a sense of self. It could be argued that we are already at the stage where technology dominates our lives. Phones are glued to their owners, life would seem impossible without a computer an unfathomable without the internet. As trans-humanism poses the question, should we combine ourselves with technology? (such as implanting chips into arms for medical and identity verification) we should be already looking at how it affects our lives. What values will be lost if humans were to become more heavily dependent on machinery or medical technology? would we technically still own our bodies or would parts belong to corporations? Are we still truly ourselves if we have been modified?

These questions I believe are all very important to the understanding how to incorporate technology into our lives, and if it really is a religious issue.

The future of Health and Religion

This weeks presentation on health brought up important discussion around the role of doctors and medical professions in regards to religious beliefs and religious health. One of the most discussed aspects of the presentation was the question of whether doctors should have the capacity to record spiritual history or background (such as denominations, level of involvement with religious community etc.) and offer spiritual advice such as praying with the patient or referring them to a religious authoritative figure. While I can see that some would like their doctors or health professionals to be religiously conscious, I disagree with the belief that it should be standardized across all medical centers. For myself, religion remains a personal aspect of ones life and should not be merged with health practices. In my own opinion, I feel that if doctors began to take religious history, or had the capacity to do so, some patients would feel obliged to offer this information even if it did not pertain to their illness.

This presentation was conducted very well and the girls who gave the lecture presented clear and factual arguments, particularly those by Theresa on Sloan and Keonig’s arguments on religion and health, and led a good discussion which challenged the classes view on the matter.

Focusing on the future of health in religion, it could be argued that the relationship between the two will only grow and become more complicated as humanity turns to medicine and religion both to answer some of life’s more challenging aspects.

Asian traditions – Buddhism

This week’s group focused upon Buddhism and its future in both Asian and Western worlds. I found the commentary on the commercialization and appropriation of Buddhism really intriguing. As what was brought up in the presentation, I want to discuss whether it is religious appropriation to have Buddha statues in your house if you are not Buddhist. On one hand, the use of Buddhism symbols throughout the Western world and particularly Australia, are used with reverence and people often describe the use of the statues in their homes as a calming presence, or to add an oriental ‘feel’. It could be argued that this isn’t appropriation because the connection has not been lost between the Buddha’s significance and the use of his image in a persons home. On the other hand however, it could be seen as disrespectful to have these statues, particularly if they are brightly painted or comical, as this denies the symbol its original and intended meaning.

I think that the future of Buddhism is a positive one, but perhaps not as the religion is today. As Buddhism becomes more and more popular throughout the West, through the commercialization of spiritual practices such as meditation (and of course Yoga from the Hindu tradition), the religion and way of life behind these health practices may be cast aside. I feel like it is up to the Western culture to ensure that as they embrace Buddhism, it is still respected.

The future of Worship – Christianity

For this week’s topic, I found the reading “Worship wars” that was posted by the group to show great insight into the differing opinions on worship. Author James Empereur suggests that there is discord within some Christian churches due to the differing opinions of worship. An example of this that Empereur gives is the distinction between the want for ‘noise’ and outer – world connection within worship, and the want for quiet and isolated worship. Empereur describes the wants of some for a more engaging spiritual experiences, such as the use of technology in services (such as hymns projected onto screens/movie like presentations) or the use of modern music such as pop or rock to sing the hymns. This is in contrast to the more traditional worships which are cut off from the outside world, and are more of a reflective worship than actively engaging.

This difference in needs can be seen quite clearly in Australia through the emergence of the Pentecostal church Hillsong. Hillsong provides directly to those seeking a more modern, arguably youthful worship service. Services are highly energetic and emotive, using music written by Hillsong members, and having rock bands and light shows to make the service feel more relevant to the younger audience. On the other hand however, more traditional services such as Catholic Mass or Greek Orthodox services still remain a more reflective, if somewhat private worship. This perhaps reflects the future of religion within Australia. As people are given more and more freedom and variety within their choice of religious faith, different churches are able to cater to different worship needs.

Empereur J. 2004. Worship Wars in the Roman Catholic Church, Liturgy, 19(4): 15-24.

Secularization

For this week, myself and fellow students gave our presentation on the theory of secularization in the modern world. For my part of the presentation, I focused upon the rejection of secularization by some religions and also the rise of fundamentalism throughout the world. A prominent theorist in this field, Peter Burger, argues that countries or religions either accept or reject secularization (3). The religions that Berger focuses primarily upon are those of Evangelical Christianity and Extremist Islamic groups. Berger argues that secularization theory, or the theory that the more progressive a country becomes the more secular it will become, is inherently incorrect in our modern world. Berger argues that the ubiquitous presence of Evangelism in the United States disproves this secularization theory. As arguably the successful first world country, America has a highly religious population. But it is not only in America that Evangelical adherents are on the rise, as Berger argues their spread is “breathtaking in scope” (8). The Evangelical upsurge has gained huge numbers in Eastern Asia, South Korea, The Philippines, Africa, and quite large numbers in Latin America (6). With more than 40 million Evangelical adherents south of the U.S border, it could be argued that Evangelism is not adhering to the theory of secularization.

Through studying Berger’s argument of counter- secularization, I found it interesting that this theory is not coming to fruition in this day and age. For the future of religion, I feel that secularization will either become of vital importance or become of no consequence. Here in Australia the view of secularization and what that means for the general population is already being challenged by those who seek to ‘ban the burqa’ or discouraging Australian citizens to fight for other countries and religions.I feel that soon perhaps we will have to definitively define by what we see as secular behaviour and what is not, and whether this is as important as politics try and make us believe.

Berger P. The desecularization of the world. A global overview. In P. Berger. The desecularization of the world. Resurgent religions and world politics. Grand Rapis, MI: William Erdmans & Co

The future of the Devil

This weeks subject of witchcraft is one that I find so facsinating and perhaps frightening. The idea of demonic posession, or losing control of your body or mind to another person or being has to be one of my greatest fears. Phillip Almond gave our class a great lecture on witchcraft and the theories surrounding how it came about, however, i would like to focus on the area I find most interesting – that of the Devil and demonic powers. Phillip has also written about this topic in his book Demonic Possession and Exorcism in Early Modern England and it is the introduction chapter from this book that I will be looking at. Case studies of demonic posession are almost nothing without creepy horror music and contortions (atleast to me) but Phillips description of posession at the beginning of this book is anything but subpar. I feel that the language and imagery surrpounding demonic posession adds to the percieved sense of evil that is present when discussing anything of this matter. The line “He was often seen, we are informed,to have a lump running up and down his body between the flesh and theskin. He gnashed his teeth and foamed at the mouth. He shrieked with pain, and wept and laughed. He had the strength of four or five men, and his features were horribly disfigured.” on the first page on this introduction, I think, preys directly at the center of human fear – losing control of their minds and bodies. The topic of demonic posession is popular because of it’s macabre nature and ability to explore the opposite side of the omniscient G-d rhetoric. 

The future of demonic posession I feel perhaps will be delegated to that of the movie world. Although I do believe that it has its place in history and is part of human existence, I feel that people do not need to be ‘excorsied’ like they might have needed in past times. I come to this conclusion as I see religion personally as a way for people to achieve peace and gives hope to those in need. The existence of the Devil and the threat of going to Hell or becoming possessed I feel is less in todays world as there are more issues that people are dealing with that could be seen as their own personal type of demonic “posession” – such as financial hardship or an unbalanced life/work career.

I really am interested in this area of study and I think I will be looking at Phillips work closely for my research essay.

H+ A Religion?

Reflecting upon this weeks lecture by Leigh Penman on Transhumanism, I realised that I had never quite thought seriously about this topic. The ideals held by transhumanists are that the human race should embrace technological advances in the medical and geneogical areas and use them to better the human race (such as genetic modification to decrease aging, cloning etc). I would like to explore one of the questions raised by Leigh during the lecture, that of “could transhumanism be considered a religion?”.

I suppose I had never thought of this philosophy as a religion because it doesn’t seem to meet any of the immediate criteria – a creation story, a diety, doctrine, texts etc. An article written by Gabriel Rothbatt for the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (accessed from http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/gabrielrothblatt20120607) looks indepth at this question. Rothbatt argues that “Transhumaniusm is no more a religion than democracy is a nation”. By this I think that Rothbatt is implying that Transhumanism is more a process or an ideal rather than a religion. The commonality of the two however is the thought given by world religions and the Transhumaist to the progression of the human race. Religious thought, perhaps most dominatingly Christian, is that humans were created ‘perfectly’ from G-d’s image, and therefore do not need improvement or progression to evolve. Transhumanism however focuses on the improvement of the human condition (such as age or illness) through embracing technological advances in the field of medicine and biomechanics in able to enhance genetic modification. I would argue that transhumanism is not a religion but more a philosophy or desire by some to include technology to the utmost within our lives. I think that this school of thought will become more apparent, especially in Western culture as technology becomes even more imposing upon our lives and the medical proffession.

Rothbatt, G (2012) Is Transhumanismn a Religion? Ethical technology, accessed from http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/gabrielrothblatt20120607

Religion and Health

This week’s lecture given by Dr. Neil Pembroke was very interesting;discuessing the future of religion in the medical proffession and field. Although empirical evidence is scarse or unsubstatiated of the impact of religious practice on health, overwhelming anecdotal evidicnce proves that for many people around the world, most specifically in the United States, religion is most definitely a factor in their wellbeing. The community fostered by religious adherence, active participation in social interaction and a sense of hope are all touted as beneficial contributions of religion to health, but one aspect that Dr. Pembroke discussed that i thought was the most interesting was the relationship between doctor and patient, especially in conjunction with the debate of patient or doctor initated prayer or religious instruction. From my own point of view, I believe that religion and medical practice should be kept seperate except in the case of patient initiated questioning and wanting advice. The use of religion in medice could lead to questionable practice as patients who are non-denominational could feel not welcomed at a certain practice because of their religion or could feel pressure to discuss their private thoughts with a doctor whom they might not know very well. I believe however that doctors should be equipped to answer or provide support for religious based enquiries as for some people, their religious mindset and lifestyle could very well be contributing to their health (positive or negative). I think that this is a very interesting subject that will become increasingy relevent in Australia as people start to associate their mental health as being as important as their physical.

Asian traditions – being transformed by the West?

Why have yoga and meditation been so popular in the west? Do you think their popularity is driven by a immigrant diaspora? Or the needs of a western market?

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As a girl in my early twenties, living in Brisbane, Australia, I see a lot of Asian religious traditions being used by predominately young teenage/early twenties women, as a way of creating health and peace in their lives. The art of meditation and yoga are huge businesses within the Western world. Instead of being practiced for their traditional use of connecting with inner spirits or reaching nirvana (as in Buddhism), yoga in particular is marketed as an exercise designed to de-stress oneself and gain flexibility. The question I would like to be asking in this post is if this is harmful or disrespectful to the traditions that use these practices as part of their religious or spiritual lives. Sandhu Bhamra argues in their post “Stop cultural appropriation of Yoga: Yoga is all about Hinduism”, that learning yoga is indeed learning a Hindu way of worship. They argue that stripping the Hindu aspect of Yoga away from the practice of Yoga is “robbing Yoga of its essence”. They argue that the “Sanātana Dharma” or “essential way of life” in Hinduism is an integral part of learning yoga, as the practice of yoga is the means of reaching spiritual liberation. 

I believe the practice of yoga by people in the West is not so much cultural appropriation, but cultural ignorance. Yoga is marketed to younger Western woman as an exotic and ancient health exercise when in reality it is so much more than that. 

References – 

http://sandhubhamra.com/2013/07/18/stop-cultural-appropriation-of-yoga-yoga-is-all-about-hinduism-albeit-without-the-ism/ 

Image – https://www.flickr.com/photos/balintfoeldesi/11752252314/in/photolist-au8tpP-d4c1gU-5BUwZw-4eCfzf-7wD5Nx-8rrNtd-3y8tGE-2PUKij-iUvnaU-h39SUT-cRFDfY-9EVhyB-aht7Wt-6D6g18-43ZzqU-bAkzWr-37ce-KfsHj-6RSYdt-9Naxdm