center for media, religion and culture > public conferences on media, religion and culture Faculty of Social Science, University of Tehran
Section for Research on Radio Table of ContentsA Gender and Generations Mode of Religiosity in Formal Media in Iran: Locality versus Globality Cyber Religion and Duality of Religious Spaces: On-line and Off-line Religious Communications Globalization of Islam in the Age of the Internet Religions at the Base of the Pyramid Community Approach in the Religious Cyberspace: A Comparative Study of Islam Online and Tibyan Sites The Role of Media in the Threats and Opportunities of Globalization for Religion Television, Religions Media, the Mirror of Relationship between Family, Government and Religion in Iran Media Objects, Television and Secularism Policies of Religious Media in Iran; Interactive, Dynamic and Integrated System of Communication The Emergence of Religious Lifestyle Branding: Fashion Bibles, Bhangra Parties, and Muslim Pop Islamic Mysticism and Communication and Media Traditional and Modern Propaganda in Religion Realm Affect, Media, and the Ethics of Death in Contemporary Egypt Audiences and the Mediazation of Religion Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ’: A Study in Religion and Popular Culture Religion and Media, Religious Media or Media Religion, Theoretical Studies Satisfaction of Religious Media Audiences Application Method of Fear and Hope As Two Religious principles in Radio and Television Studying the Relation of Media and Religion, a Case Study on the Media Interactivity and Openness in Religious C&VG’s in Iran Feminism and Democracy in the Service of Empire Today Posting Images on the Web: Mediated Religious and Secular Non-violent Resistance against Terrorism Religion, Media and the Politics of Knowledge: Visual Culture and New Forms of Public Pedagogy Gender Religion and Visual Culture in India Today Interaction Between Media and Religion Muslim's Image in the Hollywood Cinema An Introduction to Devil (Satan) Making of Muslims in Western Medias Universality of Religion and Globalization of Electronic Media: Convergence or Divergence Shia in the Surrounding of Globalization Challenges and the Role of Media Creating Shared Religious Symbols
AbstractsA Gender and Generations Mode of Religiosity in Formal Media in Iran; Locality versus Globality This paper is an attempt to explain the ever-reconstructing mechanism of religious beliefs through relations with the formal media in Iran. This explanation will take place through a reference to 1- a debate on indigenizing trends of gender and generations-based social groups and 2- to the differential global trends which originate from multiplicity of media sources that tend to undermine these indigenizing trends. The interactions between generations and their gender-based characteristics in connection to the rate of dependency on formal media will be examined in this paper. And I will indicate that this reconstruction process that is taking place by the new generations has resulted in an ever-increasing gap between formal religious teachings and religious ideals of the new generations. From this point of view, among new generations being religious can only makes sense in connection to elements such as religious rituals (Ashura ceremonies) which are broadcasted by the formal media. On the other hand, the new generations make sense of their everyday life based on the information that is provided by the multimedia modes of communications such as Internet. This type of media, however, functions in accordance with a secular principle and therefore transfers secular teachings and values. Under these circumstances, the new generations on the one hand indicate an indigenizing media consumption pattern in their beliefs and on the other hand, reflect a global mode of behavior that challenges their religious identity. If one considers a connection that exists between individual powerlessness brought about by the formal media with individual power and an increase in open choice offered to them by the informal media then one should conclude that reconstruction of religious beliefs among new generations takes place in relations to the level of open choice available to the individuals in the process of communication. In other words, any limitation posed on free receipt of teachings, on one hand, and a resulting resistance against formal media messages, on the other hand, has resulted in a multiple informal receipt of messages and this in turn has given rise to a situation where multiple religious beliefs are in the process of formation.
Cyber Religion and Duality of Religious Spaces: On-line and Off-line Religious Communications Religious Environment is highly dominated by social and cultural elements. The message of religion in one hand and in the other hand social master forces such as ethnicity, gender, social communications, economic circumstances and political structure are potential for reproduction and representation of religion. One of the critical forces which influence religious orientations is level of social communications. By emergence of simultaneous communication industry, new ‘world communication space’—‘the second world’ added up to cultural space and religious environment in ‘the real world’—‘the first world’. In 2004, the number of religious web increased from 1.7 million in 1991 to 51 million websites. This shows increasing demand for religious message in cyberspace. Cyber space creates ‘global ground’ for appearance and reproduction of all religion without any distinction between those religion with only community local base or religions with global followers. Cyberspace will diversified and pluralized ‘daily experience in the real world’. Although national press, radio and television played important role on homogenization and at the same time hetrogenization of social values, arrival of the cyber space extended ‘cultural diversity’, ‘cultural choices’ and consequently ‘relativization of religious environment’ replaced ‘absolutist message’ of late religious environment. Religious relativism will not necessarily end up to decline of religious affiliation and religious belief. In contrast such a diversity and connectivity to variety of cultures and values, has constructive potential for empowerment of ‘distinctive understanding of religion’ which arisen from new ‘slef-consciousness’. Such an empowerment of religious belief is ‘reflexive result’ of ‘power and choice’ environment. According to latest publication on cyber religion (Hojsgaard & Warburg, 2005) the academic research of religion in cyberspace moved from its first wave of research—focusing on the fascinating, new, and extraordinary aspects of cyberspace to its second wave which tends to emphasize the diversity of the field and the need to put new findings in to a broader historical and social perspective. The third wave is bricolage of scholarship coming from different background and with diverse methodological preferences may very well indicate that the topic is maturing academically, and that it is maturing well. This paper can be consider as a method of approach related to third wave of research on cyber religion which is behind types of extraordinary picturing as well as only emphasizing on diversity aspects of cyber religion. Therefore, in this paper, we will try to make a sort of typological study on distinctive religious communication in an online and offline religious discourses. Here according to paradigm of ‘duality of life space, inner religious communications as well as outer religious communications within cyberspace will be examined. In the line of centrality or plurality of cultures we will also examine religious discourses within ‘the real world’ and ‘the cyber world’. It can be articulated that the most immediate results of this trend is ‘proliferation of religious knowledge and experience’ which can lead religious practice into revitalization of religious belief according to ‘self-consciousness belief and practice’.
Globalization of Islam in the Age of the Internet What can the Internet do for Islam? It has provided a new medium for da’wa and for publication, like print in the 19th century and broadcasting in the 20th. It continues their extension of Islamic literacy, but also adds something else: a kind of literacy and literate classes that come with globalization. This is only partly a matter of technical culture, or computer literacy in its widest sense, which includes new media cultures built on new information technologies; it also includes the Internet promise of direct and complete knowledge in a discursive form, rather than through rituals that attach meanings to individual and collective identities. That is, beneath the evident challenges to authority that come with expanding the number and range of Muslim voices, and beneath the changing balances between long-standing Muslim-majority countries and Islam’s new “overseas” populations in Europe and North America, are more subtle changes that come with globalization. The Internet magnifies effects of literacy and the rise of elites who acquire skills to use the Internet as a tool of global networking and expression, particularly self-expression; it thrusts them and issues of Islamic identity to the fore; it privileges discourse over ritual for forming and expressing identities. In such practices, the Internet raises the possibility of a new social and cultural geography of identity formation that both exposes the real diversity of Islam and extends the reach of Islam in modern lives and those lives in growing middle classes of Muslims.
Religions at the Base of the Pyramid This presentation raises the question of the practical consequences of religion(s) in our daily life with a focus not only on our individual behavior but more specifically on corporate and consumer life. Four billion people live at the bottom of the economic pyramid seeking to exist on $3/day or less. Poverty exists despite the more than $1 billion in aid that is spent on attempts to alleviate it. So the questions to be addressed are: Does religion have a negative or a positive effect on the elimination of poverty? What is the result of current faith-based efforts to alleviate poverty? Do they have a role with corporations in globalization? What is the appropriate role for all religions in developing the economic engine that may bring about a permanent change in the composition of the economic pyramid? Can we develop a religious world view grounded in science yet affirming the uniqueness of human nature and the validity of ways of knowing beyond the scientific? What is the role of the media in the transmission of information and understanding of this collaborative effort and its potential impact in eliminating poverty?
Community Approach in the Religious Cyberspace: A Comparative Study of Islam Online and Tibyan Sites From the beginnings of 1990s, a new world was created by human that it’s most obvious appearance was the internet that was named environment (perimeter) or cyber-space later. First, this new world was on inter-academic space but it was controlled by economy and policy quickly and safe and calm internet expanse was changed to a competitive field for they who tried in the various fields such as religious communicators. The internet comparative studies in efforts of the antagonist religions are one of the new approaches in inter- religion researches. The publication of the book: "new media in the Muslim world; creating public sphere", that is written by John Anderson –the professor and head of anthropology department of catholic university of America in 1999– is only one of these valuable research products. These researches that are done in the computer-based religious communications are interdisciplinary study in the common context of sociology, communications and religious sociology for perception of the complex relations between the religion, culture and communication institutions. This article engages in Iranians innovational adaptation from the famous site: Islam online with on inter-cultural approach and shows that how a universal site has changed in to local ones.
The Role of Media in the Threats and Opportunities of Globalization for Religion The process of globalization, which has influenced many dimensions of human life, is an obligatory process that the contemporary human destiny is passively transformed by it. This does not mean that there can not be any active influence of some men on it. Those who are following the project of globalism (or Westernism or even Americanism) know well that although we have passion in his huge change we may play an active role in this process. In recent years, there are some serious attentions of many thinkers from economic, industrial and political dimensions of globalization to the cultural aspects of this process. Meanwhile, the contemporary researchers of religion in different cultures are enquiring in the influence of religion on this process and vise versa. I will study, in this paper, the impression of globalization on religion and the influence of religion on globalization, after some studies in the opportunities and threats of globalization for and against religion; then I will enumerate some kinds of collaboration of religion with media as one of the most important aspects of globalization. Finally, it will be pointed out the specific position of Islam among other religions in these changes.
Television, Religions Media, the Mirror of Relationship between Family, Government and Religion in Iran The main aim been followed in this paper, is modifying the role of TV, National Media, in Iran, in regard with the main element of social system such as family, religion and government in Iran. Though we are not to be inattentive relating to discussions on becoming religious and also social and personal secularism, been affected by religious media, in Islamic Republic of Iran. But studying and analyzing the way of its image-creating of this media in organizing current cultural and social life in Iran, is considered. Considering this point, a main question is raised. Whether TV. In Iran, tries to make the government, religion and family institution, through presenting religious or not? While most of these programs have had considerable audiences? Or does it perform mostly as a mediation tool towards social coherence, transferring energy and information in to each other? To clarify this meaning, paying attention to the kind of Television performance, in comparing with social institution such as Mosque, Home, Work and School which are the place of appearing interests and the needs of mentioned triple institutions will be obligatory. In spite of efficiency and effectiveness of Television Media in Iran, in gaining some goals such as making the society religious, it seems that, the existence of other institutions is not necessary any more. Even if, some institutions such as school, work, and home, to be left, they sill accept other efficiencies such as gaining information, gaining knowledge, social order, and reproduction. In the other words, these institutions and social institutions will not accept any role at the field of culture making and socialization, because television can be a good alternative for them. By considering the referred matters, and also the role and efficiency of religion making through television and output decrease of other institutions which traditionally (socially) have the role of culture making in Iran, in the future, Iranian society, according to the strategic view point will face fundamental problems. Because at one hand, main institutions of the society will involve in a kind of output ness and on the other hand, the new institutions, having government manager, will find new omission and forbiddance on the transmission of culture, through family institution and family. Also delivering new function to the Television Media can be a cause for important social turning, in the process of culture-making and society making. If such a thing happens, and Iranian society finds modern equipments, such as the ones been mentioned, then speaking about exceptional and special conditions of Iranian society will be meaning less. In this paper, the main motive of writer is to show the expansion of modernity at Iranian society, from family to the religion, government and school. So with the dominance of Television Media which is religion maker and religionism, there won’t be any room for Iranian Modernity in current area. And for this reason, all the political groups are claiming for a share in this media. In order to defense and recognize the media itself, and in the relation with the Iranian historical, cultural and social conditions, a few political groups, have raftered to the share of society and the share of media itself. The main aim of those who talk about private/commercial Television is to take benefit by using new approach, but affecting from three mentioned institutions. Their aim is not to forgive new entity to the media.
Media Objects, Television and Secularism According to Foyer that calls media as the creation of a text or place of frequent referred that would enable us to think about the text, what will become of an old issue in social science on the relationship between religion and media- as the elements of materialistic and modern world with secular nature; in another word, with respect to the power and capacity hidden in the modern media, is it possible to propagate religion in media? How? This question could be studied with respect to the answers given about media by Parker, Postman (1978), Headgear (1927) and Foyer (1987). With respect to the text, in general, there are three main views in this paper on media as tools for transferring concepts: (1) instrumentalist view (Parker 1900) in which case, any modern/ traditional/ religious-non-religious media could serve religious concepts and as parker states, it is so much better to use this neutral tool for good purposes such as propagation and broadcast of holy scriptures words, religious narrations and tales (Parker). (2) The second view is that although media could respond to the people’s needs and serve them; a religious television, as an example, could to provide necessary conditions for developing spiritual moods and religious experiences (Postman). (3) The third view considers media as an existing and a context (Foyer. 1987). Then, a dialectic relationship between religious text and media texts changes into a special culture and as an accident, in this process, secularism is vanished and religious text dominates. With respect to the form and contexts of television programs in our society, media has provided grounds for fulfilling the desires of addressees in some extent. On the other hand, religious media in Iran has crated an atmosphere and a possibility and ultimately, a new text where religious concepts and interpretations are defined in a new framework, with a particular frame and sacred environment of the media. With these explanations, the probable implication of religious media’s taking secularism process, with respect to the new definition, seems unacceptable and in some extend, an unfair prediction.
Policies of Religious Media in Iran; Interactive, Dynamic and Integrated System of Communication During many centuries, the presentation of religion was depending on the function of traditional media. In the last century, the expansion of mass Media, especially radio and television, prepared the ground for the transformation of various massages to many recipients and audiences. It is also, since eighty years ago, the official religious organizations, by using the electronic media, could achieve many remarkable points. The legitimacy of modern media was duo to the vast relations of traditional tools of communications to J slam in one hand and the religious support of Islamic scholars on the other. Both which has a deep root in Islamic believes of Iranian Society. Although this is the situation regarding the existence of modem media in Iran, the rejection of governmental system of the country by the Iranians, due to the lack of religious and political legitimacy, has prevent these media from following an integrated model of communication. For the first time, the cooperation and integration between the traditional and modem media is experienced in the Islamic Republic of Iran. But the lack of scientific research and literatures in the area of religion and communications has caused many damages in the policies and programming of religious media. This paper by using two main studies of filed research on the usage of religious media by Iranians and one research of content analysis of religious TV programmes, which both has been done by the writer of this paper, and also by using related commW1ication theories, is trying to build up a comprehensive theoretical background for the functions of religious media in the Islamic Republic of Iran and to enrich the field of religion and communications with this study.
The Emergence of Religious Lifestyle Branding: Fashion Bibles, Bhangra Parties, and Muslim Pop This presentation introduces the concept of religious lifestyle branding by bringing together relevant theories of religious material culture, studies in the sociology of religion, and studies in the development of the interrelated industries of marketing, advertising, and the media. Three contemporary examples of this emergent phenomenon are discussed in relation to globalization and commercialization in the U.S. context: fashion Bibles, Hindu-inflected bhangra parties, and Muslim pop music. The presentation aims to address the following questions: How do the things that we pay for – the consumer goods, leisure activities, and artifacts of popular culture – become imbued with meaning within the context of religious cultures? What is accomplished in these transactions, and what are their outcomes and effects? Who struggles to maintain the boundaries between religion and popular culture, and what role do the media play in these struggles? What are the inevitable contradictions that arise in this nexus of religion, media, and the marketplace, and how are these resolved – if indeed they are?
Islamic Mysticism and Communication and Media Islamic mysticism is a branch of Islamic knowledge that discuss a bout production and exchange of meaning in human society. Islamic mysticism studies human communication in a piori step of formal communication. this step is ontological perspective of human .in other word human kinds communication in ontological context then represent in formal communication with this perspective it study of communication in first and principle step intrapersonal communication then in intercultural communication and in studying of media having a tendency of interactive media like oral language media as Manbar.
Traditional and Modern Propaganda in Religion Realm The religion as a complex of beliefs, norms, values and attitudes, affect human beings. The religion, teaches way of life to companions and design limitation of their behavior, ethic and belief. The function of a religion, including a part of these cases and cause meaningful and purify in religious life. Religious propaganda is an instrument for transform religion's message and make or change in religious attitudes and tends. Message's transform, make by inform in extensive level or through face – to – face in micro level, or in macro level. In macro level, also these messages, transform by direct way by individual or through media instrument. Traditional propaganda is functional in traditional society and could affect emotions and reasons and by make social network and communicational, direct religiousness. In this method, word is carrier of religion's message, but speaker, also, transform religious emotions and sensations, and because of the communication is face – to – face, human relations develops within audiences. Although, the new media propaganda have more extensive scope, but it have a less deep and relation to alien audiences, and have not direct feedback. Thus, media propaganda may be one–dimensional and less affect on human emotions in one hand, and social communication network in other hand. Therefore, modern media propaganda despite of much audiences and diversity methods could not develop a certain communication and human network and could not affect human and religion emotions. The cultural setting of Iran's society and other religious societies provide a suitable context for successful new media propaganda. In these societies, there is a promptitude for acceptance of religious messages in wide level and because of reduce importance of primary relations - for extension of formal relations in secondary groups and weakness of social interaction knowledge in new social relations - and because of great influence of mass media, particularly TV, the new mass media have a determinant role in transform of religions beliefs and messages. The mass media have a more influence in diffusion of beliefs and awareness, to direct tends and make emotions and sensations. It may be some contradictions in the process of diffusion religious emotions. So it should be investigated about utilization of modern public media in sanctified affairs and religious realm and reviewed its consequences.
Affect, Media, and the Ethics of Death in Contemporary Egypt Focusing on the popular practice of listening to cassette-recorded sermons in Cairo, I explore the significance given to the themes of death and the afterlife by both preachers and listeners. According to the men I worked during a year and a half of fieldwork in Egypt, one of the primary tasks of preachers today is to afford listeners a “taste” of death, to portray death in its manifold dimensions and ramifications with a vividness and moral depth so as to root it in their sensory experience, to constitute it as a habit of thought, heart, and body. While it is common to think about such elements of a religious tradition in terms of their function as a disincentive to immoral conduct, and therefore part of a system of control, I want to suggest a different understanding. As I explore, for those I worked with the fear engendered by the horrors of the grave and the fires of hell was a virtue of character, a condition not only for the avoidance of error, but for the proper performance of good as practiced in all fields of human endeavor. In this sense, death is less an inescapable future than a present reality, embodied as an ethical sensibility and practiced in the enactment of one’s divinely mandated duties. According to the participants of the Revival movement I came to know, the task of acquiring this ethical agency has been rendered increasingly difficult by the gradual effacement of death—in all its sensory dimensions—from public life within the modern metropolis, and by the assumption of ever more responsibility for the dying by secular bureaucracies of medical expertise. Within this context, listening to popular sermon media represents a technique of remembrance, to revivify the awareness and experience of death within daily life.
Audiences and the Mediazation of Religion Much of the concern about relations between media and religion is rooted in the idea that modern means of communication might be changing the nature of religion by interposing themselves into it. That is, that through their “mediazation,” “mediation,” or “mediatization,” (all are terms that have been used) supposedly “artificial” instruments and processes of communication are changing or will change religion because they have the capacity to reorganize or replace parts of it. Consistent with theoretical claims in the fields of cultural studies and culturalist media studies, this paper will argue that to understand how religion is mediatized, we must understand the relationship of audiences to those processes. Among the debates the paper will address are: 1) That “artificial” processes of communication threaten “authentic” practice and experience of religion; 2) That the media “disenchant” religious and spiritual experience, threatening religious epistemologies and ontologies in late modern life; 3) That the forms or genres of modern media, rooted in expressive forms such as story and folklore, have implicit power to overwhelm and subsume religious practice and experience; and 4) That “powerful media,” in the hands of “powerful” religious forces, can promote certain religious ideologies. In late modernity, individuals, groups, and audiences make social meanings out of the media they consume. Powerful economic, class, and generational forces support the emergence of socially autonomous individuals and groups. Religious authority is increasingly under threat (this itself a consequence of the media age). At the same time, new generations and new ideological classes worldwide see that they, themselves, should be at the center of their religious and spiritual exploration and expression. The construction of an “ideal self” in religious terms (a reference to the theories of Anthony Giddens) becomes the core project of modernity. Whether this project will ultimately succeed is open to question, but people today nonetheless see things in this way, and the media are a central domain within which such a project can be worked out. This paper will root its claims in anthropological field research on meaning-making in the media age. In particular, the paper will address the potential for such individually-oriented religiosity to devolve into either a situation of entropy, where a diverse array of meanings and associations simply float free without structure, or into a solipsism of myriad meanings and small, idiosyncratic groups and “imagined communities.” The core power and significance of the media sphere may lie beyond whatever individuals or groups may achieve in making meanings and associations for themselves. There is evidence from the field that individuals and audiences are able to exist on a variety of media “maps” simultaneously, drawing on the resources from each as seems necessary. Among these maps are those that are rooted in fundamental capacities of global media: maps that transcend time and space, and bring aspects of local, national, ethnic, translocal, and global conversations and discourses into the consciousnesses of lived lives with a powerful sense of reality and facticity. The true implication of the media sphere may be its ability to establish, on levels including the national and international, a sense of emerging “common cultures” to which people, in modernity, can and do relate and identify. Religious symbols, claims, values, and ideals are drawn into these common cultural dialogues, becoming part of the resources used to make meaningful sense of social relations in modernity.
Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ’: A Study in Religion and Popular Culture There are many aspects of Mel Gibson’s recent religious film - “The Passion of the Christ” - that would make it likely to have been a commercial failure. Extremely violent for any film let alone a religious one, minimal dialogue in archaic languages with subtitles, little character development or plot, historical inaccuracies, and subject to significant pre-release criticism by many religious leaders - yet the film has become one of the highest box office successes in Hollywood history. This address explores this apparent contradiction by looking at the marketing of the film, its positioning within and contribution to significant cultural debates in western countries over defining national narratives and values, and the construction of multiple layers of intertextuality within the film that allowed for a cross-over of the religious content into the more secular pop culture of western film. The address will consider the significance of the film as an instance of contemporary efforts by religious people to resacralise influential secular/commercial popular culture and its industries. Analysis of the film’s successful strategy will also illustrate changes taking place in historic religious cultural alignments in the U.S. and other western countries.
Religion and Media, Religious Media or Media Religion, Theoretical Studies In the recent years, major efforts have been done to bring Religions closer to Media (rather than bringing Media closer to religions), or at least to break down the traditional boundaries between “Religious” and the “Media”. In light of such efforts and numerous researches, some have tried to show the necessity of building new bridges between Religions and Media. These attempts have even made some scholars to believe that in the “Media Age”, the secular is sacred and the sacred is secular, an endeavor aimed of unification of these two important elements of contemporary human life which historically could also be understood in the context of challenging relationship between Science and Religion. In this paper, I have tried to classify the various theories and approaches about the essence of the media in three branches, Functionalistic, Essentialist, and Interactive hypotheses. After a short review of the consequences of each theory regarding the compatibility or incompatibility of the media with religion and religious teachings, I have attempted to demonstrate that a more fundamental step should be taken to converge religion and media in an era known as Global or Religious or Media Age. The other part of the paper devotes to the necessary distinction between Religious Media and Media Religion (Mediated Religion), emphasizing of the main characteristics of Religious Media theory, in which although the basic principle of media essentialism has been accepted, religion which is neither the institutional ministry nor an absolute personal experience, has the potential entity which could be consistent with the exclusive nature of the media. The final part of the article points out to the focal axis of the Religious Media hypothesis within which four elements of religion, culture, globalization and the media are balanced and stabilized, that is Religious Pluralism.
Satisfaction of Religious Media Audiences The reason why many of the social theorists try to form and develop a mixed theory that could indicate the complex and multiple reality of social life, is the historical struggle against Structure and Agency, Macro and Micro level, and Object and Subject in the social theories literature. One of these efforts for mixing the theories is presented in the Habermas ponderings that is to join the flowing life-world to the solid system of Parsons and Lahman. Continuously Habermas claims that above mentioned conflicts will be disappeared. System in the ideal situation is the people’s routine action in the life-world that appears in the situation there is no power element and by that it reproduces, maintains and even changes. This situation is a basic for evaluation of various societies’ current situation and analysis of nature and measure of probable fourfold crisis’s that are hidden in them. (rationality crisis, authority crisis, motivation crisis and economic crisis) If we restudy Iranian history from this aspect, it would become specified that in the whole history periods, roots in the People’s Life-World and specially it has been flourished after entering Islam religion in to Iran. Because of its perfect orders, not only meets all of people’s life needs, but it roots deeply in the Iranian culture texture that in each age, every political system which tried to act against it, Islam prevented it from succeeding. So, the Islamic revolution that place in 1979, was an objection to cultural policies that were incompatible with Iranian historical texture, and inverse, Islamic republic of Iran was originated from such historical desires. This system could prevail against various crises if it can maintain its organic and two-sided contact with life-world and constitutes this contact’s aspects. In this way, it can remove contact obstacles and promote, establish and carry out Islamic orders that roots in the Iranian people life- world. Islamic republic of Iran broadcasting (IRIB), is the most important media that can perform a basic role in fulfilling of this functional requirement. This media claims that it acts in the religion studies framework and tries to extend these in the Iranian religious society. Thus, with acceptance of above mentioned claim, this question is raised that: Cloud this media meets daily various needs of its audiences? In the more theatrical statement, what is the relation between this media and life-world? Do messages of this religious media conform to Iranian people’s values and norms texture? In order to answering these general questions that are divided to the more details, an appropriate rhetorical model was selected after reviewing current theatrical literature. So they were selected 400 people from Tehran people’s by a PPS sampling method. Afterwards, the necessary information that are collected by questionnaire method, were analyzed. This article is the result of this analysis’s that study the relation between various variables in a complex rhetorical model. Specially, the reflect of another variables such as SES, attitude toward government and dimension of religiosity on each other and satisfaction’s degree from the religious media’s programs, were considered. Mere over, impact of all of these variables on percent of using the IRIB and rival media were analyzed too. Application Method of Fear and Hope As Two Religious principles in Radio and Television Islamic education and religious community spirit is based on two principles: fear that means afraid of god in his essence, and his anger and his torture in the world and in the hell, and his punishment in the afterlife world, and hope that is to say hopefulness to god for his blessing, nearness and grace in the world and his paradise and satisfaction in the afterlife world. Fear and hope are the hearty and spiritual qualities and there are in the essence and nature of all persons. There is nobody who do not fear for something or not hope in the other things. These qualities are different in the various individuals in the power and weakness. The fear quality is produced by thinking about the immensity of god and his power and deliberating the punishing mutineers and sinners, severity to them, and killing the heretics and hypocrites and previous societies tyrants with storm, drowning, lightning, earthquake, deathful yells and howls, being swallowed by earth, cholera, plague and what has been warned his enemies in the afterlife world. The hope quality is produced by thinking about the endowment that god has given to his real men of gods Such as: knowledge, rule, children, wealth, health, and what has promised to his saints in the afterlife world, such as: forgiveness, beneficence, giving them the martyrdom and mediation dignity and paradise that their description is not possible. These two qualities occur in soul Together in the more cases and this accompaniment is necessary in relation to god whereas in the verses ( of Quran) and Islamic quotes, fearing to god without hopping to him has been forbidden and vice versa, and they have interpreted to disappointing from the grace of god and feeling safety from god’s ruse. (Ruse is to say dissuading a person from what he has asked. Ruse is divided into two types: just and unjust.) Always fear and hope is in the Iranian traditional Medias in the suitable shape. we can see its prominent and obvious examples in the fictions of who(m) their parents have declared them, and in the art of "Parde khani" that point to fear completely and finally, keep people away from ill- treatment to the parents. Or “the king of skull” fiction "Soltan e jomjome" that is a narrative of Sheikh Ahmad-e-Jami and is concerned about Jesus Christ: once he saw a skull in his way and talked to it, then the skull that was a king in past times, explained the moments of his death. Or the stories of Imam Ali that he arrived to a city without inhabitants, that all of them refer to fear. Many of preachers in the meetings and sessions that have been hold in weekly or monthly forms or in various ceremonies such as Fatemiyyeh decade or Moharram days that have been hold in decade form and nowadays are hold too, noticed to the fear and frighten people from the sin and mutiny against god orders and were pointing out its practical effects in their physical and metaphysical living. For several reasons there is not fear in religious teachings in the modern Medias that their famous specialty is the numerousness of the audiences:
Analysis of the content of special religious programs in some radios shows that there is a little attention to fear, whereas the religion advises to notice fear and hope equally. It seems that predominant framework and paradigm in styles and methods of religious learning in modern medias is an annunciation framework means consideration to hope and making hope in any form without attention to fear, and effects and consequences of sin and disobedience to god. In athletic term, modern Medias that are the products of the modern society are accompanied by the modernism original elements. One of the most important internal specialties of modernism is the secularism and sending out the religion from the society and it's surrounding in the private field, and modern Medias do not have ability of religious propaganda in common field. So they just engage to hope and can not talk about fear. Studying the Relation of Media and Religion, a Case Study on the Media What is the relation ship between Religion and modern media? Are these Medias essentially anti-religion or even are they a device been used as for religion-removing or not? Or they are some neutral devices which can be used at the service of religion too? These questions and questions in this regard are considered at the end of the discussions on the religion and modernity and also the nature of modernity, which in this regard we have a comprehensive literature in Iran. In discussion on the relation of religion and modern media, two approaches can be followed: 1) sociological – historical approach; 2) philosophical approach. In each case, as a result of these approaches, we face with a spectrum of view points which results in “Technological fatalism “ at one hand and Toolism on the other hand. The acceptance of each theories by us along with depending on the situation of our historical (destination) and our definition about the two sides of discussions (Media and Religion), Reflects the philosophical, sociological and historical reasoning which we are going to deliver in this regard. And in this paper, will explain them. After clarifying two discussions, and by paying attention to this point that national media tries to perform whatever expected by modern medias, in the frame of moral virtues and Religious advices we will pay to the main question which a is how can we publicize and develop Religions affairs over the vast area of public media’s audiences as if the audience which? Probably is not and is transferred to an active and involved audience. In this routine, after modifying the characteristics of Religious Media, on the experimental witness, at the level of our country (Iran) and over the world, the model of media rites will be introduced and experimentally (case study). We will pay to the conditions for the expansion of such formalities in the national media Interactivity and Openness in Religious C&VG’s in Iran Assistant Professor, Department of Communication University of Tehran Computer and video games play a great role in the children’s leisure time. The share of these games in youngsters’ in-door leisure time is even more important. Iranian parents try to choose the religious or puzzle games for the question of safety. However, children and youngsters’ attitudes will change rapidly and they tend to more emotional and attractive games. Without any doubt, there are so many factors which involve in the success of the CVG’s, but it seems the most important factors will be the interactivity and openness of characters’ destiny in these games. The more the user’s age, the more tendencies will be toward the interactivity and openness. Low interactivity and closeness of destinies have an important role in tendency of children, and in particular youngsters, to selecting more action games, the games which allow them to depict the characters’ destiny and have an active role in this way. This paper tries to show how low interactivity and the closeness of destinies are two important factors which influence on children and youngsters choices. Feminism and Democracy in the Service of Empire Today This paper focuses on the writings of a small number of Muslim women who have garnered the attention of American and European audiences in their denunciation of the patriarchal character of Islam. These writings have played a crucial role in galvanizing the Euro-American public opinion against Islam, and in the case of the United States accorded legitimacy to the current US policy in the Muslim world. An arsenal of media images and publicity apparatus has helped these Muslim women's writings to gain the status of truth; and they have come to be understood as "realist accounts" of what goes on "behind the scenes" in Muslim communities living in Europe and North America. This paper aims to problematize this genre, its claim to "realist interpretation," and focuses on the geopolitical context of increasing animosity toward the Muslim world in which this genre has gained its current authority. In particular, this paper explores how this genre has helped solidify public opinion for the US policy of invasion and conquest of the Middle East on the one hand, and on the other, has helped foster an increasing attitude of intolerance toward Muslims living in Europe and North America.
Posting Images on the Web: Mediated Religious and Secular Non-violent Resistance against Terrorism This paper investigates how the web was used for the visual expression of religious and secular resistance in the wake of the July 2005 bombings in London. In particular, I will first show how one web site became a digital gallery for displaying and viewing responses to the bombings. Second, I will also examine how several other sites developed which hosted more explicit religious imagery. In the cases that I consider I will show how the web became a place where a vast number of people could express powerful emotions, including fear, anger and defiance, through creative combination of images and words. I aim to set out a nomenclature for describing the different ways in which posting sites are used and function. These images are put to a number of different rhetorical uses, from expressing heart-felt emotion to asserting identity. In order to understand this dynamic phenomenon, I set out a taxonomy of visual postings. I demonstrate how they are used to defy, to console, to encourage, to explain and to exhort. Third, I will outline and analyze some of written responses found on the internet to this web phenomenon and the actual attacks in London. Overall, I show how such spaces have become virtual gathering points, where people from all over the world feel comfortable to leave their own distinctive visual mark. The result is the creation of composite sites, with multiple images, that often reflect highly imaginative expressions of non-violent and multi-faith resistance to terrorism. Religion, Media and the Politics of Knowledge: Visual Culture and New Forms of Public Pedagogy The increased visibility of religion today can be traced to several factors, one of which is certainly the proliferation of new technologies of communication. Whether religion is addressing crises of intellectual fragmentation and moral indirection, of political legitimacy or personal meaning, its greater presence is noticeable, and requires to be understood as a reflection of larger social changes in contemporary times. I will draw from examples of everyday visual culture in India to indicate how new forms of public pedagogy are being instituted, whose implications and potential consequences will be examined, in terms of the work of media technology, and their interaction with market forces and electoral democracy in India. Gender Religion and Visual Culture in India Today This paper considers the contradictory ways in which gender is mobilized today by the mass media. On the one hand, we see the ostensible multiplicity of positive roles for women and the growing focus on women as consumers and as spectators in e liberalizing economy. On the other hand, the last two decades has seen the growth of the communal politics in India, and the centrality of claims over women and their honor in creating the boundaries of community identity and practice. In this context, through a series of campaigns targeting the media and law in particular, the politically dominant Hindu right has struggled to institute a hegemonic notion of “family values.” This paper considers the growing centrality of women in the Hindu right and their participation in roles of leadership and communal incitation, as well as the growing focus on women’s issues in framing religious identity and in politicizing religion, as a contradictory effect of the liberalization of culture, economy, and mass media in India today. The paper will be organized around a set of case studies that address the themes of family values, legal reform, and the question of gendered identity. Interaction between media and religion After inventing the print, the first thing published was Christians’ holly book, the Bible. This indicates the friendship which from the first place was established between media and religion. This relationship, although in different ways, still exists. Although no media is merely religious, it can be surely said that all media have some kind of interaction with religion. One of important sources for media contents, alongside other sources, is religious source. By using religious sources, media both enrich the content of their programs and promote religion directly or indirectly by proposing religious contents to the massive audiences. The interaction between religion and media in IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran's Broadcasting), is more obvious because of its dependence to the religious system. One of main aims of these media is strengthening the religious believes of the audiences. This is followed directly or indirectly through many programs. While disregard to presence of media, the presence of people in different religious programs and rituals in the context of society is direct and have deep rational and emotional effects, in media, which are indirect communication means, this presence will find a different nature and necessitates considering a kind of indirect religious communication. In this article, analyzing one of religious programs in media, we show that how following religious aims indirectly in different programs, will increase the possibility of media effects, and on the contrary, that broadcasting live religious programs in forms like lecturing, rituals, advise to the audience and the like can decrease these effects.
Muslim's Image in the Hollywood Cinema: An Introduction to Devil (Satan) Making of Muslims in Western Medias Nowadays the Power of message is the most basic factor of social great Power and the Politic (Policy), economy and Culture responsible try to have control over medias in order to attain the power of medias for determining its policy and strategy. So various theories in the communication management field, especially by Cybernetic approach believes that not only the performance of mass medias in creating and changing attitudes is according to the desirable and modified models, but also, these medias can perform a basic role in facilitating and accelerating of social control mechanism, on the base of quality and quantity body of information and messages. The conditions after the cold war, especially Islamic revolution of Iran and strong Islamic tendencies are all over the world especially after the U.S.S.R downfall and destruction of Marxism; made America to have wider efforts towards one-dimensionism of World system and also, the replacement of American culture over the process of globalization. In this way the American media, especially the Hollywood cinema that is very powerful and attractive, showed it self as the most common tool of this project. As a result of mentioned factors, my workmates and I, made a total research on 150 films during we studied the Muslims image in the Hollywood cinema of a century ago. According to this research we can tell:
In the first period of Hollywood cinema, Muslims were presented as foolish and nomadic people. In the second period in addition of first image of Muslims, they were showed mostly as wild and violent people who are either stupid reach men or cruel powerful ones. In the third period, in addition to previous images, they were showed as strong stubborn religious people, who hate Jewish and Christianity and at last as terrorists. Arab women were mostly introduced as dancers, witches, prostitutes and objects. These images are repeatedly advertise and shown by Hollywood media. We can come to the conclusion that: America using its cinema as a tool is going to:
In my opinion, America is going to have a huge propaganda on American Islam and the rule of future Hollywood productions especially Islam actors and presentation of American models and religion will be very important to catch the aim.
Universality of Religion and Globalization of Electronic Media: Convergence or Divergence Digitization, Convergence, and De-regulation are the latest developments and changes in the recent decades that marked the globalization of the electronic media or broadcasting industry. The orientation from National coverage to international broadcasting, the shift from Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) to international profitable business have transformed the broadcasting space from national to global one. There is no doubt that all religious teachings, doctrines, thoughts, principles and instructions regardless of their names and symbols are rooted in achieving elevation and search for virtues and illuminations. Therefore the common foundation of religions that is search for source of truth is compatible with the human nature. This is the turning point for the universality of religions’ principal doctrines. The dialogue among different religions and the shared understanding and common solution by various religions for major worldwide social and cultural shortcomings and problems are indicative of the above fact. While both electronic media and religions are similar in having the universal appeal, global coverage, and audiences, they are different in one issue; the former is human-created and virtual and the latter is sacred. The paper examining the global landscape of electronic media and religion will focus on their features and then turn to find the answer for this question: What is the possible prospect for the future interaction between them? Is the future more apt for convergence or divergence?
Shia in the Surrounding of Globalization Challenges and the Role of Media Nowadays one of the newest and the most serious challenges that have appeared in the sociological theorizing is the globalization challenge that more or less relates to the unity of the world and "global village", and to the categories of modernism and postmodernism as well. One of the main bases of the globalization of sustainable development are the medias and mass communications means that appear mysteriously nowadays and have created the main channel of globalization process. All of the opinions, thoughts, forms of life and style of religious beliefs and the other aspects of human life, specially these related to tradition, modernism and civil society are exposed to globalization phenomenon and their impact upon the way of living. The religion in general and specially Islam and Shia are affected by globalization too; either positively or negatively. The globalization phenomenon accompanied by variability, communication and intercommunication. The essential condition for phenomenon globalization is their opening to universal pluralism. Certainly, this pluralism not means its vertical degrees in the various evolution hierarchies. Changeability necessitates the relationship and unequal universal connection to and needs for mutual trust, as well as communication with the various parts of world and dialogues with the different cultures and civilizations and ability to their absorbing. A question that we can propose in relation to this discussion is to what extent Shia, as a group in one billion of world Muslims, is resistant or vulnerable? Or, in other words, which threats or opportunities, such as globalization, warn Shia and how much Shia world can use its chances in the globalization process from fixing and strengthening of its positions in one hand, and face with this phenomenon’s challenge's and its social threats to provide believes and universal development trusts in a suitable form in the other hand provide itself for future life-world against a globalization system. In this research, we suppose that the Shia world have many conditions and flexibilities in relation to modern thoughts and universal changes; and can expand and establish the high Shia thoughts with suitable using of its chances in globalization. So, it is going to attain its real place and ranking among other schools of thought.
Creating Shared Religious Symbols In a world ever more deeply divided by fundamentalisms and culture wars, this paper will explore how conflict-torn communities create common symbols in which all subcultures can find their identity. In particular, the chapter will explore the role of the media and other forms of public communication in the formation of overarching symbols of civic religion. The chapter will explore the following processes of creating shared religious symbols.
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