Sacred texts and religious discourse

In this paper, we present experiments using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program, a ‘closed-class keyword’ (CCK) analysis and a ‘correspondence analysis’ (CA) to examine whether the Scientology texts of L. Ron Hubbard are linguistically and conceptually like those of other religions. A Kruskal–Wallis test comparing the frequencies of LIWC category words in the Scientology texts and the English translations of the texts of five other religions showed that there were eighteen categories for which the Scientology texts differed from the others, and between one and seventeen for the other religions. In the CCK experiment, keywords typical of each religion were found, both by comparing the religious texts with one another and with the Brown corpus of general English. The most typical keywords were looked up in a concordancer and were manually coded with conceptual tags. The set of categories found for the Scientology texts showed little overlap with those found for the ot...

Quranic discourse can greatly benefit from European theoretical linguistics. However, until now, the value of European theoretical linguistics to the investigation of Qur’anic discourse has been overlooked. This is the first book on Qur’anic linguistics, which accounts for the different levels of linguistic and stylistic analysis. Hinged upon modern European theoretical linguistics, it covers a wide range of topics such as: syntactic structures, ellipsis, synonymy, polysemy, semantic redundancy, semantic incongruity, semantic contrastiveness, selection restriction rule, componential features, collocation, cyclical modification, foregrounding and backgrounding, pragmatic functions and categories of shift, pragmatic distinction between verbal and nominal sentences, morphosemantic features of lexical items, context- sensitive word and
phrase order, and vowel points and phonetic variation.

A leitura de textos religiosos produzidos entre os séculos XVI e XVIII, com vistas à catequese e à ação cristã, não pode ser desassociada também da finalidade de “entreter o espírito”. Neste artigo, examinamos como se deu essa problemática em Portugal, colhendo exemplos principalmente de textos hagiográficos, que, nesse período, ombreavam com obras ditas profanas no que diz respeito à leitura para o deleite.

The unprecedented development of the Internet in the contemporary world and its increasing influence in people’s life produce, inevitably, an impact on religious practice. This paper is interested in analysing the manners Internet, and web-based religious communication affects
adherentsNew Religious Movements’ public discourses and the manner these groups’ construct their religious messages to attract more adherents, via the Internet. We intend to demonstrate that communication through Internet positively influences the way NRMs construct their religious messages to attract new followers, that NRMs’ public discourse is influenced by their self-positioning as cultural and religious alternatives, and also by extensive Internet usage in disseminating and constructing their religious discourse. As Internet impacts most religious groups’ communication we want to underline those elements specific to NRMs.'
communication. To depict the specificity of Internet’s impact on NRMs’ discourse we’ll first underline some general transformations within religious life and practice induced by long-term social changes, like modernization or globalization. These generate deep cultural
transformation on people’s mentality, and religion become, in Western societies, rather a cultural product (Beckford), a projects of the autonomous self (Hoover) dominated by a turn to subjective-life (Woodhead).
Mediatization of religion (Hjarvard) generates interesting phenomenons, like “banal religion” (Hjarvard), “hyper-religion” (Possamai) or “cultural religion” (Albanese), while the Internet creates many posibilities of action on a religious field for any individual. From challenging traditional religious authorities to creation of a new churchless religion, the Internet allows, especially to New Religious Movements, to attract more followers using the Internet. After these demarcations we’ll underline the specific effects of Internet on NRMs’ discourse. As these groups are much interested in attracting new followers and being more persuasive to outsiders, their public discourses become less traditional, less theological and more flexible, more marketized and follower-oriented.

En este trabajo nos proponemos analizar las variaciones en el empleo del lexema “pueblo” durante el proceso de redacción del documento Iglesia y comunidad nacional (1981). Para ello nos detendremos en la demanda elaborada por el grupo productor al episcopado para que éste asumiera un discurso “populista”, como modo de instaurar discursivamente una identidad social configurada, simultáneamente, por la experiencia del peronismo en la Argentina y la renovación eclesiológica del Concilio Vaticano II. Para ello, argumentamos, los redactores construyeron una representación del pueblo como sujeto político y propusieron una identificación entre el locutor episcopal y el objeto discursivo así construido. Complementariamente, observamos el rechazo sistemático y puntilloso de esta demanda en los “modos” o correcciones realizadas por los obispos en el cuarto borrador. El análisis genético se complementa con un examen de los efectos producidos en ciertos ámbitos de recepción del texto, que nos permitirá observar cómo, a pesar del control episcopal, el efecto de discurso populista llegó a ser percibido por algunos sujetos que rechazaban precisamente esa articulación entre catolicismo posconciliar y peronismo.

Problem statement: Nasir al-Molk mosque, which is described in architectural writing resources as a distinct mosque, has become a tourism center in Shiraz for many years and seems to have lost its devotional function. This distinction from the mosques with a more historical dating in Shiraz results in the assumption that the architectural features of this mosque are the reason for this distinction. Characteristics that come with the change or emphasis of common patterns in traditional mosques, and field observations and reviewing the documents of related resources include the lack of elongation of the prayer hall perpendicular to the axis of the qibla, the aberration of the perception of the qibla, the maximum decorations in the space of worship and the likeness to non-Muslim patterns. In order to examine these characteristics that cprayer hallenge the historic originality, it is necessary to refer to non-timely religious criteria, which goes beyond this feature, to ensure the devotional function of the mosque in an optimal way.
Research objective: Hence, the main purpose of this research is to judge and critique the distinctive features of the design of the Nasir al-Molk mosque in Shiraz based on religious criteria.
Research method: In the present article, using the verses of the Qur’an and narrations, especially those who refer to the construction of Masjid al-Nabi(The prophet’s Mosque) by the prophet (pbuh), as criteria for criticism, the judgment of these four attributes in the mosque of Nasir al-Molk will be considered.
Conclusion: The findings show that the division of the prayer hall into the eastern and western parts, which contradicts the policies of the prayer hall design from the point of view of Islam, as well as the aberration from the axis of the qibla alongside the maximum decorations that damage the experience of the worshipers, and finally use the signs and patterns of imported architecture in the Qajar era prove that the effect of these features is to enhance the mosque’s exhibitive capabilities and, hence, reduce its worshipability.

Although actors on both sides are driving this
conflict, it is today’s Salafists who are proving to
be the dominant standard-bearers of anti-Shi‘a discourse—
not taking into account the violent jihadists,
whose popular appeal and staying power have
yet to be demonstrated despite some spectacular
and headline-grabbing territorial gains and terrorist
acts. The Salafist movement has shown itself adroit
at exploiting opportunities to advance its rhetorical
and theological positions amid the religious
re-examination and outright contestation among
religious subgroups sparked by the recent Arab
uprisings and their successful challenge to existing
institutions of power in the region.