Journal of religious culture = Journal für Religionskultur
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188
The Crusade movement is one of the most important occurrences of medieval history. It took place throughout two centuries in the Levant and affected both Muslims and Crusaders and in turn changed the way in which West and East related to one another.1 When the Crusaders took control of the Holy Land and many Islamic cities in the Levant, they transferred their feudal European system there. They established four main fiefdoms or lordships, Jerusalem, Edessa, Antioch and Tripoli. In addition, there were another twelve secondary fiefdoms,2 of which Tibnīn was one. Tibnīn was called “Toron” by the Crusaders. Once the Crusaders had captured Tibnīn, they began building its fortified castle, from which the fief of Tibnīn gained its importance throughout the period of the Crusades.
This paper traces the military role of Tibnīn and its rulers in the Latin East against the Muslims until 1187/ 583. Tibnīn played a key role in overcoming the Muslims in Tyre and controlled it in 1124. It also played a vital role in the conflict between Damascus and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Tibnīn participated in defending Antioch, Banyas, Hebron and Transjordan several times. Furthermore, its soldiers and Knights joined the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem to capture Ascalon in 1153, and joined the campaigns of Amaury I, King of Jerusalem, against Egypt from 1164 to1169. The military situation of Tibnīn under the rule of the royal house until its fall to the Muslims in 1187/ 583 will be studied as well.
187
In this essay, one of the most serious problems highlighted with respect to contemporary Iranians, who are mostly known as Shi‘ite-Perso (Shi‘ite-Persian) citizens of Iran, and what their view toward abusing wine and opium is. On one hand, the wealthy Persian literature is full of poems, narrations and notes with reference to wine and opium, while on the other hand, many parts of Shi‘ite-Islamic thought deem wine unclean and illegal, and abusing opium is forbidden except under certain [hard-fulfilling] conditions. Hereby, in this essay the aim is to express why the question “are drinking wine and abusing opium known as addiction or literal culture?” is suspended throughout the young Iranian generation. In this regard, the standpoints of Persian poets and Iranian religious figures towards wine and opium will be considered.
134
Characteristics of the Christian movement in North Korea and the former GDR are fundamentally different and based on the facts presented before. While the Christians in the North can only operate in the underground, at risk of being sentenced to work in a labour camp, to torture or even to execution when identified as Christian, the Christians in the GDR were freer although they suffered from repression, too. Compared to non-members they had clearly many disadvantages. However, as a state-independent organization, they were officially recognised and therefore an institution that was capable of leading a dialogue with the government. Moreover, they were able to connect themselves to other political alternative groups representing together a quite large group that was dissatisfied with the present situation without having the prior goal to overthrow the state. Awareness, dialogue and organization - these factors can be considered as decisive advantages in this process. As for North Korea creating awareness and dialogue seems to be a target for support. Even from a humanitarian angle alone. Awareness comes through information and that should be increased, e.g. through mutual development projects, continuous human and food aid, or why not initiating town twining? Just to name a few. More contact will generate more awareness and people will start rethinking their attitudes. Even if the elite benefits it may have a positive impact. Dialogue is pivotal in order to exchange one’s ideas und rethink one’s standpoints. Thus, a dialogue with the outside world shall be maintained and a dialogue among the people within the country shall be supported. Time will show if the introduction of mobile phones and the internet in North Korea will increase dialogue and will finally lead to the third suggested step of grass roots community building - organization. An ecclesial movement alone did not cause the change in East Germany and it will not do in North Korea. But it provided an important ground to connect people and accelerate change in the long run.
183
One memorable quote from Karl Marx’s conception of religion is, “religion is the opium of the masses.” By this, he critiqued religion as an analgesic that dulls the senses, thus inducing a false sense of satisfaction, and preventing the oppressed from revolting against the grubby socio-economic system. As the sigh of the oppressed, religion makes them to resign to fate since it only gives an unrealistic eschatological hope. Rather than conceive religion from this prismatic way, contemporary events have shown that religion has become an amphetamine or a catalyst for revolt, not only at the global but also national level. This work argues that religion is used as an amphetamine, an energizing pill, to pursue other goals than religious as depicted in the activities of Boko Haram sect, which has raised security challenges in contemporary Nigeria.
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By organizing the approach to religion historically, we trace the evolution, diffusion, and genealogies of ideas and themes and how those ideas have been inspired or configured by the events of times and human agency in looking at selected texts, actors, and themes. In other words, we inquire into the articulated problem of existence, its solutions, techniques and examples on a case-to-case basis contextualizing specific texts, actors and themes by relating them to time, space and situations.
202
The ancient Egyptians were accustomed to use "travel" and "individualism" as metaphors for the journey of one's life, as an expression of an individual’s aspirations in pursuit of a goal, whether on land or sea. ,A person who exhibits unusual attitudes or deviates from the cultural path of Egyptian society, will face obstacles and serious difficulties such as drowning, drifting, or disaster, while at the same time being tested by the gods, who could integrate him back into society and the Egyptian culture again, or leave him in the depths of darkness. In this context, our paper aims to shed light on the importance of individualism and how it is used as the basis for deviation from the prevalent cultural path. It also examines the relationship between individualism and the Egyptian culture, social identity, and self-representation. It also deals with individualism as an expression of human ambition, and its implications. Additionally, it discusses the issue of determinism and divine fate and their impact on the orientation of humans travelling through life, as opposed to human free will.