Religion and Social Hidden Curriculum--The Educative Influences of Christianity and Islam in Women

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Llorent-Bedmar, Vincente; Llorent, Vicente J.

2014-01-01

In this paper we highlight the similarities and differences between Christianity and Islam, on the social functions of women based on the sacred texts of both, references to a hidden social curriculum in the history. Faced with the growing religious pluralism in contemporary societies, we believe that the debate on how the two main religions in…

Overview of religions.

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Nicky

2004-01-01

This article provides a brief overview of 9 religions: Christianity, Judaism, Jehovah's Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Christian Science, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism. Basic information on the origins, language, naming practices, diet, personal hygiene, and dress requirements is provided. For additional information, Web sites for each of these religions are also provided.

Folk Beliefs, Religion and Spiritualism in Serbian Society in the 19th and first half of the 20th Century

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Ana Banić-Grubišić

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Review of the book by Radmila Radić. Narodna verovanja, religija i spiritizam u srpskom društvu 19. i u prvoj polovini 20. veka. [Folk Beliefs, Religion and Spiritualism in Serbian Society in the 19th and first half of the 20th Century]. 2009. Beograd: Institut za noviju istoriju Srbije, pp. 295

Christian Caritas in Christian Pedagogy

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Leszek Aftyka

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The article highlights the leading ideas of Christian pedagogy, which are the upbringing of children and youth of spiritual and moral values. The author stresses that Christian pedagogy serves the effective tool for the formation of the spirituality of the younger generation, the formation of philosophical representations and beliefs, etiquette, spiritual traditions and values of people in the universally accepted commandments of God. Considerable attention is paid to the formation of high morality of the younger generation, etiquette, love of people, religiousness, etc. In the Christian religion the highest value compared to all other virtues is „love”. The Christian love is rooted primarily in the commandment of love for God and man, that is why genuine charity comes from the heart full of love. This article presents the teaching of Christ for mercy to others and its practical application in the first Christian Communities. The author described the economic organization and charitable initiatives in the communities of early Christians.

Christians' cut: popular religion and the global health campaign for medical male circumcision in Swaziland.

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Golomski, Casey; Nyawo, Sonene

2017-08-01

Swaziland faces one of the worst HIV epidemics in the world and is a site for the current global health campaign in sub-Saharan Africa to medically circumcise the majority of the male population. Given that Swaziland is also majority Christian, how does the most popular religion influence acceptance, rejection or understandings of medical male circumcision? This article considers interpretive differences by Christians across the Kingdom's three ecumenical organisations, showing how a diverse group people singly glossed as 'Christian' in most public health acceptability studies critically rejected the procedure in unity, but not uniformly. Participants saw medical male circumcision's promotion and messaging as offensive and circumspect, and medical male circumcision as confounding gendered expectations and sexualised ideas of the body in Swazi Culture. Pentecostal-charismatic churches were seen as more likely to accept medical male circumcision, while traditionalist African Independent Churches rejected the operation. The procedure was widely understood to be a personal choice, in line with New Testament-inspired commitments to metaphorical circumcision as a way of receiving God's grace.

Reading Nostra Aetate in reverse: a different way of looking at the relationships among religions

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Peter C. Phan

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Nostra Aetate indisputably represented at its promulgation in 1965 a momentous step forward in Catholic theology of religions. But its perspective on other religions still remains deeply "Christianity-centric" in that it views other religions from the Christian vantage-point and uses Christianity as the yardstick to evaluate them. Graphically, its theology of religions may be represented by a series of concentric circles with Christianity occupying the center of the innermost circle and other religions occupying successive circles, with increasing distance from the center, depending on the number of the elements of the true religion, which is Christianity, they possess. How would the "the relation of the Church to non-Christian Religions" (the full title of the Declaration Nostra Aetate look like if we start from other religions and see them on their own terms, as they see themselves, that is, not as "non-Christian," and inquire into their mutual relations?  The essay begins with an examination of the theology of religions implicit in the use of the expression “non-Christian” when referring to religions other than Christianity. It is argued that the “non” is not a neutral descriptive term but represents the “fulfillment theology” of religions prevalent before and during Vatican II. Next a critique of this fulfillment theology is presented showing that it is seriously inadequate for interreligious dialogue. Finally the essay proposes a different way to conceiving the relation between Christianity and other religions (as “other” and not as “non-Christian” by applying the insights of the Jewish-Christian dialogue, especially its rejection of supersessionism, its condemnation of the “teaching of contempt,” and its Trinitarian theology of religion. In summary, the essay attempts to formulate a Christian “kenotic theology of religion,” in which Christianity and the church no longer stand at the normative center toward

From Contextual Theology to African Christianity: The Consideration of Adiaphora from a South African Perspective

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Joel Mokhoathi

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The move towards contextual Christianity in Africa is an essential venture if Christianity is to communicate with the African cultural heritage. As a universal religion, Christianity has to find an expression within the cultural context. However, the contextualization of Christianity in Africa appears to have permitted the practice of syncretism. It has resulted in the emergence of African Christianity, which is the amalgamation of Christianity and African Traditional Religion. The amalgamation of Christianity and African Traditional Religion appears to overlook the essence of both religions as there is currently no clarity on how Christianity can best be expressed within the African cultural and religious heritage. This paper employs the document review method to explore the things that fall in between—“adiaphora”, which the proponents of contextual Christianity may have overlooked with regard to the African cultural and religious heritage. These include the pragmatic nature of the African cultural and religious heritage, and the African traditional methods of healing.

Spirituality: the new religion of our time?

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J. L. van der Walt

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Mainstream religions and their institutions have since the 1960s been gradually bleeding to death because of their members leaving them in search of rather more inspirational experiences elsewhere. Christian educationists are concerned about this development, because it means that these churches have been losing their capacity for entering into meaningful tripartite pedagogical partnerships with family and school. A description of the problem of churches losing members is followed by a brief depiction of spirituality, something that can be experienced both within Christianity and elsewhere. The inability of main- stream churches to let their members experience true Christian spirituality compels the latter to go elsewhere in search of it. It is concluded that spirituality is no “new” religion after all as far as Christianity is concerned. It is in fact the quintessence of Christianity, but has through the ages become deeply buried in the mainstream religions and churches under thick layers of dogmatic and other superficialities.

Ideologies of Religion and Diversity in Australian Public Schools

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Byrne, Catherine

2012-01-01

In many multicultural democracies, education has a Christian history. However, teaching religion has ideological variation. Progressives teach about many religions, while conservatives favor (often exclusive) instruction into one tradition. Australian secular education controversially prioritizes faith-forming instruction (mostly Christian). In…

Community and Christianity in the Black Church.

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Morris, Joseph R.; Robinson, Dianne T.

1996-01-01

Explores the experience of Christianity for many African Americans and how such experience provides a foundation for social activism. Discusses Black church burnings with respect to the more traditional Christian African American view of religion. Explores implications for incorporating the religious traditions of Christian African Americans into…

The Cult of the Roman Emperor before and after Christianity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Warmind, Morten

1993-01-01

This paper is concerned with a complete set of rituals and certain connected ideas, namely the Roman emperor-cult, that had survived the change of religion from Roman religion to Christianity. The rituals endure, even while their mythological basis is perishing. The emperor-cult includes the ritu......This paper is concerned with a complete set of rituals and certain connected ideas, namely the Roman emperor-cult, that had survived the change of religion from Roman religion to Christianity. The rituals endure, even while their mythological basis is perishing. The emperor-cult includes...

What is religion? an African understanding

OpenAIRE

Beyers, Jaco

2010-01-01

Western thought has influenced the way that religion is understood. Western philosophy supported the separation between the sacred and the profane. Modernism, focusing on human rationality, reduced religion to a set of correctly formulated dogmas and doctrines. Western thought, dominated by Christianity, created a hierarchical structure of world religions through a theology of religions. Can an African understanding of religion make a contribution to the understanding of what religion is? Suc...

THE STUDY OF AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION AND ITS CHALLENGES IN CONTEMPORARY TIMES

OpenAIRE

Rotimi Williams Omotoye

2011-01-01

African Traditional Religion is the traditional religion of the African people before the coming of Islam and Christianity. However, the missionaries of the two foreign religions succeeded in converting some African people to the new religions. The African religion was condemned by the Early European scholars, travelers, investigators and missionaries. The educated Elite who were products of the schools established by the Christian missionaries in particular and the converts in general did no...

Semiotic Analysis of the Auspicious Images of a Taiwanese Folk Religion Temple

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Chao-Ming Yang

2016-05-01

Full Text Available In Taiwan, temples were decorated with painted and sculptured auspicious images that promote the communication between worshippers and deities. In this study, we adopted grounded theory and ethnography with applied semiotic theory to analysis the semiotic meanings of the auspicious images of Taiwanese folk religion temple, identify the semiotic characteristics of the images, and summarize the signs associated with the images. A total of 126 image samples were collected from field study, and the KJ method was subsequently performed to categorize and analyze the samples. Finally, some significant findings were obtained, the functional aspects of the aforementioned images mostly belong to the categories of symbol and homonymy, whereas their mental aspects belong to the categories of psychological and physiological requirements. In sum, humans perceive the world through signs and that human life is the semiotization of the world, although Eastern and Western cultures are characteristically different, they share much similarity in communication methods. The findings of this study can foster the understanding of the truth, goodness, and beauty of the architectural decoration of temples in Taiwan and the modesty, hospitality, generosity, and religiosity of Taiwanese society.

Some contemporary aspects of Hindu-Christian dialogue

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Alexandru-Corneliu Arion

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The present paper deals with an important aspect of today’s interreligious dialogue, that between Christianity and the second largest religion of Asia, namely Hinduism. The concern is centering around not the ancient or traditional links between these two expressions of the Sacred, but rather of the contemporary ones. But that requires certain knowledge of what has already happened. The dialogue comes from the heart of the people, and is situated in the middle of life. Unfortunately, many present-day dialogues set the stage according to the terms of one of the parties alone. But in spite of misunderstandings and difficulties of the Hindu-Christian dialogue, it has an unavoidable effect: it changes our vision and interpretation of our own religion. The main tenets would be: the future of Hindu-Christian dialogue will largely depend on future mutual interest; Hindu-Christian dialogue may be linked to the future development of Hinduism and Christianity; the future of Hindu-Christian dialogue may be endangered by an institutional misunderstanding of its nature; Hindu-Christian dialogue may have to be placed into a larger “secular” context; Hindu-Christian dialogue is inevitable. It is an imperative and it must exhibit more continuity.

Christianity, development, and women's liberation.

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Walker, B

1999-03-01

This paper explores the relationship between Christianity, development, and women's liberation. The article examines the opportunities and constraints, which exist for women in the tradition of mainstream Christianity regarding their sexuality and family life. These concepts were investigated within the community level, the church itself, convent life, in the economy, and at wider national and international levels. Subordination of women through religion is the result of imposing social codes regarding women's roles, behavior, and relationships with men. However, equality can be achieved if the forms and substance of religious practice is reexamined and changed with liberation of women in mind. There is also a need to address the cultural and spiritual imperialism brought about by religion.

The change of religion and the names

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John Kousgård Sørensen

1990-01-01

Full Text Available What actually happened at the time when Denmark was christianized? An important viewpoint to the topic is the nomenclature, both personal names and place-names. What happened to these in the missionary period? Can they be exploited as evidence about the change of religion? What happened to these and to the naming practices in connection with the introduction of Christianity? These questions are relevant, because several pre-Christian cultic words entered into the personal nomenclature which the Christian mission found in use on its arrival. The fate of the nomenclature in the period does suggest that the change in religion took place reasonably peacefully and gradually. There are, however, certain features about the place-names suggesting that there were local differences in the conduct of the mission.

The Need to Re-Conceptualize African 'Traditional' Religion

African Journals Online (AJOL)

First Lady

definitions of religion, point out the areas of misconception about African religion ... concrete deity or not‖ by William James (1902) opens up the idea of religion .... a belief which is also very central in the Judeo-Christian faith, especially in.

Spiritual Medicine in The Multi Perspective of Religion

OpenAIRE

Minhas, Marwa; Akhmad, Syaefudin Ali; Afzal, Nadeem

2017-01-01

Spiritual healing, also known as healing through prayer and meditation, has been widely studied by various scholars from different religions including Islam, Hindu, Buddhism and Christianity. The term spiritual medicine is increasingly popular with increasing mental disorders, degenerative diseases, metabolic, cancer and social illness such as drug abuse. Religions of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity have almost the same tradition in the spiritual aspect to create purity of self and...

Beyond denial and exclusion: The history of relations between Christians and Muslims in the Cape Colony during the 17th–18th centuries with lessons for a post-colonial theology of religions

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Jaco Beyers

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Learning from the past prepares one for being able to cope with the future. History is made up of strings of relationships. This article follows a historical line from colonialism, through apartheid to post-colonialism in order to illustrate inter-religious relations in South-Africa and how each context determines these relations. Social cohesion is enhanced by a post-colonial theology of religions based on the current context. By describing the relationship between Christians and Muslims during the 17th–18th centuries in the Cape Colony, lessons can be deduced to guide inter-religious relations in a post-colonial era in South Africa. One of the most prominent Muslim leaders during the 17th century in the Cape Colony was Sheik Yusuf al-Makassari. His influence determined the future face of Islam in the Cape Colony and here, during the 18th century, ethics started playing a crucial role in determining the relationship between Christians and Muslims. The ethical guidance of the Imams formed the Muslim communities whilst ethical decline was apparent amongst the Christian colonists during the same period. The place of ethics as determinative of future inter-religious dialogue is emphasised. Denial and exclusion characterised relationships between Christians and Muslims. According to a post-colonial understanding of inter-religious contact the equality and dignity of non-Christian religions are to be acknowledged. In the postcolonial and postapartheid struggle for equality, also of religions, prof Graham Duncan, to whom this article is dedicated, contributed to the process of acknowledging the plurality of the religious reality in South Africa.

The formation of Christian theology in Alexandria

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Willem H. Oliver

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Jesus was born in Palestine. He was the main determinant for the foundation of a religious movement or sect later called Christianity. This movement, founded in Palestine after the ascension of Jesus, with Jerusalem as its main centre of worship, was merely a Judaeo-Christian sect. In Jerusalem, the adherents to this movement were not really distinctive from the Jewish religion, as they worshipped the same God, Yahweh, went to the same Temple and/or synagogues and kept the same Jewish Laws. After the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, many Jews, including the �believers in Christ�s teachings� (the earliest Christians fled Jerusalem for different parts of the Roman Empire such as Transjordan, Syria and Africa. Different �Christianities� developed in the main cities of the Roman Empire � Rome, Antioch and Alexandria. In each of these cities, the believers in Christ�s teachings developed their own religion alongside Judaism. This article argued that it was in Alexandria, a world famous city during the time of the Roman Empire, especially renowned for its academic excellence, that the new religion best found and made its own stand. The Catechetical School, with scholarly heads and writers, such as Clement and Origen, started to develop a theology that set the standard for Christian theology in the Empire.Intradisciplinary�and/or�interdisciplinary implications: The general assumption is that Jerusalem, as the origin of Christianity, was the place where it had its formation. This article proposed that it was actually Alexandria where Christianity was best found and became distinctive from Judaism. However, a lack of original sources on this subject area limited the research.

Religions in Fiction for Junior and Senior High Students.

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Knafle, June D.

2001-01-01

Examines current adolescent fiction of award-winning and widely read authors according to religious themes concerning Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Native American religions, African spirit religions, and the occult, supernatural, and New Age. Finds that the portrayal of religions and its adherents is very mixed, depending upon the religion.…

Christian rock concerts as a meeting between religion and popular culture

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Andreas Häger

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Different forms of artistic expression play a vital role in religious practices of the most diverse traditions. One very important such expression is music. This paper deals with a contemporary form of religious music, Christian rock. Rock or popular music has been used within Christianity as a means for evangelization and worship since the end of the 1960s. The genre of "contemporary Christian music", or Christian rock, stands by definition with one foot in established institutional (in practicality often evangelical Christianity, and the other in the commercial rock musicindustry. The subject of this paper is to study how this intermediate position is manifested and negotiated in Christian rock concerts. Such a performance of Christian rock music is here assumed to be both a rock concert and a religious service. The paper will examine how this duality is expressed in practices at Christian rock concerts.

Christianity in Africa: a historical appraisal

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Samson A Fatokun

2005-10-01

Full Text Available In this article, the author challenges the popular public conception that Christianity in Africa is a latecomer introduced only with the advent of colonialism. By tracing the origins of the Christian faith in both North and sub-Saharan Africa (including, North-Central and West Africa, this paper seeks to show that Christianity has been in Africa virtually since its inception and that the continent� s own adherents to this faith played an important role in the formation and advance of Christianity elsewhere. Moreover, Christianity in Africa can be found almost everywhere on the continent and indigenous varieties of the tradition developed which allowed it to become as part of Africa as African traditional religions.

Reflections on Muslim-Christian encounters in West Africa

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Soares, B.

2016-01-01

Among historians, social scientists and scholars of religion there has been increased recognition of the importance of studying Islam and Christianity in Africa not separately but rather together as lived religions in dynamic interaction over time. In this article, I trace how scholars have arrived

A Christian identity for the liberal state?

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Joppke, Christian

2013-12-01

It seems to be impossible for the liberal state to embrace a Christian identity, because 'liberalism' is exactly a device for separating state and religion. Discussing the implications of a recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights, Lautsi v. Italy (2011), I argue that this is not necessarily so. If paired with a liberal commitment to pluralism, a Christian identity might even be more inclusive of minority religions than a narrowly 'liberal' state identity, which has been the dominant response in Western Europe to the challenge of immigrant diversity, especially that of Muslim origins. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2013.

Religious Beliefs among the Oromo: Waaqeffannaa, Christianity and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Bartels in his work on Oromo Religion, this paper discusses continuity and change in the Oromo religious beliefs and the tolerance they have developed examining the impact of Christianity and Islam on Waaqeffanna in general and that of Islam in particular. Whether the Oromo have become Christians or Muslims, however ...

A Multi-Disciplinary Inquiry of Secular and Christian Approaches to Sex Education

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Yu, Chong Ho; Lee, Hyun Seo

2018-01-01

Secular scholars have criticized Christian education and counseling on sex as restrictive, ineffective, and outdated. The authors of the current study explored both common non-Christian and Christian approaches to human sexuality with reference to overarching domains of religion, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Secular…

Evangelical Religion and Evangelical Democracy: Lincoln’s Legacy

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David Goldfield

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Evangelical religion and evangelical democracy reinforced each other in nineteenth-century America. The spread of evangelical Christianity and democracy across a continent justified the wars against Native Americans and Mexico, and provided the moral framework for the fight against slavery which many Americans came to see as incompatible with Protestant Christianity and democratic government. The problem with mixing religion and politics in this manner was that political issues became moral issues and, therefore, more difficult to deal with in the political process.

The Impact of Religion on Women Empowerment as a Millennium Development Goal in Africa

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Njoh, Ambe J.; Akiwumi, Fenda A.

2012-01-01

The study examines the impact of religion on women empowerment. Three religions, indigenous African, Islam and Christianity, comprising Africa's triple heritage, are considered. The hypothesized relationships are confirmed. Christianity correlates with each of the four Development Targets specified for women empowerment under the third of the…

Can Christians really make a difference? A response to the call for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Christianity changed the world for the better through the development of education, charity organisations, art, music, law and medical care among others. However, not all changes initiated by Christianity were positive. The Christian religion was also responsible for division, death, destruction and war. Focusing on the ...

First Handbooks on History of Religion and Comparative Religion Abroad

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Barashkov Viktor

2016-01-01

Full Text Available One of the important aspects of institutionalization of the religious studies in 1870– 1910s was the publishing of the fi rst handbooks on history of religion and comparative religion. The aim of the paper is to analyze methods and approaches of religious studies, as they described in these handbooks. The main characteristic of religion for the historians of religion was its universality. The most important methods, according to them, were historical approach, comparative approach, using of the notion «development». It is important, that we deal foremost with the «history of religion» in these handbooks, not with the «history of religions». Primitive religions were usually excluded from these handbooks, because they «have not history». First handbooks on history of religion often were edited in the series of theological handbooks, that’s why Christianity was described in them quite often as «higher» religion. Researches on comparative religion were based upon the history of religion. One of the main principles of comparative religion was that it should not deal with religious values, but only with a comparison of facts. The author concludes that scholars of religion nowadays should not only collect the facts, but also realize projects on the general history (theory of religion.

"Flee from the Worship of Idols": Becoming Christian in Roman Corinth

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Byler, Dorvan

2016-01-01

The religious contexts in which early Christian communities grew were important factors in the first-century development of Christianity, affecting what it meant to become a Christian--either as a convert from a background in Judaism or as a convert from a background in Greek, Roman, or Egyptian cults. Surrounding religions and cultural norms…

Types Of Christian Tourism

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Cornelia Petroman

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Christian tourism is asub-type of tourism where pilgrims travel alone or in group as missionaries orpilgrims or to spend their free time to recollect; it attracts a large numberof travellers. Christian tourism can be practiced by religious young people,missionaries, participants to religious convents, amateurs of religiouscruises, religious camps, visitors of religious attractions, religiousadventurers. Christian tourism can be considered a sub-type of religioustourism because of the large number of people involved in this type of tourismworldwide. Christian tourism as a sub-category of religious tourism coversthree main sub-types: traditional pilgrimage practiced by most world religions,missionary travel to different areas in the world, and confessional voyage. Thestructure of hospitality industry is common to all types of tourism but, fortraditional pilgrimage, there must be special places for the pilgrims to sleep,eat and pray, because they belong, in most cases, to the medium-income touristcategory.

Christianity and Schizophrenia Redux: An Empirical Study.

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Kéri, Szabolcs; Kelemen, Oguz

2016-04-09

This paper explores the relationship among schizophrenia, spirituality, and Christian religiosity. We interviewed 120 patients with schizophrenia and 120 control individuals (74.2 % of individuals with self-reported Christian religions). Patients with schizophrenia showed increases in positive spirituality and decreases in positive congregational support, as measured by the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality. There was no significant difference in Christian religiosity. Higher positive spirituality was predicted by more severe self-disorder, perceptual disorder, and positive clinical symptoms. Schizophrenia patients with religious delusions did not exhibit enhanced Christian beliefs and rituals. These results do not confirm the hypothesis of general hyper-religiosity in schizophrenia.

Christian Religious Education Research in the Japanese Context

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Okuda, Kazuhiro

2006-01-01

Protestant Christianity was brought to Japan during the modernization of that country in the middle of the nineteenth century. Before the Second World War, except for a short time, Christianity in Japan as a Western religion had experienced a difficult course of history because of hostility due to nationalism of the populace and the leaders of the…

What is religion? An African understanding | Beyers | HTS ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Western thought has influenced the way that religion is understood. Western philosophy supported the separation between the sacred and the profane. Modernism, focusing on human rationality, reduced religion to a set of correctly formulated dogmas and doctrines. Western thought, dominated by Christianity, created a ...

Teaching the History of Christianity: Critical Themes and Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Killen, Patricia O'Connell; Duntley, Madeline; Furey, Constance; Gilpin, W. Clark; Six-Means, Horace E.

2009-01-01

At the November 2008 meeting of the American Academy of Religion, the History of Christianity section sponsored a panel around the question: "What are the key challenges, opportunities, and goals in the History of Christianity classroom today and how best should teachers respond to them?" Beginning with brief sketches of institutional context and…

Historical intersections of psychology, religion, and politics in national contexts.

Science.gov (United States)

Kugelmann, Robert; Belzen, Jacob A

2009-08-01

Various types of psychology have come into existence in and have been interacting with a plurality of contexts, contexts that have been radically varying in different states or nations. One important factor in the development of psychology has been the multiple relationships to the Christian religion, whether understood as an institution, a worldview, or a form of personal spirituality. The articles in this issue focus on the intertwinements between institutional religion and national political structures and on their influence on developing forms of psychology in four different national contexts: Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Within these four settings, aspects of the ways in which varying forms of Christian religion coconstituted, facilitated, and shaped psychology, theoretically, practically, and institutionally, are examined. The formative power of the religions was not independent of the relationships between religion and political power, but rather mediated by these.

Old Scandinavian and Christian eschatology

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Anders Hultgård

1990-01-01

Full Text Available The eschatological beliefs current in Scandinavia during the Viking and early Medieval periods can be grouped into two main traditions, denoted by the concepts of Ragnarok and Doomsday. The former has its roots in the pre-Christian religion of Scandinavia, the latter was brought to the north in the process of christianization. Although different in origin the two traditions did not, in the age with which we are concerned, necessarily reflect a strict division between adherents of the old faith and Christians. Syncretic versions of the Ragnarok concept were in circulation, one of which was presented by Snorri in his Edda. The common people, although officially christianized, apparently continued to transmit beliefs connected with the Ragnarok tradition. Scholarly research has tended to treat the two traditions separately. In fact they coexisted for centuries, leaving room for confrontation and mutual influences.

Religion and Culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sabih, Joshua

group breaks totally with the existing Arabic Bible translations that they were in the habit of using. In this translation, the previously strenuous relationship between culture and religion is flattened in a binary sets of oppositions between an unaltered Devine message preserved in ancient Bible...... translation of the Holy Scriptures, and address how an originally-American Christian group re-constructs the relationship of religion –universality of one truth and its embodiment in one community of faith – and culture; and specifically, Arabic culture. Culture, in its manifold forms -Jehovah’s witnesses...

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RELIGION REPORTING IN NIGERIA ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

2017-07-01

Jul 1, 2017 ... The issue of religion is a very important one in the development of .... Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has none. .... among Christian workers that it is as a result of the anti-Christian campaign in the Local media ... Islam are sponsored by government if they are public servants or private sector if ...

The study of African traditional religion and its challenges in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

African Traditional Religion is the traditional religion of the African people before the coming of Islam and Christianity. However, the ... The paper has been able to highlight the problems of African religion in the contemporary time, while some suggestions are given, so as to make it meet the challenges of the modern times.

Religion as a means to assure paternity.

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Strassmann, Beverly I; Kurapati, Nikhil T; Hug, Brendan F; Burke, Erin E; Gillespie, Brenda W; Karafet, Tatiana M; Hammer, Michael F

2012-06-19

The sacred texts of five world religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism) use similar belief systems to set limits on sexual behavior. We propose that this similarity is a shared cultural solution to a biological problem: namely male uncertainty over the paternity of offspring. Furthermore, we propose the hypothesis that religious practices that more strongly regulate female sexuality should be more successful at promoting paternity certainty. Using genetic data on 1,706 father-son pairs, we tested this hypothesis in a traditional African population in which multiple religions (Islam, Christianity, and indigenous) coexist in the same families and villages. We show that the indigenous religion enables males to achieve a significantly (P = 0.019) lower probability of cuckoldry (1.3% versus 2.9%) by enforcing the honest signaling of menstruation, but that all three religions share tenets aimed at the avoidance of extrapair copulation. Our findings provide evidence for high paternity certainty in a traditional African population, and they shed light on the reproductive agendas that underlie religious patriarchy.

On World Religion Adherence Distribution Evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Ausloos, Marcel; Petroni, Filippo

Religious adherence can be considered as a degree of freedom, in a statistical physics sense, for a human agent belonging to a population. The distribution, performance and life time of religions can thus be studied having in mind heterogeneous interacting agent modeling. We present a comprehensive analysis of 58 so-called religions (to be better defined in the main text) as measured through their number of adherents evolutions, between 1900 and 2000, - data taken from the World Christian Trends (Barrett and Johnson, "World Christian Trends AD 30 - AD 2200: Interpreting the Annual Christian Megacensus", William Carey Library, 2001): 40 are considered to be "presently growing" cases, including 11 turn overs in the twentieth century; 18 are "presently decaying", among which 12 are found to have had a recent maximum, in the nineteenth or the twentieth century. The Avrami-Kolmogorov differential equation which usually describes solid state transformations, like crystal growth, is used in each case in order to obtain the preferential attachment parameter introduced previously (Europhys Lett 77:38002, 2007). It is not often found close to unity, though often corresponding to a smooth evolution. However large values suggest the occurrence of extreme cases which we conjecture are controlled by so-called external fields. A few cases indicate the likeliness of a detachment process. We discuss a few growing and decaying religions, and illustrate various fits. Some cases seem to indicate the lack of reliability of the data, but others some marked departure from Avrami law. Whence the Avrami evolution equation might be surely improved, in particular, and somewhat obviously, for the decaying religion cases. We point out two major difficulties in such an analysis: (1) the "precise" original time of apparition of a religion, (2) the time at which there is a maximum number of adherents, both information being necessary for integrating reliably any evolution equation.

Philosophy and Religion in service of the Philosophia Christi

NARCIS (Netherlands)

N. Linkels (Nicole)

2013-01-01

textabstractDesiderius Erasmus proposed a philosophia Christi, in which – at least to the Renaissance humanist – both religion and philosophy dictate the Christian way of living. The very term implies that philosophy and religion share a common ground. It fails, however, to acknowledge the

The law of the leading digits and the world religions

Science.gov (United States)

Mir, T. A.

2012-02-01

Benford's law states that the occurrence of significant digits in many data sets is not uniform but tends to follow a logarithmic distribution such that the smaller digits appear as first significant digits more frequently than the larger ones. We investigate here numerical data on the country-wise adherent distribution of seven major world religions i.e. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism and Baha'ism to see if the proportion of the leading digits occurring in the distribution conforms to Benford's law. We find that the adherent data of all the religions, except Christianity, excellently does conform to Benford's law. Furthermore, unlike the adherent data on Christianity, the significant digit distribution of the three major Christian denominations i.e. Catholicism, Protestantism and Orthodoxy obeys the law. Thus in spite of their complexity general laws can be established for the evolution of religious groups.

Analysing Religion and Education in Christian Academies

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Elizabeth

2012-01-01

This paper asserts that the religious assumptions of Christian academies need to be fully examined in relation to any analysis of their cultural practices, impact or policy implications. It proposes that Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, cultural capital and symbolic power can be broadened out from their traditional use in accounting for social…

Issue of Salvation in Christianity: A Study in the Perspective of Islamic Ethics

OpenAIRE

Syed Mohammad Hilmi, S. A. R.; Masitoh, A.; Jamil, H.; Abdulnaser, S.

2015-01-01

The doctrine of salvation is considered as a central pillar in Christian’s belief, in which underlying most of the fundamental teachings in Christianity such as the doctrines of original sin, redemption and Crucifixion. The notion of salvation – in Christianity and other religions that have faith in it - is stemmed from the belief that evil is a vital issue in this universe, whence it develops view and perception towards man and universe, and the belief that religion came to safe and fr...

Religious bias among religiously conscious black christians in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Camp, Debbie; Sloan, Lloyd Ren; Elbassiouny, Amanda

2014-01-01

Research with White participants has demonstrated religious intergroup bias; however, religious identity may be different for Black Americans. Only religiously conscious Black Christians demonstrated a preference for Christian targets over Muslim and Atheist targets. Future research should consider what factors result in a person becoming conscious of other's religion.

WHAT IS RELIGION ? AN AFRICAN UNDERSTANDING

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2009-10-24

Oct 24, 2009 ... To characterise African Traditional Religion as a separate ... come from various perspectives, ranging from the psychological, sociological and anthropological to the ...... Christian mission and ministry, PhD thesis, University of.

Religion Does Matter for Climate Change Attitudes and Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Morrison, Mark; Duncan, Roderick; Parton, Kevin

2015-01-01

Little research has focused on the relationship between religion and climate change attitudes and behavior. Further, while there have been some studies examining the relationship between environmental attitudes and religion, most are focused on Christian denominations and secularism, and few have examined other religions such as Buddhism. Using an online survey of 1,927 Australians we examined links between membership of four religious groupings (Buddhists, Christian literalists and non-literalists, and Secularists) and climate change attitudes and behaviors. Differences were found across religious groups in terms of their belief in: (a) human induced climate change, (b) the level of consensus among scientists, (c) their own efficacy, and (d) the need for policy responses. We show, using ordinal regression, that religion explains these differences even after taking into account socio-demographic factors, knowledge and environmental attitude, including belief in man's dominion over nature. Differences in attitude and behavior between these religious groups suggest the importance of engaging denominations to encourage change in attitudes and behavior among their members.

SOBERANIA E RELIGIÃO | SOVEREIGNTY AND RELIGION

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Mádson Ottoni de Almeida Rodrigues 

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This article highlights the mystical content that involves the exercise of political power. In analyzing the link between sovereignty and religion, religion’s strong influence reveals itself, particularly of Christianity, on the political and state functions, including the adjudicative function. The formation of the Christian conscience has strengthened the bond that unites sovereignty and divinity, and the modern state’s formation observed largely the Catholic Church’s structure. The problem that arises lies not in dogmatic religion discussion, but in the question of the religion’s morality, understood from the perspective of the behavior of people towards politics. The aim is to reflect on the real need to link politics and beliefs in certain pattern of religiosity, since the commitment to human values are not dependent of that belief. Furthermore, the objective is to demonstrate how religion influences the sacredness sense of justice, impregnating the judicial courts of a false aura of divinity.

Old Nordic and Christian elements in Saami ideas about the realm of the dead

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Olof Pettersson

1987-01-01

Full Text Available The fact that a word or concept has been borrowed from outside does not mean that the original content, the original ideas which the loan word in question expresses, have also been adopted. This is by no means the case when it is a question of abstract words and notions, such as the afterlife. A word, an idea, a custom is taken over but filled with new content; in its new context it acquires a genuinely Saami conceptual load, which has its original domiciliary rights in Saami, north Eurasian culture. The present brief notes on the Nordic and Christian influence on Saami ideas about the realm of the dead proceed from the Saami religion as a whole, examining and explaining it from an external perspective: what connecting-points are there in the "original" mother tradition for the new ideas which have been adopted over the course of time and which have been grafted on to the old? The first and fundamental starting-point for the study of the meeting of the Saami religion with the old Nordic and Christian ones will be the Saami religion itself in its Finno-Ugric and North Euroasiancontext and not the old Norse or Christian beliefs. The question is what has inspired ideas: Are they ideas which have emerged from the Saamis' own religion, or are these ideas the result of old Norse/Christian influence? As far as old Norse influence is concerned, its relevance seems to be limited to the saivo concept. The sources for Saami religion which we possess are not primary sources, which go back to the Lapps themselves; they have been assembled by outsiders. Those who compiled these records were "children of their time" and bound by the conceptual models of the day and by the frames of reference of their religion—Christianity. The Saami realm of death, Jabmeaimo, is Saami in character, with certain Christian elements (purgatory, heaven–hell, heavenly god–devil.

Intersections of Spirituality, Religion and Gender in Children's Literature

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Trousdale, Ann M.

2005-01-01

This paper explores the intersections of spirituality, religion and gender in contemporary children's books published in the United States. Background for the discussion includes a history of religion in children's literature and the history of women's roles in the Christian tradition. Representative works of realistic fiction--historical and…

Enemies within: Christian Extremism, a Threat to the Homeland

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-10

promotes fear of Muslim radical groups that perpetuate violence in the name of religion , while ignoring the threat Christian extremism poses on...those within the homeland that threaten the very liberty and freedom intended by the founding fathers for all Americans. This thesis and many more...the safety and freedom of Americans are protected. 15. SUBJECT TERMS Christian Extremism 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF

World Religions for the Classroom.

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon, Dorothy Arnett

This teaching and resource guide contains ideas appropriate for teaching junior and senior high school students about the following religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Individual sections discuss general approaches to teaching the religious philosophies and rituals, and exemplary…

Teaching Sexuality and Christianity for Perspective Transformation: Suggested Resources and Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Moles, Katia

2017-01-01

Sexual activity and desire have often been seen as inimical to Christian spirituality and practice, and many people have come to view Christianity as austere and shaming regarding sexuality. However, sexuality, religion, and policy-making have become so intertwined, that to ignore how they intersect and affect particular individuals' lives does a…

Nietzsche, The Christians And The Jews

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Alexandru Ștefănescu

2011-11-01

Full Text Available The present text is concerned with depicting an imagery of fundamental opposition between Friedrich Nietzsche on the one hand, and Judeo-Christianity, on the other. Since the vigorous and authentic society of the Ancients is falsely an unwarrantedly substituted by an ever-growing Christian paradigm, Nietzsche’s response will tend to identifying, as well as possibly curing the Judeo-Christian disease on a social and moral level. We therefore investigate his denouncement of a falsely-oriented cultural way of life and thought by addressing the two halves of his philosophical project: morals and religion. Moreover, in the final part of the current paper we will briefly concern ourselves with some political, as well as cultural implications stemming from his radical views.

[Healthcare and Christianity, the human person at the heart of God's concerns].

Science.gov (United States)

Onfray, Jean-Marie

2015-10-01

French society is still influenced by its Christian traditions and many patients are attached to this aspect. It is therefore important to clarify the reference framework put forward by the Christian religion when dealing with the notions of health, illness and care in this context. The human person, with his/her strengths and weaknesses, is at the heart of Christian reflections. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

On the bodies of women: the common ground between Islam and Christianity in Nigeria.

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira, Charmaine; Ibrahim, Jibrin

2010-01-01

This article explores the common ideological ground between Islam and Christianity in Nigeria, in the ways in which gender and sexuality are configured in relation to women's bodies. The latter constitute key sites for the inscription of social norms and practices inherent in particular interpretations of religion. We proceed by examining the interplay between religion and politics in historical context and in specific concrete instances. While the religious right among Muslims and Christians share the view that women's bodies are sexually corrupting and therefore in need of control, this perspective is also found in secular institutions. At the same time Christians and Muslims are strongly opposed to controls on women's bodies that may lead to either religious group being identified as 'the other'. The linkage made between women's bodies and 'public morality' produces diverse forms of gender inequality. The moralising of political economy that these processes entail complicates the terrain on which challenges to the politicisation of religion and its gender politics need to be sustained.

Study on the Folk Costume Symbolization in Waterside Villages of Southern Yangtze in China

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

CUI Rong-rong; TAO Hui; SHEN Lin-lin

2007-01-01

The folk costume in waterside villages of Southern Yangtze in China was notonly daily consumer goods, but also a symbol system of foR-custom culture. This symbol system was directly conveyed by a series medley shape signs, many-faceted color signs and decorated craft signs of pleated skirt. Its origination, accumulation, continual process and development were greatly associated with the life style and paddy culture of waterside villages, such as the folk religion, social life, artistic philosophy, regional culture, the landform of waterside villages and the humanity environment. So the folk costume was the significant sign of practical function and also the significative sign of folk traditional culture, both of which composed the costume cultural symbol system of waterside villages of Southern Yangtze called " integration of aesthetic and practical function".

TÜRK HALK KÜLTÜRÜNDE GELENEKSEL HALK HEKİMLİĞİ TRADITIONAL FOLK MEDICINE IN THE TURKISH FOLK CULTURE

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Serdar UĞURLU

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Geleneksel Türk halk hekimliği binlerce yıllık bir geçmişe sahiptir.İslamdan önce ortaya çıkan bu gelenek İslamdan sonra da yaşamayadevam etmiştir. Bu nedenle günümüzde eski geleneksel iyileştirmepratikleri geçmişin inanç ve inanış unsurları ile birlikte uygulanmayadevam etmektedir. Bu gelenek eski din ve geleneksel ortamda şaman yada kamlar tarafından uygulanmıştır ki şamanlar eski gelenekte dinadamları olarak kabul edilmektedir. Yine kocakarılar, halk hekimleri veocaklılar (bir çeşit halk hekimi da yeni dinde ve gelenekte bu geleneğinyürütücüleridirler. Iyileştirme geleneğinde bazı uygulamalar günümüzmodern tıbbına ters olmasına rağmen, modern tıp ile uyuşanuygulamalara da rastlanmaktadır. Eski geleneğin halk hekimlerihastaları iyileştirmek ya da ilaç yapmak için doğadan faydalanırlardı. Budurum günümüz geleneğinde de değişmeden devam etmektedir. Bütünbunlara ek olarak bir halk eczacılık geleneği ilaç yapımında hayvanparçalarının ve çeşitli bitkilerin kullanılmasıyla ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu türhasta iyileştirme pratikleri ve ilaç yapım uygulamaları geleneksel aktarımyolları ile günümüze kadar ulaşmıştır. The traditional Turkish folk medicine has a history of thousands years. This tradition existed before Islam, has continued to live then.Therefore, nowadays, old-traditional healing practices continued to beapplied, contains marks of faith and beliefs of past. This traditionexecuted by shamans and kams, in the ancient religion and tradition, ismaintained by religion men, big wives, folk healers and ocaks (that is akind of folk healer in the new religion and culture around. Even thoughpresent-day practices of healing tradition are reverse of modern medicine,in this tradition there are also many practices overlapping with themodern medicine. Folk healers of old tradition have benefited from naturein order to make the drugs or heal patients. This

Christian Resistance to Gay-Proselytism in a Secular Nigeria: Anathema or Social Heroism?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Endong Floribert

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The criminalization of homosexuality in Nigeria has partially been inspired and acclaimed by a number of religious schools of thought, including Christian opinion leaders. Such an influence of religion on politics has been seriously questioned. Using observations and literary sources, this paper underlines the unconstitutionality of Christian antigay proselytism at the political sphere of the Nigerian State, anchoring its claim on the constitutional provision stipulating the secular character of Nigeria. It however interprets such a move (the “influential” Christian anti-gay proselytism as an inevitable expression of the religious character of Nigeria’s social and cultural spheres. Furthermore, the paper argues that the Nigerian Federation is “fully secular” only on paper and not in practice. Secularity is partially observed at the political sphere of the State. Religion and populism continue to shape major socio-political schemes (as seen in the criminalization of homosexuality in Nigeria. With such a socio-political influence of religion, legislative projects such as the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition Act and political strategies such as the Nigerian Government’s resistance against western gay-proselytism can only be massively celebrated. In line with this, (Christian anti-gay proselytism at the Nigeria’s political sphere is logically viewed less as an anathema, and more as socio-political heroism.

Science as an ally of religion: a Muslim appropriation of 'the conflict thesis'.

Science.gov (United States)

Yalcinkaya, M Alper

2011-06-01

John W. Draper's History of the Conflict between Religion and Science (1874) is commonly regarded as the manifesto of the 'conflict thesis'. The superficiality of this thesis has been demonstrated in recent studies, but to read Draper's work only as a text on 'science versus religion' is to miss half of its significance, as it also involved evaluations of individual religions with respect to their attitudes towards science. Due to Draper's favourable remarks on Islam, the Ottoman author Ahmed Midhat translated his work into Turkish, and published it along with his own comments on Draper's arguments. Midhat interpreted Islam using the cues provided by Draper, and portrayed it as the only religion compatible with science. While his Christian readers condemned Draper for his approach to Islam, Midhat transformed the 'conflict thesis' into a proclamation that Islam and science were allies in opposition to Christian encroachment on the Ottoman Empire. This paper analyses Midhat's appropriation of Draper's work and compares it to the reaction of Draper's Christian readers. It discusses the context that made an alliance between Islam and science so desirable for Midhat, and emphasizes the impact of the historico-geographical context on the encounters between and representations of science and religion.

Glocalization and the Marketing of Christianity in Early Modern Southeast Asia

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Barbara Watson Andaya

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The expansion of European commercial interests into Southeast Asia during the early modern period was commonly justified by the biblical injunction to spread Christian teachings, and by the “civilizing” influences it was said to foster. In focusing on areas where Christianity gained a foothold or, in the Philippines and Timor Leste, became the dominant faith, this article invokes the marketing concept of “glocalization”, frequently applied to the sociology of religion. It argues that the historical beginnings of the processes associated with the global/local interface of Christianity are situated in the sixteenth century, when Europe, Asia and the Americas were finally linked through maritime connections. Christian missionizing was undertaken with the assumption that the European-based “brand” of beliefs and practices could be successfully transported to a very different environment. However, the application of these ideas was complicated by the goal of imposing European economic control, by the local resistance thus generated, and by competition with other religions and among Christians themselves. In this often antagonistic environment, the degree to which a global product could be “repackaged” and “glocalized” so that it was appealing to consumers in different cultural environments was always constrained, even among the most sympathetic purveyors. As a result, the glocalization of Christianity set up “power-laden tensions” which both global institutions and dispersed consumers continue to negotiate.

A Theology of Inferiority: Is Christianity the Source of Kinesiology's Second-Class Status in the Academy?

Science.gov (United States)

Twietmeyer, Gregg

2008-01-01

What influence has Christianity had on kinesiology and physical education's status in the Academy? Conventional wisdom within kinesiology often seems to argue that the influence has been quite negative. These critics allege that Christianity is a fundamentally dualistic religion. They allege that, at its best, Christianity is suspicious of the…

Sex reassignment technology: the dilemma of transsexuals in Islam and Christianity.

Science.gov (United States)

Ishak, Mohd Shuhaimi Bin Haji; Haneef, Sayed Sikandar Shah

2014-04-01

The birth of people with confused or ambiguous sex makeup as a biological fact since the annals of history has posed the challenge of accommodating them within the binary gender of sociocultural systems. In this process, the role of religion as a defining factor in social engineering has been paramount. Major religions, such as Islam and Christianity, have addressed this issue within the frame of their God-ordained laws by devising a set of moral and legal imperatives specific to the "third gender." Modern developments in medicine and biology, however, have made sex reassignment possible for this category of people, today called transsexuals. The question is: How do Islam and Christianity respond to it. After presenting an analytical view of both Muslim scholars and Christian religious authorities on the legitimacy of sex reassignment for transsexuals, this paper attempts to explore if such a dilemma can be resolved.

Studying religious music at the grassroots level: a look into the discourse practices of Christian metal bands online

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henna Jousmäki

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Religious issues are studied in various ways, most prominently by sociologists of religion. This paper suggests that in today’s world of globally intersecting webs of people, places, ideas and action, scholars and readers interested in religion will find themselves benefiting from cross-disciplinary approaches which help them to conceptualize and describe today’s phenomena at different levels. This paper describes how the emerging discipline of the sociology of language and religion may be applied to studying Christian metal bands’ discourse online. Although previous studies give a good idea of the structures, practices and tendencies in and related to Christian metal, little is reported on what happens at the very micro-level of Christian metal – for example, how they represent themselves to their audiences, what they sing about, and what else they say and, importantly, how they say it. To fill this gap, Christian metal bands’ online presence is examined with a particular interest in how the bands utilize online spaces to build up Christian metal identity and culture with the help of textual, discursive, and multimodal resources. This includes a look at the online self-representation of Christian metal bands, a more detailed investigation of the uses of the Bible on bands’ websites, as well as perspectives on an important part of Christian metal; namely the lyrics.

Research Note: College Students’ Attitudes toward Christianity in Xi’an, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chao Wang

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Atheism is the mainstream belief system in contemporary China. In recent years, a growing number of Chinese have converted to different religions, particularly Christianity. In this study, we conducted a survey in the region of Xi’an to investigate the following three questions: How common is Christianity among college students in Xi’an? How many of them have converted to the Christian faith? How do they gain their knowledge of Christianity? It is a popular notion in China that many college students have, in recent times, converted to Christianity. However, our survey results do not provide support for this. While many students encounter Christian faith on university campuses, especially through organizations such as The Fellowship, students in this survey report low religious affiliation.

Review Essay: Moving beyond Global Encounters toward Global Reciprocity: Christian Education in East Asian Perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hyun-Sook

2015-01-01

Christianity as a world religion was propagated from Europe and North America to Africa and Asia. Global Christianity spread to East Asia when Robert Morrison (1782-1843) arrived in Canton, China in 1807, and later in the late 19th-century Protestant missionaries from North America arrived in Japan and Korea. This Christianity experienced a modern…

African Traditional Religion and the African Cinema: The Case of Nollywood

OpenAIRE

Akua Agyeiwaa Manieson

2014-01-01

This study aims at a discussion of the portrayal of African Traditional Religion in some selected Nollywood films. It is herein argued that Nollywood is deliberately bent on denigrating the African traditional religion. Three main religious groups are represented in Nigeria. These are Muslims forming about 50.4%, followed by Christians 48.2% while followers of other religions especially African Traditional religion, comprises 1.4% 1. This statistic has earned for Nigeria an accolade: a multi-...

[Pain and Christianity. A symbol for overcoming pain?].

Science.gov (United States)

Markschies, C

2007-08-01

Pain and Christianity appear to belong together: Christ's pain stands at the centre of God's healing; his pain leads to the salvation of mankind. We can learn from Jesus' example how to bear suffering and pain. In early Christian times, the belief that Jesus Christ suffered pain on the cross was usually not accepted. In line with the "apathy axiom", freedom from emotion was something to strive for at that time. Only after the acceptance of Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire in 380 AD did the pain of Christ again stand in the centre of the Christian doctrine of salvation. The memory of the fact that Jesus himself had to undergo the worst pain can still help people to overcome their pain and comfort them.

Exploring the existential function of religion and supernatural agent beliefs among Christians, Muslims, atheists, and agnostics.

Science.gov (United States)

Vail, Kenneth E; Arndt, Jamie; Abdollahi, Abdolhossein

2012-10-01

Building on research suggesting one primary function of religion is the management of death awareness, the present research explored how supernatural beliefs are influenced by the awareness of death, for whom, and how individuals' extant beliefs determine which god(s), if any, are eligible to fulfill that function. In Study 1, death reminders had no effect among Atheists, but enhanced Christians' religiosity, belief in a higher power, and belief in God/Jesus and enhanced denial of Allah and Buddha. Similarly, death reminders increased Muslims' religiosity and belief in a higher power, and led to greater belief in Allah and denial of God/Jesus and Buddha (Study 2). Finally, in Study 3, death reminders motivated Agnostics to increase their religiosity, belief in a higher power, and their faith in God/Jesus, Buddha, and Allah. The studies tested three potential theoretical explanations and were consistent with terror management theory's worldview defense hypothesis. Theoretical implications are discussed.

[Respect and tutelage of children in Christianity].

Science.gov (United States)

Leone, Salvino; Lo Giudice, Milena

2005-01-01

Christian religion, since its beginning, has been strongly interested about infant world, in defending and promoting it. Evangelic stories show Jesus' attention for children even against his disciples and the current culture of that very time that didn't consider them in a special way. Some of healing miracles and most of reanimation ones have, as characters, just children or young people. This particular care has continued after in ecclesial life by the creation of many charitable institutions for children and, recently, also in an sort of re-arrangement of Christian thought about bioethical problems, most of which are really shared with not Christian world. Nevertheless some of them present several patterns (an-encephaly, neonatal care, assisted reproduction, etc.) involving some specific considerations discussed by Authors.

Religions in Africa: A Teaching Manual. African Outreach Series, No. 4.

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, C. C.; Crummey, Donald

The wide variety of religious practices in Africa can be bewildering to outsiders. Although most of the world's religions have been introduced to Africa, this handbook focuses upon three categories of religious belief: traditional African religions, Christianity, and Islam. The book is arranged in three parts. Part 1, "Background…

Da religião do sacrifício à religião da fraternidade =From the religion of sacrifice to the religion of fraternity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susin, Luiz Carlos

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Há uma relação entre religião e violência que consiste basicamente em sacralização da violência através da sublimação da mesma como sacrifício. Ora, o sacrifício está no coração de toda religião, de forma descarada nas religiões arcaicas e de forma metamorfoseada e mascarada na evolução histórica da religião. A Escritura testemunha as ambiguidades do sacrifício e o choque profético entre o sacrifício e a misericórdia. O Cristianismo, em sua fonte, é a superação radical do sacrifício, mas, ao longo da história, novas metamorfoses do sacrifício surgem no Cristianismo. É a volta às fontes e a renovação de sua experiência na confraternização universal, testada pelos excluídos, que legitimam a originalidade do Cristianismo e um sentido realmente cristão para a palavra sacrifício. There is a relation between religion and violence that consists basically in making violence sacred through its sublimation as a sacrifice. Therefore, sacrifice is at the heart of all religion, in a blatant way in archaic religions and in a metamorphosed and masked way in the historical evolution of religion. The Scriptures witness the ambiguities of sacrifice and the prophetic shock between sacrifice and mercy. Christianity, in its origin, is the radical overcoming of sacrifice, but throughout history new ways sacrifice has metamorphosed appear in Christianity. It’s the return to the sources and the renewal of this experience in universal fellowship, tested by those excluded, who legitimate the uniqueness of Christianity and a true Christian meaning to the word sacrifice.

Religion som verdenshåndtering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Engberg-Pedersen, Troels

2014-01-01

The article discusses two questions: whether (and in what sense) Christianity can be ‘naturalized’; and whether ancient Stoicism may contribute to a modern reformulation of ‘Christianity naturalized’. To answer these questions, the article focuses on articulating an understanding of ‘religion...... position ‘in an age of science’ (cf. Putnam, Philosophy in an Age of Science). ‘Religion’ is here seen as one particular way of ‘coping with the world’. The article concludes by sketching some ways in which ancient Stoicism (as a specimen of a ‘natural philosophy and theology’) may help in reformulating...

Lynn White Jr. and the greening-of-religion hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Bron; Van Wieren, Gretel; Zaleha, Bernard Daley

2016-10-01

Lynn White Jr.'s "The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis," which was published in Science in 1967, has played a critical role in precipitating interdisciplinary environmental studies. Although White advances a multifaceted argument, most respondents focus on his claim that the Judeo-Christian tradition, especially Christianity, has promoted anthropocentric attitudes and environmentally destructive behaviors. Decades later, some scholars argue contrarily that Christianity in particular and the world's predominant religions in general are becoming more environmentally friendly, known as the greening-of-religion hypothesis. To test these claims, we conducted a comprehensive review of over 700 articles-historical, qualitative, and quantitative-that are pertinent to them. Although definitive conclusions are difficult, we identified many themes and dynamics that hinder environmental understanding and mobilization, including conservative theological orientations and beliefs about the role of divine agency in preventing or promoting natural events, whether the religion is an Abrahamic tradition or originated in Asia. On balance, we found the thrust of White's thesis is supported, whereas the greening-of-religion hypothesis is not. We also found that indigenous traditions often foster proenvironmental perceptions. This finding suggests that indigenous traditions may be more likely to be proenvironmental than other religious systems and that some nature-based cosmologies and value systems function similarly. Although we conclude White's thesis and subsequent claims are largely born out, additional research is needed to better understand under what circumstances and communication strategies religious or other individuals and groups may be more effectively mobilized to respond to contemporary environmental challenges. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

Science and Orthodox Christianity:

Science.gov (United States)

Nicolaidis, Efthymios; Delli, Eudoxie; Livanos, Nikolaos; Tampakis, Kostas; Vlahakis, George

2016-09-01

This essay offers an overview of the history of the relations between science and Eastern Christianity based on Greek-language sources. The civilizations concerned are the Byzantine Empire, the Christian Orthodox communities of the Ottoman Empire, and modern Greece, as a case study of a national state. Beginning with the Greek Church Fathers, the essay investigates the ideas of theologians and scholars on nature. Neoplatonism, the theological debates of Iconoclasm and Hesychasm, the proposed union of the Eastern and Western Churches, and the complex relations with the Hellenic past all had notable impacts on the conception of science held by the Byzantine Orthodox. From the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries, the Christian Orthodox world did not actively participate in the making of the new science that was developing in modern Europe. It had to deal with the assimilation of scientific ideas produced by Western Christianity, and its main concern was the “legitimacy” of knowledge that did not originate directly from its own spiritual tradition. Finally, with regard to the Greek state, beyond the specific points of contact between the sciences and Orthodox Christianity—pertaining, for example, to materialism, evolution, and the calendar—the essay presents the constant background engagement with religion visible in most public pronouncements of scientists and intellectuals.

Psychoanalytic Theories of Religion in Protestant Contexts

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Fatima Tofighi

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Psychoanalysts since Sigmund Freud have tried to discuss the role of religion in modern societies. Freud himself saw religion as an illusion which had struck neurotics, while Slavoj Žižek viewed it as some sort of “perversion” which functioned in the cycle of law-transgression. In this essay, I dig into these theories to uncover traces of Lutheran interpretations of Paul’s words on the Jewish law. I argue that Luther’s emphasis on Christian faith as a remedy for “Jewish” guilt reached Friedrich Nietzsche via the exegesis of the nineteenth-century Tübingen School. In his Pauline act, Nietzsche tried to cure modern humanity from its guilt-inducing “decadent” morality. He, in turn, influenced Freud, who sought to remedy modern humanity from its guilt, by reminding it of its “religious illusion.” Žižek has not been able to go beyond this paradigm of faith-guilt, as he also tried to free Christianity from its “perverse” core. In sum, in its conceptualization of religion, psychoanalysis has probably referred to a Protestant faith-guilt framework.

Christian – Muslim Relations in Nigeria: The Problems and Prospects

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Christian – Muslim Relations in Nigeria: The Problems and Prospects. ... Basic findings of this study show that Nigeria.s stability, democracy, and national ... must embrace Inter-religious dialogue which demands religions nurture, faith, trust, ...

SAINT APOLLONIA: BETWEEN PAGANISM AND CHRISTIANITY IN MEDICINE

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Gheorghe Gh. BĂLAN

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The history of medicine and dentistry shows that dental medicine is entitled to take upon itself, as representative elements of the field, symbols or spiritual protectors, religious (either Christian or pagan archetypes from different historical periods. These paved the way for the elaboration of a long-lasting set of professional and ethical criteria that ennoble today the dental profession. The present study analyzes some of the symbols of historical-religious nature, stressing their cultural impact and the manner in which such symbols are interpreted in various scientific, medical, theological, artistic contexts and, last but not least, in the general social perception. The professional ethical domain of dentistry makes use of numerous symbols with religious connotation, the more so that this branch of medicine and the various religions have numerous elements in common. Either stylistically, or appearing as products of folk culture, the main symbolistic or legendary references specific to dental culture are the legend of Cadmus and the canonization of Saint Apollonia, the champion of dentists and of those suffering from toothache. Such symbols give to the representatives of this profession a feeling of belonging to a noble medical domain; they also decode and facilitate communication with patients, therefore being outflanked by the idea that awareness on the existence of such religious symbols and on their practical cohesion is especially helpful.

Portraits of Religion in Introductory American Government Textbooks: Images of Tolerance or Intolerance

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenstein, Marie A.; Clark, April K.

2013-01-01

The link between religion and political tolerance in the United States, which has focused predominantly on Christianity, is replete with unfavorable images. Often, religious adherents (largely Evangelicals or the Christian right) are characterized as uneducated, poor, and white, suggesting that members of these groups may act in an intolerant…

The Concept of Sacrifice in Christianity and in Hinduism: A Comparative Study

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Kolamkuzhyyil, Thomas Mathew

2016-01-01

Every religion is something good. In this dissertation the author tries to discover some similarities in both the Christianity and Hinduism. Both the religions are good in themselves. India is a country with multi religious cultures and differences. They exist side by side. They have something unique to offer to the society. The goal of the research and study of the author is to bring out some converging points in both the religions where we can meet together and dialogue with each other. ...

Folk Medicine, Folk Healing

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Mustafa SEVER

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Folk medicine and folk healing may be defined codified, regulated, taught openly and practised widely, and benefit from thousands of years of experience. On the other hand, it may be highly secretive, mystical and extremely localized, with knowledge of its practices passed on orally. Folk medicine and traditional medical practices emerged as a result of the reactions of primitive men against natural events and their ways of comparing and exchanging the medical practices of relevant communities with their own practices. Magic played an important role in shaping the practices. Folk medicine is the solutions developed by societies against material and moral disorders starting from the mythic period until today. Folk healer, on the other hand, is the wisest and the most respectable person in the society, in terms of materiality and morale. This person has the power of identifying and curing the diseases, disorders, consequently the origin of these diseases and disorders, and the skill of using various drugs for the treatment of the diseases and disorders or applying the practices with the help of information and practices acquired from the tradition. The Turks having rich and deep rooted culture. The Turkısh folk medicine and folk healing that contain rich cultural structure in themselves survive until today by being fed by different sources. Before Islam, the Turks used to believe that there were white and black possessors, ancestors’ spirits (arvaks and their healthy and peaceful life depended on getting on with these spirits. They also believed that diseases were caused when they could no more keep in with possessors and spirits, or when they offended and annoyed them. In such an environment of belief, the visible diseases caused by material reasons were generally cured with products obtained from plants, mines and animals in the region or drugs that were made out of their combinations. On the other hand, in invisible diseases associated with

Forms of Religious Glocalization: Orthodox Christianity in the Longue Durée

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Victor Roudometof

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This article advocates a “glocal turn” in the religion–globalization problematic. It proposes a model of multiple glocalizations in order to analyze the historically constituted relationship between world religions and local cultures. First, the conceptual evolution from globalization to glocalization is discussed with special reference to the study of the religion. Second, the necessity for adopting the perspective of the longue durée with regard to the study of Eastern Orthodox Christianity is explained. Third, an outline of four forms of religious glocalization is proposed. Each of these forms is presented both analytically as well as through examples from the history of Eastern Christianity (from the 8th to the 21st century. It is argued that this approach offers a model for analyzing the relation between religion, culture and society that does not succumb to the Western bias inherent in the conventional narrative of western modernization and secularization.

Religion, Alcohol Use and Risk Drinking Among Canadian Adults Living in Ontario.

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Tuck, Andrew; Robinson, Margaret; Agic, Branka; Ialomiteanu, Anca R; Mann, Robert E

2017-12-01

This research examines (1) the association between risk drinking and religious affiliation and (2) differences between religions for risk drinking among adults living in Ontario, Canada, for Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, other religious groups and the non-religious. Data are based on telephone interviews with 16,596 respondents and are derived from multiple cycles (2005-2011) of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health's (CAMH) Monitor survey, an ongoing cross-sectional survey of adults in Ontario, Canada, aged 18 years and older. Data were analysed using bivariate cross-tabulations, Mann-Whitney U nonparametric test and logistic regression. Alcohol use and risk drinking occur among members of all religious groups; however, the rate of drinking ranges widely. Risk drinking is significantly associated with religion. When compared to the No religion/Atheist group, several religious groups (Baptist, Christian, Hindu, Jehovah's Witness, Jewish, Muslim/Islam, Non-denominational, Pentecostal, Sikh and Other religion) in our sample have significantly lower odds of risk drinking. Risk drinkers also attended significantly fewer services among several religions. Results suggest that there are differences in the risk drinking rates among Canadian adults, living in Ontario, by religion. It appears that religious traditions of prohibition and abstention do hold sway among Canadian adults for some religious groups.

The Dark of the Covenant: Christian Imagery, Fundamentalism, and the Relationship between Science and Religion in the Halo Video Game Series

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P.C.J.M. (Jarell Paulissen

2018-04-01

Full Text Available What do a bionic supersoldier, space stations and religious fanaticism have in common? They are all vital elements of the plot in Halo, a series of first-person shooter games developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Games. One of the interesting things about Halo is that the developers made use of quite a number of religious images and themes, especially from the Christian tradition. In modern Western society, science and religion are often portrayed as polar opposites, and Halo appears to reaffirm this narrative. Yet it might still be interesting to look at how exactly this animosity is portrayed, and to see whether there is more to it. This paper is an inquiry into the significance of religious imagery and themes in Halo, as well as an attempt to place the game in the broader context of the geopolitical situation of its time. In short, this article is going to be a case study of how the relationship between science and religion can be explored through the medium of video games. For an overview of the current debate on how science and religion relate to one another in academia, I am going to look at the works of American physicist and scholar of religion Ian Barbour, American paleontologist and historian of science Stephen Gould, and British ethologist and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. To justify the academic study of videogames I will be drawing from the writings of Dutch cultural theologian Frank Bosman. The analysis itself will consist of a summary of the game’s main story, its portrayal of religion on the one hand and its depiction of science on the other, and its representation of how these two fields relate to one another. In the conclusion, finally, I will connect the dots between the different parts of the analysis and provide an answer to the main question.

Czym zajmuje się filozofia religii? ( What does philosophy of religion deal with?

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Andrzej Bronk

2010-12-01

Full Text Available I take a methodological point view, i.e. my interest is not so much in the religion itself but in the epistemological status of the discipline called philosophy of religion – its subject, main goals, problems, and how it justifies its theses. I discuss in succession: 1. the concept of the philosophy of religion; 2. the subject-matter of cognition in general, as it determines the object of the philosophy of religion; 3. the epistemological peculiarity of religious phenomena as an object of study of (a the philosophy of religion, (b classical philosophy of religion, and (c Anglo-Saxon philosophy of religion. I conclude with some general comments on the notion and methodological status of the philosophy of religion, which is far from being a methodologically uniform discipline. There is no one generally accepted definition or conception of the philosophy of religion. Different types of philosophy of religion have different objects and use differing methods. There is a broad and a narrow concept of philosophy itself which decide why some kinds of research are recognized as philosophical, and there is no way to separate (demarcate sharply philosophical and empirical study of religion. Different types of philosophy of religion operate on very different objects according to the tradition of the given research milieu. The way philosophy of religion is done today and what its object is has been influenced by the fact that it originated and was for a long time practised within the limits of Christianity. The problems and priorities of Christianity, therefore, were imposed on the subject: first and foremost the view of religion as the relation of the human being to a personal Absolute.

Comparative Study of Christian and Pagan Burial Constructions

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Eglė Bazaraitė

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This paper draws a chronological timeline comparing burial customs and construction traditions in the cradle of Christian religion, and pagan traditions on the Eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, precisely Lithuania, since the early ages of Christianity (1c. A.D. until nowadays. This paper searches for reasons that could have effected cultural transformations, a shifting relation between inhumation and incineration in European culture. In the Ancient Roman culture, people used to cremate their dead before Christianity set in. Baltic pagans at the time were burying their dead in stone circles, and started incineration only during the Middle Ages. Then Christianity was a powerful institution indoctrinating European daily culture. Meanwhile, in the territory of Lithuania pagan culture was erased only in the 15th century, i.e. about 600 years ago, leaving evident vestiges on traditions and customs of nowadays. These revelations of pagan culture are usually mistaken as Christian or Catholic. The paper focuses on architectural and urban aspects of burial architecture, taking into account social and historical conditions.

Doing good medical ethics: a Christian perspective.

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Saunders, John

2015-01-01

Despite the rise of the secular state, religion remains a significant force in society. Within Christianity this encompasses a wide variety of beliefs. These range from simple assertions of theism in a cultural context to complex theologies; from liberal emphases on uncertainty and exploration to dogmatic views of divine revelation. How one 'does' good medical ethics depends on these perspectives. Contingently, the Christian contribution to medical ethics has been huge and constructive. Central to that contribution is a core belief in the intrinsic value of human life, respect for which we are accountable to God. Christianity continues to deserve its place 'in the public square' and, specifically, in medical ethical discourse. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Religion, Sexuality, and Internalized Homonegativity: Confronting Cognitive Dissonance in the Abrahamic Religions.

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Meladze, Pikria; Brown, Jac

2015-10-01

This research was aimed at investigating how religious beliefs and internalized shame predicted homonegativity. An online survey, which consisted of a self-report questionnaire assessing religious orientation, internalized shame, and internalized homonegativity, was completed by 133 Caucasian and Asian gay men. The respondents also were asked to write a short answer in which they had to explain how they integrated their religion and sexual practices. The quantitative analyses of data demonstrated no significant difference in internalized homonegativity among the two cultural groups. Internalized homonegativity was predicted by the main Abrahamic faiths (i.e. Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) and internalized shame. Qualitative analysis showed that gay men who adhere to a monotheistic religious faith follow a different path to reconciling their religion and homosexuality compared to gay men who adhere to Philosophical/New Age religions or to gay men who have no religious faith. The implications of these findings as well as directions for future research studies were discussed.

Marginal Christian spirituality: An example from a meditation group

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Versteeg, P.G.A.

2006-01-01

Spirituality is one of the forms of religion that seems to thrive in secularised Western societies. It has become an umbrella term for a variety of experience-oriented religious practices in Western societies. The popularity of spirituality is clearly visible within Christian settings, both inside

Introduction to Christian philosophy | Nnaji | Sophia: An African ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper revisits and reconstructs the beginning of medieval philosophy (i.e. Renaissance philosophy) from about 400CE-1650CE when Catholic Reverend Fathers used the tools of Aristotelian syllogisms to argue (in order) to establish the existence of God, not only the genuineness of the Christian religion. The, method ...

The Hebrew Bible in contemporary philosophy of religion

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Jacobus W. Gericke

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Some dialogue among these specialists, especially between biblical scholars and philosophers of religion, is unquestionably long overdue.(Stump 1985:1�Over the last few decades, there has been an increased concern for the establishment of more sustained interdisciplinary dialogue between biblical scholars and philosophers of religion. In this article, aimed at biblical scholars, the author as biblical scholar offers a descriptive and historical overview of some samples of recourse to the Hebrew Bible in philosophical approaches in the study of religion. The aim is to provide a brief glimpse of how some representative philosophers from both the analytic and continental sides of the methodological divide have related to the biblical traditions in the quest for a contemporary relevant Christian philosophy of religion.

“Right to life” in monotheistic religions

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Muhammad Reza Ehsani Mutlaq

2016-01-01

Full Text Available  " Right to life" as the fundamental rights of every person, from the beginning, has been important in the different schools of thought and religions, especially the monotheistic religions. In this paper, we discuss about "execution" and "abortion" as two of the most fundamental issues surrounding the "right to life", which has existed in human societies from the past to present. In Zoroastrianism, the punishment of "whip" has been more significant than other punishments, including the execution, however, in several cases, the execution is imported, such as eating human flesh, banditry, etc. Also the act of "abortion" is never excused or ignored and it is known equal murder. In Judaism, the Torah puts the execution as the punishment of manslaughter. Among other crimes based on Judaism punishable by death, include: polytheism, kidnapping, sodomy, etc. There are different opinions among Jewish scientists in the case of abortion. Some of them prohibited this act, except when the mother's life is in danger. In addition risk for the mother, some others allow abortion for the reason of genetic diseases as well, and some recognize right to abortion just for mothers. In Christianity, the laws are more moral than criminal and penal. Perhaps only in the case of apostasy, the execution is prescribed. However, in the thirteenth century, church announced death as punishment of heresy, so it could not be rooted in original Christian faith. In Catholics and Protestants view, the embryo, from the moment of conception, is the perfect man with the right to life. Therefore, abortion is prohibited and punishable by apostasy known. Of course, there are other opposite opinions between different Christian schools. In Islam, the execution as criminal law divides into three types: retaliatory execution runs against murder, the penalty execution runs against some crimes such as sexual assault, working against religion and social security, etc., and the sentence

Perception and Attitudes of Christian Youths towards Condom Use ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Nekky Umera

there still exist a high HIV/AIDs risk behaviour and activities among the youths. ... individuals and helps in the formation of personal attitudes, values and ... the commitment and adherence to religion teaching among the Christian ... respondents (2.4%) reported primary school as highest educational level. ..... Gerais, Brazil.

Religion and family planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinter, Bojana; Hakim, Marwan; Seidman, Daniel S; Kubba, Ali; Kishen, Meera; Di Carlo, Costantino

2016-12-01

Religion is embedded in the culture of all societies. It influences matters of morality, ideology and decision making, which concern every human being at some point in their life. Although the different religions often lack a united view on matters such contraception and abortion, there is sometimes some dogmatic overlap when general religious principles are subject to the influence of local customs. Immigration and population flow add further complexities to societal views on reproductive issues. For example, present day Europe has recently faced a dramatic increase in refugee influx, which raises questions about the health care of immigrants and the effects of cultural and religious differences on reproductive health. Religious beliefs on family planning in, for example, Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Hinduism have grown from different backgrounds and perspectives. Understanding these differences may result in more culturally competent delivery of care by health care providers. This paper presents the teachings of the most widespread religions in Europe with regard to contraception and reproduction.

The Death Throes of Indigenous Christians in the Middle East: Assyrians Living Under the Islamic State

OpenAIRE

Atto, Naures

2017-01-01

Christianity emerged in the Middle East, became a majority religion, and thereafter expanded into various geographical directions. Although the faith suffered a decline under Arab Muslim rule already in the eleventh century, the region nonetheless remained an important spiritual centre of Christianity until about the thirteenth century. Today, however, local Christians express fear about the end of their existence in this region, their ancestral home. This fear is also shared by scholars and ...

Religious Education towards Justice: What Kind of Justice Is to Be Taught in a Christian Context?

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Monika Bobbert

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Education is a human right. It prepares human beings for life, helps to develop individual abilities and opens up social opportunities—e.g., earning one’s own living. Religion interprets our human existence in connection to a transcendental dimension. Religion can also influence moral values and behavior. The Christian religion established a basis for social life, and thus deals with religious and moral justice. As the Christian faith is understood as the identity of the qualities of love of God, of your neighbor and even of your enemy, it has to look for justice in the world. Modern Christian ethics does unfold interpersonal and global justice for all people and tries to give good reasons for moral claims. Religious education in a Christian context has to answer the question of what kind of justice is to be taught and by what means justice, as a goal of education, can be reached within such a setting. This article will unfold, from an ethical point of view, what kind of knowledge and competence teachers must have and what kind of goals can be followed with regard to their pupils or students. The results of this reflection imply certain pedagogical methods and means and exclude others—although it is not possible to go more deeply into a pedagogical discussion.

Killing, karma and caring: euthanasia in Buddhism and Christianity.

Science.gov (United States)

Keown, D; Keown, J

1995-10-01

In 1993 The Parliament of the World's Religions produced a declaration known as A Global Ethic which set out fundamental points of agreement on moral tissues between the religions of the world. However, the declaration did not deal explicitly with medical ethics. This article examines Buddhist and Christian perspectives on euthanasia and finds that in spite of their cultural and theological differences both oppose it for broadly similar reasons. Both traditions reject consequentialist patterns of justification and espouse a 'sanctity of life' position which precludes the intentional destruction of human life by act or omission.

The influence of religious affiliation on heavy drinking, heavy smoking and heavy betel nut chewing.

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Chen, Chiang-Ming

2014-01-01

The results of a national survey of determinants of drinking, smoking and betel-nut chewing behaviors are analyzed. The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate whether drinking, smoking and betel-nut chewing are influenced by a variety of religions based on Taiwan data. Our results suggest that Buddhism, Taoism and practitioners of Chinese folk region are positively associated with heavy betel nut chewing while the religion effects on heavy smoking and drinking are statistically insignificant. Our findings on religion effects in Taiwan can be a valuable reference for comparison in Christian and western countries. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Need of improvement of diet and life habits among university student regardless of religion professed.

Science.gov (United States)

Navarro-Prado, Silvia; González-Jiménez, Emilio; Perona, Javier S; Montero-Alonso, Miguel A; López-Bueno, Marta; Schmidt-RioValle, Jacqueline

2017-07-01

At present, few studies have assessed the possible influence of culture and religion on healthy eating habits among the university population. The aim of this study was to identify differences in healthy and eating habits among university students of different religions. A cross-sectional study was performed with a sample population of 257 students (22.4 ± 4.76 y) at the campus of the University of Granada in Melilla (Spain). The quality of diet was assessed by the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) and the adherence to the Mediterranean diet by a validated score (MDS). There were a higher prevalence of overweight in Christian boys and girls compared to Muslims. Muslim students omit breakfast and dinner more often than Christians. Significant differences in sodium intake (p students of Christian faith. Likewise, there were no significant differences in the quality of the diet as assessed by HEI, this being of poor, together with a low adherence to the Mediterranean diet in both groups. Muslim university students have a lower risk of drinking alcohol (OR = 7.88, 95% CI = 4.27, 14.54). Few differences were found between girls and boys in both religions although the Mediterranean Diet Score was lower for girls. In conclusion, Melilla university students eat low quality foods and have little adherence to the Mediterranean diet regardless of the religion professed or gender, although Christians tend to drink more alcohol and to smoke more cigarettes and Muslims skip some meals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Religion on Candidate Preference in the 2008 and 2012 Republican Presidential Primaries.

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Bradberry, Leigh A

2016-01-01

Thanks to the work of politics and religion scholars, we now know a lot about the relationship between religion and voting in American presidential general elections. However, we know less about the influence of religion on individual vote choice in presidential primaries. This article fills that gap by exploring the relationship between religion and candidate preference in the 2008 and 2012 Republican primaries. Using pre-Super Tuesday surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center, I find that the Republican candidate who most explicitly appealed to religious voters (Mike Huckabee in 2008 and Rick Santorum in 2012) was the preferred candidate of Republican respondents who attended religious services at the highest levels, and that as attendance increased, so did the likelihood of preferring that candidate. I also find that identification as a born again Christian mattered to candidate preference. Specifically, born again Christians were more likely than non-born again Christians to prefer Huckabee to Mitt Romney, John McCain and Ron Paul in 2008, and Santorum to Romney in 2012. Although ideology was not the primary subject of this article, I find that ideology was also a statistically significant predictor of Republican candidate preference in both 2008 and 2012. This robust finding reinforces scholars' prior work on the importance of ideology in explaining presidential primary vote choice. The overall findings of the paper provide evidence that religion variables can add to our understanding of why voters prefer one candidate over another in presidential primaries.

Valhall and Helgafell: syncretistic traits of the Old Norse religion

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Odd Nordland

1969-01-01

Full Text Available The religion of the Viking age, the pre-Christian faith, presents itself as a syncretism, It is quite peculiarly evident from the tradition surrounding the origin of the gods in Åsgard. The gods behind the palisade of this mythological dwelling place were of two kinds, the result of an exchange of hostages after war between the æsir and the vanir. From the flock of vanir came the two fertility-gods: Njgrbr and Freyr to dwell in Åsgard and be accepted there on equal terms with the other gods around the "allfather", Othin. This quite remarkable information, concerning the syncretism of the eddic religion, is generally interpreted as a historic reminiscence of a contrast between a fertility religion, and a more aristocratic and warlike religion attached to the cult of Othin. The fertility religion then is often conceived of as old traits belonging to the indigenous population of Scandinavia, while the Othin-cult as something which was introduced by the same innovations that brought the Indo-European boat-axe people to our part of the world. We know the result of the process that created the heathen religion which reigned in our countries at the time Christianity was introduced here, but we are highly bewildered when faced with the task of describing the syncretistic process itself, and the religions that were a part of it. This is true despite our abundant material of mythological poetry, legends and 13th century information. This too, despite our extremely favorable situation of being in possession of the exiting amount of theoforic place-names.

H R Trevor-Roper vs. Arnold Toynbee: A post-Christian Religion and a new Messiah in an age of reconciliation?

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Frederick Hale

2005-10-01

Full Text Available That the twentieth century witnessed massive secularisation in Europe and certain other parts of the world is beyond dispute, as is the fact that the general phenomenon of religion and its role as a factor shaping history remain potent on a broad, international scale. There is no consensus, however, about the future place or status of Western Christian civilisation or �Christendom� in a shrinking and pluralistic world also struggling with the challenge of reconciliation. During the 1950s two controversial giants of� British historiography, Arnold Toynbee and HR Trevor-Roper clashed on this issue. Their severe differences of opinion were conditioned in part by the Cold War, general retreat of imperialism from Africa and Asia, and the growth of the economic, military, and political power of previously colonised or otherwise subjugated nations.

The matrix reformed : science fiction, technology, and Christian philosophy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cusveller, B.; Verkerk, M.J.; Vries, de M.J.

2011-01-01

The Matrix Reformed provides an analysis of both science fiction and the contemporary adoration of technology from a Christian point-of-view, weaving a discussion of issues in religion, philosophy, and ethics in major sci-fi works (e.g., The Matrix, Star Wars, and Star Trek) with the insights and

Straight Gods, White Devils: Exploring Paths to Non-Religion in the Lives of Black LGBTQ People

OpenAIRE

Kolysh, Simone

2017-01-01

To examine paths to non-religion in the lives of black LGBTQ people, I analyze 10 interviews of black LGBTQ people who were raised Christian. Utilizing an intersectional lens, I conclude that lessons of the Christian home, reinforced in religious school and at church, drew a connection between Christianity, one’s racial and ethnic identity, and heterosexuality in such a way that being LGBTQ was marked un-Christian and foreign, and sometimes associated with whiteness. This further shaped how m...

Christianity and Eugenics: The Place of Religion in the British Eugenics Education Society and the American Eugenics Society, c.1907-1940.

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Graham J

2014-05-01

Historians have regularly acknowledged the significance of religious faith to the eugenics movement in Britain and the USA. However, much of this scholarship suggests a polarised relationship of either conflict or consensus. Where Christian believers participated in the eugenics movement this has been represented as an abandonment of 'orthodox' theology, and the impression has been created that eugenics was a secularising force. In contrast, this article explores the impact of religious values on two eugenics organisations: the British Eugenics Education Society, and the American Eugenics Society. It is demonstrated that concerns over religion resulted in both these organisations modifying and tempering the public work that they undertook. This act of concealing and minimising the visibly controversial aspects of eugenics is offered as an addition to the debate over 'mainline' versus 'reform' eugenics.

Straight Gods, White Devils: Exploring Paths to Non-Religion in the Lives of Black LGBTQ People

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Simone Kolysh

2017-01-01

Full Text Available To examine paths to non-religion in the lives of black LGBTQ people, I analyze 10 interviews of black LGBTQ people who were raised Christian. Utilizing an intersectional lens, I conclude that lessons of the Christian home, reinforced in religious school and at church, drew a connection between Christianity, one’s racial and ethnic identity, and heterosexuality in such a way that being LGBTQ was marked un-Christian and foreign, and sometimes associated with whiteness. This further shaped how my participants navigated the urban public sphere, one of the only spheres where they could ‘be LGBTQ’ – some neighborhoods were constructed as Christian, connected to one’s childhood and hostile to LGBTQ people, while others were LGBTQ-friendly, albeit largely white and gentrified. The overall impact of Christianity across multiple spheres influenced which non-religious paths my participants took. One remained with a Christian denomination of her childhood and one remained with a Christian denomination of her mother but not her father. The other eight left Christianity behind, with one choosing a different religion and seven becoming non-religious, holding identities from Unitarian Universalist to atheist. Overall, black LGBTQ people struggle to find acceptance of their LGBTQ identities by people closest to them and acceptance of their racial, ethnic and non-religious identities in largely white and often non-religious LGBTQ spaces. In response, they use different strategies to find community and live coherent lives, whenever possible.

Science and Metaphysics in the Three Religions of the Book

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Toby E. Huff

2000-12-01

Full Text Available The three religions of the Book trace their origins back to the same Abrahamic experience, but only one, Christianity, developed a metaphysical framework consistent with that of modern science. Both Judaism and Islam during their formative years, and continuously up to modern times, considered Greek philosophy and science alien wisdom, jeopardizing their sacred scriptures. The different path followed by Christianity is due to the influence of Hellenistic thought during Christianity's early formative period. Both Judaism and Islam were spared the direct mediation of Greek culture and ideas because both Judaism and Islam developed geographically and linguistically isolated from the Greek influences during the reception of their scriptures.

Religion in public spaces : emerging Muslim-Christian polemics in Ethiopia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abbink, G.J.

2011-01-01

In Ethiopia, as in other parts of Africa, relations between Christians and Muslims show a new dynamic under the impact of both state policies and global connections. Religious identities are becoming more dominant as people's primary public identity, and more ideological. This development has

Temporal dynamics of religion as a determinant of HIV infection in East Zimbabwe: a serial cross-sectional analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Manzou, Rumbidzai; Schumacher, Christina; Gregson, Simon

2014-01-01

Religion is an important underlying determinant of HIV spread in sub-Saharan Africa. However, little is known about how religion influences changes in HIV prevalence and associated sexual behaviours over time. To compare changes in HIV prevalence between major religious groups in eastern Zimbabwe during a period of substantial HIV risk reduction (1998-2005) and to investigate whether variations observed can be explained by differences in behaviour change. We analysed serial cross-sectional data from two rounds of a longitudinal population survey in eastern Zimbabwe. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were developed to compare differences in sexual behaviour and HIV prevalence between religious groups and to investigate changes over time controlling for potential confounders. Christian churches were the most popular religious grouping. Over time, Spiritualist churches increased in popularity and, for men, Traditional religion and no religion became less and more common, respectively. At baseline (1998-2000), HIV prevalence was higher in Traditionalists and in those with no religion than in people in Christian churches (men 26.7% and 23.8% vs. 17.5%, women: 35.4% and 37.5% vs. 24.1%). These effects were explained by differences in socio-demographic characteristics (for Traditional and men with no religion) or sexual behaviour (women with no religion). Spiritualist men (but not women) had lower HIV prevalence than Christians, after adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics (14.4% vs. 17.5%, aOR = 0.8), due to safer behaviour. HIV prevalence had fallen in all religious groups at follow-up (2003-2005). Odds of infection in Christians reduced relative to those in other religious groups for both sexes, effects that were mediated largely by greater reductions in sexual-risk behaviour and, possibly, for women, by patterns of conversion between churches. Variation in behavioural responses to HIV between the major church groupings has contributed to

The Role of Religion in Korean Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jeong-Kyu

2002-01-01

This study examines the role of religion in Korean elite and higher education during the premodern and modern periods with descriptive analysis. The study focuses on the contribution of Buddhism and Confucianism to premodern elite education in Korea, particularly the interaction between Confucianism and Christianity with modern higher education in…

Killing, karma and caring: euthanasia in Buddhism and Christianity.

Science.gov (United States)

Keown, D; Keown, J

1995-01-01

In 1993 The Parliament of the World's Religions produced a declaration known as A Global Ethic which set out fundamental points of agreement on moral tissues between the religions of the world. However, the declaration did not deal explicitly with medical ethics. This article examines Buddhist and Christian perspectives on euthanasia and finds that in spite of their cultural and theological differences both oppose it for broadly similar reasons. Both traditions reject consequentialist patterns of justification and espouse a 'sanctity of life' position which precludes the intentional destruction of human life by act or omission. PMID:8558539

A look at Refutations of Christianity in Azarbayjan Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

hasan aminifar

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The phenomenon of writing refutation against the two religions of Islam and Christianity has a history as long as the time when they first fought against each other. In recent years, the companionship of Christian missioners with colonialism and their increasing preaching activities, have caused the Muslim scholars to reflect strongly against them. This phenomenon has had a special manifest in Iran since Qajar dynasty (150 years ago and led to the creation of many works written by Muslim theologians against missionary activities of Christianity. From among different Iranian regions where such works were emerged, Azarbayjan can be specifically named as an active area in which the writing of refuting works was more common than other areas in Iran. Azarbayjan in its current situation is an area including a vast region of north-western part of Iran and the countries of Azerbaijan and Armenia. In this article the biography and the works of some Muslim scholars who were active against Christianity such as Muḥammd Ṣādiq Fakhr al-Islām, Ḥāj MῙrzā Najaf'alῙ Dānish TabrῙzῙ, Yūsuf Mujtahid TabrῙzῙ, Ghulāmḥuseyn TūtūnchῙ Ṣarāf TabrῙzῙ, Ḥuseyn ḤuseinῙ famous as RūmῙ MiyānduābῙ, IsmāῙl QaribāghῙ, Sayyed Ḥuseyn 'Arab BāghῙ and 'AlῙ Isḥāq KhūῙ, have been introduced. A total of 14 works written by these 8 scholars have been introduced in this article. It should be noticed that the creation of such works in this region did not occur in a vacuum, rather various elements and factors were involved to reach such status which will be mentioned in the following: - Christian Missioners from the Safavid Dynasty extensively had an offensive approach toward Islam due to the strategy of the Safavid-West :::::::::union::::::::: against Ottoman Government. This was highlighted during the time of Qajar because of great importance of Iran in international politics at that time. This led to the activity of the

Forbidden fruit? A longitudinal study of Christianity, sex, and marriage.

Science.gov (United States)

Pedersen, Willy

2014-01-01

Does religion still play a role in explorations of romance and sexuality among adolescents and young adults in a secular society such as Norway? Does it influence the type of living arrangements chosen? A population-based sample (n = 2,454) was followed longitudinally from their midteens to their late 20s using survey and register data. Christian involvement in teenage years was associated with subsequent less "precoital" exploration, less masturbation, delayed sexual intercourse, and a smaller number of sex partners. However, there were no associations with prevalence of same-sex experiences. Christians also postponed initiating romantic relationships and chose marriage over cohabitation. Associations were reduced after controlling for confounding factors but remained significant. Some associations (for example, the form of residential union chosen) were present only in the most "active" Christians. In other areas, such as "precoital explorations" and the age at which intercourse is initiated, Christian norms seem to play a role in much broader segments of the population. The findings indicate that Christianity may continue to influence young Norwegians' experiences of sexuality and cohabitation more than has been expected.

USE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION BY CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO TRAIN, EDIFY AND EDUCATE ADHERENTS

OpenAIRE

P. SATYANARAYANA; Emmanuel DK MEDURI

2013-01-01

Distance Education has been growing fast, in a marvelously diverse fashion. The efficiency, effectiveness, validity and utility of distance teaching-learning are on increase. All communities and religious groups are making use of distance learning methodology to upgrade their knowledge, skills and attitudes. Christina educational institutions in all the parts of the world are being benefitted by the Christian distance education programme. Christian websites make up more than 80 percent of...

The Christian Nobles at the Court of Great Khan, as Described in Mediaeval European Sources

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Liščák, Vladimír

2017-01-01

Roč. 5, č. 2 (2017), s. 276-289 ISSN 2308-152X Institutional support: RVO:68378009 Keywords : religion in mediaeval China * Yuan Dynasty China * Christianity in the Great Khan court * Franciscan missions * Christian Alan nobility * Western mediaeval sources Subject RIV: AB - History OBOR OECD: History (history of science and technology to be 6.3, history of specific sciences to be under the respective headings)

Environment, world-view and healing among the Zulu Christians (19th and 20th centuries)

OpenAIRE

Henriques, Alan C

2013-01-01

The basic question raised in this article is how Christians within the Zulu community seek relief from illnesses. Do they turn to plant (herbal) or animal remedies, or do they regard this as an imbalance in the mind of the person afflicted. This article touches on the sub-themes of the habitat of a Christian community, religion and food and also how to consider the place of animals and humans within a Christian community. There is in fact more said in the New Testament about evils spirits tha...

MARRIAGE GAP IN CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS.

Science.gov (United States)

Fieder, Martin; Huber, Susanne; Pichl, Elmar; Wallner, Bernard; Seidler, Horst

2018-03-01

For modern Western societies with a regime of monogamy, it has recently been demonstrated that the socioeconomic status of men is positively associated with being or having been married. This study aims to compare marriage patterns (if a person has been married at least once) for cultures with a tradition of monogamy and polygyny. As no worldwide data on polygyny exist, religion was used as a proxy for monogamy (Christians) vs polygyny (Muslims). The analyses were based on 2000-2011 census data from 39 countries worldwide for 52,339,594 men and women, controlling for sex, sex ratio, age, education, migration within the last 5 years and employment. Overall, a higher proportion of Muslims were married compared with Christians, but the difference in the fraction of married men compared with married women at a certain age (the 'marriage gap') was much more pronounced in Muslims than in Christians, i.e. compared with Christians, a substantially higher proportion of Muslim women than men were married up to the age of approximately 31 years. As expected for a tradition of polygyny, the results indicate that the socioeconomic threshold for entering marriage is higher for Muslim than Christian men, and Muslim women in particular face a negative effect of socioeconomic status on the probability of ever being married. The large 'marriage gap' at a certain age in Muslim societies leads to high numbers of married women and unmarried young men, and may put such polygenic societies under pressure.

Measuring Attitude toward Theistic Faith: Assessing the Astley-Francis Scale among Christian, Muslim and Secular Youth in England

Science.gov (United States)

Francis, Leslie J.; Brockett, Adrian; Village, Andrew

2013-01-01

Alongside a family of instruments designed to measure the attitudinal dimension of religion within specific faith contexts (Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism), the Astley-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Theistic Faith was designed to assess the attitudinal dimension of religion within a multifaith context. Drawing on a sample of 4338…

Religiousness and Psychological Distress in Jewish and Christian Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

McGowan, Joseph C; Midlarsky, Elizabeth; Morin, Ruth T; Graber, Liat S

2016-01-01

In this study, the authors explore how the association between religiousness and psychological distress varies by religious affiliation. Prior work has shown that the association between religious belief and psychological distress is stronger for Christians than Jews, while religious activity is associated with lower psychological distress for both groups. Interviews were conducted using a community sample of 143 Christian and Jewish older adults, ages 65 and over. Quantitative measures were used to assess levels of organizational and intrinsic religiosity, as well as symptoms of depression and anxiety. Christians who are highly involved in the organizational aspects of their religion report fewer depressive symptoms than Jews who have high levels of organizational religiosity, and the opposite is the case at lower levels of organizational religiosity. No significant group differences were found in the relationship between religiousness and anxiety. The results of this study indicate a difference between Jews and Christians in the reasons that they turn to their respective religious services, particularly in late life.

Religion as memory: How has the continuity of tradition produced collective meanings? – Part one

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Jakub Urbaniak

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Danièle Hervieu-Léger gives an account of religion as a chain of memory, that is, a form of collective memory and imagination based on the sanctity of tradition. According to her theory, in the postmodern world the continuity of religious memory has been broken and all that remains are isolated fragments guarded by religious groups. This twofold study aims at showing, firstly, in what sense religion can be conceived of as memory which produces collective meanings (Part One and, secondly, what may happen when individualised and absolutised memories alienate themselves from a continuity of tradition, thus beginning to function as a sort of private religion (Part Two. Being the first part of the study in question, this article is dedicated to a historical-theological analysis of religious memory as a source of collective meanings, as seen from a Christian perspective. Firstly, it situates Hervieu-Léger’s definition of religion against the background of the most topical religious contexts in which the notion of memory appears today. Secondly, the dialectics of individual and collective memory is discussed, notably through the lens of Ricoeur’s original proposal. This is followed by an overview of the traditional functions of memory in Christianity. Lastly, the interpretation of the way in which Christian tradition, in its premodern continuity, served as a source of collective cultural meanings, is recapitulated. What underlies this analysis is the conviction that to comprehend, and even more so to challenge mechanisms based on which the dominant purveyors of meaning (such as economic and information market function in our day, one should have a clear understanding of what they attempt to substitute for. In brief, before exploring how memories become religion, one ought to be able to conceive of religion as memory.

An Examination of Barriers to Physical Education for Christian and Muslim Girls Attending Comprehensive Secondary Schools in the UK

Science.gov (United States)

Elliott, Dave; Hoyle, Kathryn

2014-01-01

This study examined barriers to Physical Education (PE) in a sample of Christian and Muslim schoolgirls attending UK comprehensive secondary schools. Also assessed was whether religion and school year (age) had any impact upon barrier strength and if school year × religion interactions existed. A questionnaire was developed and exploratory factor…

Contrasting Policies towards (Mainly) Christian Education in Different Contexts

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Keith

2010-01-01

During the past 10 to 15 years there has been a renewed interest in the place of religion, religious education and religious schools in different parts of the world. This began in the USA and Europe with the development of private Christian schools. It was later followed by the resurgence of religious schools in the former parts of the Soviet…

Gandhi on Religion, Faith and Conversion: Secular Blueprint Relevant Today*

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Ajai R.; Singh, Shakuntala A.

2004-01-01

Gandhi believed in judging people of other faiths from their stand point rather than his own. He welcomed contact of Hinduism with other religions, especially the Christian doctrines, for he did not want to be debarred from assimilating good anywhere else. He believed a respectful study of other's religion was a sacred duty and it did not reduce reverence for one's own. He was looking out for those universal principles which transcended religion as a dogma. He expected religion to take account of practical life, he wanted it to appeal to reason and not be in conflict with morality. He believed it was his right and duty to point out the defects of his own religion, but to desist from doing so with other's faith. He refused to abuse a man for his fanatical deeds for he tried to see them from the other person's point of view. He believed Jesus expressed the will and spirit of God but could not accept Jesus as the only incarnate son of God. If Jesus was like God or God himself, then all men were like God or God Himself. But neither could he accept the Vedas as the inspired word of God, for if they were inspired why not also the Bible and the Koran? He believed all great religions were fundamentally equal and that there should be innate respect for them, not just mutual tolerance. He felt a person wanting to convert should try to be a good follower of his own faith rather than seek goodness in change of faith. His early impressions of Christianity were unfortunate which underwent a change when he discovered the New Testament and the Sermon on the Mount, whose ideal of renunciation appealed to him greatly. He thought Parliament of Religions or International Fellowship of Religions could be based only on equality of status, a common platform. An attitude of patronising tolerance was false to the spirit of international fellowship. He believed that all religions were more or less true, but had errors because they came to us though imperfect human instrumentality. Religious

Teaching Justice and Teaching Justly: Reflections on Teaching World Religions at a Jesuit Liberal Arts College

Science.gov (United States)

Schmalz, Mathew N.

2005-01-01

This paper examines how the teaching of world religions at Catholic Christians institutions can contribute to teaching justice and teaching justly. The paper compares central issues engaged by History of Religions as a discipline with those addressed within the Jesuit tradition of higher education as it developed in the wake of the Second Vatican…

Ethnicity and Social Stability in Nigeria: The Place of Religion ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Often times, these ethnic tensions translate into religious differences. There is a general notion that religion, especially Christianity and Islam, underpins the ethnic crises in the contemporary times. The consequences of the above observed situation amount to national instability. This paper has therefore investigated the ...

The church and the secular: The effect of the post-secular on Christianity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaco Beyers

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Paradigms determine relationships. During the Enlightenment period Emile Durkheim proposed a relationship between the sacred and the profane. Religion, which is concerned with the sacred, was defined in terms of being different from the profane. The profane came to denote the secular. The organic character of religion caused some scholars to predict the end of the church at the hand of modernisation and rationalisation. Some scholars instead envisaged a new form and function of the church. Some scholars anticipated the growth of Christianity. Reality shows that Christianity has not died out but seems to be growing. The new era we are currently in (identified as the postmodern has been described as the post-secular age where a process of re-sacralisation takes place. How will the post-secular influence the church? What will the relationship between the church and the secular be like under a new paradigm? This article suggests that within a postmodern paradigm, the post-secular will emphasise the place of the individual in the church. Fragmentation of society will also be the result of the post-secular. Religiosity in future will have to contend with fundamentalism and civil religion.

Christianity and Eugenics: The Place of Religion in the British Eugenics Education Society and the American Eugenics Society, c.1907–1940

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Graham J.

2014-01-01

Historians have regularly acknowledged the significance of religious faith to the eugenics movement in Britain and the USA. However, much of this scholarship suggests a polarised relationship of either conflict or consensus. Where Christian believers participated in the eugenics movement this has been represented as an abandonment of ‘orthodox’ theology, and the impression has been created that eugenics was a secularising force. In contrast, this article explores the impact of religious values on two eugenics organisations: the British Eugenics Education Society, and the American Eugenics Society. It is demonstrated that concerns over religion resulted in both these organisations modifying and tempering the public work that they undertook. This act of concealing and minimising the visibly controversial aspects of eugenics is offered as an addition to the debate over ‘mainline’ versus ‘reform’ eugenics. PMID:24778464

The Treatment of the Monotheistic Religions in World History High School Textbooks: A Comparison of Sample Editions 2001-2007

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Jason Eugene

2009-01-01

This study examines the treatment of the three most practiced monotheistic religions, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, within the pages of High School World History Textbooks. The results find that within World History textbooks Christianity and Islam receive more coverage than Judaism in narrative content, word usage, illustrations, and…

Teaching about Christianity: A Configurative Review of Research in English Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Fancourt, Nigel

2017-01-01

This article presents a systematic review of empirical research on teaching about Christianity in state schools in England between 1993 and 2013. First, I explain the background to this religion's current place within English religious education. The value of a configurative review is set out, and inclusion criteria are outlined, leading to the…

The Historical and religious conditions of the split of Sudan ... in the context of Christian-Muslim relationships

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Waldemar Cisło

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The split into the predominantly Muslim Northern Sudan, and Southern Sudan with a Christian and animist majority, had been emerging in the course of many centuries. Without any doubt, one is bound to mention the natural and geographical boundaries, the ethnical diversity of the regions, the influence exercised during the centuries by the Egyptians, Arabs and later on by the British. According to the opinions of some experts on the subject, there can be two distinct matters that have contributed to the split of the North and the South. These were education and religion. Apart from education, also the issue of religion was dividing the Sudan. After the declaration of independence on January 1, 1954 all the Christian private schools in the South were closed down. There remained only state schools with Arabic as the language of instruction and with the upbringing model based on the Koran teaching. Having obtained political independence, the fears of the British administration and Christian missionaries became a reality: Islam was made the state religion. The only way to attain an occupational and social status was to convert to Islam. Frequently, this took place according to the rule of an already accomplished fact or by pressure. In the context of Sudan, one of the biggest country in Africa, with its population of over 37 million, made up of 70 per cent Muslim believers , 14 per cent of Christians, and 12 per cent of animists, it is of great importance for the perception of fundamentalism to be familiar with the history of this country.

Issue of Salvation in Christianity: A Study in the Perspective of Islamic Ethics

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Syed Mohammad Hilmi, S. A. R.

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The doctrine of salvation is considered as a central pillar in Christian’s belief, in which underlying most of the fundamental teachings in Christianity such as the doctrines of original sin, redemption and Crucifixion. The notion of salvation – in Christianity and other religions that have faith in it - is stemmed from the belief that evil is a vital issue in this universe, whence it develops view and perception towards man and universe, and the belief that religion came to safe and free man from the evil. The doctrine of salvation in Christian faith, is the saving of the soul from sins and its consequences in general and original sin in particular, and is made possible by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion. The original sin is attributed to the Lord of Evil and it had transmitted this universe into evil, and change the nature of man, who is born free from sin into evil. Conversely, the religion of Islam views that man is originally good and is born in the state of “fitrah”, innocent and free from sin. Islam differentiates between the idea of “Fitrah”, the source of good behaviour and “Gharizah”, the instinct which arise together with human soul and leads mankind to bad moral conduct whenever it is misled or deviated. It is believed that the original sin committed by Adam due to this deviation. Based on this understanding, Islam enjoin man for self-purification in order for him to succeed in the hereafter.

Maternal Silences: Motherhood and Voluntary Childlessness in Contemporary Christianity

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Dawn Llewellyn

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In Christianity, there is an ideology of motherhood that pervades scripture, ritual, and doctrine, yet there is an academic silence that means relatively little space has been given to motherhood and mothering, and even less to voluntary childlessness, from a faith perspective. By drawing on qualitative in-depth interviews with Christian women living in Britain, narrating their experiences of motherhood and voluntary childlessness, I suggest there are also lived maternal silences encountered by women in contemporary Christianity. There is a maternal expectation produced through church teaching, liturgy and culture that constructs women as ‘maternal bodies’ (Gatrell 2008; this silences and marginalises women from articulating their complex relationship with religion, motherhood, and childlessness in ways that challenge their spiritual development. However, this article also introduces the everyday and intentional tactics women employ to disrupt the maternal expectation, and hereby interrupt the maternal silence.

Mediatized Spirituality: A Critical Appraisal of the Media-Religion Nexus in Nigeria

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Allwell Okechukwu Nwankwo

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Religion in Nigeria is predominantly manifested in three identifiable forms: Christianity, Islam and African Traditional Religion. All three forms, but especially the first two, have in recent years embraced the “media logic,” packaging religious experience in ways that appeal to the media. These religions have adopted the media as platforms for worship, proselytization, image-building and investment. Thus, religion in Nigeria has come under the grip of mediatization, giving rise to a mediatized spiritual experience. This paper contends that the strong infusion of the media into religious life in Nigeria could have both positive and negative implications for society. It advocates a responsible use of the media to curtail the purveyance of hate, incendiary and predatory messages.

Reliability and Validity of a Short Scale of Attitude toward Christianity ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

To facilitate cross-cultural research in the psychology of religion, the reliability and validity of the 7-item short form of the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity was examined among a sample of 453 young people aged between 12-19 years old from standards six, seven, eight, nine and ten attending a secondary ...

The Essence of Hindu Doctrine and its Influence on Christianity in America and Europe

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Alexandru-Corneliu Arion

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses the topic of the identity of Hindu religion and its impact on Christianity in the West (i.e. in Europe and USA, which is to be seen, especially through Neo-Hindu movements (that occurred mainly during 1950s–1980s. Thus, features and key terms such as: authority of the Veda, Dharma, moksha, samsāra and karma, the paths to liberation, concept of God, Brahman-ātman, avidyā and māyā and AUM are sketchily presented in the first part of the paper. There are obvious differences between both Hindu schools and Christian faith which regards 1. Ultimate concern: For the Hindu, it is escape from the human condition, whereas for the Christian it is freedom from guilt, sin, and the devil; 2. Human nature: For the Christian it is creaturely and sinful; for the Hindu it is divine; 3. Human problem: It is moral sin for the Christian and intellectual ignorance for the Hindu; 4. Resolution: For the Christian it is a divine act at infinite cost to God; for the Hindu it is human effort, sometimes mixed with grace, without cost to the god. In the second part it is presented the debated problem of Gurus and their movements and Neo-Hindu movements sprung at the second half of 20th century, such as Satya Sai Baba, International Society for Krishna Consciousness and meditation for “transcendental consciousness” (TM. In any case, the Indian offspring demonstrate that we have come to an important moment in the history of religions, one in which new religious landscapes continually emerge like the images of a kaleidoscope and where people will have to learn whether it is possible to share the same planet.

The Moderating Effect of Religion on the Relationship Between Depression and Suicidal Ideation in the Elderly.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, JaeHoon; Roh, Daeyoung; Moon, Yoo Sun; Kim, Do Hoon

2017-08-01

This article aimed to compare the level of suicidal ideation in the religiously affiliated and nonaffiliated groups and identify the moderating effect of religion variables on the relationship between depression and suicidal ideation. The sample in this study was 1180 residents who were older than 60 years and who resided in Gangwon Province, South Korea. We studied the cross-sectional relationships among religions and studied variables including organizational religious activity (ORA), non-ORA (NORA), intrinsic religiosity (IR), depression, well-being, and suicidal ideation. After controlling for sociodemographic variables, the depression, well-being, and suicidal ideation level in the religiously affiliated group were not significantly different from that of the religiously nonaffiliated group and the variables also were not significantly different between Christians and Buddhists. The effect of depression on suicidal ideation was significantly moderated by ORA and IR, and the effect showed different patterns by religion; ORA was a moderator only among the Buddhist group, and IR only moderated the relationships among the Christians.

Christian mission in creative tension with African worldview(s: A post-colonial engagement regarding life after death and ancestry

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Mashau, Derrick

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Christian mission in African context, especially in the post-colonial era, can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to the fact that it co-exists with the African traditional religion(s. This article deals with the creative tension that exists between Christian mission and African worldview(s in the area of life after death. In this article we presuppose more than a mere dialogue between ideas or individuals or denominations, but the encounter of different praxes. This article concludes that the dead in the worldviews are not dead; they continue to live in a different form and they continue to speak from the grave even though their praxes differ.

Sacrifice and self-sacrifice of Prince Lazar in the national epic from Christian and pagan aspects

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Bojanić-Ćirković Mirjana D.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper approaches the motives of sacrifice and self-sacrifice of Prince Lazar as a key to the construction of this epic character. At the beginning, consulting dictionaries and previous research, we determine the terminology and concepts of sacrifice self-sacrifice. Approaching the analysis of these motifs in the epic poems and accepting attitudes about their developmental line that ranges from medieval to folk literature, first search for Christian self-sacrifice. In the final part of the paper we provide a synthesis of Christian and pagan influence on the shaping of Lazarus motif of sacrifice and self-sacrifice with an emphasis on their share, hierarchy and function.

Colonial Subjectification: Foucault, Christianity and Governmentality

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Christina Petterson

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Foucault’s concept of pastoral power is envisioned as a technique of power developed from the medieval period and carried through into modern political rationalities. As such, it is an old power technique – which originated in Christian institutions – in a new political shape, which he coined governmentality. This article uses Foucault’s genealogy of pastoral power and governmentality to discuss the intersection of domination and technology of self in the Greenlandic colonial context and to bring out the central role of religion in Foucault’s conceptualisation of governmentality.

Religion and violence in Nigeria: The way forward | Ntamu | Sophia ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Most riots with religious undertones in Nigeria have involved the violent destruction of innocent lives and property. This is found mostly between Christians and Muslims. The question one may want to ask is, is there any justification whatsoever in resorting to violence in the name of religion?”. Or put differently, “Does either ...

A look at Refutations of Christianity in Azarbayjan Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

mansour moatamedi

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The phenomenon of writing refutation against the two religions of Islam and Christianity has a history as long as the time when they first fought against each other. In recent years, the companionship of Christian missioners with colonialism and their increasing preaching activities, have caused the Muslim scholars to reflect strongly against them. This phenomenon has had a special manifest in Iran since Qajar dynasty (150 years ago and led to the creation of many works written by Muslim theologians against missionary activities of Christianity. From among different Iranian regions where such works were emerged, Azarbayjan can be specifically named as an active area in which the writing of refuting works was more common than other areas in Iran. Azarbayjan in its current situation is an area including a vast region of north-western part of Iran and the countries of Azerbaijan and Armenia. In this article the biography and the works of some Muslim scholars who were active against Christianity such as Muḥammd Ṣādiq Fakhr al-Islām, Ḥāj MῙrzā Najaf'alῙ Dānish TabrῙzῙ, Yūsuf Mujtahid TabrῙzῙ, Ghulāmḥuseyn TūtūnchῙ Ṣarāf TabrῙzῙ, Ḥuseyn ḤuseinῙ famous as RūmῙ MiyānduābῙ, IsmāῙl QaribāghῙ, Sayyed Ḥuseyn 'Arab BāghῙ and 'AlῙ Isḥāq KhūῙ, have been introduced. A total of 14 works written by these 8 scholars have been introduced in this article. It should be noticed that the creation of such works in this region did not occur in a vacuum, rather various elements and factors were involved to reach such status which will be mentioned in the following: - Christian Missioners from the Safavid Dynasty extensively had an offensive approach toward Islam due to the strategy of the Safavid-West :::::::::union::::::::: against Ottoman Government. This was highlighted during the time of

Just war and nuclear weapons : just war theory and its application to the Korean nuclear weapons issue in Korean Christianity

OpenAIRE

Son, Changwan

2009-01-01

This thesis is primarily an application of the Christian tradition of Just War to the problems arising from the basing of US nuclear weapons in South Korea and the development of nuclear weapons by the regime in the North. The Christian theology of Just War has developed over the last two thousand years, adapting as first Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire, through the break down of any enforceable norms in Europe‘s 'Dark Ages‘, to the emergence of the concept of th...

Religion and the secularisation of health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Paley, John

2009-07-01

To assess the claim that conceptualisations of religion and spirituality should be grounded in theology, and acknowledge the global resurgence of religion. Although there is widespread agreement in the nursing literature that 'spirituality' is a broader concept than 'religion,' and should be understood generically, this approximate consensus has occasionally been challenged. A recent paper by Barbara Pesut and colleagues argues that the generic view not only empties spirituality of powerful religious symbols and narratives, but underestimates the continuing social influence of religion, and its resurgence on a global scale. Accordingly, these authors suggest three principles for conceptualising spirituality and religion in health care, one of which is that conceptualisations should be grounded in philosophical and theological thinking, and should not ignore the global resurgence of religion. Critical review. The Pesut principle privileges theology, disregarding other disciplines which theorize religion. Arguably, it privileges specifically Christian theology, the history of which suggests a politics of orthodoxy and an epistemology of authority and obedience. The global resurgence of religion is not, in fact, global, as the industrialised countries have experienced a marked shift towards secular-rational values; and the postindustrial phase of development is associated with self-expression values, which represent a challenge not merely to religious institutions (arguably an affirmation of 'spirituality') but to traditional elites and structures of all kinds. Finally, religion 'resurgent' is not an attractive model for health care, since many of its most obvious manifestations are incompatible with the ideology of health professionals. In the secular societies of Europe, if not North America, there should be no expectation that nurses provide spiritual care. It is a requirement of the great separation between civil order and religion that the health services, as a

Thinking about Science and Christian Orthodox Beliefs: A Survey Study of Teacher Beliefs

Science.gov (United States)

Cobern, William W.; Loving, Cathleen C.; Davis, Edward B.; Terpstra, Jeff

2011-01-01

Since its origination in the late 19th Century, the warfare metaphor has been used to characterize the relationship between science and religion, especially orthodox Christianity. Though thoroughly discredited by historians of science, the ideological descendants of Thomas Huxley, who spoke of science in quasi-religious terms, have kept the…

Good feelings in christianity and buddhism: religious differences in ideal affect.

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Tsai, Jeanne L; Miao, Felicity F; Seppala, Emma

2007-03-01

Affect valuation theory (AVT) predicts cultural variation in the affective states that people ideally want to feel (i.e., "ideal affect"). National and ethnic comparisons support this prediction: For instance, European Americans (EA) value high arousal positive (HAP) states (e.g., excitement) more and low arousal positive (LAP) states (e.g., calm) less than Hong Kong Chinese. In this article, the authors examine whether religions differ in the ideal affective states they endorse. The authors predicted that Christianity values HAP more and LAP less than Buddhism. In Study 1, they compared Christian and Buddhist practitioners' ideal affect. In Studies 2 and 3, they compared the endorsement of HAP and LAP in Christian and Buddhist classical texts (e.g., Gospels, Lotus Sutra) and contemporary self-help books (e.g., Your Best Life Now, Art of Happiness). Findings supported predictions, suggesting that AVT applies to religious and to national and ethnic cultures.

America’s “Peculiar Children”: Authority and Christian Nationalism at Antebellum West Point

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Michael Graziano

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This essay examines how the United States Military Academy at West Point developed an explicitly “federal” Christianity to help train the antebellum officers of the United States Army. It begins by examining how the Episcopal Church was quietly “established” at West Point, and how the church allied with the federal government and US Army to encourage a potent Christian nationalism that collapsed the sovereignty of the United States into the sovereignty of God. The case of West Point illustrates how federal officials, Army leaders, and Academy administrators understood religion as a central component of national security.

“Right to life” in monotheistic religions

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Muhammad Reza Ehsani Mutlaq

2015-12-01

Full Text Available " Right to life" as the fundamental rights of every person, from the beginning, has been important in the different schools of thought and religions, especially the monotheistic religions. In this paper, we discuss about "execution" and "abortion" as two of the most fundamental issues surrounding the "right to life", which has existed in human societies from the past to present. In Zoroastrianism, the punishment of "whip" has been more significant than other punishments, including the execution, however, in several cases, the execution is imported, such as eating human flesh, banditry, etc. Also the act of "abortion" is never excused or ignored and it is known equal murder. In Judaism, the Torah puts the execution as the punishment of manslaughter. Among other crimes based on Judaism punishable by death, include: polytheism, kidnapping, sodomy, etc. There are different opinions among Jewish scientists in the case of abortion. Some of them prohibited this act, except when the mother's life is in danger. In addition risk for the mother, some others allow abortion for the reason of genetic diseases as well, and some recognize right to abortion just for mothers. In Christianity, the laws are more moral than criminal and penal. Perhaps only in the case of apostasy, the execution is prescribed. However, in the thirteenth century, church announced death as punishment of heresy, so it could not be rooted in original Christian faith. In Catholics and Protestants view, the embryo, from the moment of conception, is the perfect man with the right to life. Therefore, abortion is prohibited and punishable by apostasy known. Of course, there are other opposite opinions between different Christian schools. In Islam, the execution as criminal law divides into three types: retaliatory execution runs against murder, the penalty execution runs against some crimes such as sexual assault, working against religion and social security, etc., and the sentence execution

‘Things Greater than Thou’: Post-Apocalyptic Religion in Games

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Lars de Wildt

2018-05-01

Full Text Available In the literature on religion in games, two broad types of religion have been depicted: on the one hand, historical religions—Christian, Muslim and Buddhist narratives, tropes and symbols—and, on the other hand, fiction-based religion, referring to fantasy, myth and popular culture. In this article we aim to describe, analyze and explain the emergence of a new, unacknowledged repertoire. Building on two case studies—Fallout 3 and Horizon: Zero Dawn—we argue that modern technology (computers, AI, VR, androids itself is becoming a sacred object of veneration in fiction, specifically in post-apocalyptic games that imagine man-made annihilation. Although the themes and topics differ, this emergent form of techno-religion in game narratives is generally located in a post-apocalyptic setting. Although they are fictitious, we conclude that such narratives reflect developments in real life, in which technology such as artificial intelligence is feared as an increasingly powerful, opaque force.

Religion and the risk of suicide: longitudinal study of over 1 million people.

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O'Reilly, Dermot; Rosato, Michael

2015-06-01

Durkheim's seminal historical study demonstrated that religious affiliation reduces suicide risk, but it is unclear whether this protective effect persists in modern, more secular societies. To examine suicide risk according to Christian religious affiliation and by inference to examine underlying mechanisms for suicide risk. If church attendance is important, risk should be lowest for Roman Catholics and highest for those with no religion; if religiosity is important, then 'conservative' Christians should fare best. A 9-year study followed 1 106 104 people aged 16-74 years at the 2001 UK census, using Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for census-based cohort attributes. In fully adjusted models analysing 1119 cases of suicide, Roman Catholics, Protestants and those professing no religion recorded similar risks. The risk associated with conservative Christians was lower than that for Catholics (HR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.52-0.97). The relationship between religious affiliation and suicide established by Durkheim may not pertain in societies where suicide rates are highest at younger ages. Risks are similar for those with and without a religious affiliation, and Catholics (who traditionally are characterised by higher levels of church attendance) do not demonstrate lower risk of suicide. However, religious affiliation is a poor measure of religiosity, except for a small group of conservative Christians, although their lower risk of suicide may be attributable to factors such as lower risk behaviour and alcohol consumption. © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2015.

A historical overview of the study of the theology of religions

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Test

Christians'. Paul's words to the Athenians may be relevant, '[w]hom therefore ye .... With pluralism, Rose (2013:9) refers to the theory of John. Hick as the ..... the execution of Jesus, Harper Collins, New York. Daggers ... Kärkkäinen, V.-M., 2003, An introduction to the theology of religions: Biblical, historical and contemporary.

I Have Faith in Thee, Lord: Criticism of Religion and Child Abuse in the Video Game the Binding of Isaac

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Frank G. Bosman

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The game The Binding of Isaac is an excellent example of a game that incorporates criticism of religion. Isaac is a roguelike dungeon crawler with randomly generated dungeons. Both from the perspective of narrative and of game design, McMillen built The Binding of Isaac around the Biblical story of Genesis 22:1-19, which has the same name in Jewish and Christian tradition, but he placed it in a modern-day setting in which a young boy is endangered by a mentally disturbed mother who hears “voices from above” that instruct her to sacrifice her only child. Multiple critical references to Christianity can be found in addition to the narrative: hostile embodiments of the seven deadly sins, rosaries, Bibles, and crucifixes, and unlockable characters, such as Mary Magdalene, Judas Iscariot, Samson, and Cain, who are all depicted negatively in both Jewish and Christian traditions. McMillen’s inspiration came from his own experiences with his family, which was made up of both Catholics and born-again Christians. The game describes both the dark creativity and the mental and physical abuse associated with religion. In this article, we analyse the narrative of The Binding of Isaac by performing an intertextual comparison with the Biblical narrative of Genesis 22:1-19. We then analyse the three-fold narrative structure of the game which enhances and nuances the criticism the game directs at religion.

Saved at Home: Christian Branding and Faith Nights in the "Church of Baseball"

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Butterworth, Michael L.

2011-01-01

Baseball has enjoyed its status as the "national pastime" in part because it has been associated with democracy. To the extent that baseball, as an institution of civil religion, fosters pluralism and inclusion, it can indeed be viewed in democratic terms. In recent years, the advent of conservative Christian events called "Faith Nights" threatens…

Folk Medicine

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... lead’s effects on health. How to tell if herbal medicines or folk medicines contain lead You only can ... as high as 90%. Ghasard, an Indian folk medicine, has also been found to contain lead. It is a brown powder used as a tonic. Ba-baw-san is a Chinese herbal remedy that contains lead. It is used to ...

Bulletproof Love : Luke Cage (2016 and Religion

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Derry, Ken

2017-05-01

Full Text Available There are many ways to think about religion and popular culture. One method is to ask where and when we see what might be commonly understood as “religious tradition(s” explicitly on display. Another is to think about superhero narratives themselves as “religious”, using this term as a conceptual tool for categorizing and thereby better understanding particular dimensions of human experience. This article takes a variety of approaches to understanding religion in relation to the recent television series LUKE CAGE (Netflix, US 2016. These approaches take their hermeneutical cues from a range of disciplines, including studies of the Bible; Hip Hop; gender; Black Theology; African American religion; and philosophy. The results of this analysis highlight the polysemic nature of popular culture in general, and of superhero stories in particular. Like religious traditions themselves, the show is complex and contradictory: it is both progressive and reactionary; emphasizes community and valorizes an individual; critiques and endorses Christianity; subverts and promotes violence. Depending on the questions asked, LUKE CAGE (2016 provides a range of very different answers.

Ethno-Religiosity in Orthodox Christianity: A Source of Solidarity & Multiculturalism in American Society

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Chris Durante

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This study will analyze the processes of community organization implemented by Eastern Orthodox Christian ethno-religious groups, and Greek Orthodox Christian communities in particular, to establish themselves in American civil society. It will be argued that the symbiotic relationship formed between ethnicity and religion in this tradition, as well as the democratized grassroots mode of community organization that American civil society fosters, contributes to a strong sense of belonging amongst members of the ethno-religious Orthodox Christian congregations. In turn, this sense of belonging has produced a multi-layered mechanism for solidarity-building in these communities. It will then be suggested that in addition to contributing to America’s religious diversity, the preservation of ethno-linguistic heritage by the various Orthodox Christian churches simultaneously contributes to America’s poly-ethnicity and linguistic diversity as well. Last, it will be argued that the continued survival of ethno-religiosity in American Orthodoxy can either lead to further isolation amongst the separate ethnic congregations, or it can alternatively open avenues for the cultivation of a form of Orthodox Christian multiculturalism that supports neither homogeneity nor isolationism.

Cultural- and traditional-ecological perspectives in Saami religion

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Phebe Fjellström

1987-01-01

Full Text Available The period of Christmas peace, established by the Hälsinge law, was a firmly established custom in the Nordic countries going back to the official Christmas celebrations laid down by the Catholic church at Tours in 867. Christmas Eve was respected as a day of fasting and "no meat was eaten", beliefs about Christmas folk were common in western Scandinavia and Celtic areas, –the Catholic celebrations of the twelve days of Christmas—the period of Christmas peace—was linked with these beliefs and the sacrificial rite took place relatively close to the tent with a sacrificial dish shaped like a boat complete with sail and oars being hung up in a tree, probably a tall tree so that the Christmas folk could reach it on their wanderings through the air. This last that-clause does not seem to have any Catholic connections but rather pre-Christian ones. An analysis of these different phenomena can perhaps provide us with examples of parallel phenomena in Saami materials.

The Legacy of Christianity in West Africa, with Special Reference to Burkina Faso

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Ouedraogo, Philippe

2010-01-01

In the following paper, I am going to discuss education and religion and consider the legacy of Christianity in education in West Africa with particular reference to the Evangelical churches in Burkina Faso. The paper will start with a general introduction to West Africa and the place of missionaries' activities in the region. I will then attempt…

Religion and the Legitimation of Violence in the Contemporary World: a comparative analysis

OpenAIRE

Ballard, Roger

2005-01-01

The document is a review of historical variations in the nexus between religion and violence in the Christian, Muslim and Hindu traditions presented as a background to the growing impact of Protestant-inspired neo-fundamentalism in all three of these traditions during the course of the the past century.

Religion and Ethical Attitudes toward Accepting a Bribe: A Comparative Study

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Robert W. McGee

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This study presents the results of an empirical study of ethical attitudes toward bribe taking in six religions—Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, the Baha’i faith, Hinduism, and Judaism. The paper begins with a discussion of the theoretical and empirical literature on the subject. The empirical part of the study examines attitudes toward accepting bribes in 57 countries from the perspectives of six religions using the data from Wave 6 (2010–2014 of the World Values Survey. The sample population is more than 52,000. More than a dozen demographic variables were examined. The study found that attitude toward bribe taking does differ by religion.

A critical analysis on African Traditional Religion and the Trinity

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Jele S. Manganyi

2013-07-01

Full Text Available To what extent do the resources of African Traditional Religion (ATR contribute towards Christian theological discourse and benefit the African church? ATR is accommodated in the African Initiated Churches (AICs. The members of these churches aim to be Christian without losing their African identity. ATR is a religion that was practised throughout Africa before the arrival of the Western missionaries. The core premise of ATR is the maintenance of African culture and its main feature is loyalty to the ancestors and the accompanying rituals that express this loyalty. This study addresses the appropriateness of ATR’s resources in terms of their contribution to the doctrine of the Trinity. When the early church worshipped God the Father and God the Son (Jesus in the presence of the Holy Spirit, a tension developed. The questions of monotheism versus polytheism and the nature and position of Jesus within the Trinity were put forward and addressed. The doctrine of the Trinity is uniquely Christian and includes the belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who alone mediates between God and men. There is, on the other hand, an understanding that Africans worship one Supreme Being and venerate ancestors as intermediaries to the one Supreme Being, without clear roles being ascribed to Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. This article enquires whether the process of Africanisation and contextualisation consciously or unconsciously downgraded Jesus Christ as Mediator who came to reveal who God is and to reconcile humankind to him.

Christianization of folk customs: An example of Ox'Church

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Ivanović-Barišić Milina

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with the process of transformation of a pre-Christian custom in Zuce, a village near by Belgrade. The custom is called 'provlaka', held all until the WW II on August 29. This custom was established after the cattle pest in the village. Since WW II, however, this day is celebrated as the village St. patrons/slava day. After the village church has been built and blessed in 2002, the day became also celebrated as one of the church's slava days. Transformation of holidays assumes vanishing of some and appearance of some other segments of the given custom: 1. Until WW II the most important segment of the custom 'provlaka' was extracting wild fire and passage of people and cattle. This custom was maintained with an aim of preventive protection against epidemics. 2. A significant feature of annual celebration of calendar holidays included collective gatherings. On this day people visit relatives from other villages, attend lunch together, and gather at a particular village spot in the afternoon. 3. The beginning of the church building has allowed introduction of religious elements in celebration. In the morning, it is a time usually to attend a liturgy, while what follows represent some inherited customs like reception and eating together with relatives and friends. 4. After the village church has been built and blessed in 2002, the day became also celebrated as one of the church's slava days. This assumes presentation of the village cake maker and cake cutting in the church, accompanied by a local priest.

Experiences of Judeo-Christian Students in Undergraduate Biology

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Barnes, M. Elizabeth; Truong, Jasmine M.; Brownell, Sara E.

2017-01-01

A major research thrust in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is focused on how to retain students as STEM majors. The accumulation of seemingly insignificant negative experiences in STEM classes can, over time, lead STEM students to have a low sense of belonging in their disciplines, and this can lead to lower retention. In this paper, we explore how Judeo-Christian students in biology have experiences related to their religious identities that could impact their retention in biology. In 28 interviews with Judeo-Christian students taking undergraduate biology classes, students reported a religious identity that can conflict with the secular culture and content of biology. Some students felt that, because they are religious, they fall within a minority in their classes and would not be seen as credible within the biology community. Students reported adverse experiences when instructors had negative dispositions toward religion and when instructors were rigid in their instructional practices when teaching evolution. These data suggest that this may be a population susceptible to experiences of cultural conflict between their religious identities and their STEM identities, which could have implications for retention. We argue that more research should explore how Judeo-Christian students’ experiences in biology classes influence their sense of belonging and retention. PMID:28232586

SYNCRETIZATION OF CHINESE RELIGION IN SINGKAWANG WEST KALIMANTAN

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Samsul Hidayat

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This paper attempts to shed light on the context of religiosity which is very pluralistic and dynamic in Indonesia. It is based on the field research conducted in Singkawang focusing on the Chinese religion. Some important conclusions could be drawn here such as the syncretization of the Chinese religion concerning the understanding of the existence of God and the gods which often has overlapping hierarchy including syncretic perspectives on understanding cosmology, mythology, symbols associated with mystical tales and supernatural beings. In the process, many Chinese Indonesians in Singkawang who are demographically Buddhists, Christians, or Muslims, still perform a pattern of worship of Confucianism or Taoism in their daily lives. The procedure of worship has also been modified so that its format differs from that found outside Indonesia. Meanwhile, during the celebration of the Chinese lunar new year and Cap Go Meh (the fifteenth night, Chinese Indonesians in Singkawang perform a ritual to get rid of bad luck. It is a unique, syncretic ‘collaboration’ between Chinese traditions and local culture. Keywords: Syncretization, Religion, Chinese, Singkawang.

British Druidry and Turkic Shamanism in context of Pagan Religion

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Nükhet Okutan

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Article represents Celtic Druidry and Turkic Shamanism together within the phenomenon of paganism. Although both of these belief systems are under the impression of monotheistic religions such as Islam and Christianity today, they are still breathing. When Druidry and Turkic shamanism are compared, it can be seen that, both Celtic and Turkic peoples' perceptions of earthly living and the life after death are similar to each other.

Framing (implicitly) matters: the role of religion in attitudes toward immigrants and Muslims in Denmark.

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Anderson, Joel; Antalíková, Radka

2014-12-01

Denmark is currently experiencing the highest immigration rate in its modern history. Population surveys indicate that negative public attitudes toward immigrants actually stem from attitudes toward their (perceived) Islamic affiliation. We used a framing paradigm to investigate the explicit and implicit attitudes of Christian and Atheist Danes toward targets framed as Muslims or as immigrants. The results showed that explicit and implicit attitudes were more negative when the target was framed as a Muslim, rather than as an immigrant. Interestingly, implicit attitudes were qualified by the participants' religion. Specifically, analyses revealed that Christians demonstrated more negative implicit attitudes toward immigrants than Muslims. Conversely, Atheists demonstrated more negative implicit attitudes toward Muslims than Atheists. These results suggest a complex relationship between religion, and implicit and explicit prejudice. Both the religious affiliation of the perceiver and the perceived religious affiliation of the target are key factors in social perception. © 2014 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Gilson o racjonalności wiary chrześcijańskiej / Gilson on the Rationality of Christian Belief

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Curtis L. Hancock

2013-12-01

, showing how moral understanding must transcend Pharisaical legalism. Additionally, Jesus’ native philosophical power shows in his ability to explain away doctrinal confusions and to expose sophistical traps set by his enemies. If fideism is unconvincing, and if the great examples of the Patristics, the Apostles, and Jesus himself show an affinity for philosophy, then it is necessary to conclude that Christianity is a rational religion. Accordingly, the history of Christian culture is arguably an adventure in faith and reason. Since God is truth and the author of all truths, there is nothing in reality that is incompatible with Christian teaching. As John Paul II explains effectively in the encyclical, Fides et Ratio, Christianity is a religion that is rational and can defend itself. This ability to marshal a defense makes Christianity a religion for all seasons.

Science and Religion in the Russian Federation nowadays:Conflict or dialogue?

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German E. Bokov

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the main aspects of the relationship between science and religion in the Russian Federation nowadays. It shows an official position of the Russian Orthodox Church concerning the latest scientific developments, secular culture, and education as well as separate views of different scientists, theologians, and philosophers about it. In particular, the paper examines reaction from academic community in the Russian Federation towards some attempts of introduction of theology in to secular space science and education. This article introduces different points of view about the problem of choice of the world view reference points in contemporary conditions when Christian theology substantiates the necessity of science and religion interaction.

The Religious Identities and Social Stucture of Bosnia-Herzegovina

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Nebojša Šavija-Valha

2009-06-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes the structural preconditions of articulation of religious identities in Bosnia-Herzegovina from the historical perspective. These have been produced by the processes of Christianization and Islamization at the intersection of heterogeneous origin of Bosnian-Herzegovinian population, the influence of paganism and folk beliefs, and the geopolitical situation on the border line between the great empires. Due to the influence of these factors, these processes have never been successful in encompassing the entire population, which has always been divided among several simultaneously co-existing religious institutions: Catholicism, Christian Orthodoxy, the Bosnian Church and Islam. Through the institution of Millet, allowing its subjects relative cultural and social freedoms within their religious communities, the Ottoman Empire provides the communities with preconditions for ethnic modelling, but also for “political” articulation. The interplay of these agents has provided a base for interaction among the religious groups, which can be seen at two complementary levels: the vertical one, “the political”, ruled by hierarchical and discriminative relations; and the lateral one, “the social”, which is a sphere of egalitarian trans- and inter-ethnic social practices. Both levels have their religious aspects: at the first, it is about institutionalized religions; at the second, about “folk” religion, a syncretism of pre-Christian tradition and Christian and Islamic elements. Hence, religion has been acting in a totalizing way in Bosnian-Herzegovinian society, appearing both as a primary repertoire of symbolic elements and as a basic mechanism of further group identifications – ethnic and national.

Religion and Pet Loss: Afterlife Beliefs, Religious Coping, Prayer and Their Associations with Sorrow

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Lee, Sherman A.

2016-01-01

This study examined the relationship between religion and sorrow among a sample of 219 owners of deceased pets (the sample was predominantly comprised of white, female, educated Christians). The results indicated that the vast majority of the participants believed that their pets' souls reside in a better place and that they will reunite with them…

Can Christians really make a difference? A response to the call for change to make the world a better place

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Erna Oliver

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Christianity changed the world for the better through the development of education, charity organisations, art, music, law and medical care among others. However, not all changes initiated by Christianity were positive. The Christian religion was also responsible for division, death, destruction and war. Focusing on the positive changes, nearly 500 years after the reformation though, it seems as if Christianity has lost its renewing and transformative powers. It seems as if society, politics and the economy are pressurising Christianity to conform to the world and not the other way round. Therefore, the research focuses on the question whether Christians can bring about positive change and transformation to the current problems in society. What can Christians do to provide a religious response to current persistent societal problems? Change agents – people who drive positive change – are capable and competent, make use of networks, are visible and contactable and are often also outsiders in the communities they serve. Examples of the work done by change agents – Christians within their local communities – through small-scale community projects are showcased here to suggest possible ways forward for dealing with persistent problems from a Christian point of view.

‘When She Calls for Help’—Domestic Violence in Christian Families

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Leonie Westenberg

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Violence in relationships is a common experience for a significant number of women. VicHealth (Australia has noted that one of the underlying and contributing factors towards violence against women is their environment, citing ‘faith-based institutions’ such as churches as one such environment for many women. Indeed, international research shows that the language of religion is often used by women to explain abuse. Additionally, abused Christian women are more likely to remain in or return to unsafe relationships, citing religious beliefs to support avoidance of ‘family break-ups’ despite abuse. In contrast, however, churches can address domestic violence within a context of care, with emphasis on a theology of biblical equality. This paper examines how domestic violence may be supported by Christian language and belief, and suggests an ‘alternate theology’ concerning religious language in concepts of gender roles, sacrifice, submission, and suffering. It reviews current research on the connection between Christian religious language and domestic violence against women, to highlight the Christian church’s role as a contributing factor to such abuse. Finally, the paper makes some suggestions on how religious language can, in contrast to perpetuating abuse through norms, sever the connections between domestic violence and religious language.

The Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life for Religion and Theology

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Peters, Ted

2012-05-01

This paper asks about the future of religion: (1) Will confirmation of ETI cause terrestrial religion to collapse? "No" is the answer based upon a summary of the "Peters ETI Religious Crisis Survey." Then three questions are posed to the astrotheologian: (2) What is the scope of God's creation? (3) What can we expect when we encounter ETI? (4) Will contact with more advanced ETI diminish human dignity? The paper's thesis is that contact with extraterrestrial intelligence will expand the existing Christian vision that all of creation — including the 13.7 billion year history of the universe replete with all of God's creatures — is the gift of a loving and gracious God.

Religion, Psychology and Globalisation Process: Attitudinal Appraisal

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Emmanuel Orok Duke

2016-10-01

Full Text Available A key consequence of globalisation is the integrative approach to reality whereby emphasis is placed on interdependence. Religion being an expression of human culture is equally affected by this cultural revolution. The main objective of this paper is to examine how religious affiliation, among Christians, influences attitudes towards the application of psychological sciences to the assuagement of human suffering. The sociological theory of structural functionalism was deployed to explain attitudinal appraisal. Ethnographic methodology, through quantitative analysis of administered questionnaire, was also used. The study reveals that religious tenets largely shape attitudinal appraisal and redefine the borders of globalisation’s metanarratives.

End-of-life decisions: Christian perspectives.

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Stempsey, William E

1997-12-01

While legal rights to make medical treatment decisions at the end of one's life have been recognized by the courts, particular religious traditions put axiological and metaphysical meat on the bare bones of legal rights. Mere legal rights do not capture the full reality, meaning and importance of death. End-of-life decisions reflect not only the meaning we find in dying, but also the meaning we have found in living. The Christian religions bring particular understandings of the vision of life as a gift from God, human responsibility for stewardship of that life, the wholeness of the person, and the importance of the dying process in preparing spiritually for life beyond earthly life, to bear on end-of-life decisions.

The three main monotheistic religions and gm food technology: an overview of perspectives

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Singer Peter A

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Public acceptance of genetically modified crops is partly rooted in religious views. However, the views of different religions and their potential influence on consumers' decisions have not been systematically examined and summarized in a brief overview. We review the positions of the Judaism, Islam and Christianity – the three major monotheistic religions to which more than 55% of humanity adheres to – on the controversies aroused by GM technology. Discussion The article establishes that there is no overarching consensus within the three religions. Overall, however, it appears that mainstream theology in all three religions increasingly tends towards acceptance of GM technology per se, on performing GM research, and on consumption of GM foods. These more liberal approaches, however, are predicated on there being rigorous scientific, ethical and regulatory scrutiny of research and development of such products, and that these products are properly labeled. Summary We conclude that there are several other interests competing with the influence exerted on consumers by religion. These include the media, environmental activists, scientists and the food industry, all of which function as sources of information and shapers of perception for consumers.

Differences between the Sexes among Protestant Christian Middle School Students and Their Attitudes toward Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)

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Michael, Kurt Y.; Alsup, Philip R.

2016-01-01

Research focusing on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education among conservative Protestant Christian school students is scarce. Crenshaw's intersectionality theory is examined as it pertains to religion as a group identifier. The STEM Semantic Survey was completed by 157 middle school students attending six different private…

Stoning for Adultery in Christianity and Islam and its Implementation in Contemporary Muslim Societies

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Azman bin Mohd Noor

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract: This paper examines the scriptural bases of stoning for adultery in the two sister religions and its implementation in contemporary Muslim societies. Based upon archival and documentary research, this study found that stoning to death for adultery is prescribed in both the Bible and the Qur’ān. Christians, however, have abandoned this law and it is no longer practiced in any Christian-dominant country. With the expansion of Western imperialism, the same trend seems to be taking place in Muslim societies. There are a few Muslim countries that are trying to implement this law but they face a good deal of criticism from the Western media and other secular organizations, consequently, shying away from implementing this punishment in public.

Rethinking Folk Culture in Twentieth-Century Britain.

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Carter, Laura

2017-12-01

Research on folk culture in twentieth-century Britain has focused on elite and transgressive political episodes, but these were not its mainstream manifestations. This article re-evaluates the place of folk culture in twentieth-century Britain in the context of museums. It argues that in the modern heritage landscape folk culture was in an active dialogue with the modern democracy. This story begins with the vexed, and ultimately failed, campaign for a national English folk museum and is traced through the concurrent successes of local, regional, and Celtic 'first wave' folk museums across Britain from the 1920s to the 1960s. The educational activities of these museums are explored as emblematic of a 'conservative modernity', which gave opportunities to women but also restricted their capacity to do intellectual work. By the 1970s, a 'second wave' folk museology is identified, revealing how forms of folk culture successfully accommodated the rapid social change of the later twentieth century, particularly in deindustrializing regions. From this new, museums' perspective, folk culture appears far less marginal to twentieth-century British society. In museums folk culture interacted with mainstream concerns about education, regionalism, and commercialization. © The Author [2017]. Published by Oxford University Press.

Feminisms and Challenges to Institutionalized Philosophy of Religion

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Nathan Eric Dickman

2018-04-01

normative topics in institutionalized philosophy of religion, maintaining focus on actually existing human beings rather than hypothetically existing transcendent entities. I turn our attention to technical issues surrounding the status of mae chis, Buddhist laity who seek monastic recognition in Theravada. I turn our attention to struggles over fitting criteria for leadership between Mary Magdalene and Peter in early Christian contexts. I have us listen to Muslim women who seek to speak for themselves, many of whom describe Muhammad as a feminist. I have us listen to Anderson’s criticism of arguments about the (nonexistence of a god and her promotion of human yearning as guided by regulative ideals as a pointed challenge to institutionalized philosophy of religion. In all these ways and more, feminist challenges to institutionalized philosophy of religion further contribute to diversifying field.

Interactions among sex, ethnicity, religion, and gender role expectations of pain.

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Defrin, Ruth; Eli, Ilana; Pud, Dorit

2011-06-01

Sex, gender, ethnicity, and religion are powerful factors that may affect pain experience. Recently, gender role expectations of pain (GREP) were suggested to account for some of the differences in pain perception between men and women. However, the interaction between GREP and ethnicity and religion was not examined. This interaction was studied with regard to pain sensitivity, pain endurance, and willingness to report pain. Our objective was to study the interaction among GREP, sex, and ethno-religious belonging. Participants (548 healthy men and women) of 3 different ethno-religious groups (341 Jews, 105 Muslim-Arabs, 102 Christian-Arabs) completed the GREP questionnaire; pain sensitivity, pain endurance, and willingness to report pain were analyzed. Men of all 3 ethno-religious groups perceived themselves and other men as less sensitive and less willing to report pain than typical women. Women of all 3 ethno-religious groups perceived themselves and other women as more sensitive and more willing to report pain than men. Ethno-religious differences were observed in the attitudes towards typical men and women, with Christian men and women exhibiting stronger stereotypical views regarding pain sensitivity and pain endurance. Individual's perceptions of pain regarding one's self compared with the same or opposite sex were similar regardless of ethno-religious belonging and were related to sex. However, attitudes on pain of typical men and women seemed to be influenced by ethno-religious belonging. This differential effect of ethno-religion on GREP with relation to sex suggests that these factors should be considered when pain perception is evaluated. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier HS Journals, Inc. All rights reserved.

Beef and beyond: exploring the meat consumption practices of Christians in India

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Staples, J

2015-01-01

Meat-eating in India cannot be analysed simply as a marker of ritual impurity: the culinary experiences of South Indian Christians also indicate the importance of meat in forging positive identities. In this paper, I draw out some of the fine-grained distinctions made by my informants in relation to meat-eating, which suggest that its consumption is shaped not only by caste and religion, but in relation to gender, age, status and other personal considerations. Secondly, I attempt to situate t...

One Life/Many Lives: An Internal Hindu-Christian Dialogue

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Jeffery D. Long

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This essay consists of philosophical and comparative theological reflections on the topic of rebirth, or reincarnation. Informed by the work of William James, John Hick, and Francis X. Clooney, the essay first establishes the author’s stance that reincarnation is a plausible option for belief, at least as attractive as its two main rivals. These rival options are the belief in an everlasting life in either heaven or hell, characteristic of religions such as Christianity and Islam, and the materialist or physicalist belief that there is no afterlife, except in a highly attenuated sense. The essay then moves into a dialogical, comparative theological mode. It raises the question of whether traditional Christian rejection of rebirth, even if it is not something to which the author ultimately assents, might nevertheless carry with it an important insight that is worthy of serious consideration by those who accept the idea of rebirth. This is seen as an instance of the ‘deep learning across religious borders’ that is the main goal of comparative theology, as defined by Clooney.

Exploring the theological foundation of Corporate Social Responsibility in Islam, Christianity and Judaism for Strengthening Compliance and Reporting: An Eclectic Approach

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Lukman Raimi

2013-12-01

religions play direct and indirect role in corporate governance and people‘s lifestyle. This paper explores eclectic sources to provide answer to the questions: Does CSR have theological foundation in Islam Christianity and Judaism? Can religions strengthen CSR and fortify compliance and reporting? The authors sourced the required qualitative data from journal articles, Islamic jurisprudence, Judaic sources and Biblical texts as well as relevant online resources on the subject. The extractions from eclectic sources were subjected to content analysis from which conclusions on the two questions were established. The findings indicate that CSR has theological foundation in the three religions, and religious ethics and values could be potent drivers for strengthening CSR and reporting.

Body Covering and Body Image: A Comparison of Veiled and Unveiled Muslim Women, Christian Women, and Atheist Women Regarding Body Checking, Body Dissatisfaction, and Eating Disorder Symptoms.

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Wilhelm, Leonie; Hartmann, Andrea S; Becker, Julia C; Kişi, Melahat; Waldorf, Manuel; Vocks, Silja

2018-02-21

Although Islam is the fastest growing religion worldwide, only few studies have investigated body image in Muslim women, and no study has investigated body checking. Therefore, the present study examined whether body image, body checking, and disordered eating differ between veiled and unveiled Muslim women, Christian women, and atheist women. While the groups did not differ regarding body dissatisfaction, unveiled Muslim women reported more checking than veiled Muslim and Christian women, and higher bulimia scores than Christian. Thus, prevention against eating disorders should integrate all women, irrespective of religious affiliation or veiling, with a particular focus on unveiled Muslim women.

Possibilities and Limits of Religion in the Cyberspace of Digital Media

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Slavomír Gálik

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The authors of this paper study possibilities and limits of religion in the cyberspace of digital media, especially in the World of Warcraft videogame. Basing on various research cases, they claim that videogames can saturate religious needs of the hypermodern human. Nevertheless, they cannot substitute them totally, since there is the humans’ body, a barrier between virtual and traditional religion. In the first case (the so-called external limitation, the body is irreplaceable in religious ritual such as Baptising in Christian religion or Mindfulness of Breathing (ānāpānasati in Buddhism. In the second case (the so-called internal limitation, when the body (or its nerve centre is linked to technologies, the boundary lies in the depth and validity of spiritual experience. The authors state that even if positive cyber-spiritual experience could be reached, it would still be necessary to plant it into broader moral and cognitive frames. Only in such case it could represent a positive stimulus for the spiritual journey.

Folk knowledge of invertebrates in Central Europe - folk taxonomy, nomenclature, medicinal and other uses, folklore, and nature conservation.

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Ulicsni, Viktor; Svanberg, Ingvar; Molnár, Zsolt

2016-10-11

There is scarce information about European folk knowledge of wild invertebrate fauna. We have documented such folk knowledge in three regions, in Romania, Slovakia and Croatia. We provide a list of folk taxa, and discuss folk biological classification and nomenclature, salient features, uses, related proverbs and sayings, and conservation. We collected data among Hungarian-speaking people practising small-scale, traditional agriculture. We studied "all" invertebrate species (species groups) potentially occurring in the vicinity of the settlements. We used photos, held semi-structured interviews, and conducted picture sorting. We documented 208 invertebrate folk taxa. Many species were known which have, to our knowledge, no economic significance. 36 % of the species were known to at least half of the informants. Knowledge reliability was high, although informants were sometimes prone to exaggeration. 93 % of folk taxa had their own individual names, and 90 % of the taxa were embedded in the folk taxonomy. Twenty four species were of direct use to humans (4 medicinal, 5 consumed, 11 as bait, 2 as playthings). Completely new was the discovery that the honey stomachs of black-coloured carpenter bees (Xylocopa violacea, X. valga) were consumed. 30 taxa were associated with a proverb or used for weather forecasting, or predicting harvests. Conscious ideas about conserving invertebrates only occurred with a few taxa, but informants would generally refrain from harming firebugs (Pyrrhocoris apterus), field crickets (Gryllus campestris) and most butterflies. We did not find any mythical creatures among invertebrate folk taxa. Almost every invertebrate species was regarded as basically harmful. Where possible, they were destroyed or at least regarded as worth eradicating. However, we could find no evidence to suggest any invertebrate species had suffered population loss as a result of conscious destruction. Sometimes knowledge pertaining to the taxa could have more

CONCEPT OF "GENERIC ORIGIN" AND CHRISTIAN VALUES AS THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF PAVEL VASILYEV'S ARTISTIC SYSTEM

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Nina Viktorovna Popova

2014-11-01

Full Text Available This article contemplates the system of moral and aesthetic values which predetermined the main characteristics of Pavel Vasilyev’s artistic system, and traces the main stages of his creative biography. The main attention is paid to his key works – poems The Song about Death of Cossack Army, Salt Revolt, Khristolyubovskiye Printed Cottons, Summer, and August, as well as the poems written during the period of 1930–1937 (Farewell to Friends, Stonemason, Old Moscow, Serafi m Dagaev’s Town, Horse, Camel, Injured Song, Oath on Chalice. The article raises the question about the most important role of the concept of “generic origin”, Christian values and Christian symbolism in Vasilyev’s poetics and studies the problem of using various forms of verbal folk art in the art structure of his poems for the reflection of Russian orthodox traditions. The axiological approach and methods of historical typological and structural semiotic methods for studying art texts are used.

The Promised Savior in Pre-Islamic Great Religions

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Mahin Arab

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Since the ancient times the belief in the rise of the Reformer has been a fundamental principle. Many of the holy prophets have announced the advent of new prophet. Moreover in the announcements and indications of predecessors there are always allusions to "the Last Promised" and "the Savior of Last Days" under such titles as "Kalki", "Fifth Buddha", "Soshyans", "Messiah", "The Son of Man" and so on and so forth. Of course there are different types of belief in the last reformer in religions. In one place the Savior is merely a social reformer while in another place he is only after the spiritual salvation of people and even sometimes he undertakes both tasks. On the other hand, the Last Promised is once nationalist and once seeks to save the whole world.    This essay seeks to assay the views of pre-Islamic great religions including Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism as to the Promised Savior. This essay is an analytico-descriptive research which has based itself on the first hand works comprising the sacred scriptures of religions and proceeds through the typological analyses of idea of the Promised in religions.    Zoroastrianism: the idea of the Promised has been tied to the notion of Soshyant. Generally speaking, this notion alludes to a group of people who periodically emerge at the end of every millennium of the last three millennia of world's age so as to uproot evil and renew the world, the last one of these reformers is Soshyans. According to the aforementioned typology, Zoroastrian idea of Last Savior is among the Promised who saves the whole world. Moreover Zoroastrian Promised cannot be declared only a social savior as he is not wholly detached from people's spirituality too. From another point of view, Zoroastrian idea of the Promised represents a universal and not nationalist savior who is relatively a human and not divine entity who emerges in the last millennium of world's age.    Judaism: in the

The Promised Savior in Pre-Islamic Great Religions

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Mahin Arab

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Since the ancient times the belief in the rise of the Reformer has been a fundamental principle. Many of the holy prophets have announced the advent of new prophet. Moreover in the announcements and indications of predecessors there are always allusions to "the Last Promised" and "the Savior of Last Days" under such titles as "Kalki", "Fifth Buddha", "Soshyans", "Messiah", "The Son of Man" and so on and so forth. Of course there are different types of belief in the last reformer in religions. In one place the Savior is merely a social reformer while in another place he is only after the spiritual salvation of people and even sometimes he undertakes both tasks. On the other hand, the Last Promised is once nationalist and once seeks to save the whole world.    This essay seeks to assay the views of pre-Islamic great religions including Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism as to the Promised Savior. This essay is an analytico-descriptive research which has based itself on the first hand works comprising the sacred scriptures of religions and proceeds through the typological analyses of idea of the Promised in religions.    Zoroastrianism: the idea of the Promised has been tied to the notion of Soshyant. Generally speaking, this notion alludes to a group of people who periodically emerge at the end of every millennium of the last three millennia of world's age so as to uproot evil and renew the world, the last one of these reformers is Soshyans. According to the aforementioned typology, Zoroastrian idea of Last Savior is among the Promised who saves the whole world. Moreover Zoroastrian Promised cannot be declared only a social savior as he is not wholly detached from people's spirituality too. From another point of view, Zoroastrian idea of the Promised represents a universal and not nationalist savior who is relatively a human and not divine entity who emerges in the last millennium of world's age.    Judaism: in the

Religion and Subjective Well-Being: Western and Eastern Religious Groups Achieved Subjective Well-Being in Different Ways.

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Shiah, Yung-Jong; Chang, Frances; Chiang, Shih-Kuang; Tam, Wai-Cheong Carl

2016-08-01

Culture can moderate which variables most influence subjective well-being (SWB). Because religion can be conceptualized as culture, religious differences can be considered cultural differences. However, there have been few studies comparing how different religious groups evaluate SWB at any given time. This study is among the first to investigate this issue. The present study compared Buddhists, Taoists, Christians, and atheists. In addition to demographic items, 451 Chinese adults completed Chinese version of the Socially Oriented Cultural Conception of SWB Scale. Religious belief was distributed as follows: 10 % Christian, 20 % Buddhist, 25 % Taoist, and 43 % atheists. As predicted, the socially oriented cultural conception of SWB was found to be highest among Buddhists, followed in order by Taoists, atheists, and Christians. It was concluded that the various religious groups achieved SWB in different ways.

Black Tribal African Religion with Some Emphasis on Christianity and Islam in Africa.

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Emmons, Marian

This 6th grade social studies unit delves into the belief systems and external religious, cultural practices of Black Africans. It is part of a series of guides developed by the Public Education Religion Studies Center at Wright State University. Study is focused upon the Ashanti tribe of Ghana knowing that although the multiplicity of tribes have…

Association Between Religion and Suicidal Behaviors in Cancer Patients.

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Moreno-Montoya, José; Palacios-Espinosa, Ximena; Gracia-Ruiz, Jennifer

Whereas most studies have focused on how the religious beliefs positively interfere with the presence or execution of suicidal behaviors, few have identified differences among religious beliefs and how these can not only be consider as a protective factor for suicide, but also as a variable that influences the expression of the suicidal related behaviors. To provide evidence about the effect of religious practices and beliefs on suicidal behavior in cancer patients in Colombia. This is a hospital-based cross-sectional study with a sample of 132 patients with cancer. Socio-demographic data were measured, in which the religious affiliation was included. The instruments used include the Scale of Suicidal Ideation (SSI), the item 9 of Beck Depression Scale (BDI-IA) and the Beck Hopelessness Inventory (BHS). In our study, 93% of the patients had advanced stages of cancer, where 51.52% of them were in stage IV. Cancer patients who reported non-Catholic Christians were 3 and 4 times more likely to have some manifestation of suicidal behavior. It is recognized in non-Catholic Christians patients a greater chance to express suicidal ideation, which could be related to their level of suicide acceptability. It is considered that religion and their perception of death affects the expression and acceptance of suicidal ideation, reason why it is necessary more research on the effect of different religions on suicidal behavior, in order to include these aspects in the patient intervention. Copyright © 2016 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

The Impact of the Status of Religion in Contemporary Society upon Interreligious Learning

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Herman Lombaerts

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The author analyses the growing importance of IRL against the background of a changing European society. Based on sociological research, the traditional status of the Christian religion - and the monoreligious education that normally accompanies it - is seriously being challenged by the process of secularisation and the growing plurality or religious attitudes and beliefs among people in the West. Europe has become a complex network of in fl uences that constitute the actual symbolic fi eld employed by people in their search for truth. The interest for religion is still very much alive. People are not endlessly indifferent but still hope to fi nd (religious truth and meaning, even if this process has become much more complex today. In this context, interreligious dialogue itself becomes a religious act. The status given by a religion to other religions is of crucial importance for its ultimate credibility. In this line of thought, religious education should transcend both a purely monoreligious approach and a purely objective-comparative (multireligious approach, and instead should cultivate in the pupils - at the very borderlands of the different religious, cultural and geo-political territories - an attitude of practising interreligious dialogue as a religious event.

Religion and Public Health: Moral Tradition as Both Problem and Solution.

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Rozier, Michael

2017-06-01

Despite strong religious influence in the development of medicine and medical ethics, religion has been relatively absent in the rise of preventive medicine and population health. Episodic, clinical medicine has a powerful hold on the religious imagination in health care. Nevertheless, Hebrew Scripture, elements of rabbinical teaching, and modern concepts of social justice all can be used to inspire action in health care that goes beyond clinical medicine. The Christian tradition can call upon the corporal works of mercy, virtue ethics, and Catholic social teaching, as well as the modern history Catholic sisters in the U.S. to do the same. By considering the moral imperative for public health, Jewish and Christian individuals and organizations reaffirm the notion that the human person is both sacred and social. This article suggests a need for religious traditions to consider their moral traditions anew with an eye toward prevention and population health.

Concepts of Chinese Folk Happiness

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Ip, Po Keung

2011-01-01

Discourses on Chinese folk happiness are often based on anecdotal narratives or qualitative analysis. Two traditional concepts of happiness popular in Chinese culture are introduced. The paper constructs a concept of Chinese folk happiness on basis of the findings of a scientific survey on the Taiwanese people regarding their concepts of…

Health Care between Medicine and Religion : The Case of Catholic Western Germany around 1800

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Bruchhausen, Walter

2007-12-01

Full Text Available The current revision of the relationship between religion and medicine in the ‘post-secular’ or ‘desecularised’ society invites a new look on their function for each other at the beginning of the modern era, i.e. the political and economic secularisation during the dissolution of the Ancient Empires in Europe. Exemplified by the Prince-Archbishoprics of Western Germany, the consequences of the church’s change from state power to mere pastoral care are demonstrated for the three groups of Catholic physicians in academic medicine, priests in rural health care and nuns in nursing. During the turn from the enlightenment idea of religion serving medicine to the romantic concept of medicine contributing to religion their activities shifted dramatically: Whereas more members of religious congregations entered nursing than before, priests had to give up any medical work and Christian doctors were forced to cope with the separation between academic medicine and the religious world view.

Multiple Religious Belonging: Hermeneutical Challenges for Theology of Religions

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Oostveen Daan F.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The phenomenon of multiple religious belonging is studied from different perspectives, each of which reveals a different understanding of religion, religious diversity and religious belonging. This shows that the phenomenon of multiple religious belonging is challenging the applicability of these central notions in academic enquiry about religion. In this article, I present the different perspectives on multiple religious belonging in theology of religions and show how the understanding of some central scholarly notions is different. In Christian theology, the debate on multiple religious belonging is conducted between particularists, who focus on the uniqueness of religious traditions, and pluralists, who focus on the shared religious core of religious traditions. Both positions are criticized by feminist and post-colonial theologians. They believe that both particularists and pluralists focus too strongly on religious traditions and the boundaries between them. I argue that the hermeneutic study of multiple religious belonging could benefit from a more open understanding of religious traditions and religious boundaries, as proposed by these feminist and post-colonial scholars. In order to achieve this goal we could also benefit from a more intercultural approach to multiple religious belonging in order to understand religious belonging in a nonexclusive way.

The influence of Christian conversion in Mapuche traditional medicine in Temuco, Chile: toward a cultural syncretism or a form of ideological assimilation?

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Torri, Maria Costanza

2013-12-01

The Mapuche communities living in the urban areas of Chile have undergone radical cultural changes due to Christian conversion. This article analyzes the influence of these changes on the Mapuche ideas and practices of the traditional healers (machi) and patients in Temuco (IX Region), Chile, and the changes and adaptations in the perceptions of healing practices and rituals by the patients. The paper shows how, despite some evident challenges, the encounter with the religion of Christianity can create a process of cultural and spiritual syncretism and push traditional medicine toward an increased specialization in the therapeutic practices.

Why religion deserves a place in secular medicine.

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Biggar, Nigel

2015-03-01

As a science and practice transcending metaphysical and ethical disagreements, 'secular' medicine should not exist. 'Secularity' should be understood in an Augustinian sense, not a secularist one: not as a space that is universally rational because it is religion-free, but as a forum for the negotiation of rival reasonings. Religion deserves a place here, because it is not simply or uniquely irrational. However, in assuming his rightful place, the religious believer commits himself to eschewing sheer appeals to religious authorities, and to adopting reasonable means of persuasion. This can come quite naturally. For example, Christianity (theo)logically obliges liberal manners in negotiating ethical controversies in medicine. It also offers reasoned views of human being and ethics that bear upon medicine and are not universally held-for example, a humanist view of human dignity, the bounding of individual autonomy by social obligation, and a special concern for the weak. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

[Civic religion, civil religion, secular religion. a historiographical investigation].

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Boucheron, Patrick

2013-01-01

Because of its conceptual plasiticity, the term civic religion is now widely used by historians, particularly historians of the Middle Ages. Yet, as this article suggests, historians would do well to interrogate the relationships (which can be hidden) that this term bears to similar concepts such as Greek Roman civic religion, Enlightenment civil religion or even the secular religion that emerged in the work of 20(th) century thinkers.

Misrepresenting Chinese Folk Happiness: A Critique of a Study

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Ip, Po-Keung

2013-01-01

Discourses on Chinese folk happiness are often based on anecdotal narratives or qualitative analysis. A recent study on Chinese folk happiness using qualitative method seems to provide some empirical findings beyond anecdotal evidence on Chinese folk happiness. This paper critically examines the study's constructed image of Chinese folk happiness,…

Ubuntu and philoxenia: Ubuntu and Christian worldviews as responses to xenophobia

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Mojalefa L.J. Koenane

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Xenophobic attitudes and violence have become regular phenomena in South Africa and other parts of the world. Xenophobia is of great concern not only to South Africans, but also to most developed countries or countries that are considered economically and politically viable by their neighbours, and which offer a safe haven for people who, for whatever reason, are forced to seek refuge elsewhere. Although xenophobia is not unique to South Africa, its most worrying aspect in South Africa is the government’s inability to deal with this evil. The article seeks to challenge South Africa as a dominantly Ubuntu and Judeo-Christian influenced country to fight xenophobia through appealing to Ubuntu values and philoxenia. By Judeo-Christian, I mean religious beliefs and values that are common to both these religions, namely Judaism and Christianity. The article further suggests the ontology that perceives the ‘other’ as an extension of the self. It is argued that South African citizens are collectively responsible for acts of violence against foreign nationals and should thus look for a morally sustainable solution to this evil. The article relies heavily on the work of Kristeva, entitled Strangers to Ourselves, and on the work of Nussbaum, entitled Ubuntu: Reflections of a South African on Our Common Humanity, in Reflections, the Society for Organizational Learning and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Some thoughts on ancient civilizations’ trinity of philosophy, religion and economics

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Soumitra Sharma

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Here are some loud thoughts that reflect upon the relationship that had long existed amidst philosophy, religion and economics in the so-called ‘grand’ civilizations (that had existed during 3100 BC to the beginning of Christian era. Historically, the visions of intellectuals, rulers, men of faiths, and business people have helped drive these civilizations to their zenith. The philosophies, religions, and economics of the time were deeply involved in this process of development, and seem to have acted in unison. Here is an attempt to provoke some fresh thinking on the subject by re-examining this triad relationship of the fundamental spheres of human life. The logic of this paper attempts to raise doubts, if the relationship was ideal and was based on ethical and moral values, as it was proclaimed by the philosophers, pontiffs, politicians and the business leaders of the time.

The changing face of American compassion: ethnicity, religion, and worldview conflicts

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J. Hexham

2010-07-01

Full Text Available When Barack Obama announced his support for “Faith Based Initiatives” in August 2008 many people were shocked. Others saw it as a political ploy because they regarded the policy as one of the Bush Administration’s more unpopular programmes. In fact, the idea of “Faith Based Initiatives” was first proposed during the Clinton Presidency with support from such liberals as Senator Joe Liebermann. In this article popular misunderstandings of the role of religion in the USA will be discussed to show that the issue is far more complex than the media and a host of critical authors want us to believe and that the attack on “Faith Based Initiatives” has far-reaching implications for the relationship between Christianity and politics in both America and the rest of the world. It also raises issues about ethnicity, religion and the conflict of worldviews.

Book Review: Lubańska Magdalena, Muslims and Christians in the Bulgarian Rhodopes. Studies on Religious (AntiSyncretism

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Karolina Bielenin-Lenczowska

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Book Review: Lubańska Magdalena, Muslims and Christians in the Bulgarian Rhodopes. Studies on Religious (AntiSyncretism "Muslims and Christians in the Bulgarian Rhodopes. Studies on Religious (AntiSyncretism", a book by Magdalena Lubańska is a summary of her research carried out for many years among the Christian Orthodox and Muslim Pomaks in Rhodope mountains of Bulgaria. There Lubańska conducted in-depth interviews and carried out ethnographic observation about the knowledge regarding neighbours of different religion, their beliefs and religious practices.   Recenzja książki: Lubańska Magdalena, Muslims and Christians in the Bulgarian Rhodopes. Studies on Religious (AntiSyncretism Książka Magdaleny Lubańskiej jest podsumowaniem jej badań prowadzonych od wielu lat wśród prawosławnych oraz muzułmanów w Rodopach, w Bułgarii. Lubańska przeprowadziła pogłębione wywiady i obserwację etnograficzną, dotyczącą sąsiadowania mieszkańców różnych religii, ich wierzeń i praktyk religijnych.

The theological-Christian dimension of the human person

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Renato Alves de Oliveira

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this article is to demonstrate that the human person is an ontological greatness that has a divine foundation. The essence of the person is built in the being of God. The concept of the origin of person took place in theological-Christian ground, in the context of the Christological and Trinitarian discussions in the fourth century. In the West, its historical trajectory has a philosophical-theological bias, wavering between substantialism unrelated to rationalism without substantiality. The theological dimension of the person is in its image condition of God and creature called into existence by God, according to Jewish and Christian tradition. Like creature receiving his existence as a gift, the person is oriented toward God. Between God and the person there is an interpersonal relationship, one “tu-a-tu”. Because of their transcendent foundation, the person has an onto-axiological primacy over other creatures. The person holds an absolute value and cannot be manipulated by the state, the market and nor religion. This person is an indefinable and a mystery magnitude, just as God its Creator. The person is a reflection of the mystery of God. All love, respect and veneration rendered to God must also be devoted to his image, the human person.

"You Must Know Where You Come From": South African Youths' Perceptions of Religion in Time of Social Change.

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Brittian, Aerika S; Lewin, Nina; Norris, Shane A

2013-11-01

This study examined South African youths' perceptions of religion during a period of social and economic transition. In-depth interviews were conducted with 55 Black South African youth (age 18) living in the Johannesburg-Soweto metropolitan area. Data were analyzed in a manner consistent with grounded theory methodology and structural coding. Beliefs about the function of religion were captured by the following themes: provides support, connection to the past, moral compass, promotes healthy development, and intersections between African traditional practices and Christian beliefs. Themes are discussed and directions for future research are presented. In addition, applications of the current research and implications for promoting youths' resilience are offered.

Death, dying and informatics: misrepresenting religion on MedLine.

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Rodríguez Del Pozo, Pablo; Fins, Joseph J

2005-07-01

The globalization of medical science carries for doctors worldwide a correlative duty to deepen their understanding of patients' cultural contexts and religious backgrounds, in order to satisfy each as a unique individual. To become better informed, practitioners may turn to MedLine, but it is unclear whether the information found there is an accurate representation of culture and religion. To test MedLine's representation of this field, we chose the topic of death and dying in the three major monotheistic religions. We searched MedLine using PubMed in order to retrieve and thematically analyze full-length scholarly journal papers or case reports dealing with religious traditions and end-of-life care. Our search consisted of a string of words that included the most common denominations of the three religions, the standard heading terms used by the National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature (NRCBL), and the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) used by the National Library of Medicine. Eligible articles were limited to English-language papers with an abstract. We found that while a bibliographic search in MedLine on this topic produced instant results and some valuable literature, the aggregate reflected a selection bias. American writers were over-represented given the global prevalence of these religious traditions. Denominationally affiliated authors predominated in representing the Christian traditions. The Islamic tradition was under-represented. MedLine's capability to identify the most current, reliable and accurate information about purely scientific topics should not be assumed to be the same case when considering the interface of religion, culture and end-of-life care.

Student Agency in Negotiating the Relationship Between Science and Religion

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Kok-Sing; Yang, Xiangyu

2017-08-01

Research examining the relationship between science and religion has often painted a narrative of conflict for students with various religious beliefs. The purpose of this paper is to present a counter-narrative based on a study carried out in Singapore, which provides a unique multi-ethnic and multi-religious environment and geopolitical context to study the phenomenon. Informed by the theories of collateral learning, situated cognition and agency, the study examined how a group of high school biology students viewed and negotiated the relationship between biological evolution and their beliefs in Christianity. Case study methodology and semi-structured interviews were used to generate thick descriptions of their views. Findings from the study illustrate how the students exhibited agency in deliberately creating multiple resolution mechanisms as they recognised and negotiated the conceptual and social tensions between the worldviews of evolution and creationism. The findings suggest that the students exhibited more agency in resolving the perceived conflict between science and religion than we tend to ascribe based on previous interpretative accounts that emphasised confrontation, alienation and marginalisation. The implication is that students' agency in negotiating the differing worldviews between science and religion should be seen as a resource for the learning of evolution, rather than a hindrance.

[Religion and spirituality in education and nursing assistance].

Science.gov (United States)

Gussi, Maria Aparecida; Dytz, Jane Lynn Garrison

2008-01-01

Intersectional study between nursing discourse and precepts which embrace religion/religiousness and spirituality, and how these were incorporated and their reflection upon nursing practice, education and the history of the organization of the profession. For bibliographic review LILACS and BDENF databases of the Electronic Health Library were used. A total of 57 full-text articles, published from 1957 to 2007, were analyzed upon the light of the ideas of Maurice Halbwachs, about " collective memory" . The results show that Brazilian nursing has a religious root with profound ramifications on its development. This configuration is so embedded in the collective memory that, even with the expansion of non-religious institutions, the Christian precepts remain present and strong.

Principles of methodology guiding the study of religion as found in the work of Friedrich Heiler

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Tatiana Samarina

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The issue of methodology in the study of religious phenomena appears as problematic to those Russian experts who deal with the scientific study of religious phenomena. On the other hand, western European researchers have already made much positive progress in this direction. This article attempts to define the principles which guide the scholar in the study of religion as found in the work of the renowned German scholar Friedrich Heiler. The author’s starting point is Heiler’s fundamental concept which permeates all his work and is most clearly defined in his last monograph: «Erscheinungsformen und Wesen der Religion». Heiler gives several pointers to students of religion: attention to detail, a fi rm grounding in the core matter of the object to be studies, and at the same time a comprehensive and panoramic view of religion and religious phenomena as a whole. The author concludes that Heiler’s protracted study of both Christianity and the Eastern religions led him to regard the phenomenological method as the most eff ective. The author presupposes a negative reception of this method by Russian students of religious phenomena due to the fact that the latter are too unfamiliar with Heiler’s work and conclusions

Peda Folk 35

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2007-01-01

Tudengite muusikafestivalil "Peda Folk" 17. apr. Tallinnas Rock Cafés esinemas ansamblid: 400, Illustraator, Külalised, Neljapäev, Pimpfish ja Ska Faktor. Kontserdi peaesinejateks ansamblid Bedwetters ja Kruuv

“You Must Know Where You Come From”: South African Youths' Perceptions of Religion in Time of Social Change

Science.gov (United States)

Brittian, Aerika S.; Lewin, Nina; Norris, Shane A.

2014-01-01

This study examined South African youths' perceptions of religion during a period of social and economic transition. In-depth interviews were conducted with 55 Black South African youth (age 18) living in the Johannesburg-Soweto metropolitan area. Data were analyzed in a manner consistent with grounded theory methodology and structural coding. Beliefs about the function of religion were captured by the following themes: provides support, connection to the past, moral compass, promotes healthy development, and intersections between African traditional practices and Christian beliefs. Themes are discussed and directions for future research are presented. In addition, applications of the current research and implications for promoting youths' resilience are offered. PMID:24932064

Folk beliefs of cultural changes in China

OpenAIRE

Xu, Yi; Hamamura, Takeshi

2014-01-01

For the last several decades, Chinese society has experienced transformative changes. How are these changes understood among Chinese people? To examine this question, Part 1 in this research solicited folk beliefs of cultural change from a group of Chinese participants in an open-ended format, and the generated folk beliefs were rated by another group of participants in Part 2 to gage each belief's level of agreement. Part 3 plotted the folk beliefs retained in Part 2 using the Google Ngram V...

The Fluid Mechanics of the Bible: Miracles Explainable by Christian Science?

Science.gov (United States)

Lang, Amy

2015-11-01

The Bible is full of accounts clearly in violation of our scientific understanding of fluid mechanics. Examples include the floating axe head, Jesus walking on the water and immediately calming a storm. ``Jesus of Nazareth was the most scientific man that ever trod the globe. He plunged beneath the material surface of things, and found the spiritual cause,'' wrote Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910), the founder of a now well-established religion known as Christian Science, in her seminal work Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures. She asserted that Jesus' miracles were in accord with the, ``Science of God's unchangeable law.'' She also proclaimed that matter is a derivative of consciousness. Independently with the discovery of quantum mechanics, physicists such as Max Planck and Sir James Jeans began to make similar statements (``The Mental Universe'', Nature, 2005). More recently, Max Tegmark (MIT) theorized that consciousness is a state of matter (New Scientist, April 2014). Using a paradigm shift from matter to consciousness as the primary substance, one can scientifically explain how a mental activity (i.e. prayer) could influence the physical. Since this conference is next door to the original church of Christian Science (Const. 1894), this talk will discuss various fluid-mechanic miracles in the Bible and provide an explanation based on divine metaphysics while providing an overview of scientific Christianity and its unifying influence to the fields of science, theology and medicine.

The Revelation of God, East and West: Contrasting Special Revelation in Western Modernity with the Ancient Christian East

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Jacobs Nathan A.

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The questions of whether God reveals himself; if so, how we can know a purported revelation is authentic; and how such revelations relate to the insights of reason are discussed by John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes, G. W. Leibniz, and Immanuel Kant, to name a few. Yet, what these philosophers say with such consistency about revelation stands in stark contrast with the claims of the Christian East, which are equally consistent from the second century through the fourteenth century. In this essay, I will compare the modern discussion of special revelation from Thomas Hobbes through Johann Fichte with the Eastern Christian discussion from Irenaeus through Gregory Palamas. As we will see, there are noteworthy differences between the two trajectories, differences I will suggest merit careful consideration from philosophers of religion.

Perceptions of physical education and sports teachers towards folk ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... to the teachers' specialties. Subsequent to the teachers who specialised in folk dance, the teachers who had the most positive attitude towards folk dance were the teachers in the martial arts (wrestling, judo, boxing, taekwondo) group. Keywords: Attitudes/Perceptions; Folk dance; Physical education; Sport; Teachers.

Folklore and Folk Songs of Chittagong: A Critical Review

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Amir Mohammad Khan

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Folk Songs stems from Folklore are very rich in the southern region of Chittagong. In this part of the world Folk Songs play pivotal role in the lifestyle of people as a heart-touching and heavenly connection exists between human, nature and Folk Songs. Folk Songs in this area are special because we found the theme of Nature Conservation in them. We took the southern part of Chittagong (Lohagara, Satkania, Chandanaish and Patiya as our research area, selected a village namely Chunati in the systematic sampling and more than 100 people were interviewed through focus group discussion and key informant interviews. The sufficient literature review is also done. People in this area love nature a lot. Here music personnel were born from time to time who not only worked for the musical development but also created consciousness among people to love nature and save it. We discussed about the origin of Folk Songs, pattern of Folk Songs to clarify the importance of Folk Songs of Chittagong for its connection to Folklore and at the same time for promoting the idea of Nature Conservation. Of course, this part of studies deserves more attention in the field of research. Our ultimate goal should be to conserve and promote Folk Songs of Chittagong with yearlong heritage that automatically will later enrich Folklore and Nature Conservation.

Religion and gender inequality: The status of women in the societies of world religions

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Klingorová Kamila

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The status of women in society is very diverse worldwide. Among many important traits associated with the differentiation of gender inequality is religion, which itself must be regarded as a fluid concept with interpretations and practices ‘embedded’ and thus varying with respect to cultural and historical relations. Admitting the complexity of the issues, some religious norms and traditions can contribute to the formation of gender inequalities and to subordinate the role of women in society. Using an exploratory quantitative analysis, the influence of religiosity on gender inequality in social, economic and political spheres is examined. Three categories of states have emerged from the analysis: (a states where the majority of inhabitants are without religious affiliation, which display the lowest levels of gender inequality; (b Christian and Buddhist societies, with average levels of gender inequality; and (c states with the highest levels of gender inequality across the observed variables, whose inhabitants adhere to Islam and Hinduism.

Religion and HIV Sexual Risk Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Stephen W; Zhang, Zheng; Li, Dongliang; Carpiano, Richard M; Schechter, Martin T; Ruan, Yuhua; Spittal, Patricia M

2016-12-01

Religion can profoundly impact the sociocultural contexts that shape sexual HIV vulnerability among men who have sex with men (MSM). However, the relationship between religion and HIV vulnerability remains poorly understood for MSM in China, where religious affiliations and practices are rapidly increasing. Using cross-sectional survey data collected in Beijing and Tianjin, China, from 2013 to 2014 (n = 400), this study tests 3 hypotheses regarding religion and HIV sexual risk: (1) HIV vulnerabilities and testing patterns among religiously affiliated MSM are lower than for areligious MSM, (2) religiosity is inversely associated with HIV vulnerabilities and testing, and (3) the magnitude of inverse association between religiosity and HIV vulnerabilities/testing will be stronger among Christian and Muslim MSM than Buddhist and areligious MSM. Compared with areligious participants, Buddhists had higher odds of reporting unprotected anal intercourse [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 2.06, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.13 to 3.75] and more male sex partners (AOR: 1.95, 1.16-3.27), whereas Muslims had lower odds of reporting unprotected anal intercourse (AOR: 0.33, 95% CI: 0.15 to 0.73) and higher odds of reporting male circumcision (AOR: 3.04, 95% CI: 1.45 to 6.40). Reporting of forced sex was associated with more frequent participation in social religious activities (AOR: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.02 to 1.52) and private religious activities (AOR: 1.30, 95% CI: 1.04 to 1.61). Among Christians, participation in private religious activities was associated with lower odds of reporting anal intercourse (AOR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.27 to 0.88). The sustained growth of multiple religious traditions in China appears to have important implications for HIV vulnerability among religious minority MSM.

Folk Beliefs of Cultural Changes in China

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Yi eXu

2014-09-01

Full Text Available For the last several decades, Chinese society has experienced transformative changes. How are these changes understood among Chinese people? To examine this question, Part 1 in this research solicited folk beliefs of cultural change from a group of Chinese participants in an open-ended format, and the generated folk beliefs were rated by another group of participants in Part 2 to gauge each belief’s level of agreement. Part 3 plotted the folk beliefs retained in Part 2 using the Google Ngram Viewer in order to infer the amount of intellectual interests that each belief has received cross-temporarily. These analyses suggested a few themes in Chinese folk beliefs of cultural change (1 rising perceived importance of materialism and individualism in understanding contemporary Chinese culture and Chinese psychology relative to those of the past (2 rising perceived importance of freedom, democracy and human rights and (3 enduring perceived importance of family relations and friendship as well as patriotism. Interestingly, findings from Parts 2 and 3 diverged somewhat, illuminating possible divergence between folk beliefs and intellectual interests especially for issues related to heritage of Confucianism.

Folk Art in the Urban Artroom

Science.gov (United States)

Heise, Donalyn

2010-01-01

This article provides a rationale for integrating folk art in an urban K-12 art classroom to provide meaningful instruction for all students. The integration of folk art can provide a safe, nurturing environment for all students to learn by acknowledging the value of art in the community. It can prepare students for participation in a democratic…

Death, dying and informatics: misrepresenting religion on MedLine

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Fins Joseph J

2005-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The globalization of medical science carries for doctors worldwide a correlative duty to deepen their understanding of patients' cultural contexts and religious backgrounds, in order to satisfy each as a unique individual. To become better informed, practitioners may turn to MedLine, but it is unclear whether the information found there is an accurate representation of culture and religion. To test MedLine's representation of this field, we chose the topic of death and dying in the three major monotheistic religions. Methods We searched MedLine using PubMed in order to retrieve and thematically analyze full-length scholarly journal papers or case reports dealing with religious traditions and end-of-life care. Our search consisted of a string of words that included the most common denominations of the three religions, the standard heading terms used by the National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature (NRCBL, and the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH used by the National Library of Medicine. Eligible articles were limited to English-language papers with an abstract. Results We found that while a bibliographic search in MedLine on this topic produced instant results and some valuable literature, the aggregate reflected a selection bias. American writers were over-represented given the global prevalence of these religious traditions. Denominationally affiliated authors predominated in representing the Christian traditions. The Islamic tradition was under-represented. Conclusion MedLine's capability to identify the most current, reliable and accurate information about purely scientific topics should not be assumed to be the same case when considering the interface of religion, culture and end-of-life care.

Christian and biblical symbols in modern movies exemplified by “Babette’s Feast” (1987, “The Return” (2003 and “The Island” (2006

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Christensen Carsten Sander

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The article deals with Christian and biblical symbols and values in modern movies. In the last decades, a wave of new movies with Christian and biblical symbols has washed over the international film industry. That despites of the very fact that state religions in as well West, as East Europe is under pressure by modern society, its values and changing culture. Nevertheless, Christian symbols, values and moral teachings are far from forgotten. On the contrary, biblical themes, which in the recent decades have been clarified and ridiculed by as well experts as of non-professionals, now play a very important role in the construction of the structure of modern movies. The theological-aesthetical analysis of the three movies: “Babette’s Feast” by the Danish film director Gabriel Axel, “The Return” by Andrey Zvyagintsev, “The Island” by Pavel Lungin, will not only show the reader different aspects of the importance of Christian and biblical symbols and values in modern movies, but also demonstrates the difference between Protestantism, Catholicism and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES IN EDUCATION

OpenAIRE

Dr. A. C. Lal Kumar

2017-01-01

The practice of Christian higher education has respected these different forms. Three types of Christian higher education exist on the continent: church-controlled higher learning of theological institutions: church- funded colleges and universities of higher learning: and finally Christian-perspective liberal Arts colleges. The importance of the Christian based education of previous generations needs to be underlined and brought to the attention of the church because the utmost importance of...

Beyond Evolution: Addressing Broad Interactions Between Science and Religion in Science Teacher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Shane, Joseph W.; Binns, Ian C.; Meadows, Lee; Hermann, Ronald S.; Benus, Matthew J.

2016-03-01

Science and religion are two indisputably profound and durable cultural forces with a complex history of interaction. As ASTE members are aware, these interactions often manifest themselves in classrooms and in the surrounding communities. In this essay, we encourage science teacher educators to broaden their perspectives of science-religion interactions so that they may better assist pre- and in-service science teachers with addressing topics such as the age and origins of the universe and biological evolution in an appropriate manner. We first introduce some foundational scholarship into the historical interactions between science and religion as well as current efforts to maintain healthy dialogue between perspectives that are frequently characterized as innately in conflict with or mutually exclusive of one another. Given that biological evolution is the dominant science-religion issue of our day, in particular in the USA, we next summarize the origins and strategies of anti-evolution movements via the rise and persistence of Christian Fundamentalism. We then summarize survey and qualitative sociological research indicating disparities between academic scientists and the general public with regard to religious beliefs to help us further understand our students' worldviews and the challenges they often face in campus-to-classroom transitions. We conclude the essay by providing resources and practical suggestions, including legal considerations, to assist science teacher educators with their curriculum and outreach.

RELIGION AND PURIFICATION OF SOUL

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Azam Khodashenas Pelko

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The Jainism emphasizes three major teachings about the purification of the soul (jiva, Ahimsa, Aparigrapha and anekantwad. Jainism, The focus of this religion has been purification of the soul by means of right conduct, right faith and right knowledge. The ultimate goal of Hinduism is Moksha or liberation (total freedom. In Hinduism, purification of the soul is a goal that one must work to attain. The Buddhism is the science of pursuing the aim of making the human mind perfect, and of purifying the human soul. The knowledge of purifying of the soul and softening of the hearts is as essential for human. They having the correct motivations means purifying our souls from hypocrisy, caprice, and heedlessness. The primary goal of Taoism may be described as the mystical intuition of the Tao, which is the way, the undivided unity, and the ultimate Reality. According to the Christianity access to truth cannot be conceived without purity of the soul

Equity and resource allocation in health care: dialogue between Islam and Christianity.

Science.gov (United States)

Benn, Christoph; Hyder, Adnan A

2002-01-01

Inequities in health and health care are one of the greatest challenges facing the international community today. This problem raises serious questions for health care planners, politicians and ethicists alike. The major world religions can play an important role in this discussion. Therefore, interreligious dialogue on this topic between ethicists and health care professionals is of increasing relevance and urgency. This article gives an overview on the positions of Islam and Christianity on equity and the distribution of resources in health care. It has been written in close collaboration and constant dialogue between the two authors coming from the two religions. Although there is no specific concept for the modern term equity in either of the two religions, several areas of agreement have been identified: All human beings share the same values and status, which constitutes the basis for an equitable distribution of rights and benefits. Special provisions need to be made for the most needy and disadvantaged. The obligation to provide equitable health services extends beyond national and religious boundaries. Several areas require intensified research and further dialogue: the relationship between the individual and the community in terms of rights and responsibilities, how to operationalize the moral duty to decrease global inequalities in health, and the understanding and interpretation of human rights in regard to social services.

Probabilistic Segmentation of Folk Music Recordings

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Ciril Bohak

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a novel method for automatic segmentation of folk music field recordings. The method is based on a distance measure that uses dynamic time warping to cope with tempo variations and a dynamic programming approach to handle pitch drifting for finding similarities and estimating the length of repeating segment. A probabilistic framework based on HMM is used to find segment boundaries, searching for optimal match between the expected segment length, between-segment similarities, and likely locations of segment beginnings. Evaluation of several current state-of-the-art approaches for segmentation of commercial music is presented and their weaknesses when dealing with folk music are exposed, such as intolerance to pitch drift and variable tempo. The proposed method is evaluated and its performance analyzed on a collection of 206 folk songs of different ensemble types: solo, two- and three-voiced, choir, instrumental, and instrumental with singing. It outperforms current commercial music segmentation methods for noninstrumental music and is on a par with the best for instrumental recordings. The method is also comparable to a more specialized method for segmentation of solo singing folk music recordings.

Beyond folk psychology? : toward an enriched account of social understanding

OpenAIRE

Herschbach, Mitchell Albert

2010-01-01

Folk psychology is the ability to interpret people's mental states (beliefs, desires, etc.) and use this information to explain and predict their behavior. While folk psychology has traditionally been seen as fundamental to human social understanding, philosophers drawing on the phenomenological tradition have recently argued that most of our everyday social interactions do not involve folk psychology. I defend the role of folk psychology in human social understanding against these phenomenol...

[Medical practice, magic and religion - conjunction and development before and after Reformation].

Science.gov (United States)

Thorvardardottir, Olina Kjerulf

2017-12-01

The conjunction between medical practice, religion and magic becomes rather visible when one peers into old scripts and ancient literature. Before the foundation and diffusion of universities of the continent, the european convents and cloisters were the centers of medical knowl-edge and -practice for centuries. Alongside the scholarly development of medical science, driven from the roots of the eldest scholarly medicial practice, the practice of folk-medicin flourished and thrived all over Europe, not least the herbal-medicine which is the original form and foundation for modern pharmacy. This article deals with the conjunction of religion, magic and medical practice in ancient Icelandic sources such as the Old-Norse literature, medical-scripts from the 12th - 15th century Iceland, and not least the Icelandic magical-scripts (galdrakver) of the 17th century. The last mentioned documents were used as evidence in several witch-trials that led convicted witches to suffer executions at the stake once the wave of European witch-persecutions had rushed ashore in 17th century Iceland. These sources indicate a decline of medical knowledge and science in the 16th and 17th century Iceland, the medical practice being rather undeveloped at the time - in Iceland as in other parts of Europe - there-fore a rather unclear margin between "the learned and the laymen". While common people and folk-healers were convicted as witches to suffer at the stake for possession of magical scripts and healing-books, some scholars of the state of Danmark were practicing healing-methods that deserve to be compared to the activities of the former ones. That comparison raises an inevitable question of where to draw the line between the learned medical man and the magician of 17th century Iceland, that is between Magic and Science.

‘Folk theories’ about the causes of insomnia

OpenAIRE

Harvey, Allison G.; Soehner, Adriane; Lombrozo, Tania; Bélanger, Lynda; Rifkin, Jamie; Morin, Charles M.

2013-01-01

The present study investigates ‘folk theories’ about the causes of insomnia. Participants with insomnia (n = 69) completed a qualitative and quantitative assessment of their folk theories. The qualitative assessment was to speak aloud for 1 minute in response to: ‘What do you think causes your insomnia?’. The quantitative assessment involved completing the ‘Causal Attributions of My Insomnia Questionnaire’ (CAM-I), developed for this study. The three most common folk theories for both the cau...

A Christian faith-based recovery theory: understanding God as sponsor.

Science.gov (United States)

Timmons, Shirley M

2012-12-01

This article reports the development of a substantive theory to explain an evangelical Christian-based process of recovery from addiction. Faith-based, 12-step, mutual aid programs can improve drug abstinence by offering: (a) an intervention option alone and/or in conjunction with secular programs and (b) an opportunity for religious involvement. Although literature on religion, spirituality, and addiction is voluminous, traditional 12-step programs fail to explain the mechanism that underpins the process of Christian-based recovery (CR). This pilot study used grounded theory to explore and describe the essence of recovery of 10 former crack cocaine-addicted persons voluntarily enrolled in a CR program. Data were collected from in-depth interviews during 4 months of 2008. Audiotapes were transcribed verbatim, and the constant comparative method was used to analyze data resulting in the basic social process theory, understanding God as sponsor. The theory was determined through writing theoretical memos that generated key elements that allow persons to recover: acknowledging God-centered crises, communicating with God, and planning for the future. Findings from this preliminary study identifies important factors that can help persons in recovery to sustain sobriety and program administrators to benefit from theory that guides the development of evidence-based addiction interventions.

Paths of Research in Religion and Politics: An Introduction

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Alberta Giorgi

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Religion plays an important role in contemporary politics, both as a public and political actor, and as set of values. As a public actor, religion widely participates in the political spheres of European countries. At the same time, both European and non-European societies are experiencing a profound reshaping of their political landscapes. In these contexts, it has become clear that new modes of governance redraw the boundaries between institutional actors and citizens, and create space for horizontal and/or transnational networks. Today, the separation between religion and politics is being questioned more or less radically, and the meaning and the substance of democracy likewise. This special issue aims to offer a wide range of examples of studies focusing on the interactions between religion and politics from different disciplinary perspectives and scientific traditions. Ranging from single case studies to transnational comparative analyses, from sociology of religion to political science, and from the analysis of specific religious traditions to comparative studies, the articles presented offer a useful insight of topics and debates. This heterogeneity allows the readers to have an overview on some of the most important religious actors (movements, associations, groups and, parties in contemporary democracies, such as Christian traditional parties in Europe and the US, Islamist groups in Turkey and in Pakistan. At the same time, this collection of article shows different approaches through which is possible to analyse these movements, such as cross-country comparative approaches, comparison between different cases of religious groups’ collective action within the same national contexts or in the same urban area, or in-depth case studies of the specific role of religious groups in a broader national mobilization. The common element of these different contributions is the objective of looking at the complex relationships between religious

Religion, Ethnicity and Contraceptive Use among Reproductive age Women in Nigeria

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Phillips Edomwonyi Obasohan, MEd, MBA, MSc; 1

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Background: Religion and Ethnicity are the two most important factors that shape the behavioral pattern especially health seeking behaviors of the people of Nigeria. This study seeks to examine the mediatory effects of the linkage between ethnicity and religion with selected socio-demographic variables on the current use of contraception (CUC among women of reproductive age in Nigeria. Methods: Nationally representative sample of 39,948 women of reproductive age (15-49 years in the 2013 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS was used. Chi-square was used to analyze the bivariate relationship between exposure variables and CUC. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the odds ratio with the 95% confi dence interval. Results: The prevalence of CUC was generally low for women of reproductive age in Nigeria, highest among the Yoruba women and lowest among the Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri/Seriberi (HFKS women; highest among other Christian women and lowest for Muslim women and highest for Yoruba/other religion and lowest for women of Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri/Seriberi/Islam. The odds ratios showed that disparity across ethno-religious boundaries is significant. Conclusions and Global Health Implications: Globally, and especially in sub-Saharan African countries, maternal mortality resulting from the abortion of unintended pregnancies pose a major challenge in health delivery system. In Nigeria, a cultural and religious heterogeneous society, current use of contraceptives by women of reproductive age is found not to be a matter of independent effects of ethnicity, religiosity and other socio-demographic variables but also dependent on the effects of interactions between the ethnicity and religion.

Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riis, Ole

2004-01-01

En sociologisk indgang til religion, som individuel religiøsitet, som organisation af et trossamfund og som samfundsinstitution. Religion betragtes både im- og eksplicit, og som både samlende og splittende for sociale fællesskaber.......En sociologisk indgang til religion, som individuel religiøsitet, som organisation af et trossamfund og som samfundsinstitution. Religion betragtes både im- og eksplicit, og som både samlende og splittende for sociale fællesskaber....

Spirituality and secularization: nursing and the sociology of religion.

Science.gov (United States)

Paley, John

2008-01-01

The concept of spirituality is much discussed in the UK nursing literature, despite the fact that Britain is one of the most secular countries in the world, and steadily becoming more so. Here, I pose the following question: given this increasing secularization, what accounts for the current interest in spirituality among UK nurses? The literature on spirituality in nursing has blossomed in the last 10 years, and various attempts have been made to define 'spirituality', 'spiritual need' and 'spiritual care'. Most definitions distinguish between 'spirituality' and 'religion', acknowledging that the latter is more institutional, and theologically more restrictive, than the former; and they suggest that spirituality is universal, something which (unlike religion) all human beings share. I draw on the sociology of religion - neglected, for the most part, in the nursing literature - to establish two main points. Firstly, that the UK and the USA are at opposite ends of the religion/secularity spectrum, implying that it is a mistake to assimilate USA and UK sources. Secondly, that the concept of spirituality, as currently understood, is of very recent origin, and is still 'under construction', having become separated from its associations with Christian piety and mysticism only since the 1980s. The extension of spirituality into secular domains is part of a professionalization project in nursing, a claim to jurisdiction over a newly invented sphere of work. For the time being, it remains an academic project (in the UK) as it is not one with which many clinicians identify. Relevance to clinical practice. What counts as 'spiritual need' or 'spiritual care' may not be the same in both countries, and UK clinicians are unlikely to welcome the role of surrogate chaplain, which their USA colleagues are apparently willing to embrace.

Spirituality, religion, and healing in palliative care.

Science.gov (United States)

Puchalski, Christina M; Dorff, Rabbi Elliot; Hendi, Imam Yahya

2004-11-01

In end-of-life care, attending to spiritual needs ensures that a dying patient has the opportunity to find meaning in the midst of suffering and to have the opportunity for love, compassion, and partnership in their final journey. This article summarizes some of the beliefs and traditions from Judaism, Islam, and Christianity that affect people as they face their own dying and mortality. People who do not participate in any formal religion also have a drive to find meaning in the midst of suffering and dying. They may find this in personal ways. This article presents some practical tools to help clinicians address and respect spiritual and religious issues of patients. It is crucial that our culture and our systems of care for the dying include a spiritual approach so that dying can be meaningful and even filled with hope.

Religious ethics, Christianity, and war

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henrik Syse

2009-05-01

Full Text Available This article discusses elements within Christian ethics and anthropology that have ramifications for the ethics and laws of war. The author argues that several distinctively Christian conceptions of morality and of human beings contribute importantly to the idea of just war, namely the Christian (and more specifically Augustinian view of history, the Christian view of killing, and the Christian view of sin and grace. While other religious and philosophical traditions also offer significant contributions to a normative discussion about armed force, it remains a fact that Christian thought, historically speaking, has furnished much of the groundwork of what we today know as the ethics and laws of war, and that the experience of being a Christian in the world has important ramifications for thinking about war and the use of armed force.http://dx.doi.org/10.5324/eip.v3i1.1708

Folk Astronomy and Calendars in Yemen

Science.gov (United States)

Varisco, Daniel Martin

A rich folk tradition of star lore evolved in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, especially during the Islamic era. Some of this lore was recorded in Yemeni Arabic texts, especially during the 13th and 14th centuries. Among the calendars in use are solar, lunar, and stellar varieties. The most significant folk calendars are the system of agricultural marker stars, often correlated with the 28 lunar stations, and the Pleiades conjunction calendar.

Geology and religion - historical perspective and current problems

Science.gov (United States)

Kölbl-Ebert, Martina

2010-05-01

Today, when referring to the relationship between geology and religion, people usually at once think of Christian (and other) fundamentalists and their chronic palaeontological illiteracy leading to Creationism, to Intelligent Design, and a distrust of science in general among them most prominently geology, palaeontology and evolutionary biology. Thus the relationship of geology and religion is usually considered to be under strain. In former times things used to be quite different, and for most of human history the observation of geological phenomena and the acquisition of geological expertise was intimately connected with religious ideas. The Judeo-Christian sense of a finite Earth history prepared the ground for accepting the Earth's different strata as testimony to the development of our globe through time. It was this religious, theological framework, from which the early geology started to evolve. However, with increasing observations there was a growing mismatch between what was expected according to ancient, scriptural authorities and the actual data. The release of geology from religious connotations or associations was a development closely connected with the Enlightenment, when geology and religion started to drift apart not with a violent rupture but in a subtle and sometimes circuitous manner. However, outside the group of people with geological expertise, not all was smooth and peaceful, and some conservative clergymen as well as laypersons were rather shocked by the new ideas that came with geology: the immensity of the timescale, a dynamic Earth, not just a ruin shaped by the Deluge, and a dynamic biology too with the Darwinian theory of evolution, which was founded in part on palaeontological evidence and the assumption of a long geological time scale. Nevertheless and interestingly the Creationism we face today is a rather recent phenomenon influenced by a number of motives, most of them philosophical and theological in nature. And so, the current

Defense of a fragment: The theological pertinence of the advanced symphony of Christian Duquoc

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Paulo Sérgio Carrara

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article is situated in the area of inter-religious dialogue, one of the great paradigms of actual theology. After Vatican Council II, which treated about the salvation of non Christians and of the members of other religions, theology deepened this theme and appeared several proposals for an inter-religious dialogue. For theologians it imposed the challenge of joining the constructive necessity of Jesus Christ for the salvation of all and the place of other religious traditions in God’s salvation plan. The proposal of the French Catholic theologian, Christian Duquoc, which he called postponed symphony, arouses attention to its singularity in affirming the positive side of the divisions and fragments. His approach is situated within the Catholic Theology that emerged after Vatican II, in which there are several prospects for interreligious dialogue. His theology emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit in building the possible unity in diversity of fragments. The present article evaluates the theological importance of the French theologian’s proposal in favor of inter-religious dialogue. 

320 Christian Ethics in a Corrupt Society: A Challenge to Christians ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

worrisome that despite Christian ethics, corruption is perpetrated freely in Nigeria ... factors that militate against Christian ethics in Nigeria which has made it ..... media limited. Anyacho, E.O. .... Lagos: Foclem Communications. Uka, E. M. ...

Modulated neural processing of Western harmony in folk musicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Brattico, Elvira; Tupala, Tiina; Glerean, Enrico; Tervaniemi, Mari

2013-07-01

A chord deviating from the conventions of Western tonal music elicits an early right anterior negativity (ERAN) in inferofrontal brain regions. Here, we tested whether the ERAN is modulated by expertise in more than one music culture, as typical of folk musicians. Finnish folk musicians and nonmusicians participated in electroencephalography recordings. The cadences consisted of seven chords. In incongruous cadences, the third, fifth, or seventh chord was a Neapolitan. The ERAN to the Neapolitans was enhanced in folk musicians compared to nonmusicians. Folk musicians showed an enhanced P3a for the ending Neapolitan. The Neapolitan at the fifth position was perceived differently and elicited a late enhanced ERAN in folk musicians. Hence, expertise in more than one music culture seems to modify chord processing by enhancing the ERAN to ambivalent chords and the P3a to incongruous chords, and by altering their perceptual attributes. Copyright © 2013 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

The Green Revolution in the World’s Religions: Indonesian Examples in International Comparison

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Thomas A. Reuter

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Similar to progressive political movements, the programs of many religious and spiritual groups today are converging around a shared commitment to address the impending global ecological crisis. The paper explores this convergence by looking at the impact of environmentalist thought on religious discourses in modern Indonesia, the author’s primary research area, and comparing the findings to similar trends elsewhere. The research shows that the environmental movement is causing a transformation in how people understand the character and practical relevance of religion and spirituality today, in Indonesia and beyond. For some eco-spiritual groups, a heightened environmental awareness has become the central tenet of their monistic religious cosmology. The more significant phenomenon, however, is a socially much broader shift toward more science-friendly and contemporary religious cosmologies within the mainstream of major world religions. Islam and Christianity now officially accept that other forms of life have a right to exist and that humanity has a custodial obligation to protect nature. This new outlook rectifies the previous tendency within dualist religions to view nature as vastly inferior and servile to human interests. It simultaneously is a rejection of materialist-scientific cosmologies widely prevalent in late modern consumer societies, which deny any notion of the sacred. This trend in the world’s religions toward a re-evaluation of the cosmological status of humanity in relation to nature and the sacred, I argue, will enhance the prospects of the global environmental movement’s campaign for environmental sustainability.

Folk music goes digital

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kratochvíl, Matěj

-, č. 1 (2013), s. 14-19 ISSN 1211-0264 Grant - others:Central Europe-ERDF(XE) 3CE296P4 Keywords : digitalisation * folk culture * Central Europe Subject RIV: AC - Archeology, Anthropology, Ethnology

Appropriating religion: understanding religion as an object of science

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Donald Wiebe

1999-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the author focuses on the study of religion as a scientific project, for it is the scientific interest in religion which has constituted the grounds for admitting the study of religion into the curriculum of the modern Western university. Despite that academic legitimation, however, the study of religion in the setting of the modern research university is not held in high esteem relative to the other sciences. It if the scientific study of religion is to be legitimately ensconced in the modern research university, the notion of religion will have to be wholly appropriated by science; only then will we be able to establish a conceptual foundation from which to make valid knowledge claims about religion on a level commensurate with the pronouncements of the natural and social sciences. Indeed, to go one step further, given the hold on the concept of religion by those committed to the humanistic study of religion, we might need to talk here not of the appropriation but of expropriation of religion by science—that is, of wresting ownership of the concept from the humanists by using it solely as a taxonomic device to differentiate and explain a peculiar range of human behaviour demonstrated in religious practices.

70th birthday of Reinhard Folk

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Editorial Board

2015-06-01

Full Text Available On April 29, 2015 Reinhard Folk - member of the Editorial Board of "Condensed Matter Physics", renowned expert in the fields of condensed matter physics, phase transitions and critical phenomena - celebrated his 70th birthday. Reinhard Folk was born in Neuendettelsau, Germany. He studied at the University of Vienna, where in 1973 he defended his doctoral thesis "Hydrodynamic Equations of Dielectric Crystals" (under supervision of Franz Schwabl. In the same year he started working at the Institute for Theoretical Physics, Johannes Kepler University in Linz, at first as assistant, later as an associate professor, then as extraordinary professor, and finally as Director of the research group "Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena". His research interests cover various fields of condensed matter physics. In particular, he obtained important results in the theory of ferroelectrics, quantum liquids, critical phenomena in magnets and random systems, spin liquids, superconductors, and neural networks. Reinhard Folk and his collaborators performed a series of studies that became the basis for understanding and quantitative description of phenomena occurring in many systems. Included amongst these are the description of the thermodynamic properties of matter in the vicinity of Lifshitz points, the description of critical dynamics in systems with different types of conservation laws, the analysis of effective (non-asymptotic critical behaviour, and generalized hydrodynamics of many-particle systems. Computing algorithms, resummation methods of asymptotic perturbation series proposed by Reinhard Folk and his collaborators, cover a wide range of applications. In 1982 (together with Volker Dohm he was awarded the Walter Schottky Prize of the German Physical Society for his studies of the critical dynamics of helium-4 . Those of us who were fortunate to know Reinhard Folk closer, are aware of his interests in the history of culture and the history of

Segni e carismi nella tradizione dei Magi. Religione e filosofia tra olismo e dualismo - Signs and Charisms in Magi’s Tradition. Religion and Philosophy between Holism and Dualism

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Teodoro Brescia

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Holism and dualism can be considered the two top models of thought (paradigms. By applying either the former or the latter to the study of philosophic, religious and also scientific cultures, two different categories of questions and method seem to arise. In the light of the latest results reached by applying the holistic paradigm to the study of the enigma of the Magi’s Star, we redefine here a few methodological lines and suggest a different reading of the origins of philosophy, with reference to religion and science. The ancient philosophy would be born as wisdom, understood as sacred science linked to the Magi’s tradition. Came from the East, this tradition would then rooted in many cultures, also in the GreekRoman and the Judeo-Christian. Within the methodology proposed here is the introduction of instruments such as the reading of these paradigms (which also reopens the debate on the relationship between philosophy of religion and theology, archaeoastronomy (combining archeology, religious art and astronomy, cryptology (essential in the study of sacred and esoteric traditions, etc.

Critique with Limits—The Construction of American Religion in BioShock: Infinite

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Jan Wysocki

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Released in 2013, BioShock: Infinite is a blockbuster first-person shooter which explores topics of American nationalism and religion. This article examines how religion is represented within the game and how motifs from American religious history are used to construct its game world. After an overview of the game’s production process and a literature review, several specific religious and historical motifs are discussed. Through a dissection of the aesthetic and narrative dimensions of the game, the article analyzes elements of religious history from which the developers of Infinite drew their inspiration, such as the biblical motif of Exodus or the still-popular concept of millennialism. The analysis shows how the game uses familiar but simultaneously transformed American imagery, such as a religiously legitimated American Exceptionalism in which George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin are worshiped as saintly figures. Infinite plays with popular notions of evangelical religion, mixed with themes related to so-called dangerous cults and sects. In this construction, Infinite strangely vacillates between a biting liberal caricature of religiously fueled nationalism and a nod to widespread moderate mainstream values in which unusual religious movements are negatively portrayed. The article argues that a critique of a mainstream religious movement such as evangelical Christianity is not possible for a multi-billion-dollar industry which is wary of critical topics that may potentially estrange its broad consumer base. In such instances, critique can only be applied to forms of religion that are already viewed as strange by the popular discourse.

Theology as an Ethnographic Object: An Anthropology of Eastern Christian Rupture

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Timothy Carroll

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This paper draws upon over three years’ research among Eastern Orthodox (principally Antiochian and Greek communities in London and Mount Athos, Greece. This research came to engage theology quite heavily as part of the ethnographic facts of the fieldsites. This paper reviews some of the existing ways that theology (as both discipline and practice relate to ethnographic enquiry, particularly as it has arisen in the dialogue with the Anthropology of Christianity and frames this in light of the historical development of Anthropology and its relationship to theology and Christianity. The paper then advances a methodological argument, in favour of further means of relation, specifically in terms of theology as a cultural artefact. Drawing on local practices of liturgical theology and Eastern Orthodox forms of allegorical interpretation, I argue for the inclusion of theological insight and practice within the social scientific study of religion. Working in an Orthodox setting requires the investigation of liturgical theology and brings to light important aspects of the relationship between temporal and sempiternal domains of action. Particularly as it relates to liturgical theology and the practices of interpretation, ethnographic enquiry into Orthodox theology asks for a reconsideration of social scientific methods of analysis and representation.

Universality of revealed Law and reflections on religions in Medieval Islamic philosophy: a few considerations

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Sara Barchiesi

2015-05-01

Full Text Available By analysing some Medieval Islamic philosophical theories, this paper aims at investigating the approach adopted by authors such as Avicenna and Averroës in respect of religions different from those of origin (Judaism, Christianism, Zoroastrianism and Sabeism. Moreover, it reflects on the universality of Islamic religion. The author will examine these philosophers' thoughts on prophetic teaching, recalling the Platonic sources from which they were developed, she will motivate the relevance of such thoughts in political science and she will explain their purposes. Furthermore, through a comparison with several scholars who have focused on whether Islamic Law has a conventional or natural status, she will try to investigate the origins of this problem, by examining the universal message that those Islamic Medieval philosophers found in revealed Law and the reasons that led them to present it as addressed to the whole mankind.

Perspektiver på hva en førskolelærer trenger å kunne om religion: Rammeplananalyse og preskriptive innspill

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Bengt Ove Andreassen

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Title: Perspectives on what a preschool teacher need to know about religion: Curriculum analysis and prescriptive suggestions.Abstract: What does a pre-school teacher need to know about religion? This question is discussed in two separate parts of the article. The first part is a curriculum analysis of the framework surrounding Early Childhood Education and the three year undergraduate program for pre-school teachers in Norway. The analysis leads to a critical discussion on the bias towards Christian values in this framework. The second part of the article is prescriptive, answering the article’s research question. The outline of what a pre-school teacher’s competence on religion should consist of draws on the analysis and critical discussion in the first part. Here, arguments for including perspectives drawn from secular academic Religious studies in the three-year undergraduate program for pre-school teachers are presented. The main argument is that perspectives from Religious studies will ensure equal treatment of all religions and life views, and thus ensure the teaching to be in accordance with international conventions regarding human rights, which Norway are committed to.

What is bioethics without Christianity?

Science.gov (United States)

Capaldi, Nicholas

1999-12-01

The author uses the essays in this issue as a springboard for making three points. First, he argues that most, if not all, current institutional versions of Christianity have failed to provide a meaningful framework for the spiritual life. Second, he argues that there is no ethics other than Judeo-Christian ethics and that there can be no bioethics other than Judeo-Christian bioethics. Finally, he argues that the overriding issue we face is not whether to address bioethical issues from a Christian perspective or from a non-Christian perspective, but rather whether we shall address biological and medical issues from an ethical or a scientific-technological perspective.

Challenges to the reproductive-health needs of African women: on religion and maternal health utilization in Ghana.

Science.gov (United States)

Gyimah, Stephen Obeng; Takyi, Baffour K; Addai, Isaac

2006-06-01

How relevant is religion to our understanding of maternal health (MH) service utilization in sub-Saharan Africa? We ask this question mainly because while the effect of religion on some aspects of reproductive behavior (e.g., fertility, contraception) has not gone unnoticed in the region, very few studies have examined the possible link with MH service utilization. Understanding this link in the context of sub-Saharan Africa is particularly relevant given the overriding influence of religion on the social fabric of Africans and the unacceptably high levels of maternal mortality in the region. As African countries struggle to achieve their stipulated reductions in maternal and child mortality levels by two-thirds by 2015 as part of the Millennium Development Goals, the need to examine the complex set of macro- and micro-factors that affect maternal and child health in the region cannot be underestimated. Using data from the 2003 Ghana Demographic Survey, we found religion (measured by denominational affiliation) to be a significant factor in MH use. This is true even after we had controlled for socio-economic variables. In general, Moslem and traditional women were less likely to use such services compared with Christians. The findings are discussed with reference to our theoretical framework and some policy issues are highlighted.

The efficacy of adult christian support groups in coping with the death of a significant loved one.

Science.gov (United States)

Goodman, Herbert; Stone, Mark H

2009-09-01

Psychologists sometimes minimize important resources such as religion and spiritual beliefs for coping with bereavement. Alienation of therapeutic psychology from religious values contrasts to professional and public interest in religious experience and commitment. A supportive viewpoint has come about partially as a result of recognizing important values which clinicians have found absent in many of their clients. Until spiritual belief systems become integrated into the work of clinicians, clients may not be fully integrative in coping with loss. The key finding of this study was that individuals who participated in Christian and secular support groups showed no statistically significant difference in their mean endorsement of negative criteria on the BHS, and no statistically significant difference for their mean score endorsement of positive criteria on the RCOPE. However, a Christian-oriented approach was no less effective than a psychological-oriented one. In both groups, a spiritual connection to a specific or generalized higher power was frequently identified which clients ascribed to facilitating the management of their coping.

Appropriating religion: understanding religion as an object of science

OpenAIRE

Donald Wiebe

1999-01-01

In this paper, the author focuses on the study of religion as a scientific project, for it is the scientific interest in religion which has constituted the grounds for admitting the study of religion into the curriculum of the modern Western university. Despite that academic legitimation, however, the study of religion in the setting of the modern research university is not held in high esteem relative to the other sciences. It if the scientific study of religion is to be legitimately ensconc...

A Comparison between the concepts of redemption in Christianity and intercessionin Shia Islam

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Mohsen Rabbani

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Faith and practice are most important factors for salvation in Islam and Christianity. More over the concepts of redemption in Christianity and the intercession in Shia have also been counted as elements of salvation. There are some similarities between them, which may be led to the misunderstanding that redemption and intercession are the same whereas the definition and function of these two doctrines are different in the religious traditions of both religions. The doctrine of redemption is the essential part of Christian theology, especially in soteriology. If this doctrine is put under question, the whole structure of Christian theology will be disintegrated. But doctrine of intercession is complementary part in Shia. In this article at first, the doctrine of redemption is explained. Considering that the understanding of the concept of redemption is based on other doctrines, including anthropology, soteriology and Christology in Christian theology, at first the relationship between redemption and these concepts will be discussed. It will be declared that Christians believe that Adam's sin had grave consequences for humanity, in a way that it becomes the source of human sinfulness. In Christian point of view God was incarnated in Jesus and was crucified in order to be redemptive of Adam's sin and in order to save men. Everyone who believes in the death and resurrection of Jesus will be delivered. In the second part of the article, the question of intercession according to Shia will be discussed. It will be suggested that the nature of man is pure in Islam and man himself can reach salvation by faith and good practice. In addition, mercy of God and the intercession of Imams will help sinful persons. But in the third part of the article, some similarities and differences between these doctrines will be pointed out. I will insist mostly on their conceptual and functional differences. Their similarities include: Both doctrines need an intermediate

A Comparison between the concepts of redemption in Christianity and intercessionin Shia Islam

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Ahmad Reza Meftah

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Faith and practice are most important factors for salvation in Islam and Christianity. More over the concepts of redemption in Christianity and the intercession in Shia have also been counted as elements of salvation. There are some similarities between them, which may be led to the misunderstanding that redemption and intercession are the same whereas the definition and function of these two doctrines are different in the religious traditions of both religions. The doctrine of redemption is the essential part of Christian theology, especially in soteriology. If this doctrine is put under question, the whole structure of Christian theology will be disintegrated. But doctrine of intercession is complementary part in Shia. In this article at first, the doctrine of redemption is explained. Considering that the understanding of the concept of redemption is based on other doctrines, including anthropology, soteriology and Christology in Christian theology, at first the relationship between redemption and these concepts will be discussed. It will be declared that Christians believe that Adam's sin had grave consequences for humanity, in a way that it becomes the source of human sinfulness. In Christian point of view God was incarnated in Jesus and was crucified in order to be redemptive of Adam's sin and in order to save men. Everyone who believes in the death and resurrection of Jesus will be delivered. In the second part of the article, the question of intercession according to Shia will be discussed. It will be suggested that the nature of man is pure in Islam and man himself can reach salvation by faith and good practice. In addition, mercy of God and the intercession of Imams will help sinful persons. But in the third part of the article, some similarities and differences between these doctrines will be pointed out. I will insist mostly on their conceptual and functional differences. Their similarities include: Both doctrines need an intermediate

RELIGION AND HUMANITIES: PRACTICING RELIGION WHILE CELEBRATING DIFFERENCES

OpenAIRE

Nur Syam

2007-01-01

Religion is a human phenomenon which often determines human behaviour. Apart from the divinity, religion is related to man and humanity. But man often differentiate between themselves on religious grounds and come into conflict in the name of religion although the root cause of such conflicts is social misunderstanding, crime or politics. This article examines the religious conflicts in Indonesia during the last two decades as had erupted in Poso, Ambon and Sambas and argues how religion had ...

Interactions of Christians and Evangelists of Yazd with Muslims in the Qajar Era

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Hamidreza Shams Esfandabadi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The history of Yazd in Qajar era shows several political-social incidents in different periods which have greatly affected the social, cultural, economic and even physical historical-ancient life of the city. Investigating the interaction between Iranians and the residents from different religions during the aforementioned era is interest of the study. This interaction has experienced some fluctuations including peaceful friendships as well as brutal conflicts. The present research is a scientific-investigative effort to perform a historical, periodical, and at the same time documentary and analytical study on the extent, type and method of interactions of the majority of Yazd residents such as Shia Muslims, with the religious minority living in Yazd or non-local Christians temporary living in Yazd for the purpose of performing preaching and advertising programs in Yazd during the Qajar era. The researchers’ hypothesis is as follow: in the Qajar era there was a mutual communication, conflicts and correspondence between Christian minorities (evangelists and Shia Muslims in Yazd most of which proves a relationship and peaceful co-existence between them. This study applies a comparative-historical methodology as well as examines the academic literature and field studies.

Comparative Study of rulings of Animal’s organs in Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Urdu

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Dr. Irfanullah

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Almighty Allah bestowed honors and respect to mankind. Keeping in view the honor of mankind, Allah SWT blessed them also a purified, cleanse and Halal [permissible & Lawful] food. Moreover, the religious teachings are very clear and transparent in this regard to highlight the difference between what is beneficial and useful for them and what is harmful and injurious. Almighty Allah is very kind and compassionate to his servants and described definite commands and orders about such Animals which are adequate and effective to mankind and counts them in Halal category and otherwise are considered Restricted and Haram [impressible & unlawful]. So all kinds of animals which are harmful are prohibited with exception of their some body organs and which are useful are described with their all qualities are halal in mentioned divine religions i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam coupled with little changes in rulings about the use of body organs of impermissible animals like use of bones or skin etc. The paper emphasis on describing the disparities of three divine religions regarding the use of organs, skin of animals, bones and highlight their procedures of making them safe and useable for mankind. This study will lead us to know that which divine religion is more applicable and provides cleanse food to their followers along with having the status of eternity strength among three.

Gaming and Religion: The Impact of Spirituality and Denomination.

Science.gov (United States)

Braun, Birgit; Kornhuber, Johannes; Lenz, Bernd

2016-08-01

A previous investigation from Korea indicated that religion might modulate gaming behavior (Kim and Kim in J Korean Acad Nurs 40:378-388, 2010). Our present study aimed to investigate whether a belief in God, practicing religious behavior and religious denomination affected gaming behavior. Data were derived from a Western cohort of young men (Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors, n = 5990). The results showed that a stronger belief in God was associated with lower gaming frequency and smaller game addiction scale scores. In addition, practicing religiosity was related to less frequent online and offline gaming. Finally, Christians gamed less frequently and had lower game addiction scale scores than subjects without religious denomination. In the future, these results could prove useful in developing preventive and therapeutic strategies for the Internet gaming disorder.

Creativity and folk art

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Glaveanu, Vlad Petre

2013-01-01

This article explores creativity in craftwork using the case of Easter egg decoration, a folk art chosen for its traditional roots and diversity of artistic outcomes. This research contributes to the literature at (a) a theoretical level, by conceptualizing a pragmatist-inspired framework...... of creative activity; (b) a methodological level, by using, beside observation and interview, subjective cameras to record activity; and (c) an empirical level, considering the fact that creativity in folk art has often been a neglected topic. A total of 20 egg decorators of various ages from the village...... for, particularly in terms of expert–novice differences. These studies revealed the many ways in which creativity is intrinsic to Easter egg decoration, and the final discussion of the article summarizes them with reference to processes of combination and change, copying and translation, personal...

China’s “Christianity Fever” Revisited: Towards a Community-Oriented Reading of Christian Conversions in China

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Katrin Fiedler

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Chinese Protestant Christianity has been continually growing over the past three decades, with an estimated one million converts per year. A number of studies have sought to explain this phenomenon. This paper critically reviews existing studies of China’s “Christianity Fever” and then outlines the role of the community as one crucial factor in the conversion process. With its emphasis on communality, as a central element of both Christian theology and the fellowship activities that are part of Christian practice, Protestant Christianity fills a gap opened up by the change in traditional familial and social structures. By discussing specific aspects relating to the communal nature of Christianity, such as familism, elitism, and dynamics at work in face-to-face evangelism, this paper offers an alternative reading of existing studies.

Koers and the ideal of Christian scholarship

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Daniël F.M. Strauss

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Commemorating the 75-year existence of the journal Koers is connected to the Reformational tradition, from Calvin to Kuyper, Stoker, Dooyeweerd and Vollenhoven – all thinkers who realised that the biblical starting point of life indeed touches the heart, the religious root, of humankind and therefore cannot remain restricted to church life and religion in its narrow sense, but must come to expression in all walks of life. This awareness was a fruit of the Christian worldview and lifeview which currently is confronted by the Big Bang claims and by neo-Darwinism – both movements taking on cultic dimensions with an intolerance towards everyone who does not accept their perspective. Their attitude generated serious reactions on two websites, the impact of which was discussed in this article. Some problems entailed in Darwinism and physicalistic materialism were highlighted, before attention was given to the status of natural laws and normative principles. Particular attention was given to the elimination of God’s law and the way in which modern Humanism explored the two cornerstones of modern nominalism, up to the point where human understanding was elevated to become the a priori formal law-giver of nature. This legacy was continued both by the later developments within the Baden school of neo-Kantian thought and Postmodernism,which is placed within the context of the three succeeding epistemic ideals of the past three centuries. Rationality can only fulfil its true calling when it accounts for the cohering diversity within reality without becoming a victim of any form of reductionism – and by following this guiding star, Koers will continue to strengthen its invaluable contribution to the advancement of Christian scholarship.

Christianity and sport

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Gojković Goran

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper we will demonstrate, relying on theology, that Christianity, i.e. ascetic experience of the Church and sport are two sides of the same coin which is reflected in community or, rather, communion (When Christianity is concerned, or team work towards the goal when it comes to sport.

Christian Ethics in a Corrupt Society: A Challenge to Christians in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Christian ethics revolves around morality that concentrates on whether an action is morally good or bad. It implies that Christian ethics which is a branch of religious ethics ensures that people's actions are in tandem with the acceptable moral standard, thereby contributing a lot in human moral development. It becomes ...

Kinesisk Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreasen, Esben; Nielsen, Klaus Bo

Bogen Kinesisk Religion omhandler kongfuzianisme, daoisme, buddhisme, maoisme, folkereligion og nye religioner i ind- og udland. Den indeholder klassiske myter og magiske ritualer, historiske milepæle og moderne udfordringer, politisk religion og levende folkereligiøsitet. Bogen henvender sig...

A folk theory of meetings -- and beyond

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ravn, Ib

2013-01-01

with managers and employees we extracted six common assumptions about meetings, termed a folk theory of meetings, which most office workers seem to carry in the back of their minds. Findings This folk theory holds meetings to be places for excessive talk, whether by a domineering leader or highly vocal...... participants, the purpose of which is to walk through the items on the agenda and dispose of each. This bleak and conservative concept of a meeting impedes intellectual as well as practical progress. Practical implications An alternative theory of meetings is proposed, one based on the group facilitation...... training, this view of meetings—and the widely available facilitation tools that go with it—may render meetings at work the subject of conscious organizational development. Originality/value The proposed "folk theory of meetings" is novel, as is the contrast provided with the facilitation approach...

Masculinities and Religion in Kaduna, Nigeria: A Struggle for Continuity at a Time of Change

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Colette Harris

2012-04-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses coping strategies used by men in Kaduna to ward off chaos resulting from economic instability, situating them within the global context and national policies on gender and religion. They include upholding a set of gender norms in which adult masculinity’s most crucial traits are control over women and children, and breadwinning. These norms were introduced into Nigeria under colonialism and through Islam and Christianity, yet today they are considered to represent local traditions. Religion is also important for coping strategies, especially the newer Pentecostal churches and reformist mosques, characterized by emphasis on literalist interpretations of the scriptures and notions of male superiority. Poor men have particularly welcomed the levels of certainty, moral and material support they provide as well as the legitimization of their gender power positions, especially those struggling to perform appropriate masculinity, while at the same time these establishments have facilitated sectarian violence.

The Types and Cultural Features of She(畲) People’s Festival-and-Folk Dancing%畲族节俗舞蹈的类型与文化特征

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

郑晓

2014-01-01

The existing festival-and-folk dancing can be classified into the dancing for sacrificing, the dancing for farming and celebration, and the dancing for social interaction and entertainment. She(畲) people’s dancing has maintained the traditional forms to a large degree, and the various social functions are still play their roles. These social functions are closely connected to She(畲) people’s folk religions, farming life, social interaction and entertainment, and so on, and profile the cultural features of She(畲) people’s festival-and-folk dancing in a rather direct way.%畲族现存节俗舞蹈可分为祭祀性节舞、农事庆典节舞及社交娱乐节舞。畲族舞蹈保持了较多的传统形态，舞蹈的各种社会功能仍然在起着相应的作用。这些社会功能与畲族的民间信仰、农事生活、社交娱乐等民俗活动密切相连，并很直观地凸显了畲族节俗舞蹈的文化特征。

The Intersection of Gay and Christian Identities on Christian College Campuses

Science.gov (United States)

Wentz, Joel M.; Wessel, Roger D.

2011-01-01

Because some Christian colleges prohibit same-sex sexual behaviors, the development of authentic sexual identities on these campuses may be difficult for gay and lesbian students. This article introduces the idea of an identity conflict that may occur between sexual and spiritual identities for gay and lesbian students at Christian colleges and…

Residential Folk High Schools in Eastern Europe and the Baltic States.

Science.gov (United States)

Kulich, Jindra

2002-01-01

In Eastern Europe, Poland has the longest history of folk high schools. Although closed in Hungary during the 1950s, folk high schools have recently reemerged. There were attempts to establish them in Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia following independence. Although the residential aspect of folk schools is desirable, economic and social conditions…

What is Religion?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jeppe Sinding

which can be analysed and compared across time and cultures, What is Religion? brings the most up-to-date scholarship to bear on humankind’s most enduring creation. The book opens with a brief history of the idea of religion, then divides the study of religion into four essential topics - types......Religious belief is one of the most pervasive and ubiquitous characteristics of human society. Religion has shadowed and illuminated human lives since primitive times, shaping the world views of cultures from isolated tribes to vast empires. Starting from the premise that religion is a concept......, representations, practices, and institutions – and concludes with a final, eye-opening chapter on religion today. Packed with case studies from a wide range of religions, past and present, What is Religion? offers a very current, comprehensive, yet intellectually challenging overview of the history, theories...

Religion and Politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bandak, Andreas

2018-01-01

Religion and politics provide an interesting juxtaposition. On the one hand, both may initially come across as rather self-evident categories, with religion dealing with human perceptions and what people hold as sacred, and politics addressing the control and governance of fellow human beings....... Nonetheless, such a simple opposition should only work as a starting point for an interrogation of both terms and how they have come to look and function as empirical and analytical categories. Focusing on the ways that religion is played out in relation to politics reveals different historical and cultural...... constellations and positions, which can be highlighted as variations of religion as politics, religion in politics, religion out of politics, and religion not politics....

Development of an adverse events reporting form for Korean folk medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Jeong Hwan; Choi, Sun-Mi; Moon, Sujeong; Kim, Sungha; Kim, Boyoung; Kim, Min-Kyeoung; Lee, Sanghun

2017-05-01

We developed an adverse events (AEs) reporting form for Korean folk medicine. The first version of the form was developed and tested in the clinical setting for spontaneous reporting of AEs. Additional revisions to the reporting form were made based on collected data and expert input. We developed an AEs reporting form for Korean folk medicine. The items of this form were based on patient information, folk medicine properties, and AEs. For causality assessment, folk medicine properties such as classification, common and vernacular names, scientific name, part used, harvesting time, storage conditions, purchasing route, product licensing, prescription, persons with similar exposure, any remnant of raw natural products collected from the patient, and cautions or contraindications were added. This is the first reporting form for AEs that incorporates important characteristics of Korean folk medicine. This form would have an important role in reporting adverse events for Korean folk medicine. © 2016 The Authors. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. © 2016 The Authors. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Is Psychoanalysis a Folk Psychology?

Science.gov (United States)

Arminjon, Mathieu

2013-01-01

Even as the neuro-psychoanalytic field has matured, from a naturalist point of view, the epistemological status of Freudian interpretations still remains problematic at a naturalist point of view. As a result of the resurgence of hermeneutics, the claim has been made that psychoanalysis is an extension of folk psychology. For these “extensionists,” asking psychoanalysis to prove its interpretations would be as absurd as demanding the proofs of the scientific accuracy of folk psychology. I propose to show how Dennett’s theory of the intentional stance allows us to defend an extensionist position while sparing us certain hermeneutic difficulties. In conclusion, I will consider how Shevrin et al. (1996) experiments could turn extensionist conceptual considerations into experimentally testable issues. PMID:23525879

Fiktionsbaseret religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davidsen, Markus

2010-01-01

Jediismen er en ny religion, der bygger på George Lucas' Star Wars-film. Kernen i jediismen er medlemmernes identifikation med jedi-ridderne fra Star Wars, troen på, at Kraften eksisterer uden for det fiktive univers, samt rituel interaktion med Kraften. På baggrund af en analyse af syv jediistiske...... gruppers hjemmesider skitserer artiklen jediismens selvforståelse med fokus på selv-identifikation, læren om Kraften, praksis og etik samt forhandlingen af forholdet til Star Wars. Endvidere argumenteres for, hvorfor jediismen må fortolkes som en religion og ikke blot som et fanfænomen. Endelig foreslås...... kategorien 'fiktionsbaseret religion' introduceret i religionsvidenskaben som betegnelse for en række nye religioner baseret på 'fiktive religioner' indlejret i fiktionstekster....

The Necessity of Considering Folk Ethics in Moral Philosophy

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Jalal Peykani

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Contemporary ethics and moral philosophy need a kind of revision due to their negligence in human moral capacities, ordinary life, and humans’ expectations of ethics. The assumptions and presuppositions of ethics result in their current unsatisfactory status. In this paper, we first explore and criticize those presuppositions. Then, instead of introducing ideal presuppositions of ethics, we introduce folk ethics and its components in order to show that contemporary ethics and moral philosophy should always begin with folk ethics. The most important advantage of folk ethics is its realistic foundation, which in turn will produce better results.

Ethnomusicological biography of the traditional folk musician: Biography of the gusle-player

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Lajić-Mihajlović Danka

2008-01-01

Full Text Available With the development of ethnomusicology from a comparative discipline to an anthropologically oriented science there has been an increase in the significance of the biography of folk musicians as scientific sources. The intention of the anthropological thought to accept and theoretically consider human nature as open and dynamic, has been realized in the ethnomusicological plane through the understanding of music as a product of thinking and behaviour of a particular musician in given circumstances. The concept of an artist is especially complex in the field of oral music culture, where creation and performance are connected in one person and the transferring process involves direct communication. The attempt to overcome the dichotomy of the musicological and sociological, i. e. anthropological attitude in ethnomusicology by synthesizing concepts which involve music, culture and man has brought particular importance to the relations between individual biographies and 'biographies of the collective' - relevant historical ethnological, anthropological, sociological, culturological, religion ideological and other types of data. Observations enlightening the social side of the folk musician's personality make the necessary 'frame' for the biography: from 'objective' social circumstances which modelled it to the opinion of the cultural environment about his performing. The folk musician's biography oriented towards ethnomusicology involves the result of a critical evaluation of the picture based on the emic and ethic vision autobiographical data and the observations of others, primarily researchers. The complexity of a biographical discourse in ethnomusicology can be perfectly seen in the example of the gusle-player's biography, as a genre-determined solo role in the tradition. For studying the relation between a person and a style of music expression, concerning gusle-players it is important to bear in mind the change in the profile of gusle

Editorial: Who Is Afraid to Give Freedom of Speech to Marketing Folks?

OpenAIRE

Steven M. Shugan

2006-01-01

Despite the invaluable contribution of marketing folks (e.g., making markets work), they fail to enjoy the same freedom of speech as others. This fact is particularly egregious because unlike other groups that can use threats, force, or coercion, marketing folks rely only on speech. Although the U.S. Constitution never mentions commercial speech, the courts invented the concept to censor marketing folks. The cloudy rational was that consumers need special protection from marketing folks (e.g....

Use of folk remedies among patients in Karachi Pakistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Qidwai, Waris; Alim, Salman Raza; Dhanani, Raheem H; Jehangir, Sana; Nasrullah, Aysha; Raza, Ammara

2003-01-01

The concept that food is medicine is being practiced in certain parts of the world, with positive outcomes on health of the population. We have such practice in Pakistan but it needs to be brought in line with the available scientific evidence. The study was conducted on 270 patients, visiting the Family Practice Center, the Aga Khan University, Karachi. A questionnaire was used to collect information on the demographic profile, and the use of folk remedies for medicinal uses. Substantial use of folk remedies for different medical conditions has been documented. The remedies included cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cordimon, sesame oil, poppy seeds, honey, lemon, table salt, eggs and curd. The medical conditions in which folk remedies are used in respondents' view, include conditions such as common cold, cough and flu to more serious conditions such as asthma, jaundice and heat stroke. We have found a substantial use of folk remedies for treatment of medical conditions. There is a need to organize their use on scientific lines.

Religion, morality, evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Bloom, Paul

2012-01-01

How did religion evolve? What effect does religion have on our moral beliefs and moral actions? These questions are related, as some scholars propose that religion has evolved to enhance altruistic behavior toward members of one's group. I review here data from survey studies (both within and across countries), priming experiments, and correlational studies of the effects of religion on racial prejudice. I conclude that religion has powerfully good moral effects and powerfully bad moral effects, but these are due to aspects of religion that are shared by other human practices. There is surprisingly little evidence for a moral effect of specifically religious beliefs.

Religion, civil society and conflict: What is it that religion does for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Worldviews are socially created and determine human behaviour and, as such, most often find expression in religion. The discussion of conflict and the role of religion in civil society take place within the discourse of the sociology of religion. Religion is socially determined. Peter Berger's insight into the sociology of religion ...

The spread of Neo-Pentecostalism in Brazilian football: socio-anthropological analysis of the relationship between religion, football and public space in Brazil

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Claude Petrognani

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This text deals with the relationship between religion, football and public space in Brazil. Specifically, it is about a certain aspect of the Brazilian religious field, i.e. the evangelical field, and particularly the Neo-Pentecostal one and its appearance and spread in sports, mainly football. By using data taken from doctoral research, it will be possible to demonstrate, without claiming to be exhaustive, that there is a spread of evangelicalism in football which is making this religious movement grow out of the status of a «peripheral or marginal religion for Brazilians» (Carvalho, 1999, p. 3, and turning it into a «dominant» religion almost as important as Catholicism, with regard to the world of football. Moreover, this text will try to show that, with reference to the group called Athletes of Christ, the interest in evangelicalism in the field of sports is not a recent phenomenon but it traces its origins to the heritage of Muscular Christianity, which dates back to the Victorian Age (1837-1901. Finally, this text aims to stimulate reflection on a fundamental contemporary theme, i.e. the phenomenon of religion in public space.

Reincarnation belief and the Christian churches

OpenAIRE

Waterhouse, Helen; Walter, Tony

2003-01-01

Reincarnation has never been part of mainstream Christian theology. This is true in spite of periodic speculations by Christian theologians, and in spite of the fact that reincarnation believers sometimes wrongly impute belief in reincarnation to prominent Christian thinkers. Even so, in 1984 Paul Badham was able to point to statistics which indicated that as many Anglicans believed in reincarnation as believed in heaven and hell. This paper is based on the responses of the many Christians wh...

Christianity Facing the Ageing of Global Population

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Anna Sanecka

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The ageing population is a great challenge for the whole world including churches, Christian communities, Christian families and the so-called “Christian countries”. The respect and support for elderly people is almost a common rule of social life in developed countries regardless of religious views. But in the Christian world this obligation has very strong religious justification – obligation enshrined in the Commandments of Old (the fourth/fifth Commandment and New (the second one of The Greatest Commandments of Love Testaments. Therefore between the Christianity – understood as a set of different communities sharing their beliefs in Jesus Christ – and aging population there are many very different connections including among others: honour and respect, privilege, obligations, giving – receiving relations, duty, charity, solidarity, dependency. They are present both in the teaching and the practice of different Christian communities starting with Churches, through NGOs and Christian societies, ending with Christian families. The paper shows some of these connections. It also tries – based on a case of Poland – to answer the question whether the Christianity is ready to face the aging of global population

The Importance of Christian Thought for the American Libertarian Movement: Christian Libertarianism, 1950–71

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Lee Haddigan

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Murray N. Rothbard argued that there are many philosophic and non-philosophic arguments that provide a satisfactory basis for individual liberty. Rarely, however, did he discuss the claims of Christianity to be a suitable foundation for individual freedom. By looking at the Christian libertarians of the Old Right, between 1950 and 1971, the article contends that religious values were the most important reason for libertarians pursuing a society composed of free individuals during that period. By examining the journals Faith and Freedom, Christian Economics, and the Freeman, and the positive views of Rev. Carl McIntire, the author explains the philosophy of Christian libertarianism. It is the belief that individual freedom is only the highest political end; the necessary means for God’s Creation to develop unhindered their conscience and the full ‘sacredness of their personality.’ Christian libertarians maintain that individuals cannot be coerced by government to lead a virtuous life. They must instead be persuaded, by a true understanding of the life of Jesus especially, to choose to follow the moral life sanctioned by the Bible. The desire to follow the Golden Rule voluntarily, Christian libertarians explain, is the God-given template that allows a society of individuals to live in freedom. It was this Christian ethic, Christian libertarians insist, couched in terms of the Natural Law, that inspired the founding fathers to establish a system of government where the individual is free to enjoy their ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ The article concludes by discussing Frank S. Meyer’s ‘fusionist’ attempt to find a uniting theme for traditionalists and libertarians, and suggests that it was the Christian libertarian philosophy in all but name. It also suggests that if America has any valid claim to be ‘Exceptional,’ then it is based on the nation’s traditional defence of individual freedom as a God-given grant.

努力建构中国优秀歌谣的传承体系%The Endless Efforts to Build the Inheriting System of Chinese Marvelous Folk Songs

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

陈书录

2016-01-01

中国是一个歌谣大国，从《诗经》中的“国风”、汉乐府、南北朝民歌、敦煌曲子词到明清时调乃至当代民谣等，历代歌谣繁花似锦，美不胜收，洋溢着中华民族生生不息的活力。但是，有关歌谣的田野调查、文献资料整理和美学价值、社会价值的研究，乃至中国优秀歌谣传承体系的建构，至今尚有许多缺憾乃至空白。因此，应努力建构中国优秀歌谣的传承体系，对歌谣应进行抢救性、基础性搜集整理，对歌谣的研究应坚持以文学为本位，同时注重探讨历代歌谣的演进轨迹与特征，拓展歌谣与宗教、民俗、地域文化、商贾精神等相关领域的交叉互动研究，全面建构、深化中国的歌谣研究，传承创新中国的优秀传统文化。%China is a large country with a great many folk songs,from Guo Feng in the Books of Songs,folk songs in Han Dynasty,folk songs in Northern and Southern Dynasties,Dunhuang Quzici to folk songs in Ming and Qing Dynasties, and even the contemporary folk songs.Every age has its own famous folk songs with a large quantity and a prosperous process so as to illustrate China's vigorous dynamics.However,there is still a short of many aspects,namely,the field investigations,the arrangement of literature materials,the value of aesthetics,the study of its social values and the inher-iting system of Chinese marvelous folk songs.Therefore,a wholesome inheriting system should be built in order to make an arrangement and a collection of the folk songs.As far as the study methods of folk songs are concerned,a steady way of insisting on literature standard should be stuck to.Meanwhile,to build the system and deepen the study area of folk songs,and to inherit the Chinese excellent traditional culture,we ought to focus on the evolution and characteristics of the folk songs in every dynasty and the expansion of the inter-sectional study among religion

"Essentially Christian, eminently philanthropic": the Mission to Lepers in British India.

Science.gov (United States)

Joseph, D George

2003-01-01

The early history of the Mission to Lepers in India is an interplay between politics, religion, and medicine in the context of British imperialism. The Mission pursued the dual but inseparable goals of evangelization and civilization, advancing not only a religious program but also a political and cultural one. These activities and their consequences were multi-faceted because while the missionaries pursued their religious calling, they also provided medical care to people and in places that the colonial government was unable or unwilling. Within the context of the British imperial program, the work imparted Western social and cultural ideals on the colonial populations they served, inculcated patients with Christian beliefs, and provided medical care to individuals who had been expelled from their own communities. Physical healing was intimately tied to religious salvation, spiritual healing, and the civilizing process.

What’s God got to do with it ? The role of religion in the internal dynamics of migrants’ networks in Turkey

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Sebnem Koser Akcapar

2012-03-01

Full Text Available So far, immigration scholars have mostly taken up the religion issue in terms of adaptation or non-adaptation to the host society and research on the role of religion as carriers of positive social capital in transit countries has not given enough attention. Drawing on the migration histories of two groups of Iranian asylum seekers in Turkey, converted cases to Christianity and Bahais, this paper will examine the differences and similarities between these two groups. It will further discuss the religious identity of these two groups of Iranian asylum seekers in Turkey and how they use their social and religious networks within different congregations and Bahai spiritual assemblies in Turkey to determine destination countries in the transit country and to reach ultimately the West as refugees.

Gilson, Krapiec and Christian Philosophy Today

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Pawel Tarasiewicz

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The author undertakes an attempt to answer the following question: is Christian philosophy possible today? The question seems to be of great importance due to the fact that what Christians who try to do philosophy usually encounter is bitter criticism which comes to them from two sides at once: that of academy and that of the Church. In short, for academy their philosophy is too Christian, and for the Church it is too academic. Being indebted to the insights of Étienne Gilson and Mieczyslaw A. Krapiec (the original Polish spelling: Mieczysław Albert Krąpiec, pronounced: myechisuaf albert krompyetz, the author comes to the conclusion thatChristian philosophy is possible today only if: 1 it isnot identified with the art of persuasion, as its final end lies in gaining understanding rather than being convincing, 2 itis the work of a Christian, and 3 it has thereal world as its object and metaphysics as its method. ForChristian philosophy—which in essence consists indoing philosophy by Christians in order to get morerational understanding of their religious faith—shouldbe identified with theperfection of the intellect achieved by practicingthe classical philosophy of being.

Religious leaders' perceptions of advance care planning: a secondary analysis of interviews with Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, Sikh and Bahá'í leaders.

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira-Salgado, Amanda; Mader, Patrick; O'Callaghan, Clare; Boyd, Leanne; Staples, Margaret

2017-12-28

International guidance for advance care planning (ACP) supports the integration of spiritual and religious aspects of care within the planning process. Religious leaders' perspectives could improve how ACP programs respect patients' faith backgrounds. This study aimed to examine: (i) how religious leaders understand and consider ACP and its implications, including (ii) how religion affects followers' approaches to end-of-life care and ACP, and (iii) their implications for healthcare. Interview transcripts from a primary qualitative study conducted with religious leaders to inform an ACP website, ACPTalk, were used as data in this study. ACPTalk aims to assist health professionals conduct sensitive conversations with people from different religious backgrounds. A qualitative secondary analysis conducted on the interview transcripts focussed on religious leaders' statements related to this study's aims. Interview transcripts were thematically analysed using an inductive, comparative, and cyclical procedure informed by grounded theory. Thirty-five religious leaders (26 male; mean 58.6-years-old), from eight Christian and six non-Christian (Jewish, Buddhist, Islamic, Hindu, Sikh, Bahá'í) backgrounds were included. Three themes emerged which focussed on: religious leaders' ACP understanding and experiences; explanations for religious followers' approaches towards end-of-life care; and health professionals' need to enquire about how religion matters. Most leaders had some understanding of ACP and, once fully comprehended, most held ACP in positive regard. Religious followers' preferences for end-of-life care reflected family and geographical origins, cultural traditions, personal attitudes, and religiosity and faith interpretations. Implications for healthcare included the importance of avoiding generalisations and openness to individualised and/ or standardised religious expressions of one's religion. Knowledge of religious beliefs and values around death and dying

„Man kommt seiner eigenen Religion näher, man lernt die anderen zu verstehen und zu tolerieren.“. Interreligiöses Begegnungslernen in der ReligionslehrerInnen-Ausbildung. Konzept und Evaluation eines Projekts der KPH Wien/Krems und der IRPA.

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Amani Abuzahra

2014-07-01

Full Text Available ENGLISH: Interfaith encounters between students of the University College of Teacher Education of Christian Churches (KPH Wien/Krems and Muslim Teachers Training College (IRPA/MTTC have proved to be fruitful opportunities for interfaith learning in the course of the academic education of teachers of religion. An evaluation project in cooperation between KPH Wien/Krems and IRPA (MTTC on the basis of qualitative und quantitative methods has researched on the acquisition of interreligious competences in consequence of such encounters. The results prove the participants’ learning experiences about the religion of the Other and about the own religion and shows an increasing interest in Islam or Christian faith. The Students have learnt to see the beliefs of the others from the perspective of the others. Therefore it was possible for the students to reduce their own prejudices.DEUTSCH: Interreligiöse Begegnungen im Rahmen der ReligionslehrerInnen-Ausbildung zwischen christlichen Studierenden der Kirchlichen Pädagogischen Hochschule Wien/Krems (KPH und muslimischen Studierenden des Privaten Studiengangs für das Lehramt für Islamische Religion an Pflichtschulen (IRPA bewähren sich als eine geeignete Form interreligiösen Lernens. Ein Forschungsprojekt in Kooperation der beiden Einrichtungen hat quantitativ und qualitativ untersucht, inwieweit durch die Begegnungen interreligiöse Kompetenzen erworben wurden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass dabei deutliche Lernerfahrungen sowohl bezüglich der Religion der Anderen als auch der eigenen Religion gemacht wurden. Das Interesse am Islam bzw. am Christentum ist bei den Studierenden deutlich gestiegen, ein Perspektivenwechsel ist ihnen gelungen, indem sie sich auf die Sichtweisen der jeweils andersreligiösen Studierenden verstehend eingelassen haben. Dadurch konnten Vorurteile abgebaut werden.

Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lægaard, Sune

2018-01-01

Article on the different ways on which religion is relevant to discussions of discrimination and the normative issues this gives rise to.......Article on the different ways on which religion is relevant to discussions of discrimination and the normative issues this gives rise to....

METHODOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF FORMING REPERTOIRE OF STUDENTS’ FOLK INSTRUMENTAL ORCHESTRA

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Mykola Pshenychnykh

2016-11-01

Full Text Available One of the main aspects of forming future music teachers’ professional competence, connected with mastering professional musical and performing skills in the course “Orchestra Class” and realized in the activity of students’ performing group, is revealed. Nowadays the problem of creative personality development is relevant, as creative future music art teachers freely orient themselves and guide pupils students in today's cultural environment, music and media space, have a strong musical taste and aesthetic guidelines. The music genre groups have been characterized in the article. It is thought that these groups are the traditional components of repertoire of folk and orchestra student groups: arrangements of folk tunes; works of Ukrainian and world classics, orchestrated for the folk groups, taking into account each orchestra performing possibilities; works by contemporary authors, written specifically for the orchestra of folk instruments. The main methodological principles of selecting the repertoire for the student orchestra of folk instruments are disclosed, including: technical, artistic and performing capabilities of student groups; involvement of works of different genres into the repertoire; correspondence of orchestra scores to instrumental composition of the student orchestra, and their correction if it is necessary; selecting works, whose performing arouses interest of the student audience; using the experience of the leading professional ensembles of folk instruments; constant updating the orchestra's repertoire. In the conclusion the author emphasizes that taking into account the methodological tips helps solve the main tasks within the course of “Orchestra Class”. These tips are the following: students’ acquaintance with the history of foundation, composition, ways of musicianship, technique of playing the instrument of folk instrument orchestra and acquaintance with specific orchestral music; development of all

Religion, condom use acceptability and use within marriage among rural women in Malawi.

Science.gov (United States)

Muula, Adamson S; Thomas, James C; Pettifor, Audrey E; Strauss, Ronald P; Suchindran, Chirayath M; Meshnick, Steve R

2011-01-01

Correct and consistent condom use within an HIV-discordant partnership could prevent sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Data on ever-married women from rural Malawi were obtained from the Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project (MDICP) of 2006. We assessed the strength of association between religion and acceptability of condom use within marriage in general and also when one of the partners is suspected or known to be HIV infected. A total of 1,664 ever-married women participated in the MDICP 2006. Of these, 66.7% believed condom use was acceptable within marriage when one partner suspects or knows that the other was HIV infected; 38.2% believed condoms were acceptable within marriage generally. Only 13.8% reported ever having used condoms within the current or most recent marriage. Multivariate analysis found no difference in acceptability of condoms within marriage between Christians and Muslims, or between Catholics and all but one of the individual denominations assessed. Christian women in rural Malawi were no more or no less likely to accept condom use than Muslim women; there was also no difference in attitude toward condom use within marriage among Malawian women.

About the conjunction between literature, religion and existential knowledge in the “Memoirs from Beyond the Grave” of Chateaubriand

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Aleksandra Kamińska

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to present the relationship between literature, religion and existential knowledge in the memorial work of François-René de Chateaubriand. The first main problem is the transmission of universal values represented by Christianity. The second problem are narrator’s tragic experiences that become a source of precious knowledge communicated to the reader. These narrative stakes, reinforced by rhetorical persuasion, are crucial to ensure immortality of the author through the pertinence of his voice addressed to posterity.

Afrikaner Christianity and the concept of empire

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Erna Oliver

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Not many Protestant countries in the world have been as influenced by faith as South Africa. Although South Africa was never officially a Christian country, politics, economic development, social life and the culture of the �rainbow nation� was either moulded on, or influenced by, the Calvinistic Christianity that came to the country along with the European merchants. The privileged position of Christianity ended in 1994 when South Africa became a neutral state with guaranteed religious freedom for all. Although more than 80 per cent of the population claim that they are Christians, it seems as if the word is not meant any more as a religion with a value system and moral obligations, but only as a convenient label. The reason behind the contrast between theory and practice must be investigated. One possible reason could be found in the traditional Afrikaans-speaking churches� participation of, and contribution to, the �empire� concept. The responsibility of the individual to practise his or her faith was taken over by the power of the state and church.Bokriste bja Maafrikanere le kgopolo ya mmu�o wo maatlaGa se dinaga t�e nt�i t�a Protestante mo lefaseng t�e di huedit�wego ke tumelo go swana le ka fao naga ya Afrika-Borwa e huedit�wego ke tumelo ka gona. Le ge Afrika-Borwa e sa ka ya ba naga ya Sekriste semmu�o, dipolitiki, tlhabollo ya t�a ekonomi, bophelo bja leago le set�o sa �set�haba sa molalatladi�, se ka ba se bopegile godimo ga, goba se huedit�we ke Bokriste bja Secalvine bjo bo tlilego le bagwebi ba Yuropa. Maemo a go phagama ao a bego a filwe tumelo ya Sekriste a fedile ka ngwaga wa 1994 ge Afrika-Borwa e eba naga ya kemelathoko ya go fa bohle tokologo ya bodumedi. Le ge diphesente t�a go feta 80 t�a set�haba di ipit�a Bakriste, go bonala nke lent�u leo ga le sa �omi�wa go hlalo�a tumelo ye e nago le meetlo le maitshwaro a it�eng a setho, eup�a le no �omi�wa e le seka sa go

Folk toys in Central Thailand: Product development for a creative economy

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Wanna Pichetpruth

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Folk toys in Central Thailand are a part of local Thai local wisdom. Creative folk toys are a part of cultural heritage and Thai creative and sustainable economic development. So, this research aimed to study 1 the indigenous folk toys in central Thailand, 2 the toy production problems and solution guidelines, and 3 the toy product development for the creative economy. The study employed a qualitative research method. The target group consisted of the selected communities in Nonthaburi Province, Ayutthaya Province and Suphanburi Province and folk toy sources. The informants were: 15 folk toy enterprise presidents, government officers and local experts as the key informants, 45 folk toy enterprise members as the causal informants and 45 customers as the general informants. Data were collected by means of interview, observation, focus group discussion and workshop from field study. Qualitative data were analyzed by inductive analysis method with triangular verification and the research results were presented by a descriptive analysis method. The research results revealed that folk toys in Central Thailand were derived from local indigenous knowledge that was created and transmitted through the generations for at least 700 years. Most of the folk toys in Central Thailand were produced by natural, local and easily found materials, using natural colors. The beauty, styles and quality of natural and man-made children’s toys were based on parental competency. Moreover, creation of folk toys is a form of Thai handicraft. Thai people truly believe that toys are symbols of parental love and attention and the tools to build up children’s growth in terms of lifestyle and creative mind. The findings show that folk toys in Central Thailand are made of special soil, wood, bamboo, lan leaf, tan leaf and coconut shell. Folk toys are categorized in four groups: 1 fun toys, such as krataewien, explosive bamboo, king drum, nangkop drum, rhythm coconut shell

Christianity, the Free Market, and Libertarianism

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Light Christian

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In recent centuries Christians of various denominations have endorsed many different political philosophies that they see as being truly biblical in their approach. Over this time there has been an increasing hostility, by some Christians, towards free markets and political philosophies that hold human liberty as the highest goal such as libertarianism and classical liberalism. This criticism is unwarranted and misplaced as libertarianism and free markets are not only compatible with Christianity, they are also the most biblically sound of all economics systems and political philosophies endorsed by Christians today. Therefore, this paper will argue that Christians of all denominations should endorse free markets and libertarianism if they wish to create a world that follows biblical principles and the teachings of Jesus.

The idea of Santa Claus in terms of Cognitive Sciences. Cultural persistence and interference with the Christian Religion

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PhD. Paul SCARLAT

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The idea of Santa Claus is a universal one, which has been carried on for generations despite many obstacles. Although related to fantasy and imagination, he belongs to all cultures and for children he maintains a real presence. Cognitive Science examines the idea of this mysterious individual and brings clarification to his existence in society. Because this “superhero” plays a part in society, he needs a mental structure that can be imagined, a particular and specific cognitive structure. The study identifies the cognitive mechanisms by which the idea of Santa Claus is generated. The history of Santa has interfered with religion since ancient times. He is sometimes confused with religious figures. Cognitive Sciences as applied to religion seem to confirm the universality of religious beliefs and a certain similarity between the idea of Santa Claus and that of holy persons, such as St. Nicholas. However, there are opinions within this field of research that differentiate between the two areas: fantastic and religious.

Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Welz, Claudia

2017-01-01

In the world of Greek Comedy, the traditionally austere gods of Tragedy are lowered to fit the streets of Athens. Religion is omnipresent in comedy on many levels, and we find gods on stage, prayers and oaths performed, sacrifices narrated, festivals performed. Religion in comedy is generally...

Religion in the public sphere and the well-being of the poor: A practical theological perspective

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Hennie J.C. Pieterse

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This article forms part of my research participation at the University of South Africa in the project Religion, health and well-being in Southern Africa: Practical theological perspectives. All the themes we are addressing in this project are public issues. Therefore the basic question in this project pertains to where and how religion, in this case Christian religion, is involved in public discourses and actions regarding problems in public life in South Africa. The specific research question in this article is: what effects do congregational projects by church members, directed to the poor, have on their experience of well-being? Congregational projects by church members directed to the poor are public actions by people with religious motivation addressing a public problem in South Africa. Therefore, these projects and their effects on the experience of well-being by the poor are religious actions in the public sphere. Firstly, I have conceptualised religion as well as the well-being of the poor in South Africa. The relationship between religion and well-being amongst the poor is then addressed. The conceptualisation has directed the formulation of half-structured interview questions in a qualitative empirical research in a sample from a population of pastors and their congregations who are practicing congregational projects directed at the poor in their vicinities. From the analysis of the contents of the interview, data categories have been formulated, which could then be phrased into a conceptual framework of the effects of these projects on the well-being of the poor. This research is an exercise in public practical theological research.

Danmark. Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lausten, Martin Schwarz

1991-01-01

Danmarks kirkehistorie fra begyndelsen til nyere tid. Kirkehistorie, historie, folkekirke, religion......Danmarks kirkehistorie fra begyndelsen til nyere tid. Kirkehistorie, historie, folkekirke, religion...

Trasvase de religiones y culturas en el mundo mediterráneo del siglo XVIII. Renegados y conversos

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Maximiliano BARRIO GOZALO

2009-11-01

Full Text Available RESUMEN: En el contexto de la guerra corsaria, que sigue azotando el Mediterráneo en el siglo XVIII, nos encontramos con los esclavos o cautivos que viven a ambas orillas, muchos de los cuales reniegan del cristianismo y se hacen musulmanes o abandonan la religión musulmana y se convierten al cristianismo. Las razones del cambio de religión de los renegados y conversos, así como los efectos de su conversión son los principales aspectos que se analizan en el trabajo.ABSTRACT: In the context of the privateers wars, which were devastating and plundering the Mediterranean sea, one could find slaves and captives who were dwelling in both sides of the sea. Lot of them denied their religion and became Mohammedans or on the contrary Christians. The main reasons to explain this change of religion from renegades and converters, and also the consequences of their conversion are analysed in this piece of work.

Authenticity Revisited : the production, distribution, and consumption of independent folk music in the Netherlands (1993-present)

OpenAIRE

Poecke, Niels

2017-01-01

textabstractIn ways similar to the 1960s ‘urban folk revival’ – that is, through live performance, mass mediation and sales successes – the genre of folk music rose the surface of the global music industry once more during the first decade of the new millennium. The new labels are hyphenated, as in free-folk, freak-folk, indie-folk and folk-pop, and refer to Americana and electronics as in New Weird America, American Primitivism, and folktronica. Folk music gained momentum in the mid-2000s wi...

Proceedings of the Eighteenth Annual Convention of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies. Theme: Christian Self-Esteem.

Science.gov (United States)

Christian Association for Psychological Studies, Grand Rapids, MI.

This volume represents the collection of all papers presented at the convention (April, 1971) of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies, whose theme was "Christian Self-Esteem." Some of the titles include "A Demonstration of an Affective Counseling Technique,""Self-Image and Self-Esteem--A Christian Psychiatric Appraisal,""Concepts of…

The Christian voice in philosophy

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Stuart Fowler

1982-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper the Rev. Stuart Fowler outlines a Christian voice in Philosophy and urges the Christian philosopher to investigate his position and his stance with integrity and honesty.

Folk Medicine and Its Second Life

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Rosari Kingston

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Irish folk medicine is perceived to be dying, if not dead already. It lies as a parallel system to modern biomedicine and is known only through word of mouth. However, no matter what modality is practised, be it bone-setting, plant medicine, charms or rituals, there are traditional characteristics common to all as a whole. An examination of these traditional elements allows us to see how Irish folk medicine is currently practised and to ascertain whether it has reached the second life that Lauri Honko suggested. If this were the case, “the recycling of material in an environment that differs from its original context” (Honko, “The Folklore” 42 should be evident.

Ethnic vs. Evangelical Religions: Beyond Teaching the World Religion Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Tishken, Joel E.

2000-01-01

Offers background information on the formation of comparative religion. Demonstrates that the world religion approach is inadequate by examining case studies of Mithraism, Santeria, Mormonism, and Baha'i to illustrate the shortcomings of this approach. Advocates the use of an ethnic versus evangelical religion approach to teaching global…

Religion and gender in a men's hospital and school of nursing, 1866-1969.

Science.gov (United States)

Wall, Barbra Mann

2009-01-01

This article explores religious beliefs, practices, and representations of the Alexian Brothers, a religious order of Catholic nursing brothers, and the role of gender in this discourse. Nursing in the United States developed within a cultural framework of caring as part of women's roles in families and communities. Yet, a study of the Alexian Brothers challenges the dominance of the "female" in most gender analyses of nursing. Historical methodology is used to evaluate and interpret data within the broader framework of historiographical literature on gender, religion, and nursing. In analyzing nursing, religion, and gender, attention has been paid to representations, mainly of women, through photographs and written literature. In this article, the same sources are used for men. The story of the Alexian Brothers and the men they educated is a testament to the power of gender and religion in nursing history. These men carved out a system of caring that recognized it as a responsibility not only of women but also of men. As they asserted that their paid work was a Christian calling, they renegotiated dominant notions of masculinity. In doing so, male nurses navigated among an array of representations, from nurse, to school administrator, to military soldier, to religious person, to professional practitioner of scientific medicine. These self-representations in the masculine spaces of the hospital and nursing school were designed to debunk stereotypes of feminine men, and they challenged traditional spatial boundaries.

Teaching World Religions without Teaching "World Religions"

Science.gov (United States)

Locklin, Reid B.; Tiemeier, Tracy; Vento, Johann M.

2012-01-01

Tomoko Masuzawa and a number of other contemporary scholars have recently problematized the categories of "religion" and "world religions" and, in some cases, called for its abandonment altogether as a discipline of scholarly study. In this collaborative essay, we respond to this critique by highlighting three attempts to teach…

154 THE NEUROTIC CHRISTIAN: IMPLICATIONS FOR CHRISTIAN ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

personality as assessed by Cattell's 16PF questionnaire. They found that the ... infantile, self-serving and superstitious religious belief; religious insecurity leading to compulsive rituals of ..... harm than good in this area. The trained Christian ...

Understanding the anatomy of religion as basis for religion in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article sprung from previous structural analyses of religion as onticity, but went somewhat further by placing more emphasis on encounters with the numinous as the core of religion, as well as on the dynamic character of religion. In doing so, this analysis methodologically transcended the limitations of a structuralist ...

Dopamine D4 receptor gene and religious affiliation correlate with dictator game altruism in males and not females: evidence for gender-sensitive gene × culture interaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Yushi; Bachner-Melman, Rachel; Chew, Soo Hong; Ebstein, Richard P

2015-01-01

On a large sample of 2288 Han Chinese undergraduates, we investigated how religion and DRD4 are related to human altruistic giving behavior as measured with the Andreoni-Miller Dictator Game. This game enables us to clearly specify (non-)selfishness, efficiency, and fairness motives for sharing. Participants were further classified into religious categories (Christian, Buddhist-Tao, and No Religion) based on self-reports, and genotyped for the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) gene exon III VNTR. Our analysis revealed a significant interaction between religion and DRD4 correlated with giving behavior solely among males: Whereas no significant association between religion and sharing decisions was observed in the majority 4R/4R genotype group, a significant difference in giving behavior between Christian and non-Christian males was seen in the non-4R/4R group, with Christian men being overall more altruistic (less selfish and fairer) than non-Christian men. These results support the vantage sensitivity hypothesis regarding DRD4 that the non-4R/4R "susceptibility" genotype is more responsive to a positive environment provided by some religions.

Christian attitude in business

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J M Vorster

2006-09-01

Full Text Available The beginning of the twenty-first century faces new challenges in the field of business ethics.� Totally new macro-ethical challenges have arisen and they have already inspired constant ethical reflection. Two major developments in the field of economics paved the way for this new interest in business ethics: the total dominance of the market driven economy and economic globalization. This article investigates the ethical challenges posed by this new environment from a Christian ethical perspective. Firstly norms are formulated flowing from the paradigm of Christian attitude as a manifestation of the attitude of Christ. These are love, stewardship, self-denial and obedience to God. These norms are then applied to the following modern-day issues in the field of business ethics: the challenge of globalization, respect for basic human rights, remuneration, the corporation as a moral model, the need for self-evaluation, political responsibility and environmental concern. In conclusion I attempt to define the role of Christians and Christian churches in transforming corporations into moral agents.

Religion and modernity in a secular city: A public theology of différance

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Johann-Albrecht Meylahn

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Seeking the good often authorises and legitimises certain forms of violence: violence that defines the state (Benjamin’s law-founding violence by the exclusion of others and the violence that coerces or binds (religare the public into a common understanding of the good at the exclusion of other interpretations of that good (Benjamin’s law-maintaining violence. The secular modern state has never been without religion functioning as religare. The modern state, often seen as a peacemaker, is founded on these two forms of ‘legitimate’ violence against what is other or different, just as the peace, prosperity and good of the state is sought through the elimination of the different and a unification of the state under the banner of a ‘common’ good. This ‘legitimate’ violence will always produce the counter-violence of difference (i.e. excluded others seeking a legitimate place within the common space of the republic (Benjamin’s divine violence. With the rise of religious fundamentalism, institutionalised religion has been allowed to return to the public debate. Is the call for this return one that further sanctions legitimate violence by eating and sharing the fruit of knowledge of good and evil? Is the call the church is hearing one that seeks to clarify and clearly define the good that will bind us (religare into a stronger and more prosperous and peaceful city – onward Christian soldiers marching as to war? Or is there another calling, one that requires us to be Disciples of Christ – with the Cross of Jesus going on before – entering the space of violence beyond the knowledge of good and evil as peacemakers? In this article, I sought to understand this ‘peacemaking’ space by bringing into dialogue Žižek’s interpretation of Christianity with Derrida’s interpretation of hospitality.

Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God or for America? Christian Nationalism, the Christian Right, and the Contra War

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Lauren Frances Turek

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This essay uses the concept of Christian nationalism to explore the religious dynamics of the Contra war and U.S.–Nicaraguan relations during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Religious organizations and individuals played crucial roles on both sides in the war in Nicaragua and in the debates in the United States over support for the Contras. Evangelistic work strengthened transnational ties between Christians, but also raised the stakes of the war; supporters of the Sandinistas and Contras alike alleged a victory by their adversary imperiled the future of Christianity in Nicaragua. Christian nationalism thus manifested itself and intertwined in both the United States and Nicaragua. Examining how evangelicals and Catholics in the United States and Nicaragua, as well as the Reagan administration, the Contras, and the Sandinistas, used Christian nationalism to build support for their policy objectives sheds light on both the malleability and the power of identifying faith with the state. Having assessed Christian nationalism as a tool and a locus of conflict in the Contra war, the essay then steps back and considers the larger methodological implications of using Christian nationalism as a category of analysis in U.S. foreign relations history.

A scientific defence of religion and the religious accommodation of science? Contextual challenges and paradoxes

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Cornel W. du Toit

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Few human phenomena in our time are as controversial or confusing as religion. People seem to live in two worlds: a mythical and a scientific one. They talk about either of these worlds in isolation but cannot reconcile the underlying presuppositions. Believers are less naïve than the ‘new atheists’ suppose, and atheists do not come without their quota of superstition and belief. Midway between the two opposites is a burgeoning, secular new spirituality that has assumed many forms in recent years. The groups are often marked by some form of naturalism, which try to accommodate science. The premise in this article is that religion, being a product of normal evolutionary processes, is ‘natural’. This implies that cultural evolution is ongoing and supports the thesis that religion (in this case Western Christianity is making a major transition. As for science, I briefly outline the role of metaphysics. That is because science often has to invoke metaphysical constructs to make sense of the bigger picture. Following Aristotle, the metaphysical dimension of science is a blank page which every era fills with its own interpretation. In that sense, it is ‘more than’ just empiricism, verifiability, and it is accompanied by some metaphysical baggage. At this metaphysical level, the traditional dominance of causality makes way for emergence.

Socio-economic activities of fisher folk in Niger Delta, Nigeria ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study examined the socio-economic activities and potentials of rural fisher folk in Niger Delta, Nigeria. One thousand and two hundred (1,200) structured questionnaires were administered to fisher folks in one hundred (100) fishing communities, and only one thousand (1000) were retrieved. The questionnaires dealt ...

International Religion Indexes: Government Regulation, Government Favoritism, and Social Regulation of Religion*

Science.gov (United States)

Grim, Brian J.; Finke, Roger

2014-01-01

The study of religion is severely handicapped by a lack of adequate cross-national data. Despite the prominence of religion in international events and recent theoretical models pointing to the consequences of regulating religion, cross-national research on religion has been lacking. We strive to fill this void by developing measurement models and indexes for government regulation, government favoritism, and social regulation of religion. The indexes rely on data from an extensive coding of the 2003 International Religious Freedom Report for 196 countries and territories. Using a series of tests to evaluate the new data and indexes, we find that the measures developed are highly reliable and valid. The three indexes will allow researchers and others to measure the government’s subsidy and regulation of religion as well as the restrictions placed on religion by social and cultural forces beyond the state. PMID:25484633

Queer as Folk and the trouble with slash

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Kyra Hunting

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The Showtime TV series Queer as Folk (2000–2005 brought same-sex relationships and sex scenes to prime-time television, putting the stuff of slash up on the small screen. Despite incorporating many slash tropes into the canonical text, Queer as Folk troubles many of the traditional assumptions about how fan fiction and slash operate, particularly the association of slash with subversion. The intertextual relationship between canonically queer texts and their attendant fandoms requires new frameworks for exploring traditional fan fiction subgenres such as slash. When the canonical text itself is queer, gestures and genres that have generally been considered subversive can in fact be more conservative than the canonical text itself. When the political stakes of a canonical series are clear and explicitly progressive, the intertextual relationship between canon and fandom can be particularly important and uniquely problematic, as this case study of Queer as Folk demonstrates in its assessment of the complexities that arise when the canon itself is queer.

Computing Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielbo, Kristoffer Laigaard; Braxton, Donald M.; Upal, Afzal

2012-01-01

The computational approach has become an invaluable tool in many fields that are directly relevant to research in religious phenomena. Yet the use of computational tools is almost absent in the study of religion. Given that religion is a cluster of interrelated phenomena and that research...... concerning these phenomena should strive for multilevel analysis, this article argues that the computational approach offers new methodological and theoretical opportunities to the study of religion. We argue that the computational approach offers 1.) an intermediary step between any theoretical construct...... and its targeted empirical space and 2.) a new kind of data which allows the researcher to observe abstract constructs, estimate likely outcomes, and optimize empirical designs. Because sophisticated mulitilevel research is a collaborative project we also seek to introduce to scholars of religion some...

Religion and cognition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geertz, Armin W.

2008-01-01

This is an introductory article in a special issue of a bulletin for researchers and teachers in religion in the USA. The article sketches the main positions and recent trends in the cognitive science of religion, and it attempts to attract scholars of religion to this field. It also profiles...

Holy Koran's Pattern in the Cultural Communication of Islam and Christianity

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Hamed Ehtemam

2015-12-01

an announcement of  divine mercy and forgiveness, explained by Holy Koran. 4-        In this phase, if the Christians refuse to accept the truthfulness of Islam because of prejudice, jealousy or ignorance, the Holy Koran warns them to follow the realities of their religion and to be united with Islam based on the monotheism. 5-        If the warning is not followed and accepted, the Holy Koran invites the Christian, based on the logic  to consider their belief system and wants them to rethink with common sense about what they ignore or believe superstitiously and to follow the divine path. 6-        In this stage of communication, if the Christians continue to insist on their beliefs and ignorance, the Holy Koran warns them explicitly about the damnation, suffering and loss. 7-        At the end, if the Christians do not abandon their beliefs and try to influence the Muslims by creating division and confusion, the Holy Koran orders to wage war against them. It then curses them and warns them about suffering in this very world. Looking to these seven steps of communicating, it can be concluded based on the Holy Koran teachings that the pattern of the inter-cultural communication between Muslims and Christians is the monotheism and staying away from polytheism. The more this pattern is reinforced and highlighted, the more this closeness and communication will be constructive and efficient. The Holy Koran presents seven practices and solutions. If the Holy Koran accepts and respects some of the foundations of Christianity (such as the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ, the Apostles and the chastity of Saint Mary in these practices which are based on the monotheism and refusal of polytheism, it is because they are all centered around the monotheistic principles. Whenever there is a deviation from these principles, the Holy Koran warns and invites the people to consider their beliefs. It even orders explicitly to wage war to make the Christians return

On Folk Epistemology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gerken, Mikkel

that are associated with biases. In developing this account, Mikkel Gerken presents work in cognitive psychology and pragmatics, while also contributing to epistemology. For example, Gerken develops positive epistemic norms of action and assertion and moreover, critically assesses contextualism, knowledge...... a role as data for epistemological theorizing. Rather, critical epistemological theorizing is required to interpret empirical findings. Consequently, On Folk Epistemology helps to lay the foundation for an emerging sub-field that intersects philosophy and the cognitive sciences: The empirical study...

Assaying the Belief in Divine Incarnation in Hinduism and Christianity

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S. Mohammad Rohani

2014-01-01

Full Text Available One of the doctrines shared by Hinduism and Christianity is the doctrine of incarnation and bodily fall of divinity, which on surface sounds to have been understood by both schools in the same terms. Since both schools insist on transcendent unity of God in his essence; for example in Upanishads which is one of the key scriptures of Hinduism it is insisted that the origin of existence is a transcendent, invisible and unfathomable God called Brahman which is the highest the most excellent and beyond description. By the same token, in Christianity God has always been envisaged as a unique and transcendent being. Nevertheless, these two religions believe that transcendent God gets incarnated in some conditions. Thus some have paired these two schools in their belief in incarnation without understanding the nuances.    By more probing into their respective theologies, however, we find out that not only their notions of incarnation differ but there are also fundamental differences in their understandings of God in general and divine transcendent unity and synthesizing it with divine fall and incarnation. In Hinduism God is conceived as an absolute being which manifests itself in three attributes. But in Christianity God is not an absolute and simple essence rather it is envisaged as a compound entity spread through trinity figures who have been interacting since the time immemorial. Moreover, these two schools have two different positions on the necessity and cause of incarnation. Thus one can conclude that the doctrine of incarnation is understood in Hinduism and Christianity in radically different fashions.    In Christianity Jesus represents the only incarnation of divinity as the son of God who is one of triple hypostases building trinity and the belief in whom is the path of human salvation. Thus conceived, God has descended into the body of Christ as the ransom of original sin. Then incarnation in Christianity is founded upon two other

Assaying the Belief in Divine Incarnation in Hinduism and Christianity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Mohammad Rohani

2013-12-01

Full Text Available One of the doctrines shared by Hinduism and Christianity is the doctrine of incarnation and bodily fall of divinity, which on surface sounds to have been understood by both schools in the same terms. Since both schools insist on transcendent unity of God in his essence; for example in Upanishads which is one of the key scriptures of Hinduism it is insisted that the origin of existence is a transcendent, invisible and unfathomable God called Brahman which is the highest the most excellent and beyond description. By the same token, in Christianity God has always been envisaged as a unique and transcendent being. Nevertheless, these two religions believe that transcendent God gets incarnated in some conditions. Thus some have paired these two schools in their belief in incarnation without understanding the nuances.    By more probing into their respective theologies, however, we find out that not only their notions of incarnation differ but there are also fundamental differences in their understandings of God in general and divine transcendent unity and synthesizing it with divine fall and incarnation. In Hinduism God is conceived as an absolute being which manifests itself in three attributes. But in Christianity God is not an absolute and simple essence rather it is envisaged as a compound entity spread through trinity figures who have been interacting since the time immemorial. Moreover, these two schools have two different positions on the necessity and cause of incarnation. Thus one can conclude that the doctrine of incarnation is understood in Hinduism and Christianity in radically different fashions.    In Christianity Jesus represents the only incarnation of divinity as the son of God who is one of triple hypostases building trinity and the belief in whom is the path of human salvation. Thus conceived, God has descended into the body of Christ as the ransom of original sin. Then incarnation in Christianity is founded upon two other

CHRISTIANITY AND COLONIALISM IN SOME ENGLISH SHORT STORIES

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Tatang Iskarna

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Colonial and postcolonial studies are often linked to the power domination of the West upon the East in the way that the East economically, politically, and socially oppressed. Colonialism is often associated with three elements, the explorers dealing with geographical information, missionaries approaching the local people culturally, and the colonial administrators ruling the colony. Gold, glory, and gospel are the European’s concern. However, in representing the relation between Christianity and colonialism there is critical dialectic amongst historians, anthropologists, Christian missions, or cultural critics. Some propose that Christianity is considered to be the religious arm of colonialism. Others state that Christianity is spread without any secular interest as it is a great commandment of Jesus Christ. A few believe that Christianity give critical resistance against colonialism. The relation between Christianity and colonialism cannot be simplified as being neutral, in complicity, or in opposition. So, it is worth-discussing to understand how European writers construct the relation between Christianity and colonialism in their literary work. How Christianity is constructed and how Christianity is related to colonialism will be discussed in this paper. Using postcolonial paradigm, two English short stories will be analyzed in that way. They are Rudyard Kipling’s “Lispeth” and Doris Lessing’s “No Witchcraft for Sale”.

Music in Korean shaman ritual.

OpenAIRE

Mills, Simon R.S.

2012-01-01

It is hard to sum up Korean Shamanism in a few sentences but, in short, it could be described as the traditional syncretic folk religion of Korea. It mixes together ritual practices, beliefs, symbols and myths from Buddhism, Taoism, and folklore and adds elements commonly associated with nature religions and shamanism – including the use of techniques such as divination, trance, and mediumship. As with many other syncretic folk religions around the globe, there is very little in the way o...

Christianity, health, and genetics.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, David H

2009-02-15

Health is an intrinsic value that Christians should respect, but it is not the highest value. Christians should be willing to jeopardize their own health for the health of others, and should repudiate any idea that genetic problems are the result of sin. Rather, sin leads us to make genetic problems harder to live with than they should be. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Laborde’s religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lægaard, Sune

2018-01-01

Cécile Laborde’s Liberalism’s Religion proposes liberal principles to address political controversies over religion. One is the public reason requirement that reasons for state policies should be accessible. Another is the civic inclusiveness requirement according to which symbolic religious...... establishment is wrong when it communicates that religious identity is a component of civic identity. A third is the claim that liberal states have meta-jurisdictional authority to settle the boundary between what counts as religion and what counts as non-religion. The article considers whether Laborde has...... managed to articulate these three principles in a way that is operationalisable and can serve to provide solutions to practical controversies over religion. It is argued that Laborde’s formulations leave important issues open, and some ways of settling these issues are considered....

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African Journals Online (AJOL)

IKENNA

Presently, many descendants of enslaved Africans residing in this country consider folk .... African influences found in the folk Christianity ... the African tradition of including dance in worship, they incorporated the ring shout into their newly ...

Bringing the banjo back to life: The field of dutch independent folk music as participatory culture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

N. van Poecke (Niels); J.M. Michael (Janna)

2016-01-01

textabstractIn this paper we investigate factors underlying the production of independent folk music (indie folk) in the Netherlands. By studying the creation, distribution and reception of indie folk music through in-depth interviewing, we argue that the social production of indie folk music is

Christianity and globalisation: An alternative ethical response ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article critically evaluated the role of Christian Ethics in response to globalisation. It showed that ethical critiques of globalisation inevitably fall short when Christianity's historical contributions to processes of globalisation are neglected or de-emphasised. A Christian Ethics that attempts completely to wash its hands of ...

EFFECTIVENESS OF FOLK MATHEMATICS ON ACHIEVEMENT AT SECONDARY LEVEL STUDENT

OpenAIRE

Mrs. K. K. Sumathi

2016-01-01

The present study is aimed at finding the effectiveness of folk mathematics on achievement at secondary level student. It was an experimental method conducted on secondary school students in teaching mathematics for seventh standard. The result concluded by the investigator was that the effect of folk mathematics was better than the traditional method of teaching.

Is Christian Education Compatible With Science Education?

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Michael

Science education and Christian education are not compatible if by Christian education one means teaching someone to be a Christian. One goal of science education is to give students factual knowledge. Even when there is no actual conflict of this knowledge with the dogmas of Christianity, there exists the potential for conflict. Another goal of science education is to teach students to have the propensity to be sensitive to evidence: to hold beliefs tentatively in light of evidence and to reject these beliefs in the light of new evidence if rejection is warranted by this evidence. This propensity conflicts with one way in which beliefs are often taught in Christian education: namely as fundamental dogmas, rather than as subject to revision in the light of the evidence.

Blackness, religion, aesthetics: Johannes Anyuru’s literary explorations of migration and diaspora

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne Heith

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The article analyses deconstructions of the European construct from the vantage point of how skin colour, physical appearance and religion have been used for drawing boundaries between white, Christian Europe and the black, Muslim world. The analysis is based on literary texts by the Afro-Swedish author Johannes Anyuru. The article proposes that his first collection of poems from 2003, the first novel from 2010 and a multifaceted text from 2011, which is a kind of diary on the surface level, contribute to the shaping of new notions of belonging, home and identity that challenge ideas of cultural purity and homogeneity. On the level of aesthetics the texts exemplify a diaspora aesthetic characterized by hybridization. This involves a mixture of elements from various stylistic registers and locations from within and outside Europe.

Dopamine D4 Receptor Gene and Religious Affiliation Correlate with Dictator Game Altruism in Males and not Females: Evidence for Gender-sensitive Gene x Culture Interaction

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Yushi eJiang

2015-09-01

Full Text Available On a large sample of 2288 Han Chinese undergraduates, we investigated how religion and DRD4 are related to human altruistic giving behavior as measured with the Andreoni-Miller Dictator Game. This game enables us to clearly specify (non-selfishness, efficiency, and fairness motives for sharing. Participants were further classified into religious categories (Christian, Buddhist-Tao, and No Religion based on self-reports, and genotyped for the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4 gene exon III VNTR. Our analysis revealed a significant interaction between religion and DRD4 correlated with giving behavior solely among males: Whereas no significant association between religion and sharing decisions was observed in the majority 4R/4R genotype group, a significant difference in giving behavior between Christian and non-Christian males was seen in the non-4R/4R group, with Christian men being overall more altruistic (less selfish and fairer than non-Christian men. These results support the vantage sensitivity hypothesis regarding DRD4 that the non-4R/4R ‘susceptibility’ genotype is more responsive to a positive environment provided by some religions.

Sekularisering og religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Kirsten Margrethe

2015-01-01

Sammendrag: Sekularisering og religion: En studie i fortællingens nøglerolle i folkeskolens religionsundervisning Kirsten M. Andersen Ph.d. afhandling, indleveret ved institut for Uddannelse og Pædagogik, Aarhus Universitet, d. 23. oktober 2014 Indledning Afhandlingens sigte er at bidrage til en...... fortsat udvikling af religionsundervisningen i skolen ud fra en almen pædagogisk interesse. Skolen har sit eget formål og derfor må religion ombrydes, så den gøres pædagogisk. Religionshistorisk, religionssociologisk og antropologisk opfattes religion og kultur i et kontinuum. Det betyder, at religion...... fænomenologiske overvejelser over, hvorfor filosofien har behov for at formulere en religionshermeneutik med henblik på en almen pædagogisk begrundelse for skolens religionsundervisning. I Del: Kap. 2: Afhandlingen indledes med at indkredse og definere både religion og sekularisering som kulturelle og kollektive...

Challenging Christianity: Leo Tolstoy and Religious Education

Science.gov (United States)

Moulin, Dan

2009-01-01

The religious thought of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy is a well documented but often overlooked example of unorthodox Christianity. This paper uses the example of Tolstoy's religious thinking to question the integrity of the current representation of Christianity in UK schools. It also uses Tolstoy's criticism of orthodox Christianity to suggest a…

Christian Thomasius, the rule of law, and the separation of Church and State

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John Christian Laursen

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Christian Thomasius was above all a professor of jurisprudence who used his legal skills to resolve all sorts of legal, political, and moral problems. In this article we review two of his writings that contributed to his rearticulation of the relations between religion and politics in early modernity. He used the elements of what later became the concept of the rule of law to defend Denis Veiras, author of the Histoire des Sevarambes, against charges of atheism. He also defended the skeptical jurisprudence of Georg Heber as the best instrument for separating church and state and assigning each their proper roles, and made use of theological skepticism to justify excluding the theologians from politics and limit the interventions of princes into religious matters except in cases where the peace of the state was endangered.

Iranian and English women's use of religion and spirituality as resources for coping with infertility.

Science.gov (United States)

Latifnejad Roudsari, Robab; Allan, Helen T; Smith, Pam A

2014-06-01

The study reported in this paper explores how infertile women cope with infertility using their religious and spiritual beliefs. In total, 30 infertile women affiliated to different denominations of Christianity and Islam were interviewed in the UK and Iranian fertility clinics using grounded theory. The categories which emerged included governing ones' 'Self' through gaining control of emotions, adopting religious coping strategies, and handling the burden of infertility peacefully, which all related to the core category of 'relying on a higher being'. We argue that infertile women employ a variety of religious and spiritual coping strategies which are associated with adaptive health outcomes. Further scientific inquiry is required to investigate how religion and spirituality promote adaptation to infertility.

"Our Song!" Nationalism in Folk Music Research and Revival in Socialist Czechoslovakia

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kratochvíl, Matěj

2015-01-01

Roč. 56, č. 4 (2015), s. 397-405 ISSN 1788-6244 Institutional support: RVO:68378076 Keywords : Czechoslovakia * folk music * folk song collections * revival * politics * nationalism * communism Subject RIV: AC - Archeology, Anthropology, Ethnology

The return of religion

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S. Griffioen

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Religion is back in Philosophy as a respectable subject. Part 1 first charts what MacIntyre, Taylor and Derrida have meant in this regard. Subsequently, it turns to the Enlightenment to determine what constituted the breakthrough. It is found that even where the Enlightenment gave maximum room to religion i.e. as a civic religion and as “religion of the heart” it still excluded a constitutive relation to a transcendent revelation. Part 2 centres on the religion-faith distinction in reformational philosophy. Similar to the Enlightenment, religion is understood as part of human nature. However, human nature itself is conceived as intrinsically religious and depending for its light on revelation. Secondly, “religion” in this context also encompasses idols and religious substitutes. Thus, it directs attention to shopping malls, football stadiums, health policy, et cetera, as possible contexts of a return of religion. Examples show that this has become a popular approach. However, most of the publications surveyed fail to distinguish between an “analogical” and a “pistically qualified” use of religion, and are open to exaggerations (the shopping mall and football stadiums as temples, etc.. At this junction, the relevance is shown of the religion-faith distinction as well as of Elaine Botha’s theory of metaphors. The epilogue offers an integration of parts one and two.

Middle Eastern Christian spaces in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Galal, Lise Paulsen; Hunter, Alistair; McCallum, Fiona

2016-01-01

Despite little scholarly attention, Middle Eastern Christian Churches are a well-established element of the European religious landscape. Based on collaborative research, this article examines how three mutual field visits facilitated a deeper understanding of the complexity that characterises...... church establishment and activities among Iraqi, Assyrian/Syriac and Coptic Orthodox Christians in the UK, Sweden and Denmark. Exploring analytical dimensions of space, diversity, size, and minority position we identify three positions of Middle Eastern Christians: in London as the epitome of super...

Research on Korean Christianity in Chinese Academia%中国“韩国基督教”学术研究综述

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

苏杭

2011-01-01

中国的韩国学研究经历了20年的发展，取得了长足进步。但是国内韩国学研究多集中在对韩国经济、政治、朝鲜半岛局势等方面，对于韩国基督教的研究成果并不丰富。本文收集了国内现有50篇研究韩国基督教的论文，依据这些文献所阐述的中心命题之不同，将它们分为六个专题进行了梳理，分别是：韩国宗教现状、韩国基督教近现代传教史、东西文明的冲突、基督教与韩国近现代社会的变迁、韩国基督教的本色化进程、基督教与韩朝政治。通过综述这些研究文献，以期明晰韩国基督教研究的系统化理论思路。%There are 20 years about Korean Studies in china and many subjects in the ascendant. Since the emphasis on the Korean Studies are Korea Economic and Politics, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and so on, the research achievements about Korean Christian studies are not rich. This Thesis review 50 papers on Korean Christianity studies and have a classifications about six projects： the situation of Korean religions, the missionary history of modem Korean Christianity, the clash of Eastern and Western civilizations, the Korean Christianity in modem society changes, the process of Korean Christianity localization, the Korean Christianity with the relationship between North and South Korea. We can find some systematic theoretical ideas by reviewing these literatures.

Religion and Gender in a Men’s Hospital and School of Nursing, 1866–1969

Science.gov (United States)

Wall, Barbra Mann

2009-01-01

Objectives This article explores religious beliefs, practices, and representations of the Alexian Brothers, a religious order of Catholic nursing brothers, and the role of gender in this discourse. Background Nursing in the United States developed within a cultural framework of caring as part of women’s roles in families and communities. Yet, a study of the Alexian Brothers challenges the dominance of the “female” in most gender analyses of nursing. Methods Historical methodology is used to evaluate and interpret data within the broader framework of historiographical literature on gender, religion, and nursing. In analyzing nursing, religion, and gender, attention has been paid to representations, mainly of women, through photographs and written literature. In this article, the same sources are used for men. Results The story of the Alexian Brothers and the men they educated is a testament to the power of gender and religion in nursing history. These men carved out a system of caring that recognized it as a responsibility not only of women but also of men. As they asserted that their paid work was a Christian calling, they renegotiated dominant notions of masculinity. In doing so, male nurses navigated among an array of representations, from nurse, to school administrator, to military soldier, to religious person, to professional practitioner of scientific medicine. These self-representations in the masculine spaces of the hospital and nursing school were designed to debunk stereotypes of feminine men, and they challenged traditional spatial boundaries. PMID:19448519

Effect of Folk Dance Training on Blood Oxidative Stress Level, Lipids, and Lipoproteins

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Okdan Bora

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Folk dance is a form of physical activity which helps develop the ability to use the whole body in a coordinated way with music, and folk dancers’ characteristics vary according to the particular type of dance practised in a given geographic region. The aims of the study were to evaluate the effects of 12-week folk dance training on blood oxidative stress level, lipids, lipoproteins, as well as muscle damage markers and to define some physical and physiological properties of folk dancers. Material and methods. Thirty-eight healthy male folk dancers aged 21-28 years having an average of 11 years of dance training experience voluntarily participated in the study. All of the physical and physiological measurements and the blood analysis were performed twice, before and after the training period which focused on different regional dances (Caucasus, Bar, Zeybek, Spoon Dance, Thracian dances, and Horon. The training was done 2 hours per day (a total of 10 hours a week, during a 12-week-long period. Results. All the blood parameters were found to be within the specified reference ranges. The training programme had no significant effect on the blood lipid profile, whereas it was found to have positive effects on body fat (p ≤ 0.012, peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak; p = 0.000, muscle damage markers (creatine kinase, Δ% = −19.6, and total antioxidant capacity (p ≤ 0.002. Conclusions. Regular folk dance training was found to have positive effects on body fat, VO2peak, blood total antioxidant capacity, and muscle damage markers. Based on these results, the community should be encouraged to perform folk dance as a recreational physical activity, and public awareness should be raised about the health benefits of practising folk dances.

The Theological Misappropriation of Christianity as a Civilizing Force

Science.gov (United States)

MisirHiralall, Sabrina D.

2017-01-01

The theological misappropriation of Christianity as a civilizing force occurs when individuals convert to Christianity due to deception that ignores the faith-based aspect of Christianity. The history of Western education in India illustrates the hidden curriculum that Christian missionaries employed to disrupt the Indian educational system. This…

From the History of Religions to the Study of Religion in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Tim; Geertz, Armin W.

2014-01-01

The history of the academic study of religion in Denmark resembles developments in other Nordic and European countries as it has moved from a primarily historical-philological and comparative ‘history of religions’ towards a broader ‘study of religion(s)’ that includes history of religions together...

A comparative phylogenetic study of genetics and folk music.

Science.gov (United States)

Pamjav, Horolma; Juhász, Zoltán; Zalán, Andrea; Németh, Endre; Damdin, Bayarlkhagva

2012-04-01

Computer-aided comparison of folk music from different nations is one of the newest research areas. We were intrigued to have identified some important similarities between phylogenetic studies and modern folk music. First of all, both of them use similar concepts and representation tools such as multidimensional scaling for modelling relationship between populations. This gave us the idea to investigate whether these connections are merely accidental or if they mirror population migrations from the past. We raised the question; does the complex structure of musical connections display a clear picture and can this system be interpreted by the genetic analysis? This study is the first to systematically investigate the incidental genetic background of the folk music context between different populations. Paternal (42 populations) and maternal lineages (56 populations) were compared based on Fst genetic distances of the Y chromosomal and mtDNA haplogroup frequencies. To test this hypothesis, the corresponding musical cultures were also compared using an automatic overlap analysis of parallel melody styles for 31 Eurasian nations. We found that close musical relations of populations indicate close genetic distances (music; maternal lineages have a more important role in folk music traditions than paternal lineages. Furthermore, the combination of these disciplines establishing a new interdisciplinary research field of "music-genetics" can be an efficient tool to get a more comprehensive picture on the complex behaviour of populations in prehistoric time.

Holy Koran\\\\\\'s Pattern in the Cultural Communication of Islam and Christianity

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Habibollah Arzani

2016-01-01

an announcement of  divine mercy and forgiveness, explained by Holy Koran. 4-        In this phase, if the Christians refuse to accept the truthfulness of Islam because of prejudice, jealousy or ignorance, the Holy Koran warns them to follow the realities of their religion and to be united with Islam based on the monotheism. 5-        If the warning is not followed and accepted, the Holy Koran invites the Christian, based on the logic  to consider their belief system and wants them to rethink with common sense about what they ignore or believe superstitiously and to follow the divine path. 6-        In this stage of communication, if the Christians continue to insist on their beliefs and ignorance, the Holy Koran warns them explicitly about the damnation, suffering and loss. 7-        At the end, if the Christians do not abandon their beliefs and try to influence the Muslims by creating division and confusion, the Holy Koran orders to wage war against them. It then curses them and warns them about suffering in this very world. Looking to these seven steps of communicating, it can be concluded based on the Holy Koran teachings that the pattern of the inter-cultural communication between Muslims and Christians is the monotheism and staying away from polytheism. The more this pattern is reinforced and highlighted, the more this closeness and communication will be constructive and efficient. The Holy Koran presents seven practices and solutions. If the Holy Koran accepts and respects some of the foundations of Christianity (such as the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ, the Apostles and the chastity of Saint Mary in these practices which are based on the monotheism and refusal of polytheism, it is because they are all centered around the monotheistic principles. Whenever there is a deviation from these principles, the Holy Koran warns and invites the people to consider their beliefs. It even orders explicitly to wage war to make the Christians return

Foucault's genealogy of Christianity

OpenAIRE

Chrulew, Matthew Nikolai

2017-01-01

This thesis is an exploration of Michel Foucault's genealogy of Christianity. I argue that this important and under-appreciated aspect of his work is strongly influenced by Nietzsche's own anti-Christian writings on asceticism, priestly power and the death of God. Based on the texts currently available, I explicate in detail Foucault's perpetual and often ambivalent return to the confessional and pastoral apparatuses of the Church. I also explore how this work might relate to broader and incr...

Xu Guangqi’s Thought On Supplementing Confucianism With Christianity

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Anna Seo

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Xu Guangqi is one of the most influential Chinese scholars who accepted Christian faith during the late Ming dynasty. His idea of “supplementing Confucianism and replacing Buddhism by Christianity” had great impact on the development of Christianity in China. His idea, however, has often been accused of syncretism, and genuineness of his Christian faith has been put into question. Some argue that his theology lacks Christology. Others suggest that his ultimate goal was to achieve the Confucian political ideals through adopting some of the Christian moral teachings. Through the analysis of Xu Guangqi’ works and life, we find that he accepted all the essential Christian doctrines and Christology is the core of his understanding of “Tianzhu”. His view on Confucianism itself istransformed through Christian perspective. In his new understanding, the ultimate goal of Confucianism is to serve and to worship “Tianzhu”，same as Christianity. The ultimate problem of life is to save one’s soul.Xu Guangqi considered his scientific works as a way to propagate Christian faith,since science was seen as an integral part of Christian thought and practice. His idea of “supplementing Confucianism by Christianity” integrated Confucianism into the overarching framework of Christian thought.

Is Asia a 'Post-Religional' Society? The Post-Religional Paradigm and its Others

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Daniel Franklin Estepa Pilario

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the relevance and applicability of the 'post-religional paradigm' as proposed by EATWOT (Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians in the Asian contexts. It also inquires on how the Asian phenomenon and its interpretations relate to the crisis of religions in Western societies. It attempts to answer this problematic through four steps: a summary of the theological proposal and its relationship with the Western sociologies of religion; a search for a viable framework with which to understand religions in post-secular societies; discussion on the "discourses of Asia" and the corresponding view on religion; an elaboration of my preferred framework with some examples from the Asian situation. I argue that a viable theological proposal on post-religional paradigm should start from the analysis of how religious discourses and practices navigate with concrete socio-historical forces on the ground. Consequent to this view is the assertion that there is no universal sociology/theology of religion's development but multiple and complex religious discourses in specific contexts.

[Religion and brain functioning (part 1): are our mental structures designed for religion?].

Science.gov (United States)

Kornreich, C; Neu, D

2010-01-01

Religions are seen everywhere in the world. Two main theories are competing to explain this phenomenon. The first one is based on the assumption that our cognitive structures are predisposing us to nurture religious beliefs. Religion would then be a by-product of mental functions useful for survival. Examples of these mental functions are children credulity, anthropomorphism and teleology. The second one hypothesizes that religion is maintained trough direct adaptation benefits occurring in cooperation exchanges. In particular, religion could function as an insurance mechanism given by the religious group. It is likely that both theories are complementary and useful to explain why religion is a universal phenomenon in the human species.

Generic Structure Potential of Christian Apologetics

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Onwu Inya

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Religious texts have been examined by scholars from different theoretical standpoints. However, a close survey of the literature reveals that little attention has been paid to Christian apologetics from a linguistic perspective. Also, an examination of studies along the lines of Generic Structure Potential (henceforth GSP shows that the genre status of Christian apologetics has not been indicated. This gap provides the motivation for this paper, which investigates the GSP of Christian apologetics. Twenty texts written by various key contemporary apologetic writers were purposively selected for the study. The following generic structure potential catalogue was generated:The paper reveals that the elements of the GSP concertedly work to advance, argue for or defend the Christian belief system. The paper also suggests that the model could be applied to other forms of apologetic instances.

Towards a Christian model for journalism

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J.D. Froneman

1997-03-01

Full Text Available While it is necessary to question the underlying presuppositions of the news media, it is not adequate merely to criticize or reject non-Christian models. However, little has been done to formulate a comprehensive Christian model for the media in general, or journalism in particular. In this article some outlines of a Christian model for journalism are suggested. It includes three basic principles as well as several sub-principles (or norms. It is argued that the suggested norms could be regarded as "news values". The general use of the term "news values” is thus rejected in order to protect the normative character of values. It is stressed that as journalism is not an "objective", value-free activity, all aspects o f the ongoing selection process instrinsic to journalism ought to acquire a Christian flavour.

The Place of Igbo Folk Songs in Peace Building and Sustainable ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Igbo society provides avenues like ceremonies, festivals, and burials to mention but a few through which music are expressed. This paper among other things tries to examine the impact of folk music In Igbo culture, the place of music in the promotion of sustainable rural development. Selected Igbo folk songs with subject ...

Christian bioethics as non-ecumenical.

Science.gov (United States)

Engelhardt, H Tristram

1995-09-01

A community's morality depends on the moral premises, rules of evidence, and rules of inference it acknowledges, as well as on the social structure of those in authority to rule knowledge claims in or out of a community's set of commitments. For Christians, who is an authority and who is in authority are determined by Holy Tradition, through which in the Mysteries one experiences the Holy Spirit. Because of the requirement of repentance and conversion to the message of Christ preserved in the Tradition, the authority of the community must not only exclude heretical teaching but heretical communities from communion. Understanding Christian bioethics requires a focus on the content of that bioethics in terms of its social context within a right-believing, right-worshipping community. Christian bioethics should be non-ecumenical by recognizing that true moral knowledge has particular moral content, is communal, and is not fully available outside of the community of right worship. The difficulty with Roman Catholicism's understandings of bioethics lies not just in its continued inordinate accent on the role of reason apart from repentance (as well as in its defining novel doctrines), but in Roman Catholicism's not recognizing that the contemporary, post-Christian age is in good measure the consequence of its post-Vatican II failure to call for a return to the traditional pieties and asceticisms of the Fathers so that all might know rightly concerning the requirements of Christian bioethics.

The Gothic Folk Devils Strike Back! Theorizing Folk Devil Reaction in the Post-Columbine Era

Science.gov (United States)

Griffiths, Richard

2010-01-01

Folk devils have to date been significantly overlooked in previous studies of moral panics. While several studies have called attention to this problematic (Thornton and McRobbie 1995, De Young 2004, Lumsden 2009), no specific theoretical framework has been proposed for reading this dimension of a moral panic. This paper argues that a moral panic…

Curanderismo: consequences of folk medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

DeBellonia, Renato Rocco; Marcus, Steven; Shih, Richard; Kashani, John; Rella, Joseph G; Ruck, Bruce

2008-04-01

Curanderismo, folk medicine, is an important and common aspect of Hispanic culture. Its use is not well understood by US medical physicians and is often overlooked when Hispanic patients present to US hospitals. We present a case of isopropyl alcohol toxicity in a 4-year-old child due to the use of a curanderismo treatment of "espanto" (evil spirits).

Danish Regulation of Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christoffersen, Lisbet; Vinding, Niels-Valdemar

Presentation and analysis of current and upcoming conflicts in relations between religion and family; labour market; religion in the public sphere and state support to religion. Part of a comparative European analysis in the context of www.religareproject.eu. based on 18 Danish elite interviews...

Religion, civil society and conflict: What is it that religion does for and to society?

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Jaco Beyers

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Human consciousness instinctively tries to make sense of reality. Different human interpretations of reality lead to a world consisting of multiple realities. Conflict occurs when differing realities (worldviews encounter one another. Worldviews are socially created and determine human behaviour and, as such, most often find expression in religion. The discussion of conflict and the role of religion in civil society take place within the discourse of the sociology of religion. Religion is socially determined. Peter Berger’s insight into the sociology of religion therefore plays an important role in establishing the relationship between religion and civil society as one that takes on different forms. Thus, a clear definition of both civil society and religion was needed to understand the nature of these relationships. The role of religion in civil society with regard to the presence of conflict in society was further investigated in this article. The conditions under which conflict in society occurs were discussed, as were the conditions for tolerance in society, for religion ultimately becomes the provider of moral discernment when conflict occurs in civil society.

Immortality versus resurrection in the Christian tradition.

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Nancey

2011-10-01

For those in contemporary society who believe in an afterlife, there are a number of views available. The most common may be based on belief in an immortal soul. However, the early Christian account was, instead, bodily resurrection. As Christianity moved throughout the Mediterranean world, apologists and theologians adapted their teaching on human nature and the afterlife to Greek and Roman philosophies. By the time of Augustine (d. 430), the doctrines of body-soul dualism and immortality of the soul were firmly entrenched in Christian teaching. The incorporation of the concept of an immortal soul into Christian accounts of life after death produced a hybrid account. The body dies, the soul (at least of those who were to be saved) travels to heaven. At the end of history, there would be a general resurrection, and the souls would be reunited with their bodies, although the bodies would be in a transformed, indestructible state. This hybrid account of life after death went largely uncontested until the twentieth century. In this essay, I describe this history and argue for a return to the early Christian view of humans as a unity, not a duality, and for belief in resurrection of the body as the appropriate expectation for eternal life. This would not only be truer to Christian sources, but, valuable, I believe, in focusing Christian attention on the need to care for the environment. © 2011 New York Academy of Sciences.

Faith in Islam and Christianity and its impact on health

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Mohammad Mahdi Ahmad farazi

Full Text Available Of the most central elements of religions and most important issues in theology and the Contemporary study of religion is the category of faith and its greatest impact on various aspects of life. Faith, in Islamic and Christian theology, has common and also distinct aspects. The truth of Faith in Islamic thought was multidimensional and consists of a wide range of Confession of language, intellectual knowledge, heart affirmation and inner experience to the treatment involves external actions. In Christianity, it was faith in confirmation of the revealed proposition that led to a sense of transcendence and meta-proposition and created Interest mode in human And sometimes faith apply to the experience of presence and manifestation of God in life. The position of consensus and association between Islam and Christianity was consists of the doctrine of Belief in God and the prophecy and resurrection. This belief is based on the functionalist view affected on body and psyche (or soul health of the human. The impact of Faith on physical and mental health has been separately approved by the specialists. The impacts of faith and religious teachings on physical health have been investigated through psycho-neuro-physiological way that Faith and Religious teachings produce positive emotions in human. The emotions through autonomous nervous system strengthen the immune system and its optimal performance in a way that the messenger molecule called neuropeptide Y, carry the messages related to thoughts and transport it through the blood circulation, and the mental state directly relate to the body's cells. This is the most important factor in strengthening or weakening the immune system influenced by the thoughts and beliefs. Moreover, Te'osumatic medicine known as the God-body medicine, after the psychosomatic or psycho-body medicine confirms the impact of faith on the health and recovery of individuals. They believe that illness and death of individuals

Watching cows : invention of tradition and construction of identity in the Frisian folk music revival

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bisschop Boele, Evert

2013-01-01

From the 1960s, in several Western European countries folk music revivals took place. In The Netherlands, the folk music revival was heavily inspired by the folk music revival movements in the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and later by the revivals in France and Flanders (Belgium)

Christian Leclere (1962 - 2014)

CERN Multimedia

2014-01-01

It is with great sadness that we announce the sudden death of our colleague Christian Leclere at the age of 52. He had worked as a courier in the CERN Mail Service since 1988.   Christian was a native of northern France, to which he owed the warm and helpful nature that he never lost. His work, which he thoroughly enjoyed and to which he devoted himself wholeheartedly, suited his personality perfectly, in particular his liking for social interaction and his constant desire to help others. He did, though, have a slight preference for his rounds of the Prévessin site and the underground areas, which he honed to perfection. Paradoxically, Christian was quiet and unassuming, yet always there when anyone needed him. His loss leaves a huge void in the Mail Office team, and he will be greatly missed by all those who knew him. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. His colleagues and friends

Christian meditation. A Path to oneself and Others. Qualitative study of Christian meditation and cultural encounters in lives of adults in Latvia

OpenAIRE

Šķupele, Alise

2015-01-01

Abstract This master thesis examines individual experiences regarding “Christian Meditation” of John Main and cultural encounters. Through qualitative interviews with Christian meditators the thesis aims to understand the subjective meanings of Christian Meditation from the informant’s point of view. The purpose of the thesis is to explore the subjective experiences of Christian Meditation and cultural encounters; and to explore the subjective experiences of the meaning of Chri...

Godsdiensvryheid in 'n toekomstige Suid-Afrika in die lig van artikel 36 van die Nederlandse Geloofsbelydenis

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J. M. Vorster

1993-06-01

Full Text Available Freedom of religion is a basic human right and is acknowledged as such in Christian ethics. The application of religious freedom may, however, not lead to a reduction of Christian faith and doctrine: it should also not result in a society with 'freedom from religion'. Christians should be able to ma­nifest their religious beliefs in teaching, practice, worship, observance, mis­sionary activity and evangelism.

Sacred practices in highly religious families: Christian, Jewish, Mormon, and Muslim perspectives.

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Marks, Loren

2004-06-01

Quantitative research examining linkages between family relationships and religious experience has increased substantially in recent years. However, related qualitative research, including research that examines the processes and meanings behind recurring religion-family correlations, remains scant. To address this paucity, a racially diverse sample (N = 24) of married, highly religious Christian, Jewish, Mormon, and Muslim parents of school-aged children were interviewed regarding the importance of religious family interactions, rituals, and practices in their families. Mothers and fathers discussed several religious practices that were meaningful to them and explained why these practices were meaningful. Parents also identified costs and challenges associated with these practices. Interview data are presented in connection with three themes: (1) "practicing [and parenting] what you preach," (2) religious practices, family connection, and family communion, and (3) costs of family religious practices. The importance of family clinicians and researchers attending to the influence of religious practice in the lives of highly religious individuals and families is discussed.

Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Niels Rosendal

2017-01-01

Anmeldelse af Niels Reehs "Secularization Revisited. Teaching of Religion and the State of Denmark" med afsæt i de nutidige kampe om kristendom og islam og med fremhævelse af Reehs forståelse af staten/religionen som en 'survival unit'.......Anmeldelse af Niels Reehs "Secularization Revisited. Teaching of Religion and the State of Denmark" med afsæt i de nutidige kampe om kristendom og islam og med fremhævelse af Reehs forståelse af staten/religionen som en 'survival unit'....

The ecclesiastical situation of the first generation Roman Christians

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A. B. du Toit

1997-12-01

Full Text Available Forming pan of a trilogy about the first generation Roman Christians, this anicle concentrates on the ecclesiastical aspect. From some scattered and relatively small groups, the numbers of Roman Christians increased markedly in the second half of the first century. According to Romans 16, Jewish Christians played a significant role in the initial period, although Gentile Christians were in the majority. Friction between these groups may have been a problem, but was not Paul's main concern. The Gentile Christians were mainly from a foreign background. Thus the first Christian community had a strongly cosmopolitan character. The plurality of house-churches was mainly due to practical factors, but social differentiation might have played a role. Meetings most probably took place in the ordinary rented apanments of insulae. Romans 16 renders a vivid picture of the leadership activities of Christian women and of Paul's enlightened position in this regard.

Spirituality and caring in old age and the significance of religion - a hermeneutical study from Norway.

Science.gov (United States)

Rykkje, Linda L R; Eriksson, Katie; Raholm, Maj-Britt

2013-06-01

Spirituality is an important part of caring for the whole human being. However, there is lack of consensus about the concept parameter, and there is an ongoing discussion in nursing regarding the relation between religion and spirituality. Spirituality and religion is found to support health and well-being in old age, and this article portrays how older Norwegians understand religion and religious support as part of spirituality and caring. The theoretical framework in this study is Eriksson's caritative caring theory, and the research aim is to broaden the understanding of spirituality from a caring science perspective. The methodology is hermeneutical according to Gadamer. The study is based upon qualitative content analysis of 30 interviews with 17 participants above 74 years, six men and 11 women. The findings portray connectedness with a Higher power, including how Christianity has influenced upon the philosophy of life of the participants, wonders about the end of life/afterlife, and the meaning of religious symbols and rituals. The study also portrays how religious support may foster dignity, especially near the end of life, and experiences and opinions regarding support from nursing personnel. The study concludes that religiousness cannot be separated from spirituality, and that nurses should be able to provide spiritual care to a certain extent. Spiritual care including religious support according to patients' desires may foster health and preserve human dignity. © 2012 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Traditional Ukrainian songs as performed by folk choirs of ‘Sloboda’ Ukraine

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Vlada Rusina

2013-06-01

Full Text Available In the context of the worldwide globalization processes the issues pertaining to the quest for national identity acquire a particular signifi cance. This is true in the case of Ukraine as a newly independent state in the establishment and consolidation phase. In the conditions marked by a general obliteration of folk customs and traditions it is folk amateur choirs/gatherings (hurts that often become vehicles of folk culture. This study presents rare records of traditional Ukrainian songs, some of them dating back to the 19th century, which the author made in the course of several field trips.

Polyphony and Pragmatism in Scandinavian Spells c. 1300-1600

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søndergaard, Leif

2017-01-01

the 1480s which is the first extensive collection of spells in Scandinavia, preserved from the Middle Ages. This unique collection is introduced for the first time in an international context. The borders between religion and magic, religion and natural science, Christian and non-Christian elements, were...

Imitation, Awareness, and Folk Linguistic Artifacts

Science.gov (United States)

Brunner, Elizabeth Gentry

2010-01-01

Imitations are sophisticated performances displaying regular patterns. The study of imitation allows linguists to understand speakers' perceptions of sociolinguistic variation. In this dissertation, I analyze imitations of non-native accents in order to answer two questions: what can imitation reveal about perception, and how are "folk linguistic…

Brazilian Folk Art as a possibility of multicultural teaching of the visual arts

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Amanda Cristina Figueira Bastos de Melo

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The present article establishes an overview of the relationship between culture and the teaching of Art in Brazil, reflecting about multiculturalism in the teaching of Visual Arts through Folk Art. It is based on a literature review, analysis of works of art and their relation to multicultural issues. The study highlights the importance of Folk Art as a source of multicultural studies, as well as the need to deal with these issues within the school environment. There has not been much discussion about the topic, especially regarding Folk Art. The research concludes that it is possible to teach multicultural Art through an approach of the Folk Art, as it enables a better approximation to the learners’ universe and contribute for the development of their critical, reflexive and esthetic abilities.

Middle Eastern Christians in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sparre, Sara Cathrine Lei; Hunter, Alistair; Jørgensen, Anne Rosenlund

This booklet, published in English, Danish, Swedish and Arabic, has the aim to present overall findings of the research project Defining and Identifying Middle Eastern Christians in Europe (DIMECCE) to a broader audience.......This booklet, published in English, Danish, Swedish and Arabic, has the aim to present overall findings of the research project Defining and Identifying Middle Eastern Christians in Europe (DIMECCE) to a broader audience....

Teologie van godsdienste: ’n Perspektief op die verhouding tussen Christendom en Tradisionele Afrika Godsdienste

OpenAIRE

Jaco Beyers

2006-01-01

Theology of Religions: A perspective on the relationship between Christianity and the Traditional African Religion In this discussion the relationship between Christianity and the Traditional African Religion is critically evaluated. The relationship is viewed from the perspective of the understanding of revelation and from the understanding of divinity. The possibility of a true African Christology is investigated and the understanding of sin and redemption from an African perspective is ...

Globalization, Imperialism and Christianity: The Nigerian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

FIRST LADY

Musical instruments which Nigerian Christian churches use most often are those that depict .... the entire world”. Ekiyor (2007:51) states: “Globalization has aided and abetted the movement .... child-kidnapping and the local slave trade. 5. Christianity ..... Education and national development: A critique of NEPAD. Philosophy ...

Language and values in the human cloning debate: a web-based survey of scientists and Christian fundamentalist pastors.

Science.gov (United States)

Weasel, Lisa H; Jensen, Eric

2005-04-01

Over the last seven years, a major debate has arisen over whether human cloning should remain legal in the United States. Given that this may be the 'first real global and simultaneous news story on biotechnology' (Einsiedel et al., 2002, p.313), nations around the world have struggled with the implications of this newly viable scientific technology, which is often also referred to as somatic cell nuclear transfer. Since the successful cloning of Dolly the sheep in 1997, and with increasing media attention paid to the likelihood of a successful human reproductive clone coupled with research suggesting the medical potential of therapeutic cloning in humans, members of the scientific community and Christian fundamentalist leaders have become increasingly vocal in the debate over U.S. policy decisions regarding human cloning (Wilmut, 2000). Yet despite a surfeit of public opinion polls and widespread opining in the news media on the topic of human cloning, there have been no empirical studies comparing the views of scientists and Christian fundamentalists in this debate (see Evans, 2002a for a recent study of opinion polls assessing religion and attitudes toward cloning). In order to further investigate the values that underlie scientists' and Christian fundamentalist leader's understanding of human cloning, as well as their differential use of language in communicating about this issue, we conducted an open-ended, exploratory survey of practicing scientists in the field of molecular biology and Christian fundamentalist pastors. We then analyzed the responses from this survey using qualitative discourse analysis. While this was not necessarily a representative sample (in quantitative terms, see Gaskell & Bauer, 2000) of each of the groups and the response rate was limited, this approach was informative in identifying both commonalities between the two groups, such as a focus on ethical concerns about reproductive cloning and the use of scientific terminology, as well

The Ebionites: Eccentric or Essential Early Christians?

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William J. Cook, Jr

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Interest in the world of ancient Christianity has been increasing over the past twenty years as news reports and books about the Gnostic Gospels have caused many to wonder whether their knowledge and assumptions about early Christianity might be either seriously limited or even erroneous. An intriguing example of one form of “early Christianity” which challenges one’s expectations is a group known as the Ebionites, Jewish Christians who did not accept the divinity of Christ, believed that Jesus actually increased an emphasis on the “law” and saw Paul of Tarsus as an enemy. Ebionites were vegetarians and claimed that all of their views were approved by both James, the brother of Jesus and leader of the Christian community in Jerusalem, as well as Peter. This paper explores what is known about the beliefs, practices, and history of this remarkable group of antiquated believers and examines their place in relation to both the Orthodox Jewish and the “Proto-Orthodox” Christian communities of that era.

CONSTANTINE AND CHRISTIANITY: THE FORMATION OF ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

STM

As a result of Constantine‟s policies, the Christian Church and the Roman .... public organization, thus paving the way for the Catholic .... time, however, church teachings were being integrated into the state .... partner with him in controlling the empire. .... Charles Norris Cochrane, Christianity and Classical Culture, 186. 23.

Religion and morality.

Science.gov (United States)

McKay, Ryan; Whitehouse, Harvey

2015-03-01

The relationship between religion and morality has long been hotly debated. Does religion make us more moral? Is it necessary for morality? Do moral inclinations emerge independently of religious intuitions? These debates, which nowadays rumble on in scientific journals as well as in public life, have frequently been marred by a series of conceptual confusions and limitations. Many scientific investigations have failed to decompose "religion" and "morality" into theoretically grounded elements; have adopted parochial conceptions of key concepts-in particular, sanitized conceptions of "prosocial" behavior; and have neglected to consider the complex interplay between cognition and culture. We argue that to make progress, the categories "religion" and "morality" must be fractionated into a set of biologically and psychologically cogent traits, revealing the cognitive foundations that shape and constrain relevant cultural variants. We adopt this fractionating strategy, setting out an encompassing evolutionary framework within which to situate and evaluate relevant evidence. Our goals are twofold: to produce a detailed picture of the current state of the field, and to provide a road map for future research on the relationship between religion and morality. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Computational Drafting of Plot Structures for Russian Folk Tales.

Science.gov (United States)

Gervás, Pablo

The plots of stories are known to follow general patterns in terms of their overall structure. This was the basic tenet of structuralist approaches to narratology. Vladimir Propp proposed a procedure for the generation of new tales based on his semi-formal description of the structure of Russian folk tales. This is one of the first existing instances of a creative process described procedurally. The present paper revisits Propp's morphology to build a system that generates instances of Russian folk tales. Propp's view of the folk tale as a rigid sequence of character functions is employed as a plot driver, and some issues that Propp declared relevant but did not explore in detail-such as long-range dependencies between functions or the importance of endings-are given computational shape in the context of a broader architecture that captures all the aspects discussed by Propp. A set of simple evaluation metrics for the resulting outputs is defined inspired on Propp's formalism. The potential of the resulting system for providing a creative story generation system is discussed, and possible lines of future work are discussed.

Gender, narratives, and religious competition among the Sonjo of Tanzania

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Vähäkangas, Mika

2013-05-01

Full Text Available For about sixty years, Christian mission has encountered the resistant Sonjo traditions, and much of the competition between religions has happened in the realm of narratives. Sonjo myths and stories change according to the religio-political needs, and Christians make use of stories or versions of myths that gain them leverage against the traditional religion. Christian mission attempts to utilize womens position as an argument for its benefit. Sonjo Christian women, finding themselves between two patriarchies, the traditional and the Christian, negotiate themselves additional moving space by positioning themselves usually in accordance to churches positions but sometimes to the Sonjo traditions.

Beyond Freud in psychoanalytic psychology of religion? On the discussion of religion as projection

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Belzen, J.A.

2010-01-01

In 1907, Sigmund Freud initiated the psychoanalytic psychology of religion, until the present day the most important contributor to the psychology of religion literature in general, and the branch of psychological critique of religion best known outside of psychology circles (having drawn attention

An Essay on Academic Disciplines, Faithfulness, and the Christian Scholar

Science.gov (United States)

Gould, Paul

2014-01-01

Christian scholars inhabit at least two communities: the community of Christians and the community of scholars. Each community has its own distinctive set of beliefs, practices, and criteria for membership. To avoid incoherence, the Christian scholar seeks to understand the relationship between the two communities. The Christian, we are told, must…

Bringing the banjo back to life: The field of dutch independent folk music as participatory culture

OpenAIRE

Poecke, Niels; Michael, Janna

2016-01-01

textabstractIn this paper we investigate factors underlying the production of independent folk music (indie folk) in the Netherlands. By studying the creation, distribution and reception of indie folk music through in-depth interviewing, we argue that the social production of indie folk music is affected by a shift towards 'participatory culture' brought about by the rise of the Internet and Web 2.0. We note how Web 2.0 helps musicians to educate themselves and to develop careers in music. Se...

Tensions in the meeting between institutional logics and identities in Swedish folk high schools

OpenAIRE

Runesdotter, Caroline

2011-01-01

Swedish folk high schools previously held an autonomous position with their own courses, specially trained teachers and the teachers’ association. With the introduction of market-like structures in adult education a variety of providers including folk high schools have become involved in the competition for public and private educational commissions. This article focuses on the tensions at folk high schools when perceived dependence on income from competitive commissions results in new practi...

A Christian Critique of the University.

Science.gov (United States)

Malik, Charles Habib

Views on the place and power of the university, the church's role in the university, and the sciences and humanities are presented. The secularization of western universities raises fundamental criticisms from the Christian point of view that the university atmosphere is not congenial to Christian spiritual values, and that higher education…

Christian Nurture and the New Cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Elizabeth Box

2008-01-01

Christian Religious Education recognizes the crisis in perception caused by eroding cosmologies and engages persons in the reformulating of Christian stories that negate a limiting materialism perpetuating consumerism destructive to life. A course is developed for theological students in which they may become aware of cosmology and its New Story,…

Religion 2.0

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, René Dybdal

17 artikler som hver især fremviser og diskuterer aktuelle temaer i forhold til religion i Danmark i dag......17 artikler som hver især fremviser og diskuterer aktuelle temaer i forhold til religion i Danmark i dag...

Christian Birch - den korrupte konferensråd

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Mette Frisk

2005-01-01

  http://www.sidensaxo.dk/fileadmin/saxo-abstract-uploads/christian_birch_den_korrupte_konferensraad_2005_3.pdf......  http://www.sidensaxo.dk/fileadmin/saxo-abstract-uploads/christian_birch_den_korrupte_konferensraad_2005_3.pdf...

Religion and finance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Renneboog, L.D.R.; Spaenjers, C.; Baker, H.K.; Nofsinger, J.R.

2012-01-01

Individuals' economic attitudes are frequently observed to vary in a systematic manner with religious affiliation or religiosity. As a consequence, religion is also correlated with a range of financial-economic outcomes. Research has established the importance of religion at the macro-economic

The motivation of European governments for sending Christian missionaries to Iran during Safavid era

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انسیه Hoseyni Sharif

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Religious changes and reforms which occurred in most European countries in the fifteenth century, Ottoman danger which was an important issue in the Christian world and Europe, and some other factors made European countries seek to disseminate Christianity and promote Catholicism by collaboration and advice from Pope. Therefore, any European country selected missionaries among Catholic sects and sent them to other areas including Iran. What was governments` main motivation to send missionaries to other areas? Were religious factors influenced by political and economic issues? The present article attempts to have an analytical view and to utilize the reports related to the presence and activities of missionaries in Iran, Travelogues, and all historic documents and books to answer the two questions. According to political, economic and religious situation of Europe, it seems that the missionaries were sent by the support from European governments. However, because of the especial importance of the religious issues in Europe, the factor of religion was the most important matter in sending missionaries. On the other hand, due to a feud with Ottomans, commercial competitions in Europe, and development of capitalism, political and commercial issues had attracted the attention of European governments and the Pope. Priests and missionaries were very influential in development and success of political and commercial relations among European governments. But, the claim that the missionaries were sent just for political and commercial purposes is not acceptable.

JOURNAL OF RELIGION 2014 CURVEEE

African Journals Online (AJOL)

IK

religion specifically x-rays the role religion play in nation-building. Since ... been found to be positively neglected to such organizational characteristics, as ... However, the power of religion to perform its function in any society depends on.

Riflessioni antropologiche sulla religione - Some anthropological reflections on religion

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Antonino Colajanni

2015-11-01

criticize and put on discussion the same religious system existing within the culture of the student of religious ideas and actions. A sort of “religious relativism” appears then to be necessary. In the case of Christianity in particular, it appears necessary to reconstruct carefully the ancient and recent history of Christian religion, with all its transformations, in order to get a sufficient distance from the implicit influences of that very complex cultural-religious system, which could produce a sort of deformation in the process of understanding and interpretation of the religious ideas of the others. The last part of the essay is dedicated to a presentation of an extended text on religious ideas and shamanism, collected among the Shuar Indians of Ecuadorian Amazon, to which the general and methodological suggestions and the reflections presented above have been applied.

Like a prayer: the role of spirituality and religion for people living with HIV in the UK.

Science.gov (United States)

Ridge, Damien; Williams, Ian; Anderson, Jane; Elford, Jonathan

2008-04-01

Over 40,000 people are now living with diagnosed HIV in the UK. There is, however, uncertainty about how people with HIV use religion or spirituality to cope with their infection. Adopting a modified grounded theory approach, we analysed individual and group interviews with the people most affected by HIV in the UK: black African heterosexual men and women and gay men (mostly white). For the majority of black African heterosexual men and women in our study, religion was extremely important. We found that gay men in the study were less religious than black Africans, although many were spiritual in some way. Black African individuals constructed their spiritual narratives as largely Christian or collective, while gay men described more individualistic or 'New Age' approaches. We developed a six-level heuristic device to examine the ways in which prayer and meditation were deployed in narratives to modulate subjective wellbeing. These were: (i) creating a dialogue with an absent counsellor; (ii) constructing a compassionate 'life scheme'; (iii) interrupting rumination; (iv) establishing mindfulness; (v) promoting positive thinking, and (vi) getting results. That people with HIV report specific subjective benefits from prayer or meditation presents a challenge to secular healthcare professionals and sociologists.

Folk national culture as a means of forming norms of communication in childhood

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Chernushevich V. A.

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The best carriers of playing culture are children, who possess and enjoy it. Destroyed social kids’ structures, territorial kids’ associations (family, yard, village, street communities of children interrupted generally the process of culture transmission, reproduction and passing of communication tradition. And there is a need in social-state “revivification” (recovering folk games list and its’ players, enough for folk games reproduction process. Folk game includes particular properties of relations on the levels of physical and emotional, vocal interaction, imagery-symbolic filling, special features of clothes (all aspects of communication that constitute features of national culture of the nation and make from the nation the community of people very special and different from other communities and nations. Studying of correctional possibilities of folk games within the frames of playing agendas showed that their psychological and emotional resources provide the conditions for adoption by children the norms of communication.

Modern Christian healing of mental illness.

Science.gov (United States)

Favazza, A R

1982-06-01

Healing of mental illness through religious practices was a key element of early Christianity. In the early twentieth century such healing was associated with blue-collar and rural Fundamentalists, but religious healing practices have gained widespread acceptance by many middle-class, conservative Christian groups. "Evil demons" are now equated with envy, pride, avarice, hatred, and obsessions with alcohol and gambling. Many psychotherapeutic techniques of modern Christian healers appear to be rediscoveries of psychoanalytic insights expressed in religious metaphors. Most responsible healers encourage clients to seek medical and psychiatric help, especially for serious mental disorders. Psychiatrists need not share patients' religious beliefs, but for treatment to be effective these beliefs must be understood and respected.

Orthodox Christian Education in Modern Russia: Structure and Content

Science.gov (United States)

Sklyarova, T. V.

2018-01-01

The article describes Orthodox Christian education as a kind of religious education. It offers a definition of Orthodox Christian education and characterizes its structure in modern Russia. It proposes a model for the Orthodox Christian education system, including introductory, basic, professional, and advanced academic levels. The author…

Religion and Globalization in Laos Religion und Globalisierung in Laos

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Boike Rehbein

2009-04-01

Full Text Available According to Eurocentric sociology, modernization is supposed to make religion secular, a functional system, or a private matter. A closer analysis of the impact of contemporary globalization on religion in Laos shows that these tendencies can only be observed in certain social groups and in certain realms of religion. Some social groups preserve or reinvent religious traditions, others construct a new identity, and some do tend towards secularism or differentiation. The paper investigates these tendencies, referring to an empirical case study. It proposes to explain them within a conceptual framework adapted to societies of the global South which focuses on the concepts of social structure, division of work, socioculture, and institution. On the basis of these concepts, the paper proposes to distinguish between different religious realms, namely, belief, performance, and knowledge. In each of these three realms, different tendencies and social distributions can be observed. Der eurozentrischen Soziologie zufolge wird Religion im Zuge der Modernisierung entweder säkularisiert oder privatisiert oder in ein funktionales System verwandelt. Eine genauere Analyse des Einflusses, den die gegenwärtige Globalisierung auf die Religion in Laos ausübt, zeigt jedoch, dass diese Tendenzen auf bestimmte soziale Gruppen und Aspekte der Religion beschränkt sind. Einige soziale Gruppen bewahren oder rekonstruieren religiöse Traditionen, andere konstruieren eine neue Identität und wieder andere tendieren zu Säkularisierung oder funktionaler Differenzierung. Der Aufsatz analysiert diese Phänomene am Beispiel einer Fallstudie auf der Basis eines an den globalen Süden angepassten Begriffsapparats, der um die Begriffe Sozialstruktur, Tätigkeitsteilung, Soziokultur und Institution kreist. Der Aufsatz schlägt vor, zwischen den religiösen Sphären des Glaubens, der Performanz und des Wissens zu unterscheiden. In jeder Sphäre lassen sich unterschiedliche

Ethics, religion and humanity: Rethinking religion in 21 st century ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Thus, there is a relationship between religion, ethics and humanity. However, more often than not, religion is alleged for being a root cause of all human predicaments; that it provides viable and abundant fuel for conflict such that in every continent of the world, there are troubled spots rooted in religious conflicts. Although ...

Religion til Hverdag

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Dorthe Refslund

2006-01-01

Live rollespil er ikke religion men rollespillet bruges ofte hvor man ellers ville bruge religionens univers fx til mytologisering og ritualisering Udgivelsesdato: september......Live rollespil er ikke religion men rollespillet bruges ofte hvor man ellers ville bruge religionens univers fx til mytologisering og ritualisering Udgivelsesdato: september...

Teaching Jessica: race, religion, and gender in The Merchant of Venice

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Sicher Efraim

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The Jew’s “fair daughter” in Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice converts and marries a Christian, Lorenzo. Recent attention, however, to changing ideas of race and identity in the early modern period has brought into question the divisions of Christian/Jew/Moor. Can Jessica convert and no longer be considered the Jew’s daughter? As “gentle” and “fair” is she to be considered gentile and in no way dark (spiritually or racially? Jessica’s conversion has apparently little religious meaning, but rather she is saved from the Jew her father by marriage to Lorenzo, who becomes Shylock’s heir. Is Jessica’s conversion to be considered a matter of convenience that might, as Launcelot quips, raise the price of hogs, or is it also to be counted as an ideological and racial conversion that reveals underlying anxieties about gender, sexuality, and religious identity? This essay attempts to argue against the grain of the performance history of The Merchant History, which often downplays the role of Jessica or revises the text of the play, and returns to the text in order to contextualize the conversion of Jessica in contemporary discourses of gender, race, and religion in England’s expansionist colonialism and proto-capitalist commerce. The conversion of Jessica can be seen in that context as an exchange of monetary and ethical value, in which women’s sexuality also had a price-tag. These questions have implications for the teaching of the play and for the understanding of its concerns with unstable sexual, religious, and national identities.

Special Education Staffing and Service Models in Christian Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Lane, Julie M.

2017-01-01

Christian schools are not obligated to accept children with disabilities. However, the growing trend in Christian schools is to serve children with disabilities. Recent literature has begun to identify enrollment trends, areas of disability served, and professional development in Christian schools as it relates to disability. Literature exists…

Religion, civil society and conflict: What is it that religion does for and to society?

OpenAIRE

Jaco Beyers

2011-01-01

Human consciousness instinctively tries to make sense of reality. Different human interpretations of reality lead to a world consisting of multiple realities. Conflict occurs when differing realities (worldviews) encounter one another. Worldviews are socially created and determine human behaviour and, as such, most often find expression in religion. The discussion of conflict and the role of religion in civil society take place within the discourse of the sociology of religion. Religion is so...

Understanding the anatomy of religion as basis for religion in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2011-07-04

Jul 4, 2011 ... My aim is to approach the problem of religion in and/or education from a different viewpoint. I contend that the ... religion that I proffer to the test by applying it to the South .... Modern humanism is the faith that through science humankind can know the ..... This will be detrimental to their mastering of their.

Faith in Islam and Christianity and its impact on health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Reza Ajdar

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Of the most central elements of religions and most important issues in theology and the Contemporary study of religion is the category of faith and its greatest impact on various aspects of life. Faith, in Islamic and Christian theology, has common and also distinct aspects. The truth of Faith in Islamic thought was multidimensional and consists of a wide range of Confession of language, intellectual knowledge, heart affirmation and inner experience to the treatment involves external actions. In Christianity, it was faith in confirmation of the revealed proposition that led to a sense of transcendence and meta-proposition and created Interest mode in human And sometimes faith apply to the experience of presence and manifestation of God in life.   The position of consensus and association between Islam and Christianity was consists of the doctrine of Belief in God and the prophecy and resurrection. This belief is based on the functionalist view affected on body and psyche (or soul health of the human. The impact of Faith on physical and mental health has been separately approved by the specialists. The impacts of faith and religious teachings on physical health have been investigated through psycho-neuro-physiological way that Faith and Religious teachings produce positive emotions in human. The emotions through autonomous nervous system strengthen the immune system and its optimal performance in a way that the messenger molecule called neuropeptide Y, carry the messages related to thoughts and transport it through the blood circulation, and the mental state directly relate to the body's cells. This is the most important factor in strengthening or weakening the immune system influenced by the thoughts and beliefs. Moreover, Te'osumatic medicine known as the God-body medicine, after the psychosomatic or psycho-body medicine confirms the impact of faith on the health and recovery of individuals. They believe that illness and death

Faith in Islam and Christianity and its impact on health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Reza Ajdar

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Of the most central elements of religions and most important issues in theology and the Contemporary study of religion is the category of faith and its greatest impact on various aspects of life. Faith, in Islamic and Christian theology, has common and also distinct aspects. The truth of Faith in Islamic thought was multidimensional and consists of a wide range of Confession of language, intellectual knowledge, heart affirmation and inner experience to the treatment involves external actions. In Christianity, it was faith in confirmation of the revealed proposition that led to a sense of transcendence and meta-proposition and created Interest mode in human And sometimes faith apply to the experience of presence and manifestation of God in life.   The position of consensus and association between Islam and Christianity was consists of the doctrine of Belief in God and the prophecy and resurrection. This belief is based on the functionalist view affected on body and psyche (or soul health of the human. The impact of Faith on physical and mental health has been separately approved by the specialists. The impacts of faith and religious teachings on physical health have been investigated through psycho-neuro-physiological way that Faith and Religious teachings produce positive emotions in human. The emotions through autonomous nervous system strengthen the immune system and its optimal performance in a way that the messenger molecule called neuropeptide Y, carry the messages related to thoughts and transport it through the blood circulation, and the mental state directly relate to the body's cells. This is the most important factor in strengthening or weakening the immune system influenced by the thoughts and beliefs. Moreover, Te'osumatic medicine known as the God-body medicine, after the psychosomatic or psycho-body medicine confirms the impact of faith on the health and recovery of individuals. They believe that illness and death

Jaina Religion and Psychiatry*

OpenAIRE

Gada, Manilal

2015-01-01

Jaina religion has existed for thousands of years. Lord Mahavir was the last of the 24 Tirthankaras, 23 having preceded him. The principals of Jaina religion teach us: (1) Self-control, which includes: (a) Control over physiological instinct of hunger and sex; (b) control over desires; (c) control over emotions; (2) meditation; (3) introspection; (4) concentration; and (5) healthy interpersonal relationship. The principles of Jaina Religion can contribute to Positive Mental Health.

Dare to believe, dare to create: Christianity and contemporary Brazilian literature

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Luciano Santos

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses primarily discuss the relationship of the Christian camp with the so called modern culture in Brazil over the past century, describing the process that goes here called Christianity “reaction” to a Christianity “transformation “ since some of the most significant writers of contemporary Brazilian Catholic Christian inspiration in their respective historical contexts. Among other aspects involved in the relationship between Christianity and modernity, especially discusses the possibility and legitimacy of articulating the perennial newness of Christian revelation with a libertarian aesthetic design, combining boldness and daring to believe created.

When Christianity and homosexuality collide: understanding the potential intrapersonal conflict.

Science.gov (United States)

Subhi, Nasrudin; Geelan, David

2012-01-01

Reconciling sexual orientation with religious and spiritual beliefs can be challenging for Christian homosexuals, since many Christian churches teach that homosexual behavior is sinful. A qualitative study of 10 male and 10 female Christian homosexuals was conducted via semistructured interviews. This article seeks to explore the potential conflict between Christianity and homosexuality faced by the respondents. Participants' life stories and experiences varied widely. A few respondents were unaffected by the potential conflict between Christianity and homosexuality, however, the majority were affected. Effects included depression, guilt, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and alienation. Implications of the findings for support personnel are included.

Suicide and religion.

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Cook, Christopher C H

2014-01-01

Much of the evidence that religion provides a protective factor against completed suicide comes from cross-sectional studies. This issue of the Journal includes a report of a new prospective study. An understanding of the relationship between spirituality, religion and suicide is important in assessing and caring for those at risk.

Teaching Religion, Teaching Truth: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. Religion, Education and Values. Volume 1

Science.gov (United States)

Astley, Jeff, Ed.; Francis, Leslie J., Ed.; Robbins, Mandy, Ed.; Selcuk, Mualla, Ed.

2012-01-01

Religious educators today are called upon to enable young people to develop as fully-rounded human beings in a multicultural and multi-faith world. It is no longer sufficient to teach about the history of religions: religion is not relegated to the past. It is no longer sufficient to teach about the observable outward phenomena of religions:…

Confidentiality and its limits: some contributions from Christianity.

Science.gov (United States)

Torrance, I R

2003-02-01

The issue is whether Christianity, of its nature, would seek to prevent a justifiable breach of confidentiality or could endorse it, under certain circumstances, as the act which is fundamentally more loving or more truthful. The individualistic nature of Western Christianity is noted. The Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer is used to show Christian support for dynamic rather than literal truth telling, and for awareness of the contexts and power relations within which persons stand.

Use of folk healing practices by HIV-infected Hispanics living in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Suarez, M; Raffaelli, M; O'Leary, A

1996-12-01

In the absence of a medical cure for AIDS, HIV-infected individuals may seek alternative treatments that are consistent with cultural and social beliefs. This paper examines beliefs about, and use of, folk healing practices by HIV-infected Hispanics receiving care at an HIV/AIDS clinic in inner-city New Jersey. Anonymous individual interviews were conducted with 58 male and 18 female HIV-infected Hispanics aged 23-55, primarily of Puerto Rican origin (61%) or descent (29%). The majority of respondents believed in good and evil spirits (73.7%); among the 56 believers, 48% stated that the spirits had a causal role in their infection, either alone or in conjunction with the AIDS virus. Two thirds of the respondents engaged in folk healing (spiritualism and/or santeria). The main desired outcomes of folk healing included physical relief (44%), spiritual relief (40%), and protection from evil (26%). A number of respondents (n = 9) stated that they hoped to effect a cure by engaging in folk healing. These results indicate that health care professionals treating HIV-positive Hispanics should be aware of the prevalence of folk beliefs and alternative healing practices in this population.

The Role of Christian Education in the Development of Spiritual Stamina in Young Adult Graduates of Christian Schools

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Long, Violet E.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to investigate the personal development of spiritual stamina in graduates of Christian high schools who attend secular universities or colleges. Participants are comprised of a theoretical sampling of 16 young adult graduates of one of four Christian schools in Southeastern United States.…

A profile of the belief in Jesus and salvation among the Afrikaans speaking Christian youth

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Hendrik J.C. Pieterse

2003-10-01

Full Text Available This article is based on the results of a large-scale empirical-theolo-gical research project on “Religion and Human Rights among South African Youth.” Using the extensive database of this project, the article focuses on the results on the images of Jesus and the belief in salvation of Grade 11 learners. The results present a profile of the pluralistic and diverse scale of nuances in the belief structures of Christian teenagers. The results of the English-speaking private school learners are placed alongside the results of the Afrikaans speaking public school learners in order to obtain a more prolific picture of the belief of the Afrikaans speaking youth. The effect their belief in salvation has on their views regarding human rights is also examined. The results challenge the preacher to think dialectically and hermeneutically in a new age and context.

An explanation and analysis of how world religions formulate their ethical decisions on withdrawing treatment and determining death.

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Setta, Susan M; Shemie, Sam D

2015-03-11

This paper explores definitions of death from the perspectives of several world and indigenous religions, with practical application for health care providers in relation to end of life decisions and organ and tissue donation after death. It provides background material on several traditions and explains how different religions derive their conclusions for end of life decisions from the ethical guidelines they proffer. Research took several forms beginning with a review of books and articles written by ethicists and observers of Bön, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Indigenous Traditions, Islam, Judaism, Shinto and Taoism. It then examined sources to which these authors referred in footnotes and bibliographies. In addition, material was gathered through searches of data bases in religious studies, general humanities, social sciences and medicine along with web-based key word searches for current policies in various traditions. Religious traditions provide their adherents with explanations for the meaning and purpose of life and include ethical analysis for the situations in which their followers find themselves. This paper aims to increase cultural competency in practitioners by demonstrating the reasoning process religions use to determine what they believe to be the correct decision in the face of death. Patterns emerge in the comparative study of religious perspectives on death. Western traditions show their rootedness in Judaism in their understanding of the human individual as a finite, singular creation. Although the many branches of Western religions do not agree on precisely how to determine death, they are all able to locate a moment of death in the body. In Eastern traditions personhood is not defined in physical terms. From prescribing the location of death, to resisting medical intervention and definitions of death, Eastern religions, in their many forms, incorporate the beliefs and practices that preceded them. Adding to the complexity for these

Plurality of religion, plurality of justice : exploring the role of religion in disputing processes in Gorongosa, Central Mozambique

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jacobs, C.

2010-01-01

Religion is alive, especially - and increasingly - in the global South. What impact does religion have in everyday life as provider of normative orientations? This research investigates the role of religion in disputing processes in Gorongosa, Mozambique, where both traditional religion and

Christian ethic of love and Hindu ethic of dharma: comparative analysis

OpenAIRE

Pavenkov Oleg Vladimirovich

2014-01-01

This article is devoted to comparative analysis of two ethic systems: Hindu ethic of dharma and Christian ethic of love. If Christian ethic is the ethic of love, love is in the center of Christian moral values, then Hindu ethic is an example of ethic of law. The moral behavior of gods and humans is determined by Karma and cycle of samsara, which is impossible in Christianity. However forgiveness, self-restraint, non-stealing, purity are common moral obligations for Christians and Hindus.

Defiled and deified: profane and sacred bodies in Caitanya Vaisnava theology

OpenAIRE

Måns Broo

2011-01-01

It is well known that there is no dearth of stereotypes when it comes to religion and the body. Christianity is a body-negative religion, Judaism is body-positive, ascetic practices automatically lead to a negative view of the body, and Eastern religions are more positive towards the body than Christianity. Such truisms are of little value. Still, they are voiced often enough to warrant occasional replies. In this article one instance is highlighted, from within the Hindu tradition, that offe...

Christian Social Justice Advocate: Contradiction or Legacy?

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Edwards, Cher N.

2012-01-01

In this article, the relationship between Christian religiosity and the principles of social justice is explored, including the sociopolitical aspects of faith and advocacy. A particular emphasis is placed on the historical legacy and theological relationships between Christianity and social justice. The author concludes with a call for…

The Inter-relationship of Science and Religion: A typology of engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Hanley, Pam; Bennett, Judith; Ratcliffe, Mary

2014-05-01

This study explores whether the religious background of students affects their opinions about and attitudes to engaging with scientific explanations of the origins of the universe and of life. The study took place in four English secondary schools representing three different contexts (Christian faith-based; non-faith with majority Muslim catchment; and non-faith, mixed catchment). It comprised questionnaires and focus groups with over 200 students aged 14-16, supplemented by teacher interviews. The analysis approach was informed by grounded theory and resulted in the development of an engagement typology, which has been set in the context of the cross-cultural border crossing literature. It divides students into categories depending on both the nature and amount of engagement they were prepared to have with the relationship between science and religion. The model takes into account where students sit on four dimensions. These assess whether a student's preferred knowledge base is belief-based or fact-based; their tolerance of uncertainty (do they have a need for resolution?); their open mindedness (are they unquestioning or inquiring?); and whether they conceptualise science and religion as being in conflict or harmony. Many Muslim students resisted engagement because of conflicting religious beliefs. Teachers did not always appreciate the extent to which this topic troubled some students who needed help to accommodate clashes between science and their religious beliefs. It is suggested that increased appreciation of the complexity represented by their students can guide a teacher towards an appropriate approach when covering potentially sensitive topics such as the theory of evolution.

Christian ethic of love and Hindu ethic of dharma: comparative analysis

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Pavenkov Oleg Vladimirovich

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This article is devoted to comparative analysis of two ethic systems: Hindu ethic of dharma and Christian ethic of love. If Christian ethic is the ethic of love, love is in the center of Christian moral values, then Hindu ethic is an example of ethic of law. The moral behavior of gods and humans is determined by Karma and cycle of samsara, which is impossible in Christianity. However forgiveness, self-restraint, non-stealing, purity are common moral obligations for Christians and Hindus.

Bulgarian wedding music between folk and chalg: Politics, markets and current directions

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Silverman Kerol

2007-01-01

Full Text Available This article investigates the performative relationship among folklore, the market, and the state through an analysis of the politics of Bulgarian wedding music. In the socialist period wedding music was condemned by the state and excluded from the category folk but was adored by thousands of fans as a counter-cultural manifestation. In the post-socialist period wedding music achieved recognition in the West but declined in popularity in Bulgarian as fusion music's, such as chalga (folk/pop, arose and as musicians faced challenges vis-à-vis capitalism. As the state withdrew and became weaker private companies with profit-making agendas arose. Although it inspired chalga, wedding music began to be seen in contrast to it, as folk music. Recently, fatigue with chalga and nationalistic ideologies are revitalizing wedding music.

Pediatric lead poisoning from folk prescription for treating epilepsy.

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Ying, Xiao-Lan; Xu, Jian; Markowitz, Morri; Yan, Chong-Huai

2016-10-01

A case of lead poisoning resulting from the ingestion of a folk remedy for treating epilepsy is reported. The initial blood lead concentration of this 6-y-old boy was 63.6μg/dl upon admission. He presented with abdominal pain, constipation, and irritability. The patient's liver function tests were significantly increased. Through chelation therapy, the blood lead concentration dropped markedly and clinical symptoms greatly improved. His blood and urine samples were collected for the kinetic analysis of lead elimination. Folk prescriptions for epilepsy should be considered as potential sources of lead intoxication. Lead poisoning should be taken into consideration for unknown causes of abdominal pain. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Hans Christian Ørsted, narratives, oeuvres and physics education

Science.gov (United States)

Michelsen, Claus

2017-05-01

In 1820 the Danish scientist Hans Christian Ørsted discovered the relationship between electricity and magnetism by his famous wire-compass experiment. Ørsted was one of the foremost scientists of the nineteenth century, and he was also one of the leading figures in Denmark in the 19th century with a vital influence in the fields of aesthetics, philosophy, education, politics and religion. In this paper the work and life of Ørsted is placed in a school context with the rationale to accentuate that learning of physics needs to be accompanied by learning about physics, its history, its interrelations with culture, worldviews, and commerce, its philosophical assumptions, its epistemology and methodology. Narratives are introduced as a pedagogical support to this approach and two concrete examples of teaching sequences centred on the work and life of Ørsted is described in grade 7 and grade 9 classes, respectively. A prominent feature of the sequences was that all the activities of the pupils as an outcome should have a product. Products like a movie, a loudspeaker, a fairy tale or a newspaper played an important role by encouraging the pupils to produce both personally meaningful works as well as products that are useful for their community.

The liquidation of the church : From Parochial Religion to Religion on Stage

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Groot, Kees

2017-01-01

Is religion dying out in Western societies? Is personal spirituality taking its place? Both stories are inadequate. Institutional religion is not simply coming to an end in Western societies. Rather, its assets and properties are redistributed: large parts of the church have gone into liquidation.

Christians in South Africa: The statistical picture

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Abstract. Christians in South Africa; The statistical picture. Government censuses since 1960 indicate that the religious picture was already largely fixed by the 1950s. Already at that stage some 3 out of 4. South Africans identified themselves as 'Christians'. Since then this percentage grew steadily, mainly because of ...

Disaggregating Corporate Freedom of Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lægaard, Sune

2015-01-01

The paper investigates arguments for the idea in recent American Supreme Court jurisprudence that freedom of religion should not simply be understood as an ordinary legal right within the framework of liberal constitutionalism but as an expression of deference by the state and its legal system...... to religion as a separate and independent jurisdiction with its own system of law over which religious groups are sovereign. I discuss the relationship between, on the one hand, ordinary rights of freedom of association and freedom of religion and, on the other hand, this idea of corporate freedom of religion...

S(eoul Search: The Changing Religious Landscape in Seoul and Its Implications for Defining “Asia”

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Nami Kim

2010-10-01

Full Text Available There is a saying that if one looks at Seoul at night from afar, one will see a large city covered with neon-lit red crosses. It is also said that a Christian church can be found on every other block in the streets of Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea (also known as South Korea. To be sure, this is not the case. Yet this embellished illustration of Seoul as a Christian symbol of a cross-covered city conveys the message that Christianity is no longer a foreign or a Western religion, but has, rather, become a major religious tradition in South Korea as represented in its capital. Christianity may not be the majority religion in terms of demographics, but it has certainly become a dominant religion in terms of social and political influence as well as economic power in South Korea.

Media, Religion and Public Space

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Gheorghe FALCĂ

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Relations between religion and politics are complex and paradoxical. Both strive to achieve and maintain power. Both politics and religion involve control over social relations and emphasiye social integration (politics in its concern for order in society, and religion in its concern for observance of order and obligations within the congregation. But they differ in respect of specific goals, the values ​​that ascribe to power and differences in their conceptions of the nature and source of power. In the modern world, power, embodied in political institutions, is secular; in the past, its association with religion created a transcendental relationship, causing the possession of power to be of different quality, to come from another world. But, while politics is focused on interpersonal relationships, religion is more oriented towards relations between humans and gods or other spiritual forces.

RELIGION IN FREUD’S APPROACH

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Mukrimin Mukrimin

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This article aimed to examine the essence of religion by using Sigmund Freud’ psychoanalysis. It looks at the Freud’s theories: “the ontogenic” and “the phylogenenic”. The origins of religious and belief traditions, as Freud had mapped, are neurosis, precarious future, and religion’s masculine roots. Freud’s realist approach on religion brought a controversy on the study of religion, i.e., by associating his patients and order cultural phenomena (art, literature, and philosophy. His falsification over religion mad Freud as the most controversial man in his time. For Freud, the truth-value of religious doctrines does not lie within the scope of the present enquiry. It is enough for us, as Freud asserts that we have recognized them as being, in their psychological nature, illusions. Key Words: religion, Freud, philosophy, psycho-analysis.

Folk Linguistics and Language Teaching Education. A Case Study in an Italian Secondary School

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Santipolo, Matteo

2016-01-01

This paper, after shortly introducing "Folk Linguistics" by defining its domain of competence [cf. Preston, Dennis R., ed. 1999. "Handbook of Perceptual Dialectology." Amsterdam: John Benjamins; Niedzielski, Nancy A., and Dennis R. Preston. 2003. "Folk Linguistics." Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter], attempts to draw an…

Future of Christian health services – an economic perspective

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Steffen Flessa

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Although Christian Health Services have a proud history of healing and compassion especially in developing countries, their future is affected by secular changes in the financing and provision of health care services. However, the nature of life as it is evolving in modern society promises a need for the capacity to deal with increasing dynamics, complexity and uncertainty. In these circumstances the potential capacity of Christians in their institutions and churches to provide Unconditional Reliability suggests a new opportunity. The components of Unconditional Reliability and how they affect the portfolio of Christian Health Services is explained. Effective Christian Health Services will require appropriate analysis of their portfolios.

FOLK TRADITION OF THE ISLAND OF KRK IN THE WORK OF ANTUN BONIFAČIĆ

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Ruža Bonifačić

1995-01-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the influence of the folk tradition of Croatia and of the Island of Krk on the literary and editorial work of Antun Bonifačić. Great attention is given to the musical aspects of folk tradition, and to the literal or consciously changed citations of the Krk traditional songs. The professional concepts connected with the folk music of Istrian-Adriatic area are discussed together with the selected traditional terms. From the opus of Antun Bonifačić is emerging, up to now unknown, field of his interest - folkloristics.

Folklore, creativity, and cultural memory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Glaveanu, Vlad Petre

the role of tradition and creativity in the life of a rural community. Egg decoration is an old custom, with pre-Christian roots, practiced extensively in the historical region of Bucovina, and relying on a complex system of material artefacts and symbolic elements acquired and enacted by artisans usually...... means the opposite of creativity but the actual vehicle of creative activity and its understanding as a stable cultural system ‘engraved’ in collective memory needs to be challenged. The tradition of egg decoration in Romania is a living and evolving social practice that engages the self and community......This paper addresses the question of how folk art can be, simultaneously, a vehicle for cultural memory and cultural creativity. It takes the case of Romanian Easter egg decoration as a practice situated at the intersection between art, folklore, religion and a growing market, it order to unpack...

New Religions and Globalization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bogen er en antologi af bidrag fra en konference under Research Network on New Religions (RENNER). Med bidrag fra specialister i nye religioner og globalisering fra hele verden introduceres empiriske resultater samt teoretiske og metodiske reflektioner over emnet....

The trajectories of Christianity and African ritual practices: the public ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In South Africa, there are mainly two Christian traditions on Christianity and African ritual practices. One being from missionaries and now mainly trailed by most white Mainline Churches and Pentecostal Churches. The other is by African Independent Churches (AIC). The first group oppose and condemn Christian ...

Models of Christian Leadership in Youth Ministry

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Canales, Arthur David

2014-01-01

This article addresses four models of leadership that Christian communities may want to adopt to help them assess and articulate a more vibrant and dynamic youth ministry. In particular, this article will demonstrate that authentic Christian leadership for youth ministry is much more than teaching young people about pastoral skills, but requires a…

Religions in South-Eastern Europe: The Historico-Anthropological Approach

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Michael Mitterauer

2008-06-01

Full Text Available The article approaches religious phenomena in South-Eastern Europe in a historico-anthropological manner. With the aid of historical comparison, the author tries to throw light on the religious phenomena of South-Eastern Europe and to present them in a lucid review. A significant place in this process is given to historical sociology as a discipline which, among other, also deals with the religious conditioning of social processes. The text consists of two parts. In the first, the author deals with the question of the religious particularity of South-Eastern Europe and considers it from several viewpoints. The author regards the most important features of the religious situation in that part of Europe as being particularism, archaicism and syncretism. He analyses the historical conditioning of the viability of the three monotheistic world religions in the region, their influence on the social development of South-Eastern Europe, the stance of the authorities towards religious communities and the existence of diverse traditions within individual religious cultures. Along with analysis of the presence of ancient elements and the continuity of pre-Christian rituals and beliefs, the author also stresses the strong syncretism marking the religious traditions of South-Eastern Europe. In the second part of the text the author compares religious phenomena in South-Eastern Europe and analyses regional religious traditions. He presents from the historico-anthropological aspect the religious rituals, the bearers of rituals, the place and time of rituals and the ritual languages of each of the world religions represented in the region. Emphasising the continuity of religious life and religious traditions in South-Eastern Europe, the author ends with the period of Communist rule in the second half of the 20th century, and deliberation that Communism, too, with its atheist doctrine in the secular form of cult, in fact carried on from religious tradition.

How Christian ethics became medical ethics: the case of Paul Ramsey.

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Hauerwas, Stanley

1995-03-01

Over the last century Christian ethics has moved from an attempt to Christianize the social order to a quandary over whether being Christian unduly biases how medical ethics is done. This movement can be viewed as the internal development of protestant liberalism to its logical conclusion, and Paul Ramsey can be taken as one of the last great representatives of that tradition. By reducing the Christian message to the 'ethical upshot' of neighbour love, Ramsey did not have the resources to show how Christian practice might make a difference for understanding or forming the practice of medicine. Instead, medicine became the practice that exemplified the moral commitments of Christian civilization, and the goal of the ethicist was to identify the values that were constitutive of medicine. Ramsey thus prepared the way for the Christian ethicist to become a medical ethicist with a difference, and the difference simply involved vague theological presumptions that do no serious intellectual work other than explaining, perhaps, the motivations of the ethicist.

"Christ is the Mountain"

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Carl Hallencreutz

1979-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper the author focuses on the religious function of symbols in the encounter and interaction of Christianity and other religions. Some observations on the religious function of the symbol of the Holy Mountain in different African contexts are presented. These contexts are a traditional Kikuyu religion, b a Christian hymn from Northern Tanzania, and c the New Year's Fiest of the independent Nazaretha Church among Zulu in South Africa. The examples of how the symbol of the holy mountain is used in different religious contexts in Africa are, of course, too limited to provide a basis for far-reaching generalizations on how symbols function religiously in the encounter of Christianity and other religions. However, this kind of analysis can be applied also when studying other encounters of religions inside and outside Africa. The symbol functions both as a carrier of a new religious message and as an indigenous means to appropriate this message locally and give it adequate form in different milieus. The symbols, which most likely have the religious functions are those which are of a general nature; light, way, living water, and which some are tempted to speak of as archetypes. Yet the comparison between the Chagga-hymn to the holy mountain and Shembe's interpretation of the blessing of the New Year's Fiest on Inhlangakozi indicates, that in the encounter of Christianity and other religions it is not only the symbols as such which produce the local appropriation of the new religious message and give it adequate localized form. Not even in the encounter of Christianity and other religions the symbols function religiously without human beings as actors in the historical process.

Contemporary and Traditional : the identity of the Swedish folk high school as expressed in its vocational orientation

OpenAIRE

Landström, Inger

2004-01-01

In this thesis the vocational orientation of the courses offered - as an expression of the folk high school's self-identity- is analysed. The point of departure was that what the folk high school do, is a way to show what it wants to be and, therefore, reflects what it is. Focus is on how the folk high school meets with contemporary tasks and demands in different areas of society. The research objects are, the folk high school as type of school (a total of 147 schools) and a sample of ten ind...

May Christians request medically assisted suicide and euthanasia?

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D. Etienne de Villiers

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the question: ‘Is it morally acceptable for terminally ill Christians to voluntarily request medically assisted suicide or euthanasia?’ After a brief discussion of relevant changes in the moral landscape over the last century, two influential, but opposite views on the normative basis for the Christian ethical assessment of medically assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia are critically discussed. The inadequacy of both the view that the biblical message entails an absolute prohibition against these two practices, and the view that Christians have to decide on them on the basis of their own autonomy, is argued. An effort is made to demonstrate that although the biblical message does not entail an absolute prohibition it does have normative ethical implications for deciding on medically assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia. Certain Christian beliefs encourage terminally ill Christians to live a morally responsible life until their death and cultivate a moral prejudice against taking the life of any human being. This moral prejudice can, however, in exceptional cases be outweighed by moral considerations in favour of medically assisted suicide or voluntary euthanasia.

When Religion Becomes Deviance: Introducing Religion in Deviance and Social Problems Courses.

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Perrin, Robin D.

2001-01-01

Focuses on teaching new religious movements (NRMs), or cults, within deviance or social problems courses. Provides information about the conceptions and theories of deviance. Includes three illustrations of how to use deviant religions in a deviance course and offers insights into teaching religion as deviance. Includes references. (CMK)

Does the 'old' media's coverage of religion matter in times of 'digital' religion?

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Teemu Taira

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The study of digital religion and religion in the ‘new’ media, especially in tracing the transformation of communities, ideas, practices and forms of interaction which people tend to classify as religious, has already proved fruitful. What is not well-justified is the assumption that the ‘old’ media does not really matter anymore. This is something to be examined, although the structures and business models of the mainstream media are changing because of the ‘new’, digital media. Furthermore, we need to explore the interactions between ‘old’ and ‘new’ media, what emerges from their convergence, and start theorising about its implications in the context of religion. Some of the things that will be dealt with apply to the media in general. Only some are religion-specific. However, the intention is not to repeat what media scholars have already said about intermediality, media convergence and the relationship between ‘old’ and ‘new’ media. The reflections shared here are rather based on empirical research of religion in the media, especially in the ‘old’ mainstream mass media in Britain and Finland.

Religion is natural, atheism is not

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geertz, Armin W.; Markússon, Gudmundur Ingi

2010-01-01

After discussing evidence of irreligion and the rise of the so called "New Atheism", the authors refute the claim that this poses a problem for the cognitive science of religion and its hypothesis that religion is natural. The "naturalness hypothesis" is not deterministic but probabilistic and thus...... leaves room for atheism. This, the authors maintain, is true of both the by-product and adaptationist stances within the cognitive science of religion. In this context the authors also discuss the memetic or "unnaturalness" hypothesis, i.e. that religion is a "virus of the mind". The authors criticize...... accounts of atheism offered by cognitive scientists of religion as being based on unfounded assumptions about the psychology of atheists, and object to the notion that the natural aspects of religion by corollary make atheism unnatural. By considering human cognition in a semiotic framework and emphasizing...

Galileo's Religion Versus the Church's Science? Rethinking the History of Science and Religion

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, D. B.

Galileo's conflict with the Catholic Church is well recognized as a key episode in the history of physics and in the history of science and religion. This paper applies a new, historiographical approach to that specific episode. It advocates eliminating the science and religion. The Church concluded that the plainest facts of human experience agreed perfectly with an omniscient God's revealed word to proclaim the earth at rest. Supported by the Bible, Galileo, God-like, linked the elegance of mathematics to truths about nature. The Church, in effect, resisted Galileo's claim to be able to think like God, instead listening to God himself - and paying close attention to what man himself observed. We can thus see that the phrase ``Galileo's religion versus the Church's science'' is as meaningful (or meaningless) as the usual designation ``Galileo's science versus the Church's religion.''

Study of hand signs in Judeo-Christian art.

Science.gov (United States)

Ram, Ashwin N; Chung, Kevin C

2008-09-01

Hand gestures play a crucial role in religious art. An examination of Judeo-Christian art finds an ecclesiastical language that is concealed in metaphors and expressed by unique hand gestures. Many of these hand signs convey messages that are not familiar to most people admiring these paintings. Investigating the history and classifying some of the predominant hand signs found in Judeo-Christian art might serve to stimulate discussion concerning the many nuances of symbolic art. This presentation examines the meaning behind 8 common hand signs in Judeo-Christian art.

How do South Africans understand Democracy and Christianity ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The average South African is often seen as Christian and as supporting democracy, but research suggests many of the fundamentals of democracy and Christianity are clearly not accepted unconditionally. Africa Insight Vol.34(2/3) 2004: 16-22 ...