Unitarian and Social Studies

Dirty Temple of the Holy

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 19:41:00 +0000

Our body is a temple , as many would say , it should be kept away from harm's way, for ever to be clean and filled with light and purity.

The doctrine of purity was many times in the hands of ones who could not understand it .

It wasin the hands of ones who could not live up to it. If purity is a temple , then it is our duty to keep its walls free or dirt and desecreation .

This purity is not a reflection of abstinence from earthly things , immoral things , this is abstinence from all that is outside the realm of love and compassion , everything that is outside this vast realm should be the subject of abstinence , everything that is the subject of judgement and projudice should be the subject of abstinence.

When it comes to our thought process , filters are hard to install , walls are hard to build but with a lot of self control if can be done.

But is our dirtyness so ugly? If we think about it , it's just a relevant peace of a past that we must own.

Scars are there and many times they can not be erased , temples have scars on their walls too which makes their beauty even more natural , even more uniqued , adding plasticity and texture to their well carved shapes.

Purity dose not express physical perfection or the lack of flaws in someone's soul , but rather our ability to understand and cope with the tenebrous, turning hopelessness in to a statement of our passing through life.

Temples are monuments , homes and shelters for gods that we gave birth to , we built them roofs so that their stone skin won't get wet , we put candles so they won't stay in the dark , we made rituals in order to fill their dead ego with even more nothingness.Our temple is full of the light of days that passed over us , light that brings heavyness in the ear above us , building the needed space for a cript.

My temple is filled with the nothigness of the material , with the obsession for other's thoughts.

My temple and your temple is not filled with holliness , my temple is filled with fall leafs . My temple is filled with statues of saints with no name ...crowns of thin silver on their head they have.

My temple is filled with cripts with no light ...'cause my temple is to filled with anything that's wanted by others.

Within this old walls sin trives and humanity feeds on it , it's filled with mortality and not with eternal life.
My temple is somewhere in the narrow streets of a little town , next to a river , next to a hill .

Temple wall won't reflect in river waters , won't shine in the light of the morning sun . This temple home to all , is home to the pure human with his bag of flaws and regrets.

Jonathan's Morals

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 07:48:00 +0000

So did Johnathan go down the road with his everlasting enthusiasm that could be spotted from the shine of his eyes.

He walk gently down the main street of the midwestern town that served as a home for him and his family for many past generation , and hopefully , for many generations to come.

Johnathan is your regular middle age man from this land , nothing special about him , but he has a sharp mind that can not be ignored.

His thougts are sharp and well put together, being this way as a result of his early training in Sunday School where he discovered how to take a verse and use it in the construction of a argument.

Some would say that he's your typical christian man that will never break the strict lines of christian morality ,some say that his sharp mind will make him question all that is at one point.

Did he try to fit in to what people seem to think is moral?Jonathan seems to praise on christian morality but in the same time he leaves the necesary room for other's ideas and opinions .

He dose not trive on other's misery , he dose not judge others for their actions. When you look at him you don't see closed doors , you see only ones that are open with a soft summery breeze coming through.There's no heavyness in his speach , there's no harshness in his words .

Did he found his soft speach in a christian book ?

How can he live in a world like this and still be free of judgement?

Maybe his lack of judgment comes from his love of people , from his hope in humanity and for better days to come. He is the best preacher of the land , his sermons lift the spirit of all present in the church's sanctuary , filling their hearts with the needed hope to go once more through a day that may have prepared for them quite a few obstacles. Should we follow Jonathan's steps ?

Or each one of us has a Jonathan hidden deep in one of the corners of our mind? I'll let yo'll to find that our for yourselves!

From Mississippi to the Lowlands

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 12:16:00 +0000

Books are more then papers that have words put on them , they are gates to worlds that we can't find for ourselves , worlds that are constructed from codes and expressions , from images and characters that come to life as we browse through the pages. Do to our modesty and fear , we hasitate to go on a journey to lands that we never been before , but we try to compensate all of this with the stories written on the pages of our favorite books.
A good author can teleport you in the middle of the action through his fine selection of words which build sceneries and characters out of thin air.A place that I always had a fascination for was the Deep American South with is conservative and colorful culture that spreads on both banks of the great Mississippi river.
The Low Lands of the Mississippi is a place of true mysticism given by the rich vegetation of the swamps that decorate the region and by it's rudimentary lifestyle that the people of the place are still following the ways of their ancestors.The ones who made of focal point of their works the portreyal of the cultural heritage of the region managed to highlight the conservation of some linguistic and cultural traits that the early european colonists had and were lost in other regions of the US.
A land that was not deprived of its rich vegetation , Mississippi Low Lands are a homogeneous mixture of water and soild which stood as a foundation for both the europeans who came here in the search for a better life and for the natives who worshiped their ancestral gods on the vast plains of the Mississippi. This place welcomed both the old and the new gods , little modest wooden churches can be seen in every town of this southern state , they are a place a devotion to the Lord , they are places around which community life revolves.
The architectural modesty of the worship buildings is meant to balance them with the exuberant forests and waterlands that fill the plains of the Magnolia State , a walk through this Jesusland can show you the high spiritual charge that fills the air , having as source both the white and native devotion to the Higher Being.Water is a element with a high charge of symbolism , being both a physical and spiritual cleanser in many human cultures . Its presence in a overwhelming quantity makes the hollyness of the land to expand in a breath taking atmosphere of Christian morality and modesty.
Going down the old water way , bridges try to connect what should be naturally divided , streching their bodies across the dirty waters , from one river bank to the other , in a great succession of monumental man made structures. The scenery is natural and repetitive , filled with greens in the sprind ans summer and with rusty oranges and brown during fall . The montony of the scenery is broke from time to time by the white towers of the baptist colonial churches that rise above the natural vegetation wall that guards of the Mississippi.
The general atmosphere is that of a welcoming poverty , being relateable to most of people in some way , the little towns of Mississippi lay in their undistrubed rythem of life that is centered around a few basic values that never go out of fashion for the locals. Being the heart of the Deep South , this land of Mississippi is covered by Bible pages and chant books for most of the outsiders , it has fancy church lady hats with magnolias on top ...but is there more to this land then what we see with a outsider's eyes.
Browsing through the history of the Magnolia , we see in front of us a land with a history that is rooted in to the original spirit of the American Continent . A history that claims a rich material and spiritual culture , a culture that goes back to the precolonial period to the european colonization , the Civil War and the Modern Era.
A culture that is multidimensional , multehtnic and multiracial in its most deepest nature.Sing of a history marked by slavery can be seen even today , they were conserved in both material and immaterial form .Some say it's a land that is blessed , some say that it's cursed , depeding on what perspective they are looking at it.
One thing can be sure , the land of Mississippi tries to make us understand that the best way to live life is through simplicity and communion with Nature , through love to borth man made and natural elements that create our immediate environment. Books and other writtings opened my eyes to this interesting land of the Deep South , a world that is worth discovering peace by peace.

House of Wallachia. Nobility in white

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 18:59:00 +0000

For some , a house is just a pack of brick , wood and glass that put together is meant to protect us from the forces of nature .

This idea is more popular nowadays then in the old day when when nana and papa were living , for their generation , a house is not just a soulless collection of walls , windows and door ...a house is a shrine , is a altar , is the most sacred space that a family can have.

Do to this reason , people would construct homes with all kind of complex and unique shapes and designs in order to leave their mark on what would become a sacred space dedicated to family life.

All around the world , homes were designed in such a way that they will satisfy the needs of the family and of the community . We can see that architecture was following two distinct coordonates that were represented by the needs of the family and the requirements of the community.

A good example in this way would be the homes from the fortified german cities of Central Europe , they had to satisfy the needs for a sustaining a healthy family life - translated in to the house layout , room sizes , window size and positioning , etc - and the requirements of the community which translate in to the well integration of the house in the local and general city planning , from both a functional and a stylistic perspective.

The same thing can be said about the traditional house of Wallachia , its ability to mix in together this two criteria made it not only functional (for the time in which the style was popular) but also stylish and elevated.

The traditional wallachian house , also called neoromanian or brancoveneasca , is a interesting mixture of elements and functional concepts that come to consolidate the fact that the Romanians from Wallachia have strong historical roots that connect their culture to some of the cultures that were present in he region in past times , going back so far to Antiquity.

When we want to talk about the traditional house of Wallachia we must take some aspects in to consideration : a)the neoromanian is a style that was born in this region but there were other arhiectural vernecular styles prior to its birth - even if they are more primitive in borth configuration and style ; b) neoromanian (brancovenesc) is a style that became popular under the rule of Constantin Brancoveanu , it became the signature style of the region , becoming popular in both urban and rural settlements .

The traditional wallachian house impresses through its interesting way of configurationg its exterior volumes which usually translate visually in to mix of cubic and cuboid bodies perforated by arched window , porches and galleries. The arches are supported columns which vary in shape and decorations : from cilindrical to square , from simplistic to highly decorated. The focal point usually is represented by the comun's head which usually is decorated with motives inspired by vegetal elements. The general aspect is monumental which is usually given both by the hight and by the thickness of the walls , brick being the only material used.

A other game that architects played while designing wallachian houses is the contrast between volumes with many opening (widows,porches , galleries and doors) and ones who had very few or none at all (blind volumes).

This way the house could easly have highlighted its points of interest. Above all the wallachian house is a symbol of spirituality of byzantine roots , the style was first used for religious buildings (churches and monesteries) and was later adopted to lay buildings too. Even so , many of its general lines still follow some of the patterns of the Romanian Easten Orthodox arhitecture , this way , the wallachian house takes the shape of a true temple of devotion to God and the family.

We must mention that the style has two variantions , one of which is used in the urban areas and one that is used in the rural ones.The rural style is more symplistic and is more poor in decorations , but all of this is compensated by a clever combination of light and heavy volumes.

The floor plan can vary even in this case , the most simple would consist in a three room compartimentation in a rectangural plan . The urban style is characterized by a higher complexity , decorations and configuration of volumes .

The floorplan layout differs too and it was later on influenced even by western functionalism.The color schemes for the exterior mainly consist of neutral tones , white being mainly used for the exterior walls and other neutral colors for accents , woodwork and decorations.

Rural interiors would be mainly modest and netural in colors schemes , accent are represented by colorsful wall carpets made by the women of the house or by religious objects such as icons and candles.

As a conclussion to our short review of the traditional wallachian house we can state that the this style who has roots in the byzantine style managed to outline its own personality which played a important role in the culture of the region , contributing greatly to the way in which art is handles and translated in to architectural elements and motives.

Wind blows through Wallachia

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 18:16:00 +0000

In the dusty corn fields of the Great Plain you can see from time to time some redish roofs that rise above and above in order to signal you the presence of a human settlement.Lonely and with no real connection to the real world , the little corn filed villages run thier daily life in a undistrubed routine that seems never-ending.

Highways ignore them , people looking for some fun do the same , it seems they are not able or not willing to give up their centuries old practices for a more modern life style.

The little home have a plain and flat shape , nothing that could ever make them likeable in any way . The horrible image of flatness and lack of style is broken by the towers of the white wallachian style church that rises above the roofs of town houses , the whiteness together with the shine of the metal roof radiate light through the dusty corner of the village.

Moving our eyes from the village center , we go to the field that is all around , the picture is animated by the sound of the tractor engines and the rusty trailers that they carry around. Having a funny but progressive work style , the people from the corn fields have a remarcable knowledge of the soild and of the land their standing on.

Only one who knows all of this can be successful when it comes to turning a empty land in to a agricultural heaven .

From time to time the little village from the corn field is awaken by a celebration , a worship or anything of that nature.

Curious people run hurried to the village center where the church hoasts a one of a kind event in the life of the typical wallachian peasent : the wedding.

A wedding , a ceremony or a ritual , even a grand show as others would tell , meant to impress , to shock , to impress again and to make one fit in to the lines that his community created and is not willing to break.

The bride wears a queenly shaped dress , a true royal of the wallachian corn filed , ingaging in the traditional dance along with her guests in the church on a indecently hot day of late august . Nobody has a problem when it comes to having a little fun and breaking the unnatural silence that covers the village for most of the time .

As fall is taking control over the vast fields of Eastern Wallachia , the sun flowers start slowly to touch the ground , giving their farwell kiss to the soil that feed them during the summer season before they die , leaving the fields empty playgrounds for the harsh winds that will soon come on this land.The fields turn their greenish shade for a rusty one , dark lights fill the skies , foretelling the harsh winter that is about to come .

The little villages from the now empty fields seem more inroverted then ever , smoke from the chimneys fill the air with a welcoming smell .

Not even the tractors don't do their regular job , they are put to rest in the garage , not to be distrubed until spring comes. The life of the little corn field village and its people is one dominated by very few colors ,not being a ideal for anybody but holding a big concentration of authenticity in its own way.

Oklahoma's flag: A place for Nature and Natives

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 09:42:00 +0000

Flags have been around for ages , they depict through colors , shapes and symbols the cultural heritage of a group (ethnic , religious , professional) , city , state or territory. It is not uncommon for a flag to be changed a few times over the course of history , this step being made when it dose not depict the current state in which the people that are served by it are.It is quite common when a national flag is changed after a revolution or when a new political doctrine becomes more popular and the current flag comes in conflict with it . All the states of the former communist block from Eastern Europe changed their flags as a result of their transition from a socialist to a democtratic regime .The flag that we will be taking a look at now is the flag of the state of Oklahoma.This flag is a very good example on how the historical and cultural background of a land can be translated in to shapes , colors and symbols. To understand it even better we must take a closer look on the historical , cultural and physical characteristics of the state of Oklahoma.When you think of Oklahoma the first image that comes in to our mind is the image of wildness , wind and endless fields and farmlands. This is not a picture of underdevelopment and primitivism as some would like to call , but rather , a image of harmony and respect for man's original home : nature. Nature is worshiped and valued in this land , being the foundation on which both the white and native american population built in time their cultural identity. The Oklahoman flag is a wonderful blend of both native american and european symbols that put together create a bold statement on the cultural and rasial duality of the state. The blue background symbolizes devotion , this cam be understood in to ways : devotion to the land or devotion to the traditional culture , language and religion. The coat of arms is in the central part of the flag , being made from a ciruclar shied with brown crosses on it and feathers hanging from the lowe side , a olive branch and a calumet. The crosses symbolize the stats , the olive branch symbolizes the white european population of the state , the olive branch being a very old european symbol , having its roots in acient greek culture.The calumet is the symbol of the native americans from Oklahoma , the calumet is a traditional native american instrument , made from wood , used in many religious and nonreligious ceremonials. The color scheme is also very well put together , being composed mainly by colors that are frequently found in nature as browns , greens , blues , white and red. The color selection together with the symbols create a repsentative portrayal of the oklahoman cultural and natural heritage. This way the state becomes a greate advocate for the preservation of the US natural heritage and also for the preservation of the culture of the native populations which had sinificant impact on the nation's history.

Rurual typologies in South Dobrudja

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 09:12:00 +0000

RURAL TYPOLOGIES IN SOUTH DOBRUDJA(I)

ABSTRACT


Orthodox church in the hamlet of Furnica Source : Romanian Orthodox Church Archives

South Dobrudja is characterized by its sparsely populated territory and a semiarid climate which translates in to high temperatures during the summer time that lead to the apparition of draught .

The dominant agricultural character outlined a stencil for the communities of this region , not being radically different from the one of other agricultural communities from near by regions but în the same time showing a collection of interesting particularities.

This section of the historic province of Dobrudja has been the subject of a number a social changes which left their marks on the psycho-social and physical configuration of many rural settlements.

The changes that we bring in to discussion here have as main cause the deep economic depression that the region is facing for more then two decades , this is leading in the near future to the depopulation of many villages , thus , breaking the social-economic balance of the region .

Every settlement that we find in South Dobrudja shares the features of a certain rural typology , this features have as source the evolution patterns and maximum points .

Rural typologies can be defined in a variety of ways , depending what aspects of rural life are highlighted . In this study , the concept aims to create a theoretical platform for three dimensions of rural life :a) the human factor , all aspect regarding daily life, ritualism, conceptions and values ; b) vernecular architecture ; c) labour and traditional professions .

The combination of this aspects generate images of rural typologies , the variety of typologies is generated by the content of factors , the different crossings between this three created the solid typologies that we will analyse .

From a exclusive psycho-sociologic point of view ,rural typologies can take a one dimensional approach , referring to the most representative psychic portraits found in certain rural environment. This second perspective being closely linked to concept of cultural stereotype.

The usage of typologies in the sociological analysis of this communities make the translation in to theory of data easier , even though , some villages can be fitted in same typology , the matches are possible only by generalization,each community sharing a number of particularities that gives every village its unique identity .

Ranging from villages with a radial structure with a predominant romanian population and a local economy based on agriculture to villages with a heterogeneous structure (hamlets) with a predominant turkish population and a mixed economy based on agriculture and the raising of animals.

South Dobrudja is outlined as a result of this mixture of factors its own demographic , cultural and economic frame which derives in to the following keywords : hills , rocky valleys , depopulation , changes in toponymy , vernecular architecture,natural resources,moral depression , migration , colonization , aridity , draught , bilingual .

INTRODUCTION

Coroana village church | Source : R.O.C. Archives

Romanian culture is characterized as belonging to the rural world , the culture of South Dobrudja isn't very different in this aspect , the village being the place of birth of material and immaterial cultural relics.

The unique characteristics of this region are given by a number of factors , such as : land forms , hydrographic network , agriculture , traditional professions , ethnic structure , linguistic structure and degree of isolation .

This factors play a fundamental role în outlining the rural typologies that we will be working with in this study , the typology formation is conditioned by repetition of a combination of factors in a number of villages from the region .

Rural typologies – theoretic platform : Is a theoretic concept which attempts to explain the different developmental patterns found in rural areas , the reasons behind the existence of similar development patterns between rural settlements from the same region . This patterns are not useful only the historical researches , they have a practical usage in the design of public policies by the public institutions from the region , the patterns give answers list and explain the correlation between events , resources and the human factor which has as result a certain social-economic state at a given time. Rural patters also play a prediction role , rural settlements with similar development patterns in the past more likely will share similar development patterns for the future.

Rural typologies can be linked , to a certain degree , to cultural stencils and stereotypization . This is do to the fact that they must neglect certain particular characteristics which would make impossible the design of a theoretical platform if taken in to account. This particularities are important components of a settlement's individual identity , they are important to be taken in to account in studies which have aș subject only one rural settlement but they are taken out of use when we are talking about studies that are made at a regional scale.

In this study will be listed the different rural typologies of South Dobrudja , the factorial combination that lead to their design , development patterns and psycho-social portraits of the peasants of South Dobrudja. The rural settlements (villages , hamlets and farming communities) that will make the subject of the study are situated south of the Danube-South Agigea Canal with the addition of the commune of Cumpana and the village of Lazu (Agigea commune).

A interesting feature of the region is the presence of depopulated settlements and of ones that will be depopulated in the near future do to deep economic depression , aged population and poor of access to basic utilities .

I. Research area

I.1.Delimitation of the research area

Dobrudja is divided , from a cultural point of view , in to three enities : a) North Dobrudja , comprising half of Tulcea county , having its limit south of town of Babadag ; b) Central Dobrudja , comprising the the settlements south of Babadag and north of the Tasaul Lake , easy to identify with the territory of the Plateau of Central Dobrudja ; c) South Dobrudja , comprising the area of the homonymous plateau .

In some contexts , the area of South Dobrudja is formed by the Plateau of South Dobrudja from Romania and the north-east of Bulgaria , also named Cadrilater. When referring to the region in the context of balkan and european history , the territory of Dobrudja situated between romanian borders is referred to as North Dobrudja and the bulgarian section as South Dobrudja.

As mentioned în the lines above , the study area dose not comprise the whole territory of South Dobrudja , it is limited on the north by the Danube-South Agigea Canal with the addition of the commune of Cumpana and the village of Lazu (Agigea commune) , to the south by the bulgarian border , to the east by the Black Sea and to the west by the Danube.

The area between the canal and the Central Dobrudja delimitation line was ruled out do to its high level of urbanization and industrialization.

I.2. General characteristics

When referring to the characteristics of this research area it is necessary to group them în to two classes : a) physical characteristics , those referring to the terrain , land forms and hydrographic network ; b) social-economic characteristic , those referring to the ethnicities , regional languages , religious structure together with aspects of economic life : professions , agriculture , trade and the job market .

From a geographic perspective , South Dobrudja is described as plateau region with more proeminent land form in the south and and south-west sector . The south and south sector is abundant in rocky valleys, semipermanent rivers , derele and chalk hills. Derelele are a signature mark of the region , being semipermanent rivers with a very low flow and muddy water which drain in to the lagoons or lakes next to the Black Sea or Danube.

The richness of chalk from the region left a significant mark on the vernecular architecture , the traditional house in many of the region's rural settlements being made of chalk blocks .

South Dobrudja has a predominant agricultural character , having a impact on the structure of the human communities there , all of them being permanent with insignificant population fluctuations during the year.

Social-economic aspects include significant issues with the access to basic utilities , depopulation of many settlements , moral depression , high birth rates in poor families and poor access to primary and secondary education .

II.South dobrudjan rural typologies

1. Radial and semiradial typology - This configuration is characterized by a focal in the village's plan , the focal point is usually is the church area where a semnificative part of the village's social life is concentrated . South Dobrudja has a number of villages that have a semiradial , it is hard to talk about a perfect radial plan which implies that all the road from within the village would have their meeting point in the church square. Even so , examples of villages with semiradial plan are found in the region , this configuration is associated exclusively to villages . Hamlets and farming communities have linear configuration , this preference is motivated by the different dimension that social life takes in a settlement that is not constantly inhabited or that has significant population shifts during the year- analogy to farming communities . Villages have a bigger need for a solid social life which is expressed through gatherings , secular celebrations , weddings , funerals and religious celebrations , thus , in some cases the existence of well define villages center is needed.

1.1. Radial and semiradial typology - This type of typology is found in a number of villages from the region , it is characterized by a homogeneous layout with a focal point which acts as a meeting point for at least half of the streets. The focal point of the layout is in many cases the church area which can also incorporate the commune hall (if the village is the commune capital) and other important buildings for the community's life - the village store , the cultural center , the bar , etc. In some cases , the village center acts as a junction point for only a few streets , in others , it can open up to half of the village's streets. This typology is associated with settlements from the flat terrains of the region . The valleys and hills sectors not giving the possibility of developing a well defined layout. Examples of south dobrudjan villages with a semiradial typology include Darabani (Dauluchioi) and Dumbraveni (Hairam-Chioi).

1.2. Prominent church square typology - It can be associated with the semiradial typology but it can be associated with other typologies , being rather a typology characteristic then a typology on its own . It is centered around a imposing church , many of which are built in the byzantine wallachian style with a big central tower and two smaller ones of the main facade. This architectural type became popular in Dobrudja after the end of the ottoman period when many of the villages of South Dobrudja romanians started to settle . Some villages conserved their ottoman age churches which are more modest in style and in size.

1.3. Hamlet typology - Is a representative type of settlement for the region , being characterized by a very small number on inhabitants , usually being formed by a few households. Unlike villages , hamlets had a small size from their foundation day , usually the inhabitants being the descendants of one or two families. The hamlets of South Dobrudja face major challenges in this century , struggling with issues as very poor or no access at all to basic utilities and education . They are isolated do to their lack of access to any major national or county road which inhibits their future development , most of them are predicted to disappear in the following decades. In the romanian administrative system the notion of "hamlet" is not longer used in order to distinct this type of settlements from others , on paper , they are labelled as villages even though they have a lot of particularities which villages do not have. Hamlets from South Dobrudja : Furnica, Coroana , Magura , Curcani and Strunga.
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Grey Strip . Urban Decay

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 09:55:00 +0000

Nowadays people fear to go back to their primitive roots , to erase from their minds the overly rigid stencils that the modern industrialized society seeded in their minds.

The lack of simplicity and naturalness can be noticed through the rejection of vegetation and natural unsystematized development. Our quest for the systematization of our living environment is a secondary product of our fear of everything that goes beyond our control.

Modern doctrines in Economy tend to measure the development through the degree of productivity from all the economical sectors , high levels of economic stability are translated in to urban development , in some cases , did in a balanced manner , in others , it was the subject of chaos and distortion .

The city dwellers live in the after glow of the age of urban rebirth , having as representative images massive urbanization , rural assimilation , agricultural mechanization and formation of the working class. Imposing tower buildings crippled by uninspired rehabilitation works , quarters disintegrated in urban decay and rusty iron framed markets .

At the balcony of one of the towers , a girl looks down on the colorless layout of the quarter , she sees the rush of the intersection alternated with the solemnity of the cemetery nearby .

A alternation of color and noncolor , plays peacefully before her eyes , managing to coalesce in to a representative picture of postindustrialism .

Rows and rows of boxy buildings rise before her eyes , giving the illusion of a almost perfect geometric repetition .

Spaces with no particular function , squeezed between building , factories , road and prayer house ...break the sultry symmetry .

The greyish tints of the concrete walls force upon us the feeling of sterility and dryness , the cracked walls give more dimension to the flatness of the urban landscape.

Some shapes try to reinterpret traditional models , styles and textures but with addition of a easy to tolerate 70's kitsch.
Aesthetic traditionalism is just a other volume with no interior matter , being hard to integrate even toned down traditional architectural elements in to the flatness of constructions .

As dawn assimilates the Grey Strip , redness stains the volumes of the buildings , creating delicate patterns , textures and shapes. If we strip this design of all its artificial elements would it still fit the image of conventional beauty? Do mask are intended to hide our uglyness or to hide or true self , or do they make us fit more easily to to social stencils ? That's something that we must think about ...

Concrete Eternal

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Sat, 12 Jul 2014 17:28:00 +0000

Winds blows slowly trough the narrow alleys , peace , neutral colors and harmony dominate the flat landscape .

The beauty of the cemetery lays in its unpretentious nature , its modesty and in its ability to make all those within it seem equal. Light is penetrating through the leaves of the dense vegetation which gives the needed touch of color for this simplistic picture , the feeling of nothingness has infested the ear .

Even so , this is not a formula for hazard , its rather a formula for harmony , its the nothingness that clears your mind of fears and worries .

The old stones have the dust of decades or even centuries on them , wind blows on and on , through the narrow paths , through pots with withered flowers , through the broken mausoleum windows .

Overlooked by the rusty buildings of the industrial era , by the busy streets next by , by the trash from over the thick concrete fences . In this perfect picture of urban decay the grave stones try to rise above the cemetery , slowly invading the world of the living , not trying to intimidate but trying to get noticed in the same time. Like a dobrudjan from the valley , taking the risk , dead for the outsiders , alive in their self built universe , awkward for the industrialists , common for the simple ones .
To be feared for the stupid , to be researched for the intellectuals .

In a hard to notice struggle for braking the walls from around , braking the sleep from within the rotten coffin . Beautiful white candles melted on the hard concrete surface of the tomb become the most symbolic grave ornament , the soldiers sleeping for wars yet to come and brides with black faces burn the grass above .

Like a game for some , like a life for some like a deathly circle for the majority . The rusty iron and the dirty glass of the mausoleums heat in the blazing temperatures , suffocating the ear within , infesting bodily miasma the open space around .
Burning concrete in the masks eternity's smell , burns the flesh off the already dried flowers , taking the color off the mourning sings . Splendid is this man made land for breathless bodies . Put in he center of urban chaos , put inside the world of the breathing but without its own ear .

The Children of the Village

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 11:56:00 +0000

In the society in which we live there is a greater interest for personal development then we had in the last decades , this term also differs quite a lot when it comes to meaning from the same term used twenty years ago.

Personal development wants to define all the procedures and techniques used to increase the qualities of somebody's life through adjusting certain personal issues , such as low self worth and trust issues , for example , overcoming them contributing to realising a individual's full potential in life. In the develop world resolving such issues issues are easy to deal with , do to the high level of economic and social development , it's harder if we put the case of underdeveloped regions or countries which don't have a high level of social development which often translates in to ignorance for "illnesses of the spirit ". A good exemplification would be the rural areas of Romania which are struggling for more then twenty years with a deep economic and identity crisis which in many cases took a chronic form.

The youth who grow up in this predominantly agricultural communities find it hard to set clear life goals do to their lack of access to information and education , education plays a huge role in personal development , at school we learn how to read , count , do mathematical operations and to develop creative and critical thinking.

The schools in the rural areas of Romania suffer from a lack of a modern material base and from a even bigger lack of well qualified teachers. This being said , children who grow up in many of Romania's poor village can't view the school system as their saviour .

The culture present in this environment is of a residual nature , it is composed of outdated elements which have no longer a compatibility with the current economic and social realities , the rituals and mentalities are kept in the daily routine but they are undergoing a rapid process of decay .

But what is the biggest challenge that romanian children who grow up in rural areas have to face in the century that we live?

One of the biggest challenge that romanian children have to face is , as a stated above , the lack of access to information that could open for them many door which otherwise are kept closed.

Being blessed with a high degree of creativity and energy , romanian children living in this rural settlements never find the ways and channels with which they can make them productive and even built a career with them . The school system is unable many of the times to help this children through its programs , this is to blame mainly on the rigidity of the school system which is more interested in providing children with a huge volume of information , some of which had to practical meaning .

The lack of information is even more noticeable in villages that are far away from any major urban center , a small number of villages have high schools and some don't even have I to VIII grade schools .

This is a problem for many children do to the low incomes from their family which can't sustain them to go in nearest city or commune which has a high school . Statistics show that children from rural area have a greater risk of dropping out of high school or not continuing their studies after general school compared to the ones from urban areas.

Role models play a other important factor here ,in rural areas in not so much about the lack of role models but how dose the community labels somebody as a role model for them. In extremely poor communities a role model can become the one who managed to steal in order to build a comfortable lifestyle , bad role models combined with a judgemental attitude that people have for everything that is new and out of their comfort zone can make villages a toxic place for a child to develop in .

The Insubstantial Church

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 20:34:00 +0000

Church - A term widely used to describe a number o notions , if we take it most traditional sense , we will refer to two well known notions : a) Church -the organizational/administrative form which a christian branch takes ; b) Church - the building used by christians to officiate religious services.

From its begging , the Church developed a administrative system in order to organize its activities , it's actions , to develop a unity in doctrine and thinking , to be a generator of social change. In Medieval Europe , the Church's identity was outlined by it's very rigid administrative system , which was a complex collection of statuses , rules , rituals and formalities.

The opacity of this system distanced the Church from the people's actual needs , creating a separate world for the clergy and a marginal one for the believers. In that era , the Church's identity and mark left on the collective memory of the believers was composed by a number of dramatic and outstanding physical elements.

Outstanding cathedrals with lavish interiors , ornaments made from precious metals or stone , stained glass, icons , statues and ceremonial objects . This were the "touchable" elements which became the most easy to pick part from the Church's identity , as a negative reaction , more and more believers started to question the importance and functionality of all this elements in the life of the Church.

The Radical Reform started a ideological movement that was seeking to restore Christianity to it's primitive roots , clearing the church of elements that don't find support in the holly writings . This movement was named Restorationism , it's effect was not temporally limited just to the period in which the Reform took place , similar ideologies or a residual form of it made it's name heard even in the New Ages movements and the christian churches that came in to existence in the later centuries.
The most radical form in which this ideology can manifest is that of questioning the actual need of a physical church in the life of the christian community. After centuries in which believers were suffocated by the smell of burning candles and were visually mutilated by the extravagance of the baroque and gothic churches , was time to bring the life of the christian community outside the man built walls of the church and closer to the most noticeable of God's creations on Earth - nature. Do we need a church building?
Can we have a church without a administrative system? It's nice to think that this theory could actually be applied 100% in the real world , sadly , it's not the case. This can be applied in one case , that of a very small religious group ...a sect actually. It's very hard to organize a numerous religious group without having any physical place for the religious services , a very good reason is the legal one , in order for a cult to be officially recognized in a state it must have some identification dates , one of which is the actual location of the church .
A second reason would be that of the image that in projects within the community , a religious organization of any kind can project a strong image in the people's mind if they can associate it with a element from their living environment . And the final one , the credibility issue .
How many would trust a organization , religious or not , if it dose not have a actual location where we could find it? How about the administrative system? Can we have a church without it? Maybe at a very high theoretical level , not in the real world. In order of it to function , there will be a number of statuses , functions and ranks , this can be more rigid or flexible in nature , it can be of a high democratic nature where all the members participate directly in the decision making process.
A church is not a imposing building with statues and stained glass , a church is not or is not intended to impress with it extreme volumes , textures , colors and decorations. A church is that building which people turn it in to a place of connection with God , its that intimate space which receives this label from the believers.
We can't contest the role played by the architectural elements in the ceremony , the way they influence our emotional states . but we should not become dependent on them for creating a good church atmosphere .
As a conclusion , we can state that a church needs a physical body but it should not become dependent or fully identify with it for the good of the service and of the community's life.

Incarnation of Knowledge

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Sun, 08 Jun 2014 09:15:00 +0000

Goddess Athens

The winds is a force that can't be seen , it dose not have a material body , we can notice it through the effect that its presence has on the immediate environment .
It is a phenomena which can be characterized , from a physical point of view , by it's fluidity , by it's ability to penetrate in the most obscure and narrow corners of nature and of man's constructed world . Its lack of a physical body gives it a unseen ability of spread through the environments that it reaches , knowing this , is easy to understand why in the occult sciences and even in some old religions , the element of wind was assimilated to the notion of knowledge and intellect .
Knowledge is as hard to define as this element of nature , it dose not have physical anthropomorphic body , a painted image , a sculpture which can represent its physical features. Because of this , humans created a carnal body for this concept so that it would become more understandable for all , so that it can look alike humans or at least to assimilate organic elements from the natural world.
But why dose knowledge needs a body made from flesh and bones? This situation is not only limited to the concept of knowledge , it the antique world and even in the modern one , man often attempted to create physical projections of abstract concepts , putting them in to human bodies , dressing them with garments , making them to act like usual mortals , making them to lack perfection in thought and action.
By putting such concepts in to a physical body they could manipulate it more easily , monitor it's actions , create and kill it , worship and rebel against . Man's manipulative nature can be traced back as far as to the Stone Age , where he had to fight constantly predators of greater size and power then him .
By manipulating and transforming the environment around him was a great advantage in his quest for survival . Fighting something with a physical body was hard but fighting against something that dose not exist within a physical body was even harder. This way man projected in to his culture all kinds of evil beings , such as demons , evil spirits or fairies to make sense out of the darkness of the night , the time where he was the most vulnerable to attacks from his natural enemies .
Knowledge was made human in different forms , some cultures assimilated in to the concept of wisdom and gave it the shape of Apollo , Athena or Neith . This way knowledge can be controlled above all , it can be called upon , it can be worshiped or it can be blamed . It this manner , Knowledge can manipulated by the priesthood and distributed unequally , Knowledge can become a privilege and not a good for all mortals .

Hymn of the Progressive Man

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 10:22:00 +0000

Hymn of the Progressive Man

Those who don't think too much before they act

But who always keep in mind the essential fact

For those the sky is always bright

For those the Sun guides their life

The progressive man is sublime!

One by one we will follow Him

They are the ones who never think twice

When it comes to give a helping hand

They are those who are above the world of judgement

Those who are above mediocre goals

Those who touched the Light of Knowledge

Refreshing be their heart as spring water

Open is their heart for all

Godly and earthly hymns they made

Their though be fluent as the water

Their will be hard as the stone

Light be in our hearts !

And progress in our thought!

Love. Christianity's most sacred value

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Sun, 18 May 2014 15:35:00 +0000

Many contemporary christian scholars may argue when it comes describing the most representative feature of Christianity .

Some would try to give a answer by extracting fragments from the Bible or other religious texts , some may backup their ideas with doctrines and dogmas .

What many don't realize that the essence of our faith dose not consist of rigid dogmatic and doctrinal systems , the essence of our faith is within us , each of us is filled with it as a result of our divine creation ...that essence is Love.

It is truly the most representative teaching that Christianity has to offer , love that is offered freely and with no hidden intention .

This fundamental value has faded over time , this was the result of the Church's involvement in fields that were not to christian friendly , making compromises with full intention or unintentionally .

Sadly , political interests got mixed in the Church's life and the result was comparable to a container of toxic waist . Unconditional love is hard to be obtained in the society in which we live where the media bombards us constantly with messages of hate that make certain media products more attractive to the general public.

Let's try to open the windows of our heart and let all the love of the universe inside of us , clearing all the stains and scars that hate marked us with .

Let's try to train our mind and heart to be more generous and compassionate with the ones around us , if you are a christian or not , you can agree on the statement that all the love that you put out there will come back to you at one point.

The Light of Rationality

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Sat, 10 May 2014 17:34:00 +0000

Christianity is viewed from a modern perspective as a system that is not longer compatible with the rapid growth of the industrialized and liberal society , claims seem to try to validate the conservative face of the faith and church and to over generalize certain currents that run within the church which are not representative to Christianity as a total.

Fundamentalism is and should be labeled as a form of deviance , regardless if it manifests at a individual or at a group level .It is almost useless to say that its core believes aren't and never will be compatible with any of Christianity's most sacred values : unconditional love , tolerance equality and fraternity .

As we stated , fundamentalism is founded on a system of believes that translate in to behavioral patterns that are not compatible with any "rational lifestyle" , it promotes the exclusivity of a number of believes which often derive from misinterpreted religious texts or from over generalizing aspects which have a certain degree of specificity .

One of the ground braking theories that the Radical Reform promoted was that of living the christian life through the light of rationality .

Detaching them self from the blind faith that characterized the christian world before the Reformation , blind faith in religious institutions and believes started to decrease making way for a new form of christian society , one that is modern and progressive in nature but that conserves the essential elements of faith .

Fundamental Christianity can never be labeled as a valid current within the faith do to its contradiction to a number of aspects which define the divine nature of man :

1. Liberty of thought and of speech - God used The Word in his creation of man and all that their is , The Word was passed on to man as a prove of his divine core.

2. The exclusive nature of supreme truth - There's no singular earthly source through which he makes his presence noticed. God lives through each one of us , never excluding one because his association with a religious group.

3.The lack of tolerance and empathy towards others from outside the group .

Christianity through the light of rationality paints the image of ideal christian life , lived with trust and love that derive from deep analysis of thoughts and actions which consolidate a system that stimulates progress both at a personal and at a group level.

NEOPROTESTANTISMUL ÎN COMUNITĂTILE RURALE DIN JUDEŢUL CONSTANŢA:RĂSPÂNDIRE ŞI SCHIMBĂRI ADUSE LA NIVEL SOCIAL.

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Tue, 06 May 2014 17:21:00 +0000

1st place winning work at the Sociology , History and Literature Section from the Scientific Communications at "Constantin Brancursi" University .

ABSTRACT

The framework of a collective identity can vary from one case to the other , in the case of the romanian ethnic identity , the religious element was one of the foundation stones together with elements such as the language and the traditional labor. Rural communities from Romania managed to assimilate the religious element in to their identity , it can be noticed in the life of the community through a number of aspects , such as : mentalities , rituals , ceremonies and holidays of eastern orthodox faction .

Modernization brought huge changes in the demographic and economic structure of this communities , the framework of the collective identity changed as also , some elements disappearing and some changed their own structure in order to fit the new social environment .

This changes had in most cases negative effects on the communities , many of them not being able to adapt to a competitive market economy , extreme poverty and the migration of the youth to big urban centers became a wide spread phenomena do to the deep economic and social depression that some rural areas entered .

The economic depression opened people even more to their faith in order to put balance in their lives , this lead to a spiritual rebirth in the areas that were the most effected by the economic depression. Missionaries from neoprotestant churches had a easy task , spreading the word of God in the communities that were opened to any potential help.

The changes that occurred in the religious structure of some communities also had a huge impact on the community’s identity and it also generated a number of tensions between the orthodox majority and neoprotestant minority. A part of the community reconfiguring its axiological system in order to fit their new its new religious believes , this translated at a social level in lifestyle differences which often compromised the idea of a symmetric development of the two sides of the community : the orthodox majority and the neoprostestant minority.

Motivarea temei: Schimbările apărute în cadrul structurii confesionale a anumitor comunităţi rurale din judeţul Constanţa au avut drept efect schimbări radicale asupra componentelor identităţii colective. Lucrarea este realizată cu scopul de a face o comparaţie între identitatea colectivă a acestor comunităţi înainte şi după înrădăcinarea bisericilor neoprotestante. Se urmaresc şi schimbările apărute în structura sistemului axiologic colectiv , reorientarea unei parţi din comunitate către un alt set de valori si norme morale şi impactul acesteia asupra dezvoltării comunitare pe termen scrut , mediu şi lung . Sunt viazate şi raporturile dintre majoritari şi minoritari , aspecte ale vieţii sociale împartite de ambele părţi şi particularitati ce au dus în timp la apariţia anumitor tensiuni.

Religia se poate definii ca o combinaţie omogenă de doctrine , credinţe , tradiţii , ritualuri şi norme ce sunt menite să faciliteze comunicarea dintre om şi Dumnezeu cât şi corecta interpretare a textelor si mesajelor divine.Nu de puţine ori , religia a fost un catalizator al schimbării sociale , fiecare religie lasandu-şi amprenta asupra comunităţilor ce au adoptat-o. Pentru a întelege modalitatea în care religia poate provoca schimbări la nivel social , trebuie sa îi cunoaştem elementele componente şi contribuţia lor la construcţia imaginii de sine –în cazul individului - şi a identitatii grupale – în cazul societaţii.

[1] Primul element:doctrina.Reprezintă setul de idei specifice unei religii pe care sunt intemeiate invăţăturile şi morala, elemetul doctrinal reprezintă nucleul, fiind cea mai rigidă componentă a religiei .Doctrina , ca unitate structurală fundamentală , poate fi comparată cu o constituţie , fiind principalul izvor al normativităţii religioase şi al practicilor ritualiste . Prin intermediul notelor sale specifice , doctrina , configurează restul elementelor structurale şi actionează ca principală referinţă în cazul validării unor eventuale schimbări legate de aspecte ce ţin de norme şi ritualuri.

Componenta normativă este reprezentată de totalitatea normelor religioase , normele sunt traduceri ale doctrinelor într-o forma practică facută cu scopul de a contura şi impune un model comportamental ce va armoniza relaţia dintre credincios şi Dumnezeu. Spre deosebire de normele juridice , repsctarea celor religioase nu este asigurată de forţa coercitivă a statului ci de pedeapsa de origine divină dublată de presinea venită din partea celorlalţi credincioşi.

Ritualurilereprezintă componenta cea mai flexibilă , ea intersectându-se adesea cu cultura traditională a unui grup , anumite ritualuri fiind asimilate cu timpul acesteia ,

devenind astfel o componentă a identităţii colective. Punerea acestora în scena are o conotaţie mai mult simbolică decât funcţională , acestea având puterea sa modifice desfaşurarea naturala a unor evenimente.

După cum spuneam , nu putem nega rolul jucat de religie în contruirea identitaţii culturale a unui grup. Eventualele schimbări ce pot apărea în structura sa confesională vor duce inevitabil la o reconfigurare a indeităţii sale culturale .

Cazuri ce se încadrează în scenariul de mai sus au fost întalnite şi într-un număr de comunităţi rurale din Judeţul Constanţa , schimbări apărute în structura confesională a comunităţii conducând la crize identitare datorate imposibilităţii de adaptare a anumitor elemente culturale la noile convingeri religioase adoptate de o parte din săteni.

Este bine cunoscut faptul că nu există o delimitare clară între tradiţie şi religie în cazul culturii tradiţionale româneşti , acest lucru se datorează faptului că anumitor sfinţi ,sărbători şi norme le-a fost înlocuit caracterul religios cu unul ce ţine mai mult de sfera tradiţiei şi a superstiţiei. Configuraţia confesională a satelor din judeţul Constanţa a fost supusă unor schimbări majore în ultimul secol , aceste schimbări fiind in conectate cu schimbările apărute în structura etnică a regiunii. Satele in care grupul etnic majoritar era cel turc sau tatăr predomina islamul , pe când in cele româneşti ,aromâne, buglăreşti , lipoveneşti şi găgăuze predomina crestinismul ortodox. Cultele neoprotestante şi-au facut cel mai bine simţită prezenţa în judeţ după '89 .Neoprostestantismul s-a răspândit ,în primă fază, în marile centre urbane din judeţ , adaptându-se cu succes la realitatile sociale si economice specifice vremii. Perioada postdecembristă a fost caracterizată printr-un declin economic , cultural si moral a asezărilor rurale din judeţ . [2]Succesul cultelor neoprotestante putând fi atribuit in mare parte sistemelor lor de asistenţă socială foarte bine dezvoltate şi a oritării catre tânăra generaţie , aceste doua elemente fiind esenţiale pentru buna funcţionare a unei congregaţii .

Degradarea identităţii colective în aceste locuri este un efect al colapsului economiilor locale bazate pe agricultură/creşterea animalelor la o laltă cu migraţia tinerilor către marile centre urbane .Sărăcirea şi parţiala depopulare a satelor a adus schimbări foarte vizibile la nivel colectiv , aceste două fenomene ducând la pierderea unor elemente reprezentative din cele patru componenete esenţiale a identităţii asezărilor rurale româneşti:

[3] Elementul muncii (agricultură,silvicultură,pomicultură,creşterea animalelor),[4]elementul religios (credinţa din perspectiva doctrinală şi ritualurile) ,elementul traditiei (ceremonii , obiceiuri , datini,cutume , superstiţii , stereotipuri culturale , prejudecăti) şi elementul limbii.

Cum bine reiese din multe studii sociologice , societatea este într-o continuă evolutie , toate elementele sale constitutive interactionează în mod constant şi se influenţează reciproc , astfel putem vorbi de puncte de intersecţie între componentele indentitare româneşti : a) ceremonii religioase-componenta tradiţională ce au ca scop aducerea ploii , ce au luat forma obieciului paparudelor în spaţiul dobrogean ; b) componenta religioasa-componenta traditionala : aceste doua componenta au cele mai multe puncte de intersectie datorită faptului că limba si religia au dat forma identităţii etnice a românilor , fie că vorbim de ortodoxie,greco-catolicism sau romano-catolicism c)componenta lingvistică–componenta tradiţională – tradiţia orală: expresii , zicale,ghicitori,arhaisme,cântece,balade şi doine .Acestea reprezentând atât elemente ale tradiţiei dar şi ale limbii.

Din religie derivă anumite mentalităţi colective care descriu relul femeii si a băbatului în cadrul comunităţii , munca onorabilă şi cea nedezirabilă , zilele lucrătoare şi cele de odihnă sau ritualurile specifice anumitor etape ale vieţii(botez,logodnă,căsătorie , moarte etc).

Odată cu colapsul economiilor locale şi a schimbărilor demografice , o parte din elementele acestor componente identitare au fost sortite pierderii . Pierderea acestora a adus consecinţe grave asupra indentităţii colective a multor asezări rurale , nu este vorba însă numai de identitate , este tot odată vorba de slabirea unui sistem de valori ce avea rolul de a oferii comunităţii un număr de repere pentru evoluţia pe ansamblu dar şi a fiecărui membru în parte.[5]Învăţăturile neoprotestante au prescris o nouă configuraţie socială ce a putut fi observată printr-o serie de schimbări în ceea ce priveşte statutul femeii în cadrul bisericii , statutul familiei în cadrul societăţii , statutul tinerilor in cadrul familiei şi a congragaţiei şi o intoleranţă mai accenuată faţă de orce formă de devianţă.

În acest caz , o mare parte din elementele de factură ritualistă s-au pierdut datorită imposibilităţii de a nu încălca doctrinele neoprotestante ce promovau o credinţă bazată pe repsectarea scripurilor , ritualul negăsinudu-şi loc in acest context .

Experimentele sociologice ne-au arătat că [6]supravieţuirea obiceiurilor este condiţionată de relevanţa pe care acestea o au la un moment dat , odată ce numai pot fi de folos societăţii sunt date urtării. Ritualurile asociate cultului ortodox devenind o povară pentru tărani datorită gradului de complexitate şi a resurselor materiale necesare punerii lor în scenă. Toţi aceşti factori au contribuit la succesul cultelor neoprotestante în mediul rural al Judeţului Constanţa , dat fiind un spaţiu ce a fost nevoit să se reorienteze către nişte valori clare şi scopuri colective bine definite.

Congregaţiile cele mai bine reprezentate din acest spaţiu sunt cele penticostale şi cele adventiste. Modul de răpândire a noilor credinţe s-a rezumat în mare parte la envanghelizarea unei parţi din populaţia satului prin intermediul unor consăteni care deja erau membrii activi ai unei congregaţii.

O frecveţă foarte mare au avut-o cazurile în care în urma convertirii unui membru de familie, întreaga familie i-a urmat exemplul, fiind umaţi şi familia extinsă , vecini şi alţi consăteni. În nici un caz nu s-a putut realiza o evanghelizare a întregii comunităţi din acestă cauză au apărut divergente între majoritarii ortodocşi şi neoprostetanţi , numiţi în mod colectiv [7]"pocăiţi".

Datorită envanghelizării parţiale a comunităţii , inevitabil s-au format două tabere care în goana lor către găsirea unui echilibru şi-au pus în valoare mai mult diferenţele decât punctele comune. În ceea ce priveste identitatea grupurilor neoprotestante din aceste comunitati rurale ea se difera drastic de cea a majoritarilor din mai multe puncte de vedere.

În cazul neoprotestanţilor , se poate observa un caracter pragmatic mult mai bine conturat , punându-se accent pe schimbările pozitive pe care biserica le poate produce pe plan individual dar şi în cadrul societăţii.Schimbarea socială este promovată atât prin acţiunea directă a bisericii în viaţa comunităţii dar şi prin încurajarea apariţiei “role model-urilor” (modele sociale) – persoane a căror conduită şi stil de viată se încadrează perfect în “şablonul omului moral” , aceştia având rolul de a încuraja comformismul faţă de învăţăturile bisericii şi de a stimula progresul social.

Având un sistem de asistenţă socială bine pus la punct , bisericile neoprostestante au devenit un adevărat mangnet atât pentru cei în căutare de mântuire cât şi pentru cei care doreau doar obţinerea unor beneficii materiale de pe urma convertirii. O altă caracteristică definitorie a tradiţiei neoprotestante este importanţa pe care o are credinciosul ca şi individ în cadrul serviciilor religioase , în contrast cu tradiţia ortodoxă şi catolică în care ceremonia cade în sarcina preotului , având în general fiind monologală.

Interacţiunea din cadrul serviciului religios facilitând în timp construirea de legături solide între enoriaşi dar şi între aceştia şi reprezentaţii bisericii.

[8]S-a constat că în majoritatea satelor constănîene există un număr mare de tineri ce sunt membrii activi a diferitor congregaţii , acest lucru se datorează politcilor "youth friendly " şi "youth oriented" care au făcut biserica mult mai atrăgătoare pentru noua generaţie prin intermediul programelor destinate lor. Serviciul religios ortodox pune un mai mare accent pe ritual , posibilitatea ca enoriaşii să intervină în cadrul acestuia este destul de limitată. Sentimentul de apartenenţă dat enoriaşilor fiind mai solid în cazul bisericilor neoprotestante , putem afirma că acesta chiar a fost un factor determinant al succesului acestor culte. Apartenenţa reprezintă o nevoie fundamentală , corupţia şi nepăsarea autorităţiilor locale faţă de aceste comunităţi a cultivat senimentul de abandon , biserica a reuşit să satisfacă această nevoie , astfel fiind construită fidelitatea faţă de congregaţie.

Lipsa unei orientări spre noua generaţie , lispa unei implicări directe în viaţa comunităţii combinată cu un număr de elemente specifice (ritualuri complexe , caracter traditionalist şi conservatorism)au dus la o scădere a interesului tinerilor faţă de biserică , în cazul cultului ortodox.

După cum am menţionat în rândurile de mai sus , docrtinele se traduc în norme religioase (asemănătoare celor juridice din punct de vedere structural însa respectarea lor nu este garantaă de forţa coercitivă a statului) ce au drept scop impunerea unui comportament dezirabil care este în conformitate cu învăţăturile specifice ale unei religii .

Prin intermediul acestora anumite acţiuni,activităţi si comportamente sunt restricţionate , sancţiunea fiind în general de natură divina , nefiind pusă în practică de o instituţie a statului.

[9]Chiar şi aşa, în multe cazuri repercusiunile încălcării unei astfel de norme capătă forma exlcluderii sau a marginalizării sociale. Normele şi-au facut simiţita prezenţa în satele constănţene prin schimbări de comportament în rândul celor convertiţi , adventiştii nu vor lucra sâmbata şi nu consuma carne de porc, penticostalii nu vor consuma băuturi alcoolice dar se vor duce la biserica duminica,etc.

Restricţiile au dus la compromiterea multor tradiţii , fiind uneori acuzaţi de majoritati ca-şi distrug identitatea culturală. Divergeneţele între neoprostestanţi şi majoritari nu au apărut în urma unor neîntelegeri în ceea ce priveşte validitatea doctrinelor celor două parţi , micile tensiuni au apărut ca reacţie a renegării a unei bune părţi a identităţii culturale de către minoritari.

Este foarte important de menţionat că percepţia multor oameni din mediul rural asupra religiei este una bazată pe legătura ei cu identitatea etnică românească , acesta nefiind de cele mai multe ori însuşită împreuna cu elementul său fundamental : doctrina.

Este greu de spus dacă răspandirea neoprostestantismului a dus la o revitalizare morală şi culturală a multor comunităţi , pot fi observate o serie de schimbări cum ar fi : întinerirea demografică - biserica incurajând întemeierea de familii numeroase ; scădarea consumului de alcool ; o mai mare implicare in viaţa tinerei generaţii ; cresterea spiritului civic etc.

Se poate observa un interes in cadrul Bisericii Ortodoxe către dezolvarea unui sistem propriu de asistentă socială şi pentru a face biserica un loc mai atractiv pentru tineri.

Exista şi o serie de efecte negative in cazul comunitatilor biconfesionale,ca în cazul unelor sate din judeţ , cel mai mare fiind acela al polarizării excesive care poate duce la o ruptură în cadrul comunităţii.

Ca şi concluzie , putem spune că raspandirea neoprotestantismului în mediul rural constantean a fost favorizat de o criza identitară , valorică şi economică . Acesta actionând ca un factor stabilizator , reorientand o parte din membrii comunităţii către un nou set de valori şi către contrucţia unei noi identităţi culturale.

Nu se poate vorbi de conflicte între aceştia şi ortodocşii majoritari , putem nota însă existenta unor dezacorduri în privinţa stilului de viată adoptat şi a păstrării intacte a zestrei culturale.

BIBLIOGRAFIE

1. H. Robert Rhoden, The Essence of Pentecostal Worship, S.U.A., 2010.

2. K. Praveen Parboteeah,Martin Hoegl,John B. Cullen ; Ethics and Religion: An Empirical Test of a Multidimensional Model, Journal of Business Ethics , Springer Publisher , S.U.A. , 2007.

3. P. Fahy, Origins of Pentecostalism and the Charismatic Movement, Understanding Ministries,S.U.A.,1998.

4. P. P.Wiebe , Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society ,British Colombia , 1984.

5. Youth Ministries Department – General Conference of Seventh Day Adventists ,Youth Ministry Handbook and Leadership Training Manual,College Press , S.U.A. , 2005.

[1]Philip P.Wiebe , Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society ,British Colombia , 1984, pg.465-457.

[2]H. Robert Rhoden, The Essence of Pentecostal Worship, S.U.A., 2010, pg.5

[3] Munca prin intermediul specificului său influenţează aspecte cheie ale vieţii contidiene , precum:rutina zilnică , nutriţia , rolul jucat în societate , încadrarea într-o clasă socială şi calitatea vieţii.

[4] Influenţează viziunea despre lumea încojurătoare , procesul de socializare şi modul in care acesta se face , impune limite , restricţii , cutume , roluri sociale , etc.

[5]Paul Fahy, Origins of Pentecostalism and the Charismatic Movement, Understanding Ministries,S.U.A.,1998,pg.44.

[6]Obiceiul reprezintă o acţiune ce este derulată în mod repetat pentru a satisfice o anumită nevoie.Spre deosebire de alte feluri de acţiuni , obiceiul are două caracteristici definitorii: caracterul repetitiv şi imposibilitatea de satisfacere a unei nevoid oar prin derularea sa o singură dată.

[7]Termen folosit în limbajul colocvial , adesea fiindu-i asociată o conotaţie negativă , ce descrie orce persoană ce este membră a unei biserici neoprostestante. Este cel mai adesea folosit de majoritarii ortodocşi pentru a-i descrie pe neoprostetanţi .

[8]Youth Ministries Department – General Conference of Seventh Day Adventists ,Youth Ministry Handbook and Leadership Training Manual,College Press , S.U.A. , 2005 , pg.35.

[9]K. Praveen Parboteeah,Martin Hoegl,John B. Cullen ; Ethics and Religion: An Empirical Test of a Multidimensional Model, Journal of Business Ethics , Springer Publisher , S.U.A. , 2007 , pg.389.

Unitarianism . Knowledge , Progress and Fraternity

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Thu, 01 May 2014 12:19:00 +0000

I.INTRODUCTION

Unitarian Church

Unity can be defined as integrity , as a total , a solid entity , regardless if we are referring to a concept , idea , doctrine or dogma or to a physical object. If we want to put the discussion of unity in a religious context we can come across a number of issues that regard both the unity of the Christian Church and the unity of doctrine within.

The concept of unity can be filled with different meanings depending on one's religious affiliation , as I mentioned in the lines above , if we want to assimilate the notion of unity to the concept of unity of faith we will have to analyze century old doctrinal and dogmatic issues that shaped the structure of the Christian Church .

We can also fill the concept of unity with a other meaning , that of unity within a christian branch or denomination , keeping in mind that it is important to analyze all aspect of christian life and worship from two perspectives : a macro perspective - when we take in consideration only the core christian dogmatic , doctrinal and worship aspects that are found in every branch and denomination ; a micro level - when we are more interested more about the particular aspects of every branch and denomination , distinctive doctrines , dogmas and worship practices.

Christian Unity is a issue that is more stressed nowadays then ever before in the christian world , it could easily overlap with other ideologies which militate for the restoration of the primitive christian faith . Such concepts were at their height during the time of the Radical Reformation , when the anabaptist wanted a purification and simplification of all aspects related to religious life and church .

Unity within Christianity can be possible only if we define it to match the current structure of the Christian Faith , unity in the most basic meaning is more of a ideal or even a unobtainable dream . It is hard to imagine how century old disputes based on differences of view and perception of certain aspects related to faith will be erased in order to set a stable ground for the foundation of the New Christian Church .

As any solid faith , Christianity prescribes or attempts to do so a variety of norms and moral codes that can be handy to the individual and community in keeping a balanced and productive connection with God.

Unitarianism tries to do the same thing but with a less punishmental character , giving the liberty to the faithful to grow both in terms of spiritual experience but also to grow on a cultural - academic level . Because God is Knowledge . God is The Word . Taking the following statements in to consideration , Knowledge which is assimilated through Words is a fundamental characteristic of human existence , do to the fact that Man before anything was engineered by God Him self.

Faith is a fortress , giving the needed shelter to us in times of turmoil , many find in it a solid path for self growth and reinvention . To adjust , redefine or rebuild their axiological system which sets directions for each one of our acts and activities , which helps us to build plans for the future and reevaluate our actions from the past.

Love,Humanitarian Vision and a great interest for social and individual growth made Unitarianism a path preferred by individuals who have a desire to perfect and reevaluate constantly their own persona , which see life as a path that ends with one obtaining Knowledge of both the material and spiritual world.

II.Defining the Christian. The Christian individual and the Christian society.

When we talk about the Christian we come to the conclusion that each of the present day christian tradition designed their own image of him . If we take a look in Christianity's timeline we can see a different design for this ideal image depending on time ans space. We can easily notice that christian morality and religious norms were more rigid in the Middle Ages compared to nowadays.

Can we label this as a sing a weakening of the christian faith?Are churches today more willing to make compromises when it comes to the integrity of their moral norms in order to become more friendly for people?

If we want to give a complete answer to this question we also must answer the following one : Were the moral norms imposed by the Church in the Middle Ages really that valid? Were they really designed to regulate people's actions in order to keep them from committing "sins" or to fall in any kind of deviense or were they to serve less noble inttetions : political and economic manipulation of masses.

The validity of many of the Church's norms came in to question several time , one of the most violent episode was the Reformation in which it's leaders rebuilt a more liberal and human normative system compared to the one that was applied before.

Other questions put in to discussion if many of the Church's norms are just common sense and if a healthy , progressive and well balanced society can be built outside the walls of christian morality. Or if Christianity just based a part of it's moral norms on common sense which it reduces it's degree of social innovation .

Unitarianism tries to find a answer to each of this question , but even so , it dose not attempts to give the ultimate truth. The image of the christian was redesigned by each branch and denomination , for some , the ideal christian must fit in the rigid contour of a prefabricated layout , adding on complex rituals and a high degree of symbolism . Others intermediate the relationship between Man and God through rituals or through figures with the characteristics of a mediatrix .

Depending on personal liking all of this systems can be efficient , Unitarianism tries to set a more personal and direct connection to God and to reorient Man to it's core natural values : love , tolerance , forgiveness , compassion and fraternity. Connecting to the values we mentioned above it practically brings Man back to it's original natural states which was badly deformed over the centuries by hate between churches , religious conflicts and wars which managed to build concrete walls that divided Man on the base of selfish and obscure ideals.

Love was the core value of Christianity and some would say that it still is , but as we can see , more on a theoretical level and not so much on a practical one. Interfaith dialogues are carried nowadays in order to bring the bodies of the Christian Church more closer to each other , actions like this often face opposition from both church members and church leaders which are not willing to go over past conflicts in order to build the foundation of a new youthful and love radiating Christian Church.

As history often showed us , in many cases , love was way to often a secondary condition of Christianity and it was put aside right in the very moment when a higher interests came by.

As a conclusion , can we draw the profile of the ideal unitarian christian? There never was a institutional imposed profile but there are some general lines that are followed and this are:

a) Loving - A fundamental characteristic of any christian regardless of denomination . Love in its purest form that is not conditioned and limited , often hard to obtain but should be a ideal that we are all reaching for.

b) Tolerance - It is associated only to those with a superior intellect which can see the world as a multilayered reality where realism and relativism often come in conflict . The power of accepting differences is denotes a strong self identity and a solid axiological system. Tolerance can be classified as a secondary produce Love.

c) Fraternity - Interest in both individual ans social development , helping others denotes compassion and prosocial behavior. If we would be interested only in self development that would end in selfishness , we should dedicate time to build a better society through helping those in need .

d) Reason and free thinking - This two should never be excluded from christian life , Knowledge was passed on to Man by God through different channels in different periods of history , prohibiting and limiting Knowledge is the reverse of any christian ideal.

III. Christian Life.Unitarian vision

Dogmas and doctrines have the role of setting a common ground for the formation of a religion , they are visions, ideas , concepts which give a religion its distinctive characteristics. The difference between the two is often neglected and they are labeled as synonyms , they key difference between them is that doctrine presence and describes a certain action or event and the dogma is the official position which describes the way in which it happens or comes in to being.

Taking in consideration two very well known concept from philosophy - realism and relativism - we will attempt to explain the variety of norms which regulate christian life. Christian life was describes in many ways , traditional christian literature attempts to set clear boundaries between which actions and behaviors can be called desirable .

Traditional literature has a tendency to be very exact with its definition of this concept and to have a solid set of norms to back it.

Unitarianism tries to eliminate the pressure of traditional christian groups by setting a more liberal vision on christian life , where liberty of opinion and reasoning are foundation rocks for a healthy home and collective life.

The Unitarian vision on Christian Life : Love,Fraternity , Growth and Vision. If we had to resume the unitarian vision of christian life to four concepts these would be it. Christian Life in Unitarian perspective has a multilayered aspect , it is the total of personal and collective life , one could not exist without the other. Having a solid tradition in promoting social change and harmony , Unitarianism is a faith that dose not lock it self between the walls of a church , it like to be present both in the church building and within the heart of the community in the same time.

The movement often promoted the idea of "growth through education" , this shouldn't be misinterpreted as exclusive academic knowledge but of knowledge all that surrounds us , a truly universal approach.

This way we know more about God , by knowing more about the world in which we dwelt because everything that we touch , hear and see are the creations of the Lord. This was one of the reasons that the movement was and still is popular between intellectuals , even though , it never was intended to be a exclusive movement of highly educated people.

Ritualism , ceremonialism and excessive symbolism are replaced by a more personal relationship with God which is more beneficial to the christian , the ways in which worship takes place can vary from one congregation to the other , the variety is a result of the fact that the movement never obsessed over doctrinal aspects , a few core doctrinal points are kept by all unitarians.

IV. Spirit and bidimensinalism

Our soul is our core , more powerful then our heart but less visible , its the prove of divine creation and the uniqueness of Man among the other creatures that dwelt the Earth.

It is hard to define something that in not to be seen , something that is the framework of life but has no physical body. If we attempt to define it or to draw a image of it , traditionally was represented as a form of energy having the exact shape of the body.

Yet again , this is only a form that was largely popularized in books in media , a exact image is impossible to draw .

Traditional christian literature tells us that Man is the only being that is bidimensional being , having both a physical and immaterial component .

All the other being were just made by the Word of God , Man was by God himself and was "injected" with life. Unitarianism has common ground with all the other christian churches when it comes to this particular concept.

The characteristic of bidimensionalism dose not manifest through special norms and moral codes which would set a special regime for the purification and "detoxification" of the spirit ,such as the "Temple of the Holy Spirit" doctrine associated with the pentecostal movement .

Realism vs. Relativism

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 17:12:00 +0000

Reality is the subject of study associated with the science of ontology , we discussed in previous articles about the framework of this discipline and the methodology that it uses but very little about the relationship between it and two very well known paradigms that might contribute to our understanding of ontology's subject of study .

When we want to bring in to discussion the subject of existence we must identify the "channels" that we will use to project our understanding of it , the paradigm known as realism tells us that the view of reality isn't conditioned by our personal experiences , level of education or cultural background .

This paradigm paints a homogeneous image of reality , erasing internal factors (experience,education,culture) . Realism can be associated with the scientific world where everything is regulated by strict procedural norms and methodologies , subjectiveness being unnecessary and harmful for overall relevance of scientific work .

This paradigm also sets a specific type of configuration for the fluidity of time ans space , giving a individual the possibility to analyze and validate actions and activities based on a atemporal(not conditioned by time) and ahistorical(not conditioned by historic events) validation system. In this way , events have the same meaning to everybody , there's a unity of perception of events, actions and activities from both a structural and symbolic perspective. The unity of perception is the result of assimilating information from "qualified sources" , from specialists and scientific studies.

The realism paradigm can have a greater efficiency when it comes to practicality , setting a unitary and regulated mechanism of perception .

The relativist paradigm contrast the one we analyzed earlier , relativism claims that reality is multidimensional and a unitary view of it is impossible to reach . It is stated that reality is conditioned by a number of factors such as : education , life experience , cultural and economic background , religious believes , etc .

Reality and subsequently every action , activity and event is perceived differently as a result of the contribution of this factors , the idea of supreme truth is erased , validation has a internal character . Relativism is used in the arts where the description of reality has a highly subjective nature , the claims not having to be validate trough the methods used in exact sciences .

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 18:18:00 +0000

The Dawn (Poem)

Whispers to me slowly now

Great wind of the dawn

Crawling down in to the plains

Burning the Danube with your touch

From the towers of the churches

And the water of the puddles

Nature plays in your red shades

No one told you no to wake those who sleep

In to the ground , in the deep

And I'll know how to speak ...

Speak to you ...

Dawn , your crown the rising sun

You bring water to the dried

And light to the doomed ...

The graveyard , full of your light

Craving for its humanity that's lost

Bring us to the border that we can't see!

Help us walk the bridge that's to long!

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 18:24:00 +0000

Eastern Light (Poem)

Eastern Light sneaking through the dirty window

Badly waiting for a answer

Nothing new that could brake the stagnation

Flowing through the ghetto walls

Vodka miasma going slow

Trough the rusty concrete walls

Pinkish madams show their face

Gentle engaging in the ritual

Salty clouds from the eastern side

Little rooms with moldy crowns

Smelling of the old age

Going in an' out to escape the turmoil

To end wakin' , yet again

Man and God - Interaction aspects

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Sat, 12 Apr 2014 12:38:00 +0000

God , The Divinity ...the everything , as some would call it , is one of man's most intimate and fundamental dilemmas. The concept of God was introduces to each of us at one point of our lives by His "earthly employees" which theoretically their core objective is that o spreading the teachings revealed to them by God himself .

A individual's knowledge of God plays a few important roles in the building process of personal identity , depending on the teaching of a religion , a individual knows what expectations he must live up to , what he must and must not do ...in fewer words , it stands at the base of our axiological system .

Other functions that man-God relationship plays are the following:

1. self knowledge and self discovery - Through teachings , doctrines and morals , God describes our origin and belonging . This plays a important role in a individual's design of his self image , it satisfies the need of belonging - in a direct way to the church and indirectly to the local community which subscribes to that certain believe system .

2. axiological system configuration - Religion gives a set of values which often are assimilated at a young age when "rational filters" aren't very well developed . The more fragile the age at which the religious education starts , the more efficient the assimilation of moral rules are and the axiological system has as primary source of values religious teachings.

3. Socialization - The way in which we build connection with others from our immediate environment is also regulated by religion . It can impose restriction on socializing with people from outside the church we are members of , people who are guilty of "sins" , sexual , racial and other minorities . It sets standards of behavior within the family too .

4. Traditionalism - The overall openness to social change and to influences from the exterior environment .

Ontological view of the world through the filters of Religion

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Sun, 06 Apr 2014 14:49:00 +0000

Religiosity can be described as ones personal interest to developing and maintaining a healthy a stable and productive relationship with God , man's interest for the higher spiritual plain lead in time to the creation of earthly institutions that mediate and regulate this relationship.

The apparition of such institutions made possible the materialization of a relationship between the spiritual plan and the earthly social one , at the begging , there was no clear distinction between the political authority and the religious one , leaders being the earthly ambassadors of the gods .

Taking this in to consideration , we can notice a influence of a community's religious believes on it's members perception of existence and the characteristics of being . The subject of existence and to coming in to being of a entity is handled by a branch of philosophy named Ontology , having a huge influence on the configuration of the primitive judicial systems and social norms , religion limited or opened new ways of gathering knowledge about our immediate environment and the techniques that are needed in order to process it in the right manner .

Religion set knowledge in to categories , it gave labels , it formed guidelines for the way in which knowledge must be used. But how did religion more exactly set us limits and rules for the way in which we perceive existence?

This is complex issue , giving the fact that there's no unity of faith across the planet , each of the systems of believe known to us set different standards in this case . Ontology studies existence from two different perspectives : 1) the way in which entities came in to being ; 2) the way in which we perceive the existence of entities that we come in contact with .

We will concentrate more on the way in which religion influences our way of perceiving existence , the first perspective being related more to empirical knowledge . Every religion gives a moral guide which is translated for practical reasons in to religious and social norms , after being assimilated by the believer , this act as filters for the information that we gather from the exterior environment .

When we talk about the subject of religion's influence on our way of perceiving existence and from that , reality in its widest sense , we can not set a very clear line between the involvement of the sciences of ontology and epistemology . Because our perceptions can't be produced without the gathering of information , the perception its self being the final product of the processing of information through a number of filters. In order to understand this subject even better , we will analyze a case and see the involvement of the different factors mentioned above in the final result.

Abortion - Is a practice that often generates contradictions between people , if we analyze it from a christian perspective , we will label it as a undesirable practice , if we analyze it from a liberal perspective , we will label it as being a necessity .What did exactly happen from ontological point of view?

A practicing christian that has well rooted in his conscience the moral values of his religion , found quickly the link to the norms derived from this theoretical concepts and by having them as integral part of his axiological system , the labeled the concept as undesirable . Ontologically speaking ,the religious system that he subscribed to , shaped his perception of the existence of a phenomena . We perceive entities , both those with material or immaterial form , by analyzing their characteristics , in this case , the believer through his religious views , found abortion to be in contradiction with a number of moral values that his religion promotes .

We can't build a image about reality without information , this can come from direct sources , when we use our senses to collect information , or from indirect sources : books , movies , sound documents , etc . We can't say that one of this sources is completely not prone to errors , both our senses can pick up information in a distorted way , especially if there are certain medical conditions involved.It can be stated that , religious norms and morals shape the way in which we perceive the world's existence .

Not only shapes our perception of entities with a material body but it also , and even more representative in a way , shapes our perception of non material entities . The limits from which the spiritual world extends are drawn by our religious believes . A good example is that christian theology states that animals are made up only of the material body , not having a soul like humans .

Nature based religions state that both plants and animals do have souls , making a believers perception of the spiritual realm wider . As a conclusion we can state that , our perception of reality is conditioned and shaped by social factors - religion being one of them . Religion plays a fundamental role here , its moral values being part of one's axiological system . Religion shapes the way in which we see the world in the present and the way in which we understand it past and formation and probably its future evolution .

What is a national culture?

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 08:09:00 +0000

Dancers in Mexico

(photo source : Wikipedia)

From the begging of time humans created all sorts organizational systems that were meant to satisfy certain common needs that people from a certain place had at a certain time.

From the earlier , more primitive forms of social organization , such as tribes and tribe unions , to the modern state , people used a number of elements to make their association with a state and its culture more noticeable to the exterior environment.

Modern states used symbols and built , or are in the process of building , a national culture .

National culture can be described as the total of material (objects,monuments,artwork ,etc) and immaterial (norms,values,mentalities,costumes,language,oral tradition,etc) elements with a high symbolic and functional meaning to a nation.

The elements that fall in to the framework of a national culture are highly desirable and are validated through the regular practice of a nation's citizens , in the case of the immaterial elements , when it comes to the material ones, we can group them in two categories : functional material elements - traditional weapons , traditional household objects , traditional vehicles and traditional houses ; symbolic material elements - generally monuments fall in this category , some of them can have both practical and symbolic meaning , the case of governmental buildings or castles , some have a purely symbolic meaning - statues , memorials , etc.

National cultures are the subject of design , planing and intervention . They don't showcase the natural evolution of nation's culture . National culture takes visual form as national symbols .Language is the most important immaterial element of a national culture , do to this , languages that have official status are the subject of permanent intervention in order not to loose their characteristics that made them suitable for this role .

In order to suit the national identity construction plan , some dialects were given the status of a language in order to fill gaps of a fragile , not yet well define national identity (examples : Bosniac became one of Bosnia and Hertegovina's national languages after the fall of Yugoslavia , even though , it is almost identical to the other two national languages : Serbian and Croatian ; Moldovan - a variety of Romanian - became Moldova's national language after its split from the USSR ).

Languages can act as a glue , stimulating social unity and progress , they give unity in thinking and understanding , having a high functional role before the symbolic one. National culture is open books in which we can see a nation's state of evolution - economic and social - and its capacity to form a solid identity which will incorporate all of the citizen's ideals and moral believes.

National symbols : flags , coat of arms , anthems , national impersonations and others. When it comes to classification , we can group national cultures by a number of characteristics :

By configuration :

1. The umbrella type - National cultures specific to multicultural , multiethnic,multiracial and multilingual states. They incorporate elements of very general use for all the citizens of the nation regardless of their background . In most cases , if a group's culture is regarded as desirable at a wide scale , certain elements that are compatible with all the other groups own culture will get assimilated and it time will become part of the national culture. This type of configuration is specific to states from North and South America , Africa and Australia.

2. The homogeneous - Specific to national states , where a ethnic group holds the majority , usually has at least 70% of the total population . This type is more rigid and conservative , it incorporates the cultural elements of the dominant ethnic group . This configuration is specific to states from Europe,Asia and North Africa.

By the degree of resistance to change and assimilation of exterior influences :

1. Rigid national cultures - They redundant to change or the assimilation of new elements , especially from exterior sources. This type is found in countries that had been a long period of their history under the occupation of other states , ethnically homogeneous states ,socialist states and theocracies .

2. Flexible national cultures - They quickly assimilate elements of other cultures and incorporate them in their own , type found in multinational states , democracies with long tradition , industrialized nations , secular states , etc .

By the level of traditionalism :

1.Traditionalist national cultures - Geographically isolated states , 3rd world states , states with a homogeneous population , national states , theocracies, new states , etc.

2. Modern national cultures - Industrialized states, multinational states , 1st world states , former colonial powers , democracies with tradition , secular states , etc.

Institutional abandonment

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 07:24:00 +0000

The media nowadays often bombards us with stories about a phenomena that we generally refer to as abandonment , this term is used in different contexts to suggest the idea of departure , the brake of a vital link between two entities , it can be about a parent that abandoned his child and so on .Themes that describe child abandonment are very spread in the media , but if we analyze more this concept of abandonment don't we come to the conclusion that we narrowed it original meaning ?

What dose it mean to be abandoned nowadays? Dose this concept apply only in the context of person to person relationships?

Can't we talk about abandonment when we are referring to institutions and the relations that they have with their clients/service costumers ? Dose institutional abandonment only apply to public institutions? We can define abandonment as the intentional ending of a relationship between two people , a group and a individual , a group and a other group , a institution and a individual or a institution and a group , where one of the sides had the obligation to care and overlook after the other .

The relationship that the sides have is characterized by a constant exchange of information which benefited the construction of a productive link between the sides that would have a future positive impact on both of them.

When we talk about abandonment it is important to notice that the sides that take part in this relationship don't share a similar status , one of the sides must have a higher status then the other that will subordinate to it .

The one with the higher status will have the obligation instituted by law or social norms to care ,protect and help the other side to have a healthy development over a certain period of time .

Abandonment is the abusive brake of this connection by the side with the higher status , such phenomena is regulated and sanctioned by both judicial and social norms. As I said , abandonment is often linked to parents-children relationships , this perspective is largely debated today in the scientific community and it takes a special interest for those who work in social work.

But can we validate the concept of institutional abandonment as a meaningful concept? In order to make this concept valid with must state that it can be applied only to public institutions and ones with a law regulated mission to satisfy certain needs of the communities in which they operate. Their main goal not being that of gaining financial results over their activity and the services that they provide to be of general interest . By law this institutions have the duty to satisfy certain needs of the communities in which they operate which are o general interest .

Commercial societies , on the other hand , don't have duty of providing services of general interest , their main focus are target groups and the generation of good financial results. Institutional abandonment is characterized by a number of factors :

1. illegal aspects - when a public institution refuses to do its duties that are regulated by the national legislation it defies its status , the consumers and the state authorities with a superior status which analyze its activity.

2. decrease of the institution's representation role for a group/community/society - this can have very negative effects at a social level , when institutions with high symbolic and representative statuses such as city halls or embassies labeled as incompetent or corrupt it triggers very negative feedback from the society because they represent the people and they are holders and ambassadors of the national culture , having to highlight the most positive aspects from a society to the international community.

3. A brake of the communication channel that the local communities have with the central power -A blockage at the local level can be the effect of corruption at the central level and it can be meant to hide all sorts of illegalities and eventual information leaks .

4.Lack of trust in the political class's power .

5. Handling complex social issues on their own - Example : In cases where the locals have problems with organized crime and don't trust the local police to handle the phenomena often they get organize in groups and they have face to face battles with the criminal bands.

Institutional abandonment can be defined not only by the lack of interest of the public institutions towards the need of the consumers , it can be also characterized by very low quality services that lack any kind of efficiency that result from intentional actions.

A good example can be public schools where teachers don't come to classes or don't respect the national curriculum that results in low scores at national and local evaluations.

As a conclusion we can state that institutional abandonment is a concept that can be apply only to public institutions or NGOs , structures that have the legal duty to care upon the citizens from a community and to satisfy their general needs trough public services , it is characterized by the systematic and conscious lack of communication , secrecy and very low service quality which many times have a source institutional corruption , the short time effect of it is the exiting of the state's regulatory and normative power from the life of local communities which can lead to serious social unbalances .

Ghettoization in East Europe

noreply@blogger.com (Iulian Mitran) — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 19:08:00 +0000

Ghetto in Bucharest , Romania

Growing up is not a easy task , many of us can relate to this , and its even harder to grow up in a unstable environment that is always marked by social and economic instability .

Our early childhood is a crucial point in our becoming as adults, this is the time when the start to build our own axiological system that is a extension of the one validated on a social level. We can note some interesting development paths when we take a closer look to the life journey of the children that lived their childhood in postcommunist East Europe.

The change of regime had a lot of consequences on many levels , the transition from a very centralized system where the state owned everything to a market economy where only the strong ones can survive was a task that the political class of that time didn't seem to manage very well .

The privatization of many of the industrial giants that were created during the massive industrialization of the socialist era meant that a big segment of the population was left without a job and this was even worst in monoindustrial areas.

The working class was facing a lot of issues in that period , some that regarded their identity and function in society and a economical one .

The identity issues were triggered by the fact that some professions were not compatible with the market's need and so people could not find jobs that would fit their professional training . A phenomena that was a secondary effect of the changes in the configuration of the national economy was the so called "ghettoization" of many of the major urban centers of the countries of the former socialist block .

Ghettoization is a term that describes the general degradation of a city quarter from both a material and moral perspective .

The social - economic degradation of this urban areas turns them in to hot spots for organized crime , human trafficking and prostitution . Urban decay can be noticed in two ways , from both a physical and social perspective . From a physical perspective ghetto areas lack good cleaning and poor architectural quality , social sings include , as I mentioned earlier , a group of phenomena like organized crime , human trafficking and prostitution to a unstable or the lack of one .

The lack of a solid axiological system leads to a life dominated by instability and a lack of perspective and planed evolution . Other social characteristics of ghetto areas are : specific language - usually a limited range of words and expression and limited contact with the exterior environment - both imposed or self imposed .

Obsessive functionalism and imitation play a big role in the culture of this areas , by obsessive we understand the tendency to create a culture that is constituted only from elements that have a strictly functional role and that can be removed and replaced when the environmental conditions do.

Elements that have symbolic or ornamental role are not needed . Imitation plays a great role in ghetto culture , is the way in which information from the exterior environment is dragged in and made to suit the social and economical realities of the ghetto .

Ghettos can be seen in almost any major eastern european urban center and some states designed national public policies to limit the spread of this phenomena which has negative effects on the social balance of a nation . Ghettoization leads in time to the apparition of social gaps , polarization and limited access to resources and public services.