Sociology
Sedigheh Ramezani; Abutorab Talebi; Bagher TalebiDarabi
Abstract
From the seventies onwards, Iran saw the emergence of New Sprituality and the increase in the tendency towards it, primarily confined to fringe groups which later on spread rapidly among different classes. The present study examines the causes and contexts of this tendency among different groups of citizens ...
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From the seventies onwards, Iran saw the emergence of New Sprituality and the increase in the tendency towards it, primarily confined to fringe groups which later on spread rapidly among different classes. The present study examines the causes and contexts of this tendency among different groups of citizens in Tehran by using the factors mentioned in various theoretical approaches. To achieve this goal, 23 semi-structured interviews were first conducted with New Spiritualists. Then, according to the results of the interviews, a questionnaire was designed and distributed among 600 citizens of Tehran. Sampling was done purposefully in the qualitative section and randomly from the blocks of Tehran in the quantitative section. The interviews were analyzed by the thematic analysis method, and the quantitative data were processed through the SPSS software and various tests such as Pearson correlation and linear regression. The results indicated a significant relationship between five factors and the tendency towards new spirituality. The ethical stress, emotionalism, access to new spirituality, and experiencing suffering had respectively the strongest to the weakest direct relationships and deprivation had a reverse relationship.
Mohammad Masoud Saeedi
Abstract
The growth of spiritual groups in society can be an indicator of a new direction in the transformation of the general culture; therefore, the scientific and objective study of these groups would have an important role in recognizing the needs of the modern individual and his or her expectations from ...
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The growth of spiritual groups in society can be an indicator of a new direction in the transformation of the general culture; therefore, the scientific and objective study of these groups would have an important role in recognizing the needs of the modern individual and his or her expectations from religion, and in general, recognizing the contemporary culture. One of these groups that more or less continues to grow despite legal prohibitions is the Erfan-e Halghe group. The special conditions present in the individual and his or her surroundings provide ample ground for their joining the Erfan-e Halghe classes and keeping on attending them with the motivation of reaching a state of calm. Such conditions include the individual’s unpleasant chronic state of mind, lack of efficiency of conventional religiosity, repulsiveness of traditional ceremonies, having a personality of reliance on feelings and emotions rather than on intellect, confidence in friends, and attraction of new classes. The person in the group experiences a process of moving from an unpleasant state of mind to a pleasant one through some tricks and attractive teachings. This self-conscious process does not happen for all members, and when it does happen, the relocation process is relative and certainly only survives so long as the person does not put aside his or her intimate relationship with his/her co-members in the group. In Erfan-e Halghe with the consequences which are self-consciously considered to be positive, there are some unconscious consequences regarded in the cultures of human societies as the person having been the victim of deception.
aboutorab talebi
Abstract
This paper investigates an aspect of new sectarianism with special emphasis on New Spirituality in Iran. It uses the theory of subjectivism proposed by Canadian thinker, Charles Taylor, alongside Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis to analyze signs of new spiritualism. Data was collected through ...
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This paper investigates an aspect of new sectarianism with special emphasis on New Spirituality in Iran. It uses the theory of subjectivism proposed by Canadian thinker, Charles Taylor, alongside Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis to analyze signs of new spiritualism. Data was collected through examining available resources and through deep interviews with advocates of this discourse. Examining available resources revealed that the semantic system of spirituality is as a discourse based on a number of themes and signs, including: centrality of the self, i.e. a journey from a life in line with external demands to an authentic, original life in the inside, individualism, holistic attitude, hybridity, and using psychology and individuality. Empirical studies have proven that the formation of new spiritualism as a discourse was an indication of internal conflicts and ambiguities in making sense of religious discourse. This issue was a challenge for the development of religious discourse and a threat to its face as the dominant discourse, which finally opened up the gates for discourse of spirituality. Studies indicate that this discourse is still in the phase of formation in Iran. In other words, it is not yet stable and its meanings are not yet clear, and, therefore, is far from turning into a hegemonic discourse.
