Condemnation of Protest Evoked by Places of Worship

TRANSCEND MEMBERS, 23 Dec 2024

Anthony Judge | Laetus in Praesens – TRANSCEND Media Service

Implications for academies, think tanks, laboratories, arenas and bodies cultivating patterns of belief.

Introduction

16 Dec 2024 – The Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has announced a series of measures to crackdown on protests, following antisemitic attacks in Melbourne. As a part of those measures, the government of Victoria (Australia) has stated that it would consider legislating safe zones to block protests outside places of worship. (Victoria to ban face masks and certain flags at protests in response to antisemitic attacks, SBS News, 17 December 2024; Laws on masks, places of worship being considered to stop protesters spreading hate, The Age, 15 December 2024; Australian state proposes ban on protests at places of worship to fight rising antisemitism, AP News, 17 December 2024).

A relevant comment from “down under” has been made by Binoy Kampmark (The Strawman of Antisemitism: banning protests against Israel down under, Global Research, 19 December 2024). This cites a joint study by three Australian universities surveying 75 mosques which found that 58.2% had experienced violence between 2014 and 2019.

The Australian initiative is consistent with legislative measures against protest in a number of countries:

Of particular interest in the case of the new Australian initiative is the question it raises as to how “places of worship” are to be defined in light of the variety of possible understandings of “worship”. As defined by Wikipedia:

Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity or God. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition of a God. An act of worship may be performed individually, in an informal or formal group, or by a designated leader.

An obvious concern in formulating those legislative measures is how the definition of worship applies in the case of so-called “atheist churches” (Jacqui Frost, Church without God: How secular congregations fill a need for some nonreligious Americans, The Conversation, 19 January 2024; Brian Wheeler, What happens at an atheist church? BBC News, 4 February 2013; What are atheist churches? The Week, 21 May 2018). The latter notes that the number of “godless congregations” is growing across the Western world.

The matter is far from trivial in that a number of religions continue to encourage very strong measures against unbelievers (or infidels), namely those accused of unbelief in the central tenets of a religion. Each religion may well appropriate an understanding of “worship” to its own practices — deprecating the practices of others as dangerously misguided, if not inherently “evil”. Historically this has resulted in a systematic pattern of harassment and violence instigated by religions against those framed as heretics — readily reminiscent of those currently held to be “terrorists”. In modern literature, the term infidel includes in its scope atheists, polytheists, animists, heathens, and pagans. A willingness to identify other religious people as infidels corresponds to a preference for orthodoxy over pluralism. Such doctrinal beliefs are not subject to sanction by legislative measures notable for their promotion of freedom of religion and freedom of speech.

Religions have long engaged in violence against those worshiping otherwise, and more specifically against their places of worship. India, for example, continues to be witness to acts of violence perpetrated by Hindus against Muslims, and by Muslims against Hindus. Christianity is remarkable for encouraging and ensuring the destruction of the places of worship of other faiths — and resisting their construction. The process of “church planting” by Christians merits comparison with the protest evoked by proposals for mosque construction by Muslims.

Of particular interest with respect to the deprecation of one form of worship from the perspective of another is the degree to which any narrowly defined form of worship may well be displaced from a religious focus to some other focus entirely — then “worshiped” quite otherwise. The term “worship” may well be used to describe it, and the focused cultivation of that activity may be recognized by others as a form of worship — and possibly deprecated as such. From a more fundamental perspective, any form of worship — as practiced by others — may be perceived as a misleading indulgence in misplaced concreteness, readily deprecated as idolatry.

Whereas attention may be given to “interfaith worship”, it remains unclear what “faiths” are included or excluded from the processes envisaged — or the varieties of worship which might be appreciated in interfaith worship spaces. Examples include those envisaged by the Australian Consultation on Liturgy (Guidelines for Multi-Faith Worship, Catholic Australia) and the scouting community (A Guide to Running Inclusive Interfaith Services, Gamehaven, July 2023). Despite the initiative of the Parliament of the World’s Religions to engender a Global Ethic, no effort seems to have been made to recognize the variety of forms of worship that such an ethic could imply — an ecology of worship.

Varieties of worship as variously understood?

Efforts are made by individual religions to distinguish the varieties of worship (as with the Salah of Islam). As might be expected, these typically honour only a particular genre of worship (and ignoring others), as partially indicated by the following:

  • Christianity:
  • Judaism:
  • Islam: recognizes several key forms of worship beyond Salah (ritual prayer):
    • Dhikr: The practice of remembering and repeating the names and attributes of Allah, which can be done individually or collectively, silently or vocally
    • Du’a: Personal supplication and informal prayer that can be performed at any time
    • I’tikaf: A period of spiritual retreat, typically in a mosque, especially during Ramadan
  • Buddhism: has worship practices which vary by tradition but include:
    • Meditation (bhāvanā): Various forms including mindfulness, loving-kindness, and analytical meditation
    • Puja: Ceremonial offerings and devotional practices, particularly common in Mahayana traditions
    • Chanting sutras and mantras, which can be done individually or as part of group ceremonies
  • Hinduism: worship takes many forms under the umbrella term “puja”:
    • Aarti: The ritual waving of lights before deities while chanting hymns
    • Bhajan and kirtan: Devotional singing, often performed communally
    • Meditation and yoga: Considered forms of worship when done with spiritual intent
    • Home shrine worship: Daily offerings and prayers performed at personal altars
  • Sikhism: primary forms of worship include:
    • Kirtan: Communal singing of hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib
    • Ardas: Formal prayer recited at the beginning and end of significant undertakings
    • Seva: Selfless service as a form of worship through actions

Worship recognized and cultivated outside religion

Potentially problematic in distinguishing “places of worship” is the manner in which the process of “worship” is then defined — and what is associated with that understanding in psychosocial terms. This is most evident from its metaphorical use, as indicated by the following examples. These exclude the manner in which Christian authors have developed an extensive literature in which any preoccupation is reframed as an act or opportunity for (Christian) worship — thereby precluding recognition of other understandings of worship. Those so deprecated are then readily framed in terms of idolatry — on which commentary may be indicative of the questionable nature of the worship in question.

In no particular order:

Places of “worship” and the protest they may evoke?

In addition to churches, mosques, temples, synagogues and the like, the following may be variously understood as places of worship — and so experienced — in the light of the above articulation. In no particular order:

  • Sacred sites and the land may be especially valued in ways in complete contrast to more conventional understanding of “worship” and where it may be appropriately practiced. This is notably the case for the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. However they may be helped to be worshiped through alternative understanding, it is clear that they can evoke protest — especially when their location is held to impede development (or has to be protected from such development)
  • Arenas where thousands may gather can be recognized as evoking a form of worship — whether for sports, entertainment, or their stars. On a much smaller scale this may be evident in the engagement with fitness in gymnasia. Protest is most evident in the case of discontented supporters of competing football teams, or perceived deficiencies in the ticketing process.
  • Military bases, given the manner in which the military may be worshiped, these indeed could be recognized as places of worship — specially given the cultivation of worship therein in anticipation of confrontation with an enemy framed as “evil”. Weapons and vehicles (aircraft, tanks, etc) may be ‘worshiped’ by the teams which operate them — an attitude cultivated to ensure their most effective operation. Such bases have long been a focus of ban-the-bomb and related protests, typically deemed a threat to national security.
  • Laboratories, can evoke considerable devotion by those effectively worshiping the advancement of knowledge or the development of technology for the safeguarding or destruction of human life (as with weapons of mass destruction). Laboratories may evoke protest for that reason, as exemplified by the actions of anti-vivisectionists.
  • Factories, as environments for long-term employment by staff devoted to their work, can be recognized as places of a particular kind of worship — notably defined by technical excellence. Protests with that focus typically take the form of strikes in the quest for higher wages or better working conditions.
  • Fashion shows can be recognized as contexts in which the latest developments of design are exhibited — widely “worshiped” by those eager to adopt the latest fashions. Protests there may be made by the models exploited there, or by those concerned with the exploitation of those in developing countries from which materials are sourced.
  • Museums / Memorials / Art galleries: As exhibited there, art in its various forms may be variously “worshiped”. The art exhibited may well evoke protest as exemplifying the disparity between the exceptional monetary value attached to exhibits in contrast with the impoverished conditions of those elsewhere — or to make a political point, as in the case of “climate change”. Protests may focus on those exhibits held to celebrate problematic individuals, as with those associated with slavery or other forms of abuse.
  • Law courts can be recognized as environments in which the law is “worshiped” in some manner. They tend to be a focus for protest in the case of controversial cases, whether in favour of the defendant or in quest of more radical treatment such that justice may be served.
  • Theatre / Opera: Such contexts may well be recognized as “places of worship”, most notably the Bayreuth Festival Theatre where the works of Richard Wagner are celebrated. These may well evoke protests due to the manner in which they are held to celebrate racial stereotypes.
  • Natural parks and garden: These can be recognized as places where nature can be variously worshiped. This is exemplified by the sacred gardens associated with temples of particular faiths, most notably in India. Protests against the faith in question may result in their desecration
  • Cults may offer a place in which unconventional forms of worship are cultivated, as with the rituals of many secret societies — exemplified by Freemasons, Scientologists and Wiccans, at different extremes.. These may evoke protests focused on the extent to which they are deemed satanic or exploitative or their members.
  • Banks and associated financial institutions may be framed as places in which money worship is assiduously practiced. These may evoke protest, as s exemplified by the Occupy Movement in 2011.
  • Hospitals and health clinics: These environments can be recognized as places where life is worshiped — often at any cost — whether by practitioners, patients or their relatives. The pro-life movement is renowned for the protests such environments evoke when they offer facilities for abortion.

Somewhat ironical, given current controversies regarding the nature of “worship” in the light of deprecation of idolatry, are the early rituals of sacred prostitution in places of worship. The irony is all the greater in that search engines now offer references to relevant homophones resulting from misspellings of “worship”.

References

Aaron Segal and Samuel Lebens (Eds.). The Philosophy of Worship: Divine and Human Aspects. Cambridge University Press, 2025 [contents]

Nicholas Rescher. The Strife of Systems: An Essay on the Grounds and Implications of Philosophical Diversity. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1985

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Anthony Judge is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment and mainly known for his career at the Union of International Associations (UIA), where he has been Director of Communications and Research, as well as Assistant Secretary-General. He was responsible at the UIA for the development of interlinked databases and for publications based on those databases, mainly the Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential, the Yearbook of International Organizations, and the International Congress Calendar. Judge has also personally authored a collection of over 1,600 documents of relevance to governance and strategy-making. All these papers are freely available on his personal website Laetus in Praesens. Now retired from the UIA, he is continuing his research within the context of an initiative called Union of Imaginable Associations. Judge is an Australian born in Egypt, a thinker, an author, and lives in Brussels. His TMS articles may be accessed HERE. (Wikipedia)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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