Written by Athanasia Safitri

Discussion about nature and the public support of the community may lead to the argument that if people recuperate from the sacred traditions, the balance between human and nature will be restored. It will later result in several concerns about whether the traditions relate to religious rituals and routines as well and if the relation has evidence. But does it have evidence? Comparative studies have not clearly explained if religion has any contribution to the public support for nature. Yet, there is also contention that what people believe in terms of religion and spirituality affects their actions toward nature. read more

Written by Athanasia Safitri 

Gaoshan Zu is an ethnic minority in Taiwan which is recognized as an official ethnic designation by the Chinese government. Because of the two regimes since 1949 which are the Mainland China and The Taiwan Island, there was alienation of these indigenous people with their Taiwanese family. They could not get back to their hometown and as a result the young generation do not even speak their native language. Their spoken language itself belongs to the Indonesian group of the Malay/Polynesian language family. Their cultural trait deals with songs and dances which are depicted in their social life on holidays but very much declining because of the lost generation up until the 1980’s where the young generation do not even know the tradition and meaning of dancing, singing, and gathering. read more

Written by  Maurisa Zinira

The environmental crisis has reached an alarming stage. In the past 60 years, in particular, carbon dioxide emissions, global warming, ocean acidization, habitat destruction, extinction, and widescale natural resource extraction show remarkable destruction of our natural environment. It is widely accepted that humans have made significant contributions to ecological crisis. The anthropocentric behaviors constantly lead to the emergence of harmful actions, including behaviors observed within the contexts of religion. read more

Written by Johanes Koraag

The World of Pictures

Today we live in a world filled with images. The screens of our gadgets are filled with images, both static and moving. Human eyes have been forced to stare, absorb, and understand the messages behind the thousands of images crammed into communication tools that propagate the messages that certain parties want to convey. It has been proven that photos can evoke stronger reactions than words in the human brain. Images communicate differently than text, as photographs are absorbed more quickly and are generally received more emotionally. Text, it is argued, “requires a linear logic, while visuals elicit a spontaneous emotional response” (Schwalbe & Dougherty, 2015, p. 142). read more