Context‐bound Islamic theodicies: The tsunami as supernatural retribution vs. natural catastrophe in Southern Thailand

Merli, Claudia

doi:10.1016/j.religion.2009.12.003

Cited by 34 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Doctrinal and theological discourses about the meanings of a disaster are at times vigorously propounded and debated as communities seek to come to terms with what has taken place. Merli (2010) and have argued that discourses of theodicy are notable reactions in some Asian contexts, though they can appear as aberrations. But theodicy should not be construed as the only, or even necessarily the primary, form of religious response and it would be a mistake to assume its importance a priori.…”

Section: After Lisbon?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Salvage and Salvation: Guest Editors’ Introduction

Fountain¹,

McLaughlin²

2016

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W hat does it mean to offer salvation in the midst of disaster? This is the question that animates the articles in this special issue, all of which probe the complex dynamics at play in the intersections of religion and disaster relief in contemporary Asia. Here, we seek to advance inquiry into the conceptual categories of "religion," "disaster," "relief," and "Asia" by drawing on recent theoretical advances across a variety of disciplines.The recent history of Asia is replete with frequent, massive, and high profile "natural" disasters as well as innumerable smaller-scale events that nevertheless devastate local communities. Though the casualties, economic losses, and graphic images of material damage caused by Asian disasters often receive primetime-albeit shortlived-attention in the global media, disaster impacts are far more wide-ranging than such reporting tends to reveal. Disasters affect all aspects of social life in ways that continue long after a precipitating event, and they frequently operate as decisive points at which new spaces are opened for political, social, and religious change. 1 The cultural dynamism of disasters also emerges from the social processes that arise in response to it, including efforts to "salvage" damaged assets and through actions aimed at delivering "salvation"-a process that is simultaneously material and social. Additionally, in the wake of major disasters in contemporary Asia, relief and reconstruction activities, as well as various forms of gifting and charity, frequently inspire complex global entanglements across spatial and cultural gaps.We argue that religious mobilizations in the wake of Asian disasters provide compelling opportunities to scrutinize pivotal theoretical concerns within the contemporary social sciences. This special issue is particularly concerned with what analysis of the religion-disaster-relief nexus can do for our understanding of the first of these three key terms: religion. Among the increasingly diverse set of actors that engage in disaster relief today are an array of organizations, movements, congregations,

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Section: After Lisbon?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…website (King-slave of Allah 2008;. See also Merli's discussion of the creation and circulation of audiovisual texts among Muslim communities in Southern Thailand following the Indian Ocean tsunami (Merli 2010). 20.…”

Section: Nicholsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Salvage and Salvation: Guest Editors’ Introduction

Fountain¹,

McLaughlin²

2016

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“…Falk's ethnographic work in southern Thailand showed the way that Buddhist ceremonies became important coping mechanisms, even for previously uncommitted citizens . Muslims in southern Thailand also engaged in interpretive work but differently, partially blaming societal immorality for the disaster . As a second example, Buddhism has become part of European and North American societies, partly through immigration but also through intellectual translation.…”

Section: Buddhism As a Case Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Religion and climate change: varieties in viewpoints and practices

Haluza‐DeLay

2014

WIREs Climate Change

118

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Although religions are major social actors and institutions with considerable reach, relatively little social science research has focused specifically on the interaction of religious bodies and human‐induced climate change. Most of the current scholarship on the topic has been theological, pastoral, or normative, and specific to particular faiths; the focus of such scholarship is to draw on resources internal to the faith in order to make the case to adherents about the duty to attend to climate change. Only recently has empirical or social scientific research sought to examine what the world's religions and their adherents are actually saying or doing about climate change. Reviewing this research is the focus of this article. An essential first step is to conceptualize the problematic term ‘religion’ and to describe the extensive diversity of the world's religions. Religion includes beliefs, worldviews, practices, and institutions that cross borders, time, and scale from the level of individuals all the way to transnational and transhistorical movements. A summary of religious engagements with climate change is followed by two case studies that show the complexity of religion and religious engagement with climate change. The Pacific Islands are used as a geographic case. Buddhism is used as a case study of a specific faith tradition. Because the world's religions and faith groups are major social institutions and sites of collection action, greater attention to them by climate‐oriented social scientists is recommended. WIREs Clim Change 2014, 5:261–279. doi: 10.1002/wcc.268 This article is categorized under: Perceptions, Behavior, and Communication of Climate Change > Perceptions of Climate Change Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Climate Science and Social Movements

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“…Natural disasters were once frequently termed "acts of God." However, the explanation for disasters has progressed from discursive labels like "acts of God" to nonreligious phrases like "acts of nature," and finally reaching the contemporary idea of disasters as "acts of men and women" (Merli, 2010). Modern analysis has mostly replaced references to theistic causality with attribution to human vulnerability and natural processes.…”

Section: Worldview Dimension Research On Agricultural Decisionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The particular understandings and expressions of fate throughout the Islamic world are heterogeneous (Merli, 2010) and must be understood in light of more complex influences, including the political, cultural, economic, and historical context.…”

Section: Environmental Degradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Viewing a world of disaster through the eyes of faith: The influence of religious worldviews on community adaptation in the context of disaster-related vulnerability in Indonesia

Call

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Recommended Citation Call, Caleb M., "Viewing a world of disaster through the eyes of faith: The influence of religious worldviews on community adaptation in the context of disaster-related vulnerability in Indonesia" (2012). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 12289. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/12289 Viewing a world of disaster through the eyes of faith: The influence of religious worldviews on community adaptation in the context of disaster-related vulnerability in Indonesia

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Context‐bound Islamic theodicies: The tsunami as supernatural retribution vs. natural catastrophe in Southern Thailand

Cited by 34 publications

References 19 publications

Salvage and Salvation: Guest Editors’ Introduction

Salvage and Salvation: Guest Editors’ Introduction

Religion and climate change: varieties in viewpoints and practices

Viewing a world of disaster through the eyes of faith: The influence of religious worldviews on community adaptation in the context of disaster-related vulnerability in Indonesia

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