E-raamat: Analysing Religious Discourse

"Analysing Religion Discourse: Introduction Stephen Pihlaja 1.1 Background, history, and key terms When you think about religious discourse, you probably think of some kind of institutional text or talk - sermons and catechisms, sacred books, prayers, and hymns. Institutions dominate what we think religions are, how we think about them, and how religious belief is established and develops. The people writing religious texts are often revered and seen to be holding special knowledge - prophets and theologians and the enlightened. They might wear clothes to set them apart. They might write or stand and speak to religious believers from a physical distance. Their words can be seen as inspired or infallible, or even the very words of the divine. The texts themselves also have power. They can invoke a reality beyond what we can see and they connect the hearer to something beyond themselves, to something ineffable. The words of these texts have power even when they are referred to in passing. The very mention of them has meaning, like a sport fan holding a sign that simply says 'John 3:16'. They have power to make believers act, like when the call to prayer draws people to the neighbourhood mosque. The language of religion, when it is used, changes things"--