Disputation or conflict

Read more about the article Article: Worldviews in the Film “Noah” – Hedonism, Fundamentalism, and Ecofeminism
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Disputation or conflict / Feminism gender and sex / Judaism and Kabbalah / Myth / Popular culture and mass media

Article: Worldviews in the Film “Noah” – Hedonism, Fundamentalism, and Ecofeminism

"We broke the world — we did this. Man did this. Everything that was beautiful, everything that was good, we shattered. Now, it begins again." (Noah's words, from the film) In this article we interprate the film Noah (2014), and identify various cultural/ spiritual/ religious worldviews that clash in the contemporary western society: a hedonistic-materialistic approach, religious and enviromental fundamentalism, and eco-feminism. We show how the film maker, Daren Aronofsli, express through the protagonist, Noah, the problematicalness in the various cultural stances, when the plot leads its hero thorugh a transformational process.

Comments Off on Article: Worldviews in the Film “Noah” – Hedonism, Fundamentalism, and Ecofeminism
November 30, 2022
Read more about the article Lecture: One Can’t Expect Objective Academic Research on Contemporary Spiritualities
Critical theory / Disputation or conflict / Education and higher education / Postmodernism / Science/medicine and technology / State politics and law

Lecture: One Can’t Expect Objective Academic Research on Contemporary Spiritualities

In the postmodern condition, it's already cleae that there is no objective academic research. This is all the more truer when the research object is culturally disputed. Thus, one shouldn't expect New Age scholars to have no interests or agendas. This lecture surveys the public debates regarding the New Age in which its scholars are involved, and inquires the leaning and predispositions of the cintemporary research discourse of the field. It's full title was: "What Should One Expect When One Can’t Expect Objective Academic Research on Contemporary Spiritualities?"

0 Comments
November 28, 2022
Read more about the article Lecture: What is Hypnosis? A Critical Inquiry in Light of the Scientific Disputes
Critical theory / Disputation or conflict / Israel / Mind and psychology / Science/medicine and technology / State politics and law

Lecture: What is Hypnosis? A Critical Inquiry in Light of the Scientific Disputes

"There's no finding the border between acting and hypnotizing" - thus is said in an Israeli verdict in the case of White accused in using hypnosis while violating the law. If the Israeli law forbids using hypnosis (except of limited cases), and one doesn't know why actually hypnosis is - how can the law be enforced?! The lecture deals with the juristic and enforcemental problematicalness in Israel, in light of studying the sceintific discourse that has a "hard time" agreeing on the definition of "hypnosis".

0 Comments
November 21, 2022
Read more about the article Lecture: “Between Meron and Ashkelon: The Comeback of an Old Witch-Hunt Story”
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Disputation or conflict / Feminism gender and sex / Geography / History / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Magic and paganism / Myth / Popular culture and mass media

Lecture: “Between Meron and Ashkelon: The Comeback of an Old Witch-Hunt Story”

This lecture opens with the Neo-Shamanism in Israel, and presents two modes in which the local alternative spirituality approaches Judaism - positively and negatively. The lecture focuses on the demonstration of a negative connection with Judaism, in an Israeli Neo-Shaman text. The text is an alternative nrrative of a rabbinic legend of a witch hunt conducted by one of the Rabbis in Ashkelon in the days of the Hasmonean Kingdom. The text was analysed in a few publications (one in English) . The lecture took part at a conference in Zefat Academic College.

0 Comments
June 1, 2022
Read more about the article Lecture: Science as Religion – The Scientific Discourse of Hypnosis and Its Correlation with Religious and Spiritual Phenomena
Critical theory / Disputation or conflict / Mind and psychology / Science/medicine and technology / State politics and law

Lecture: Science as Religion – The Scientific Discourse of Hypnosis and Its Correlation with Religious and Spiritual Phenomena

What is "hypnosis"? It seems we all know the answer… but - do we indeed? In this research the sceintific discourse (of hypnosis) becomes an object of critical examination. It appears that the scientific controversy revolvong the simple question of "what hysnosis is" is so fierce, that in fact the answer isn't clear at all. Actually, the spiritual-religious sphere is a "significant other" that influences the formation of the sceintific discourse. The sceintific definitions bear significat implications both on the therapuetic aspect and the public and legal ones. The lecture's title at the conference was: "Science as Religion – A Critical Outlook at the Scientific Discourse of Hypnosis and Its Correlation with Religious and Spiritual Phenomena".

0 Comments
February 9, 2022
Read more about the article Column: “Oriental” is not Necessarily Authentic
Critical theory / Disputation or conflict / Education and higher education / Geography / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Myth

Column: “Oriental” is not Necessarily Authentic

"G-d came from Sinai, and rose from Seir unto them" (Deuteronomy 33:2) This column deals (in Hebrew) with the "easternization of the west" thesis, and its implication to Israeli search for the East. This small piece holds some complex critical moves, and makes some scholarly questions available, along with their relevance to contemporary western, and Israeli, life.

0 Comments
February 6, 2022
Read more about the article Article: Historians as Storytellers – A Critical Examination of New-Age Religion’s Scholarly Historiography
Critical theory / Disputation or conflict / Education and higher education / History / Methodology and models / Myth / Science/medicine and technology

Article: Historians as Storytellers – A Critical Examination of New-Age Religion’s Scholarly Historiography

It seems the past is not fixed, but rather ever-changing. This study isn't about the history of New Age religion, but rather a critical analysis of the history sceince as it manifests in the scholarly discourse on the history of New Age.

0 Comments
January 17, 2022
Read more about the article Lecture: Israeli Government Reports on “cults” – a critical study
Disputation or conflict / History / Identity / Israel / Popular culture and mass media / State politics and law / Typology and comparative study

Lecture: Israeli Government Reports on “cults” – a critical study

A critical study of the struggle revolving "cults" in the Israeli society, through an analysis of formal Israeli reports - lectures on the subject of this research project featured in various forums (in English and Hebrew), and some articles were published in this project's framework.

0 Comments
January 17, 2022