Religion,Health, and the Psychology of Religion: How the Research on Religion and Health Helps Us Understand Religion

An increasing replication of studies find a correlation between religious belief and practice and mental and physical health and longevity. This paper discusses some of the implications of this research for the ways in which religion might understood psychologically. Most interpretations of this data focus on the presence of one or more mediating variables. This paper argues that the presence of these mediating factors helps us understand more precisely some of the ways in which religion actually does impact on human life and in what the psychological uniqueness of religion actually consists.     

Religion and Health: Holistic Wellness From the Perspective of Two African American Church Denominations

This study examined differences in beliefs, concerns, practices, and perceptions of susceptibility to illness by gender and religion in 2 Baptist and 3 Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) African American churches. A modified Health Belief Model Questionnaire was completed by 363 African Americans. Health beliefs were more related to gender than to religion. Results revealed that women were concerned about being ill, being susceptible to illness, and expressed confidence in doctors. Men exercised more frequently, were sick less, and felt less susceptible to illness. SDAs believed in following a certain diet and avoiding alcohol and cigarettes. SDA women and Baptist men thought more about health than did SDA men or Baptist women.     

Islam,immigrants and the state: Religion and cultural politics in Australia

This paper explores the relationship between religious practice and the cultural marginality of Islam in the West. Its focus is the religious organization and practice of Muslim immigrant communities in Australia. It interprets immigrant religious culture as a dimension of the process of incorporation of migrants in class cultures. Its theoretical approach derives from Bourdieu's analysis of the social world as both a symbolic system and system of power relations. It argues that the process of incorporation of immigrants structures the reconstitution of religious culture in migration selectively, creating a distinctive Islamic culture linked to new social movements in the Islamic world.     

Islam and the Health of the Elderly

When there is any talk of action for the health care of the aged in the light of the teachings of Islam, we will naturally have to keep in view basically all those aspects of Islamic society which are related to the family system, self respect, and economy. Not only this, but we will also have to take into account all those Islamic concepts which are related to human dignity and which explicitly demand that man should be considered as a man and should be loved. We will adopt the same line of thought in this article.     

Religion and Assimilation Among Turkish Muslim Immigrants: Comparing Practicing and Non-Practicing Muslims

In the literature on religion and assimilation, Muslims are usually categorized into one group without any reference to their differences in terms of religious practice and ethnicity. This paper sheds light on such differences by illustrating the case of Turkish immigrants in the USA, one of the least studied immigrant groups. Based on interviews with practicing and non-practicing Turkish Muslims in Houston, we address the issue of how practices of religion play its role in the assimilation of Turkish immigrants. Data reveal that while Turks in general are fairly well adapted into American society, there are some major differences between practicing and non-practicing Turkish Muslims, even though practically all Turks identify as Muslim.     

(Re)presenting: Muslims on North American television

This article describes and analyzes the portrayal of Muslims on several North American television shows. Greatest detail is given to the two seasons of Sleeper Cell, the first show on American television created to deal with Muslim lives post 9/11. I deal briefly with Muslim characters on Oz for a look at portrayals of Muslim life pre 9/11. I also mention Muslim characters in Lost and 24 as well as some films to add further insights to my argument. These television dramas are compared with two comedies, Aliens in America as well as Little Mosque on the Prairie, the first Canadian television show to examine Muslim lives. The conclusion is that in dramas, Muslims are not recognized on American television as citizens of their own country, but instead are portrayed as dangerous immigrants with a religion that is both alien and wicked. Moreover, the religion as it is lived out on the television drama is one of violence—there seems to be no other substantive practice that embodies Islamic faith. The case is very different with regard to the television comedy.     

Religion,Culture and the Shaping of Religious Attitudes: The Case of Islam

That we live in a world of racial, cultural, ideological and religious differences is a fact of existence. Our awareness of this is not new. What is new, however, is the growing appreciation of these differences and the realization that in a significant sense difference is creative and so must be celebrated. Nevertheless, difference is also challenging. At the present time, no student of religion can avoid asking the pressing question of what attitude to take towards people of ‘other’ religious traditions. This article will investigate how this question has been approached within the culture(s) of Islam. It will argue that the attitude of Muslims towards the people of other religious traditions is not fixed, even within the same time and place. The current context of society and the state of affairs (social, political, demographic, etc.) affects this doctrine.     

Danish cartoon controversy in the Chinese context: transnational Islam and public visibility of Hong Kong Muslims

Placed within the wider Chinese context of Muslims’ reticent response to the publication of twelve cartoons by Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, this paper attempts to understand the transnational impact of global Muslim protests against the Danish cartoons, which resulted in the re-emergence of Hong Kong Muslims in the public sphere. By discussing the genesis of the public appearance of Hong Kong Muslims in response to the Danish Cartoon affair, this paper argues that the controversy has resulted in a heightened sense of Islam in the Chinese public sphere. Framing the emerging Islamic voices in a context where the Chinese government has a coherent rationale towards religious policy in its domestic politics, and its unprecedented political experiment of ‘One country, two systems’, this article points out the contrasting public visibility and global connection of Muslims in Hong Kong and the Mainland.     

Teachers and Teaching Islam and Muslims in Pluralistic Societies: Claims, Misunderstandings, and Responses

The author argues that teachers’ positive work in the education of Muslim students needs to be emphasized and their voices contextualized and critically engaged. He problematizes notions that have been circulating in the public sphere around the education of Muslims in western contexts (racism, Islamophobia, school curricula that ignore Muslim perspectives and contributions) by simultaneously acknowledging and refuting them. He contextualizes these issues by linking them to what education means in the context of intensified communication between diverse peoples, multiple perspectives and globalization. He ends by highlighting the data’s implications for research, policies and practices in education as well as for teachers’ training in Canada and other pluralistic societies.     

宗教势力的发展对农村基层组织的影响及对策

宗教是人类历史上一种悠久的社会现象。世界上80%的人信仰宗教,中国13亿人口中就有1亿多宗教信仰者。调查数据表明,在我国,绝大多数的宗教组织和90%的信教群众生活在农村。在农村地区,宗教已经形成一股强大的势力,对当地的政治、经济、文化生活产生着影响,甚至已经影响和干扰农