Week 13 theoretical- Asylum seekers and the increase of religious discussion

This week's article discussed in part, the increased public discussion of religion due to immigration (Herbert 2012). I will apply this discussion to Australian asylum seeker discourse.

An example of the increased reporting on religion due to Muslim asylum seekers is the discussion about Islam, or rather the fear of Islam in Australian mainstream civic milieu. Muslim refugees who seek asylum in Australia are greeted with fear from Australians, as their ethnic minority group features religion 'playing a more prominent role' then in our 'secularized majority population' (Herbert 2012, p. 96).

This rhetoric in not only refugee but immigration milieus has caused a 'sense of being part of suffering' within Muslim communities (Herbert 2012, p. 95). Whatever the causation and responses of the increase scope of religious coverage in media, the causation can be inextricably linked to globalization and the modern phenomena of predominantly intra-state conflicts. These types of conflicts have resulted in an increase in forced relocation and refugees.

This increase of displaced persons whom are forced to relocate results in the blending, combining or clashing of distinctly differing cultures, some secular some state-religious. All of these factors contribute to the increased visibility of polemic religious discussion via media platforms.

Reference
Herbert D. 2012. Why has Religion Gone Public Again? Towards a Theory of Media and Religious Re-Publicization. In Lynch G. and J. Mitchell with A. Strhan. Eds., Religion, Media and Culture: A Reader. pp. 88-97. London and New York: Routledge.

Photo
http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=download&id=581056

Week 11 theoretical- Indigenous Australian Spirituality

Indigenous Australians suffered a lot socially, environmentally but also spiritually, however nothing was 'more devastating than the pervasive doctrine of Aboriginal worthlessness' (Stanner 2009, p. 84). Although Indigenous Australians were regarded as sub-human and heathens, upon study of their spirituality it was found that their faith was something 'inseparable from the pattern of everyday life and thought. The connection was so intimate that there is no sharp demarcation between secular and sacred life' (Stanner 2009, p. 84).

For instance, it is common in Indigenous Australian milieus to discover that great guardian spirits exist to look after the living peoples (Stanner 2009). However not all spirits were thought of as ancestors or as human-like, some where thought to be quasi-animalistic, ethereal, formless or indescribable in form.

Even though Indigenous Australian spirituality is often referred to as one of the least materially minded faiths, the ordering of the cosmos through nature and spirituality helped construct the socialization of the 'body, mentality and social personality' though stages of life (Stanner 2009, p. 88).


Reference
Stanner, W. E. H. 2009. 'Religion, Totenism and Symbolism'. In A Reader in the Anthropology of Religion. Ed., Michael Lambeck. Blackwell Publishing: Oxford and Victoria.

Photo
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1155413