Tag Archives: Gideon Aran

Gideon Aran: measure of religiosity on a certain dimension

Analysis of the findings of studies that measure the different dimensions of religiosity promotes our understanding of the nature of religion but shows that the measurability itself is a complicated task.

Written By Prof. Gideon Aran

Thus, a measure of religiosity on a certain dimension is not necessarily correlated with the measure on another dimension. This increases the difficulty to compare the religiosity of two individuals or groups in an attempt to determine which one is more religious. Continue reading Gideon Aran: measure of religiosity on a certain dimension

 

Gideon Aran: Research on Religious Variation

The psychology of religion has been dominated by issues of measurement. Not only have psychologists of religion long recognized the importance of good measurement and have placed a high pioity on it.

Written By Prof. Gideon Aran

But in the 1980s a leading specialist in the field pronounced measurement to be the current hegemonic paradigm, that is, the foremost perspective or concern of psychologists of religion (Gorsuch 1984). Continue reading Gideon Aran: Research on Religious Variation

 

The groups that unwavering endeavor to increase their religiosity

Our examination will be limited to the three major monotheistic faiths.

Written By Gideon Aran

Similar to the Ultra-Orthodox Jews are their parallel-competitors in Israel, the right-wing nationalist Orthodox (known by the acronym Hardal), as well as the Muslim Brotherhood in the Sunni countries of the Middle East (e.g., Mitchell 1993; Kepel 2003), the Protestant Bible Believers Evangelists in the United States, Holland, and Germany (e.g., Ammerman 1997), and Catholic groups such as the Italian Communion e Liberazione (Zadra 1994). Continue reading The groups that unwavering endeavor to increase their religiosity

 

Inter and Intra Religious Competitions

Inter- and intra-religious competitions are recognized phenomena. Generally speaking, they are seen as antagonisms revolving around religious “truth,” monopolization of the claim to the original message, possession of the fundamentals (as well as struggles for control over sacred sites and offices.)

Written By Gideon Aran

At times these conflicts escalate to Holy Wars, Religious Wars, Crusades. Jihad, etc. In our case, though, we are speaking of competition between partners who might share a religious doctrine, who do not necessarily have exegetical disagreements or overt rivalries over privileges and positions of prestige and authority. Continue reading Inter and Intra Religious Competitions

 

Gideon Aran – People who make the price tag in Israel are hooligans

According to Gideon Aran: “Please remember, this is basically a group of hooligans, juvenile delinquents who choose their targets randomly, and they switch from Muslims to Christians — and especially Jews; that is actually their main objective: to embarrass the Jewish government and the Jewish leadership in the settlements in the occupied territories. So actually they are randomly choosing their targets.”

To watch the full video click here:


Gideon Aran was interviewing for Euronews about… by professor-Gideon-Aran

 

What Is The Meaning Of “More” Or “Less” Religious?

What is the meaning of “more” or “less” religious, or “very” religious? Is religiosity indeed a variable which may assume various quantifiable values and be compared to values of other religiosities, with the possibility of competition between them?

Written By Prof. Gideon Aran

Is it possible that in addition to horizontal differentiation between types of religiosity according to various criteria (e.g. church – sect), there also exists vertical differentiation based on degree? And what happens when within one social group alternative scales of religiosity evolve? What is the purpose of or motive for distinguishing between superior and inferior levels of religiosity? Continue reading What Is The Meaning Of “More” Or “Less” Religious?

 

Kookism Epilogue – Part 1

It would be safe to say that right from the beginning, the main struggle of the Gush-Emunim movement was focused primarily on the minds of the people and not on the hilltops or the territories they were set to conquer.

Written By Gideon Aran

Prof. Gideon Aran
Prof. Gideon Aran

The Gush-Emunim followers believed that the settlement itself as well as the annexation of the land is simply not enough and so they sought to turn the Religious Judaism into a Kookistik one.

As a matter of fact, they believed that the territorial integrity of the land of Israel is in fact embedded in, or is folded into the Kookisation of the environment. In other words, they believed that the messianic-mystification of the Zionism – as well as the settlement – are one. Continue reading Kookism Epilogue – Part 1

 

Ultra Orthodoxy – high degree religiosity

Adherents to this extreme group, many of its religious opponents, and, curiously enough, secular Jews as well, see in Ultra-Orthodoxy the embodiment of “high-degree religiosity,” or, “religiosity par excellence.”

Written By Gideon Aran 

The notion of being more religious, or very religious, in the eyes of the Ultra-Orthodox as well as among others, gives the former a unique and authoritative standing.

Most Orthodox Jews–of all types–accept this perception, thereby relegating themselves to a lesser religiosity, a somewhat apologetic view of their own level of observance alongside awe for that of their more religious counterparts, one that relates to the religiosity of the latter as a point of reference for which they yearn and according to which they conduct themselves.

Though criticism of the Ultra-Orthodox on a wide range of issues is not uncommon, their supremacy in the religious realm is indisputable and the admiration they receive from other Jews is undeniable. Even those labeled Modern Jews whose lives are guided by “enlightened” values are ambivalent in their feelings toward the Ultra-Orthodox.

When Modern (neo) Orthodox Jews in Israel, especially those who are regarded as maintaining a “feeble” religiosity, wish to embark on a path toward greater religious observance, they essentially are on a journey to becoming Ultra-Orthodox. This phenomenon is known as hitchazkut (strengthening).

Taken from “On Religiosity and Super-Religiosity: Measures of Radical Religion”, By Prof. Gideon Aran

 

Gideon Aran : Degrees of Religiosity

It is said that some people are religious, some are very religious, and some even more so.  This might sound ridiculous, strange or outrageous to many. Not so for various religious groups, including Orthodox, and particularly Ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Written By Gideon Aran 

The Ultra-Orthodox community of Jews in Israel is regarded as representing anything from paragon to radical religiosity. This stands in contradistinction to standard religiosity, which conventional wisdom hold is moderate and civilized, related to the establishment, and mainstream.

 

While a large proportion of Israeli Orthodox is in fact located in the range of “normal” religiosity, only a minority among them are truly emancipated from a charged position towards the Ultra-Orthodox (and the secular). According to idiomatic diagnosis, local Jews are either chazir trefe or meshuge frum.

Translated from Yiddish, they are either abhorred piggish filth eaters (as far as you can go in the violation of kashrut), or, in contrast, crazy punctilious ritualizers. Some mainstream religious Israelis are frustrated by the polar alternatives conceived as abomination and madness. A genuine solid conception of ideal religiosity as a matter of middle way is much less prevalent than could be expected.

Taken from “On Religiosity and Super-Religiosity: Measures of Radical Religion”, By Prof. Gideon Aran