Buddhism in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borup, Jørn

2008-01-01

Introductory article on Buddhism in Denmark following historial lines and typological divides between "ethnic" and "convert" Buddhism.......Introductory article on Buddhism in Denmark following historial lines and typological divides between "ethnic" and "convert" Buddhism....

World Religions for the Classroom.

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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…

Japanese psychoanalysis and Buddhism: the making of a relationship.

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Harding, Christopher

2014-06-01

This article explores the making of a relationship between Japanese psychoanalysis and Buddhism, in the life and work of Kosawa Heisaku. Kosawa did not work out the compatibility of psychoanalysis with Buddhism in abstract, theoretical terms; rather, he understood them as two different articulations of the same practical approach to living well. He saw this approach in action in the lives of Freud and Shinran, the latter a thirteenth-century Japanese Buddhist reformer. For Kosawa, both individuals exemplified the 'true religious state of mind', at the achievement of which Kosawa understood psychoanalytic psychotherapy as ideally aiming. This article uses newly available documentary and interview material to examine the historical dynamics both of Kosawa's work in this area and of the broader 'religion-psy dialogue' of which it is an early example. © The Author(s) 2014.

The Influence of Chinese Master Taixu on Buddhism in Vietnam

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Elise A. DeVido

2015-02-01

Full Text Available From the 1920s, Vietnamese Buddhist reformers revitalized their religion, inspired in great part by the Chinese monk Taixu’s blueprint to modernize and systematize sangha education and temple administration, and by his idea ofrenjian fojiao, “Buddhism for this world,” emphasizing the centrality of education, modern publishing, social work, and Buddhist lay groups to Buddhism’s future in the modern world. This article first discusses the Chinese Buddhist revival, then the activities of Buddhist reformers in Vietnam 1920s–60s, and the flows of Buddhist personnel and materials between Vietnam and China. This article explores how renjian fojiao was interpreted and realized in Vietnam, especially its influence upon Thich Nhat Hanh as he developed his ideas on “Engaged Buddhism.”

Buddhism-as-a-meaning-system for coping with late-life stress: a conceptual framework.

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Xu, Jianbin

2018-01-01

Religion is increasingly conceptualized as a meaning system for adjustment and coping. Most of the conceptualizations are grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition. They may thus not be applicable to Buddhism, which provides a distinct tenor of meaning for coping. This article seeks to construct a conceptual framework of Buddhism-as-a-meaning-system for coping with late-life stress. Literature review and conceptualization were employed. Under this framework, Buddhism functions as a meaning system involving existential meaning, cognitive meaning, and behavioral meaning. There is reason to believe that this framework promises to offer a holistic conceptual map of Buddhist coping in late life. Thus, it could serve as a guide for further empirical and theoretical exploration in the uncharted terrains of Buddhist coping in old age. In addition, gerontological practitioners could use this framework as a frame of reference when working with elderly Buddhist clients who are in stressful circumstances.

Buddhism, Business, and Economics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brox, Trine; Williams-Oerberg, Elizabeth Lane

2017-01-01

This chapter takes the relationship that Buddhists have historically had with economic practices as a starting point for discussing contemporary entanglements of Buddhism and economy. Based on a literary review of previous studies on Buddhism and business and building upon our own research, we...... analyze the diverse range of influences that have impacted the manner in which Buddhism and business have been entwined, taking a look at historical as well as regional, national, and global impacts on the formulation of Buddhism within encounters with global market economies. Our review spans lay......-monk exchange relations, Buddhist economic ethics, monastic businesses, spiritual consumerism, globalized Buddhism, secularized Buddhist technologies in the corporate world, and Buddhist branding, all of which testify to the diverse modalities of Buddhism and economic relations, illuminating also the economic...

Two Buddhisms, Three Buddhisms, and Racism

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Wakoh Shannon Hickey

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Over the past several decades, observers of American Buddhism have created numerous typologies to describe different categories of Buddhists in the United States. These taxonomies use different criteria to categorize groups: style of practice, degree of institutional stability, mode of transmission to the U.S., ethnicity, etc. Each reveals some features of American Buddhism and obscures others. None accounts adequately for hybrids or for long-term changes within categories. Most include a divide between convert Buddhists, characterized as predominantly Caucasian, and “heritage” or “ethnic” Buddhists, characterized as Asian immigrants and refugees, as well as their descendants. This article examines several typologies, and considers two dynamics: the effects of white racism on the development of American Buddhist communities; and the effects of unconscious white privilege in scholarly discourse about these communities. It critiques “ethnic” categories and proposes other ways to conceptualize the diverse forms of Buddhism outside Asia.

The law of the leading digits and the world religions

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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.

Spiritual perspectives and practices at the end-of-life: A review of the major world religions and application to palliative care

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Bauer-Wu S

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Palliative care professionals promote well-being and ease suffering at the end-of-life through holistic care that addresses physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs. The ways that individuals cope with serious illness and prepare for death are often done so within a religious context. Therefore, it is essential that palliative care practitioners are sensitive to and have an appreciation of different religious perspectives and rituals to meet the unique needs of their patients and families. This paper provides a brief overview of the five major world religions - Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism - with particular emphasis of the respective perspectives on suffering, death and afterlife. Despite wide variation in these traditions, an understanding of common rituals surrounding death, funerals and bereavement can improve care for patients, families and communities facing the end-of-life.

The Role of Religion in Korean Higher Education

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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…

Skeptic Spirituality or the Accidental Buddhism of Machado de Assis's O Segredo do Bonzo

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Dilip Loundo

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The objective of the present article is to support the idea that Machado de Assis’ work conforms well to what may be called a non-religious spirituality. For that, the article’s main focus is the analysis of the short story “O Segredo do Bonzo: Capítulo Inédito de Fernão Mendes Pinto”, published in 1882’s collection titled Papéis Avulsos, where the main principles of that spirituality, which is spread all over his work,  are given in a nutshell. In a first moment, we analise the intertextuality between Machado’s short story “O Segredo do Bonzo” and Portuguese Renaissance writer’s travelogue Peregrinação and the Machado’s nineteen century critique of the west’s main universalizing proposals: Christianity, scientificity and Enlightenment. In a second moment, we analise the philosophical implications of the primacy given to ‘opinion’ as an existential foundation and as a constitutive element of reality, in a context of close proximity with the soteriological traditions of ancient Greek skepticism, on the one hand, and Buddhism, on the other. A critic of religion, specially of Christian religion, Machado’s  ‘accidental’ association with Buddhism is symptomatic of a very peculiar form of non-religious spirituality.

Measuring attitude towards Buddhism and Sikhism : internal consistency reliability for two new instruments

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Thanissaro, Phra Nicholas

2011-01-01

This paper describes and discusses the development and empirical properties of two new\\ud 24-item scales – one measuring attitude toward Buddhism and the other measuring attitude\\ud toward Sikhism. The scale is designed to facilitate inter-faith comparisons within the\\ud psychology of religion alongside the well-established Francis Scale of Attitude toward\\ud Christianity. Data were obtained from a multi-religious sample of 369 school pupils aged\\ud between 13 and 15 in London. Application of...

Buddhism of Japanese Immigrants within the framework of Brazilian Buddhism

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Frank Usarski

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The article reflects upon Buddhism of Japanese immigrants, which is the historically and numerically most important sub-segment of the so-called “ethnic Buddhism” in Brazil. The latter represents - in distinction from the “Buddhism of converts” - one of the two principles analytical subcategories of Buddhist universe of the country. The text starts with a reconstruction of the trajectory of the religious sub-segment in question by relating it to other observable tendencies in Brazil’s Buddhist field in general. For analytical reasons, the history of Buddhism of Japanese immigrants is subdivided into four phases. In the second part of the article the aforementioned data are interpreted from a sociological point of view. This interpretation refers mainly to the statistics of the National Census from 1950 onwards conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE. The data indicate a gradual decline of Japanese Immigrant Buddhism during the last decades that has cumulated into general crises of the Buddhist segment in question. As for factors possibly responsible for this negative development, the article discusses aspects such as logistical failures on the side of the Buddhist institutions or the difficulties of the families of Japanese descendants in handing down their cultural and religious heritage to their children.  

Buddhism: A Brief Guide to Reference Sources.

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Drost, Jerry

The annotated bibliography lists 48 articles, atlases, dictionaries, bibliographies, and general and subject indexes on Buddhism. The bibliography is intended to provide college students with an introduction to the more complex literature of Buddhism and to stimulate further research and study. Topics include the history of Buddhism; the practice…

Women and Ultramodern Buddhism in Australia

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Anna Halafoff

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Buddhists started arriving in Australia in large numbers during the mid-1800s, and the first Buddhist societies and centres began to be formed in the mid-late 1900s. This paper examines the role of women in bringing Buddhism to and establishing it in Australia. Women have featured prominently in a small amount of scholarship, including Paul Croucher’s (1989 Buddhism in Australia: 1848–1988 and Cristina Rocha and Michelle Barker’s (eds. 2011 edited volume on Buddhism in Australia: Traditions in Change. This paper draws on these sources, but primarily on more recent digital oral histories of prominent Buddhist women and men in Australia, recorded as part of the first stage of the Buddhist Life Stories of Australia project in 2014–2015. These first-hand accounts bring the early female pioneers of Buddhism in Australia to life and provide a rich re-telling of this history with emphasis on women’s contributions to it. We also argue that these women’s experiences can best be understood through a framework of ‘ultramodern Buddhism,’ built upon theories of modern and post-modern Buddhism, as many of these women were trailblazers bridging dualisms of tradition and modernity, Asia and the West, and adhering to both feminist and Buddhist principles.

Gaochang Buddhism and the Silk Road

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Wang Xin

2014-02-01

Full Text Available At the crossroads between the West and the East in ancient times, one point along the Silk Road was Gaochang (the Turpan basin in Xinjiang which played an important role in cultural exchange and the spread of Buddhism. The bidirectional influence of Buddhism in Gaochang was achieved as Buddhism spread eastward, and through its westward transmission which resulted in Gaochang’s unique and significant position in the history of cultural interaction.

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.

Choosing Buddhism in Australia: towards a traditional style of reflexive spiritual engagement.

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Phillips, Tim; Aarons, Haydn

2005-06-01

There has been little dedicated sociological research on the appeal Buddhism holds for many individuals in the West. It is suggested that this absence reflects a current tendency within the discipline to highlight a new age approach to spiritual involvement and to overlook other optional styles of engagement. Such a pattern of study is concerning because the propensity to privilege the new age style would seem to be less an outcome of a coherent research agenda than a result of the currency that the idea of postmodern religion has come to assume in theoretical accounts of spiritual transformation in contemporary societies. Using data from a modest quantitative survey, the study investigates spiritual style among a sample of Australians who have developed an interest in Buddhist practice and belief. The results point to the prevalence of a traditional approach to involvement, whereby the individual decides to engage solely with Buddhism for the long duration. Given its possession of these qualities, the research goes on to examine the social patterning of spiritual commitment. The findings suggest that comprehending the social restrictions to any kind of involvement is a more pressing sociological question than explaining social divergences among the engaged.

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

Religion Does Matter for Climate Change Attitudes and Behavior.

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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.

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.

Buddhism in the United States: an Ethnographic Study

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Jaeyeon Choe

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on Buddhism in America, an neglected area of inquiry in anthropological study. There is a need for modern ethnographic studies to shed light on historical issues, paradigms for comparative inquiry, and thus, explore the impact of Buddhism on modern American society (Glazier, 1997. The enormous growth of Buddhism in the last quarter century (Smith, 2002 makes this an especially pertinent topic in American anthropology. We utilize Glazier’s model to add Buddhism as a topic in the area of modernity studies. This is a preliminary study of the nature of Buddhism in America. We conducted participant observation with a Buddhist meditation group in a north eastern state in the US for four months in the spring of 2010. Based on our preliminary ethnographic data, we believe that a unique perspectives of Buddhism in America can be identified: non-religious and therapeutic involvement or use of Buddhism. Also, new forms of practice become evident, for example, ‘walking meditation’ and ‘bowing to other Buddhists,’ are identified as characteristics of Buddhism in America. It is interesting to note that at the end of meditation sessions, participants not only bow to the Buddha statue, but also bow to each other. This is a unique ritual dynamic which appears to be consistent with the worldview of American people - being equal and individual. The meditation group also practiced ‘walking meditation’ which is easy to do in everyday life. Additionally, we observed that American meditation rooms provide additional cushions to sit on which are a further element, along with walking meditation, which help American beginners to meditate more easily. These study observations shed light on the current situation by providing new lenses from which to understand and focus on different ritual performances/interpretations of Buddhism, and their meanings and functions in society. The most important reflection is that religious change is not an

China Report, Political, Sociological and Military Affairs, No. 413

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1983-04-28

country, Taoism has had over 1,700 years of history, Islamism has had over 1,300 years of history while Catholicism and Christianity have developed...beliefs. The major religions that are practiced in the areas inhabited by minority nationalities are Buddhism, Islamism , Christianity, Catholicism...Shamanism, the East Pakistan religion, Taoism and the Orthodox Eastern Church. Among them, Buddhism has enjoyed nearly 2,000 years of history in our

Radical Behaviorism and Buddhism: Complementarities and Conflicts

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Diller, James W.; Lattal, Kennon A.

2008-01-01

Comparisons have been made between Buddhism and the philosophy of science in general, but there have been only a few attempts to draw comparisons directly with the philosophy of radical behaviorism. The present review therefore considers heretofore unconsidered points of comparison between Buddhism and radical behaviorism in terms of their…

Matriarchy, Buddhism, and food security in Sanephong, Thailand.

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Sirisai, Solot; Chotiboriboon, Sinee; Sapsuwan, Charana; Tantivatanasathien, Praiwan; Setapun, Nuchjaree; Duangnosan, Prangtong; Thongkam, Nattapach; Chuangyanyong, Sasiwimon

2017-11-01

Sanephong is a matriarchal Karen community located in western Thailand. The community benefits greatly from the availability of local foods, such as cereals, tubers, wild vegetables, mushrooms, fruits, and animals. In the first phase of this project, 387 distinct local foods were identified, which were shown to be good sources of energy, protein, and vitamins. Despite the availability of a variety of nutritious local foods, the majority of households surveyed expressed concern over a decline in local foods due to changing socio-economic and environmental conditions. This study used a qualitative research approach to look at the dual influences of matriarchy and Buddhism on food security in the community. Through this approach, matriarchal values central to the community were adopted as a framework; these included care, consensus, collaboration, and cosmological respect. In Sanephong, women are central to life in the community, and matriarchal cultural practices reflect a nurturing spirit-for both the earth and family. The community practices Buddhism, which is very complementary to the matriarchal system. A type of gift economy within the Buddhist context, known as dhana, transfers food from the wealthy to the poor with no expectation of reciprocity. Consequently, matriarchy and Buddhism jointly promote food security in the community. Studies of matriarchal societies help society-at-large to understand the potential benefits of systems that contrast the current patriarchal paradigm. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Chinese Policy Toward South Asia: Implications and Prospects for Nepal

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2013-03-01

Silk Road not only served as a major trade route between India and China, but was also credited for the expansion of Buddhism in this region. India...endowed with legendary fighters of world fame.36 Nepal is the melting pot where two important religions, Hinduism and Buddhism are being practiced...It is believed that Hinduism exists since 1200 BC37 and Buddhism since 520 BC.38 Buddha was born in Nepal, enlightened in India, and Buddhism spread

A Visual Narration of Hells in Buddhism and Islam

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Ary Budianto

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The visualization of the Hell’s Tortures both in Buddhism and in Islam is exactly similar. However, their kind of ‘theological’ tendencies may result different outcome. By comparing the visual narration of the Buddhism and Islamic comic books dealing with hell illustrations, I made an‘imaginary’ dialogue between the concept and visuality of hells tortures that exist in both traditions, and see the impact on how far a sincere dialogue could be achieved in these two religious people. During this comparison, I found that both Buddhism and Islam in Java had ever made such an interesting dialogue.Keywords: Hell tortures, Islam-Buddhism comparison, encounter of Java-IndonesiaDOI: 10.15408/ref.v13i1.995

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.

Integrating Buddhism and HIV prevention in U.S. southeast Asian communities.

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Loue, S; Lane, S D; Lloyd, L S; Loh, L

1999-02-01

Asian Pacific Islander communities in the United States have experienced an alarming increase in HIV infection over the past few years, possibly due to a lack of knowledge and the relative absence of appropriate educational interventions. The authors propose a new approach to the development of HIV prevention programs in U.S. southeast Asian communities. This article reviews the cultural and economic factors that may facilitate HIV transmission within these communities. Relying on the basic precepts of Buddhism, the dominant religion of many southeast Asian populations in the United States, the health belief model is utilized to demonstrate how recognizable, acceptable religious constructs can be integrated into the content of HIV prevention messages. This integration of religious concepts with HIV prevention messages may increase the likelihood that the message audience will accept the prevention messages as relevant. This nuanced approach to HIV prevention must be validated and refined through field research.

Psychological Resources, Personality Traits and Buddhism: A Study of Italian Young Adults.

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Giannini, Marco; Loscalzo, Yura; Beraldi, Daniela; Gori, Alessio

2018-04-28

We aimed to examine whether young adults practicing Buddhism have elevated levels of psychological resources and specific personality traits compared to Catholics and Atheists. We recruited 184 participants: Soka Gakkai Buddhists (n = 60); non-practicing Roman Catholic Church believers (n = 62); Atheists (n = 62). We found that the Buddhists have higher optimism than both Catholics and Atheists. They also have higher self-efficacy and self-esteem than Catholics and higher perceived social support than Atheists. Concerning global personality factors, they are more extraverted than the other groups, and they are less tough-minded than Catholics. Differences also emerged relating some primary personality factors. Since we did not find differences between Catholics and Atheists about psychological resources, we speculate that religion alone does not provide an efficacious source of psychological resources; it could be that religious practice is determinant.

[The relevance of zen-buddhism for dialectic-behavioral therapy].

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Huppertz, Michael

2003-01-01

Dialectic-Behavioral Therapy is a specific psychotherapeutic approach to answer the needs of patients with Borderline Personality Disorder. It uses concepts and techniques of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and of Humanistic Psychotherapies. For a deeper understanding, it is necessary to include also its Zen-Buddhistic background. The experience of Zen-meditation and the basic philosophy of Zen-Buddhism will be explained. In the context of the historical relation between Zen-Buddhism and Psychotherapy, the position of the DBT will be specified. Finally it will be demonstrated how Zen-Buddhism inspired the practice of DBT and what kinds of problems arise when a modern psychotherapy uses the concept of a premodern conception of the world and human existence.

Buddhism, euthanasia and the sanctity of life.

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Perrett, R W

1996-10-01

Damien and John Keown claim that there is important common ground between Buddhism and Christianity on the issue of euthanasia and that both traditions oppose it for similar reasons in order to espouse a "sanctity of life" position. I argue that the appearance of consensus is partly created by their failure to specify clearly enough certain key notions in the argument: particularly Buddhism, euthanasia and the sanctity of life. Once this is done, the Keowns' central claims can be seen to be either false or only restrictedly true.

Buddhism, euthanasia and the sanctity of life.

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Perrett, R W

1996-01-01

Damien and John Keown claim that there is important common ground between Buddhism and Christianity on the issue of euthanasia and that both traditions oppose it for similar reasons in order to espouse a "sanctity of life" position. I argue that the appearance of consensus is partly created by their failure to specify clearly enough certain key notions in the argument: particularly Buddhism, euthanasia and the sanctity of life. Once this is done, the Keowns' central claims can be seen to be either false or only restrictedly true. PMID:8910785

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.

The Adulthood of Buddhahood: Buddhism, Lifelong Learning and the Education of Desire.

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MacPherson, Sonia

1996-01-01

Buddhism as a philosophy of education is examined through discussion of the three trainings: ethics, meditative stabilization, and special wisdom. Tantric Buddhism and Protestant Christianity are compared. (SK)

The practice of mindfulness: from Buddhism to secular mainstream in a post-secular society

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Liselotte Frisk

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article focuses on the practice of mindfulness, which has migrated from being part of a religion, Buddhism, to being an integral part of Western psychology. Mindfulness is especially used in cognitive behavioural therapy, but also in, e.g., dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT. In Sweden several doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists use and recommend mindfulness for therapeutic purposes. Mindfulness is used today in many segments of mainstream medical and therapeutic care. Mindfulness is also used outside the mainstream medical and therapeutic sector, in the area of personal development or spirituality, as well as in more traditional Buddhist groups and innovative Buddhist groups such as vipassana groups. This paper investigates the migration of mindfulness from a religious to a secular sphere, and discusses whether mindfulness is a religious practice or not.

Interpreting the Diamond Way: Contemporary Convert Buddhism in Transition

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Burkhard Scherer

2015-02-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses the broader issues of continuity and change during the transition of Tibetan Buddhism from Asia to the West. It looks at the Diamond Way, a contemporary Karma bKa' brgyud lay movement founded by the Danish lay teacher Ole Nydahl. The paper aims to open this area of study by employing a balanced approach between a hermeneutics of suspicion and a hermeneutics of trust, and by adding the historical-critical approach of Tibetan Buddhist Studies to the perspectives of sociology and cultural anthropology. Acknowledging Nydahl as both a charismatic and controversial figure within contemporary Buddhism, the discussion focuses on notions of lay and yogi Buddhism in the Diamond Way and on the question of westernization in Diamond Way practices. The paper concludes by raising questions about the future, continuity and change of Nydahl's heritage after his death.

Social and Engaged Buddhism: The CEBB Experience and Lama Padma Samten

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Deyve Redyson

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This work aims to make a historical recovery of the emergence of CEBB (Centro de Estudos Budistas Bodisatva and his experiences as a vehicle for dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism in Brazil, as well as the very trajectory of Lama Padma Samten, its founder, and current religious leadership of this tradition. We intend to demonstrate that the CEBB experience set in a form of social and engaged Buddhism where prospects facing on education, social welfare and the preservation and respect for human rights are elements that approach the Brazilian reality. The lived experience of CEBB also binds to work at great social risk communities, but always connected with Brazilian identities of Buddhism that mirror the altruistic action, based on generosity and contemplation. Linked to CEBB it is also, in large part, the history and development of Buddhism in Brazil that link growth statistics and expansion as a result of social work engaged and universal responsibility with human beings.

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

Maritime Security and the Strait of Malacca: A Strategic Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

2006-06-16

Indian populations. Its major religions are Taoism , Buddhism, Islam , and Christianity. Singapore is a parliamentary republic with a unicameral...population, ethnic Islamic Malays were keen to join the Federation. However, ethnic Chinese and indigenous Sabah and Sarawak peoples held little affinity...languages. The Javanese are the primary power holders within the nation. As stated previously, Islam is the major religion and is practiced by

A Preliminary Assessment of Buddhism's Contextualisation to the English RE Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Thanissaro, Phra Nicholas

2011-01-01

In a preliminary study, 20 "migrant" Buddhist parents and children from England participated in semi-structured interviews to compare their home nurture with classroom presentation of Buddhism. In the home Buddhism received more time allocation and was presented mainly by the mother and monks--the content being that of "perpetuating…

Between Buddhism and Science, Between Mind and Body

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Geoffrey Samuel

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Buddhism has been seen, at least since the Theravāda reform movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as particularly compatible with Western science. The recent explosion of Mindfulness therapies have strengthened this perception. However, the 'Buddhism' which is being brought into relation with science in the context of the Mindfulness movement has already undergone extensive rewriting under modernist influences, and many of the more critical aspects of Buddhist thought and practice are dismissed or ignored. The Mind and Life Institute encounters, under the patronage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, present a different kind of dialogue, in which a Tibetan Buddhism which is only beginning to undergo modernist rewriting confronts Western scientists and scholars on more equal terms. However, is the highly sophisticated but radically other world of Tantric thought really compatible with contemporary science? In this article I look at problem areas within the dialogue, and suggest that genuine progress is most likely to come if we recognise the differences between Buddhist thought and contemporary science, and take them as an opportunity to rethink scientific assumptions.

Buddhizmus a médiában. Az amerikai, brit és az angol nyelvű kínai újságok értelmezési keretei

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sükösd, Miklós Áron

2017-01-01

How does international media represent Buddhism? This paper provides a quantitative framing analysis of American, British and Chinese (English language) newspapers between 2001 and 2013. Although the most frequently used frames (cultural, religious, political) are the same in all three countries......, there are major differences between as well as within countries. In the Western press, the subject of meditation-centered Western Buddhism enters the media. In Hong Kong, the press emphasizes the everyday, practical issues of traditional Buddhism. Beijing’s party press relates Buddhism to Chinese national...... identity and represents an official propaganda line regarding Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism. The logic of religion conflicts media logic as religious concepts and practices do not fit newspaper sections and media frames. The frames used by journalists brake down into parts and decontextualize religious...

Buddhism on the Border: Shan Buddhism and Transborder Migration in Northern Thailand

OpenAIRE

Murakami, Tadayoshi

2012-01-01

This paper examines the transformation of Shan Buddhism in the border area of Northern Thailand. Shan and other ethnic groups have a long history of migration between Northern Thailand and the Shan State of Myanmar; the migration continued even after the border was demarcated at the end of the nineteenth century. Recently, the migration has become unidirectional--from Myanmar to Thailand-- and the number of migrants is growing steadily. An anomalous situation exists in this area: a fluid bord...

Religious Background and Educational Attainment: The Effects of Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism

Science.gov (United States)

Sander, William

2010-01-01

The effects of Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism on educational attainment in the United States are examined. OLS estimates of educational attainment and Probit estimates of college attainment are undertaken. It is shown that Islam and Judaism have similar positive effects on attainment relative to Protestants and Catholics. The effect of Buddhism is…

Conceptions and Misconceptions about "Western Buddhism": Issues and Approaches for the Classroom

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Berkwitz, Stephen C.

2004-01-01

This article responds to the exponential growth in academic textbooks on Western or American Buddhism by arguing that popular trade books written by Buddhist teachers in the West make more effective tools for teaching and learning about the growth of Buddhism in western societies. The use of such texts in the classroom provides students with…

A systematic review of religious beliefs about major end-of-life issues in the five major world religions.

Science.gov (United States)

Chakraborty, Rajshekhar; El-Jawahri, Areej R; Litzow, Mark R; Syrjala, Karen L; Parnes, Aric D; Hashmi, Shahrukh K

2017-10-01

The objective of this study was to examine the religious/spiritual beliefs of followers of the five major world religions about frequently encountered medical situations at the end of life (EoL). This was a systematic review of observational studies on the religious aspects of commonly encountered EoL situations. The databases used for retrieving studies were: Ovid MEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE, Ovid PsycINFO, Ovid Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ovid Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Scopus. Observational studies, including surveys from healthcare providers or the general population, and case studies were included for review. Articles written from a purely theoretical or philosophical perspective were excluded. Our search strategy generated 968 references, 40 of which were included for review, while 5 studies were added from reference lists. Whenever possible, we organized the results into five categories that would be clinically meaningful for palliative care practices at the EoL: advanced directives, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, physical requirements (artificial nutrition, hydration, and pain management), autopsy practices, and other EoL religious considerations. A wide degree of heterogeneity was observed within religions, depending on the country of origin, level of education, and degree of intrinsic religiosity. Our review describes the religious practices pertaining to major EoL issues and explains the variations in EoL decision making by clinicians and patients based on their religious teachings and beliefs. Prospective studies with validated tools for religiosity should be performed in the future to assess the impact of religion on EoL care.

Learning Science by Engaging Religion: A Novel Two-Course Approach for Biology Majors

Science.gov (United States)

Eisen, Arri; Huang, Junjian

2014-01-01

Many issues in science create individual and societal tensions with important implications outside the classroom. We describe one model that directly addresses such tensions by integrating science and religion in two parallel, integrated courses for science majors. Evaluation of the goals of the project--(1) providing students with strategies to…

Buddhism, the status of women and the spread of HIV/AIDS in Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Klunklin, Areewan; Greenwood, Jennifer

2005-01-01

The common-sense construction of Buddhism is that of a general power for good; the less positive aspects of Buddhism's power, especially when reinforced by folklore and ancient superstition, is infrequently recognised. In this article we make explicit Buddhism's less positive power, particularly as it relates to the status of women and, by implication, its role in the human immunodeficiency (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic in Thailand. The Buddhist, folklore, and superstitious bases of Thai misogyny are explored, together with its expression in the differential gender roles of women and men. In addition, the attitudes of both women and men to commercial sex workers (CSWs) and condom use is discussed. The implications of these attitudinal analyses to the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in Thailand is outlined. We argue that the current spread of HIV/AIDS in Thailand is primarily a function of the inferior status of women, which, in turn, is a function of Buddhism and Thai cultural beliefs. In light of this, some realistic strategies to address the problem also are discussed.

The Life as the Meaning (An investigation on the meaning of life in Zen and the comparison of it with theistic religions

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Neda Khoshaghani

a design of life to humans.Now we focus on the comparison of Zen and theistic religions views on what would make the meaning of life; but we primarily present a summary of criteria of Zen’s school: A-In Zen, the discerning mind causes humans’ suffering and labor. B–The path of salvation from suffering, raised from distinction, is non-action and natural life. C-Afterwards, the person can achieve to sudden enlightenment in his life. D-The morality in Zen is named Te which related to natural and spontaneous behavior. A person in Zen practice according to the same conduct that is natural and explicit. E-Hence, the freedom from suffering (which is the aim of all schools of Buddhism, the path, the morality, and the enlightenment, the all are sought in the same life, no beyond this life.In the case of comparison of Zen to theistic religions, it is worth mentioning some cases:-The key concept in Buddhism and its schools, such as Zen, is suffering (Dukkha, which forms all of their ontology, anthropology, and soteriology, but in theistic religion, the concept of God plays the same role.-In theistic religions, ultimate Being is the only worthwhile and meaningful aim of the Faithful man; unlike Buddhism schools which seek the meaning in liberation from life’s sufferings.-For believers there is only one design to live and it is that design which usually exists in sacred texts. Believer’s life is arranged according to this design. But in Zen, person comes near meaningful life via simply and freely life, not via prescriptive commands of a transcendental Being.- The morality in Theistic religions is based on the sacred texts and related to plural behavior and social standards; unlike Zen which neglects plural and prescriptive morality and emphasizes on natural behavior (Te.-In theistic religions, sufferings and pains in world are not meaningless, but there is an optimistic view on them, while sufferings in Buddhism and Zen are more pessimistic and do not have a certain

The Life as the Meaning (An investigation on the meaning of life in Zen and the comparison of it with theistic religions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amirabbas Alizamani

2013-08-01

presented a design of life to humans. Now we focus on the comparison of Zen and theistic religions views on what would make the meaning of life; but we primarily present a summary of criteria of Zen’s school:    A-In Zen, the discerning mind causes humans’ suffering and labor. B–The path of salvation from suffering, raised from distinction, is non-action and natural life. C-Afterwards, the person can achieve to sudden enlightenment in his life. D-The morality in Zen is named Te which related to natural and spontaneous behavior. A person in Zen practice according to the same conduct that is natural and explicit. E-Hence, the freedom from suffering (which is the aim of all schools of Buddhism, the path, the morality, and the enlightenment, the all are sought in the same life, no beyond this life. In the case of comparison of Zen to theistic religions, it is worth mentioning some cases: -The key concept in Buddhism and its schools, such as Zen, is suffering (Dukkha, which forms all of their ontology, anthropology, and soteriology, but in theistic religion, the concept of God plays the same role. -In theistic religions, ultimate Being is the only worthwhile and meaningful aim of the Faithful man; unlike Buddhism schools which seek the meaning in liberation from life’s sufferings. -For believers there is only one design to live and it is that design which usually exists in sacred texts. Believer’s life is arranged according to this design. But in Zen, person comes near meaningful life via simply and freely life, not via prescriptive commands of a transcendental Being. - The morality in Theistic religions is based on the sacred texts and related to plural behavior and social standards; unlike Zen which neglects plural and prescriptive morality and emphasizes on natural behavior (Te. -In theistic religions, sufferings and pains in world are not meaningless, but there is an optimistic view on them, while sufferings in Buddhism and Zen are more pessimistic and do not

The Life as the Meaning (An investigation on the meaning of life in Zen and the comparison of it with theistic religions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neda Khoshaghani

2013-09-01

presented a design of life to humans. Now we focus on the comparison of Zen and theistic religions views on what would make the meaning of life; but we primarily present a summary of criteria of Zen’s school:    A-In Zen, the discerning mind causes humans’ suffering and labor. B–The path of salvation from suffering, raised from distinction, is non-action and natural life. C-Afterwards, the person can achieve to sudden enlightenment in his life. D-The morality in Zen is named Te which related to natural and spontaneous behavior. A person in Zen practice according to the same conduct that is natural and explicit. E-Hence, the freedom from suffering (which is the aim of all schools of Buddhism, the path, the morality, and the enlightenment, the all are sought in the same life, no beyond this life. In the case of comparison of Zen to theistic religions, it is worth mentioning some cases: -The key concept in Buddhism and its schools, such as Zen, is suffering (Dukkha, which forms all of their ontology, anthropology, and soteriology, but in theistic religion, the concept of God plays the same role. -In theistic religions, ultimate Being is the only worthwhile and meaningful aim of the Faithful man; unlike Buddhism schools which seek the meaning in liberation from life’s sufferings. -For believers there is only one design to live and it is that design which usually exists in sacred texts. Believer’s life is arranged according to this design. But in Zen, person comes near meaningful life via simply and freely life, not via prescriptive commands of a transcendental Being. - The morality in Theistic religions is based on the sacred texts and related to plural behavior and social standards; unlike Zen which neglects plural and prescriptive morality and emphasizes on natural behavior (Te. -In theistic religions, sufferings and pains in world are not meaningless, but there is an optimistic view on them, while sufferings in Buddhism and Zen are more pessimistic and do not

The Art of Buddhism. A Teacher's Guide.

Science.gov (United States)

Forsgren, Krista; Benskin, Elizabeth

While the art of Buddhism has an enduring tradition throughout Asia, this teaching guide focuses on the cultures of three countries in which the Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler Galleries' collections are particularly strong: India, China, and Japan. The guide identifies grade level appropriateness for some lessons and activities. It contains 15…

ALAM SEMESTA (LINGKUNGAN DAN KEHIDUPAN DALAM PERSPEKTIF BUDHISME NICHIREN DAISHONIN

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Sri Rahayu Wilujeng

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Buddhism taught by Sidhartha Gautama in India about two thousand years B.C. has spread throughout the world. From India to Tibetan Buddhism evolved, China and into Japan. Buddhism in Japan has distinct characteristics compared to Buddhism elsewhere. In Japan, Buddhism is mixed with a strong Japanese spirituality. This paper is the result of a brief research on the book, as well as the Buddhists by means of dialogue. The general objective of this paper is to get a general idea of ​​the concept of Nichiren cosmology, particularly on the subject of the universe (environment and life. The specific objective of this paper is the growing awareness to be open to understand other religions. It takes an attitude to want to investigate a  religion without fanaticial attitude or prejudice. Key words: Nichiren Daishonin, Universe, Life

From Undang-undang Melaka to federal constitution: the dynamics of multicultural Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Nor, Mohd Roslan Mohd; Abdullah, Ahmad Termizi; Ali, Abdul Karim

2016-01-01

Background Malaysia is a multicultural state comprising three main races: Malays, Chinese and Indians. The three main religions are Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. Other religions such as Sikhism and Christianity are also practised. Muslims are the majority comprising 67?% of the population. Methods This paper is qualitative in nature. It applies historical comparative method in presenting its data. The Undang-undang Melaka (Malacca Laws) was obtained from the monograph available at National Li...

Moral Education or Political Education in the Vietnamese Educational System?

Science.gov (United States)

Doan, Dung Hue

2005-01-01

Vietnam has experienced the influences of different social standards and values of Confucianism, Communism and several major religions, such as Buddhism and Catholicism, and has also undergone tremendous social change in recent decades. Consequently, moral education in present-day Vietnam takes various forms and definitions. Nowadays, moral…

The centuries-old dialogue between buddhism and christianity ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article examines the pre-history of today's dialogue between Buddhists and Christians. Contrary to what one might think, pre-modern Europeans did have some understanding of Buddhism, however limited and distorted it might have been. Asians during the same period had a far better chance of understanding ...

Life is uncertain. death is certain. Buddhism and palliative care.

Science.gov (United States)

Masel, Eva K; Schur, Sophie; Watzke, Herbert H

2012-08-01

It is part of a palliative care assessment to identify patients' spiritual needs. According to Buddhism, suffering is inherent to all human beings. Advice on how suffering can be reduced in the course of serious illness might be helpful to patients with incurable and progressive diseases. Palliative care could benefit from Buddhist insights in the form of compassionate care and relating death to life. Buddhist teachings may lead to a more profound understanding of incurable diseases and offer patients the means by which to focus their minds while dealing with physical symptoms and ailments. This might not only be beneficial to followers of Buddhism but to all patients. Copyright © 2012 U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The perspective of psychosomatic medicine on the effect of religion on the mind-body relationship in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakao, Mutsuhiro; Ohara, Chisin

2014-02-01

Shintoism, Buddhism, and Qi, which advocate the unity of mind and body, have contributed to the Japanese philosophy of life. The practice of psychosomatic medicine emphasizes the connection between mind and body and combines the psychotherapies (directed at the mind) and relaxation techniques (directed at the body), to achieve stress management. Participation in religious activities such as preaching, praying, meditating, and practicing Zen can also elicit relaxation responses. Thus, it is time for traditional religions to play an active role in helping those seeking psychological stability after the Great East Japan Earthquake and the ongoing crisis related to the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, to maintain a healthy mind-body relationship.

Retrospective and modern views on modernization and alternative modernization components of shinto and zen buddhism

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Y. Y. Medviedieva

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the ratio of modernization and counter modernizing key components of Japan and religions (partly introduced Christianity. The author concludes that the various components of the religious consciousness of the Japanese were kontratetycal on two main elements that form the basis of modern Western culture Japanese resistance and cause upgrade. First, science and technology, working on the basis of the laws of nature, which are opposed to the supernatural and the metaphysical world. Secondly, expressed individualism and atomism as hypertrophic respect for the human person, liberal nadzoseredzhenist to a person who undermines the consolidation of corporate social society. Japanese culture in the past was oriented toward modernization, but progress has been very slow. Moreover, in this process, Japan was much more conservative because in Japanese society regulatory institutions of the army, religion and industrial corporations can be considered a kind of constants which not only can be adapted to the modernization of Euro-American style, as suggested selection of authentic script compatible, especially with life values corporatism and solidarity. It is in this dimension of modernization projects related to Christian proselytism, as were «frustrated.» The reason for this breakdown can be considered inherence religion with social cohesion, its actual merging of social institutions, as well as hidden mahizm skepticism and religious outlook that combines Shinto, Confucian and Zen Buddhist elements. Since modernization in Christianity included the distinction darkened minds clerical era and «enlightened enlightenment» of consciousness era of modern times, it is this dichotomy allowed to oppose religious «ignorance» and scientific «enlightenment», the clergy and secular intellectuals, universities and intellectual clubs as a medium spreading the ideology of the bourgeoisie and monasteries as centers of religious clericalism

Introduction to Eastern Philosophy, Social Studies: 6414.23.

Science.gov (United States)

Payne, Judy Reeder

Major Eastern philosophies and/or religions consisting of Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shintoism are investigated by 10th through 12th grade students in this general social studies quinmester course. Since Eastern philosophical ideas are already influencing students, this course aims to guide students in a universal search for…

Erich Fromm's Involvement With Zen Buddhism: Psychoanalysts and the Spiritual Quest in Subsequent Decades.

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Roland, Alan

2017-08-01

The first section of this paper covers Erich Fromm's profound involvement with Zen Buddhism, culminating in his co-authoring the book Zen Buddhism and Psychoanalysis in 1960. It details why this was a groundbreaking endeavor, as it countered the pervasive psychoanalytic denigration of spiritual traditions, practices, and experiences. The second section describes the effect of Fromm's Zen Buddhism and Psychoanalysis on the author of this paper, as he came to clinical psychology and psychoanalysis from involvement in Indian philosophy. The third section is a case study of a spiritually advanced Hindu woman seen in intensive short-term psychoanalytic therapy in Bombay, describing the interface of the spiritual with psychoanalytic therapy. The fourth section explains what eventually led to a sea change in psychoanalytic attitudes toward spiritual traditions and practices, with a small but significant group of psychoanalysts becoming involved in one or another spiritual practice, and working with patients also so involved.

Building More Solid Bridges between Buddhism and Western Psychology

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Sugamura, Genji; Haruki, Yutaka; Koshikawa, Fusako

2007-01-01

Introducing the ways of cultivating mental balance, B. A. Wallace and S. L. Shapiro attempted to build bridges between Buddhism and psychology. Their systematic categorization of Buddhist teachings and extensive review of empirical support from Western psychology are valuable for future study. However, it remains a matter of concern that some more…

How Is Buddhism Relevant to Career Counseling in an International High School in Hong Kong? A Counsellor's Reflection

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Ng, Vinci; Yuen, Mantak

2015-01-01

This paper reflects upon the relevance of Buddhism to counselling in general and to career counseling in particular by discussing a program implemented at an international school in Hong Kong. The authors provide an analysis of the pertinent literature related to relevant concepts within Buddhism. This topic has not yet been adequately researched…

[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.

Religion in Human Culture: An Elective Social Studies Course about World Religions

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Lee H.; Bodin, Wesley J.

1978-01-01

Outlines a course which utilizes rational processes to teach high school students about religious diversity. Topics covered are Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and religious issues in contemporary society. (Author/DB)

SINKRETISME DALAM AGAMA HINDU DAN BUDDHA DI BALI

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I Nyoman Kiriana

2016-08-01

Full Text Available In religious life, at first the existence of Hindu and Buddhist very harmonious and contradictory in their home country, namely India. But the two religions in Indosesia seem very harmonious, especially in the era of the Majapahit kingdom. Moreover, the existence of Hinduism and Buddhism in Bali very harmony and even complement each other in practice and spiritual order. Buddhism is very much a substance similar to the teachings of Hinduism. In some Hindu literature was found a lot in common with the essence of Buddhism, and vice versa. Very often found literature-literature that reflects the harmony of both religions, among others: Lontar Siwagama, Kekawin Mahabharata, Ramayana Kekawin, Kekawin Arjuna Wiwaha, Kekawin Bharata Yudha and Kekawin Sutasoma, Sanghyang Kamahayanikan, Bubugsah Gagakaking and so on. By looking at it as if the two religions fused in practice in Bali, especially in the implementation of religious activities such as the ritual tawur agung in connection with the celebration of Nyepi Saka as the New Year.

Climate change, economics and Buddhism. Part 2. New views and practices for sustainable world economies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daniels, Peter L.

2010-01-01

The evidence of impending and serious climate and other consequences of an expanding world economy based on fossil carbon energy continues to accumulate. This two-part paper examines the potential contribution of the world view and insights of Buddhism to this search. It presents both a conceptual and practical case that Buddhism can help shape and move towards an alternative and effective paradigmatic basis for sustainable economies - one capable of bringing about and maintaining genuine, high welfare levels across the world's societies. The first paper outlined a comprehensive analytical framework to identify the fundamental nature of anthropogenic climate change. Based on the integration of two of the most influential environmental analysis tools of recent decades (the DPSIR model and IPAT equation), the framework was then broadened to facilitate ideas from the Buddhist world view by injecting two key missing aspects - the interrelated role of (1) beliefs and values (on goals and behavior) and (2) the nature of well-being or human happiness. Finally, the principal linkages between this climate change analysis framework and Buddhism were explored. In this concluding paper, the systems framework is used to demonstrate how Buddhist and related world views can feed into appropriate and effective responses to the impending challenges of climate change. This is undertaken by systematically presenting a specific, if indicative, list of relevant strategies informed by the understanding of interconnectedness and other basic principles about the nature of reality and human well-being as proposed in Buddhism. (author)

Climate change, economics and Buddhism. Part 2. New views and practices for sustainable world economies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Daniels, Peter L. [Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Brisbane, 4111 (Australia)

2010-03-15

The evidence of impending and serious climate and other consequences of an expanding world economy based on fossil carbon energy continues to accumulate. This two-part paper examines the potential contribution of the world view and insights of Buddhism to this search. It presents both a conceptual and practical case that Buddhism can help shape and move towards an alternative and effective paradigmatic basis for sustainable economies - one capable of bringing about and maintaining genuine, high welfare levels across the world's societies. The first paper outlined a comprehensive analytical framework to identify the fundamental nature of anthropogenic climate change. Based on the integration of two of the most influential environmental analysis tools of recent decades (the DPSIR model and IPAT equation), the framework was then broadened to facilitate ideas from the Buddhist world view by injecting two key missing aspects - the interrelated role of (1) beliefs and values (on goals and behavior) and (2) the nature of well-being or human happiness. Finally, the principal linkages between this climate change analysis framework and Buddhism were explored. In this concluding paper, the systems framework is used to demonstrate how Buddhist and related world views can feed into appropriate and effective responses to the impending challenges of climate change. This is undertaken by systematically presenting a specific, if indicative, list of relevant strategies informed by the understanding of interconnectedness and other basic principles about the nature of reality and human well-being as proposed in Buddhism. (author)

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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

Buddhism and Ecology: A Virtue Ethics Approach

OpenAIRE

Keown, Damien V.

2007-01-01

Introduction: Whether Buddhism has a compelling ecological dimension or not has been a much discussed question in recent years. I think I should put my cards on the table at the outset and say that I count myself among the sceptics in this respect. I see little evidence that the Buddha or his followers, at least down to modern times, have been greatly concerned with questions of ecology. If anything, there is more evidence of a negative presupposition about the value and status of the natural...

Temple Wars: Cambodia’s Dispute Over Preah Vihear Ownership and its Effects on National Power

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-01

patronage of Buddhism and aspects of kingship that led to territorial expansion. Suryavarman was a unifying monarch that expanded the Khmer Empire by...to Buddhism may be the reason why elements of the religion are found in the temple’s architecture. Likewise, the thirteenth century brought about a...decline of Hindu worship in the Khmer Empire and the Preah Vihear Temple was then dedicated to Buddhism . 23 Cambodia’s Geography and its

Review Essay: Mortuary Practices, Buddhism, and Family Relations in Japanese Society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nam-lin Hur

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Mark Rowe. Bonds of the Dead: Temples, Burial, and the Transformation of Contemporary Japanese Buddhism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011. 256 pp. $91 (cloth, $29 (paper.Satsuki Kawano. Nature’s Embrace: Japan’s Aging Urbanites and New Death Rites. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2010. 232 pp. $47 (cloth, $27 (paper.In Bonds of the Dead, Mark Rowe, who focuses on “the grave as the center of the ancestral orbit” in Japanese mortuary practices, observes that, due to the gradual loss of its gravitational pull, “the economic and social bedrock of temple Buddhism in Japan has eroded to the point where even its continued existence is publicly called into question” (222. Here, Rowe speaks to the decline of what is commonly known as the danka system. In contrast, in Nature’s Embrace, Satsuki Kawano finds that the dominance of Buddhist death-related rituals couched in the tradition of the danka system remains by and large intact...

An encounter between critical Buddhism and Asian naturalism: can Asian naturalism be a tool in overcoming social discrimination?

OpenAIRE

Jeidong RYU

2016-01-01

Can their support of Asian naturalism be justified without any reserve? Some scholars of critical Buddhism movement, including Hakamaya Noriaki and Matsumoto Shiro, caution the danger of blindly supporting Asian Naturalism. Critical Buddhism movement began in Japan around the middle of 1980s, criticizing the social discrimination against oppressed people in Japan, and ascribing the cause of such discrimination to the idea of ‘a holistic harmony’ in Japan. According to Hakamaya Noriaki and Mat...

Aloha Buddha

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borup, Jørn

2013-01-01

, Buddhism is an obvious case for investigating such issues, just as Hawaii with its long migration history and religious pluralism is an obvious living laboratory for studying such configurations. This article investigates Japanese American Buddhism in Hawaii, focusing on the relationship between religion...... and ethnicity. By analyzing contemporary religious life and the historical context of two Japanese American Zen temples in Maui, it is argued that the ethnic and cultural divide related to spirituality follow a general tendency by which the secularization of Japanese Americans’ communal Sangha Buddhism...... is counterbalanced by a different group’s spiritualization of Buddhism....

The mystery of reincarnation.

Science.gov (United States)

Nagaraj, Anil Kumar Mysore; Nanjegowda, Raveesh Bevinahalli; Purushothama, S M

2013-01-01

One of the mysteries puzzling human mind since the origin of mankind is the concept of "reincarnation" which literally means "to take on the flesh again." As the civilizations evolved, beliefs got discriminated and disseminated into various religions. The major division manifested was "East" and "West." The eastern religions being more philosophical and less analytical, have accepted reincarnation. However, the different eastern religions like Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism have differed in their faith on rebirth. Further, the Islam as well as the most dominant religion of the world, Christianity, having its origin in the west, have largely denied reincarnation, though some sub-sects still show interest in it. Also many mystic and esoteric schools like theosophical society have their unique description on rebirth. This article describes reincarnation as perceived by various religions and new religious movements as well as some research evidence.

Pain Perception in Buddhism Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Waikakul, Waraporn; Waikakul, Saranatra

2016-08-01

Dhamma, which Lord Buddha has presented to people after his enlightenment, analyzes every phenomenon and objects into their ultimate elements. The explanation of sensory system is also found in a part of Dhamma named Abhidhammapitaka, the Book of the Higher Doctrine in Buddhism. To find out the relationship between explanation of pain in the present neuroscience and the explanation of pain in Abhidhamma, the study was carried out by the use of a comprehensive review. The comparisons were in terms of peripheral stimulation, signal transmission, modulation, perception, suffering, determination and decision making for the responding to pain. We found that details of the explanation on pain mechanism and perception in Abhidhamma could associate well with our present scientific knowledge. Furthermore, more refinement information about the process and its function in particular aspects of pain perception were provided in Abhidhammapitaka.

Buddhism in Čampā Le Bouddhisme au Champa

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Anne-Valérie Schweyer

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Čampā is a Far East country, whose Māhāyana Buddhism is known from 7th to 14th century. In fact, Sanskrit and Cam Inscriptions mostly attested Tantric practices, belonging to the Vajrāyana Buddhism, mixing Śaiva and Buddhist believes. More precisely, side by side Śiva and the three Buddha’ emanations, Śākyamuni, Amitābha and Vairocana, are honoured in Čampā, alone with the Goddess Prajñāpāramitā, the true substance of the Doctrine, and, secondary, with Vajrapāni, Lokeśvara and Vajrasattva. The confrontation of the epigraphic testimonies with the archaeological remains is very useful to understand the Buddhism of Čampā, crossroads of trade roads between India and China. Therefore, epigraphic and artistic evidences are used to propose a chronological presentation, with a special development on the revival of the 10th century, and especially, the esoteric way.Le Čampā, pays du centre Vietnam, connut un bouddhisme Māhāyana du xe au xive siècle. Les inscriptions en sanskrit et en cam montrent que ce bouddhisme était essentiellement tantrique, relevant du bouddhisme Vajrāyana, mêlant pratiques Śivaïtes et bouddhiques. Plus précisément, le bouddhisme cam montre qu’aux côtés de Śiva sont honorées les trois émanations du Bouddha, Śākyamuni, Amitābha et Vairocana, avec la déesse Prajñāpāramitā, la Vraie Substance de la Connaissance ; on trouve également Vajrapāni, Lokeśvara et Vajrasattva. La confrontation des témoignages épigraphiques et archéologiques permet de mieux appréhender le bouddhisme cam, à la croisée des routes commerciales entre l’Inde et la Chine. Cet article exploite ces témoignages dans une perspective chronologique, avec un développement particulier pour le Bouddhisme ésotérique au xe siècle.

Ayurvĕda gleaned through Buddhism.

Science.gov (United States)

Narayana, Ala; Lavekar, G S

2005-01-01

The Păli canon consists of three Pitakas (baskets), which replete the Buddhism and is known as Tripiţaka, viz, Vinaya, Sutta and Abhidhamma Piţakas. The original phase of Tripiţaka (Buddhisim started in 544 B.C. and lastly systematized up to 29 B.C. The Buddhist literature also possesses the esoteric material of Medical Science, which is practiced and conserved in India since centuries. It refers to the fundamentals of medicine, rules of good living, which lay considerable emphasis on the hygiene of body, mind. Internal Medicine, curative medicine including symptoms, methods of diagnosis, theories of causation, materia-medica, therapeutics and treatment and skills of Jivaka. Some famous and popular prescriptions are also dealt with.

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....

The mystery of reincarnation

Science.gov (United States)

Nagaraj, Anil Kumar Mysore; Nanjegowda, Raveesh Bevinahalli; Purushothama, S. M.

2013-01-01

One of the mysteries puzzling human mind since the origin of mankind is the concept of “reincarnation” which literally means “to take on the flesh again.” As the civilizations evolved, beliefs got discriminated and disseminated into various religions. The major division manifested was “East” and “West.” The eastern religions being more philosophical and less analytical, have accepted reincarnation. However, the different eastern religions like Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism have differed in their faith on rebirth. Further, the Islam as well as the most dominant religion of the world, Christianity, having its origin in the west, have largely denied reincarnation, though some sub-sects still show interest in it. Also many mystic and esoteric schools like theosophical society have their unique description on rebirth. This article describes reincarnation as perceived by various religions and new religious movements as well as some research evidence. PMID:23858250

Buddhism in the Astrakhan territory: stages of the historical development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Андрей Алексеевич Курапов

2010-03-01

Full Text Available In authors article are considered the basic stages of distribution of the Buddhism on the Bottom Volga region, within the limits of the Astrakhan province. Analysed characteristic features of historical development of a Buddhist community (sangha at Kalmyks, participation of Buddhist clergy in political life of region. Determined and considered specificity of interaction of a Buddhist community with secular authorities of region and national elite.

First Handbooks on History of Religion and Comparative Religion Abroad

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

The religion paradox: if religion makes people happy, why are so many dropping out?

Science.gov (United States)

Diener, Ed; Tay, Louis; Myers, David G

2011-12-01

As we estimate here, 68% of human beings--4.6 billion people--would say that religion is important in their daily lives. Past studies have found that the religious, on average, have higher subjective well-being (SWB). Yet, people are rapidly leaving organized religion in economically developed nations where religious freedom is high. Why would people leave religion if it enhances their happiness? After controlling for circumstances in both the United States and world samples, we found that religiosity is associated with slightly higher SWB, and similarly so across four major world religions. The associations of religiosity and SWB were mediated by social support, feeling respected, and purpose or meaning in life. However, there was an interaction underlying the general trend such that the association of religion and well-being is conditional on societal circumstances. Nations and states with more difficult life conditions (e.g., widespread hunger and low life expectancy) were much more likely to be highly religious. In these nations, religiosity was associated with greater social support, respect, purpose or meaning, and all three types of SWB. In societies with more favorable circumstances, religiosity is less prevalent and religious and nonreligious individuals experience similar levels of SWB. There was also a person-culture fit effect such that religious people had higher SWB in religious nations but not in nonreligious nations. Thus, it appears that the benefits of religion for social relationships and SWB depend on the characteristics of the society.

Teaching Introductory Upper-Level Religion and Theology Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Clingerman, Forrest; O'Brien, Kevin J.

2015-01-01

The undergraduate study of religion is predominantly undertaken by non-majors who are meeting a general education requirement. This means that, while curricular discussions make important distinctions between the work of lower- and upper-division courses, many religion and theology faculty are teaching hybrid courses that we call…

Appropriating religion: understanding religion as an object of science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

Buddhist Activism and Chinese Modernity

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Hung-yok Ip

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The history of modern Chinese Buddhism has begun to attract attention in recent years. Some scholars have done inspiring research as they unravel the integration of Buddhism into the highly secularized process of Chinese modernity by drawing on the repository of knowledge on modern China. While this special issue joins this exciting endeavor, it also uses Buddhism as a window to reflect on scholarship on Chinese modernity. Conceptually, this special issue presses scholars in the field of modern China to rethink the place of tradition in the course of modernity. Thematically we show the expansionist impulse of Chinese Buddhism: In addition to envisioning the geographical expansion of their religion, Chinese Buddhists have endeavored to enhance the significance of Buddhism in various dimensions of Chinese society in particular and human life in general.

The Ethics of the "Real" In Levinas, Lacan, and Buddhism: Pedagogical Implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Jagodzinski, Jan

2002-01-01

Explores the unstated ethics that exist in the silent space between teacher and students, highlighting Emmanuel Levinas, Jacques Lacan, and Buddhism. The paper uses the juxtaposition of west and east to help illuminate ethical pedagogy, and it argues that there is an unknowable dimension which raises the question of ethics in human relations that…

Three Monotheistic Religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam. Slide Exercise.

Science.gov (United States)

Michalak, Laurence

This slide exercise is intended to communicate information about the three major monotheistic religions of the Middle East: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The exercise focuses on beliefs, events, symbols, institutions, and practices important to the three religions, but the main purpose is to impress upon students the many things that these…

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...

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 ...

The Role of Religious Beliefs and Institutions in Disaster Management: A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyoo-Man Ha

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Religion in Korea has been shaped by its followers to a degree, but the role of religion in Korea has been largely unexamined. This study examines the role of religion and the incorporation of religious beliefs and institutions in the field of disaster management. In doing so, the study examines how three religions—Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianism—operate in Korea, in particular in terms of both care-oriented management and mitigation-oriented management approaches. While utilizing descriptive research as a methodology, policy measures have been suggested with the support of theological perspectives. Despite some difficulties in making a generalization, the major finding is that religion has a role to play in supplementing care-oriented management, with mitigation-oriented management approaches, by better grasping the nature of a disaster and its effective management while responding to regional culture. In addition, the Ministry of Public Safety and Security, local governments, and other government institutions must play new roles in incorporating religion in disaster management.

A review of research on Buddhism and health: 1980-2003.

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, Andrew J; Vane, Adam; Flannelly, Kevin J

2008-01-01

Electronic searches of social science and biomedical literature identified 44 empirical studies that specifically investigate Buddhism, meditation, and health. The number of studies increased over time, especially in medical and other health-related fields. The studies were found to differ by geographical region with regard to the emphasis on spiritual, psychological, or physical outcomes. Results from this study are explored with respect to historical trends as well as current variations in scholarship and religious practice between the regions.

[Euthanasia through history and religion].

Science.gov (United States)

Gajić, Vladimir

2012-01-01

INTRODUCTION Euthanasia represents an ethical, social, legal and medical issue, which is being disputed more and more frequently worldwide. In Serbia, it is illegal and punishable by law and subject to a prison sentence. Euthanasia verbatim, meaning "good death", refers to the practice of ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering. It can be voluntary, when a person knowingly declares the wish to end life, and involuntary, when relatives and family make decisions on behalf of patients in coma. It can be active, when a person applies a medical procedure to end life and passive, when medical procedures which can extend a patient's life are not applied. EUTHANASIA THROUGH HISTORY: The term was known in old Greece, and Hippocrates mentioned it in his oath, which is now taken by all doctors in the world, by which they pledge not to apply a medicine which can lead to death of the patients, nor to give such counsel. Euthanasia had its most vigorous impetus in the mid-20th century when it was being carried out deliberately in Nazi Germany. All leading religions from Christianity, over Buddhism, to Islam, are directly or indirectly against any kind of euthanasia. EUTHANASIA TODAY: At the beginning of the 21st century, euthanasia was legalized in several most developed countries in the world, among them the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, India and some American and Mexican federal states. The World Medical Association from 82 countries has condemned euthanasia, and called all medical workers who practice euthanasia to reconsider their attitudes and to stop this practice.

Zen Buddhism and the Psychotherapy of Milton Erickson: A Transcendence of Theory and Self.

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, Susan Kelly; Forman, Bruce D.

1989-01-01

Compares Zen Buddhism and psychotherapy of Milton Erickson. Explores their similarities with respect to theory, change relationship between teacher/student and therapist/client, and acceptance of nature. Compares Ericksonian psychotherapy with Zen-based Morita therapy to concretize philosophical underpinnings of both systems. (Author/ABL)

Loving-kindness brings loving-kindness: the impact of Buddhism on cognitive self-other integration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Colzato, L.S.; Zech, H.; Hommel, B.; Verdonschot, R.; van den Wildenberg, W.P.M.; Hsieh, S.

2012-01-01

Common wisdom has it that Buddhism enhances compassion and self-other integration. We put this assumption to empirical test by comparing practicing Taiwanese Buddhists with well-matched atheists. Buddhists showed more evidence of self-other integration in the social Simon task, which assesses the

Predicting civil religion at a cross-cultural level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lavrič Miran

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The concept of civil religion has caught major attention among scholars studying the junction of religion and politics (J.-J. Rousseau, E. Durkheim, R. Bellah. The notion focuses on the phenomenon of cultural contents sacralizing and ritualizing the ruling political institutions of a society, extending support to the integration of the political and social system at a cultural level. The notion of civil religion has recently been operationalized crossculturally, but light has not been shed upon its predictors. In this paper authoritarianism is tested as a predictor of civil religion cross-culturally. Four student samples of Bosnian, Serbian, Slovenian and US students were analyzed. Very strong, significant associations between authoritarianism, as operationalized by a modified Lane scale, and civil religion were found in all cases. Moreover, upon introducing femininity, anxiety and gender into the analysis, a strong, dominant and significant impact on the part of authoritarianism was still found when civil religion was observed crossculturally. When the same predictors were applied to explaining general religiosity, authoritarianism fell short of being a significant predictor in most of the environments observed. Such results suggest an especially close link between civil religion and authoritarianism.

Religion and Completed Suicide: a Meta-Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Andrew; Wang, Jing-Yu; Jia, Cun-Xian

2015-01-01

Suicide is a major public health concern and a leading cause of death around the world. How religion influences the risk of completed suicide in different settings across the world requires clarification in order to best inform suicide prevention strategies. A meta-analysis using search results from Pubmed and Web of Science databases was conducted following PRISMA protocol and using the keywords "religion" or "religious" or "religiosity" or "spiritual" or "spirituality" plus "suicide" or "suicidality" or "suicide attempt". Random and fixed effects models were used to generate pooled ORs and I2 values. Sub-analyses were conducted among the following categories: young age (Religion plays a protective role against suicide in a majority of settings where suicide research is conducted. However, this effect varies based on the cultural and religious context. Therefore, public health professionals need to strongly consider the current social and religious atmosphere of a given population when designing suicide prevention strategies.

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....

Never Die Alone: Death and Birth in Pure Land Buddhism : Jonathan Watts and Yoshiharu Tomatsu, editors, 2008, Jodo Shu Press (Tokyo, 978-4-883-63041-7, 175 pp.).

Science.gov (United States)

Maymind, Ilana

2017-09-01

This is a review of a collection of six essays. These essays, with the exception of one, are written by the followers of Shin Buddhism (Pure Land Buddhism). The last essay in this collection is written from the perspective of Theravada Buddhism rather than Mahayana Buddhism. This collection is a result of the initiative by Rev. Yoshiharu Tomatsu who, as a Buddhist priest, has acquired hands-on experience in dealing with grieving Temple members and became acutely aware of the discrepancy between a medical system and a ritualistic Buddhist system. While a medical system overlooks the spiritual needs of the dying, a Buddhist temple system neglects the spiritual needs of the living. This book ensued from a project that was initiated in 2006 and focused on the above-mentioned missing links, aiming to bring into conversation medical and religious practitioners.

The Pedagogy of Happiness and Death: From the Perspectives of Buddhism and Christianity

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jeong-Kyu

2017-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to review the pedagogy of happiness and death from the perspectives of Buddhism and Christianity. To discuss this study logically, three research questions are addressed. First, what are the concepts of happiness and death? Second, what is the relevance between happiness and death? Last, what are the meanings of…

Festivals Together. A Guide to Multi-cultural Celebration.

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzjohn, Sue; Weston, Minda; Large, Judy

This is a resource guide for observing and celebrating special days according to the traditions of many cultures. It brings together the experience and activities of persons from many religions--Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and the Sikh religion--and draws on diverse backgrounds from many parts of the world. The context is…

USSR Report, Problems of the Far East No 4, Oct-Dec 1986.

Science.gov (United States)

1987-04-21

religion as a camouflage, so Buddhism, Taoism , and Islam have been freed of domination and exploitation by reactionary class- es.’ ’ 3. "We...or millenniums. Chinese Buddhism is more than 2000 years old, Tao.sm-ovcr 1700 Islam -1300! whereas Catholicism and Protestantism had appeared...mind the living conditions of the national minorities, with the bulk of population professing either Islam or Lamaism. In this case special

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....

World Religions, Women and Education.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Ursula

1987-01-01

Examines religious traditions--Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Western Christianity--to see how women were taught and what knowledge was transmitted to them. Notes that women have always had some access to religious knowledge in informal ways but were excluded from formal education once sacred knowledge became transmitted in an…

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 ...

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....

Desvendando a religião e as religiões mundiais em Max Weber (Revealing religion and the world religions in Max Weber - DOI: 10.5752/P.2175-5841.2009v7n14p136

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arilson Silva Oliveira

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Apresentamos Max Weber como um dos sociólogos e historiadores mais importantes dentre aqueles que se dedicaram ao estudo do fenômeno religioso. Na verdade, é possível afirmar que a análise da religião compreende um dos aspectos mais fundamentais de sua obra sócio-histórica. De modo geral, esse tema aparece em seus textos de duas maneiras diferentes, quais sejam: enquanto um objeto analisado em sua singularidade e enquanto uma manifestação social que influencia de maneira significativa os demais aspectos da vida comunitária. Aqui, observamos como ele muniu-se de um método particular e o utilizou como parâmetro para compreender historicamente a religião. Ao se debruçar sobre as religiões mundiais (confucionismo-taoísmo, judaísmo-cristianismo e hinduísmo-budismo, Weber estuda a racionalização cultural de suas cosmovisões. Todavia, para ele, a influência da religião sobre a vida prática varia muito segundo o caminho da salvação/libertação que é prescrito e segundo a qualidade psíquica (ou imaginada da salvação que se pretende alcançar. Palavras-chave: Max Weber; Religião; Religiões Mundiais; Racionalização.   AbstractWe present Max Weber as one of the most important sociologists and historians among those who dedicated themselves to the study of the religious phenomenon. Actually, it is possible to say that the analysis of religion involves one of the most fundamental aspects of his socio-historical work. As a whole, this subject appears in his texts in two different forms, i.e., as an analyzed object in its particularities, and as a social manifestation which influences, in a significant way, the other aspects of communitarian life. Here, we observe how he equipped himself with a particular method, rescued Kantian rationality and applied it as a parameter to historically understand religion. While he dedicated himself to study world religions (Confucianism-Taoism, Judaism-Christianity, and Hinduism-Buddhism

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...

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...

A Comparison of Rational Emotive Therapy and Tibetan Buddhism: Albert Ellis and the Dalai Lama

Science.gov (United States)

Holt, Susan A; Austad, Carol Shaw

2013-01-01

This article explores conceptual and methodological similarities between Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) and Tibetan Buddhism (TB). The authors examine some of the values and concepts they share. They compare the two systems on a number of issues: philosophical underpinnings, concepts of what causes human psychopathology, techniques to…

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…

Are religious beliefs and practices of Buddhism associated with disability and salivary cortisol in office workers with chronic low back pain?

Science.gov (United States)

Sooksawat, Annop; Janwantanakul, Prawit; Tencomnao, Tewin; Pensri, Praneet

2013-01-17

Low back pain (LBP) is common among office workers. A number of studies have established a relationship between Christianity and physical and mental health outcomes among chronic pain patients. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the religious beliefs and practices of Buddhism and disability and psychological stress in office workers with chronic LBP. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a self-administered questionnaire delivered by hand to 463 office workers with chronic LBP. Saliva samples were collected from a randomly selected sub-sample of respondents (n=96). Disability due to LBP was assessed using the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire and psychological stress was assessed based on salivary cortisol. Two hierarchical regression models were built to determine how much variance in disability and psychological stress could be explained by religious beliefs and practices of Buddhism variables after controlling for potential confounder variables. Only 6% of variance in psychological stress was accounted for by the religious beliefs and practices of Buddhism. Those with high religiousness experienced lower psychological stress. No association between the religious beliefs and practices of Buddhism and disability level was found. Depressive symptoms were attributed to both psychological stress and disability status in our study population. The findings suggest that, although being religious may improve the psychological condition in workers with chronic LBP, its effect is insufficient to reduce disability due to illness. Further research should examine the role of depression as a mediator of the effect of psychological stress on disability in patients with chronic LBP.

Development and Validity Testing of Belief Measurement Model in Buddhism for Junior High School Students at Chiang Rai Buddhist Scripture School: An Application for Multitrait-Multimethod Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Chaidi, Thirachai; Damrongpanich, Sunthorapot

2016-01-01

The purposes of this study were to develop a model to measure the belief in Buddhism of junior high school students at Chiang Rai Buddhist Scripture School, and to determine construct validity of the model for measuring the belief in Buddhism by using Multitrait-Multimethod analysis. The samples were 590 junior high school students at Buddhist…

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…

Countercurrents from the West: “blue-eyed” Zen masters, Vipassanā meditation, and Buddhist psychotherapy in contemporary Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Bongseok Joo, Ryan

2011-01-01

One surprising and yet relatively unknown aspect of contemporary Korean Buddhism is the significant influence of American and European Buddhism. Between 1989 and 2009, South Koreans witnessed well-educated “blue-eyed” monastic residents via the Korean media, and the emergence of new bestsellers by authors like Thich Nhat Hahn and Jack Kornfield, written initially for Western audiences but since translated into Korean. The new teachings from the West have inspired a sudden growth of interest in vipassanā meditation as an “alternative” to Kanhwa Sŏn practice, and the emergence of a new academic field: Buddhist psychotherapy. This new wave of transnational influence from the West has changed not only the way Koreans practice Buddhism but also how they perceive Buddhist history and their own identities. In addition, the perceived “prestige” of Buddhism in the West has provided a new rhetorical strategy to defend Buddhism against other religions, particularly Korean evangelical Christianity.

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 ...

Increased affluence explains the emergence of ascetic wisdoms and moralizing religions.

Science.gov (United States)

Baumard, Nicolas; Hyafil, Alexandre; Morris, Ian; Boyer, Pascal

2015-01-05

Between roughly 500 BCE and 300 BCE, three distinct regions, the Yangtze and Yellow River Valleys, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Ganges Valley, saw the emergence of highly similar religious traditions with an unprecedented emphasis on self-discipline and asceticism and with "otherworldly," often moralizing, doctrines, including Buddhism, Jainism, Brahmanism, Daoism, Second Temple Judaism, and Stoicism, with later offshoots, such as Christianity, Manichaeism, and Islam. This cultural convergence, often called the "Axial Age," presents a puzzle: why did this emerge at the same time as distinct moralizing religions, with highly similar features in different civilizations? The puzzle may be solved by quantitative historical evidence that demonstrates an exceptional uptake in energy capture (a proxy for general prosperity) just before the Axial Age in these three regions. Statistical modeling confirms that economic development, not political complexity or population size, accounts for the timing of the Axial Age. We discussed several possible causal pathways, including the development of literacy and urban life, and put forward the idea, inspired by life history theory, that absolute affluence would have impacted human motivation and reward systems, nudging people away from short-term strategies (resource acquisition and coercive interactions) and promoting long-term strategies (self-control techniques and cooperative interactions). Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

Disentangling the neural mechanisms involved in Hinduism- and Buddhism-related meditations.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomasino, Barbara; Chiesa, Alberto; Fabbro, Franco

2014-10-01

The most diffuse forms of meditation derive from Hinduism and Buddhism spiritual traditions. Different cognitive processes are set in place to reach these meditation states. According to an historical-philological hypothesis (Wynne, 2009) the two forms of meditation could be disentangled. While mindfulness is the focus of Buddhist meditation reached by focusing sustained attention on the body, on breathing and on the content of the thoughts, reaching an ineffable state of nothigness accompanied by a loss of sense of self and duality (Samadhi) is the main focus of Hinduism-inspired meditation. It is possible that these different practices activate separate brain networks. We tested this hypothesis by conducting an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. The network related to Buddhism-inspired meditation (16 experiments, 263 subjects, and 96 activation foci) included activations in some frontal lobe structures associated with executive attention, possibly confirming the fundamental role of mindfulness shared by many Buddhist meditations. By contrast, the network related to Hinduism-inspired meditation (8 experiments, 54 activation foci and 66 subjects) triggered a left lateralized network of areas including the postcentral gyrus, the superior parietal lobe, the hippocampus and the right middle cingulate cortex. The dissociation between anterior and posterior networks support the notion that different meditation styles and traditions are characterized by different patterns of neural activation. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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 as a Site of Language Contact.

Science.gov (United States)

Spolsky, Bernard

2003-01-01

Provides an overview of early work on the translation of sacred texts into various languages. Reviews the language use patterns and practices historically characteristic of different religious traditions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Quakerism. Describes linguistic effects of missionary activity in several…

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...

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....

On the Origin of Ethics: is Ethics Dependent on Religion?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mindaugas Briedis

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the historical and intellectual linkage between two fundamental spheres of culture – religion and ethics. The theistic ethical perspective and its most radical “supranaturalistic” form are explored. On the other hand, the atheistic position is also revised and the notion of anti-theism is introduced. After that critical analysis is presented on a substantial question concerning the kind of relation between religion and ethics: subordination, assimilation, complementarity or opposition. This question, in turn, demands a careful observance of various religious and secular perspectives, concerning the sources of morality, and poses the problem of faith and knowledge in a new light. Ethical norms constitute crucial part of various religious doctrines and to a certain degree correlate with major shifts in the history of secular culture. However, are these historical and theoretical testimonies sufficient for maintaining that ethics depends on religion and if so, what kind of dependence is it? In the last part of the paper the author formulates a sketch of an answer to a major theoretical concern on the way of reconciling religion and ethics beyond subordination or assimilation. 

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...

Experiencing Change, Encountering the Unknown: An Education in "Negative Capability" in Light of Buddhism and Levinas

Science.gov (United States)

Todd, Sharon

2015-01-01

This article offers a reading of the philosophies of Emmanuel Levinas and Theravada Buddhism across and through their differences in order to rethink an education that is committed to "negative capability" and the sensibility to uncertainty that this entails. In fleshing this out, I first explore Buddhist ideas of impermanence, suffering…

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...

Religiously Integrated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A New Method of Treatment for Major Depression in Patients With Chronic Medical Illness

Science.gov (United States)

Pearce, Michelle J.; Koenig, Harold G.; Robins, Clive J.; Nelson, Bruce; Shaw, Sally F.; Cohen, Harvey J.; King, Michael B.

2015-01-01

Intervention studies have found that psychotherapeutic interventions that explicitly integrate clients’ spiritual and religious beliefs in therapy are as effective, if not more so, in reducing depression than those that do not for religious clients. However, few empirical studies have examined the effectiveness of religiously (vs. spiritually) integrated psychotherapy, and no manualized mental health intervention had been developed for the medically ill with religious beliefs. To address this gap, we developed and implemented a novel religiously integrated adaptation of cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) for the treatment of depression in individuals with chronic medical illness. This article describes the development and implementation of the intervention. First, we provide a brief overview of CBT. Next, we describe how religious beliefs and behaviors can be integrated into a CBT framework. Finally, we describe Religiously Integrated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (RCBT), a manualized therapeutic approach designed to assist depressed individuals to develop depression-reducing thoughts and behaviors informed by their own religious beliefs, practices, and resources. This treatment approach has been developed for 5 major world religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism), increasing its potential to aid the depressed medically ill from a variety of religious backgrounds. PMID:25365155

The return of religion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

Cohesion, the Human Element in Combat

Science.gov (United States)

1985-02-01

on the Persian heritage and Islamic religion. Leadership, too, is an extremely important nationalistic factor. It is essential that the nation is the... Taoism , Buddhism, and Christianity. While the values im- ported by these religions are generally compatible with Vietnamese nationalism, they have...Soviet borders (such as the Pan-Turkish and Arab- Islamic movements). Soviet attempts to make Russian the primary language within the Soviet Union have

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...

Nutritional Problems and Intervention Strategies in India

OpenAIRE

Asumadu-Sarkodie, Samuel

2012-01-01

India, officially the Republic of India is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area. it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. The major religions are Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. India has a total population of 1,198,003,000, a gr...

Segregation in Religion Networks

OpenAIRE

Hu, Jiantao; Zhang, Qian-Ming; Zhou, Tao

2018-01-01

Religious beliefs could facilitate human cooperation [1-6], promote civic engagement [7-10], improve life satisfaction [11-13] and even boom economic development [14-16]. On the other side, some aspects of religion may lead to regional violence, intergroup conflict and moral prejudice against atheists [17-23]. Analogous to the separation of races [24], the religious segregation is a major ingredient resulting in increasing alienation, misunderstanding, cultural conflict and even violence amon...

Shadow of Buddhism and Shintoism in neurosurgical practice in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohta, T

2006-01-01

In Japan, almost all culture and civilization were introduced from abroad; in the past from China and now from U.S. and European countries, owing to her geographical features circumscribed by oceans and separated from the continents. Neurosurgical science and practice have been received in the same way as other activities. However, there are some exceptions such as organ transplantation from the brain dead and brain-dock, which means a brain check-up system of asymptomatic brain diseases. Reasons why these are practised or not in Japan are considered from the viewpoint of Buddhism and Shintoism. If our special practises could appeal to people in other countries, our neurosurgical philosophy might become widespread and welcome worldwide. Organ transplantations from brain dead have routinely been performed in many countries, while only 37 cases have been executed in Japan, after the Japanese government accepted its application in 1997. In contrast, brain-dock is widely practised without any national insurance systems, while this is rarely practised in other countries. It seems to me that Buddhism and Shintoism have influenced on these special situations, due to extreme fear and impurity of the dead body and a way of comprehending the oneness of body and mind, and also deep concern for the impact of their diseases to their families rather than for themselves. We neurosurgeons should realize that our profession is directly related to ultimate human sufferings such as aging, disease, and death, as pointed out by Gautama Buddha. We are in fact in a position to study the real way for resolution of the human sufferings, mentally and physically. Based on our experiences, the foundation of a new academic discipline like "cultural medical science" should urgently be considered in all parts of the world and in light of individual cultural, economical, geographical, and population problems.

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

Religion, culture and political corruption in Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dhikru A. Yagboyaju

2017-10-01

Full Text Available For so long, development theories and practices have either deliberately neglected or simply overlooked the possible interconnections between religion, culture and the attainment of development goals. Against this background, this article reviews the literature on corruption, as a major factor of underdevelopment in Nigeria, particularly as it relates to religion and culture in the country. In its analysis, this article argues that corruption in Nigeria, especially in view of the country’s multi-ethnic and multi-religious status, must be conceived as a phenomenon transcending legal, political and economic boundaries. The study adopts an interpretative and descriptive methodology for its analysis.

Traditional African Religion: A Resource Unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Garland, William E.

This resource unit is based on research conducted by Lynn Mitchell and Ernest Valenzuela, experienced classroom teachers of African history and culture. The unit consists of an introduction by Mr. Garland and two major parts. Part I is an annotated bibliography of selected sources on various aspects of traditional African Religion useful in…

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?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

Religious perspectives on umbilical cord blood banking.

Science.gov (United States)

Jordens, Christopher F C; O'Connor, Michelle A C; Kerridge, Ian H; Stewart, Cameron; Cameron, Andrew; Keown, Damien; Lawrence, Rabbi Jeremy; McGarrity, Andrew; Sachedina, Abdulaziz; Tobin, Bernadette

2012-03-01

Umbilical cord blood is a valuable source of haematopoietic stem cells. There is little information about whether religious affiliations have any bearing on attitudes to and decisions about its collection, donation and storage. The authors provided information about umbilical cord blood banking to expert commentators from six major world religions (Catholicism, Anglicanism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism) and asked them to address a specific set of questions in a commentary. The commentaries suggest there is considerable support for umbilical cord blood banking in these religions. Four commentaries provide moral grounds for favouring public donation over private storage. None attach any particular religious significance to the umbilical cord or to the blood within it, nor place restrictions on the ethnicity or religion of donors and recipients. Views on ownership of umbilical cord blood vary. The authors offer a series of general points for those who seek a better understanding of religious perspectives on umbilical cord blood banking.

JPRS Report, China.

Science.gov (United States)

1991-09-30

five religions (Evangelical Christianity, can be carried out in the most rustic of circumstances. Catholicism, Buddhism, Taoism , and Islam ) have...church 30 none thorough analysis of religion in the area, including the Islam 800 5 1800 2 laws which govern its development, its organizational and...mosques mosques personnel structure, and its systems and activities, thereby Taoism 10-20 none 4-5 1 temple arriving at an objective evaluation of its

Loving-kindness brings loving-kindness: the impact of Buddhism on cognitive self-other integration.

Science.gov (United States)

Colzato, Lorenza S; Zech, Hilmar; Hommel, Bernhard; Verdonschot, Rinus; van den Wildenberg, Wery P M; Hsieh, Shulan

2012-06-01

Common wisdom has it that Buddhism enhances compassion and self-other integration. We put this assumption to empirical test by comparing practicing Taiwanese Buddhists with well-matched atheists. Buddhists showed more evidence of self-other integration in the social Simon task, which assesses the degree to which people co-represent the actions of a coactor. This suggests that self-other integration and task co-representation vary as a function of religious practice.

COVERING RACE AND RELIGION: THE MOORTHY AND NYONYA TAHIR CASES IN FOUR MALAYSIAN NEWSPAPERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ngu Teck Hua

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Reporting on issues like race and religion in a multi-racial and multi-religious society is not an easy media responsibility. In a country like Malaysia where racial and religious sensitivities abound, the media have to constantly tread on precarious ground, balancing between what to write and how to write it. Much of the concern over the reporting of sensitive issues stems from the belief that a wrong move may have dire consequences, as seen in the recent controversy and furore over the Prophet Muhammad caricature published in the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten.This study analyses two recent racial/religious issues – M. Moorthy and Nyonya Tahir cases – as reported in the New Straits Times (NST, Utusan Malaysia (UM, Malaysia Nanban (MN and Sin Chew Daily (SCD. The former case caused a stir when there was a tussle between Moorthy’s Indian/Hindu family and the Federal Territory Islamic Affairs Council which argued that Moorthy had converted to Islam when he was alive without the family’s knowledge. The latter was a case of a Malay/Muslim woman who, while alive, had denounced Islam and lived as a Chinese practising Buddhism.This study analyses how the two race and religion-related controversial issues were treated in the various language newspapers in Malaysia. A preliminary finding showed that, true to the communal nature of the Malaysian press, there was an apparent slant in how the ethnic press covered these two issues. For instance, in terms of prominence given to the stories, SCD, while downplaying the Moorthy story, dedicated more space to the Nyonya Tahir case. Similarly, MN highlighted the Moorthy story and downplayed the Nyonya Tahir case. The different newspapers were also seen to ''favour'' the subject they covered according to the ethnicity.

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'....

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...

We create our own reality

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

" Yes, we create our own reality. This is one of the most fundamental tenets of the ancient oriental religions, such as Buddhism. And during the last century, modern particle physics or quantum mechanics has discovered exactly the same thing" (1 page).

Critical Comments on Brian Victoria's "Engaged Buddhism: Skeleton in the Closet?"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koichi Miyata

2015-02-01

Full Text Available In "Engaged Buddhism: A Skeleton in the Closet?" (Vol. 2 Brian Daizen Victoria claims, among other things, that Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (1871-1944, founder of the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai (forebear of the Soka Gakkai and Soka Gakkai International, was an active supporter of the Japanese wars of aggression. In this response, Koichi Miyata argues that Victoria's claims rest on the highly selective use of quotes, and ignore key interpretative issues associated with Japanese imperial fascism and its underlying belief structures. Miyata discusses the significance of Makiguchi's arrest and imprisonment under a law specifically aimed at opponents of the war efforts, in his analysis of critical lapses in Victoria's article.

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.

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.

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

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...

Suffering in the mystical traditions of Buddhism and Christianity

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Jakub Urbaniak

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This article seeks to explore the mystical approaches to suffering characteristic of both Buddhism and Christianity. Through the analysis of the meanings, the two traditions in question ascribe to suffering as a ‘component’ of mystical experience; it challenges the somewhat oversimplified understanding of the dichotomy ’sage-the-robot versus saint-the-sufferer’. Thus it contributes to the ongoing discussion on the theological–spiritual dimensions of the human predicament, as interpreted by various religious traditions. It also illustrates (though only implicitly in what sense – to use the Kantian distinction – the mystical experience offers boundaries (Schranken without imposing limits (Grenzen to interfaith encounter and dialogue. Man [sic] is ready and willing to shoulder any suffering, as soon and as long as he can see a meaning in it. (Frankl 1967:56

Pain and suffering as viewed by the Hindu religion.

Science.gov (United States)

Whitman, Sarah M

2007-08-01

Religion and spiritual practices are among the resources used by patients to cope with chronic pain. The major concepts of Hinduism that are related to pain and suffering are presented. Ways that Hindu traditions deal with pain and suffering are reviewed, including the concept of acceptance, which has been studied in the pain medicine literature. By becoming more familiar with Hindu views of pain and suffering, pain medicine practitioners can offer potentially helpful concepts to all patients and support Hindus' spirituality as it relates to pain and suffering. Religion or spirituality is often important to patients. This article will inform the pain medicine practitioner how pain and suffering are viewed in Hinduism, the third largest religion in the world. It is hoped that these concepts will prove helpful when treating not only followers of Hinduism but all patients.

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

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.

Materialism and life satisfaction: the role of religion.

Science.gov (United States)

Rakrachakarn, Varapa; Moschis, George P; Ong, Fon Sim; Shannon, Randall

2015-04-01

This study examines the role of religion and religiosity in the relationship between materialism and life satisfaction. The findings suggests that religion may be a key factor in understanding differences in findings of previous studies regarding the inverserelationship found in the vast majority of previous studies. Based on a large-scale study in Malaysia—a country comprised of several religious subcultures (mainly Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus), the findings suggest that the influence of religiosity on materialism and life satisfaction is stronger among Malays than among Chinese and Indians, and life satisfaction partially mediates the relationship between religiosity and materialism. The paper discusses implications for theory development and further research.

[Influences of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism on Chinese Medical Formulas in Jin-Tang Dynasties].

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Xiao-xiang

2006-04-01

In the Jin-Tang Dynasties, when Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism contended, conflicted and well blent, forming a state of mingled thoughts of the three sects. It exerted profound influences on Chinese Medical Formulas and promoted the academic fashion of compiling books about medical formulas characterized by collecting various formulas especially the simple and proved recipes. This plays a role in the formation of the formulas used in the Jin-Tang Dynasties, featuring simplicity, convenience, cheapness, and effectiveness, different from those of other periods.

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...

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...

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.

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.

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.

Buddhist Contribution to the Socialist Transformation of Buddhism in China: Activities of Ven. Juzan during 1949–1953

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Xue Yu

2015-02-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the role played by Chinese Buddhists, especially the so-called "progressive Buddhists," in the socialist transformation of the sangha at the early stage of the People’s Republic of China (PRC. I concentrate on the case of Ven. Juzan (1908–1984. While the focus on one individual does not reveal the whole story about Chinese Buddhists’ involvement in the Chinese Communist Party’s project of reshaping the sangha, the career of Juzan does provide a window on the issue. By exploring various sources, including Modern Buddhist Studies (Xiandai foxue and government documents, I investigate how Juzan urged his fellow Buddhists to work with the Communist leadership, and how he justified government policies on Buddhism by reinterpreting Buddhist doctrines. In so doing, this study intends to show that Chinese Buddhists’ collaboration with the Communist regime was a significant dimension of the socialist transformation of the Chinese sangha, a process that laid the foundation for full-scale persecution of Buddhism during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976.

Does Ideological Education in China Suppress Trust in Religion and Foster Trust in Government?

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Ying Xie

2017-05-01

Full Text Available A major goal of ideological education in China is to promote loyalty to the party-state and to instill atheism among the people. How effective is this ideological education? This article examines the relationship between education and trust in government and trust in religion using data from the 2010 Chinese General Social Survey. We find that education is negatively associated with trust in government, while positively related to trust in religion. Our findings suggest that policies aimed at displacing religion in favor of the Communist ideology have largely failed to shape the public mindset; rather, the more educated, the more people tend to trust religion instead of the government.

Suicide and religion.

Science.gov (United States)

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:…

Physician assistant program education on spirituality and religion in patient encounters.

Science.gov (United States)

Berg, Gina M; Whitney, Melissa P; Wentling, Callie J; Hervey, Ashley M; Nyberg, Sue

2013-01-01

To describe educational practices of physician assistant (PA) programs regarding spirituality and religion discussions during patient encounters. Patients want their health care provider to be aware of their spiritual and religious beliefs. This topic is addressed in physician and nursing education but may not be included in PA programs. Data regarding curriculum were collected via electronic survey emailed to 143 PA programs across the United States. Thirty-eight programs responded for a response rate of 27%. Most (68.4%) program respondents reported students' desire to be trained to discuss spirituality and religion, yet 36.8% do not offer this training. Just over half (69.2%) would consider adding curriculum to teach students to discuss spirituality, but the majority (92.3%) would not add curriculum to discuss religion during patient encounters. PA programs offer training to discuss spirituality in patient encounters but not to discuss religiosity. Programs may want to consider adding some curriculum to increase PAs awareness of spirituality and religion needs of patients.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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.

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

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

Os intelectuais e o budismo japonês no Brasil / Intellectuals and Japanese Buddhism in Brazil

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Eduardo Basto de Albuquerque

2011-01-01

Full Text Available ResumoEste ensaio trata da história da descoberta do Budismo japonês por intelectuais brasileiros, como um conjunto de práticas e sabedorias espirituais, realizada através de leituras e encontros com monges budistas japoneses e/ou imigrantes japoneses. Devido a isso, estes intelectuais defendem uma experiência religiosa baseada numa noção universalista de representações do Budismo japonês, que lhes proporcionam reflexão filosófica não-dualista e experiência psicológica única. Tais intelectuais, através de experiências espirituais inovadoras, romperam a tensão criada pela disputa entre secularização via ciência e a hegemonia católica, predominantes no panorama intelectual.AbstractThis study concentrates on the discovery of Japanese Buddhism by Brazilian intellectuals as a group of spiritual practices and as a body of spiritual wisdom. The study has been realized through readings and meetings with Japanese Buddhist monks and/or Japanese immigrants. These intellectuals defend a religious experience based on a universal notion of representations of Japanese Buddhism, which provides them with a non-dualistic philosophical perspective and a unique psychological experience. Through innovative spiritual experiences these intellectuals have broken the tension created within the dispute between secularized science and the Catholic hegemony, both predominant in the intellectual panorama.

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.

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...

Macho Buddhism: Gender and Sexualities in the Diamond Way

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Burkhard Scherer

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Western Tibetan Buddhist movements have been described as bourgeois and puritanical in previous scholarship. In contrast, Ole Nydahl’s convert lay Karma Kagyu Buddhist movement, the Diamond Way, has drawn attention for its apparently hedonistic style. Focussing on the interpretation of Nydahl’s approach to gender and sexualities, this paper addresses the wider issues of continuity and change during the transition of Tibetan Buddhism from Asia to the West. Nydahl’s pre-modern gender stereotyping, the hetero-machismo of the Diamond Way and the mildly homophobic tone and content of Nydahl’s teaching are interpreted on the background of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist sexual ethics and traditional Tibetan cultural attitudes on sexualities. By excavating the emic genealogy of Nydahl’s teachings, the paper suggests that Nydahl’s and the Diamond Way’s view on and performance of gender and sexualities are consistent with his propagation of convert Buddhist neo-orthodoxy.

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.

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....

Confessional Peculiarity of Chinese Islam

Science.gov (United States)

Mukan, Nurzat M.; Bulekbayev, Sagadi B.; Kurmanaliyeva, Ainura D.; Abzhalov, Sultanmurat U.; Meirbayev, Bekzhan B.

2016-01-01

This paper considers features of Islam among Muslim peoples in China. Along with the traditional religions of China--Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism--Islam influenced noticeable impact on the formation of Chinese civilization. The followers of Islam have a significant impact on ethno-religious, political, economic and cultural relations of the…

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

Science.gov (United States)

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...

The reformasi of Ayu Utami; Attacking the monopoly of the great religions

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Karel Steenbrink

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In eight novels, Ayu Utami has presented critical attacks on doctrines and practices of the major religions in Indonesia. The two books, that describe the spiritual struggle of the Catholic priest Saman (1998–2002, call for a religion that is more active in the political arena, but leaves sexual rules to the individual people. The novel Bilangan Fu (2008 condemns the monopoly of the great religions in favour of local and individual spirituality. This is developed in a series of novels of which two more have already appeared. A third cycle of three more or less autobiographic novels (2003–2013 sketch her personal quest from atheism towards a critical but positive spirituality condemning a clerical and monopolist trend in Catholicism. Utami’s criticism of the great religions is external (more players in the field should be recognised and internal (religious leaders should have more modest claims towards their faithful and leave more space for personal choice.

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.''

Nietzsche – Psychologist of Religion

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Remedios Ávila Crespo

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of the following article is to fight some common misconceptions with respect to Nietzsche’s views on religion, and to show that these views are considerbly complex. Starting from the close relation between the human experience of suffering and the need for religion, as pointed out by Eliade, Freud and Schopenhauer, this essay focuses on the continuity between psychology and genealogy in Nietzsche’s analyses of religion and morality, it then responds to the questions about the essence, kinds and limits of the fact of religion, and ends by pointing out the different ontological status of Nietzsche’s principal philosophical positions.

[Psychotherapy and Religion: A Representative Survey Among Psychotherapists in Southern Germany].

Science.gov (United States)

Marquardt, Michael; Demling, Joachim Heinrich

2016-12-01

Objective: Religion and spirituality play an appreciable role as a problem area or as a resource for patients with mental disorders. It is therefore of interest what attitudes psychotherapists assume towards this complex range of issues in their work, but also in their personal lives. The majority of empirical studies on this subject originate from the USA, with little data being available from Europe and Germany. Our own survey among practising psychotherapists was designed to elucidate these questions. Method and Study Population: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the form of a written survey of all accessible practising psychotherapists in the area of Northern Bavaria (Franconian administrative districts; n=1 081, return rate 65%). Results: Around two-thirds of the therapists consider religion to be an important subject in psychotherapy, but only one-fifth of them routinely take a history of the patients' religious beliefs. The therapists' own closeness to religion correlates positively with the tendency to incorporate religion in their therapy. In around one-third of the therapists, religion holds an important place within their own world view, although significantly fewer psychotherapists than the general population of Franconia are bound to a specific confession. Around one-quarter had at least once consulted a pastor due to a patient, while each seventh therapist had at least once actively mediated contact to a pastor. Conclusions: Religion is a subject that is relevant for therapeutic practice, but a history of religious beliefs is rarely taken on a routine basis. The incorporation of religion into psychotherapy correlates with religious characteristics of the therapists ("personal bias"). There appears to be a "religiosity gap" between psychotherapists and the general population. Advanced training on the subject of "religion/spirituality" and increased consideration in supervision may counteract the danger of religious needs and religion

Prosociality and religion: History and experimentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin

2016-01-01

Norenzayan et al. are praised for choosing to deal with significant questions in the understanding of religion. They are then criticized for refusing to define religion and for relying on problematic theoretical concepts. The authors discuss Abrahamic religions as the best-known prosocial religions, but the evidence shows that the case does not fit their conceptual framework. Finally, an extension of the authors' ideas about the meaning of priming effects is proposed.

When did religion, cognition and culture emerge?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geertz, Armin W.

2015-01-01

Et bidrag om religion, kognition og kultur i evolutionistisk perspektiv ved en Engelsberg konference om "Religion" afholdt i Avesta, Sverige i 2014.......Et bidrag om religion, kognition og kultur i evolutionistisk perspektiv ved en Engelsberg konference om "Religion" afholdt i Avesta, Sverige i 2014....

Religion in a global vortex

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Telebaković Boško

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Religions have been separated from a state, but they could have never been kept apart from the sphere of politics. They cannot be hidden from globalisation too, and are present in different forms. Only some world's religions actively participate in globalisation and try to make their believers part of their globalisation projects. The Roman Catholic Chuch and Islam are strong enough to make an attempt to shape themselves as global religions and political forces, but obstacles are so big that they cannot reach their goal in the near future. Does the USA take multireligious approach and disturb all monoreligious globalisation? Can globalisation developing a multireligious approach be the most penetrating? What can be achieved by fuzzy religion being formed in the Western Europe? Localisation in the Balkans, serving globalisation, is taking place with religious communities participating in the process. The use of religion in globalisation easily causes political concussions.

Religions Constructed as Similar or Different by Teachers of Religious Education from a Citizenship Education Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Liljestrand, Johan

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to empirically explore and theoretically discuss Swedish religious studies (RE) teachers' understanding of religions as similar and different. In Sweden, RE is a mandatory subject and presents all the world's major religions to students. Teachers of RE therefore need to relate to the various relations between the…

Fiction-based Religion : Conceptualising a New Category against History-based Religion and Fandom

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Davidsen, M.A.

2013-01-01

During the last decade, scholars of religion have researched Star Wars-based Jediism, the Tolkien-inspired Elven community, and other religious movements inspired by popular fiction. This article raises two related questions about this new kind of religion: what should we call it?, and what

Material security, life history, and moralistic religions: A cross-cultural examination

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Cody T.; Apicella, Coren; Atkinson, Quentin D.; Cohen, Emma; McNamara, Rita Anne; Willard, Aiyana K.; Xygalatas, Dimitris; Norenzayan, Ara; Henrich, Joseph

2018-01-01

Researchers have recently proposed that “moralistic” religions—those with moral doctrines, moralistic supernatural punishment, and lower emphasis on ritual—emerged as an effect of greater wealth and material security. One interpretation appeals to life history theory, predicting that individuals with “slow life history” strategies will be more attracted to moralistic traditions as a means to judge those with “fast life history” strategies. As we had reservations about the validity of this application of life history theory, we tested these predictions with a data set consisting of 592 individuals from eight diverse societies. Our sample includes individuals from a wide range of traditions, including world religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity, but also local traditions rooted in beliefs in animism, ancestor worship, and worship of spirits associated with nature. We first test for the presence of associations between material security, years of formal education, and reproductive success. Consistent with popular life history predictions, we find evidence that material security and education are associated with reduced reproduction. Building on this, we then test whether or not these demographic factors predict the moral concern, punitiveness, attributed knowledge-breadth, and frequency of ritual devotions towards two deities in each society. Here, we find no reliable evidence of a relationship between number of children, material security, or formal education and the individual-level religious beliefs and behaviors. We conclude with a discussion of why life-history theory is an inadequate interpretation for the emergence of factors typifying the moralistic traditions. PMID:29513766

Politiske buddhister

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borup, Jørn

2007-01-01

Munkene i Myanmar (Burma) er på gaden i politiske protester mod et undertrykkende regime. Den fredelige asiatiske religion er kommet i politikernes bevidsthed, og for en gangs skyld er det ikke islam, der skaber overskrifter i mediernes religionsdækning. Men politik og buddhisme har aldrig været...

Kosovar Society through Secularism and Religion

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MSc. Dritero Arifi

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This paper will analyze the importance and the effects of religion, in Kosovar society. A great part of the paper, will analyze the social and the political relations in Post-War Kosovo. Initially it will elaborate religion and secularism, especially in theoreticall aspect, what impact have these definitions in modern societies. In order to explain what the importance of the religion in Kosovo is, we will focus on analyzing ethnical, social and political relations within Kosovo society. A considerable component of the paper is also, the elaboration of secularism in Kosovo conditions. This implies that the formulation of the problem and the objective of this research, are the substance of the paper’s theme, which is, religion in Kosovo; its definition and the outlook of the Kosovar society on religion. Is Kosovo post-war society more or less religious? That means the elements of Religions and Secularism will be part of the analysis of developments in post-war Kosovo.

Grænser for religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lüchau, Peter

2013-01-01

Paper om hvor og under hvilke betingelser danskerne finder religion acceptabel og/eller passende......Paper om hvor og under hvilke betingelser danskerne finder religion acceptabel og/eller passende...

Buddhist values as a potential economic determinant in the development of Tuvan society

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Inna S. Tarbastaeva

2018-06-01

Full Text Available The article actualizes the study of the influence of Buddhist values on the socio-economic development of Tuvan society. Research on economic success in contemporary world has supported the link between Buddhism and economy. After the spread of Buddhism in the West in the middle of the 20th century, ancient knowledge and practices became available to the urbanized population. Foreign researchers drew attention to their actual potential when conducting financial and industrial activities. Among Western economists, the cornerstone of the idea was laid by E. Schumacher, who published "Small is fine: an economy in which people matter" (1973. Among Asian researchers, an important contribution was made by a Thai monk and philosopher P. Paiotto. As these and other studies show, Buddhism does not encourage poverty, nor call for a rejection of material wealth. It is incorrect to interpret it as an ascetic religion. Buddhist texts contain direct indications concerning the way of earning money and the meaning of well-being. Modern teachers also give advice to laypeople about economic activity. Although in Buddhism practitioners strive, first of all, for spiritual goals —such as liberation from suffering or achieving Buddhahood, laymen are included in social life and have to provide for themselves and their family, which the religious teaching has to account for. Buddhists believe that wealth cannot bring true happiness. Therefore, for a practicing layman, achieving a high level of material well-being is not a life goal. The article presents a summary of the conclusions contemporary economists, psychologists and neurobiologists arrive at, confirming that the empirical correlation between the increase in incomes and happiness is insignificant. Some examples of how Buddhist values help entrepreneurs are also provided. For instance, as a result of faith in the law of karma, there is a greater degree of honesty in business interaction, and a long

A qualitative investigation of Muslim and Christian women's views of religion and feminism in their lives.

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Saba Rasheed; Mahmood, Amina; Moel, Joy; Hudson, Carolyn; Leathers, Leslie

2008-01-01

This qualitative investigation explored a relatively understudied aspect of cultural diversity: feminism and religion in the lives of religiously diverse women. More specifically, structured interviews were used to investigate views of religion, women's issues, gender roles, culture, and feminism for a small group of Muslim and Christian women living in the United States. The data were analyzed using consensual qualitative research methods (Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997). Findings indicated a complex relationship between feminism, gender roles, culture, and religion for these women with the majority of the Muslim women reporting that their religion supports feminist principles and identifying themselves as feminist. Christian women were less willing to endorse the feminist label. Implications for multicultural feminist practice are discussed. 2008 APA

Religion, theology and cosmology

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John T. Fitzgerald

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Cosmology is one of the predominant research areas of the contemporary world. Advances in modern cosmology have prompted renewed interest in the intersections between religion, theology and cosmology. This article, which is intended as a brief introduction to the series of studies on theological cosmology in this journal, identifies three general areas of theological interest stemming from the modern scientific study of cosmology: contemporary theology and ethics; cosmology and world religions; and ancient cosmologies. These intersections raise important questions about the relationship of religion and cosmology, which has recently been addressed by William Scott Green and is the focus of the final portion of the article.

AHP 21: Review: Spirits of the Place

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William B. Noseworthy

2012-12-01

Full Text Available John Holt draws deeply upon more than twenty years of scholarship on the Theravadin world in Spirits of the Place, a work that analyzes the historical role of Buddhism in Laos. This work will appeal to scholars in such diverse fields as history, anthropology, sociology, religious studies, US foreign policy, and area studies. In this study Holt turns his focus to the Lao ethnic majority of Laos and the Lao ethnic minority of Isan Province, Thailand,1 in five chapters that compellingly combine historiographic and anthropological analysis, including what (MacDaniel 2010:120 has referred to as "the best Literature review of scholarship on Lao religion to date…" ...

Students' Spirituality and "Big Questions" in Introductory Religion Courses

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Walvoord, Barbara E.

2008-01-01

A study of sixty-six highly effective teachers of introductory theology and religion courses in various types of institutions reveals very complex challenges for instructors. The majority of students have as a goal their own religious and spiritual development. Faculty members' most frequent goal is critical thinking. Students much less frequently…

Religion-Related Child Maltreatment: A Profile of Cases Encountered by Legal and Social Service Agencies.

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Bottoms, Bette L; Goodman, Gail S; Tolou-Shams, Marina; Diviak, Kathleen R; Shaver, Phillip R

2015-08-01

Religion can foster, facilitate, and be used to justify child maltreatment. Yet religion-related child abuse and neglect have received little attention from social scientists. We examined 249 cases of religion-related child maltreatment reported to social service agencies, police departments, and prosecutors' offices nationwide. We focused on cases involving maltreatment perpetrated by persons with religious authority, such as ministers and priests; the withholding of medical care for religious reasons; and abusive attempts to rid a child of supposed evil. By providing a descriptive statistical profile of the major features of these cases, we illustrate how these varieties of religion-related child maltreatment occur, who the victims and perpetrators are, and how religion-related child abuse and neglect are reported and processed by the social service and criminal justice systems. We end with a call for greater research attention to these important offenses against children. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Unbelievable?! Theistic/Epistemological Viewpoint Affects Religion-Health Relationship.

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Speed, David

2017-02-01

Research suggests that Religion/Spirituality promotes a variety of positive health outcomes. However, despite reporting lower levels of Religion/Spirituality, non-believers report comparable levels of health to believers. The current study tested the hypothesis that Religion/Spirituality does not have a uniform effect on health for all persons, and tested theological/epistemological categories as moderators. Using the 2012 and 2014 General Social Survey (N = 2670), the relationship between Religion/Spirituality and happiness and self-rated health was investigated. Results indicated that Gnostic Theists experienced Religion/Spirituality more positively than their peers did; Agnostic Theists experienced Religion/Spirituality less positively than their peers did; and Negative Atheists experienced Religion/Spirituality less positively than their peers did. These findings suggested that Religion/Spirituality is not associated with salutary effects for all persons, and that whether a person believes in god(s) and how confident he/she was in god(s)' existence, influenced his/her experience with Religion/Spirituality.

The Distinction Between the Essence and Reality of Religion: Resolving an Ambiguity in the Method of Phenomenology of Religion

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Mohammadreza Ghaeminik

2014-01-01

Full Text Available During recent centuries, under the influence of modern and postmodern ideas, religious studies have been exposed to new approaches and views. On the one hand, these approaches are not an extension of theology in the traditional sense and on the other hand, they give a remarkable role to method in religious studies. The importance of phenomenology and the eyes it has caught as a "method" in study of religion, as well as in such disciplines as philosophy of religion, sociology of religion, psychology of religion, history of religion  and so on,‌ have been due to the compatibility of this method or approach with different religions and as a result due to preparing the ground for comparative studies of religions, on the one hand, and because of being descriptive and non-judicative about beliefs and thoughts, on the other. Historically speaking, this method or approach is a product of the mixture of two intellectual currents in the nineteenth century west. These two currents comprise scientific research of religion and the philosophical phenomenology of the German philosopher, "Edmund Husserl". As compared to philosophical phenomenology, phenomenology of religion has undergone through dramatic changes in all its aspects. But we can't understand phenomenology of religion, particularly in the twentieth century, apart from philosophical phenomenology, specifically Husserl's phenomenology and its important concepts. However, there are two challenging problems in phenomenology of religion both historically and regarding its essential complexity as such: first, the existing variety of phenomenologies of religion in Rudolf Otto, Mircea Eliade, Max scheler, C. Jouco bleeker, Ninian Smart, Gerardus van der Leeuw and many others works has hardened the process of understanding of this method and thus it seems necessary to outline the underlying characteristics of this method. The second and more significant point is that the works of early phenomenologists

The Distinction Between the Essence and Reality of Religion: Resolving an Ambiguity in the Method of Phenomenology of Religion

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Mojtaba Zarvani

2013-12-01

Full Text Available During recent centuries, under the influence of modern and postmodern ideas, religious studies have been exposed to new approaches and views. On the one hand, these approaches are not an extension of theology in the traditional sense and on the other hand, they give a remarkable role to method in religious studies. The importance of phenomenology and the eyes it has caught as a "method" in study of religion, as well as in such disciplines as philosophy of religion, sociology of religion, psychology of religion, history of religion  and so on,‌ have been due to the compatibility of this method or approach with different religions and as a result due to preparing the ground for comparative studies of religions, on the one hand, and because of being descriptive and non-judicative about beliefs and thoughts, on the other. Historically speaking, this method or approach is a product of the mixture of two intellectual currents in the nineteenth century west. These two currents comprise scientific research of religion and the philosophical phenomenology of the German philosopher, "Edmund Husserl". As compared to philosophical phenomenology, phenomenology of religion has undergone through dramatic changes in all its aspects. But we can't understand phenomenology of religion, particularly in the twentieth century, apart from philosophical phenomenology, specifically Husserl's phenomenology and its important concepts. However, there are two challenging problems in phenomenology of religion both historically and regarding its essential complexity as such: first, the existing variety of phenomenologies of religion in Rudolf Otto, Mircea Eliade, Max scheler, C. Jouco bleeker, Ninian Smart, Gerardus van der Leeuw and many others works has hardened the process of understanding of this method and thus it seems necessary to outline the underlying characteristics of this method. The second and more significant point is that the works of early phenomenologists

UFO Religions – Beginnings and Main Forms

OpenAIRE

Danijel Sinani

2016-01-01

This paper looks at UFO religions, and considers the major factors that have played a role in the emergence and development of these alternative religious movements - from reports of close encounters of the third and fourth kinds and science fiction production, to alternative ideological elaborations of contacts with extraterrestrial worlds. It looks at the basic theological premises, iconography, activities, and, more generally, cultural precepts of several UFO religious movements (the Aethe...

Methodological remarks on studying prehistoric Greek religion

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Petra Pakkanen

1999-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a methodological approach to the study of Greek religion of the period which lacks written documents, i.e. prehistory. The assumptions and interpretations of religion of that time have to be based on archaeological material. How do we define religion and cultic activity on the basis of primary archaeological material from this period, and which are the methodological tools for this difficult task? By asking questions on the nature and definition of religion and culture scholars of religion have provided us with some methodological apparatus to approach religion of the past in general, but there are models developed by archaeologists as well. Critical combination of these methodological tools leads to the best possible result. Archaeology studies the material culture of the past. History of religion studies the spiritual culture of the past. In the background the two have important theoretical and even philosophical speculations since they both deal with meanings (of things or practices and with interpretation.

Reflection of Confucianism, Hinduism, and Buddhism on gender relations and gender specific occupation in Thai society.

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Shrestha, M; Weber, K E

1994-01-01

It is posited that present-day Thai society is the product of different settlement patterns among Chinese Confucian followers and those ascribing to matrilocal practices. Chinese settled in urban areas and maintained Confucian dogma that barred women from high ranking positions and dictated a women's role of subservience to men. Matrilocal systems proliferated in rural areas. The village kinship system was egalitarian, until a class-state society was instituted and patriarchal systems dominated. At that time, women's status was reduced. Massive Chinese immigration occurred during the mid-19th century until World War II. Some Indians also migrated during this time period. The dominant use of the Thai language forced the Chinese to assimilate into Thai culture. Thai Buddhist practices were open and similar enough to Confucian ideology that religious assimilation also occurred. A small group of Chinese immigrants retained their ties to Chinese customs. The pattern of foreigners' involvement in the Thai economy was promoted by official policy. In the last several decades Thai policy shifted to an increasingly Thai-influenced economy. Other influences on gender patterns and Thai culture were the Hinduism of Indians who settled in Central Siam, the Mon aristocracy, and Brahmin cults. After the Khmers took over control of this region, the Indian caste system and the Hindu belief in Manu were integrated into Khmer culture. Women were considered the weaker and inferior sex and dependent upon men. The kings of Siam followed Brahmin rituals after the 15th century. Buddhism and the "sangha" became the central Thai religious institution. Even today Buddhist monks are given 3 months time off with pay for time spent as a monk, while maternity leave for women is limited to 45 days. The status of women is traced during the Sukothai period (1250-1350), the Ayudhaya period (1350-1767), and the Ratanakosin period (since 1782). Present occupational patterns reflect women's dominance in

The "Make Your Own Religion" Project

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Bauman, Chad M.; Hege, Brent A. R.; Kleckley, Russell; Willsky-Ciollo, Lydia; Lopez, Davina C.

2016-01-01

The "Make Your Own Religion" class project was designed to address a perceived need to introduce more theoretical thinking about religion into a typical religion survey course, and to do so in such a way that students would experience the wonder of theoretical discovery, and through or because of that discovery hopefully both better…

Exposure to science, perspectives on science and religion, and religious commitment in young adulthood.

Science.gov (United States)

Uecker, Jeremy E; Longest, Kyle C

2017-07-01

Social scientists know very little about the consequences of exposure to scientific knowledge and holding different perspectives on science and religion for individuals' religious lives. Drawing on secularization and post-secular theories, we develop and test several hypotheses about the relationships among exposure to scientific knowledge, perspectives on religion and science, and religious commitment using panel data from the National Study of Youth and Religion. Our findings indicate that religious faith is strongest among young adults who: (1) accommodate scientific knowledge into their religious perspective, or (2) reject scientific knowledge that directly contradicts their religious beliefs about the origins of the world. Young adults are also more likely to have lower religious commitment when they view science and religion as independent institutions, lending support to secularization ideas about how social differentiation secularizes individuals. We further find that mere exposure to scientific knowledge, in terms of majoring in biology or acknowledging conflict between the teachings of religion and science, is usually not sufficient to undermine religious commitment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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.

Divided Korea: United Future?

Science.gov (United States)

Cumings, Bruce

1995-01-01

Korea's recorded history extends back before the birth of Christ. Through their long history, the Koreans have endured a variety of social, political, and economical crises. Confucianism has long been one of the most popular religions by which the Korean people have lived. However, Koreans also have embraced Buddhism and Christianity while…

Kant and Demystification of Ethics and Religion

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Qodratullah Qorbani

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Kant's demystification is meant to put away any metaphysical and revealed elements from ethics and religion. Kant, fulfilling this, first argues that metaphysical questions of reason, from theoretical aspect, have no certain answers. In practical reason, he establishes his moral foundations, based on own human being without any referring to metaphysical bases. In fact, Kant places human being as the base, legislator and finally the end of ethics, so that the totality of morality is depended on itself him/her and there is no moral reality out of our humanly understanding. Kant, then, by confirming the necessity of rational religion, believes that the age of revealed religions have been expired, since they were belonged to the childhood age of human being’s reason, while in Kant’s rational religion, this is human being’s subjective intellect that defines the nature and function of God. Therefore, for Kant’s moral and rational religion, there is no credibility for affairs like miracles, blessings and prayers, since they indicate religious misguidance. In Kant’s rational pure religion, the religion is relied on human being’s pure reason in which his/her reason is the only criterion of religious beliefs. Therefore, for Kant, religion means recognizing our duties as divine judgments, and that such religion pertains to our mundane life not for worshiping God in order to get his satisfaction or benefitting his grace. In short, Kant’s religion and morality are totally depended on our humanly and earthy rationality and understanding, and that there is no mystery out of our humanly willing. So the mysteries that are claimed by revealed religions are meaningless, since our reason, itself, determines the nature, function and virtues of God, moral axioms and religious beliefs.

Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

This is a thematic issue of the journal Religion 47 (3) entitled Exploring Aniconism. It contains elleven research articles on the use of aniconism in different religious traditions. Table of Content 1. Aniconism: definitions, examples and comparative perspectives (Milette Gaifman, concluding...

Journal for the Study of Religion

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Journal for the Study of Religion is published twice a year in March and September by the Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa as a forum for scholarly contributions of up to 6000 words on topics of contemporary significance in the academic study of religion, in the form of articles, responses to articles, ...

Conceptualising spirituality and religion for healthcare.

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Pesut, Barbara; Fowler, Marsha; Taylor, Elizabeth J; Reimer-Kirkham, Sheryl; Sawatzky, Richard

2008-11-01

To discuss some of the challenges of conceptualising spirituality and religion for healthcare practice. With the growing interest in spirituality in healthcare, has come the inevitable task of trying to conceptualise spirituality, a daunting task given the amorphous nature of spirituality, the changing understandings of spirituality among individuals and the diverse globalised society within which this task is taking place. Spirituality's relationship to religion is a particularly challenging point of debate. Critical review. Three social and historical conditions - located in the context of Western thought - have contributed to current conceptualisations of spirituality and religion: the diminishment of the social authority of religion as a result of the Enlightenment focus on reason, the rise of a postmodern spirituality emphasising spiritual experience and current tensions over the ideological and political roles of religion in society. The trend to minimise the social influence of religion is a particular Western bias that seems to ignore the global megatrend of the resurgence of religion. Current conceptualisations are critiqued on the following grounds: that they tend to be ungrounded from a rich history of theological and philosophical thought, that a particular form of elitist spirituality is emerging and that the individualistic emphasis in recent conceptualisations of spirituality diminishes the potential for societal critique and transformation while opening the door for economic and political self interest. Constructing adequate conceptualisations of spirituality and religion for clinical practice entails grounding them in the wealth of centuries of philosophical and theological thinking, ensuring that they represent the diverse society that nursing serves and anchoring them within a moral view of practice.

Religion insulates ingroup evaluations: the development of intergroup attitudes in India.

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Dunham, Yarrow; Srinivasan, Mahesh; Dotsch, Ron; Barner, David

2014-03-01

Research on the development of implicit intergroup attitudes has placed heavy emphasis on race, leaving open how social categories that are prominent in other cultures might operate. We investigate two of India's primary means of social distinction, caste and religion, and explore the development of implicit and explicit attitudes towards these groups in minority-status Muslim children and majority-status Hindu children, the latter drawn from various positions in the Hindu caste system. Results from two tests of implicit attitudes find that caste attitudes parallel previous findings for race: higher-caste children as well as lower-caste children have robust high-caste preferences. However, results for religion were strikingly different: both lower-status Muslim children and higher-status Hindu children show strong implicit ingroup preferences. We suggest that religion may play a protective role in insulating children from the internalization of stigma. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Teaching Critical Thinking through a course on Science and Religion

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Shipman, H. L.; Jordan, J. J.

2004-12-01

The relationship between science and religion is, according to the public debate, rather stormy. It doesn't have to be this way. Since 1998, an astronomer (Shipman) and a philosopher (Jordan) have team-taught a course with a more constructive approach. This course has a recognized role in the University's General Education program and in the philosophy major. As overall course goals, we hope that our students will be able to: - exhibit critical thinking skills in being able to tell the difference between good arguments and bad arguments in this area - recognize that the relationship between science and religion is not necessarily an antagonistic one. We accomplish these goals by focusing the course on four major issues, namely: - Does Big Bang Cosmology leave room for a Creator? - Can a rational person believe in miracle reports? - In the light of modern science, what does it mean to be human? - Can a theist, someone who believes in God, rationally accept the scientific theory of biological evolution? We have evidence in the course to evaluate student progress towards our goals. Student responses to a pre- and post-testing methodology, where they responded to the same assignment at the beginning and at the end of the course, were classified as seeing the relationship between science and religion as confrontational, distinct, convergent, or transitional between distinct and convergent. Preliminary analysis of the student responses shows a significant shift away from a confrontational position and towards a more convergent position. The development of this course was supported by the John Templeton Foundation's Science and Religion course program. H.L.S.'s scholarly work integrating science research and science education research is supported by the National Science Foundation's Distinguished Teaching Scholars Program. DUE-0306557),

Religion and stock price crash risk: Evidence

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Wenfei Li

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates whether religious traditions influence firm-specific crash risk in China. Using a sample of A-share listed firms from 2003 to 2013, we provide evidence that the more intense the religious environment, the lower the stock price crash risk, implying that religion plays an important role in Chinese corporate governance. Further, we find that (1 religion affects stock price crash risk by reducing earnings management and the management perk problem; (2 different religions have different effects, and Taoism, in particular, is unrelated to crash risk; and (3 the effects of religion are more pronounced with higher quality corporate governance and a stronger legal environment. Religion constrains the management agency problem, thus reducing stock price crash risk in China. Our paper enriches the literature on stock price crash risk and religion, and on new economic geography.

THE ADOPTION OF BUDDHISM'S PRINCIPLES AS A MEANS OF IMPROVING PHYSICIANS' WORK WITH TERMINALLY ILL PATIENTS.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, Ruth

2014-10-01

The medical approach as summarized by Leibowitz--"We must treat the person, not just the disease"--highlights the importance of treating the sick person and not only the illness' pathology. This approach calls for healing not only the physical side, but also--and mainly--the mental aspect of the patient. One of the goals of this article is to turn physicians' attention towards the compassion necessary in treating a person with a severe or chronic illness, or a person who is dying--precisely because sometimes there is no medical cure for the physical state of such a patient. Therefore, physicians' attention does need to be directed to providing emotional assistance to such a patient. Sometimes, the emotional strength the patient draws from the medical team that is treating him can change his view of, and approach to, the illness, and can enable his body to muster the emotional strength necessary to deal with his situation. Buddhism's approach enables the sick patient to experience his illness in a different way, by making peace with one's situation and, sometimes, even viewing the situation differently--viewing the illness as a type of renewal. Buddhism, therefore, enables a sick person to choose a different point of view when his energy is exhausted and he loses hope, providing quality of life to patients. In such a situation, a sick person finds emotional strength in the knowledge that the end of his life is actually a renewal somewhere else. The limited life expectancy of the terminally ill patient demands that he be able to spend his time with minimal concerns and worries, and does not leave much time for treating the emotional side--the patient's fear. In light of this fact, the patient's ability to look ahead and grasp at hope is the most important issue. As much as possible, this is accomplished in an atmosphere of acceptance and with the absence, or reduction, of fear. The freedom to decide for oneself how to behave, according to one's own approach, is what

Limits to expression on religion in France

OpenAIRE

Janssen, E.

2009-01-01

During the last decade conflicts about expression on religion have increased globally. Generally, these conflicts are regarded as a conflict between freedom of speech and freedom of thought, conscience and religion. In France there are many active religious interest groups that aim to protect a certain religion in society. They often initiate judicial proceedings seeking to prohibit certain kinds of speech on their religion. This practice has resulted in a rich case law on the limits of expre...

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

Religion and bioethics: toward an expanded understanding.

Science.gov (United States)

Brody, Howard; Macdonald, Arlene

2013-04-01

Before asking what U.S. bioethics might learn from a more comprehensive and more nuanced understanding of Islamic religion, history, and culture, a prior question is, how should bioethics think about religion? Two sets of commonly held assumptions impede further progress and insight. The first involves what "religion" means and how one should study it. The second is a prominent philosophical view of the role of religion in a diverse, democratic society. To move beyond these assumptions, it helps to view religion as lived experience as well as a body of doctrine and to see that religious differences and controversies should be welcomed in the public square of a diverse democratic society rather than merely tolerated.

Religion and violence in a globalised world

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Wolfgang Huber

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Violent religious extremism is seen as one of the mega-problems of the 21st century. This article � based on a key lecture at the conference on �Violence in a democratic South Africa� at the University of Pretoria and the David de Villiers memorial lecture at the University of Stellenbosch, both held during August 2010 � critically discussed the interaction between religion and violence in our present-day, globalised world. Three different propositions on the relationship between religion and violence were scrutinised. In countering the proposition that religion, or more specifically monotheism, necessarily leads to violence, it was argued that violence is not an inherent, but rather an acquired or even an ascribed quality of religion. The second proposition that religion leads to non-violence was affirmed to the extent that religions do provide a strong impulse to overcome violence. However, they also tend to accept violence as an inevitable part of reality and even justify the use of violence on religious grounds. The third proposition was regarded as the most convincing, for it argues that the link between religion and violence is contingent. Some situations do seem to make the use of violence inevitable; however, religions should refrain from justifying the use of violence and maintain a preferential option for nonviolence.

Mapping the Curriculum-Making Landscape of Religion Education ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Together with other scholars, Roux, a scholar-activist, has played a seminal role in conceptualising religion in the curriculum as religion in education (RiE) and more recently, religion and education (RaE). In disrupting the boundaries of religion, she has also made human rights the departure point for engagement with RaE.

Religious Education and Freedom of Religion and Belief. Religion Education and Values. Volume 2

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Stephen, Ed.; Freathy, Rob, Ed.; Francis, Leslie J., Ed.

2012-01-01

What opportunities and challenges are presented to religious education across the globe by the basic human right of freedom of religion and belief? To what extent does religious education facilitate or inhibit "freedom of religion" in schools? What contribution can religious education make to freedom in the modern world? This volume…

Research Approaches in the Study of Religion

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Szocik Konrad

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Despite development of secular ideas and concepts in the Western world, we can observe increasing interest in the study of religion. However, this popularity of the study of religion and different research approaches has caused that in some sense scholars that were studying religion came to a dead point. Here I show that the most optimal research approach in the study of religion is pluralistic, integral paradigm which connects old traditional methods with naturalistic, cognitive and sometimes experimental approach.

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...

Clinical psychology of religion. A training model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Uden, M.H.F. van; Pieper, J.Z.T.

2003-01-01

In this paper we will show you a part of a course "Clinical Psychology of Religion" that has been developed in the Netherlands for introducing mental health professionals in the field of clinical psychology of religion. Clinical psychology of religion applies insights from general psychology of

The origin and mission of material religion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meyer, B.; Morgan, D.; Paine, C.; Plate, S.B.

2010-01-01

Beginning its sixth year of publication, Material Religion is an interdisciplinary journal that seeks to gather the best work from around the world engaged in materializing the study of religions. The editors welcome original scholarship on any religion and from any period in human history that

POST-RELIGION: TRADITIONALISTS’ ANALYSIS

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Kirill M. Tovbin

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Aim of the study is to describe the phenomenon of post-religion as a specific spiritual sphere of the Post-modernity. Methodology. In the introduction analyzed a variety of methodological approaches, opening his inadequacy applied to the spiritual sphere of Post-modernity: «classic» religious studies, religious studies of traditional spiritual movements and the post-modern religious studies, partly produced Traditionalist school, could - according to the author's hypothesis - become a methodological basis for the most complete analysis of post-religion. Scientific novelty. In the main part of the article crystallized the authorized concept of post-religion, its relation with traditional and religious spiritual realms. Post-religion is positioned as the top of secularism enshrined in the departure from the straight and aggressive secularism of the Modernity, but without recourse to Tradition. Post-religion a simulation spirituality, skillfully imitating the outer areas of traditional spirituality and creates a planar religiosity, radically preventing attached to the vertical line of Traditions. In this regard, are the main artificially selected parameters of post-religion: deconstruction, splitting, virtualization, and collage. Deconstruction is a transformation of spirituality in semiotic set for egocentric selectivity of modern believer. Post-religion’s splitting is deprivation of spirituality center, destruction of sacral Center and the transformation of spirituality in the plane on which the intellectual and sensual wandering post-believer from one semiotic island to another. Virtualization is a displacement field of spiritual tension in a completely virtual area, isolated from the natural conditions of existence and created as his replacement, network discussion sites and galleries. Collage is an arbitrary combination of different semiotic pieces of Tradition with the aim of creating a believable picture of tradition; it is collage leads

How Teachers Can Still Teach about Religion

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, Joanne M.

2004-01-01

The line between public and private expression of religion requires balancing the constitutional guarantee of the free exercise of religion and the constitutional prohibition against the establishment of religion. Public schools, as government entities, and the teachers in them are allowed neither to inhibit the free exercise of religious…

Immigration and Religion in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christoffersen, Lisbet

2009-01-01

An overview over legal framework for immigration into Denmark, special clauses on religion as a parameter for residence permit and asylum in churches......An overview over legal framework for immigration into Denmark, special clauses on religion as a parameter for residence permit and asylum in churches...

Spirituality, Religion, and Peace Education

Science.gov (United States)

Brantmeier, Edward J., Ed.; Lin, Jing, Ed.; Miller, John P., Ed.

2010-01-01

"Spirituality, Religion, and Peace Education" attempts to deeply explore the universal and particular dimensions of education for inner and communal peace. This co-edited book contains fifteen chapters on world spiritual traditions, religions, and their connections and relevance to peacebuilding and peacemaking. This book examines the…

Religion in the Labour Market

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christoffersen, Lisbet

overview over case law in Denmark regarding religion on the labour market. From pragmatism to ideological secularisation and confessionalisation as result of politisation......overview over case law in Denmark regarding religion on the labour market. From pragmatism to ideological secularisation and confessionalisation as result of politisation...

Iconic Religion in Urban Space

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meyer, B.; Knott, Kim; Krech, Volkhard

2016-01-01

In order to understand current dynamics of religious diversity, a focus on the tangible presence of religion and the co-existence of new and longstanding religious buildings, sites and artifacts in urban spaces is a fruitful starting point. Launching the notion of iconic religion, this introduction

Crime fiction and mediatized religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Kim Toft

Scandinavian media where religion has become mediatized. Consumers of popular culture no longer endorse confidence in institutionalized religion, but that does not mean that people are losing faith: Faith only seems to adjust itself and tiptoe into popular media and popular fiction. Hence, this paper seeks...

Religion in Scandinavian Crime Fiction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Kim Toft

Scandinavian media where religion has become mediatized. Consumers of popular culture no longer endorse confidence in institutionalized religion, but that does not mean that people are losing faith: Faith only seem to adjust itself and tiptoe into popular media and popular fiction. Hence, this paper seeks...

Feminisms and Challenges to Institutionalized Philosophy of Religion

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Nathan Eric Dickman

2018-04-01

Full Text Available For my invited contribution to this special issue of Religions on “Feminisms and the Study of ‘Religions,’” I focus on philosophy of religion and contestations over its relevance to the academic field of Religious Studies. I amplify some feminist philosophers’ voices—especially Pamela Sue Anderson—in corroboration with recent calls from Religious Studies scholars to diversify philosophy of religions in the direction of locating it properly within the current state of Religious Studies. I want to do this by thinking through two proposals in productive tension: first, any philosophy of religions worthy of the name is intrinsically feminist; second, any philosophy of religions worthy of the name is intrinsically traditional. I want to use the productive tension between these two to illuminate ways calls for broadening the field can be enhanced when such calls are seen as both feminist and traditional. I proceed as follows. First, I note three instances of explicitly feminist work in philosophy of religions that do not suffer from the same narrowness as so-called “traditional” philosophy of religion. Religious Studies critics of philosophy of religion overstate the case in claiming feminist philosophy of religion is too narrow. Second, I develop a useful distinction between the concepts of “tradition” and “institution” to locate forces of oppression more precisely in dynamics of institutionalization so that we might rehabilitate tradition as a resource for combating institutionalized oppressiveness. I do this in response to the hegemony of current philosophers of religion who claim to speak about “the traditional god.” And third, I briefly coordinate four topics in religions from diverse feminist perspectives to help refine paths of inquiry for future philosophy of religions that is both feminist and traditional. My hope is that these clarify a philosophy of religions renewed through feminisms—moving from fringe to

La religion à l’école en Allemagne

OpenAIRE

Schreiner, Peter

2012-01-01

L’Allemagne est un État séculier, philosophiquement neutre. La liberté de religion, garantie par la Constitution, comprend aussi bien la liberté d’avoir ou non une religion (liberté de religion négative) que la libre expression de cette religion (liberté de religion positive). La population appartient en majorité à l’une des deux grandes confessions chrétiennes : l’Église catholique ou l’Église protestante. Le nombre de musulmans est en augmentation ; les autres confessions représentent une p...

Religion zwischen Zugehörigkeit und Differenz Religion between Belonging and Difference

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Veronika Springmann

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Der vorliegende zweisprachige Sammelband präsentiert elf Beiträge einer Tagung, die 2003 an der Humboldt Universität zu Berlin stattfand. Vorgestellt werden unterschiedliche Zugriffe auf den Themenkomplex Geschlecht, Gewalt und Religion.The dual-language collected volume at hand presents eleven contributions based on a conference that took place at Humboldt University in 2003. The volume introduces different manners of accessing the network of themes of gender, violence, and religion.

Teaching religions in Indonesia Islamic Higher education: from comparative religion to Religious Studies

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Media Zainul Bahri

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article focuses on how the study of Comparative Religion conducted in Indonesian Islamic higher institutions, i.e. on both UIN Yogyakarta and Jakartasince the beginning of the New Order (1960s to Reform era (2014. The focus of the study was on models/approaches and main issues. In general, for more than half a century, the comparative study of religion is not been done for academic purposes an sich. Just within the new last decade that theoretical studies of Comparative Religion began developed. Another important thing that the study of Comparative Religion in Indonesia, although mostly referring to the methodological sources of the West and the Middle East, but ithas always been associated with religious and cultural context of Indonesia.Therefore, the study on both UIN Yogyakarta and Jakarta always deliver courseson religions that live in Indonesia alongside with Indonesian contemporary issues. In the reform era, though still using Comparative Religion’s term, butit looks religious studies such as used in the West. Thus, its “form” or “clothes”is Comparative Religion but it is religious studies. Artikel ini fokus pada bagaimana studi Perbandingan Agama yang dilakukan di lembaga-lembaga pendidikan tinggi Islam Indonesia, yaitu pada UIN Yogyakarta dan Jakarta sejak awal Orde Baru (1960 Reformasi era (2014. Fokus penelitian adalah pada model/pendekatan dan isu-isu utama. Secara umum, selama lebih dari setengah abad, studi perbandingan agama tidak dilakukan untuk tujuan akademik an sich. Hanya dalam dekade terakhir studi teoritis Perbandingan Agama mulai dikembangkan. Hal lain yang penting bahwa studi Perbandingan Agama di Indonesia, meskipun sebagian besar mengacu padasumber-sumber metodologi Barat dan Timur Tengah, tetapi selalu dikaitkan dengan konteks agama dan budaya Indonesia. Oleh karena itu, penelitian pada kedua UIN Yogyakarta dan Jakarta selalu memberikan kursus tentang agamayang hidup di Indonesia bersama dengan isu

Life Interpretation and Religion among Icelandic Teenagers

Science.gov (United States)

Gunnarsson, Gunnar J.

2009-01-01

Does religion play any specific part in Icelandic teenagers' life interpretation? This paper examines Icelandic teenagers' talk about religion and presents some of the findings in interviews with teenagers in a qualitative research project. The focus is especially on how three individuals express themselves about the influence of religion on their…

Tsunami and ghost stories in Thailand: exploring the psychology of ghosts and religious rituals within the context of Thai Buddhism.

Science.gov (United States)

Sorajjakool, Siroj

2007-01-01

The post-tsunami ghost phenomena in Thailand may be understood, in Jungian terms, as an expression of the autonomous complex of the collective psyche resulting from traumatic loss. Religious rituals, as in the context of Thai Buddhism, provide an alternative method of dealing with grief, and hence they affirm the place of religious practices in the overall psychological well-being of people from various cultural backgrounds.

Freedom of religion in the 21st century : A human rights perspective on the relation between politics and religion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ziebertz, Hans-Georg; Hirsch Ballin, Ernst

2015-01-01

Freedom of religion consists of the right to practice, to manifest and to change one’s religion. The modern democratic state is neutral towards the variety of religions, but protects the right of citizens to practice their different religious beliefs. Recent history shows that a number of religious

Homosexuality, Religion, and the Family: The Effects of Religion on Americans' Appraisals of the Parenting Abilities of Same-Sex Couples.

Science.gov (United States)

Whitehead, Andrew L

2018-01-01

Although a growing body of research focuses on Americans' attitudes toward same-sex couples as parents, very few include measures of religion, and those that do fail to capture its multidimensional nature. Furthermore, many past studies relied on convenience samples of college students, or samples gathered outside the United States. Multivariate analyses of the 2012 General Social Survey-a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States-reveal that a slim majority of Americans still do not believe same-sex couples can parent as well as male-female couples, and the religious beliefs, behaviors, and affiliations of Americans are significantly and at times differentially associated with appraisals of same-sex couples' parenting abilities. It appears that although religion is generally associated with more negative appraisals of the parenting abilities of same-sex couples, it is not uniformly so. Americans' immediate religious and cultural context can shape their appraisals of homosexuality in diverse ways.

Kosovar Society through Secularism and Religion

OpenAIRE

MSc. Dritero Arifi; Dr.Sc. Ylber Sela

2013-01-01

This paper will analyze the importance and the effects of religion, in Kosovar society. A great part of the paper, will analyze the social and the political relations in Post-War Kosovo. Initially it will elaborate religion and secularism, especially in theoreticall aspect, what impact have these definitions in modern societies. In order to explain what the importance of the religion in Kosovo is, we will focus on analyzing ethnical, social and political relations within Kosovo society. A...

Teaching Religion and Material Culture

Science.gov (United States)

Carp, Richard M.

2007-01-01

Because religions discipline and interpret bodies; create and define sacred spaces; generate, adore and study images in all media; regulate the intake of food; structure temporal experience; and in general interpenetrate and are permeated by the cultural landscapes in which they exist, religious studies must engage material religion and religious…

Fantasy som religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davidsen, Markus

2010-01-01

Artiklen redegør for George Lucas' religionspædagogiske projekt med Star Wars og jediismens brug af Star Wars som religiøs tekst i en fantasybaseret religion. Afslutningsvist gives en række forslag til hvordan man kan anvende Star Wars og jediismen i folkeskolens religionsundervisning.......Artiklen redegør for George Lucas' religionspædagogiske projekt med Star Wars og jediismens brug af Star Wars som religiøs tekst i en fantasybaseret religion. Afslutningsvist gives en række forslag til hvordan man kan anvende Star Wars og jediismen i folkeskolens religionsundervisning....

MAIN PROBLEMS OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL CRITIQUE OF RELIGION

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Jowita Guja

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The paper is a synthetic overview of main problems of the philosophical critique of religion. In the beginning I identify and characterize three general threads of the critique: the enlightenment, the alienational and the thread which focuses on the problem of theodicy. The greater part of my article is devoted to the alienational critique of religion n its two types: atheistic (Feuerbach, Marx, Freud, Nietzsche, Sartre and theistic (Barth. The subjects of my analysis are the sources and foundations of the alienational critique of religion and the most important problems implied by it: the essence of religion, the ideal of the irreligious man, the prospect to remove religion. The analysis presents troubles and confusions connected to these subjects: they emerge in atheistic type of alienational critique of religion.

Death, dying and informatics: misrepresenting religion on MedLine.

Science.gov (United States)

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.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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.

Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Stig Børsen

2011-01-01

This paper explores the relevance of Wittgenstein’s early work for treatments of religion. The first section briefly outlines some different interpretive possibilities with respect to early Wittgenstein’s thinking. The following section explores the idea that what is important about early...... play a role in treatments of religion. This they do either by exhibiting parallels between themes in theology and themes in logic, or they do so by playing a role in assessing cosmological arguments in the philosophy of religion....

Science and Religion in Liberal Democracy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jønch-Clausen, Karin

The dissertation explores the role of scientific rationality and religious reasoning in democratic law and policymaking. How does legitimate law and policymaking proceed in light of disagreements on science and religion? This question is addressed within the framework of public reason. Roughly pu...... concerning the role science and religion in political deliberation challenge the public reason framework as viable vehicle for pursuing democratic legitimacy? The dissertation discusses these and other questions related to the special role of science and religion in liberal democracy....

Religion as a solvent: a lecture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antônio Flávio Pierucci

Full Text Available Contrary to Durkheim, for whom the role of religion is to reconnect the individual with the society to which he belongs, this essay argues that nowadays religion's social power lies in its capacity to dissolve old religious bonds and lineages. Taking Max Weber's work as its base, the text maintains that the universal religion of individual salvation, the religious form that tends to predominate above all others, works as a device that disconnects people from their mother-culture.

Religion Education Teaching in Zimbabwe Secondary Schools: The Search for an Authentic Values-Oriented Multi-Faith Religion Education Pedagogical Model

Science.gov (United States)

Ndlovu, Lovemore

2014-01-01

Religion Education teaching in post-independence Zimbabwe has remained bible-oriented and confessional at a time when most Religion Education stakeholders expect an "open", plural and authentic multi-faith Religion Education curriculum. Despite curriculum innovation initiatives aimed at introducing new approaches such as experiential…

Religion, Education and Citizenship Education: The Challenge of Turning Religion Upside Down

OpenAIRE

Bakker, Cok

2013-01-01

Reflecting on the link between religion and religious tradition(s) on the one hand and school and education on the other, and reflecting on the reasoning strategy to make sense of this link, people seem to tend strongly to think, argue and reflect in a deductive mode (this point is elaborated in par. 3). This part of the argument is followed by considering the religious claims people make concerning the impact of religion on the day-to-day educational practice, it is, empirically speaking. It...

Defamation of Religions: A Vague and Overbroad Theory that Threatens Basic Human Rights

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Allison G. Belnap

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Il contributo è pubblicato con il permesso della Brigham Young University Law Review - dove è apparso nel vol. n. 2 del 2010 (Tribute to Professor Michael Goldsmith, alle pp. 101-148 - e dell‖Autrice, che ringraziamo sentitamente. SUMMARY: 1. Introduction - 2. History of and Motivations for the OIC Defamation of Religions Resolutions - 2.a - The OIC Exerts a Concerted Effort to Protect Islam - 2.b - Terrorist Attacks and Danish Cartoons Raise the Stakes - 3. Defamation of Religions: A Permissible Restraint on Freedom of Speech and Expression? - 3.a - History, Basic Elements, and Contemporary Usage of Defamation - 3.b - Interaction Between Defamation of Religions and the Basic Human Rights Enumerated in Major International Instruments - 4. The Evolution of a Resolution - 4.a. 1999-2000: Beginnings - 4.b. 2001: A Pre-9/11 World - 4.c. 2002: Reactions to the Violent Backlash Against Muslims - 4.d. 2003-2004: Fluctuations in Support - 4.e. 2005: Intensification of a Campaign - 4.f. 2006-2007: The Move to the General Assembly - 4.g. 2008: Decreasing Margins of Support - 4.h. 2009: Current Resolution and Recommendations for Application - 5. Consequences of Accepting the Resolutions and Subsequent Enactment of Statutes Designed to Prevent Defamation of Religions - 5.a. Human Rights Committee - 5.b. The European Court of Human Rights - 5.c. Blasphemy, Incitement, and Hate Speech Laws and Their Enforcement - 5.d. Possible Future Statutes and Enforcement Under Defamation of Religions Theory - 6. Alternatives to Defamation of Religions in the U.N. Resolutions - 7. Conclusion.

Science, religion, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence

CERN Document Server

Wilkinson, David

2013-01-01

If the discovery of life elsewhere in the universe is just around the corner, what would be the consequences for religion? Would it represent another major conflict between science and religion, even leading to the death of faith? Some would suggest that the discovery of any suggestion of extraterrestrial life would have a greater impact than even the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions. It is now over 50 years since the first modern scientific papers were published on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Yet the religious implications of this search and possible discovery have never been systematically addressed in the scientific or theological arena. SETI is now entering its most important era of scientific development. New observation techniques are leading to the discovery of extra-solar planets daily, and the Kepler mission has already collected over 1000 planetary candidates. This deluge of data is transforming the scientific and popular view of the existence of extraterrestrial intel...

Religions in Fiction for Junior and Senior High Students.

Science.gov (United States)

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.…

The religion of thinness

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Michelle Lelwica

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the almost religious-like devotion of especially women in pursuing the goal of a thinner body. The quest for a slender body is analysed as a ‘cultural religion’, which the author calls the ‘Religion of Thinness’. The analysis revolves around four observations. The first is that for many women in the US today, the quest for a slender body serves what has historically been a ‘religious’ function: providing a sense of purpose that orients and gives meaning to their lives, especially in times of suffering and uncertainty. Second, this quest has many features in common with traditional religions, including beliefs, myths, rituals, moral codes, and sacred images—all of which encourage women to find ‘salvation’ (i.e., happiness and well-being through the pursuit of a ‘better’ (i.e., thinner body.Third, this secular faith draws so many adherents in large part because it appeals to and addresses what might be referred to as spiritual needs—including the need for a sense of purpose, inspiration, security, virtue, love, and well-being—even though it shortchanges these needs, and, in the long run, fails to deliver the salvation it promises. Fourth, a number of traditional religious ideas, paradigms and motifs tacit­ly inform and support the Religion of Thinness. More specifically, its soteri­ology resurrects and recycles the misogynist, anti-body, other-worldly, and exclusivist aspects of patriarchal religion. Ultimately, the analysis is not only critical of the Religion of Thinness; it also raises suspicions about any clear-cut divisions between ‘religion’, ‘culture’, and ‘the body’. In fact, examining the functions, features, and ideologies embedded in this secular devotion gives us insight into the constitutive role of the body in the production and apprehension of religious and cultural meanings.

Brazilian scientific articles on “Spirituality, Religion and Health”

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Rodolfo F. Damiano

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Studies on “Spirituality, religion and health” (R/S have been increasing worldwide, including in Brazil. Mapping this production can help researchers to understand this field and also to identify gaps in the Brazilian R/S studies. Objective To analyze the Brazilian scientific articles on “Religion, Spirituality and Health” available on the main electronic databases using a bibliometric approach. Methods A comprehensive review of four major databases (PubMed, Scopus, BVS and Web of Science was conducted. Three reviewers performed the data analysis. Off-topic articles, articles from Portugal, books and thesis were excluded. Articles were then classified by: Publication year, journal, Central focus in R/S, Academic Area, Main topic and Study Type. Results From 3,963 articles found, 686 studies were included in the final analysis (320 had central focus on R/S. There was an increase of articles in the last decade (most observational, with predominance of mental health issues, and from journals in the field of psychiatry, public health and nursing. Discussion This study enabled us to widen our understanding about how the field of “spirituality, religion and health” has been established and how this field is increasing in Brazil. These findings can help in the development of future Brazilian studies.

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.

Religion, Psychology and Globalisation Process: Attitudinal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A key consequence of globalisation is the integrative approach to reality whereby emphasis is ... between psychology and religion has revolutionised the field of psychology of religion ..... paranormal or abnormal. In this wise, one is able to ...

Religion and Suicide Risk: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, Ryan E; Oquendo, Maria A; Stanley, Barbara

2016-01-01

Although religion is reported to be protective against suicide, the empirical evidence is inconsistent. Research is complicated by the fact that there are many dimensions to religion (affiliation, participation, doctrine) and suicide (ideation, attempt, completion). We systematically reviewed the literature on religion and suicide over the last 10 years (89 articles) with a goal of identifying what specific dimensions of religion are associated with specific aspects of suicide. We found that religious affiliation does not necessarily protect against suicidal ideation, but does protect against suicide attempts. Whether religious affiliation protects against suicide attempts may depend on the culture-specific implications of affiliating with a particular religion, since minority religious groups can feel socially isolated. After adjusting for social support measures, religious service attendance is not especially protective against suicidal ideation, but does protect against suicide attempts, and possibly protects against suicide. Future qualitative studies might further clarify these associations.

No Religion Is an Island: Teaching World Religions to Adolescents in a Jewish Educational Context

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Reimer, Joseph

2013-01-01

What is the place of teaching about other world religions in a Jewish educational curriculum for adolescents? This article explores a course in world religions that has been taught at the Genesis Program at Brandeis University since 2001. Based on a participant observational study during 2002 and 2012, the author traces how the teachers construct…

The School and Religion: Do They Need One Another?

Science.gov (United States)

Anisimova, R. A.

1993-01-01

Asserts that certain issues that are connected in some way to religion continue to endure. Reports on a study of 227 Russian teachers regarding their views toward religion, atheism, and religion's role in society. Concludes that Russian educators should define their attitudes toward churches and use religion to help improve society. (CFR)

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.

Grænser for religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lüchau, Peter

2015-01-01

Analyse af danskernes holdning til religion i det private og offentlige rum med fokus på en distinktion mellem religiøs autoritetsudøvelse og religiøs selvudfoldelse.......Analyse af danskernes holdning til religion i det private og offentlige rum med fokus på en distinktion mellem religiøs autoritetsudøvelse og religiøs selvudfoldelse....

Religion as Bridging or Bonding Social Capital: Race, Religion, and Cross-Racial Interaction for College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Julie J.; Bowman, Nicholas A.

2015-01-01

Religion is the most segregated arena of American life, but its effect on collegiate diversity outcomes has been overlooked, despite the significance of both race and religion in many students' lives. This study examines whether religious observance, religious worldview identification, and participation in a religious student organization are…

Spirituality, Religion, and Suicidality Among Veterans: A Qualitative Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lusk, Jaimie; Dobscha, Steven K; Kopacz, Marek; Ritchie, Mary Frances; Ono, Sarah

2018-01-01

This qualitative study explores the relationship between veterans' spirituality/religion and suicide ideation and attempts. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 veterans who either endorsed chronic suicidal ideation or had made suicide attempt(s). Interviews explored the bi-directional relationship between spirituality/religion (e.g., beliefs, practices, and experiences), and suicide ideation and behaviors. Interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Veterans' responses indicate that spirituality/religion can discourage or permit suicidal ideation, help in coping with ideation, and facilitate meaning making and coping in the presence of self-perceived suffering. Veterans who survived a suicide attempt explored the impact of their spirituality/religion on their recovery. Findings highlight a complex and diverse relationship between spirituality/religion and suicidality. These findings may inform further research on treatment strategies that assess the function of spirituality/religion, and incorporate protective aspects of spirituality/religion into mental health treatment.

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.

Apologising for the study of religion - no way!

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Tim

2017-01-01

the role of the scholar of religion,–and yet another example of the necessity of approaching Islam as any other religion, i.e. from a comparative, historical and critical-analytical point of view. Though the book (rightly) suggests that the academic study of religions is more novelty than norm...

Geology and religion in Portugal

Science.gov (United States)

Carneiro, Ana; Simoes, Ana; Diogo, Maria Paula; Mota, Teresa Salomé

2013-01-01

This paper addresses the relationship between geology and religion in Portugal by focusing on three case studies of naturalists who produced original research and lived in different historical periods, from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Whereas in non-peripheral European countries religious themes and even controversies between science and religion were dealt with by scientists and discussed in scientific communities, in Portugal the absence of a debate between science and religion within scientific and intellectual circles is particularly striking. From the historiographic point of view, in a country such as Portugal, where Roman Catholicism is part of the religious and cultural tradition, the influence of religion in all aspects of life has been either taken for granted by those less familiar with the national context or dismissed by local intellectuals, who do not see it as relevant to science. The situation is more complex than these dichotomies, rendering the study of this question particularly appealing from the historiographic point of view, geology being by its very nature a well-suited point from which to approach the theme. We argue that there is a long tradition of independence between science and religion, agnosticism and even atheism among local elites. Especially from the eighteenth century onwards, they are usually portrayed as enlightened minds who struggled against religious and political obscurantism. Religion—or, to be more precise, the Roman Catholic Church and its institutions—was usually identified with backwardness, whereas science was seen as the path to progress; consequently men of science usually dissociated their scientific production from religious belief.

Rethinking the Space for Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

What happens to people’s sense of belonging when globalization meets with proclaimed regional identities resting heavily on conceptions of religion and ethnicity? Who are the actors stressing cultural heritage and authenticity as tools for self-understanding? In Rethinking the Space for Religion...... as a political and cultural argument. The approach makes a nuanced and fresh survey for researchers and other initiated readers to engage in....

Religion as a Source of Evil

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jonkers, Peter

2017-01-01

The starting point is that there is a structural, although not necessary link between religion and two important expressions of religious evil, religious intolerance and violence. The origin of this link lies in the radicalism that is inherent in all religions. Although this radicalism often has

The Religion Teacher's Handbook: A Primer on the Vocation of Teaching Catholic High School Religion

Science.gov (United States)

Mueting, Timothy R.

2017-01-01

All Catholic school teachers are called to be evangelists and catechists. Religion teachers have a special duty to teach religion systematically in a classroom. This book is meant to be a handbook or guidebook with practical elements of teaching and sample lesson plans and projects.

Criminalising defamation of religion and belief

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Noorloos, L.A.

2014-01-01

This article deals with the role of criminal law in dealing with defamatory expressions about religion or belief. Defamation of religion and belief is a form of indirect defamation ‘via identification’ which, as the discussion about the Dutch group defamation law shows, stretches up the notion of

Religion in Chinese Education: From Denial to Cooperation

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Nanbu, Hirotaka

2008-01-01

In China, from the founding of the People's Republic of China to the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, it was thought that religion would disappear with the development of society and the freedom not to believe in religion was stressed. During the Cultural Revolution religion became the object of oppression. However, from the end of the…

The World Religions Paradigm Time for a Change

Science.gov (United States)

Owen, Suzanne

2011-01-01

The teaching of religions has long relied on the World Religions paradigm to guide curricula throughout education, which has led to a widening gap, on the one hand, between what is taught in schools and in universities and, on the other, between research and teaching. While the World Religions paradigm has allowed the inclusion of non-Christian…

Indigenous religions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geertz, Armin W.

2009-01-01

Dette essay diskuterer en publikation af James L. Cox med titlen From Primitive to Indigenous (2007). Bogen analyserer forskellige forfatteres holdninger til studiet af indfødte kulturers religioner. Cox's analyser tages op i dette essay og de problematiseres i forhold til mit eget arbejde....

News Agency Website Agenda on Religion. Comparative Analysis on Mediafax.ro and Agerpres.ro

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aurelia Ana Vasile

2016-06-01

Full Text Available According to the “Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism” (WIN-Gallup International, 27 July 2012, retrieved 24 August 2012, which was a global 2012 poll, the reports label 59% of the world's population as “religious” and 36% as not religious, including 13% who are atheists, with a 9% decrease in religious belief from 2005. Thereto, religion is an important issue of inherent influence in the media nowadays. Despite the ongoing secularization process that we are facing these days, humans still feel the need to refer to religion within their attempt to construct one’s own outlook on life, and to make some sense out of existence in general (Max Weber, 19202. A comparative content analysis on Mediafax.ro and Agerpres.ro, performed for an almost nine-and-a-half-month time span (1st January to 13th October 2015, showed interesting facts on how press agency journalists relate to religion as a media topic, both in terms of quality (key words and key topics and in terms of quantity. A comparison between the Orthodox religion of the majority of the Romanians, and other denominations, also accounted for intriguing research findings.

Revisiting the “Secret Consort” (gsang yum in Tibetan Buddhism

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Holly Gayley

2018-06-01

Full Text Available This article revisits the question, first introduced by feminist scholars in the mid-1990s, about whether sexual practices within Buddhist tantra (heterosexually conceived are empowering or exploitative to women. The purpose here is to complicate this question, given the different geographic settings and cultural contexts in which consort relationships have been embedded—from eastern Tibet to North America—and to nuance our understanding of the potential and pitfalls of sexuality in tantric contexts. To do so, I query the dynamics of secrecy and sexuality in tantric practice, examining twentieth century examples of female practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism who have participated in such relationships and thereby highlighting the localized ways that the “secret consort” (gsang yum has been invoked as a social role. This issue is especially relevant today in light of the global #MeToo movement and recent disclosures of sexual improprieties and alleged abuse involving Tibetan teachers at the head of Buddhist communities in Europe and North America. For this reason, to conclude, I discuss shifting perspectives on sexuality as Buddhist tantra has spread beyond Asia and draw attention to current voices calling for greater transparency and community accountability.

La religione come tecnica difensiva dell'identità soggettiva

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Sergio Fabio Berardini

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Religion as a Defensive Technique for Subjective Identity - From a naturalistic perspective, the study of religion immediately leads to a problematic point: if religion is so widespread, to the extent that it seems to be a trait inscribed in human nature, then it should have adaptive advantages or, at the very least, it should not have disadvantages that would stand in the way of the survival of those who practice religion. In the former case, we need to understand the function of religion, viz. a utility it confers that may justify its persistence across human history. Against the backdrop of an anthropological model that considers subjectivity identity to be characterized by ontological fragility, this article will offer a special version of the claim that religion, viewed as a byproduct, has a positive function: we will make the hypothesis that it contributes to the defense of the unity of self-consciousness. Thus our focus will be on religion construed as a repertoire of strategies designed to protect the self.

Religion, Heuristics, and Intergenerational Risk Management

OpenAIRE

Rupert Read; Nassim Nicholas Taleb

2014-01-01

Religions come with risk-​managing interdicts and heuristics, and they carry such interdicts and heuristics across generations. We remark on such facets of religion in relation to a propensity among some decision scientists and others to regard practices that they cannot understand as being irrational, biased, and so on.

Christianity's Response to the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life: Insights from Science and Religion and the Sociology of Religion

Science.gov (United States)

Bertka, Constance M.

The question of whether or not extraterrestrial life exists and its potential impact for religions, especially Christianity, is an ancient one addressed in numerous historical publications. The contemporary discussion has been dominated by a few notable scientists from the SETI and astrobiology communities, and by a few Christian theologians active in the science and religion field. This discussion amounts to scientists outside of the faith tradition predicting the demise of Christianity if extraterrestrial intelligent life is discovered and theologians within the tradition predicting the enrichment and reformulation of Christian doctrine. Missing from this discussion is insight drawn more broadly from the science and religion field and from the sociology of religion. A consideration of how possibilities for relating science and religion are reflected in the US public's varied acceptance of the theory of evolution; the growth of Christianity in the Global South; and a revised theory of secularization which inversely correlates religiosity to existential security, gives credence to the proposal that the response from those outside of academia would be much more varied and uncertain.

Beyond Dualism: Expanded Understandings of Religion and Global Justice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wilson, Erin

2010-01-01

The world’s religions have strong traditions of contributing to theories and practices around justice. Recent debates on global justice within International Relations (IR), however, have largely overlooked possible contributions from religion. This article explores why religion is neglected, despite

Reducing Defensive Responses to Thoughts of Death: Meditation, Mindfulness, and Buddhism.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Young Chin; Pyszczynski, Tom

2017-08-24

Three studies investigated the effects of meditation on responses to reminders of death. Study 1 took a quasi-experimental approach, comparing defensive responses to mortality salience (MS) of South Korean participants with varying levels of experience with Buddhism and meditation. Whereas non-Buddhists without meditation showed the typical increase in worldview defense after mortality salience (MS), this effect was not found among non-Buddhists immediately after an initial meditation experience, nor among lay Buddhists who meditated regularly or Buddhist monks with intensive meditation experience. Study 2, a fully randomized experiment, showed that MS increased worldview defense among South Koreans at a meditation training who were assessed before meditating but not among participants assessed after their first meditation experience. Study 3 showed that whereas American students without prior meditation experience showed increased worldview defense and suppression of death-related thoughts after MS, these effects were eliminated immediately after an initial meditation experience. Death thought accessibility mediated the effect of MS on worldview defense without meditation, but meditation eliminated this mediation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Robert Bellah, religion og menneskelig evolution

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Hans Jørgen Lundager

2013-01-01

in the middle of 1st mill. BC, where new radical and intellectual ideas and practices, sceptial or world renouncing, appeared in China, India and Greece. Hopefully, Bellah's book will be a standard reference work in the academic study of religion and an inspiration for the history of religion in the future...

"World Religions" in Introductory Sociology Textbooks

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Carroll, Michael P.

2017-01-01

A section on "world religions" (WRs) is now routinely included in the religion chapters of introductory sociology textbooks. Looking carefully at these WR sections, however, two things seem puzzling. The first is that the criteria for defining a WR varies considerably from textbook to textbook; the second is that these WRs sections…

DSM-III-R and religion.

Science.gov (United States)

Post, S G

1992-07-01

The interpretation of religion in DSM-III-R contains considerable negative bias and contributes to unfair stereotypes of religious persons. Particularly new religious movements and religious conversion are unfairly interpreted under the DSM-III-R heading, 'Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified'. It is suggested that a more balanced and respectful interpretation of religion is needed in DSM-III-R, since psychiatry through its official nomenclature should not contribute to social intolerance of religious nonconformity.

Religion in Education in South Africa: Was Social Justice Served?

Science.gov (United States)

van der Walt, Johannes L.

2011-01-01

The promulgation of South African policy regarding the place of religion in public education was delayed until 2003, after a lively debate. The National Policy on Religion in Education effectively banned confessional, sectarian religion from public schools, but allowed for the teaching of Religion Studies as an academic subject and for religious…

Operational Ethics in Coalition Warfare: Whose Ethics Will Prevail? A Philosophical/Theological Conundrum

Science.gov (United States)

2002-05-13

34choices freely made and the rational principle employed." 25 There are three "fathers" of Utilitarianism , Jeremy Bentham, James Mill , and his son John ... Stuart Mill who refined and expanded upon his father’s work. This ethical position states that the...Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and the indigenous religions of Africa; Western and Eastern philosophers, Aristotle, Mill , Confucius, Storer, and Rand to

RELIGIOUS DIMENSION OF COMPUTER GAMES

OpenAIRE

Sukhov, Anton

2017-01-01

Modern computer games are huge virtual worlds that raisesophisticated social and even religious issues. The “external” aspect of thereligious dimension of computer games focuses on the problem of the polysemanticrelation of world religions (Judaism,Christianity, Islam, Buddhism) to computer games. The“inner” aspect represents transformation of monotheistic and polytheisticreligions within the virtual worlds in the view of heterogeneity and genredifferentiation of computer games (arcades, acti...

The relation of son preference and religion to induced abortion: the case of South Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Woojin

2007-09-01

This paper explores the factors that influence the practice of induced abortion in a very low fertility society, with particular emphasis on son preference and three distinct religions: Confucianism, Buddhism and Christianity. Using multivariate logistic regression models fitted by the generalized estimating equation (GEE) method, this paper analysed the data collected by the 2000 Korea National Fertility and Family Health Survey of 6348 married women aged 15-49 years with a total of 1217 pregnancy outcomes. The results showed that the likelihood of induced abortions in women with two or more children, compared with those with one child, was significantly influenced by the sex composition of the previous children: odds ratio (OR)=12.71 (95% CI=5.49, 29.42) for women with only son(s), and OR=3.91 (95% CI=1.67, 9.14) for women with only daughter(s). At parity two, women with two sons were much more likely to have induced abortions than women with two daughters (OR=5.88, 95% CI=2.70, 12.85). Although Buddhist women were not significantly different from Confucian women in induced abortion practice, Christian women were much less likely than Confucian women to have an induced abortion (OR=0.39, 95% CI=0.18, 0.88 for women with only sons and OR=0.44, 95% CI=0.24, 0.81 for women with two children). This suggests that even in this very low fertility society, son preference and religious affiliation are significant predictors of women's practice of induced abortion.

The troubled relationship of state and religion in Eritrea

OpenAIRE

Mekonnen, Daniel R; Kidane, Selam

2014-01-01

Eritrea is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religion country. The country does not have an official state religion. However, since the country's independence in 1991, the relationship between state and religion has been a troubled one. At least four religions are officially recognised by the state: Islam, of the Sunni rite; the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church, part of the worldwide Coptic Orthodox Church of the eastern rite; the Eritrean Catholic Church, part of the worldwide Roman Ca...

Religion, migration og integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borup, Jørn

2010-01-01

Sammenhængen mellem religion og integration har de sidste år været genstand for debat. Artiklen kommer ind på begreber og sammenhænge relateret til området (migration, diaspora, assimilation, etnicitet, kultur) og ser på religionens mulige rolle som negativ eller positiv ressource i integrationss......Sammenhængen mellem religion og integration har de sidste år været genstand for debat. Artiklen kommer ind på begreber og sammenhænge relateret til området (migration, diaspora, assimilation, etnicitet, kultur) og ser på religionens mulige rolle som negativ eller positiv ressource i...

Truth, body and religion

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Jarl-Thure Eriksson

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is based on the words of welcome to the symposium on Religion and the Body on 16 June 2010. In a religious context ‘truth’ is like a mantra, a certain imperative to believe in sacred things. The concept of truth and falseness arises, when we as humans compare reality, as we experience it through our senses, with the representation we have in our memory, a comparison of new information with stored information. If we look for the truth, we have to search in the human mind. There we will also find religion.

Religious and Spiritual Dimensions of the Vietnamese Dementia Caregiving Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Hinton, Ladson; Tran, Jane NhaUyen; Tran, Cindy; Hinton, Devon

2010-01-01

This paper focuses on the role of religion and spirituality in dementia caregiving among Vietnamese refugee families. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with nine Vietnamese caregivers of persons with dementia, then tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for emergent themes. Caregivers related their spirituality/religion to three aspects of caregiving: (1) their own suffering, (2) their motivations for providing care, and (3) their understanding of the nature of the illness. Key terms or idioms were used to articulate spiritual/religious dimensions of the caregivers’ experience, which included sacrifice, compassion, karma, blessings, grace and peace of mind. In their narratives, the caregivers often combined multiple strands of different religions and/or spiritualities: Animism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Catholicism. Case studies are presented to illustrate the relationship between religion/spirituality and the domains of caregiving. These findings have relevance for psychotherapeutic interventions with ethnically diverse populations. PMID:20930949

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

Buddhism, Christianity, and psychotherapy: A three-way conversation in the mid-twentieth century.

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Harding, Christopher

2018-01-01

This article explores the scope of 'religion-psy dialogue' in the mid-twentieth century, via a case study from Japan: Kosawa Heisaku, a Buddhist psychoanalyst based in Tokyo. By putting this case study in brief comparative perspective, with the conversation that took place in 1965 between Paul Tillich and Carl Rogers, the article discusses both the promise and the pitfalls of the modern and contemporary world of 'religion-psy dialogue', alongside the means by which specialists in a variety of fields might investigate and hold it to account.

Later Wittgenstein and the Philosophy of Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Stig Børsen

2010-01-01

This article sets out by distinguishing Wittgenstein’s own views in the philosophy of religion from a school of thought in the philosophy of religion that relies on later Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language. After a survey of distinguishing features of Wittgenstein’s later philosophy, the third...... section explores Wittgenstein’s treatment of Frazer’s account of magic among primitive peoples. The following section offers an account of Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion, including the use of the notions of a language game and superstition. I conclude by criticizing a very influential argument...

Why do you hate me so much? An exploration of religious freedom from the perspective of African religion(s

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sibusiso T. Masondo

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The advent of the 1996 constitution and the promotion of freedom of religion gave space to previously discriminated religious traditions to flourish. There have been a number of revivals of aspects of African Traditional Religion. The Bill of Rights guarantees Religious Freedom but tends to limit it to Freedom of belief. People have every right to believe and practice as long as their practice is in line with the law. This paper is a reflection on the difficulties posed by the notion of Religious Freedom as contained in the 1996 South African constitution for practitioners of African Indigenous Religions and other minority religions. In a case that captured the imagination of the legal fraternity, Gareth Prince, a practicing Rastafarian, was prevented from joining the Bar of the Western Cape because of a prior conviction of being caught in possession of dagga, an illegal substance. He argued that he used cannabis as part of his religious observance. Justice Ngcobo, in his judgement dismissing the case, made it very clear that ‘the right to freedom of religion is not absolute’. In other words, religious practices need to fall within the provisions of the law of the land. At the core of our argument is that the intellectual and cultural resources that were mobilised in writing the South African constitution failed to reflect on the religious practices of indigenous people and other minority religions.

Understanding suffering and giving compassion: the reach of socially engaged Buddhism into China.

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Kuah-Pearce, Khun Eng

2014-01-01

This paper will explore the social engagement of Buddhists through their active voluntary works - works that result in the development of a religious philanthropic culture. Through three case examples, this paper will examine how the sangha and individual Buddhists understand social suffering and compassion and attempt to integrate their understanding of Buddhist virtues and values in their daily life where the performance of voluntary works is seen as Buddhist spiritualism. In this process, the individuals seek to understand the key principles of Buddhism that are of direct relevance to their daily existence and their quest to be a compassionate self. Foremost are two notions of yebao (karma) and gan-en (gratitude) and how through compassionate practices and gratitude for those who accepted compassionate acts, they would be rewarded with good karma. Here, pursuing compassionate acts and the alleviation of social suffering is the pursuit of this-worldly spiritualism.

Hvorfor, hvorfra (og hvornår) kom religion?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geertz, Armin W.

2018-01-01

dyr færdiggjort inden for en specifik kultur. Når man ser på de seneste landvindinger inden for neuropsykologien, er der fire kendetegn, som jeg mener, er konstituerende for mennesket. Disse er: en finudviklet social kognition, en kommunikations- og samarbejdsdrift, en bedragerisk hjerne samt en...... overtroisk hjerne med tendens til ualmindelige mentale og/eller emotionelle oplevelser. Disse egenskaber er en nødvendig forudsætning for religiøst adfærd. Når man ser på de arkæologiske vidnesbyrd i jagten på det religiøse menneske, skal man gå betydeligt længere tilbage end Homo sapiens, ja, man skal langt...... tilbage i homininlinjen. De første proto-religiøse træk synes at komme til syne med Homo heidelbergensis (mellem 600.000 og 400.000 år siden). KEYWORDS: religion; evolution; cognitive science of religion; definition of religion; neurobiology of religion; method and theory in the study of religion....

The influence of religion on sexual HIV risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, Stacey A; El-Bassel, Nabila

2014-08-01

This systematic review examines the relationship between religion and sexual HIV risk behavior. It focuses primarily on how studies have conceptualized and defined religion, methodologies, and sexual risk outcomes. We also describe regions where studies were conducted and mechanisms by which religion may be associated with sexual risk. We included 137 studies in this review, classifying them as measuring: (1) only religious affiliation (n = 57), (2) only religiosity (n = 48), and (3) both religious affiliation and religiosity (n = 32). A number of studies identified lower levels of sexual HIV risk among Muslims, although many of these examined HIV prevalence rather than specific behavioral risk outcomes. Most studies identified increased religiosity to be associated with lower levels of sexual HIV risk. This finding persists but is weaker when the outcome considered is condom use. The paper reviews ways in which religion may contribute to increase and reduction in sexual HIV risk, gaps in research, and implications for future research on religion and HIV.

Material Religion - Hinduism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aktor, Mikael

2017-01-01

Comprehensive bibliography on material religion in Hinduism. Monographs, anthologies, anthology chapters, journal articles, web articles, documentation on cultic elements of the landscape (mountains, rivers, trees, stones), three- and two-dimensional cultic artefacts, textiles, ritual accessories...

Doctors discussing religion and spirituality: A systematic literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Best, Megan; Butow, Phyllis; Olver, Ian

2016-04-01

Discussion of religion and/or spirituality in the medical consultation is desired by patients and known to be beneficial. However, it is infrequent. We aimed to identify why this is so. We set out to answer the following research questions: Do doctors report that they ask their patients about religion and/or spirituality and how do they do it? According to doctors, how often do patients raise the issue of religion and/or spirituality in consultation and how do doctors respond when they do? What are the known facilitators and barriers to doctors asking their patients about religion and/or spirituality? A mixed qualitative/quantitative review was conducted to identify studies exploring the physician's perspective on discussion of religion and/or spirituality in the medical consultation. We searched nine databases from inception to January 2015 for original research papers reporting doctors' views on discussion of religion and/or spirituality in medical consultations. Papers were assessed for quality using QualSyst and results were reported using a measurement tool to assess systematic review guidelines. Overall, 61 eligible papers were identified, comprising over 20,044 physician reports. Religion and spirituality are discussed infrequently by physicians although frequency increases with terminal illness. Many physicians prefer chaplain referral to discussing religion and/or spirituality with patients themselves. Such discussions are facilitated by prior training and increased physician religiosity and spirituality. Insufficient time and training were the most frequently reported barriers. This review found that physician enquiry into the religion and/or spirituality of patients is inconsistent in frequency and nature and that in order to meet patient needs, barriers to discussion need to be overcome. © The Author(s) 2015.

Jesus Heard the Word of God, but Mohammed had Convulsions: How Religion Clause Principles Should Be Applied to Religion in the Public School Social Studies Curriculum.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaiser, Elizabeth D.

2003-01-01

Discusses why public schools are making religion an important part of social-studies curriculum and why teaching of religion may create unintended constitutional violations. Explores the efficacy of current legal tests of constitutionality of religion in schools. Proposes new test for evaluating the constitutionality of religion in public-school…

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

Psychology of religion: perspectives from cultural psychology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Belzen, J.A.

2010-01-01

After a brief introduction, this paper tries to establish what type of psychology the psychology of religion is. Having introduced cultural psychology in general, some theories applicable in research on religion are presented, and some examples of cultural psychological research of religious

Critiquing Borders: Teaching about Religions in a Postcolonial World

Science.gov (United States)

Ramey, Steven W.

2006-01-01

In a postcolonial environment, our students will encounter multiple representations and diverse followers of various religions outside the classroom. Students need to think critically about the representations of all religions and recognize the humanity of all people. Too often, students leave courses discussing one or more world religions with an…

La religione una risorsa formativa?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlo Nanni

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The text aims to show how religion can contribute to the achievement of the human person. Religion, connected to the social and cultural framework, joins the individual world in its complexity. Is godlinesses a possible teaching resource? Yes, when read according to a pedagogical perspective, which support human advancement, historical and cultural being. The dialogue, good practice for any learning, it poses as a means to fight the life fragmentation in the discovery of common traces to all humanity.

Predicting Religion

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Revell, Lynn

2015-01-01

This article reviews the influence of liberal ideas on the capacity for Religious Education (RE) to consider religions critically in a climate of increasing government intervention in education. It finds that criticality in some areas of RE is absent or limited but that in key areas criticality is evident if not always deeply embedded. It…

Religion and body weight: a review of quantitative studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeary, Karen Hye-Cheon Kim; Sobal, Jeffery; Wethington, Elaine

2017-10-01

Increasing interest in relationships between religion and health has encouraged research about religion and body weight, which has produced mixed findings. We systematically searched 11 bibliographic databases for quantitative studies of religion and weight, locating and coding 85 studies. We conducted a systematic review, analysing descriptive characteristics of the studies as well as relevant religion-body weight associations related to study characteristics. We summarized findings for two categories of religion variables: religious affiliation and religiosity. For religious affiliation, we found evidence for significant associations with body weight in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. In particular, Seventh-Day Adventists had lower body weight than other denominations in cross-sectional analyses. For religiosity, significant associations occurred between greater religiosity and higher body weight in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. In particular, greater religiosity was significantly associated with higher body weight in bivariate analyses but less so in multivariate analyses. A greater proportion of studies that used a representative sample, longitudinal analyses, and samples with only men reported significant associations between religiosity and weight. Evidence in seven studies suggested that health behaviours and psychosocial factors mediate religion-weight relationships. More longitudinal studies and analyses of mediators are needed to provide stronger evidence and further elucidate religion-weight relationships. © 2017 World Obesity Federation.

Limits to expression on religion in France

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, E.

2009-01-01

During the last decade conflicts about expression on religion have increased globally. Generally, these conflicts are regarded as a conflict between freedom of speech and freedom of thought, conscience and religion. In France there are many active religious interest groups that aim to protect a

Health as the religion of our time

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stenbak Larsen, Christian

This paper sees health as religion through the lens of social theory, starting with classical sociology. The common point being that religion is about the social bond ('relgio' in Latin), to be a society we keep something sacred. Since classical sociology the breaking down of religion has continued...... uses the vocabulary of discourse analysis and calls health a hegemon. Pointing out that it is not a consensus but a sedimentation that prevent us from being against health. But this cannot only be seen as a limitation of personal freedom, but also - through the lens of social theory - as a historical...

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.

European Religious Education and European Civil Religion

Science.gov (United States)

Gearon, Liam

2012-01-01

This paper challenges a foundational conjecture of the Religion in Education Dialogue or Conflict (REDCo) project, that increased interest in religion in public and political life as manifested particularly in education is evidence of counter-secularisation. The paper argues that rather than representing counter-secularisation, such developments…

Spirituality and religion among HIV-infected individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Szaflarski, Magdalena

2013-12-01

Spirituality and religion are important to many people living with HIV (PLWH). Recent research has focused on special populations (ethnic-minorities, women, and youth), spirituality/religion measurement, mediating/moderating mechanisms, and individual and community-level interventions. Spirituality/religion in PLWH has been refined as a multidimensional phenomenon, which improves health/quality of life directly and through mediating factors (healthy behaviors, optimism, social support). Spirituality/religion helps people to cope with stressors, especially stigma/discrimination. Spiritual interventions utilizing the power of prayer and meditation and addressing spiritual struggle are under way. Faith-based community interventions have focused on stigma and could improve individual outcomes through access to spiritual/social support and care/treatment for PLWA. Community engagement is necessary to design/implement effective and sustainable programs. Future efforts should focus on vulnerable populations; utilize state-of-the-art methods (randomized clinical trials, community-based participatory research); and, address population-specific interventions at individual and community levels. Clinical and policy implications across geographic settings also need attention.

The religion under the rule of aesthetics

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Alberto da Silva Moreira

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This article examines the modern process of aestheticization of culture and religion as consequent unfolding of the expansion of market rationality to the subjective life and the libidinal sphere of subjects. Its main objective is to inquire about the future of religion under the impact of sensation seeking culture and the inflation of aesthetics. Firstly, with the help of Türcke, Welsch, Foucault and Schultze´s investigate the aestheticization process of of social life, its causes and characteristics; Secondly, following Dufour, Türcke Leiss, Kline, Jhally e Welsch, it asks how the dynamics of aesthetical impacts the daily life and the bio-psychic economy of people; thirdly, it applies the results obtained to the analysis of what is happening with religion under the regime of aesthetics and sensational culture. Finally, it asks about the possible emancipatory potential of aestheticized own religious experience and tries to draw some further consequences for religion in the aesthetic field.

Suicide and the afterlife: popular religion and the standardisation of 'culture' in Japan.

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Picone, Mary

2012-06-01

For an overwhelming majority of commentators, including many anthropologists, 'Japanese culture' is still associated with a positive view of suicide. Western-language writings have contributed by feedback loop to perpetuate this stereotype. Besides the local 'samurai ethic', Japanese Buddhism is also said not to prohibit taking one's life. However, the most popular examples of heroic self-sacrifice, from the Edo period to WWII, are fraught with covert contradictions. From ancient times to the present religious practitioners of all sorts have maintained that suicide creates unhappy, resentful spirits who harm the living. This article discusses many examples of a diverse series of narratives, from spirit medium's séances to drama to contemporary films, in which the anguished spirits of suicides are allowed to express themselves directly. After the figures rose alarmingly in the late 1990s various religious organisations have attempted to fight the stigma suffered by bereaved family members and have introduced new interpretations and new rituals.

VOLTAIRE’S PHILOSOPHY: HUMAN NATURE AND INTERPRETATION OF RELIGION

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Yu. Zimaryova

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the article is to determine and reconsider Voltaire’s ideas concerning religion and human nature. In order to achieve this purpose it is necessary to complete the following tasks: to analyse academic literature on Voltaire’s interpretation of the phenomenon of religion; to expose Voltaire’s basic ideas about human nature; to substantiate the importance of anthropological approach to the phenomenon of religion with the ideas of Voltaire’s philosophical works. Methodology. The achievements of anthropocentric philosophical thought of the XIX century possess great potential in the process of constructive comprehension and theoretical reconstruction of the anthropological intention that accompanies the process of philosophising. The research extensively applies hermeneutical method for interpreting Voltaire’s philosophy. Scientific novelty. In academic literature on Voltaire’s works we have ascertained the basic anthropological component of his philosophy and reconsider Voltaire’s ideas about religion as something that is rooted in human nature. Conclusions. In academic literature the interpretation of the phenomenon of religion in Voltaire’s heritage is a rather controversial one. At the one hand, Voltaire criticizes religion for its superstitions and fanaticism. On the other hand, he recognises the existence of God. In our opinion, the phenomenon of religion should be examined in the context of human nature and basic problems related to it such as the problem of soul and the problem of free will. The anthropological approach to the phenomenon of religion allows to avoid the extremity of atheistic and metaphysical approaches and to enable its anthropological interpretation.

Religion as dialogical resource: a socio-cultural approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Baucal, Aleksandar; Zittoun, Tania

2013-06-01

William James proposed a psychological study of religion examining people's religious experiences, and to see in what sense these were good for them. The recent developments of psychology of religion moved far from that initial proposition. In this paper, we propose a sociocultural perspective to religion that renews with that initial stance. After recalling Vygtotsky's core ideas, we suggest that religion, as cultural and symbolic system, participates to the orchestration of human activities and sense-making. Such orchestration works both from within the person, through internalized values and ideas, and from without, through the person's interactions with others, discourses, cultural objects etc. This leads us to consider religions as supporting various forms of dialogical dynamics-intra-psychological dialogues, interpersonal with present, absent or imaginary others, as well as inter-group dialogues-which we illustrate with empirical vignettes. The example of religious tensions in the Balkans in the 90's highlights how much the historical-cultural embeddedness of these dynamics can also lead to the end of dialogicality, and therefore, sense-making.

Vliv všímavosti na afektivitu: fenomenologický výklad buddhistické meditace vipassanā

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Puc, Jan

2016-01-01

Roč. 12, č. 4 (2016), s. 1-11 ISSN 1336-6556 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA15-10832S Institutional support: RVO:67985955 Keywords : passive synthesis * affection * attention * mindfulness * Husserl * vipassanā * meditation * Buddhism Subject RIV: AA - Philosophy ; Religion OBOR OECD: Philosophy, History and Philosophy of science and technology http://www.ostium.sk/sk/vliv-vsimavosti-na-afektivitu-fenomenologicky-vyklad-buddhisticke-meditace-vipassana1/

Christianity and the African traditional religion(s: The postcolonial round of engagement

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David T. Adamo

2011-03-01

Full Text Available This article concerned itself with the modern encounter between Christianity and African Indigenous Religion (AIR in Africa. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and its essential characteristics is: God and humanity, sacrifices, afterlife and ancestors. The rapid growth of many religions in Africa and the revival of AIR in postcolonial Africa have made inter-religious dialogue an urgent necessity. Unlike the colonial encounter with AIR, which was characterised by hostility and the condemnation of AIR, the postcolonial encounter should be characterised by mutual respect, understanding, tolerance, and some level of freedom, liberation and genuineness. In this way, suspicion will be reduced, because despite the adherents� confession of Christianity, AIR is not about to be extinct.

Naturalisms and religion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Drees, Willem

1997-01-01

Such terms as materialism, naturalism, and near synonyms evoke strong negative reactions among many believers. However, the notion of naturalism has various meanings; implications for religion differ for the several varieties of naturalism. In this paper I analyze epistemological and ontological

Social representations about religion and spirituality.

Science.gov (United States)

Borges, Moema da Silva; Santos, Marília Borges Couto; Pinheiro, Tiago Gomes

2015-01-01

to identify the social representations about the concepts of spirituality and religion of of health teachers. exploratory and descriptive study, based on a qualitative approach. 25 subjects participated in it. The following instruments were used to collect data: questionnaire to identify the profile; questionnaire of free association, whose inducing words were religion and spirituality, and an interview based on the scale FICA (Puchalski, 2006). the representations about religion and spirituality, for professors, are forged around the faith in God and it gives them meaning and purpose to deal with the challenges of personal and professional living. there are still barriers that need to be overcome with a view to a comprehensive care. For this, it is essential to incorporate spirituality in the process in the curricula of health courses.

Local Politics and Religion in Papua

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Idrus Al Hamid

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Local political conflicts become an integral part of Indonesia. Various cause roots are assumed come from a religious dimension, in addition to ethnicity. In cases of Jayapura, Papua, local political dimensions of the conflict was obviously display as factors that religion should be integrating factor, but in fact religion become disintegrating factor. The various power of groups interconnect with a religious impulse that local political tensions grew louder and spread. The aim of this study is to describe analytically about the emergence of a strain on the local level in Jayapura Papua in the field of religion. To elaborate the analysis in this article, the excavation data through in-depth interviews, focus group discussion, and literature studies or documents on issues that occur on local level.

Critical Exchange: Religion and Schooling in Conversation

Science.gov (United States)

Stern, Julian

2017-01-01

Given the complex and messy contexts of schooling, conversations between religion and schooling can be "admitted" as examples of the sort of situated conversation that goes beyond the "false necessity" of universal state-controlled school-based education. There are distinct claims to be made about religion and schooling in…

Freedom of Religion and the Public Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Mary Louise

1991-01-01

Presents activities for teaching high school students about the freedom of religion. Includes student handouts that explain basic constitutional principles and summarize leading U.S. Supreme Court cases concerning religious liberty. Encourages teachers to invite students to speculate on the future relationship of religion and public education. (SG)

Human Rights in The Monotheistic Religions : Justification of Human Rights in the perspective of monotheistic religion according to Human Rights Theories

OpenAIRE

Ali, Sadaqat

2018-01-01

The discourse of human rights has been very prominent in the post-world wars which led various international organizations and institutes to generate awareness on this subject and pave a path for implementation of fundamental human rights in the world. Many theories have been coined and proliferated in the world to look the matter more seriously. The question mark on the role of religion in this regard has led the discussion sidelining divinely revealed monotheistic religions. Thus, religions...

State, religion and toleration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Huggler, Jørgen

2009-01-01

Contribution to Religion and State - From separation to cooperation? Legal-philosophical reflections for a de-secularized world. (IVR Cracow Special Workshop). Eds. Bart. C. Labuschagne & Ari M. Solon. Abstract: Toleration is indeed a complex phenomenon. A discussion of the concept will have...... to underline not only the broadmindedness and liberty of individuals or of groups, but also the relevant distinctions and arguments in political philosophy, epistemology, philosophy of religion and philosophical anthropology and their connection with educational issues. Through a discussion of these relations......, the essay argues three theses: (1) Toleration is not reducible to an ethics of spiritual freedom. (2) Toleration is not neutral to fanatism. (3) Toleration involves esteem for the person....

Religion in Public Spaces in Contemporary Southeast Asia

OpenAIRE

Afrianty, Dina

2012-01-01

Religion is among the most overlooked factors in the development of nation-states in Southeast Asia. Some reasons for this include a bias emphasizing religious ideology in the study of anti-colonial organizations that dates to the origins of the politics of state formation; the influence of many ideas on the patterns of modern elite formations that stress the need for religion to shape national constitutions, and the fact that religion is difficult to neglect in shaping the behavior of...

Spirituality and religion in patients with HIV/AIDS.

Science.gov (United States)

Cotton, Sian; Puchalski, Christina M; Sherman, Susan N; Mrus, Joseph M; Peterman, Amy H; Feinberg, Judith; Pargament, Kenneth I; Justice, Amy C; Leonard, Anthony C; Tsevat, Joel

2006-12-01

Spirituality and religion are often central issues for patients dealing with chronic illness. The purpose of this study is to characterize spirituality/religion in a large and diverse sample of patients with HIV/AIDS by using several measures of spirituality/religion, to examine associations between spirituality/religion and a number of demographic, clinical, and psychosocial variables, and to assess changes in levels of spirituality over 12 to 18 months. We interviewed 450 patients from 4 clinical sites. Spirituality/religion was assessed by using 8 measures: the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spirituality-Expanded scale (meaning/peace, faith, and overall spirituality); the Duke Religion Index (organized and nonorganized religious activities, and intrinsic religiosity); and the Brief RCOPE scale (positive and negative religious coping). Covariates included demographics and clinical characteristics, HIV symptoms, health status, social support, self-esteem, optimism, and depressive symptoms. The patients' mean (SD) age was 43.3 (8.4) years; 387 (86%) were male; 246 (55%) were minorities; and 358 (80%) indicated a specific religious preference. Ninety-five (23%) participants attended religious services weekly, and 143 (32%) engaged in prayer or meditation at least daily. Three hundred thirty-nine (75%) patients said that their illness had strengthened their faith at least a little, and patients used positive religious coping strategies (e.g., sought God's love and care) more often than negative ones (e.g., wondered whether God has abandoned me; Pself-esteem, greater life satisfaction, and lower overall functioning (R2=.16 to .74). Mean levels of spirituality did not change significantly over 12 to 18 months. Most patients with HIV/AIDS belonged to an organized religion and use their religion to cope with their illness. Patients with greater optimism, greater self-esteem, greater life satisfaction, minorities, and patients who drink less alcohol tend

Special issue on evolutionary theories of religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

McKay, Ryan

Redaktionen af et temanummer i Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion 4 (1) 2016: 1-90 med en række bidrag som respons til en targetartikel skrevet af Jonathan H. Turner med titlen "Using Neurosociology and Evolutionary Sociology to Explain the Origin and Evolution of Religions". Der er ko...

Votives, Places and Rituals in Etruscan Religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Etruscans were deemed “the most religious of men” by their Roman successors and it is hardly surprising that the topic of Etruscan religion has been explored for some time now. This volume offers a contribution to the continued study of Etruscan religion and daily life, by focusing on the less...

Siddartha: An Introduction to Buddhism and Hinduism Yesterday and Today.

Science.gov (United States)

Mooney, Edward L.

This three-week unit in world literature for 11th grade, average-ability students was developed as part of a series by the Public Education Religion Studies Center at Wright State University. An outline of the unit's content and subject matter is given. The novel "Siddhartha" is studied in its Hindu and Buddhist religious and cultural…

Religion and Family in the 1980s: Discovery and Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Darwin L.; Cornwall, Marie

1990-01-01

Reviewed articles from journals in fields of family, religion, sociology, psychology, and therapy that examined both religion and the family. Review reveals pressing need for more serious theoretical and conceptual work that incorporates multidimensional approaches and is specifically designed to illuminate interrelationships between religion and…

Regulating the Relationship between State and Religion: An Economic Approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A.M.I.B. Vandenberghe (Ann-Sophie)

2012-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ In defining its relationship towards religion, the Dutch government is committed to the values of freedom of religion and neutrality. This article uses the economic approach to freedom of religion and state neutrality as a tool for looking at the existing Dutch policy

Religion and covenantal praxis in first century Judeanism

African Journals Online (AJOL)

p1243322

This article indicates how the two cultural features of religion and covenantal praxis .... and the home, introduced Judeans into a world where religion and covenantal ... states that Judeans from Mesopotamia made “dedicatory offerings” to the.

Religion, Democratic Community, and Education: Two Questions

Science.gov (United States)

D'Souza, Mario Osbert

2012-01-01

This paper examines the mediating role that education plays between religion and democratic community. The paper is situated in the Canadian context and examines this mediation through two questions: First, what is the relationship between religion and education and what is the contribution of this relationship to and within a pluralist society?…

Journal for the Study of Religion: Submissions

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Foucault, Michel 1977. Discipline and Punish. Trans. by A. Sheridan. New York: Pantheon. Chapter in an edited book. Smart, N. 1985. “The history of religions and its conversation partners.” In The History of Religions, Retrospect and Prospect, pp. 73-85. Edited by J. M. Kitagawa. New York: Macmillan. Encyclopaedia article

Religion in School: Experience of a Study of the Problem.

Science.gov (United States)

Metlik, I. V.

1992-01-01

Presents observations concerning religion study in 150 Moscow schools. Reports that, although there are still some extracurricular activities promoting traditional former Soviet atheistic ideology, religion is now taught openly. Indicates that religion and atheism also are being studied on a scientific-philosophical basis. Examines how various…

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

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2011-08-01

Aug 1, 2011 ... Religion is something essentially social (Dürkheim, cited in Robertson 1969:53). The one cannot ... city-states never reached the level of autonomy that Aristotle ..... social assistance, through which society takes responsibility.

God and religion in post-modern philosophers

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José J. Queiroz

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper is an essay on the positions of some post-modern philosophers on religion, with the debate about post-modernity as a background. Its preliminary objective is to situate post-modernity taking a position between plain acceptance and categorical refusal in contemporary society. In this polemical field, the paper focuses on three important post-modern philosophers by pointing their contributions for a new thinking about religion today. The procedure consists in the reading of the authors´ texts looking for an interpretation of their discourses on God, religion and the sacred. The conclusion is that post-modernity is not as new era overcoming modernity, but that it is comprised of new themes  that are on the fringes  or even  in opposite directions of modernity´s parameters . One can find these themes in many fields of human knowledge including theology and science of religion. On Derrida´s position, who is the most focused philosopher, the text is still embryonic as it comes from ongoing research.  

Blending Buddhism, Shinto, and the Secular: Japanese Conceptualizations of the Divine

Science.gov (United States)

Crane, Lauren Shapiro; Bruce, Jessica L.; Salmon, Ptamonie Y.; Eich, R. Tony; Brandewie, Erika N.

2012-01-01

This qualitative interview study investigated Japanese understandings of spirituality, religion, and The Divine. Thirteen native Japanese living in central Ohio (6 male, 7 female) answered open-ended questions about spiritual or religious activities they engaged in, motivations for engaging in them, what constitutes sacredness, why humanity and…

The appropriation of a religion: The case of Zoroastrianism in contemporary Russia

OpenAIRE

Stausberg, Michael; Tessmann, Anna

2013-01-01

This paper distinguishes between the (ontological) creation, (historical) emergence and (legal) ‘making’ of religion. Many religions claim plausibility by invoking long chains of (invented) traditions, while some post-modern religions positively affirm their invented character. The case of Zoroastrianism in contemporary Russia is discussed as an example of a cross-cultural ‘appropriation’ of religion, rather than a transfer of an extant religion through, for example, migration. This means tha...

The role of religion and spirituality in mental health.

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, Samuel R; Pargament, Kenneth I

2014-09-01

There has been increased interest in the relationship between religion and spirituality and mental health in recent years. This article reviews recent research into the capacity of religion and spirituality to benefit or harm the mental health of believers. We also examine the implications this may have for assessment and treatment in psychiatric settings. Studies indicate that religion and spirituality can promote mental health through positive religious coping, community and support, and positive beliefs. Research also shows that religion and spirituality can be damaging to mental health by means of negative religious coping, misunderstanding and miscommunication, and negative beliefs. Tools for the assessment of patients' spiritual needs have been studied, and incorporation of spiritual themes into treatment has shown some promise. Religion and spirituality have the ability to promote or damage mental health. This potential demands an increased awareness of religious matters by practitioners in the mental health field as well as ongoing attention in psychiatric 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.

The Role of Religion in Colombia’s Reconciliation

Science.gov (United States)

2016-12-15

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE DISTRIBUTION UNLIMITED The Role of Religion in Colombia’s Reconciliation By CH (MAJ) John M. Sedwick Operations...populations of urban and rural Colombia. This paper addresses the role that organized religion can play in this daunting process that includes...about the ministry of reconciliation from the First Century imply that religion has a role to play in bringing an end to the Colombian civil war and

Happiness in Economics as Understood Across Ism and Religion

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Abdul Ghafar Ismail

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The concept of happiness has been discussed long time ago by economists. Recently, it became the most related and important thing to be studied because of its impact in societies. Discussion about happiness basically interprets within two separate views. First, happiness related with economic variable, for instance, how money can create happiness. Second happiness is discussed within the context of religion. However, the discussion did not combine both contexts, economic variable and religion, to interpret happiness. Therefore, it is important to highlight the concept of happiness in a different way such as in this article. Different cultures will have their own perspective on the determination of happiness. From just “individual perspective” of happiness, they then formed an ism through involvement of a big society from the same culture. Some isms such as hedonism and materialism are synonyms in characterizing the concept of happiness in this modern world. At the same time, the isms are actually working with the economic and non-economic indicators as elements to strengthen the ism itself. On the other hand, the concept of happiness from the perspective of religion will also be a part of discussion in this article. Therefore, this article will reveal that the meaning of happiness is different in terms of religion and ism. So, to carry out both ism and religion simultaneously in shaping a more intrinsic value of happiness is not an easy task. Furthermore, religion is always associated with spiritual value that makes it hard for some people to practice religion and their isms at the same time. Thus, this article will propose that the right interpretation of isms based on their faith in religion can contribute to the concept of genuine happiness.

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

Access to health care and religion among young American men.

Science.gov (United States)

Gillum, R Frank; Jarrett, Nicole; Obisesan, Thomas O

2009-12-01

In order to elucidate cultural correlates of utilization of primary health services by young adult men, we investigated religion in which one was raised and service utilization. Using data from a national survey we tested the hypothesis that religion raised predicts access to and utilization of a regular medical care provider, examinations, HIV and other STD testing and counseling at ages 18-44 years in men born between 1958 and 1984. We also hypothesized that religion raised would be more predictive of utilization for Hispanic Americans and non-Hispanic Black Americans than for non-Hispanic White Americans. The study included a national sample of 4276 men aged 18-44 years. Descriptive and multivariate statistics were used to assess the hypotheses using data on religion raised and responses to 14 items assessing health care access and utilization. Compared to those raised in no religion, those raised mainline Protestant were more likely (p Religion raised was not associated with testicular exams, STD counseling or HIV testing. In multivariate analyses controlling for confounders, significant associations of religion raised with insurance coverage, a physician as usual source of care and physical examination remained which varied by race/ethnicity. In conclusion, although religion is a core aspect of culture that deserves further study as a possible determinant of health care utilization, we were not able to document any consistent pattern of significant association even in a population with high rates of religious participation.

Textbook Religion and Lived Religion: A Comparison of the Christian Faith as Expressed in Textbooks and by Young Church Members

Science.gov (United States)

Vestøl, Jon Magne

2016-01-01

Drawing on perspectives from sociocultural theory, this article investigates how Christian denominations are represented in Norwegian textbooks of religious education and by young believers. The main finding is that textbooks and young adherents present religion in substantially different ways. While textbooks relate religion to global and…

Beyond Cinematic Stereotypes. Using Religion to Imagine Gender Differently

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sofia Sjö

2016-11-01

Full Text Available In films, religious characters are often gendered in quite traditional ways, but there are some notable exceptions. This article discusses two Scandinavian films that partly break the mold. The analysis illustrates how in films varied forms of religion are gen¬dered quite differently, and explores the ways in which religious themes can open up for alternative male and female characters. Different ways of understanding the representations are discussed and related to views on the place and role of religion in the contemporary Scandinavian context. The article draws on the mediatization of religion theory as a theoretical framework, but also highlights the challenges that complex images of gender and religion pose to this theory.

Ethnic Religion in nowadays Europe: renaissance of the historical pagan beliefs or Political Paganism? Exemplified by the Asatru in Denmark and the Mari Native Religion in Russia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christensen Carsten Sander

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the history and the problems of ethnic religions in nowadays Europe. Based on a definition and discussion of Paganism and Neopaganism, and a thereby following definition and discussion of differences between ethnic religion and monotheistic religion, the article tries to get the answer as to whether ethnic religion, nowadays, is a Political Paganism, a renaissance of historical pagan beliefs or a mixture. To answer the question, the problem of the article will be exemplified by an analysis of two types of paganism in contemporary Europe: the Asatru in Denmark and the Mari Native Religion in Russia. Revived in the 1970s, the Asatru is a rather new phenomenon as well in Denmark as in other countries of the world. On 15 November 1997 the Forn Siðr association, the Asatru and Vanatru Association in Denmark, was established, in 2003 recognized, and registered as an official religion in Denmark. Whereas the Mari Native Religion, a religion practiced by the Mari people in a Russian region of Mari El Republic, 800 kilometres east of Moscow, can lead its roots several thousand years back.

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...

Religion and atheism from a gender perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tiina Mahlamäki

2012-06-01

Full Text Available In August 2010 the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE, summarising the results of the World Values 2005 survey, released them under the headline ‘Religion is a women’s issue’. Is atheism and secularity then, by contrast, an issue for men? It is tempting to answer the question positively when one looks at the names of the new atheist bestselling authors, or the names in the index lists in the back pages of books with reference to atheism, as well as the names of the researchers into atheism and secularity: they tend to be male much more often than female. In this paper I will examine the ways in which both religiosity and non-religiosity and atheism are gendered phenomena. I also look at feminists’ views on religion by pointing out in which ways they intersect with the opinions of the new atheist texts. Because both (second wave feminists and atheists consider religion from a relatively narrow point of view, I’ll bring out the ways in which the contemporary study of religion defines, sees and studies religion and religiousness, while it takes the concept of gender seriously. I also discuss the seemingly indisputable fact which the stat­istics point to; namely that women tend to be more religious than men and men tend to be more often atheist than women (my examples are mostly from the Finnish context. I also present some models of explanation which scholars have applied to these problems.

Science and religion: implications for science educators

Science.gov (United States)

Reiss, Michael J.

2010-03-01

A religious perspective on life shapes how and what those with such a perspective learn in science; for some students a religious perspective can hinder learning in science. For such reasons Staver's article is to be welcomed as it proposes a new way of resolving the widely perceived discord between science and religion. Staver notes that Western thinking has traditionally postulated the existence and comprehensibility of a world that is external to and independent of human consciousness. This has led to a conception of truth, truth as correspondence, in which our knowledge corresponds to the facts in this external world. Staver rejects such a conception, preferring the conception of truth as coherence in which the links are between and among independent knowledge claims themselves rather than between a knowledge claim and reality. Staver then proposes constructivism as a vehicle potentially capable of resolving the tension between religion and science. My contention is that the resolution between science and religion that Staver proposes comes at too great a cost—both to science and to religion. Instead I defend a different version of constructivism where humans are seen as capable of generating models of reality that do provide richer and more meaningful understandings of reality, over time and with respect both to science and to religion. I argue that scientific knowledge is a subset of religious knowledge and explore the implications of this for science education in general and when teaching about evolution in particular.

Religion as problem, religion as solution: religious buffers of the links between religious/spiritual struggles and well-being/mental health.

Science.gov (United States)

Abu-Raiya, Hisham; Pargament, Kenneth I; Krause, Neal

2016-05-01

Previous studies have established robust links between religious/spiritual struggles (r/s struggles) and poorer well-being and psychological distress. A critical issue involves identifying the religious factors that buffer this relationship. This is the first study to empirically address this question. Specifically, it examines four religious factors (i.e., religious commitment, life sanctification, religious support, religious hope) as potential buffers of the links between r/s struggle and one indicator of subjective well-being (i.e., happiness) and one indicator of psychological distress (i.e., depressive symptoms). We utilized a cross-sectional design and a nationally representative sample of American adults (N = 2140) dealing with a wide range of major life stressors. We found that the interactions between r/s struggle and all potential moderators were significant in predicting happiness and/or depression. The linkage between r/s struggle and lower levels of happiness was moderated by higher levels of each of the four proposed religious buffers. Religious commitment and life sanctification moderated the ties between r/s struggles and depressive symptoms. The findings underscore the multifaceted character of religion: Paradoxically, religion may be a source of solutions to problems that may be an inherent part of religious life.

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 Support Factor for Women of Color Pursuing Science Degrees: Implications for Science Teacher Educators

Science.gov (United States)

Ceglie, Robert

2013-01-01

This study explores the influence of religion as a support factor for a group of Latina and African-American women majoring in science. The current project is a part of a larger study that investigated persistence factors of underrepresented woman who were enrolled as science majors at United States colleges and universities. This paper focuses on…

Religion: Source of Conflict or Basis for Reconciliation?

Science.gov (United States)

Saint-Laurent, George E.

1994-01-01

Discusses five causes of unjust conflict that may originate in religious commitment including arrogant intolerance; hostile remembrance; ethnocentrism; fundamentalism; and religious myths. Causes of conflict other than religion are suggested, and religion as a force for peace and unity is discussed. (KRN)

23 March 2015 - Tree planting ceremony Chemin Auguer, by His Holiness the XIIth Gyalwang Drukpa and CERN Director-General, on the occasion of the event Connecting Worlds: Science Meets Buddhism Great Minds, Great Matters.

CERN Multimedia

Brice, Maximilien

2015-01-01

23 March 2015 - Tree planting ceremony Chemin Auguer, by His Holiness the XIIth Gyalwang Drukpa and CERN Director-General, on the occasion of the event Connecting Worlds: Science Meets Buddhism Great Minds, Great Matters.

‘Enlisting in the struggle to be free’: A feminist wrestle with gender and religion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kochurani Abraham

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This paper looks at the gendered underpinnings of religion using a feminist lens. It names the violence embedded in the gendered notions of religious ideology and praxis and shows how religion can be “injurious” to women’s growth because of the following factors: the hierarchical dualism that alienates them from the Spirit and identifies them with the body while marginalizing them through their positioning on the lower rungs of the hierarchical ladder; the exclusive male imagery of God and its mediation by an all male priestly class and the scriptural injunctions which are inscribed by patriarchal thought and deployed to keep women in defined roles and spaces. Catholic teachings and practices are taken as a case of analysis to unearth the political dynamics by which religion reinforces ‘gendering –women’s exclusion from theological knowledge making spaces and the gendered religious indoctrination which become hegemonic codes that shape women’s consciousness and keep them without grievance  in their  subjugated status.  It shows further how female body and sexuality are major sites of religious gender politics through the strict controls on women’s dress-codes  and the sexual servicing expected of them in marriage. Finally, the paper advocates critical thought as a tool for exploding the hardened rock of gendered religious foundations and shows how overcoming the contradictory consciousness and waking up to a critical consciousness becomes imperative for women  to be freed of the gender dictates of religion.   Key words: gender, religion, theological knowledge-making, sexuality, critical consciusness

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 ...

Religion and Spirituality in Group Counseling: Beliefs and Practices of University Counseling Center Counselors

Science.gov (United States)

Post, Brian C.; Cornish, Marilyn A.; Wade, Nathaniel G.; Tucker, Jeritt R.

2013-01-01

Fifty-four counselors at 9 university counseling centers participated in a study regarding religion and spirituality (R/S) in group counseling. The majority indicated that R/S is an appropriate topic for group counseling and that some religious and spiritual interventions are appropriate to use. However, counselors rarely use these interventions.…

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

ethics, religion and humanity: rethinking religion in 21 century africa.

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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cause of all human predicaments; that it provides viable and abundant fuel for ... have its older roots in Marx and Lenin, however, the condemnation it has received in recent times is ... beings, it is not out of place to say that his .... religion functions in the culture of a people; ..... zombies and robots having no freedom and.

Fiction and Religion : How Narratives About the Supernatural Inspire Religious Belief

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Davidsen, M.A.

2016-01-01

Thematic issue on 'Fiction and Religion: How Narratives About the Supernatural Inspire Religious Belief', volume 46(4) of Religion. The thematic issue inclues the following articles: Davidsen, Markus Altena, "Fiction and Religion: How Narratives About the Supernatural Inspire Religious Belief –

Religion and Social Entrepreneurship

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Spear, Roger

2010-01-01

This chapter is concerned with the role of religion in social entrepreneurship. It takes an institutional perspective and examines the way religious institutions and actors have supported social entrepreneurship. Weber has argued for the role of (protestant) religion in motivating people to take....../organisations) and local religious leaders to catalyse entrepreneurial activity. Thus these three dimensions of religious institutions (ideological discourse, networks, and leadership) will be examined in relation to social entrepreneurship. For the sake of simplifying the empirical base of this study, the field of social...... entrepreneurship will be limited to social enterprise which are co-operatives, mutuals and trading voluntary organisations (or non-profits), since there is a good evidence base of religious involvement in entrepreneurship in this sector, from which a number of cases will be drawn using secondary sources. However...

Manifiesto del Parlamento Mundial de las Religiones. Introducción

OpenAIRE

Gómez Caffarena, José

1994-01-01

Introducción al número monográfico de Isegoría "Ética y filosofía de la religión" (No. 10, 1994).-- Índice del número: Manifiesto del Parlamento Mundial de las Religiones. Introducción / José Gómez Caffarena.- Manifiesto del Parlamento Mundial de las Religiones. Parlamento de las religiones del mundo: Principios de una ética mundial / Equipo Editorial.- Manifiesto del Parlamento Mundial de las Religiones. Historia, sentido y método de la Declaración en pro de una ética mundial / Hans Küng.- R...

Religion og kognition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geertz, Armin W.

2008-01-01

Artiklen indleder et temanummer som er resultat af et udviklingskursus om kognition for religionslærerne arrangeret af Afdeling for Religionsvidenskab i samarbejde med Religionslærerforeningen. Artiklen indtroducerer emnet religion og kognition således at lærerne får indsigt i emnets væsentligste...

Religions and Psychotherapies—Special Issue

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Klaus Baumann

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The birth of modern psychotherapies—along with the birth of psychology as a science on one side and with psychoanalysis, other depth-psychological treatments and behavioral therapies in addition to medical treatments of psychological disorders on the other side—in the 19th and 20th centuries was accompanied by positivistic and mechanistic paradigms underlying empirical research and claims of scientific dignity [1]. Affirmations which could not be tested or observed empirically had to be excluded from science—including any kind of metaphysics and religious belief, notwithstanding pioneering studies by William James [2], Granville Stanley Hall, James Henry Leuba and Edwin Diller Starbuck [3] for psychology in general and for psychology of religion(s in particular. In particular, the critique of religions by Sigmund Freud has continuously exerted a strong impact in the fields of psychiatry and psychotherapies; in addition, regarding psychodynamics and symptoms of psychic disorders, religious phenomena in the lives of patients may be just as affected as other cognitive and emotional aspects and behaviors [4]. Consequently, religious experience and religious behavior of patients in psychiatry and psychotherapies have rarely been object of research and teaching apart from predominantly symptomatic and pathogenic perspectives [5].

Comment on "Rachel Oliver's article on religion and environment"

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wardekker, J.A.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/306644398

2008-01-01

I enjoyed reading Rachel Oliver's article on religion and environment. These differences (both between and within religions) in how people see the relation between mankind, nature and God are quite interesting indeed.

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-...

Astronomical Knowledge in Holy Books

Science.gov (United States)

Farmanyan, Sona V.; Mickaelian, Areg M.

2015-08-01

We investigate religious myths related to astronomy from different cultures in an attempt to identify common subjects and characteristics. The paper focuses on astronomy in religion. The initial review covers records from Holy books about sky related superstitious beliefs and cosmological understanding. The purpose of this study is to introduce sky related religious and national traditions (particularly based on different calendars; Solar or Lunar). We carried out a comparative study of astronomical issues contained in a number of Holy books: Ancient Egyptian Religion (Pyramid Texts), Zoroastrianism (Avesta), Hinduism (Vedas), Buddhism (Tipitaka), Confucianism (Five Classics), Sikhism (Guru Granth Sahib), Christianity (Bible), Islam (Quran), Druidism (Mabinogion) and Maya Religion (Popol Vuh). These books include various information on the creation of the Universe, Sun and Moon, the age of the Universe, Cosmic sizes, understanding about the planets, stars, Milky Way and description of the Heavens in different religions. We come to the conclusion that the perception of celestial objects varies from culture to culture, and from religion to religion and preastronomical views had a significant impact on humankind, particularly on religious diversities. We prove that Astronomy is the basis of cultures, and that national identity and mythology and religion were formed due to the special understanding of celestial objects.

Religion and Animal Welfare—An Islamic Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Sira Abdul

2017-01-01

Simple Summary Cruelty to animals occurs during production, handling, transport, and slaughter in most countries where Islam is a major religion. Most of the people involved in this, such as those involved in the transport of animals, animal handlers, and butchers, are Muslims. However, many Muslims and Islamic religious leaders are not aware of this cruelty. Islam is a religion that shows compassion to animals as mentioned in the holy book Qur’an and sayings of the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh). This paper highlights what Islam says of the welfare of animals and how animal welfare can be improved by sensitizing all Muslims and religious leaders to the teachings on animal welfare in the Qur’an and the Hadiths so that they can influence their followers. Abstract Islam is a comprehensive religion guiding the lives of its followers through sets of rules governing the personal, social, and public aspects through the verses of the Holy Qur’an and Hadiths, the compilation of the traditions of Prophet Mohammed (pbuh), the two main documents that serve as guidelines. Islam is explicit with regard to using animals for human purposes and there is a rich tradition of the Prophet Mohammad’s (pbuh) concern for animals to be found in the Hadith and Sunna. Islam has also laid down rules for humane slaughter. In many countries animals are killed without pre-stunning. Regardless of pre-stunning, such meat should not be treated as halāl or at least be considered as Makrooh (detestable or abominable), because the animals have been beaten or treated without compassion during production, handling, transport, and slaughter. Many Muslims and Islamic religious leaders are not aware of the cruelty that is routinely inflicted on animals during transport, pre-slaughter, and slaughter in many Islamic countries. There is an urgent need to sensitize all Muslims to the teachings of animal welfare in the Qur’an and the Hadiths. A campaign is needed to apprise religious leaders of the current

32 CFR 1630.43 - Class 4-D: Minister of religion.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 6 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Class 4-D: Minister of religion. 1630.43 Section... CLASSIFICATION RULES § 1630.43 Class 4-D: Minister of religion. In accord with part 1645 of this chapter any registrant shall be placed in Class 4-D who is a: (a) Duly ordained minister of religion; or (b) Regular...

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

Science.gov (United States)

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…

At the intersection of culture and religion: a cultural analysis of religion's implications for secondary control and social affiliation.

Science.gov (United States)

Sasaki, Joni Y; Kim, Heejung S

2011-08-01

Religion helps people maintain a sense of control, particularly secondary control-acceptance of and adjustment to difficult situations--and contributes to strengthening social relationships in a religious community. However, little is known about how culture may influence these effects. The current research examined the interaction of culture and religion on secondary control and social affiliation, comparing people from individualistic cultures (e.g., European Americans), who tend to be more motivated toward personal agency, and people from collectivistic cultures (e.g., East Asians), who tend to be more motivated to maintain social relationships. In Study 1, an analysis of online church mission statements showed that U.S. websites contained more themes of secondary control than did Korean websites, whereas Korean websites contained more themes of social affiliation than did U.S. websites. Study 2 showed that experimental priming of religion led to acts of secondary control for European Americans but not Asian Americans. Using daily diary methodology, Study 3 showed that religious coping predicted more secondary control for European Americans but not Koreans, and religious coping predicted more social affiliation for Koreans and European Americans. These findings suggest the importance of understanding sociocultural moderators for the effects of religion.

Storby og religion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Connie Carøe

2014-01-01

Det kan diskuteres, hvor bogstavelig man skal tage forudsigelsen om sekularisering eller religionens forsvindende betydning, men i dag kan en nærmere undersøgelse af livet og infrastrukturen i storbyerne bekræfte, at religion som sådan ikke er forsvundet fra byernes offentlige rum. Kan København på...

Controversy or consensus? Recommendations for psychiatrists on psychiatry, religion and spirituality.

Science.gov (United States)

Verhagen, Peter J

2012-12-01

Although there is still a lot of controversy surrounding the debates on religion and psychiatry, working toward consensus based on clinical experience and research seems to be far more fruitful. DISCOURSE: The main idea in this contribution runs as follows. It is no longer appropriate to treat psychiatry and religion as enemies. It is argued here that they are in fact allies. This position is elucidated in the light of two statements. (1) The World Psychiatric Association, indeed representing world psychiatry, needs to change its position toward religion and psychiatry. It should do so by crossing narrow-minded scientific boundaries like reductionist and materialistic boundaries. (2) Science and religion should not be regarded as opposing adversaries against each other, but as allies against nonsense and superstition. Two recommendations are formulated. First, science-and-religion, and in our case psychiatry-and-religion, is not purely about description based on gathering evidence, systematic empirical testing and mathematical modeling. We need an approach of both descriptive and prescriptive aspects of our daily reality, not only how our world is, but also how it should be. Secondly, science-and-religion, in our case psychiatry-and-religion as allies should formulate sensible criteria and develop an appropriate attitude to discernment based on intellectual, moral and spiritual sincerity. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spiritual Politics, Political Religion, and Religious Freedom in Burma

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gravers, Mikael

2013-01-01

A state of the art artcle on academic work on religion, politics, and religious freedom in Burma......A state of the art artcle on academic work on religion, politics, and religious freedom in Burma...

Religion, Culture, and Tax Evasion: Evidence from the Czech Republic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wadim Strielkowski

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Our paper analyzes the impact of culture and religion on tax evasions in the Czech Republic, which represents one of the most atheistic countries in Europe, and a very interesting example of attitudes to the church and religion, as well as the influence of religion on the social and economic aspects of everyday life. Our results suggest that, in the Czech Republic, religion plays the role of tax compliance, but only through a positive effect of visiting the church. National pride supports tax morality while trust in government institutions and attitudes towards government are not associated with tax compliance. These results suggest that the Czech Republic is no different from other countries regarding the relationship between religion and tax compliance. Moreover, the role of government as the authority for improving tax compliance is different from what is observed in other countries.

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.

Reflections on the differences between religion and culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonney, Richard

2004-01-01

Culture may be thought of as a causal agent that affects the evolutionary process by uniquely human means. Religion, on the other hand, is considered a process of revelation and contains the concept of the "faithful" who receive the message of revelation. Culture permits the "self-conscious evaluation of human possibilities" and therefore presents a device for increasing human control over species change. There are dangers, however, in accepting cultural relativism without any constraint, such as respect for human life and dignity. In this article, the author attempts to clarify the boundaries between religion and culture and acknowledges that further research is needed on the religion/culture dichotomy.

The Counter Terrorist Classroom: Religion, Education, and Security

Science.gov (United States)

Gearon, Liam

2013-01-01

The article identifies international cases--from the United States, Europe, and the United Nations--of an emergent interface of religion, education, and security. This is manifest in the uses of religion in education to counter religious extremism, the notional "counter terrorist classroom." To avoid an over-association of extremism with…

"Convivencia," Abrahamic Religions and Study Abroad in Spain

Science.gov (United States)

McCoy, Mitchell A.; Holt, Sally

2018-01-01

As a point of departure for understanding the complexities of Spanish national and individual identities, it is incumbent that a student begin by investigating Spanish iterations of the three Abrahamic religions. This presupposition of religion's centrality in the pursuit of better informed understandings of the Spanish nation, people, history and…

Religion and Lunar Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Pop, V.

1969: The Eagle lands on the Moon. A moment that would not only mark the highest scientific achievement of all times, but would also have significant religious impli- cations. While the island of Bali lodges a protest at the United Nations against the US for desecrating a sacred place, Hopi Indians celebrate the fulfilment of an ancient prophecy that would reveal the "truth of the Sacred Ways". The plaque fastened to the Eagle - "We Came in Peace for All Mankind" would have contained the words "under God" as directed by the US president, if not for an assistant administrator at NASA that did not want to offend any religion. In the same time, Buzz Aldrin takes the Holy Communion on the Moon, and a Bible is left there by another Apollo mission - not long after the crew of Apollo 8 reads a passage from Genesis while circling the Moon. 1998: Navajo Indians lodge a protest with NASA for placing human ashes aboard the Lunar Prospector, as the Moon is a sacred place in their religion. Past, present and fu- ture exploration of the Moon has significant religious and spiritual implications that, while not widely known, are nonetheless important. Is lunar exploration a divine duty, or a sacrilege? This article will feature and thoroughly analyse the examples quoted above, as well as other facts, as for instance the plans of establishing lunar cemeteries - welcomed by some religions, and opposed by others.

A postcolonial philosophy of religion and interreligious polylogue

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Willy Pfändtner

2011-05-01

Full Text Available In this article, an agenda for the development of a philosophy of religion which is informed by the challenges and possibilities of religious plurality is suggested. It is argued that the philosophy of religion as an academic discipline is in need of a kind of reconstruction if it is to maintain its relevance and connection to actual religious phenomena as they present themselves globally. The problem originates in the fact that the modern concept of religions has a distorting effect when applied to non-western traditions. The article focuses on a way to understand religious diversity by using aspects of Heidegger’s fundamental ontology to illuminate different ways of being religious within the same tradition and also to find similar religious dispositions across traditions. It is argued that this can inform interreligious dialogue so that this dialogue—or rather, polylogue—itself can serve as a tool to develop a postcolonial existential philosophy of religion. Part of this project would be to find and apply concepts and categories by reading religious traditions and subtraditions through each other. The article ends with a few suggestions on how this can be done, in this case by drawing on traditions from India.Willy Pfändtner is Senior Lecturer, Study of Religions, Södertörn University, Sweden.

Diffused Religion and Prayer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Cipriani

2011-06-01

Full Text Available It is quite likely that the origins of prayer are to be found in ancient mourning and bereavement rites. Primeval ritual prayer was codified and handed down socially to become a deep-rooted feature of people’s cultural behavior, so much so, that it may surface again several years later, in the face of death, danger, need, even in the case of relapse from faith and religious practice. Modes of prayer depend on religious experience, on relations between personal prayer and political action, between prayer and forgiveness, and between prayer and approaches to religions. Various forms of prayer exist, from the covert-hidden to the overt-manifest kind. How can they be investigated? How can one, for instance, explore mental prayer? These issues regard the canon of diffused religion and, therefore, of diffused prayer.

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.

Buddhism and neuroethics: the ethics of pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement.

Science.gov (United States)

Fenton, Andrew

2009-08-01

This paper integrates some Buddhist moral values, attitudes and self-cultivation techniques into a discussion of the ethics of cognitive enhancement technologies - in particular, pharmaceutical enhancements. Many Buddhists utilize meditation techniques that are both integral to their practice and are believed to enhance the cognitive and affective states of experienced practitioners. Additionally, Mahāyāna Buddhism's teaching on skillful means permits a liberal use of methods or techniques in Buddhist practice that yield insight into our selfnature or aid in alleviating or eliminating duhkha (i.e. dissatisfaction). These features of many, if not most, Buddhist traditions will inform much of the Buddhist assessment of pharmaceutical enhancements offered in this paper. Some Buddhist concerns about the effects and context of the use of pharmaceutical enhancements will be canvassed in the discussion. Also, the author will consider Buddhist views of the possible harms that may befall human and nonhuman research subjects, interference with a recipient's karma, the artificiality of pharmaceutical enhancements, and the possible motivations or intentions of healthy individuals pursuing pharmacological enhancement. Perhaps surprisingly, none of these concerns will adequately ground a reflective Buddhist opposition to the further development and continued use of pharmaceutical enhancements, either in principle or in practice. The author argues that Buddhists, from at least certain traditions - particularly Mahāyāna Buddhist traditions - should advocate the development or use of pharmaceutical enhancements if a consequence of their use is further insight into our self-nature or the reduction or alleviation of duhkha.

32 CFR 1645.2 - The claim for minister of religion classification.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 6 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false The claim for minister of religion classification. 1645.2 Section 1645.2 National Defense Other Regulations Relating to National Defense SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM CLASSIFICATION OF MINISTERS OF RELIGION § 1645.2 The claim for minister of religion...

Recent Observations on Religion Education in South Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Nogueira-Godsey, Elaine

2016-01-01

Thirteen years have passed since the Minister of Education, Kader Asmal, implemented the National Policy on Religion and Education in 2003 (South African Government 2003). The policy provided a new framework to promote diversity by educating young people about the religions of others as well as respect towards freedom of religious expression, a…

Religious views of the 'medical' rehabilitation model: a pilot qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamey, Gavin; Greenwood, Richard

2004-04-22

To explore the religious beliefs that patients may bring to the rehabilitation process, and the hypothesis that these beliefs may diverge from the medical model of rehabilitation. Qualitative semi-structured interviews with representatives of six major religions--Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism, and Hinduism. Representatives were either health care professionals or religious leaders, all with an interest in how their religion approached health issues. There were three recurrent themes in the interviews: religious explanations for injury and illness; beliefs about recovery; religious duties of care towards family members. The Buddhist, Sikh, and Hindu interviewees described beliefs about karma--unfortunate events happening due to a person's former deeds. Fatalistic ideas, involving God having control over an individual's recovery, were expressed by the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian interviewees. All interviewees expressed the fundamental importance of a family's religious duty of care towards ill or injured relatives, and all expressed some views that were compatible with the medical model of rehabilitation. Religious beliefs may both diverge from and resonate with the medical rehabilitation model. Understanding these beliefs may be valuable in facilitating the rehabilitation of diverse religious groups.

“Ancestors We Didn’t Even Know We Had”: Alice Walker, Asian Religion, and Ethnic Authenticity

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Kyle Garton-Gundling

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Recent debates about the ethics of identity in a global age have dealt with how to prioritize conflicting local and global allegiances. Guided by these concerns, the fiction of Alice Walker develops a distinctive view of how local cultures and global movements can fruitfully interact. This vision depends on concepts from Asian religions, a major influence that critics of Walker have largely overlooked. Walker promotes Hindu and Buddhist meditation in a context of widespread African American skepticism toward Asian religions. According to widespread notions of cultural authenticity, Asian religions cannot nourish an African American connection to ethnic roots. In response to this challenge, Alice Walker’s fiction portrays Hindu and Buddhist mystics as African Americans’ ancestors, thus positioning these faiths as authentically black. By creatively enfolding Asian religions into her sense of African American heritage, Walker builds a spiritual cosmopolitanism that relies on claims of ancestral affiliation even when these claims are not literal. This strategy is Walker’s effort to create a new paradigm of cultural authenticity, one that allows individuals and groups to choose their ancestors. Walker’s approach seeks to incorporate disparate global influences while still valorizing the figure of the ancestor. This innovative approach places Walker at the forefront of a growing number of African American artists and intellectuals who promote Asian religions to American minorities. Walker’s work vividly dramatizes larger concerns in transnational American Studies: Eastern philosophy’s relevance to identity politics, the tensions between universal ideals and cultural specifics, and the ethics of cross-cultural appropriation.

An Ethnographic Eye on Religion in Everyday Life

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Berglund, Jenny

2014-01-01

There are many pitfalls associated with teaching about religions. One such pitfall entails the risk of presenting religions as stereotypical monolithic systems; that is, all who belong to a particular religious tradition think and act in the same way. I like to call this sort of stereotyping the "robotic tendency" because it has a habit…

Religion, Education, and Religious Education in Irish Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Hyland, Áine; Bocking, Brian

2015-01-01

This essay is part of a collection of short essays solicited from authors around the globe who teach religion courses at the college level (not for professional religious training). They are published together with an introduction in "Teaching Theology and Religion" 18:3 (July 2015). The authors were asked to provide a brief overview of…

Family, Religion, and Work among Arab American Women

Science.gov (United States)

Ghazal Read, Jen'nan

2004-01-01

Using data from a national survey of 501 Arab American women, this study examines the extent to which family behavior mediates the influence of religion on women's labor force activity. Prior research on families has largely overlooked the role of religion in influencing women's labor force decisions, particularly at different stages of the life…

Factors and features of the religious modernization in Taiwan: socio–historical retrospective (part 1)

OpenAIRE

Y. Y. Medviedieva

2017-01-01

The article is devoted to the study of the religious modernization in Taiwan. It has been concluded by the author that the modernization in traditional societies, as it comes from the analysis of key religious communities of Taiwan, to a limited extent can be implemented by means of traditional religions – Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. The modernisation is possible only on the basis of syncretic religious cults, which allow putting rationalist values on the first place together with valu...

Religion as Political Instrument: The Case of Japan and South Africa ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Religion can be an effective instrument in politics. This has been a phenomenon all over the ages and different political contexts. Politicians utilise religion in order to gain political goals. This paper wants to investigate the reasons why religion is such an effective instrument within politics. The investigation is as much a ...

Ideologies of Religion and Diversity in Australian Public Schools

Science.gov (United States)

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…

Soviet psyhology of religion in 1960–1970s: marginalia

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Elena Orel

2018-12-01

Full Text Available This brief outline deals with the history of development of psychology of religion in the USSR. The author concentrates on the analysis of the historical, social, ideological context, i. e. the analysis of those particular circumstances of the early 1960s when Russian thinkers in the domain of the Humanities turned to the subject of psychology of religion. Particular emphasis is given to the importance of the so-called Khrushchev’s thaw in the formation and development of this research area. The key metaphor of the study is seeing the psychology of religion as an opening in the austere ice of Soviet dictatorship. The author gives a description of the main trends and topics that were raised in discussions on psychology of religion in the 1960–1970s. Ideological interpretation of the position and role of psychology of religion in Soviet science draws on studies by D. Ugrinovich, one of the most infl uential authors of the period in question. The paper suggests that the change of the ideological background in the early 1970s naturally effected the refusal of most of the authors to carry out research in this area and their “switch” to problems of sociology of religion.

Redefining Womanhood (?: Gender, Power, and the “Religion of Thinness”

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Michelle Lelwica

2006-05-01

Full Text Available Ce travail examine la manière dont les femmes utilisent les régimes amincissants comme moyen de surmonter les normes culturelles dominantes concernant les genres, aux Etats-Unis, au cours des dernières décennies. Bien que les femmes qui se consacrent à la perte de poids ne constituent pas un « groupe religieux » dans l’acception traditionnelle du terme, les symboles, rituels et croyances qui accompagnent leur quête de la minceur finissent par fonctionner exactement comme une religion. A partir de discours de femmes aux prises avec leur nourriture et l’image de leur corps, ainsi qu’avec toute une série d’images, rituels et croyances de la culture populaire, je mène l’analyse de cette religion séculière, que je nomme « la Religion de la Minceur » ; je vise à éclairer la manière dont les femmes s’en servent pour tenter d’obtenir le type de pouvoir et de visibilité qui est longtemps demeuré l’apanage des hommes. Enfin, je soutiens que la Religion de la Minceur ressuscite les dynamiques d’une religion patriarcale, dans laquelle le « salut » (libération de la femme passe par son sacrifice et son obéissance aux normes sociales dominantes.This paper examines women’s use of dieting as a means for negotiating dominant cultural gender norms in the United States during the past few decades. Although women who are devoted to losing weight do not constitute a “religious” group in the traditional sense of the word, the symbols, rituals, and beliefs surrounding their pursuit of thinness have come to function much like a religion. Drawing on women’s narratives about their struggles with food and body image, as well as a variety of popular cultural images, rituals, and beliefs, I analyze this secular religion, which I call the “Religion of Thinness,” highlighting how it serves as a vehicle through which women seek the kind of power and visibility that has historically been the prerogative of men. In the

One Size Does Not Fit All: Complexity, Religion, Secularism and Education

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Lynn

2014-01-01

The continuing incidence of extremist acts committed in the name of religion underscores the need to examine the interplay between religion and learning. This article argues for a secular foundation in society and school to protect against religion contributing to conflict and extremism. However, this is not a hard version of secularism, but a…

O dharma verde-amarelo mal-sucedido: um esboço da acanhada situação do Budismo

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Frank Usarski

2004-12-01

Full Text Available EMBORA a mídia venha freqüentemente afirmando que o Budismo é uma das religiões mais crescentes no Brasil, as pesquisas, inclusive os dois últimos censos nacionais, revelam o contrário. O artigo confronta a imagem pública exagerada com a realidade empírica e discute de maneira sistemática os problemas e desafios principais com os quais o Budismo brasileiro contemporâneo é confrontado.CONTRARY to the positive image maintaned by the mass media there is no evidence for the claim that Buddhism is one of the most dramaticaly growing religions in Brazil. From the empirical point of view, rather the opposite is true. The article confronts the public image with the results of academic research including the last two national census, and dicusses the main problems and challenges the contemporary Brazilian Buddhism is confronted with.

Between Politics and Religion – In Search of the Golden Mean

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Pawel Tarasiewicz

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The author undertakes the problem of the identity of Western civilization in the light of a correlation between politics and religion. First, he traces the theoretical debates about the mutual correspondence of politics and religion in ancient Greece. Following two extreme errors depicted by Sophocles in his “Antigone,” and by Plato in his “Apology of Socrates,” he infers that the “Golden Mean” is necessary in resolving the problem of politics and religion. Then, he examines the underlying errors put forward in the history. His investigations show the erroneousness of endowing either politics or religion with sovereign status in culture. There is always a conflict between politics and religion unless man regains his own sovereignty from them. Ultimately the author arrives at the conclusion that the “Golden Mean” correlating politics and religion distinctly strengthens the identity of the Western Civilization, and consists in respecting all real and universal parameters of human person life, such as cognition, freedom (and responsibility, love, agency in law, ontological sovereignty, and religious dignity.

The enlightenment and religion, knowledge and pedagogies in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Winther-Jensen, Thyge

2009-01-01

Artiklen behandler indflydelse strømninger inden for pædagogik, religion og vidensopfattelse i tiden under og op til Oplysningstiden.......Artiklen behandler indflydelse strømninger inden for pædagogik, religion og vidensopfattelse i tiden under og op til Oplysningstiden....

“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

An Over-View of Niger Delta Indigenous Religion | Tasie | Lwati: A ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This essay is an outline and interpretation of Niger Delta indigenous religion. It examines the structure of the indigenous religion and points out that as heterogeneous and diverse as the people of Niger Delta are, so also is the indigenous religion of the people. Thus, an ethnic group may emphasize a belief system or an ...

Religion og film

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hvithamar, Annika; Eskjær, Mikkel Fugl

2007-01-01

Artiklen søger at stipulere en ramme for analyse af religion og film. Dels ved at række ud over den blotte konstatering af tilstedeværelse af religiøse elementer i film, dels ved at anslå en række temaer, der kan anvendes til analyse af sådanne film (individualisering, (de-)sekularisering, banal...

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

Buddhism in Sarnath: An Account of Two Chinese Travellers

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Dr Anuradha Singh

2014-11-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to draw the religious life in Sarnath (and Varanasi as accounted by the Chinese travellers—Fa-Hien and Hiuen-tsang. The accounts not only talk about the stupas, pillars, statues built by King Ashoka; vihars and monks (bhikshus living in those vihars but also contain the first preachings of Lord Buddha, establishment of Sangha and the story of Mrigajataka that remain significant. With the increased popularity of Buddha dharma in China, the Chinese were attracted towards travelling to India. They came to India mainly with the intentions to visit the places related to the fond memories of Lord Buddha, to study the Buddha religion and philosophy and carry the copies of the Buddhist compositions. Fa-Hien and Hiuen-tsang occupy significant places among these Chinese travellers. These accounts can be associated with ancient history as well as with historical geography, religion and philosophy. While Fa-hien in his journey details had described about the Buddha Empire, Hiuen-tsang highlighted the civilisation of India and its cultural landscape, albeit it has been often accepted by the historians that these accounts of their journeys should be considered as significant only when they are backed by historical evidences. They opine that these travellers were mainly influenced by the Buddha dharma and therefore, their accounts are liable to containing exaggerated journey details. It is true that the journey details contain few imaginary instances; nevertheless, these accounts have been validated by the remnants, stupas and vihars at the sites.

All God's children: religion, divorce, and child custody.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldzband, M G

2000-01-01

Many young Americans, married and marriageable, are turning to more traditional or fundamentalist religions. Religiosity and ultra-strict morality often leads to attitudes that alter decision-making in marriage, divorce, and the disposition of the children of divorce. Judgmental pastoral counseling may affect these decisions even more. This paper discusses these issues, emphasizing the need for forensic psychiatrists involved in the custody arena to be aware of the religious, spiritual, irreligious, or even anti-religious feelings of the battling partners. It also presents detailed information about the four major American religions (Roman Catholicism, traditional Judaism, Mormonism, and Islam) that have specific doctrine, protocols, or customs affecting decisions in marriage, divorce, and child custody and visitation. This information is presented from the viewpoint of a child advocate. Mental health experts consulting in child custody must understand the backgrounds of the battling parents, including the religious pressures that well may adversely affect their interspousal disputes, particularly those over child custody. The experts must also recognize the attitudes of the religious communities in which the custodial parent may reside after divorce. Those attitudes may be rejecting of the children as well as of the divorced parent(s). Mental health experts may have a better chance to reach agreement between the battling parents if the experts reverse the historic reluctance of psychiatrists to evaluate and discuss the religious feelings and beliefs of their forensic evaluatees.

Suitable Assimilation Model of Culture, Beliefs and Rites Concerning Deities of Buddhism and Hindu-Brahmanism for Peace of Thai Society in Bangkok and Circumferences

OpenAIRE

Phra M.K. Kaewchaiya; Suoneth Photisan; Makhawin Purisuttamo

2011-01-01

Problem statement: At present, Thai society widely assimilates culture, beliefs and rites concerning deities of Buddhism and Hindu-Brahmanism by worshipping the deity images at the temples or the abodes of gods in Bangkok and circumferences. A typical worship is to pray the deity for help. As a matter of fact, people should help themselves first and use a prayer as willpower. The purpose of this research were these; (1) to investigate the background of culture, belief and rites concerning dei...

Friedrich Heiler and the Psychology of Religion

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Tatiana Samarina

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The author examines the work of the celebrated German religious researcher Friedrich Heiler in relation to the problematic surrounding the psychology of religion. Heiler himself subtitled his first classic work, Prayer , with the words a study of religious-history and of religious-psychology . This presumably meant that he considered himself a student of the psychology of religion. The author contrasts Heiler’s ideas on this subject with those put forward by his contemporaries, all of whom studied the psychology of religion: William James, Evelyn Underhill, and Sigmund Freud. The author’s analysis reveals that Heiler was very familiar with the studies produced by several early students of the psychology of religion: Leub, Starbuck, and Sabbate. He often employs them to glean examples for his own research but does not take any of them seriously. James’ division of religious believers into the twice-born and the once-born has similarities with Heiler’s own types of mystic and prophetic religiosity. There are also many similarities between the theory of mystical ascension proposed by Evelyn Underhill and the examples of religious mysticism proposed by Heiler. While analyzing the phenomenon of matrimonial mysticism, Heiler often refers to elements of Freud’s psychoanalysis, thinking it adequate to explain certain erotic elements inherent in religious reflection, but at the same time, unable to explain the religious phenomenon on the whole.

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.

Building a Consonance Between Religion and Science: an Antidote for the Seeming Conflict

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Omomia O. Austin

2014-05-01

Full Text Available It is commonly argued by a school of thought that there is no relationship between religion and science. This extreme position has led to a lasting conflict, which has pitched religion against science and science against religion. The attempt in this paper is to articulate the fact that there can be an enduring consonance between religion and science. No doubt, the conflict and debate on the subject of religion and science has taken the front burner in both religious and philosophical discusses. Some scholars have argued that science has no role in religious or theological domain, while others contest that all religious concerns and considerations must be exposed to empirical investigations, and, proven by the dynamics of our intellect or reason. This paper, therefore, attempts to examine how religion and science complement each other. The author applied philosophical, sociological and historical methodology in his research. It is recommended that there is the need for dialogue between religion and science.

Religion, Education and Citizenship Education: The Challenge of Turning Religion Upside Down

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cok Bakker

2013-01-01

Reflecting on the link between religion and religious tradition(s) on the one hand and school and education on the other, and reflecting on the reasoning strategy to make sense of this link, people seem to tend strongly to think, argue and reflect in a deductive mode (this point is elaborated in

Religion in human evolution: on some generative and selective mechanisms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jeppe Sinding

2012-01-01

On the use of moral psychology in reconstructing the evolutionary role of religion in human social development......On the use of moral psychology in reconstructing the evolutionary role of religion in human social development...

Buddhism and the formation of the religious body: a Foucauldian approach

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Malcolm Voyce

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Poststructuralist debates around the body have demonstrated how our knowledge of the body is constituted in specific cultural and historical circumstances and in the context of particular relations of power. This article develops this approach to the body in Buddhism and thus attempts to show how the body has been represented within different discourses in Buddhist texts. Implicit in this account is the remedying of the failure in some Buddhist scholarship to recognise different types of bodies (negative and positive and to show how these aspects of the body, as enumerated by texts, operate together to constitute forms of identities capable of being constituted within different historical moments out of the pressure of new social and material changes. At the same time the body is seen as being capable of self modification in terms of that discourse. The term ‘body’ is used here in the sense that it implies not only a physical aspect (flesh, bones, liquids etc., but that it is connected to various cognitive and emotional capacities as outlined in the khandhas (see below explanation of the human constitution. The author's concern in his treatment of the body is to avoid the problems of psychological analysis, as this form of analysis often implies the existence of a psyche or soul along with the ideas of complete individual self-determination.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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…

The role of religion in al-Qaeda’s violence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nanninga, Pieter; Lewis, James R.

2017-01-01

This chapter explores the role of religion in jihadist violence by applying recent insights from the field of religious studies to the case of al-Qaeda. Whereas religion is often perceived as an explanatory factor in al-Qaeda’s attacks, the chapter demonstrates that the meanings attributed to

Struggling bodies and body struggles: explorations of body and religion in contemporary Nordic film

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Sofia Sjö

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This study focuses on representations of the body and religion in Nordic film. The aim is to illustrate the kinds of representations of religion and the body that can be found in contemporary Nordic films, demonstrate how these representations relate to religion, the body and film more generally, and explore what perceptions of and attitudes to the body and religion the representations suggest. The analysis begins with an introduction to religion and film studies, religion in Nordic film and the themes and films chosen for this study. After this a short overview of earlier studies dealing with the body, film, and religion is presented, before delving into the issue of the body and religion in Nordic film. The article is concluded by reflecting on the more over-arching ideas and attitudes that the material can be argued to point to and the possible changes and challenges the films express.

Fiction and Religion: How Narratives About the Supernatural Inspire Religious Belief

OpenAIRE

Davidsen, M.A.

2016-01-01

Thematic issue on 'Fiction and Religion: How Narratives About the Supernatural Inspire Religious Belief', volume 46(4) of Religion. The thematic issue inclues the following articles: Davidsen, Markus Altena, "Fiction and Religion: How Narratives About the Supernatural Inspire Religious Belief – Introducing the Thematic Issue". Petersen, Anders Klostergaard, "The Difference Between Religious Narratives and Fictional Literature: A Matter of Degree Only". Davidsen, Markus Altena, "The Religious ...

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.

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.

45 CFR 98.47 - Nondiscrimination in employment on the basis of religion.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... religion. 98.47 Section 98.47 Public Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL ADMINISTRATION... Requirements § 98.47 Nondiscrimination in employment on the basis of religion. (a) In general, except as... religion. (1) Child care providers that receive assistance through grants or contracts under the CCDF shall...

The use of religion in death penalty sentencing trials.

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Miller, Monica K; Bornstein, Brian H

2006-12-01

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys have presented religious appeals and testimony about a defendant's religious activities in order to influence capital jurors' sentencing. Courts that have objected to this use of religion fear that religion will improperly influence jurors' decisions and interfere with their ability to weigh aggravators and mitigators. This study investigated the effects of both prosecution and defense appeals. Prosecution appeals did not affect verdict decisions; however, use of religion by the defense affected both verdicts and the weighing of aggravators and mitigators. These results could be due to differences in perceived sincerity and remorse that are conveyed in the various appeals.

45 CFR 98.46 - Nondiscrimination in admissions on the basis of religion.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... religion. 98.46 Section 98.46 Public Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL ADMINISTRATION... Requirements § 98.46 Nondiscrimination in admissions on the basis of religion. (a) Child care providers (other... contracts under the CCDF shall not discriminate in admissions against any child on the basis of religion. (b...

Clients' Willingness to Incorporate Religion or Spirituality in Counseling: A Brief Report

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Diallo, Abdoulaye

2013-01-01

A total of 84 individuals with addiction issues (e.g., drugs, sex, weight, food, and codependency) were asked about their willingness to incorporate religion or spirituality in their counseling. These respondents expressed willingness to deal with religion or spirituality in counseling if the counselor was knowledgeable about their religion or…

Asymmetrical Religious Commitments?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aktor, Mikael

2015-01-01

The starting point of this article is the observation that more scholars of Buddhism seem to be engaged in Buddhist practices than their colleagues in the study of Hinduism are engaged in Hindu practices. It aims to examine this observation more closely and discuss the involved problematics in a ...... that are inherited from the modernization of both religions in their transition to the Western world. How far a religiously engaged scholarship is acceptable or not is finally discussed at the institutional level....

Editorial. The 'Beauty Fallacy' Religion, science and the aesthetics of knowledge

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Arianna Borrelli

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The relationship between science and religion has been, and still is, the subject of much discussion, both among scholars of religion and among historians and philosophers of science. Despite the cultural and historical complexity of the issue, since the nineteenth century the question of the interaction between science and religion has been constantly framed in the rather simple terms of their mutual ‘compatibility’ or ‘exclusion’. The historical roots of such discussions are entwined with the emergence both of modern science as a practice and an ideal, and of the field of the cultural study of religion. It was in the modern period that the assertion of the existence of a ‘conflict’ between science and religion emerged and a series of binary oppositions were constructed, such as those between ‘rational’ scientific knowledge and ‘irrational’ religious belief, or between an ‘objective’ scientific representation of reality and the poetic imagination allegedly characteristic of religious traditions and mythology.

Comparative Theology and Religious Studies in a Non-religious Environment

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Jacques Scheuer

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The intellectual landscape of Europe bears the marks of a long history of cultural perceptions of, and scientific approaches to, religions. The sciences of religions had to establish their autonomy from churches and theologies. However, the cultural context and the institutional set-up of ‘laïcité’ did not foster the development of comparative religion, much less comparative theology. However, this situation may have an advantage: it should discourage the exercise of comparative theology as a sectarian endeavour apart from broader anthropological perspectives and concerns. Comparative theology should not become the last refuge for religious nostalgia. In Europe, interreligious relationships (and hence comparative theologies should not be isolated from simple or more sophisticated forms of indifference, agnosticism, or atheism. The active presence of a non-religious environment as well as the growing interest in Buddhism, are challenges to comparative theology: its contents, its approach, its intended audience.

Religion, Spirituality, and the Hidden Curriculum: Medical Student and Faculty Reflections.

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Balboni, Michael J; Bandini, Julia; Mitchell, Christine; Epstein-Peterson, Zachary D; Amobi, Ada; Cahill, Jonathan; Enzinger, Andrea C; Peteet, John; Balboni, Tracy

2015-10-01

Religion and spirituality play an important role in physicians' medical practice, but little research has examined their influence within the socialization of medical trainees and the hidden curriculum. The objective is to explore the role of religion and spirituality as they intersect with aspects of medicine's hidden curriculum. Semiscripted, one-on-one interviews and focus groups (n = 33 respondents) were conducted to assess Harvard Medical School student and faculty experiences of religion/spirituality and the professionalization process during medical training. Using grounded theory, theme extraction was performed with interdisciplinary input (medicine, sociology, and theology), yielding a high inter-rater reliability score (kappa = 0.75). Three domains emerged where religion and spirituality appear as a factor in medical training. First, religion/spirituality may present unique challenges and benefits in relation to the hidden curriculum. Religious/spiritual respondents more often reported to struggle with issues of personal identity, increased self-doubt, and perceived medical knowledge inadequacy. However, religious/spiritual participants less often described relationship conflicts within the medical team, work-life imbalance, and emotional stress arising from patient suffering. Second, religion/spirituality may influence coping strategies during encounters with patient suffering. Religious/spiritual trainees described using prayer, faith, and compassion as means for coping whereas nonreligious/nonspiritual trainees discussed compartmentalization and emotional repression. Third, levels of religion/spirituality appear to fluctuate in relation to medical training, with many trainees experiencing an increase in religiousness/spirituality during training. Religion/spirituality has a largely unstudied but possibly influential role in medical student socialization. Future study is needed to characterize its function within the hidden curriculum. Copyright �

Multiculturalism on the Back Seat? Culture, Religion, and Justice

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Jocelyn Maclure

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Alan Patten’s Equal Recognition is a major contribution to the normative literature on minority rights. I nonetheless suggest that liberal culturalism as a normative theory, even in Patten’s sophisticated version, is ill suited to deal with the challenges related to the status of religion in the public sphere that are so prevalent in contemporary democracies. In addition, I submit that Patten did not supply a fully convincing answer to the argument that liberal egalitarianism, well understood, is capacious enough to secure fair terms of social cooperation for members of cultural minorities, making the (allegedly burdensome language of “cultural rights” and “cultural recognition” superfluous.

Religion and nurses' attitudes to euthanasia and physician assisted suicide.

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Gielen, Joris; van den Branden, Stef; Broeckaert, Bert

2009-05-01

In this review of empirical studies we aimed to assess the influence of religion and world view on nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. We searched PubMed for articles published before August 2008 using combinations of search terms. Most identified studies showed a clear relationship between religion or world view and nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia or physician assisted suicide. Differences in attitude were found to be influenced by religious or ideological affiliation, observance of religious practices, religious doctrines, and personal importance attributed to religion or world view. Nevertheless, a coherent comparative interpretation of the results of the identified studies was difficult. We concluded that no study has so far exhaustively investigated the relationship between religion or world view and nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia or physician assisted suicide and that further research is required.

Some issues concerning applications of naturalistic paradigm to the study of religion

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Kinga Kowalczyk-Purol

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Viewing religion as a product of evolution already has yielded a new and interesting hypotheses, which could help to integrate entire heritage of scientific study of religion. Nonetheless, there are some objections toward this program. First, despite the fact that evolutionary theories of religion are inherently interdisciplinary, its integration with sociological, anthropological and historical studies should be improve in the future. Second, phenomenological descriptions (that is individual religious experiences are neglected by Darwinians. This fact could negatively affects explanatory potential of this approach. Finally, opponents of analyzed paradigm state that evolutionary hypotheses have still low level of confirmation. It stems from a small number of conducted empirical investigations on evolutionary roots of religion. Nevertheless, application of Darwinian tools to the study of religion remains a very promising scientific venture.

Arts, Religion and the New Social Order: Emerging Trends in ...

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Arts, Religion and the New Social Order: Emerging Trends in Mediation in an Age ... and religion as culturally interactive phenomena may not be strange, but the ... things upon the mastery of applied elements of visual, performing and media ...

Psychiatry in Tibetan Buddhism: madness and its cure seen through the lens of religious and national history.

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Plakun, Eric M

2008-01-01

Tibetan Buddhism offers the oldest written theory of psychiatry, dating back to the 7th and 8th century C.E. In this article, aspects of Tibetan psychiatry and the Tibetan view of mental illness, including the notion of demonic possession, are examined and compared to Western descriptive psychiatric and psychoanalytic object relations perspectives on mental illness. The mythology of Palden Lhamo is also explored, including the way this Tibetan Buddhist "special protector," or "dharmapala," is associated with the cure and causation of mental illness in Tibetan Buddhist conceptions of mental illness. The myth of her life is further explored and interpreted from a social psychological perspective in terms of its similarities and differences to the life of the Buddha, and to historical figures involved in Tibet's transformation from a war-like state to a pacifist Buddhist state.

389 The Role of Religion in Human Development Uchenna M ...

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Europe, Arab and numerous countries of the world. It also contributed to ... Religion laid the foundation for the sanctity of human life, ... favourable attitude to work. .... no other, this is because organized religion, on the balance sheet of history ...

Theology of religions: Models for interreligious dialogue in South ...

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be segregated in terms of their traditions, places of worship and cultures, they .... Theology of Religions that by its very nature the concept of interreligious dialogue is .... religions lead to salvation, one is faced with the issue of relativism, meaning that if all .... 'Towards a Global Ethic articulated several of the moral and ethical ...

Intercultural Education: Religion, Knowledge and the Limits of Postmodernism

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Coulby, David

2008-01-01

This paper commences with an examination of some of the destructive aspects of religion, past and present. Against this it sets the knowledge and tolerance advocated in the Enlightenment. It goes on to consider the current role of religion in some school systems. It concludes by considering the challenge that the institutionalization of religion…

Objects of Worship in South Asian Religions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Objects of worship are an aspect of the material dimension of lived religion in South Asia. The omnipresence of these objects and their use is a theme which cuts across the religious traditions in the pluralistic religious culture of the region. Divine power becomes manifest in the objects and fo...... objects of worship, the book contributes to an understanding of the central significance of these objects in the religious and social life of South Asia. It will be of interest to students and scholars of Religious Studies and South Asian Religion, Culture and Society....

Television: The New State Religion?

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Gerbner, George

1977-01-01

Outlines the special characteristics of television that make it a formula-bound, ritualistic, repetitive, and nonselectively used system; concludes that television's social symbolic functions resemble preindustrial religions more than they do the media that preceded it. (GT)

[Psychotherapy and religion: a survey of Northern Bavarian psychotherapists].

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Demling, J H; Wörthmüller, M; O'Connolly, T A

2001-02-01

By taking a survey of physicians and psychologists accredited as psychotherapists in Franconia (northern Bavaria), we attempted to draw conclusions about the importance of religion for the therapists themselves and for their therapeutic settings. 253 physicians and 78 psychologists returned usable questionnaires (a return rate of 70% for each group). 30% of each group were non-denominational, significantly more men than women were not religious or considered themselves "agnostic/atheistic." Catholic therapists appeared to be more loyal toward their church and more open-minded toward religion in general than protestants and non-denominationals, respectively. Around 1/5 of the psychologists had prayed for their patients. Among the psychoanalysts there were no fewer non-denominationals or agnostics/atheists than among physician/psychotherapists or behavioural therapists. The physician/psychoanalysts classified the role of religion as less important than physician/psychotherapists; however, there were marked differences between the psychoanalytic schools. Many therapists could imagine consulting a spiritual counselor in appropriate cases. The results indicate a correlation between the subjective attitude of therapists toward religion and their handling of this topic in therapeutic practice.

Global migration and the selective reimagining of religions

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Peter Beyer

1998-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract It is a commonplace in discussions of immigrant religion to speak of how religion aids in the adjustment of migrants to a new culture and society; how it serves as a dimension of continuity in the process of integration. This article examines theoretical foundations for reconsidering this perspective in the context of globalization in general and global migration in particular. In a global society, it is far less useful to think of migrants as leaving one society to join another, especially insofar as this optic tends to assume a that the new “host” culture remains comparatively unaffected while the immigrants culture faces the dilemma of assimilation versus ethnic preservation; and b that the culture of origin simply loses a few members without much effect by the migrants back onto their cultures of origin. By contrast, the article argues that the consequences of migration are to help (redefine religions in all areas where they are represented; and thus to make distinctions between “core” and “diaspora” far less salient. Instead, different areas where religious traditions are represented are better seen as centres for creating different options for the authentic construction of the same religion; options that are very often in communication with each other.

The (Educational) Meaning of Religion as a Quality of Liberal Democratic Citizenship

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Liljestrand, Johan; Olson, Maria

2016-01-01

Religion has become a prominent issue in times of pluralism and in relation to citizenship in school and in society. As religious education (RE) is assigned to be one of the main school subject where issues of what religion is are to be raised, RE teachers' conceptualizations of religion are of vital concern to investigate. In this article, RE…

(ReMaking a Difference. Religion, Mediatisation and Gender

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Mia Lövheim

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This article presents and discusses how mediatisation as a theory can be used to analyse two commercial videos, one promoting the organisation Catholics Come Home and the other Coca Cola. A core question in the current debate on mediatisation and religion concerns if and how mediatisation changes not only the social forms of communication about religion but also the meaning of religion in society. The issue in focus for the analysis is whether these videos mirror attributes and roles traditionally associated with men and women within religious institutions or offer an alternative to these. By using gender as a lens, we can see that mediatisation challenges religious institutions to adapt their narratives and symbols to commercial media culture, but that also within this new setting some traditional female gender norms seem to remain or even become reinforced.

Presentation: Twentieth-century Dictatorships and Religion

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Jan Nelis

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Este dossier agrupa trabajos que cubren una amplia zona geográfica, ofreciendo diferentes puntos de vista sobre aspectos concernientes a la relación entre políticas dictatoriales y religión. El resultado final es ocho artículos que abordan la cuestión en cuatro continentes: Asia, África, América y Europa. Por la diversidad de enfoques, los artículos tratan, desde perspectivas diferentes, las actitudes “pragmáticas” coloniales y postcoloniales hacia la religión en África (Grandhomme y Kroubo Dagnini, la identidad religiosa africana (Chande, el uso de la religión como una fuente de moral y ética en Argentina (Cousins y Francia (Stevens, el punto de tensión entre la religión y política tradicionales y el mito en China (Lee e Italia (Nelis, y las actitudes de la dictadura hacia la identidad religiosa en España (Beck.____________________ABSTRACT:This dossier contains essays that cover a broad geographic area, offering different points of view on various aspects concerning the relation between dictatorship policies and religion. The final result are eight articles, which deal with the situation on four continents: Asia, Africa, America and Europe. Presenting a great variety of approaches, the articles show different views on the “pragmatic” colonial and post-colonial attitudes towards religion in Africa (Grandhomme and Kroubo Dagnini, African religious identity (Chande, the use of religion as a source of morals and ethics in Argentina (Cousins and France (Stevens, the point of tension between traditional religion and politics and the myth in China (Lee and Italy (Nelis and the dictatorship’s attitude towards the religious identity in Spain (Beck.

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

Age, sex, education, religion, and perception of tattoos.

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Lin, Yang

2002-04-01

Tattooing has become more acceptable in the mainstream American culture in recent years. Based on a survey with face-to-face interviews of 335 nontattooed adults randomly selected from a city with a population of 444,000, this study explored the relationship of individuals' demographic variables, attitudes toward religion, and their perceptions of tattoos. The hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that age and attitude toward religion were associated with individuals' perception of tattoos.

Gender Differences in the Association Between Religion/Spirituality and Simultaneous Polysubstance Use (SPU).

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Acheampong, Abenaa B; Lasopa, Sonam; Striley, Catherine W; Cottler, Linda B

2016-10-01

While religion/spirituality strongly protects against drug use (Cheney et al. in J Drug Issues 44(1):94-113, 2014), little is known about gender differences in the association of religion/spirituality on simultaneous polysubstance use (SPU) among those who use prescription opioids. Data come from a community-based study that recruited community members from the St Louis area (N = 632). Participants were asked whether they used prescription opioids when not prescribed for them or in ways other than prescribed in the past 12 months. Religion/spirituality was categorized as high, medium, or low based on personal views on the importance of religion and spirituality, attendance at religious services, and advice seeking from religious leaders. SPU was defined as non-medical use of opioids simultaneously with use of cocaine, alcohol, ecstasy, or marijuana. Multivariate logistic regression determined the association between religion/spirituality, demographic variables, and SPU. Men with high levels of religion/spirituality had 63 % decreased odds of SPU compared with men with low levels. Other variables associated with SPU in men were four or more arrests (AOR 2.21), multiple sex partners (AOR 2.11), and opioid use without a prescription (AOR 3.04). Women with high or medium levels of religion/spirituality had 58 and 62 % decreased odds of SPU compared with women with low levels. Variables that predicted SPU in women also included 4+ arrests (AOR 5.00) and never being married (AOR 2.13). Being African-American was associated with decreased odds of SPU in women (AOR 0.32). Overall, a high level of religion/spirituality was associated with lower odds of SPU. Gender differences in this association were evident, whereas women with even a medium level of religion/spirituality had significantly decreased odds of SPU. Future drug prevention and interventions should consider the relevance of religion/spirituality in SPU.

God, design, and naturalism: Implications of methodological naturalism in science for science-religion relation

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Piotr Bylica

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to analyze the implications flowing from adopting methodological naturalism in science, with special emphasis on the relation between science and religion. Methodological naturalism, denying supernatural and teleological explanations, influences the content of scientific theories, and in practice leads to vision of science as compatible with ontological naturalism and in opposition to theism. Ontological naturalism in turn justifies the acceptance of methodological naturalism as the best method to know the reality. If we accept realistic interpretation of scientific theories, then methodological naturalism conflicts science with religion. Theistic evolution does not seem to be a proper way to reconcile Darwinism and methodological naturalism with theism. Many of such propositions are boiled down to deism. Although evolution can be interpreted theistically, it is not the way in which majority of modern scientists and respectable scientific institutions understand it.

Cultural Consonance, Religion and Psychological Distress in an Urban Community

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William W. Dressler

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Cultural consonance is the degree to which individuals approximate prototypes encoded in cultural models. Low cultural consonance is associated with higher psychological distress. Religion may moderate the association between cultural consonance and psychological distress. Brazil, with substantial variation in religion, is an important society for the examination of this hypothesis. Research was conducted in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, using a mixed-methods design. Measures of cultural consonance were derived using ethnographic methods and then applied in a survey of 271 individuals drawn from four distinct social strata. Low cultural consonance was associated with higher psychological distress in multiple regression analysis ( B = -.430, p < .001. Members of Pentecostal Protestant churches reported lower psychological distress independently of the effect of cultural consonance ( B = -.409, p < .05. There was no buffering effect of religion. Implications of these results for the study of religion and health are discussed.

Flaubert et l’histoire des religions

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Philippe Dufour

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Qui est-ce qui a généralisé les religions ? Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire a dit : le crâne est une vertèbre aplatie. Qui est-ce qui a prouvé, par exemple, que la religion est une philosophie devenue art, et que la cervelle qui bat dedans, à savoir la superstition, le sentiment religieux en soi, est de la même matière partout, malgré ses différences extérieures, correspond aux mêmes besoins, répond aux mêmes fibres, meurt par les mêmes accidents, etc. ?Flaubert, à Louise Colet, 7 juillet 1853Le numér...

The associations between religion, bereavement and depression among Hong Kong nurses.

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Cheung, Teris; Lee, Paul H; Yip, Paul S F

2017-07-04

This paper is to examine the associations between religion, bereavement and depression among nursing professionals using a cross-sectional survey design. There is little empirical evidence in Asia suggesting that religion may either increase or lower the likelihood of nursing professionals being depressed. We analyzed the results of a Mental Health Survey soliciting data from 850 Hong Kong nurses (aged 21-59, 178 males) regarding their mental well-being and associated factors, including participants' socio-economic profile and recent life-events. Multiple linear regression analyses examined associations between religion, bereavement and depression. Religious faith is weakly associated with lower self-reported depression in bereavement. Our findings confirm those studies suggesting that religion positively affects mental health and yet healthcare providers have yet to assimilate this insight.

Revitalization of religion and religiousness in Serbia: Reality or a myth?

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Blagojević Mirko

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This article has three parts: in the first part the authors discusses two theoretical ways of interpreting revival and revitalization of religion in Serbia. The first way takes religion as a public institution and implies mutual support of religious and non-religious factors, while the other way describes independent, internal religious revival emerging from the very core of religion and church as a divine institution and individual spiritual needs of believers for religiousness (terminal faith. In the second part, the author points to two different interpretations of empirical data on attachment to religion and church in Serbia accumulated in the last thirty years. The third part compares socio-demographic characteristics of religious people from twenty-five years ago and characteristics of contemporary believers.

Religion in High-Performance Athletes: An exploratory study about the dynamic

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Sónia Morgado

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The religious phenomenon is considered a tool to modulate behaviors or cognitions, and therefore influence every aspect of life, including sports. The religion and its effect on sports, especially in High-Performance Athletes are due to be analyzed. The assessment of the athletes it was used the Interiorization Religious Scale (Barros, 2005. The instrument was applied to athletes from High-Performance Sports Centers, in function of gender, age, and religion. The results showed that religion does not spurs the vision of the athletes. Even though the results makes no evidence of the religion importance in sports, it would be useful for coaches, managers, and team leaders, to insert and contextualize the beliefs and religious rituals of the athletes in training process.

IBN ‘ARABI AND THE TRANSCENDENTAL UNITY OF RELIGIONS

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Media Zainul Bahri

2012-07-01

Full Text Available This essay describes Ibn ‘Arabi’s comprehensive views, captured in his important Futuhat and Fusus, on the concept of wahdat al-adyan, the discrepancy of beliefs, and the Shari’ah as well as its juncture and its unity. Elaborated explanation in this paper is expected to result in a true understanding of this crucial issue, particularly the concept of religious pluralism in the discourse of Islamic studies. Ibn Arabi’ extensively  discusses religion in the sense of the “ideal” versus “historical” or “esoteric” versus “the exoteric”. Ibn ‘Arabi concludes that the absolute unity of religions may only occur within spiritual, ideal, or transcendental realm (or “esoteric”, which is beyond the formal form of religions. Hence, the transcendental unity of religions cannot be found in the formal form of religions nor in the shari’ah.[Artikel ini mengulas pandangan Ibn ‘Arabi’ mengenai wahdat al-adyan seperti dijelaskan dalam dua bukunya; Futuhat dan Fusus, dan perbedaan dan kesamaan antara iman dan shariah. Diharapkan diskusi artikel ini berkontribusi dalam kajian pluralisme, utamanya dalam disiplin studi Islam. Dalam diskusinya, Ibn Arabi’  menjelaskan perbedaan ‘ideal’ dan ‘historikal’ atau antara ‘esoterik’ dan ‘eksoterik’. Ibn ‘Arabi berpendapat bahwa kemanunggalan agama-agama dapat dicapai melalui spiritualitas, ideal, atau dimensi transcendental (esoterik yang ada di luar tampilan formal agama-agama. Dengan kata lain, kemanunggalan tersebut tidak akan ditemukan pada shari’ah.

A masquerade is not watched from one spot: reassessing the study of African religions

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Umar Habila Dadem Danfulani

1999-01-01

Full Text Available The search for an adequate methodological approach to the study of African Religions in their multiformity has been a fervent one. In this paper, approaches to the study of African Religions today are proposed. These are polymethodic and multidimentional approaches, the contextual study of African Religions, the historical approaches (demonstrated in the art of masquerading, the need to balance synchronic and diachronic approaches, the use of art and iconography in the study and female studies. The fifth focuses on studying African Religions as insider. The author also examines the problems of the "insider" and the politics of doing research in history of religions in a Nigerian university.The conclusion strongly recommends a multidisciplinary approach for studying African Religions.

Das unsichtbare neue Zeitalter : "New Age", privatisierte Religion und kultisches Milieu

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Knoblauch, Hubert

1989-01-01

As modernity is usually called disenchanted, new religious movements, New Age and occultism are taken to mark a u-turn in the social development of religion. They are regarded as indicators of a "postmodern" religion. It is suggested that these movements follow the pattern of the invisible religion observed by Thomas Luckmann in the 1960s. They are syncretistic and individualistic as an "esoteric culture"; their structure, the "cultic milieu", can be characterized by a low degree of...

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.

Religion and Science: What Can Anthropology Offer?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Skalník Peter

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This short tribute to Ján Podolák comments on the space between two extremes: pure science and blind belief. If religion is not susceptible to scientific proof because it is a belief in an invisible world inhabited by spirits who influence human existence on earth then science in its strictest sense is the opposite of religion because it is not based on any beliefs but solely on provable facts. However, the anthropology of science should be based on the pluralism of knowledge and the seeking of truth in different cultural settings around the world. Everything human, also science, is a social and cultural phenomenon. This means that rationality is not a preserve of the Western mind only and that without falling into the trap of postmodernist excessive relativism, we should admit that rationality is not only universal but also not hierarchized evolutionistically or qualitatively by giving preference to its Western brand. Science thus ceases to be the only realm of rational knowledge. Religion in its turn is a kind of non-scientific knowledge.

The Rastafarian Movement in South Africa: A Religion or Way of Life ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Rastafarians object to the classification of their movement as a religion. Their objection is based on the belief that the movement is more of a way of life than a religion. This is in spite of the fact that the movement is grounded on religious principles which makes non-Rastafarians to view it as a religion. In order to understand ...

Religion, spirituality, health and medicine: Why should Indian physicians care?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chattopadhyay, S.

2007-01-01

Religion, spirituality, health and medicine have common roots in the conceptual framework of relationship amongst human beings, nature and God. Of late, there has been a surge in interest in understanding the interplay of religion, spirituality, health and medicine, both in popular and scientific

The Word Has Become Game : Researching Religion in Digital Games

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bosman, Frank

2016-01-01

In this article, the author proposes a multi-layered methodology for researching religion in video games. The author differentiates between five levels at which religion can be encountered in video games and/or video game research: material, referential, reflexive, ritual and meta level. These

Integrating Religion and Spirituality into Counselor Education: Barriers and Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Christopher M.; Puig, Ana; Baggs, Adrienne; Wolf, Cheryl Pence

2015-01-01

Despite a professionally recognized need for training in religion/spirituality, literature indicates that religious and spirituality issues continue to be inconsistently addressed in counselor education. Ten experts were asked to identify potential barriers to integrating religion and spirituality into counselor education and indicate strategies…

There be dragons: effects of unexplored religion on nurses' competence in spiritual care.

Science.gov (United States)

Pesut, Barbara

2016-09-01

On ancient maps unexplored lands were simply labeled 'there be dragons' indicating the fear that attends the unknown. Despite three decades of theoretical and empirical work on spirituality in nursing, evidence still suggests that nurses do not feel competent to engage in spiritual care. In this paper I propose that one of the reasons for this is a theory-theory gap between religion and spirituality. Generalized anxiety about the role of religion in society has led to under-theorizing in nursing about religious care. As a result, when religion and spirituality overlap at the point of care, nurses are left without the substantive knowledge required for practice. Robust religious theorizing should include thick accounts of lived religion and integrative work that enables nurses to understand commonalities across religions that are relevant to practice. As a starting point to this integrative work, nurses can be introduced to the nature and lexicon of lived religion, religious perspectives on suffering, and religious reasoning that holds meaning and mystery in tension. Such an approach will better prepare them for the realities of practice where the complexities of spirituality and religion come to play. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

James R. Lewis, éd., Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO Religions

OpenAIRE

Renard, Jean-Bruno

2007-01-01

L'année 2003 a été riche de publications en langue anglaise sur les « religions soucoupistes » (religions des UFO, ou OVNI, ou soucoupes volantes) puisqu'en novembre de cette année, trois mois après la parution de l'ouvrage UFO Religions dirigé par C. Partridge (voir recension dans Arch. 126-3), était publié ce volume, lui aussi collectif. Inévitablement, les thèmes et les groupes traités sont globalement les mêmes, mais seuls quelques auteurs se retrouvent dans les deux publications, avec de...

Reclaiming Religion: New Historiographic Challenges in the Relationship of Religion and American Higher Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenmann, Linda

1999-01-01

Extends F. Michael Perko's literature review "Religious Higher Education in America: An Historiographic Survey" by discussing recent developments in the history of religion and U.S. higher education. Explores issues in secularization, the influence of Richard Hofstadter, the work of Julie Reuben, Douglas Sloan, George Marsden, and…

The Challenges of Teaching and Learning Sociology of Religion in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The teaching and learning of Sociology of Religion in Nigeria face some grave challenges. As an academic discipline in religious studies, many who teach this specialized discipline are not experts. This makes Sociology of. Religion anybody's game which does not promote sound scholarship, creativity and intellectual ...