scholarly journals Embracing complexity: the post-secular pilgrimage of Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 228-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Illman

This article deals with the phenomenon of pilgrimage as a personal transformative process; an exploration of spiritual space rather than a journey undertaken to a physical place. The analysis focuses on the life story and authorship of the novelist and playwright Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt (b. 1960). Schmitt began his career as an academic philosopher specialised in enlightenment rationality. A mystical experience in the deserts of Sahara, however, opened his eyes to the spiritual dimensions of reality and encouraged him to redirect his professional strivings from academic writing to fiction. Today, Schmitt has reached a world-wide audience with his plays and novels on interreligious dialogue, especially the series of five short novellas called Le cycle d’Invisible. These narratives all deal with inter-religious encounters in a complex and compassionate way as Schmitt is particularly concerned with preserving the mystery of the situations he describes. The atheist conviction of his previous life has thus given way to an agnostic and mystically inspired world view focusing on diversity, divinity and inexplicability: “I am obsessed with complexity”, as he puts it himself. The presentation is based on ethnographic material, and key themes to be addressed include pilgrimage as a spiritual journey, interreligious encounters and mystical experiences.

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 1853-1858
Author(s):  
Lesko Natalia Vladimirovna Et al.

The features of the Internet as a leading institution of information law in the XXI century have been studied in the article. It has been determined that a characteristic feature of the Internet is that geographical boundaries do not play any role here. The Internet space is an electronic information space of communications for which there are no borders. That is why it is difficult to ensure effective legal regulation of the Internet, as there is no systematic legislation regulating the relevant types of relations on the World Wide Web, besides, there are objective features of the Internet functioning. It has been stated that an important point of solving the problems of using the Internet is the adoption of the Laws: "On the protection of freedom on the Internet", "On e-democracy", "On distance learning on the Internet". It has been noted that in modern society, the Internet has made it possible to influence greatly the life of every person. As a result of globalization processes, the World Wide Web performs the function of forming a person's world-view. Unfortunately, standards that do not conform to the ideas of humanism are often promoted on the Internet. New forms of communication on the Internet have led to the separation of the culture function of this means of mass communication, as a result of which a specific information culture is being formed. Thus, an important factor in building a global information society is the formation of the individual new information culture on the Internet network.


2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Kersten-Parrish

In academic writing about disability, the impetus is typically used to subvert society's ableist structures and challenge misconceptions and misunderstanding around disability. However, due to the world-wide spread of COVID-19 and the restrictions put in place to reduce the virus's impact, such as asking people to wear masks in public places and the closing of universities and moving to entirely online learning, the author, who is deaf, found herself vulnerable and confronting a lack of access due to these measures. This reflexive paper will investigate how the pandemic and its effects forced the author to reconsider her ownership of her deafness. It will add to a growing body of autoethnographic disability research by contributing another facet to understandings around disability and self as they are actualized in the midst of the pandemic.


Author(s):  
Christine Wells

Like learning to read or write, or acquiring the fundamentals of mathematics, screen media literacy is rapidly becoming an essential life skill. This dominant and expansive interface for contact, culture, and commerce has become the way we communicate now. Given the power and reach of the screen, it seems essential that as with any other fundamental skill, we must begin to understand and create within this medium in a more foundational, intentional way. But the language of the screen is complicated, rapidly becoming almost as multidimensional and multifaceted as the number of users it encompasses. Additionally, given its reliance on technology, it is an ever-changing landscape fraught with the challenges of chasing the elusive cutting edge. This chapter looks at a more back to basics approach to screen media literacy by offering instruction in what screen media really is and how to create it in a more foundational and transferable fashion. Using simple, accessible technology, people become more screen literate and the creation process enables deeper, more authentic learning, with the credence and accountability of a potentially world wide audience. Focusing on an integral part of a process developed by the Rosebud Institute – an organization committed to making screen media literacy more broadly understood and accessible – this step-by-step, integrated method delivers a new understanding of media literacy. Using simple, accessible technology, participants create dynamic, original ePortfolio websites themselves and distribute their work to an ever-expanding audience. Developed along with Rosebud’s founder and director, Paul Chilsen, the process encourages individuals to find their own voice and embrace the me in media, moving us towards a future where people will instantly capture, identifiably own, intelligently store, and instinctively know what to do with their digital assets, allowing us all to communicate more effectively and thrive in a media-saturated world.


2014 ◽  
pp. 149-168
Author(s):  
Christine Wells

Like learning to read or write, or acquiring the fundamentals of mathematics, screen media literacy is rapidly becoming an essential life skill. This dominant and expansive interface for contact, culture, and commerce has become the way we communicate now. Given the power and reach of the screen, it seems essential that as with any other fundamental skill, we must begin to understand and create within this medium in a more foundational, intentional way. But the language of the screen is complicated, rapidly becoming almost as multidimensional and multifaceted as the number of users it encompasses. Additionally, given its reliance on technology, it is an ever-changing landscape fraught with the challenges of chasing the elusive cutting edge. This chapter looks at a more back to basics approach to screen media literacy by offering instruction in what screen media really is and how to create it in a more foundational and transferable fashion. Using simple, accessible technology, people become more screen literate and the creation process enables deeper, more authentic learning, with the credence and accountability of a potentially world wide audience. Focusing on an integral part of a process developed by the Rosebud Institute – an organization committed to making screen media literacy more broadly understood and accessible – this step-by-step, integrated method delivers a new understanding of media literacy. Using simple, accessible technology, participants create dynamic, original ePortfolio websites themselves and distribute their work to an ever-expanding audience. Developed along with Rosebud's founder and director, Paul Chilsen, the process encourages individuals to find their own voice and embrace the me in media, moving us towards a future where people will instantly capture, identifiably own, intelligently store, and instinctively know what to do with their digital assets, allowing us all to communicate more effectively and thrive in a media-saturated world.


Author(s):  
Maria Clara Lucchetti Bingemer

The chapter examines the presence and visibility of spiritual and mystical experience in the secularized and plural contemporary world. Our historical moment puts into question the socio-political and cultural context of contemporary mystical life and thought. This allows us to trace the contours of present-day mystical experience in the southern hemisphere, where the experience of the Spirit is intertwined in distinctive ways with issues such as secular politics or interreligious dialogue and with the emergence of intra-ecclesial spiritualism. In doing so, we elaborate the new challenges that the experience of and reflection upon mysticism poses for Christian theology and its discourse about humanity.


1989 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-163
Author(s):  
Mumtaz Ahmad

The cause of interfaith dialogue, understanding and what is sometimesdescribed as "the wider ecumenismn has gained considerable momentum inrecent years. While interfaith conflicts and sectarian tensions continue to hitthe headlines, efforts to build bridges and arrive at some degree of mutualunderstanding are also underway. Recent years have witnessed the emergenceof many groups, agencies and organizations around the globe that are workingin the field of interreligious dialogue and understanding. These groupingshave held numerous interfaith seminars, cqnferences and workshops and havecontributed significantly in opening up new channels of communication andwider avenues of concord among the hitherto contending religious communityleaders. One such organization is The Council for the World's Religions (CWR).a New York based organization which aims to bring believers of all faithsinto mutual friendship and collaboration in the service of God and humanity.The Interfaith Directory sponsored by the CWR is one important step towarddisseminating information about other organizations and agencies workingfor interreligious harmony and concord.The Directory lists names, addresses and activities of about seven hundredinterfaith organizations throughout the world. These organizations have beenlisted in five different categories: 1) organizations with multifaith membership;2) organizations relating to two or three religions; 3) organizations basedon one religion. but with outreach to other religions; 4) universalist movementsfor spiritual unity; and 5) academic institutions which are also centers ofinterfaith dialogue and encounter. Some organizations receive multiple entriesbecause of the varied nature of their activities and programs. The Directoryalso includes two very useful indeces, one alphabetical and the othergeographical. As has been noted by the editor, these organizations may varyconsiderably in size, resources and effectiveness but all of them share thecommon goal of interreligious harmony. Francis Clark has contributed a verythoughtful introduction to the volume in which he discusses present trendsin the world-wide interfaith movement. He rightly points out that the interfaithmovement "is a deeper religious expression of the new sense of oneness ofthe human family and the new awareness of our coounon responsibilities,dangers and destiny in our one shared habitat." However, he is not oblivious ...


Author(s):  
Ayşe Zişan Furat ◽  
Hamit Er

Abstract Interreligious dialogue (IRD) has been one of the vehemently debated topics in Turkey since the late 90s. Many socio-political factors played a significant role in the proliferation of IRD discussions within the academic circles in this period. The multifaceted and complex nature of the term also attracted a wide audience outside the academia, and particularly, politically motivated organisations. Correspondingly, the term became one of the reference points for their propaganda goals. Facing the complexity of the issue, this paper aims to disclose the evolution of IRD in Turkey by seeking answers to the question “how has the term IRD been perceived by Turkish scholars?” by providing insights about the major milestones in the discussions. The article concludes with an analysis of the main trends in the related discussions as follows: IRD as (1) a necessity for social welfare, (2) an instrument for religious propaganda, (3) and as part of dialogic relation.


2020 ◽  
pp. 133-176
Author(s):  
Tamar Ross

This chapter tackles the problem of religious truth in a broader theological context, and not simply with reference to one of the prevailing challenges, typically the challenge of the reliability of tradition or the confrontation with science. It makes us aware of the surprising anti-realist position of Rav Kook, wherein he is willing to consider various truth statements as not capturing truth fully and completely. The chapter explores Rav Kook's position against the history of non-realism in Jewish tradition, but more significantly against the broader orientations of postmodern philosophy. In seeking to distinguish Rav Kook from postmodern thinkers, the chapter allows us to appreciate the fine balancing act between the theoretical flexibility that allows him to adopt an instrumentalist view of truth statements and the relativism that characterizes postmodern philosophy. Rav Kook, then, offers an intriguing balance between non-realist understandings on the one hand and an ontological grounding of his spiritual life on the other, largely by virtue of his mystical experience and panentheistic world-view. This balance opens up promising avenues in a contemporary educational context, wherein one seeks to integrate willingness to adopt a view that does not rely on heavy ontological claims for grounding truth with religious fervour and devotion.


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