SIMBOLI, COMUNICAZIONE E MARKETING RELIGIOSO

Today religious symbolism represents a very interesting theme not only for scholars in the field of ecclesiastical law or in the different branches of law, but it includes also human, relational, political, economic, administrative and legal issues concerning society in its broader sense. A religious symbol can be an object, a piece of clothing, or also a practice, an attitude immediately linked to a specific faith, in its abstract or concrete sense. Through a sort of “symbolic transfiguration", an individual or a group recognize themselves, with more or less intensity, in a specific sacred image, identifying it as an aspect of their personality and sociality, as their historical and cultural roots. This icon creates a bond among people sharing the same belief, which has to be safeguarded and saved. However, the religious symbol also generates conflicts because from one hand, it puts together people who identify themselves in a given symbol, from the other hand it separates individuals who find identification in other symbols or who have no symbol to show: hence, the birth of a strong social unrest and of a real “war” for and against the symbols. The religious debate most frequently raised concerns, obviously, the presence of religious symbols in public areas, because it can be considered, by people who don't recognize themselves in that specific symbol, as an infringement of their religious freedom, as well as of the principle of secularism. This issue, undoubtedly, causes interpretative and ideological contradictions within the modern legal frameworks because the concept of being laical can be totally different from the right of religious freedom. This is also what emerges from some important judgements mentioned in this work which concern the display of specific symbols and the relating integration of judicial and cultural principles within the legal framework of reference. Some examples can be the controversies raised in Italy, France, Switzerland, Turkey, which in some cases concluded before the European court of human rights, that tailors its modus operandi to the national, historical and cultural context. In Italy, for instance, it's emblematic the debate about the presence of crucifix, especially in public schools, in the courtrooms and in the polling stations, or also the question related to the yashmak and to other religious symbols linked to the most relevant faiths in the contemporary society. The second part of this work focuses on a dynamic study of the religious component and its presence within the community. The religious symbol is intended to represent the way of communication between a given religion and its worshippers. From this assumption, the research has been carried out taking into account the semiotics of the symbol first and then the religious perspective of the symbol, whose meaning can change depending on the social and on the ethnic context, as well as on worshippers. Then, the focus moves to the way of communication of the Catholic Church in Italy, as religion of the majority, avoiding debates and controversies linked to its relevance, with respect to other faiths, in the field of mass media, for historical and cultural reasons. In the wake of religious messages, it is necessary to concentrate on the freedom of expression, above all on satire and its (possible) limits in religion. In fact, even the elaboration of a paradox or a cartoon implies to know and to be aware of the otherness, because in some cases incompetence on specific principles or faiths should create serious offenses against religions and against the individual. Religious symbols belong not only to faiths and their practices, but also to worshippers, whose identity is shaped in every aspect of their daily life. The transition from the spiritual level to the social field leads religious symbols to “invade” even the economic sphere, because they are able to influence the individual's behaviour, who is at the same time man and worshipper. For this reason, it is interesting to analyze the interaction between marketing and religion, with a particular focus on the use of religious symbols within advertising campaigns, as well as in the commercial activities like the purchase of specific goods. Thanks to the research done, religious symbols emerge no more as an exclusive field of religions, but as instruments provided with credibility aimed at attracting customers, pushing them to buy objects linked to their religion and giving them the possibility to be more obedient to religious precepts, as in the case of nutrition. Dealing with the research carried out, we come to the conclusion that a multicultural society must be able to identify and safeguard the co-existence of different cultures and religions. Legal frameworks should elaborate and realize, with the cooperation of religions, instruments intended to raise awareness and respect towards the different ethnic groups and their symbols, to organize and integrate them in the various levels of social, legal and economic life.