A multifaceted and broad field of phenomena is created at the crossroads of the rise of digital culture and the religious realm. This conference session, held at a conference in 2006, indicates the initial directions formed in the study of this emerging fascinating field.
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?"
What is the appropriate way for a sceintific study on issues of spirit and spirituality? In a session organised by Ruah-Midbar in the annual conference of the Israel Soceity for the History and Philosophy of Sceince, six speakers from different disciplines dealt with this question.
"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".
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.
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".
"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.
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.
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.
The nature of the society's response to new religious movements actually illumonates us on the society itself. For example, in the U.K. and the U.S., the cults were mainly accused of brainwashing; in the U.S., they were also held responsible for the breakdown of the family and various economic crimes; in France, NRMs were portrayed as engaging in political plots and subverting the secular French nationality (Laïcité), which mandates separation between religion and state; in Germany, NRMs were presented as failing to make their national insurance payments and as a danger to democracy; in Japan, they were suspected of harming young people’s chances of succeeding in the workforce. And what about Israel? A study of the reports written by governmental bodies regarding "cults" serves us as to analyse the Israeli society, its major values, processes and transformations.