An Indecent Society, Sick Souls, and the Weak Messianic Force of God: A Reflection on Religious Health in the Anthropocene Era
This article posits that the dire realities associated with the Anthropocene Era will increase the presence of indecent societies that humiliate Others while securing the well-being of privileged groups. Within the society, humiliation, which is carried out by various political, social, and economic...
| Published in: | Journal of religion and health |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Springer Science + Business Media B. V.
[2020]
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| In: |
Journal of religion and health
Year: 2020, Volume: 59, Issue: 6, Pages: 3037-3054 |
| Further subjects: | B
Anthropocene
B Political humiliation B Civic care B Civic faith B Health B Space of appearances B Self-esteem B Sick souls B Inoperativity |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | This article posits that the dire realities associated with the Anthropocene Era will increase the presence of indecent societies that humiliate Others while securing the well-being of privileged groups. Within the society, humiliation, which is carried out by various political, social, and economic apparatuses, leads to civic carelessness and perfidy that accompanies both the foreclosure of the space of appearances, wherein people speak and act together, and the diminution of Others’ self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-respect. It is argued that indecent societies depend on sick souls who seek to retain social, political, and economic privileges that depend on the illusions of their superiority and the inferiority of humiliated Others. At the same time, humiliated Others, who believe in and accept their inferiority, are understood as sick souls. Healthy souls vis-à-vis the looming realities of the Anthropocene and indecent societies are depicted in terms of inoperativity or the weak messianic force of God, wherein healthy individuals and groups are not captive to and do not operate out of the illusions of superiority and inferiority, but instead recognize the unfathomableness of Others (human and otherwise). This means that Others are recognized in their suchness, which attends mutual self-respect, self-esteem, and self-confidence that are necessary for speaking and acting together vis-à-vis the space of appearances. This slight adjustment renders the beliefs of indecent societies inoperative, making possible both human agency that cares for human beings in their suchness and ecological agency that cares for the habitat and all its creatures. |
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| ISSN: | 1573-6571 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of religion and health
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/s10943-020-01080-x |