Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence: Effects of Confiding in Religious Leaders

IPV is the most challenging mental health problem facing clergy. Abused women (n = 476), most of whom are Christians living at home (not in shelters), sought assistance from domestic violence centers. Data obtained from questionnaires demonstrated that confiding in clergy predicts higher self-esteem and reduces the impact of lack of social support on self-esteem, self-efficacy, and life satisfaction. Compassionate clergy counseling can have a positive influence on psychological outcomes of women in abusive relationships.     

Religious Diversity in a “Christian Nation”: The Effects of Theological Exclusivity and Interreligious Contact on the Acceptance of Religious Diversity

Using data from the nationally representative Religion and Diversity Survey, Americans’ responses to religious diversity are examined at the national and community levels. While an overwhelming majority of Americans agree that religious diversity has been good for the nation, support for the inclusion of non‐Christians in community life is mixed. Theological exclusivism is consistently and strongly associated with negative attitudes toward religious diversity and less willingness to include Muslims and Hindus in community life. Belief that the United States is a Christian nation is associated with a positive view of religious diversity but decreased willingness to include Muslims in community life. Prior contact with Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus is predictive of more positive views of religious diversity; contact with Muslims is associated with greater tolerance for a mosque in one's community.     

Transcending Technology: Looking at Futurology as a New Religious Movement

This article argues that futurology is a new religious movement. Futurologists propose that the changes taking place in technology will radically alter human nature in the near future. The movement has its share of charismatic leaders, authoritative texts, and notions of salvation. I do not attempt to refute the vision of the future put forth by the futurologists themselves, but assume that their view of the future will unfold as they see it. This allows me more easily to gauge futurology's future relationship with religion. Rational choice theory is employed as a tool to discern whether futurology has the potential to be competitive when it enters the market-place of religions. I argue that, if the science behind it is perfected, futurology poses a real challenge to traditional religion.     

Religious Diversity in Mexico: Socioeconomic Attainment and Family Structure

Mexico has experienced dynamic changes in its religious landscape, but relatively little is known about the ways in which the affiliates of the diverse religious groups differ in their socioeconomic and family characteristics. This paper examines religious group differences in key demographic indicators of socioeconomic status and family structure using the 2000 Mexican Census. The changing patterns of religious affiliation in Mexico signal increasing religious, socioeconomic and familial diversity. Non-Christians and Mormons stand out for having higher scores on education and the wealth index relative to other religious groups. Most groups have lower rates of consensual unions and higher rates of marriage than do Catholics. These same groups also tend to have larger families and lower divorce/separation. These trends seem inconsistent with the Catholic teachings about marriage, divorce and contraception. Apparently, new groups are attracting adherents who have family orientations that differ from main-stream Mexican society.     

Religious Commitment and the Benefits of Cognitive Diversity: a Reply to Trakakis

Metaphilosophical discussions about the philosophy of religion are increasingly common. In a recent article in Sophia, N.N. Trakakis (56:605–630, 2017) advances the view that Christian Philosophy is closer to ideology than philosophy. This is because philosophy conducted in the Socratic tradition tends to emphasize values antithetical to religious faith such as independence of thought, rationality, empiricism, and doubt. A philosopher must be able to follow the arguments wherever they lead, something that the religious believer cannot do. I argue that there are two main problems with this view. First, Takakis faces an unpalatable dilemma. It is possible his view recommends a rejection of itself, making it self-referentially incoherent. If it does not recommend such a rejection, then Trakakis’s preferred method is not necessary for genuine philosophical inquiry. Second, Trakakis makes numerous knowledge claims about the psychological motivation of religious philosophers but never offers evidence for these claims. Third, Trakakis never considers that the existence of cognitive diversity is truth conducive. Even if devout religious believers cannot conduct genuine philosophical inquiry, unless Trakakis thinks we should ignore all works by religious believers, then it is irrelevant whether they are genuine philosophy.     

Encounters at the Religious Edge: Variation in Religious Expression Across Interfaith Advocacy and Social Movement Settings

In a time of increasing religious diversity, interfaith political coalitions have become important settings for interreligious interaction, but little research has explored the types of religious expression that are generated therein. Prevailing theories in the sociology of religion indicate that interaction with religious others results in dilution of traditional religious commitments or production of stronger boundaries. But emerging perspectives in cultural sociology shift attention from individual religious commitments to the ways in which settings shape different styles of religious expression. Insights about edge spaces drawn from urban theory suggest that religiously diverse settings can be generative of new types of religious practices. We apply these insights to the study of interfaith activism by drawing on interviews and ethnographic fieldwork with religious advocacy professionals and activists working in interfaith coalitions. Conceptualizing the sites of these interfaith encounters as edge spaces, we analyze variation in the types of religious expression that occur in interfaith settings. We find that both aggregative and integrative practices are produced, but these vary depending on the goals and structure of the setting, as well as participants’ accountability to outside religious gatekeepers.     

宗教认知的多样性:三种一神教传统中自我认知的计量方法

本研究从三种宗教出发考查了一神论宗教的自我认知中的神圣和人类他者的表征。自我认知的概念是以叙事数据中的语义系统和情景知识为基础。考虑到认知图式形成中社会背景的重要性,本研究强调了比较宗教设计中的自我认知。样本包括60名指定的具有宗教背景的被试,对他们进行结构性访谈。在潜在语义分析(LSA)的计量模式中,通过比较自我和其它表征来绘出犹太教徒、伊斯兰教徒和基督教徒的图示。结果表明对所有的被试来说,在认知模式中的神圣表征与其父母相去甚远。与犹太教徒和基督教徒不同,伊斯兰教徒好像是以自我认知为基础来表征人性的其它方面,这种自我认知主要参考对神圣的理解。在考查计量语义空间的时候,被试通常是通过与神圣和类似人物相应的方式来表征自我的。     

Beyond Assimilation and Multiculturalism: A Critical Review of the Debate on Managing Diversity

In the past few years, both assimilationist and multiculturalist approaches to the management of immigration and diversity have been called into question. This article is an attempt to critically review and examine the key points of the debate regarding assimilationism and multiculturalism, while arguing for an interculturalist model of socio-cultural incorporation that reconciles cultural diversity with social cohesion. This paper looks at both European and North American cases and contends that when support for diversity occurs within a framework of social justice and political equality, and when all members of society are permitted to fully participate in the public space, the result is a more cohesive, albeit plural, civic community.