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Religions
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Religious Communities
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Religious Communities

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Health/Psychology/Social Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 January 2023) | Viewed by 16637

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Tsuriel Rashi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Communication, Ariel University, Ariel 4077625, Israel
Interests: religion and media; religious ethics; communication

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Religions are generally framed in a communal setting. A community can be defined as a group of people who have formed social bonds, who function within certain boundaries, are connected to a place (physical or virtual), and have common characteristics and/or interests. A community can share a common geographical location, a culture, or a history, but can also be independent of place or origin and could instead be built around shared interests and beliefs.

This Special Issue of the journal Religions will focus on religious communities. We invite historians, philosophers, sociologists, and scholars of religion, mass communication, and political science to address a range of subjects that relate to the following questions, among others:

  • What are the philosophical ideas that underlie the various past and contemporary religious communities and the leadership that guided and guides them?
  • What do we know today about the histories of religious communities—about the way they functioned and why they flourished or declined?
  • How is a religious community first established and maintained, and what might cause it to collapse or to change the way it functions?
  • What do we know today about the historical leadership in religious communities?
  • What are the challenges confronting contemporary religious leaders and religious communities around the world?
  • What factors pose a threat to religious communities in the first quarter of the twenty-first century, and how can they be addressed?
  • What defines religious communities as distinct from other social groups?
  • What contributes to the resilience of religious communities or weakens them over the years, especially as manifested in the first quarter of the twenty-first century?
  • What is the communicative uniqueness of religious communities in relation to other communities?
  • How can new technologies and media enhance the activities of religious communities?
  • What is the nature of virtual religious communities, and how do they differ from physically based communities?
  • How have the various religious communities dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic, and what about their approaches might be relevant in future global crises?
  • How can religious communities engage other—different—communities?
  • How do religious communities manage to exist in a national and global space and continue to preserve their heritages and traditions in the face of variant ideas espoused by other such communities?

Dr. Tsuriel Rashi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • communities
  • leadership
  • virtual religious communities
  • flourishing
  • COVID-19
  • heritage
  • tradition

Published Papers (8 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research

2 pages, 179 KiB  
Editorial
Religious Community and Communal Religiosity: Foundations at the Beginning of the 21st Century
by Tsuriel Rashi
Religions 2023, 14(6), 697; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060697 - 25 May 2023
Viewed by 699
Abstract
Robert Putnam observed that more people than ever go bowling, but fewer than ever do so as parts of teams, a phenomenon that he named “Bowling Alone [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Communities)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

16 pages, 1010 KiB  
Article
The Medium Is the Definer: Daily Journalism as a Tool for Forming Community: A Case Study—The Ultra-Orthodox Community in Israel
by Efi Friedman and Tsuriel Rashi
Religions 2023, 14(5), 650; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14050650 - 13 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1181
Abstract
There are many studies that deal with the role of media and the motives for their creation. The present article explores the background behind the development of Ultra-Orthodox journalism. It examines the establishment of Ultra-Orthodox daily newspapers in Israel at the end of [...] Read more.
There are many studies that deal with the role of media and the motives for their creation. The present article explores the background behind the development of Ultra-Orthodox journalism. It examines the establishment of Ultra-Orthodox daily newspapers in Israel at the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first by analyzing semistructured texts and ideas. The historical background and the way this journalism developed in general and specifically during those years reflect a strong social and censorial orientation. This study concludes that these newspapers can be seen as social definers that help preserve a community through censorship aimed at the general and other Ultra-Orthodox media. It helps communities and individuals self-define and can delineate an additional role for mass media as a social definer. The contention herein is that the establishment of Ultra-Orthodox newspapers in Israel serves as a mode for social definition; a definition that is arrived at by being part of the circle of the newspaper’s readers, and the newspaper, in turn, defines itself by its censor board. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Communities)
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20 pages, 336 KiB  
Article
Hilltop Youth and New Media: The Formation of a Young Religious Digital-Resistance Community
by Hananel Rosenberg and Kalia Vogelman-Natan
Religions 2023, 14(3), 411; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14030411 - 17 Mar 2023
Viewed by 4652
Abstract
“Hilltop youth” is the name for young religious Jewish people in Israel who, separated from their families, are living in illegal outposts on hilltops throughout Judea and Samaria. The group’s unique religious, sociological, and ideological characteristics differentiate them from other religious communities previously [...] Read more.
“Hilltop youth” is the name for young religious Jewish people in Israel who, separated from their families, are living in illegal outposts on hilltops throughout Judea and Samaria. The group’s unique religious, sociological, and ideological characteristics differentiate them from other religious communities previously studied in relation to digital culture. In this study, we offer a new angle that provides insight into the hilltop youth’s religious–ideological perception while focusing on their attitude toward new media, smartphones, and social networks, in particular, an attitude that is part of their self-definition as a separatist community. The findings present and discuss the different layers represented within the hilltop youth’s media resistance and how this media-negating ideological position shapes the group’s perception as a religious community that is a counterculture to religious and social sectors in Israel. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Communities)
11 pages, 263 KiB  
Article
Does Religious Community Participation Matter for Shaking off Poverty?
by Yugang He
Religions 2023, 14(3), 304; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14030304 - 23 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1251
Abstract
Religion, which is more of an informal system than anything else, permeates every aspect of our lives. As a result of this context, this article uses China as a case study to investigate the effect of religious community participation on income (a proxy [...] Read more.
Religion, which is more of an informal system than anything else, permeates every aspect of our lives. As a result of this context, this article uses China as a case study to investigate the effect of religious community participation on income (a proxy for shaking off poverty). Using the 2018 Chinese General Social Survey and the ordinary least squares approach to conduct an empirical study, our results indicate that participation in religious communities has a favorable effect on income and is a means by which individuals may escape poverty. Additionally, we conducted the robustness test using the two-stage least squares approach and the findings indicate that the conclusions in this study are trustworthy and effective. In the meantime, the examination of heterogeneity revealed that religious community participation has a larger effect on rural residents’ alleviation of poverty than on urban residents. In conclusion, the results presented in this study may serve as new evidence for the Chinese government to further religious freedom. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Communities)
20 pages, 625 KiB  
Article
Spectrum of Response Styles in a Religious-Orthodox Community to Civilian Disasters: The Responses of the Haredi Community to the Meron Crowd Crush (2021) as a Case Study
by Tehila Gado and David Fishof
Religions 2023, 14(3), 294; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14030294 - 21 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1440
Abstract
Over the past few decades the Haredi community has been expanding and it includes a diversity of groups characterized by wide margins, therefore it may be considered an imagined community. On Lag Ba’Omer 2021, 45 people died, and over 150 were injured in [...] Read more.
Over the past few decades the Haredi community has been expanding and it includes a diversity of groups characterized by wide margins, therefore it may be considered an imagined community. On Lag Ba’Omer 2021, 45 people died, and over 150 were injured in the Meron Crowd Crush, most of them from the diverse Haredi community in Israel. Coping with disasters in a religious community includes a religious-faith level, and a social level. In this study, we will examine the response styles to a disaster in the Haredi community, as a case study of religious communities coping with a civilian disaster. This study will assist in understanding the community’s narrative, and the place of the community in coping with a disaster. The study uses the qualitative-constructivist method and applies a categorical analysis of 1146 verbal responses to an internet survey that was conducted subsequent to the disaster. We propose a theoretical-categorical model that divides the responses into five pairs of categories: Emotional, Religious, Spiritual-Transcendental, Social, and Civil responses, each pair divided into past and future. Emotional responses: expressing grief and mourning (past), or paralysis, anxiety, and instability, (future); Religious responses: search for a religious reason (past), or a call for religious strengthening (future); Spiritual-Transcendent responses: dealing with questions of faith (past), or viewing the disaster as a transcendent message, and seeking spiritual comfort (future); Social-Spiritual responses: attributing the disaster to collective punishment due to ‘corruption’ (past), or recommendations for ‘correction’ of the social world (future); Civil responses: including searching for deficiencies, blaming entities (past), or suggestions for improvements and correction of deficiencies (future). We discussed a spectrum of response styles, while distinguishing between responses that are concerned with finding a reason or explanation for the disaster (past), and those who wish to draw a conclusion (future). Furthermore, social injustices are seen as religious offenses that led to the disaster. That is, it is a religious soul-searching that deals, less with traditional offenses and more with social injustices. We also discussed the volume of the different responses: In the emotional reactions and civil reactions, the Past Category is larger than the Future, whereas in the religious and spiritual responses, the Future categories are larger. This finding may symbolize a tendency to channel the pain in a positive way to a practical and active direction. Religious actions provide a sense of agency and self-efficacy. At last, we noticed that the disaster led to the strengthening of the community and sense of community, despite its size and diversity; as well, we suggested that the findings regarding religious-orthodox communities and their coping with disasters can be inferred. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Communities)
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11 pages, 264 KiB  
Article
Church, State, and Virtue in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo (2020)
by Edward A. David
Religions 2023, 14(2), 239; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020239 - 10 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2078
Abstract
To curb the spread of COVID-19, houses of worship in the State of New York were legally required to limit attendance at religious ceremonies. Two religious communities—the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and the Orthodox Jewish organization, Agudath Israel of America—asked the U.S. [...] Read more.
To curb the spread of COVID-19, houses of worship in the State of New York were legally required to limit attendance at religious ceremonies. Two religious communities—the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and the Orthodox Jewish organization, Agudath Israel of America—asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. This article provides a theological interpretation of the Court’s decision to grant these communities injunctive relief, thus freeing them from the State’s restrictions on religious attendance. Drawing upon the Catholic tradition, and especially the thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the article offers a sustained virtue-based analysis of the Court opinion and of the relationship between church and state more generally. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Communities)
13 pages, 254 KiB  
Article
Soft Ultra-Orthodoxy: Revival Movement Activists, Synagogue Communities and the Mizrahi-Haredi Teshuva Movement in Israel
by Nissim Leon
Religions 2023, 14(1), 89; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14010089 - 09 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1457
Abstract
This article offers an in-depth ethnographic and historical description of how an ethnic-religious revival movement has had an impact on religious life. The article will focus on the story of one of Israeli’s foremost religious revival movements—the Mizrahi-Haredi teshuva movement. We will look [...] Read more.
This article offers an in-depth ethnographic and historical description of how an ethnic-religious revival movement has had an impact on religious life. The article will focus on the story of one of Israeli’s foremost religious revival movements—the Mizrahi-Haredi teshuva movement. We will look at the encounter between the Mizrahi-Haredi teshuva movement activists and Mizrahi synagogue congregations, and at the outcomes of that encounter on religious infrastructures, and on the activists’ religious agenda. The following questions will be addressed: How did the relationship between the activists and the synagogue congregations develop? What tensions arose and how did they turn a strict religious outlook into a soft religious approach? The article is based on many years of fieldwork in congregations exposed to the impact of the Mizrahi-Haredi teshuva movement in Israel. The fieldwork provided both a rich ethnographic inventory and an opportunity to describe a historical trend that illuminates the communal, authoritative, and gender models that originated with the encounter between the Mizrahi-Haredi teshuva movement activists and the local synagogue congregations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Communities)
11 pages, 283 KiB  
Article
Corporate Social Responsibility: Does Religious Community Matter?
by Yugang He and Wanting Tian
Religions 2022, 13(10), 1006; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13101006 - 21 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2165
Abstract
Corporate social responsibility is crucial to the sustainability of a firm, yet its motivating forces remain obscure. Therefore, this paper uses 1130 listed firms over the period 2010–2021 as the sample to explore the effect of religious community on corporate social responsibility in [...] Read more.
Corporate social responsibility is crucial to the sustainability of a firm, yet its motivating forces remain obscure. Therefore, this paper uses 1130 listed firms over the period 2010–2021 as the sample to explore the effect of religious community on corporate social responsibility in China. Using a firm and year-fixed effects model for empirical analysis. The findings reveal that the number of religious communities around a firm within a radius of less than 10, 50, and 100 km all has a favorable influence on corporate social responsibility. Moreover, the results of heterogeneity analysis show that religious community has a smaller positive impact on corporate social responsibility in low-polluting firms than in high-polluting ones. Additionally, using the robustness test, it is conceivable to conclude that the findings presented in this study are reliable and robust. This paper contributes to and broadens the existing body of research on corporate social responsibility and religious community, which has significant ramifications for the importance of religious community in the conduct of business. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Communities)
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