2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Saint Jesus Malverde

  William Calvo Quiros
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• A Theological Reflection of Matthew 9:14 on the Ill-Treatment of Children in Mainline Evangelical Churches in Africa with its Implication on the Spirituality of Evangelical Church Winning All in Nigeria

  Henry Marcus Garba
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Encroachment on fhe ‘Pure And Sacred’

  Ebenezer Quaye
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Challenging Parallelism of Rights Claims Based on Religious Identity and Sexual Identity in Canada

  Marie-Eve Melanson
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• What Can We Deduce From Contemporary Individual Prayer Entries?

  Rafał Cekiera
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Transcendent Holiness and the Centrality of Human

  Arik Segev
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• God, Man, and Superman

  Gian Pagnucci
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Fragile Laws, Firm Faith

  Rishabh Gandhi
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Who Can Be at the Altar

  Anna Sun
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Spirituality of Listening with a Narrative Ear

  Paul Butler
  Workshop Presentation

• The Imperatives of Vulnerability

  Fannie Bialek
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Evangelical Exodus

  Nicol Michelle Epple
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Fulfillment Theology of Sadhu Sundar Singh

  Anugrah Brij
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Religious Experience of Homeless People in Drug Use Scenes

  Camila Chagas
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Surviving a Tragic Ailment

  Rachel Cope
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• A Vision of Transgression

  Yunus Valerian Hentschel
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Photography, Religion and Social Change

  Roddy MacInnes
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Millennial Rap

  Dr. Walter Hidalgo
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Karuna

  Berta Saenz
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Freedom Through Vulnerability

  Sandra Alexander
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Dissolution and Reimagination of the Greek Catholic Church of Slovakia

  Michael Lucas
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Gender Ideology from Health and Religious Perspectives

  Rafidah Hanim Mokhtar
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Gradations of Deceptions

  Kelston Cort
  Workshop Presentation

• The Missing Link

  Heath Grant
  Workshop Presentation

• Are Religious Functionaries Becoming Vulnerable?

  Solomon Appiah
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Indigenous Women’s Textile Depicts the Vulnerability of the Sacred Mountain

  Annapurna Pandey
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Stilling the Storm

  Stephen W. Need
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Renouncing Deceit

  Margaret Felice
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Case for an Integrative Rationale for Presumed Undue Influence

  Craig Allen
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Vulnerability and Spirituality within Christian Community in Nigeria

  Peace Ngwoke
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Fragility and Vulnerability in Feminist and Womanist Christian Theology

  Mary Marcel
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• “Until Debt Do Us Part!” - Poverty Eradication Between Prediction and Exhortation

  Wenifredo Iii Padilla
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Dandi Sanyasi in the Sacred City of Kashi

  Vineet Kumar
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Witnessing Other Worlds and Tending to Homeplace

  Anthony Cruz Pantojas
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Idols - the Ancient Mnemonics to Preserve Knowledge

  Pramendra Srivastava
  Innovation Showcase

• Navigating Vulnerability

  Ephraim Ogugbuaja
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Resisting the Hegemony of Borders and Coloniality through Religious Care, Charity, and Activism in the United States

  Ivon Padilla Rodriguez, Melissa Borja, Israel Dominguez, Barbara Sostaita
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Venice's Votive Churches and Post-Epidemic Grief, Trauma, and Healing

  Michelle Laughran
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Regional Expressions of the Divine

  Tanima Chanda, Aneesha Sharma
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Vulnerability and Vocation

  Claire Wolfteich
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Exploring the Impacts of Self-Compassion on Self-Efficacy in BIPOC Parents

  Aizaiah Yong
  Innovation Showcase

• The Transformative Power of Vulnerability

  June-Ann Greeley
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Hydrological Insights from the Ramayana

  Jyoti Yadav
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Reacting to the Irrationality Problem

  Ian Waller
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Fragility, Forgetfulness, and Failure

  Maroun El Houkayem
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Resilience and Vulnerability through an Afro-Feminist Lens to Micah 6:1-8 and the Kenya Family Protection Bill (2023)

  Dorcas Chebet Juma
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Creating Together

  Hillary Bylund
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Mission as Oppression

  Eugene Baron
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Global Education in the Jesuit Tradition

  Laura Spitz, Eduardo Penalver
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Plorabunt

  Alberto Melloni
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Uncertainty and Vulnerability

  Juan Dejo Bendezú
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Tong-Il (Korean Unification) Praxis Towards Solidarity, Hospitality and Liberation in Religion

  Eunjoo Kim
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Socio-Economic Vulnerability and Spiritual Vulnerability in the Hebrew Bible

  David Walker
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Fragile Community

  Corey Parish
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Information Structure of the Lord’s Prayer

  Martin Adam
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Cult of Vulnerability and Wounds in Medieval Religious Practice and Iconography.

  Edit Ujvari PhD
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Religion, Warfare and Moral Injury

  Mary Brewer
  Workshop Presentation

• The Vulnerability of Sunda Wiwitan as the Indigenous Religious Practice in Strengthening Religious Education’s Value

  Halim Wiryadinata
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Vulnerability of Jewish Patients in Medical Halakhah (Jewish Law)

  Sarah Werren
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Benchmarking the Salience of Religious Influence from a Religious Context

  Kelemu Fenta Gebeyehu
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Churches and Civil Society in Ukraine

  Cyril Hovorun
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Creative Uses of Lived Ancient Religion

  Alexis Landau
  Innovation Showcase

• Frailty and Finitude as Ontological Conditions for Religion

  Ricardo Santos Alexandre
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Sacred Circuitry

  Shawn Fisher
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Spiritual Alchemy of the Voice

  Kristina Packman
  Workshop Presentation

• Fostering Inclusivity and Empathy in Multifaith Classrooms

  Angela Collins
  Workshop Presentation

• Religious and Spiritual Parenting of Teens

  David Dollahite
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Religious Foundations

• Spiritual Practices and Re-imagining Health of People in Nepal

  Ram Prasad Aryal
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Sacred Subjects in Popular Culture

  Heidi Rimke
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Isn’t He Divine?

  Alfonso Gómez-Rossi
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Expanding Category of Religion and Spirituality

  Therasa Topete
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Sacred Sources Lead to Upliftment

  Kashish Pandey
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• New Forms of Religious Ideas and Practice in Contemporary Latvia

  Solveiga Krumina Konkova
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Prayer as a Form of Resistance in Times of Social and Political Crisis

  Anjum Shah
  Innovation Showcase

• Educating for the ‘Spirit’ in the Secular Public School

  Ariel Liberman
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Science, Spirit and Secular Vulnerabilities

  Hatice Sena Arıcıoğlu Senaaricioglu
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Holy Springs in Iran

  Mahmoud Amani
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Reward and Punishment

  Bina Nir
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Identifying the New Socio-religious Themes for Futuristic Christian-Muslim Interaction

  Ahmad Raza Ul Habb, Dr Muhammad Shahbaz Manj
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Developing aTheory of Everything with the Foundations of Sanatan Dharma Tested with General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics

  Susheel Kamotra
  Workshop Presentation

• Palliative Sedation

  Jonathan Lambaerts
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Commemoration of Ashura

  Maritza Eridania Espejel Pineda
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Ancient Eleusis and Modern Psychedelic Integration Groups

  Walter Ward
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Integrating Spiritual Healing Practices and Mental Health Services

  Rebecca Vicente
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Courage in Vulnerability as a Psychological Quality and Civic Virtue

  Ivana Ryška Vajdová
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Nones and Pleasure

  Kevin Grane
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

The Politics of Religion

• Non-Muslim Minority Communities in Turkiye as Political Objects

  Muteber Yilmazcan
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Church-State Relations, Nation-State Policies and New Challenges for the Orthodox Church in Ukraine

  Sergei Mudrov
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Black Manosphere

  Mutale Nkonde
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• God's Resistance

  Brad Christerson
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Nations under God

  Sasha Van Lammeren
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• “Le Devoir de Décolonisation”

  Didier Course
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Translating Modernity into the Islamic Paradigm

  Salah Basalamah
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Pentecostal Struggle

  Tatiana Novotolskaia
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Politics of Faith

  Ashish Archer
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Giving Patients a Voice

  Franziskus Knoll
  Workshop Presentation

• Conceptualizing Spirits

  Sanaa Riaz
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Religious Toleration in a Time of Troubles

  Steven Zwicker
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Invisible Narratives - Exploring the Intersection of Religion and Gender among Marginalized Meo Muslim Women in India

  Avadhesh Kumar Meena
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Orthodoxy Victimized, Orthodoxy Weaponized

  Michael Makin
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Religious Freedoms in Egypt and Tunisia

  Mohamed Gamal Ali
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Religious Liberalism and Black Women's Political Thought, 1865-1915

  Christopher Cameron
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Modeling Madinah

  Dr. Muhammad Umar Riaz Abbasi
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Debating Women's Roles in the Catholic Church

  Miguel Glatzer
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Provincializing the Colonial Gaze

  Adam Olowo
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Sacred Power, Secular Accountability

  Lucy Huh
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Morocco's Newest Religious Policy

  Mohammed Lazrak
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Rethinking Emile Durkheim’s Functionalism of Religion

  Chinyere Nkama
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• An Intersection of Religion and Pillars of the Mongolian Society

  Narantuya Danzan
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• An Oxonian Thriller on which Philosophy Could Replace Religion

  Franco Manni
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Affluence and the Economy Behind Oracles - an Experiential Study of Klaros

  Recep Can Mert
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• “De-Hinduizing” Indigeneity

  Rashid K Khadher
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Political Consciousness among Adivasis Regarding Sarna Religion

  Kumari Nayak
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Culture War

  Francisco Batista
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Religious Extremism and Legal Gaps

  Russell Hoban
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Military Officers, Command Authority, and Liberal Democracy

  Christopher Eberle
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Social Reform Theory of Brazilian Liberation Theology in the 1970s and 1980s

  Ran Gao
  Poster Session

• Human Rights in Accordance with Islamic Injunction

  Muhammad Irfan, Mohamed Abdallah Turky
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Bringing the Tabot into the House of the Qaalluu

  Ethan Key
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Close Encounters of a Different Kind

  Steven Green
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Spiritual Religion

  Madhumita Dutta
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Religious Populism

  Stavroula Koskina
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Reform or Restore?

  Jason Whitehead
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Religious Commonalities and Differences

• A Consideration on the Truth of Origin in Tenrikyo and the Origin of Human Beings in Science

  Jessica Diniz
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Religion and Modern Technology

  Shoaib Rasool
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Comparative Manifestations of Religiosity in Christianity and Islam

  Brent Moore
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Health Benefits of Salat Based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)

  Intan Sabrina
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• A Post-Secular Perspective on Grace and Authentic Leadership

  Joseph Markey
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Recommendations from Spiritual Care Providers

  Zanab Farooq
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Trajectories of Gender Differences, Power and Spirituality in Contemporary Society

  Essien Essien
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Biblical and the Qur’anic Versions of the Genesis-Narrative as Adam’s Transcendent-Bio-Graph

  Abdul Rahim Afaki
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Divine Transcendence in Traditional African and Christian Spiritualities

  William Orbih
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Sufism Across Cultural Boundaries

  Patrick Laude, Salah Basalamah, Jiri Mesic
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Unpacking the Divinity Debate: Jesus and the Demi-Gods

  Essien Oku Essien
  Workshop Presentation

• Igbo Christians and Complexities of Ancestor Worship

  Mary Emilia Aboekwe
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Religion and Internet Advertising

  Stover Eduardo Ezequias
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Correlations between ESP and Chinese Buddhist Communities

  Yuxin Zhao
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Aztec and Maya Understandings of Christ's Descent from the Cross

  Mark Christensen
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Prophets in Motion

  Yasmeen Aboujabal
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Afro-Brazilian Spiritual Belief Systems to Address Racial Disparities in Sickle Cell Disease among Black Brazilians

  Anuli Njoku
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Evolution of African Witchcraft as a Response to Misfortune

  Bidi Broderick
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Filioque

  Cory Gloeckner
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Religious Community and Socialization

• Embodied Purity, Socialization, and Community

  Mugdha Yeolekar
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Virtual Shambhala

  Jean-Paul Lafayette DuQuette
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Dimensions of Religious Authority - State Policies and Sacred Sites

  Zahid Yasin
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Promoting Religious Harmony

  Sanjana Sharma, Sahil Sahil
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Construction of Religious Meaning through Cultural Events

  Arif Budi Prasetya
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Vulnerability and Resilience Towards Life, Marriage and Family

  Agnieszka Laddach
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Balancing Vulnerability and Resilience

  Anton Piyarathne
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Role of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in Revitalizing Spirituality in the Hindu Community of Bahawalpur, Pakistan

  Qudsia Firdous
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Religiosity and Decision Making

  Sarah M. Farrell
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Construction of Identity of the Sapta Darma Believers in Indonesia

  Agus Danugroho, Muhammad Alhada Fuadilah Habib, Iwin Ardyawin
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Othering in Religion, Values and Ethics

  Jasmine Jacques Butterworth
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Dual Vocations of Science and Religion

  Diana Fenton
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• African Spirituality and Mental Health in Johannesburg, South Africa

  Alex Asakitikpi
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Art of Spiritual Transformation through Embodied Vulnerability

  Marina A. Smirnova, PhD
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Experience and Expression of Ritual Ordering among the Yoruba Drummers

  Olusegun Oladosu
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Trinary Formula for Spiritual Unification as Illustrated in the Phenomenological Approaches of Father Pavel Florensky and Philosopher Edith Stein

  Sally Stocksdale
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Installments, Social Networks, and Tarot Card Spreads: How Loyalty Support Strategies Work in the Modern Digitalized Russian Esoteric Market

  Maria Zharakhovich, Oxana Mikhaylova
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Religious Communities in the Byzantine Holy Land

  Barbara Astafurova
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• A Consideration of Jewish and Catholic Resistance in the Nazi Concentration Camps

  Eileen Lyon
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Vigil Prayer among the Aladura Pentecostals and Yoruba Tradition in Nigeria

  Adewale, Olukayode Ogunrinade
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• In the World but Not of It

  Tim Smith
  Poster Session

• Transforming Faith Through Curriculum

  Aretha Oluwakemi Asakitikpi
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Spiritual Wellness and Military Narratives

  Marissa Lemar
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Extraterrestrial Theologies

  Leonardo Breno Martins
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Semen est Sanguis Christianorum

  Miloš David
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Coming to Tokyo and Losing Faith

  Rebecca Babirye
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Abstraction and Application of Quranic Concepts in the Realm of Media

  Mohsen Ghamarzadeh
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Witchcraft - an Exploration of Religious and Cultural Beliefs and Response In Post-Colonial South Africa and Zimbabwe.

  Juliet Chipo Sigauke
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Second-generation Ethiopian and Eritrean Youth and Christianity

  Mary Goitom
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Investigating Dharamshalas (Pilgrim Inns) of Haridwar Focusing on Intangible Cultural Heritage and Its Continuity

  Abhishek Verma, Smriti Saraswat
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Income-Religiosity-Happiness Nexus

  Muhammad Ichsan Fadillah
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• How You Represent the Least Among Us, You Represent Him

  Craig Trocino
  Workshop Presentation

• Religion an Alternative to Neoliberal Global Capitalism

  Slimane Douih
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Raising Consciousness

  Cynthia Elliott
  Innovation Showcase

• The Case of Shari'ah-compliant Economies in Emerging Religious Markets

  Alessandro Cupri
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Homelessness in Spiritual Places

  Ratul Roychowdhury
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Reclaiming "Religión Cassera" in Chicanx Art and Spiritual Practice

  Lara Medina
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• “What You Running From?”

  Shanice Cameron
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• A Comparison of the Incidence and Function of Female Prophecy in the Hebrew Bible in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context

  Deborah Gruber
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Therapeutic Potency of the “Holy Mud and Water” in Selected African Initiated Churches in Nigeria

  Goka Mpigi
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• The Role of the Church to Protect Children in Tanzania

  Stephano Nzanga Masuluale
  Poster Session

• The Nexus of Marriage and Religion

  Loren Marks, David Dollahite
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Why Do We Say Thanks to God?

  Julianne Bryant
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Megachurches and Public Life

  Joel Agpalo Tejedo
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Spirituality in the Land of Forgetfulness

  Wayne Ewing
  Workshop Presentation

• Sacred Sweet Tooth

  Constance Kirker
  Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

• Saint Jesus Malverde

  William Calvo Quiros
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• A Theological Reflection of Matthew 9:14 on the Ill-Treatment of Children in Mainline Evangelical Churches in Africa with its Implication on the Spirituality of Evangelical Church Winning All in Nigeria

  Henry Marcus Garba
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Encroachment on fhe ‘Pure And Sacred’

  Ebenezer Quaye
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• The Challenging Parallelism of Rights Claims Based on Religious Identity and Sexual Identity in Canada

  Marie-Eve Melanson
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Spiritual Practices and Re-imagining Health of People in Nepal

  Ram Prasad Aryal
  Religious Foundations

• Sacred Subjects in Popular Culture

  Heidi Rimke
  Religious Foundations

• Non-Muslim Minority Communities in Turkiye as Political Objects

  Muteber Yilmazcan
  The Politics of Religion

• The Church-State Relations, Nation-State Policies and New Challenges for the Orthodox Church in Ukraine

  Sergei Mudrov
  The Politics of Religion

• What Can We Deduce From Contemporary Individual Prayer Entries?

  Rafał Cekiera
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Isn’t He Divine?

  Alfonso Gómez-Rossi
  Religious Foundations

• Transcendent Holiness and the Centrality of Human

  Arik Segev
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• The Expanding Category of Religion and Spirituality

  Therasa Topete
  Religious Foundations

• Sacred Sources Lead to Upliftment

  Kashish Pandey
  Religious Foundations

• The Black Manosphere

  Mutale Nkonde
  The Politics of Religion

• A Consideration on the Truth of Origin in Tenrikyo and the Origin of Human Beings in Science

  Jessica Diniz
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• God's Resistance

  Brad Christerson
  The Politics of Religion

• Nations under God

  Sasha Van Lammeren
  The Politics of Religion

• New Forms of Religious Ideas and Practice in Contemporary Latvia

  Solveiga Krumina Konkova
  Religious Foundations

• “Le Devoir de Décolonisation”

  Didier Course
  The Politics of Religion

• Educating for the ‘Spirit’ in the Secular Public School

  Ariel Liberman
  Religious Foundations

• Embodied Purity, Socialization, and Community

  Mugdha Yeolekar
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Translating Modernity into the Islamic Paradigm

  Salah Basalamah
  The Politics of Religion

• Science, Spirit and Secular Vulnerabilities

  Hatice Sena Arıcıoğlu Senaaricioglu
  Religious Foundations

• The Pentecostal Struggle

  Tatiana Novotolskaia
  The Politics of Religion

• The Politics of Faith

  Ashish Archer
  The Politics of Religion

• Holy Springs in Iran

  Mahmoud Amani
  Religious Foundations

• Conceptualizing Spirits

  Sanaa Riaz
  The Politics of Religion

• God, Man, and Superman

  Gian Pagnucci
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Reward and Punishment

  Bina Nir
  Religious Foundations

• Religion and Modern Technology

  Shoaib Rasool
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• Comparative Manifestations of Religiosity in Christianity and Islam

  Brent Moore
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• Health Benefits of Salat Based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)

  Intan Sabrina
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• Fragile Laws, Firm Faith

  Rishabh Gandhi
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Virtual Shambhala

  Jean-Paul Lafayette DuQuette
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Who Can Be at the Altar

  Anna Sun
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Dimensions of Religious Authority - State Policies and Sacred Sites

  Zahid Yasin
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Promoting Religious Harmony

  Sanjana Sharma, Sahil Sahil
  Religious Community and Socialization

• The Construction of Religious Meaning through Cultural Events

  Arif Budi Prasetya
  Religious Community and Socialization

• The Imperatives of Vulnerability

  Fannie Bialek
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Vulnerability and Resilience Towards Life, Marriage and Family

  Agnieszka Laddach
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Evangelical Exodus

  Nicol Michelle Epple
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• The Fulfillment Theology of Sadhu Sundar Singh

  Anugrah Brij
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Balancing Vulnerability and Resilience

  Anton Piyarathne
  Religious Community and Socialization

• The Role of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in Revitalizing Spirituality in the Hindu Community of Bahawalpur, Pakistan

  Qudsia Firdous
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Religiosity and Decision Making

  Sarah M. Farrell
  Religious Community and Socialization

• The Construction of Identity of the Sapta Darma Believers in Indonesia

  Agus Danugroho, Muhammad Alhada Fuadilah Habib, Iwin Ardyawin
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Othering in Religion, Values and Ethics

  Jasmine Jacques Butterworth
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Dual Vocations of Science and Religion

  Diana Fenton
  Religious Community and Socialization

• A Post-Secular Perspective on Grace and Authentic Leadership

  Joseph Markey
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• The Religious Experience of Homeless People in Drug Use Scenes

  Camila Chagas
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Recommendations from Spiritual Care Providers

  Zanab Farooq
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• African Spirituality and Mental Health in Johannesburg, South Africa

  Alex Asakitikpi
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Surviving a Tragic Ailment

  Rachel Cope
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• A Vision of Transgression

  Yunus Valerian Hentschel
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Photography, Religion and Social Change

  Roddy MacInnes
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Millennial Rap

  Dr. Walter Hidalgo
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Identifying the New Socio-religious Themes for Futuristic Christian-Muslim Interaction

  Ahmad Raza Ul Habb, Dr Muhammad Shahbaz Manj
  Religious Foundations

• Karuna

  Berta Saenz
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Freedom Through Vulnerability

  Sandra Alexander
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Dissolution and Reimagination of the Greek Catholic Church of Slovakia

  Michael Lucas
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Gender Ideology from Health and Religious Perspectives

  Rafidah Hanim Mokhtar
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Trajectories of Gender Differences, Power and Spirituality in Contemporary Society

  Essien Essien
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• The Biblical and the Qur’anic Versions of the Genesis-Narrative as Adam’s Transcendent-Bio-Graph

  Abdul Rahim Afaki
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• Divine Transcendence in Traditional African and Christian Spiritualities

  William Orbih
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• The Art of Spiritual Transformation through Embodied Vulnerability

  Marina A. Smirnova, PhD
  Religious Community and Socialization

• The Experience and Expression of Ritual Ordering among the Yoruba Drummers

  Olusegun Oladosu
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Are Religious Functionaries Becoming Vulnerable?

  Solomon Appiah
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Indigenous Women’s Textile Depicts the Vulnerability of the Sacred Mountain

  Annapurna Pandey
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Stilling the Storm

  Stephen W. Need
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Renouncing Deceit

  Margaret Felice
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• The Case for an Integrative Rationale for Presumed Undue Influence

  Craig Allen
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Vulnerability and Spirituality within Christian Community in Nigeria

  Peace Ngwoke
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• The Trinary Formula for Spiritual Unification as Illustrated in the Phenomenological Approaches of Father Pavel Florensky and Philosopher Edith Stein

  Sally Stocksdale
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Installments, Social Networks, and Tarot Card Spreads: How Loyalty Support Strategies Work in the Modern Digitalized Russian Esoteric Market

  Maria Zharakhovich, Oxana Mikhaylova
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Religious Communities in the Byzantine Holy Land

  Barbara Astafurova
  Religious Community and Socialization

• A Consideration of Jewish and Catholic Resistance in the Nazi Concentration Camps

  Eileen Lyon
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Fragility and Vulnerability in Feminist and Womanist Christian Theology

  Mary Marcel
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• “Until Debt Do Us Part!” - Poverty Eradication Between Prediction and Exhortation

  Wenifredo Iii Padilla
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Dandi Sanyasi in the Sacred City of Kashi

  Vineet Kumar
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Witnessing Other Worlds and Tending to Homeplace

  Anthony Cruz Pantojas
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Vigil Prayer among the Aladura Pentecostals and Yoruba Tradition in Nigeria

  Adewale, Olukayode Ogunrinade
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Navigating Vulnerability

  Ephraim Ogugbuaja
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Transforming Faith Through Curriculum

  Aretha Oluwakemi Asakitikpi
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Spiritual Wellness and Military Narratives

  Marissa Lemar
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Resisting the Hegemony of Borders and Coloniality through Religious Care, Charity, and Activism in the United States

  Ivon Padilla Rodriguez, Melissa Borja, Israel Dominguez, Barbara Sostaita
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Venice's Votive Churches and Post-Epidemic Grief, Trauma, and Healing

  Michelle Laughran
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Extraterrestrial Theologies

  Leonardo Breno Martins
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Semen est Sanguis Christianorum

  Miloš David
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Coming to Tokyo and Losing Faith

  Rebecca Babirye
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Abstraction and Application of Quranic Concepts in the Realm of Media

  Mohsen Ghamarzadeh
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Witchcraft - an Exploration of Religious and Cultural Beliefs and Response In Post-Colonial South Africa and Zimbabwe.

  Juliet Chipo Sigauke
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Second-generation Ethiopian and Eritrean Youth and Christianity

  Mary Goitom
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Investigating Dharamshalas (Pilgrim Inns) of Haridwar Focusing on Intangible Cultural Heritage and Its Continuity

  Abhishek Verma, Smriti Saraswat
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Religious Toleration in a Time of Troubles

  Steven Zwicker
  The Politics of Religion

• Invisible Narratives - Exploring the Intersection of Religion and Gender among Marginalized Meo Muslim Women in India

  Avadhesh Kumar Meena
  The Politics of Religion

• Orthodoxy Victimized, Orthodoxy Weaponized

  Michael Makin
  The Politics of Religion

• Religious Freedoms in Egypt and Tunisia

  Mohamed Gamal Ali
  The Politics of Religion

• Religious Liberalism and Black Women's Political Thought, 1865-1915

  Christopher Cameron
  The Politics of Religion

• Modeling Madinah

  Dr. Muhammad Umar Riaz Abbasi
  The Politics of Religion

• Regional Expressions of the Divine

  Tanima Chanda, Aneesha Sharma
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Debating Women's Roles in the Catholic Church

  Miguel Glatzer
  The Politics of Religion

• Vulnerability and Vocation

  Claire Wolfteich
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Palliative Sedation

  Jonathan Lambaerts
  Religious Foundations

• Provincializing the Colonial Gaze

  Adam Olowo
  The Politics of Religion

• Sacred Power, Secular Accountability

  Lucy Huh
  The Politics of Religion

• The Income-Religiosity-Happiness Nexus

  Muhammad Ichsan Fadillah
  Religious Community and Socialization

• The Transformative Power of Vulnerability

  June-Ann Greeley
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Sufism Across Cultural Boundaries

  Patrick Laude, Salah Basalamah, Jiri Mesic
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• Commemoration of Ashura

  Maritza Eridania Espejel Pineda
  Religious Foundations

• Morocco's Newest Religious Policy

  Mohammed Lazrak
  The Politics of Religion

• Hydrological Insights from the Ramayana

  Jyoti Yadav
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Igbo Christians and Complexities of Ancestor Worship

  Mary Emilia Aboekwe
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• Ancient Eleusis and Modern Psychedelic Integration Groups

  Walter Ward
  Religious Foundations

• Reacting to the Irrationality Problem

  Ian Waller
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Religion an Alternative to Neoliberal Global Capitalism

  Slimane Douih
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Rethinking Emile Durkheim’s Functionalism of Religion

  Chinyere Nkama
  The Politics of Religion

• Integrating Spiritual Healing Practices and Mental Health Services

  Rebecca Vicente
  Religious Foundations

• An Intersection of Religion and Pillars of the Mongolian Society

  Narantuya Danzan
  The Politics of Religion

• An Oxonian Thriller on which Philosophy Could Replace Religion

  Franco Manni
  The Politics of Religion

• The Case of Shari'ah-compliant Economies in Emerging Religious Markets

  Alessandro Cupri
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Fragility, Forgetfulness, and Failure

  Maroun El Houkayem
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Homelessness in Spiritual Places

  Ratul Roychowdhury
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Resilience and Vulnerability through an Afro-Feminist Lens to Micah 6:1-8 and the Kenya Family Protection Bill (2023)

  Dorcas Chebet Juma
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Reclaiming "Religión Cassera" in Chicanx Art and Spiritual Practice

  Lara Medina
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Courage in Vulnerability as a Psychological Quality and Civic Virtue

  Ivana Ryška Vajdová
  Religious Foundations

• Creating Together

  Hillary Bylund
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Religion and Internet Advertising

  Stover Eduardo Ezequias
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• Affluence and the Economy Behind Oracles - an Experiential Study of Klaros

  Recep Can Mert
  The Politics of Religion

• Mission as Oppression

  Eugene Baron
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Global Education in the Jesuit Tradition

  Laura Spitz, Eduardo Penalver
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• “De-Hinduizing” Indigeneity

  Rashid K Khadher
  The Politics of Religion

• “What You Running From?”

  Shanice Cameron
  Religious Community and Socialization

• A Comparison of the Incidence and Function of Female Prophecy in the Hebrew Bible in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context

  Deborah Gruber
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Plorabunt

  Alberto Melloni
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Therapeutic Potency of the “Holy Mud and Water” in Selected African Initiated Churches in Nigeria

  Goka Mpigi
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Correlations between ESP and Chinese Buddhist Communities

  Yuxin Zhao
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• Uncertainty and Vulnerability

  Juan Dejo Bendezú
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Tong-Il (Korean Unification) Praxis Towards Solidarity, Hospitality and Liberation in Religion

  Eunjoo Kim
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Socio-Economic Vulnerability and Spiritual Vulnerability in the Hebrew Bible

  David Walker
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Fragile Community

  Corey Parish
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Information Structure of the Lord’s Prayer

  Martin Adam
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• The Cult of Vulnerability and Wounds in Medieval Religious Practice and Iconography.

  Edit Ujvari PhD
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• The Vulnerability of Sunda Wiwitan as the Indigenous Religious Practice in Strengthening Religious Education’s Value

  Halim Wiryadinata
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• The Vulnerability of Jewish Patients in Medical Halakhah (Jewish Law)

  Sarah Werren
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Benchmarking the Salience of Religious Influence from a Religious Context

  Kelemu Fenta Gebeyehu
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Churches and Civil Society in Ukraine

  Cyril Hovorun
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Political Consciousness among Adivasis Regarding Sarna Religion

  Kumari Nayak
  The Politics of Religion

• Aztec and Maya Understandings of Christ's Descent from the Cross

  Mark Christensen
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• Frailty and Finitude as Ontological Conditions for Religion

  Ricardo Santos Alexandre
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• The Nexus of Marriage and Religion

  Loren Marks, David Dollahite
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Prophets in Motion

  Yasmeen Aboujabal
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• Culture War

  Francisco Batista
  The Politics of Religion

• Afro-Brazilian Spiritual Belief Systems to Address Racial Disparities in Sickle Cell Disease among Black Brazilians

  Anuli Njoku
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• The Evolution of African Witchcraft as a Response to Misfortune

  Bidi Broderick
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• The Filioque

  Cory Gloeckner
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• Why Do We Say Thanks to God?

  Julianne Bryant
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Megachurches and Public Life

  Joel Agpalo Tejedo
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Sacred Circuitry

  Shawn Fisher
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Religious Extremism and Legal Gaps

  Russell Hoban
  The Politics of Religion

• Military Officers, Command Authority, and Liberal Democracy

  Christopher Eberle
  The Politics of Religion

• Human Rights in Accordance with Islamic Injunction

  Muhammad Irfan, Mohamed Abdallah Turky
  The Politics of Religion

• Bringing the Tabot into the House of the Qaalluu

  Ethan Key
  The Politics of Religion

• Close Encounters of a Different Kind

  Steven Green
  The Politics of Religion

• Nones and Pleasure

  Kevin Grane
  Religious Foundations

• Sacred Sweet Tooth

  Constance Kirker
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Spiritual Religion

  Madhumita Dutta
  The Politics of Religion

• Religious Populism

  Stavroula Koskina
  The Politics of Religion

• Religious and Spiritual Parenting of Teens

  David Dollahite
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Reform or Restore?

  Jason Whitehead
  The Politics of Religion

Innovation Showcase

• Prayer as a Form of Resistance in Times of Social and Political Crisis

  Anjum Shah
  Religious Foundations

• Idols - the Ancient Mnemonics to Preserve Knowledge

  Pramendra Srivastava
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Exploring the Impacts of Self-Compassion on Self-Efficacy in BIPOC Parents

  Aizaiah Yong
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Raising Consciousness

  Cynthia Elliott
  Religious Community and Socialization

• The Creative Uses of Lived Ancient Religion

  Alexis Landau
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

Workshop Presentation

• Giving Patients a Voice

  Franziskus Knoll
  The Politics of Religion

• The Spirituality of Listening with a Narrative Ear

  Paul Butler
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Developing aTheory of Everything with the Foundations of Sanatan Dharma Tested with General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics

  Susheel Kamotra
  Religious Foundations

• Gradations of Deceptions

  Kelston Cort
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• The Missing Link

  Heath Grant
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• How You Represent the Least Among Us, You Represent Him

  Craig Trocino
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Unpacking the Divinity Debate: Jesus and the Demi-Gods

  Essien Oku Essien
  Religious Commonalities and Differences

• Religion, Warfare and Moral Injury

  Mary Brewer
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Spirituality in the Land of Forgetfulness

  Wayne Ewing
  Religious Community and Socialization

• Spiritual Alchemy of the Voice

  Kristina Packman
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

• Fostering Inclusivity and Empathy in Multifaith Classrooms

  Angela Collins
  2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality

Poster Session

• In the World but Not of It

  Tim Smith
  Religious Community and Socialization

• The Role of the Church to Protect Children in Tanzania

  Stephano Nzanga Masuluale
  Religious Community and Socialization

• The Social Reform Theory of Brazilian Liberation Theology in the 1970s and 1980s

  Ran Gao
  The Politics of Religion

The Expanding Category of Religion and Spirituality

Therasa Topete
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Notions of religion and spirituality are shifting in the ever-expanding secular, pluralistic, and global world. Some worldviews fail to conform to familiar definitions of religion and are therefore excluded from the category altogether. When asked for religious identification, many declare atheist, agnostic, or “none” even though this fails to capture their often unique or complex belief systems. Currently, rapid and unprecedented advances in science and technology, along with increased focus on inter-, multi-, and transdisciplinary methodologies, are translating into innovative philosophical and metaphysical systems that challenge the definition of what we call religion. Among these scientific and spiritual innovators, scientific progress and spiritual growth are one and the same. How are these emerging spiritualities similar to or different from traditional theologies? What are the connections being made between religious and scientific belief? How do these new systems of belief constitute new religions or spiritualities? This paper explores cutting edge research at the confluence of science, religion, and spirituality through the methodological lens of Transdisciplinarity. The goal is to nuance dominant perceptions and definitions of science, religion, and spirituality, reveal the fragility and vulnerability of these categories, and recognize the theology of the “nones.”

Fragile Laws, Firm Faith

Rishabh Gandhi
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

The Jain ritual of Equanimous Death, encompassing Sallekhana and Santhara represents a deeply spiritual practice rooted in the ideals of renunciation and mental balance. Revered within Jain philosophy, this practice reflects an unwavering commitment to embracing mortality with serenity and purpose. Yet, as Indian legal systems grapple with balancing the sanctity of life and the freedom of religion, Equanimous Death has come under increasing scrutiny. This ancient tradition raises profound questions about how fragile modern laws can accommodate practices anchored in timeless spiritual truths. Indian jurisprudence, shaped by colonial histories and contemporary ideals, often falters when addressing rituals that blur the boundaries between autonomy, morality, and legality. In this evolving landscape, Equanimous Death offers a unique ethical lens to examine these tensions. It challenges the law’s temporal and ever-changing nature while exposing its inability to fully grasp the spiritual depth of such practices. By exploring landmark legal cases, constitutional principles, and philosophical discourses, this paper investigates how the Indian judiciary navigates this delicate intersection. In a world increasingly influenced by post-truth narratives—where emotional appeals often take precedence over objective reasoning—Equanimous Death demands a reevaluation of the law’s role in a rapidly changing society. Ultimately, this paper reflects on whether modern jurisprudence, shaped by transient social and political forces, can transcend its inherent limitations to honor practices that embody profound ethical and spiritual values. It seeks to provoke thought on the evolving relationship between faith, law, and the human pursuit of transcendence in contemporary India.

Karuna

Berta Saenz
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

I look beyond our immediate cultural tradition to explore how Buddhist thought approaches vulnerability and suffering. This approach is encapsulated in the concept of karuna, commonly translated as "compassion." In Mahayana Buddhism, the most widespread tradition in the West, karuna is a central practice and idea. Karuna is a response—the wisest response, according to Buddhism—to suffering. To understand it, we must first grasp the Buddhist perspective on suffering, harm, and violence. Scholars like Jay Garfield interpret the Buddha Shakyamuni’s First Teaching, the Four Noble Truths, in terms of structural violence. Similarly, David Loy draws bold parallels between the Buddhist concept of the Three Poisons and systemic violence in institutions like markets and militaries. Central to this framework is ahimsa, often translated as “non-violence” but more literally meaning “non-harm.” Compassion arises from a commitment not to add harm to an already suffering world. Stephen Jenkins links compassion to the ethics of non-violence, while Mahayana practices such as the brahmaviharas (Four Immeasurable Thoughts) and the Six Perfections embody the active response to alleviate suffering. The Bodhisattva, exemplified by Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacharyavatara, represents this ideal, embracing suffering and recognizing interdependence (pratityasamutpada). Compassion is seen as the most realistic response to suffering, as no being exists or suffers in isolation. This view challenges arbitrary divisions like wealth, gender, or nationality. Compassion, as both practice and fruit of understanding interconnection, becomes a transformative path toward kindness and resilience in a fragile world.

Witnessing Other Worlds and Tending to Homeplace

Anthony Cruz Pantojas
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

This paper looks to the perspectives of Black feminisms, decolonial thought, and esoterism to develop practices of relational witnessing that upend our liberal humanist framings of religion and spirituality. Relational witnessing evinces ethical, and perhaps, strategically risky opportunities to listen to and affirm the resistant liveliness of those rendered subaltern. This concept of witnessing also contributes to an ontology of interconnectivity and the common towards collective liberation and flourishing. The main question that grounds this paper is: how do we develop witnessing practices that heed the otherwise and metaphysical to instantiate a pluriversal imaginary outside the persistent Regime of Man? Throughout this autoethnographic and reflective treatise, I describe the worldmaking practices of activist-scholars, including my own, within the archive of the otherwise, to better apprehend our social condition and to transform it. This paper also foregrounds the “homeplaces” of activist-scholars from the margins, or sites of creative vitalism.

Commemoration of Ashura

Maritza Eridania Espejel Pineda
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

In the year 680, Imam Hussein and his followers were massacred by the army of Yazid I, in the context of their confrontation for the leadership of the Umma (Islamic Community). Derived from this event, known as the Battle of Kerbala, emerged one of the most important traditions to the Shiism Community, the Ashura. Because of its relevance, for being the historical moment that confirmed the division of Islam into two large currents, the objective of this study is to review a set of characteristics of Ashura (including the history of its emergence); how it is experienced in the context of the Islamic Republic of Iran; and the political and identity implications that accompany this religious holiday. This research is based on the importance of a tradition that is still in force today and seeks to contribute to the field of studies of religious traditions and its links with politics. For this paper it has been necessary to have a documental revision related to the subject and an interpretation of this material. Finally, and preliminary, it is possible to say that the commemoration of this event is one of the best signs of identity among the Shiites in Iran and, also, the best representation of a government considered by itself as the protector of the Umma.

Unpacking the Divinity Debate: Jesus and the Demi-Gods

Essien Oku Essien
Workshop Presentation

This interactive workshop would explore a unique, interdisciplinary approach to a provocative question in comparative religion: Wasn’t the Earthly Jesus a Demi-God? We’ll dive into perspectives from religion, Greek mythology, and modern media to unpack this debate, drawing insights from ancient texts, myth theory, and mediatization theory. Participants will engage with contrasting viewpoints sourced from Greek mythological publications, biblical narratives, and popular screen interpretations, including Netflix’s The Legend of Hercules (2014). This session would use textual analysis and critical discourse techniques, focusing on the New Testament (King James Version) and key Greek myths. Participants will analyze how modern media shapes public perceptions of divinity and myth, comparing ancient portrayals of Greek demi-gods with New Testament depictions of Jesus (with references to Jesus’ images with Catholic-centric and Orthodox ideals). This session provides a hands-on exploration of how ancient and contemporary narratives influence each other, creating fresh insights into ongoing religious and cultural debates. Workshop Outcomes: 1. Gain Comparative Insights: Understand the contrasts and connections between Jesus’ divinity and Greek demi-god narratives. 2. Media Influence Analysis: Assess how platforms like Netflix mediate ancient myths for contemporary audiences. 3. Collaborative Discourse: Engage with peers in analyzing and debating these perspectives, fostering a critical approach to media and religion. The 15th International Conference on Religion and Spirituality in Society presents an ample opportunity to explore in-depth, this timely debate, where ancient history meets modern discourse to shed light on one of comparative religion’s most intriguing questions.

Affluence and the Economy Behind Oracles - an Experiential Study of Klaros

Recep Can Mert
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Drawing from Baumard et al.'s (2015) findings on the connection between Affluence and the Emerging of Ascetic Wisdoms, this presentation aims to combine the already established sensory study of the Oracle at Claros with popularizing Oracle sites, from Archaic to Classical and Rome. In doing so, the paper focuses on the lively experience and its change. Because of its subjective nature, one single entity of a notion of experience cannot be established, but boundaries can be. The Magna Mater findings around Claros, possible Lydian existence through numerous coinage findings in the patron city of Colophon, Persian influence, and the story of exile to Ephesus, while affluence of Colophon was likely, Notion and the connection of the Ionian cities to the Athenian Empire, coming of Roman Empire and establishment of new infrastructure and essential positions, as well as the demise of the Greek Sanctuaries with the rise of Christianity, are all important “macro” events that effect the overall perception and experience of the sacred spaces. Within these terms, the study uses Numismatical and Archaeological evidence, Sensory Archaeology, and Interdisciplinary study to provide a new interpretation and outlook on sacred Spaces in Asia Minor and the Mediterranean. In doing so, the issues of politics and vulnerability are touched upon.

Frailty and Finitude as Ontological Conditions for Religion

Ricardo Santos Alexandre
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Religion has long been argued to exhibit a pragmatic dimension, serving as a mechanism for coping with stress or as a narrative tool to explain phenomena with unknown causes. While both claims hold a great deal of truth, they start one step ahead, addressing only part of the issue. This endorses the classic anthropological problem: to put ‘culture’ in the hands of individuals as if it were a tool, a device, or means to an end. In the case of religion, this perspective may hold in contemporary Western societies, where, as Peter Berger suggested, people can choose whether or not to follow a religion—religion has indeed become at our disposal. However, this objectification of religion as a tool does not hold for most other societies and does not fully capture religion's place in the human condition. In many so-called ethnographic societies, religion is not something apart, handled by individuals, but is deeply embedded in the texture of the socio-cultural existence of individuals. This study draws a preliminary sketch of an ontological approach to religion, highlighting its phenomenological, pre-subjective dimension. It draws on anthropological and ethnographic insights in order to frame ‘vulnerability’ and ‘frailty’ not as attributes of individual lives, but as existential predicates working as conditions of possibility for the religious phenomenon. In doing so, it challenges the notion of religion as merely a functional or explanatory device, seeking instead to reveal its deeper, intrinsic role in human existence.