Technology and religious - cultural changes

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Abstract

In this article we have tried to talk about cultural and religious changes which made by using the new technologies in the modern time. On the other hand, it can be seen that using the new technology such as automobile in the religious ceremonies is caused some changes in religious behaviors in Iran. It is the writer's main claim, which is based on our late experiences during in the two decades of religious ceremonies in Iran. These ceremonies are somehow different by the previous ones because of using the new technologies. Most of the Iranian people have gained objective and subjective experiences from these religious ceremonies, which are understood when looking at these changes. There is no doubt in how these changes are made, however technology has a main role in religious behaviors. In this article, we have tried to show the interaction between technology and religious changes in Iran as a religious society. In other words, we can follow the changes by taking a great look at technology. Therefore, we can raise our questions as follow: how have religious ceremonies changed with the influence of technology (riding a car and using cultural symbols in a slogan from and pictures) ? The method, which I have used to gather and analyze the data, is semiology: taking the pictures, observing the society, and analyzing the symbols and signs, which are related to the social and cultural facts in the society. The data gathering and studies was done in Tehran in a two decades period. The results show that: although automobile is a modern technical object, but it also has a symbolic and aesthetic role in religious ceremonies. It has presented the religious ideas instead of animal (camel and horse)

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