Dialogo 6.2: Issues Modern Man has to deal with

Journal of the Dialogue between Science and Theology

DIA LOGO Volume 6 - Issue 2 - June 2020

Issues of Modern Man

www.dialogo-conf.com

Edited by Cosmin Tudor Ciocan

DIALOGO Journal with biannual volumes on regard to the Dialogue between Science and Theology

Dialogo Journal is the intellectual property of RCDST (Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology), Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania

DIALOGO Journal has articles indexed and abstracting in the following international Databases:

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DIALOGO 2020 volume 6 - issue 2: The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces

Organized by the RCDST - Romania in collaboration with other Institutions from Slovakia - Pakistan - Switzerland - Poland India - Egypt - Uganda - Jordan - Turkey Argentina - USA - Canada - Germany

June 2020 www.dialogo-conf.com/dialogo-journal/

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this volume do not necessarily represent those of the Dialogo Organizers and are attributable only to the authors of the papers.

Publication Series: Description: ISSN (CD-ROM): ISSN (ONLINE): ISSN (PRINT): ISSN-L: Editors:

Dialogo (Multidisciplinary Journal for the Dialogue between Science and Theology) 2392 – 9928 2393 – 1744 2457 – 9297 2392 – 9928 Fr. lecturer Cosmin Tudor Ciocan, Ph.D. (Romania) - In-Chief - and Ing. Stefan BADURA, Ph.D. (Slovak Republic)

Series Owner: RCDST (Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology) of

the “Ovidius” University of Constanta. Romania Volume 6, Issue 2 Title: The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces subtitle: DOI: Published by: (DOI issuer) Pages: Printed on: Publishing date:

DIALOGO-CONF 2020 VICSSR 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2 EDIS - Publishing Institution of the University of Zilina Univerzitna 1, 01026 Zilina - Slovak Republic 266 100 copies 2020, June 30

Note on the issue: This is the volume of our general topic, with articles gathered until June 2020 on 4 sections of research.

*All published papers underwent blind peer review. *All published papers are in English language only. Each paper was assigned to 3 reviewers and went through two-level approval process. * The ideas and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of RCDST. Authors only hold responsability over their papers and content.

Open Access Online archive is available at: http://www.dialogo-conf.com/archive (articles will be available online one month after the publication releases).

In case of any questions, notes or complaints, please contact us at: info(at)dialogo-conf.com.

Warning: Copyright © 2014, RCDST (Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology), Romania.

All rights reserved. Reproduction or publication of this material, even partial, is allowed only with the editor’s permission. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.

Dialogo by RCDST is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License This is in an Open Access journal by which all articles are available on the internet to all users upon publication.

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Conference Sponsors and Parteners

Ovidius University of Constanta (UOC/Romania) www.univ-ovidius.ro

University of the Punjab (Lahore) www.pu.edu.pk

The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi (UAIC/Romania) www.uaic.ro

“Vasile Goldis” Western University of Arad (UVVG/Romania) www.uvvg.ro/

The Institute for the Study of Christianity in an Age of Science and Tech- Horizon Research Publishing, HRPUB - USA nology (ISCAST/Australia) http://www.hrpub.org/ www.iscast.org

Research and Science Today www.lsucb.ro/rst

Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology www.rcdst.ro

www.The-Science.com (Slovakia)

Maritime University of Constanta “Mircea cel Batran” Naval (UMC/Romania) Academy (ANMB/Romania) www.cmu-edu.eu www.anmb.ro

Global Ethics (Geneva/Switzerland) www.globethics.net

Faculty of Educational Sciences (WNP) Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland www.pedagogika.umk.pl doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2

Action-research in Contemporary Culture and Education – Practice & Theory (ACCEPT/Poland) www.accept.umk.pl - 7-

Centre for Research and social, psychological and pedagogical evaluation (CCEPPS/Romania) ccepps.univ-ovidius.ro

Open Access Theology Journal www.mdpi.com/ journal/religions

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Conference Sponsors and Parteners

Faculty of Medicine (UOC), Romania www.medcon.ro

Faculty of Theology (UOC), Romania teologie.univ-ovidius.ro

Faculty of Orthodox Theology (UAIC), Romania www.teologie.uaic.ro

Faculty of Theology (UAB), Romania www.fto.ro

Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education (UAIC), Romania www.psih.uaic.ro

Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education (UOC), Romania pse.univ-ovidius.ro

Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (UAIC), Romania snsa.univ-ovidius.ro

Centre of Inter - Religious Research and Christian Psychopedagogy Alba Iulia - Saint Serge (CCIRPC)

Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering (UOC), Romania fcetp.univ-ovidius.ro

Faculty of Law (UOC), Romania drept.univ-ovidius.ro

Christian Theological Institute after the Timotheus Gospel, Romania http://timotheus.ro/

Institute for Peace Studies in Eastern Christianity [IPSEC] Cambridge, MA 022380246, U.S.A. https://orthodoxpeace.org/

Volume published by

EDIS Publishing Institution of the University of Zilina Univerzitna 1 01026 Zilina Slovak Republic

RCDST Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology Ovidius University of Constanta Romania

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International Scientific Committee, Reviewers and Contributers Christoph Stueckelberger Globethics.net Executive Director and Founder; Prof. PhD. (Switzerland)

Ahmed Kyeyune Islamic University in Uganda

Maria Isabel Maldonado Garcia Directorate External Linkages/Institute of Language University of the Punjab; Head of Spanish Dpt. / Assistant Professor (Pakistan)

Ahmed Usman University of the Punjab (Pakistan)

Filip Nalaskowski

Mihai Valentin Vladimirescu Faculty of Orthodox Theology, University of Craiova; Professor PhD. (Romania)

Faculty of Educational Sciences - Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun; Dr. (Poland)

Mohammad Ayaz Ahmad University of Tabuk; Assistant Professor PhD (Saudi Arabia)

Lucian Turcescu Department of Theological Studies - Concordia University; Professor and Chair (Canada)

IPS Teodosie PETRESCU Archbichop of Tomis disctrict; Faculty of Orthodox Theology; “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Prof.

PhD. (Romania)

Francesco FIORENTINO Dipartimento di Filosofia, Letteratura e Scienze Sociali; Universita degli Studi di Bari «Aldo Moro»; Researcher in Storia della Filosofia (Italy)

Edward Ioan Muntean Faculty of Food Sciences and Technology - University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj–Napoca; Assoc. Professor PhD. (Romania)

Dagna Dejna NCU Faculty of Educational Sciences (Poland)

Altaf Qadir University of Peshawar (Pakistan)

Panagiotis STEFANIDES Emeritus Honoured Member of the Technical Chamber of Greece HELLENIC AEROSPACE IND. S.A. - Lead engineer; MSc Eur Ing (Greece)

Eugenia Simona Antofi “Dunarea de Jos” University (Romania)

Wade Clark Roof J.F. Rowny Professor of Religion and Society; Emeritus and Research Professor Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life; Director Department of Religious Studies - University of California at Santa Barbara (United States of America) Cristiana Oprea European Physical Society; member Joint Institute for Nuclear Research - Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics; Scientific Project Leader (Russia) Gheorghe Istodor Faculty of Orthodox Theology - “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Prof.

PhD. (Romania) Nasili Vaka’uta Trinity Methodist Theological College University of Auckland; Ranston Lecturer PhD. (New Zealand)

D. Liqaa Raffee Jordan University of Science and Technology (Jordan) George Enache Faculty of History, Philosophy and Theology „Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati; Associate professor PhD. (Romania) Ahed Jumah Mahmoud Al-Khatib Faculty of Medicine - Department of Neuroscience University of Science and Technology; Researcher PhD (Jordan) Ioan-Gheorghe ROTARU ‘Timotheus’ Brethren Theological Institute of Bucharest (Romania) Akhtar Hussain Sandhu Department of History, University of the Punjab; Associate professor PhD. (Pakistan) Richard Woesler European University press, PhD. (Germany)

Dilshad Mahabbat University of Gujrat (Pakistan) Adrian Niculcea Faculty of Orthodox Theology, “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Prof.

PhD. (Romania) Tarnue Marwolo Bongolee Hope for the Future; Executive Director (Liberia)

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Coli Ndzabandzaba Rhodes University (South Africa)

Riffat Munawar University of the Punjab; Dr. PhD. (Pakistan) Hassan Imam Aligarh University, PhD. (India) Ioan G. Pop Emanuel University of Oradea; PhD. (Romania) Farzana Baloch University of Sindh Associate professor PhD. (Pakistan)

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International Scientific Committee, Reviewers and Contributers Petru BORDEI Faculty of Medicine - “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Prof. PhD. (Romania) Khalil Ahmad University of the Punjab; Prof. PhD. (Pakistan)

Fouzia Saleem University of the Punjab, Dr. PhD. (Pakistan)

Maciej Laskowski Politechnika Lubelska; Prof. PhD. (Poland)

Mihai CIUREA University of Craiova, PhD. (Romania)

Muhammad Hafeez University of the Punjab; Prof. PhD. (Pakistan)

Mohammad Ayaz Ahmad University of Tabuk, Assistant Professor PhD. (Saudi Arabia)

Muhammad Shahid Habib International Islamic University; Lecturer Ph.D. (Pakistan)

Mirosaw Zientarski Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toru, PhD. (Poland)

Muhammad Zakria Zakar University of the Punjab; Prof. PhD. (Pakistan)

Manisha Mathur G.N.Khalsa College; University of Mumbai; Assistant Professor (India)

R S Ajin GeoVin Solutions Pvt. Ltd.; PhD. (India)

Pratibha Gramann Saybrook University of San Francisco, California (United States of America)

Mustfeez Ahmad Alvi Lahore Leads University; Prof. PhD. (Pakistan)

Adrian Gorea Concordia University, Montreal (Canada)

Radu Niculescu Ovidius University of Constanta; Assist.prof. PhD. (Romania)

Richard Alan Miller

Navy Intel (Seal Corp. and then MRU); Dr. in Alternative Agriculture, Physics, and Metaphysics (United States of America)

Fermin De La Fuente-Calvo De La Fuente Consulting (Corporative Intelligence) B.Sc. Physics and Professor PhD. (United States of America)

Maria Ciocan “Mircea cel Batran” Naval Academy; teacher PhD. (Romania)

Kelli Coleman Moore University of California at Santa Barbara (United States of America) Osman Murat Deniz Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi; Associate Professor PhD. (Turkey) Daniel Munteanu The International Journal of Orthodox Theology (Canada) Dragos Hutuleac Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava; Assistant Lecturer, PhD candidate (Romania) Shiva Khalili Faculty of psychology and education - Tehran University; Associate Professor PhD. (Iran) Mihai Himcinski Faculty of Orthodox Theology - „1 December 1918” University of Alba Iulia; Prof. PhD. (Romania) Richard Willem Gijsbers The Institute for the Study of Christianity in an Age of Science and Technology - ISCAST (Australia) Flavius Cristian MaRCaU Constantin Brancusi” University of Targu Jiu; Phd. Candidate (Romania)

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Stanley Krippner Association for Humanistic Psychology, the Parapsychological Association; President; Prof. PhD. (United States of America)

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Sorin Gabriel ANTON Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi; PhD. (Romania) Sultan Mubariz University of Gujrat; PhD. (Pakistan) Gheorghe Petraru Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Iasi; Prof. PhD. (Romania) Rania Ahmed Abd El-Wahab Mohamed Plant Protection Research Institute; PhD. (Egypt) Rubeena Zakar University of the Punjab; Prof. PhD. (Pakistan) Mihai GIRTU The Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology (RCDST); President Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering - “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Prof. PhD. (Romania) Cosmin Tudor Ciocan The Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology (RCDST); Executive Director Faculty of Orthodox Theology - “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Lecturer PhD. (Romania)

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International Scientific Committee, Reviewers and Contributers Mihaela RUS “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Professor PhD. (Romania) Sónia Morgado Instituto Superior de Ciências Policiais e Segurança Interna, (ISCPSI); Aux. Prof., PhD (Portugal) Jean FIRICA

University of Craiova; Assoc. Professor PhD. (Romania) Ahmed Ashfaq Assistant Professor PhD (Saudi Arabia) Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqi Faculty of Biological Sciences, Lahore Garrison University; Assistant Professor PhD (Pakistan) Rehman Ataur

Musferah Mehfooz Islamic Studies, Humanities Department; Assistant Professor PhD (Pakistan) Stefan Gregore Ciornei University of Agricultural Science and Veterinary Medicine; Assistant Professor PhD (Romania) Ahmed Kadhim Hussein Babylon University, College of Engineering; Assist.Prof.Dr.Eng. (Iraq) Muhammad Sarfraz Kuwait University, Department of Information Science, College of Computing; Professor and V. Dean of Research & Graduate Studies (Kuwait) Abbasali Barati Al-mustafa International university in Qom; Professor PhD (Iran) Amando P. Singun Higher College of Technology, Muscat; Lecturer PhD (Oman)

Lahore Garrison University; Senior Lecturer PhD. (Pakistan) Kuang-ming Wu

Yale University Divinity School; Senior Lecturer PhD. (Pakistan) Nursabah Sarikavakli “Ovidius” University of Constanta; Professor PhD. (Turkey) Laurentiu-Dan MILICI “Stefan cel Mare” University of Suceava; Professor PhD. (Romania) Emad Al-Janabi “Al-Mussaib” Technical College; Asist. Prof. Dr. (Iraq) Sugiarto Teguh Budi luhur and AAJ Jayabaya; Lecturer PhD. (Indonesia) Mahesh Man Shrestha International Network on Participatory Irrigation Management (INPIM); Lecturer PhD. (Nepal)

Marian Gh. Simion Harvard University - Harvard Divinity School; PhD (United States) Cristina Dragomir Constanta Maritime University; Lecturer PhD (Romania) Nicoleta Stanca Ovidius University of Constanta-Faculty of Letters; Associate Professor, PhD (Romania) Boshra A. Arnout King Khalid University – Zagazig University; Professor, PhD (Egypt) Zeyad Samir Zaki al-Dabbagh Mosul University / College of Political Science; Assist.Professor, PhD (Iraq)

Muhammad Shahzad Aslam Universiti Malaysia Perlis; Assistant Professor PhD (Pakistan)

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Organizing Committee Cosmin Tudor ciocan - Scientific Programme Officer RCDST Executive Director and Founder; Lect. ThD. Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Ovidius University of Constanta (Romania) Mihai GIRTU RCDST President and Founder; Professor PhD. Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering , Ovidius University of Constanta (Romania)

responsible for ALL session Osman Murat Deniz Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi; Associate Professor PhD. (Turkey) Bruno Marchal

Université Libre de Bruxelles; Prof . PhD. (Belgium) Maria Isabel Maldonado Garcia University of the Punjab; Assist. Prof., PhD (Pakistan)

Stefan badura - responsible for Publishing & I.t.

Publishing Society of Zilina; Ing. PhD. (Slovakia)

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Welcome Address

INTRODUCTION Dear Reader, it is our pleasure to introduce you this volume. It contains all the accepted papers from the conference, which is described below in more details. We hope that all these published papers contribute to the academic society and provide interesting information for researchers world-wide.

I. Conference details: »» Conference full name: The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces »»

Conference short name: DialogoConf 2020 VICSSR

»»

Conference edition: 11th

»»

Conference dates: May 19-26, 2020

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Conference web page: www.dialogo-conf.com

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Conference online archive: www.dialogo-conf.com/archive

II. Conference paper approval process: Each registered paper was evaluated in double tier approval process.

1. Scientific Committee evaluation (in average 2 reviews were prepared per paper).

2. Conference Editorial Board.

Only papers recommended by these committees were accepted for online presentation at the conference and for publication in the Journal.

III. Conference presentation: 1. General presentation When major concerns focus on global issues like fightings and wars, global warming and overpopulation, improving technologies and finding new resources, MAN seems to be forgotten on a secondary level of importance and concern. However though, all these ‘global’ issues arise from the fact that man is struggling to adapt to the rush and speedy process of life today, leaving HIM with wholes in its holistic existence and living. It is up to Social Sciences and Religions to prove that Man is not merely a wheel in a giant gearbox, dispensable and fundamentally changeable, but an important piece, integral and incorruptible in its essence, and therefore he must be treated by the future world per se.

Modernity has gifted us with all sorts of amazing inventions, from sliced bread to self-driving cars, and the wonders of the internet and indoor plumbing. Unfortunately, the particular combination of all these modern wonders has also resulted in some fairly frightening trends in psychological and emotional problems. There are more than 200 classified forms of diagnosable mental illness. The most common psychological and emotional problems facing the world today are ones that you’re probably well aware of, but that also receive the smallest amount of attention in the media and among friends:

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Welcome Address egotism, narcissism, entitlement, depression, and dissatisfaction. Major Depression Disorder, a potentially crippling emotional disorder, is the leading cause of disability for working-age adults (18 to 44 years old) affecting 6.7 percent of the U.S. population annually. Other forms of chronic depression that occur without the spectacular crippling effect of acute depression affect about 1.5 percent of the U.S. population. Formerly called manic-depressive disorder, it is marked by very wide mood swings from episodes of nearly intoxicated and exaggerated energetic behavior to periods of marked depression and lethargy. Manic-depressive psychosis is often seen among relatively high functioning inpatients of psychiatric hospital facilities. Schizophrenia is most often diagnosed among the lowest functioning hospitalized group. Research suggests a possible relationship between mania and schizophrenic delusional potential. Bipolar disorder is one diagnostic category in which pharmacological treatment has been relatively successful.

It is a trend nowadays to treat humans in a mechanic way and always find replacements for the things and issues seeming to keep him from detaching from his nature and evolve to a newer, better, unlike-any-other-seen stage, where feelings, emotions, beliefs, and others similar keep drawing Man from his around-the-corner future. Dialogo Conference summons all those of Social Sciences, Religions and beyond, who have something else to say about this vision of the ‘future man’, freed from emotions and ‘humanly weaknesses’, to interfere with ideas, questions, solutions or merely suggestions that society and human civilization should seize this project and save ‘humanity’ from becoming half what it already is and half..something else. On the other hand, those who are in favor of this becoming should emphasize the positive features and benefits we, as individuals, have from this ‘social evolving’, besides surviving in a newer environment.

“It is Better to perish as humans, than Surviving while losing humanity” ?!

Dialogo special conference is dedicated in 2020 May to this particular focus, of the challenges man of 2020 has to face and deal with, in the areas of Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion. This conference has three sections to discuss issues related to our focus topic, and it can develop any kind of solutions or suggestions to them.

Section 1. Psychosocial challenges in today’s society (PCTS): It is important to recognize that psychosocial factors nowadays can influence the health and wellbeing of all people. These factors, which are linked to the way modern society is designed, organized and managed, can potentially lead to an increased level of living-related stress and a deterioration of any type of performance and of mental and physical health. Research carried out over the last several decades has identified those characteristics (‘psychosocial risk factors’) that may result in stress in workers for example, independently of individual dispositions, occupation or cultural background.

Further, it is widely recognized that economic and technological developments across the world are creating changes in the pressures and demands on working people. Although some of these changes can be beneficial they can also have adverse effects leading to an increase in psychosocial hazards (or risk factors) which, in turn, can result in an increase in problems such as those encompassed by the use of the word ‘stress’.

Another possible face of this section could be provided by teenagers and their ‘traditional’/common issues developed into a higher level of challenges nowadays. Adolescence is a particularly vulnerable period for people in relation to mental health problems and engagement in high-risk behaviors, including non-compliance with medical treatment, sexuality edification, building the future career, etc. The goal of this qualitative conference is to help the developing of an understanding of the psychosocial

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Welcome Address challenges as well as protective influences promoting socio-emotional coping in adolescents in order to inform mental health promotion and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) prevention programming for teenagers. And the motifs in this section could grow on for our discussions.

Section 2. Secular education and religious education (SERE): This section explores how increasingly diverse and democratic societies reconcile issues of religion and secular education in public schooling, focusing on the American and European public school systems, but any other information is welcome. It addresses ongoing legal conflicts in education and religion and explores some recent US Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights decisions in this arena. In particular, it aims to discuss the issues involved in the relationship between secular and religious conceptions in public schooling as well as exploring the increasingly controversial themes of religious symbolism, religious curricula content, neutrality, and secularism in public schooling. The section concludes with discussion of issues related to the tendency of some domestic courts and national legislators to secularize the meaning of religious symbols and the application of principles of secularism to determine neutrality in the educational field, as well as building interreligious education for all students, civil or theologians, for preparing all for our modern pluri-diverse society.

Section 3. Diversity and multiculturalism (MAD): Many people use the terms diversity and multiculturalism interchangeably, when in fact, there are major differences between the two. Diversity is defined as the differences between people. These differences can include race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, background, socioeconomic status, and much more. Diversity, when talking about it from the human resource management (HRM) perspective, tends to focus more on a set of policies to meet compliance standards.

Multiculturalism goes deeper than diversity by focusing on inclusiveness, understanding, and respect, and also by looking at unequal power in society.

Section 4. Miscellaneous (MIS): In this section, You can address any other idea, research, discovery or inquiry that can be possibly related to issues that involve Man and his fights to adapt to this new and challenging environment.

For example, what is the medical sciences’ response to today’s diseases and addictions? how should we address European Values, Citizenship & Belonging? how a religious man faces the pandemic of Coronavirus in rituals and moral living? how this hysteria of Coronavirus pandemic affects traveling, living, academic research (e.g., international conferences) and even religious rituals? and so on.

As COVID-19 (coronavirus) continues to impact people and organizations around the world, the health and safety of our participants, customers, partners, and communities remain our top priority. We are working tirelessly to do everything we can to prepare our readers and subscribers to maintain safe, secure, and uninterrupted operations throughout this global crisis. This pandemic affects all areas of life, public or private, from unprecedented medical situations that lead to the collapse of national medical systems, to the failure of entire areas of activity such as tourism, transport, education, the oil industry, finance or trade, and to issues of order psychologically collateral of the individuals resulted either from forced dismissal, quarantine and insurrection for a rather long period, the crisis of resources, the sudden early death of loved ones and many others.

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We encourage all researchers from all domains to come together at this hour and find solutions, tell stories that occur now everywhere, documentation of any episode of this world crisis so that everyone can benefit from sharing such information. Take advantage of our VIRTUAL conference and make a stand against this pandemic and publish your research in the special section (4, Miscellaneous) taking advantage of the bonus we offer to those that dedicate their research in this direction now when we need miracles from people and God. Theologians are also encouraged to leave segregation and fundamentalism, and come up with solutions that certify their religious dedication to ‘love your neighbor with responsibility’.

Sincere thanks for:

•

Scientific Committee for their volunteer work during reviewing.

•

Conference partners for promotional work and their contribution.

•

Editorial Board for enormous workload and patience.

Be welcomed to enjoy this accomplishment!

See you again for the DIALOGO 2020 November event for the general purpose! your host, lect. Ciocan Tudor Cosmin, PhD Executive Director of The Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology (RCDST) „Ovidius” University Constanța / Romania Scientific Programme Officer of DIALOGO international conferences E-mail: office(at)dialogo-conf.com

Pictures description Cover: from the largest Rubik’s Cube in 2016 by Tony Fisher. URL: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/ Section 1> URL: https://roadtotherapy.com/2018/02/05/emotions-get-way-asking-help/ Section 2> NMMC School Picture for representation URL: https://www.dnaindia.com/education/report-12-schools-across-rural-india-have-functional-computers-56have-electricity-2591090 Section 3> URL: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-the-different-between-multiculturalism-and-cosmopolitanism.html Section 4> URL: https://www.localdvm.com/

Using Images in Publication All of the images used to illustrate this book fall within an exception to the general copyright statue, such as public domain, fair use, or open access.

Fair Use Fair use is a legal doctrine that allows you to use copyright-protected material under certain circumstances without getting permission from the copyright owner or paying any license fees. Fair use allows you to use limited portions of another’s work, including text, images, video, and music, in your new work.

Dialogo by RCDST is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License This is in an Open Access journal by which all articles are available on the internet to all users upon publication.

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Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.

Eleanor Rosevelt

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CONFERENCES & JOURNAL

t h e Di a l ogue b et ween Sci en c e a n d Th eol ogy

4 6 7 9 12 13 19

Database List Description Conference Sponsors and Parteners International Scientific Committee, Reviewers and Contributers Organizing Committee Preface by Ciocan Tudor Cosmin Table of Content

Process

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Indoor education in Poland during the Covid-19 Filip Nalaskowski

The parables of the gospels as transdisciplinary way to 63 achieve knowledge Ilie Sorițău; Raelene L. Sorițău

The Problems of Applying Psychological, Educational and Political Measurement Instruments in light of the Prevalence of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) Boshra A. Arnout; Khalid J. Jasim; Zeyad S. Al-Dabbagh

33

47 Religious Literary Works for Children in Teaching Larisa Ileana Casangiu; Claudia Simona Popa

session 1 - Psychosocial challenges in today’s society (PCTS)

23

session 2 - Secular education and religious education (SERE)

Social marketing and social distancing: Jordan experience in combating COVID-19

Spiritual lessons observed through the coronavirus 71 crisis Ioan-Gheorghe ROTARU

Traps of Educational Democracy

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Aleksander Nalaskowski

Ahed J Alkhatib

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Tabel of Content

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6.2 (2020) 2020 May, 19 - 26 www.dialogo-conf.com The Virtual International Conference on CONFERENCES & JOURNAL t h e D i al o gue be t we e n Sc i enc e and Theology

session 3 - Diversity and multiculturalism (MAD)

Religious Controversies in COVID-19. Restrictions, State,

168 Science, Conspiracies: Four Topics with Theological-Ethical

Between the Melting Pot and the Patchwork Quilt in

93 Religious America. Two Case Studies (Shiloh Baptist Church,

101 118

125

Washington DC and St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, New York City) Nicoleta Stanca Kartarpur Sahib Corridor: Divergent Dimensions Hussain Akhtar Sandhu Young Poles and young Swedes - their social world. The subjective side of the creation of hope and hopelessness and the institutional conditions of the creation of a sense of hope and hopelessness. Example of a research concept Dagna Dejna The Soteriological Game in ‘Pollyanna. The Glad Game’ (by Eleonor H. Porter) and ‘La vita è bella’ (directed by Roberto Benigni) Larisa Ileana Casangiu; Tatiana Barbaroș

session 4 - Miscellaneous (MIS)

Facing distance learning in Math, during Coronavirus

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teachers and students Karina Iuvinale Compulsivity and coronavirus- the type of response that healthcare professionals have in the coronavirus pandemic Stroe Alina Zorina; Any Docu Axelerad; Docu Axelerad Silviu; Docu Axelerad Daniel The measures religious cults took in front of Coronavirus: weakness or diligence?

Tudor Cosmin Ciocan

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Responses Christoph Stueckelberger; Tudor Cosmin Ciocan The Eco-interreligious Civilization of Love Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Indonesian Context Aloys Budi Purnomo The strategic role of new technologies in the plural diffusion of cultural heritage in the crisis of contemporary society affected by Covid-19 Adriana Trematerra; Corrado Castagnaro; Domenico Crispino; Enrico Mirra; Ilenia Gioia The value of the individual in space configuration Corrado Castagnaro; Domenico Crispino; Ilenia Gioia; Gianluca Manna; Andrea Improta The case of religious response to the medical advises and State impositions regarding the Covid19 pandemic outbreak. Ethical and theological overviews Ovidiu Hanc From Religious Belief to Identity Games in Ted Hughes’s Early Poetry Florian Andrei Vlad Acceptations of the soul in various systems of philosophical and religious thinking Tudor Cosmin Ciocan Criteria for Railway Infrastructure Versatility Adriana Trematerra; Corrado Castagnaro; Domenico Crispino; Enrico Mirra; Ilenia Gioia The simplified fruition of inaccessible military architectures in Balkans Corrado Castagnaro; Domenico Crispino; Ilenia Gioia; Gianluca Manna; Andrea Improta

Tabel of Content

Section 1

Psychosocial challenges in today’s society (PCTS)

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The Problems of Applying Psychological, Educational and Political Measurement Instruments in light of the Prevalence of the Corona virus (COVID-19) Boshra A. Arnout, PhD

1 Department of psychology, King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia 2Department of Psychology, Zagazig University, Egypt

Khalid J. Jasim, PhD

Department of Educational and Psychological Science, College of Education, Ibn Rushd for Human Science, Baghdad University, Iraq

Zeyad S. Al-Dabbagh, PhD

College of Political Science, University of Mosul, Iraq

article info

abstract

Article history: Received 22 March 2020 Received in revised form 20 May Accepted 22 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.1

The current study aimed to identify the problems and solutions of applying psychological and educational measurement tools. Also, it measures attitudes and public opinion in light of the prevalence of Coronavirus’s disease worldwide. Given the importance of psychological, educational and public opinions tests at the present time, in addition to psychometrics in its various aspects has become a necessity for communication, making decisions, counseling and therapeutic The study results recommend adopting the online application method in light of the prevalence of the deadly COVID-19, because these solutions will encourage the continuation of the scientific research and the educational process wheel. Consequently, the disease does not stop the continuation of our lives worldwide. Also, this study recommends the necessity of applying the tools of psychological and educational online evaluation in order to prevent transmission of COVID-19 infection among students to each other and their teachers, and between researchers. It also sheds light on an alternative evaluation tool by the online application of psychological measurement tools to be placed in the ethical code for psychologists involved in the American Psychological Association, as it is a client’s right to preserve his life from risks. This is in addition to placing the necessity of online instruments application method within the ethics of scientific research, which represents one of the rights of the participants in terms of preserving their lives against environmental risks. Moreover, the findings recommend the necessity of studying public opinion and attitudes by online questionnaires. © 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

Keywords: COVID-19; applying instruments; psychological measurement; educational measurement; decisionmakers; public opinion measurement; attitudes measurement; online applying instruments;

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I. Introduction and Theoretical

Background

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a new strain that was discovered in 2019 and has not been previously identified in humans. Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death [1].

We are witnessing a substantial increase in the number of infections in Germany. As a result, the authorities have imposed drastic restrictions on everyday life, in a move to slow down any further spread of the virus.

On 11 March 2020, the Director-General of WHO declared the spate of infections caused

by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) a pandemic.

Man needs to understand his nature.

It has become superfluous to say that the main problems facing our world today are human problems. Moreover, society has now evolved into a complex system of relationships and specialized roles, and people require new tools to help individuals to find suitable places for them in this total construction, and these urgent needs in this era that necessarily make psychology become a science, the literary and philosophical descriptions of the nature of man that were the nucleus of psychology in the past eras have been replaced in this era by the amendments and interpretations that based on the research experimental in order for psychologists to do what they want from research, they have to treat the variables of study quantitatively, and thus measurement has become a distinctive sign of modern psychology [2].

A test is defined as a skill or set of skills that are presented to the individual in a codified form and that produces a score, and value about something that the respondent is required to try to perform, in order to know

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the characteristics of his personality, mental abilities, attitudes, personal opinions and other aspects of an individual’s personality [3].

A. Fields of use of the tests: Tests and measurements can be applied in a variety of areas of life, as follows: a) In Education:

Educational institutions (schools and vocational training centers) are among the most frequently used institutions for psychological and educational tests. Uses of tests for the following purposes[1,4]: [1] Detecting the mentally disabled in the study and knowing the reasons for this retardation by knowing aspects of his psychological life.

[2] Examinations are used to select new students or to choose study materials suitable for specific ages.

[3] The tests are used to direct students to studies or professions that are appropriate to their capabilities and preparations.

[4] Educational guidance means the guidance of students who find problems in their studies and who are exposed to some crises. The use of tests enables us to know some of the symptoms or the causes that led to these crises.

[5] Test programs to assess pupils’ achievement and the effectiveness of educational programs and curricula.

[6] Classification of students: The tests help to classify students according to their abilities into departments or levels so that each department or level is homogeneous in terms of capabilities and preparations, something that helps the educational institution to perform its mission successfully.

In normal circumstances, students are

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evaluated using paper and pen tests to assess their performance. However, in such disastrous circumstances as the Prevalence of the Covid-19 pandemic, we must look for alternative methods to evaluate students, in order to manage the crisis and reduce negatives and losses in the progress of the educational process in light of the crisis of Corona. b) In Industry and Administration: [1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

Professional testing: This is to identify individuals whose abilities are compatible with work requirements and their employment while excluding individuals whose requirements are not compatible with work abilities. It is also used to classify or assign individuals to various jobs or to promote to higher positions.

Evaluation: Psychological tests are used to evaluate the performance of workers, the effectiveness of work methods and supervision systems.

Training or vocational training: Tests are used to reveal individuals who are fit for training or who have complete training preparations to improve their skills and increase effectiveness, as they are used in evaluating training programs, methods, and those involved in it.

Professional orientation: The tests help individuals acquaint them with their abilities and preparations, and also help them to find professions that suit their abilities until the appropriate professional is chosen for them.

Accidents: Tests are used to detect individuals who are exposed to accidents more than others and are excluded from dangerous work.

c) In the Army:

We knew that the movement of psychometric witnessed a significant

development after the two world wars. During the two wars, states used psychological tests to select the righteous soldiers and classify them on various tasks, according to their capabilities. d) In Politics:

The measurement of public opinion is of great importance to governments, whether through its ability to foresee attitudes and public opinion that enables them to make decisions, whether to meet the needs of their societies, or to deal with emerging problems, or to correct its vision regarding the issues targeted by this measurement.

Its importance lies in its being one of the direct channels of communication between governments and peoples, and it is one of the important channels in exploring these collective visions about national issues, collective positions or emerging issues that need to be taken into account when setting the decision at the official table through a vision presented by these polls. Primarily if the polls are based on professional, professional and independent centers [2,3,5].

There are three ways to measure public opinion[2, 3, 4,5, 6]: 1-Questionnaire: The referendum is a set of tests and methods intended to determine public opinion. This method is summarized in selecting a sample of the public opinion that is chosen with great accuracy and many questions are asked of it, which contains a complete summary of the general problem that we want to measure public opinion towards attitudes. Individuals are asked to either submit them in the questionnaire form personally, send them by mail or broadcast to the public via the media, and then proceed to study the answers and draw the results utilizing mathematical statistics, graphs, or other different methods.

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B. Survey method: Itismoregeneralandmorecomprehensive than the questionnaire method because it measures the apparent and hidden (hidden) public opinion that public opinion masses do not announce for considerations such as the presence of an authoritarian ruler or the fear of speaking out about this opinion or the lack of sufficient information about the general problem. And the lack of awareness among the masses of public opinion of what the authorities intend to this problem. Two methods are used to measure public opinion through surveying: Observation: This method is used in many sociological and psychological research, which relies on many observers to measure public opinion by observing the public to find their opinions by observing behaviors, of rumors, political jokes, and comments circulating among the public about public problems.

Interview method: This method is used to collect information in public opinion research and in advertising, economic relations and marketing. It means verbal exchange face-to-face between the interviewer and the person or persons whose opinions are requested.

3-Content analysis method: This method is used usually in measuring global public opinion, where modern governments are interested in examining the attitudes of global public opinion, so that their internal and external policy is consistent with modern global attitudes. Whether in the field of politics, economics, or others. This type is based on studying, analyzing and measuring the attitudes of public opinion of these governments and these peoples, by analyzing the attitudes of the global press and the various media outlets, including the press, television and various mass media.

In normal circumstances, decision-

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making is carried out in where sufficient data are available, based on calm analysis, careful formulation of alternatives and a deliberate comparison between these alternatives to choose the best alternative among them. While in emergency and crisis conditions such as Covid-19 Prevalence, it is an extraordinary decision that is made in exceptional circumstances that negatively affect what should be made.

The usual circumstances for choosing the best alternative among them, and here crisis management aims to neutralize the negatives and complete adequate data and information that affects the integrity of the decision-making process in this crisis of Covid-19 Prevalence. a) In Clinical Psychology:

Clinical tests are used to diagnose, classify, and treat diseases, and based on the results of the tests, choose the most expensive methods of treatment. Faraj [3] mentioned the following functions of measurement in psychiatry: [1] Predicting the effectiveness of the drug on some particular types of schizophrenia.

[2] Identify the types of depression and schizophrenia.

[3] Research problems related to the meaning of diagnosis and its processes.

[4] Evaluating the effect of psychotherapy.

[5] Provide a base for automated organization of hospital records.

[6] Linking biological indicators to the behavioral function of the depressed.

[7] Discover the influence of culture on psychosis formation.

C. Measurement properties: Specialists in psychological measurement try to find accurate, reliability and validity tools for measuring psychological,

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educational, Social and political phenomena and personality characteristics, to reach a level of accuracy that researchers reached in the physical measurements, but this seems difficult because there are problems and difficulties in measuring and quantifying psychological phenomena and characteristics, such as intangible, i.e. they do not have a physical presence, but rather hypothetical configurations, so their measurement is indirect, as they are inferred through performance or behavior in situations related to the phenomenon or the feature itself [2,3]. Psychologists have spent a lot of time and effort to develop measurement tools, and these measures are a group of issues, which represent specific controversial topics in one subject, and they meet certain conditions [7].

Abd al-Khaliq [8] indicates that one of the most important characteristics of a good measure is that when the test is presented to the participants, it makes the respondents ahead of him, not tired of it, and makes him give correct, clear, and not fake responses, thus increasing the possibility of giving false and incorrect responses.

From this point, the attention of the experts in psychological measurement is mainly directed towards preparing standard measures and methods that reduce measurement errors. Among these prominent concerns is a method of applying measures to reduce measurement errors resulting from excessive increase in the length of the scale and trying to limit errors that keep it away from giving the true score of the characteristic that was prepared to measure them, because one of the characteristics of a good test is that it is not affected by application conditions [9].

As the behavior does not appear in its expressive form, except when the individual finds himself in a natural situation.

That is due to most features have a social characteristic that does not appear until

when the individual finds himself with a certain group of individuals in a social situation, and therefore creating a specific situation with tools and standard means to obtain a sample reality of behavior denoting the measured characteristic or trait is difficult, if not impossible [10].

Therefore, whoever engages in any profession must know the tools that must be used and that help him in achieving his goal, as the use of any tool in any profession is conditional on certain characteristics and specifications [11,14]. Since there are material conditions that must be available in the situation the test because of its profound effects on the behavior of people from examiners and thus on the results of their tests, and from these conditions ventilation and lighting, and they have a clear impact on the performance of people in the tests, whether this performance in writing or work. Likewise, it is necessary to provide seating places that help in performing this performance, in terms of the breadth and the possibility of placing the tools on desks that are easy to handle and use, and so on[12].

In addition, the researchers see that the method of application is one of the factors affecting the accuracy and objectivity of the response and therefore affects the results obtained by the researchers when applying measurement tools in the psychological and educational field, especially as we live in exceptional circumstances worldwide through the Prevalence of a dangerous virus (Covid-19) that has led to paralysis in the joints of public life in all its economic, social and educational fields, and we are now faced with several options in order to maintain scientific and research communication either online or through alternative evaluation.

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II. Factors affecting the application

measurements process:

Many factors can be indicated that could affect the responses of the examined, which reflects on the data that the researcher seeks to obtain and affect the research results. Perhaps the most prominent of these factors are the following: 1- The timing of application tools: The timing of the application process is a very important matter in terms of influencing the response of the subject, when the application takes place at a time that is not appropriate for the researcher, the researcher should not expect to obtain the response expressing the feature as it is in reality.

2-Place of application tools: One of the influencing factors that can affect the response of the examined is the place in which the instrument is being applied, and what it includes of physical factors such as ventilation and lighting, as well as its capacity and furnishing. They constitute the influencing elements in the psychological environment of the examined, which should be appropriate. I will definitely affect the responses and reflect on the results.

3-The motivation of the measurement and their desire to participate: When the respondent is willing to participate in the research sample convinced of it. This will contribute to obtaining a real response related to the attribute that is intended to be measured, but if he is not willing to participate, this will negatively affect his interaction with the research tool, so it does not interact With her and is not interested in answering her paragraphs as it should.

4-Personality of who applying measuring tools: The personality of who applying measuring tools with a strong, attractive personality, tact and a clear voice capable of showing the importance of his research and persuading the respondents to participate

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and arouse their enthusiasm will get more and more accurate responses that contribute to achieving the goals of the research, and vice versa with the researcher with a weak personality [13,14].

5- Method of application tools: The method of application is one of the factors affecting all data, if the method of application depends on the response of the examined and their interaction, as the manual application method can make the respondent feel bored and lack of focus, in contrast to the online application that is available to the respondent in response, especially We are in the era of online development and the adhesion of respondents to online devices more than answering features through paper.

Therefore, in light of the fear of members of society of different groups and ages, of Covid-19 infection, we must take into account such abhorrent circumstances to avoid the impact of the results of psychological, educational, physiological, social, and political measurement. We must use online application tools methods to reduce the Prevalence of infection with COFED-19.

III. Alternative Evaluation:

Recent attitudes in the educational process have called for attention to the evaluation process (tests). Among these concerns is a type of evaluation known as the alternative evaluation, that evaluation that depends on the assumption that knowledge is created and built by the learner, since that knowledge differs from one context to another, and an idea arises. This type of evaluation provides the ability to form an integrated picture of the learner in light of a set of alternatives, some or all of them.

The real evaluation is the actual evaluation of performance, because by this we know if students are able to use what

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they have learned in school life situations that are very close to real life situations, and if they are able to renew and innovate in new situations, and this type of evaluation has two characteristics: A- Provides students and teachers with feedback and opportunities that they can use to review their performance of these or similar work.

B- It is based on authentic tasks that are, tasks that teach students the work that adults face in their field of work.

The idea of alternative evaluation is based on the belief that student learning and academic progress can be evaluated by works and tasks that require active preoccupation such as research and investigation of complex problems, carrying out field experiments, and high performance. This method of evaluating student performance reflects a shift from the missionary view of learning to the constructive view of learning.

A. There are several forms of alternative evaluation, including: A- Performance Evaluation: Unlike traditional tests that focus on accurate facts and skills, performance assessment is designed to test what is more important than that, which is the student’s ability to use knowledge and skills in different real situations, and performance evaluation is not a new thing, it has been around for centuries, when the owners of the crafts were doing By assessing their students by noting them of their work.

B- Evaluation Multiple Measures: It is this type of evaluation that does not depend on one indicator or one measurement method in issuing the judgment on the learner, but rather depends on more than one measurement method, and on more than one indicator for issuing judgment at the level of any component of the educational

system’s inputs, processes and outputs.

Applying psychological and educational measures in light of the Prevalence of Coronavirus.

The Prevalence of Coronavirus showed the weak ability of man and his trick in the face of this threat to mankind, as there is no difference between developed and backward countries as everyone is anxiously awaiting a solution to this epidemic, which has been classified by the World Health Organization as a global epidemic to be cautious of, but is this virus is it is stronger than the will of man. Certainly, the answer is no, the will of man is stronger and more capable of confrontation, among the problems that we face now is the process of disrupting an important component of public life, but it is the joint of education and scientific research in all countries of the world, so does man stand unable to find solutions to this.

The problem is that researchers should work hard as specialists work in the field of combating this virus. We also have to find solutions to the problems that this epidemic left in the field of achievement evaluation and scientific research, and it is through the researchers work in the field of psychological measurement and educational evaluation, and from the results of their previous research, they put researchers in the field the application of psychological measurement tools is a solution to the problem of applying psychological and educational standards, by investing the availability of social networks, by applying the tools online, and completing the process of scientific research despite its presence in the quarantine, and thus it fights the Prevalence of the virus on the one hand and accomplishes its work, on the other hand, and in the event researchers find it difficult to communicate online due to the interruption of the internet, it is possible to resort to the alternative evaluation as a second solution to face the problem.

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Therefore, the importance of the current study lies in determining which methods are better in the application of metrics (manual or online). They lie from calculating the psychometric properties of the scale and its items in each method, to make it easier for researchers to select the best method in the metrics application in the field of personality, as well as provide a measure in the field of personality usable from other researchers in the future.

Conclusion Important and dangerous decisions are made during the management of inflammatory crises, and whether the crisis is internal or external, such as the current Covid-19, the important thing is a real risk and complete endorsement of a conflict or strife or a dangerous epidemic, and in such crises that allow only specific times to deal with its changing circumstances and the need for an effective action increases, amid a high degree of suspicion surrounding all the options presented, and under tremendous psychological pressure from the possibility of the deteriorating situation and the failure of the whole process, crucial and critical decisions must be taken with a degree of clarity and publicity in order to reassure public opinion, and here comes a shrewd decision-maker and genius when excerpted amid prospects of great failure and full of despair, success in such circumstances is to cross the paper industry and other decisions of the largest and most important The present study recommends adopting the online application method in carrying out psychological and educational instruments in light of the current global circumstances of the Prevalence of the deadly Coronavirus (Covid-19). This encourages the continuation of the scientific research wheel and consequently the disease does not stop the continuation of life, and that the problem has become difficult with online communication Session 1. Psychosocial challenges in today’s society

between the parties of the educational and psychological evaluation process, We can go to the application of alternative evaluation tools.

As well as this study shed light on the role of the application of alternative evaluation tools in the educational field with students at all educational levels, from basic education to undergraduate and postgraduate university studies such as homework, educational discussion forums, short quizzes, writing scientific articles, preparing scientific research, and presentations.

These methods are now applied to student evaluation is imperative and necessary in order to overcome the problem of applying traditional educational evaluation methods.

From these findings, decision-makers must also take rapid, bold and decisive decisions in the educational, scientific researches, social, and political sectors to implement online methods for measuring, evaluating and studying opinions, attitudes and values, to reduce the incidence caused by the Prevalence of Covid-19 in these sectors of the state..

Recommendations [1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

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The adoption of the internet in the scientific communication between researchers and respondents.

Adopting the online application method in completing the preparation and application of research tools in the field of psychological measurement and educational evaluation.

Adopting the alternative evaluation as another solution for scientific communication and academic evaluation.

Harnessing all human and material efforts and capabilities to solve the issue of the crisis and giving it the

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[5]

highest priority.

Empowering teachers, researchers, students, leaders and administrators.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia, for providing administrative and technical support.

Conflict of Interest The authors of this manuscript declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Biographies

Bibliography World Health Organization (WHO).

Coronavirus. 2020. Retrieved at: https:// www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus.21 March 2020; [2] Arnout, B. The reference in psychometrics.

Cairo: The Anglo-Egyptian Library, 2004.

[3] Faraj, S. Psychometrics. 6th ed. Cairo: The Anglo-Egyptian Library, 2017.

[4] Al-Turiri, A. Psychological and educational measurement. Riyadh: Al-Rushd Library, 1997.

[5] Aldubaisi, A. & Abuaishah, S. Public opinion, its composition factors and methods of measurement. Jordan: Al Masirah Publishing House, 2010.

[6] Abdul Rahman, S. Psychometrics. Theory and practice. Cairo: Dar Al-Fikr Al-Arabi, 1998.

[7] Musa, W. Youth attitudes towards employment Opportunities. (Unpublished Master Thesis), the University of Baghdad, College of Arts, Department of Sociology, 2004.

[8] Abdel-Khaliq, A. Measuring Personality.

Alexandria: Dar Al-Maarefa Al-Jamiiah, 2005.

[9] Helmistadter, G.C. Principles of Psychological Measurement. London: Methuen & Co, 1966.

[10] Al-Masry, M. The effect of the direction of the paragraphs and the way they are formulated on the psychometric properties of personality [1]

standards and according to the level of mental health of the respondent. (unpublished doctoral thesis), the University of Baghdad, College of Education, Ibn Rushd, 1999.

[11] Ahmed, M. Psychological and Educational Measurement. Cairo: Egyptian Renaissance Library, 1981.

[12] Abu Hatab, F. Mental capabilities. Cairo: The Anglo-Egyptian Library, 1987.

[13] Attia, M. Scientific research in education, curricula, tools, and statistical methods.

Jordan: House of Curriculums for Publishing and Distribution, 2010.

[14] Lord, F. M. Psychological Scaling. New York, John Wiley, 1960.

Prof.

Dr. Boshra A. Arnout Professor of Counseling and psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education, King Khalid University, and Psychology Department, Faculty of Arts, Zagazig University. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, a member of the American Psychological Counseling Association, a member of the Advisory Board of a number of journals and counseling centers, and a member of several Arab and international journals. She has published several books in psychology such as the secret of extremism, applied of positive psychology in counseling psychology and psychotherapy, encyclopedia of counseling and psychotherapy, A global‐ Vocational counseling and psychotherapy, psychological measurement, stress of life, mental disorders of children, readings in modern psychology, spiritual intelligence and counseling and psychotherapy etc. over the time. She also published more than 50 psychological scales. As well as She was

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published about 60 scientific paper studies in different fields of psychology. She also supervised and discussed a number of thesis for the master’s and doctoral degrees.

She has more than 24 years’ experience in studying in Universities such as Zagazig University in Egypt, Umm Al Qura University and King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia.

Her Web of Science Researcher ID is AAF‐7107‐2019, and her RG account is: https:// www.researchgate.net/profile/Boshra_Arnout.

Prof.

Dr. Khalid Jamal Jasim Professor specialty in evaluation and measurement works in University of Baghdad college of Education Ibn Rushd for Humanities Department of Educational and Psychological, Works in teaching Since In 2001,Supervisor of Master Thesis and PhD degrees. Prof. Khalid has many published papers and books in evaluation and measurement.

Dr. Zeyad Samir Zaki Al-Dabbagh.

Assistant Professor at the University of Mosul College of Political Science, Department of Public Policy. He has many published research papers in Arabic and International Journals. Dr. Al-Dabbagh has Participated in many conferences with research and working papers.

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The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces, (DIALOGO-CONF 2020 VICSSR)

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Social marketing and social distancing: Jordan experience in combating COVID-19 Ahed J Alkhatib

1 Department of Legal Medicine, Toxicology and Forensic Medicine, Jordan University Of Science & Technology, Jordan 2 International Mariinskaya Academy, department of medicine and critical care, department of philosophy, Academician secretary of department of Sociology article info

abstract

Article history: Received 05 May 2020 Received in revised form 20 May Accepted 22 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.2

This study explored the efforts input by the Jordanian government to control COVID-19. The government implemented the concept of social marketing successfully, and leadership was very useful. Social distancing was obligatorily applied and people accepted that. as the disease progressed more, the government applied more forcing steps to make social distancing more effective. From the economic point of view, the government paid salaries for all employees, cut all discounts, and collaborated with banks not take loan fees until the crisis is over. Moreover, the government established online education for schools and universities. The confidence of people with measures of the government increased. The overall health results controlled the disease, and it is expected to see Jordan free of COVID-19 soon.

Keywords: COVID-19; social marketing; social distancing; economy; Jordan;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction

According to a study by Alkhatib et al. [1], coronaviruses are infections of both clinical and veterinary essentialness. Coronaviruses are single abandoned RNA diseases with a lipoprotein envelope and enter the host cells by a Class I blend protein, for instance, one that does not require some other viral surface proteins for the mix. Clinical introduction of patients with coronaviruses included hack, fever, cerebral pain. As an

end, even though the presence of broad of Coronaviruses, essential data stays to be clarified.

There must be quick measures to be taken to combat the disease. Various countries did not make the appropriate decisions on how to face this disease. Jordan was one of the first countries to take a package of measures in combating the disease. The top authorities completely supported these decisions in Jordan. His Majesty King Abdulla II, is considered a transformational leader

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with great influences on the Jordanian population took critical decisions at an early stage to protect people. One of the critical decisions is obligatory social Distancing. In this study, we discussed social marketing, social Distancing, and the efforts of the Jordanian government in combating the disease.

II. Social marketing

Social marketing is a quickly developing field of study [2]. Consequently, there has been an apparent need among specialists and professionals for leading efficient writing surveys to show the viability of social promoting intercessions, look at current practices and procedures, and evaluate the scholarly scene of the control. As will be demonstrated as follows, these surveys are basic in that they fundamentally draw upon the scholarly writing and utilize Andreasen’s six social advertising benchmark criteria (conduct change, shopper look into, division and focusing on, advertising blend, trade, and rivalry) to distinguish qualified investigations [3].

Social marketing has the essential objective of accomplishing “social great.”

Conventional business marketing points are basically money-related; however they can have positive social impacts too. With regards to general wellbeing, social advertising would advance general wellbeing, bring issues to light and incite changes in conduct. Social promotion has been an enormous industry for quite a while and was initially finished with papers and boards, however, as business marketing has adjusted to the advanced world. The most widely recognized utilization of social advertising in the present society is through social media [4]. However, to consider social to be as just the utilization of standard business promoting practices to accomplish non-business objectives is a distorted view.

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Social marketing tries to create and coordinate showcasing ideas with different ways to deal with social change. Social promoting expects to impact practices that advantage people and networks for the more noteworthy social great. The objective is to convey rivalry touchy and portioned social change programs that are powerful, proficient, impartial and sustainable [5].

Progressively, social marketing is depicted as having “two guardians.” The “social parent” utilizes sociology and social strategy draws near. The “marketing guardian” utilizes business and open area promoting approaches [5].

Recent years have additionally seen a more extensive core interest. Social advertising presently goes past affecting individual conduct. It advances sociosocial and auxiliary change significant to social issues [6]. Consequently, social marketing researchers are starting to advocate for a more extensive meaning of social advertising: “social promoting is the utilization of showcasing standards to empower individual and aggregate thoughts and activities in the quest for viable, productive, impartial, reasonable and supported social change.” The new accentuation gives equivalent load with the impacts (proficiency and adequacy) and the procedure (value, reasonableness and manageability) of social advertising programs. Together with another social marketing definition that centers around social change, there is additionally a contention that “a frameworks approach is required if social promoting is to address the undeniably mind-boggling and dynamic social issues confronting contemporary societies [6].

Social marketing is viewed as an important approach to induce changes in behavior. Furthermore, its importance has reached public health. In any case, it is as yet ignored by numerous general health

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managers, principally on the grounds that they need fundamental instruments right now, information and specialized help. Actualizing social marketing in public health, that involves three measurements: political, technical training and cooperation.

The political measurement infers a brought together use of the idea at the national level through explicit methodologies and urging program designers to utilize showcasing procedures in affecting health behavior.

The technical training domain infers courses gave at various levels and phases of training: students, high graduate students, and specialists. The cooperative domain needs the formation of joint groups and away from of jobs for every part, of which in any event one ought to be a master in social showcasing [5].

Social marketing is a usually utilized approach at global level. Social advertising projects may sell sponsored items through business area outlets, circulate properly valued items, convey wellbeing administrations through social establishments and advance practices not needy upon a item or administration.

The authors aimed to audit-proof of the adequacy of social advertising in low-andmiddle salary nations, concentrating on significant zones of interest in worldwide wellbeing: HIV, reproduction health, kid endurance, malaria and tuberculosis. Most examinations utilized semi trial structures and revealed blended outcomes. Kid endurance had proportionately the best number of studies utilizing trial structures, detailing wellbeing results, and announcing positive, factually noteworthy outcomes [6]. According to World Bank Group (2016), studies that focused on social marketing were considered if there were trials to induce changes in a behavioral factor, behavior or required health outcome within the areas of universal health investment such as HIV, reproductive health, child survival, malaria and tuberculosis [7].

Kotler [8] conducted a review study about social marketing in which the promoting discipline, which rose in the mid 1900s, went through its initial 70 years concentrated on depicting and assessing how revenue driven associations lead their business activities with items and administrations. Starting during the 1970s, advancing analysts including Philip Kotler, Sidney Levy, Gerald Zaltman, and Richard Bagozzi – made a trend of articles demonstrating that exhibiting practices go on in the non-benefit area too.

They suggested that the advertising control would be enhanced by working with the “showcasing” issues of non-benefit and open associations - not simply the promoting issues of business associations. This thusly came to be known as the “expanding of promoting.” A couple of years after the fact, a few advertisers tested the widening thought as not having a place in the control of showcasing. The widening researchers proposed making a choice with advertising educators. The resulting vote ends up being overwhelmingly for widening development.

All the more as of late, it was brought up the issue of whether the expanding work is a piece of a bigger worldview that may prompt a general hypothesis of advertising [8].

Fujihira et al. [9] (2015) reported the application of social marketing of physical activity interventions among the elderly.

Kubacki et al. [10] reported the use of social marketing in the case of intervention programs for alcohol prevention, and Kubacki et al. [11] with respect to social marketing studies targeting children under 12 years old.

The decreasing neglected requirement for present-day contraception stays a need in worldwide general wellbeing. In Nigeria, Africa’s most crowded nation, neglected need stays high the same number of ladies keep on confronting obstructions to getting to contraception, including the absence

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of prepared wellbeing suppliers, supplier predispositions against prophylactic use among specific subpopulations of ladies, absence of privacy, and social and strict restriction. The cutting edge preventative pervasiveness rate (CPR) among all hitched ladies expanded from under 10% in 2013 to 16.0% in 2016 [12-14].

Antric et al [15] conducted a study about “ Soul searching: Public relations, reputation and social marketing in an age of interdisciplinarity.” According to the authors, situating the present as a period of interdisciplinarity, they investigated the potential for improvement through chose crossing points, basically with PR and social advertising. They arranged this investigation in the further setting of the contemporaneous quest for what some administration scholars have called soul. All the while, just as adding to the PR and social promoting groups of information, they looked to explain scholarly consultations about choosing gainful and prosocial interdisciplinary crossing points. To start to outline equal procedure in practice, they installed specialist points of view in a record of social showcasing in Aotearoa New Zealand. The aim was to search for manners by which the two researchers and specialists could show signs of improvement at it. They finished up by recommending that meeting with social showcasing can likewise assist PR with handling three significant and proceeding with issues: techniques, result assessments, and notoriety.

Burksiene et al. [16] led an examination about “Upstream Social Marketing for Executing Mobile Government.” This article evaluates the significant pieces of upstream social showcasing for the execution of Versatile government (MGov).

The procedure of flow exploration depends on the orderly writing survey in the fields of MGov and social promoting. As per our discoveries, most analysts researched MGov

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from the side of residents (purchasers) and stressed the advantages to them while changing their mentalities and practices in utilizing portable applications. In any case, as there is an absence of research from the side of administrative bodies, right now, we are searching for new implications, mentalities and qualities from their point of view. Impediments of work of MGov happen due information hole among chiefs and open approach formers (upstream crowd).

Along these lines, we contend that upstream social advertising for the upstream crowd would acquire achievement quicker MGov usage. Explicit social promoting would be for the most part significant on the civil level that is the nearest substance to the general public. Subsequently, in our paper, we underscore the advantage of the MGov for the neighborhood upstream crowd and propose conceivable outer advertisers just as the propelling proposals dependent on the 7P of advertising blend (comprising of seven P components: Product, Price, Spot or physical proof, Promotion, Participants or individuals, Processes, Political force) for the effective MGov on civil level.

It has been confirmed that social marketing as a valuable apparatus for revision or change of cultural practices and mentalities towards advancements and arrangement of current issues. They propose applying showcasing correspondence to support acknowledgment. Three degrees of social marketing are characterized to be utilized for the various partners. Downstream social marketing is coordinated to the people, mid-stream social promoting—to the social gatherings and upstream social advertising—to the chiefs, legislative issues and managers. While concurring with the above explanations, we contend that upstream social promoting would right off the bat encourage nearby open specialists to pick up the particular information and aptitudes and furthermore to impact the work of versatile applications for MGov in

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districts, as these privately represented domains are for the most part interrelated with the idea of administration [15].

Aronowitz et al. [17] conducted a study on social marketing. The authors believe that the initiation of recruitment depends on determining the population and means of interacting with them. This is the concept of targeting. The early assessment gives important information on recruitment. The primer work of drawing in the number of individuals in intrigue is basic to effectively pulling in and holding the inclusion of populaces of intrigue. The authors aimed to introduce approaches used to draw in undergrads in a staggered intercession planned for forestalling substance misuse, HIV and STIs . The authors applied Andreasen’s six principles of social marketing to make intervention actions and keep students in these actions.

Study findings showed that pamphlets were insufficient to pull in potential members since notices should be connecting with and utilize a person to person communication destinations.

Students additionally appreciate playing both on-line and inperson games and are very serious. Testing for HIV significantly increased in the first year. As a matter of conclusion, students turned out to be progressively mindful with each resulting occasion support expanded after some time. Although the informal exchange is still viable in getting students to occasion, the utilization of long-range interpersonal communication locales incredibly improved students’ cooperation.

Liu et al. [18] conducted a study about “Introducing the subcutaneous depot medroxyprogesterone acetate injectable contraceptive via social marketing: lessons learned from Nigeria’s private sector.”

According to the author, the subcutaneous depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA-SC) injectable contraceptive was introduced in southwest Nigeria in 2015

through private-sector channels. The introduction included community-based distribution and was supported by a social marketing approach. From program monitoring and evaluation, geared toward understanding performance, market reach and other process measures, the researchers identify lessons learned to tell future scale-up efforts.

Approaches: they incorporated the discoveries from a center arrangement of key execution markers gathered through various strategies: (1) implementer execution markers, (2) telephone review of DMPA-SC clients (n=541) with a follow up following 3 months (n=342) and (3) inside and out interviews with 57 suppliers and 42 clients of DMPA-SC. Results: Distribution of DMPA-SC to individual suppliers was amassed in states with enormous urban populaces. A move toward having some expertise in high-volume contraception offices corresponded with a fast increment in conveyance in late 2016. Clients who came to inside the telephone overview were commonly more established and hitched with youngsters; few were under age 25. Clients and suppliers detailed great assessments of DMPA-SC. Numerous clients detailed picking DMPA-SC because of proposals from suppliers and companions, and thusly the desire for encountering decreased symptoms contrasted with different techniques. While clients detailed positive encounters associating with network-based wholesalers, the conveyance model experienced assortment of difficulties — high turnover, low inspiration, absence of a fitting remuneration bundle and calculated expenses — and was at last disbanded. Ends: inside the DMPA-SC early on the program in Nigeria, the conveyance was intensified when centered around high volume prophylactic suppliers. In spite of the fact that network based conveyance is one compelling help conveyance model for coming to underserved populaces, more

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thought for adjusting cost recuperation what’s more, general wellbeing objectives through private part approaches are required inside the setting of South West Nigeria. Additional communications and outreach efforts are needed to succeed in younger, unmarried users with contraceptive services.

Sampogna et al. [19] conducted a study on the effect of social marketing campaigns to lower mental health stigma. In England, during 2009–2014 the ‘Opportunity to Change’ against shame program has incorporated a social marketing campaign (SMC) utilizing broad communications channels, web based life and social contact occasions yet the adequacy of such methodology has not been assessed at this point. Targeted population included individuals aged between mid-twenties/ mid-forties, from middle income gatherings.

Members were enrolled through an online statistical surveying board, previously, then after the fact each explosion of the battle (with a mean number of one of a kind members for every each burst: 956.9 170.2). Members finished an online survey assessing information [Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS)]; perspectives [Community Attitudes toward Mental Illness (CAMI)]; and practices [Reported and Planned Behavior Scale (RIBS)]. Socio-segment information and level of consciousness of the SMC were too gathered. Results: A sum of 10,526 individuals were met. Expanding utilization of the SMC-media channels as well as of the degree of consciousness of SMC was discovered (P < 0.001). Monitoring the SMC was seen as related with higher score at MAKS (OR = 0.95, CI = 0.68 to 1.21; P < 0.001), at ‘resistance and backing’ CAMI subscale (OR = 0.12, CI = 0.09 to 0.16; P < 0.001), and at RIBS (OR = 0.71, CI = 0.51 to 0.92; P < 0.001), controlling for confounders. Taken together, the SMC addresses a noteworthy strategy to diminish disgrace effectively. Thinking about Session 1. Psychosocial challenges in today’s society

these positive revelations, further masses based methodologies using web based life may address a suitable approach to challenge disgrace. Ahmad et al [20] led an investigation on “ The Impact of Social Media Content Marketing (SMCM) towards Brand Health.” The examination was led in the light of thought that the ascent of Web 2. has made the new wonder in business systems as it allowed two-path correspondences among associations and the customers.

Nowadays, the business experts will, when all is said in done use the web based life displaying to make care and hoist their brands to the customers. By the essential worry in sharing the information through the web-based life is about the substance itself to pull in more purchasers interface with the brands. SMCM furthermore expect a noteworthy activity in giving effective information to the clients along these lines attract them to keep interfacing with the brands. In the meantime, brand prosperity is the evaluation from cutting edge swarms about the brands and things. It measures the cognizance of the brand for long stretch period thusly develop the brand esteem.

There are scarcely any pointers in evaluating the brand prosperity, for instance, time close by, go over visitors, social inclinations, enrollments, and ricochet rates. There are up ‘til now compelled assessments on the impact of online life content exhibiting (SMCM) towards brand prosperity. The inspiration for driving this assessment is to investigate the activity of SMCM in extending the brand prosperity score.

Fletcher-Brown et al. [21] conducted a study about “Health marketing in an emerging market: The critical role of signaling theory in breast cancer awareness,” a c c o r d i n g to authors, In India, malignant breast growth is the most usually analyzed sort of disease among ladies in urban areas and urban territories, however ladies look for clinical consideration very late because of the absence of mindfulness about self-

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assessment. The authors investigated the wellbeing marketing writing through flagging hypothesis to reveal the remarkable social, monetary, social and institutional difficulties and openings looked by wellbeing advertisers and buyers in breast cancer awareness (BCA) in a rising economy – India. An interpretive-inductive strategy, nearby a grounded hypothesis approach by means of center gatherings with clinical experts and meetings with ladies, is utilized. Discoveries uncover complex difficulties at national, state and network levels which sway contrarily on the notoriety of India’s wellbeing area. Social marketing systems could be utilized to raise BCA by means of network wellbeing activists. Recommendations are proposed and a reasonable structure is created to help wellbeing advertisers to oversee BCA in a developing economy.

So as to improve the general wellbeing technique towards ladies’ medicinal services in India, the administration could expand on this ongoing energy and start social marketing movement to convey a BCA program. New innovation has risen as an open door for wellbeing advertisers and customers to help this stimulus [22], in spite of the fact that, so far, there is a scarcity of writing with respect to the viability of versatile innovation to convey wellbeing messages in India [21].

This social marketing study exists in the scholastic circle of social promoting which verifiably has been utilized to change singular activities utilizing instructive crusades with an end goal to supplant undesirable conduct with positive activities [23, 24]. An operational meaning of ‘social advertising’ recommends social change the board, including the structure, usage and control of projects planned for expanding the adequacy of a social thought or practice in at least one gatherings of target adopters [21]. The definition was reached

out to incorporate wellbeing related social advertising and concentrated on a use of coordinated promoting ideas and strategies from adjusted controls to accomplish explicit conduct objectives, in this manner improving wellbeing and diminishing wellbeing disparities [25]. Since the idea of social showcasing advanced, social advertisers ordinarily utilized customary promoting devices trying to change a person’s conduct, however more as of late, specialists have applied interdisciplinary structures to create mediations [21].

Sanclemente-Téllez [26] conducted a study about “Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Moving between expanding the idea of promoting and social factors as a showcasing approach.”

According to the author, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been tended to and overseen by a wide range of organizations and associations in a few different ways. It has likewise driven both business individuals and researchers to verbalize differed interests on the joining of this idea into their exercises. As needs be, author tries to relate the CSR idea to promoting by introducing a characterization of various hypothetical viewpoints as indicated by which these two develops are interrelated. It is critical to assess the manners by which marketing directors can apply CSR-related exercises to create an incentive for their different partners. It is similarly as imperative to progress information on CSR usage in the field of marketing through this writing audit and relating experimental proof.

CSR has risen as a significant scholastic build and as a factor on the plans of a wide range of organizations and especially huge associations and aggregates. In spite of the fact that there has been a constant scholastic discussion seeing CSR as an idea, it is currently conceivable to state with conviction that there is no all-around acknowledged meaning of the term since on the one hand, researchers keep on discussing

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its substance and significance, furthermore, then again, the biggest organizations appear to have discovered a shared conviction on which they have created keys techniques and improvements regarding the matter.

While there gives off an impression of being no concession to its definition, its conceptualization and application have been received energetically inside the business world. The meaning of this showcasing idea has advanced impressively. This has been driven by the American Marketing Affiliation (AMA), which unites the world’s researchers and professionals of the order. The reason for this definition exertion has been to represent changes in nature and in the executives’ practices to add to the further improvement of the control. In like manner, hypothetical commitments have molded the advancement of advertising thought, partner it with specific schools that have yielded principal ideas that for quite a long time have been exposed to study, research and practice [26].

III. Social Distancing

Social Distancing is based on the idea that everyone may act to minimize the transmission rate of COVID-19. Furthermore, social Distancing is considered a crucial method to inhibit the spreading of COVID-19.

Social Distancing is practiced through keeping a space (at least 6 feet) between any two persons, from one side, and continue to practice healthy habits to help slow the spread of COVID-19 [27].

Social distancing measures involve one classification of non-pharmaceutical countermeasures (NPCs) planned for lessening malady of transmission and in this manner, likewise lessening pressure on health system [28, 29].

With the quickly heightening COVID-19 pandemic, governments in the sum total of what nations have been asked by WHO

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to respect control of the ailment as a ‘top need’; ECDC has made a comparable call for EU/EEA Member States [30, 31].

The term ‘social distancing’ alludes to endeavors that point, through an assortment of means, to diminish or hinder transmission of COVID-19 of every a populace (sub-) bunch by limiting physical contact between possibly contaminated people and solid people, or between populace bunches with high paces of transmission and populace bunches with no or a low degree of transmission. Network-level social distancing measures are required in corresponding with regulation endeavors (for example contact following [32] at whatever point it turns out to be evident that control alone is no more adequate as a method for postponing the pinnacle of the pestilence, diminishing the pinnacle size to secure medicinal services limit, or ensuring helpless gatherings in danger of extreme results. There are a few unique kinds of social distancing measures, and these can be classified in ‘layers’, in rising request of scale. Each dynamic layer of measures incorporates all measures from the past layers. Note that the term ‘social distancing’ centers around decreasing physical contact as a method for interfering with the transmission, however while decrease of social contact might be a result of that, it’s anything but a particular point. For sure, the accomplishment of social distancing measures that are executed over an allinclusive period may rely upon guaranteeing that individuals keep in touch – from a separation – with companions, family and partners. Internet-based correspondences are in this manner a key instrument for guaranteeing a fruitful social distancing methodology.

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IV. The efforts of the Jordanian

government

As early as the COVID-19 has been recognized, the government started to take protective measures. COVID-19 has come to affect the world. Within the countries in the middle east, Jordan witnessed cases of COVID-19. Although the government has made great efforts to control the disease, its control is still remaining in the hand of the other parties. These parties include the citizens themselves.

Social marketing is an effective means used by marketers to give a social change a great value to be achieved. In this situation, it was observed on a large scale the efforts taken by the government that effectively implemented social marketing to increase the awareness in COVID-19 among the public.

It has been well known that now the best actions to combat the disease are in the first place to prevent its occurrence. Social Distancing is the best strategy. Disturbing the circle of infection is considered a wise step. This means to obligatory force people to stay at home. This is not an easy process to make the whole country staying at home.

Social marketing is an effective tool to be rationally used. Persons who are proved to be positive for the infection, were isolated inappropriate health settings. The other members of their families were tested for COVID-19, and those who were positive were also isolated whereas the negative ones were continuously tested. Isolation places were not essentially hospitals, except severe cases that require the use of respiratory units. The government used five star hotels in the Dead Sea to host infected persons who were provided with the highest level of medical care. The use of media through employing social marketing has been positively proved to attain the attention towards the importance of

COVID-19. In this situation, it is possible and preferable to establish educational links to increase the awareness of patients and the public in general. For the general population, increasing awareness about social Distancing was the most effective choice. The commitment of people by the principles of social Distancing has made the challenging steps to minimize the mortality rates and to prevent the occurrence of the disease. In this regard, the decisions of government were seriously applied. As an example, within certain periods during the day, people can go to bring essential things.

Offering delivery steps to minimize contact among people was provided. Humanitarian aspect were taken into account by providing poor people and unemployed persons with essential needs for their lives. This included giving money either directly through the government or indirectly through gifts from persons, and other active bodies in the community.

Conclusion The Jordanian government, supported by the top authorities in Jordan, was aware of the impact of COVID-19 on Jordanians and other workers in Jordan. The government took critical decisions to combat the disease and has made the social Distancing as obligatory to protect people in Jordan. The efforts of the government were supported by people, and there is a successful policy in keeping the COVID-19 controllable.

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[2] Truong, V. D., Hall, C. M., “Exploring the poverty reduction potential of social marketing in tourism development,” Austrian Journal of South-East Asian Studies, 8 (2) (2015): 125–142.

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[3] V. Dao Truong, Nam V.H. Dang, “Reviewing Research Evidence for Social Marketing: Systematic Literature Reviews,” Formative Research in Social Marketing, (2017): DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-1829-9_11.

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[13] HM Schwandt, and IS Speizer, M. Corroon, “Contraceptive service provider imposed restrictions to contraceptive access in

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urban Nigeria,” BMC Health Serv Res, 17 (2017): 278. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-017-2223-2.

[14] M Sieverding, and Schatzkin E, Shen J, Liu J, “Provider bias in contraceptive provision to adolescent girls and young women in South West Nigeria’s private healthcare sector,” Int Perspect Sex Reprod Health, 44(1) (2018): 19-29. doi: 10.1363/44e5418.

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[22] S. Rai, “India just crossed 1 billion

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mobile subscribers’ milestone and the excitement’s just beginning.” Retrieved 12 October 2016 from http://www.forbes.com/ sites/saritharai/2016/01/06/india-just-crossed1-billion-mobile-subscribersmilestone-and-theexcitements-just-beginning/#4b25c76b5ac2.

[23] A. L. Friedman, and R. E. Kachur, S. M. Noar, M. McFarlane, “Health communication and social marketing campaigns for sexually transmitted disease prevention and control: What is the evidence of their effectiveness?”, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 43(2S) (2016): S83–S101.

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[29] European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Guidelines for the use of nonpharmaceutical measures to delay and mitigate the impact of 2019-nCoV, Stockholm: ECDC; 2020.

[30] European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Outbreak of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19): increased transmission globally – fifth update. Stockholm: ECDC; 2020.

[31] European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: increased transmission in the EU/EEA and the UK – sixth update, 12 March

2020. Stockholm: ECDC; 2020.

[32] European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Resource estimation for contact tracing, quarantine and monitoring activities for COVID-19 cases in the EU/EEA. ECDC: Stockholm; 2020.

Biography Dr. Ahed J Alkhatib has finished his Ph.D. from Campbell State University in 2011. He is currently working as a clinical researcher at the faculty of medicine, Jordan University of Science and technology.

Over time, he has published more than 200 articles in various medical fields, including neurosciences, pharmacology, and diabetes. His approaches in research include the involvement of philosophy of science in research, which gives looking and thinking in depth. He has developed several hypotheses in medicine, such as the role of white matter in initiating diseases such as diabetes. In microbiology, he has demonstrated that prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells are similar in producing cell cycle proteins that can participate in autoimmunity diseases. For the time being, he is more interested in setting more medical hypotheses and writing books in different fields, of which two books have already been written and distributed in the world market. He is working to establish a new science “molecular sociology”, and published two articles in this field and working on writing a new book in this field to put its fundamentals.

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Section 2

Secular education and religious education (SERE)

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This paper was presented in the

The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces, (DIALOGO-CONF 2020 VICSSR)

held online, on the Journal’s website, from MAY 19 - 26, 2020

journal homepage: http://dialogo-conf.com

Religious Literary Works for Children in the Teaching Process Larisa Ileana Casangiu, PhD Associate Professor at Ovidius University of Constanța Romania

Claudia Simona Popa, PhD Assistant Professor at Ovidius University of Constanța Romania

article info

abstract

Article history: Received 18 April 2020 Received in revised form 20 May Accepted 22 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.3

The present article reiterates our older concerns about the literature studied in public kindergartens and schools. Romania is a country that was declared orthodox in an overwhelming proportion (according to the 2011 Census, 86.45% of the population declared themselves Orthodox, of which 59% pray frequently). However, it also has many other praying Christians, 96% of the Romanians having declared that they believe in God, so we consider that the research we carry out on the religious literature for children is justified. We also point out that the concept of religious literature for children involves certain dynamics.

We operate a taxonomy within this field of children’s literature and discuss each identified category in terms of the opportunity of its institutionalized study. We pay special attention to the psalms. Without overlapping with the school subjects of Religion or Communication in Romanian / Romanian language and literature, the independent study of Psalms by children can be appropriately oriented directed by a teacher (teacher for primary education and / or teacher of Romanian language and literature / religion), both in selecting the texts, and especially in aiming at the understanding of contents, often loaded with meanings in the depth structure of the writing and, sometimes, with figures of speech.

At the same time, we present the framework for which a teacher (in preschool and primary education) can use religious literature as a didactic support of the activities, as long as he / she is not specialized in teaching religion.

Specification: The number specified for each Psalm corresponds to the Romanian numbering. When we took over the translation of certain psalms, we specified that number

Keywords: psalms; prayer; religious fairy tales; teaching context;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

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eISSN: 2393-1744, cdISSN: 2392-9928 printISSN: 2457-9297, ISSN-L 2392-9928

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I. Conceptual semantic delimitations

(literature for children, religious literature)

A component of artistic literature, children’s literature, includes those creations that, by message, degree of accessibility and level of artistic achievement, can be adequately perceived by the audience or the child reader, but without talking about works written exclusively for children.

Children’s literature brings together works that present the child’s own universe of knowledge, his aspirations and fantasies, the immutable values of the human being, synthesized in the ancient concepts of Truth, Good and Beautiful, but also the values of the contemporary man, beneficiary of the progress in science and technology.

All these are formulated through an ingenious artistic transfiguration, in the sense of building an affective relation of empathy between the reader / listener and the content in a question / involved.

Generally speaking, the works have narration and dialogue as their main modes of discourse (rhetorical modes), the descriptions, and the philosophical reflections being scarce.

The accessibility of the language, the exponential characters, the dense epic, the conflict-driven to suspense and sensation, the happy denouement, the interference of literary genres, are just a few characteristics of children’s literature.

Other features of children’s literature refer to the fact that the protagonists of the works are often children, and that subjects considered to be for adults only (such as rape, sexual abuse, other horrors) do not appear.

What is considered “suitable for children or child-friendly” can be assessed based on a problematic criterion, because the specialists have different opinions on topics

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such as war, arming, imprisonment, abuses of any kind etc.

It should be mentioned here that having children as heroes is not enough to give specificity to children’s literature, knowing many cases in which children appear caught in the coming of age process (in bildungsromans) or even at some stage of childhood [1].

Even the usually small size of the works does not indicate that they would be suitable for children because there are anecdotes (some of them totally unorthodox) meant primarily for adults, while volumes of considerable size delight children (like some novels by Al. Dumas, Jules Verne, Paul Feval or Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling).

Religious literature means all literary creations (poetry, prose, theater) which have religious themes, such as: the life and miracles of our Savior Jesus Christ, the lives and miracles of Christian saints, the miracles of God, the invocations (to God, Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary, the saints), expressing thanksgiving/gratitude/glory to them, reflections/meditations on some aspects of Christian theology, epiphanies etc.

Synthetically speaking, religious literature for children includes prayers, psalms, some hagiographies, biblical stories/parables, some sermons, and some reflections on religious topics.

II. To what extent can these be taught/

used in the teaching process?

A. On Prayers Most of the Romanian children learn from their family certain prayers, such as The Lord’s Prayer/Our Father and Înger, îngerașul meu [Angel, my little angel]. These prayers are said/ recited at home before every meal or before going to sleep. Sometimes these habits are often carried out in kindergarten

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as well. They feel safe/comfortable in perpetuating routines of their families. That is why in many kindergartens, a prayer is said before the meal (especially, before lunch).

Sometimes preschoolers learn prayers upon their parents’ request.

B. On Hagiographical Stories There are some hagiographical stories suitable even for children’s understanding at various ages.

For example, in a hagiographical story on the life of Saint Nectarios/Nektarios of Aegina (from Greece), who lived between 1846 and 1920, the future saint, called Anastasis, sent a letter to Jesus Christ, asking for clothes and other things (him being poor and working hard often barefoot, even in winter). A trader named Themistocles offers to carry the child’s letter to the post office. Seeing that this letter is addressed to Jesus Christ, he opens it, reads it and sends the child what he needs. The fact that the Savior listened to his prayer strengthens Anastasis’s faith, but what is more important, from our point of view, is the good deed of Themistocles. In Themistocles, we can see a messenger of divinity on earth, a son of the Heavenly Father, but also a Man with a big, paradigmatic soul/heart.

Such stories can inspire children to be compassionate, generous, altruistic, and express concern for other people.

C. On Biblical Stories / Parables Not all the parables in the Bible can be accessible to children. For example, The Parable of the Shrewd Manager, Luke, 16, is challenging to understand even for adults…

Equally difficult to understand is The Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Matthew 21:33-44).

And the examples can continue.

The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25: 14-30) can be quite difficult to understand.

The master gives his servants some talents without telling them what to do with them.

It is unclear why he gives them so different amounts. Upon his return, he punishes the servant who kept the talent, and he gives this unique talent to the servant who brought the best profit … For most children, the explanation would be in too mercantile terms ...

The Parable of the Sower/Parable of the Soils (Matthew 13) is a short Bible story really suitable for children to understand.

Just as seeds need good soil to bear fruit, so people need certain conditions to grow and to perfect themselves.

D. On Psalms A psalm represents a religious biblical hymn, found in the Psalter/Book of Psalms (a collection of 151 such hymns, included in the Old Testament), but also a literary genre of the religious lyric (hymn / song) which has a religious character. Some Romanian poets created psalms in a biblical manner, thus seeking God either for praise or for invocation (Al. Macedonski, Vasile Militaru, Lucian Blaga, Tudor Arghezi, Vasile Voiculescu, Mihai Pleș…).

In the Dictionary of literary terms, psalms are defined (in modern times) as lyrical poetry in which the poet, starting from a biblical motive, expresses a relation between man and divinity or between man and the universe [2].

Fernand Comte, in his work The Holy Books, defines the Psalm as a poem.

The rhythm, the sounds, sometimes the rhymes distinguish it from the ordinary language. It is polished like a diamond, worked by generations of ornament makers, who have expressed their struggles, hopes and feelings in it1 .

1 In Romanian: Ritmul, sonorităţile, uneori rimele îl deosebesc de limbajul obişnuit. Este şlefuit ca un diamant, lucrat de generaţii de ornanţi, care şi-au

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* D.1. The Psalms of David and the purposes of the Psalms

In the book “Spiritual Dialogues”, Archimandrite Ioanichie BĂLAN, together with priest Paisie Olaru, said: „he who prays the psalms burns his demons as if with a flaming sword. Great is the power of the Psalter over evil spirits. With these, the holy parents long ago did wonders and drove away evil spirits from the people.”2 [3], and Basil of Caesarea/ Saint Basil the Great said: “It is better for the sun to put a hold on its journey than for the Psalter to remain unread in the houses of the Christians.”3 [4].

The 1504 biblical psalms, attributed to King David, are one of the few writings that can be read not only in the absence of the priest’s blessing, but also as a recommendation for the most diverse needs: for agriculture (Psalms: 1, 26, 30, 50, 52, 62, 66, 71, 83, 124, 147, 148), for non-friendly animals (Psalms:63, 123, 147), against disasters (Psalms:17, 21, 30, 50, 62, 68, 85, 89), for travel and emigration (Psalms: 28, 29, 31, 92, 135, 150), for children (Psalms: 22, 76, 109, 113, 114), spiritual (Psalms: 3, 9, 24, 25, 29, 49, 50, 57, 72, 91, 98, 99, 100, 104, 105, 108, 115, 119, 130, 134, 136, 149), for law and governance (Psalms: 14, 16, 32, 36, 47, 51, 59, 72, 82, 84, 93, 101, 108, 110, 137, 140, exprimat în el zbaterile, speranţele şi sentimentele Fernand Compte, Cărţile Sfinte, Ed. Enciclopedică, Bucureşti, 1994, p. 150 2 In Romanian: „cine se roagă cu psalmi îi arde pe diavoli ca şi cu o sabie de foc. Mare putere are Psaltirea asupra duhurilor rele. Cu acestea părinţii de demult făceau minuni şi alungau duhurile rele din oameni.” 3 In Romanian: „este mai bine să stea soarele din călătoria sa, decât să rămână Psaltirea necitită în casele creştinilor." - Îndrumări duhovnicești pentru vremelnicie și veșnicie. O sinteză a gândirii Părintelui Cleopa în 1670 de capete, Editura Teognost, ClujNapoca, 2004, pp. 229-230 4 Psalm 151 is a true poetic art built on the

stylistic process of the allegory, considered a ”non-canonical psalm”

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141, 143), for work (Psalms: 2, 38, 39, 46, 48, 51, 52, 57, 60, 64, 74, 81, 83, 100, 101, 103, 129, 137, 140,144), on death (Psalms: 33, 150), for protection (Psalms:9, 13, 34, 47, 48, 57, 90, 133), for peace - between friends and family (Psalms: 10, 19, 22, 35, 41, 43, 45, 54, 65, 76, 86, 94, 109, 116, 126, 127, 139), for peace and war (Psalms: 26, 33, 42, 73, 78, 93, 107, 111, 117, 118, 120, 127, 131, 132, 135, 140, 141, 143), for social concerns (Psalms: 20, 32, 35, 38, 51, 53, 59, 77, 80, 81, 87, 93, 101, 110, 112, 113, 114, 119, 124, 137, 140), for property (Psalms: 14, 15, 23, 47, 83, 103, 124), for women’s health (Psalms: 18, 19, 40, 67, 75, 106, 145), for soul / mental health (4, 7, 8, 9, 11, 24, 27, 41, 55, 56, 60, 61, 69, 70, 80, 81, 84, 97, 100, 103, 128, 136, 138), for bodily health (Psalms: 5, 12, 28, 36, 37, 44, 56, 58, 63, 79, 86, 88, 95, 102, 108, 122, 125, 128, 145, 146), against spells and devils (Psalms: 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 33, 57, 65, 90, 94, 96, 121), against the enemies, who oppress you (Psalms: 3, 19, 30, 31, 58, 108, 142), when plague or other diseases haunt us, here or elsewhere (Psalm 90), after you have sinned (Psalms: 50, 45, 46, 70 si 72), when you go to court (Psalms: 20 and 75), when you are afraid (Psalms: 6, 66 and 76), when the evil one bothers you (Psalmul 37), in prison, in captivity or when you fall prisoner (Psalm 69), when the thunder and lightning strike, or when the hail blows (Psalms 84), when you go to war (Psalm 84), when you start making bread from the new harvest, making new wine, or eating any kind of fruit for the first time (Psalm 33). [5].

D.2. Considerations on the psalms (biblical and new psalms5)

The historian Nicolae Iorga emphasizes that “in all the diverse content of the Old Testament there is no book that can be more fit to the needs, the pains and the hopes of each of us than the Psalms; no other can better serve with all its royal brilliance, as a garment for any humble feeling, which is unable to find its own words. In the one 5 By the new psalms we mean "literary psalms,

created by modern poets"

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hundred and fifty confessions, prayers, hymns, lamentations, the whole human soul can be found in its return upon itself and in the soar full of timidity and fear towards powers greater than itself.”6.

Constantin Jinga, in the study of the Bible and the sacred in literature, pleaded for the literary specificity of the Bible. He did so being aware of the difficulties and even the risks of such an approach, but also that “the intrinsic aesthetic value of the Bible is not an obvious thing for everyone”7, being a sacred text generating multiple forms of literature, as well as elements of literary consciousness.

Descending from the religious literature with its long tradition, and often removing from the canons assumed by biblical creations, the Psalm, as a literary genre, was cultivated by many Romanian poets8, 6 In Romanian: „din tot cuprinsul aşa de felurit al Vechiului Testament nu e nicio carte care să se poată mai mult potrivi pentru nevoile, pentru durerile şi nădejdile fiecăruia ca Psalmii; nici una nu poate sluji mai bine cu toată împărăteasca-i strălucire, ca vesmânt pentru orice simţire umilă care nu e în stare să îşi găsească însăşi vorbele. În cele o sută cincizeci de mărturisiri, de rugăciuni, de imnuri, de tânguiri, se află tot sufletul omenesc în întoarcerea lui asupra sa însuşi şi în avântul plin de sfială şi de temere către puteri mai mari decât dânsul” - Nicolae Iorga, Istoria literaturii religioase a românilor până la 1688, Ed. Didactică şi Pedagogică, Bucureşti, 1925, p. 379 7 In Romanian: „Valoarea estetică în sine a Bibliei nu este un lucru evident pentru toată lumea” - Constantin Jinga, Biblia şi sacrul în literatură, Editura Universităţii de Vest, Colecţia Episteme [2], Timişoara, 2001 8 Poet-psalmists in Romanian literature: Alexandru Macedonski (Psalmi moderni, 1893-1894), Vasile Voiculescu, Lucian Blaga, Tudor Arghezi (Printre psalmi, 1933-1934), Aron Cotruș (Psalmii românești), Constantin Abăluţă (Psalmi, 1969), Ștefan Augustin Doinaș, Mihai Pleș (Psalmi curbi: poeme, 1995), Claudiu Soare (Psalmii maimuţei, 1998), Ana Blandiana, Florin Grigoriu (Rugăciuni și psalmi, 1999), Dorel Vișan (Psalmi, 2002), Valeriu Butulescu (Imensitatea punctului. Psalmi ţigănești, 2002), Paul

especially during the modern era and postmodernism, “almost becoming a poetic fashion” [6] This can be explained as a reflection of the desire for the symbolic perpetuation of the dialogue with God, in an increasingly technological world, with nihilist and negative tendencies against the Absolute Principle, despite the increasing number of arguments for its existence.

Thus, the biblical model is sometimes deeply metamorphosed and only the title of Psalm attributed by various poets to their poetic works suggests the detectable intention in the deep structure of the text, which does not refer to a religious product, but to a literary / belletristic one or to a philosophical writing.

However, just as any (valuable) artistic product has a cathartic function, without this being necessarily explicit, so the poem entitled Psalm, by its title, but also by its intimate essence / nature, should be included in the religious, possibly mystical, register, (if we take into account Eugen Dorcescu’s vision9) if it refers to human nature longing for the sacred.

In the Romanian space, this “religiosity” can be corroborated with the fact that 96.5% of the local population admit they believe in God.

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Aretzu (Cartea Psalmilor, 2003), Constantin Ghiniţă (Psalmi, 2003), Gh. Popescu Ger (Psalmii păpădiei, 2004), Ștefan Amariţei (Psalmi, 2004), Tatiana Scorţanu (Psalmi de taină, 2006), Eugen Virgil Nicoară (Psalmii mei, 2007), Dumitru Vacariu (Psalmii fiului rătăcitor, 2007), Șerban Sabău (Psalmii suferinţei mântuitoare, 2008).

9 According to Eugen Dorcescu, poetry

with references to religion is religious, and poetry that expresses the connection with the sacred (metaphysics) is mystical. - http:// www.romaniaculturala.ro/images/articole/ Dorcescu%20Marturia%20stihuitorului.pdf

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III. Investigative research on the adequacy of the reception of biblical psalms by children, according to the clergy

In the desire to find out the opinion of the priests regarding those biblical psalms accessible to / suitable for the children, to establish both the points of convergence with our vision, and the possible divergent points of view, on the investigated aspects, between May 23, 2016, and June 1, 2016, we interviewed 20 priests (Annex), aged between 33 and 62, with spiritual experience between two (but with previous activity in the same field) and 33 years, 8 without current teaching position (3 having been previously religion teachers), and the rest with a teaching position, from different dioceses, selected from all geographical areas of Romania.

We have opted for different dioceses, both because we have found out that there are small differences in the religious service (different regional holidays, a different way of celebrating spiritual patrons, personalized discourse). Because we wanted to get a greater relevance (given the fact that there was also much reluctance to providing the answers, many priests being afraid that their opinion might be different from that of the Romanian Orthodox Church).

From many points of view (9 priests, that is 45% of the respondents), almost all the Psalms are considered accessible to children.

Although there are no restrictions regarding the priest’s agreement about their reading, two priests (10% of the respondents) consider that “ The psalms are not accessible to children in their deepest sense, but they can be adapted “, respectively, “The psalms are too deep for the age of childhood, at least for the young age.”

The other priests especially recommend the following psalms: 50 (7 priests, that is 35% of the respondents), 90 (5 priests, that

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is 25% of the respondents), 142 (4 priests, that is 20% of the respondents), 70 (3 priests, that is 15% of the respondents), 45 (2 priests, which means 10% of the respondents), 46 (2 priests, that is 10% of the respondents), 72 (2 priests, which means 10% of the respondents). The following psalms are also considered accessible to children: 8, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 72, 76, 118, 126, 141, 150 (one vote, which means 5% of the respondents, except for psalm 126, indicated twice, that is 10% of the respondents).

Among the Psalms not recommended to children, Psalm 108 was expressly indicated by 13 respondents (65% of the respondents), to whom are added 2 priests (10% of the respondents) who do not consider the psalms appropriate for children. Indeed, this Psalm and Psalm 68 (indicated only by 2 priests, which means 10% of the respondents) contain anathema, being even called “cursing psalms”, and, regardless of the reading grid applied (interpreting the enemy as Judas Iscariot or as evil itself), the impact on children would be profoundly negative.

IV. Psalms IN THE teaching Process

Anathemas like” When he is tried, let him be found guilty,/ and may his prayers condemn him. / May 8 his days be few; / may another take his place of leadership. / May 9 his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. /May 10 his children be wandering beggars; / may they be driven from their ruined homes. / May 11 a creditor seize all he has; / may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor. / May 12 no one extend kindness to him / or take pity on his fatherless children. / May 13 his descendants be cut off, / their names blotted out from the next generation. / May 14, the iniquity of his father be remembered before the Lord.” (Psalm 109, v. 7 - 17) [7] contradict both the teaching of the New Testament, where it is recommended to pray for our enemies, and the educational

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ideal and even the common sense.

If we consider that the spirit of justice is acute in most children and that they raise a reprehensible minor fact (such as borrowing a toy from another child) to the proportions of a catastrophe, there is a danger that they may naturally use anathema, especially when these are formulated in the Bible, and the purpose of Psalm 109 is just as clearly formulated: “May this be the Lord’s payment to my accusers,/ to those who speak evil of me.” (109, v. 20). [8] And if the one who troubles them is one of their own parents (sometimes by legitimate refusal to frequently offer them toys, sweets or objects inappropriate for their age), we have serious concerns!

The reification power of logos can have some of the most undesirable and unpredictable consequences.

In addition, the child who is raised in respect for the Holy Book can take all the first senses that are born in his mind literally!

Therefore, we do not consider the abovementioned Psalms (Romanian 108/ English version 109 and Romanian 67/ English version 68) appropriate for children. It is also obvious why Psalms 96 (in Romanian) and 109 (in Romanian) are not recommended to children, according to two respondents (10% of respondents).

The expression “Sit at my right hand / until I make your enemies / a footstool for your feet.” (from the beginning of Psalm 109) is certainly purely metaphorical, and can be understood as a figure of style in the third grade of primary school. But of course, children can show great differences in receiving and processing information and in the way they understand to transfer it pragmatically.

There is also an area of relativity, where seven priests (35% of the respondents) considered only certain psalms as suitable for children and other psalms (not all of

them) as inadequate / not recommended.

Understanding the rest of the psalms depends both on the ability to process information, which differs from one student to another, and on the extent of the guidance in their reception (coming from the teacher).

As a result of the accumulated experience, we state that even a simple passive listener of Psalms becomes spiritually enriched, because what is not received consciously is perceived unconsciously and, in addition, the high proportion of water in the body can be beneficially influenced by what it” hears”10, which is why we choose to use religious works as supporting texts of the activities of language education and communication in Romanian, drawing attention to several aspects: by resorting to religious literature in kindergarten / school we must not proselytize, we must not substitute the teacher of religion for the priest, we must not harm the sensitivity of the child or his parents’ (if they have a religion other than the Christian one), we must not use terrifying texts (such as those in which decapitation, torture / supplication to which certain saints have been subjected for their faith are described) or texts in which the questionable morals presented critically can give rise to discussions that are inappropriate for the child’s age and level of cognitive development.

In this respect, the specific objectives pursued when using a religious text as a support for activities must be circumscribed to the objectives stipulated in the school curricula (within the National Curriculum), related to the experiential areas Language and communication, Aesthetics and creativity, Human and society, less often, Science (in kindergarten) or to the curricular areas Language and communication, Human Beings and society, Counseling and guidance, rarely Mathematics and science (in primary

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10 According to Emoto Masaru’s research

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school).

Of course, in Arts various artistic products on religious themes can also be made, or religious texts can be used, but this must be aesthetically / scientifically and methodologically motivated.

In all situations, notifying, familiarizing and consulting the parents with regard to such a decision are welcome.

As far as the approach to modern and postmodern psalms is concerned, their careful study is necessary, because things differ greatly from one piece of work to another and, although, in general, parents’ notification / agreement is not required in order for the children to receive these psalms, the plasticity of the poetic language used is not always an asset of the literary work.

For example, while in the 11 modern psalms of Al. Macedonski we witness a permanent oscillation between faith in God and the futility of any gesture in front of destiny (which came before Tudor Arghezi oscillated between faith and denial), the curved psalms of Mihai Pleș, loaded with apprehensions, dilemmas and often in the form of haiku, can shock the child as a consumer of literature, through the apparent desperation of the lyrical self who, in a serious tone, is in search of the essences and the ontological meaning.

[1] [2]

[3]

[4]

Nowadays, certain conditions, such as using religious texts with the consent of parents, selecting only the works appropriate to the children’s understanding, highlighting the moral values of these texts, their literary characteristics, can allow the inclusion of some religious literature in the teaching process in kindergarten and in school.

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy is an adult book with the main character a child.

Dumitru Hâncu, Dicţionar de termeni literari (Dictionary of literary terms), Ed. Didactică şi Pedagogică, Bucureşti, 1976, p. 184 http://secretele--sistemului.blogspot. com/2012/01/secretele-bibliei-psalmii-siefectele.html (accessed: 14.04.20) https://doxologia.ro/cuvinte-duhovnicesti/ mai-bine-sa-stea-soarele-din-calatoria-sadecat-sa-ramana-psaltirea-necitita (accessed:

15.04.20) [5]

[6]

[7]

http://poruncaiubirii.agaton.ro/articol/747/ psalmi-care-se-citesc-la-diferitetrebuin%C8%9Be-suflete%C8%99ti%C8%99i-trupe%C8%99ti Anca Tomoioagă, Psalmii în literatura română (The Psalms in the Romanian Literature), e-book, Ed. EuroPress Group, București, 2015 h t t p s : / / w w w. b i b l e g a t e w a y. c o m / passage/?search=Psalm+109&version=NIV (accessed: 8.04.2020)

[8]

Idem

Bibliography [1]

[2]

CONCLUSIONS

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References

[3]

[4]

[5]

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Casangiu, Larisa Ileana, Popa, Claudia, The Place of the Psalms within the Literature for Children, in: Educația religioasă, paradigmă a identității naționale și dimensiune a culturii europene (Religious education, the paradigm of national identity and the dimention of European culture), Ed. Risoprint, ClujNapoca, 2016, pp. 75-82 Fernand Compte, Cărţile Sfinte (Holy Books), Ed. Enciclopedică, Bucureşti, 1994 Hâncu, Dumitru, Dicţionar de termeni literari (Dictionary of Literary Terms), Ed. Didactică şi Pedagogică, Bucureşti, 1976, p. 184 Iorga, Nicolae, Istoria literaturii religioase a românilor până la 1688 (The History of the Romanian’s Religious Literature before 1688), Ed. Didactică şi Pedagogică, Bucureşti, 1925, p. 379 Pleș, Mihai, Psalmi curbi: poeme (Curved Psalms: Poems), Ed. Brăduț, Târgu-Mureș, 1995

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[6]

[7]

[8]

Tomoioagă, Anca, Psalmii în literatura română (The Psalsm in the Romanian Literature), e-book, Ed. EuroPress Group, București, 2015 - https://books.google.ro/ *** Psaltirea Proorocului şi Împăratului David (The Psalter of Prophet and Emperor David), Editura Biserica Ortodoxă, Alexandria, 2002 http://www.romaniaculturala.ro/images/ articole/Dorcescu%20Marturia%20 stihuitorului.pdf (accessed: 27.05.2016)

http://poruncaiubirii.agaton.ro/articol/747/ psalmi-care-se-citesc-la-diferitetrebuin%C8%9Be-suflete%C8%99ti%C8%99i-trupe%C8%99ti (accessed: 23.05.2016) [10] h t t p s : / / r o . w i k i p e d i a . o r g / w i k i / Religia_%C3%AEn_Rom%C3%A2nia (accessed: 27.03.2020 [9]

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Annex Batch of subjects (priests) interviewed regarding the adequacy of David’s Psalms for the children’s understanding in Romania

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Biographies Larisa-Ileana Casangiu was born on 26th of December, 1973, in Curtea de Argeș city (Romania).

She graduated the Faculty of Letters at Ovidius University of Constanța (1997) and has a Cum laude PhD degree in the field of Philology (from the University of Bucharest, 2002).

Larisa Ileana Casangiu has been teaching at University since 1999 and she has been an Associate Professor since 2012. She has published more than 10 books as a single author and more than 70 articles. She is also an artistic writer and has published a book in France (Pas Seulement d’amour).

Claudia Simona Popa was born on 11st of October, 1972, in ClujNapoca city, Romania.

She graduated the Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Department of Theology and Romanian Studies at the BabesBolyai University, Cluj-Napoca (1996). She was a School Inspector for Religion (20012004), she has a PhD in Pedagogy at the Chisinau Educational Studies Institute (2008).

She is the author of 4 volumes and over 20 studies and organizer of a symposium that is now at the 3rd edition Religious education - the paradigm of national identity and the dimension of European culture.

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Indoor education in Poland during the Covid-19 Filip Nalaskowski, PhD

Assistant Professor at Faculty of Educational Sciences Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun Poland article info

abstract

Article history: Received 17 May 2020 Received in revised form 20 May Accepted 22 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.4

The presented text is a kind of report on the situation of Polish education during the Covid-19 epidemic in spring 2020. The given data are taken from online publications and an ad hoc study conducted among a dozen people involved in education. The basis for theses is the calendar of events related to the pandemic.

The first part presents the situation of schools in the first period - in chaos; the second part is about a stabilization period. The article also presents the forecast of events in education until the end of 2020: exams, the beginning of subsequent years of education, and shifts in the curriculum.

The last part shows broader social changes, such as the phenomenon of distance learning enabled by the development of technology, changes in the assessment of teachers’ work, the deepening of social inequalities, or leaving some adaptation forever, also after the epidemic.

Keywords: Covid-19; Pandemic; lockdown; Education; School; University; Poland; distance learning; report;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction

The last weeks, months, are an extraordinary time, not only because of the medical phenomenon of the Covd-19 pandemic but perhaps above all because of the social phenomenon. While the disease directly affects only a few percents of the population, changes in functioning in social relations affect everyone.

The long-term effects of the epidemic, again: not the medical but the social ones, are difficult to estimate. One thing is certain,

the world will no longer be the same, and the possible directions of change are already possible to predict, although on the other hand, it is impossible to guess the final shape of our lives after the pandemic.

Undoubtedly, the focus of our operation will be shifted to “online” in both the economy and administration and what is most important for me, in education. Adapting to teaching online is a forced experiment, which has many interesting results.

The following text is intended to show

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the functioning of education in Poland during the Covid-19 period. Some important facts should be mentioned here. Firstly, the text is written during the pandemic in Europe, mid-May 2020, hence its slightly reporter-like character, and even more difficult dilemmas about the consequences of this state. Secondly, problems and a record of changes from Poland are described, although, beyond any doubt, these experiences may be common to many countries in Europe and the world[1].

Therefore, it can be treated as comparative material for analyses for educators in many countries.

In the following sections, I will try to present a calendar of changes in restrictions and bans in the country, and the reaction of the education system to these changes.

I will describe the first, very chaotic, stage of adaptation, and the following second one, in which we find ourselves now, of certain solidification after the development of systems and schemes. I will also try to present a long term forecast of the effects of the current state, and some particularly important social problems related to them.

The picture, facts, and information presented come from press reports, but above all, from the reports of parents, school principals and teachers who agreed to take part in this spontaneous ad hoc survey, for which I thank them very much.

A. First stage - panic and chaos

II. Calendar

The following section shows a short calendar of the development of the social situation in connection with the epidemic.

It is worth noting here that the course presented in Poland is very similar to the scenarios that were implemented in other European countries[2].

10 December 2019 - Patient zero with diagnosed Covid-19 appears in Chinese Wuhan

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31 December 2019 - The Chinese government officially informs about a new epidemic in the country 13 January 2020 - first case outside China – Thailand 24 January 2020 - The virus reaches the EU - France 4 March 2020 - First case of the virus in Poland 10 March 2020 - The Polish government cancels mass events 11 March 2020 - The Polish government closes nurseries, kindergartens, schools and universities until further notice 14 March 2020 - The Polish government closes shopping malls, restaurants, bars, hairdressing and beauty salons etc.

15 March 2020 - Poland closes borders 20 March 2020 - The Ministry of National Education announces that schools are switching to remote teaching - school headmasters are responsible for its organization.

24 March 2020 - the government introduces severe restrictions on mobility. Only adults are allowed to go out of the house for shopping and to work.

25 March 2020 - First day of remote learning, country-wide failure of popular educational platforms Librus and Vulcan 30 March 2020 - The Polish Television starts “School with TVP” program 6 May 2020 - Conditional, strongly restrictive permission to allow nurseries and kindergartens to operate 25 May 2020 - The government allows limited opening of schools for students preparing for exams 8 June 2020 - the planned start date of the Matura exams - typically it took place on 4 May

As the closure of educational institutions was sudden, there was no time for adaptations. In the first period of about 2 weeks, this time was treated as a kind of a holiday, without the obligation to conduct education. Different solutions were tried at different levels.

Kindergartens. They were closed overnight; childcare became a problem, so the regulation came out that employed people with children up to 8 years old

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are entitled to be paid care leave for the duration of the epidemic. At this stage, no systemic solutions related to education, exclusively to care, were offered.

Primary and secondary schools.

Those levels experienced the most difficult adaptation phase. The problem was a complete lack of preparation and uncertainty about the duration of this situation. At the beginning, the emphasis was placed on sending students tasks from various subjects to be carried out on their own. The basis for contact with students and parents were electronic registers, functioning in most schools, that is, systems for communicating teachers with parents, for reporting grades, comments, announcements. Another, not necessarily obvious channel of communication was Facebook, and where all other solutions failed, the phone to the student’s home. Of course, the solution was only temporary.

The Polish government did not provide a clear solution, and left everything to the headmasters, limiting itself to make recommendations only. It was a common practice to revise the previous contents, but it was not possible to introduce new ones.

In fact, until the beginning of April, most of the institutions operated on the basis of ad hoc makeshift solutions, somehow freezing the didactic process, and not undertaking any educational activities at all.

It seems that universities were best prepared for the new conditions. Firstly, it is a common practice for many of them to have some classes online. Secondly, every large university already has IT solutions for remote learning. Also, the maturity and independence of students was a factor that potentially facilitated the teaching process at a distance.

Some symbolic summary for this stage may be an initiative of the Polish Television.

Right in the first days after the order on remote learning, it started a series of

programs “School with TVP” in the morning, where teachers conducted live lessons.

This initiative faced huge criticism[3]. The participating teachers were not prepared to deal with the cameras, which made the whole thing very awkward, chaotic and amateurish. The presented lessons were not at all adapted to the conditions and possibilities of television, which makes their form inefficient for students at home. What is more, the lessons were full of mistakes, which were then widely and willingly commented on the Internet in a malicious tone. The first weeks of schooling in the Covid-19 period were as unsuccessful as the Polish Television initiative.

B. Second stage – solidification The starting date of this stage is very conventional. Indeed, as early as the beginning of April, most educational institutions should have found the best forms of action for themselves.

Nothing has changed in kindergartens, just like nurseries, they remained closed, and the children were cared for by caretakers at home.

Primary and secondary schools have attempted to conduct online classes in realtime. Contrary to popular belief, the image of regular lessons in typical school hours with the teacher and students in front of the cameras is highly utopian. Such classes are rare. There is a whole spectrum of reasons for this.

Problems: Failure to prepare teachers to use online platforms, problems with the availability of equipment, limitations of data transmission on the Internet, fear of strangers observing lessons, discipline of students. In this sense, Polish education was not prepared. What is more, it was not possible to deal with these problems in an instant manner.

In this case, the state of solidification

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consisted of conducting few lessons in real time, more often in the form of chat, or audio, than video. Also, sending tasks to students in the form of text, notes, and referring to the content of textbooks. Problems of a didactic nature were the inability to give lectures to students, explain issues, as a result of which some of these duties were transferred to parents. Also, beyond the actual possibility of teachers was to control students’ learning progress - tests. Information about students’ “creativity”[4], often in cooperation with parents, is common.

In the opinion of students, parents and teachers, I know, for most of the students this semester is lost. The effects of teaching are apparent, the actual increase in knowledge and skills is only a fraction of the effects of traditional teaching.

This situation causes a particular problem with regard to school-leaving exams - above all the preparation and organization of the Matura exams.

As in the previous stage, the universities are going through the current crisis best.

Much of the classes take place online.

Classes that cannot be taught remotely are postponed to further semesters. Individual consultations with students allow preparing diploma theses of students of the last years.

That does not mean that the situation does not affect students at all. As in other institutions, some of the staff turned out to be unprepared for the new conditions, or the exaggerated optimism about students’ independence and responsibility has failed.

III. Medium-term forecast

Certain processes in the educational cycle are not shifted; they should not be.

These certainly include post-graduate examinations, Matura exams, higher education recruitment procedures, and graduate defenses - bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

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Polish law has not provided for remote procedures for these circumstances so far, and the existing restrictions on movement, assemblies and operation of institutions exclude the normal mode. Every now and then, there are announcements and proposals to carry out the remote procedures mentioned above. However, they meet with justified criticism, where the lack of possibility of effective control and honesty is emphasized. If at this point in time teachers, parents see problems with the proper conduct of the tests, it seems impossible to conduct reliable, honest and equal examinations, which will later decide on the educational fate of students. The results of these exams are the basis for applying for subsequent degrees. Postponing their date has become unavoidable.

The situation is slightly different in higher education. Here, although personal appearance was obligatory during the recruitment process, the whole admission procedure can be adapted to the conditions of the epidemic.

Bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral exams can also be held online. Usually, they are only symbolic, shorter, they have an oral form, and it is more difficult to behave dishonestly in them, also because they are usually no longer decisive for obtaining degrees and titles - the complex works are.

There is another, unfortunately certain, medium-term effect: lagging behind in learning progress. Existing conditions do not provide a chance for normal curriculum implementation. As a result, 20-50% of the tasks, according to various estimates, will be successfully completed. This will have an impact on the future. This knowledge and skills will have to be made up in the future by “thickening” the curriculum or moving the content further.

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IV. Unobvious social and educational

changes. Comments.

Although the time of the epidemic is an extremely difficult time for the educational process and the functioning of institutions, and the effects of work are far below the norm, Polish education has not stopped working. 15 years ago, a forced 3-4 month holiday should probably have been announced - schools should have been frozen. Now, however, schools operate this is mainly a result of the popularisation of technical capabilities. Practically all students have access to devices enabling remote learning (mobile phones and computers) and all have access to the Internet[5]. This is absolutely a syndrome and the achievement of our times - a remote school - although very imperfect - has proved possible.

A large part of the teacher’s duties has been assigned to parents. It is now up to them to clarify and teach some parts of the curriculum, and it is also up to them to exercise greater control over their pupils’ work and progress. This has two consequences. First of all, some of the parents express loud dissatisfaction because of this - because of the additional work and duties that fall on them - hence the demands to give them part of the teachers’ salaries – which seems to be an unreasonable demand.

However, we have the opposite trend, parents, confronted with the everyday life and effort of teaching their children, who notice and appreciate the daily role of teachers. The image and respect of teachers[6], which has declined in recent years, is now regaining its position in society when each parent sees how difficult this activity is.

The effect of forced home education is also a deepening of differences in learning and in fact, social and cultural inequalities[ 7]. Usually, the school is of a nature to compensate for the differences with which

students come from home. All students in identical lessons receive identical material from the same teacher. Here the situation has changed. Students’ progress is strongly dependent on their parents’ involvement[8].

The more involved parents are (the more aware of the value of education) and the more competent (the better-educated ones themselves), the greater the progress of students. In other words, good students from good homes will move away with their level of knowledge and skills even further from weaker students from culturally and materially poorer homes.

It is also impossible to resist the impression that some of the online solutions used will remain. Just as it turned out in the economy that “home office” solutions work perfectly well (e.g. Twitter will be managed, operated and run only in this mode[9]), schools also see some positive aspects. It has been proved beyond any doubt that a large part of higher education does not require traditional classes because the education process can be conducted without harming the knowledge of online students. What is more, the times of Covid-19 required many reluctant teachers - at all levels - to make up for the ability to operate the teaching system remotely - is one of the few positives of the epidemic.

V. Summary

The pandemic will pass in a month, two, maybe a year, as well as the accompanying restrictions, prohibitions, procedures, but not all. The world will never be like it was before, just like it was after the Great World Wars or the 11th September attacks.

Covid-19 will leave a mark on our psyche. There will be a white space in the biographies of all of us in spring 2020. What is particularly interesting for me, education will change. Without any doubt, procedures will be developed for the possible

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recurrence of the plague. The curriculum, virtual educational platforms, equipment provided, and enhanced pedagogical skills will be adapted to this eventuality.

Moreover, there is a good chance that part of the learning - material, tasks - will already be found online.

A history of wars is a history of suffering and tragedy, but also a history of progress[10]. So could be the pandemic of 2020. However, with the whole spectrum of difficulties, misfortunes, and recessions caused by the epidemic, there are small, few positive elements that give hope for even better time after.

technology/2020/may/12/twitter-coronaviruscovid19-work-from-home - access 14 V 2020 [10] Douglas Lemke, “Development and War” [in:] International Studies Review, vol. 5, no.

4, 2003, pp. 55–63.

References [1] [2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8] [9]

https://google.com/covid19-map – access 13 V 2020 https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/kraj/koronawirusjak-rozwijal-sie-w-polsce-i-na-swiecie-dzienpo-dniu-kalendarium - access 13 V 2020 https://gazetakrakowska.pl/szkola-tvp-wogniu-krytyki-zamiast-uczyc-w-dobiekoronawirusa-zalicza-wpadki-i-zenujememy-30042020/ar/c15-14896661 - access 13 V 2020 https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25917395,6tygodni-nauki-zdalnej-nauczyciele-sawypaleni-placze-ze.html – access 15 V 2020 Jacqueline Nesi, “The Impact of Social Media on Youth Mental Health” [in:] North Carolina Medical Journal, Mar 2020, 81 (2), pp. 116121. h t t p s : / / w w w. i n f o r. p l / p r a w o / z a r o b k i / oplacalne-zawody/3578717,Rankingprestizu-zawodow-2019.html – success 16 V 2020 Filip Nalaskowski, Mirosław Zientarski, „Bogacze” i “biedacy” : plany edukacyjne młodzieży Grudziądza i okolic a ich kapitał symboliczny,” [in:] Kultura i Edukacja, nr 3 (96).

Dagna Dejna, Filip Nalaskowski, Publiczni Niepubliczni – przełom, Toruń 2013. h t t p s : / / w w w. t h e g u a r d i a n . c o m /

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Religious Literary Works for Children in the Teaching Process Ilie Sorițău

Theology Faculty Emanuel University of Oradea Romania

Raelene L. Sorițău

PhD. Candidate Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary Memphis, U.S.A.

article info

abstract

Article history: Received 09 May 2020 Received in revised form 12 May Accepted 15 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.5

This paper is presenting a precise contextual methodology to teach and learn in a transdisciplinary way, the very current message from the Gospels through the Parables, and explicitly the parable of the Sower. The method used is the generative synergistic way to integrate the knowledge in a tree of knowledge profile using five levels of representation of reality, statistics-measuring, syntax-absorbing by codes, semanticsfiltering by the selection, pragmatics-interacting by teaching/learning, and apobeticsinnovating, in order to attain the Expertise as wisdom (top-down) and skills (bottom-up), the final goal being the Truth. A critical aspect of transdisciplinary teaching/learning is the use of the creative expression to engage the learner using their outer senses of sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell, as well as their inner senses of imagination, intuition, and impulse. In the parable of the Sower, an exceptionally special story is set up where the Sender, Jesus Christ, describes the individuals within the context of the story through heart attitudes and actions stemming from their will. The listener or reader of the parable, as receivers of the synergistic contextual message, is drawn into the story and identifies immediately with the character that describes their heart attitude. It is also a predictor of what decision they will make and what road they will take – accepting the Truth and walking in obedience or rejecting the Truth and following after their own heart’s desire.

The purpose of telling the parable is two-fold. First, for those who have ears to hear, it means to reveal the meaning and receive the message, which is Himself (the Sender of the message) and understand His Kingdom, as the place where the knowledge is attained in its highest form and in the deepest way through communion. Secondly, for those who do not have ears to hear, the meaning will remain concealed, exposing their lack of belief.

Keywords: All life learning; Expertise; transdisciplinarity; Truth; Life; Tree of Knowledge;

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I. Introduction

In order to analyze how the gospels are teaching the Truth using the parables, a current methodology has been adopted— transdisciplinarity, as a generative synergistic integrative all life sustainable learning [1]. This is the fourth link of the knowledge integrating chain process, the DIMLAK (Data-statistics, Informationsyntax, Contextual Synergistic Message Model-semantics, Sustainable integrative all life Learning-pragmatics, Advanced Knowledge-apobetics) presented as the tree of knowledge, with the final goal as Expertise, through Wisdom and Skills in the very soul (will) of man [1] (fig.1).

Fig.1 The tree of knowledge in the DIMLAK integrative model

This link is forthcoming after the necessary Synergistic Message Model, which works in the semi-physical context through three sequences: Space-wise (spatial participative sequence-where), Time-wise (temporal connective sequencewhen) and Act-wise (actional-interactive sequence-who, with whom, what, how, why) [1],[2], with Pathos (Sender), Ethos (Receiver) and Logos (Synergistic

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Contextual Message) spheres of synergistic communication —for the mind, body, and heart as well [1]. In every communication process, because of the presence of man, there is detected an extremely important spiritual dimension [3]. In this way, the necessary paradigmatic shift to another kind of looking at the model described above is realized and connected to the message of the Gospel as a transdisciplinary way to achieve knowledge. This study confirms that the spiritual approach is very close to man’s ultimate goal for communication, that of achieving the Truth as integrative knowledge process in the core of man.

Furthermore, it’s practical application in the life of an individual transcends reasoning and intellect of the mind to reach deeply into the will, to implement knowledge, and transform the individual from the inside out.

Without any doubt, the Gospels contain all-life-learning teaching/learning and are an example of a worldwide, cross-cultural, throughout-the-ages desire to achieve, share, and implement knowledge. However, this research will focus on just one aspect of the Gospels —The Parables of Jesus. In the treatment of the Parables of Jesus, Jeffrey Arthurs states that: When we come to the parables, we come to the heart of Jesus’ ministry. In fact, we come to the heart of Jesus himself-his values and mission…He describes his mission as establishing God’s kingdom, which is leaven, a mustard seed, and a fishnet (Matt. 13).

He tells us to participate in the kingdom by watching, investing and inviting (Matt.

25:22). Even theologically liberal exegetes, often skeptical about the authenticity of the Gospels, affirm that in the parables we hear the ipsissima vox (the very voice) of Jesus [4].

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II. the Truth as the final goal of

integrative knowledge process

The stories presented in the parables are dominated by the teachings of Jesus.

If someone wants to know the message of Truth, which is Jesus himself, then they should be studied and analyzed with open eyes and ears and more importantly with open minds and hearts (John 4:6). There are a few ways in which the parables achieve the all-life-teaching/learning.

Arthurs suggests that this is accomplished through “three rhetorical implications that are embedded in the realism of parables” [4]. The first one is identification. There is a powerful force that draws us into the story and we find ourselves identifying with the characters of the story and the story itself.

The Sender of the Message gives access to identity, but the Receiver of the message must walk through the open doors. This is accomplished through the Receiver’s inner senses of imagination, intuition, and impulse taking that step through the open doors. This leads to the second rhetorical implication of imagination and what sparks that imagination is the realism found in the parables. Steve Smith adds that “what makes parables so fascinating is that they are true” [5]. He goes on to say that these stories that Jesus told come from the “very imagination of God” and that what we find in these parables is “true theology in a fictional story” [5]. Vivid and concrete stories, with help from our imagination, can transport us to a land far away to a father that had two sons with two different personalities and heart attitudes, even with two different approaches to life itself. A rebellious son who decides to leave the house of the father, after he asked for all of his inheritance. He travels to a very distant place where he finds himself spending all he had and ending up in misery. His distress resorts him to want to fill himself with the food of the pigs he was attending to. Imagine the place and feel the

pain and the agony. That is the way stories function, inducing explicit experiences, as presented in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15).

The parables’ authenticity comes from the Sender of the message and is found in the “…forms and contexts in which they appear. One does not have to remove the parables from the framing material in which they appear in the Gospels in order to understand their true meaning” [6]. The third rhetorical implication that Arthurs suggests deals with the concealed message that is only revealed to the eyes that see and the ears that hear. Arthur labels these messages as “…hidden land mines. They are explosive but concealed. They take the mind off the thing they would put the mind on. On the literal level they depict secular, mundane life” [4].

A critical aspect of transdisciplinary teaching/learning is the use of creative expression to engage the learner using their outer senses of sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell, as well as their inner senses of imagination, intuition, and impulse [8]. An activity that is often used is role-playing, where the learner is encouraged to identify with one character in a story or situation.

Most of the time, this role-playing draws a person out of their known identity into an unknown one. An obedient, law-abiding citizen is able to play the role of a villain and process that person’s identity through a filter to then learn from the experience.

It is a way to have an individual walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. The parable is set up in a different way than role playing.

Jesus describes the individuals within the context of the story through heart attitudes and actions stemming from their will. The listener or reader of the parable, without any power of their own, is drawn into the story and identifies immediately with the character that describes their heart attitude. Also, he is a predictor of what

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decision they will make and what road they will take – accepting the Truth and walking in obedience or rejecting the Truth and following after their own heart’s desire.

The Parable of the Sower is an amazing example of this. No human individual in their own strength can identify as The Sower, even though Christians are called to sow the seed of Truth wherever and whenever an opportunity arises. The Sower is the Sender of the message. The hearer/learner is called to follow in obedience and will become a “doer” (someone who interacts and innovates, expending energy) through the Sender’s strength as an expansion of synergy. This paradigm is found explicitly in the filtering and interacting of the DIMLAK integrative knowledge [9]. Only then, when a hearer becomes a doer, can an individual identify with The Sower, implementing in this way the knowledge. Or as John MacArthur writes: “Only those who accept the King can understand the King and profit from His teaching and lordship. To all others His teaching is meaningless riddles” [10]. On the other hand, each type of soil described is a picture of a heart attitude that will predict the action of the will and the probability of the outcome.

While early in his ministry, Jesus spoke and taught using multiple analogies, here in this chapter, Matthew the disciple, shares in his Gospel a new way of teaching through parables. In regard to the way Jesus used parables, Jeffrey Arthur articulates well when he said that: “It goes without saying that Jesus spoke his parables for edification, not entertainment, although they certainly are entertaining. His interpretation of two of his parables in Matthew 13 demonstrates that he was preaching by means of these stories. Furthermore, his didactic purpose is apparent when we remember that Jesus told many parables to answer questions. The Son of God came preaching and teaching, and he used parables to communicate his message” [4].

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One should notice that Jesus used parables not to confuse people at all, but to shed light on some teaching, exciting the interest and curiosity of His hearers, with the single purpose to understand the message.

As mentioned before, teaching through parables is effective because while the parable is figurative, the abstract becomes concrete and therefore, it is not only attractive to the listener. Instead it becomes easier to be understood, remembered, and applied to life regarding the stages of life and the different social positions of this life.

With this in mind, one can conclude that the teachings found in the parables reflect an integrating sustainable integrative all life learning.

The Parable of the Sower is found in all the Synoptic Gospels—the Gospel of Mathew, the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke.

This parable was chosen for this application of knowledge methods and models because it is very tightly connected to Truth. First of all, because of this close link with the Truth, it helps the reader to have access to Truth, and this is in order to gain knowledge through senses and experience. Secondly, based on the acceptance or the rejection of Truth, the heart is the one responsible to respond when the contextual message is given. Of course, the application of Truth will involve the will of a person. As a result, the access to the Truth, the acceptance of the Truth and the application of the Truth, become the three main essentials in the process of sustainable integrative all-life learning.

III. transdisciplinarity, synergistic

generative way to teach and learn the Truth As the context of telling this parable, Jesus communicates the story in a familiar way to most, if not all of them. He tells this story to a group of people or “multitudes” as Matthew describes them, who are following

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him to the shore, eager to hear him speak and therefore receive his teaching. As seen multiple times in the life of Jesus, many followed him as he taught and performed many miracles. He starts by introducing the Sower and the many kinds of soils on which the seeds being sown will end up. In this particular story, Jesus refers to four kinds of soil. There is no mistake in the fact that the four are mentioned—no more, no less. The Parable of the Sower after it is told, it is then later explained. However, it is explained only to His disciples (Matthew 13:18-23).

At this point it is very important to mention that the telling of the parable itself and the explanation of the parable is divided by an address, using the prophecy found in Isaiah, to the disciples, as it relates to understanding the Kingdom of God, and more specifically, understanding the way of the Kingdom. The purpose of telling the parable is two-fold. To those who have ears to hear it means to reveal the meaning and receive Him (the Sender of the message) and understand His Kingdom. For those who do not have ears to hear, it is to conceal the meaning and in doing that expose their lack of belief [5]. The Scripture passage that Jesus is alluding to in the Parable of the Sower is found in the book of Isaiah chapter 6, verse 9-10—a Biblical text that reveals the state the people of Israel were in during those days—the state of unbelief. To the prophetic message of Isaiah, it seemed that the people of Israel were hearing, but were not understanding; that they were looking, but not seeing anything. It seems that due to their rebellion in choosing to ignore God and His Law, He in response, allows them to remain in this stage of unbelief. Jesus makes a bold affirmation as He explains to the disciples the need for His people-the Jewish people, to stop closing their ears and eyes, return to the Lord and live a life of full obedience to Him. As a result, God will heal them and restore them.

There is direct correlation between accepting the Truth and Life versus rejection of Truth which is unbelief and death. One of the advantages in telling this parable is that, while it seems hard to understand as it is being told, the Truth is explained by Jesus in the second part of it and this makes sense to them. At first knowledge of the meaning remains on the outside of the hearer, yet after his explanation the knowledge moves from the outside-in to be accepted or rejected. Achieving and accepting the Truth brings forth wisdom and skills as topdown and bottom-up levels of the Expertise [9]. Jesus’ explanation of the parable tells the disciples and those who now come in contact with the story, exactly what it is all about. It clearly tells the full message of the story and its intent. In the first part of the parable, Jesus tells of a certain sower who was sowing some seeds. As soon as he finishes the story, Jesus makes his first point as He hints to “having ears with the purpose to hear.” (Matthew 13:9). As the parable is told, one can see that there is one kind of seed (the Truth which is the Word of God), but four kinds of soil the seed lands on.

These soils are the four types of attitudes found in man’s heart.

The first soil that He talks about is by or along the road. As soon as the seed has touched the ground, the birds came quickly and ate them. The second soil that He makes reference to is the shallow soil with underlying rock. Due to the fact that the soil was shallow, the seeds sprouted quickly.

However, because there was not enough deep soil and the plants did not have good roots, as soon as the sun shone, the plants actually died. The third kind of soil that He makes mention of is the soil packed with thorns. The thorns grew and choked out the tender plants. Lastly, Jesus describes the fourth kind of soil. This is the soil on which the seeds have fallen and they produced a crop. This is the fertile soil.

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At a quick glance, one can say that this parable teaches that there are four responses to how people relate to the Truth, who Jesus is himself, and that these responses from the heart. Now the questions that need to be answered are in regard to the soil (which is the heart) and those are: who and what is represented in the four soils—the four hearts? Answering this question will help in establishing a paradigm to follow, but more than that, reveals the probability of the outcome. As Craig Blomberg reflects on this parable, he believes that the message displayed here has to do with four responses to Jesus and his ministry. The Truth is that they are responses to how people relate to the Truth and the Kingdom of God. Truth is Jesus, Who Is and Who gives Life. Describing the four responses, Blomberg said that the first soil represents the enemies of Jesus, especially the Jewish leaders. The second kind of soil represents those who want to follow Jesus but are very indecisive, those who follow Him from afar. The third kind of soil is described and interpreted by Jesus as the heart of many like Judas, who will follow Jesus all the way to the end of their lives, but then, in the end, they find themselves betraying Jesus. Fourthly, the last kind of soil Jesus referred to is the right soil, which in the parable can be represented by the eleven disciples, those closest to Him and who in the end, accepted Him and the Truth and as a result of that the Kingdom of God [6]. John MacArthur believes that these soils are in fact, the “unresponsive heart, the superficial heart, the worldly heart and lastly, the receptive heart” [10]. In learning from agricultural experts, three things are necessary for growth: the quality of the seed, how the seed is sown (method and environment), and if the soil receives the sown seed. The difference between success or failure lies on how the soil receives the seed.

How will this parable and its teachings relate to the DIMLAK model as the proposed Session 2. Secular education and religious education

paradigm? Every soil is given the same data, information, and contextual synergistic message model by the Teacher/Mentor/ Sender. Yet, the next two processes are contingent on the response of the disciple/ learner/receiver. This further substantiates that for an outside-in, inside-out integration of the rational knowledge of things, there must be a relational understanding of the world in a bottom-up, top-down manner [9]. The synergy expanded by the Teacher/ Mentor/Sender must be met with an energy expended by the disciple/learner/receiver.

The parable of the Sower is then applied to this model by bringing the disciple/learner/ receiver to move from hearing to doing. It mandates a response from the heart/will of man. That response accepts the seed (Truth) or rejects the seed. In accepting the seed, the parable clearly shows that there is Life and in rejecting the seed there might be growth in the beginning, but not Life sustained. The fourth soil exemplifies the sustainable integrative all life learning when it accepts the Truth and applies the Truth while acknowledging what Truth is and that it is the only Way to Life.

Conclusion and Discussions This leads to the conclusion that the teaching/learning process is possible and desirable horizontally, as long life learning; vertically, as wide life learning; and transversally, as the learning for life, the sustainable integrative all life learning. This paradigm brings together many people— adults and youth, alike, with a great deal of knowledge levels and social statuses, but with a very necessary goal: the learning for life by choosing the Way, the Truth, and the Life—Jesus Christ, the Sender of the most important Message— the Salvation of the world (John 3:16) [11].

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Acknowledgements The paper was prepared in the inter and transdisciplinary research program of the Ethical Society Research Center of Emanuel University of Oradea under the supervision of Professor Dr. Ioan G. Pop, PhD in Physics and PhD in Engineering Sciences.

Espace Public et Communication de la Foi, pp 487-502, DOI: 10.13140/2.1.2932.5448.

[10] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew 8-15, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1987), 357.

[11] New American Standard Bible. (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publisher, 1977).

Biographies

References [1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

Ioan G. Pop, Considerations on Transdisciplinary Approach of the Mechatronics in the Knowledge-based Society. PhD Thesis (Cluj: Technical University, 2011), 96-103.

I. Slaus, “Political Significance of Knowledge in Southeast Europe.” Croat. Med. Journal, Vol. 4 (2003): 3-19.

L.M.English, “Spiritual dimensions of informal learning”, in L.M. English & M.A. Gillen (Eds.), “Addressing the spiritual dimensions of adult learning: What educators can do,” New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, No. 85: 29-38 Jeffrey D. Arthurs, Preaching with Variety: How to Re-Create the Dynamics of Biblical Genres (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2007), 105.

Steven W.Smith, Recapturing the Voice of God: Shaping Sermons Like Scripture (Nashville: B & H Publishing Group, 2015), 105.

Craig L. Blomberg, Preaching the Parables: From Responsible Interpretation to Powerful Proclamation (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), 105.

Craig L. Blomberg, The New American Commentary: Matthew (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992).

Toma d’Aquinas, Summa Theologica (transl.

By Dominican Fathers). (New York: Christian Classics., 1948).

Ioan Pop and Ilie Sorițău, The Mankind between Betel and Ai, a Synergistic Contextual Communication Model on Faith.

Paper presented at Conference: ComSymbol 2014 Montpellier, at Beziers, Volume: “Communication on Faith,” published in

Dr. Ilie Soritau was born in Arad County, Romania in September 1968. He has a M.Div. in theology with biblical languages from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina (1999) and a PhD in theology from Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj, Romania (2012).

He was an adjunct professor of homiletics for six years at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas (2006-2012). Also, he has taught from 1999 to the present day at Emanuel University of Oradea. He currently serves as Vice President and Chief Librarian of Emanuel University in Oradea, Romania. He has coauthored multiple articles with Dr. Ioan G. Pop on “Transdisciplinary Perspective Through the Synergistic Communication on Faith in the Seven Letters of Revelation”, as well as “The Mankind between Bethel and Ai, a Synergistic Contextual Communication Model on Faith”. He has co-authored a book with Dr. Ciprian Simuț: “Reformarea mântuirii, Volumul 1, Repere soteriologice în teologia reformatorilor din Anglia și Europa continental în secolele XVI și XVII” (Oradea, Romania: Editura Universității Emanuel din Oradea).

Dr. Sorițău is a member of The Evangelical Theological Society and the Homiletical Society. He serves on the Council of the

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Romanian Baptist Union and a co-founder of the Family Advisory Council at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Mrs. Raelene Soritau was born in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A. in July 1971. She has a M.Div. in theology with a concentration in women’s studies from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas (2018) and is a doctoral student in the PhD program for education at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tennessee.

She was an elementary teacher from 19951999 at Neuse Baptist Christian School in Raleigh, North Carolina. She has volunteered in the International Relations department at Emanuel University of Oradea, Romania from 1999-2005 and 2009-the present day.

Also, she has served as the Founder and Director of Child Life Romania since 2009.

She has authored several children’s books in the unique genre of medical adventure therapy that have also been translated into Romanian and German: “A Princess Story: A Story of Hope, Faith, and Miracles” (2011); “The Secret of the Dragon Lair” (2016); and “The Mask of Cyclop” (forthcoming 2021), (Oradea, Romania: Editura Universității Emanuel din Oradea). Also, she has written a fiction novel: “My Memoir of Reality” (forthcoming 2021).

Mrs. Sorițău is a member of the Family Advisory Council at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Ft. Worth, Texas and is co-founder of The L.O.V.E. Club, the hospital’s official support group for the patients and their families affected by neuroblastoma and other pediatric cancers.

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This paper was presented in the

The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces, (DIALOGO-CONF 2020 VICSSR)

held online, on the Journal’s website, from MAY 19 - 26, 2020

journal homepage: http://dialogo-conf.com

Spiritual lessons observed through the coronavirus crisis Rev. Ioan-Gheorghe ROTARU, PhD

Professor at Timotheus’ Brethren Theological Institute of Bucharest Romania

article info

abstract

Article history: Received 08 May 2020 Received in revised form 12 May Accepted 15 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.6

The topic of the day for our whole world has at some point become the coronavirus. The media channels, the press, various spokespersons, the programs had the coronavirus as the subject of news or discussion (COVID 19). The novelty of this situation consisted of the element of surprise over the people, the rulers, institutions, the scientific community, the economic sphere, the whole education system etc. All being taken by surprise, it can be said that the element of surprise was present everywhere and because of this and so the global interest in this critical situation has become a worrying one. This coronavirus pandemic has touched a global nerve, namely one of general interest, namely health, and this sensitive nerve has swept the entire world, leading to a global awareness that we are at war with an unforgiving enemy, who does not spare anyone, and taking nothing into account, neither social position, nor education, nor political or religious color. All this wide range of elements has given rise to a situation of global effervescence, igniting the interest of all regarding the development of future events and how they will have to be dealt with.

Keywords: our world; fragility; crisis; pandemic; coronavirus; Christian perspective;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction

At one point the topic of the day for all of us became the coronavirus. The media channels, the press, the broadcasts had as topic of news or discussion the coronavirus (COVID 19). Such a scenario, even if it is something completely different, is described in the Holy Scriptures when it describes

a certain state of affairs: “...all the world wondered after.”[1] In addition to all the lessons that can be learned for all, political leaders, authorities, and citizens, from the way events unfold during the COVID 19 pandemic, there are also some lessons of a spiritual nature that we will analyze[2] for those who have spiritual beliefs.

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eISSN: 2393-1744, cdISSN: 2392-9928 printISSN: 2457-9297, ISSN-L 2392-9928

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II. The Fragility Of Our World

The novelty of this situation is the element of surprise. We have not thought about certain things before that we are ready to deal with them if they arise. The scientific community was also, in turn, taken by this virus by surprise, the elderly, children were taken by surprise, schools, universities, the whole education system, economic units, were taken by surprise, so it can be said that the element of surprise was present everywhere and because of this and the global interest in this critical situation, which puts us in a situation of global citizens, has become a very worrying one.

The coronavirus crisis highlighted the phenomenon of globalization in the sense that in order to achieve this a global nerve had to be struck, and what has happened now in our world seems to have been a touch of a global nerve, namely a matter of maximum importance, of general interest, respectively health, and this sensitive nerve covered the whole world, and the bad news did not stay somewhere far away, but somewhere very close to us, being able to be right in our house, in the house of our neighbors, friends, of relatives, of officials, of anyone, in institutions, even in hospitals.

This situation causes the other person next to us, namely our fellow man, to be seen through other eyes, often through the lens of suspicion, as to whether he is infected or not, whether he is a virus carrier or not, whether he is a potential danger to me and mine, which has produced a kind of global awareness, namely that we are in a war with an enemy who does not forgive, who does not spare anyone, who does not take into account anything, neither the social position, nor education, or political or religious color, and all this wide range of elements have given rise to a situation of global effervescence, igniting the interest of all regarding the unfolding of future events, in the sense of knowing what will be our

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fate, the fate of our places of work, health, education, economy, etc. A phenomenon of such magnitude which affected almost every state in the world had a very strong emotional impact.

AČ&#x2122;a As mentioned, the coronavirus crisis has highlighted the phenomenon of globalization, which is also defined by free movement, even viruses circulate today much faster than in the past, the distances becoming smaller, not only in scale or information level, but also at the level of physical movement, which takes place much faster. Another defining element of globalization is the economic connection of all the states of the world, and the events or achievements of one state have the power to influence others, reaching a kind of universal awareness in which indifference in a certain area of the world affects another area of our world. The ideas and philosophy of some progressive movements have been heard in the sense that man could solve everything about his own happiness. The philosophical, religious, sociological ideas that golden age of prosperity will come in the future, have long been awaited by people, and now we end up in the situation that we can not leave the house, leading people to be mostly concerned only with material things and much less with existential issues. The scientific community itself in this crisis has often been put in situations of contradictory explanations. Certain gloves are good or not, vitamin C is good or not, etc., so that in the scientific community, it is no longer possible to speak the same language. The countries themselves, considered to be the engines of Europe, offered their blunders in such a context, no longer speaking the same language, and the ideas of freedom, fraternity, equality, revealed a Babel-like attitude, in which not everyone spoke the same language, and in the din of stuttering, there was a deafening silence, in the sense that the voice of the Church was not heard very clearly, generally speaking. In a time

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of crisis like this of the coronavirus, when the economy is seriously shaking, when people’s health is severely affected when the scientific world has its stuttering, it was expected that the world would hear a guiding voice from the Church to speak and provide a bridge of support, of hope for people, that beyond the virus pandemic, beyond the economy, beyond anything else, from a Christian perspective, the most important thing available to people is the possibility of salvation, of the salvation offered by Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross, and this should be heard with clear voices from the Churches, from the religious institutions, as well as from the fact that the Crucified One gave the assurance: “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” [3] On April 3, 2015, Bill Gates began his presentation with the following words: When I was a child, the disaster I feared the most was a nuclear war and because of that I had food and water reserves in the basement of the house and if the attack had occurred, we were taught to enter the basement urgently and to resist there with our reserves of food and water. Today, the greatest risk of a global catastrophe no longer looks like a nuclear fungus, but like a tiny virus. If something kills millions of people over the next ten years, it will most likely be an extremely infectious virus and not a war, not bombs, but microbes.

From the way things are now, it is clear that humanity is not very well prepared for the next epidemic. Four years later, on December 12, 2019, Wuhan, China, a group of people with pneumonia of unknown cause, do not respond to known treatments and vaccines, and this virus with an extremely high transmission rate has spread all over the world, and world statistics talk about the fact that over 2 and a half million people are infected and over 185,000 dead.

In just four months, on March 11, 2020, the WHO declares a pandemic and the

world seems to have stopped moving in a deafening silence. Somehow the news were viewed with some detachment because the virus affected other continents, then it came to Europe, to Italy, to Spain and then to us, even at our doors, reaching the situation of being forced to stay at home, often distrustful of the seriousness of this phenomenon, until the situation in which people known to us began to get sick. According to the news, various personalities from the high society, princes, Prince Charles, heir to the British crown, Prince Albert of Monaco, Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Great Britain, ministers, parliamentarians, various political, scientific, religious personalities and many others like them.[4] It seems that COVID 19 virus is not very pretentious and does not distinguish between people. The pandemic has left people without jobs. There are people who live only on their monthly income, and when they decrease, these people end up in desperate situations. People started to die, people we know or don’t know, close people, dear people. It is very obvious that we have very little control over so many important things in our lives. Going through the coronavirus crisis, people are trying to balance themselves, looking for strategic solutions, food supplies, water and other much-needed goods, which they may need in a future crisis. However, despite all human efforts, insecurity and vulnerability are great and are a present reality.

We are reaching the situation of avoiding the look in the eye of the person wearing a protective mask or the attitude of startling when someone nearby coughs, or when someone close has a fever and coughs, the idea of thinking ​​ twice before calling the ambulance, even for conditions other than COVID 19. The period we all lived through was one in which we all felt this dramatic truth about the fact that there are so many things that affect our lives and are out of our control, we end up locked in the house

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because we can control very little of what happens to us, despite the fact that some people thought they had control over their lives, but a time like this when a virus, a pandemic, always reminds us of our fragility and vulnerability, of the fact that we are limited beings.

III. God’s Answers For Times Of Crisis

In 1901, the American writer, Ellen G. White, wrote in The Signs of the Times: “Nations are troubled. Confusion reigns everywhere. The hearts of men tremble for fear of the things that are to come upon the Earth. But those who trust in God hear His voice in the midst of the storm, saying, “I am, fear not!”[5] Thus, the Holy Scriptures present Job, whose life and the situation changed completely in one day, he went bankrupt, all his business collapsed, all his wealth fell to dust, all his children died in one accident and after a while, his health deteriorated dramatically and those who claimed to care about him actually pushed him to a mental breakdown and maybe even worse than that. Even his wife said to him: “Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.”[6] What made this man stand up and not fall? Here is what he said: “But I have the understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?”[7] reaching the following conclusion: “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.”[8] However, there is a wide range of people who even today say that those who believe in God are people left behind; they are weak in spirit, weak in mind. This category of people could be answered by those who believe in God, Session 2. Secular education and religious education

as Job rightly answered. And if you are in the category of those who believe in God, you could answer this way: “But I have the understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?”[9] We are not weaker in mind and we are mindful like the rest of you who do not believe in God, only we use other information, other parameters of reporting and life and at the same time we take into account some things that others do not want to take them into account.

What kept Job when his life changed radically and dramatically, so dramatically and fundamentally that everything was destroyed in one day? Job was held by unshakable hope and trust in God, due to the fact that God is trustworthy, even in situations where we do not understand what is happening to us.

In the Holy Scriptures we find another example: John the Baptist, whose life changed radically in one day. He gets caught, thrown in jail. And naturally you might wonder, how is it possible that the greatest of the prophets, as Jesus Christ said of him, came to be at the mercy of a girl, the hatred and jealousy of a woman, and the weakness and helplessness of a political man and it seemed that God was doing nothing in that situation to save John, and the Messiah, the One for Whom he had prepared the way, seemed to have no interest in that cause.

John ends up sending his disciples to Jesus to ask Him one question: Are You the One, or are we waiting for another. John too had some doubts. His confidence was shaken, and the answer John receives is just a snippet of a day’s report from the life of Jesus and finally a thought: “And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? When the men came unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? Or look we for another? And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities

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and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind, he gave sight. Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” [10] The thought conveyed at the end of the answer that was to be given to John said that he should not stumble and have trust, and John the Baptist understood the answer and had trust, and died after that, but he died with unwavering faith in The Messiah, the One for Whom he had prepared the way: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: “Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”[11] In this crisis, everything comes down to the word trust. Everyone involved, based on their responsibilities in finding solutions to the coronavirus pandemic, ask people to have trust, trust in their ability to control the pandemic and trust in the ability of specialists to finally find the solution, with a vaccine that cures or prevents the virus. According to these experts, people need to trust the decisions they make because, they say, they make the best decisions for us. Regarding the trust in the political decision-makers, in the administrative ones, in the medical specialists, all kinds of people responsible for this situation, it is always said that people should have trust. Survey respondents said they trusted the Church, the military, others the doctors, and others the president, although it would be very interesting to see how many people trust God. The awareness of one’s own human existence in front of a

Holy and Almighty God will lead people to an attitude of humbleness and humility. God’s power is revealed, not only in His capacity as Creator, that He created the world and all that is in it, which is something fantastic, to build a planet, to give life, not just in the power to bring the Flood, with an incredible force, which ransacked and shattered the planet, not even in the fact that He chose a people to represent Him and bless Him over time, but the divine power consists in being a God present in the life of the planet. In the Holy Scriptures, we find the statement of the prophet Daniel, who said the following words: “And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know to understand:” “He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.”

[12] From the book of Daniel it appears that God says many years before what will happen in mankind, with tens, hundreds and even thousands of years before, and the prophetic books of Daniel and Revelation reveal this, and this is due to the fact that God knows, and He tells the people from what He knows, not in the sense of satisfying human curiosity, but by telling them that when events are about to happen people should remember God’s words and listen to Him. Thus, prophecies can be considered the strongest evidence of God’s presence in the life of planet Earth, as well as in human life, and perhaps in these days of isolation, of staying at home, people could meditate more on the Maker of Heaven and Earth, to the One Who gives rain both to the good and to the bad, and because they consider themselves Christians, they could share their beliefs about faith in Him with others.

This Creator God, Creator of all things, is a God who, in addition to being present, loves His creation. The most beautiful Scriptural description in this regard says: “For God

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so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”[13] He died, but he also rose, being the greatest proof of appreciation, of love, because there can be nothing more altruistic, more full of love for someone than for someone to give his life for the one who values him: ​​ “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”[14] You can’t give more. It’s the greatest sacrifice possible. Jesus, who gave His life, showed care for people before and after His death, took care to comfort those who were suffering, fed those who were hungry, took care to heal those in need of healing and even more resurrected the son of a widow, then a dear friend, Lazarus.

It’s all about trust. This is what happened to our first parents, Adam and Eve, when the serpent deceived Eve. The question behind the question was actually: do you, Eve, have so much faith in God that you let Him decide what is right for you. The serpent implied that God would want man to be a more primitive, backward being, not like Him, so he deceived her into doing what she wanted and not what He wanted. Man may have so much confidence in Him that He will decide in his behalf, and the first pair of men have decided not to trust God, and from that moment men have come, as some of them, to no longer trust Him, while God did his best to regain man’s trust.

Everyone wants you to trust them, husband, wife, parents, authorities, the Church, the army, ... God wants ... everyone wants you to trust them, but only One is truly trustworthy, proving this fact throughout history and this is God. The image of Jesus as a child is much more accepted than the image of Him as crucified, because the birth is much more interesting and pleasant than death, although the death and resurrection of Jesus destroyed death itself. Jesus is no longer that child today, we have nothing to

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do with a cute baby in a manger, neither the baby seen by the magicians, nor the 12-yearold child[15], who amazed the sages of the time with his wisdom, today we don’t even deal with the Teacher who preaches and heals, but today we are dealing with the One who rose from the dead and in Whose presence the Apostle John falls to the ground, He being the true God in the fullness of His authority and this God is worthy of all the trust.

David said in the book of Psalms: “I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”[16] Although it is said among the people that hope dies last, it is worth noting from a Scriptural perspective that insofar as the man will trust God, hope will never die. We should not lose hope in a trustworthy God, because in an insecure world, God provides man with divine protection.

IV. Hope Overcomes The Fear Of The

Unknown

The questions that arise these days are troubling because they are amplifying and lacking clear answers and the future seems to bring something completely new. In addition to the concerns of the authorities combined with the momentary inability of scientists to find a healing solution, each of us internalizes certain insomniac questions about what will happen in the near future, how our lives will change, as if we did not have various fears, slowly but surely, some of us become overwhelmed by the fear of the unknown. There are people who try to defend themselves against an uncertain future in a very simple way with an attitude of minimization or even denying the danger, because, they say, everything seems to be fine. There are other people who think

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that we are still a few months ago, when everything transmitted predictability, and this category wants to forget the events that unfolded over the last few month, so that they can go back to the past times. Others, on the other hand, looking everywhere, are looking for skilled, competent people to confirm exactly how things will be, even if they may have no reason for such an answer. The history of our world seems to revolve cyclically in the same uncertainties of its own existence. As much as we may be surprised by the news that appears these days, it seems that we are not the first to fight with the fear of the unknown.

In the Holy Scriptures, the wise king Solomon, one of the greatest philosophers of our world, said: “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”[17] Others, too, have experienced the fear of the unknown; as such we should not think that only we would be the first to face such a situation, with the fear of tomorrow.

We can find the answer in the pages of the Holy Scripture. When our first parents, Adam and Eve, left the Garden of Eden with tears in their eyes, they were also afraid of the unknown, what will happen to them, how things will go, what the future holds for them, if it will ever be as good as it was before. And Cain, after killing his brother, had the same fear of the unknown, what would become of him. Will he remain in isolation all his life, for fear of approaching his fellows. Noah, when he opened the door of the ark, looked at a completely unknown world, things were not as before. How safe will the Earth continue to be, and what else will God allow to come upon the world.

The fear that humanity is facing at the moment has also confronted our ancestors.

Feelings of anxiety, of horror in front of the unknown, feelings of helplessness and especially the fragility of human life, all these have always been part of the spectrum of

human life experiences. For most of us, the fight is neither biological nor chemical, nor nuclear, but rather one carried at the level of our mind. We wonder where and how it all started? The only one who can have true explanations for these events, which cause anxiety and worry, cannot be other than God the Creator. We will try to start our presentation from the scriptural text: “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”[18] The idea here is to send humanity’s first virus with a moral strain. The creatures created by God began to get sick inexplicably. The first virus of mankind has the denunciation of sin, which brings disease, insecurity and fear. Without this incident concerning the sin of man, mankind would not be here today. The rate of infection of this virus, called sin, has infected one hundred percent of all mankind, thus reaching each of us, carriers of this virus, and for such a condition wearing masks or isolation on any mountain top it does not help at all, because human nature has been affected in its very essence. In the face of such an alarming reality, the plan of divine intervention was unpredictable for the entire universe. God has sought our recovery and the distribution of a healing vaccine. God the Creator’s plan and attitude to recover the human being was surprising even to Satan, amazed that Jesus decided to become a man, to live among men, without Him getting sick, and then to die for all people. The Holy Scripture, from one end to the other, represents God’s attempt to heal people, and the event of the Cross goes far beyond our mental capacity to understand the divine plan for the recovery of the human race. When Jesus said “It is over” on the Cross, these words were meant to say that sick mankind was thirsty after healing, and God was telling them that the virus of sin had been defeated, ending the uncertainty about the future of our planet, because the antidote to sin was found, but

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an antidote paid for in blood.

Studying the unfolding of the events described in the Holy Scriptures, several aspects should be considered, namely that no matter what events take place in human history, God the Creator has control of anything and everything, therefore the prophet Daniel also said the following words: “And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:”[19] The second thing that characterizes the Creator is an unconditional love poured out upon men, of which He assures the people: “For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.”[20] God miraculously intervenes in trouble, in hardships, even if He chooses not to avoid trouble. According to the Holy Book, there is a people who passed through the Red Sea, who were afraid of the future, because the Egyptians were behind them, and in front was the sea, and on the left and right were mountain ranges. “But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die

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in the wilderness. “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever.”[21] A Daniel that spend a night in a hole full of hungry lions: “Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.[22] A few fishermen saved from drowning by a few words said by Jesus to the sea: “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. Moreover, the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”[23] A Lazarus dead for four days, and many others: “And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. “And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. “Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.”[24] In the face of such a God, you can understand that no matter how great the fears about the present and the future, legitimate fears in our opinion, all these cannot be compared with His capacity to intervene. Over time, His followers have distinguished themselves by courage and trust, often misunderstood by others, even though this faith, for some of them, has not always brought them healing or escape from danger. The Holy Scripture

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describes this fact as such: “And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in the mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:”[25] For these people to live such a life with a hope beyond the fear of the unknown had as a source of their courage the One who says: Do not be afraid. “For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.”[26] The antidote to the virus that has changed human nature is a balanced analysis of the dangers without underestimating their power, awareness of their sinful nature, and acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice as the only way to escape the power of the virus called sin—developing a secure and loving relationship with God by abandoning the future to His providence. For some people, this may be a way to manage fear, but for others who believe in divine power, they know it is the only way. The Holy Scripture is full of metaphors in this regard, namely, a single ship in the midst of the flood, a single narrow path among many others, a single door through which one can enter, a single saving sacrifice. The alternative is not hard to imagine, especially now that the values we relied on are faltering and collapsing, all depending on everyone’s options and choices.

Many people who find it difficult to walk and reach the top of the stairs, finally finding that they leaned it against the wrong

wall and ended up elsewhere, missing the desired target. The pandemic we are all going through these days can also be an opportunity to discover a rare hope.

People having a fear of the unknown, not knowing what will follow or what they will face, choosing with faith to put their lives in the hands of the Almighty, their fear will disappear. By choosing the healing vaccine, that is, the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, one can look to the future with confidence, even if people do not know how long this condition will last and what will follow, if they are safe from disease, financial crises, food, etc., but those who believe in God know only one thing: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”[27] Although modern societies are continually improving their preparedness in the face of crises and disasters, they are often powerless in the face of a new and growing threat: transnational crises—a few short examples. In 2002, a virus called SARS originated in China, passed through Hong Kong, and reached 37 countries, causing a serious health crisis all the way in Toronto, Canada. In 2008, a US private bank went bankrupt, resulting in the collapse of the US and European economies. In 2010, a volcano in Iceland erupted and paralyzed international air traffic. How people sat at the end-of-year holiday table, thinking about the beauty of the moments spent in the family, and no one thought then that they would continue to stay at home and not for a short while. The coronavirus came to all continents without knocking on the door.

The continent with the most confirmed cases, strategically speaking, Europe was also the most prepared. The signals since 2013 showed how well Europe was prepared for such a crisis and yet the situation was not

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simple. After any kind of crisis, people make assessments and conclude that they will be better prepared for a subsequent crisis. The experience of the latter proves the fact that we will be better prepared for a future crisis that each of us has experienced. When such late thoughts try us, it is not generally too late, but from a Christian perspective, they make people think about the grand finale or end. What good would it do if you had the experience of the last mind? How else could you fix things? How could the crooked thing be corrected? From a Christian perspective, it is possible to make a leap into the future in order to have the last mind right now, which should be the case for all political leaders in preparation for further crises.

“And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.”[28] The alert spirit is crucial in the context of the final events, but the alert spirit should not be limited only to following the events.

From a Christian perspective, the spirit of vigilance, of attention, is channeled in three main directions: The first of them is vigilance through meditation, communion and prayer, the creation of a relationship between man and divinity. Combining the terms vigilance and prayer denotes that spiritual vigilance is needed first. People seek God on most occasions after the onset of a crisis, even though He asks to be sought before. Prayer is our access to the world and the presence of God, and every end must find people regularly seeking this divine presence.

The close connection between the vine and the stump is behind another statement

by Jesus that says: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”[29] Abundance is a proof of well-being, of a fulfilled life precisely because of man’s connection with the One who is the source of well-being. During the coronavirus

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pandemic, people staying longer at home also have the opportunity to allocate more time for spiritual values, for the soul. One should not expect an immediate benefit from meditation, prayer, and building a relationship with the Most High, but as the parable of the virgins in Matthew 25 shows, even if they were all prepared in anticipation of the bridegroom, and because he was late, they fell asleep and their lamps went out. When they heard the signal that the bridegroom was approaching, they began to prepare their candles, but half of them had found that they had not taken any spare oil with them, and while they were trying to procure their oil, the procession passed and they been left out. The last mind on the day after is of no use at all.

Another type of vigilance is that of fulfilling service tasks, duty, responsibilities: “For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.”[30] The presentation says that a tenant, a landowner, leaves his property in the hands of some servants and gives each one certain instruction regarding the tasks they had to perform in his absence. He then assigns each of them a chapter to work with. The coins, either five, two or one, represent the capital entrusted to each with the requirement that they multiply it until his arrival. On his return, the landlord finds that two of them doubled their capital, and one buried them and returned them to the rightful owner.

Language has symbolic value, the landlord being a symbol for God the Master, the servants represent the people, and the capital, the coins, represent the abilities we have as human beings. From this parable we can discern some teachings, namely, what God gains from our abilities, we use them only for ourselves or for our fellow human beings. The conception of Him determines

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how the duty can be fulfilled. The man who hid his coin, the entrusted capital. Depending on what people think of God, he is a harsh, unreasonable master, or a rich man who is not interested in the loss or waste of people (Matthew 25: 24-26).

For people, who in one way or another believe, the third type of watch is the watchman’s guard or the keeper’s guard (Mark 13:34). The guard or the keeper do not guard themselves, but guard the property of others. At the final judgment, what matters will be the good done to others.

The inclination to the needs of others seems to be fueled by love for the Master, because He says that when people do or do no good to others they actually do it to the Master: “And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”[31] Conclusions If the death of Christ on the cross matters to people only as much as a Passover meal then it is too little, the appreciation of the Master must be visible through the altruistic spirit towards others, the poor, the anxious and all kinds of needs, using time, resources and all that is made and done for those in need is true appreciation of Him. Appreciation for people in their hardships and troubles is actually an appreciation for the Master. To live only for oneself is not a lived life. At the end of history, many would have liked to go back in time and provide support to those in need, but it was too late. This means that the present offers the possibility to anyone to be altruistic, being indebted for all the good received in order to be returned to others. Thus, in times of crisis, people are exactly as they were before. Whatever the lessons, they are valuable if they teach you something you can use, the expression the last mind teaches you a lesson that is good for nothing. The thief on the Cross learned

a lesson that he used in the last moment of his life. From a Christian perspective, the idea arises that at the end of history many people will come to their senses but it will be too late. In times of a pandemic, extraordinary efforts are being made around the world to prepare scenarios, all sorts of programs and activities that should be carried out in the medical system, often too late, because if the preparations have not been made, in time, until the occurrence of the crisis, at its occurrence the necessary consequences are borne. In all of Jesus’ speeches, the emphasis is on the element of surprise, which will surprise all who are not prepared ahead of time, just as crises surprise many people as being unprepared for them. Perhaps the coronavirus crisis will teach people to prepare ahead of time, and it will cause those who believe to determine spiritual values first: “By allowing these calamities, God intends to make people come to their senses. Through the unusual phenomena of nature, God draws the attention of those who doubt the clear revelations He has made in His Word.”[32] Perhaps in the end it is worth reflecting on what the American writer, Ellen G. White, said a century ago in the book Prophets and Kings: “The present time is of overwhelming interest. Leaders and statesmen, people who hold positions of trust and have authority, men and women of all categories, who able to think, look with remembrance at the events that take place around us and follow the relations between nations.

They observe the intensity with which every element of nature is taken over and recognize that something very important and decisive is about to happen, that the world is on the verge of an astonishing crisis.”[33] In Christian Service she said, “Stormy times are ahead of us, but we must not utter words of disbelief and discouragement.”[34]

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References [1] The Holy Bible, King James Version (KJV),

Cambridge, Cambridge University, Revelation 13,3.

[2] Analisys based on this presentation: https:// www.facebook.com/Biserica-AdventistăSăpânța-109326450759456/?modal=admin_ todo_tour ; accessed at 06.5. 2020.

[3] KJV, Matthew 28,20.

[4] https://romania.europalibera.org/a/coronaviruspeste-20-de-miniștri-capete-încoronate-șefi-deguverne-sunt-infectați/30515722.html [5] Ellen G. White, The Signs of the Times, 9 October, 1901, in https://m.egwwritings.org/ro/ book/2708.20#22; accessed 06.5.2020.

[6] KJV, Job 2,9.

[7] KJV, Job 12,3.

[8] KJV, Jov 19,25-27.

[9] KJV, Jov 12,3.

[10] KJV, Luke 7, 19-23.

[11] KJV, Matthew 3,11-12.

[12] KJV, Daniel 2, 21-22.

[13] KJV, John 3,16.

[14] KJV, John 15,13.

[15] KJV, Luke 2, 41-48.

[16] KJV, Psalms 27,13-14.

[17] KJV, Ecclesiastes 1, 9.

[18] KJV, Luke 10,18.

[19] KJV, Daniel 2,21.

[20] KJV, Isaiah 54,10.

[21] KJV, Exodus 14,9-13.

[22] KJV, Daniel 6,19-22.

[23] KJV, Mark 4,39.

[24] KJV, John 11,43-45.

[25] KJV, Hebrews 11,36-39.

[26] KJV, Isaiah 41,13-14.

[27] KJV, Isaiah 41,10.

[28] KJV, John 14, 29.

[29] KJV, John 10,10.

[30] KJV, Mark 13,34.

[31] KJV, 2 Corinthians 5, 15.

[32]

[33]

[34] Ibidem.

Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases 19:279 (1902). In https://m.egwwritings.org/ro/

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book/2708.20#22; accessed 06.5.2020. https://m.egwwritings.org/ro/ book/2708.20#22; accessed 06.5.2020.

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This paper was presented in the

The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces, (DIALOGO-CONF 2020 VICSSR)

held online, on the Journal’s website, from MAY 19 - 26, 2020

journal homepage: http://dialogo-conf.com

Traps of Educational Democracy Aleksander Nalaskowski, PhD Nicolaus Copernicus University i Torun Poland

article info

abstract

Article history: Received 18 April 2020 Received in revised form 20 May Accepted 22 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.7

The article is a voice in the discussion about necessary changes in the educational system in Poland. The author criticizes the naïve belief that the democratic school is a panacea for all educational flaws.

Keywords: democracy; school; education policy; teachers; parents; social changes; Poland;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction

The text that it is presented here was conceived really as a reaction to a statement made by a polish professor of pedagogy, who had stated that: “Polish education needs to be deauthorized like we need to breathe. It requires those unique mechanisms, which denote highly developed democratic societies. Stated most simply, polish schooling lacks democracy.”[1] All of the following is, therefore, a reaction to this statement. It is not meant to be an expression of agreement or applause; neither does it constitute a criticism. It is

purely a reaction, and therefore a form of expression whose source is an opinion, a fragment presented onward.

Two years ago, I published a book entitled “Worries about schooling. .” In it, I presented the realities of education as seen through the analysis of details. [2] It seems that the time has come to take a more decisive position, more generalized, established on base principles, and not on the details which are guided by them.

More and more, it seems to me that the contemplating of the sensibility of schooling should be the preoccupation of inspired monks, mothers of eleven children

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eISSN: 2393-1744, cdISSN: 2392-9928 printISSN: 2457-9297, ISSN-L 2392-9928

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and persons affected by melancholy, while pragmatic people, persons enamored of order, men with complexes and emancipated women should shun this at all costs. For this is an activity which is reminiscent of an episode from “Winnie the Pooh,” who was gazing into a well looking for his friend, who just happened to be standing behind him, and: “the more Pooh looked into the well, the more Piglet wasn’t there”.

Basically, nothing is settled in this way apart from the sham calming of one’s conscience. This is happening because essays by professors of education generally reach only professors of education and their disciples while crashing noisily against the closed gates which shelter the politicians who rule education, whose successive generations speak in a language empty of meaning. In the past, these were raised to the ministerial office by mechanisms which decided the face of socialist realities, nowadays by democratic mechanisms.

The text which I present here must raise doubts because it sounds in some ways like a criticism of democracy, which we used to dream about, which we had demanded in illegal propaganda publications, which sometimes led to imprisonment. The problem lies in the fact that each of us strove for democracy in a different field.

Workers wanted independent trade unions, businessmen wanted currency exchanges, and writers freedom of expression. I wanted a different education. Now it has become a mirror which our democracy views itself by, and this essay is supposed to be the photograph of this image.

II. Education in the environ of the

ballot box

Democracy is the invention of the opposition. It is just an attempt to guarantee oneself the possibility of legal opposition

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to the powers that be and open activity against them. As power is commonly felt to be connected not with the responsibility for a given piece of the world, populace or history, but with profits flowing from it, nobody likes authority. Everybody would like to wield power, but nobody likes those who are currently wielding it, with the clear exception of those last. This is what democracy is for.

Democracy, then, is the sanctioned division into “us-and-them,” it is also a constant revolution, only spread out over some time, and also with a gentler course and means. [3]Where democracy does not exist, revolutions occur, which usually are violent, and with a maximum result in the loss of freedom, property or site.

Revolution creates revolutionary regimes, which then suppress revolutionaries most intensely. Democracy, on the other hand, creates democratic governments, which in turn target democrats. Fortunately, they do not attempt to separate heads from bodies, rather people from their political background. The weapons here are gossip, name-calling, depreciation and propaganda.

Suddenly, then, it is discovered that this or that opposition democrat is basically a nihilist, anarchist, or clericalist, and clearly an emissary of known powers, and by the same reason a swindler and impostor.

The essence of democracy is opposition.

It is not the election (for this is always carried out in every political system) but the opposition to authority (which at this time is not possible in China, North Korea or in Cuba). In a democracy, this opposition is not subject to penalty, and it is the entitlement of each citizen. In China, North Korea, and Cuba, the penalty for the opposition is often liberty and sometimes life. In countries where heads are not made to roll, every rebel feels himself to be a democrat. At the same time, those who have just been moved away from power feel themselves to be the greatest

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democrats. Viewed from this perspective, it is not surprising that the steersmen of the Polish Communist Party have transformed themselves into the obstetricians of democracy in Poland in the delivery room of the SdRP (Socialdemocracy Party of Poland).

No alternative was possible. Based on the same principle, it is the right of a citizen of any democratic country to associate for a few years with a functionary of the KGB. These democrats have deduced that if everybody can eat and drink with anyone, therefore, so can the prime minister. The father of “democratic terrorism”, Gadaffi, in his infamous green book, has written, that democracy is the worst possible regime because 51% of citizens can decide about the other 49%. It seems that he has foreseen the result of our latest presidential election.[4] One of the many attributes of democracy is that basically, it does not differentiate between people. Everybody has the right to a vote without regard to who they are, what they achieved at school, or who their parents were. Of course, excepted are children, insane persons, and criminals deprived of civil rights. Another attribute of democracy is the execution of power from the election. This can lead to toadying to electors. The method used is electoral promises. The advantage is taken of public amnesia, which causes the electorate to quickly forget the unfulfilled promises of those leaving power while giving credence to those who are entering government. In the worst case of amnesia, those leaving and entering are the same people. Logically, the candidates make promises to voters, who are most commonly adults, and busy with their own lives. Therefore there is no time to educate the voters during the campaign; the only thing is to target their needs. This is what happens. Because children and teenagers are not part of the electorate, then during the course of the electoral campaign, they are ignored.

In truth, they are also ignored afterward

as well. Although candidates mention teachers, pupils, doctors, nurses and senior citizens in their speeches, it has become the rule that after the election, these groups are the most disappointed by the government, for they are the most typical cannon fodder.

Just cannon fodder. They are always ignored. If we review electoral programs, we shall find that schools are attractive to electoral candidates only as the place of work of teachers (because they vote).

If promises are made towards education, then they are directed at the adults, never the pupils. When I met with one candidate at an electoral meeting, I asked him if he would support my idea of democratically not forcing children to learn, and to make schooling non-compulsory, I was told: “My dear sir, WE wouldn’t be able to cope with them, WE would have to defend ourselves against them, WE couldn’t even carry out government if we had to look after the youngsters!”

Another candidate told me that it would be impossible because this would cause many from almost six hundred thousand teachers to lose their job. Therefore shools are necessary on the one hand to prevent children from disturbing adults, and on the other hand, so that adults could earn money.

III. “Parliamentary” education

Democracy enters schools everywhere, where schools run out of ideas. It attacks institutionalized education where it cannot defend itself. [5]Democracy in the Polish version, reduced to the level of elections, representing political demarcations, barely achieved through propaganda, paralyzes schooling effectively and deprives it of responsibility. As polish schooling for a long time has had no ideas of its own - it is transparently democratic.

Members of parliament and senators

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who wake from time to time, often from a lack of more exciting things to do, make or try to make decisions regarding schooling.

The piecemeal and amateurishness of this activity is best exemplified by our statute on education, which, if it does not become a quoted example of a bad piece of legislation, will most certainly continue to cause much mirth. In it can be found compromises, omissions, and parts that are totally undemocratic. For instance, it introduces a separate school certificate template for non-state schools. This is the living legacy of communism. In 1989, journalists in the “Trybuna Ludu” (Newspaper of Communist Party) warned that private schools would be for the nouveau-riche and gangsters, and therefore suspicious. Alternative certificates for non-state schools are a clear result of this. [6]At first glance, “Attention!

Beware! This is a private school!” can be seen. There are more similar tasty bits within this statute. A statute that has been passed by a democratic parliament, in which many members are advocates of not discriminating against anybody.

The democratically elected parliament designates the government, which executes the day to day, indispensable power. The government comprises of ministers who wield executive power over specific areas of social activities. There is a minister for education in existence who should look after education. There also exists the ministry for education, which is a sizeable and expensive clerical department, whose job is the development of national education. As can be seen at every stage, we are dealing with corporate entities, which are characteristic of democracy, and with decisions which constitute a permanent compromise in a parliamentary democracy. How does this fit with the reality of teaching and upbringing?

Is democracy truly the best form of creation for schooling? In the search for answers to these questions, we have to review specific details, as shown in the following.

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IV. Compromise

Dictionaries give dual definitions of the word compromise: “1. an agreement in which the parties make mutual concessions for the sake of settlement 2.a decision endeavoring to make the best of incompatibles. Therefore a compromise is a kind of renouncement, a relinquishing to gain a different objective.

This more or less is how a parliamentary dispute is settled - one option would like to give retired people a supplement of $100, another doesn’t want to pay any supplements, the final result being that senior citizens receive $5.

It is a simple matter when considering monetary matters or even government posts (“we will take finance, you take cultural development and education, and we will let someone from outside of the coalition deal with foreign policy”). It is not so easy when dealing with outlooks on life, convictions or personal life. Here a compromise would represent too great a price, and sometimes almost the loss of everything. These matters are, in any case, strongly emphasized as individual and beyond the direct influence of majority rule. Nobody but nobody tries to impose on an individual anything in this area through parliamentary votes. Arguments over the constitutional preamble make an excellent illustration of this. Ecumenically speaking, it contains both the payment to God what He is due right next to the payment of tax to Caesar.

Constitutionally we have guarantees regarding the freedom of conscience, faith, word, and the right to life. You could say that it is quite normal, that it is comfortable for all those that are able to demand their rights. Persons in the pre-natal stage do not have any such possibilities. Article 38 of the Constitution - “The Republic of Poland guarantees every person protection of life by law” - does not include these persons. (The borders of the Republic of Poland have been demarcated, but the mother’s womb is a

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neighboring country, into which we do not interfere.) Persons finding themselves in Poland may rejoice in the sonority of article 38 without regard to skin color, gender, political views, creed, expression, etc. There are no, and can never be, any compromises in these matters.

V. Competence of conscience

Every decision made carries with it the consequence of responsibility. Experience, which cannot be taken for granted, shows that responsibility increases in proportion to the foreseeable consequences of the lack of responsibility. Democratic compromise causes that following concessions, identification with the final shape of the decision is reduced, and it follows that the feeling of responsibility is also reduced. This is often accompanied by the dilution of the personage of the ministry caused by his collective stance. This is why it is practically unknown in parliament to complain or to demand the correction of a botched decision. If it ever does occur (complaints made by society), the process takes forever, and any repairs are made not as a result of the working of law but as a condescension by the bunglers.

Responsibility in a democracy is spread literally onto everybody, absolutely everybody. A minister wields power after a recommendation from the parliamentarians, who represent all adults, who, in turn, represent themselves and all non-adults who are dependent on them. Therefore we are all responsible for everything, and this means that our responsibility is on the whole diluted, depersonalized, insignificant.

True responsibility is the area between three peaks, the first of which is the identity of the deciding subject, the second is his competence, and the third is his conscience.

This area is the true responsibility. It does have a characteristic, though, which can

in no way be set aside or scrambled - it concerns the individual.

Identity is the history of man, and cannot be outvoted or established by way of compromise.

Competence is the full range of experience, knowledge, creative possibilities, and above all knowledge, which cannot be substituted by eloquence.

Competence cannot be established by a majority of votes.

I will not try to define conscience, assuming that we all understand this concept without any definition. I shall limit myself to the observation that currently nobody is trying to shape conscience, not schools, nor elections, nor the constitution, nor any compromises. As a society, we seem to avoid attempting any such enterprise.

There is freedom of conscience, and therefore everyone stays clear of all that is not theirs. It seems that many parents are also subservient to the constitution in this area...

VI. Belief in miracles

Democratic mechanisms influence all three peaks, which define the area of responsibility. It is necessary to adjust one’s identity to the collective identity of one’s electors, who might not elect us another time. Competences - if we have any at all - are never comprehensive, and decisions in a democracy are the effect of raising the majority of hands, not of competent arguments. The conscience, as stated before, is the private affair of every person not subject to discussion.

In countries that I have visited, schooling is criticized continuously. Thus, parents, teachers, academic researchers are all dissatisfied with it. It is not clear if children are satisfied, because in a parliamentary democracy no-one seeks their views.

What is a democratic school like? What

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are its characteristics? What sort of school can a democracy generate?

In the first place, it is acutely ineffective.

[7] It is supposed to serve everybody equally.

It is the result of democratic compromise; therefore, it belongs to no-one. For in the end, it is not a creation of any author. It is a whimsical and caricatural mixture of outlooks, ideological and practical claims.

This causes the school not to have a clear and legible visage. Ladies and gentlemen, a school born of democracy has no face, just as parliament does not have a face. It is then a perfectly neutral school, and as a result, it is ineffective because it is not able to take any position in answer to the question of why, what, and in the name of whom it teaches.

In a democratic school, the lack of image produces a dividend of democratic lack of responsibility. This is because everybody underwrites such a school, but nobody is prepared to put their name to it. It is then like a result of a ballot. It’s foundation was meant to have been the culmination of joint wisdom but has become the result of collective incompetence. Thus it is the sum of hallucinations, reminiscences and memories, whimsical fancies, devout desires, overheard opinions and that which dissidents were able to glean from scientific discussions. A complete syndrome of irrationally vivacious blocking factors. There is so much of this that nobody wants to take responsibility for the school, and the notion of the syndrome can be to mean the one when we add to it the name of Downs. A democratic lack of responsibility also has it’s own side effects. It has made hired laborers of teachers, who are meant to be living tape recorders used to pass on negotiated/ imposed subjects. They do not have to possess the wisdom of mankind; they are supposed to be obedient - like clerks, like theatrical extras, like a brick in the hands of a bricklayer. I am ashamed to admit this, but the professional circle of teachers has

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been seriously de-intellectualized and has become subject to the rape of the authentic independence of intellect and purity of activity.

Lack of responsibility is connected to conscience, to it’s marked chilling and neutralization, to the shifting of educational functions onto the constitution, onto criminal law, onto the family (even if it was lame or non-existent). Market-electoral democratic mechanisms, which are the cause of many compromises (also in the sphere of beliefs) have become the cause of disorder in schools. Market- democratic electoral mechanisms and panic fear of authoritarian education (transferred from the preceding era) have almost completely eradicated self-determination in schools.

Those who - referring to the code of work practice - dismiss ineffective employees, applying the rules of lupine, Asiatic capitalism and are strict critics of juvenile delinquencies, vote most fervently for the absolute untouchability of a pupil and his parent. This then is the effect of lack of responsibility. Not only the authority but also the authorship of a school have become a dangerous limitation on the will of an individual. Institutionalized education has not survived this, because it couldn’t survive it. The devastation of property, the churlishness and vulgar language of the pupils, as well as the intellectual regression of the tutors, are therefore the vomited conscience of a school. How often do we pass over such filth, pretending that it does not exist?

A school that is the result of democratic intervention is a school without conscience.

The human consciences of the teachers who work in it do not worry over it. Their number does not constitute a strength but a weakness. In this situation, any attempt to improve the school is an impossible expectation, a metaphysical beleif in miracles. In other words, we have no future

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here unless we are saints.

VII. Once more from the top

To remedy this situation, we should start by establishing principles about education, which would be acceptable to society as a whole—starting with how decisions related to education should be made.

Are democratic mechanisms that give equal weight to people who know education inside out with those that barely remember their schooldays really legally valid here?

What, in essence, does a compromise signify in the formulation of, for instance, a statute on education, which regulates the most fundamental human matters? Does it not mean that we sew two uniforms suitable for someone 170cm tall because one person is 160cm and the other 180cm tall, and therefore we have chosen the average size?

If education is (and it most certainly is) a question of convictions and conscience, then what is to be done with the convictions and conscience of those people whose motions were not carried by democratic voting (at parliamentary, city council or teachers committee level)? Is the obedience of a majority decision too great a sacrifice of principles and conscience?

If we can manage to settle the matter of how to transform a purely individual, parental problem into a subject for collective decisions, then we will have to return to the next basic question: the negotiation of an individual - though somehow common targets of education. When this is settled, we will then have to attend to the preparation of teachers - that is, individual personalities.

cybernetic democracy. Right education is much nearer to being an art form than it is popular and trivial appearance seems to indicate. And teachers - the true and great ones, that I have known - are more sensitive artists than clerical workers.

Treating education as an art form gives the seeker a new territory to explore. This, however, is a subject for a separate paper.

References [1] [2] [3]

[4] [5] [6] [7]

[8]

Z. Kwiecinski, Socjopathology of Education, Torun 1995 A. Nalaskowski, Niepokój o szkołę, Krakow 1995 See P. Pacewicz, Pomiędzy myślą a rzeczywistością. Rewolucja społeczna jako zjawisko psychologiczne, Wrocław 1983 J. Bearman, Qadhafi’s Libya. London: 1986 R. Meighan, Flexischooling, Birmingham 1988 The Ordinance of the Minister of National Education, 7th of July, 1993 A. Nalaskowski, “Education - the most sensible way of integrating Europe” (in ed.

H. Hinzen, E. Przybylska, Adult education in a United Europe : abundance, diversity, experience ) Torun 2005 A. Nalaskowski, “Escuela de Padres” (in A. Nalaskowski, Tożsamość : mapa wypraw i słów, Torun 2016).

[8]

It seems to me that we will manage to deal with the economy, crime, or PolishRussian relations sooner than with our own system of education. This is because it is a tissue of infinite philosophizing, constant change, and resistance to mechanical -

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Section 3

Diversity and multiculturalism (MAD)

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DIALOGO JOURNAL 6 : 2 (2020) 93 - 100

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This paper was presented in the

The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces, (DIALOGO-CONF 2020 VICSSR)

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held online, on the Journal’s website, from MAY 19 - 26, 2020

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Between the Melting Pot and the Patchwork Quilt in Religious America Two Case Studies (Shiloh Baptist Church, Washington DC and St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, New York City) Nicoleta Stanca, PhD

Faculty of Letters Ovidius University of Constanța Romania

article info

abstract

Article history: Received 12 February 2020 Received in revised form 26 May Accepted 28 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.8

In a complex context of huge differences between traditional churches and contemporary megachurches, religious mixing, matching and switching, in an ethno-racial diversity environment, in a society characterized by class inequality and political awareness, the article will attempt to show how religion brings individuals and communities together in the US in a patchwork quilt model.

Keywords: religion; diversity; ethnicity; race; community; unity;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction

American studies on religion claim that the contemporary US is largely religious, yet polarized between the religious and the secular. The first shock that traditional religious communities faced in the 1960s was that of the sexual liberation. Consequently, religion came to be associated more and more with conservative politics, therefore with the Republican Party and a new challenge emerged, i.e. gaining acceptance from the young generation, which generally rejects associations with the Republicans.

A second major claim regarding religious America made by Putnam and Campbell, in their study American Grace, regards religious “fluidity” [1]. There is no state-run religious monopoly in America and the Bill of Rights guarantees religious freedom, which allows for this ideal religious liberty.

Third, “Americans have high rates of religious belonging, behaving and believing” [2]. 83% of Americans belong to a religion; 59% pray at least weekly; 40% attend religious services; one third read the Scripture daily; 80% are certain that there is God; 60% that

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there is heaven; 52% that there is life after death and 49% that there is hell [3].

Another aspect worth considering is the myriad faiths, denominations and subgroupings within faiths in America.

However, for the sake of clarifying certain elements, we will use the classifications in Putnam and Campbell’s study: evangelicals mainline; Black Protestants; Catholics; Jews; Mormons; “other faiths” (Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims) and “the nones” (no religious affiliation).

The religious profile in America comprises mainly the following components: women are more religious than men; African Americans are more religious than whites; the old are more religious than the young; people in the rural area are more religious than those in cities; the poorer individuals are, the more religious they tend to be. Also, Americans tend to worship in congregations [4]. Americans attend religious service in a particular place, and they also get involved in all kinds of other activities there. For example, even religions that do not naturally function in a congregational structure in other parts of the world, such as Islam or Hinduism, adapt to the congregation form in the US: i.e. Sunday schools and social halls for community events.

II. Religion and Divisions

In a highly religious America, Americans are very diverse in their religiosity. Primarily, there is the first division between the religious and the secular. Then, there are divisions among the members of religious faiths and traditions. However, these tensions are paralleled by interreligious associations through friendships, common work and sometimes even marriage.

According to the 2006 Faith Matters statistics, 72% of Americans claimed that their country is divided along religious lines [5]. Individuals see in general members of

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their own religious community as tolerant and generous, while the others are seen as intolerant and selfish.

Religious tensions are brought to the limelight during political campaigns. More recently, there was a lot of opposition in 2008 in the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney, as he is a member of the Church of Latter-day Saints, a Mormon [6]. The same amount of distrust was manifested in the 1960s about a Catholic candidate requesting mainline Protestants’ vote [7]. In the view of Putnam and Campbell, it is especially surprising that the group that distrusted Romney the most were the evangelicals, in the context in which they seem to share many common conservative commitments with the Mormons, yet they are fierce competitors when it comes to attracting converts.

Why was Romney rejected for religious reasons? The answer can be based on the affinity and hostility thermometer, on how warm or cold a religious group feels toward the other and toward their inner group.

Thus, Americans feel warmest toward mainline Protestants, which is not surprising given that they are the majority, but also towards Catholics and Jews, which might be surprised if we look back to anti-Catholicism and anti-Semitism in American history. But perhaps anti-Semitism diminished since the Holocaust horrors and anti-Catholicism reduced with the massive Latino migration to the US in the recent decades. Evangelicals and, surprisingly, the nones are moderately popular.

Mormons, Buddhists and Muslims are the least popular, especially Mormons and Muslims labeled in the media “polygamists” and, respectively, “jihadists.”

When it comes to in-group affection of lack of it, the religious thermometer shows a different situation. Mormons feel warmest toward their own group; then come Jews; then Black Protestants and Catholics.

Mainline Protestants, evangelicals, and the

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non-religious have the least affection for their own fellows. The statistics are just predictable if one considers how religion and ethnicity are interconnected. Catholics, Jews, and Mormons seem to share a common history of rejection, migration and geographic concentration linked to ethnicity, which is fuzzy and blurry as a category in the case of mainline Protestants.

In spite of the interreligious frictions mentioned, almost half of the Americans claim that nobody ever made any negative comments about their religion. So, only rarely does it happen that a member of a religious group faces hostility openly in a face-toface exchange. Nevertheless, political and especially presidential campaigns, as seen before, tend to exacerbate certain feelings towards candidates, such as in the case of Mitt Romney or that of Barack Obama, who had to state that he was not a Muslim, which was a fact, but if not explained the detail might have affected him in the polls.

Also, it is surprising how intolerant the highly religious people can become when asked whether they would accept the construction of a Buddhist temple in the neighborhood, unlike the less religious ones who prove to be more civically tolerant (Faith Matters Survey 2007) [8].

III. Religious Diversity and Ethnicity

In American diversity, ethnicity has been one of the supporting pillars of religion and vice-versa. Immigrants turned to religion to reinforce their ethnic heritage once they found themselves in a new country.

If we consider the figures, we might conclude that Lutheran churches tend to have German, Swedish and Norwegian – origin believers; Catholics have two waves – the first consists of the Irish, Polish and Italian immigrants of the turn of the 20th century and more recently, Latinos have arrived in large numbers in the US. Unlike

Lutherans and Catholics, for whom ethnicity seems to rank high in their religious affiliation, evangelicals and Mormons report a weak ethnic identity in religious contexts.

Putnam and Campbell call evangelism and Mormonism post-ethnic religions since they base their ideals on religious fervor and beliefs and not on ancestry or blood ties.

Black Protestants are likely to emphasize the ethnic connection. Anti-slavery, abolitionist movements were naturally linked to the Christian message of salvation.

Black churches have historically provided shelter for African American communities: … its function as a giver of hope, as an emotionally cathartic, as a center of community activity, as a source of leadership, as a provider of respectability.

(Gunnar Myrdal in Putnam and Campbell) [9] Individual devotion has combined with communal identity, therefore engendering political action: raising money, gathering volunteers, planning strategies. The speeches in the church have provided the community with symbols, stories, songs, to inspire them, such as the famous line in Martin Luther King Jr.’s words from a Black spiritual: “Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

(Washington 1963). Thus, Black Americans stand together, but they attend a racially and ethnically homogeneous congregation, which is valid for many Americans (Jews, mainline Protestants and others). But there are also less ethnical religious groups: Hindu, Buddhists and Sikh.

Diverse congregations are a very efficient means of countering intolerance and tensions caused by religious homogeneity.

Putnam and Campbell establish a number of characteristics leading to diverse congregations attendance: individuallevel features (age, gender, race, ethnicity and education – women, the young and Hispanics are more open to diversity),

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community-level features (region, location – Westerners are more likely to attend diverse congregations) and congregation level features (size – larger congregations are more open) [10].

Catholic parishes were traditionally quite homogeneous when waves of immigrants first arrived in the US at the turn of the 20th century from Europe: Irish, Italians, Poles, Hungarians. Religious networks offered them both spiritual and material comfort.

They were called “nationality parishes”: The parish, with all its functions, did ease the process of assimilation for many immigrants, provided very practical services to the poor, the struggling and the uneducated, and certainly gave meaning to the ordinary rites of passage through religious and community support (Joseph Casino in Putnam and Campbell). [11] Sometimes, the large communities of Catholics were met with hostility by the Protestant majority. More recently, the strong tie between Catholicism and ethnicity loosened with the arrival of the Latinos in the US. According to the 2006 Faith Matters, the Latinos count for 35% of all Catholics in America and what is more important is that they contributed to the Catholic mosaic of the parishes, mixing now the so called “Anglo” Catholics with Latinos.

Evangelical megachurches, a recent type of institution, are ethnically and racially diverse. Examples of such megachurches: the Living Word Megachurch in Minneapolis and Lakewood Church in Houston, the largest in America, housed in a former basketball arena.

It is interesting to notice that the more ethnically diverse the congregation is the more likely having a friend of another ethnicity or race it gets. The overall effect seems to have been that since the 1970s racial bigotry has declined according to the findings of the General Social Survey (1973 in Putnam and Campbell) [12], so that Barack Session 3. Diversity and multiculturalism

Obama, a Black presidential candidate, won the elections in 2008. However, a diverse religious community does not automatically trigger interracial and interethnic communication and friendship. But just because bringing individuals together is so difficult, the effort of these religious institutions is to be praised.

IV. Togetherness and Tolerance to Cure

Religious Divides

Putnam and Campbell have looked at statistics that reveal whether religion makes Americans better citizens, more involved in neighborhood projects, more moral and with a higher civic standard.

For instance, besides the fact that Americans, in general, choose to volunteer (one-quarter of all Americans volunteer yearly [13]), religious affiliation further increases the willingness to volunteer for a religious or non-religious cause, consisting of service or donations for family and friends (“informal”); health; education; environment; work-based; politics; arts; arts; foundations; international.

Churchgoers are more likely to: give money to charity; do volunteer work for a charity; give money to a homeless person; give an excess change to a shop clerk; donate blood; help someone outside their household with housework; spend time with somebody who is “a bit down”; allow strangers to cut in front of them; offer a seat to a stranger; help someone find a job; look after a plant; carry a stranger’s belongings; give directions to a stranger; let somebody borrow an item of some value; lend money to another person [14].

More religious individuals in the US tend to be more civically active: belong to community organizations; help in community problem solving; take part in local civic and political life; press for social and political reform.

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The conclusion here would be that religious people are better neighbours, more generous with their money and ties and more active in their communities. Bu they may also be more conservative, which makes them less tolerant about the civil liberties of their fellow citizens, possible targets being homosexuals, atheists, communists, racists and militarists. In order to build strong ties in the community, one needs to be trustworthy. The more religious you are the more trustworthy you become, but the level of trust decreases in the case of fundamentalists.

Believing and belonging have always gone hand in hand in American communities.

Sharing a meal or talking to a friend after the service or joining a Bible study group is extremely important. “It is religious belonging that matters for neighborliness, not religious believing” [15]. Thus, “it is religion’s network of morally freighted personal connections, coupled with an inclination toward altruism, that explains both the good neighborliness and the life satisfaction of religious Americans” [16].

America is highly religious but Americans consider that it is also divided along religious line (72%), however, less divided religiously than racially (93%), economically (96%), politically (97%) [17]. The struggle to function peacefully within one’s religious network leads to a serene coexistence of so many diverse faiths.

Robert Bellah speaks of the “nation’s civil religion,” which has contributed to the building of the American nation, irrespective of faiths, sects, denominations or religious traditions. From Thomas Jefferson to the present, the US has diversified religious affiliations, yet they stand united and appeal to God’s grace in crucial confrontations.

Jefferson considered that the creator endowed mankind with inalienable rights.

Lincoln declared, in the context of the Civil War, that under God they will have new

freedom. Kennedy asked for God’s blessing and help, knowing that on earth, God’s work must be that of people themselves. George W. Bush cited after the 9/11 terrorist attacks from the 23rd Psalm: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.” Equally, Barack Obama mentioned in his inaugural address “the knowledge that God calls on us to shape un uncertain destiny” [18].

The fact that the state never endorsed any religion – there is no official national church in America – nor asked for religious tests for public officials has allowed religious freedom, thus contributing to a religious vitality. Therefore, there is interreligious marriage. Members of extended families have made their own choices as far as religion is concerned, so this created heterogeneous religious environments.

Interfaith mingling, mixing and matching have enabled “religious fluidity” [19]. As people build “religious bridges” [20], they become more affectionate toward their fellows from other religions.

And though the state never backed any religious tradition, symbols of divinity and patriotism have been intertwined: since the 1950s the Pledge of Allegiance has contained the words “under God” and the words “In God We Trust” were inscribed on American paper money. After the September, 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, members of the Congress joined arms on the steps of the Capitol and sang “God Bless America” [21].

“From its founding America had religious toleration encoded in its national DNA” [22].

Thus, in a continuous process, religions in America emerge, adapt, evolve, innovate in a constant fluidity, creating a web of personal relations among people of different faiths.

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V. Case Studies

A. Shiloh Baptist Church, Washington DC The message of Reverend Wallace Charles Smith, D.Min., Senior Minister, at Shiloh Baptist Church, Washington DC, in the leaflet of the institution, invokes building God’s Village by teaching the Word of God: “All members work together to educate, promote health, teach positive self-image, share community history and develop economic well-being.”

The church is organized to cater for the various needs of the community it serves – Black people in Washington DC. It comprises, besides the ministerial staff, a Human Services Center, a Child Development Center and a Family Life Center. Shiloh Church offers, apart from the weekly ministries, weekly Bible study.

The architecture of the place of worship contains stained glass windows highlighting its vision on culture, identity and heritage.

The patterns reflect African backgrounds and the connection with tribal motifs in Southern Africa: “The blue above the designs is for the waters of our middle passage. Out of the sands of a new world rise the hands in rich multicolour that represent the hands of our ancestors reaching up to God in prayer.

From those hands emanate a rainbow – representing our many gifts and talents.

Above the center panel is the star of hope that has guided us through life’s difficult struggles. The center panel is a chalice – the cup of the new covenant. From this cup, many people drink and become one in the Spirit” [23].

In the column “The Pastor’s Pen” from the newsletter of the church, The Shiloh Spirit, Minister Thomas L. Bowen, Minister of Fellowship, Social Justice and Community Outreach, illustrates Matthew’s words: “The harvest study is plenteous, but the labourers are few,” referring to how he responded to

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a colleague’s request to organize a Monday Morning Prayer Call, which has functioned since January 2014 [24]. There seems to be a large unchurched community of people who may have grown up in a church but then left it or chose to remain unaffiliated, yet they felt the need to call and communicate and ask for help. This is how their project proved useful. So, besides, the 10% of their earnings, the church appreciates better the 10% of its members’ time and talent to serve Lord.

The newsletter of the sanctuary also contains the program of the weekly services; welcome new members and thank you notes; offers for congregation members (such as free care wash for senior members); calls for improving community policies through the Social Justice Ministry; congregation celebrations announcements; employment opportunities; lists of long term care facilities and names and addresses of homebound members and college students members. The newsletter reflects, in a nutshell, the preoccupations of the congregation, all this concern for both the spiritual and material needs of the members of the community.

B. St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, New York City The Catholic Church in the US has been an immigrant church, a traditional home for waves of immigrants. For the Irish, Italian, Polish communities at the turn of the 20th century, the local parish was extremely important. Immigrants were brought into the church, the organization helping them materially, besides giving them the idea of participation in civic and political life.

Religion used to be a safe bridge to life in the US. In the 1940s and 1950s, there was the great Porto Rican migration, Porto Ricans replacing for instance the Irish, Polish and Italians in East Harlem, New York. They were a Spanish-speaking community needing Spanish speaking priests, thus Irish-American

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priests were sent to Porto Rico and came back to serve the new community. Thus, a new language-based pastoralism was born in the US. In the 1980s, new waves of Dominicans, Columbians and Mexicans came to America, needing the same Irish Spanish-speaking priests. Also, a new need was felt to bring more cultural specificity to religious services for the new communities and they had to be more involved civically and politically. In this context, we could only notice the American tendency to make space for new religious expressions and social political activism.

The mission of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in New York, stated in its newsletter, is to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of their community through worship, service, education and culture [25].

The news bulletin of the cathedral contains the program of the religious services in English and Spanish: weekly masses, Sunday masses, evening prayers, confessions, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, prayer groups.

There are also all types of announcements: E-giving donations; baptism preparation sessions; events organized, such as the participation of the church in the Fortnight for Freedom (21 June-4 July 2014) period of prayer, education and action in support of religious freedom by Catholics across the US; cemetery trees being pruned; an invitation to join the Catholic Church (by participating in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults first); announcements for musical sessions to celebrate religious events (such as for the celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body of Beloved of Christ – Corpus Christi); calls for volunteers for the Association of Community Employment Programs for the Homeless to work with homeless people in New York; calls for meeting of young families with little children.

It is absolutely amazing how St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in New York has turned new,

as did the Catholic Church as an institution in the US, adapting to the recent waves of Latinos, catering for their linguistic and cultural needs; or maybe it is not that surprising, taking into account that this was its primary functions at the turn of the 20th century in the case of the Irish, Polish and Italian immigration.

Conclusion The US is often referred to as a melting pot, to signify the blending of the cultures, languages, traditions and religions of all these immigrant groups arriving here at various stages, ultimately stirring and heating until melting together in a common pot [26]. However, this might not be as accurate to describe the American cultural tapestry. Not every ethnic or racial group can be molded and cut as if using a cookiecutter. Therefore, a patchwork quilt made up of the diverse immigrant groups – with their ethnicity, race, language, culture, values, traditions and very important religion – better describes the American reality.

[1]

[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

[7]

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References Putnam, Robert D., and David E. Campbell.

American Grace. How Religion Divides and Unites Us. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2012. 4.

Ibid., 7.

Ibid., 7.

Ibid., 23-32.

Ibid., 495.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 in New York. The Book of Mormon, as translated by Smith from golden plates, forms the basis of Mormon doctrine. In Re Manning, Russell. 30-Second Religion. East Sussex: Ivy Press, 2011. 106.

The candidate was this time Catholic John F. Kennedy an Irishman was distrusted initially on religious grounds, mainstream Protestants believing that his loyalty would be grater to

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the Pope than to the American nation.

Putnam, Robert D., and David E. Campbell. op. cit., 514-5.

[9] Ibid., 280.

[10] Ibid., 295.

[11] Ibid., 298.

[12] Ibid., 311.

[13] Ibid., 444.

[14] Ibid., 451-2.

[15] Ibid., 473.

[16] Ibid., 492.

[17] Ibid., 516.

[18] Ibid., 518.

[19] Ibid., 523.

[20] Ibid., 533.

[21] Ibid., 541.

[22] Ibid., 549.

[23] The Shiloh Spirit. Vol. XXII, no. 28. Sunday, July 13, 2014.

[24] Ibid.

[25] The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old New Cathedral Bulletin. June 22, 2014, New York.

[26] EJournal USA. Becoming American. Vol. 15, no. 9. US Department of State.

[8]

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Biography Nicoleta Stanca is Associate Professor at Ovidius University Constanta. She has published four book-length studies: Irish-Romanian Cultural Connections. Travellers, Writers and Ambassadors (2019), Mapping Ireland (Essays on Space and Place in Contemporary Irish Poetry) (2014), The Harp and the Pen (Tradition and Novelty in Modern Irish Writing) (2013), Duality of Vision in Seamus Heaney’s Writings (2009), articles in academic journals and book chapters on Irish-American identity, literary studies and popular culture. She has been a co-editor of conference volumes, the most recent being: Ideology, Identity and the US: Crossroads, Freeways, Collisions (2019). She is a member of ESSE and EAAS and an alumna of the Multinational Institute of American Studies, New York University (NYU).

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This paper was presented in the

The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces, (DIALOGO-CONF 2020 VICSSR)

held online, on the Journal’s website, from MAY 19 - 26, 2020

journal homepage: http://dialogo-conf.com

Kartarpur Sahib Corridor: Interfaith Harmony in Pakistan Akhtar Hussain Sandhu, PhD Professor of History/Vice Principal Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore (Pakistan)

article info

abstract

Article history: Received 08 May 2020 Received in revised form 10 May Accepted 12 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.9

The Kartarpur corridor between India and Pakistan has opened a plethora of divergent paradoxical perceptions: some consider that it would be a ‘corridor of peace’ whereas some believe that it would be a ‘corridor of terror.’ Some hold that this Corridor would empower the Qadiani community, whereas some maintain that it would enhance the influence of the Sikhs on both sides of the Corridor. Gurharpal Singh, Jagtar Singh, Bhabishan Singh Goraya, Gurmeet Kaur and politicians such as Navjot Singh Sidhu, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and others presented the Kartarpur Corridor as a gateway to peace in the region while a section of the media of Delhi declared it a ‘corridor of terror.’

Overall, a large number of the Sikhs and Muslims are delighted on the construction of the Corridor who consider it a dawn of new age. The prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, has been ardently applauded for goodwill for the Sikhs. In addition, many appreciate the significant contributions of Pakistan’s army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, and the Indian politician, Navjot Singh Sidhu. This year, the Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, and Christians in Pakistan have celebrated the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Sahib happily at Kartarpur and Nankana Sahib, which means that the possibilities of new horizons of peace and interfaith harmony have been opened in the region in celebrating the event together as one community implies the emergence of the belief in shared humanity, peaceful coexistence, and interfaith harmony. This project created a kind of Punjabi nationalism by combining the Indian Punjabi Sikhs and the Pakistani Punjabi Muslims. Pakistan took the initiative for opening the Corridor just for the goodwill of the people of two countries. © 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

Keywords: interfaith harmony; culture; Mughal; Sikhism; Islam; minority; Kartarpur; Guru Nanak Dev; Punjab; Pakistan; Guru; Indo-Pakistan politics;

I. Introduction The expression ‘Kartarpur” is significant in the Sikh religious history. There are several places named with ‘Kartarpur: first, there is a place Kartarpur in the Doaba, founded by Guru Arjan Dev. Second, a place named Kartarpur,

in district Hoshiarpur, where the Akalis held a conference in 1943. In the conference, the leaders denounced the idea of Pakistan and demanded the Azad Punjab[1]. Third, the Kartarpur Sahib is located in district Narowal, the Pakistani Punjab, wherein Guru Nanak Dev spent the last years of his life. Punjab is proud of the

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intellectual and cultural heritage it offered to its inhabitants and to the rest of world. This creative land gave birth to several religious traditions and intellectual movements. Guru Nanak Dev is one of the iconic figures, the fertile land of Punjab ever produced. Allama Muhammad Iqbal in his book, Bang-e-Dara, paid a great tribute to Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, by declaring him a ‘mard-i-kamil’. Iqbal characterizes mard-ikamil with piety, prowess, honesty, creativity, just and humane. Iqbal articulates: Phir uthi akhir sada Tauheed ki Punjab se Hind ko ek Mard-i-Kamil ne jagaya khwab se (Translation: There is again a voice of Oneness of God appeared in the Punjab, A perfect man had awakened India from its slumber.)

The Punjab region has been a liberal and moderate land and the historical evidence corroborates the narrative that the first Hindu converted to Islam was not persecuted at the hand of the Hindu majority community. No doubt, it is the land of peace as no heavy weapon was found in the archeological excavation of the sites of the Indus Valley Civilization but still the land of prowess and bravery presents blatant examples of anti-British drive as exhibited by Ram Muhammad Singh Azad (real name Udham Singh), Bhagat Singh Shaheed, Malangi, Jabru, Nizam, Rai Ahmed Shaheed Kharal, Murad Fatyana, Ghadrites, Babbar Akalis, etc. Besides fortitude, it mushroomed new religions and political movements. Sikhism a new religious tradition was founded by Guru Nanak Dev (14691539) who after his four religious journeys, settled and spent the last 18[2] years (1521-1539) of his life at Kartarpur, the village named and inhabited by the Guru himself.

Kartarpur is situated near Shakargarh district Narowal, Punjab (Pakistan) but before August 1947 it was a part of District Gurdaspur which had produced famous personalities, such as Urdu poet Barkat Ram Zaman, Punjabi poet Shiv Kumar Batalvi, and politician Sir Fazl-iHusain. Other than Sikh Gurus, Pakistani Punjab is honoured to produce famous personalities such as Bhagat Singh Shaheed, Bhai Sahb Singh, Dhani Ram Chatrik, Sardar Rattan Singh, Dr. Mohan Singh Diwana, Dr. Atar Singh, Harnam Singh Shan, Avtar Singh Malhotra, Parbjot Kaur,

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Surinder Kaur, Tera Singh Chan, Amrita Pritam, Master Tara Singh, his brother Narinjan Singh, Kartar Singh Duggal, Gurdev Singh Mann, Col. Narinderpal Singh, Sohan Singh Seetal, Giani Kartar Singh, Sardar Kapur Singh, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and other Sikh notables who earned remarkable repute because of their performance in divergent fields of life. Kartarpur is very close to the Indo-Pakistan border. India-Pakistan boundary line stretches over 2980 km (2240+740 LoC) touching the Indian held-Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Rajasthan etc. on the Indian side and AJ & Kashmir, Punjab and Sindh on the Pakistani side. Guru Nanak Dev was settled and lived till 22 September 1539 at Kartarpur after about two decade Divine journey.[3] He remained engaged in the agricultural activities on his land.

Kartarpur was the first village that was founded and inhabited by Guru Nanak Dev. It was the first place wherein the first Gurdwara was established and the first Langarkhana was set up and run by Guru Nanak Dev. First Sikh sangat was shaped on the same land under the aegis of Baba Nanak.

Kartarpur is the place where the Guru completed his Bani. The 2nd Guru, Angad lived in Kartarpur Sahib and Guru Nanak instead of his sons Sri Chand and Lakhmi Chand appointed Angad Dev as the next Guru[4] with advice to move from Kartarpur. Many claim that Guru Nanak Dev never preached new religion and he always replied to the question, who are you, Hindu or Muslim?, ‘na mein Hindu, na mein Musalman,’ the Guru replied, but he appointed Lehna the next Guru as Guru Angad which verifies that Guru Nanak was acquainted with this fact and laid the foundation of a new religion which meticulously needed its custodians in the coming times. So the first Sikh panth (community) appeared at Kartarpur Sahib which highlights the importance of this village to the Sikhs and others. Punjab being a liberal land respects all religions, cultures and ideals. This capaciousness is so paramount that sometimes it touches the extreme point of passiveness and apathy.

Guru Nanak Dev is said to be away from preaching his ideals but the history tells that he publicly expressed his beliefs at Multan mela although the text of this exhortation could not be preserved but on the daring expression he was arrested by Sultan Ibrahim Lodhi because it was translated by the reporters as an anti-

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government and anti-Islam drive. This may be considered as the first public speech relating to his religious tenets by the Guru because in the previous discussion he only pointed out injustice, superstition and wrongdoings in the debates and sometimes in a meaningful styled dialogue with the religious propagandists of different religions. This impressive and logical style proved success to make the people aware about the maxim of piety and difference between good and bad. The arrest by Lodhi may be taken as the first persecution of the Sikh religious personality by a Muslim political authority. Bhai Addan Shah, follower of Sewa Ram, also lived at Kartarpur Sahib.[5] The story of Kartarpur is full of interesting facts. The River Ravi flows close to Kartarpur therefore the floods ruined Pakhoki village and the buildings or houses of Kartarpur built in the16th century. Maharaja Ranjit Singh after assuming the power worked on this village but the real services were rendered by Bhopindar Singh, Maharaja of Patiala (grandfather of Capt.

Amrindar Singh, CM Punjab) who donated 135,600 rupees for the construction of the new building and renovation of the place. During the period of 1920-1929, the construction and repair of the present building completed[6] but the partition of India changed the scenario of the region and the Radcliffe Award handed over these areas to Pakistan which forced the Sikhs to migrate from this area to east Punjab. Kartarpur Sahib perhaps being isolated and far away from the political centres remained out of focus during the last decade of the British rule and the Indian struggle for freedom because no document verifies any political gathering organized by the Sikh political parties at this place. However, Sardar Teja Singh[7] contended in 1947 that the Sikh sacred places Nankana Sahib and Kartarpur in Shakargarh, district Gurdaspur ‘are the Mecca and Medina’ for the Sikhs.[8] Kartarpur Gurdwara remained closed after 1947 because no Sikh was there to serve it.

Being situated in the border area, it also proved a sensitive place for both Pakistani and Indian armies. Although a train ran through this village area and it had a station and platform as well but all was defunctioned after 1947 due to the apathetic attitude of the governments. The Punjabis in general and Sikhs in particular were

the most affected population of the partition 1947. Even the India-Pakistan rivalry caused heavy loss of the Punjabis.[9] Despite all odds, this place remained alive and intact because of the Muslims who have profound respect for Baba Nanak Sahib. Jatts especially the Randhawa clan of the areas maintained the modesty and sacredness of the place and arranged cleanliness of the building and the surrounding. Randhawa family, the local administration of Shakargarh and Auqaf department of the government looked after the building and surroundings of Kartarpur sahib. This elaborates devotion of the Muslims towards Baba Nanak. This sacred place remained a symbol of respect and blessings and credit goes to the local Muslims who maintained its sanctity and importance. Despite less facilitated, the religious glamour, glory and radiance of this sacred place was retained by the Muslims when the Sikhs had no access to it. The distance of Kartarpur is 27 km from Shakargarh, 3 km away in Pakistan from Pak-India border while Dera Baba Nanak Sahib (Gurdwara Shri Darbar Sahib where Baba Nanak’s ashes buried) is only 1 km from the Pak-India border on Indian side. Both the places are related to Guru Nanak Dev and his family.

In the 1950s, the Sikhs started Ardas (prayer) in which they daily prayed to God to provide them an open opportunity to see the sacred Sikh places left in Pakistan: Vichhrhey gurdhama de khuly darshan didarey bakhsho (Translation: O God! We submit You to grant an open opportunity to visit the departed holy places) The restless souls approached the point from where they tried to view the Kartarpur Gurdwara.

The Sikhs fixed a point (darshanasthan) near Dera Baba Nanak Sahib on the Indian side to see a slight view or Darshan of the Kartarpur Gurdwara. In the 1965 War between India and Pakistan, the bridge on the River Ravi was destroyed as a defence strategy. Pippa Wirdee opines, during the Sikh struggle for Khalistan in the 1980s, few Sikhs had access to this Gurdwara.[10] Jagtar Singh also maintains that ‘Pakistan has been harbouring Sikh militants for years’[11] but Bhabishan Singh Goraya says that a news published in the Indian newspapers that

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Pakistan was constructing a terrorist camp near the border but as a matter of fact Pakistan was renovating the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara which was damaged severely in the Indo-Pak war.[12] Gian Singh Sandhu writes that the rumour spread

by Jagjit Singh Chauhan that Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale[13] was escaped to Pakistan during the Indian military attack on the Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar in June 1984.[14] In the ups and downs, the Kartarpur Sahib from time to time kept on attracting attention of the Muslims and Sikhs throughout the history.

Narowal separating from Sialkot was created as an independent district in 1991. During the peacemaking move between Pakistan and India in 1998-99, Mian Nawaz Sharif and Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpaee concluded friendly session but the prevailing bitterness blocked any wave of cordiality. During the years of 1990 and 2000s, the government of Pakistan started the repairing work on the Gurdwara Sahib. During 2004-5, Gen. Parvez Musharraf and India agreed to open Kartarpur,[15] Lahore, Amritsar roads and Railway line of Khokhrapar and Monabao but this understanding could not be materialised.

Pakistan People’s Party also maintained the same policy. Many object the PPP government especially Aitzaz Ahsan (ex-interior minister) that he handed over the list of the Sikh freedom fighters struggling for Khalistan to the Indian government but he rejected this allegation.

Najam Sethi in his interview told that Benazeer Bhutto and Nawaz Shareef were ready to open the Kartarpur corridor but the establishment opposed it.[16] The May 2018 elections gave popular mandate to Pakistan Tahreek-i-Insaf and Imran Khan took oath as Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Being cricketer Imran Khan invited Kapil Dev, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Sunil Gawaskar to join him in the oath taking ceremony on 18 August 2018 but due to the pressure by the extremist Hindu party Bhartiya Janata Party and media only Navjot Singh Sidhu dared to join the glorious and historic ceremony of oath taking event of Imran Khan as Prime Minister of Pakistan. Navjot Singh Sidhu’s marvelous entry with a ‘magic Japhi’[17] added a new chapter in the political and religious histories of Pakistan, India, Punjab and Sikhism.

The Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, being a Jatt embraced Sidhu who reciprocated

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the same zeal on the basis of the ethos and racial affiliation which infuriated the Indian politicians and media.[18] Navjot Sidhu retaliated with more forceful enthusiasm and responded to all the questions raised by the opponents daringly with sound arguments based on cultural, moral and religious grounds. Jaiteg Singh Anant acknowledged that Sidhu being a man of prowess and joviality saluted his friendship with Imran Khan and went to Pakistan. He did not talk against anyone therefore real credit of Kartarpur corridor goes to Sidhu who proved to be an ambassador between India and Pakistan.

[19] Ch. Parvez Ilahi bluntly claimed in response to the statement by Mohinder Pall Singh in the Punjab Assembly that the Kartarpur Corridor was concluded only because of Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa and his Japhi[20] Which the Najam Sethi had already claimed.[21] Sidhu alleged that the entire fuss was created out of jealousy as the Indian Prime Minister was ignored by the Pakistani government and not invited in the Pakistani Prime Minister’s oath taking ceremony.[22] Many ups and downs came in the way of the Kartarpur Corridor project but ultimately it was signed by Pakistan and India. Despite chaos and hue and cry, India had to approve this project and on 26 November 2018 Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and Capt. Amrinder Singh laid the foundation stone of Dera Baba Nanak-Kartarpur Sahib corridor as a counterblast to the Pakistan’s credit.[23] On 28 November 2018, Imran Khan inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor’s project in a prestigious ceremony attended by Navjot Singh Sidhu (Congress)[24] and Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Akali) who made religiously emotional speeches and thanked the Pakistani and Indian governments on the friendly understanding regarding the Corridor. This step was perceived as a sincere effort of Imran Khan, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa and Navjot Singh Sidhu. Sikhs and Muslims believe that these three leaders have honoured Guru Nanak Dev in a true sense and his followers by creating a facilitative environment which helped permit the Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims to have a visa-free visit to Kartarpur Sahib.

Jaiteg Singh Anant while translating the Sikh emotions of happiness thanked Imran Khan and Navjot Singh Sidhu on this endeavour. Jathedar Kuldeep Singh Wadala (d. 6 June 2018) had been

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visiting the border (Dera Baba Nanak Sahib) since January 2001 and kept on praying until his death. He came to the border area for more than 400 times with langar just to sensitise the desire and demand of the Sikhs to open this border point so that they could visit Kartarpur Sahib.[25] Bhabishan Singh Goraya claims that he visited Pakistan on 14 April 1994 and told the Aukaf officials present in the Panja Sahib about the Kartarpur Sahib. He realized that Pakistan had soft corner for the Sikh and in opening the Kartarpur langha. On return to India, he pledged to raise his voice for the Kartarpur langha in India. In January 2001, he convinced Jaswinder Singh Advocate to join him in this campaign.

They advertised the date of Ardas near border for the Kartarpur Langha through wall chalk and newspapers. On the publication of the news in the Tribune, the Indian secret agency called Jaswinder and inquired about the news who after this call refused to continue and disassociated from the campaign.[26] Bhabishan Singh Goraya went to Wadala village near Jalandhar on 20 February 2001 to meet Kuldeep Singh Wadala who had been expelled from the Shiromani Akali Dal by Parkash Singh Badal and was trying to survive in the politics with a new party Akali Dal (Democratic). First Kuldeep flatly refused to undertake this campaign but Goraya’s solid arguments especially the point that this campaign would be a non-political campaign, convinced him to work on it. He asked Goraya to join him in the party meeting likely to be held at Dhariwal district Gurdaspur and talk about the Kartarpur langha. On 28 February 2001, in the meeting Goraya presented his stance on the Kartarpur corridor and favourable attitude of Pakistan. The participants zealously agreed to launch a campaign as a religious move. The party of Wadala published the posters and on Vaisakhi they converged at Anaj Mandi, Dera Baba Nanak. Goraya told that they came to know about Jaswinder Singh Advocate’s presence along with about 200 Sikhs there in the Gurdwara. They had already reached the place and recited Ardas, therefore, he was blessed with the opportunity to be the first who had Ardas on the border for Kartarpur langha.

[27] As the Wadala group consisting of around 2000 people headed towards the borders, the BSF (Border Security Force) interrupted their movement. Goraya asked Kuldeep Singh Wadala

to recite prayer (Ardas) at the point who along with other Sikhs performed Ardas. After this, a meeting at Jalandhar structured a body named Kartarpur (Ravi) Darshan Abhilakhi Sanstha with the following officeholders: [1] Kuldeep Singh Wadala (Head) [2] Jasbir Singh [3] Gojinder Singh Bajwa [4] Udham Singh Aulakh [5] BS Goraya Goraya got separated from this Sanstha after three years but he continued his separate Ardas every month on Sangrad as they had been doing under Wadala. His Ardas contained the prayer of the solution to the Kashmir problem and peace between India and Pakistan. He organized Sangat Langha Kartarpur in 2003 under his own patronage. On the opening of the Kartarpur corridor in 2019, they displayed big banners showing the pictures of Imran Khan and Navjot Singh Sidhu.[28] Various leaders desired and worked to have access to Kartarpur Sahib but the honour was bestowed to Sidhu was proved as an ‘ambassador of Muslim-Sikh unity.’[29] In June 2008, US official John Warlick McDonald visited Darbar Sahib area, which highlighted Kartarpur langha issue in India. Actually, when he tried to talk to the media persons, the BSF officials stopped him from speaking. He obeyed with resentment and comment that ‘this is the situation of freedom of the press in India.’ The same was published widely in the newspapers, which highlighted the Kartarpur langha issue in India.[30] The Pakistani government assigned the FWO[31] the duty to work on the Corridor and November 2019 (550th Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev) was fixed as the completion time.

In January 2019, the Pakistani government appointed Dr. Muhammad Faisal as focal person on the Kartarpur Corridor project and sent the draft proposals to the Indian government to expedite the dialogue regarding the final agreement. The government also proposed to appoint some focal person in India so that both the countries might approach some viable route to achieve consensus on the feasibility report.

On 22 January 2019, the Indian government threw the proposal back to Pakistan and sought the Pakistani delegation to come to

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Delhi to further talk on the project which Dr. Faisal declared as a delaying and childish tactic.

[32] The mischievous Indian intentions desired to cripple the sincere effort of the Pakistani government and such maneuvering could be detrimental to the peacekeeping effort in the South Asian region, but things were settled and India consented to the points relating to the exchange of visitors as proposed by Pakistan.

They agreed that the process would continue to create an environment of understanding even after the completion of the project. The document presented by Pakistan was to permit the Sikhs only a 4-hour stay in the Kartarpur Sahib, which would remain open from 8 am to 5 pm daily; the visitors would have to apply a month before the proposed date of the visit and on approval, the visitors would get permits. The visitors having valid passports would get security clearance from the Indian government and come to Kartarpur in a group of 15 persons. The Indian government would provide the visitors’ list to Pakistan three days before the visit date. The visitors would eat nothing except Parshad[33] during the stay at Kartarpur. Apparently, it seemed awkward to force the pilgrims to move out the place after few hours and they were not allowed to buy or eat anything even then it was the biggest blessing for the Sikhs to be allowed to visit this sacred place after several decades.

If proved successful, both the countries could facilitate the pilgrims more in future as Pakistan issued a new visa policy on 25 January 2019 which permits the Sikhs having US and Canadian nationalities to apply for visa even on the arrival at the Pakistani airports.[34] In October it was decided that under ‘the agreement, the corridor will remain open seven days a week from dawn to dusk.’[35] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan proposed to send a Pakistani delegation on 13 March 2019 to seek final decision on the points mentioned in the draft agreement while the Indian delegation planned to visit Pakistan on 28 March.[36] The Indian authorities in a high level meeting at New Delhi chaired by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba discussed the issues involved in the Kartarpur Corridor project such as land acquisition. The Punjab government assured the availability of the land by the midMarch when the National Highway Authority of

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India (NHAI) and Land Ports Authority of India (NHAI) would start the preliminary work.[37] The process continued on both sides amid the warlike conditions of Pak-India relations and antiminority attitude of the Indian Prime Minister.

Narendra Modi was alleged to be responsible for the Palwama incident in which 40 police men lost their lives. Although the responsibility was put on Pakistan but many in India alleged that the BJP government played a tactic to win the elections likely to be held in April 2019 but the BJP government associated this incident to Pakistani sponsored Jihadis and threatened a direct attack on Pakistan as revenge. The Pakistani government rejected the India’s allegation and warned against any border aggression. But the Indian air jets entered Pakistan from the Kashmir areas and flew back without any damage but it was projected as surgical strike in which 300 terrorists were killed. Pakistan not only rejected the Indian claim but also asked India to wait for the counter-attack.[38] On the very next day the world saw the arrest of the Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman by the Pakistan’s army.

[39] Airspace and land routes were closed and war terror prevailed across the borders.[40] In the war uproar, nobody could talk of the Kartarpur Corridor. To Gurharpal Singh, the confrontation between the two countries’ might derail the project. The Promise of Kartarpur co-exists with the ever-present realities of the Indo-Pakistan relationship.’[41] The BJP government apparently seemed successful in sabotaging the project but the damage and arrest of the Indian air jet and pilot by the Pakistan’s forces made the BJP leadership defensive and apologetic which helped further the working on the Kartarpur Corridor. The Indian victory could make Modi assertive and hero of the extremist Indians which might endanger the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor.

India allocated land and on 14 March 2019 the Pakistani delegation under Dr. Faisal participated in the meeting held at Attari. Dr. Faisal expressed his satisfaction on the working from both sides on the Kartarpur Corridor project. He also shared some problems in the way but he avoided to mention them.[42] In September 2019, the final agreement was signed between Pakistan and India after three rounds of negotiations amongst ‘deep differences on various provisions

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of the agreement, the Pulwama stand-off,’ and composition of the committee to supervise the affairs of the Corridor and Indian elections.

[43] The approval of the agreement made it a remarkable day and Muslims and Sikhs expressed their gratification.[44] The role of Ch. Muhammad Sarwar, the Governor, and Brig.

Ejaz Shah, Interior Minister, played pivotal role in facilitating the Sikh pilgrims[45] especially in handling the poignant incident of Jagjit Kaur at Nankana Sahib[46] although it was revived later on 3 January 2020 by few troublemakers who staged dharna in front of the Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Nankana Sahib[47] but the main culprit was arrested by the Nankana police.[48] II. Interpretations Of Kartarpur Corridor The opening of the Kartarpur Corridor paved the way for the popularization of the Punjabi nationalism and reunion of the Muslim-Sikh communities after a long time. It has created a sense of unity among the Punjabis. Jaiteg Singh Anant resented the loss of the Punjabis only, first in 1947 and then in the Indi-Pak wars.

[49] The Kartarpur Corridor can be interpreted in various ways. One of the most relevant results is the revival of the Punjabi brotherhood in the Punjabs. The Punjabis met each other after 72 years and shared the hilarious memories of the joint living in the pre-partition Punjab and the painful stories of 1946-47 migrations. The Sikhs visited the paternal and maternal villages locating in different areas of the Punjab and met the old men and women whom they found still alive. The Muslims gave them an enthusiastic welcome, they kept on weeping to look at their forefathers’ birthplaces. Many Sikhs took water or soil of the houses as the sacred relics to their homes—this brotherly affection set in a new era of the Punjabi brotherhood. The sharing of the traditions, values, past stories and joint living created a sense of unity between the Sikh and Muslim young generations, which can sensitize the Punjabi people to think of the Punjabi nationalism. It can further promote and sensitize the Punjabi language, literature and history. Some link it to the idea of the greater Punjab or Khalistan, but this is merely a sharing and celebration of the common culture.

The Kartarpur Corridor comprises

economic, religious, cultural, political, literary, archeological, social, regional and international domains. Although the Kartarpur Corridor has a direct impact on the Pakistan-India relationship but interestingly it will affect the internal politics and social trends of India in general and the Punjab in particular. The electoral history of India verifies that the ruling political party of India always used anti-Pakistan propaganda to win the elections. But the understanding on the Kartarpur Corridor can further impact the traditional strategy in the Indian electioneering campaign despite the fact the BJP will sell the enmity with Pakistan. In the past, we saw the confused BJP leadership sometimes talked against Pakistan and tried for some time to take credit of the Kartarpur Corridor. The Indian government on 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev decided to issue a currency having picture of the Guru to please the Sikhs. They have also decided to commemorate this year as the year of Guru Nanak Dev but generally it was realized that the BJP was not happy on the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor. On the other hand, ‘BJP orchestrated attempts to control leading Sikh shrines’ that created conflict between BJP and S. Akali Dal.[50] The Lok Sabha elections were likely to be held in March 2019 while the threatening environment created by the central government made the Punjab’s Chief Minister scared and under-pressure therefore, he did not come to Pakistan on the earthbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor despite of his family’s direct and undeniable contribution to the history of Kartarpur sahib.

He seemed least interested in this project.

Perhaps he was under the duress of the BJP drive and he was also expected to be retired from the politics after this tenure. Moreover, the CM was under a constant pressure that PM Modi could topple his government and impose governor rule in the Punjab if some mistake was made by the Congressite CM. The Congress was also canvassing for the forthcoming state and the Lok Sabha elections. The elevating popularity of Navjot Singh Sidhu also disturbed the CM who objected the statements given by the Jatt Minister because this popularity could pave the way to the CM office in the coming time. If it happens, this will set in a new era of social, cultural and political history of the region because Sidhu is the only politician who has

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raised the voice for regional peace with a blunt determination. The Kartarpur Corridor is being perceived as a symbol of harmony and peace that will replicate the Pak-India relations as the dream of SAARC to ensure the borderless travel in South Asian region could not come true.[51] Many Sikhs believe that this Corridor will bring real peace in the region because Guru Nanak sowed the seeds of peace and harmony in this land. The development and trade will elevate the social and economic status of the Punjabis and other people.

The role of Navjot Singh Sidhu popularized the Congress in the Punjab. The daring and practical politics demonstrated by the Jatt Minister made the Sikhs realise that being friend of Imran Khan, Sidhu was welcomed with a great honour in Pakistan. They are also of the opinion that players are always bold and habitual of taking risk so Imran Khan and Sidhu exhibited the same zeal and enthusiasm and won the day. The Kartarpur Langha is a tremendous achievement of Sidhu and the role elevated his political stature to a remarkable point and this cracked the Akali Dal circles. Under the religious fervour, even many Akali leaders admire Sidhu’s overture and achievement regarding Kartarpur Corridor.

Therefore, in future, BJP can face a tough situation and lose many seats in the Punjab while the Congress can be elevated to a more effective position. The well-known newspaper, The News, analysed about the internal politics of India that both the political parties have been trying to project the Kartarpur Corridor as their respective success. The newspaper writes that the BJP government seemed skeptic to materialize the hopes of the Sikhs regarding the completion of the Kartarpur project because of the lack of consensus among the departments. They were taking up this project as a political gimmick in the coming elections therefore the reality could surface out after the elections.[52] The offer to access the Kartarpur Sahib infused a sense of confidence among the Pakistani minorities. The initiative, development and the completion of the Kartarpur Corridor has defused the anti-Pakistan propaganda as for several years a strong lobby has been propagating about the plight of the minorities in Pakistan but now the bold step of the Kartarpur Corridor by the PTI government has made

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the world realize about the real picture of the Pakistani society and conducive environment ensured by the Pakistan’s government for interfaith harmony. The completion of Kartarpur Corridor is a jerking blow to the extremism in Pakistan. The facilitative and capacious attitude of the Pakistani government and the Punjabi Muslims has totally changed the Sikh perception towards Pakistan. Sidhu rightly articulated that 140 million Sikhs would work as mouthpiece of Imran Khan.[53] The same can be witnessed on the social media. The Sikhs in the UK, France, Germany, Canada and other countries had protested against the BJP government’s measures against the Muslims in India and demonstrated their unremitting support for the Kashmiri people. They condemned the abolition of 370 and 35A by the BJP government. The acting head of Akal Takht Giani Harpreet Singh repeated the Sikh religious tradition to support the depressed faction anywhere in the world. He declared that Sikhs would support the Kashmiri people because their Gurus preach it. The Sikhs would stand against the barbarity inflicted on the Kashmiri women.[54] The initiative of Kartarpur Corridor taken by the Pakistani government has blocked the Indian propaganda in which the Sikhs were misguided that the Pakistani Muslims did not respect the Gurdwaras and the Sikh sacred places.

In the past, Sikhs were brainwashed that the Gurdwaras in Pakistan were full of dirt (Muslman gandgi sutt dendey ne) and they had demolished the Sikh sacred buildings but now Sikhs are obviously clear about the Indian blame game against Pakistan.[55] Many Sikhs living in different countries scared enough from the extremism did not come to Pakistan but the Sikhs arrived in Pakistan expressed their feelings and emotions that they had slight fear when they were planning to come to Pakistan but as they got along with the people of the Pakistani Punjab they found nothing strange. All people, language, responses and environment were familiar and all this made them very comfortable and happy.

[56] They enjoyed a warm hospitality and love of the Punjabi brothers and many times tears sprang to their eyes on the devotional welcome by the Punjabi Muslims. On the other hand, the Indian government took up the Kartarpur Corridor initiative as a political gimmick. Initially,

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the approval of the Kartarpur Corridor was not included in the cabinet meeting agenda. Even the media in Delhi opposed this proposal and declared it ‘as corridor of terror.’ Amrinder Singh and anti-Kartarpur corridor faction shared their grievances on different occasions:[57] The Chief Minister in Punjab has vented his frustration at the reluctance of the Centre to sanction the necessary funds for development to start the construction of the infrastructure for the Corridor. Vocal voices in the press, too, have raised security concerns about the development, with some sections openly hostile, citing the legacy of Sikh militancy and the on-going insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir.[58] Despite the opposition by many in India, the Corridor was enlisted later in the cabinet agenda with its main objective to counter the Pakistan’s move.[59] The BJP intended not to approve this Corridor but the rejection could root out the BJP and Akali Dal politics from the Punjab therefore the BJP’s hate-ridden politics failed to further damage the Guru’s mission in the Punjab[60] and they approved this project. On the other hand, the world witnessed Pakistan’s respect for Sikhism and the moral and political support to the Sikh community as to Gurharpal Singh, ‘no formal opposition has been expressed against the initiative.’[61] The Kartarpur Corridor has been taken as a liberal gesture at international level and Pakistan was admired as an anti-terrorism country. In a meeting of UN human rights chapter, Director, Sikh Human Rights Group Dr. Jasdev Singh Rai (an eminent writer and human rights activist) appreciated Imran Khan’s endeavour to facilitate the Sikh community by opening Kartarpur. Now the Sikhs in UK and other continents feel that Sikhs are safe while traveling in Pakistan.[62] To dent this situation, the BJP forces in the coming days can try to sabotage this mutual understanding just to reassert in the politics with their extremist agenda.

Guru Nanak Dev’s message of interfaith harmony, love and peace can be seen in the Gurdwaras wherein people belonging to every religion can go and eat food. In Kartarpur Sahib, the presence of a Christian Langri, Muslim and Sikh visitors amused Gurmeet Kaur because Nanak’s teaching was being practiced there in the real spirit. Gurmeet Kaur writes that all the people irrespective of their religious

backgrounds should be allowed to go to the darbar because ‘After all, Baba Nanak belonged to the Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and the atheists alike.’[63] Samiullah Malik, a known journalist from UK, told that although the Sikhs supported Kashmiri people in Europe but he had disagreed with Imran Khan and Gen. Bajwa on the Kartarpur corridor policy. Before that he along with other friends had chalked out a solid plan on Kartarpur corridor as a gesture for religious harmony and presented to Gen. Parvez Mushraf [64] The role of religio-political parties in Pakistan is usually criticized especially being against the minority rights, but at the initial stage neither religious people nor religio-political parties opposed the Kartarpur Corridor that is a good sign of accommodating attitude of the religious political parties towards the Sikhs. A weak sound on Qadian few miles away from the border was listened which made no point so was not taken up by any faction. Navjot Singh Sidhu’s presence in the Qadiani community provided a small stuff to this small rival group but it did not appear as a counterpoise. The Punjabis desired to facilitate the Sikh brothers on the Kartarpur chapter. The Jamiat Ulama-i-Islam (F) staged Dharna politics against Imran Khan and the major demand was the resignation of the Prime Minister but having thin stuff for, Maulana Fazlur Rehman criticized the Kartarpur Corridor that could not embarrass the government, officials and masses in the Punjab. He shared his reservations on opening Kartarpur border and closing border with Afghanistan[65] although the Afghan border issue was a timely hitch and there is already no visa restriction for both sides to cross the Pak-Afghan borders. The Maulana expressed the same while addressing in the Tribal Rights Conference that’ This is very strange that Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan has been sealed, while the policy towards India has been softened by establishing a new corridor on the eastern border.’[66] The government and Punjabis did not bother the negligible anti-Kartarpur Corridor whisper and enthusiastically hosted the Sikh pilgrims coming from different corners of the world. The world admitted that the PTI government had opened the Kartarpur corridor with good intentions and its main purpose was to project the Pakistan’s belief on the interfaith harmony and equal rights and privileges of the minorities in the country as propounded in the speech of Quaid-i-Azam MA

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Jinnah on 11 August 1947.[67] MA Jinnah shared his future vision of Pakistan: “Now, if we want to make this great State of Pakistan happy and prosperous, we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and especially of the masses and the poor. If you will work in co-operation, forgetting the past, burying the hatchet, you are bound to succeed. If you change your past and work together in a spirit that every one of you, no matter to what community he belongs, no matter what relations he had with you in the past, no matter what is his colour, caste, or creed, is first, second, and last a citizen of this State with equal rights, privileges, and obligations, there will be no end to the progress you will make. … You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed -- that has nothing to do with the business of the State. As you know, history shows that in England conditions, some time ago, were much worse than those prevailing in India today. The Roman Catholics and the Protestants persecuted each other. Even now there are some States in existence where there are discriminations made and bars imposed against a particular class. Thank God, we are not starting in those days. We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle: that we are all citizens, and equal citizens, of one State.”[68] The vision of Quaid-i-Azam advocated in the speech vividly ensured the minority rights but the subsequent governments could not follow the direction set by the founding father.

The number of the pilgrims of Kartarpur Sahib remained fluctuating and attracted less number of visitors from India after November celebrations but the facilitative environment will convince more and more to visit this sacred place in future. After 550th birth anniversary celebration of Guru Nanak Sahib in November 2019 the number of the Indian visitors decreased.

In November 2019, 11000 people came from India while in December 22717 Sikhs visited the Kartarpur Gurdwara. But from day to day this

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number downed and the main reason is that most of the Sikhs residing in rural or urban areas don’t possess the passports. Moreover, the Indian youth avoid having their passports stamped by the Pakistani authority under the fear that their applications for western country visa may be turned down which can undermine their career. Kartarpur in the coming decades will feed the people belonging to different religions of the region. Pakistan and India will get economic benefit from this Corridor especially Pakistan will attain more economic benefits than India. Visitors coming to Pakistan from all over the world will travel, eat, stay and buy from the holy places which will play an important role in the economic stability as Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq earn a lot from the religious tourism and they attain not only commercial benefits from travel, food, stay, shopping, taxes, etc. but also secure the sympathy and mutual understanding which helps the people to contact. Such endeavours to create a peace zone will directly affect the foreign policy of the countries and both can agree to start the commercial activities.

The Pakistani Muslims can be facilitated on the Urs of the Muslim saints having tombs (mazar) in India if the Kartarpur is permitted to play its peaceable role.

III. Reservations This is a natural phenomenon that any policy or project attracts or offers divergent responses. The contradictory opinions help to verify the merits and point out the demerits.

Such criticism refines the planning and work.

Luckily, many groups with different reservations emerged and shared their respective opinions about the Kartarpur corridor which definitely guided the policymakers and management and it will further steer out them in the future refinement endeavours. Many times it happened that policy is blocked on a trivial opposition but the Pakistani government ought to be admired that despite internal and external criticism and border aggression, they accomplished this sacred mission. The Kartarpur Corridor project was partly criticized by few on different grounds.

Not a single Muslim from any Muslim country except Pakistan showed any concern over the Qadiani question but a small group within Pakistan shared few anti-Kartarpur project posts

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on the social media which was suffocated with the hilarious celebrations by the federal and provincial governments along with the Punjabi masses. A 40-member delegation of the Muslim Ulama[69] visited Kartarpur Corridor under chairman, Pakistan Ulama Council & Muttahidda Ulama Board Maulana Muhammad Tahir Ashrafi on 1 January 2020. They expressed their satisfaction on the arrangements. They stated that only Sikhs could benefit from this Corridor while Qadianis cannot cross the Pakistani checkposts. They demanded the government to take stern action against the propagandists who are linking Qadiani question to the Kartarpur Corridor. Maulana Ashrafi also condemned the mongers who try to sabotage the noble mission.

[70] Gurharpal Singh talks of the tilt of the state policy of Pakistan towards the communities based on the religious rather than ethnic identity as mentioned by Ian Talbot. The access to the Sikh religious places instead of cultural exchange means to marginalize the ‘Punjabi ethno-nationalists’ by Pakistan: Designating Sikh issues as religious and essentially of access to sacred places controlled and managed by the Pakistan state, denudes them of their shared political and cultural importance that contradicts the official narrative of the two-nation theory.[71] First, the two-nation theory is not an official narrative of Pakistan as Quaid-i-Azam on 11 August 1947 had clearly structured the state policy that all the religious communities would be considered as equal in Pakistan. It meant the end of the ‘religious nationalism’ and revival of the ‘territorial nationalism’ after the achievement of Pakistan. Now all religious communities are citizens of Pakistan. All-India Muslim League highlighted the religious identity to collect the Muslims on one platform from where they could struggle to secure their due rights usurped by the Hindu majority. In the perspective of ‘Islamic Republic,’ minorities, ethnicity and Sikh sacred places, it is necessary to know the two-nation theory, philosophy and strategy of the All-India Muslim League, ‘Islamic republic,’ etc. Misconception regarding two-nation theory during the freedom struggle can be quoted from different political magnets in the meaning of their own interpretation (communitarian interpretation). The term ‘two-

nation’ does not contain word either ‘Islam’ or ‘Muslim’ rather it denotes that when a group of any society accepts new religion, it brings several changes in their personal and social life. These changes establish their separate identity. Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism as different philosophies bifurcated the society into different religious identities therefore two-nation theory means ‘a religious group different from other religious groups’ on the basis of their respective distinct beliefs or religious philosophies. The two-nation theory interprets that the Muslims follow different tenets (of social life and beliefs from dressing, eating, drinking to hereafter life) from other religions. Being different from other religions is a two-nation theory. Any religious group could/ can adopt this term but it is attributed to the Muslims of British India because they owned, used and popularised this term in the writings, oratory, statements, dialogues, conferences and scholarly and religious literature of the day.

All-India Muslim League assembled the Muslims based on the religion of Islam, but the strategy or action was based on the political philosophy popularized by the British. Therefore, the League leadership worked on the western political lines.

Political party, nationalism, elections, assembly, party manifesto all were the legacy of west; therefore, the policy of the government was not contradictory to that of the State of Pakistan.

Gurmeet Kaur dissatisfied with the construction and decoration of all the Gurdwaras in India and elsewhere including Kartarpur Sahib shared her reservation about the loss of the nature exhibited around the Kartarpur Sahib: Sikhs at large do not want Kartarpur Sahib to turn into a tourist hotspot like Darbar Sahib in Amritsar. The serenity, the presence of Baba Nanak in the forests around the River Ravi, the trees, the farms, the quiet premises, the chirping of the birds and the organic langar served in the open yard, is what makes Kartarpur Sahib unique and that must stay.[72] Gurmeet Kaur further criticizes the decoration and beautification of the Gurdwaras in India: We Sikhs have lost most of our heritage sites due to a lack of planning in architectural preservation, a lack of farsightedness and

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enlightened leadership. Kar Sewa groups have marbleised all Gurdwaras in East Punjab and any heritage and artefacts from the Guru period have been destroyed. Thankfully, Pakistan heritage sites, due to little access to these self demolition units, have remained largely intact.[73] Gurmeet also proposed the government to declare the Sikh sacred places as the national heritage which would be highly appreciated at the world level.[74] The preservation of the green fields was a good proposal of Gurmeet Kaur but to facilitate the pilgrims the construction of roads, langarkhana, sitting lodge, offices, etc. could not be overlooked. No Gurdwara throughout the Subcontinent retains its original shape and surrounding because the devotees do believe that they decorate and beautify their own houses so how they could tolerate the Gurdwaras left in a poor condition. Being border area Pakistan was to build a strong fence around the fixed area to contain and restrict the movement of the visitors therefore the Pakistani authorities were left with no option except what they did. The Sikh pilgrims could question if these sacred places lack roads and other facilities for the pilgrims or if the sacred buildings present as ruins. Therefore, the economic realities be realized and the sacredness of the buildings ought to be ensured. The well-educated and artistic brains sought to preserve the green premises but the common Sikhs were more concerned with their religious desire to have khuley darshan or visit the Kartarpur Sahib. The government of Pakistan completed the project according to its own planning and feasibility.

Therefore, the construction planned on the Kartarpur Sahib was inevitable but yes the further construction must not destroy the green fields around the Gurdwara Sahib.

Imran Khan talking on Pak-India relation highlighted the difference between the state policy and mass aspirations. He expressed his feelings that he went to play cricket in India having image of the Indians as enemies but his cricket fans’ love made him surprised.[75] Imran Khan’s policy statement on the Kartarpur Sahib clearly pledged that the government had planned to develop Kartarpur Sahib to highlight the soft image of Pakistan at the international level. This Corridor was to project the brotherly commitment with the minorities living in

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Pakistan and belief on the interfaith harmony.

Imran Khan also evaluated the importance of Kartarpur Sahib as a religious tourism resort because he strictly sees the status of Kartarpur for Sikhs as the Muslims feel about Makkah and Madina[77] but it created apprehension in few Sikh circles because they desired to retain its sacred image. Religious tourism is an international phenomenon and Muslims visit Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, India, and other Muslim countries under the religious devotion. In Pakistan, retired Army Chief Gen. Aslam Baig in a TV interview attributed this Corridor to the Sikh struggle for Khalistan[78] but his contention was rejected by the Pakistani people who believe that the Kartarpur Sahib project is not a political gimmick[79] but a symbol of interfaith harmony, Pakistan is a multi-religious society and the Prime Minister and other government persons have been considering it as a policy of religious harmony.[80] Harsimrat Kaur Badal stated that people in India attributing the Kartarpur Corridor to Khalistan don’t believe in the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev.[81] But if we talk on the Khalistan struggle, it ostensibly deals with the question of Sikhism and Sikhs. Raj krega Khalsa is their religious tenet having purely a political vision. Hindustan is a political achievement of the religious community called Hindus while Pakistan is a political achievement of the Muslims so what about the Sikhs? This religious tenet will come true but the strategy to win it is the major question.

The Kartarpur Corridor reflects the honour for Sikhism and other religions in Pakistan but if it encourages other movements in the world it will be a natural phenomenon as the French Revolution affected the movements in the other countries but the Pakistani government has done it purely as a noble cause. The counteraction to such impact may be decent and human attitude of the Hindu majority towards the minorities including Sikhs, Muslims and Dalits which can convince the Sikhs not to go for separation. The Hindus had already experienced it by subjugating the Muslims which ultimately dragged them to launch the Pakistan movement. Therefore, instead of creating doubts on the Kartarpur Corridor, the BJP government should remember the Hindu suppression of the Muslims in British India resulted in the creation of Pakistan.

[76]

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Keeping the past in mind, they should respect the rights and integrity of the Sikh community living in India otherwise no courageous nation can be enslaved forever. Therefore, India should accommodate the minorities by addressing their grievances.

Conclusion Time has cleared the Sikhs and Muslims that rulers and masses are totally different components of any society therefore decisions taken by the Mughal rulers cannot be translated as the will and consent of the Muslims living in Mughal India. The Sikh question started during the British rule and still seeks solution. Despite having cultural, political and social heritage and sacred places in Pakistan, the Sikhs joined India in 1947 while having played a patriotic role for India they were still humiliated and their sacred places, honour and lives experienced unforgettable wrath and barbarity at the hands of the Hindus therefore the Sikh question is yet to be solved. I think, either they can go for the sovereign state or autonomy within the union having right to sign agreement on the Sikh sacred places anywhere in the world.

Sikhs embraced failure in 1947 because they lacked ‘unity’ and ‘leadership.’ These problems still persist in the Sikh world therefore before targeting any option they will have to eliminate at least this lacking. The saints contributed marvelously to the religious conversion as well as the communal peace in the Subcontinent. There were the saints who spread Islam and Sikhism in the Hindu dominated society without imparting fear and violence. Interestingly, these saints are still playing pivotal role in maintaining interfaith harmony, coexistence and communitarian peace in South Asia. It is pleasant feeling that the Sikh prayers have turned truly fruitful after 72 years and 14 million Sikhs utter ‘Pakistan zindabad’ with the religious fervour because the devotees always pray for the prosperity and security of the sacred land.[82] Many Sikhs appreciated the PTI government and suggested that Imran Khan ought to be awarded with international peace prize.[83] The Kartarpur Corridor, being a revolutionary step, will cast a tremendous impact on the politics of India, Kashmir and social setup of Pakistan. Being situated on the Pakistan-India border, it will never be freed from

the watch, monitoring and supervision by the agencies of both the rival countries which can hatch any conspiracy anytime. The Kartarpur Corridor is presented as the Pakistan’s initiative therefore BJP was not comfortable with the project so can never tolerate the success or a sense of superiority of Pakistan in the foreign and internal affairs. The existing tide of extremism can restrict the governments to maintain their respective administrative influence in the affairs relating to permit, process of the permit, documentation, searching the visitors, suspicion on the visitors which sometimes can cause an illwill. Therefore, at the Kartarpur point Pakistani government should deploy Sikh and minority personnel along with other Pakistani officials for the checking and searching the visitors.

Pakistan ought to devise a mechanism to ensure respect and security of the Sikh visitors. Some precautionary measures should be taken to prevent any negative image of Pakistan and to avoid any embarrassment and propaganda.

The Pakistani policymakers should work out the contingency plan to counter any emergency and embarrassing situation. The facilitation of the Sikhs should be the main objective of any policy designed or to be designed by the Pakistani authorities. The first embarrassing incident on the place took place when a girl Manjeet Kaur[84] from district Rohtak of Haryana State eloped with a Pakistani boy Awais Mukhtar from Gujranwala and was returned to India. The Pakistani government immediately introduced biometric entry and exit so that no one could sneak into the other territory[85] which has blocked such incidents in future.

These incidents may occur in future as a human mistake or defiant nature but the governments ought to deal with them as individual act instead of allegation on any country. Individual cases should not be politicized by the stakeholders.

The Sikh position regarding oppressed groups in the world specifically their support for the Muslims locked in the Indian-held Kashmir and victims of the citizen act is highly plausible and admirable. This open support to the Muslims and other marginalized groups of India has been appreciated by the nations of the world who believe in the human rights and interfaith harmony. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres visited the Kartarpur Corridor and considered it as “a practical proof of Pakistan’s

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desire for peace and interfaith harmony.”[86] Recommendations The governments of Pakistan and India will have to realize their responsibilities to materialize the hopes of the Sikhs and peoples of the world regarding peaceful environment for the pilgrims.

The spirit of the agreement between Pakistan and India can be maintained by taking the measures on the basis of the religious harmony in the real sense. Following recommendations are listed: [1] Holy places should not to be politicized.

The foreign office of Pakistan should not retaliate aggressively against the illtempered and irritable statements made by the Indian politicians or officials on the Kartarpur Corridor as such action by Pakistan will provide India an opportunity to damage the undertaken noble cause.

[2] Mechanism of safety, monitoring, and administration chalked out already extensively must be implemented in a true spirit and services of the people belonging to the minorities should be hired for this purpose. The other officials ought to be monitored on the basis of civility, cooperation, soft-spoken ability, and expertise in English and Punjabi languages.

Rude and short tempered attitude of any of the deployed personnel should not be tolerated by the authorities.

[3] Despite the effort to keep this project limited, basic facilities such as medical treatment, water in winter and hot weathers, arrangements compatible to the temperature, electricity and related staff, etc. will broaden its horizon and ultimately much will be required to do on the site. Therefore, the administrations should be mentally prepared to deal with the changing situations. For the exchange of notes and information between the two check-posts will be useful mechanism for both the countries.

[4] Although the Corridor is being said to cover 4 km but in fact it will stretch by the time over vast areas so what will be the status of this area, will be the major question. The green fields around the Gurdwara should

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[5]

be retained and the further construction should be planned miles away from the Kartarpur Sahib.

The mechanism to resolve any issue be clearly drafted and the Sikh representation should be made compulsory if any problem emerges.

References

[1] [2]

[3]

[4] [5]

[6]

[7] [8]

[9]

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Secret Police Abstract of Intelligence, 1943, file no. 411, para. 397 and 407.

Many write 17 years. Jagtar Singh, ‘Kartarpur Corridor: Divided Sikh Homeland to get reconnected on November 9,’25 October 2019, https://www.google. com/search?q=Jagtar+Singh%2C+ %E2%80%98Kartarpur+Corridor%3A+ Divided+Sikh+Homeland&oq=Jagtar+ Singh%2C+%E2%80%98Kartarpur+Corri dor%3A+Divided+Sikh+Ho meland&aqs=chrome..69i57.704j0j 8&sourceid=ch rome&ie=UTF-8, 20/12/2019.

Mehrban’s Janamsakhi disseminates comprehensive details of Guru Nanak’s time at Kartarpur Sahib. Dalvir S. Pannu, The Sikh Heritage, 24, 181, 208.

Ibid., 208-211.

Dalvir S. Pannu, The Sikh Heritage: Beyond Border (Lahore: Fiction House Publishers, 2019): 350.

Jaiteg Singh Anant in a program ਸਾਡਾਵਿਰਸਾ (Sada Virsa) with Jai Teg Singh Anant (Writer) and Dr. Baljinder Singh Cheema, https://www.facebook.com/ Sanjhatv/videos/220583158871455/U z p f S T E x N T g 1 N T U z N j A 4Njc3ODM6MjE4OTgxMzU4MT A3NTI4NA/ 1 January 2019.’

Sardar Teja Singh was a member of the boundary commission in 1947.

In Gurharpal Singh, ‘The control of sacred spaces: Sikh shrines in Pakistan from the partition to the Kartarpur corridor,’6-7, https:// eprints.soas.ac.uk/30500/.

Jaiteg Singh Anant in a program ਸਾਡਾਵਿਰਸਾ (Sada Virsa); Navjot Singh Sidhu’s speech at Kartarpur Sahib, https://www.facebook. com/Sanjhatv/videos/220583158871455/U

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z p f S T E x N T g 1 N T U z N j A 4Njc3ODM6MjE4OTgxMzU 4MTA3NTI4NA/ 1 January 2019.’

[10] Pippa Wirdee, http://theconversation.com/ sikh-shrines-in-india-and-pakistan-whyconstruction-of-visa-free-kartarpur-corridoris-so-historic-108092, 10/02/2020.

[11] Jagtar Singh, ‘Kartarpur Corridor,’ , https://www.google.com/ search?q=Jagtar+Singh%2C+ %E2%80%98Kartarpur+Corridor%3A+Divi ded+Sikh+Homeland&oq=Jagta r+Singh%2C+%E2%80%98 Kartarpur+Co rridor%3A+Di vided+S ikh+Homeland&aqs=chrome..69i 57.704j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8.

[12] Bhabishan Singh Goraya, interview online by the researcher on 25 December 2019; visit, Kartarpur.com, http://www.kartarpur. com/search/label/2.%20PAKISTAN%20 OFFERS%20CORRIDOR. [13] Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was a Sikh activist martyred in the Golden Temple, Amritsar by the Indian military operation Blue Star in 1984. His martyrdom has elevated his stature to a freedom-fighter.

[14] Gian Singh Sandhu, An Uncommon Road: How Canadian Sikhs Struggled out of the Fringes and into the Mainstream (Vancouver, BC: ECHO Storytelling Agency, 2018), 7172.

[15] Ian Talbot, Pakistan and Sikh Nationalism: State Policy and Private Perceptions, Sikh Formations 6, no. 1(2010): 63-76 in Gurharpal Singh, ‘The control of sacred spaces.’

[16] Aitzaz Ahsan, TV interview; Najam Sethi, https://twitter.com/SameenaERana/ status/1193494578285940736, 10/02/2020.

[17] Japhi is a Punjabi word which is a symbol of brotherhood and friendship. Japhi is perceived as a message of reconciliation, friendship, deep adherence and love in the Punjabi culture.

[18] Jagtar Singh, ‘Kartarpur Corridor;’ See also, Indian Express, 19 August 2018.

[19] Jaiteg Singh Anant, TV Sanjha, h t t p s : / / w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / S a n j h a t v / videos/220583158871455/U z p f S T E x N T g 1 N T U z N j A

4 N j c 3 O D M 6 M j E 4 O T g x M z U 4 M TA 3NTI4NA/ 1 January 2019.

[20] Ch. Parvez Ilahi, the Speaker, daily, Jang, 25 January 2020.

[21] Najam Sethi, https://twitter. c o m / S a m e e n a E R a n a / status/1193494578285940736. 10/02/2020.

[22] Navjot Singh Sidhu, press conference, media talk, [23] Ravi Dhaliwal, ‘Showdown at Kartarpur,’ The Tribune, 27 November 2018.

[24] Navjot Singh Sidhu belongs to Patiala Area. His father Sardar Bhagwant Singh Advocate remained district president of the Congress. Jaiteg Singh Anant, TV Sanjha, https://www.facebook.com/ Sanjhatv/videos/220583158871455/U z p f S T E x N T g 1 N T U z N j A 4Njc3ODM6MjE4OTgxMzU4MT A3NTI4NA/ 1 January 2019.

[25] Jaiteg Singh Anant in a program ਸਾਡਾਵਿਰਸਾ (Sada Virsa), https://www.facebook.com/ Sanjhatv/videos/220583158871455/U z p f S T E x N T g 1 N T U z N j A 4 N j c 3 O D M 6 M j E 4 O T g x M z U 4 M TA 3 NTI4NA/ 1 Jan uary 2019; see also, Jagtar Singh, ‘Kartarpur Corridor.’

[26] Jaswinder Singh Advocate told that he was the first who offered Ardas. Jaswinder Singh Advocate, online interview with the researcher, 27 December 2019.

[27] Ibid.; Telephonic Interview with Bhabishan Singh Goraya (+91-9779551550). See also, newspaper, Jagbani, 14 April 2001.

[28] Bhabishan Singh Goraya, Telephonic Interview with the researcher (Akhtar Sandhu).

[29] Jaiteg Singh Anant in a program ਸਾਡਾਵਿਰਸਾ (Sada Virsa) with Jai Teg Singh Anant (Writer) and Dr. Baljinder Singh Cheema.; see also, Jagtar Singh, ‘Kartarpur Corridor.’

[30] Goraya, Wadala and other Sikhs were there at that time. Interview with Bhabishan Singh Goraya.

[31] FWO, Frontier Works Organization is a military organization.

[32] Daily, Jang (Lahore), 22-23 January 2019; see also, daily, Express (Lahore) 22 January

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2019, https://www.express.com.pk/epaper/ index.aspx?Date=20190122.

[33] Daily, Jang (Lahore), 30 December 2018. https://e.jang.com.pk/12-30-2018/lahore/ page1.asp.

[34] Daily, Dawn (Lahore), 26 January 2019, https://www.dawn.com/news/1530610.

[35] Daily Dawn, 20 October 2019, https://www. dawn.com/news/1512664.

[36] Dr. Muhammad Faisal, Foreign Office Spokesman, The News, 7 February 2019, https://www.dawn.com/news/1462507.

[37] Rajiv Gauba, Karan Avtar Singh (Punjab Chief Secretary), PK Mishra (DG, Indian Border Security Force), Ajay Bisaria (Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan) and other officers and agencies. The Indian Express (New Delhi), 8 February 2019;See also, Times of India, 8 February 2019.

[38] Maj-Gen. Asif Ghafoor, ISPR Spokesman’s statement, https://thewire.in/security/indianplanes-were-inside-pakistan-for-just-fourminutes-pak-army-claims.

[39] BBC News, 1March 2019, https://www.bbc. com/news/world-asia-47412884.

[40] Daily, Dawn, 27 December 2019, https:// www.dawn.com/news/1524992.

[41] Gurharpal Singh, ‘The control of sacred spaces,’ https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/30500/,11.

[42] TV Channel 92, news headlines 15 March 2019, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=qH4_ZqDL3hE. [43] https://www.dawn .com/news/1512664.

[44] Akhtar Hussain Sandhu, ‘Kartarpur Rahdari Mansuba: Mubarkan,’ daily Nawa-i-Waqt, Islamabad, 3 November 2019.

[45] Akhtar Hussain Sandhu, Daily, Nawa-i-Waqt, Islamabad, 2019.

[46] Akhtar Hussain Sandhu, ‘Sikh Minority Needs Help: Jagjit Kaur Incident,’ The Patriot, Islamabad, 3 September 2019; Case was registered under FIR, Police Station Nankana City, E-Tag no.CN-8/28/2019-1339, dated 27-28/08/2019.

[47] Daily newspapers 4 February and social media, 3 January 2020, https://www.dawn. com/news/1526068.

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Imran Chishti was arrested by the police, https://www.dawn.com/news/1526661 [49] Jaiteg Singh Anant, TV Sanjha, h t t p s : / / w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / S a n j h a t v / videos/220583158871455/U z p f S T E x N T g 1 N T U z N j A 4Njc3ODM6MjE4OTgxMz U4MTA3NTI4NA/ .

[50] Daily, The Tribune, 31 January 2019.

[51] Gurharpal Singh, ‘The control of sacred spaces,’ 11.

[52] Daily, The News (Lahore), 29 January 2019.

[53] Daily, Nawa-i-Waqt, Lahore, 10 November 2019, https://www.nawaiwaqt.com.pk/EPaper/islamabad/2019-11-10.

[54] Speech by Giani Harpreet Singh of Jathedar of Akal Takht, in Times of India, 9 November 2019. The Giani is working on comparison of Quranic and Guru Granth teachings for doctoral degree.News18.com.

[55] Dalvir Singh Pannu has published very authentic book entitled The Sikh Heritae: Beyond Border.

[56] Emotions expressed by the Sikh guests at the book ceremony authored by Kalyan Singh Kalyan at PILAC, Lahore.

[57] Jagtar Singh, ‘Kartarpur Corridor.’https://www. google.com/search?q=Jagtar+Singh%2C+ % E 2 % 8 0 % 9 8 K a r t a r p u r + C orridor%3A+Divided+Sikh+Homeland&o q=Jagtar+Singh%2C+%E2%80%98Kartarp ur+Corridor%3A+Divided+Sikh+Homel and&aqs=chrome..69i57.704j 0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8.

[58] Kamal Davar, ‘Mischief and Myopia are Imran’s policy Guidelines,’ The Tribune, 13 February 2019.

[59] Jaiteg Singh Anant, TV Sanjha, h t t p s : / / w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / S a n j h a t v / videos/220583158871455/U z p f S T E x N T g 1 N T U z N j A 4 N j c 3 O D M 6 M j E 4 O T g x M z U 4 M TA 3NTI4NA/.

[60] Akhtar Hussain Sandhu, The Patriot, Islamabad, 10 February 2019.

[61] Gurharpal Singh, ‘The control of sacred spaces,’ https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/30500/, 10.

[62] Dr. Jasdev Singh Rai, interview with the [48]

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researcher at London.

Gurmeet Kaur, ‘Heritage: How to Preserve the Sanctity of Guru Nanak’s Kartarpur,’ 5.

[64] Samiullah Malik, interview with the researcher on phone, on 25 September 2019.

[65] Maulana Fazlur Rehman, https://www.dawn. com/news/1448502/fazl-criticises-govt-foropening-border-with-india, 10/02/2020.

[66] Daily, Dawn, 30 November 2018.

[67] Hamid Khan, Constitutional and Political History of Pakistan 2nd ed. (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2009), 49.

[68] Speech by MA Jinnah on 11 August 1947, http://www.columbia.edu/itc/ mealac/pritchett/00islamlinks/txt jinnah_ assembly_1947.html, 10/02/2020.

[69] Dr. Raghib Naeemi, Tahir Ashrafi, Javed Akbar Saqi, Afzal Haidri, Maulana Muhammad Husain Akbar, Abdul Rasheed Turabi, Pir Asadullah Faruqi, Zia Madni, Ziaullah Bukhari, Abdur Rehman Ludhianvi, Ziaul Haq Naqshbandi, Qari Hanif Bhatti, Javed Akhtar Qadri, Ayub Safdar, Tahirul Hasan, Aslam Siddiqui, Muhammad Khan Leghari, etc.[ ]Daily, Jang, Lahore, 2 January 2020; see also, Hind Samachar, 3 January 2020 and Ajeet, Jalandhar, 3 January 2020..

[70] Daily, Jang, Lahore, 2 January 2020, https://e.jang.com.pk/01-02-2020/lahore/ page1.asp.

[71] Gurharpal Singh, ‘The control of sacred spaces,’ https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/30500/, 12.

[72] Gurmeet Kaur, ‘Heritage: How to Preserve the Sanctity of Guru Nanak’s Kartarpur,’ 16 December 2018, https://www.dawn.com/ news/1451745, 3/12/2019.

[73] Gurmeet Kaur, ‘Heritage: How to Preserve the Sanctity of Guru Nanak’s Kartarpur, 7.

[74] Gurmeet Kaur, ‘An Open Letter to Imran Khan,’ Daily Times, 10 March 2019.

[75] Baljinder Singh Cheema, TV Sanjha, https://www.facebook.com/ Sanjhatv/videos/220583158871455/U z p f S T E x N T g 1 N T U z N j A 4 N j c 3 O D M 6 M j E 4 O T gxMzU4MTA3NTI4NA/.

[76] Daily, Dawn, 20 October 2019, https://www. dawn.com/news/1511932/construction-on[63]

kartarpur-project-in-final-stages-says-pmimran.

[77] Daily, The News, 28 November 2018, https:// www.thenews.com.pk/print/399084-pmto-perform-ground-breaking-of-kartarpurcorridor-today.

[78] Retired Army Chief Gen. Aslam Baig in a TV interview, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=oCgeR2d_coU, 10/02/2020.

[79] Akhtar Hussain Sandhu, ‘Kartarpur Corridor Siasat Nahi’ (Kartarpur Corridor is not Politics) Daily, Nawa-i-Waqt, Islamabad, 25 September 2019, https://www.nawaiwaqt.com.pk/EPaper/lahore/2019-09-25.

[80] Gen. Aslam Baig in a TV interview, https:// english.newstracklive.com/news/pakistanformer-army-chief-mirza-aslam-baigstatement-about-kartarpur-corridor-mc24nu-1030661-1.html.

[81] Statement by Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Times of India, 10 November 2019, https:// timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/ harsimrat-kaur-badal.

[82] Akhtar Sandhu, Daily, Nawa-i-Waqt, Islamabad, 22 November 2019, https:// w w w. n a w a i w a q t . c o m . p k / E - P a p e r / islamabad/2019-11-22.

[83] Letter from Gurdwara Sri Singh Sabha; Akhtar Sandhu, News Analyst, TV Today, Lahore.

[84] Sources say she was a Hindu girl but Akali leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa claims she was a Sikh girl. She had friendship with a Pakistani boy through social media and eloped but was recovered after three days. Swarajyamag. com, 3 December 2019.

[85] Samaa Digital, report by Mohammad Kashif Javed, 3 December 2019, https://www.samaa. tv/global/2019/12/indian-girl-attempts-tosneak-into-pakistan-via-kartarpur-corridor/.

[86] https://www.dawn.com/news/1535236, 4/3/2020.

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Young Poles and young Swedes their social world Research on the subjective and institutional conditions of creating hope and hopelessness

Dagna Dejna

Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences Nicolas Copernicus University in Toruń Poland

article info Article history: Received 29 February 2020 Received in revised form 20 May 2020 Accepted 25 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.10

Keywords: social life; culture; religion; school; Poland; methodology;

abstract

The author’s research concept is described in the text. The research area is Poland and Sweden. The text contains detailed methodological threads (method, research, area, key terms and categories, research tool) and theoretical threads are briefly described. The study concerns the social world of young people and I want to research two main levels: 1. The subjective side of the creation of hope and hopelessness and, according to the old sociologi-cal connection between values, the “capacity” of the institution and the subjective (individual) answers. 2. The institutional conditions of the creation of a sense of hope/ hopelessness. Aim of the research: young Poles and young Swedes - students of last grades of secondary schools - against two categories (sense of hope and hopelessness), in four areas (1. Area of family life - intimate space connecting people closest to each other, emotional relations, but also relations with the body, health, 2. area of social activity - micro-scale - human social network, involvement in social life, social and cultural capital. Finally, school and educational successes, the degree of appreciation in the peer group, but also satisfaction with social life, 3. the area of relations with the world - on a macro scale - relations with the world of politics, political views, sense of agency. Growing into national culture, carrying culture and identification with culture, 4. the area of transcendence - relations with eternity - attitude to religion, personal, individual axiological system).

Scientific problem: relations between the sense of hope and hopelessness and external conditions and the way the subjects function in four areas of life. Recognition of the subjective side of the creation of the sense of hopelessness and institutional conditions of the creation of the sense of hopelessness. © 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

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I. Introduction

The text is a description of the author’s research concept. It concerns the problems of emotional condition of youth from Poland and Sweden.

The paper presents an original research concept in the field of social sciences. The concept is interdisciplinary in nature. It has found its place between pedagogy, sociology, cultural anthropology and psychology.

The text presents the original research idea, which is underway. I want it to be disseminated so that other social and cultural researchers can take part in the discussion on methodology and general concept of action.

The text is located in the Diversity and multiculturalism (MAD) conference section.

I was also thinking about putting it in the Psychosocial challenges in today’s society (PCTS) section. However, I decided to choose MAD for two reasons. The research concept is comparative in nature and it contains threads. First of all, the threads of diversity, cultural differences, and the differences of two characteristic and extremely different European societies - Poland and Sweden are also present. Cultural diversity is present in all spheres selected for research: family, social, religious and economic areas.

II. Detailed research problems

Research problems: 1. Hopelessness as an area of generating stagnation in the four areas studied (in the family area, the area of social activity in the micro-scale, the area of relations with the world macroscale and transcendental area). 2. Hope as a basis for emancipatory and transgressional activities in the four studied areas. 3. The shape of the relationship - the relation between the sense of hope and involvement in development and innovation. 4. Correlation

between the sense of hopelessness and lack of involvement in development 5. Research into the content of the sense of hopelessness and hope of young Poles and Swedes. 6.

Can education be one of the possibilities of supporting development and strengthening hope? 7. Are there statistically significant differences between Swedish and Polish youth in the level/content/concentration/ character of hope and hopelessness. 8. Is the specificity of the place and standard of living, economic level, political situation, attitude to religion and broadly understood social environment of young people important for the intensity of the level of hope and hopelessness? 9. Are hope and hopelessness rooted in the public or private domain? 10. Are hope and hopelessness a characteristic of human existence? 11. Is the level of hope and hopelessness in a country where materialistic values dominate, significantly different from the level of hope and hopelessness in a country where postmaterialistic values dominate?

III. Axial categories

The concept of hope for this project is understood as a background for innovation, space development and commitment to development. In the literature, there are many views of the concept of hope and its associative fields. I am thinking of theological interpretation (eg. hope as the ability of will, J. Horowski, the value of hope in terms of John Paul II and father J. Tischner, Franciscan vision of hope), the philosophy of hope (I.Kant’s laws of hope,E. Bloch’s principles of hope, philosophy of Marcel G. and P. Ricoeur) and psychological concepts (Fromm’s revolution of hope, C.R. Snyder’s trend of positive psychology, the first mention of hope in the concept of E. Erikson, hope in constructing the past of M.Seligman). In designing this study I decided to use one of the newest concepts of hope – the concept of Joseph Kozielecki.

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On the basis of two criteria 1. passivity - activity and 2. particularity (singularity) - generality (universality), Kozielecki distinguishes four types of hope: a passive particularistic hope, passive general hope, an active particularistic hope and active general hope. Kozielecki offers an analysis of hope as multidimensional cognitive structure, central component of which is the conviction of achieving the desired goals in the future. Elements of the new structure are: cognitive, emotional, temporal, affiliation and causative components.

Regardless of the ingredients that build hope as a multidimensional structure, Kozielecki proposes its division into types according to the criterion of activity and generality. In this way details active and passive hope, rather nonfunctional one, which consists of passivity and lack of initiative. Using the criterion of generality, Kozielecki extracts also the particularistic and general hope. The first one is related to the specific purpose implementation of which is estimated with the (high) probability. General hope, however, is a generalized relationship of man to his own future. The author writes that it can be included in this sentence: “I do hope.”

In addition, Józef Kozielecki rejects the traditional beliefs and models. He did not accept a grated idea that hope is an emotion, such as fear or joy. Rejects the assertion that this structure belongs to the set of features because the features are generally durable, stable and one-dimensional and they lack dynamic, that actuates various kinds of behavior [1].

A. Axial features of hope: - Hope is the cognitive structure, in which the central place occupies a belief that a man with a certain probability will reach in the future a desired target through activity.

- Hope belongs to multidimensional (multicomponent) structures. In its Session 3. Diversity and multiculturalism

construction emotions play a huge role, as well as affiliation, temporal and causal components. They decide on a unquotable, unique subjective experience, which in turn affects the serenity, satisfaction and pride.

- Hope, especially the high one has dynamic nature. It is one of the most important human motivators. It is what makes people focus on the desired purpose, and try to achieve it with caution and perseverance. Moreover, it affects many colloquial and existential issues such as professional achievements or the meaning of life [2].

Alongside the concept of J. Kozielecki, in planning to measure hope, will be used the concept of Ch. R. Snyder (hope as cognitive construction of the future) and the concept of E. Erikson and J. Trzebiński and M. Zieba, verifying investigations of this great psychoanalyst.

Hopelessness is understood as a space of stagnation, moving away from life, servitude and apathy; takes the freedom and ability to self-determination and creation. Hope is the aura that accompanies development, is a serene vision of the present idle.

Hopelessness is a form of despair and powerlessness. In the case of hopelessness, unlike in the case of hope, there is no attitude to change, no expectation of change, nor anticipatory acceptance of them.

People who have lost hope live in conditions of long-term threat to their core values or even existence. This are situation of economic crisis, job loss, terror, violence in various forms. According to J. Kozielecki, the death of hope takes two temporal forms.

- The chronic decrease - a gradual, long-term and lasting. Highlighted here are three stages [3]: 1. Reducing the level of hope (when the probability becomes unfavorable), 2. Anger and rage (gradual extinction of hope, negative emotions begin to dominate, the source of which may be

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permanent unemployment), 3. Condition of despair - anger and rage are active states, but the sharp fall in the hope inducing despair is a mark of complete decline of faith in winning an important good. This is accompanied by a demobilization (depressed mood), 4.

Apathy (a period of profound indifference and passivity, combined with the inability to experience feelings and emotions. Man is powerless, helpless, idle. Thoughts lethally.

These changes are often accompanied by somatic complaints).

- Catastrophic decrease - it means a sudden, abrupt loss of faith in the achievement of an important good. It might, in the short term, lead to despair, and it can also end in a phase of anger and rage.

The reasons are primarily traumatic, stress, and tragic events, with which a man can not cope. According to Beck hopelessness is a specific way of perceiving, namely systematic incorrect explanation of own experience, anticipating negative results of their own actions and achieving important goals in life without an objective basis. In thus understood structure of hopelessness Beck distinguishes several factors: cognitive (refers to negative beliefs, concerning a person’s self expectations and his/her future life), affectional (refers to hope, enthusiasm, happiness and faith in the good times) and motivation (refers to loss of motivation, resignation and lack of willingness to undertake the activity). Hopelessness is defined as a permanent regimen containing negative expectations. Hopelessness is defined as a permanent schema containing negative expectations. According to Beck the substrate of is specific perception. A person in a selective and inadequate way perceives and overworks observational data, so that there is erroneous, exaggerated image, so interpretation and evaluation of events are not accurate. This perception has influence on maintaining a sense of hopelessness in several ways: 1. thoughts are focused on self-humiliating, self-punishing, self-

blaming, 2. a person experiences a sense of loss regarding to the future.

IV. Research areas

Who is a man and who he/she wants to be? it depends on the postion that he/she occupies in the world. The chances of his/ her development and the risk of stagnation depends directly on the type of compounds in which a man remains with the world.

For the study selected were four areas of human activity, a sort of circles of placement. The first of these is the area of family life and, therefore, intimate space connecting close people, emotional relationships, but also the relationship with the body, health. The second is the area of social activity micro scale. It’s the human network of social contacts, engagement in social life, social and cultural capitals. Finally, achievements in school, in education, degree of appreciation in the peer group, but also satisfaction with social life and degree of self-realization. Interpersonal relationships, the perception of self location in the social world; belief about the impact on the events. Successes and failures, educational trails, plans and educational aspirations.

The third area - the area of relations with the world - the macro scale. Relations with the world of politics, political beliefs, sense of agency, commitment to the civic duty.

Ingrown in the national culture, a carrier of culture and identification with culture. But also the ability and the need to go beyond the boundaries, metaphysical thinking and the need of metaphysics in life and things, that are extrasensory, supernatural, extraterrestrial.

V. State of the art

Planning the presented concept of research was preceded by a study of literature, which deals with the issues of the scope of understanding and interpreting the

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concepts of hope and hopelessness. Hope is a female name, of one of the saints of the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. It also the name of an action of UN in Somalia, the title of a poem by Czesław Milosz and a well-known song of Anna German. The name of hope bear also several villages in Poland. In Christian theology hope is a grace of God, in the philosophy of Nietzsche is the worst delusion of all mankind. This is one of the psychological concepts that have both scientific and colloquial nature. The scientific discipline, which I also represent enriched recently with the publication of an extensive range of educational views on hope [4].

In the literature, the concept of hope is most often interpreted in dimension: philosophical (St. Thomas Aquinas, E. Bloch, I. Kant, G. Marcel, P. Ricoeur, J. Tischner), psychological (E. Erikson, E. Fromm, M. Seligman, Ch. Snyder) and theological (John Paul II, S. Chrobak, J.Horowski, P. Freire, J. Pieper, V., E. Frankl). In the literature are present fairly extensive philosophical and anthropological interpretations of hope in an educational perspective; principle of hope (E. Bloch) hope as an existential category (O. Bollnow), confidence in search of the future (G.Marcel), experiencing hope (J. Tischner), dialogical dimension of hope (P. Freire), hope in the cycle of human life and development (E. Erikson) affirmation of life (E. Fromm), purpose and motivation in action (Ch. R. Snyder), seeking the meaning of life (V.E. Frankl). There are also many studies on the specific characteristics and motives of Christian hope (hope in biblical and Judaic tradition, the universality of Christian hope). Also in the Bible you can find many exemplifications of pedagogy of hope (Abraham, David, Job, Tobias and Sarah, Mary, St. Paul).

Hopelessness in scientific discourse occurs almost exclusively in reports of studies using a questionnaire BHC by AT

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Beck - Beck Hopelessness Scale [5]. The BHS questionnaire (an authorized translation

by P.Oleś and A. Juros) - consists of 20 theorems. A surveyed person responds selecting one answer - “true” or “false”.

The scale allows to specify the overall level of hopelessness (the BHS general results) and allows a more detailed look at the structure of the symptom of hopelessness, which consists of three factors: affectional, motivational, and expectations for the future.

In the reports of empirical research hopelessness exists as one of the factors / motivators of actions of a destructive nature (for example, in a study University of British Columbia: Hopelessness and mental distress as the main motives of suicide).

There are tests which not only created tools to measure hopelessness, but also ones to identify hopelessness as a causative factor.

(IMSA - Inventory of Motivations for Suicide Attempts) There is no tool to examine the contents of hopelessness; to fully diagnose hopelessness as the space of stagnation and paralysis. My authoring tool, the creation of which I have already started is created in order to fill this gap.

There is a lot of research on sense of hope, and these are often correlational studies - examining correlations between various factors, such as the meaning of life, a sense of efficacy, coping with stress, mental wellbeing, motivation. Several studies point to the psychological benefits of high sense of hope [6].

Characterized by high levels of overall satisfaction with life measured over one year. Similar studies conducted among students Bailey and Snyder. Research show a multifaceted role of hope in the formation of quality of life. It is difficult to refer in this place to all the key empirical investigations, because they are very numerous. The background for my research will not only empirical studies concerning the role of

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hope and hopelessness and theoretical considerations, but also reports of studies on the quality of life that are social diagnoses (for example, J. Czapiński).

Research Methodology (underlying scientific methodology, data reduction and treatment schemes, type and degree of access to the equipment to be used in the proposed research) VI. Research method

Method of data collection is testing (the test is a tool) and therefore activities consisting of the construction, carrying and analysis of tests. Test method allows the collection of data describing the surveyed persons and aspects of their activities on the dimensions representing unobservable variables estimated by the test. These unobservable variables are some defined characteristics and psychological functions.

B. Research tools The study will use five research tools. It will be tests that pedagogy and psychology treat as testing of operation (features). a) Measurement of hope:

The pioneer of measurement of hope was the L.A. Gottschalk, who developed the scale of analysis of the purport of hope. A significant role in establishing methods for measuring the hope played a C.R .Snyder. For measuring the hope plans we going to use the three tools. Author’s tool for measuring a sense of hope, understood as a space for development and innovation in four areas: family, socio professional (micro scale), national (macro scale) and transcendence.

Of the six steps on the road to create test that meets strict methodological standards I have already completed three.

Three consecutive I realize at the same time conducting a pilot study designedto improve

the tool. Thus, the test phase is in progress.

In the process of building a test to measure the feeling of hope, was selected indicators to the variable “sense of hope”.

Snyder Hope Scale, used to measure the level of hope understood as an attempt to succeed. This scale is one of the most widely used in the educational and psychological works [8]. The project will use a version proposed by J. Kozielecki (scale consists of 12 items, rated on a scale from 1 to 8) [4].

The questionnaire of Basic Hope BHI-12, developed by Trzebiński and Zięba. This is self-report tool for measuring basic hope (consists of 12 statements and a 5-point scale). b) Measurement of hopelessness:

In the study of hopelessness will be used two tools.

1. Author’s tool to measure hopelessness, understood as a space of stagnation. Here I repeat the procedure of six steps research tool building procedure that I described above (measuring sense of hope). I am simultaneously working on two projects. It was assumed that the sense of hopelessness is a set of features (in each of four areas: personal, social and professional, national, and transcendence area) generating stagnation, developmental stagnation and a negative assessment of the future.

It is clear that even before the selection of indicators to variables ”sense of hope” and “hopelessness” I made a broad analysis of the literature and what seems to me to be crucial, I held a series of consultations with lectures at my Department of Educational Research Methodology and beyond . (It is best to learn from the best).

2. Beck’s Hopelessness Scale (Beck’s Hopelessness Scale, BHS) A.T. Beck’s authorized translation by P. Oles and A. Juros BHS is used to measure the severity of the syndrome of hopelessness and consists

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of 20 questions.

The results are presented in the form of an general index of and specific indicators.

Detailed indicators relate to the three components of hopelessness: 1) affectional; 2) motivation; 3) cognitive (expectations for the future). The scale has good validity and reliability results (3).

Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS, Beck Hopelessness Scale) as one of the negative measurement to study the psychological wellbeing and quality of life is a quite widely used research tool. It refers directly to the third element of depressive cognitive triad negative and pessimistic assessment of the future.

References [1]

[2] [3]

[4] [5]

[6] [7]

Summary The aim of the project is to create a comprehensive description of the feelings of youth from Poland and Sweden towards two categories: a sense of hope and hopelessness. The procedure for sampling research, and its size ensure the representativeness of the data, and therefore the results of research can be generalized to the whole country. Thanks to this the research seems to be important and necessary.

Taken research problems opens up a wide field of scientific exploration and empirical material obtained will be the basis for the formulation of important, necessary and timely proposals for as many as young Polish and Swedes people in their four main areas of operation: personal, social and professional, national, and in the area of transcendence. The results of the study can be a source of inspiration for effective educational and social policy [9]. The resulting scientific achievements can also become a valuable source of information to the media fulfilling the function of information, journalism and education.

It should be emphasized that, due to the present world-wide dynamic social phenomena, the prepared scientificresearch project is also gaining wider European and

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global context.

[8]

[9]

J. Kozielecki, Psychologia nadziei, (Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Akademickie ŻAK), 2006: 54.

Ibidem.

J. Elliot (Ed.), Interdisciplinary perspectives on hope, (Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science) 2005: 45.

J. Kozielecki, Psychologia nadziei, 54.

A.T. Beck, and A. Weissman, D. Lester, L. Trexler, ‘The measurement of pessimism: the Hopelessness Scale”, J Consult Clin Psychol.

1974;42(6):861‐865. doi:10.1037/h0037562 J. Elliot (Ed.), Interdisciplinary, 64.

J. Kozielecki, Koncepcje psychologiczne człowieka (Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Akademickie ŻAK) 1995: 108.

CR Snyder, and KL Rand, DR Sigmond, Hope theory. W: Snyder CR. Handbook of positive psychology, (New York: Oxford University Press) 2002: 94.

A. Murawska, Edukacja jako troska o nadzieję człowieka, (Szczecin: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego) 2011: 115.

Biography Postgraduate studies, Uniwersity of Warsaw, Protection of Intellectual Property, 2013 Ph.D. Nicolaus Copernicus University, Faculty of Humanities, Education, 2011 M.A. Nicolaus Copernicus University, Faculty of Humanities, Education, 2008 Prize: Rector’s Award for outstanding NCU doctoral dissertation Winner of the Scholarship of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education for outstanding young scientists - granted to employees of science conducting high- quality research and with impressive achievements at the international level

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This paper was presented in the

The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces, (DIALOGO-CONF 2020 VICSSR)

held online, on the Journal’s website, from MAY 19 - 26, 2020

journal homepage: http://dialogo-conf.com

The Soteriological Game in ‘Pollyanna. The Glad Game’ (by Eleonor H. Porter) and ‘La vita è bella’ (directed by Roberto Benigni) Larisa Ileana Casangiu, PhD Associate Professor at Ovidius University of Constanța Romania

Tatiana Barbaroș, PhD

Assistant Professor at Ovidius University of Constanța Psychologist - CJRAE Constanta Romania

article info

abstract

Article history: Received 26 February 2020 Received in revised form 25 May Accepted 28 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.11

The novel Pollyanna (by Eleonor H. Porter) and movie La vita è bella (Life is Beautiful) are found into an intertext motivated by the presence of the soteriological game, having different variants of materialization. Although they have different themes and appear at 84 years of each other (Pollyanna was published in 1913, the movie has done in 1997), both works are centered on the play/game with soteriological valences.

While in the novel the glad game is focused on the words spoken, in the film, the game is more focused on silence, both games aiming at the same thing (survival).

The present article intends to carry out a contrastive study regarding these works that present as a main similarity a special type of game - with soteriological valences. At the same time, we identify other works with which they are in intertextuality. Also, we reflect on the psychological perspective in analyzing the valences of the two “games”, specifying the psychic mechanisms involved in playing the games in question.

Keywords: glad game; valences; survival; psychological meanings; intertextuality;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction

Although in the book it appears more an adaptogenic game, and in the film it is about a game aiming at survival, we believe that the “games” presented are very much alike, the reality being deliberately or unconsciously sweetened, as a consequence of the desire to bring the character’s comfort zone in the given conditions.

The soteriological valences of each game are obvious. Pollyanna longs for joy and identifies it even in unpleasant things, and Giosué responds to the challenge of the miserable conditions of the game.

The girl knows that joy is an attribute of life, as the boy knows that play is specific to childhood. Both of them, in a certain way, survive in different but hostile conditions.

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II. The Particular game into Each plot

A. Pollyanna. The Glad Game (by Eleonor H. Porter) The little Pollyanna Whittier, an elevenyear-old orphan, was been taught by her father how to play “the glad game,” in which the goal is to “find something about everything to be glad about”, after the little girl had got a disappointing Christmas gift (a pair of crutches) instead of the doll she wished. In other words, Pollyanna’s father taught her to look at the good side of things (in this case, to be glad about the crutches because she did not need to use them). Pollyanna teaches some of Beldingsville’s most troubled inhabitants to “play the game” as well. Soon, almost everyone in town would play the glad game. Even an invalid named Mrs. Snow, who is rejected by everyone, plays this game, but also a lot of people in the fictional town of Beldingsville placed in Vermont. Pollyanna’s optimism is put to the test when she is struck by a car and loses the use of her legs, but, after a doubting time, she considered that it’s enough to be glad for what she has done when she could walk.

B. La vita è bella (Life is Beautiful) During Second World War, being in the camp, Guido hides their true situation from his son, Giosué. He explains to Giosué that the camp is a complicated game in which he must perform the tasks Guido gives him. Each of the tasks will earn them points and whoever gets to one thousand points first will win a tank. He tells him that if he cries, complains that he wants his mother, or says that he is hungry, he will lose points, while quiet boys who hide from the camp guards earn extra points. Giosué is at times reluctant to go along with the game, but Guido convinces him each time to go on [1]. Guido maintains this story right until the end (when Guido dies) and Giosuè is overjoyed about winning the game (unaware that his father is dead), convinced Session 3. Diversity and multiculturalism

that he won the tank, given the fact that an American soldier allows Giosuè to ride on the tank. In the end, the child reunites with his mother and tells her about how he had won a tank, just as his father had promised. *

While the game of joy is contagious (being played throughout the city), Giosué ‘s game is an individual one, but it seems collective (Guido makes his son think he is in a competition).

Pollyanna aims for authentic living, while Giosué seeks a physical reward, without suspecting that keeping the rules of the game remains alive. In other words, both games are meant to ensure their survival.

III. The Pollyanna’S GAME

First of all, Pollyanna’s game is a “language-game”1. In the same time, her game is more than that, because the game is not so much focused on the supersegmental aspects of language - the stress, tone, and duration in the syllable or word – or on the linguistic context, but on the finding a desirable value of an apparent dramatic situation.

Pollyanna’s glad game is learned from her father.

In a way, the „glad game” of Pollyanna’s father, who was a missionary priest, can be considered a didactic adaptation of some Christian teachings. The Holy Scripture says us about the words spoken by the Lord of the prophet Joel: ”Let the weak say, I am strong!” (Ioel, 3:10). That is to say, you should speak positively, no matter your present condition. In other words, positive and confident speech would be one of the 1 According to Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations (1953), ”The concept was intended «to bring into prominence the fact that the speaking of language is part of an activity, or a form of life»" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_game_ (philosophy) (accessed: 23.02.2020)

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conditions of personal comfort, which would justify the likeness of our heavenly Father. When someone who is weak says “I am strong”, he or she follows another call from the Bible: ”whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” [2].

The reasons for the joy identified by Pollyanna are different from the first reason offered as an example by her father.2 While the first reason in their glad game concerns Pollyanne’s family (who does not need a crutch), Pollyanna manages to bring Mrs. Snow joy for others who are not in her situation (which can walk). Although she could tell Mrs. Snow to enjoy herself because she can hear, see and use her hands, she postponed identifying the right side of things for the invalid woman, considering it is a hard thing.

When she comes back to Mrs. Snow, she urges her to rejoice for the many people who are not in her situation (that is, they are not invalid).

The glad game really has soteriological valences for all those who play it in the conditions that they enjoy for others, not so much for themselves. That’s why Pollyanna is finally healing herself (she can go).

adequately motivate his son to accept the dire conditions of the camp, and he risks his own life since arriving at the camp, misinterpreting, in terms of the game, the orders given by the Nazi officer.

Victor Frankl analyzes the psychological characteristics of the man in detention in a Nazi concentration camp. In his book, In Search of the Meaning of Life, written in 1945, he recounts his experiences: “My intention was to convince readers that life contains a potential for meaning in any circumstance, even the most unhappy” [3] Guido not only looks for and finds meaning in daily events, but also adapts them to his son’s level of understanding, translating it into a game. Thus we are witnessing a pedagogical approach - transforming reality into a game to facilitate its understanding by the child. Through his play, Giosué adapts to the harsh life of detention, whose sole purpose was “to preserve your life and the life of your neighbour’s” [4] In these harsh conditions it is proved that “absolute wisdom - love is the ultimate and highest purpose that a man can aspire to.” [5]

IV. THE GUIDO’S GAME

V. Pollyanna’s intertextuality. The

Paradoxically, the game proposed

by Guido can be considered a language game, just by the prohibition to speak (the speech being replaced by the action).

Giosué is not a mere mime, however, because he barely survives with the little food he receives and in hostile conditions.

He demonstrates endurance, patience and perseverance. He is extrinsically motivated by the fact that he “plays” in order to win a tank at the end.

Guido realizes that only a game could 2 It is also interesting that the reasons for joy that Pollyanna finds in order to identify the good side of things are different from case to case, most of them with paradoxical appearance.

Game and On the power of WORDS

There are lots of references in the Bible to the importance of the spoken words: For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned./ Your words will be used to judge you--to declare you either innocent or guilty (Matthew 12.37) [6]; Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. (Proverbs 18:21) [7]; He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.

(Proverbs 13:3) [8]; A gentle answer turns away wrath, but hard words stir up anger.

(Proverbs 15:1) [9]; Kind words are like honey–sweet to the soul and healthy for the

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body. (Proverbs 16:24) [10] and so on.

French pharmacist Émile Coué (1857 1926), considered the father of self-help/ Modern Hypnotherapy/ autosuggestion / Self-Motivation improved and even helped heal many patients based on positive and optimistic language. Jose Silva (1914-1997) followed him and had similar successes, recognized throughout the world.

Florence Scovel Shinn (1871 – 1940), in her books The Game of Life and How to Play It (published in 1925), Your Word is Your Wand (published in 1928), The Secret Door to Success (Published in 1840) and The Power of the Spoken Word (Posthumously published in 1945), sees life as a game whose rules are strictly verbal. She shaped the lives of many people only by the spoken words, identifying the opportunity to transform one’s life starting from an equally religious and metaphysical vision, considering the vibratory power of words. In all these works, there is the same idea as in Pollyanna: Nowadays, many books have been written about the power of affirmations.

Louise Hay (1926 – 2017) wrote a lot of books focusing on the power of words (Heal Your Body, You Can Heal Your Life), firmly convinced of the power of affirmations.

Gregg Braden, Wayne Dyer, Gay Hendricks, Esther and Jerry Hicks and Doreen Virtue are another motivational writers that talked about the same things.

Rhonda Byrne (born 1945), in the book “The Secret”, shows that the “celebration” of failure, considered an opportunity for evolution, brings success.

In the artistic field, the identification of positive aspects in profoundly negative events occurs in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, the Russian novel first published 1962, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. (showing Ivan’s small triumphs over the inhumane prison system). Even if there is not a glam game, the main character (Ivan Denisovich

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Shukhov) is grateful at the end of a exhausting day, which he considers “almost happy”: ”Shukhov went to sleep fully content. He’d had many strokes of luck that day: they hadn’t put him in the cells; they hadn’t sent his squad to the settlement; he’d swiped a bowl of kasha at dinner; the squad leader had fixed he rates well; he’d built a wall and enjoyed doing it; he’d smuggled that bit of hacksaw blade through; he’d earned a favor from Tsezar that evening; he’d bought that tobacco. And he hadn’t fallen ill. He’d got over it. A day without a dark cloud. Almost a happy day.” [11] A cause of joy for a prisoner in the Nazi camp, during the Second World War, was a corner of bread, where he found relief “that I took it out of my pocket and chewed it with great pleasure [12].

Pollyanna can be also considered a descendant of Natasha Rostova, the main female character in the novel “War and Peace” (published first 1863-1869), by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. Both characters realize that life is for living. Pollyanna clearly explains to her aunt Polly that ”Just breathing isn’t living”3 [13] Natasha can be considered one of the prettiest romantic character in literature, especially because of her beautiful soul and her optimism.

To some extent, Pollyanna could be found in intertextuality with Alice (from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, published in 1865, by Lewis Carroll). These characters are close in age, but while Alice’s game is an inner one, based on the chess game, Pollyanna’s game is an outside one. Pollyana’s game influences the behavior of others, becoming 3 ”Oh, of course I’d be breathing all the time I was doing those

things, Aunt Polly, but I wouldn’t be living. You breathe all the time you’re asleep, but you aren’t living. I mean living – doing the things you want to do: playing outdoors, reading (to myself, of course), climbing hills, talking to Mr. Tom in the garden, and Nancy, and finding out all about the houses and the people and everything everywhere all through the perfectly lovely streets I came through yesterday. That’s what I call living, Aunt Polly. Just breathing isn’t living.”- https://books.google.ro/

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a product of the circumstances, and a producer of the circumstances, according to M. Zlate [14] In Romanian literature, Pollyanna presents similarities with Olguța (Olgutza), the heroine of the novel “La Medeleni” (published first 1925-1927), written by Ionel Teodoreanu. Like Pollyanna, Olguța is full of life and characterized by action and initiative. The manner in which Pollyanna organizes people’s lives through glam game is somewhat similar to Olgutza’s interest in other people, in particular through the altruism with which they share their energy for this purpose. The major difference between these characters is that Olguța consumes all her energy (and life) in the action, while Pollyanna is saved by the support of others. It could be said that this different end is the result of the fact that Olgutza’s action is not organized like Pollyana’s glad game. The joy that Olguța brings with her is obvious, but it is not methodically sought as in the case of Pollyanna.

VI. THE MEANINGS OF THE GAME FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY

Pollyanna has had several trauma: she lost her mother, her father and her home.

After her mother’s loss, her father teaches her to play the glad game. After her father’s death she continues playing the game. The Game is in fact a defense mechanism. Among the defense mechanisms, specialists list humor - as the ability to find comical or ironic elements in difficult situations, in order to reduce the tension generated by unpleasant events.[15] Guido manages to identify comics in the life of the concentration camp.

Pollyanna identifies positive aspects of the negative events from her own experience, and after that she does it for others as well.

For Pollyanna the glad game becomes a

way of perceiving the reality. As long as the fathers of Pollyanna and Giosuè manage to facilitate the perception of the positive and the funny things of their life, they influence the perceptive selectivity of their children.

The life events interpretation based on the system of the glad game becomes an integral part of the mental interpretation of the events. The activation of the cognitive scheme generates inferences and assumptions about the significance of an certain event. Thus, the cognitive scheme favors the selective processing of information, according to M. Miclea, leading to the inferring of non-existent items, but consistent with the scheme and also to the processing and storage of the items identified as elements of that scheme.

[16] The goal of the Glad Game is to “find something about everything to be glad about” describing a sequence of events in order „to spread good cheer among townspeople”, corresponding to a certain context [17]. Pollyanna’s behaviour is governed by the glad scenario as a result of the social learning. The maintaining of the game scenario is guaranteed by the set of contingencies (the others approval) which work on her so that Pollyanna manages to respect the scenario. In time, the scenario is learned and continued by the inhabitants of the town, so that ”these things, after they start, they go further, on their own” and ”almost everyone knows it. [18] Pollyanna’s behaviour is specific to a happy child manner, who feels loved and satisfied according to J. Young, J. Klosko, M. Weishctivaar. This manner represents a set of adaptive coping mechanisms. Specific to the happy child’s manner is the healthy state in which maladaptative cognitive schemes are not activated and represents an indicator of mental health. [19]

Playing is the basic childhood activity and through the play, Pollyanna and Giosuè exercise all of its functions – psychological,

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educational, social and physical according to Ursula Schiopu. By playing, the little girl takes over and strenghthens behaviors for the adult activity which adults take from her and apply themselves. The children wisdom to identify simple handy solutions is a creative way to solve adult problems.

The glad game is explicitly taught by Pollyanna and Giosuè. Parents explain them the rules of the game, ”there is something about everything that you can be glad about” [20]. Then, by modeling (offering an example for the child to imitate, in order to learn behavioral styles). [21], the two children learn and internalize the game.

Representatives of observational learning theory suggest that people can learn behavior by observing the pattern which is realized by the behavior. In Pollyanna and Giosuè case the model is represented by their fathers, who are both aware of their role as models.

Pollyanna exhibits prosocial behaviors, being willing to help others. Studies show that parents who notice their children turmoil and help them focus on the problem solving stimulate empathy, prosocial development, and social skills.

From the perspective of the transaction theory, the psychological game refers to the repetitive interactions of the people in the course of which, one or another of the interlocutors enters the role of the aggressor, victim or savior, having an unpleasant emotional ending for both participants. Pollyanna always takes the role of the savior. In the case of the Glad Game, the ending is „everyone in town” [22].

Carl Rogers uses the concept of ”beautiful life” when it refers to the range of characteristics, attitudes and types of behavior in people who abandoned the flow of life. In order to do this, the American humanist thinks that we should remain perfectly open to the possibilities which every moment has to offer and that we

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should allow the experience to structure the Self. The nature of the existence requires a fluid, flowing and chancing organization of one’s being, connected with the present.

Pollyanna is always paying attention to what is happening around her, thus being able to identify the people who need help, empathizing with them and inviting them to play the Glad Game. Guido is paying attention to all the events around him so that he can give, in a timely manner, an adaptive sense to his son’s experience with life in detention.

CONCLUSIONS Nowadays, both the Glam Game and Guido’s Game can be considered soteriological game. Survival means both maintaining mental health (in hostile conditions) and maintaining bodily integrity.

Many psychologists and spiritual trainers recommend that we identify the “lesson / teaching” that we can learn from the negative aspects of what we live.

The novel “Pollyanna” and the movie “La vita è bella” (Life is Beautiful), are found in a really large intertext, despite its undoubted authenticity. From our point of view, the “common place” of the two works under analysis is represented by the Russian novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. On the one hand, the Russian protagonist finds joy in inhuman living conditions (like Pollyanne), on the other, he is in a camp (like Giosué).

The importance of joy is above that of happiness. In The Book of Joy, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa states: ”Joy /…/ is much bigger than happiness. While happiness is often seen as being dependent on external circumstances, joy is not.” [23]

The simple awareness of the joy of living brings other joys, comfort and health.

If the joy is accompanied by the game, the

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benefits are huge and, by default, desirable.

The life centered on the play of joy is a spiritual one and giving moral satisfactions.

The writers sensed this right before the psychologists. Before the writers, the spiritual teachers urged us to rejoice. In reading the novel Pollyanna, we learn that there would be about eight hundred “texts of joy” in the Bible [24]. Perhaps, in the artistic spirit, this number is exaggerated, but surely there are over one hundred such verses. Thousands of exhortations to joy included in all the akathists dedicated to the saints are added to them.

References https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Is_ Beautiful (accessed: 14.02.20) [2] Mark 11:24 - https://biblehub.com/mark/1124.htm [3] Victor E. Frankl, Omul în căutarea sensului vieții, translated from English by Florin Tudose, (București: Editura Vellant) 2018: 12.

[4] Ibidem, 42 [5] ibidem, 50 [6] https://biblehub.com/matthew/12-37.htm (accessed:20.02.2020) [7] idem [8] idem [9] https://snailpacetransformations.com/10bible-verses-on-the-power-of-our-words/ (accessed:20.02.2020) [10] Idem [11] Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Translated from the Russian by Ralph Parker, http:// www.kkoworld.com/kitablar/aleksandr_ soljenitsin_ivan_denisovichin_bir_gunu-eng. pdf (accessed:25.02.2020) [12] Victor E. Frankl, 2018, traducere din limba engleză de Florin Tudose, Editura Vellant, București, p. 46 [13] h t t p s : / / b o o k s . g o o g l e . r o / books?id=zVtSDwAAQBAJ&pg =PT33&lpg=PT33&dq=just+breathing +does+not+mean+living+pollyanna&s [1]

ource=bl&ots=wmAizNHixm&sig=A C f U 3 U 1 s A S 3 z T m C 4 s m C y 1 k E H m Wa hxPzQvA&hl=ro&sa=X&ved=2ahUK Ewil--SqnIDoAhUbxMQBHZ2gCj0Q6AEwAHoECAUQAQ#v=onepage&q&f =false (p. 33) (accessed: 12.02.2020) [14] Mielu Zlate defines the personality from the perspective of three meanings (anthropological, psychological and axiological) as ”a bio-psycho-socio-cultural entity”, carrier and performer of epistemic functions and product and producer of circumstances, environments and social situations. - Zlate, Mielu, Fundamentele psihologiei, (București: Editura “PRO HUMANITATE”) 2000: 238 [15] Nancy Mc Williams, Larouse, Dicţionar de Psihologie 2014 [16] M. Miclea, Psihologie cognitivă, (ClujNapoca, Casa de Editura GLORIA S.R.L.) 1994: 361 [17] Porter, Eleonor H., Pollyanna. Jocul bucuriei, trad. din lb. engl. Laura Cociș, Editura Sophia/ Metafraze, București, 2015, p. 262 [18] Ibidem, p. 264 [19] Jeffrey E..Young, Janet S.. Klosko, , Marjorie E. Weishaar, SCHEMA THERAPY. A practictioner’ s guide. (New York: The Guilford Press) 2003: 298 [20] Eleonor H. Porter, Pollyanna. Jocul bucuriei, ed.cit., p.262 [21] N. Hayes, S. Orrell, Introducere în psihologie, (București: Editura ALL EDUCATIONAL S.A.) 1997: 416 [22] Porter, Eleonor H., Pollyanna. Jocul bucuriei, ed.cit., p. 262 [23] The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams, (New York: Avery Penguin Random House) 2016: 3 [24] Eleonor H. Porter, Pollyanna. Jocul bucuriei, trad. din lb. engl. Laura Cociș, București: Editura Sophia/ Metafraze) 2015: 206.

Bibliography [1]

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Bandura, Albert, Social learning and personality development, New York: Holt,

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Rinerhart&Winston, 1963 Berne, E., Game People Play, New York: Grove Press, 1964 [3] Bryant, Brenda K., Mental health, temperamental, family and friends: Perspectives on children”s empathy and social perspective taking. In E.Eisenberg & J.Strayer, Empathy and its development of competence in adolesence. Child Development, 1987, 66, pp.

129-138 [4] Byrne, Rhonda, The Secret, Simon & Schuster Publishing House, 2006 [5] Carroll, Lewis, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - https://www.gutenberg.org/ files/11/11-h/11-h.htm (accessed: 10.02.2020) [6] Coué Émile, Autocontrolul prin sugestie conştientă - despre sugestie şi despre aplicaţiile acesteia, trad. Cristian Hanu, București: Ed. Adevăr Divin, 2011 [7] Eisenberg, Faber et al. 1996, Parents’ reaction to children”s negative emotions: Relations to children”s social competence and comforting behavior. Child development, 67, 2227-2247 [8] Hay, Louise, Afirmațiile positive, trad. din lb. engl. Cristian Hanu, București: Ed. Adevăr Divin, 2011 [9] Porter, Eleonor H., Pollyanna. Jocul bucuriei, trad. din lb. engl. Laura Cociș, București: Editura Sophia/ Metafraze, 2015 [10] Rogers, Carl, A deveni o persoană. Perspectiva unui psihoterapeut, trad. Anacaona MîndrilăSonetto, București: Editura Trei, 2014 [11] Scovel Shinn, Florence, Jocul bucuriei și cum să-l joci, Iași: Ed. Noel, 2005 [12] Silva, Jose; Miele, Philip, Autocontrolul prin metoda Silva, București: Editura Memo, 2006 [13] Șchiopu U., Verza E., Psihologia vârstelor.

Ciclurile vieții, București: Editura Didactică și Pedagogică, 1997 [14] Teodoreanu, Ionel, La Medeleni, București: Ed. Agora, 2011 [15] Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, translated by Constance Garnett, New York: The Modern Library, 2002 [16] *** The Holy Bible - https://holybookslichtenbergpress.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/ uploads/2010/05/The-Holy-Bible-KingJames-Version.pdf (accessed:20.02.2020)

[17]

[2]

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h t t p : / / w w w. k k o w o r l d . c o m / k i t a b l a r / aleksandr_soljenitsin_ivan_denisovichin_ bir_gunu-eng.pdf (accessed:25.02.2020)

Biographies Larisa-Ileana Casangiu was born on 26th of December, 1973, in Curtea de Argeș city (Romania).

She graduated the Faculty of Letters at Ovidius University of Constanța (1997) and has a Cum laude PhD degree in the field of Philology (from the University of Bucharest, 2002).

Larisa Ileana Casangiu has been teaching at University since 1999 and she has been an Associate Professor since 2012. She has published more than 10 books as a single author and more than 70 articles. She is also an artistic writer and has published a book in France (Pas Seulement d’amour).

Tatiana Barbaroș, is born on 22nd of April, 1975, in Orhei city (Republic of Moldova).

She graduated Faculty of Psychology from Babeș-Bolyai University from Cluj-Napoca (1998) and has a PhD in the field of Education Sciences, (from Institute of Education Sciences, Chișinău, Republic of Moldova, 2013).

She is senior psychologist, supervisor in the field of Educational Psychology (19 years of professional experience in the field of educational psychology.), School and Vocational Counselor and psychotherapist in Hypnosis and Ericksonian Therapy, Accredited Trainer of the National Council for Adult Training and Development and the College of Psychologists of Romania, Mentor.

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Miscellaneous (MIS)

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Facing distance learning in Math, during Coronavirus outbreak in Italy How technology and flexibility can help teachers and students

Karina Iuvinale, PhD University of Teramo Italy

article info

abstract

Article history: Received 12 February 2020 Received in revised form 26 May Accepted 28 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.12

Coronavirus pandemic has been threatening most countries in the world. In Italy, there have been thousands of people died and the majority of workforce has been stopped, due to the sanitary restrictions adopted. Even schools have interrupted their standard teaching, passing from face-to-face lessons to distance learning. In a few days, both teachers and students in Italy had to adapt to this new teaching method, which initially created confusion. Then, thanks to the diligence of all school environment, everybody started this new route, in order to work together and reach the same objectives established at the beginning of the school year. Although some initial uncertainty, facing distance learning during Coronavirus outbreak in Italy, has become more doable, thanks to technology and online tools available for teaching, taking lessons, and interact. In fact, especially in secondary schools – that represent the main topic of this paper – most students have welcomed distance learning. That can be regarded as a distraction from the outbreak scenario, a mean that could have help them going back to annoying normalcy.

The entire school environment in Italy has been conformed to distance learning, and all the disciplines in the school curriculum have felt the effects of the outbreak. The subject which will be mainly considered in this paper – because of my profession – is Math.

It is one of the most beautiful and interesting branches of knowledge, but also one of those that need frontal lessons and human links, in order to involve students and make the subject loved.

Keywords: Coronavirus; pandemic; distance learning; education; flexibility; Math; secondary school; students; teachers; technology;

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I. Introduction

The school situation in Italy has represented continuous challenges for years. Students’ realities and needs change because generations change, so teachers and schools themselves have to get along them.

These changes are mostly natural because they follow the cycle of events related to school life. Since the first months of 2020, schools in Italy and worldwide have been facing a painful and challenging situation due to an unexpected and terrible enemy, namely Coronavirus pandemic. That has threatened people worldwide.

This paper focuses on analyzing how secondary schools1 in Italy are facing this threat by revolutionizing their internal organizations and didactics.

In fact, up to now, the main form used for giving and taking lessons in secondary schools has been face-to-face didactics.

Various types of tech and online tools have been simultaneously used, such as virtual classrooms, the use of virtual tools such as links on the web for in-depth analyses.

Nevertheless, lessons mostly took place into each classroom, with teachers teaching and students learning.

Coronavirus outbreak in Italy has inevitably radically changed such form of face-to-face didactics.

In March 2020, schools suddenly were unable to do any form of face-to-face didactics, due to the ministerial regulations relating to the health emergency. These regulations prevented both the normal implementation of teaching activities in presence and any form of gathering.

Moreover, since this new situation was 1 I have been working as a teacher of Math in several secondary schools in the Province of Teramo, since 2014/2015 school year. For this reason, all the observations made in this paper mainly refer to secondary schools.

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as sudden as suspended in time because its duration was not known, it has been necessary to undertake alternative ways to do didactics. In theory, distance learning2 itself is not new or so difficult: for example, many universities have already been using it for several years.

The main problem was to incorporate this modality in the whole school context. The goal was to make possible for all teachers and all secondary school students in Italy to participate in distance learning. It was also necessary to conceive virtual connections as a kind of substitute of frontal lessons.

Many schools organized themselves very quickly, and transposed the ministerial directives in few days. This way, they avoided to create further uncertainty in students and teachers, already upset by the health emergency situation.

II. How Coronavirus Disease Is

Upsetting Schools in Italy

Over eight million students are sitting between desks of Italian schools. As in [16], the school population of public schools in Italy is circa 7,600,000, while 866,805 are the pupils of private secondary schools; in the latter case, 7 out of 10 attend nursery school. As regards public schools, the region with the highest number of students is Lombardy (1,183,493 students), while Molise is the region with the lowest number (37,170 students).

This is the statistical identikit of the Italian school that emerges from the Focus of the Ministry of Education, University and Research in Italy (MIUR), referred to the school year 2019/2020 – as in [14].

2 Distance learning has been named DAD in Italy, an acronym which stands for didattica a distanza.

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A. Human Links and Links on the Net: the Role of Math Since March 2020, all school population in Italy has been hit and threatened by Coronavirus outbreak. Not only due to the severity of this virus but also because it has caused a serious discouragement. In fact, it has upset a school reality was essentially based on a standard organization, made up of face-to-face lessons, distributed on 5 or 6 days a week. It has also distorted routine actions by teachers and students: the headcount, a review, the core lesson, exercises on the blackboard, a little rest, greetings. Moreover, it has scraped the human link among teachers and students.

The link we create into each class is unique, because every student, every class is particular. And although every subject has its own way to be taught and its complexity, my opinions and observations in this paper mainly regard Mathematics3, as I have been a teacher of Maths in secondary schools since 20144.

In Math, there is an important relationship among the subject itself, students and teachers, which is even stronger in secondary schools. Of course, I am not a veteran of didactics. I have also had the good fortune of teaching Math to students for a half dozen of years. Every year with them is different, very exhausting, but amazingly significant and wonderful for me, because the link we establish with students is precious and pure. Actually, I think that very often is not the teacher to develop 3 The word Mathematics has its clipped form in Math, especially used in American English lexicon. British English vocabulary prefers the clipped form Maths.

4 As I am a precarious teacher, my substitute teaching has so far regarded different secondary schools in the Province of Teramo (Abruzzo region), Italy; the positive side of my status is that I meet numerous students every year, which means different realities to know, live and work with.

such a link. Nowadays students choose if they want or not develop a connection with their teachers. They analyze if there exist some special reasons in joining with them.

Today, if we search for the word link on dictionaries, we can highlight that there is more than one connotative feature of this word. If we think about the immediate connotation we give to the word link, it is something belonging to the net, which is used for logging on, as in [9], [18] or [19]. However, there is a more precious connotative feature of link, that consists of the bond we continuously develop with other persons, such as students, teachers, officers and so on, as in [8], [10], [12], [13] and [15]. This idea of a link is fundamental for our lives, especially in school life. In fact, everything else goes around it and all of us need to establish several true links with people around us, also to live better. Such type of link has been upset by Coronavirus outbreak, but we can try to persist and continue to develop human links with students, even if it is virtual.

In order to clarify this statement, Figure 1 below better shows the different uses and connotations of the word link:

Figure 1.

Connotative features of the word link.

As we can see in Figure 1 above, human links are as relevant as links dealing with the internet. Undoubtedly, human links occupy

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a position which comes first: they involve everybody’s works, studies, and lives in a school environment – e.g. students, teachers, employees, as well as the school head. Every student starts a tenuous link with his/her pairs, but this student-tostudent link can be developed or not. The same is among teachers and students, teachers and colleagues and so on.

So, only if we want to grow our links, they will go over the simple professional sphere. It is also true that human links can be sufficient if we deal with a friendship or other similar relations. But it is a matter of fact that schools do not function thanks to human links only! Of course, this type of link is fundamental, but tools and lessons are necessary for education too! For this reason, the former idea of link, that is related to the internet also plays a key role in education, especially during distance learning.

The net has become essential in 2020 teaching because students are increasingly related to technology. It represents the main connection among students, teachers, schools and other realities all over the world.

Both technology and the net can surely enrich didactics, from Literature to Science, from Arts to Music, from English to Math and so on.

It is a matter of the fact that each field of study has a typical way to be explained and taught, and we cannot totally replace paper books with e-sources. But an intelligent and smart mixed use of both of them can add value to our lessons. Above all, technology can develop a different and unexpected interest in students, even imaging crosscurricular lessons and projects, being more flexible and open-minded.

Among all the school subjects of secondary schools in Italy, the one that belongs to me most is Math. It definitely represents one of the historically hardest subjects to be taught and understood. But it is also a wonderful subject, which allows Session 4. Miscellaneous

students to imagine, think, create, invent, make connections with other subjects and with the real world around us. Math opens up our minds, allows us to range with ideas and not to remain within what has already been written in books by someone else.

Because Math does not mean only solving exercises... it is much more.

Certainly, Math is one of those subjects that needs to be taught and understood face-to-face; therefore, having to do everything in a virtual context, so suddenly, is really complicated.

Actually, the situation is complex, because not everything can be merely transported to the virtual world. Furthermore, after spending half of the school year creating a relationship with students and involving them, we all need to recreate that previous atmosphere.

B. The Role of Teachers in Math Didactics Reference [17] shows how teachers play a key role in fostering Math skills. Math teachers have a nuanced job: they must teach several topics, such as number sense and operational skills, as well as boost students’ ability to think about problems.

They need to incorporate into their various subject aspects of language, like reading and writing; they also provide direct instructions on methods of exploration and solving.

Additionally, Math teachers must motivate students to try and teach them to persevere when problems are challenging.

For this reason, it is necessary to create new methods of teaching, fun ways to get students to love Math, and stopgaps for everybody needs.

First of all, students need the means to be open-minded, in order to realize that they can get better at understanding and adopting Math rules. To do this, we have to interest and involve students, getting them collaborating, thinking, attempting and...

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making mistakes![ ] III. Teaching Math to Students in 2020:

New Methods and Ideas

Math is undoubtedly a subject that students learn by practicing, not only by studying theory. That is why we have to help students understand that they can learn Math. However, it is necessary they practice Math step by step, by studying and understanding theory and doing exercises in parallel. Nevertheless, in most cases, students need something more than simple advice to learn: they need to be involved even by using some methods that are distant from books. For example, videolessons, YouTube demonstrations, online implementations, games, challenges, are useful and frequently available on the web.

These methods are often appreciated by 2020-students because they are strictly connected with technology and the net.

This way, students identify the methods that best suit them, and they feel part of the subject they are studying.

A. Ways for Teaching Math When we talk about a method of teaching, we primarily mean how content is being taught. This includes both the style of teaching and the materials used.

But there exists a method that comes first: trying to imagine and understand the response of students during and after the lesson. Because most of them often avoid showing their difficulties due to shame, listlessness, lack of interest and so on.

So, my own motto with students is always “explain, explain, and explain again.”

Explain distinctly, patiently, over and over again. Thinking about their possible doubts and ask questions for them, and then answer.

Because patience is also fundamental in

teaching Math – such as in other subjects.

Be patient both with students and with teachers (by students) is essential, especially during this Coronavirus outbreak, which has stressed everybody.

Figure 2 below aims at schematizing how patience helps school life, in order to make understanding possible for everybody:

Figure 2.

The Importance of Patience at School.

Time spent for students, as well as time that belongs to each student, is much more important than do in vain in-depth analyses or precisely complete a ministerial program because students need to be not considered as numbers since they instead represent the core and the value of each school.

By explaining repeatedly an issue, we can have only benefits, because it is more likely that all students will be able to learn.

It is not a loss of time and, if all students can learn, the entire class works better and together.

We have to take care of several types of students during our lessons, both in face-to-face modality and during distance learning. In particular, almost every class is composed of different kinds of students, who also reveal specific family situations: students with gaps in their study, students who were absent during one of more past

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lessons, inattentive students, students who want to understand better. Moreover, as in [5], there are often students with specific learning disorders (who often have their special needs teachers). Figure 3 exemplifies such a consideration:

Figure 3.

The Importance of Explaining.

Moreover, there are some just experimented diverse tricks for teaching Math: using visuals like graphics or videos during the lesson, working in groups, making connections, developing interdisciplinary links. They represent useful methods for face-to-face learning in classroom, which could be used also in distance learning, surely by using several kinds of adaptations.

We cannot be blind, by simply transferring the methods of frontal didactics to distance learning, because they are not the same!

In this context, teachers are the only ones who can help students to use and understand this particular way of doing lessons.

IV. Distance Learning: Extraordinary

Tools for Extraordinary Students

Distance learning can be an efficient tool to connect two main types of didactics: vertical teaching and dialogic teaching.

In vertical teaching, teachers are mere repositories of knowledge; in dialogic teaching, students and teachers talk to each other, and the teacher intervenes only if he/ she can be a help.

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Reference [6] shows how it is important to consider that each student’s mind does not need, like a vase, to be [simply] filled.

Like wood for fuel, it only needs something sparking to ignite it, to infuse it with an impulse to carry out research and desire knowledge. This means that nowadays, didactics needs to interest students, and it needs to be modified based on the world we live in and based on students. This way, the transmission of knowledge can bring to skill development, such as learning to learn, update ourselves, learning to be more versatile.

Students must become aware that there is a world outside, from which we can learn; we must not presume to know everything or trust only other people’s opinions.

Knowledge is very vast, so we cannot think that it’s enough to transfer to our students an already established and equal package every year. It is even considered that today, many textbooks that are put on the market as soon as printing, have already become obsolete. So, these books need to be updated by teachers’ lessons.

We must develop all those activities that allow us to learn all the time. Students must be flooded with knowledge, adding contemporary notions to those on books, that still remain important packages of knowledge.

To achieve these results, a student-based didactics is needed, a method to make didactics as a knowledge-transfer, with the teacher choosing a theme, and pupils doing research on it, also in groups.

Reference [3] shows an important issue about this aspect by highlighting that our performance mainly depends on the interaction among our minds and the available resources in the environment.

In fact, the same person can perform excellently if he/she uses technology intelligently, or badly if he/she does not.

Skills are no longer something one can think

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already possessing, but something to build by using the available resources, including information technology.

In this context, the school system has a key-role: it is the cultural agency called upon to raise the level of new generations, also helping teachers to migrate into to net.

If we really want to develop new skills and make the students grow, we must not simplify the content of an issue, we must not transmit less knowledge. Instead, we can streamline a lesson to make it less heavy.

But we must give students every tool that can help them grow, in order to form more capable generations! It is also important to trust students because nowadays they have all skills to succeed and govern the world!

In fact, we can reflect on the main role of schools: as in [2] and [4], schools in Italy are not merely places of knowledge, but mediators of knowledge. Their main goal is guiding students, even in the presence of a tablet, a smartphone or other technological tools during their training. Furthermore, schools are necessary to give young people the necessary directions and stimuli for interacting, making in-depth analyses and doing research.

A. Are Students really Tech?

Students use technology for fun above all, such as for socials, games, and so on.

Using the net for studying is completely different. The learning environment of distance learning is more dynamic than ever before and, as a result, today’s learners are very different from those that our educational system was designed for. With a clear significant advancement in technology, classrooms are being remodeled in several ways to fit the ongoing needs of modern digital learners.

In this context, the Coronavirus pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated the system. It has brought us in a tech dimension that was

already designed for our students, but that was still in the start-up phase.

In fact, with the rise of distance learning, many higher education institutions are substituting traditional resources with educational technologies, in an attempt to keep up with their digital learning population.

Students need to have more than a working knowledge of certain technological tools (e.g., web pages, teleconferencing, electronic whiteboards, and so on). By integrating these technologies into each regular curriculum, institutions are ensuring that their students can be prepared for modern life and the work sector.

Many tools – such as Skype and Google Drive – offer a variety of functionalities that promote collaboration. Moreover, one of the main and most popular tools adopted by secondary schools in Italy due to the current distance learning is Google Suite for Education. It is helping so many students, with its main applications Google Meet and Classroom, that are mainly used for taking live lessons, upload and download materials, as in Reference [11].

We have to consider that, even if students seem so tech, they are able to use smartphones and computers, especially for pleasure (e.g., for chats, social networks, games, challenges, film vision on the net, online streaming instead of watching tv, making and publishing photos). Attending a lesson via the net is different, and it is fundamental to give the correct tools to students, in order to avoid a digital dispersion and to ensure the so-called netiquette5.

We have to make students aware that there exist rules also living in the virtual 5 The word netiquette refers to conventions of politeness on the net. Communicating with others via the internet without misunderstandings in the heat of the moment can be challenging, mainly because input from facial expressions and body language are absent in cyberspace.

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world. So, even if most students are already digital citizens, teachers have also taught to students how to be responsible in the digital world by incorporating technology into the classroom. The class becomes a microcosm of the broader digital landscape. Students can practice how to communicate, search, and engage with other digital citizens, always behaving correctly on the net and respecting the netiquette.

Understanding the correct use and potentiality of distance learning is very important, even because there are not two or more students all over the world who learn the same way. By means of technology, teachers can also address diversity in learning styles. An engagement network helps them discover which type of teaching style works best by identifying each student needs based on real-time feedback and adapting to any learning scenario.

Moreover, technology makes it easier for students to find information quickly and accurately, but it has to be used correctly.

Figure 4 below show the characteristic organization that marks distance learning.

Figure 4.

The Route

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to education in

Distance Learning.

B. Teachers and Technology: an Essential Partnership Technology cannot be effective in a class group without teachers knowledgeable about both the technology itself and its implementation to meet educational goals.

While technology use in the classroom was already adopted before distance learning and it is constantly increasing, improving learning through its application should remain the goal.

Digital technology can never be the lonely teacher of the future, but it could be a powerful teaching assistant. In fact, it can play a supportive role in a valuable impact on learning outcomes. As in [1], technology can handle tasks that a teacher cannot do – whether through lack of time or resources – and can add real value to the classroom.

It is important that teachers understand that a dynamic link with technology can help both themselves and the students. To achieve these goals, however, teachers need to expand and maintain their knowledge of learning technologies. They have to migrate into the internet and develop their ability to critically assess digital learning tools. Their main objective is to identify tools that offer the greatest benefits for students.

A fundamental role for teachers is to encourage social learning, because it facilitates interaction, discussion and collaboration among students. It also creates a positive and interpersonal learning climate.

Students often fervently welcome technology, but teachers do not. Sometimes they lack skills to use it properly. They doubt its real value; they see technology as a threat to their professional role. In it also true that teachers are not as temerarious as teenagers in using new and untested means.

But we have also to consider that students need tech use, and it is not a monster that constantly threaten above us. By being more

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linked to technology and more responsive to its benefits, teachers will maintain their irreplaceable role at the center of learning.

Moreover, they simultaneously help shape a form of didactics which will benefit everyone.

C. Some Ideas Based on Distance Learning Experience in March-April 2020 Even if teachers are the main puppeteers during frontal and distance lessons, it is obvious that everything is shaped on our students. They are the true users of the lesson, and who are suffering the confusion and the strangeness of these months, perhaps more than anyone else6.

Therefore, we should try to understand their situations and their state of uncertainty and help them take part in these new teaching methods. For instance, during distance lessons each of us could investigate what are the real needs of each students, both on school subjects and in their life. This aspect represents a fundamental part of their behavior, now more than ever.

We are referring, of course, to those students who are truly interested in the lessons and who seriously participate.

After talking with them, some interesting considerations have come out about the pros and cons of distance learning.

For example, as decided by the Ministry of Education in Italy, in most schools, the timetable for distance learning has been reformulated. This way, each teacher can concentrate his/her lesson in about twenty 6 We have to consider that there are different types of problems in students’ lives, because they strongly need school both for education and because it represents a fundamental world where they can abandon all potential – but unfortunately very recurring – problems in their households. And, due to Coronavirus outbreak, they are constrained to live only in their own house, with all their family, without any chance of escape or taking their minds off.

minutes, taking the rest of the hour for greetings, information, reflections, and so on.

This shorter time depends on the complexity of the virtual dimension, because distance learning implies an attention that is more difficult than into a classroom. Times of virtual learning are undoubtedly different from face-to-face learning, so we have to be careful of this aspect.

Nevertheless, many students have shown some perplexities regarding virtual didactics, by explaining their wants. Taking longer breaks between one hour and the next, because they really need to rest. Do not calibrate the same time for all disciplines, as they need much time for some subjects and topics, and less for others (although this can be solved by dedicating more lessons to the explanation of the same issue).

Reduce the number of subjects for each day, by allocating them during the week.

Redistribute oral and written tests, even during the afternoons. In some cases, give much time to some lessons7.

Each school has tried to please all these wants and needs. We can state that the school situation in Italy is quite satisfying both students and teachers, who still hope to get back to normality.

It is clear that we can learn a lot thanks to this situation. Much has been done by schools – absolutely quickly and effectively – and, as in all cases, much can still be done.

V. Final Considerations and New

Proposals

It is not a recent idea that a body needs all its parts to function. Just a handful of years ago, in the Holy Bible, it was written that8 the eye could not say to the hand “I do not need you”, nor the head to the foot 7 This request would be a consequence of their need to fill their leisure time.

8 My translation from the original version in Italian.

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“I do not need you”. And even those limbs of the body that seem weaker are more necessary, as in [7].

As our bodies, our school needs all of us to work and face the Coronavirus outbreak in Italy. For this reason, everyone should feel as a part of such big body, in order to function as a vehicle of knowledge, education and support for students, teachers and the school environment as a whole.

To do this, it is necessary to be flexible because the Coronavirus pandemic could represent a reversing course for understanding that our world is changing.

Our lives are changing, our students are changing too. So, why the way to teach should remain the same? Why we should limit to report what students could simply read on their books?

School in Italy is already using some new methods, but all new proposals for teaching can be important for our changing and restart, especially if these proposals come from students.

For instance, distance learning could be a significant means also when we physically turn back to school. To help students during the afternoons, or to involve them in different projects. Distance learning could represent an important method to make them work together both in class and at home, to do group works, to discuss about an issue, to show research data. Tech tools could be better than a static sequence of slides in Power Point, for example.

I think that school and didactics as well need a change, and this terrible event can represent an opportunity for experimenting a new technique. Even if this new method appears less near to paper books and standard lessons of a few years ago, it is more technological, more productive, more captivating, nearer to students. But it needs to coexist with face-to-face learning, because the power of human links goes beyond any form of technology.

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Of course, the need to understand how distance learning tool works, how to do evaluations, how to take final exams has prevailed in the first stage of distance learning. These aspects came first, and the great involvement that we all lived into each classroom is missing. The human links, students’ requests, their observations are lacking. As well as students’ secrets confided – like “It’s the first time that I understand this topic so immediately!”, as in the case of students who are repeating the school year, or “May I come to the blackboard to do the exercise?”, and see them arguing to get in line.

But all this will surely come back, because we will go back to our classrooms, and students will find the beautiful and noisy peace of the past again.

In this period of transition, we must take advantage of each tool we have at our disposal to continue to learn. We must remember that – as in [3] – actually, “it doesn’t matter what we know, but that we know what we need to know when we need to know it”9. This means that nothing is enough. We must always update, connect, and relate to the world around us, even if situations change over time and become more difficult.

Simply, this is our present, and we have to stay in step with it! This changing, this palingenesis can make us go far, crossing those boundaries where our students see only wonderful horizons.

References [1]

[2]

“Anything teachers can do – can technology do better?”, last consulted April 15, http:// www.cambridgeenglish.org/blog/anythingteachers-can-do-can-technology-do-better/ 1/5/.

Del Colle, Enrico. I Giovani 4.0. Situazione e prospettive concrete (e non mediatiche)

9 My translation in English from the original audio in Italian.

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dei giovani nell’Italia di oggi e di domani.

Naples: Editoriale Scientifica, 2017.

[3] Di Giovanni, Parisio & Salvatori, Roberto.

2020. “Coronavirus e empowerment Cambierà l’istruzione?, last consulted April 13, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e7IqF4Qjo/.

[4] Iuvinale, Karina. 2019. “New horizons in Italy’s “small schools”: re-thinking didactics to enhance the territory”. AIDA Informazioni, Anno 37, n. 3-4. Rome: Aracne.

[5] Iuvinale, Karina. 2018. “Specific Learning Disorders in Students.

Knowledge Organization and Management through Maps”. AIDA Informazioni, Anno 36, n. 3-4.

Rome: Aracne.

[6] Plutarco di Cheronea, L’arte di ascoltare, Milan: Garzanti, 2018, http://www.filosofico. net/ [7] www.bibbia.net/ (Prima lettera ai Corinzi, 12: 12-30) [8] www.collinsdictionary.com/it/ [9] www.dictionary.cambridge.org/ [10] www.dizionari.corriere.it/ [11] www.istruzione.it/coronavirus/didattica-adistanza_google-education.html/ [12] www.macmillandictionary.com/ [13] www.merriam-webster.com/ [14] www.miur.gov.it/ [15] www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/ [16] w w w. s c u o l a 2 4 . i l s o l e 2 4 o r e . c o m / a r t / scuola/2019-10-02/sono-84-milioni-studentiitalia-154756.php?uuid=AC3ZjYo/ [17] www.study.com/academy/lesson/teachingmath-methods-strategies.html/ [18] www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/ [19] www.wordreference.com/

regards terminology of ESP (English for Specific Purposes), such as English for Animal Welfare and Protection, English for Economics, English for Veterinary Medicine, and she likes updating about the special needs of particular students attending secondary school.

She has worked in different secondary schools in Teramo, both as a teacher of Math and as a teacher for students with special needs; furthermore, she has been a university teacher at the degree course in Animal Welfare and Protection, University of Teramo (Italy), since 2017; since her graduation in 2010, she has been a university teaching-assistant at the University of Teramo, as regards English Language academic classes at Economics, Political Science, Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnology degree courses.

Among her more significant publications, New horizons in Italy’s “small schools”: re-thinking didactics to enhance the territory, (2019), AIDA Informazioni, Anno 37, 3-4, Rome: Aracne Editrice; Specific Learning Disorders in Students. Knowledge Organization and Management of Learning through Maps, (2018), AIDA Informazioni, Anno 36, 3-4, Rome: Aracne Editrice; Using Animal and Human in Scientific Lexicon both as an Adjective and as a Noun: an Insight on ENG/ITA Translations, QUAESTI 2017 – 6th Virtual Multidisciplinary Conference.

Biography Karina Iuvinale was born in Teramo (Italy), on 21st May 1985.

She graduated in Economics for Banking, Accounting and Insurance (master degree) in 2010 and in Sciences of Administration (master degree) in 2019, at the University of Teramo, Italy. Her primary field of study

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The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces, (DIALOGO-CONF 2020 VICSSR) held online, on the Journalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website, from MAY 19 - 26, 2020

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Compulsivity and coronavirus - the type of response that healthcare professionals have in the coronavirus pandemic Alina Zorina Stroe

Constanta County Clinical Emergency Hospital Department of Neurology Constanta, Romania

Any Docu Axelerad

Ovidius University, Faculty of Medicine Department of Neurology Constanta, Romania

article info Article history: Received 29 February 2020 Received in revised form 20 May 2020 Accepted 25 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.13

Keywords: coronavirus, healthcare workers, stress, depression, anxiety, infection, questionnaire, medical personnel;

Silviu Docu Axelerad

Student at Vasile Goldis University, Faculty of General Medicine Arad, Romania

Daniel Docu Axelerad

Ovidius University of Constanta, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Constanta, Romania

abstract

For persons with a job in the medical field, the increased risk of contracting infections is part of the chosen profession and becomes a much more apparent challenge in epidemics, such as the one that the global population is currently facing- coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to concerns about personal contact of the coronavirus infection, the medical professionals are particularly concerned about transmitting the infection at the family level, especially involving family members who are elderly, immunocompromised or have chronic medical conditions. This involves taking additional preventative measures, which require time, physical and mental energy, which involve more reasons for stress and concern. On the other hand, the medical staff also experiences two types of difficulties during the current and current viral pandemic: the volume of physical work and psychological stress. The increase of physical work is challenging to manage due to the insufficient number of sanitary personnel to participate in the increased measures addressed in this case. Psychological stress, although not currently visible, affects the psychic, physical, and human behavior in the long term. We investigated the general condition of medical workers in the incipient stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania, as well as the perception of health and emotional and mental health risks. Š 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

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eISSN: 2393-1744, cdISSN: 2392-9928 printISSN: 2457-9297, ISSN-L 2392-9928

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I. INTRODUCTION

Symptomology specific to upper airway infection caused by COVID-19 in the human level affects the body as a whole, but especially the upper respiratory tract, then the lower respiratory tract and in a low percentage of cases the gastrointestinal tract and implies the following symptoms: hyperpyrexia (with frequency between 43% and 98% according to the studies performed); headache (with frequency between 6% and 34% according to the studies performed); myalgia (with frequency between 11% and 15% according to the studies performed); rhinorrhea (with a frequency between 4% and 24% according to the studies performed); sore throat (with frequency between 5% and 14% according to the studies performed); dyspnea (with frequency between 3% and 64% according to the studies performed); chest tightness (24% in studies by Shi. et al.); cough (with a frequency between 68% and 82% according to the studies performed); sputum (with a frequency between 14% and 56% according to the studies performed); hemoptysis (frequency between 1% and 5% according to the studies performed); nausea (with frequency between 1% and 10% according to studies) and diarrhea (with frequency between 2% and 8% according to studies). [1]-[4] Information from currently available studies shows that the virus can produce both a mild, flu-like form and severe forms.

From these studies, the average age of the affected population is 49-56 years old, with the rare pediatric population being affected.

In cases with severe evolution, COVID-19 infection can develop into pneumonia or bronchopneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, renal impairment leading to death. The categories of people with compromised immune system, infants and the elderly, as well as persons with pre-existing chronic pathologies of the cardio-vascular and / or respiratory

system are predisposed to having a more serious evolution of the disease, with the more frequent involvement of the lower respiratory tract. Other complications include coma, neurological complications, hypotension, shock, renal failure, myocardial ischemia. The mortality in hospitalized cases is about 4%. [5] Mode of transmission: Early studies conclude that transmission from one person to another occurs most often during close contact with a person infected with COVID-19, especially through respiratory drops that occur when the infected person coughs or sneezes. The drops may come into contact with the mouth, nose or eyes of people who are in close proximity to the infected persons or may be inhaled into the lungs of those nearby. Currently, however, there is uncertainty about the contribution of small respiratory particles, sometimes called aerosols or droplets, to the development of COVID-19 infection. However, the probability of aerial transmission from one person to another over important distances is low.

The health safety of the medical personnel is important in order to be able to provide efficient medical services for the patients infected with COVID-19, but also of the uninfected patients. The schedule of medical staff and the amount of services provided differ in the current viral epidemic.

Therefore some nurses in Daegu hospitals worked for 12 hours a day, compared to their normal 8-hour work schedule. Also, doctors are working harder because of the insufficient number of health care professionals in the current viral pandemic.

And next to the important workload, there is the risk of being exposed and infected with COVID-19. For this reason, healthcare personnel must be protected from viral infection in compliance with the measures required by medical guides. [6]-[8] Preventive measures must be applied before the patient arrives, upon arrival, and

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throughout the patient’s hospitalization and until the patient’s room is cleaned and disinfected after the patient is discharged. The medical staff is trained to clean their hands before and after any contact with the patient, after contact with potentially infectious material and before putting on and after removing protective equipment, including gloves. Hand sanitization after removal of protective equipment is particularly important to remove any pathogens that might be transmitted on bare hands during the removal process. Proper hand hygiene and surface decontamination are vital because protective equipment and other precautions cannot protect the medical person from contacting contaminated surfaces and subsequently not washing their hands in a timely manner. Medical staff is trained to disinfect workspaces and personal items such as stethoscopes, cell phones, keyboards and other commonly used items in the workplace because the virus has been shown to survive on surfaces for 7 days.

Workers in environmental services are also instructed to frequently clean commonly touched surfaces, such as light switches, chair arms, railings, lift buttons, buttons and handles. Continuous disinfection is not only a technical problem, it is a reassuring factor for medical personnel and patients, but it can also be a continuous factor of stress and concern. Self-monitoring of medical staff is vital, so trained medical personnel monitor their temperature twice a day and maintain their attention to self-diagnose early respiratory manifestations.

In Korea, doctors and nurses were infected with COVID-19 during the service.

In one institute, it was found that over 10 healthcare professionals were infected during their work to care for patients. Also, the staff adjacent to the medical staff were infected with the virus during the transport of patients. Reports of transmission of the infection through asymptomatic Session 4. Miscellaneous

persons are present. The evidence related to transmissibility and mortality points to the need for vigilance, training, active management and protection. It is imperative to test the medical staff, there are really no symptoms or signs of the disease.[9]-[10] In China, the estimations of COVID-19 infection reach 3,000 health workers and the death occurred in at least 22 people in the healthcare sector.

In the press, the case of the Daegu Catholic University Hospital appeared, where starting from doctors, nurses and transfer agencies, seven people were confirmed by CORVID-19, which caused the anxiety among the medical colleagues to increase. [9]- [10] II. METHOD

This study used a survey in the virtual environment among workers in the medical system in Constanta County, from Romania.

Data were collected using anonymous structures questionnaires distributed through social software.

The workers in the medical system from Constanta city, Romania, were worried about the risks of infection and protection against the COVID-19 epidemic, especially since the epidemic in this city started with the first positive case confirmed by the hospital staff of the county hospital. During the first days of positive confirmations of other patients, in the first hundred positive patients from Romania, followed the positivity of several cases of doctors from Constanta and from Romania. This information led to psychological stress and fear, especially because the first patient infected with COVID-19 in Constanta was in the medical field.

Employees in the medical system face a number of challenges: a sudden outbreak of a pandemic, a growing workload, a high risk of occupational exposure, a high risk

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of personal infection and infection of their family members and insufficient supply of materials. The psychological response of employees in the health care sector is of vital importance in terms of the effect of the defense against the pandemic.

The study was conducted as an online survey in the virtual environment to avoid interpersonal contacts and to prevent the epidemic. The study started on 13.03.2020, within three days, during which time, the number of confirmed cases in the country exceeded 200 cases, and in the county level it exceeded at least 10 cases, of which 2 county cases (1 doctor and 1 nurse) and at least 4 cases at national level (2 doctors and 1 nurse and 1 hospital manager) being in the medical field.

The confidentiality of the personal information offered by the participants anonymized in the study was maintained throughout the study. The participation of the medical personnel in this survey was voluntary. Informed consent was obtained from each participant before their participation.

The questionnaire had three components: initially, it contained basic demographic and occupational data. The basic demographic information consisted of data on: age, sex, marital status and work experience in the medical field.

The second part of the questionnaire included the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) is a tool for quantifying mental health, with high reliability and validity, accepted globally. The third part of the questionnaire contained the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7). And in the last part, each person was asked to write if they have any fears about the current viral epidemic and about what these fears arise.

III. RESULTS

A total of 100 questionnaires were distributed. Of the respondents, 28 (28%) were men and 72 (72%) were women.

Doctors were 45 (45%), of which 14 were specialists and mayors, and 31 were resident doctors. Nurses were 27 (27%) nurses, and nursing and auxiliary medical staff were 28 (28%). The average age was 36 years.

Of the interviewees, 81% are married and 68% of the interviewees have children. Of the interviewed persons 19% work in the hospital for more than 10 years, and 41% work in the hospital for a period between 5 and 10 years, and 33% work in the hospital for a period between 1 year and 5 years, and 7% among the interviewed persons work in the hospital for less than 1 year.

The results of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment show that: 54 (54%) of the participants scored between 0-7 points and 32 (32%) of the participants scored between 8-14 points and 14 (14%) of the participants obtained a score between 15-21 points.

The General Health Questionnaire results using the Likert scoring method show that: 71 (71%) of the participants scored between 0-12 points and 17 (17%) of the participants scored between 1-24 points and 12 (12%) of the participants obtained a score between 25-36 points.

The main concerns of the medical personnel were three facts, related to: own infection (78%), infection of family members (90%) and ineffectiveness of protective measures (65%). The prevalence of concerns of employees in the medical environment was related to the infection of families, and then followed the concern related to self-infection. Lastly, there was concern about the ineffectiveness of the protection measures offered by the workplace.

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IV. DISCUSSION

A large proportion of the employees of the Wuhan medical system presented psychological abnormalities. In order to detect the type of errors made so far among the employees of the medical system in the current viral epidemic, three types of errors have been discovered and by identifying, awareness and modification of these misconceptions, the transmission of the infection in the employees of the medical system decreases and implicitly decreases and the transmission of the infection back in society. [10] The first type of error was the inadequate personal protection of healthcare workers at the beginning of the pandemic. The problem was the correct misunderstanding of the pathogen, which also did not increase the self-protection rate among medical staff. Second, prolonged exposure to infected patients directly increased the risk of infection for employees in the medical system. At the same time, constants such as: labor intensity and lack of rest have favored the infection of health workers.

Third, the lack of individual protective equipment was also a serious problem and the lack of professional supervision and guidance facilitated the infection of medical personnel. [8]-[10] Chronic stress can have a resounding effect on humanity, not only through the onset of depression and anxiety, but also through the appearance of symptoms specific to burnout syndrome, which bring the possibility of experiencing increases in cognitive difficulties. Depression can have important consequences for the human physicist and psychic. The involvement of depression in thinking both in the emotional and in the non-emotional plane has been shown to involve planning and problem solving. Also, as the demand for services increases, especially during stressful periods, such as the current pandemic, Session 4. Miscellaneous

medical personnel lose professional satisfaction, which predisposes to anxiety, which offers all the constants to form a vicious circle. On the other hand, a high level of stress, together with the fatigue and the increase of the risks as well as at the level of the personal, family and global health, can induce changes at the emotional and rational level, which changes the behaviors of the people in the situations of stress.

A recently published article exposes changes in the brain, the adoption of a “habit system” by activating the brain at the base of the brain, which has been correlated with irrational fear-dependent behavior, which hinders the rational functioning of the brain.

Providing food, rest breaks, decompression time and adequate rest time can be just as important as providing protocols and protective equipment.

Frequent information and feedback meetings with hospital managers and the medical community, along with clear and concise communication, will ease the focus of medical staff on patient care and (self) safety.

On the other hand, medical personnel should benefit from specialized psychological assistance, as well as communication and mutual encouragement among health personnel could have beneficial action on psychological stress through encouragement and interconnection. Also, another method could be constituted by a more detailed population education, which could bring a barrier to negative scenarios in people’s minds. Early detection of adverse psychological conditions of medical personnel could save lives among medical staff as well as patients. The psychological problems arising from the current pandemic, would be as devastating as the physical health problems, both for medical staff and patients.

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CONCLUSIONS The solution could come through the practice of exercise, yoga and a balanced diet, methods that have been proven to be beneficial in cases of psychological stress, depression and anxiety underlying a chronic disease.[11]-[15] Exercise and body movement have beneficial effects by triggering an anti-inflammatory response and increasing neurogenesis in key areas such as the hippocampus. Also, at the psychic level physical exercises have positive effects on immunity, cognition and emotional state.

[16]-[20] At this critical moment for society, the roles and responsibilities of the people in the medical system must be positively evaluated and recognized. Although medical staff are not immune to the effects of such a widespread infection, being on the front line of attack, medical staff can help reduce the risks to society. We must emphasize and appreciate the functions of doctors and professional teams in the medical field in the correct management of cases, as having the essential role in treating and preventing the infection in a professional and responsible way. In order to gain the trust of the society, the medical personnel must demonstrate professionalism and increased competence in this situation of high risk for the population.

Improving the protocols for the protection of medical personnel is imperative, not only to protect their rights and interests, but also to build a safe and capable health system that can cope with the challenges posed by a pandemic.

In conclusion, the emergence of a state of emergency in the context of the current pandemic, among the employees of the health system in Romania, does nothing but exacerbate the negative emotional states, especially the depression and anxiety, which occur against the background of the

feeling of helplessness, which is expressed through fear and can bring about behavioral changes, awakening the primary survival instincts, arising skepticism, paranoia and aggression that can endanger the medical act and decrease the efficiency and ability to cope with this situation well.

REFERENCES [1]. Zhe Xu et al. 2020. ’’ Pathological findings of COVID-19 associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome”. Lancet Respir Med https://doi.org/10.1016/ S2213-2600(20)30076-X [2].Guan WJ et al. 2020. “Clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 in China.” The New England Journal of Medicine, doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2002032.

[3]. Chan JF et al. 2020. ’’A familial cluster of pneumonia associated with the 2019 novel coronavirus indicating person-to-person transmission: a study of a family cluster.’’ Lancet. 395: 514-523 [4].Yang Y et al. 2020. ’’Epidemiological and clinical features of the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak in China’’. medRxiv, doi: 10.1101/2020.02.10.20021675.

[5]. Wu ZY, McGoogan JM. 2020. ’’Characteristics of and important lessons from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in China: summary of a report of 72 314 cases from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention’’. JAMA, doi: 10.1001/ jama.2020.2648.

[6]. Rothe C et al. 2020. ’’Transmission of 2019-nCoV infection from an asymptomatic contact in Germany’’.

The New England Journal of Medicine, doi: 10.1056/ NEJMc2001468.

[7]. Zhou et al. 2020. ’’Healthcare-resource-adjusted vulnerabilities towards the 2019-nCoV epidemic across China’’. medRxiv, doi:10.1101/2020.02.11.20022111.

[8]. Akshaya Srikanth Bhagavathula et al. 2020. ’’Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Knowledge and Perceptions: A Survey on Healthcare workers’’. medRxiv https://doi. org/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033381 [9]. Wang J, Zhou M, Liu F. 2020. ’’ Exploring the reasons for healthcare workers infected with novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China’’.

Journal of Hospital Infection, https:// doi.org/10.1016/j. jhin.2020.03.002.

[10]. Yuhong Dai1, Guangyuan Hu1, Huihua Xiong1, Hong Qiu and Xianglin Yuan. 2020. ’’ Psychological

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impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak on healthcare workers in China’’. medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.03.20030874.

[11]. Docu-Axelerad A, Stroe ZA, Docu-Axelerad D, Docu-Axelerad S. “Multiple sclerosis and yoga. Arch Balk Med Union.” 2020;55(1):154-158. http://doi. org/10.31688/AMBU.2020.55.1.19 [12]. Docu Axelerad A, Docu Axelerad D, Docu Axelerad S, Stroe A Z. ’’Walking in Parkinson’s disease’’ Ovidius University Annals, Series Physical Education and Sport / SCIENCE, MOVEMENT AND HEALTH Vol. XIX, ISSUE 2, 2019; 19 (2 supplement): 350 – 354.

[13]. Stroe A Z, Docu Axelerad S, Docu Axelerad D, Docu Axelerad A.’’ Exercises in Parkinson’s disease.’’

Ovidius University Annals, Series Physical Education and Sport / Science, Movement and Health, Vol. XIX, ISSUE 2 Supplement, 2019; 19 (2 supplement): 344 – 349.

[14]. Docu Axelerad A, Stroe A Z, Docu Axelerad S, Docu Axelerad D. 2019. Divinity in dementia.

DIALOGO 6(1): 187 – 194. DOI: 10.18638/ dialogo.2019.6.1.18, ISBN: 978-80-973541-1-4 (html), 978-80-973541-0-7(pdf), ISSN: 2393-1744.

[15]. Docu Axelerad A, Stroe A Z, Docu Axelerad S. 2019. ’’Combating Depression in Parkinson’s Disease with Melotherapy’’. DIALOGO. 6(1): 195 - 202, DOI: 10.18638/dialogo.2019.6.1.19, ISBN: 978-80-9735411-4 (html), 978-80-973541-0-7(pdf), ISSN: 2393-1744 [16]. Docu Axelerad A, Stroe A Z, Docu Axelerad S. 2019.’’How religiosity affects Parkinson’s disease symptoms.’’ DIALOGO. 6 (1): 203 - 211, DOI: 10.18638/dialogo.2019.6.1.20, ISBN: 978-80-9735411-4 (html), 978-80-973541-0-7(pdf), ISSN: 2393-1744.

[17]. Dantes E, Docu Axelerad S, Stroe A Z, Docu Axelerad D, Docu Axelerad A. ’’The rehabilitation of hemiparesis after stroke.’’ Ovidius University Annals, Series Physical Education and Sport / Science, Movement and Health, Vol. XX, ISSUE 1, 2020; 20 (1): 5 – 9.

[18]. Docu Axelerad A, Jurja S, Stroe A Z, Docu Axelerad S, Docu Axelerad D. ’’The role of physical exercise in multiple sclerosis.’’ Ovidius University Annals, Series Physical Education and Sport / Science, Movement and Health, Vol. XX, ISSUE 1, 2020; 20 (1): 10 – 15.

[19]. Docu Axelerad D, Docu Axelerad S, Dantes E, Stroe A Z, Docu Axelerad A. ’’Mixed dementia and

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physical exercise.’’ Ovidius University Annals, Series Physical Education and Sport / Science, Movement and Health, Vol. XX, ISSUE 1, 2020; 20 (1): 16 – 21.

[20]. Stroe A Z, Docu Axelerad S, Docu Axelerad D, Docu Axelerad A. ’’Neurorehabilitation through exercise in parkinson’s disease patients’’. Ovidius University Annals, Series Physical Education and Sport /Science, Movement and Health, Vol. XX, ISSUE 1, 2020; 20 (1): 67 – 71.

[21]. Docu Axelerad A, Docu Axelerad D. „Comparative Evaluation of Pregabaline, Gabapentine, Sertraline and Duloxetine in Painful Diabetic Non Insulin-dependent Neuropathy” Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol 191, 2015; 469-472.

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The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces, (DIALOGO-CONF 2020 VICSSR)

held online, on the Journal’s website, from MAY 19 - 26, 2020

journal homepage: http://dialogo-conf.com

The measures religious cults took in front of COVID-19: weakness or diligence?

Rev. Cosmin-Tudor CIOCAN, PhD The Faculty of Theology, Ovidius University of Constanta Romania

article info

abstract

Article history: Received 28 February 2020 Received in revised form 17 May Accepted 20 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.14

While spreading wide-world, the new coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 made changes in many social departments of our society on levels we never thought about and messes with all our cultural habits. Thus, we witnessed that the religious denominations took into consideration changes without precedent in their cultic history and thus dogmatic as well concerning the actual threat of Coronavirus. We saw for example the RomanCatholic Church who suspended all masses here and there [1] at first or banned the crucial gestures in rituals [to suspend the distribution of Holy Communion from the Chalice [2], to distribute the Eucharist preferably into the hands of the faithful, and to avoid the physical contact from a peaceful handshake, to forego ash crosses on forehead, to suspend placing water in holy water fonts at the entrance of churches, that the churchgoers “refrain” from kissing or touching the cross for veneration, or even cancellation of masses]. We witnessed Buddhist temples and Protestant churches around Korea [at first] and beyond that have also suspended religious gatherings, and so on. In my case, the Romanian Orthodox Church did the same thing [3], but in a controversial way, firstly making some recommendations for its believers [e.g. not to kiss public icons in Churches, but their indoor ones, and receive Holy Communion with teaspoons for single-use]; afterward same Church reconsidered these recommendations and withdrew its decision [perhaps at the pressure of civil fundamentalists]. How can we qualify all these measures and, moreover, the withdrawal on behalf of religious believers, as weakness, populism, diligence, assuming the human limits, or...something else? What would be the correct and coherent answer religion(s) should assume in this particular regard, and especially what are the reasons to qualify it in a way or another?

Keywords: Covid-19; pandemic; religion; religiousness; medical care; critical measures; digital; online; crisis; fundamentalism; Holy Communion; contradictions; social conflicts;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

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eISSN: 2393-1744, cdISSN: 2392-9928 printISSN: 2457-9297, ISSN-L 2392-9928

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I. Introduction

The new Coronavirus [Sars-CoV-2, 20192020] that spread all over the world into a pandemic outbreak took humanity by surprise and has placed every social system out of service. Even if we are talking about transport and traveling, about economy and industry, education and academic meetings, trade and import, medical and pharmaceutical systems, all were overwhelmed and ready to collapse in front of this tiny, invisible, and unintentional organism. One of the global systems that had to face significant changes in order to survive and overpass this crisis is the religious one, who, of all, stands the most rigid and impassive until this crisis with regard to civil society demands of corrections. This motionless and impassiveness was always the main response of the religious phenomenon to all requirements the civil, secular society had previously demanded when there were changes in the civilization, changes that also required wave of changes in religion(s).

The ‘resistance to change’ of religions has always been openly manifested, and the fundamentalist cluster of each religion had been fiercely opposed to any adaptation.

Of course, this ‘adaptation’ has always been made eventually, but it took decades and sometimes centuries to do it. However, as we shall see further on, what the secular society failed to achieve from religious leaders through an overwhelming and long-lasting pressure, an unintelligent microorganism has succeeded it, as if it was sent to test our limits and to shame our audacity which had encompassed us, as it was done before, at the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:9). The strongest point demanded by all authorities was towards all human activities to concur in stopping the spread of the pandemic. Dr. Nathalie MacDermott, National Institute for Health Research academic clinical lecturer King’s College London, says: “The change of term does not alter anything practically as

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the world has been advised for the last few weeks to prepare for a potential pandemic, which has hopefully been taken seriously by all countries. The use of this term however highlights the importance of countries throughout the world working cooperatively and openly with one another and coming together as a united front in our efforts to bring this situation under control.”[4] II. The problem: religious responses to

the pandemic outbreak challenges

The big question concerning the actual topic is: why is there a problem for religious communities with regard to the civil measures taken in this pandemic outbreak?

Moreover, the thing is that even if we knew so few things about this new Coronavirus (real origin, manifestation, bodily targeting, population frame focusing, medical weapons to fight against etc.), the most important ‘weapon’ to fight against its spreading was considered to be the social distancing. The thing is that religious rituals and gatherings are, almost everywhere, the core facts to prove religiousness. Giving them up would mean for believers giving up proving religiousness, equaling with apostasy for the fundamentalists. Therefore, this kind of measure would be regarded as giving up faith, God. Thus, someone would instead consider it more relevant to keep proving their religiousness in spite of the threat caused by COVID19. We can address this threat as any other one that created martyrs who gave up their freedom of choice to life over proving their religiousness, or we can give up on it and try to adapt in order to survive as a society.

By the time I finished writing this article (end of April) may not be the worst scenario of this pandemic, and there are still many people, groups, and institutions that disagree and hold fast to common-sense measures to contain the spread of Coronavirus. We saw

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along with the spreading of this pandemic how religious communities have faced it and made or not changes in their daily religious routine. This situation is due moreover since for Christianity, this outbreak concurs with the fasting period for Easter, a period of increasing religious presence in churches, looking for more religious gatherings, and increasingly spending time in churches.

In essence, all of these habits consist of contraventions to the virus’s spreading measures. We know [at 11.03.2020] that the best chance humanity has to ‘deal’ with this pandemics is to try to contain as much as possible the spread of Covid-19, and the best measure of doing that is staying indoors.

As we ‘speak’ Italy is closed for already a couple of days, declared as a country ‘in quarantine’ and the drastic measures they took to ‘contain’ [as if it would be the case for this in their situation any-longer since Italy has now over 10,000 confirmed cases and it continues to grow and stay on pallposition [on 5.4.2020, they have 15,362 deads].

Some social agencies have said that the lack of concurrence on behalf of religious communities in this situation proves only a lack of compassion, understanding and civic sense. For others, equally important, doctors and scientists, religiousness seems to be the only valid option most people should turn to these days. I have heard so many people involved in saving this unsalvageable situation, mayors, doctors, people of State, that have asked those at home through the video a message similar to ‘now is the moment that you turn to God; stay indoors for us and pray, pray, pray, so that we can see all exit from this crisis’. All medical systems from countries in ‘the red zone’ collapsed in facing this outbreak. Thus, doctors have seen the unseen, their human powers unspeakable widened, receiving unexpected aid, and thus asking for more.

I heard stories about that scattered all over the ‘first line’ of fighting, and they ask for

more help from those deemed to be closer to God. “Believers worldwide are running afoul of public health authorities’ warnings that communal gatherings – the keystone of so much religious practice – must be limited to combat the virus’ spread. In some cases, religious fervor has led people toward cures that have no grounding in Science; in others, it has drawn them to sacred places or rites that could increase the risk of infection.”[5] There are so various ‘healing’ solutions offered by diverse religious communities all over the world as a response to the desperate calls came from infected people, overwhelmed doctors, terrified stretchers, scared authorities and so forth, that these ‘original’ solutions did not delay to flourish.

“In Myanmar, a prominent Buddhist monk announced that a dose of one lime and three palm seeds — no more, no less — would confer immunity. In Iran, a few pilgrims were filmed licking Shiite Muslim shrines to ward off infection. Furthermore, in Texas, the preacher Kenneth Copeland braided televangelism with telemedicine, broadcasting himself, one trembling hand outstretched, as he claimed he could cure believers through their screens.”[6] III. Measures took by diverse religious

communities

The religious practices of hundreds of millions of people are undergoing profound changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic caused by a new coronavirus. The crisis has prompted many religious leaders to appeal to their followers to not only take safety precautions but also to embrace their spirituality to help confront the health, social, and economic challenges ahead. We have witnessed a broad range of changes in the religious practices of daily routine, from wearing protective masks due to the coronavirus outbreak and using alcohol

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gel as they take part in a ceremony, giving blessings or confessions from a distance, to significant changes in religious rituals, pilgrimage and celebrating Holidays. Many religious authorities are closing places of worship or limiting public gatherings. In an extraordinary gesture in February, Saudi Arabia banned foreign arrivals and halted visits to Mecca and Medina for umrah, a religious pilgrimage that Muslims can undertake at any time of year. Riyadh also briefly shuttered the Great Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina for disinfection. Many mosques have canceled Friday services, and calls to prayer in countries such as Kuwait and Malaysia have been altered to tell people to pray from home. Buddhist New Year celebrations, which often bring thousands of people together for public water fights and other events, have been canceled across South Asia.[7] Photo 1.

The Grand Mosque in Basra, Iraq.

Photo: Essam al-Sudani

The whole Roman Catholic Church proved resilience and collaborate with the authorities and end up even by changing core rituals and alter others, previously considered immutable and unchangeable, as it is the case with congregants receiving Holy Communion[8]. Still, other Churches were more resistant and averse to requirements.

The conservative Eastern Orthodox traditionalists from Tbilisi to Athens have argued against church closures or altering their centuries-old custom of sharing the bread and wine with a common spoon for Holy Communion. On the other hand, there are so many religions who took extreme, unprecedented measures to contain and help the secular society slower the outbreak.

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All over the world, we witnessed important global religious events or local ones curtailed, rescheduled, or even canceled.

In April, most of the world’s major religions have festivals involving large gatherings of people. The Easter is on April 12 for Roman Catholic Church (a week later for Eastern Orthodox churches); Passover begins on April 8 for Hebrew; Rama Navami, an important Hindu festival, is on April 2, while the Sikh festival of Vaisakhi is a few days later. The Islamic holy month of Ramadan begins around April 23.[9] At first, all seemed to take place, with special conditions thou, but still be on. Then, day by day, with the magnitude of the pandemic, they were all canceled successively. In the beginning, people were advised that all gatherings outside of work and school will be limited to 100 persons in the first decade of March; afterward, they were limited to 10 people or less with effect from March 26, 2020, 2359 hrs to April 30, 2020. “During this period, places of worship may remain open for essential rites (e.g., weddings and funerals) and private worship, subject to a cap of 10 persons at any one time and with the precautionary measures listed in the Annex.

As much as we understand the desire of friends and acquaintances to pay their last respects and give comfort to families in their grief, we ask religious leaders to advise their followers on the need to minimize physical interactions even during funerals and wakes.

The limit of 10 persons at any one time does not apply in workplace situations in places of worship where religious and administrative staff/volunteers are performing their duties (e.g., providing pastoral services, setting up live streams of religious services). However, the number of workers involved should be kept to a minimum and limited to essential duties. Those who can telecommute from home should do so.”[10] Another of the few crucial cancelations we witnessed these days is the closing of the Mecca from April 4. “The coronavirus

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outbreak disrupted Islamic worship in the Middle East as Saudi Arabia on Wednesday banned its citizens and other residents of the kingdom from performing the pilgrimage in Mecca, while Iran canceled Friday prayers in major cities.”[11] That decision alone disrupted travel for thousands of Muslims already headed to the kingdom and potentially affected plans for this year for millions more ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan and the annual hajj pilgrimage.

The other major important cancelation we can talk about is The Church of the Nativity in the biblical city of Bethlehem that was closed indefinitely from Thursday, March 5.[12]

Photo 2. The Church of the Nativity, regarded as the birthplace of Jesus, is closed over fears of coronavirus. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/06/world/religionmodify-tr aditions-coronavir us-tr nd/inde x.html

ago; the heavy wooden doors of the Church were last shut during Easter in 1349, while a plague known as the Black Death raged[13].

Even the Easter for both Romano Catholic Church and Orthodox ones were shadowed by the absence of believers, which made obsolete and awkward many liturgical acts and gestures. Instead of giving his weekly Sunday greeting at the window in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, Pope Francis delivered the Angelus prayer via video link, and even the Vatican’s Easter rituals go ‘virtual’ as Italy battles coronavirus outbreak. Pope Francis gave his annual Easter address Sunday to an empty St. Peter’s Basilica as hundreds of millions of Christians celebrating the holiday have been ordered to stay home, and traditions have been upended. “In 2000 years, neither wars nor Nazi occupation, nor plague or any other kind of hardship, have stopped the Pope from celebrating the rituals of the Passion of Christ surrounded by crowds congregating in Rome from every continent. Nevertheless, that is not an option for Pope Francis in 2020 when humanity is under threat from the COVID-19 pandemic.”[14] Concerning this, a wonderful adaptation seemed to be a priest took his Good Friday procession to the roof so that church neighbors could participate at a safe distance, from their balconies and windows (see Photo 1). People of the Jewish faith have likewise been taking their Passover celebrations online this week, hosting virtual Seders, and bringing their laptop screens to the table, instead of inviting relatives over to sit down in person (Photo 2).

Photo 3. Pope Francis reads his Easter message during Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City on Sunday, April 12, 2020. https://www.nbcnews. com/news/world/pope-gives-easter-address-emptybasilica-war ns-against-selfishness-during-n1182226

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, believed to be the site of Jesus’s crucifixion and burial, was closed more than two weeks

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Photo 4. Priest Don Amedeo Basile leads a Way of the Cross procession during Good Friday celebrations on the rooftop of the Maria S.S. Addolorata church, Taranto, Italy, April 10, 2020. h t t p s : / / w w w. b u s i n e s s i n s i d e r . c o m / p h o t o s easter-and-passover-celebr ations-during-covid19-outbreak-2020-4#easter-food-is-also-beingblessed-from-a-distance-in-poland-this-year-6

Photo 5. Rabbi Shlomo Segal holds a copy of his Passover haggadah, a guide to the seder and the holiday service, in front of his laptop computer at his home in Brooklyn during the coronavirus outbreak, Wednesday, April 8, 2020, in New York. https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-easter-andpassover-celebrations-during-covid-19-outbreak-20204#some-recited-the-haggadah-text-which-guides-theseder-meal-on-screens-this-year-instead-of-face-to-face-19

Is this social demand a unique time in human history, so that we don’t know how to act and if our religions’ coupe with secular governance can be labeled as apostasy? Not at all! We had previous pandemics and worldwide outbreak and in all religions stood beside society and fought to survive. Examples of such adaptation can be found going all the way back to the plague that swept Italy in 1630. The world’s first ghetto[15] had been created in Venice in the previous century (1516), and by the 17thcentury Jewish populations in other cities, including Padua, likewise lived in restricted areas. It was in the Padua Ghetto that the physician Abraham Catalano worked with local officials to figure out how Padua’s Jewish community could celebrate Passover despite the epidemic. Catalano also observed that, during the plague, synagogues were not able to meet their 10-person quorum necessary for services, and that both Jewish people and Christians were finding new ways to worship at home, observing that

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they “prayed from their windows, or stood by the windows where they could hear prayers,” according to Einbinder[16].

A. Religious factions highly disputed some measures until the end Efforts to slow the spread of Coronavirus have rekindled a millennium-old debate within Christianity.

Should Eastern Orthodox priests use a shared spoon to distribute sacramental bread and wine to churchgoers? The debate has resurfaced amid unprecedented coronavirus measures that are compelling religious institutions around the world to alter some traditional practices temporarily.

In Romania, the chart of taking-retractingretaking measures for the containing of the spread of Sars-Co-V-2 is a little odd and interesting for the study of our topic. In the first place, when the Coronavirus was found at the first Romanian citizen [26.2.2020], the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchy took an ambitious measure to help containing the spread among Romanian citizens [Annex 1, 27.2.2020]. In short, the first set of measures were more than decent and moreover since they were presented as ‘recommendations’ not as prohibitive rules: to wash hands, stay indoors if feeling sick and watch religious services from TV, do not kiss icons in churches but your particular ones, and topmost to ask for a unique teaspoon for Holly Communion instead of the common one. As usual, fundamentalists and traditionalists have manifested their concern that these measures are only made to let us disregard our faith. In response, the Romanian Patriarchy retracted a few days later these measures, saying that “Communion with another teaspoon we are told of cannot be understood as that during the Holy Liturgy, but a communion with the pre-sanctified Eucharist, called in the people the ‘communion for the sick,’ which is precisely the Communion for exceptional

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situations. Nor could one imagine that a priest could put in hundreds of teaspoons of the Holy Communion at the specific moment of the Holy Mass. Therefore, the Church does not give up anything but keeps its canonicity unchanged”[17]. With all these statements and retractions and then other statements again, it seems that they are in incapacity either of assuming some requested measures on behalf of secular State, nor to manage the situation, being divided between the requirements of the State and the comments of their followers. However, in the second stage of measures, demanded by the ‘State of necessity’ decreed and imposed by the State [from 17.3.202], the Orthodox Church finds an explanation enough to comfort its consciousness for taking unprecedented measures, even if only officially. “For moments of crisis, for practical reasons, the Church could find another form of communion, in exceptional situations, which would not embarrass the ‘strong’ faith of some and not despise the ‘weak faith’ of others, without departing from the truth of faith and without departing from canonicity.”

Photos 6, 7. Priest Marga Irimie, Professor of Canon Law at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Sibiu-Romania, sharing Holy Communion with his hand. The same method in other particular cases, in the Slovak Church, Copta et.all

This is a charming and diplomatic statement, meant to soothe the curious eyes of authorities, while priests and altar servants where left in the drift, at the mercy of particular situations and decisions, circumstantial. Why do I say this? Because despite this rather particular exposing

statement, no higher hierarchy allows priests to interfere and come up with ideas that would fill this liturgical void. Thus, what was meant to allow alternatives to the rite at this moment of anguish for the whole of humanity, rises more misunderstandings and confuses the altar servants that took it as liberty to innovate, to find solutions, alternatives that would be convenient, both for the ‘weak faith’ as well as for the canonicity. Yet, all those that strived to help the weak, to protect believers from certain malady, because, after all, we are only humans at God’s mercy. So, instead of making gestures of bravery and work around the clock to keep the flag up in the faces of people that we, religious leaders, are the carriers of divinity into the world instead of humanly vessels, we should embrace the reality that we are all a big, extended family trying to survive against a common, indiscriminative enemy.

There are, of course, several other similar cases of differences over the practice of delivering Communion using a single spoon dipped in wine for the faithful gathered inside [at first] and then outside churches. “The Eucharist is a core ritual of both Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic religious services. It’s a ceremony in which priests bless bread and wine, then share it with their congregations. Believers consume the bread and wine as Jesus Christ did at the Last Supper -- the biblical account of the final meal Christ shared with his 12 disciples before his arrest and eventual crucifixion. In most Roman Catholic masses, believers sip the sacramental wine from a common chalice. Eastern Orthodox priests dip the holy bread into the Chalice and use a sacramental spoon to pour winesoaked bread crumbs into the mouths of the faithful.”[18] Since they were always in defense of this practice, ultimately, the solution came from the State, which has shut down all public gatherings in response and as an ultimate egress.

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Different Orthodox Churches have responded in kind on this medical recommendation to forbid and temporarily change the use of this ‘unique spoon’.

Therefore the secular world would believe that there is more immorality in this and had to declare a state of emergency and suspend public gatherings to curb the spread of the Coronavirus. In return, the orthodox clergy banned all services and asked faithful to watch them on TV, so that they would not get themselves in offside with civil people and against State. Georgia’s Orthodox Church has rejected calls to stop using the common spoon for Communion. The Orthodox Church of Serbia had the same differences over the common spoon for Holy Communion. However, after its first clerics infected and died, Bishop Milutin Knezevic, 71, who died on Monday, March 30, and two other priests from the Valjevo diocese tested positive for Coronavirus, Orthodox Patriarch Irinej took the same decision to ban all services.

Many Eastern Orthodox Church leaders, however, have agreed to measures aimed at protecting the faithful from catching or spreading the Coronavirus. However, there are still some that had no intentions to do so. “I can tell you with certainty that we will neither close churches nor cancel services [due to the coronavirus],” Metropolitan Ilarion, head of the External Affairs Office of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Russian Orthodox Church’s leadership body, said on state-run Rossia-24 TV, Interfax reported on March 14.[19] This seems a matter of faith and doctrine rather than one of the liturgical issues as it should be kept.

Stubbornness and the use of traditional means of ‘healing’ people are a common practice among many religious communities, of no particular denomination, because we witness such resistance to obedience to medical advice to several cases. As an example, see the Orthodox Church in

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Georgia[20] that has taken a unique approach to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, by sprinkling holy water, and its priests refused to alter their rituals and exit in the streets to bless people and comfort them with holy water and prayers.

I would like to call for proving this assertion of mine several cases already confirmed here and there throughout the world about presbyters from different religious denominations that were infected, have infected others, or even died from the actual Sars-Co-V-2 virus. One of notoriety is the case of a US priest who shook hands with more than 500 worshippers infected with virus[21], Reverend Timothy Cole of Christ Church Episcopal in Georgetown positively diagnosed and afterward “canceled, out of an abundance of caution, all activities including church services until further notice,” marking the first time the Church has been closed since a fire in the 1800s. By this time [5.4.2020] in Italy, over 90 priests have died by Coronavirus[22], the youngest being at his 45 years. I am sure that this scenario will continue until the pandemic ends in a way or another…

B. In this regard, can/should religious communities rely ONLY on faith and take no measures of precautions?

In the Encyclical, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America and the Most Reverend Members of the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America reminds the faithful, “Science and our God-given reason demand that we employ every means available to protect ourselves and our families against the spread of Covid-19 and any other disease. In a crisis such as this, we need to exercise vigilance as a community, lest our churches become points of transmission of the disease.”[23] We know and recognize that “God

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uses material means to communicate His blessings and presence to us. The gracefilled presence of Icons, Relics, Holy Water, blessing crosses, objects (such as flowers), and even the blessing hand of a priest, convey to the believer God’s grace and energy”[24]. Still, without denying the reality of God’s grace and its unseen work upon the world, we should also emphasize that “the same material elements that can convey the blessings of God are also subject to the broken nature of our fallen world.”

This conflictual situation between the measures imposed by the secular civil society from the medical area and the resistance of their implementation by certain religious communities was reached for a very simple and obvious reason. It is considered - and this is not a novelty because this impression has always and everywhere thundered the religious area, perhaps with small exceptions - that the religion (to be understood the plural of the religious phenomenon), being revealed and in direct tangency with the divinity, should control and interfere with all fields of public life, not just the spiritual-religious one.

This was held many times in history as the shepherd taking care of all needs of his flock, not only feeding and milking the sheeps. In fact, for many centuries and in all religions, the clergyman was the most important personage in the community, holding many public working services besides the religious one, also being the wise teacher, the doctor, and the judge[25]. All these cumulative functions were on account of revelation and close relation with God, who imposed His servant as the most qualified to act and transmit accordingly to the divine will to people. It is rather strange how these cumulative functions of priests were only concerned to those mind-working trades, leaving the manual work difficult for others, such as fieldwork, pastorate or crafts. That is due to the aforementioned reason that the deity, who is the source of all things

and also of all good deeds, should work above all through the religious levers in the world, which would thus lead the religious communities to interfere as I said with all layers of social life, so that all people and in all domains should have the benefit of “divine intervention” at all times.

Thus one forgets the primary reason for which the religion was founded (through the sacrifices brought by Abel and Cain), that of making the relationship between man and divinity functional, a relationship that sin and opposition, the disobedience of man make it discontinuous. Or, precisely this disobedience is taken as a prerequisite for claiming the obedience of all to the Church’s love, and for its interference in any field of activity. This false impression has led the Christian Church and religion in general into open conflict with Science they have demonized because it does not accept the revealed “version” on the appearance of the world and of life, and comes with a parallel version of which God does not mention anywhere, so it cannot be true. About this artificial conflict, which does not concern religion and its essence in any way, some theologians have realized and have begun a long and arduous way of “reconciling” the two fields of human knowledge, scientifically and theologically, by assuming a truth that is coherent and appropriate to each field.

IV. Criteria for considering these measures as weakness and illegitimate

There are still many questions to address religious communities that deny following medical treatments, prescriptions, and refuse to alter rituals for the sake of containing Sarcs-Co-V-2 virus from spreading among religious communities through specific acts of ritual. Is there any real, valuable, and undeniable reason to believe that a virus cannot be spread

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through religious rituals means? Can you offer certainty to all members that religious rituals and acts can provide healing to those affected by the pandemic? Is there any statistic about that infected religious people that got cured after attending Church or receive private Communion in their quarantine; isolate cases do not arise because the incidence of separate cures is very low and random.

How can you qualify the fact that there are infected presbyters, and if the rituals do not offer immunity, then why risk the health of others through bravery and stubbornness to improve and adapt the religious rituals, at least temporarily? If stubborn to obey to protective medical prescriptions, why withdraw from the public ministry of the infected clergy: will they not be healed by religious practices and will not protect their believers from contacting the virus? And if to all these questions you answer humanly, that all these acts have worldly consequences, then it is not an unassuming and immature gesture to try to protect an image (i.e., of ‘working together with the divinity,’ in other words that ‘religion has the divine powers and invokes god through its action when and how it desires’) that religion should not lose because it would be discredited? However, is it not the role of religion itself to guard, protect, and care for the partisans at all costs, rather than to keep them from lies and selfdenial?

A. Religious resistance to medical treatments

V. Criteria for considering these

measures legitimate and diligent

We are aware of those religious groups such as ‘The Followers of Christ’, ‘Seventhday Adventists’[26] or ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ and many others who deny extreme or some medical measures. Their religious beliefs refuse to accept blood transfusions, to receive regular vaccinations and others.

For example, the Amish that will not allow heart transplants and, in some cases, heart surgery; Sikhs who disapprove any animal-

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based products for medical use; Sunni and Shiite Muslims also do not approve of any drugs, medical dressings or implants that contain porcine ingredients; Buddhists may be reluctant to take mind-altering medications; or Evangelical Christian who even avoid flu vaccination. Christian Scientists failing to provide adequate medical care for their children, nor wish to participate as a donor or recipient regarding blood transfusion. Christian Scientists would prefer the body to be kept inviolate unless a post mortem is legally required.

Christian Scientists would not normally wish to receive or donate organs. We can see that it is not a singular occurrence, in which case we would be legitimate to deny or question their reason and legitimacy of imposing such measures to their followers. Their reliance on the ‘spiritual’ healing, rather than medicines, makes a religious example for the religious intransigence against the application of special measures under the conditions of a pandemic and quarantine of the civil society and thus, against the modification of their own religious practices by imposing such measures. There are indeed particular cases, known from Media in which individuals, children or adults, that were forbidden to take medical care that conflicts with the provisions of the religious group of belonging.

The thing with this particular threat is that it is a special one. It maybe sounds like a fallacy[27], but this is its essence, and the main reason all religious communities gave up eventually and considered taking caution measures and change to adapt and survive.

In other words, even if in the beginning those measures demanded by the civil society through its medical care system were denied and rejected, facing extinction and moreover shame of their own fear,

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all religious communities adopted these measures with only one spoken or implied motif: all the other ancient threats religious beliefs faced throughout history and made a stand against them even with the cost of human lives [martyrs] were initiated by humans and thus were declared as ‘temptations’ made in the logical, rational, and voluntary initiative. Now, abhorrent from all other voluntary temptations, this Covid-19 crisis is not proved to be a rational initiative, but a biological threat. Therefore, facing a biological threat for humanity, religions [had to] stand dawn with their resistance to adapt and changed so that they can survive.

Considering the relation between the State(s) and religion (s) we should envision them not as two separate, parallel entities and Institutions – from the point of view that considers them in their institutional organization – but as two circles/sets that intersect or overlap, due to the members they both have and serve, people. As does the religion serves its believers that are also members of the State, the latter have these and others to serve and care for. Thus, their mutual consideration should always be the safety and well-being of the members, above the formal and legislative prescriptions of both these two institutions. What I need to emphasize here is the importance of religions to stand-back with pretentions of resisting to change as the above chapter implies when it is to consider first the safety of their members. I have heard many voices these days from clergy inquiring that ‘as the hospitals are open to cure the body of people, should also churches be kept open to the public for curing their souls’? This is not applying to a particular denomination of narrower, community, for this claim is universal between religious leadership of any kind.

Thus, with these two premises raised, to answer to our inquiry [i.e. if it is legitimate

for religions to consider taking the measures the secular society demands] we only need to ask few important questions to religion: Can we rely fundamentally and utterly on religion’s help in healing infected people?

Can religion, whatever we pick, states that it offers complete protection to those that seek shelter against the Covid-19 pandemic [or any other natural threat]? Can one religion or altogether access God’s power, gifts or grace invocated so often in liturgical services at all times and to the outcome of creating protection against the natural disasters as this one now is?

To all these questions and many others in kind, the true and ultimate answer is undeniable NO! And this is not an answer that comes from an atheist or an apostate [fallen from the faith, 1 Timothy 4:1], but from a person that believes fully and entirely in God from personal experience. However, also from experience comes to the undeniable truth that miracles happen only in certain moments, for particular persons and only in very mysterious circumstances; they cannot be invoked upon a nation, or rather upon humankind, moreover installed as the ‘natural’ way of things. From my point of view and experience, miracles are insignificantly the assembling of man’s pray with God’s will, but barely a lucky meeting of them. This because we cannot summon God or God’s grace to do whatever man pleases and needs because “God’s Ghost blows wherever He wants” (John 3:8) and “He never asks for permission.”

Consequently, we cannot assume the role of “God’s graces’ users” as if we had at our liking and our mercy the divine grace to use and exploit it wherever and however we need. Many rules must be fulfilled for the miracle to occur, but the most likely of these is ‘if our request also satisfies the divine plan’. Otherwise it will be absolutely and clearly that divine intervention will not come and the invoker will only be harmed and shamed for his boldness. There is no

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religion, as revealed, ‘elected,’ gifted or any other blissful attributes may have, that can use and guaranty a on the spot miraculous healing in a personal case, let alone a worldwide intervention. And here I should add a little inside knowledge: if some religious leaders or believers would ever conduct such mission and assume mass healing, then the ultimate and specific feature of religion is broken and violated, for religious target and purpose lies not in bodily healing and connecting to God/ divinity/Supreme being, but in the spiritual care and reconnection. And if some would say in defense that there are miraculous healing sprinkled in all religions, these are for sure side effects of mysterium and only concerning proving the divine presence at that particular time and place, and not the ordinary work and message religion would be ‘sent’ to give to humans. If otherwise, either the message of religion definitely is in dissonance with its spiritual vocation, or with the message of all other sciences trying to solve the bodily problems of mankind.

Nevertheless, since the message of religion cannot be incoherent, and we assume not even antagonistic to the other human disciplines, all aiming at the supreme good of humanity, then we will have to admit as correct only the first hypothesis, that of preoccupying religion exclusively with the spiritual dimension of our existence, leaving in the care of the scientific thinking the research and the assumption of solving world problems - Matthew 22:21, “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”. In conclusion, religion cannot assume nor claim the right and role of protecting against natural disasters, healing those fallen under the coronavirus’ infection, or any other similar cases.

Of course, amid the pandemic outbreak, it circulates a lot of tendentious messages addressed in such a way that it will catch you offside with both answers, either Session 4. Miscellaneous

against the civil measures or against the defended defenders of the faith. E.g., can you get infected if you are going to pray this Sunday to the Church? Are you susceptible of an epidemic threat if seeking spiritual counseling in the Church? Or, did anyone got infected by receiving the Body of Christ? And other similar, but a trained eye can see the tendency in all these because they reveal and use half of truth while masking the other half. For example, praying cannot be the mean of infection but crowding in any closed place, even Church, can be. The ‘Body of Christ’ is definitely not the leverage by which the infection is transmitted because it is a spiritual presence, but the seen, materials elements, Yes, can be contaminated by any natural pest or damage, micro or macro.

About this awkward and hard-to-digest truth for many ‘believers,’ I suppose it will clarify into another separate paper.

In these circumstances, are we still talking about the vanity reluctance of religion to step aside from the claim of saving the body and to give Science the role and the right to deal with this aspect in this situation? In no case! It needs to fulfill this natural approach and follow the standard procedure in such dimension, otherwise, it would be like asking engineering leave to religion the transportation just because it testifies about saints that walked on water or flew in the sky.

Thus, the only coherent message I would like to hear now from ‘religion’ in this regard would be only ‘repent, for the Kingdom is coming’, or something similar. This type of message has always been closely following the natural deserters at all times. Either we are talking about global ones like Noah’s flood, or private one as Sodom, Nineveh or John the Baptist with Israel before Christ’s coming. I do not imply that this is an apocalyptic event (Revelation 2:16), nor that such an event is concealing a specific coded call. However, whatever this event is/means

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in God’s iconomy, this message should be strongly and firmly address from religion(s) and ‘on behalf of God’, since there is no evidence that any mass-destroying event has ever had God’s pedagogy towards anything else but repenting.

Conclusion Regardless the color of confession, the level of pandemic amplitude, cases reported by illnesses or deaths, despite the early or late moment of the local epidemic outbreak, there is now no doubt that all major religious confessions and their local communities have taken the measure of prevention for the spread of the new Coronavirus in the Winter-Spring of 2020.

However, contrary to social expectations, there were still too few confessions that took precaution measures for protecting their followers prior to the governmental constraint. On the other hand, no religious organism was exempted from splitting the internal opinions into fractions pro and against these measures, respectively pro and against the unconditional submission to them by the respective religion; thy were generally named ‘progressives and liberals’ vs ‘traditionalists and conservators’. Also, besides taking the civil and social measures imposed by each State in fighting the outbreak, each religious leadership has finally taken account of these standard impositions despite the virulent opposition of their traditionalist fraction.

As mentioned in the text above, ‘the apple of discord’ took diverse forms and target, but the general view of those against impositions was that there is a plot from the secular world against religion and its manifestation and these social distancing measures should not be followed in regard to manifesting religiousness since they have divine protection. Regardless the religious color, all conservator factions worldwide argued the same things,

mostly underlining God’s assistance to His followers, ‘intangibility’ from harmful worldly factors for those who ‘really believe’, divine protection offered to those in need if asked with strong faith, or lately, everlasting coronation if being persecuted on religious grounds in modern times for the same reasons for prohibiting the manifestation of religiosity. This conservator view was very virulent and rampant in all Media, moreover since the other faction, of the ‘open-minded’ theologians, have received support from the laity, the unbelievers and the atheists, and even from those who are usually against religious manifestations. In this conjunction, it seems quite likely that the pacification of the liberal theologians with the non-believers very easy passes as a secularized attempt to emancipate and relax religious customs, rather than a rational attempt to protect parishioners from a nondiscriminatory virus. That is why, until the beginning of this pandemic outbreak (it is quite an assumption at this moment since we are still experiencing it and its social effects, at 13.4.2020) the formers couldn’t get over their opinion and understand the vital necessity of these precaution measures and give up to the hasty criticism against the society that is fighting blindly and with its hands tied against an atypical and unpredictable enemy.

As stated earlier, in my opinion, I would very much like for the leadership in each religion and ideally for all religions to come up with a discerning statement, considering that both the State and the Church (i.e., religion) are looking for the welfare of their common members. Also, while correctly considering its position and role in this world, religion should assume its spiritual guidance of man, in addition to that fairly and honestly surrender to Science its role and position on earthly aspects aiming the well-being of their mutual members. Religion should relinquish thus to its pretend of extending its expertise over the areas of living that

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are in no case of religious competence and purpose because otherwise we are not overpassed the medieval conflict between Science and Religion, a conflict meant to weaken the position and the work to each of the two arms of human knowledge.

In the worst scenario, the unique and concerted message any religious conservative party would be entitled to give in these circumstances would be on the one hand directed towards a universal prayer, even private but ensconced by religious leadership, to God for the forgiveness of the mistakes of humanity struck so deeply and unanimously. On the other hand, it should deliver the call of all humanity to repentance, to profound change, in rethinking the position we have towards the surrounding nature that we have forced to defend with the weapons it has at its disposal to free itself from the despotic yoke of man. In no case, we should take this event of global proportions and indiscriminative impact upon human lives as a threat from the devil or a secret conspirator against religiousness and its free practice and fight against these imaginary, absurd ‘enemy’ and protest against rational governance.

References [1] [2] [3] [4]

[5]

[6] [7]

https://qz.com/1808390/religion-is-at-theheart-of-koreas-coronavirus-outbreak/ https://abc13.com/5976098/ https://basilica.ro/patriarhia-romana-masurisanitare-si-spirituale-in-timp-de-epidemie/ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ mar/11/what-is-a-pandemic-coronaviruscovid-19-who, 11.03.2020.

Vivian Yee, “In a Pandemic, Religion Can Be a Balm and a Risk”, in The NY Times, March 22, 2020. URL https://www. nytimes.com/2020/03/22/world/middleeast/ coronavirus-religion.html, accessed 25.3.2020.

Ibidem.

Kali Robinson, “How Are Major Religions

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Responding to the Coronavirus?”, in CFR (Council on Foreign Relations), March 19, 2020. https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/how-aremajor-religions-responding-coronavirus, 25 [8] Harmeet Kaur, “How religious communities are modifying traditions to prevent coronavirus spread”, in CNN, March 12, 2020. URL: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/06/world/ religion-modify-traditions-coronavirus-trnd/ index.html, accessed 25.3.2020.

[9] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ mar/14/religious-festivals-cancelled-orscaled-back-due-to-coronavirus [10] https://www.mccy.gov.sg/about-us/news-andresources/press-statements/2020/mar/covid19-mccy-advisory-on-religious-activities [11] https://time.com/5796035/coronavirus-saudiarabia-iran-islam-mecca/.

[12] Yaron Steinbuch, “Bethlehem’s storied Church of the Nativity closes amid coronavirus fears”, in New York Post, URL https://nypost. com/2020/03/05/bethlehems-storied-churchof-the-nativity-closes-amid-coronavirusfears/, 29.3.2020.

[13] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/ extraordinary-easter-jerusalem-coronavirusclosures-200410135058514.html?utm_ source=website&utm_medium=article_ page&utm_campaign=read_more_links, 10.4.2020.

[14] https://www.arabnews.com/node/1656171/ world, 14.4.2020.

[15] https://time.com/4551523/venice-ghettohistory/ [16] Susan L. Einbinder, After the Black Death: Plague and Commemoration Among Iberian Jews (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018). ISBN 9780812250312 [17] Assoc. prof. Patriciu Vlaicu in Cristi Șelaru, “Adevărul despre decizia Bisericii (Eng. The truth about the Church’s decision)”, in STIRIPESURSE.RO. https://www. stiripesurse.ro/adevarul-despre-deciziabisericii_1435459.html, accessed 18.3.2020.

[18] Ron Synovitz, “Coronavirus Vs. The Church: Orthodox Traditionalists Stand Behind The Holy Spoon”, in RadioFreeEurope RadioLiberty, URL: https://www.rferl. org/a/coronavirus-vs-the-church-orthodox-

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traditionalists-stand-behind-the-holyspoon/30492749.html, accessed 4.4.2020.

[19] Ibidem.

[20] Robin Forestier-Walker, “Georgia priests bless Tbilisi city in bid to contain COVID-19”, in https://www.aljazeera. com/. URL: https://www.aljazeera.com/ news/2020/03/georgia-priests-bless-tbilisicity-bid-covid-19-200318105909005.html, accessed 18.03.2020.

[21] Alex Woodward, “US priest who shook hands with more than 500 worshippers infected with virus”, in INDEPENDENT, New York, Monday 9 March 2020. Retrieved from URL https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/ americas/coronavirus-us-priest-washingtondc-quarantine-timothy-shake-handschurch-a9388561.html, accessed 18.03.2020. see Annex 5.

[22] https://www.avvenire.it/attualita/pagine/ coronavirus-i-preti-morti-emilia-lombardia, accessed 5.4.2020.

[23] https://www.goarch.org/-/encyclical-covid19-pandemic, 6.03.2020.

[24] Ibidem.

[25] Joseph Ernest Renan, The History of the Origins of Christianity Book V - The Gospels.

(DEVOTED Publishing, 2017) 12-13.

[26] Seventh-day Adventists’ beliefs about medical care made headlines in 2014 when a British couple, Nkosiyapha and Virginia Kunene, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of their 5-month-old son from severe vitamin D deficiency, or rickets. Although the religion’s lifestyle includes a vegetarian diet and abstinence from alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, the Kunenes’ extreme views on rejecting medical care are not shared by their church. Sandee LaMotte, “‘Inoculate yourself with the word of God’: How religion can limit medical treatment”, in CNN Heath edition, February 7, 2018. Retrived from https:// edition.cnn.com/2018/02/07/health/religionmedical-treatment/index.html, accessed 17.03.2020.

[27] Sophism, circular definition.

Biography Tudor Cosmin CIOCAN, born in Constanta/ Romania in 1977, attended several theological and psychological schools (BA, MB, Ph.D.), obtained his Ph.D. in Missiology and Doctrinal Theology in 2010. He was ordained as an orthodox priest in 2002. Highschool teacher from 1998, then Professor assistant and Lecturer from 2012, he has written more than 65 articles on theology and psychology, along with 4 single-author books in the past two decades.

In 2013 he started a multidisciplinary program aiming to engage scholars from different files into friendly and academic debates with theology, and in the same year, a Research Center was founded in Ovidius University with researchers from 11 fields. In less than one year, he managed to gather people from around the globe around this idea, and thus the Dialogo Conferences project has started. In 2014 he received a Fulbright scholarship, and spent the summer in California along with four other states in the USA, gathering data and understanding how religious pluralism is possible at a high level of involvement; in the meanwhile he made friends from many different countries and religions that are now involved in this project or another, helping in his endeavor. Now he researches and teaches in this direction, towards building bridges between science and theology on the one side, and interfaith dialogue, on the other hand.

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This paper was presented in the

The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces, (DIALOGO-CONF 2020 VICSSR) held online, on the Journalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website, from MAY 19 - 26, 2020

journal homepage: http://dialogo-conf.com

Religious Controversies in COVID-19 Restrictions, State, Science, Conspiracies: Four Topics with Theological-Ethical Responses Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Christoph STUECKELBERGER

President and Founder of Globethics.net Foundation Professor of Theological Ethics, Geneva Switzerland

article info Article history: Received 30 April 2020 Received in revised form 17 May 2020 Accepted 20 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.15

Keywords: human rights; imposition; faith; religiousness; pandemic; Covid19; public gatherings; religion; conventional medicine; State law; holistic treatment; social conflicts;

Rev. Lect. Cosmin-Tudor CIOCAN, PhD The Faculty of Theology, Ovidius University of Constanta Romania

abstract

The new Coronavirus, namely Sars-CoV-2, took the world by surprise and grew into a pandemic worldwide (called COVID-19 pandemic) in a couple of months since the beginning of 2020. It managed to lockdown at home almost half of the world population under the threat of illness and sudden death. Due to the extreme medical advises of containing the spread and damages of this threat, mostly directed towards social distancing, public gatherings cancelation, and contact tracing, each State imposed such regulations to their people and for all areas of social activity, including the religious ones. This articles analyses four topics: 1. Restrictions imposed by the State and reactions by religious organizations. The theological-ethical response focused on the fact that all religions what to save lives and defeat death. 2. The pandemic shows the sensitive relation between the State and religions and shows the differences in power relations in the different countries.

The theological-ethical response calls for a partnership between the State and the religions in their territory. 3. The relation between science and religion is tested during the pandemic. Whereas the majority of believers adhere to scientific results, a good part refuses scientific knowledge. The theological-ethical response of the authors is that science and religion are complementary and not contradictory. 4. Pandemics as situations of high uncertainty are often accompanied by conspiracy theories that claim to know who is guilty for the disaster, who is the scapegoat, which has to be punished.

The theological-ethical response gives theological reasons to say no to conspiracies and scapegoats and yes to take responsibility wherever we are in order to save lives. Š 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

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eISSN: 2393-1744, cdISSN: 2392-9928 printISSN: 2457-9297, ISSN-L 2392-9928

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I. INTRODUCTION

The new Coronavirus, namely Sars-CoV-2, took the world by surprise and grew into a pandemic worldwide (called COVID-19 pandemic) in a couple of months since the beginning of 2020. It managed to lockdown at home almost half of the world population under the threat of illness and sudden death. Due to the extreme medical advises of containing the spread and damages of this threat, mostly directed towards social distancing, public gatherings cancelation, and contact tracing, each State imposed such regulations to their people and for all areas of social activity, including the religious ones.

We have witnessed the religious denominations taking into consideration unprecedented changes in their cultic organization as well as into doctrinal argumentation concerning the actual threat of Coronavirus pandemic outbreak. Most religious denominations have gone through three stages concerning these impositions: firstly, disdaining them as most other public figures did by trivializing the outbreak size while associating it with the seasonal flu. The second step all religions took was to cancel all public gatherings, from the minor, weekly services, to those of major significance, as all those reunited in April. The last stage (at least until the moment we are writing this article) was the initiation of internal conservative movements against these impositions and the religious leadership that bend under while neglecting essential aspects of faith and tradition.

Nevertheless, while neglecting or consciously denying conventional medical advice, almost all religious denominations offered an alternative for their communities to comfort them and even protect against the pandemic. These religious means were also debated and most often criticized as hostile and offensive to people’s health.

This conflict between the State-Medicine-

Religion brought into public attention many debates and consequently measures that aim to protect the population against the Covid19 spreading among it. From a culture to another, this relationship differs, both in its length, virulence, as well as the need to impose strict rules that violate civil rights and norms. In this context of both social and internal conflicts, some crucial and legitimate questions are being raised of ethical and theological concerns. What are the grounds that religious communities rely on while protesting against the conventional medical advises? Can religion, no matter which we pick, State that it offers complete protection to those that seek shelter against the Covid-19 pandemic [or any other natural threat]? Can we rely fundamentally and utterly on religion’s help in healing infected people? Furthermore, if so, is any State entitled to interfere with religious activity and amend, alter, cancel, or ban them? Under what circumstances is it allowed so and by invoking which right or authority?

This article is the fruit of the cooperation between a Rumanian-orthodox theologian and specialist on the relation between science and theology, Cosmin-Tudor CIOCAN from Romania, and a reformed theologian and specialist in global ethics, Christoph Stückelberger from Switzerland.

It underlines the importance of ecumenical, international and interdisciplinary cooperation in overcoming such lifethreatening pandemics and other global challenges.

II. Restrictions during Pandemics: also

for Religious Activities?

A. Analysis: Global Restrictions around the World, also Holy Communion The unexpected coronavirus outbreak [Sars-CoV-2, December 2019-2020][1] and its swift spread around the globe in only a few

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months affected almost all countries and all sectors of society, from private to public life, from business to education, from sports events to culture. Religious organizations have been equally affected. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused numerous changes in religious behavior everywhere, in which some religious communities could not accept them gladly, willingly, or without consequences. There was no religious community unaffected by the pandemic countermeasures.

Religious public gatherings, from the minor, as the weekly services, to those of major significance, as all those reunited in April, were entirely canceled to public and done with closed doors. So was the case with Christian Easter on April 12 (a week later for Eastern Orthodox churches). Passover began on April 8 and continued with the Jewish Purim festival on April 9 and 10; it should have been a vibrant spectacle akin to the carnival.

Instead, it was celebrated half-heartedly, if at all. The colorful Hindu Holi festival (March 10) in India also faced severe restrictions.

The same happened to the Sikh festival of Vaisakhi, on April 13, with all the Gurdwaras closed worldwide, from Pakistan to the UK or the USA. For the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims, the holy month of Ramadan is a social and spiritual high point, a time to gather with friends and family and to focus on fasting, prayer, and scripture. Among the five pillars of Islam, the fourth - Sawm, or fasting, and the third - Zakāt, or almsgiving or charity, cannot be held without public gatherings. The word Zakāt can be defined as purification and growth because it allows an individual to achieve balance and encourages new growth. The principle of knowing that all things belong to God is essential to purification and growth. Zakāt consists of spending a portion of one’s wealth for the benefit of the poor or needy, like debtors or travelers; it is obligatory for all Muslims who are able to do so.[2] “The Session 4. Miscellaneous

rigors of fasting have birthed a range of social customs. Families stay up all night or wake up before sunrise to eat. Breaking the fast and the nighttime meals that follow are opportunities to gather with relatives, entertain guests and, for the wealthy, give charity by offering drop-in meals at street banquets for the poor.

Nevertheless, the Coronavirus has added danger to many of the ways that Muslims have observed Ramadan for generations, forcing modifications. Some mosques, where men and women normally pray shoulder to shoulder and crowds spill into the streets, have made efforts to space out the faithful to prevent contagion. Others, from Paris to Brooklyn to Mecca, toward which all Muslims pray, have shut their doors altogether.”[3] Doctors fear the virus will spread as Muslims gather for daily, shared meals after sundown.

For some, closure of a religious temple may not be seen as a huge demand and be so significant, but for others, the impossibility of attending public worship places is crucial for their religiousness, and moreover, it is considered as an act of altering faith, renunciation of belief, of God. It is inopportune and redundant to add that all these religious festivals require public reunion of their members, without whom an alternative of devotion and glorification could not be imagined. Also, there are related issues that come across while devotees come to worship in their public temples. We will mention some of the most commented and social-conflict-causing religious issues.

Nevertheless, the cancelation of all public gatherings was not the only restriction Religions came to perpetrate. The closure of churches/mosques/temples to the public was only the protuberant one, in the shade of which have grown many other adverse difficulties created by the social distancing and the impact of the spread of Coronavirus

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from person to person. From other services until particular cases of religious acts, there were many waivers imposed by the State, some of them nominally and explicitly regulated by normative acts of the state government, while others implicitly discussed and forbidden by collateral infringement of the imposed interdictions.

It is redundant to say that all the religious festivals and public celebrations require the exchange of food, drinks, and other liquids that are person-to-person shared, distributed, or even commonly drunk.

“Religion becomes a central component of ritual actions involving food preparation (cooking) and consumption (eating) when a higher power or supernatural authority is intentionally made part of the ritual food process.”[4] For example, Sikh communities offer free food or langar to a large number of people, between 300 and 400 meals each day. Hindu prepares and serve modak or sweet dumpling with a filling of fresh coconut and jaggery made, especially during Ganesh Chaturthi. Also, while doing the ritual puja or pooja[5], water or food is shared among worshipers for all the traditional saṃskāras (rites of passage) held weekly in the religious communities. This offering is the essential ritual of Hinduism but also held by Buddhists and Jains. Similarly, one of the hallmarks of the Passover holiday in Judaism is the eschewal of all foods containing leaven, the consumption only of foods that have been designated as Kasher la-Pesach, “kosher for Passover,” and the use of particular sets of utensils during the seder dinner that have not been used during the rest of the year.

Photo1,2: Jews sharing online seder, the ritual meal held to commence the Jewish festival of Passover vs the ordinary and traditional way of doing it

The major life crises and rites of passage (birth, marriage, death etc.) are celebrated by feasts or other uses of food. Wine and other foods were integral parts of circumcision ceremonies and of a boy’s attainment of ritual majority (Bar Mitzvah).

Muslims of all social statuses, however, eat freely with each other, worship in the same mosques, and participate in ceremonies together, as they do during Eid al-Fitr, the feast marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.[ 6] All these religious manifestations are deeply against all medical advises of stopping any pandemic outbreak, and for that matter cannot be bypassed by such measures.

Among the issues that have started domino reactions, of both social and religions’ internal conflicts, was also one that has rekindled a millennium-old debate within Christianity. Should Eastern Orthodox priests use a shared spoon to distribute sacramental bread and wine to churchgoers or a common chalice between clergy? The debate has resurfaced amid unprecedented coronavirus measures that are compelling religious institutions around the world to temporarily alter some traditional practices.

The importance of the issue and its span was already proved by other researchers and writers that have been preparing articles in this regard, both PRO and CON; we just mention their point of view for a wider understanding of its cruciality in religious rituals.

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Photo 3,4: ‘Celebrating Holy Communion without shared wine is fine’ in the age of COVID-19, many Romani-Catholic churches have decided.[7] Vs. the traditional Orthodox way of sharing `the Blood of Christ’

Among the arguments [CONs] that agree with [at least] temporal cancelation of using a common mean to the ritual of Holy Communion sharing among clergy and devotees, is that we are a part of creation and we share this creation with viruses[8]. Thus, we need to learn how to learn to live with them in a way that makes everyone safe.”[9] Furthermore, we can appoint at least one[10] that involves theological argumentation. It explains what underpins the widely spread belief that the Coronavirus cannot be transmitted through the communion of the Holy Gifts, accusing this belief of heresy namely Docetism, “as they would implicitly claim that Christ’s Body and Blood are not subject to the laws of nature, as a true human body would be.

Here Docetism would consist in rejecting the possibility that viruses that are part of God’s creation and ontologically good would survive on our Lord’s Body, as on any truly human body, unable to harm Him, but able to harm us, humans, that are neither divine or without sin.”[11] The other type of argumentation, PRO using continuously, without interruption religious means for the Holy Communion, points out the “Christ is but Life and healing, instead of death and illness.” “The representatives of this camp (the majority), let us call them “traditionalists,” believe that the Body and Blood of Christ cannot be the cause, source, or transmitter of disease. Instead, in the Twelfth Prayer of St. John Chrysostom before Holy Communion, we hear the words, “May my partaking of these Holy Mysteries of Christ be not unto judgment or condemnation O Lord, but to the healing of soul and body.” The logic of the traditionalist camp is simple and understandable—Christ himself is in the Chalice, and therefore, it is impossible to get

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sick from touching Him. After all, the Bible says that the Lord healed the lepers, the sick with various ailments, and even touching His clothing restored health. Otherwise, if the Body and Blood of Christ can transmit infection, then communion is just “fiction,” a pretty rite that is, nonetheless, “unhygienic,” and in some cases, possibly harmful.”[12] To all the impositions turned against religious manifestation in public alone, there were two opposite directions of getting ‘the news’: ones that follow them with diligence, while others are vehemently opposing to any attempt of altering religiousness with any costs. For example, in front of the Ramadan approaching Mouhanad Khorchide, a scholar of Islam and religious educationalist from the University of Munster, highlighted the closure of the Great Mosque in Mecca.

“That was the most forthright measure conceivable and showed the extent of responsibility and how serious the situation is,” said Khorchide in conversation with Deutsche Welle.[ 13] B. Response: Religions for Saving Lives, Defeat Death, Strengthen Virtues As a response to this debate about accepting or refusing restrictions during the pandemic related to community, food sharing, and Holy Communion, we give four theological-ethical arguments, of why believers and religious organizations should strictly follow restrictions and measures defined by the governments: [a] The COVID-19 pandemic is an extraordinary crisis situation that needs extra-ordinary responses. Not only a pandemic, but also a tsunami, a flood, a drought, a war, or an unexpected death are extraordinary crises. Religious communities have officially defined rules for emergency situations. Example: Lay people can do emergency baptisms if no

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priest is around and the person is in danger to die. It is officially allowed in the Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox tradition, whereas churches derived from Calvin do not need it as baptism is not seen as a precondition for salvation. In new types of emergencies, religious communities are able and invited to develop adapted solutions based on the center of faith, love, and compassion to save lives. [b] There are different forms of the presence and impact of the Divine. For Hindu, religion is mainly a personal affair. Worship can well be done at home if it is not possible in the temple during the pandemic. Believers of the Abrahamic religions (Christians, Muslim, and Jews) also practice their faith and family worship at home, but it is much expressed in the community. Manifold online services such as singing as choir each from home and connected through online platforms, online worship and prayers, pastoral counseling etc. are practiced as an extra-ordinary solution. Protestant Christians celebrate Eucharist online, led by a pastor from a church.[14] God/the Divine is unlimited in his ways of presence. Religious rules cannot limit him the Almighty, Benevolent and Savior. [c] Saving lives is at the core of all religions.

All precautionary measures to save lives during pandemic, but also in ordinary situations like “fasten your seatbelt”, “limit your consumption of alcohol”, “safety at the workplace”, “eat healthy food” etc. part of religious teaching and praxis. The pandemic and the need for lockdown, including the closing of schools shows the importance of educating values and virtues: Discipline and self-leadership are key part of character education where the religions have to play a key role. Confucian Asian Countries such as China and South Korea have shown greater self-discipline than cocalled Christian countries such as the USA and Brazil, whereas in many other countries

with majority Christians or Muslims, selfdiscipline was also well implemented. [d] Life after death is at the core of the Christian faith. Giving hope in pandemic situations of despair and depressions, pastoral care with the message that ‘Christ defeated death and death has not the last word’ is a key-role of churches, and more essential and adequate than insisting on mass gatherings for jointly have Holy Communion during the pandemic.

III. State: Relations with Religions

A. Analysis: The Interference of governments and its limits Are governments allowed to interfere in religious affairs during the pandemic – and if so, where are the limits? Does the State have the legal right to intervene and stop religious communities from practicing their own healing therapies, for any reason, with the explanation that they would work against conventional medical official statements or not work at all? To answering this we should watch what the reasons and the official statements some governments gave in regard to their reopening/never-to-close religious temples are. Concerning our last example, of reopening mosques in Pakistan amid coronavirus lockdown, the Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan, stated on April 22, 2020, that “If worshippers want to go [to mosques], and we stop them by deploying police and putting people in jail - this is not what free nations do.”[15] This declaration and its following-up State measure were definitely against what the Pakistani doctors have said, that ‘bigger Ramadan congregations raise the risk of spreading the virus’. Also, Dr. Qaiser Sajjad, General Secretary of Pakistan Medical Association, says, “Unfortunately, our rulers have made a wrong decision, our clerics have shown a non-serious attitude. They have shown an

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attitude of playing with human lives.”[16] “Religious leaders in Pakistan have successfully pressured the government to lift coronavirus-fighting lockdown measures on mosques which had been in place ahead of Ramadan. As the Islamic fasting month started on April 24, 2020, Muslims were being allowed to visit mosques for prayers again. Doctors in the country have voiced concerns about the spread of Covid-19 in mosques, and urged the authorities to restore restrictions that had been in place since late March.”[17] However, the vast majority of Muslims, like other religions in most countries, respected the lockdown restrictions, and found ways for prayers at home and via the internet.

Behind the State restrictions of religious practice and pressures from religious leaders is the larger question of the relation between State and religious organizations within that State. Four main categories of states in relation to religious regulations can be distinguished, as shown in the global map of the PEW Research Center: “States with an official religion confer official status on a particular religion in their constitution or basic law. These states do not necessarily provide benefits to that religious group over others. Nevertheless, in most cases, they do favor the state religion in some way.

States with a preferred or favored religion have government policies or actions that clearly favor one (or in some cases, more than one) religion over others, typically with legal, financial or other kinds of practical benefits. If these countries mention the favored religion in their constitution or laws, they do it as a “historical” religion (but not as the official state religion).

States with no official or preferred religion seek to avoid giving tangible benefits to one religious group over others (although they may evenhandedly provide benefits to many religious groups).

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States with a hostile relationship toward religion exert a very high level of control over religious institutions in their countries or actively take a combative position toward religion in general. Some of these countries may have constitutions that proclaim freedom of religion, or leaders who describe themselves as adherents of a particular religion, such as Islam. Nonetheless, their governments seek to tightly restrict the legal status, funding, clergy, and political activity of religious groups.”[18] These four types of relations between States and Religions are essential to understand the reaction of governments (representing the State) and religious leaders (representing their religious organizations). Governments want to be also re-elected after the Corona crisis and therefore avoid a conflict with the religious leaders. This is the case in the above example from Pakistan as for the President of the USA who needs to please the evangelicals among his supporters.

In addition to the four constitutional types listed above, we can distinguish five systematic types of (power-) relations between State and religions: Domination of the State over the religion/s.

The State controls, domesticates, and instrumentalizes the religious organizations in order to strengthen its own power.

Domination of the Religion over the State.

The mainstream religion dominates and instrumentalizes the State and public life in order to strengthen its own power (e.g., Roman-Catholic church in medieval age in Europe).

Unity of State and one Religion. The State asks for loyalty; the religious organization gets privileges; together they represent the unity of the country (e.g., some Orthodox churches in the past).

Separation of State and Church. The State is by law strictly neutral towards religious

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organizations (e.g., France and the US).

Partnership of the State and religions. The State guarantees religious freedom for all religions, but gives a special status of public law to majority religions with obligations of services like education and social services for the society (e.g., Germany, Switzerland).

B. Response: Partnership State and Religions From a theological-ethical perspective, we suggest four responses to state interventions in religious affairs and religious interventions in state affairs during and after a crisis such as a pandemic: [a] In most countries under constitutional law, the government can impose restrictions on a religious belief or practice. This is ethically justified under the value of equality and justice, as long as the law in question applies to everyone and does not target a specific religion or religious practice, which otherwise could be seen as discrimination of one religious group.[19] [b] In ordinary and even more in extraordinary situations such as a pandemic, religious organizations and the State both have to serve the people with their respective means. The partnership statereligions is the ethically most appropriate expression of it. [c] Critical solidarity includes reciprocal support, but also critique where needed.

The State has an obligation to limit life-threatening practices of religious organizations, fake news, and conspiracies spread by them. Religious organizations have to raise their voice where governments do not take their responsibility in reacting too late, not providing medical or economic support in time. [d] A respectful, constructive relationship between the State and religious organizations has to be established in ordinary times. Extraordinary times such as

the pandemic are the test, how resilient and sustainable they are.

IV. Science: Does God better help than

Doctors? Is Faith the best Medicine?

A. Analysis: Some Religious Believers Refusing Scientific-medical Knowledge Evangelical Christian minister Gloria Copeland claims that Jesus himself protected him from the flu and suggested that people avoid the virus by repeating the phrase, “I’ll never have the flu.”[20] In the case of the Sues ‘Veteran Affairs’ “deems pastoral services for all patients, including veterans receiving outpatient medical services, to be a necessary part of medical treatment.”[ 21] Other religious leaders are using the pulpit to spread misinformation. The evangelical pastor Kenneth Copeland, for example, claims to have cures for COVID-19[22] “Jesus is my protection,” said Father Allawi, who belongs to the Maronite Catholic Church.

“He is my sanitizer.”[23] The relation between science and religions is complex, controversial, and changed throughout the last 3000 years.

Believers, spiritual genius, monks, and nuns, modern researchers with faith contributed even substantially to scientific research and progress. The majority of religious institutions, including Christian universities, Islamic, Jain, Sikh, Hindu or Buddhist research centers, Confucian Chinese medicine universities, indigenous medical plants research, and hundred of thousands of faithdriven enterprises, contribute to scientific knowledge. At the same time, a substantial number of believers refuse medical science (even though using IT technology and many other products resulting from scientific research).

Religion and science have shared a long history of antagonism, skepticism,

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and mutual concessions. “For most of the sec. XX interest in psychobiological research, pragmatism, and behaviorism, experimentalism pushed these fields of science in a position totally refractory to religion. Freud[24] saw the religious person as a neurotic person with obsessivecompulsive traits, Ellis[25] considered Religion as the institutionalization of irrationality being inflexible and intolerant and Watters[26] said that religion is incompatible with many components of mental and physical health.”[27] It is a XX century trend in splitting religiosity from spirituality, emphasizing their features as opposed. For Shafranske and Malony[28], religiosity refers to “adherence to the beliefs and practices of an organized church or religious institution,” while spirituality is seen as having a personal and experiential connotation. In this vision the polarization of ‘religion and spirituality’ in the paradigm ‘institutional versus individual’ ignores the fact that all forms of spiritual expression are revealed in a social context alone and that all religious beliefs are interested in ordering personal problems. This trend made the gap between religion and science even deeper.

It places the institutions of religious matter as against scientific development due to the assertion that all religious institutions want to refrain people from being ‘enlightened’ other than ‘religiously’. Underlying the mass-mind-control on behalf of religious leadership in their interest, this vision tries to salve-guard the necessary, ontological need of human being, by creating this triparty gap, religion-spirituality-science.

“According to almost all the standard histories of medicine published over the last 50 years, the story of medicine is, in large part, the story of the progressive liberation of science - empirical, experimental, secular - from the religious slavery of superstition, tradition, and authority.”[29] Skepticism against medical treatment comes to a good part from Pentecostal Session 4. Miscellaneous

churches with a strong emphasis on healing through the Holy Spirit, from free churches such as the anti-vaccine movement in the US, from traditional religions claiming that divine healing sources come through the healer with his/her super-natural energy of miracles. Then there are also charlatans, money-makers to sell their miraculous products, conspiracy-ideologists, and others. In a good number of cases, antiscience movements are also linked to populist political movements, which stimulate each other. Populist political leaders are often critical and negligent to scientific results; we could call them confessing anti-science politicians. It becomes really dangerous, when heads of states such as the Presidents of USA, Brazil, and Tanzania officially propagate scientifically non-proven or already proven as fake some treatment methods which can kill lives.

The COVID-19 pandemic with a new virus, with much scientific uncertainty, with a hectic search for vaccines or other solutions of treatments and the lack of affordability and accessibility of treatments in many places, are obviously the soil for the blossoming of “alternative solutions” by supernatural healing and non-traditional methods.

Is there a right to refuse medical treatment or give it to own children? Some religious groups forbid their partisans to take medical care, refusing for them or their children proper medication or treatment whatsoever. There are many cases in which the State sues these groups for denying the ‘right to life and medical treatment’.

However, there are several countries in which “the right to die”[ 30] is accepted as a concept based on the opinion that human beings are entitled to end their life or undergo voluntary euthanasia – in most countries under very strict conditions and controls. This ‘right’ may be used for ages

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by Hindu and Jain practices of non-violent suicide through fasting (Prayopavesa and Santhara, respectively), a practice that for others is considered a grave sin, as in Catholicism.[31] For official statements and as the front interface between Religion(s) and the secular world, everywhere it was taken a single concerted action, obeying the medical advice towards social distancing. But the costs for all social systems, altogether economical, tourism, commerce, trade, transportation et all. were equal with those for the religious phenomenon. “Religion is the solace of first resort for billions of people grappling with a pandemic for which scientists, presidents, and the secular world seem, so far, to have few answers. With both sanitizer and leadership in short supply, dread over the Coronavirus has driven the globe’s faithful even closer to religion and ritual.”[32] With a strong faith in divine aids against this malevolent pandemic, religions all over the words took an alternative ‘fight’ against the Coronavirus, and, instead of obeying the State impositions, led to several attempts of breaking them with a strong motivation, both internal and declared.

Who is trustworthy? An important indicator for the role of State and religions in fighting the pandemic is the level of trust in authorities. The latest survey of the annual Edelman Trust Barometer[33] was done in November and December 2019 in eleven markets across the globe. It shows that 80 percent of the people trust scientist, but only 46 percent of religious leaders and government leaders. The update in April 2020 showed a huge increase in the trust in governments, due to the pandemic, up to 65 percent. Over 70 percent want the governments to lead the pandemic response. Sixty-one percent are willing to give up personal health and location data, more than normal, in order to help contain the spread of the virus.[34] The April update

concentrated on governments and did not include religious leaders. At least one hypothesis can be made, that local pastors, priests, and imam get more trust than national or international religious leaders (after the many scandals reported). It would correspond to the trust in “people of my local community” in the table above with 69 percent trust. ‘The closer a person, the higher the trust’ is a proximity rule, which is seen in the Edelman Barometer for years.

While some, more resilient, used a humongous but diligent measure to contain pandemic among their followers, others denied obeying the impositions of secular society when tagging the formers as coward and apostate. Pope Francis directly addressed in his speech on Easter 2020 the coronavirus pandemic and laid out his vision for a “contagion of hope,” saying this is “an Easter of solitude lived amid the sorrow and hardship that the pandemic is causing.” He also called on politicians “to work actively for the common good” and “to provide the means and resources needed to enable everyone to lead a dignified life.” In this regard, the Pope warns against ‘selfishness’ during a pandemic to all those who disobey the advices of conventional Medicine to stay indoors and give up to social manifestations, religious ones included.[35] It would be outrageous for devotees if, amid pandemic, religious leadership would only criticize the impositions and refrain their communities from accepting the suggested and enforced medical measures, without giving something in return, something to comfort them in times of sorrow. Since the pandemic is not the only illness humanity faced along the way, religions have always thought about illness and diseases and came up with a ‘heavenly’ solutions to address this major and important issue of humanity. “Religion serves at least three functions for the sick or dying patient. (a) It provides a theoretical framework in which

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to make sense of illness and mortality by understanding them as punishment, education, purification, sacrifice, or mystery, and it does so without denying the reality of these experiences. (b) It provides such practical resources for coping with sickness, suffering, and mortality as prayer, social support, and ritual actions aimed at forgiveness, transcendence, and healing. (c) It gives hope in the face of inevitable death. The particular clinical benefits of religion, both physical and psychologic, as well as its possible distortions, are known anecdotally. Empirical studies are needed to test these impressions.”[36] Thus, the whole thing with a religious protest against conventional medical requirements and the aftermath State’s impositions to ban religious gatherings and public rituals is in fact, a way of saying ‘we have the cure’. The history of the relationship of religion and health care shows us that we are right to assert this unspoken, but rather vigorously emphasized reason within all the religious protest against churches’ closure. In other times of human existence, the health care was entirely the privilege of religious servants, either clergy or the healers. The historical involvements of various religious traditions in healing practices are scattered all over the world, and the contemporary denominations with the same claim inherited most of them.

Some religious groups, which are critical to classical mainstream medicine, call for a more holistic approach, which means that when treating a disease, the doctor takes into account all three layers of an individual: body, mind, and spirit. “The healing must, therefore, be not only physical, of the body, but of the complete being (body-mindspirit). In the case of a cancer patient, for example, integrative Medicine aims not only to provide allopathic treatment, but also to solve all associated problems, namely to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy, to alleviate pain, to combat depression, to help Session 4. Miscellaneous

social reintegration of the patient, but also in the care in the terminal phases.”[37] So, as we can see, there are law limitations that allow religious groups to hold that their practices/rituals to be treated as equal to conventional medical treatments. Besides this ‘conventional medical treatments’, from case to case, considering the health problems, the doctors (of soul and body, as in the holistic medicine) recommends a combination of therapies. These are personalized, taking into account all the physical and mental suffering of the patient, such as phytotherapy, apitherapy, homeopathy, acupuncture, aromatherapy, massage, nutritional counseling, chiropractic, yoga, biofeedback, prayer, meditation, fasting, and any other methods with proven efficacy at least on some people, especially to saints or persons for whom there are related legends and stories about miracles performed in the respective religion.

There is no religious phenomenon/ denomination that has not got this idea or practices, or even claims clearly stated publicly. The difference lies only in the claim to manifest publicly and ostentatiously against secular practices, as well as the obstinacy with which they seek to execute it against warnings, State prosecution, and the measures taken by the State in this regard. Thus, some religious denominations unveil this requisite into non-ostentatious practices (i.e., Holy Communion to almost all Christian groups, Holy unction to Orthodox and Romano Catholics), while others practice this idea of religious healing ostentatious. But again, with the risk of being accused by some fellow theologians of theological exaggerations, that there is no such thing as ‘particular religious groups’ with this assertion, since ALL religions and their denominations have, in a form or another, the pretention of carrying medical healing, with a divine aid or spiritual or any

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other means.

Are the religious healers and, consequently, the religious healing methods the only means people can rely upon while facing the Covid19 outbreak? Is it also the conventional Medicine absolutely sure that it can face and eventually stop this pandemic entirely without the religious aids? Or, on the contrary, they should both work together, each with their own methods, relying on each other without criticizing or absolutizing own aids against the other’s practice?

Should not be the religions left to assist health professionals in establishing effective prevention alliances and envision Churches as partners in this fight all humanity fights all-together?[38]Is the Christian/religious Faith and practice inadequate or incompatible with human rights paradigms?

B. Response: Science and Faith are Complementary Our theological-ethical response to these questions on the relation of science and faith, especially on protecting and curing medical measures during Covid-19, contains four elements: [a] Science and Faith are complementary.

God acts through human brains, hands, and feet. If God is almighty, how can God be seen as opposed to science, which is part of His creation? John Calvin, the Reformer in Geneva in the 16th century, had a weak body and was often in poor health conditions.

He was often dependent on medicine. The believers in Geneva wanted to test him; they asked him to stop taking medication and instead of trusting in God. However, he believed that Medicine was sent by God. Doctors, nursing staff, medication, and vaccinations are talents and instruments of God and not of the devil, was his answer. “If the Lord wants to give us support through the help and service of the impious in natural science, the science of thinking or

mathematics or other sciences, we should make use of it. Otherwise, we would be scorning God’s gifts, which are offered to us in them, and rightly be punished for our sluggishness.”[39] Those who refuse the services of Medicine, which is a result of science, may refuse the help of God. This does not mean that there can be unethical outcomes and the implementation of science since human beings are able to use science for good and bad. Science cannot replace God and faith does not replace science; these are complementary approaches and perspectives on the one world made by the creator, liberator, and reconciler (in the Christian understanding of Trinity). “Beating coronavirus requires faith leaders have to bridge gap between religion and science.”[40] [b] Holistic medical approach: Traditional Medicine, western Medicine, and alternative Medicine can contribute to healing and have their limits. Religions are called to have a holistic approach to health and healing as they have a deep understanding of the interaction of body, mind, and soul, of life as well as of life, death and life beyond death (as resurrection or reincarnation, depending on the religion). Instead of campaigning against specific medical methods, drugs or vaccines, believers are called to promote this holistic approach. To treat the patient from this holistic perspective, both conventional and complementary therapies are to be used. The best methods of diagnosis and treatment are taken from each, those that have proven their efficiency and regardless their controversial overview.

“Today medicine does not encompass the whole of our effort to relieve sickness and suffering, though as a society we do tend to ‘medicalize’ the problems of daily living and to ascribe them, in one form or another, to the domain of the physician. Many forms of health care, however, while including a major medical component, nonetheless transcend the boundaries of the traditional

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medical model.”[41] [c] Holistic approach of medical, economic and environmental dimensions. If religions are called to contribute to saving life in its fullness and to defeat death in is fakeness, they need not only to focus on health and healing but all aspects, which threaten life. This includes especially the disastrous economic effects of the pandemic with the recession, rocketing level of unemployment and related poverty, indebtedness, related potential increase of violence, and much more. It also includes the engagement of religious organizations for climate mitigation, green economy, sustainable lifestyle, and a new orientation of global markets, flights, holidays, and much more.

Many believers and religious organizations are already engaged, but more is needed in the post-corona era. [d] Freedom with responsibility. “A third theme bearing on issues of sickness and health and having important implications for current medical and health concerns is that of freedom and responsibility. To be sure, no religious tradition teaches the absolute and unlimited freedom of the person in all respects and in all situations.

We are all limited in some way by who we are and by the situations in which we find ourselves. Yet the great world religions also stress the reality of freedom and the need to use that freedom correctly. Whether in obeying a divine command or in seeking the truth, in performing the meritorious deed or in giving the assent of faith, human freedom is presupposed. Conversely, people must necessarily take responsibility for their decisions. There is a price to be paid for the misuse of freedom, and often that price is heavy.”[42]

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V. Conspiracies, Guilt, and

Responsibility

A. Analysis: China Lab, US Military and other Conspiracies Scientists to the vast majority agree that the origin of the Coronavirus must be the transmission from animals to humans. They also identified 195’000 types of viruses, which all potentially could commute to humans. Nevertheless, the conspiracy theory that the COVID-19 virus was produced as part of a biological weapons program and escaped from a famous virological lab in Wuhan continues to be mentioned

by Americans. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson argued the American military might have brought it during their visit of military exposure in Wuhan (the article was deleted and not supported by the Chinese government). Others argue it could have been a human failure or the escape of a virus by accident Lack of clarity and certainty is compensated by creating a false certainty.

Fortunately, the scientist brought step by step light on the issue, even not yet final.

Behind conspiracy theories are often material interests. In the US-China case, it cannot be separated from the ongoing US-China trade war. Also, in the past, antisemitism was linked to get a hand on Jews assets. During the plague in the city of Zurich in 1349, the major of the city, Rudolf Brun, brought all Jews to one house, burnt it down, confiscated all Jews assets, and kept the more significant part for himself!

Believers of all religions are often receptive to conspiracies and scapegoat mechanisms as they thirst for certainty.

Some religious organizations fuel them in cases when they see an opportunity to get rid of minority religions and strengthen their own position (like national churches under Hitler in Germany in favor of antisemitism).

But believers and religious leaders are also

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forerunners against conspiracies and are outspoken against related crimes (like the protestant confessing church in Germany against antisemitism).

B. Response: No to Conspiracies and Scapegoats, Yes to Responsibility Our theological-ethical approach to this central topic of faith – guilt and responsibility – is again fourfold: [a] No more scapegoats: the ‘natural’ reaction of human beings on problems, challenges, and mistakes is to ask, “Who is guilty?” Once we know the answer, we identify the root cause, isolate it, and feel more secure. Even more so, in times of crisis as the pandemic with so much uncertainty, the need for adaptation to everyday new situations is required.. If humans are not able to identify the guilty person or group, they project the evil and guilt on a person or group which can be targeted as a scapegoat (deputy, proxy, representative) of the unknown guilty person or group. This scapegoat-mechanism is as old as humanity and led to immense tragedies, suffering and genocide like the holocaust. During the history of pandemics, especially the plague in Europe during medieval centuries, the Jews have been identified as the reason for the epidemic and have been killed. Christian faith has a different approach, especially in the New Testament: “God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn people, but to save/heal them.” (John 3:17). This is an important message that should be a priority for churches and believers. It is also the essence of the Easter message: We no longer need scapegoats, but Jesus has taken the cross upon himself and freed us from the constant mechanism of looking for guilty parties and liberated humans once for all from blaming scapegoats. God does not want to harm us, but to help us. [b] No to conspiracies search for guilt.

Conspiracy theories are linked to the scapegoat mechanism. Lack of clarity and certainty is compensated by creating a false certainty. The simple example of guilt a sickness was given 200 years ago: The friends of Jesus saw a blind man and asked Jesus who was guilty of this blindness, the blind man, or his parents? Jesus refused to find anyone guilty. Instead, he immediately made a healing mass with his saliva and earth and placed it on the eyes of the blind man who was cured of his blindness.

Immediately afterward, the lawyers (Pharisees), who had been watching like onlookers, broke off a lawsuit against Jesus because he was working on a Sabbath and could not even show a certificate as a doctor (John 9:1-34). [c] Some catastrophes such as the eruption of a volcano, happen without human intervention. But many catastrophes are human-made, the result of a technical ‘accident’, which means a human failure, such as Chernobyl, Fukushima or oil in the golf of Mexiko, but human failure can also be seen in case of a volcano eruption or tsunami: was the early warning system developed enough? Was the help fast enough? Was the communication happening as it should?

Endless numbers of human failures can be listed in a catastrophe. It does not solve the problem. The main beneficiaries of all such legal cases after the pandemic are the lawyers. [d] Yes to Responsibility: Religions have the task in such pandemic times as in normal life to break through the vicious downwards spiral of blaming and shaming, guilt and condemnation, mistrust, and hate.

Religions – and especially Christianity from its values – have to and can contribute to a virtuous upward spiral of trust and love, care and help, responsibility and inclusion.

Responsibility means answering with solutions for those who are entrusted to us. Acting with responsibility means

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looking forward and not backward. It means acting with integrity, which includes admitting weaknesses, mistakes, and “sin” as individual believers or religious organizations. This applies to politics, business, science and all other sectors.

Those who can admit mistakes and thus assume responsibility are stronger than those who deport them, moreover in a pandemic period, where incorrect decisions are easily possible due to a lack of reliable knowledge. [e] Religion as a service for society and not firstly for self-interest. During the pandemic, solidarity and trust in governments seem high. But as soon as lockdown is reduced, the political power games come up again.

Everyone in politics wants to survive the crisis as a political winner. The cooperation during the pandemic is fast replaced by division, competition, and self-interests.

Religions should stand for defending the common good and the interests of the people in society. If they mainly defend their dogmatic, material or power interests, they cannot make a difference and do not win the trust of the people /see graph above).

Believers and religious organizations during and after the pandemic serve best their own interests and values if they first serve the others and the society and world as a whole.

References [1]

Conclusions Whereas the spread of the new coronavirus outbreak, developing into a global pandemic situation, the governments everywhere have declared a ‘state of emergency’ to stop the spread of the pandemic as much as possible. Many of the citizens’ rights have been restricted and temporarily annulled under this pretext, including the right to religious practice[43].

Under current constitutional law, the government can impose restrictions on a religious belief or practice, as long as the law Session 4. Miscellaneous

in question applies to everyone and does not target a specific religion or religious practice and as long the restriction is limited in time and linked to specific reasons such as this pandemic.[44] In this framework, all affected religious communities have responded in kind, either by diligently cooperating with authorities and even more than that with physicians specialists in this regard and temporarily cancel and alter religious rituals, while others, more conservative, have vigorously protested and denied these impositions of the State. Arguments were thrown into the discussion by both parties, emphasizing either on the convergence care for people’s health on behalf of secular State as well as of Religion’s, or emphasizing the narrow and incomplete understanding of medical science over this new Coronavirus. It is important for that latter position to understand that the religious communities were eager to help in this regard by offering to people alternative and holistic aids of healing. But the counter denial from the conventional medicine was not late to appear and ask for these ‘religious medicine means’ to be banned or even declared illegal for being ‘unsafe, unscientific, ineffective, and even harmful’ as seen in particular cases.

[2]

[3]

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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the virus strain that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a respiratory illness.

Gorbalenya, A.E., Baker, S.C., Baric, R.S. et al. The species Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus: classifying 2019-nCoV and naming it SARS-CoV-2. Nat Microbiol 5, 536–544 (2020). https://doi. org/10.1038/s41564-020-0695-z Lloyd Ridgeon (editor), Major World Religions: From Their Origins to the Present, Routledge: 2003, 257-8. Also, BK SAHNI, BPY-004: Religions Of The World, 2017.

Ben Hubbard, “A Ramadan Like

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[4]

[5] [6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

No Other: Images From Around the World”, in TheNewYorkTimes, April 25, 2020. URL: https://www.nytimes. com/2020/04/25/world/ramadan-photos. h t m l ? a c t i o n = c l i c k & m o d u l e = To p + S tories&pgtype=Homepage&fbclid=IwA R 2 J k S b f m 4 Yq P a H q N D 2 3 S 7 I e p 3 v C U i my4WuqhIu 4PFP3aPSvQFKfHmmwbPY, accessed 2.5.2020.

Emily J. Bailey, “Food Rituals”, in Paul B. Thompson, David M. Kaplan (eds.), Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics (Dordrecht: Springer), 2014, DOI: https://doi. org/10.1007/978-94-007-0929-4_338. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puja_ (Hinduism) Matt Stefon and Yehudi A. Cohen, “Dietary law”, in Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 2018, URL: https://www.britannica.com/topic/ dietary-law, Access Date: May 05, 2020.

Faithful receive the Holy Communion into their hands during a Mass celebrated at Saint Francois Xavier church in Paris, France, Sunday, March 1, 2020. The archbishop of Paris is asking all of the French capital’s parish priests to change the way they administer communion to counter the spread of the coronavirus. It said a Paris priest tested positive for the virus on Friday after returning from Italy. Source: Rafael Yaghobzadeh, AP URL: https://eu.greenvilleonline.com/ story/news/local/2020/03/04/coronavirussc-spread-protect-yourself-church-limitscommunion-customs/4933604002/ Encyclical of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America and the Eparchial Synod on the Covid-19 Pandemic (Coronavirus): “The same material elements that can convey the blessings of God are also subject to the broken nature of our fallen world.” URL: https://www.goarch.org/-/ encyclical-covid-19-pandemic, published March 6, 2020.

Janet Maykus, the interim minister at the Central Christian Church of Austin, in MARIA GODOY & SHAHLA FARZAN, “Keep The Faith, Lose The Germs: Clergy Rethink Customs In The Age Of Coronavirus”, NPR, published March 7, 2020.

URL: https://www.npr.org/sections/healthshots/2020/03/07/812998643/keep-the-faith-

lose-the-germs-clergy-rethink-customs-inthe-age-of-coronavirus?t=1588683101363.

[10] Cyril Hovorun, “COVID-19 and Christian (?)

Dualism”, in Public Orthodoxy, A publication of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University. Retrieved from: https:// publicorthodoxy.org/2020/03/23/covid-19and-dualism, accessed on 3.04.2020.

[11] Anonymous, An argument regarding the issue of contagion through communion of the holy gifts, URL: https:// fortheorthodoxeverywhere.com/2020/04/20/ contagionthroughcommunion/#_ftn2, published 20th Apr 2020. Also see Gill ON, “The hazard of infection from the shared communion cup”, J Infect. 1988 Jan; 16(1):323. DOI: 10.1016/s0163-4453(88)96029-x [12] Constantine Shmlyuk, “CORONAVIRUS AND THE CHALICE: CAN YOU GET SICK, OR NOT?”, Translation by Matfey Shaheen, Union of Orthodox Journalists, https://orthochristian.com/129587.html.

[13] Christoph Strack, “The world’s religions and coronavirus”, URL: https://en.qantara. de/content/covid-19-pandemic-the-worldsreligions-and-coronavirus.

[14] Claudia Daniel-Siebenmann, «Christi Leib für dich im Livestream». Abendmahl online feiern? Seminary work, university of Basel, 1 March 2020, download www.theologie.uzh. ch.

[15] Prime Minister Imran Khan, explaining the about-face in an Urdu-language post uploaded to his political party’s Twitter feed. URL: https://twitter.com/InsafPK/ status/1252653320340209669, accessed 4.5.2020.

[16] From a video posted https://youtu.be/7BhHr2MK7E, accessed 4.5.2020.

[17] Caroline Kwok, “Clerics overturn coronavirus lockdown of mosques as Pakistan faces a Ramadan like never before”, South China Morning Post, April 24, 2020. URL: https:// www.scmp.com/video/coronavirus/3081369/ clerics-overturn-coronavirus-lockdownmosques-pakistan-faces-ramadan.

[18] Pew Research Center, Many Countries Favor Specific Religions, Officially or Unofficially, published 3 Oct 2017. www.pewforum. org/2017/10/03/many-countries-favor-

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specific-religions-officially-or-unofficially.

Coders analyzed each country’s constitution or basic laws, along with its official policies and actions toward religious groups.

[19] https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/ about/faq/can-the-government-ever-interferewith-someones-religious-practices/ [20] https://youtu.be/pvoKMgHca0k [21] https://ffrf.org/legal/challenges/highlightedcourt-successes [22] h t t p s : / / t h e c o n v e r s a t i o n . c o m / b e a t i n g coronavirus-requires-faith-leaders-to-bridgegap-between-religion-and-science-135388 [23] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/22/world/ middleeast/coronavirus-religion.html [24] Freud, S, The Future of an Illusion, New York: Liveright, 1953.

[25] Ellis, A., “Psychotherapy and atheistic values: A response to A. E. Bergin’s “Psychotherapy and religious values”, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 48/1980, 635-639.

[26] Watters, W., Deadly doctrine: Health, Illness, and Christian God-talk, Buffalo, NY: Prometheus, 1992.

[27] Radu Vrasti (Huron-Perth Healthcare Alliance, Special Services Unit, Stratford, Ontario, Canada), “Relatia dintre religiozitate/ spiritualitate si sanatatea fizica si mentala” (Eng., “The relationship between religiosity / spirituality and physical and mental health”), URL: http://www.vrasti.org/Relatia%20 dintre%20religie%20si%20spiritualitate%20 si%20sanatatea%20fizica%20si%20cea%20 mentala.pdf.

[28] Shafranske, E.F. & Mallony, H.N., “Clinical Psychologists’ religious and spiritual orientations and their practice of psychotherapy”, Psychotherapy, 27(1)/ 1990, 72-78.

[29] Robert L Sevensky, “The religious foundations of health care: a conceptual approach”, in Journal of medical ethics, 1983: 9, 166.

Downloaded from http://jme.bmj.com/ on October 23, 2016 - Published by group.bmj. com.

[30] As in Australia, Canada, Colombia, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. see MacCharles T (17 June 2016). “Assisted dying to become law after Senate backs Liberals’ bill”. URL: https://

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www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/06/17/ senate-votes-not-to-send-assisted-dying-billback-to-mps.html. Toronto Star. Accessed 31.3.2020.

[31] Cases described: https://edition.cnn. com/2018/02/07/health/religion-medicaltreatment/index.html. .

[32] Vivian Yee, “In a Pandemic, Religion Can Be a Balm and a Risk”, in URL: https://www. nytimes.com/2020/03/22/world/middleeast/ coronavirus-religion.html, accessed 3.5.2020.

[33] 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer. Global Report, 17.

[34] 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer Spring Update, Edelman press release, 5 May 2020.

[35] Ben Kesslen, “Pope gives Easter address to empty basilica, warns against ‘selfishness’ during pandemic”, in NBC News, April 12, 2020. URL: https://www.nbcnews.com/ news/world/pope-gives-easter-addressempty-basilica-warns-against-selfishnessduring-n1182226, accessed 20.4.2020.

[36] Robert L. Sevensky, “Religion and illness: an outline of their relationship”, South Med J., 1981 Jun; 74(6):745-50.

[37] h t t p s : / / a d e v a r u l . r o / s a n a t a t e / medicina/ce-medicina-integrativa1_50ae616c7c42d5a6639c36d2/index.html [38] See more of this theory to Sutherland, M., Hale, C.D. & Harris, G.J., “Community health promotion: The church as partner”, The Journal of Primary Prevention – Springer Journals 16, 201–216 (1995). https://doi. org/10.1007/BF02407340.

[39] Calvin, John, Instruction in the Christian Religion (Institutes), 1559/2007, II, 2.26.

[40] Marshall, Katherine, Beating coronavirus requires faith leaders have to bridge gap between religion and science, Theconversation.com, 22 April 2020.

[41] Robert L Sevensky, “The religious foundations of health care: a conceptual approach”, Journal of medical ethics, 1983:9, 165. Downloaded from http://jme.bmj.com/ on October 23, 2016 - Published by group. bmj.com [42] Robert L Sevensky, “The religious foundations of health care…”, 166.

[43] According to the Article 9: Freedom

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of thought, belief and religion of the international Commission of ‘Equality and Human Rights’. Same article says that, under certain circumstances [i.e., public safety; public order; health or morals, and the rights and freedoms of other people] this right to religious practice can be restricted: “Public authorities cannot stop you practising your religion, without very good reason – there are some situations in which public authorities can interfere with your right to manifest or show your thoughts, belief and religion.” https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/ human-rights-act/article-9-freedom-thoughtbelief-and-religion [44] https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/ about/faq/can-the-government-ever-interferewith-someones-religious-practices/

Biographies C h r i s t o p h STUECKELBERGER, Prof.

Dr Dr.hc., born 1951, is a Professor of Systematic Theology with focus on Ethics. His main fields of research are global ethics, environmental ethics, economic/business ethics, trade ethics, finance ethics, political ethics, development ethics, cyber ethics, and philanthropy. He published as author and editor over fifty books and hundreds of articles on applied ethics, all downloadable for free on www.globethics.net/ publications. He is Founder, was Executive Director (2008-2016), and is President (since 2016) of the global network on ethics “Globethics.net in Geneva/Switzerland.

He is Prof. (em.) at the University of Basel, Distinguished Professor at the Technical University MEPhI in Moscow, Visiting Professor at GOU University in Enugu/ Nigeria, a t Minzu University in Beijing/China and at Leeds Beckett University Business School in Leeds/UK. He got his doctor honoris causa (Dr h.c.) from the Protestant University in Congo UPC in Kinshasa/DRC

for his long-term engagement in Africa.

He is Executive Director of Geneva Agape Foundation; He was and is a member of manifold ethics committees, such as the Ethics Committee on Non-human Biotechnology of the Swiss Government. www.christophstueckelberger.ch Tudor Cosmin CIOCAN, born in Constanta/Romania in 1977, attended several theological and psychological schools (BA, MB, Ph.D.), obtained his Ph.D. in Missiology and Doctrinal Theology in 2010. He was ordained as an orthodox priest in 2002. Highschool teacher from 1998, then Professor assistant and Lecturer from 2012, he has written more than 65 articles on theology and psychology, along with 4 singleauthor books in the past two decades. In 2013 he started a multidisciplinary program aiming to engage scholars from different files into friendly and academic debates with theology, and in the same year, a Research Center was founded in Ovidius University with researchers from 11 fields. In less than one year, he managed to gather people from around the globe around this idea, and thus the Dialogo Conferences project has started. In 2014 he received a Fulbright scholarship, and spent the summer in California along with four other states in the USA, gathering data and understanding how religious pluralism is possible at a high level of involvement; in the meanwhile he made friends from many different countries and religions that are now involved in this project or another, helping in his endeavor. Now he researches and teaches in this direction, towards building bridges between science and theology on the one side, and interfaith dialogue, on the other hand.

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The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces, (DIALOGO-CONF 2020 VICSSR)

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The Eco-Interreligious Civilization of Love Amid COVID-19 Pandemic in the Indonesian Context Rev. Aloys Budi Purnomo

Environmental Science Doctoral Program; Soegijapranata Catholic University, Semarang Indonesia

article info Article history: Received 24 April 2020 Received in revised form 17 May 2020 Accepted 20 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.16

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; ecointerreligious; ecological conversion; civilization of love; encyclical Laudato Si’;

abstract

Should we want to consider the actual relevance and significance of the eco-interreligious civilization of love, we can discuss this idea in the current difficult times in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. The world was shocked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which made people of all nations experience changes in life spiritually, physically, and socially. In the perspective of Laudato Si’ encyclical, the COVID-19 pandemic challenges all people without discrimination to bring about ecological conversion and a culture of love, even eco-interreligious civilization of love. This paper aims to explain the idea of eco-interreligious love civilization as the fruit of ecological conversion amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative reflection uses the encyclical Laudato Si’ as a theoretical foundation to examine the importance of interfaith civilization of love in the context of the Indonesian Catholic Church, primarily based on the response of two Archbishop of Jakarta Archdiocese and Semarang Archdiocese. The COVID-19 pandemic was a natural reaction to the error of the human collective towards nature. In the language of faith, the plague is partly caused by ecological sin that needs ecological conversion to conduct an eco-interreligious civilization of love. © 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction

Five years ago, through Laudato Si’ encyclical [1], Pope Francis reminded us all that in addition to making a positive contribution to the development of human life, freedom and technology can also be

a source of new diseases. With Laudato Si’ encyclical’s lens, we can read that the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged humans to create a postmodern history of the ecointerreligious civilization of love. In my consideration, the COVID-19 pandemic has a close relationship with the ecological crisis

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that challenges anyone to sincere inner conversion both personally and socially.

Laudato Si’ encyclical was written and signed by Pope Francis on May 24, 2015, and published publicly on June 18, 2015, with the focus on the environmental concern, especially the human being’s condition.

Through the Laudato Si’ encyclical, Pope Francis invites anyone to pay attention to the theology of creation and the environment.

Pope Francis also encourages everyone to see the Earth in a Catholic lens. The Pontiff even offers his teaching in an ecumenical and interreligious perspective as well. The goal is to build awareness for caring for the Earth as our common home. That is why Laudato Si’ encyclical has the subtitles “On Care for Our Common Home.”

What is the background of Pope Francis’s writing and publishing Laudato Si’ encyclical?

In terms of teaching, Pope Francis put Laudato Si’ as an encyclical, even though its contents concern the universal situation and condition of the Earth and human relations related to the Earth. So, this encyclical is unique. Usually, an encyclical contains the Pope’s authoritative teachings for Catholic believers as part of the Sacred Teachings or Magisterium. This Laudato Si’ encyclical is unique and has ecological and environmental themes [2].

Pope Francis departed and referred to the teachings of his predecessors, starting with Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI. Encyclicals placed as Catholic Social Teaching (CTS) with an ecological and environmental focus for the care of the Earth, our shared home.

Pope Francis also based his encyclical on various bishops’ Conference documents from multiple countries published by the relevant bishops. With this, Pope Francis shows respect in the spirit of brotherhood and collegiality with and with other bishops throughout the world [3].

Pope Francis also placed his encyclical in

the context of the Second Vatican Council, specifically related to the theme of the environment. The center is human, not in the context of anthropocentrism, but for the sake of defending human dignity, especially those who are weak, poor, and oppressed.

Human beings and integral human ecology are the fundamental concern of Laudato Si’.

The responsibility of caring for the Earth as our shared home cannot be separated from the responsibility towards humanity [4].

I. Religious Diversity for Ecointerreligious Civilization of Love

Diversity marks human life, including a variety of religions. In this diversity of faith, we are called to be involved in interreligious dialogue. Pope Francis encouraged us to engage in dialogue with everyone to care for the Earth [5]. Precisely in this context, then, attention to religious diversity becomes very important. It is a modal of the construction of an eco-interreligious civilization of love.

From there, the experience of ecumenism and interreligious dialogue was born.

This concern on religious diversity has its historical roots on the previous Pope’s teaching from time to time. For example, Pacem in Terris and Mater et Magistra of Pope John XXIII had a significant influence on Pope Francis in writing Laudato Si’. Both of these documents are very concerned with environmental issues [6], [7]. The influence of Pope John XXIII is very clearly seen in these sentences. “More than fifty years ago, when the world was stumbling on the brink of a nuclear crisis, St. John XXIII wrote an encyclical that not only rejected war but gave a suggestion for peace. He mandated his message Pacem in Terris to the entire ‘Catholic world’ and also ‘to all people of goodwill’...” [8]. With that context, Pope Francis then wrote, “Now, faced with the destruction of the global environment, I want to greet everyone who lives on this

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planet ...” [9].

Thus, the Laudato Si’ encyclical is not only directed to the Catholic world or all human beings of goodwill but also everyone on this planet. It can be interpreted that Pope Francis invited all people, whether those who wish well or not, without exception, without discrimination, to engage in dialogue to handle the environmental crisis.

With a focus on human well-being, the integrity of creation, and environmental sustainability, Pope Francis also provided necessary spiritual and ecological guidance, references, and orientations for caring for the Earth, our common home. The Laudato Si’ encyclical has a prophetic nature and, at the same time, affirms a “pro-life” attitude [10].

Pope Francis also referred to the concerns of Pope Paul VI, who had been aware since 1971 and mentioned ecological problems as a tragic result of uncontrolled human activity. Pope Francis quoted Pope Paul VI’s statement in the Apostolic Letter Octogesima Adveniens (May 14, 1971) that “because of the exploitation of nature carelessly, humans pose a risk of destroying it and in turn, they become victims of this degradation” [11]. Pope Paul VI’s speech (November 16, 1970) before the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) about the possibility of ecological disasters due to industrial civilization was also a reference of Pope Francis. Pope Paul VI has long reminded that in the era of industrial civilization we must make radical changes in behavior because of “extraordinary scientific advances, astounding technical abilities, staggering economic growth, if not accompanied by social development and authentic moral, the end will turn against humans” [12].

In that condition, the reference to Pope John Paul II’s call becomes very important.

Amid the danger of industrial civilization can turn to destroy humans, a new refinement

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that is marked by ecological conversion is needed. Pope Francis wrote, “the destruction of the human environment is a severe matter, not only because God has entrusted the world to humans, but because human life itself is a gift that must be protected from various forms of deterioration” [13]. Here, the ecological conversion is understood as “a major change in lifestyle, patterns of production and consumption” [14]. Real human development requires respect for humanity at the same time as being concerned about the whole creation and all other creatures [15].

Finally, Pope Francis also referred to the idea of his ​​ predecessor, which he immediately replaced in his service as a servant of all servants, namely Pope Benedict XVI. Referring to his predecessor, Pope Benedict, Pope Francis emphasized the relation of all beings as a “one and inseparable” book of nature. Therefore, “the destruction of nature is closely related to culture that forms human coexistence.”

What Pope Benedict XVI has warned us to stress is that we must recognize that the natural environment has been severely damaged by irresponsible human behavior.

The social environment is also destroyed.

All sourced from the same crime, namely, abuse of creation [16].

All of that is related to the industrial civilization, which makes human actions uncontrollable towards the universe. Then, there must be a change! Changes marked by “ecological conversion” to bring the fruit of a new civilization, which I call an eco-interreligious civilization of love in this paper. An eco-interreligious civilization of love is an environmentally friendly interfaith life that is characterized by a prosperous, dignified, and faithful life, regardless of religion or belief [17].

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II. Covid-19 Pandemic, Ecological Crisis,

III. Eco-interreligious Civilization of

Should we want to examine the actual relevance and significance of the ecointerreligious civilization of love, we can place this idea in the current difficult times in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. Then what can we discuss?

In this case, I find a close link between the COVID-19 pandemic, the ecological crisis, and ecological conversion to conduct an ecointerreligious civilization of love. Regardless of religion and belief, all people have to face COVID-19 pandemic and the environmental disaster with ecological repentance. That is the time the eco-interreligious civilization of love occurs.

What is the relation between the COVID-19 pandemic and the ecological crisis and ecological conversion? In the lens of Laudato Si’ encyclical, we can find the connection between this pandemic and environmental disaster. Pope Francis has invited all of us to be aware of the era of an environmental crisis, which is closely associated with various new diseases that arise [18].

In this context, with an honest and humble heart, we can admit lest this COVID-19 pandemic is a reflection of the hardness of human hearts that are hurt by ecological sins on behalf of greed. Thus, just as an ecological crisis requires ecological repentance, facing this COVID-19 pandemic, we also must carry out the ecological conversion. The result of this ecological conversion is the eco-interreligious civilization of love. For the same reason, when we realize that the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the consequences of an ecological crisis, this pandemic is also a call for deep inner conversion. Hopefully, this will mark our society with a new civilization, i.e., the eco-interreligious civilization of love.

Indonesia is known as the largest Muslim population in the world. Most Muslims live in Java Island, where two Archdiocese of the Catholic Church exists, i.e., the Archdiocese of Jakarta and the Archdiocese of Semarang. During the COVID-19 pandemic, two Archbishops in Java, i.e., Ignatius Cardinal Suharyo, the Archbishop of Jakarta, and Mgr. Robertus Rubiyatmoko, the Archbishop of Semarang, gave a unique and exciting response to be examined from the perspective of eco-interreligious civilization of love based on the encyclical Laudato Si’.

However, before discussing this idea, let us first explore the meaning of ecointerreligious civilization of love. This terminology consists of the phrases of the civilization of love and the word ecointerreligious. Let us look at the phrase civilization of love first, then the word eco-interreligious. Next, we will examine to understand the meaning of the ecointerreligious civilization of love, as referred to in this paper.

In the Archdiocese of Semarang context, the civilization of love manifested for human welfare, the integrity of creation, and the preservation of the environment. The civilization of love is always connecting to the context of togetherness, cooperation, and dialogue with all people, whatever their religion and beliefs might be.

Speaking of the civilization of love, for Catholics in the Semarang Archdiocese, this is certainly not something new. This term of the civilization of love has often been echoed since 2016 as a pastoral part of the Rencana Induk Keuskupan Agung Semarang (RIKAS, Archdiocese of Semarang Master Plan). In RIKAS 2016-2035, the civilization of love is depicted marked by three basic things, namely prosperity, dignity, and faith [19].

And Ecological Conversion

Love in the Indonesian Context

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The concept of love civilization is mentioned in the RIKAS 2016-2035 as one of the phrases in the full RIKAS title as follows.

“The Realization of the Civilization of Love in a Prosperous, Dignified, and Faithful Indonesian Society.” [20].

Furthermore, the term civilization of love is mentioned three times in the formulation of the promulgation and signed by the late Mgr. Johannes Pujasumarta (the previous Archbishop before Mgr. Robertus Rubyatmoko) and mentioned four times in the introduction and contents of the RIKAS. The civilization of love in a prosperous, dignified, and faithful Indonesian society is the concept that the Archdiocese of Semarang Catholic Church wants to realize in the next twenty years while welcoming the Great Jubilee of the Atonement of Jesus Christ [21].

Now, the question is, what is the civilization of love? Pope Paul VI used this term explicitly for the first time in 1970 (on the Pentecost Day 1970) on the occasion of a general audience on the grounds of St. Peter Vatican with the context of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as a source of the civilization of love [22]. The concept of the civilization of love is an affirmation of the word culture mentioned earlier in the encyclical Populorum Progressio.

In Populorum Progressio, Pope Paul VI explained the meaning of civilization of love in the context of the development of human development with a holistic approach.

The civilization of love is a shared life characterized by personal development and community growth in a spirit of love. Such a culture of respect is aimed at all people [23].

Furthermore, at length and in-depth, the concept of the civilization of love was elaborated by Pope John Paul II in Letter to Families, February 22, 1994, in the context of Christian families [24]. Next was Pope Benedict XVI, who mentioned the civilization of love in Sacramentum Caritatis, February

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22, 2007 [25]. All Popes who examined the civilization of love said that every person is a child of God the Father. God creates us in his image, so we are all intrinsically valuable.

According to Carl Anderson, the civilization of love is dealing in battle with a culture of death. A culture of death is created when humans are valued based on mere social or economic value. All people have to play an active role in realizing their faith for the sake of civilization. Living in a civilization of love means embracing the culture of life and standing with those who are most marginalized and deemed useless or a burden to modern society. Christians can change the tone and direction of the culture of death into a culture of love or civilization of love. In diversity, we can unite and love one another and care for others and the universe [26].

This concept must not only stop at an idea but must be realized in a praxis that inspires movement. Now, that is what we call eco-interreligious of the civilization of love. In the Archdiocese of Semarang, for example, such civilization of love must be concretized, of course, through praxis in real life. Priests and religious communities must concretize a loving culture through their lives. Likewise, lay Catholics must embody a civilization of love in their daily activities.

It becomes our movement and our joint efforts, such as entering a thousand doors to realize the civilization of love [27].

That is the praxis of the civilization of love envisioned in RIKAS and will be the main ingredient of this paper connected with eco-interreligious called for in the Laudato Si’. The praxis of the civilization of love will be placed as an eco-interreligious form with the hope that a praxis paradigm of love (which is) ecologically formed will be realized and shared with all people, whatever their religion or belief, as Pope Francis has called to do so.

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IV. Eco-interreligious Civilization of

Love Amid Covid-19 Pandemic

How to conduct an eco-interreligious civilization of love amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, especially in the Semarang Archdiocese and Jakarta Archdiocese? Since the news that COVID-19 hit Wuhan, the Semarang Archdiocese Catholic Church has called for solidarity in our society. Archbishop Mgr. Robertus Rubiyatmoko, for example, through an official letter Number: 0190/A/X/2020-4, dated February 13, 2020, invited all people to do two fundamental things. First, realize that the spread of COVID-19 has caused so many victims, both dead and hospitalized, in several countries, Mgr. Robertus invited all to provide support to our sisters with prayer every day, regardless of the religions and beliefs. Second, Archbishop Robertus also encouraged everyone to pray not only for the victims but also for anyone who sincerely sacrifices to care for victims of COVID-19. He also appeals that through various means and levels, each helps alleviate the burden of our sisters and brothers, and wisely process information, especially concerning this matter, while creating and maintaining a peaceful, safe and harmonious atmosphere.

Archbishop Robertus also worked with religious leaders in the province of Central Java, Indonesia, as a service area of ​​the Semarang Archdiocese, to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This collaboration can also be placed as an embodiment of an eco-interreligious love civilization with a focus on integral human ecology as Pope Francis encouraged us in Laudato Si’.

Semarang Archdiocese also helped people who need basic food needs. In order not to become a stumbling block for other religions, thereby arousing suspicion of Christianization, solidarity actions to help the poor are carried out together across

religions.

All of that is carried out from the perspective of multiculturalism. That is the characteristic of people’s lives in Indonesia in general and in the Archdiocese of Semarang in particular. That was the response of the Archbishop of Semarang, Mgr. Robertus Rubiyatmoko against the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to create an eco-interreligious love civilization in society.

Meanwhile, fundamentally, Archbishop Jakarta responded through his Easter sermon. In the Easter sermon, Cardinal Suharyo linked the COVID-19 pandemic with ecological repentance as the fruit of a civilization of love. Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic was a natural reaction to the error of the human collective towards nature. In the language of faith, the plague is partly caused by ecological sin. Cardinal Suharyo said this in a sermon at Easter Mass at the Cathedral Church of Jakarta, which was broadcast live on TVRI (Official Television of the Republic of Indonesia), Sunday, April 12, 2020.

Further, the Cardinal said, humans have damaged the order and harmony of nature.

The destruction of the environment makes nature unbalanced again, and this has a vast and varied effect, such as global warming, climate change, pollution that pollutes allnatural elements on land, at sea, in the air, and the emergence of the various new disease.

Cardinal Suharyo also alarmed that this imbalance makes the human body even out of balance, weak immunity so that humans become vulnerable to outbreaks. Nature should have its way of reducing plague, but when human lust, greed, and pride have destroyed the environment, the pandemic is unstoppable. Regarding human greed, Pope Francis said that with human desire, they were willing to replace God and thus ultimately arouse natural rebellion.

According to Cardinal Suharyo, we are all

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involved in the sin of natural harmony. That is an ecological sin. Plague is a natural sign that humans have denied their identity as the image of God whose task is to maintain the harmony of nature rather than damage it. The plague made us aware that humans are fragile creations that cannot possibly survive if other creatures are destroyed.

Further, the Archbishop of Jakarta Archdiocese said that we are thankful that during the pandemic of the COVID-19, we witnessed the willingness to sacrifice, tremendous solidarity in various forms. In the language of faith, the growth of willingness to sacrifice, the growth of solidarity is a real Easter. Hopefully, all the right things will not stop when this outbreak occurs, but we still face it and are even required to celebrate another Easter, which is ecological Easter.

Cardinal Suharyo also said that when we are freed from ecological and personal sins, we are freed too from the attitude of ignorance of nature or even the desires of destroying the environment and bestowed upon us the power to continue to realize the ecological Easter. We have to restore the damaged environment, caring for and preserving it as mother Earth, the womb of a prosperous life.

Both the Archbishop of Semarang and the Archbishop of Jakarta have become the representatives of the Indonesian Catholic Church in repeating the COVID-19 pandemic in the perspective of Laudato Si’ encyclical.

The Archbishop of Semarang related it to ecological solidarity, while the Archbishop of Jakarta related it to ecological repentance.

Both ecological solidarity and ecological repentance cannot be done alone but must be done together with all people, regardless of their religion and beliefs.

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Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic has become a worldwide concern in building solidarity, including in Indonesia, particularly in the Semarang Archdiocese and Jakarta Archdiocese. Two Archbishops of Indonesia, i.e., Ignatius Cardinal Suharyo and Mgr. Rovertus Rubiyatmoko, have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by realizing an eco-interreligious civilization of love. The embodiment of this civilization of love is in line with Pope Francis’ call in the Laudato Si’ encyclical that everyone has to engage in a dialogue to face the ecological crisis.

One impact of the ecological crisis is the emergence of new diseases, including the COVID-19 pandemic. That is why everyone must carry out ecological repentance. The eco-interreligious civilization of love is one of the results of this ecological conversion.

Ecological repentance is not only a personal matter but a call to all people, whatever their religion and beliefs might be.

Indonesia, as a country marked by religious diversity with characteristics as the largest Muslim population in the world, is the right context in realizing an eco-interreligious love civilization. In this case, Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo and Mgr. Robertus Rubiyatmoko have provided examples and best practices in realizing an eco-interreligious civilization of love amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia.

The following are some recommendations and conclusions. [a] In Laudato Si’ encyclical’s perspective, the ecological crisis has caused several new diseases. Could be, the COVID-19 pandemic is one of them. [b] The ecological crisis requires ecological conversion. The same repentance must be done in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. [c] The fruit of ecological repentance is an eco-interreligious civilization of love.

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This is a new human civilization that is characterized by a prosperous, respectful, and faithful life, whatever its religion and beliefs might be. [d] Of course, this civilization is not only useful in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, but also in facing an ecological crisis that continues and threatens the lives of humanity. Therefore, an ecointerreligious civilization of love should be further developed not only in Indonesia but anywhere in the world to create a better future for life.

References Francis, Pope. Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2015.

[2] Irwin, Kevin W. Laudato Si’ A Commentary Examining the Background, Contributions, Implementation, and Future of Pope Francis’s Encyclical. New York/Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2016, 3.

[3] Idem, 5, 7.

[4] Idem, 10-11.

[5] Francis, Pope, op.cit., paragraph number 3.

[6] Irwin, Kevin W., op.cit., 13.

[7] Kureethadam, Joshtrom Isaac. The Ten Green Commandments of Laudato Si’. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2019.

[8] Francis, Pope, op.cit., paragraph number 3.

[9] Ibidem.

[10] Stewart, Elizabeth-Anne. Preaching & Teaching Laudato Si’ on Care for Our Common Home. Chicago: Elizabethannestewart.com, 2015, 13.

[11] Francis, Pope, op.cit., paragraph number 4.

[12] Ibidem.

[13] Idem, paragraph number 5.

[14] Ibidem.

[15] Stewart, Elizabeth-Anne, op.cit., 25-26.

[16] Pope Francis, op.cit., paragraph number 6.

[17] DKP-KAS. Menuju Realisasi Peradaban Kasih bagi Masyarakat Indonesia Sejahtera, Bermartabat, dan Setia (Towards the [1]

Realization of a Civilization of Love for a Prosperous, Dignified, and Faithful Indonesian Society). Muntilan: DKP, 2015 (translation by author).

[18] Francis, Pope, op.cit., paragraph number 2.

[19] DKP-KAS, ibidem.

[20] Idem, 8, 29, 92 and 86.

[21] Idem, 15.

[22] Paul VI, Pope. General Audience on Pentecost Sunday. Vatican: Vatican Archive, 1970.

[23] Paul VI, Pope. Populorum Progresio. Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1967.

[24] John Paul II, Pope. Gratissimam Sane, Letter to Families. Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994.

[25] Benedict XVI, Pope. Sacramentum Caritatis.

Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist. Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2007.

[26] Anderson, Carl. The Civilization of Love. San Fransisco: HarperOne, 2008.

[27] DKP-KAS, op.cit., 8.

Biography

Aloys Budi Purnomo is a catholic diocesan priest of the Archdiocese of Semarang, Indonesia. He was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest on July 8, 1996. He currently serves as Head of Campus Ministry

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of Soegijapranata Catholic University and also a student for Environmental Science Doctoral Program, Soegijapranata Catholic University, Jl. Pawiyatan Luhur IV/1 Bendan Dhuwur, Semarang 50234, Indonesia. He served as Chief of Interreligious Affairs of the Archdiocese of Semarang (March 2008 – March 2019). Some of his books that have been published include Membangun Teologi Inklusif-Pluralistik (Penerbit Kompas: Jakarta, 2004), Rakyat (Bukan) Tumbal Kekerasan & Kekuasaan (Gramedia Pustaka Utama: Jakarta, 2005); Preferential Option for and with the Poor (Bina Media: Medan, 2003); The Wonderful Europe (Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2011). He also actively wrote as a columnist in several newspapers in Indonesia. In 2004 he founded the monthly magazine of INSPIRASI, Lentera yang Membebaskan as Editor-in-Chief of the journalistic pastoral. Completed the Theology Licentiate study at the Pontifical Faculty of Wedabhakti, Yogyakarta, and Master of Theology, Field of Contextual Theology Concentration, Sanata Dharma University of Yogyakarta, Indonesia (July 1996-February 1998). ORCID ID: https:// orcid.org/0000-0002-2430-7643

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The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces, (DIALOGO-CONF 2020 VICSSR)

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The strategic role of new technologies in the plural diffusion of cultural heritage in the crisis of contemporary society affected

by Covid-19 Adriana Trematerra

Corrado Castagnaro

Domenico Crispino

University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” Department of Architecture and Industrial Department of Architecture and Industrial Department of Architecture and IndusDesign Design trial Design Aversa (CE), Italy Aversa (CE), Italy Aversa (CE), Italy

Enrico Mirra

University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” Department of Architecture and Industrial Design Aversa (CE), Italy

Ilenia Gioia

University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” Department of Architecture and Industrial Design Aversa (CE), Italy

article info

abstract

Article history: Received 18 April 2020 Received in revised form 20 May Accepted 22 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.17

This research proposes a reflection on the contribution of new technologies to the plural diffusion of knowledge and valorization of cultural heritage. In relation to the world crisis that we are experiencing due to the spread of Covid-19, thanks to innovative technologies and methodologies it is possible to configure alternative landscapes and life experiences through the virtual world. The aim is to promote knowledge and, at the same time, to allow the remote fruition of the architectural heritage identified.

In an area so rich in the archaeological and architectural heritage of great value, it seems important to invest in strategies aimed at the protection and preservation through innovative methodologies. The latter, in fact, could bring advantages in the management and divulgation of the culture of our places. This strategy would make the experience of knowledge unique through the possibility of creating a digital archive to catalog the heritage. The potential of these information models could be useful both by differentiating the levels of information required by the user within a database and through interactive models. These last could have a didactic and divulging function, using augmented reality to define a hypothesis of intervention. In addition, these models can be used for the diffusion of knowledge of the historical evolution of the artifact.

These reflections aim to structure a path of knowledge of the interventions made on cultural heritage and to underline their impact on contemporary reality.

Keywords: Cultural Heritage; COVID 19; New technologies; Valorization; Virtual Reality;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

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eISSN: 2393-1744, cdISSN: 2392-9928 printISSN: 2457-9297, ISSN-L 2392-9928

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I. Introduction

The importance of the conservation and valorisation of cultural heritage is one of the topics at the center of the Italian and European cultural debate. Our territory is full of historical, artistic and architectural points of interest and for decades, the attention for the protection and enhancement of tangible and intangible cultural resources has been focused on the best transmission to future generations. In addition, today there is an increasing need to make these resources more and more easily accessible. For this reason, cultural heritage must be conceived as a resource to be reintegrated into the dynamism of contemporary society. In this regard it is therefore necessary to recover not only material but also and above all ideal in order to give back to the community the important cultural heritage, material and immaterial, of our cities. The present contribution starts from the definition of the terms conservation and valorisation, considering them as different but at the same time cohesive actions in order to reach a single objective. The latter is to consider the cultural heritage as a collective heritage destined, therefore, to be both a testimonial part of past eras and the object of contemporary uses and fruitions, always respecting the monument. The theme of cultural heritage valorisation is explicitly addressed in the Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape , which not only defines it, but also circumscribes its various aspects and highlights its activities and forms of implementation. Today, the paths of valorisation undertaken are manifold. In this regard, it is essential that the intervention to be carried out is able to fit perfectly into the complexity of the surrounding context.

This is an activity that cannot disregard an indepth interpretation and knowledge of the identity of the place where the intervention is carried out. Moreover, in a context in which the dynamics and techniques of

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information diffusion are changing more and more rapidly, new strategies for the promotion and communication of assets are fundamental, in order to make their knowledge more and more widespread.

Compared to the past, today there is a need for a comparison with the multiple forms of communication of contemporary society.

The latter, together with technological innovation, are showing new potential and different fields of application. The intervention chosen for the valorisation of a Cultural Heritage, therefore, must consider the emotional impact and the involvement of the public during the fruition. Whatever the type of intervention chosen for the valorisation of a cultural asset, at the center of it must be the individual visitor.

The last one, in fact, requires an increasing involvement in the fruition of the asset in order to be able to autonomously manage his own visit experience. This phenomenon is of considerable interest, especially with regard to the current crisis we are experiencing, characterized by the spread of Covid-19. The latter, at a global level, is forcing individuals to different forms of activity and life than usual, through forced isolation, which forces us to stay at home. This event is limiting our freedom to perform those functions that, until recently, were simple and daily. From this point of view, the dissemination of knowledge of cultural heritage can, through innovative technologies and methodologies, configure possible scenarios and alternative virtual experiences. Through them, in fact, it is possible to promote the fruition of the heritage at a distance, contrasting the sense of loneliness and isolation that grips most individuals in recent times. Therefore, the possibility of using information content through new technologies, such as social media and the Internet, should not be underestimated. . Thanks to the latter, in fact, it is possible to guarantee the fruition of certain cultural heritage that for various reasons could be denied; among these,

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there are the fragility of the object with respect to environmental conditions to the scarce economic resources of local authorities, due to the lack of exhibition space or, as is happening today, due to the spread of a global pandemic that precludes the physical fruition of any cultural heritage.

Furthermore, these new technologies have the great merit of making known and discover to all people who are unable to move, extraordinary places otherwise inaccessible. In such contexts, therefore, the Internet becomes a means for the diffusion of knowledge of our historical and artistic testimonies. In this regard, more and more museums are using the Internet and new technologies to enhance cultural heritage. In this way it is possible not only to multiply the diffusion of audiovideo contents through the net but also the museum’s fame and the visibility of its initiatives. The aim is to promote its cultural project to a plurality of people. Visitors and users should no longer be considered as separate elements but as a community to which to turn, interested in interpreting the museum as a place. Such places, real or virtual, are therefore to be considered as spaces to meet the needs of knowledge and socialization, too.

II. SOME APPLICATION EXAMPLES

The fields of application of new technologies for the enhancement and promotion of knowledge of cultural heritage are many and varied. These include the so-called “narrative approach”, a series of techniques and strategies to make the communication of cultural content more engaging in order to capture the attention of a multiplicity of individuals. From this concept Digital Storytelling is born, consisting of a series of stories about museums or objects contained in them through text, images, video, voice and sound effects. This activity combines the value of traditional narrative

with the potential of new technologies.

Another solution adopted today concerns the use of augmented reality, the digital restitution technology characterized by the overlapping of real elements with additional information levels, such as virtual and multimedia elements, geolocalized data.

The latter can be used through specific visual devices, from simple monitors to 3d Visors. In this regard, there are two types of applications in this field: the first involves the use of objects that allow the individual to be transported in a faithfully reconstructed virtual space, such as 3D viewers; in the second, on the contrary, the subject involved witnesses a representation influenced only by his bodily presence, without the need for special instrumentation. A compelling case related to the experimentation of augmented reality is offered by the project realized for L’Ara Pacis in Rome called “L’Ara com’era”, promoted since 2016 by Roma Capitale, Assessorato alla Crescita culturale - Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali and organized by Zètema Progetto Cultura.

It is a path in augmented and virtual reality whose object is the Altar of the Ara Pacis, a masterpiece of Roman architecture built between the thirteenth and ninth centuries BC. Plus, this artifact was made for symbolize the Peace established by Augustus on the territories of the Empire and the prosperity achieved as a result of the Pax Romana. The intervention consists of 9 points of interest (POI), two in virtual reality and seven in augmented reality. The spectator is guided by the digital reconstruction of Emperor Augustus performed by a real actor. Thanks to the latter and through 3D visors, it is possible to observe the monument in its current state and then be immersed in a virtual reality that returns the original color of the Altar.

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Figure 1. Ara Pacis of Rome: colorimetric restitution of bas-reliefs through virtual reality. Source: Artribune

In addition, you can see a 3D reconstruction of the whole area of the Campus Martius, which can be explored through a bird’s eye view: the Pantheon, the Saepta Julia, the Mausoleum of Augustus and the Aqueduct. All this is made possible thanks to living filming with real actors, 3D reconstruction of the places and computer graphics. At the end of the route, we move from virtual to augmented reality, with which it is possible to “walk” around the monument. At this point, using the viewers provided, it is possible to observe the threedimensional shapes of the bas-reliefs and the sculptures of the Altar, which are colored in bright colors; the bas-reliefs return, in this way, virtually to their original state.

the national libraries of Rome and Florence through the use of Google Book. This project made it possible to consult these volumes simultaneously free of charge and from all over the world. Another important project involved the mapping of numerous archaeological and museum sites through the Street View function of Google Maps.

Thanks to this initiative it is possible to walk virtually inside museums and important archaeological sites. Among the first sites mapped are Pompeii and the archaeological site of Cuma.

Figure 3. Pompeii: Street View of the interior of the archaeological site. Source: Google Maps

Figure 4. Cuma: Street View of the archaeological site.

Source: Figure 2. Ara Pacis of Rome: virtual reality with the original reconstruction of the places. Source: Artribune video screen

Prominent in the field of valorization and fruition of cultural heritage have been some initiatives promoted since 2011 by Mibact in collaboration with sponsors or private companies. These include the project that has provided for the digitization of about one million volumes, prior to 1870, from

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the interior of Google Maps

Other solutions implemented through the use of new technologies concern the creation of some Apps for smartphones and mobile devices with. The aim of this activity is to make Cultural Heritage more and more known in order to promote art and culture.

Through these apps, the fourth dimension, Time, is introduced for the first time, as the viewer/visitor faces a real virtual journey through history and time. These include the i-MIBAC Voyager App, containing a series

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of interactive 3D guides for museums and archaeological sites. This app was born from the agreement between the private company Illusionetwork and the Mibact.

In addition, the latter provides for the use of Atlas with the aim of creating a sort of container of all the main reconstructions of archaeological parks in 3D. This app can be used in two different ways: the first is onsite, through the activation of the GPS of the device used; in this way, the virtual camera is aligned with that of the user in the real world. The second mode allows, instead, to use all the contents at any time and place.

Figure 5. Schermata App i-MIBAC Voyager. Fonte: Internet

III. THE METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH

The new technologies allow us a deep knowledge of the assets thanks to the sophisticated tools we have at our disposal.

Their use is aimed primarily at phases of a survey and then modeling with the possibility of analyzing the object of study through different phases. The latter concern the architectural survey, the collection and selection of data. This information could be useful for the analysis of static and structural elements or for the scientific knowledge of the object, as well as stylistic and aesthetic elements. In addition they could be functional for the knowledge and digital divulgation. The 3D reconstruction project represents a moment of verification and

deepening of the studies carried out on the object of study. Each virtual reconstruction is an integral restoration intervention, totally safe for the archaeological remains and therefore the elective site of “materialization”, verification, selection of hypotheses. The possibilities of this methodological approach of intervention originate from the desire to synthesize the added value of the use of new technologies.

They are very useful both from the didactic/ disseminating point of view and as a support tool for research, knowledge and study. Through the development of a 3D virtual model of buildings or archaeological heritage, it is possible to revive the ancient splendors of places simply through the creation of itinerant mobile fruition systems.

This activity is capable of superimposing the virtual reconstruction of their original reality on the current ruins, filling, with minimal environmental impact, the gap between visual perception and knowledge. The project could make available multimedia content that can be used both on site and remotely. So, the experience can be enjoyed both during the experience of visiting the archaeological site and at other times and places, if the individual concerned may be far from the identified object.

In this second case, the opportunities are many: from appropriately equipped environments for a more immersive enjoyment, or on the road, at school or at home using commonly accessed tools such as PC, tablets or smartphones. As far as on-site use is concerned, more and more technologies are being implemented as support tools for knowledge experiences.

Technology is proving to be a powerful ally in museums, where the classic visit route is complemented by multimedia tools that involve visitors in new experiences of cultural heritage enjoyment. Not to be forgotten, then, the condition for which many young people, thanks to the use of a smart and immediate language such as that

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provided by technology, will be stimulated.

Consequently, they will have the opportunity to get closer to something so far perceived as distant and unattractive. The subject who uses Virtual Reality can decide on a guided path or be free to navigate, move, immerse themselves in the news to the desired point of deepening. They will have to decide the level of interaction with the scenario, the possible modes of navigation, automatic tours, particular points of view as well as the management of different input devices. Today the “leading edge” of the technology are the PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) handheld devices that interact with the reconstructed virtual environments and display the related information on a portable “personal” device. Handhelds, Smartphones, Laptops, Tablets and PCs acquire the dual role of virtual guide, through the reconstruction of structures and real guide in the direct visit of places. Research and technological innovations, moreover, can significantly contribute to raising the level of protection and knowledge of artistic and archaeological heritage, providing the community with tools that facilitate the work in the dissemination and enhancement of cultural heritage. The work carried out in Pompeii for the reconstruction of the city as it was before the eruption of Vesuvius is an exemplary example in this perspective.

This project, in fact, constitutes a set of fundamental tools for understanding, knowledge and dissemination, even at a distance, of cultural heritage, especially aimed at a more inexperienced public.

This mode brings the user closer to the experience of knowledge of the work, simplifying its reading. Plus, this activity can stimulate curiosity and above all offer the possibility to enjoy these assets even from a distance.

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Figure 6. Pompeii: virtual reconstruction of the city before the eruption Source: Youtube video screen - Pompeii Rebuilt.

Figure 7. Pompeii: virtual reconstruction of the Domus, today. Source: Youtube video screenshot - Pompeii Rebuilt.

Figure 8. Pompeii: virtual reconstruction of the Domus, as it was. Source: Youtube video screenshot - Pompeii Rebuilt.

CONCLUSION There are many areas in which new technologies have been applied for the valorization and plural dissemination of knowledge of the cultural heritage of our country. What is important to understand, however, is whether these new applications are a positive element or not in the field of Cultural Heritage. In particular, according to some statistics published by MiBact for the year 2016, it is clear that the new

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technologies have led to a significant increase in visitors to places of culture. The application of the latter has contributed, first of all, to the diffusion of knowledge of places with an important cultural value that were previously unknown; for example, thanks to the online sharing of information related to that particular asset, but also as a support tool for research; what’s more, thanks to tools that help in the phases of knowledge, survey and data collection.

Another fundamental aspect of the use of new technologies for the dissemination of knowledge is the possibility of being able to use them in any place and at any time.

In fact, through them, it’s possible to break down any physical or geographical barriers that may be encountered. We are often hard and critical of new technologies that have changed, sometimes negatively, our way of life, our social relations, limiting human relations and our experience. The importance and added value of these means, on the other hand, has emerged from this study. They have reduced physical distances and allow a remarkable speed of connection and interface. The situation we are living in today, which will probably affect the future of our lives, for a medium-long period of time leads us to dwell on new possible scenarios for a different life. These technologies that are slowly being developed, in these days, could represent strategic mechanisms to be implemented to try to configure an alternative lifestyle to which we should get used. This aspect is of considerable importance in relation to the situation we are all experiencing today because each one of us, through a technological device equipped with an Internet connection, has the possibility to visit a museum in a virtual way. This opportunity allows us to enjoy all its aspects, contributing to the continuous diffusion of knowledge. Ultimately, through the reflections conducted with this contribution, we intend to offer interpretative and operational tools capable

of countering the problems related to the remote use of cultural heritage. Definitely, the aim would be the valorization and the collective knowledge of the cultural heritage of our country.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT This contribution has been realized thanks to the “Valere 2019” program of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”.

Bibliography [1]

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Benjamin W., L’opera d’arte nell’epoca della sua riproducibilità tecnica. Arte e società di massa, trad. it. di Enrico Filippini, Einaudi, Torino 1966, 1991 e 1998 Bertocci, Stefano and Parrinello, Sandro.

Digital Survey and Documentation of the Archeological and Architecturalsites.Firenze: Edifir Edizioni, 2015.

Benedettini Benedetto, Gaiani Marco, Remondino Fabio. Modelli digitali 3d in archeologia: il caso di Pompei. Pisa: Edizioni della Normale, 2010.

Bonacini E., Nuove tecnologie per la fruizione e valorizzazione del patrimonio culturale.

Roma: Aracne, 2011 Campi, Massimiliano. Sistemi di conoscenza per l’Archeologia. I luoghi dei teatri e degli anfiteatri romani in Campania. Napoli: Artstudiopaparo, 2017.

Fatta, Francesca. La rappresentazione del patrimonio culturale tra finalità e innovazione. Gangemi Editrice, 2016.

Foresta, Simone. La policromia dell’Ara Pacis e i colori del Campo Marzio Settentrionale.

In Colori e Colometria. Contributi Multidisciplinari, edited by Maggioli Editore, 333–340. Milano: Digital Print Service, 2011.

Gaiani, Marco, and Alessandri, Lorenzo.

The Atrium of St. Mary Abbey in Pomposa: a hypermedia 3D network database, Eurographics ‘99 – short papers and demo proceedings”. Roma: Gangemi Editore spa, 2012.

Giandebiaggi, Paolo. Il rilievo architettonico

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per la salvaguardia dei beni culturali: peculiarità e casi-studio. Napoli: La scuola di Pitagora, 2011.

[10] Giordano, Paolo.Ridisegno, rilievo e riconfigurazione dell’Albergo dei Poveri di Napoli. Napoli: La Scuola di Pitagora, 2014.

[11] Tanni, Valentina (2017). “L’ara Pacis di Roma tra reale e virtuale. Quando tecnologia e cultura si incontrano.” Artribune (March 2017). https://www.artribune.com/progettazione/ new-media/2017/03/ara-com-era-ara-pacisrealta-virtuale-aumentata-roma/

Biographies Adriana Trematerra, born in Naples on 12 September 1992, is an Architect graduated with honors in Architecture in 2018 at the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” with a thesis in drawing entitled “Il Giardino Inglese della Reggia di Caserta. Il disegno dell’architettura dell’ospitalità”. Since 2019 she is PhD Student 35th Cycle scientific disciplinary ICAR/17 “Drawing” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. Since 2017 she has carried out several periods of external research activities at the Polytechnic University of Tirana (Albania). She is author of several contributions in conference proceedings in international journals and articles in the volume. In 2018 she was the winner (first classified) of the prize in the competition of the VII International Symposium on Mediterranean Coastal Monitoring / problems and measurement techniques, with the following motivation: completeness, clarity and immediacy of the exhibition.

She has participated as a speaker at several international conferences.

Corrado Castagnaro, born in Naples on 05 December 1991, he graduated with honors in Architecture in 2017 at the University of Naples Federico II with a thesis in architectural and urban design entitled “Nisida è un’isola e nessuno lo sa. Un

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progetto tra città e paesaggio”. Since 2019 he is PhD student 35th Cycle scientific disciplinary ICAR/14 “ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN DESIGN” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. He studied at the ETSAS University of Seville (ERASMUS program) and several periods of external research activities at the Polytechnic University of Tirana (Albania). He is the author of a monograph entitled “Nisida is an island and nobody knows it. A project between city and landscape” and several contributions in conference proceedings and in a magazine. He has participated as author in several international conferences. He is an expert on the subject for the scientific disciplinary field Architectural and Urban Composition (Icar 14).

Domenico Crispino, born in Naples on 14 September 1993, graduated with honors in Architecture in 2018 from the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” with a thesis on drawing entitled “Il disegno del Petit Trianon di Versailles: analogie ed affinità in ambito europeo”. Since 2019 he has been PhD candidate 35th Cycle scientific disciplinary ICAR/17 “Drawing” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. He studied at the EscuelaPolitécnicaSuperior - Universidad CEU San Pablo in Madrid and at the École NationaleSupérieure d’Architecture de Paris-Val de Seine within the ERASMUS programme. He has participated as an author in several international conferences. In 2018 he won the Third PAN Section One - Thematic Relevance Award in the ninth edition of the PAN Prize (Landscape, Architecture, Nature) dedicated to Ardito Desio.

Enrico Mirra, born in Naples on 1 October 1992, is Architect and PhD Student 34th Cycle scientific disciplinary ICAR/17 “Drawing” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. He graduated in Architecture in 2018 with a thesis entitled “La Peschiera

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Grande e la Casa dei Liparoti nel parco dela Reggia di Caserta”. In 2019 he was a member of the Valere Research Unit in order to enhance and promote research.

He is a member of the group belonging to the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design: Drawing, Surveying, Representation, Structures, Communication of Cultural Heritage. He has carried out research and teaching activities at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning in Tirana, at the Faculdade de Arquitetura de l’Universidade de Lisboa and, in 2018 at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Dessau. He is author of articles in volume, contributions in conference proceedings and international journals.

Ilenia Gioia, born in Battipaglia (Salerno) on 15 October 1991, graduated with honors in Architecture in 2018 at the University of Campania”Luigi Vanvitelli” with a thesis in drawing entitled “Il Giardino Inglese della Reggia di Caserta. Il disegno dell’architettura bucolica”. Since 2018 she is PhD student 34th Cycle scientific discipline ICAR/17 “DRAWING” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. Author of several contributions in conference proceedings, in 2018 she was the winner (first classified) of the prize in the competition of the “VII Simposio Internazionale il Monitoraggio Costiero Mediterraneo/problematiche e tecniche di misura”. In 2019 she participated in an international research project at Technische Universität Berlin in Berlin. She participated as a speaker at several international conference.

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The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces, (DIALOGO-CONF 2020 VICSSR)

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The value of the individual in space configuration Corrado Castagnaro

University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” Department of Architecture and Industrial Design Aversa (CE), Italy

Domenico Crispino

University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” Department of Architecture and Industrial Design Aversa (CE), Italy

Gianluca Manna

University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” Department of Architecture and Industrial Design Aversa (CE), Italy article info Article history: Received 19 April 2020 Received in revised form 20 May 2020 Accepted 22 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.18

Keywords: Architecture; Covid-19; human spaces; Existenz minimum; individual; community;

Ilenia Gioia

University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” Department of Architecture and Industrial Design Aversa (CE), Italy

Andrea Improta

University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” Department of Architecture and Industrial Design Aversa (CE), Italy

abstract

This contribution deals with an extremely actual issue, which stems from the considerations of a group of young architects, concerning the situation of which the whole world is, in these days, theatre. The entire population is forced to deal with the emergency related to the COVID-19 through a condition of forced isolation in their own homes, and often neglected space that suddenly becomes the only accessible place in which to spend time dedicated to working, leisure, rest. The experience of extended domiciliation in environments unsuitable to accommodate the man in the accomplishment of all his functions configures, in some cases, dystonia that alters the home/shelter relationship and translates it into home/prison. The measure of domestic space that today we all find ourselves having to rediscover in a forced way allows us to reflect on the experiences of important masters of modern architecture who have addressed this issue through architectural experiments/projects aimed at living well with little, or preferably with what is necessary. The modern manifesto of this experience is Le Corbusier’s “Cabanon”, a 3.66 x 3.66-meter cabin conceived according to the rules of the Modulor, which becomes a valuable lesson on the art of living with the essential.

In this complex period, the need to face the social, constructive and economic problem of living turns out to be one of the challenges posed to the community of architects and engineers, which has to measure itself against a society that expresses the need to give each individual their own living space, each family their own home. One example in this regard is Ludwig Hilberseimer’s 1931 project for a Growing House that can be built quickly, in series and can be expanded or reduced according to the needs of those who will have to live in it. According to this interpretation, the principles always promoted by the Neapolitan engineer Luigi Cosenza, according to which the architect’s task is not to create small dwellings, but to set up new human living conditions, also assume a strong contemporary character. © 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

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eISSN: 2393-1744, cdISSN: 2392-9928 printISSN: 2457-9297, ISSN-L 2392-9928

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I. INTRODUCTION

One of the issues highlighted by the emergency in which we live at present – i.e., COVID pandemic, is the relationship between the house and its user. In ordinary conditions, man is involved in activities that locate him in places meeting his working and recreational needs. Consequently, that condition limited the use of domestic space to the fulfillment of a few essential functions. Contrariwise, nowadays, in conditions far from ordinary, a series of emotions re-emerge, not always positive, typical of the forcibly symbiotic relationship between inhabitant and dwelled. A decisive role in defining this relationship is attributed to the architect and, more specifically, to his conception of architecture. Le Corbusier asserted that architecture means to inspire an emotional reaction, to excite, not only to serve . It means, therefore, developing emotionality, not only technology; aiming at the essence and not only at functionalization; increasing the response to man’s interiority instead of external formalism.

The assumptions of some of the great masters of the modern era rediscover a condition of strong and renewed topicality.

They underline the crisis recorded between architecture and man, highlighting the gap produced in some contemporary cases between the role of the architectural discipline. This last one aim at satisfying the material and spiritual needs of the individual and the community through a correct declination of space. Contrariwise the spectacularism of the architecture that aims to produce very suggestive scenographies, completely devoid of their essential content and therefore empty of meaning.

II. EXISTENZ MINIMUM

Planning, prefiguring spatial solutions in line with man’s needs and requirements translates, to an extreme extent, into one

of Le Corbusier’s most intimate projects: the Cabanon. Demonstration of research of essential space, this project is configured as a single room of 15 square meters proportionate to the needs of man. The cabin has a square base of 3.66 meters per side, built according to the rules of the Modulor , and has all the furniture accessories: two benches that become beds, a desk and stools for work, sanitary ware, wardrobes; the shower is external.

Figure 1.

Cabanon.

Drow

with

geometric

grid.

The idea, born during a cruise from the observation of the perfect proportions of a cabin, is quickly fixed. The collection of ideas and intentions produced and synthesized in that intuition materialized in 1952 on the Côte d’Azur. Le Corbusier spent the last years of his life here referring to this project as a “romantic experience of isolation”, a history of architecture and the art of living with the essential. It is an example of simple, logical architecture, conceived on a human level. For Le Corbusier this project represented the archetype of the house, an ideal place on which he said: “I feel so good in my cabanon that I will certainly end my life here” , as it did in August 1965.

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Figure 2. Cabanon. Interiors.

Changing structure and function by adopting simple and rational design solutions does not necessarily involve simplifying the composition of architectural spaces. Instead it shows us the possibility to live in minimal spaces that enclose a microcosm, as long as the needs of the inhabitant are respected.

III. SINGLE’S SPACE

Starting from a reflection about minimum living space, the modern architecture structures a path that aims to realize lodgings for the plurality of individuals missing these. The lack of lodgings is due to different reasons concerning the social and economic context they live in. There was a necessity denoted by the social condition proper of that time and it had been satisfied through the creation of housing units. Even if these units complied with strict criteria of limited consumption of resources, low building costs, small cubage and surface and serial reproducibility, them were able to meet the needs of their occupants brilliantly.

During the summer of 1932 in Berlin, Ludwig Hilberseimer proposed the “Growing House” as part of the “Sonne, Luft und Haus für Alle” event. This is a striking example of the efforts put in place by the community of architects of the time in response to the needs expressed by the

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contemporary society, in other words, to the growing hunger of lodgements. The project presented by Hilberseimer was stemming from the pencil of a work group settled in 1931 by the German urban planner Martin Wagner, and including personalities of the calibre of Egon Eiermann, Walter Gropius and Erich Mendelssohn. It was part of a twenty-four accommodations series and its purpose was to formulate an architectural response to the Great Depression by putting in place the model of the “anti-crisis house”, as defined by Wagner. Through the criteria of modularity and affordability, the lodge had to allow the project to adapt nimbly to the changing needs of its inhabitants. A house that was able to expand and contract depending on the number of people who were supposed to live there and the spaces they needed. Hilberseimer’s project fully adheres to these canons and sets up a central living unit-focused house consisting of a single living room with a niche double bed. The services arranged linearly along the northern edge of the environment and a small working environment located along the western, help to equip the focus point of distributive solution with a double exposure south and east. The available increases of this central core are achieved through the addition of standardized elements in a parallel or orthogonal way to the living environment in order to articulate the lodge unit around the entrance area and achieve a clear separation between the living area and the sleeping area.

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Figure 3. Plans of Growing House, Ludwig Hilberseimer.

The engineer Luigi Cosenza, who was an important figure in the years of reconstruction before the Second World War in southern Italy, also developed the theme of housing that does not reflect mere formalism. His conception of dwelling is an alternative to the ambiguous typological examples belonging to an unusual way of intending the architecture. He tended to exalt the smartness of the man of the past as an indigenous inhabitant of the ancient countryside. The ancient man found solutions linked to his own way of life as an occupant of that portion of territory, defining what we now call rural architecture.

Through a detailed phase of analysis of these traditional aspects, Cosenza proceeds towards an interpretation of an architecture.

He carried it out according to the needs and possibilities of the time in which it is realized but that is not devoid of its own and recognizable language. It denounces the efforts made to update the building as limited to hints of formal decorativism and underlines the serious lack of interventions aiming to improve the functional distribution of the accommodation and the related services. From the analysis of his works, it is clear the attempt to coincide human language with architectural language through study and the recomposition of the house elements. Placing man and his needs as an incisive component in the design action has never implied the author to adopt solutions that would diminish the formal aspects of architectural language.

IV. COMMUNITY AS A SYNERGY OF

INDIVIDUALS SPACES

As a logical consequence of the previous considerations, there is a reflection concerning the interactions between individuals that contribute to the formation of the community. How appropriate is for an individual to add to his minimum living

space portion useful to live in synergy with the community? Another consequence is to investigate whether, and in what measure, a contraction of the individual’s space is necessary in favor of the expansion of the one related to the community.

The experimentation of the collective residence starts at the beginning of the 20th century, and its rooted in the analysis of previous experiences. For example, there are the ideas of Fourier and his Falansterio put in place by Godin in the second half of the nineteenth century through the construction of the Familisterio of Guise. Another example is back until the eighteenth century with the Enlightenment age experience of Ferdinando Fuga with the “Albergo dei Poveri”. This building was born to remove poor and homeless people from the streets of the city of Naples.

Furthermore, it was meant to be an efficient machine for the re-education of the last ganglion of society and turning it into a productive part of the community.

Once again, Luigi Cosenza’s work lends itself to an effective example of these reflections: in his project carried out in the three years 1949-52 for social housing for homeless people in Piazzale Tecchio (Naples). The overall project was one of the most defined and well-resolved among the neo-rationalist proposals of the post-war period. It provided a complete solution for the entire block with six terraced buildings, four of which are six-storeys and two tenstoreys high. The buildings are placed as a large and complete lodgement unit. Its services are situated in the equipped arcade, in the green courtyards, and in the school, pavilion placed between the “tall” buildings.

Both ten-storeys building have never been realized. In them, Cosenza intended to experiment above all two things: a housing cell with balcony-walkway and, in the other building, a walkways scheme with floors staggered vertically and duplex units. The

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solution, which provides a difference of only 1,5 meters between the levels of the lodgements. It was designed thinking about the “housewife”, trying to keep in mind how unpleasant is a classical duplex configuration in the family organization. This functional layout is certainly provided for an efficient optimization of the spaces. It is able at the same time to exclude the disadvantage of the normal height difference, precisely of the duplex solutions, halving its size and moreover experimenting an interesting vertical section of the structure.

Figure 4.

Luigi housing, Naples.

Cosenza, homeless Private Archive “Luigi

people’s Cosenza”.

The project of social housing for homeless people of Cosenza is further reflected in an earlier project experience: the experimental common house for employees of the RSFSR Ministry of Finance. This one was designed by Moisej Jakovlevič Ginzburg in 1929 in Moscow and it is better known as Narkomfin. The five-storey building is free on the ground floor and placed on pilots that separates it from the ground. , To get in lodgements there are communal walkways on the first and fourth floors. Moreover it accommodates two types of dwellings of different sizes to satisfy more or less large families. Connected to the first-floor

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walkway but in a separate building there are two additional double levels designed for the community. These were originally conceived as a cafeteria and gym but later used as a municipal centre. The building’s construction logic once again adheres to standardization ideas not only of its building parts as pillars, beams, dividers, windows, but also of some functional modules such as kitchens or bathroom elements. The architect was capable to design a building able to accommodate from 150 to 200 inhabitants mantaining high efficiency, reproducibility and cheapness criteria. Also, the whole thing have been done providing its inhabitants with complete services regarding the dwelling, the care of the person, the leisure and even the children’s house, the centre of services and the guesthouse in coverage, as in the original project. All these features give to the building designed at the beginning of the twentieth century a seed of great actuality.

Figure 5. View, axonometry and. perspective section of the Narkomfin building of Moisej Jakovlevič Ginzburg.

CONCLUSIONS The modern approach, in which the considerations about space have found a

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complete application, has proved doubly effective. It has generated, in addition to efficient housing units, prosperous and serviced environments within which society has been able to evolve in a healthy way.

The deficient or incomplete application of these reflections has, on the other hand, produced places of great desolation. In this latter contest, the living space becomes completely separated from its surroundings and ends up taking on the characteristics of a recluse rather than the shelter we all yearn for. The contexts lose their virtuous connotation and are transformed into the shabby suburbs that we experience daily and that become incubators of crime.

To return to placing man at the centre of architectural design, to compose a dwelling considering the essential needs of man, is therefore an inalienable prerogative.

The search for a renewed existenz minimum recalibrated on the contemporary individual and no longer on his distorted projections or anachronistic deductions corresponds to the search for a new logical fundament that cannot be postponed in time.

It becomes necessary, especially in particular conditions such as those in which more than a third of the world’s population is involved in these days, to reconsider the space of living. Conceive it not as a sterile juxtaposition of forms deriving from anthropometric data or, worse, from the mere application of laws and regulations.

Through the teachings of the masters of the twentieth century, the architecture declines the configuration of the space. This is the aim to satisfy the needs of the contemporary man forced in isolation in their homes. Using Luigi Cosenza’s still current words, reading architecture means keeping in mind that “for us it is not just a matter of finding a new way of building; but, in essence, a new way of living” .

ACKNOWLEDGMENT This contribution has been realized thanks to the “Valere 2019” program of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”.

Bibliography [1] Buccaro, Alfredo. Mainini, Giancarlo. Luigi Cosenza oggi. 1905/2005. Naples: Clean, 2006.

[2] Cosenza, Gianni. Luigi Cosenza. L’opera completa. Naples: Electa, 1987.

[3] Cosenza, Luigi. Esperienze di Architettura.

Naples: Macchiaroli, 1950.

[4] Giordano, Paolo. Guide di Architettura moderna e contemporanea Napoles. Nasples: Officina edizioni, 1994.

[5] Giordano, Paolo. Ridisegno, rilievo e riconfigurazione dell’Albergo dei Poveri di Napoli. Napoles: La Scuola di Pitagora, 2014.

[6] Reale, Luca: La residenza collettiva. Sistemi Editoriali. 2015 [7] Hilberseimer, Ludwig: Groszstadt Architektur, l’architettura della grande città. Edizioni Clean. 1981 [8] Pasini, Ernesto: La “casa-comune” e il Narkomfin di Ginzburg. Officina edizioni.

1980 [9] Ábalos, Iñaki: Il buon abitare, pensare le case della modernità. Marinotti Edizioni. 2009 [10] De Fusco, Renato: Segni, storia e progetto dell’architettura. Edizioni Laterza, 1988 [11] Diotallevi, Irenio; Marescotti, Franco: Il problema sociale costruttivo ed economico dell’abitazione, Officina Edizioni, 1984.

[12] Avermaete, Tom; Bollerey, Franziska; Scarpa, Ludovica; Schneider Tatjana; (a cura di); Martin Wagner: The Growing House; Das Wachsende Haus, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, 2015.

[13] Le Corbusier, Cerri, Pierluigi; Nicolin, Pierluigi (a cura di); Verso una Architettura, Longanesi, 1973.

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Biographies Gianluca Manna, born in Naples on 14th October 1991, is Architect and Ph. D Student in the scientific disciplinary ICAR/17 “DRAWING” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. He graduated in Architecture in 2017 with a thesis entitled “Il giardino inglese nella Reggia di Caserta, Il disegno delle architetture ipogee”. He is a member of the group belonging to the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design: Drawing, Survey, Representation, Structure, Communication of cultural Heritage. He has been involved in research and teaching activities at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning in Tirana. He is author of articles in volume, contributions in conference proceedings and international journals.

Andrea Improta, born in Naples on 2nd November 1992, is Architect and Ph. D Student in the scientific disciplinary ICAR/17 “DRAWING” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. He graduated in Architecture in 2017 with a thesis entitled “Il Giardino Inglese della Reggia di Caserta, Il Disegno delle Architetture dei Vanvitelli”. He is a member of the group belonging to the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design: Drawing, Survey, Representation, Structure, Communication of cultural heritage. He has carried out research and teaching activities at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning in Tirana. He is author of articles in volume, contributions in conference proceedings and international journals.

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Corrado Castagnaro, born in Naples on 05th December 1991, he graduated with honours in Architecture in 2017 at the University of Naples Federico II with a thesis in architectural and urban design entitled “Nisida è un’isola e nessuno lo sa.

Un progetto tra città e paesaggio”. Since 2019 he is PhD student 35th Cycle scientific disciplinary ICAR/14 “ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN DESIGN” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”.

He studied at the ETSAS University of Seville (ERASMUS program) and several periods of external research activities at the Polytechnic University of Tirana (Albania). He is the author of a monograph entitled “Nisida is an island and nobody knows it. A project between city and landscape” and several contributions in conference proceedings and in a magazine.

He has participated as author in several international conferences. He is an expert on the subject for the scientific disciplinary field Architectural and Urban Composition (ICAR 14).

Domenico Crispino, born in Naples on 14th September 1993, graduated with honours in Architecture in 2018 at the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” with a thesis on drawing entitled “Il disegno del Petit Trianon di Versailles: analogie ed affinità in ambito europeo”. Since 2019 he has been PhD candidate 35th Cycle scientific disciplinary ICAR/17 “DRAWING” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. He studied at the EscuelaPolitécnicaSuperior Universidad CEU San Pablo in Madrid and at the École NationaleSupérieure d’Architecture de Paris-Val de Seine within the ERASMUS programme. He has participated as author

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in several international conferences. In 2018 he won the Third PAN Prize, Section One Thematic Relevance Award in the ninth edition of the PAN Prize (Landscape, Architecture, Nature) dedicated to Ardito Desio. with the following motivation: “The text looks at a fragmentary landscape through the eye of those who live the brutality of incompleteness and of those who suffer its charm and recognize its new beauty”.

Ilenia Gioia, born in Battipaglia (Salerno) on 15th October 1991, graduated with honours in Architecture in 2018 at the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” with a thesis in drawing entitled “Il Giardino Inglese della Reggia di Caserta. Il disegno dell’architettura bucolica”. Since 2018 she is PhD student 34th Cycle scientific discipline ICAR/17 “DRAWING” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. Author of several contributions in conference proceedings, in 2018 she was the winner (first classified) of the prize in the competition of the “VII Simposio Internazionale il Monitoraggio Costiero Mediterraneo/problematiche e tecniche di misura”. In 2019 she participated in an international research project at Technische Universität Berlin in Berlin. She participated as a speaker at several international conference.

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This paper was presented in the

The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces, (DIALOGO-CONF 2020 VICSSR)

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held online, on the Journal’s website, from MAY 19 - 26, 2020

journal homepage: http://dialogo-conf.com

Theological and practical challenges in the Covid-19 pandemic Case studies applied to the Evangelical Community of Romania and Worldwide Ovidiu Hanc, PhD

Department of Theology Emanuel University of Oradea Romania

article info Article history: Received 09 May 2020 Received in revised form 17 May 2020 Accepted 20 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.19

Keywords: Covid-19; Pandemic; Evangelical Community; Romania; Church; State; freedom of worship; Communion; environment; Church;

abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has a spiritual dimension. From a theological point of view, this pandemic recalls the issue of theodicy and God’s sovereignty, however, the theological and practical challenges are diverse. This research analyses how the Evangelical Community of Romania and worldwide managed to give a response to this pandemic in its early stage. Every religious community had to face this pandemic considering its core beliefs. Among the theological challenges, this pandemic brings into attention the issue of religious freedom and the relation between Church and State.

Although from a legal point of view, religious freedom is not officially restricted, due to the social distancing that is needed during the military ordinances, the freedom to corporate worships is inevitably affected. In society, there is a debate on whether this represents a limitation or a violation of human rights.

Another theological challenge that Romanian Evangelical Community faced is related to Lord’s Supper. As corporate worship is restricted, the Communion cannot be celebrated as an event in the fellowship of the Church. The debate is whether in unique times like these, the event should be celebrated in a family setting or to be postponed for times in which legal restrictions will be canceled.

Among other practical challenges, the Evangelical Community had to consider issues related to the environment, methodological challenges for church ministry, spiritual opportunity during isolation, and financial challenges. © 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

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eISSN: 2393-1744, cdISSN: 2392-9928 printISSN: 2457-9297, ISSN-L 2392-9928

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I. Introduction

The Covid-19 pandemic is the world’s biggest challenge since World War II. The implications of this pandemic are immeasurable in terms of human life, health, and economic dimension, however, it has a spiritual dimension as well. This pandemic recalls the issue of theodicy and how God’s sovereignty is reconciled with His justice and love. In a recent book Coronavirus and Christ, John Piper notes that God’s all-knowing, all governing sovereignty over all things will keep us from jumping to the conclusion that God’s fingers in the coronavirus discredit his holiness or righteousness or goodness.

[1] He correctly noted that we should not be so naïve to equate human suffering with divine unrighteousness. Piper notes that God who governs every being, every natural phenomenon or disease is also the God who reigns over the Coronavirus. “The coronavirus was sent, therefore, by God. This is not a season for sentimental views of God. It is a bitter season. And God ordained it. God governs it. He will end it.” [2] From an apologetic point of view, faith in God has been attacked by the new atheism as meaningless, because God is neither omnipotent nor good. However, atheism does not offer a viable response to suffering.

Without the existence of God, atheism and secularism cannot provide an explanation to the notion of human suffering. Faith in God does not offer immunity to infection, but it offers the only hope in the context of suffering.

This paper emphasizes certain aspects of the pandemic at the intersection of the natural reality with the spiritual reality and its implications for the Evangelical community in Romania [3] and in the world in general.

This pandemic has a global impact on society, but it has also brought challenges to religious communities.

God is sovereign and rules over the

entire universe, even when a man abuses the mandate he has received regarding the administration of the earth. This paper highlights the natural aspects in relation to the spiritual ones that the Covid-19 pandemic had in terms of the environment.

These effects are not to be neglected at all, but they must also be viewed from a spiritual perspective.

This research paper also emphasizes the challenges of religious freedom that come with legal restrictions and how the evangelical community has experienced it.

At the same time, the research highlights the theological challenges that appeared within the community and the practical aspects that appeared during this time when restrictions on public meetings have been in place.

II. COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND THEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

A. Church and State The relation between Church and State took different forms throughout history.

Even though religious freedom and the right of not being compelled against one’s conscience forms the basis of nearly every society, history indicates that the relation between Church and State is very diverse.

The religious communities are supposed to function inside the jurisprudence of the State as communities with the right to be governed by their own set of values and teachings. However, these communities are at the same time, social communities that are responsible to the State.

Colson concludes his thoughts on the Cross and the Crown, saying that the separation of Church and State does not mean the separation between religion and politics or the removal of religious values from the public arena.[4] A real Christian is a good citizen. Lugo affirmed that Christians

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believe that they understand the truth about the ultimate meaning of life and that within Christianity, there is a certain exclusivity built into this understanding of things.[5] On the other hand, the Government has the authority of imposing justice through the legal apparatus of the State, but the State is limited in determining the ultimate meaning of life. In this case, how are Christians supposed to influence society? If the modern State denies the legitimacy of the Church in defining objective moral values and truth, what is the basis of social morality if the State is separate from the Church in terms of its values?

For the evangelical community in Romania, the concept of separation of the state church was understood in terms of a relationship in which believers fulfill their duty as good citizens of the country while the State provides a legal framework in which freedom of religion and freedom of worship are fundamental values.

Therefore, the Romanian Evangelical Community advocates for the separation of the Church and State relationships in the context of democracy, religious freedom, and pluralism. The Evangelical Christians of Romania contribute to the moral fiber of the society and their contribution to Romanian religious life is a decisive factor of freedom.

B. Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Worship According to rsf.org, the ranking of press freedom in Romania, despite many changes at the highest level of government, has not improved. The ranking in 2019 was according to World Press Freedom Index #47, and in 2020 the ranking is worse, namely ranking #48. Thus, because journalism and free speech is influenced by a political class that continues to encourage censorship and selfcensorship, press freedom has not increased.

[6] In the context of Covid-19 pandemic,

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the access to information is limited as the announced Military Ordinances have restricted the mobility rights (with some exceptions). Amnesty International noted that the response of governments to the epidemic has the potential to affect human rights.[7] It is important to note that from a legal point of view, in this context the religious freedom is not officially restricted. However, due to the social distancing that is needed during the military ordinances the freedom to corporate worships is inevitably affected.

In society, there is a debate whether this represents a limitation or a violation of human rights.

The censorship on the information about the coronavirus, the attempt of various governments to minimize the danger and to control the information, leads inevitably to the increase of suspicion and mistrust in local authorities. In this framework of news, fake news, half news, it is hard for the community of believers to see military ordinances as legitimate and beneficial.

Coming from a terrible experience under communism in which religious freedom was severely affected, the mistrust in official authorities is, at times, legitimate.

In states where religious freedom has not gone through the reality of persecution, the relationship of the community of believers to authority is generally trustworthy. In countries where there has been persecution and limitation of religious rights by state authorities, the relationship is generally characterized by a legitimate suspicion.

Some questions related to religious freedom are still without an answer. As various companies continue their activity under strict fulfillment of health regulations and people can be present in grocery stores under a limited number to prevent overcrowding, there is a legitimate question whether banning church services is not an extreme measurement that represents a

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violation of religious rights. Why is it not possible for the Church to have the possibility to worship in open spaces, maintaining the legal distance and keeping the hygienic and sanitary rules?

Xesús Manuel Suárez García, the General Secretary of the Spanish Evangelical Alliance, has noted for the European Evangelical Alliance that this Pandemic is raising some ethical dilemma on the issue of security and freedom and the responsibility of the Government.[8] He notes: “Will we hand over more control of our lives to the State if in return, the State guarantees us greater effectiveness against collective threats such as the present one? Is it worth giving up some personal freedom in exchange for greater security?”

Suárez García emphasizes correctly that political power always tends to monopolize control. The example of the Asian countries that are using extensive technological means to control citizens can be effective in tracking potentially infected people but at a high cost of personal liberty. Covid-19 pandemic is a proper opportunity for the development of an Orwellian paradigm of a nation that is using law enforcement to control individuals for the sake of the community.

The World Health Organization noted that stay-at-home measures are used; they must not be at the expense of human rights.[9] Starting with the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, when it comes to human rights, the right to health and the right to be informed are of the same value as the right to worship and the right to dignity.

Along with other religious denominations, Evangelical denominations have taken steps to uphold and defend personal freedom. In a recent address to the Romanian Government, both the Romanian Baptist Union and the Pentecostal Christian Denomination expressed their compliance with the legal provisions in order to

prevent the Covid-19 pandemic, but also express their expectations regarding public gathering in worship. In an address to Prime Minister, pastor Viorel Iuga, the President of the Union of Christian Baptist Churches in Romania asks for measures to allow religious gatherings. “We understand that protection measures for public health are important, but we believe that, as in other countries, in Romania can be found solutions that allow believers to participate directly in religious services, under the safety conditions established by specialists.”[10] This address takes into consideration not only the material but also the spiritual prosperity of the country. All high government officials, according to article 82 paragraph 2 of the Romanian Constitution, pledged to give all their power and skill for the spiritual and material prosperity of the Romanian people. As provided by the Romanian Constitution, the prosperity of the country has first and foremost a spiritual nature and then a material one. Therefore, with all the measures that the authorities are taking related to health and economic field to ensure material prosperity, it is necessary that these measures to reflect the spiritual prosperity of the country.

The Pentecostal Christian Denomination considers that the measures to allow the reopening of churches are necessary both for the spiritual well-being of believers, but also for the release of part of the social tension accumulated during this period.[11] The Pentecostal Christians emphasize that these measures reflect the preservation of fundamental rights. According to the laws of the country and the European Convention on Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, man is free to manifest his religion or belief individually and collectively.

This memorandum asks for an open dialogue with State authorities in order to take into consideration health protection measures in light of the need to manifest

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religious freedom.

According to the Romanian-American newspaper Tribuna Românească, edited and printed in Chicago, Romanian lawyer Harry Mihet, a member of the Liberty Counsel organization, was involved in the case of Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne[12] who was arrested for organizing a religious service in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. This case of a church and a religious leader is an example of restricting freedom of worship. The fact that drivein liquor stores are opened, while drive-in worship services are illegal, represents a clear discriminatory treatment.

The involvement of Liberty Counsel in this case, brought this case to a victory.

Facing our imminent civil rights lawsuit, and a Constitutional no-brainer that Churches ARE entitled to equal treatment under the law, the County held an “emergency” hearing this afternoon, and just voted to RESCIND its unconstitutional orders singling out Churches for discrimination. They will now join Florida, Texas, Michigan, Indiana and others in treating Churches equally and allowing social distancing guidelines to be implemented across the board.[13] The mainstream media see freedom of worship rather in critical terms. Since the mass media has an open secular approach, any manifestation of personal faith is subject to public disgrace, systematic defamation, and a religious bullying approach. However, the battle for religious freedom in this case, has a desirable end.

Isolation orders that violate legality and freedom of worship are not singular.[14] As the reopening initiatives of the Churches are more present[15], it is important for the Church and society to take a stand on both religious rights and to avoid any violation of religious freedom in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The US Commission on International

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Religious Freedom just issued a report on April 8, 2020, sounding the alarm about the impact of government decisions on religious freedoms[16] but also about the stigmatization of religious minorities during the Covid-19 pandemic.[17] All these examples must be taken into consideration in order to ensure religious freedom. This pandemic poses a threat to physical health but must not cause a threat to spiritual health and freedom of worship.

C. Socialization vs. Fellowship The Covid-19 pandemic brings to public attention the relational dimension of the human being. We are relational beings and have an obvious social dimension in all aspects of our lives. From a theological point of view, this is the first need highlighted in Scripture after the moment of creation: “It is not good for man to be alone!” (Gen. 2.18). The emergence of social platforms in recent decades reflects our need for socialization. The deprivation of a person of liberty following an illegitimate act aims at depriving him of the social dimension. The most terrible punishment in the penitentiary system is total isolation.

One of the fundamental theological aspects of public religious services is that of fellowship. Theologically, fellowship is much more than socialization. Communion implies socialization, but socialization does not equate fellowship since fellowship is an ontological reality of the bond of faith through Christ and with one another.

From a Christian perspective, fellowship is a sine qua non factor in the life of faith. The community aspect transcends the discussion of extrovert or introvert personality types, being vital not only for mutual encouragement (Eccl. 4.9-10, Phil.

2.3-4, Heb. 10.24-25) but also for spiritual health (Heb. 13.1-2). Isolation is dangerous to the life of faith since it produces vulnerability to sin and can lead to depression, anger,

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individualism, and so on. There are positive aspects of the relationship with God in isolation. The Bible presents many examples in which people have experienced God in a profound way in times of isolation. However, these examples are just the exception. God exists in a Trinitarian relationship and has created us to function in a relationship as well.

D. Communion: Private or Corporate Event?

The holdup of the worship services in church buildings determined the churches to identify new means to make the worship before God possible, respecting specific aspects of the Christian faith but also the law of the land. Technology can be of help in aspects related to preaching the Gospel, however, when it comes to the participation of the Lord’s Supper, the Evangelical community of Romania faced new challenges on how this religious act should be performed.

Within the evangelical community in Romania, there were extensive discussions that argued for one of the two practical possibilities. Some believers consider that the command to celebrate the Lord’s Supper must be obeyed, so in a practical way celebration must be performed at home with the blessing offered online by the religious leaders. On the other hand, other believers consider that Communion should be postponed until the Church will present for worship in a corporate setting.

The debate has both theological nuances in which the Lord’s Supper can be understood as a community element, but also practical nuances in terms of the actual celebration.

The most edifying example in this debate is represented by Beniamin Fărăgău, one of the leading theologians of the evangelical world in Romania, pastor, and a prolific author. In an online post, Beniamin Fărăgău argued that the institution of the Lord’s Supper took place in the context of the

Passover feast as a family event. Therefore, the Christian family represents the place where the breaking of the bread can take place during this pandemic.[18] The alternative to this position was given by Paul Negruț, the President of the Emanuel University of Oradea and the Baptist Union Vice President of Education.

In an extensive and informative theological article, Paul Negruț argued that Beniamin Fărăgău’s argument is based on four errors: a hermeneutic one and three of theological nature.[19] Negruț argued that the correct hermeneutics of interpreting the Lord’s Supper must not start from the “shadow” (Col. 2: 16-17) to the “true appearance of things” (Heb. 8: 5, 9: 9-12, 10: 1). The reality of the Old Testament is only a foreshadowing of the true reality discovered in the New Testament, so the foreshadowing must be understood in relation to reality and not the other way around. Thus, the correct hermeneutic methodology is that in which the Old Testament must be interpreted in the light of the New Testament and not the other way around because light clarifies the shadow, not the reverse. The theological arguments presented by Paul Negruț are eloquent and is reflected in the official position expressed by the Baptist Union and the Pentecostal Denomination.[20] Theological and hermeneutic aspects regarding the meaning and application of the Lord’s Supper are out of the scope of this research. However, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, this theological and practical issue has generated extensive discussions in the Romanian Evangelical community. The debate over the practical celebration of the Lord’s Supper was quite intense online, but most evangelical believers in Romania have chosen to wait for the moments when the Lord’s Supper can be celebrated in an ecclesiastical context.

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III. COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND PRACTICAL

CHALLENGES

A. The Use and Abuse of Creation The Bible shows how God’s sovereignty is manifested throughout the universe (e.g., Gen. 1, Ps. 24.1, Isa. 45:18). God created the universe, giving a man a clear mandate to care for the environment. By falling into sin, man’s relationship with God, with himself, with those around him, but also with the environment was affected.

In terms of nature, the effects of falling into sin are manifested in relation to the environment: flora, fauna, earth, water, and atmosphere. God offered the authority to humankind (Genesis 1.26, 29, 2.15), but man abused that authority. The laws that God gave to His people reflect how man must relate to animals (e.g. Deut. 22.6-7, Prov.

12.10) and to the environment (e.g. Num. 35.33, Deut. 20.20, Isa. 24.4-13). Pollution is just one example of how human activity affects the planet’s ecosystem.

From a theological point of view, the solution that God offered to man after the fall was redemption. Redemption does not have only an anthropological dimension but a universal character in which the whole of creation (κτίσις) that was subjected to futility, will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Rom 8.19-22).

For example, one of the directives in the Mosaic Law regarding the land is that the land had to be worked and in the seventh year, the land had to be left unworked (Ex. 23.10). Babylonian captivity was God’s punishment over His people because of idolatry but also because the people abused the earth and disobeyed God’s Sabbatical years. The abusive exploitation of the land was stopped, and the land kept its Sabbaths and rested (2 Chron. 36.21). In His teachings, Jesus challenged the audience Session 4. Miscellaneous

to guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions (Lk. 12.15). This tendency of man to accumulate material goods and properties is one of the spiritual pitfalls to be avoided (e.g., Hag. 1.5-6, Matt. 6.19-20, 1 Tim. 6.9-10, Heb. 13.5, 1 Jn. 2.16).

This universal spiritual reality corresponds to our 21st-century economic reality vis-à-vis Covid-19 pandemic. One of the beneficial effects of the Covid-19 pandemic is that the exploitation of the eco-planetary system worldwide has been reduced in an unprecedented way. Human greed is, in fact, the reason why the engines of the world industry have been used to the limit. Consumerism is just a manifestation of the sinful nature of the man who, in his selfishness, wants more and more things.

The significant reduction of the entire industrial mechanism has led to a significant reduction of pollution, which means many lives saved from the 7 million annual deaths.

[21] Many international agencies monitoring air pollution have pointed out that the effect of reducing the emissions due to the pandemic can be seen from space, and the level of pollution has dropped to unprecedented levels in many cities around the world.[22] Similar to the Babylonian captivity that made the country celebrate its Sabbaths, this pandemic made the planet enjoy its rest worldwide.

Recently seven Christian creation care organizations have issued a joint statement on the Covid-19 crisis calling for a fundamental rethink regarding humanity’s relationship with nature in the light of the pandemic.

The campaign Renew Our World advocates responsible use of the world created by God. The incorrect administration of the land by destruction and fragmentation of natural habitats and by illegal wildlife trade will eventually disrupt the ecosystem and will most likely led to transfer of pathogens from wild animals to humans.

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B. Methodological Challenges One of the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic is the development of an online church ministry. In Romania, the number of churches that have a website is deficient.

Most churches do not have a website, a Facebook page, a YouTube channel, or something similar. The Covid-19 pandemic produced a rethinking of the online ministry.

Schools were forced to implement new e-learning methods, private or state-owned companies adapted to virtual reality through online activity. Churches were also forced to carry out their activity online. Due to new challenges, church worship has also been digitized, and churches have sought new ways of online ministry.

The Internet is not only a digital world but also a spiritual world. The ministry of the Church must focus on the online world. The Internet can be used both to promote spiritual values or immorality.

During the period of isolation, the evolution of pornography experienced a significant increase.[23] The Internet is an area that the Church must not neglect. One of the beneficial aspects of this pandemic was that the Churches were simply forced to carry out their activity online, thus becoming aware of the need to develop the work in this area as well.

In an efficient way, the social media of the Evangelical Churches had an increase in activity starting with sermons, music projects, online fellowship through digital platforms, etc.. Tim Challies, a famous blogger and author, wrote an article about Sunday, March 22, as one of the most unusual Sundays in the history of Christianity.

Offering examples and pictures of Christian worship from around the globe, Challies documented the first Sunday, receiving feedback from Christian meetings in more than 35 countries.[24]

This period of isolation will undoubtedly produce a change in the methodology of the evangelical churches in Romania, which have become more aware of the need to spread the message of the Gospel through the Internet.

C. Spiritual Opportunities During the pandemic, one of the current trends of society is to seek information about the situation and the evolution of events. However, this can have a negative effect causing stress, worry, and depression.

The pandemic naturally causes inherent stress. People respond differently to stressful situations. The recommendations offered by the specialists regarding the control and prevention of diseases aim at physical exercises, healthy eating, but also meditation.[25] In terms of spiritual benefits regarding the time of isolation, the Bible has a lot of examples and significant experiences to share: e.g., Joseph (Gen. 39-40), Elijah (1 Kings 19), Jeremiah (Jer. 32, 33, 37), Jesus (Matt. 4, Lk. 4), John (Rev. 1).

Evangelical communities in Romania since the beginning of the pandemic have encouraged the use of this time of isolation to get closer to God.[26] Meditation on God’s Word is a fundamental discipline for the life of faith (e.g. Jos. 1:8, Ps. 1:2, 19:14, 119:11, Matt. 6:6, Phil. 4:8, 1 Tim. 4: 13-15, 2 Tim. 3:16-17).

According to Evangelical Focus, during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the church buildings were closed, the online Bible reading has greatly increased compared to last year. “The well-known Bible reading app YouVersion reported that engagement with its reading plans during Easter was 54% higher than the same period last year.”[27] This aspect is attested by several Bible publishers, as Bible sales have grown at this time of the year. “Tyndale House Publishers of Carol Stream, Illinois reported that their Life Application Study Bible sales went up

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44%, and sales of the Immerse Bible went up 60%, compared to March of 2019.”[28] Another opportunity during this time was sharing God’s love through practical help.

During this period, the evangelical churches carried out various charitable actions to help hospital units with the supply of medical supplies (surgical face masks, disinfectants, overalls, digital thermometers), but also by helping those in need.[29] Regarding evangelical churches in Romania, the decision taken by several churches in this pandemic period was to meet medical needs through material donations to the medical system.

In Romania, the Covid-19 pandemic did not reach a critical level to the point of triage at the border of life and death. In other countries where the medical system has been severely affected by a large number of critically ill patients, the doctors had faced more serious ethical dilemmas, being forced to decide who receives specialized care and who does not.[30] When it comes to family life, this pandemic can have positive or negative effects on the family. It is a truism to note that this pandemic has caused a change on the families around the world. However, it is important to emphasize this. The fact that schools were closed and most parents were forced to work mostly at home led to new opportunities to spend time with the family.

Although any opportunity can have negative aspects, the time spent with the family does not necessarily mean quality time. According to researchers, reports of domestic violence have increased during this period of isolation.[31] One of the aspects that the Evangelical denominations in Romania encouraged during this period was the spending time in the family in worship. From a Christian perspective, the only effective way to transform the family is to transform the individual through the Gospel (e.g., Acts 16.31-34).

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D. Financial Challenges According to the Romanian Law[32], the State supports the religious denominations by paying the salaries of the members of the clergy. From a list of 18 recognized religious denominations, the Baptist and the Adventist denominations refused to accept this legal right of being paid by the State.

The question is whether it is legitimate to allow the State to control the Church, not through dictatorial measurements, but through financial means? Since the Baptists are taxpayers, are they adopting a radical position towards a State that is willing to subsidize the Church? This issue was raised

by Baptist believers all over the world.[33] The Romanian Baptists and Adventists in the struggle for Church and State separation is a study case that is worth considering and raises the question of financial support and taxation (i.e., double taxation) The Baptist believers in Romania do not accept subsidies from the State for religious activity and for the remuneration of worship staff. They believe that it is the spiritual duty of every believer to contribute to the spiritual and material support of the Church.

[34] Instead of exempting the believer’s donations from double taxation, the State prefers to apply this double taxation, and later provide financial support. In this way, the financial dependence by the State is achieved through a fiscal artifice in which the State imposes taxes and then offers support for religious cults.

The Covid-19 pandemic affected a significant number of employees and businesses. Given the financial reality, donations to the Church are expected to decline as believers are also affected by the country’s financial situation (technical unemployment, job losses, the bankruptcy of some companies). Thus, among many other challenges during this time, the financial crisis is a highly important one.

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CONCLUSION The Covid-19 pandemic is not a threat to God’s sovereignty but a challenge for us to rethink suffering in terms of a sovereign God. From a Christian perspective, God is still sovereign and good even when we do not understand it. The Covid-19 pandemic forced us to admit our human frailty and to acknowledge that God governs the whole world.

This pandemic brought back into discussion fundamental aspects related to the area where religious freedom intersects civil authority and social life. In this context, the experience of the Evangelical community of Romania and in other parts of the world is worth taking into consideration.

As they strongly support the separation of the Church from State, Evangelical believers consider that this separation should not be understood in terms of isolation but in an active social involvement. At the same time, obedience to civil authority, if religious freedom is not affected, must be present. The legal regulations that restricted freedom of movement have made evangelical communities more vigilant regarding fundamental rights that must not be affected under the pretext of health regulations. Religious freedom is one of the fundamental human rights, rights that are contained in both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

During this pandemic, the evangelical community emphasized once again that humanity must rethink its relationship to God’s creation in responsible and practical terms. Regarding the theological and practical challenges that the evangelical community in Romania experienced during this period of pandemic, they attest to the fact that the Church is called to fulfill its mandate by remaining close to unchanging biblical principles in times of new challenges.

The Church is called not only to manifest

social responsibility through solidarity but also through a practical manifestation of spiritual values. The outcome of the Covid-19 pandemic for the Christian believer must focus ultimately not to survive this reality, but to glorify God that governs this reality.

References [1] John Piper, Coronavirus and Christ (Wheaton: Crossway, 2020), 35.

[2] Ibidem, 42.

[3] This research has in view, three of Romania’s eighteen officially recognized religious denominations that form together with the Romanian Evangelical Alliance: i.e., The Romanian Baptist Union, The Pentecostal Denomination, and Christian Evangelical Church of Romania (Alianța Evanghelică din România, https://aliantaevanghelica. wordpress.com/).

[4] Charles Colson, Kingdoms in Conflict, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1987), p.120.

[5] Luis E. Lugo, ‘Caesar’s Coin and the Politics of the Kingdom’, in Caesar’s Coin Revisited: Christians and the Limits of Government, ed.

Michael Cromartie (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 30.

[6] ‘Romania: Status Quo’, Reporters without borders, accessed April 28 2020, https://rsf. org/en/romania.

[7] ‘Explainer: Seven Ways the Coronavirus Affects Human Rights’, Amnesty International, accessed April 28 2020, https://www.amnesty. org/en/latest/news/2020/02/explainer-sevenways-the-coronavirus-affects-human-rights/.

[8] Xesús Manuel Suárez García, ‘Challenges and Decisions in the Face of Coronavirus Pandemic’, European Evangelical Alliance, 3 April 2020, https://www.europeanea. org/challenges-decisions-in-the-face-ofcoronavirus-pandemic/.

[9] ‘WHO Director-General’s Opening Remarks at the Media Briefing on COVID-19 - April 13 2020’, accessed April 29 2020, https://www. who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-directorgeneral-s-opening-remarks-at-the-mediabriefing-on-covid-19--13-april-2020.

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[10] ‘Uniunea Bisericilor Creştine Baptiste Din România, Cerere Pentru Măsuri Care Să Permită Adunările Religioase’, Comunitatea Bisericilor Creştine Baptiste Timişoara, 5 May 2020, http://www.baptist-tm.ro/uniuneabisericilor-crestine-baptiste-din-romaniacerere-pentru-masuri-care-sa-permitaadunarile-religioase-atat-in-lacasele-de-cultcat-si-in-spatii-deschise/, ‘Scrisoare Deschisă Pentru Iohannis, Orban Şi Vela - Preşedintele Uniunii Bisericilor Creştine Baptiste Solicită Reluarea Slujbelor Religioase Cu Public - Stiri Pe Surse - Cele Mai Noi Stiri’ (‘Open Letter For Iohannis, Orban And Vela - President Of Union Of Baptist Christian Churches Calls For Resumption Of Religious Services With Public - News By Sources - Latest News’), accessed 30 April 2020, https://www.stiripesurse.ro/ scrisoare-deschisa-pentru-iohannis-orban-sivela-presedintele-uniunii-bisericilor-crestinebaptiste-solicita-reluarea-slujbelor-religioasecu-public_1452759.html.

[11] See the Memo nr. 459/04.05.2020.

‘Comunicate și noutăți’, Cultul Creștin Penticostal, accessed 8 May 2020, http://www. cultulpenticostal.ro/comunicate/.

[12] ‘Statement of Dr. Rodney Howard-Browne - Liberty Counsel’, accessed April 29 2020, https://lc.org/newsroom/details/040220statement-of-dr-rodney-howardbrowne.

[13] ‘Cazul Pastorului Arestat În Florida Se Dovedește a Fi Abuz de Putere Și Manipulare Împotriva Acestuia Și a Bisericii’ (‘The Case of the Pastor Arrested in Florida Turns Out to Be an Abuse of Power and Manipulation Against Him and the Church’), TRIBUNA.US (blog), 2 April 2020, https://tribuna.us/cazulpastorului-arestat-in-florida-se-dovedeste-afi-abuz-de-putere-si-manipulare-impotrivabisericii/.

[14] ‘Illinois: Ordinul de Izolare Impus de Pritzker Excede Legalitatea – Instanța’, TRIBUNA. US (blog), April 28 2020, https://tribuna.us/ illinois-ordinul-de-izolare-impus-de-pritzkerexcede-legalitatea-instanta/, ‘Illinois Judge Rules Governor Pritzker’s Stay-at-Home Order an Overreach’, Associated Press (FOX 32 Chicago, April 27 2020), https://www. fox32chicago.com/news/illinois-judge-rulesgovernor-pritzkers-stay-at-home-order-anoverreach.

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[15] ‘Inițiativa „Redeschide Biserica Duminică” a Firmei de Avocatură Pentru Drepturile Religioase Încurajează Congregațiile Să Se Întâlnească În Duminica Aceasta’ (‘Religious Rights Law Firm ‘Reopens Church Sunday’ Initiative Encourages Congregations to Meet This Sunday ‘), TRIBUNA.US (blog), 28 April 2020, https://tribuna.us/initiativa-redeschidebiserica-duminica-a-firmei-de-avocaturapentru-drepturile-religioase-incurajeazacongregatiile-sa-se-intalneasca-in-duminica-aceasta/.

[16] ‘Factsheet on the Global Response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the Impact on Religious Practice and Religious Freedom’, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, April 9 2020, https://www. uscirf.gov/reports-briefs/factsheets/factsheetthe-global-response-the-coronavirus-covid19-and-the-impact.

[17] ‘USCIRF Condemns the Stigmatization of Religious Minorities during COVID-19 Pandemic’, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, April 7 2020, https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/ press-releases-statements/uscirf-condemnsthe-stigmatization-religious-minoritiesduring.

[18] Beniamin Fărăgău, ‘Îmbrăcați-vă Cu o Inimă ca a Lui Hristos!’ (Put on a Christ-like Heart!), Facebook: Biserica Iris, Baptist Church, accessed 9 May 2020, https://www.facebook. com/bisericairis/posts/3658754610807394.

[19] Negruț, Paul, ‘Cina Domnului, celebrarea întregii Biserici sau eveniment privat?’, 14 April 2020, https://negrutpaul.wordpress. com/.

[20] Uniunea Bisericilor Creștine Baptiste din România, ‘Recomandare cu privire la Cina Domnului în perioada pandemiei coronavirusului COVID-19’ (Union of Christian Baptist Churches in Romania, ‘Recommendation on the Lord’s Supper during the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic’), 4 April 2020, https://uniuneabaptista.ro/ recomandare-cu-privire-la-cina-domnuluiin-perioada-pandemiei-coronavirusuluicovid-19/, ‘Comunicat privind Oficierea Cinei Domnului nr.399/14.04.2020’, Cultul Creștin Penticostal, 14 April 2020, http://www.

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cultulpenticostal.ro/comunicate/.

[21] Jeff McMahon, ‘New Data Show Air Pollution Drop Around 50 Percent In Some Cities During Coronavirus Lockdown’, Forbes, accessed April 29 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/ jeffmcmahon/2020/04/16/air-pollution-dropsurpasses-50-percent-in-some-cities-duringcoronavirus-lockdown/.

[22] Helen Regan CNN, ‘Air Pollution Falls

by Unprecedented Levels in Major Global Cities during Coronavirus Lockdowns’, CNN, accessed April 29 2020, https://www. cnn.com/2020/04/22/world/air-pollutionreduction-cities-coronavirus-intl-hnk/index. html.

[23] Gemma Mestre-Bach, Gretchen R. Blycker, and Marc N. Potenza, ‘Pornography Use in the Setting of the COVID-19 Pandemic’, Journal of Behavioral Addictions 1 (April 27 2020), Arwa Mahdawi, ‘Pornhub Should Forget the Coronavirus and Focus on Its Own Pandemic: Revenge Porn’, The Guardian, March 14 2020, https://www.theguardian. com/commentisfree/2020/mar/14/pornhubforget-coronavirus-focus-on-pandemicrevenge-porn.

[24] Tim Challies, ‘How the World Worshipped on One of the Most Unusual Sundays in Church History’, https://www.challies.com/, March 23 2020, https://www.challies.com/articles/howthe-world-worshipped-on-one-of-the-mostunusual-sundays-in-church-history/.

[25] CDC, ‘Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)’, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, February 11 2020, https:// www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/dailylife-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html.

[26] See the Memo nr. 350/19.03.2020 ‘Comunicate și noutăți’, ‘Comunicat: Către Bisericile Creștine Baptiste din România – Uniunea Bisericilor Creștine Baptiste din România’ (Press releases and news ’,‘ Press release: Towards the Christian Baptist Churches in Romania - Union of Christian Baptist Churches in Romania), 13 March 2020, https://uniuneabaptista.ro/comunicatcatre-bisericile-crestine-baptiste-din-romania/.

[27] ‘Mark 16:6, the Most Shared Verse during the Easter in Quarantine’, Evangelical Focus, accessed May 9 2020, https://evangelicalfocus.

com/life-tech/5273/mark-16-6-most-sharedverse-during-easter-in-quarantine.

[28] ‘Mark 16’.

[29] ‘Free Menus for Those Fighting in the Covid-19 Frontline’, Evangelical Focus, 3 April 2020, https://evangelicalfocus. com/cities/5231/free-menus-outside-thehospital-supporting-those-who-heal, Uniunea Bisericilor Creștine Baptiste din România, ‘Scrisoare către toate bisericile și comunitățile baptiste’, 4 May 2020, https://uniuneabaptista. ro/scrisoare-catre-biserici-si-comunitatileajutorare-familii-copii-scolari/.

[30] Xesús Manuel Suárez García, ‘Challenges and Decisions in the Face of Coronavirus Pandemic’, Douglas B. White, ‘Who Should Receive Life Support During a Public Health Emergency? Using Ethical Principles to Improve Allocation Decisions’, Annals of Internal Medicine 150, no. 2 (2009): 132.

[31] ‘Domestic Violence Has Increased during Coronavirus Lockdowns’, The Economist, accessed May 9 2020, https://www.economist. com/graphic-detail/2020/04/22/domesticviolence-has-increased-during-coronaviruslockdowns.

[32] Law no.142/27th of July 1999.

[33] Chun-pang Vincent Lau, ‘Controversy over Public Funding to the Baptist Institutions in Colonial Hong Kong and the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s’, in Baptist History and Heritage, Spring 2007, pp.85105.

[34] The status of organization and functioning of the Baptist Christian Cult - Union of Christian Baptist Churches in Romania, Text published in M.Of. of Romania. Effective January 25, 2008.

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From Religious Belief to Identity Games in Ted Hughes’s Early Poetry Florian Andrei Vlad, PhD

Lecturer at “Ovidius” University of Constanta Romania

article info

abstract

Article history: Received 29 February 2020 Received in revised form 20 May 2020 Accepted 22 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.20

Keywords: language games; identity games; pathos; anti-pathos; myth;

For many years, Ted Hughes had challenged the beliefs of his ancestors, engaging in identity games that revived pre-Christian mythologies, which he recycled in novel ways.

Identity games refer, much in the fashion of Wittgenstein’s language games, to dynamic sets of contrasts and the games they involve in the construction of poetic identity not as a stable entity, but as a living and developing configuration, involving both continuity and change, sameness and difference. Such a view is particularly useful when dealing with poets like Ted Hughes, whose literary careers span several decades, in which significant developments do not support the claim that identity mainly involves stability. What follows will content itself to the examination of some significant identity games being performed in a few poems from Ted Hughes’s The Hawk in the Rain and Lupercal. © 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction

Much in the same way in which such linguists as Wittgenstein referred to language games to stress the fact that language is not an inventory of words, but a multitude of activities, of games one very responsibly plays with words, an idea to be further developed by J.L. Austin in his speech acts theory, so will identity games be used here to refer to dynamic sets of contrasts and the games they involve in the construction of poetic identity not as a stable entity, but as a living and developing configuration, involving both continuity

and change, sameness and difference. Such a view is particularly useful when dealing with poets like Ted Hughes, whose literary careers span several decades, in which significant developments do not support the claim that identity mainly involves stability.

Since an approach to major coordinates of the whole of Hughes’s poetic career would involve more than a limited essay like this one, what follows will content itself to the examination of significant identity games being performed in Ted Hughes’s early volumes of poetry.

Poetic identity games involve not only

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eISSN: 2393-1744, cdISSN: 2392-9928 printISSN: 2457-9297, ISSN-L 2392-9928

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the poet who creates the poems, as games are rarely individual. Like speech acts in speech acts theory, poetic discourse is far from merely locutionary, in repeated attempts to move the audience to do things and to experience certain emotions. What is more, Ted Hughes, under the influence of Mircea Eliade’s texts on shamanism [1], also attempted to play the therapeutic role of the shaman in relation to the poetic world and to the audience with whom he shared his creation. The audience is here a loose term including, in addition to readers, texts and poets, friends and rivals, associated with various traditions. Hughes’s identity games take them into account as part of the overall poetic interaction his creation is concerned with.

As already stated, a broad definition of identity, more specifically Ted Hughes’s poetic identity as a dynamic set of contrasts accepting some sense of continuity, might require some sort of structuring of a long artistic career, in which life and work are closely interwoven. If one chooses to examine Ted Hughes’s early poetry, should one start with the first poem that gained recognition, or with the collection that set him on Britain’s poetic map? In addition, how many episodes or chapters should one consider in the emergence, development and final definition of the poet’s work is another question worth considering.

The easiest answer to the latter question is to think of Ted Hughes’s poetic identity in terms of the impact that the most important special relationship had on his work. This relationship involves the key figure that played various roles in Hughes’s complex identity games. Sylvia Plath’s roles of helper, assistant, rival, wife may encourage one to think of Ted Hughes’s poetic identity in terms of “up to and including the interaction with Sylvia Plath while alive” and “after and largely responding to Sylvia Plath after her death.” It is therefore clear that what follows

will focus on the early poetry in terms of the earlier of these two life and art chapters in Hughes’s poetic identity narrative.

In search for the “real self” of Ted Hughes, the poet, one can go back as early as his birth, as the identity construction associated with one of Britain’s Poet Laureates largely depends on the protagonist’s say in it, his preoccupation with constructing a poetic persona being well documented. Dianne Wood Middlebrook, a renowned biographer who had also noted other poets, such as Anne Sexton, trying to embark on the same path, in her “In Search of the Autobiography of Ted Hughes,” speaks of this poetic undertaking as a fact in itself, the invention of a persona by Hughes, dealing with aspects of his life and art[2]. This invention may start with a certain place, assuming a fundamental position in Hughes’s identity space, called Scout Rock, a defining presence in the development of the poet’s identity games.

Scout Rock impressively rises next to the far from glamorous industrial village Mytholmroyd, in West Yorkshire, in the Calder Valley. Jonathan Bate, the poet’s biographer, sees the prosaic Mytholmroyd as young Hughes’s place, while also a presence that will turn into a mythic place as space [3], although failing to mention the strange contrast between the drab reality of the sooty industrial village and its “mythic” spelling: MYTHolmroyd. If the village is not that important, the adjoining rock is, and the same Jonathan Bate quotes Hughes including Scout Rock in his “rocky” identity, marking a boundary at the opposite end of what stones usually do in a person’s identity story: “if a man’s death is held in place by a stone, my birth was fastened into place by that rock, and for my first seven years it pressed its shape and various moods into my brain”[4].

Mexborough, South Yorkshire, with its industrial landscapes, but devoid of

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something akin to the ominous Scout Rock in the equally industrial Mytholmroyd, where seven or eight- year-old Ted moved with his parents, would not add anything to the future poet’s mythologizing significant coordinates in his identity narrative. Simon Armitage, the distinguished poet also hailing from Yorkshire, confirms the fact that it would take something else from that northern part of England to contribute to the poet’s story. In his opinion, Mexborough is far too unromantic: “It would be easier to associate a writer such as Lawrence with the pit-heads and goods trains that probably characterized Mexborough in the thirties and forties, or Auden with his predilection for industrial landscapes” [5]. Whether situated in a romantic place or not, Mexborough Grammar School successfully prepared the son of modest parents for the Cambridge University entrance examination.

Both Mytholmroyd, North Yorkshire and Mexborough, South Yorkshire, in spite of their drab industrial terraced houses, were surrounded by the more or less great outdoors where Ted’s elder brother Gerald would go hunting and fishing. The younger brother thus got Ted used to wandering in the natural world. In addition, following in his brother’s footsteps, hunter and fisherman, Ted Hughes developed that attitude that Hawk in “Hawk Roosting” proudly displays: “I kill where I please because it is all mine” [6]. Ted Hughes never claimed to be an animal lover. Instead, he will define himself as a lover of nature in its fierce, survival-of-the-fittest-and-strongest shape as revealed by Charles Darwin. It is what David Trotter calls the expression of anti-pathos, an approach devoid of feelings of pity and compassion, in the creation of an uncommon author and of an uncommon reader in such authors as Ted Hughes and Geoffrey Hill, among others [7].

North Yorkshire and Devon, as it will soon turn out, were to contribute more to the

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poet’s vision as he starts integrating nature and the animal world in his own poetic world, in so doing adding the definitive touches to the dynamic portrait that life and art lend to Ted Hughes’s identity games, both early and late. While the future poet was at Cambridge, initially studying literature, his parents moved to the most glamorous place of Hughes’s poetic topography.

Proud of their younger son having been admitted at Cambridge, they acquired their own dwelling, with its own identity and name, The Beacon. The residence stands apparently aloof, above the market town of Hebden Bridge, at Heptonstall Slack, lording it over hills and dales, reminiscent of the Yorkshire Gothic and Romantic settings in Wuthering Heights, with which Ted and Sylvia’s story will also be associated.

While at Pembroke College, young Ted Hughes realized that for a future poet, anthropology would be preferable to literary studies. Two encounters in academic Cambridge turned him from more abstract studies of English to the more empirical anthropology and to the practice of poetry.

One of these encounters would be the enabled by the vision of a certain fox, as evoked in “The Thought Fox.” The second, by no means unimportant, was the halfauspicious, half-ominous encounter of a young female American poet, on a Fulbright scholarship at Cambridge University. It is worth noting that these two encounters happened about the same time: February, 1956, while Ted and Sylvia’s wedding, four months later, was a symbolic literary alliance with James Joyce: the two chose to get married on Bloomsday, June 16,th 1956.

Exactly half a century before, a young man, Stephen Dedalus, had met his surrogate father, Leopold Bloom. A little more than six years later, in Sylvia’s “Daddy,” Ted would feature as a father figure that the woman would have to ritually kill.

For the time being, it was the summer of

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1956. The Beacon, at Heptonstall, was that romantic place where Hughes’s parents dwelled while Ted was at Cambridge and where the budding British poet, a Heathcliff formerly from Scout Rock, would introduce Sylvia to William and Edith Hughes and to the rugged, wind-swept settings and atmosphere of Wuthering Heights in August 1956. Who would haunt whom after the cold winter of 1962-1963, the coldest winter in 150 years? Sylvia Hughes Plath is buried at Heptonstall and Hughes’s poem by that name, “Heptonstall,” defines the place in its first line as “Black village of gravestones” [8].

Ironically, much in the way in which Ted Hughes would shape Sylvia Plath’s ultimate poetic identity through his careful editing of his wife’s posthumous Collected Poems volume, her masterpiece, choosing, selecting, arranging in a special sequence her poetic works, so did Sylvia with her husband’s first volume, The Hawk in the Rain. She proofread, arranged the poems and sent them for a poetry competition organized in New York. His volume won first prize, to be subsequently published by Harper. In a way, Sylvia was not only Ted Hughes’s wife, but also his emerging poetic identity’s midwife.

What is here called Ted Hughes’s early poetry is basically contained in Hawk in the Rain (1957), published exactly one year after Ted and Sylvia first met in Cambridge, and Lupercal (1960). The 1957 volume had won the American Harper Prize during the same year. Within less than half a week, three years later, both volumes won two very important British literary prizes. The Hawk in the Rain got the Somerset Maugham Award on March 24th, 1960, while Lupercal got the Hawthornden Prize on March 27th.

And then, on April 1st, Ted and Sylvia’s daughter Frieda would be born. Would her birth be seen as a bond or as a handicap in what was turning into a literary competition

between two great poets? One would have to wait until the publication of Birthday Letters, well after Sylvia’s death, to see Ted Hughes’s perception of their poetic race and the handicaps that the poet and the mother had to cope with.

Ted’s and Sylvia’s deliberate attempts at sketching a distinct poetic identity in Hughes’s first volume, The Hawk in the Rain, is bound to start with the first poem, the one which also gives its name to the collection, two main reasons why one should give it particular prominence in the overall interpretation of the emerging configuration of the early identity games being played in the 1957 book. Considering the overall image of Hughes as “animal poet”[9], the poem seems to follow a different path. It begins with an “I” that appears to be a ploughman, his feet constantly having to cope with “the swallowing of the earth’s mouth.” What is more, having one’s feet firmly planted in the swallowing mud has more to do with mortality than anything else: the ankles are somehow shrouded “With the habit of the dogged grave” By contrast, “the hawk/ Effortlessly at height hangs his still eye,” while his mighty wings “hold all creation in a weightless quiet”[10].

As it appears, the eye and the “I” are distinct. The “I” appears to be a sort of stick-in-the-mud, while the “eye” belongs to the effortlessly flying hawk If one does not see the poem within the framework of Hughes’s whole body of what will be called here his “early work,” the temptation is to see the poet identifying with the human presence of the farmer, and David Whitley, in his essay on Hughes and farming, seems to encourage at first such an interpretation: “There are some indeed who would see farming as intrinsically analogous to art more generally”[11]. This is not the case here, and farming is not to be seen in this poem as linking man with nature; it is the fascination of the hawk hovering above, representing

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the emancipator and effortless power of an airy presence above the mundane mud, looming out of a world without history, a world of myths of the Earth and of the Sky. It is probably the first notable intimation of a vision transcending history, announcing future developments, as Brandes claims: “Hughes has, throughout his career, kept history at a distance. He has resisted dealing directly with contemporary horrors”[12].

In a style reminiscent of Dylan Thomas’s poetry, the man wading through the mud is a “Bloodily grabbed dazed last-momentcounting morsel in the earth’s mouth,” looking up to “the master-/ Fulcrum of violence where the hawk hangs still” [13].

The mortal eventually imagines that this proud show of mastery “maybe in his own time meets the weather” and will be, one day, “hurled upside down,” and that the hawk’s “heart’s blood” will finally mix with “the mire of the land” [14]. The final statement thus fuses the eye of the hawk and the “I” of the ploughman, the airy wings of the bird and the muddy feet of the man, but the focus is on the hawk and his still hovering above the rain, before he meets the inclement weather. It is not far-fetched to see Hughes, with his feet in the mud, but identifying with the hawk above, aware of everybody’s eventual demise, but enjoying the good weather still around. For the time being, he enjoys Sylvia’s support and will get the Harper Prize and widespread recognition. Rather than connecting this poem with others in the collection, one can link it to “Hawk Roosting,” in Lupercal, and see the difference that the bird or ill or good omen will make in the next volume.

Will identity construction undergo dramatic changes?

The “Thought-Fox” is arguably one of the central pieces in the collection in its direct link to the poetic process and to the identity of an emerging poet. It contributes to the overall pattern in which animal figures

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acquire metaphorical or mythological significance. The fox, unlike other animals in Hughes’s poetic bestiary, is openly shown as a figment of the imagination of the “I,” not of the will to brute, violent power as assuming control over all creation: “I imagine this midnight moment’s forest.” Initially, it is a discreet, elusive presence, somewhere near, somewhere deep, “Beside the clock’s loneliness/ And this blank page where my fingers move”[16]. It comes out of darkness and enters the loneliness of the speaking, but not yet writing, “I,” at least not at the beginning, when the page is blank. It assumes a shape defined by a fox’s nose, two eyes, and some “neat prints into the snow/ Between trees.” The apparition, as if by magic slowly materializes until it creates a strong sense that a metaphorical, abstract presence assumes distinct materiality, odour and all: “with a sudden sharp hot stink of fox/ It enters the dark hole of the head”[17]. Once this sudden sharp hot stink enters the I’s “dark hole,” inspiration has completed the poem and “the page is printed”[18]. The I has caught the fox, or rather, the animal has filled with its presence the vacuum inside the poet’s mind. It is both a special kind of muse and the substance of the poem proper. Who has caught, caged or trapped whom? This time it appears that it is not the hunter, but the intruding animal.

The fox is thus showing the “I with a writer’s block” how to go about his poetic craft.

Keith Sagar will note how young Ted Hughes, still studying English at Cambridge, is determined to allow the caged animals of his inner self to come out, so that he can comprehend and use their power. Sagar describes the circumstances under which Ted Hughes got the vision to be expressed in his famous poem: In his second year, exhausted by the effort to start an essay on Dr Johnson, Hughes at last gave up and went to bed. Immediately he dreamed that his door opened and there

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entered ‘a figure that was at the same time a skinny man and a fox walking erect. … It left its bloody footprints on the unwritten page, then said to him: ‘Stop this – you are destroying us’[19].

More specifically, the student himself, about to give up the dreary lore of Eng. Lit., is quoted by the critic as describing his enlightening experience. Hughes is described by many, including his biographer Sir Jonathan Bate, to have been sensitive to dreams and visions, a man who believed in magic and superstition, who would take shamanism very seriously, is likely to believe in the prophetic message of dreams: “I connected the fox’s command to my own ideas about Eng. Lit., & the effect of the Cambridge blend of pseudo-critical terminology and social rancour on creative spirit, and from that moment abandoned my efforts to adapt myself”[20].

“The Jaguar” would provide, in a brief examination, some of the finishing touches of a poetic identity in Huges’s first volume. If in “The Thought-Fox,” the central presence, like a thief, breaks into the poet’s mind and onto the page, thus covering it with the poem proper, in “The Jaguar” the poet appears to achieve identification with one of the caged animals at the zoo. It is one of the first poems to define the two alternative worlds in between which he commutes. While the apes are pleased with their confinement, yawning and adoring their fleas, with the tiger and the lion also lying lazily, the jaguar cuts a different figure, apparently living in the world of the imagination, where the bars of the cell of the first, prosaic world, have vanished and the wide horizons of the poetic world open up: “More than to the visionary his cell:/ His stride is wildernesses of freedom: /The world rolls under the long thrust of his heel./ Over the cage floor the horizons come”[21].

The identity game may be completed with “Famous Poet,” in which, apparently,

the reader is invited to stare of a monstrosity, which is hard to define, considering its “Very ordinary appearance.” In addition to the ordinary appearance, the eyes, so important in Hughes’s poetry, are devoid of “the spark, the effulgence” one might expect.

Should one define in terms of his alcoholic derangement of the senses or in terms of womanizing?: “Is it his dreg-boozed inner demon / Still tankarding from tissue and follicle/ The vital fire, the spirit electrical/ That puts the gloss on a normal hearty male?/ Or is it women?”[22].As the enumeration of his traits and as the questioning continues, it becomes obvious that the poet would not aspire to such a kind of “poetic fame,” and the poem as a whole is a negative definition of what a “real,” rather than a “famous poet” is not like. Nevertheless, the famous poet is not entirely devoid of presence, although going back to prehistoric times.

He is “a Stegosaurus, a lumbering obsolete/ Arsenal of gigantic horn and plate/ From a time when half the world still burned, set/ To blink behind bars at the zoo”[23]. Unlike the Jaguar, who roams free in the world of the imagination, defying the bars of the zoo cage, the “famous poet” is meant to blink behind the bars of the conventional poetry zoo, one may safely say. Hughes is obviously following in the footsteps of the Jaguar.

In “Hawk Roosting,” the voice and the eye, as well as the “I” are all the hawk’s, unlike the formula displayed in “Hawk in the Rain,” in Hughes’s first volume. In this second volume, Lupercal, such presences as the hawk and the pike appear to gain particular prominence. In what ways can such poems and such animal presences relate to the pagan rituals of the Romans?

What is for certain is that here, even more than in the previous volume, attempts to create a heathen, anti-pathos voice, imitating even more than previously the cruelty of a universe driven by violence, even when its forces appear to be at rest, such as the hawk.

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The hawk is here said to be roosting.

Thus, voice, clawed feet and eyes belong to the hawk as Hawk in subject position, not an object to be admired from below. He is not flying, but resting, roosting “in the top of the wood.” The same idea of tellurian bonds which in the previous Hawk poem was linked to the plowman’s feet sucked by the greedy Earth is here expressed by the bird’s feet “locked upon the hard bark,” not on the ground below, but at the top of high trees overlooking the ground. Both foot and wing are central and fundamental: “It took the whole of Creation/ To produce my foot, my each feather.” Now the claws, signifying brutal power and violence, rather than the wings, showing freedom, are highlighted: “Now I hold Creation in my foot.” If Creation is held in Hawk’s claws, what is more, if what he claims is true - “I kill where I please because it is all mine” [24] - then Darwin’s view looks like a child’s fantasy by comparison.

Is here the image of the “Fascist” that the speaker in Sylvia’s “Daddy” claims every woman adores? Adina Ciugureanu does not go as far as to identify the voice of this apparently resting Hawk with that of the poet’s: “The bird seems to be the embodiment of a cruel, vengeful god who can be either the sun-God of the Egyptian mythology or the domineering, despotic God of the Old Testament”[25]. “Hawk Roosting” may be seen as one of the extremes of the range of Hughes’s poetic identity games undertaken in the early creation, a creation “held in Hawk’s claws,” to be compared, by way of contrast with “post-Sylvia Plath” works such as “Crow’s Theology” in the 1970 volume, Crow: The Life and Songs of the Crow. In that poem, Crow, no longer holding creation in his claws, realizes that God loves him. In his theology, there are two Gods, the bigger one claimed to love his enemies, a pathetic, rather than an anti-pathetic view, untypical of early Hughes.

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“An Otter,” instead of its unassuming title, might support Sylvia’s exposure of Ted’s “Fascist streak.” An otter is seen here as an unvanquished predator, both on the ground and underwater, coming from times immemorial. The otter “Brings the legend of himself” “Seeking/ Some world lost when first he dived”[26].

When he was a child, as Sir Jonathan Bate recounts in his Ted Hughes: The Unauthorised Life how Ted discovered Henry Williamson’s book about wildlife, Tarka the Otter [27]. About the same time, Williamson became a fervent supporter of Nazism both in Germany and in Britain.

Williamson admired violent strength in both the natural world and in politics, with Hitler and Oswald Mosley as important figures.

When Williamson fell in disgrace after WW II he retired to North Devon, where Hughes met him and talked to him. Should the book and Williamson’s political ideas have supported the “I kill where I please because it is all mine” attitude displayed by the strong, mythical creatures of Hughes’s early bestiary, from the hawks to the apparently unassuming pike, killers from the egg?

If one considers “Lupercalia,” the poem linked to the title of the second volume, and which assumes final position in it, one might pursue such a “Daddy-ish” interpretation of the identity that Hughes is trying to construct in the early years of his poetic career. The name, reminiscent of the Latin Lupercals, also comes from lupus, the wolf being one of the creatures associated with wildlife, with wild nature, while the dog, his brother, stands for the connection with the “civilized” world of the humans. The wolf is wild, the dog, man’s faithful and man’s best friend, is tame. The poem, though, begins with a disparaging view of the dog, living a subservient life, depending on scraps from his master: “The dog loved its churlish life,/ Scraps, thefts./ Its declined blood/ An anarchy of mindless pride”[28]. Its “declined

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blood” might make one think of the Nazi “untermensch” as under-wolf. Several such pieces of evidence from the unfortunately titled Lupercal and “Lupercalia” might support such a terrible interpretation. Since it is selective, and confined to one particular volume, it might unjustly shed a negative light on the whole of Hughes’s work, before and after 1962-63, when the Hughes – Plath special relationship ends. Whether it is by mere chance that Hughes’s view will become less harsh after those years is a matter worth investigation in more than a limited text such as this one, based as it was on the deliberate and subjective selection involved in poetic identity games.

References [1] Terry Gifford, “Introduction.” Ted Hughes: From Cambridge to Collected (Ed. Mark Wormald et al. London: Palgrave Macmillan) 2013: 1.

[2] Dianne Wood Middlebrook, “In Search of the Autobiography of Ted Hughes.” Ted Hughes: Alternative Horizons (Ed. Joanny Moulin.

London and New York: Routledge) 2005: 93.

[3] Jonathan Bate, Ted Hughes: The Unauthorised Life (London: William Collins) 2015: 23.

[4] Ibidem.

[5] Simon Armitage, “The Ascent of Ted Hughes: Conquering the Calder Valley.” Ted Hughes: From Cambridge to Collected (Ed. Mark Wormald et al. London: Palgrave Macmillan) 2013: 6.

[6] Ted Hughes, The Hawk in the Rain (London: Faber and Faber) 1957:43.

[7] David Trotter, The Making of the Reader: Language and Subjectivity in Modern American, English and Irish Poetry (London and Basingstoke: Macmillan) 1984: 196 – 230.

[8] Hughes. Selected Poems 1957 – 1981 (London: Faber and Faber) 1982: 101.

[9] Adina Ciugureanu, “Ted Hughes as Animal Poet.” Multiple Perspectives: Essays on Contemporary British Literature. Adina Ciugureanu and Eduard Vlad (Constanta: Ex

Ponto) 1998: 179-194.

[10] Hughes 1957:1.

[11] David Whitley, “‘The Fox is a jolly farmer and we farm the same land’: Ted Hughes and Farming.” Ted Hughes: From Cambridge to Collected (Ed. Mark Wormald et al. London: Palgrave Macmillan) 2013:96.

[12] Rand Brandes, “Hughes, History and the World in Which We Live.” The Challenge of Ted Hughes (Ed. Keith Sagar. London: St. Martin’s Press) 1994:142.

[13] Hughes 1957: 1.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Hughes 1982: 13.

[16] Ibid.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Keith Sagar, The Laughter of Foxes: A Study of Ted Hughes (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press) 2006:45 – 46.

[20] Ibidem, 46.

[21] Hughes 1982: 15.

[22] Hughes 1982: 16.

[23] Ibidem, 17.

[24] Hughes 1982: 43.

[25] Ciugureanu 186.

[26] Hughes 1982: 54.

[27] in Chapter 3, Tarka, Rain Horse, Pike: 47 – 60.

[28] Hughes 1982: 55.

BIBLIOGRAPHY [1]

[2] [3]

[4]

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Armitage, Simon. “The Ascent of Ted Hughes: Conquering the Calder Valley.” Ted Hughes: From Cambridge to Collected. Ed. Mark Wormald et al. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013: 6 – 16; Bate, Jonathan. Ted Hughes: The Unauthorised Life. London: William Collins, 2015; Brandes, Rand. “Hughes, History and the World in Which We Live.” The Challenge of Ted Hughes. Ed. Keith Sagar. London: St. Martin’s Press, 1994: 142 – 159; Ciugureanu, Adina. “Ted Hughes as Animal Poet.” Multiple Perspectives: Essays on

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Contemporary British Literature. Adina Ciugureanu and Eduard Vlad. Constanta: Ex Ponto, 1998: 179 – 194; [5] Gifford, Terry. “Introduction.” Ted Hughes: From Cambridge to Collected. Ed. Mark Wormald et al. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013: 1 – 5; [6] Hughes, Ted. The Hawk in the Rain. London: Faber and Faber, 1957; [7] Hughes, Ted. Selected Poems 1957 – 1981.

London: Faber and Faber, 1982; [8] Middlebrook, Dianne Wood. “In Search of the Autobiography of Ted Hughes.” Ted Hughes: Alternative Horizons. Ed. Joanny Moulin.

London and New York: Routledge, 2005: 93 – 100; [9] Sagar, Keith. The Laughter of Foxes: A Study of Ted Hughes. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2006; [10] Trotter, David. The Making of the Reader: Language and Subjectivity in Modern American, English and Irish Poetry. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1984; [11] Whitley, David. “‘The Fox is a jolly farmer and we farm the same land’: Ted Hughes and Farming.” Ted Hughes: From Cambridge to Collected. Ed. Mark Wormald et al. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013: 96 – 111.

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This paper was presented in the

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The Virtual International Conference on Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Religion about Issues Modern Man faces, (DIALOGO-CONF 2020 VICSSR)

held online, on the Journal’s website, from MAY 19 - 26, 2020

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The Value of the Soul in the Religious Views An Overview targeting the Salvation of an Individual Rev. Cosmin-Tudor CIOCAN, PhD The Faculty of Theology, Ovidius University of Constanta Romania

article info

abstract

Article history: Received 28 February 2020 Received in revised form 16 April Accepted 01 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.21

The Soul is considered, both for religions and philosophy, to be the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being, conferring individuality and humanity, often considered to be synonymous with the mind or the self. For most theologies, the Soul is further defined as that part of the individual, which partakes of divinity and transcends the body in different explanations. But, regardless of the philosophical background in which a specific theology gives the transcendence of the soul as the source of its everlasting essence – often considered to survive the death of the body –, it is always appraised as a higher existence for which all should fight for. In this regard, all religious beliefs assert that there are many unseen battles aiming to take hold of the human soul, either between divinity and evil, or between worlds, or even between the body and the soul itself. These unseen battles over the human soul raging in the whole world made it the central item of the entire universe, both for the visible and the unseen worlds, an item of which whoever takes possession will also become the ruler of the universe. Through this philosophy, the value of the soul became abysmal, incommensurable, and without resemblance. The point for making such a broad overview of the soul in religious beliefs is the question of whether we can build an interfaith discourse based on the religions’ most debated and valuable issue, soul?

Regardless of the variety of religious beliefs on what seems to be the soul, there is always a residual consideration in them that makes the soul more important than the body. This universal impression is due to another belief or instead need of believing that above and beyond this seen, palpable, finite life and the world should exist another one, infinite, transcendent, and available all the same after here. This variety stretches from the minimum impact that soul has on the body, as being the superior essence that inhabitants and enlivens the matter (as in the early Hebrew religious view, in particular of Sadducees’ view), to the highest impact in which soul has nothing to do with matter[1] and is only ephemeral linked to it, but its existence is not at all limited, defined or depended on the matter (as in the Buddhism)[2], or even placed to the extreme, as the very life of the matter thus this seen universe is merely a thought in the soul/mind (as in the belief of Solipsism, Nihilism or Brahmanism)[3]. In this extensive variety of soul overviews, the emphasis of the soul’s importance gives an inverse significance to the body/matter, from being everything that matters to a thin, dwindle item that has no existence at all outside consciousness.

Keywords: self-awareness; consciousness; salvation; Neoplatonism; metaphysics; transcendence; matter;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

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eISSN: 2393-1744, cdISSN: 2392-9928 printISSN: 2457-9297, ISSN-L 2392-9928

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I. Introduction

The soul is considered, both for religious and philosophical backgrounds, to be the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being with the extent to other living creatures, conferring individuality and humanity, often considered to be synonymous with the mind or the self. For most theologies, the soul is further defined as that part of the individual, which partakes of divinity and transcends the body in different explanations. Regardless of the religious belief, we are talking about, the soul and its awareness, have always been the central key-concepts of religious overviews, primarily on salvation. It is indeed a universal understanding and acceptance throughout human history and civilizations to meet such a variety of beliefs in the existence of the soul, regardless of the forms these beliefs took place.

Starting from the empirical observation that there are things devoid of life, static and inert, while others are ‘alive’, dynamic, animated, man came first to the logical conclusion that there should be ‘something’ animating them, something amorphous, unseen, but nonetheless real, that animates the seen things. The most common allegory that explains the existence of the soul in things is that of a glove moved by the unseen, beneath it hand; similar to that the soul inhabits matter and ‘moves’ it from inside it. Sometimes envision as having the same material existence as the body or at least some palpable fabric, named ‘celestial,’ that can be ‘seen,’ feel, measured, and thus, to some extent, material. For example, the aura Buddhist faiths speak of can be ‘seen’ with the third eye or felt like an energetic field around. Some other times, the soul is without resemblance to the ‘seen world,’ incorporeal existence, having no resemblance with anything known. The only common issue that relates to all the religious visions on the soul is the

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main action of religiousness that aims to value soul, soteriology. This creates a link between human existence, its soul, and the purpose of religiousness, regardless of the color of the religion we are talking about.

“All known world religions address the nature of good and evil and commend ways of achieving human well-being, whether this is thought of in terms of salvation, liberation, deliverance, enlightenment, tranquillity or an egoless state of Nirvana.”[1] II. Soul, the breathe and mind, for the

ancient philosophy

The soul or psychic (ancient Greek: ψυχή psykhḗ, from ψύχειν psýkhein, ‘to breathe’) encompasses the mental abilities of a living being: reason, character, feeling, consciousness, memory, perception, thinking, etc. Depending on the philosophical system, a soul can be mortal or immortal.[2] In this basic understanding of the soul, it only fills in some explanations on the difference between the non-speaking beings or the inanimate, inert, dead corps, and those that are alive, rational, projecting the future. Envisioned as a ‫( נפש‬Hebrew nephesh), meaning “life, vital breath,” and specifically refers to a mortal, physical life, as something that inhabits σῶμα (soma, “body”), and lasts only until the death, which is the separation/splitting of them.

Starting with Homer, who assumed that souls do little more than leaving the body at death, remaining in the underworld as a shadow of the deceased, ancient philosophy elevated to Soul to more than Breath. After Homer, the term experienced an expansion in its connotation. The subsequent thinkers used the term to designate the faculty of making known one’s emotions, thought, reasoning and his virtues. Pythagoras conceived Soul as an entity which partakes of divinity, existing before and after the physical body[3]. In Plato, it becomes a link

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between matter and the immaterial forms.

“The allegory of the cave in the Republic suggests that Plato had a perceptual model of knowledge.”[4] Nothing like the material body that encumbers the soul, the latter has an eternal existence before this life imprisoned in a body, and long after its death, that is seen as the soul’s Redemption.

The only connection with this existence is that the soul is the principle of life and thus needed for the body. In contrast, the salvation of the soul [from the body imprisonment] resides in reasoning and coming to awareness, to the knowledge of the Forms. This became the beginning of the metaphysics of the soul. “The body, like the many sensible objects, is visible to the senses, ever-changing, many-faceted and perishable, while the soul is ‘very like’ Forms, which are invisible, perceived by the intellect, not the senses, unchanging, simple and imperishable. Note especially that a soul, like a Form, is said to be simple that is uncompounded, lacking parts.”[5] Still, the Republic introduces a more nuanced and more psychologically convincing picture, the famous account of the tripartite (or three-part) soul: each of us has a three-part soul, with a reasoning element, a spirited element (thumos) and a third which is the seat of the bodily desires (appetite). This makes a great deal in all future religious and philosophical interpretations on soul hosting opposable desires and thoughts at the same time, elevated or inferior, but not altogether inside the same compartment.

In this direction, it is also important to fit Socrates’ arguments for the immortality of the soul. Socrates says not only that the soul is immortal, but also that it contemplates truths after its separation from the body at the time of death. “Socrates launches his most elaborate and final argument for the immortality of the soul, which concludes that since life belongs essentially to the soul, the soul must be deathless — that is, immortal.”[6] Remarkable in his case

for the future Christian philosophy on the soul is the assertion that it is the soul that animates the body of a living thing[7]. “Now, as we have seen in some detail, the Greek notion of soul included the idea of a soul as an animating body probably as early as the sixth century, when Thales attributed soul to magnets.”[8] Also, through the idea of transmigration, Socrates’ argumentation is equally close to the Buddhist philosophy on souls. “According to the cyclical argument (70c-72d), being alive in general is preceded by, just as it precedes, being dead. Socrates takes this to show that a creature’s death involves the continued existence of the soul in question, which persists through a period of separation from the body, and then returns to animate another body in a change which is the counterpart of the previous change, dying.”[9] Aristotle was hostile to the independence of forms, and since he considered the soul as the form of the living thing, he thought of immortality in other circumstances, but not to the soul alone. From a contemporary perspective, Aristotle’s psychology (theory of the soul) contains far more promising insights. He kept the idea that souls are the source of living for all creatures, but it is only the compound of form and matter that is truly alive, not the parts, whether it is the Form (actuality) or Matter (potentiality).

Aristotle distinguishes between two levels of actuality (entelechies). [a] First potentiality: a child who does not speak French. [b] Second potentiality (first actuality): a (silent) adult who speaks French. [c] Second actuality: an adult speaking (or actively understanding) French.

Thus, the soul is the first actuality of a natural body that has life potentially[10]. A living thing’s soul is its capacity to engage in the activities that are characteristic of living things of its natural kind. Given that, it is clear that the soul is, according to Aristotle,

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not itself a body or a corporeal thing. It is remarkable for Plato and moreover Aristotle that they elevate the explanation of the soul from that of materialist predecessors who had sought to explain all psychic functions in terms of the material constituents of living things. Of course, in this highly elevated and well-structured philosophic system, the soul should have different degrees of existence, Aristotle cataloged kinds of soul corresponding to kinds of life such as vegetative, animal and rational, and granted immortality to the rational alone. [a] Nutritive soul (plants) [b] Sensitive soul (all animals) [c] Rational soul (human beings) So on Aristotle’s account, although the soul is not a material object, it is not separable from the body. The soul is not an independently existing substance. It is linked to the body more directly: it is the form of the body, not a separate substance inside another substance (a body) of a different kind. It is a capacity, not the thing that has the capacity.[11] Also, for a better understanding that Aristotle could not rise up radically [and with a very good outcome, I might add] from the predecessor materialists is the explanation on soul’s activities as Plato did. “He insists that psychic phenomena such as perception, emotions (for example, anger), memory and thinking cannot occur except in an embodied organism (though he occasionally qualifies this concerning one kind of faculty – labeled active intellect – which is capable of independent, that is non-embodied, existence).”[12] The outcome is very tight to the future Christian Middle Ages’ consideration on the structure of a human being. It is not the soul, but the organism itself, which is the subject of mental phenomena; in other words, “not that the soul is feeling pity, or thinking, or learning, but that the human being is doing so in virtue of the soul”[13]. Still, considering the soul as the form of the body

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is very different from thinking of it as the arrangement of the material parts. “As we saw above, the form in the case of a living thing is the principle of the organization of that thing, its disposition to behave in all the ways characteristic of that kind of thing.”[14] Consequently to Aristotle’s middle path between dualism and materialism, the salvation cannot be attained by the soul, since it is not existent per se, but only in the compound between soul and body, namely the individual Self: “it is also clear that the soul is the primary substance, the body is the matter, and man or animal is composed of the two as universal.”[15] The “substance is some sort of principle and cause …”[16], but to be a substance is not to be an ultimate subject. This was the key-concept for the final Christian dogma on Redemption and the distinction between the two stages of the divine Judgment.

In opposition to these phenomenological and psychological theories is that of Stoics argument for the claim that the soul is a body. The best one of these is that the soul is a body because (roughly) only bodies affect one another, and soul and body do affect one another, for instance, in cases of bodily damage and emotion. Stoic physics allows for three different kinds of pnevma (lit. ‘breath’), a breath-like material compound of two of the four Stoic elements, fire and air. They assert the existence of three kinds of pnevma, and man possesses all three of them. “The lowest kind accounts for the cohesion and character of inanimate bodies (e.g., rocks); the intermediate kind, called natural pnevma, accounts for the vital functions characteristic of plant life; and the third kind is soul, which accounts for the reception and use of impressions (or representations) (phantasies) and impulse (hormê: that which generates animal movement) or, to use alternative terminology, cognition and desire”[17].

Epicurus, as atomist, takes the soul, like

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everything else that exists except for the void, to be ultimately composed of atoms of a nameless kind of substance. He thinks that the soul is dispersed at death along with its constituent atoms, losing the powers that it has while it is contained by the body of the organism that it ensouls.

Despite this material conception of the soul, in the Epicurean tradition, the word ‘soul’ is sometimes used in the broad traditional way, as what animates living things, being composite of two parts, one rational, the other nonrational. The rational part, which Lucretius calls mind [animus], is the origin of emotion and impulse, while the nonrational part of the soul, which in Lucretius is somewhat confusingly called soul [anima], is responsible for receiving sense-impressions, all of which are true according to Epicurus.

[18]

If one refers to what the term Soul designated in the early Greek philosophy, he will discover that the term was used primarily to distinguish the living man from the corpse. The term was then used to imply moral quality and intense emotions, which is still retained by Soul after the destruction of the physical body. Later Christian writers built their ideas on these Greek philosophers, especially that of Plato’s, which persist all the way to modern thinkers.[ 19] III. Soul and Nirvana in Buddhism

For some, this disunion resides in the death of both parts, one decomposing into the ground, while the other vanishing into the ether. For others, as in Buddhism, the term anattā[20] (Pali) or anātman (Sanskrit) refers to the doctrine of “non-self,” that there is no unchanging, permanent self, soul or essence in phenomena. In Buddhism anattā (Pali: “non-self” or “substanceless”) is not permanent for it is formed of the 5 factors or aggregates (khandas; skandhas: form and matter, sensations, ideas, emotions, and consciousness) that make up the individual

and that are in a constant changing, and also of the three characteristics of all existence (ti-lakkhana). The absence of a self anattā, anicca (the impermanence of all being), and dukkha (“suffering”) resides in the termination of life.[21] Self must stay the ‘same’ in order to remain a true self. An ego ‘I-dentity’ can only be truly so if it remains identical and the same over time, but nothing here or there ever stays the same; all is transient and impermanent! Due to this phenomenological understanding of the soul, its salvation should be very intimate related to preserving life. “Thus, by not taking sides with the metaphysicians, the Buddha described how the consciousness “I am” comes to constitute itself in the stream of consciousness out of the five aggregates of form, feeling, conception, disposition, and consciousness.”[22] Alternative use of Attan or Atta is “self, oneself, essence of a person”, driven by the Vedic era Brahmanical belief that the soul is the permanent, unchangeable essence of a living being or the true self.[23] The contextual use of Attā in Nikāyas[24] is twosided. In one, it directly denies that there is anything called a self or soul in a human being that is a permanent essence of a human being, a theme found in Brahmanical (proto-Hindu) traditions. In another, states Peter Harvey, such as at Samyutta Nikaya IV.286, the Sutta considers the materialistic concept in pre-Buddhist Vedic times of “no afterlife, complete annihilation” at death to be a denial of Self, but still “tied up with belief in a Self”[25]. The elaboration of the anatta doctrine, along with identification of the words such as “puggala” as “permanent subject or soul,” appears in later Buddhist literature.

Because of his Indian background, Siddhartha did not believe that death was a final release from suffering. As opposed to ‘no-self’, according to the laws of karma the power of individual that grants life

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should not be wasted, and thus it may enter another body after death, inheriting the previous state of existence, good or bad, and elevate or punished to a lower one. In Siddhartha Gautama’s teaching, samsara is the belief that after death, a person’s innermost essence, or soul, transmigrates into a new body—it is born again.[26] This is the law of karma, that every action and deed has an effect in this life and the next next, leading the process of samsara or reincarnation to a better or worst rebirth.

The theory of transmigration is elevated to a more radical understanding by Mahāvīra, a contemporary of the Buddha that founded Jainism, claiming that while inflicting pain to other creatures, your own soul is harmed, transmitting the state further on.[27] For that matter, salvation is bound to cleansing, for Jainism by practicing Selfmortification during fasting, a practice rejected by Buddha that felt the need to change the theory of saving the soul twice, after practicing self-mortification to a state of physical exhaustion. First, he considered useless the condition of samsara to be understood as an endless chain of existence, so that he “developed the idea of moksha or release. By leading a highly spiritual life (or several lives), a soul could be reunited with Brahman, the Ultimate Reality. The cycle of samsara would be broken.”[28] Then, after a period of six years of self-denial and penances, meditating constantly, he fasted to the extreme, considering that this path would lead to moksha[29]. Siddhartha realized that the path to wisdom did not lie in extremes. That was the moment he became enlightened under the Bodhi tree (tree of enlightenment) attaining nirvana and becoming Buddha (the “enlightened one”), a higher purpose for life than moksha, the end of suffering. “Having discovered the way to end his own suffering, he turned back, determined to share his enlightenment with others so that all living souls could end the cycles of their own rebirth and suffering.”[30] Session 4. Miscellaneous

Thus, the salvation of the soul, atman, is to end the suffering that is caused by desires.

Therefore, suffering can be overcome by ceasing to desire. The way to end desire is to follow the Eightfold Path and risen to a higher state of holiness. For the nirvana to be achieved, one would have to follow the Buddha’s Eightfold Path, losing their false idea of self and achieve nirvana by influencing the skandhas to a higher state of awareness. In this state of nirvana, a person would no longer accumulate bad karma, even if his life continued.

IV. The Concept of Al-Ruh (Soul) in

Islam

In Islam, especially Sufism, rūh (Arabic: ‫ ;حور‬plural arwah) is a person’s immortal, essential self — pneuma, i.e. the “spirit” or “soul.” Accepting the Books of creation from the Iudaic Bible, Islam implies that after the creation of the human from dust, God breathed his spirit into him and raised him above all other creatures (Q. 15:26–50).

By breathing his spirit into the human, God provided him with God-like faculties and knowledge of creation that non-humans did not possess. If the human utilizes these faculties judiciously, then he can serve as God’s vicegerent (administrative deputy) on Earth (Q. 2:30; 17:70), and this is also a matter of choice by the free-will man also received with his soul.

The major difference between the Islamic tradition and other religious views is that of the al-Wafat, death. In Islam, al-Ruh primarily implies the animated breath of life blown into a living, which departs his physical body at the point of death.[31] Abdullah b. Abbas stated that Allah takes Souls of his slaves in two occasions: The first being the time they are asleep (al-Wafat al-Sugra - the lesser death) and then the actual death (al-Wafat al-Kubra), ceasing that Soul for which He ordained death and sending the rest without

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any mistake.[32] Other scholars have asserted that there should be made a differentiation between al-Ruh (Soul) and al-Nafs (Self, from the Semitic nefesh). Ibn Mandhur states for them to be the same, except that the former is masculine while the former is feminine. The concept of lesser death is interesting for many scholars because the sleep is regarded as the tool of Allah with which He grants knowledge, called a ‘truthful dream’[33]. Nevertheless, that is valid only for “the sleeper (who) is truthful, generous, and pure”; in regard to the sinful and a liar one, his soul that also move freely about the world and gather knowledge about the Unseen, meets Shaytan in midair at his returning into the body and mixes the true with false, making the person that awakes a confused one. Muqatil b. Sulayman explains that when one sleeps, Allah takes his Nafs and not his Ruh with which he still breathes[34]. The correct opinion concerning this matter[35] as affirmed by Scholars such as al-Qurtubi (1967), Ibn Taymiyyah (1988), and his student Ibn Qayyim (2004) is that the difference between the two is that of attributes rather than the substance. Thus, Nafs is that aspect of a man filled with vain desires, while Ruh is closer to the mind, the aware and rational Soul. Allah, the Exalted in the Quran, used the term Nafs to imply the departing Soul, as in verse below: “---And If you could but see when Zalimun (wrong-doers) are in the agonies of death while the Angels are stretching forth their hands (saying): “Deliver your Nafs (soul)! This day you shall be recompensed with the torment of degradation because of what you used to utter against other than the truth. And you used His Ayat (proofs and lessons) with disrespect” (6: 93) There are other differences between the Islamic explanation from that of the religions that preceded Islam, both Christian and Jewish traditions. For example, there is no original sin in Islam[36]. Adam and

Eve alone disobeyed God, and that act of disobedience was their own sin; therefore, they alone were responsible for their actions.

Therefore we do not have the controversial inquiry of how the original sin is transmitted to the subsequent generations. At the same time, another difference in the Quranic account of the creation is that Eve—and women in general—are not blamed for the fall. In the Quran, Adam and Eve are both blamed for their disobedience. Subsequent generations of women do not face shame, disgrace, and hardship because of Eve’s temptations. The pains of childbearing and monthly menstruation are not women’s punishment for the fall (as described in Genesis 3:16–18). They are simply facts of life, the condition of humanity.[37] On the other hand, there are multiple other uses for al-Ruh in the Quran and Sunnah. For example, it is used to embody the breath of the Book itself that breathes upon the believers the conviction and guidance to earn the Grace and Mercy of their Lord.

“And thus we have sent to you (O Muhammad) Ruh (a revelation) of Our command. You knew not what is the Book, nor what is faith? But we made it (this Ruh (Quran)) a light wherewith. We guide whosoever of Our slaves we will. And verily, you (O Muhammad) are indeed guiding (mankind) to a straight path” (42: 52) Also used to appoint an angel (26:193; 78:38 et al.), or to imply Allah’s support, assistance, and strengthening of believers (58: 22). A special significance for al-RUH is that of which the Lord bestowed Maryam with: “We breathed into her Our Ruh [‫ َانِح ُوّر‬, rūḥinā plural]” (66:12; 21:91) As a result of this, Maryam believed in the Words of Allah (Bible, Luke 1:38), became obedient (66:12) and gave birth to the Messiah Isa and made him a “Messenger of Allah and His Words” (4: 171, ‫)هللا لوسر‬.

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It is important to see of all these examples that al-Ruh is mostly assimilated with connotations that imply the process of inhaling and exhaling, Allah breathed Their Ruh, during the sleep, last breath designated for the departing of Soul, etc, and all these associations are due to the act of creation of Adam, “When I have shaped him and breathed from My Spirit into him, bow down before him” (38:72) Another aspect that worth emphasizes here is the idea of Soul preexistence that is a ‘classical’ one according to many scholars who interpret the Hadith[38]. Dr. Shabir Ally says that “The soul pre-existed and God gathered all of the souls in the land of the souls. And then, eventually, put them in human bodies, as we have now.” The explanation goes further than the Hadith, even via some texts of the Quran that imply somehow the preexistence of souls.

“When your Lord brought forth descendants from the loins of Adam’s children and made them testify concerning themselves (saying) AM I NOT YOUR LORD? They replied: we bear witness that you are.... (this he did so) so that you should not say on the Day of Judgment that we had no knowledge of this.” (7:172) The idea that the Lord made a pact with them before their birth cannot be but a positive argument of this idea that we had an existence and conscious life before our birth[39]. For others[40], ‘preexistence is a fabrication introduced by heretics and the people of innovations, borrowing the ideas foreign to Islam.’ The preexistence of souls is very important because it links tightly with eternity, judgment and afterlife concepts, which are indisputable if preexistence is accepted in the first place. Either way, concerning our secondary aspect of topic, salvation, it is important to mention that, in this regard, the Judgment of man has thus subject nor only the soul nor the body, but

Session 4. Miscellaneous

both together, as human stands only for the union of them. “Finally, several verses and prophetic traditions confirmed that both Soul and the physical body are subjected to either bliss or punishment depending on the degree to which one attains spiritual virtue or condemns himself, and that only applies to the enslaved thing.”[41] It would be interesting to discuss on this topic either al-Ruh can be a thing, or a person, or just a quality/attribute, since it can assume awareness beyond its body, both in sleep or in actual death.

People turn to religion or, better, to their own particular faith, for the experience of healing and to inspire acts of peacemaking.

That is why for the prophet Muhammad the salvation of soul lies in its cleansing, the most significant battle or jihad “We are returning from the lesser jihad [physical fighting] to the greater jihad [jihad alnafs].”

For this inner jihad, Muslims have to exercise the Five Pillars of Islam.

V. Soul and Redemption – as conceived

in the common knowledge of Judaism and Christianity

The concept of the soul in Christian literature and tradition has a complex history and it is both linked to the Judaic tradition, as well as of the ancient philosophy, moreover its reception by Arab and Christian philosophers. According to a common understanding in Judaism and Christianity, the Semitic thought nefesh is used to designate the spirit or principle of life that in such thought, is seen in the breath, which stands in contrast to the flesh. Under these two influences, Christianity had to answer to three different views on the origin of the human soul. “One, the preexistence view, has subsequently been declared heretical since it contradicts the clear teaching of Scripture about the creation of human beings. This view has two forms: platonic (uncreated)

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and Christian (created). The former serves as a backdrop for understanding the latter”[42].

According to Plato, souls were eternal in the eternal World of Forms (Ideas). In contrast, the Christian reception of this idea, while preserving the ultimate attribute of God, declared that souls were indeed before the creation of the bodies, but eternally created

by God. This view, held by Origen (c. 185254) and Augustine (354-430 AD), was firmly rejected as a heretic for the Bible declares that human being as a whole was created at the same time and have a beginning (Genesis 1:27).

The second view is a creation with two main branches, creationism and traducianism, both valuable in explaining certain aspects of the Soul origin as well as other related issues. “The essence of creationism, concerning the human soul, is that God directly creates a new individual soul for everyone born into this world. While his parents generate the body of each new human being through a natural process, the soul is supernaturally created by God”[43]. In this view many variables hold on to different moments of ‘implanting’ the soul into the new generated body, from the moment of birth till the moment of procreation, with different variables in between (two weeks, 40 days, after conception, etc.), all in regard to the ethical question, when can we speak of an individual human being and declare him with full rights accordingly?

The last view, traducianism, comes from the Latin tradux, meaning “branch of a vine.”

As applied to the origin of the soul, it means that each new human being is a branch off of his or her parents; that is to say, in the traducian model both soul and body are generated by father and mother.”[44] This rather unaccepted version explains further some gaps creationism has in regard with the creation period (God has completed His creation in six days, and He rested and has stopped creating ever since, Genesys 2:2;

Hebrew 4:4), the scientific view (that the individual comes from the sperm and ovum of its parents, so it is first conceived in the womb as a fully individual person), and the inheritance of the original sin (certainly a perfect God would not create a fallen soul, nor can we accept the gnostic idea that the contact of a pure soul with the material body equals its fall). Due to these rather partial-explaining theories, they remain only to this level – theories – and never rise upon the others, to the rank of dogma. The main point in this regard it is thus the revelation in the Bible, that when speaking of God who created ‘first’ [in the story] its body “out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7), we do not take these steps as two creation, but as a single act of creation or a simultaneous creation of body and soul[45].

Another issue related to the Biblical conception on the Soul is about its nature.

In the general opinion, Judaism and Christianity share a mutual understanding of the nature of man, which envisions man as a unique and unitary being, uniting body and soul, and not emphasizing just one of these two elements[46]. Still, three different hypotheses try to clarify this ‘unity’ of multiple elements. Of course, the very ‘unity’ of these various [in number] elements is lies under the shadow of unclarity, but let speak about one at the time.

The theories that address the number of the constitutive elements of human nature are trichotomism, dichotomism and monism. Only the second one is accepted as a dogma of Christianity [considering now the traditional confessions, Orthodox and Roman Catholic], the other two being heretics; nonetheless, there are variables in dichotomism that follow ideas of the other two. In short, trichotomism, lying on the philosophy of Plato and Plotin, asserts that the constitutive elements of a human are

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three, the material body and the immaterial principle made out of two elements, the living soul and the rational spirit[47]. In this conception, the soul is the power of the organic life, shared by all living beings, plants, animals, humans, while the spirit is only the concern of rational beings, man and angels; the latter has attributes like free will, knowledge, and ideal feelings. This conception, shared by early Apolinarists[48] and later Protestants, lies on some texts from the Bible that effectively speak of them: “May the God of peace himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body” (1 Thessalonians 5: 23) or “the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit” (Hebrews 4: 12).

While the Bible speaks differently of soul (Gr. ψυχή psykhḗ) and other times of spirit / duh (Gr. Πνεύμα pnévma), they are considered mainly as the one and only spiritual element in human nature. The Session 4. Miscellaneous

quality of living holds the only difference, “the man bound to the earthly ones, not ascending to a higher life, remains physically or bodily [thus he has the only soul]; and he who rises to a higher religious-moral life, in the spirit of Christ, is a spiritual or spiritual [in Romanian there are two words for that, spiritual and duhovnicesc] man”[49].

In this dogma, the two mentioned ‘parts’, soul and spirit, are merely attributes and functions of the same spiritual nature, one of the organic life and the other of the superior, spiritual one[50]. Thus we can see that the common understandings between the trichotomism and dichotomism are more than the differences. The monism insists that man should not be considered separately, out of parts or components/ entities, but as a whole Self. That is also true because there are texts in which MAN is not out of his body, or less; in other words, port-mortem we cannot speak of man until his resurrection. This conception raised against the emphasis of the immortality of soul as pronounced in opposition with the ephemerality of the body. They say that only with a body (Gr. σῶμα’, ‘soma’) or perikaryon we can enjoy God’s creation, life, and afterlife, or, moreover, Christ could be crucified for our salvation. Even if the Bible stands less on the Greek σῶμα’ (body) and more on σάρξ (flesh), from the Hebrew rf|b:;Ee \ basar “the life-breath of all mortal flesh” (Job 12:10). John A.T. Robinson says that Hebrews did not ask so many questions in this regard as the Greek philosophy, that is why they held two separate words for the same component[51]. The main motif of this monist distinction lies on the principle of individuality, that the body, unlike the nonindividualized ‘flesh,’ limits and isolates a human being from another[52].

Conclusion In the actual context of religious pluralism, there is a strong need for common

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topics, which should attract the exponents of various religious beliefs in a dialogue on a mutual topic. When I approached the topic of ‘soul,’ but especially while looking for materials to present this interreligious topic, I understood that such a topic is not only common but also very useful in developing an interreligious dialogue. That because, in addition to the reality that the issue of the ‘soul’ is indeed found in all religions and spiritual beliefs and thus it can be a common global theme, also the expositions of all of them can find common elements. It is a joy to be able to present this work in a volume that aims to find the current problems, the belief in the ‘soul’ being perhaps still ‘thorny’ for many religious skeptics and not only.

References Bunnin, The Blackwell companion to philosophy, 468.

“Soul”, in Wikipedia. Retrieved from URL: https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul, accessed February 16, 2020.

[3] “SOUL. Religion and Philosophy”, in Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Retrieved from URL: https://www.britannica.com/topic/ soul-religion-and-philosophy, accessed February 29, 2020.

[4] Jaegwon Kim, A Companion to Metaphysics, 567.

[5] Nicholas Bunnin and E. P. Tsui-James (edit.), The Blackwell companion to philosophy (United Kingdom by T. J. International, Padstow, Cornwall, 2003), 605. ISBN 0–631– 21907–2 [6] Lorenz Hendrik, “Ancient Theories of Soul”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2009 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/ sum2009/entries/ancient-soul/.

[7] Phaedo (105c).

[8] Hendrik, “Ancient Theories of Soul”.

[9] Ibidem.

[10] De Anima, (412a27).

[11] S. Marc Cohen, “Aristotle on the Soul”, 2016. Retrieved from URL: https://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/psyche. htm, accessed February 17, 2020.

[12] Bunnin, The Blackwell companion to philosophy, 610.

[13] De Anima 1.4.

[14] Bunnin, The Blackwell companion to philosophy, 610.

[15] Metaphysics, Z.11, 1037a6.

[1] [2]

Metaphysics, Z.17, 1041a9.

Hendrik, “Ancient Theories of Soul”.

[18] Hendrik, “Ancient Theories of Soul”.

[19] Dr. Yusuf Dalhat, “THE CONCEPT OF al-RUH (SOUL) IN ISLAM”.

In International Journal of Education and Research, Vol. 3 No. 8 August 2015, 433.

[20] Anattā is a composite Pali word consisting of an (not, without) and attā (soul). The term refers to the central Buddhist doctrine that “there is in humans no permanent, underlying substance that can be called the soul.” [Anatta Buddhism Archived 2015-12-10 at the Wayback Machine, Encyclopædia Britannica (2013)] [21] “Anatta”, in Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved from URL: https://www.britannica.com/topic/anatta, accessed February 16, 2020.

[22] Jitendra N. Mohanty, and Michael Wharton, Indian philosophy (Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 2019). Retrieved from URL: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Indianphilosophy, accessed February 16, 2020.

[23] 23 [] Johannes Bronkhorst, Buddhist Teaching in India (Simon and Schuster, 2009), 124–125 with footnotes. ISBN 978-0-86171-566-4.

[24] The five nikayas [Discourses, Sayings], or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the “three baskets” that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism.

[25] Peter Harvey, The Selfless Mind: Personality, Consciousness and Nirvana in Early Buddhism (Routledge, 2013), 39–40.

ISBN 978-1-136-78336-4.

[26] Madhu Bazaz Wangu, Buddhism, Fourth Edition (Infobase Publishing, 2009), 25. ISBN 978-1-60413-105-5 [27] Michael Carrithers, The Buddha (Bucuresti: HUMANITAS, 1996), 46. ISBN 973-28·-0930-2 [28] Wangu, Buddhism, 24.

[29] This is a Hindu belief in which the soul units with Brahman, the universal Self or the World Soul, an existence that Buddha refused to accept as real.

[30] Wangu, Buddhism, 27.

[31] Dr. Yusuf Dalhat, “The Concept of al-RUH in Islam”, 433.

[32] Ibn Kathir, Ismail bin Umar al-Damashqi (1999). Tafsir alQuran al-Azeem. 20 vols, Beirut: Dar al-Fikr apud Dr. Yusuf Dalhat, “The Concept of al-RUH in Islam”, 433.

[33] An abridgment of Ibn al-Qayyim…, 12.

[34] An abridgment of Ibn al-Qayyim’s Kitabara-Ruh, Kallamullah. com, 11-12.

[35] Dr. Yusuf Dalhat, “The Concept of al-RUH in Islam”, 435.

[36] Masoud Kheirabadi, ISLAM (USA: Chelsea House Publishers, [16] [17]

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2004), 43. ISBN 0-7910-7859-0 Ibidem, 49.

[38] Q&A: Do Our Souls Exist Before Our Bodies? | Dr. Shabir Ally. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H6GBssaNiw, accessed 5.3.2020.

[39] Sayyid Qasim Mujtaba Moosavi Kamoonpuri, Basic Beliefs of Islam (Createspace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017), ch. 18: “First Phase of Our Existence -life Before Birth”.

ISBN13 9781546790686.

[40] Dr. Yusuf Dalhat, “The Concept of al-RUH in Islam”, 437.

[41] Ibidem.

[42] Norman Geisler, Systematic Theology in one Volume (), 711.

[43] Ibidem, 712.

[44] Ibidem, 715.

[45] N. Chitescu, Isidor Todoran and I. Petreuta, Teologia Dogmatica si Simbolica. Manual pentru Institutele Teologice.

Vol. I (Dogmatic and Symbolic Theology. Handbook for Theological Institutes. Vol. I) (Bucharest: EIBMO, 1958), 506.

[46] Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology (Oradea: Cartea Crestina, 2004), 444.

[47] Isidor Todoran and Ioan Zagrean, Teologia Dogmatica. Manual pentru Seminariile Teologice (Dogmatic Theology. Handbook for Theological HighSchools) (Bucharest: EIBMO, 1991), 163.

[48] It should be mentioned that Apolinarists took this teaching for human only to provide explanation in the person of Christ, who according to them, being God and Man at the same time, cannot be fully man if He had His human spirit decaded and fallen united with His divinity. Thus, by using the trichotomist understanding, they assert that the divine Being of Christ took place of the human spirit, while the vegetative soul of His human nature remains intact and was ‘handed over’ (John 19:30) at His death.

[49] Ibidem.

[50] N. Chitescu, Dogmatic and Symbolic Theology, 508.

[51] Apud Erickson, Christian Theology, 459.

[52] John A.T. Robinson, The Body (London: SCM, 1952), 13-16.

[37]

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Biography Tudor Cosmin CIOCAN, born in Constanta/ Romania in 1977, attended several theological and psychological schools (BA, MB, Ph.D.), obtained his Ph.D. in Missiology and Doctrinal Theology in 2010. He was ordained as an orthodox priest in 2002. Highschool teacher from 1998, then Professor assistant and Lecturer from 2012, he has written more than 65 articles on theology and psychology, along with 4 single-author books in the past two decades.

In 2013 he started a multidisciplinary program aiming to engage scholars from different files into friendly and academic debates with theology, and in the same year, a Research Center was founded in Ovidius University with researchers from 11 fields. In less than one year, he managed to gather people from around the globe around this idea, and thus the Dialogo Conferences project has started.

In 2014 he received a Fulbright scholarship, and spent the summer in California along with four other states in the USA, gathering data and understanding how religious pluralism is possible at a high level of involvement; in the meanwhile he made friends from many different countries and religions that are now involved in this project or another, helping in his endeavor. Now he researches and teaches in this direction, towards building bridges between science and theology on the one side, and interfaith dialogue, on the other hand.

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DIALOGO JOURNAL 6 : 2 (2020) 245 - 253

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Criteria for Railway Infrastructure Versatility Corrado Castagnaro

University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” Department of Architecture and Industrial Design Aversa (CE), Italy

Gianluca Manna

University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” Department of Architecture and Industrial Design Aversa (CE), Italy

Ilenia Gioia

Andrea Improta

Enrico Mirra

Adriana Trematerra

University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” Department of Architecture and Industrial Department of Architecture and IndusDesign trial Design Aversa (CE), Italy Aversa (CE), Italy

University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” Department of Architecture and Industrial Department of Architecture and IndusDesign trial Design Aversa (CE), Italy Aversa (CE), Italy

article info

abstract

Article history: Received 19 April 2020 Received in revised form 11 May Accepted 15 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.22

The proposed contribution deals with one of the most delicate and challenging issues that our contemporaneity is called to face and solve. The survey of a building, as a vehicle, for its re-functionalization. These areas represent an essential starting point for reflection, and they look towards opportunities for urban re-interpretation extending to the whole territory. A validity that has not only the mere operation of reuse or recovery based on exclusive economic needs but must also respect the sense and spirit of architecture. This study makes use of consolidated theoretical and methodological references in drawing and representation. These references are inherent in the ability to identify the survey as a cultured instrument of investigation that offers the possibility of confirming how much the discipline of Representation, in all its theoretical and operational components, assumes a role of considerable importance in the understanding of architecture and the city.

Keywords: architecture; drawing; stations; survey;

© 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

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I. Introduction

This contribution is focused on the urban and architectural heritage. In particular, it aims to shed light on how, through the survey, it is possible to activate not only a process of requalification, but also of economic, social and environmental regeneration. The social, economic and technological changes that occurred at the end of the last century have significantly modified the infrastructural system. The opening of new road and rail routes of greater convenience in terms of journey times has often led to the closure of pre-existing railway lines, which have become marginal or technologically obsolete. In addition, the scarcity of users and the tools made available by technological innovation have led in some cases to the closure of stations and toll booths. Due to management costs that are no longer sustainable or necessary.

Thousands of kilometers of disused railways, along which one encounters abandoned and dilapidated stations, are testimony to this process of recession. At the same time, they represent a substantial historical heritage that is all too often underestimated and unused. The network of disused infrastructures constitutes a real resource of the territory for which it is urgent to stop the process of degradation by defining new perspectives of use that represent new opportunities for the citizen. The stations are like threshold or margin places, becoming extraneously concentrated nuclei of passage. Places that, since the end of the nineteenth century, have well expressed the spirit of architectural modernity and urban growth of the great international capitals.

From the 19th century ones such as the Anhalter-Banhof in Berlin, Eliel Saarinen’s Helsinki station, or even the Gare du Nord in Paris, to the great railway stations built in Italy in the last century, which represented 20th century architecture in our most important cities. Like Giovanni Michelucci’s

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S. Maria Novella station in Florence in 1934, or Eugenio Montuori’s Termini station in Rome, up to Naples Central Station, built in the 1960s. The Naples railway, the first in Italy, connected the Neapolitan coast with the town of Portici, was built along the city walls between Porta Nolana and Porta del Carmine, in today’s Corso Garibaldi. On this line, there were also platform cars that could accommodate the carriages of the wealthiest travelers without them having to get off to transship on the train.This contribution, together with the architectural survey, poses an analysis on the meaning of the word railway, which has developed a different value. Today the non-places have become super-places, because they have developed a new and unprecedented centrality, because they are very popular places, where the journey becomes one of the possibilities for stations, but not the only or the main one. The non-places that are transformed into super places are once again becoming spaces for social exchange, but with the prevailing objective of consumption, so that today railway stations and airports, whether new or renovated, are increasingly taking on the character of shopping centers and meeting places. Super places are beginning to become the new expressions or, if you want the symptoms, of a city that tends progressively to decentralize, where the traditional concepts of center and suburbs are evidently transformed, and super places can represent the new centers of a city spread throughout the territory that, precisely for this reason, now requires a renewed and special attention to the principles of architectural, urban and environmental sustainability.

Stations, perhaps more than any other urban place, have always run the risk of social and environmental de-qualification, as they historically constitute a pole of attraction and a point of concentration on the territory of many forms of discomfort. This poses new problems in safeguarding this heritage,

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which can and must be tackled by protecting the needs of the territory. The station, in the new meaning of the term, opens up to the surrounding city and proposes itself as a pole of urban attraction, a center of services and multi-purpose functions dedicated to all the inhabitants and not only a pivotal point of collective mobility. In fact, requalification and reuse can be an opportunity to enhance the value of these assets and the context through new ways of using them. In support of this thesis, several national and international case studies are proposed, focusing on urban and architectural design as a primary source of knowledge and regeneration process, with the fundamental objective of bringing urban quality to the existing.

historical, artistic, architectural, cultural, environmental and landscape heritage and enhance quality production chains linked to traditional agriculture. In fact, the reconversion of disused infrastructures into multifunctional green routes can represent not only a response to the needs of tourist and leisure use, but also contribute to sustainable mobility in everyday life. As the Italian experience shows, also in Europe, the adequate reconversion of disused railway lines can represent a strategic choice, especially in territories that need to be enhanced, such as Albania. Modern architectural design and restoration practices make it possible, on the one hand, to redevelop an abandoned and often in a state of decay, and, on the other, to activate actions to promote the territory, supported by the introduction of new activities in the recovered buildings (services for tourists, accommodation and catering activities, information points, museums in the area, etc.).

II. Studio Cases

Figure 1. Naples: archive image of the central station. 1860.

The objective of the paper is to demonstrate how, through the survey of architectural heritage, it is possible to activate a process of enhancement by bringing to light their real intrinsic value, which contributes to the economic conditions of the territory. In this perspective, if the disused railway tracks represent potential routes for a new fruition of the territory, the disused stations, usually placed in a strategic position in the territory, provide space available for new destinations related to promotion and enhancement objectives.

The upgraded routes can, therefore, become a vehicle for the fruition of the

The world we live in now is in transition, society is changing, the world of thinking is changing, and job opportunities are also changing. We have moved from an era based on big production and Fordist principles, to another in which technological evolution and start-ups pose themselves as the new opportunities. These social changes, of course, have an impact on what we consider urban spaces, municipal offices, state offices are emptying due to an everdecreasing use of staff replaced by a server, or a simple PC. Large industrial spaces are turning into large urban voids, and the suburbs are increasingly becoming the new city centers. In the same way, transport has also undergone a change, research into high speed and the increasing use of road transport have affected secondary routes which, with their decommissioning, have

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often left those territories with a rural and agricultural matrix out of the major links.

The theme that we want to deal with, therefore, is precisely the reuse of the abandoned railway heritage, through a primordial knowledge of the site through the architectural survey that can be used as a tool for the enhancement of a territory.

In Italy and in the world, unfortunately, the disused railway heritage is of considerable size. Its re-functionalization, through valorization strategies, can contribute to the requalification of the territorial areas crossed. It is necessary to take an overall view of the heritage made up of disused railway structures and infrastructures.

of governance of the territory attentive to the new needs of communities, a potentially generative element of new models of local development.Infrastructure networks, in fact, are also subject to abandonment phenomena; these are, for example, disused railway tracks, which in some recent good practices have been reused as nature trails.

Figure 4. Marigliano: conversion of the track space, adjacent to the level crossing, into a personal garden. Own image.

Figure station

2. Marigliano in a state of

(Naples): image of the abandonment. Own image.

Figure station

3.

Ottaviano (Naples): image of the in a state of abandonment. Own image.

In the face of this, abandoned places are of growing cultural but also socio-economic interest, directed towards innovative forms

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Analyzing as much as possible the Italian situation, as we know, in the rest of the world the condition can certainly not be better. In fact, data have been collected for the first time in Albania, in the stations of Librazhd and Rrhogozine (4, 5). This is because the Albanian rail network is probably the most devastated in the whole of Europe, and in some circumstances, it seems to be holding up miraculously. There are very few railway lines remaining active and the lack of diesel fuel (there are no electrified lines) often prevents a smooth running of the activities, with the result that trains travel more or less at random. The stations, often reduced to ruins, are attended by railwaymen who usually, in addition to selling tickets, have banquets where they trade anything from sunflower seeds to fruit, all obviously without any uniform or uniform. Only freight trains are incredibly taken into consideration, not so much because of the rolling stock, which if possible is even more damaged than passenger trains, but because they are manned by armed

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policemen, probably to prevent theft.

The current Albanian urban reality is the result of a long process of anthropization characterized by an unregulated expansion that does not conform to its original identity.

The consequence of the loss of identity manifests itself in the instant in which man carries out an operation of transformation without rules. Reading through the survey, understood as an appropriate instrument, provides the conscious method of acting such as to guide the reasons and the modifying actions on the architectural heritage for which it is responsible. In the 1990s, with the fall of the communist regime, the situation of the Albanian railways had to face the serious social and economic crisis that hit the country in 1997, triggering a popular uprising that led to the looting and burning of trains and stations.

Librazhd station, opened in 1972, is part of the railway line connecting Albania, from the city of Vlora to Montenegro, Podgorica specifically. From Rrhogozine the line splits into the one that will pass through Elbasan first, and then Librazhd itself. Despite the great strategic importance of this rail link, maintenance was often neglected and investment insufficient to keep the system in working order. In 1990 the state found itself at a crossroads: investing huge amounts of capital to get the lines and equipment back into operation or decommissioning the service now replaceable by the liberalized road transport boom. The first choice was carefully considered, given the fact that the mining industry was on its knees having lost its main customer, the Soviet empire, and therefore heavy traffic had been significantly reduced. Widespread poverty had prompted some to steal copper cables from emergency lines and telephones, and the lines were so badly damaged that in January 1992 the state was forced to shut down all remaining services. The current state of the station is in a state of complete abandonment, except for those rare

examples where squatters use small spaces in sales outlets of various kinds.

Figure 5. Librazhd Station: images of the current status. Own image.

Figure 6. RrhogozineStation: images of the current status.

Own image.

III. Metodology

This study makes use of established theoretical and methodological references in drawing and representation. These references are inherent in the ability to identify drawing and architectural survey as cultured tools of investigation, which offer the possibility to confirm how the discipline of Representation, assumes a role of considerable importance in the understanding of architecture and the city. to survey means to re-evaluate: that is to measure, discretize and understand, in order to recompose a unitary framework of knowledge. It means to patrimonialize

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an asset, which most of the times is not adequately valued to its real potential. An architecture that has not been adequately surveyed does not properly reveal its true architectural meaning.The cognitive analysis of the places of the contemporary city is the indispensable premise for any process of valorization of urban areas, unfortunately unable to express their real character of identity and the relative architectural and infrastructural quality built up over the centuries.

Figure 8. Librazhd Station: three-dimensional graphic restitution in isometric axonometry of the station survey.

Figure 7.

Librazhd Station: two-dimensional graphic drawing of the survey performed in plans, elevations and cross-section of the station.

The theme of the regeneration of abandoned works is back in Europe and also in Italy at the centre of the general attention of politics, the market with its many actors, citizens and scientific research. Strategy made possible only after a careful cognitive analysis of the state of the place through the survey. Interesting from the point of view of the research carried out, is above all the possibility that these new strategies can be at the same time interventions aimed at regenerating larger areas of the city.

Offering new impulses, housing, also specific local services and collective spaces adapted to the needs of a changed and changing society, through an elaborate social project, as well as urban-architectural.

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The restoration of these historic buildings would have many positive aspects. In fact, most of them are located in central parts of the cities, they represent an important element of the collective identity and history of the places; therefore, their reuse can present, in addition to functional advantages, also important cultural values.Graphic theories, techniques and methods should not be considered exclusively functional to the production of images depicting reality. They should also and above all be seen as tools for the production of images functional to thought and reasoning. The image can, in fact, have a value not only as a product, i.e. the final outcome of a graphic elaboration, but also as an expression of a cognitive process made possible by the production of that image. The measurements expressed in the drawings, in fact, have made possible the metric comparison between twodimensional graphs and three-dimensional views. Methodologically, a CAD redesign of the perspectives presented was carried out, paying particular attention to the correct identification of the definition lines of the planes and volumes.

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Figure 9. Rrhogozine Station:two-dimensional graphic drawing of the survey performed in plans, elevations and cross-section of the station.

proposed, shows the need for planning tools for the government of transformations, national plans and shared strategies, with the involvement of beneficiaries of the valorisation of the territory. The research activity has been aimed at a critical rereading of the buildings and the context in which they are inserted, in accordance with the definition of architectural survey as a set of procedures and investigations useful to retrace the path of the work until the current state. These activities could be of great impulse to the architectural enhancement, also in economic terms and represent a driving force for growth for tourism and the economy of the country.

The active participation of the inhabitants, positive protagonists in the redevelopment of their territories, facilitates the recycling, recovery and reuse of areas and buildings functional to the communities.

References [1]

[2] Figure 10. Rrhogozine Station:three-dimensional graphic restitution in isometric axonometry of the station survey.

[3]

Conclusions Architectural drawing is a process of profound knowledge. An intellectual path that allows, through the instrument of survey, to discretize, measure and patrimonialize forgotten architectures and destined, consequently, to a sad fate of degradation, abandonment and disuse.

The comparison between the international context and the Italian one highlights the need for an overall strategic vision and adequate planning able to support a real process of widespread valorization, as has happened in Europe. The international experiences, in particular the Albanian one

[4] [5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

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Mezzetti, Carlo. La rappresentazione dell’architettura: storia, metodi, immagini.

Roma: Kappa, 2000.

Viola, Francesco. Tracciati di ferro: l’architettura delle ferrovie e l’invenzione del paesaggio moderno. Napoli: CLEAN, 2016.

D’Agostino, Pier Paolo. Stazioni ferroviarie.

Riflessioni tra disegno e progetto, Santarcangelo di Romagna: Maggioli Editore, 2013.

De Fiore, Gaspare. La figurazione dello spazio architettonico. Genova: Vitali e Ghianda,1967 Gamboni, Antonio andNeri, Paolo. Napoli - Portici La prima Ferrovia d’Italia 1839.

Napoli: Fausto Fiorentino editrice, 1987.

Cundari, Cesare. Il rilievo urbano per i sistemi complessi: un nuovo protocollo per un sistema informativo, di documentazione e gestione della città. Roma: Kappa, 2005 Docci, Mario and Maestri, Diego. Manuale di rilevamento architettonico e urbano. Bari: Editori Laterza, 1993.

Docci, Mario and Gaiani, Marco and Maestri,

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Diego. Scienza del Disegno. Novara: Città Studi Edizioni, 2011.

[9] Bertocci, Stefano and Bini, Marco. Manuale di rilievo architettonico e urbano. Milano: Città Studi Edizioni, 2012.

[10] De Rubertis, Roberto.

Il Disegno dell’Architettura. Roma: Nuova Italia Scientifica, 1994.

Biographies Enrico Mirra, born in Naples on 1 October 1992, is Architect and PhD Student 34th Cycle scientific disciplinary ICAR/17 “Drawing” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. He graduated in Architecture in 2018 with a thesis entitled “La Peschiera Grande e la Casa dei Liparoti nel parco dela Reggia di Caserta”. In 2019 he was a member of the Valere Research Unit in order to enhance and promote research. He is a member of the group belonging to the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design: Drawing, Surveying, Representation, Structures, Communication of Cultural Heritage.

He has carried out research and teaching activities at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning in Tirana, at the Faculdade de Arquitetura de l’Universidade de Lisboa and, in 2018 at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Dessau. He is author of articles in volume, contributions in conference proceedings and international journals.

Corrado Castagnaro, born in Naples on 05 December 1991, he graduated with honors in Architecture in 2017 at the University of Naples Federico II with a thesis in architectural and urban design entitled “Nisida è un’isola e nessuno lo sa. Un progetto tra città e paesaggio”. Since 2019 he is PhD student 35th Cycle scientific disciplinary ICAR/14 “ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN DESIGN”

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at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. He studied at the ETSAS University of Seville (ERASMUS program) and several periods of external research activities at the Polytechnic University of Tirana (Albania). He is the author of a monograph entitled “Nisida is an island and nobody knows it. A project between city and landscape” and several contributions in conference proceedings and in a magazine. He has participated as author in several international conferences. He is an expert on the subject for the scientific disciplinary field Architectural and Urban Composition (Icar 14).

Ilenia Gioia, born in Battipaglia (Salerno) on 15 October 1991, graduated with honors in Architecture in 2018 at the University of Campania”Luigi Vanvitelli” with a thesis in drawing entitled “Il Giardino Inglese della Reggia di Caserta. Il disegno dell’architettura bucolica”. Since 2018 she is PhD student 34th Cycle scientific discipline ICAR/17 “DRAWING” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”.

Author of several contributions in conference proceedings, in 2018 she was the winner (first classified) of the prize in the competition of the “VII Simposio Internazionale il Monitoraggio Costiero Mediterraneo/problematiche e tecniche di misura”. In 2019 she participated in an international research project at Technische Universität Berlin in Berlin. She participated as a speaker at several international conference.

Adriana Trematerra, born in Naples on 12 September 1992, is an Architect graduated with honors in Architecture in 2018 at the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” with a thesis in drawing entitled “Il Giardino Inglese della Reggia di Caserta.

Il disegno dell’architettura

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dell’ospitalità”. Since 2019 she is PhD Student 35th Cycle scientific disciplinary ICAR/17 “Drawing” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. Since 2017 she has carried out several periods of external research activities at the Polytechnic University of Tirana (Albania). She is author of several contributions in conference proceedings in international journals and articles in the volume. In 2018 she was the winner (first classified) of the prize in the competition of the VII International Symposium on Mediterranean Coastal Monitoring / problems and measurement techniques, with the following motivation: completeness, clarity and immediacy of the exhibition. She has participated as a speaker at several international conferences.

Andrea Improta, born in Naples on 2nd November 1992, is Architect and Ph. D Student in the scientific disciplinary ICAR/17 “DRAWING” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. He graduated in Architecture in 2017 with a thesis entitled “Il Giardino Inglese della Reggia di Caserta, Il Disegno delle Architetture dei Vanvitelli”.

He is a member of the group belonging to the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design: Drawing, Survey, Representation, Structure, Communication of cultural heritage.

He has carried out research and teaching activities at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning in Tirana. He is author of articles in volume, contributions in conference proceedings and international journals.

Gianluca Manna, born in Naples on October 14, 1991, is Architect and Ph. D Student in the scientific disciplinary field ICAR/17 “Drawing” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. He graduated

in Architecture in 2017 with a thesis entitled “The English Garden in the Royal Palace of Caserta, The design of hypogean architecture”.

He is a member of the group belonging to the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design: Drawing, Surveying, Representation, Structures, Communication of cultural heritage / Drawing, Survey, Representation, Structure, Communication of cultural Heritage. He has carried out research and teaching activities at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning in Tirana, where he is in co-teaching. He is author of articles in volume, contributions in conference proceedings and international journals.

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The simplified fruition of inaccessible military architectures in Balkans Domenico Crispino

Andrea Improta

Gianluca Manna

University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” Department of Architecture and Department of Architecture and Industrial Department of Architecture and Industrial Design Design Industrial Design Aversa (CE), Italy Aversa (CE), Italy Aversa (CE), Italy

Enrico Mirra

University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” Department of Architecture and Industrial Design Aversa (CE), Italy

article info Article history: Received 19 April 2020 Received in revised form 21 May 2020 Accepted 22 May 2020 Available online 30 June 2020 doi: 10.18638/dialogo.2020.6.2.23

Keywords: architecture; bunker; virtual reality; photogrammetry;

Adriana Trematerra

University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” Department of Architecture and Industrial Design Aversa (CE), Italy

abstract

The research program aims to provide an innovative contribution aimed at the creation of computer data, aimed in turn at the knowledge, protection, and enhancement of the architectural heritage. This richness, in Albania, is characterized for the most part by small military defensive structures; in other cases, it is a complex articulation of spaces and volumes. Throughout the Albanian territory there are 750,000 bunkers built during the Cold War, different in shape, material, and annexed environments such as those used as a shelter, defense and ammunition storage. This text is therefore intended to offer a multidisciplinary look, providing an analysis of the experience lived in the Balkans, of the military architecture of forgotten outposts. By investigating these architectural artefacts, a response to the rampant phenomenon of abandonment is presented, demonstrating that the cognitive, graphic and virtual analysis of these places is the indispensable premise for any process of valorization of urban areas, unable to express their real identity and the relative architectural quality built up over the centuries. New technologies can narrate them and create points of view developed through virtual spaces, to stimulate new ways of fruition. © 2014 RCDST. All rights reserved.

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I. INTRODUCTION

Albania, for both its orography - mostly mountainous with rare flat areas - and its geographical and strategic position in the middle of the Adriatic and the Mediterranean Sea, has always been a very desirable land. To this end, the need for a coastal surveillance system became necessary. Until the 15th century, defense systems were mainly linked to the height of the fortified walls, as the higher a wall was, the more difficult it would have been to climb it, and the better the visual dominance of the surrounding area would have been. The most effective defensive actions carried out from the top of these walls, called “plumbing defense”, were mainly made up of the casting from above of offensive objects and boiling liquids. The siege techniques, on the other hand, involved climbing or in any case reaching the top of the walls. Fortified cities, castles, boundary walls, towers, loopholes and ramparts served to protect cities from external attacks, falling within the competence and knowledge of real military architecture. The 16th-century artillery revolutionized this situation. Although gunpowder had also been invented some time ago, only the development of portable artillery challenged the traditional fortifications based on plunging defense, consisting of walls perpendicular to the ground, relatively thin and often very high.

In the 20th century, however, military architecture was still evolving, separating itself completely from the civil architecture with which it had lived. In order to face the imminent world conflict and to equip the territory, also the Albania none, with permanent works of surveillance, control, observation and contrast to eventual enemy operations, sighting systems such as bunkers, outposts and casemates with welldefined characteristics through contained volumes and systems of camouflage with the environmental context, along strategic

points of the territory such as the coast, the railway line and the provincial roads, were realized. After the Cold War, many families had lost everything, including their homes, took possession of abandoned bunkers and turned them into permanent homes. Today, most of them are in a state of complete abandonment due to their location; some have been demolished near roads and railway lines, while a small part has been entrusted to associations that allow their use in museums through interactive guided tours (1).

Figure 1. Tirana: reuse of one of the Cold War bunkers. Today one of the many museums in the “BunkerArt” series that offers the Albanian capital.

II. BUNKER: ARCHITECTURE AND

DEFENSE

For the most part along the Albanian coastal strips but also in the heart of the territory, it is frequent to see isolated towers, or small circular structures of modest height and different shapes. They are the remains of a defensive system born to counter the assaults that former communist dictator Enver Hoxha was afraid to suffer. A great admirer of Stalin in government in Albania for forty years he ordered the construction of bunkers in the early 1950s and increased in 1968 when Albania left the Warsaw Pact and the dictator began to fear that soon the country would be attacked by his enemies and the Albanians would have to fight to defend themselves. The attack never happened and the 750,000 bunkers, 4 for

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each citizen, are still there after so many years. The system of bunkers, in use for a time limited to the Cold War, represents an evolution of the defence systems of the territory used up to that time. These defensive structures, also called casemates, forts and pillboxes (pillboxes, because of their shape), are located along the coast, in the provincial roads, in the railway line and still in strategic places camouflaged with the surrounding environment.

Figure 2. Butrinto: state of one of the Bunker S (small size) located along the southern coast of Albania.

Most of the military posts remained intact until the war was over, having suffered no direct attack and many of them were not even used. The recovery and enhancement of the bunkers would make it possible to tell not only the defence system in use in that territory linked to different historical events, but also to deepen the technical-constructive aspects of the military preparation. The case study that will be offered as an opportunity for reflection on the above mentioned themes is represented by the numerous “defence architectures” designed, as mentioned above, on the Albanian coastal territory.

Small constructions in reinforced concrete that constituted checkpoints, trenches, pillboxes and casemates. The positions were located in the region in strategic positions, some along the coast, others along the main roads and communication axes.

Some of them can be described by taking into consideration, first of all, some needs

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of the project that well represent their functional and expressive peculiarities. The first is certainly the one linked to the shape of these architectures which, through an effective quality of architectural language, evoke the strength of the reinforced concrete of the architectural experience of the 20th century. This is particularly true for the casemate and pillbox typologies that have common characteristics that allow to recognize a language and a strategic design approach deeply linked to the need to target the territory optimizing the views. From the comparison of images and drawings it is possible to guess the difference between the two terms: while a pillbox is a mono functional construction of modest dimensions, the casemate is a more articulated construction, often marked by more volumes. The conformations of these constructions can often be traced back to geometric matrices that are mainly circular or elliptical. This design choice is clearly connected to military reason, which sees in the corners of the points of fragility, easily exposed to the enemy and therefore elements to be avoided. In addition, the curved perimeter allows to have openings such as to widen the angles of view up to 180° and beyond, thus allowing to target a large portion of the surrounding territory.

The bunker M object of study stands for medium, and, like all bunkers located on high ground, was used for two purposes: both as a perfect point of enemy sighting, and, as can be seen in the plan, from the double rear entrance to allow the passage of the cannons.

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Figure 3. Pogradec: the de facto state of Bunker M (medium size) located along Albania’s eastern border with Macedonia, overlooking Lake Ohrid. Detail of the entrance hall.

III. METODOLOGY

From the methodological point of view, the documentation of cultural heritage must be the primary element to enhance and implement existing databases, making them accessible to the general public through the construction of multimedia computer archives. Among the various possible disciplinary approaches to the theme, the architectural survey plays a specific role, aimed at investigating all aspects, from the dimensional and geometric ones to those related to the state of conservation.

Of considerable importance is also the opportunity to exploit a three-dimensional model that must meet specific requirements, identified and implemented in the first phase of the creation of the virtual system.

Thanks to the transfer of this metric and geometric information, inherent to the represented object, the transition from the real to the virtual plane is immediate. The survey conducted at the Albanian site has produced a list, in which the various military artifacts in the territory are described through location, topographical coordinates and type of building. The consultation of the documents in the archive was followed by a survey campaign with geometric survey and photographic documentation.

Figure 4. Pogradec: the de facto state of Bunker M (medium size) located along Albania’s eastern border with Macedonia, overlooking Lake Ohrid. Detail of the sighting slit.

In detail, the structure is a sturdy concrete casemate, almost 1 meter thick, resistant to small and medium caliber shots. The combat chamber is always circular with a diameter of 3.20 metres and a canopy cover, with a thickness of 30 centimetres. Often there are small underground or above ground entrance compartments and with a slit always equipped with splay. These stations, arranged individually or in groups and often of the same size, have different types of entrances, those of the group stations are generally communicating with each other with underground tunnels and also contain, but not always, small rooms always underground for housing some military or for storing weapons and ammunition.

Figure 5. Bunker M by Pogradec: two-dimensional graphic rendering of the bunker plan obtained through direct relief.

The numerous inspections have demonstrated the variety and uniqueness of the individual military preparations, in some cases there is a complex articulation of spaces and volumes (divided into 2 or 3 elevations) and in other cases the attention to detail, especially when it comes to masked bunkers.

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Figure 6. dimensional elevations

Bunker graphic obtained

M by rendering through

Pogradec: twoof the bunker direct survey.

investigation techniques and, above all, by their integration with traditional direct observation. The orthographic projections produced by the processing of data acquired through digital photogrammetry are, therefore to be added to an accurate survey designed to obtain homogeneous threedimensional and two-dimensional models.

This survey constitutes a singular and conscious document that photographs the current state of the bunker. It is, therefore, the knowledge tool for the conservation and enhancement of an architecture that is a unique and irreproducible monument.

Figure 7. Bunker M by Pogradec: two-dimensional graphic rendering of the elevations and sections of the bunker obtained through direct survey.

The digitisation and study of data derived from research into inaccessible military architecture in the Balkans has made it possible to compare methods of investigation and representation in order to define possible operational developments.

Following a preliminary phase of study of archival documentation, the investigation on site through direct survey of artefacts and photographic campaigns aimed at representing the identity of the buildings and continued with the creation of digital surveys for the development of tools to support analysis and promotion.

The use of a point cloud was necessary for the return of a highly descriptive data reliable also from a colorimetric point of view.

Such innovative activities of understanding the architectural organism have certainly been favored by modern instrumental

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Figure 8. Bunker M by Pogradec: three-dimensional graphic restitution in isometric axonometry and in exploded axonometry of the bunker obtained through direct survey.

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immersive reality visualization tool. This virtual reality undoubtedly represents a new way of learning and communicating.

Digital models provide the information base for the development of remote navigation platforms for assets that are very often inaccessible or unknown to the general public. This operation will be all the more useful and effective the more information it will be able to transmit to the end-user, proposing to highlight the characteristics of the asset with suitable methods and communication tools. The communicative and divulgation effectiveness of this action may depend the exploitation of an asset.

Figure 9. Pogradec’s Bunker M: processing the point cloud of Bunker M.

Figure 10. Pogradec’s Bunker M: immersive augmented reality point cloud processing with oculus viewer.

CONCLUSIONS The knowledge and development of the bunkers make it possible to describe not only the defensive system in use in the Balkan area linked to various historical events but also to deepen the technicalconstructive aspect of military construction.

The research aims to develop a system of representation useful to analyze the role that these architectures play within the urban fabric and their impact on the evolution of the city over time. Recording the various parts of the documentation and information collected during the phases of the survey is essential to provide a reliable overall picture, which also takes into account the intangible aspects of the heritage, and above all through the creation of a virtual environment to be enjoyed through an

REFERENCES [1] Bonasera, Francesco. L’Albania aspetti geografici. Palermo: Herbita, 1981.

[2] Sestieri, Pellegrino Claudio. La Presenza Italiana in Albania tra il 1924 e il 1943 la Ricerca Archeologica -La Con Servazione - Le Scelte Progettuali. Milano, 1942 [3] Virilio, Paul. “Bunker Archeology”, trans.

Collins, G., New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2009.

[4] Biberaj, Elez. Albania in transition: the Rocky Road to Democracy. United States: Westview Press, 1998.

[5] Boglione, Marco. L’talia Murata. Bunker, linee fortificate e sistemi difensivi dagli anni trenta al secondo dopoguerra. Torino: Blu Edizioni, 2012.

[6] Breda, Maria Antonietta and Padovan, Gianluca. Luoghi e Architetture del secondo conflitto mondiale: 1939-1945. Oxford: BAR publishing, 2016.

[7] Bertocci, Stefano and Parrinello, Sandro. Digital survey and Documentation of the Archeological and Architectural sites. Firenze: Edifir Edizioni, 2015.

[8] Dezzi Bardeschi, Marco. Dal Disegno per il Restauro, al Rilievo per la conservazione.

Firenze: Edizioni Aliea, 1990.

[9] Papa, Lia Maria. Digital model for management and valorization of minor historical centres. Napoli: Pasquale D’Arco Editore, 2017.

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[10] Brusaporci, Stefano. Modelli complessi per il patrimonio architettonico-urbano. Roma: Gangemi, 2013.

Biographies Enrico Mirra, born in Naples on 1 October 1992, is Architect and PhD Student 34th Cycle scientific disciplinary ICAR/17 “Drawing” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”.

He graduated in Architecture in 2018 with a thesis entitled “La Peschiera Grande e la Casa dei Liparoti nel parco dela Reggia di Caserta”. In 2019 he was a member of the Valere Research Unit in order to enhance and promote research.

He is a member of the group belonging to the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design: Drawing, Surveying, Representation, Structures, Communication of Cultural Heritage.

He has carried out research and teaching activities at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning in Tirana, at the Faculdade de Arquitetura de l’Universidade de Lisboa and, in 2018 at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Dessau. He is author of articles in volume, contributions in conference proceedings and international journals.

Andrea Improta, born in Naples on 2nd November 1992, is Architect and Ph. D Student in the scientific disciplinary ICAR/17 “DRAWING” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”.

He graduated in Architecture in 2017 with a thesis entitled “Il Giardino Inglese della Reggia di Caserta, Il Disegno delle Architetture dei Vanvitelli”. He is a member of the group belonging to the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design: Drawing, Survey, Representation, Structure, Communication of

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cultural heritage. He has carried out research and teaching activities at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning in Tirana. He is author of articles in volume, contributions in conference proceedings and international journals.

Gianluca Manna, born in Naples on 14th October 1991, is Architect and Ph. D Student in the scientific disciplinary ICAR/17 “DRAWING” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. He graduated in Architecture in 2017 with a thesis entitled “Il giardino inglese nella Reggia di Caserta, Il disegno delle architetture ipogee”. He is a member of the group belonging to the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design: Drawing, Survey, Representation, Structure, Communication of cultural Heritage. He has been involved in research and teaching activities at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning in Tirana. He is author of articles in volume, contributions in conference proceedings and international journals.

Domenico Crispino, born in Naples on 14th September 1993, graduated with honours in Architecture in 2018 at the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” with a thesis on drawing entitled “Il disegno del Petit Trianon di Versailles: analogie ed affinità in ambito europeo”. Since 2019 he has been PhD candidate 35th Cycle scientific disciplinary ICAR/17 “DRAWING” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. He studied at the EscuelaPolitécnicaSuperior - Universidad CEU San Pablo in Madrid and at the École NationaleSupérieure d’Architecture de ParisVal de Seine within the ERASMUS programme.

He has participated as author in several

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international conferences. In 2018 he won the Third PAN Prize, Section One - Thematic Relevance Award in the ninth edition of the PAN Prize (Landscape, Architecture, Nature) dedicated to Ardito Desio. with the following motivation: “The text looks at a fragmentary landscape through the eye of those who live the brutality of incompleteness and of those who suffer its charm and recognize its new beauty”.

Adriana Trematerra, born in Naples on 12 September 1992, is an Architect graduated with honors in Architecture in 2018 at the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” with a thesis in drawing entitled “Il Giardino Inglese della Reggia di Caserta.

Il disegno dell’architettura dell’ospitalità”.

Since 2019 she is PhD Student 35th Cycle scientific disciplinary ICAR/17 “Drawing” at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. Since 2017 she has carried out several periods of external research activities at the Polytechnic University of Tirana (Albania). She is author of several contributions in conference proceedings in international journals and articles in the volume. In 2018 she was the winner (first classified) of the prize in the competition of the VII International Symposium on Mediterranean Coastal Monitoring / problems and measurement techniques, with the following motivation: completeness, clarity and immediacy of the exhibition. She has participated as a speaker at several international conferences.

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