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Talk about faith : how debate and conversation shape belief

How do people of faith use language to position themselves, and their beliefs and practices, in the contemporary world? This pioneering and original study looks closely at how Christians and Muslims talk to people inside and outside of their own communities about what they think are the right things to believe and do. From debates, to podcasts and YouTube videos, the book covers a range of engaging texts and contexts, showing how doctrine and beliefs are not nearly as fixed and static as we might think, and that people are prone to change what they say they believe, depending on who they are talking to. From abortion, to hell, to whether it's okay to sell alcohol, Pihlaja investigates how Christians and Muslims struggle with different elements of their own faith, and try to make decisions about what to do when there are so many different voices to believe.

Online Cambridge University Press

Antagonism on Youtube : metaphor in online discourse

Similar to many sites on the Internet, interaction on YouTube often features confrontational, antagonistic exchanges among users. YouTube comments threads in particular are known for their offensive, conflagratory content. This books looks at this form of discourse. The term 'drama' (or 'flame wars') appears often as a label for a phenomenon that is easily recognisable. In these cases, serious disagreements can become entangled with interpersonal relationships and users take positions for themselves in relation to others and social controversies. The focus of this book is on the ways in which.

Online EBSCO Academic Comprehensive Collection

Religious talk online : the evangelical discourse of Muslims, Christians and atheists

In the online world, people argue about anything and everything - religion is no exception. Stephen Pihlaja investigates how several prominent social media figures present views about religion in an environment where their positions are challenged. The analysis shows how conflict creates a space for users to share, explain, and develop their opinions and beliefs, by making appeals to both a core audience of like-minded viewers and a broader audience of viewers who are potentially interested in the claims, ambivalent, or openly hostile. The book argues that in the back-and-forth of these arguments, the positions that users take in response to the arguments of others have consequences for how religious talk develops, and potentially for how people understand and practice their beliefs in the twenty-first century. Based on original empirical research, it addresses long-debated questions in sociolinguistics and discourse analysis regarding the role of language in building solidarity, defining identity and establishing genres and registers of interaction.