Free EARS dashboard provides new insights on religion
Free EARS dashboard provides new insights on religion
The EARS dashboard is available free of charge to help you generate new insights on religion and society. Let’s take a look at some of the topics that you can dive into.
The EARS dashboard is a collection of summaries from European media articles on religion and society. In the past few years, over 10,000 summaries were added. Our international team of analysts keeps the dashboard up-to-date with hundreds of new summaries each month.
The dashboard is available free of charge to help you generate new insights on religion and society. Let’s take a look at some of the topics that you can dive into. For a step-by-step guide on how to use the dashboard, please read this article .
Shaping new traditions
Between July 1st and October 1st, 2021, 916 article summaries were added to the dashboard. 223 of these, or 24%, related to the topic of tradition. For example, the dashboard provides insights into the ban on slaughter without stunning in Belgium, which limits the possibilities for Jews and Muslims to practice traditional kosher and halal slaughter.[1]
The dashboard also shows how various religious traditions are being picked up in their regular form again after being delayed or cancelled by coronavirus restrictions. For example, this is the case for processions[2] and pilgrimages.[3]
On the other hand, traditions are changing and disappearing. For instance, fewer and fewer people are choosing to baptise their children within the Church of Sweden.[4]
Using AI in religion
Another interesting subject included on the dashboard is the relationship between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and religion. This topic does not appear in the news much, with only 5 article summaries added about the topic between July 1st and October 1st, 2021. However, the insights derived from the dashboard are nevertheless relevant.
Even though Pope Francis has warned against the threats of technology,[5] the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has launched their own app[6] and the Church of England has started a project to digitally map every grave memorial in every churchyard in the country.[7] In addition, the dashboard provides insights into the question if it matters whether a prayer is written by a person or by an algorithm.[8]
Religious roots of protest
Recently, the topic of protest was added to the dashboard. Between July 1st and October 1st, 2021, 46 articles were added on this subject. This equals 5% of the total.
From the dashboard, we can draw insights about protests on various topics. For example, article summaries about Germany’s annual ‘March for Life’[9] show the importance of subjects such as abortion, euthanasia, and stem cell research.
Another major reason for protests are political power struggles, as seen when the inauguration of the new Orthodox Metropolitan of Montenegro was accompanied by massive protests.[10] These protests took place within a wider debate over the Montenegrin church, which is part of the Serbian Orthodox Church despite Montenegro gaining independence from Serbia in 2006. The protesters believe that the election did not take place correctly and that it was manipulated by Serbia.[11]
Learn more
Traditions, AI, and protest are just three of the many topics that can be analysed free of charge with the EARS dashboard. The tool enables you to find new relationships between interesting subjects across Europe, such as alternative facts, tolerance, leadership, and much more. Please visit the dashboard to learn more.
Sources
[1] Grondwettelijk Hof bevestigt verbod op onverdoofd slachten
[2] Año y medio después, las procesiones regresan a Jaén
[3] Saudi Arabia to reopen borders for vaccinated umrah pilgrims
[4] Allt färre väljer att döpa sina barn i Svenska kyrkan
[5] Il Papa: i politici proteggano la dignità umana dalle minacce delle tecnologie
[6] Orthodox Church of Ukraine launches own app
[7] Graves in 19,000 English churchyards to be mapped online
[8] Maakt het uit of een gebed door een echt mens is opgesteld of door een algoritme?
[9] Berlin: Thousands demonstrate over abortion, euthanasia laws
[10] Tränen und Ausschreitungen rund um Bischofsweihe in Montenegro
