Integrating Immigrants into the Life of Canadian Urban Christian Congregations: Findings from a National Survey

In just one generation the cultural face of Canadian society has been transformed. The relative level of immigration has increased rapidly as has diversity among those immigrants. This article reports on the findings of a national survey that offers a baseline of how and to what extent local Canadian Christian congregations are responding to this cultural diversity. In particular, it explores how churches are integrating immigrants within the life of their local congregations. This article uses a systems change perspective to frame immigrant integration. This perspective emphasizes three requirements for change: vision, structure and processes that promote immigrant integration. Data was collected using an online survey of urban congregations in the nine urban Canadian communities having an immigrant population above the national average (20% foreign-born). Using these data this article explores the full range of immigrant integration efforts from the initial welcome to inclusion into congregational life. It describes the present status of immigrant integration, details reported successes and challenges and notes respondent suggestions for better integration. Results of this survey provide first-time baseline insights into how a range of urban Christian congregations from across Canada are presently responding to the Canadian immigrant reality.     

Civil Religion and the Cultural Politics of National Identity in Obama's America

American civil religion (ACR) burst on to the scholarly scene in 1967, and has been periodically revived as a source of analytic insight and normative hope since that time. It posited a universalist, prophetic, nonsectarian faith, referenced on the nation, that served as both a source of unity for the American people and a discursive resource for political leaders and protest movements. Using recent political events as illustrative cases, I argue that ACR is not only a universalist, prophetic creed, it is also an expression of tribal identity that ascribes a particular character and purpose to the American people. In particular, this “tribal” civil religion has an often‐unstated assumption about the inseparability of religion, race, and national identity—that is, white, Christian, and American. Recent events have disrupted those implicit connections, leading to a vociferous reemphasis of their centrality to the national story. I maintain that neither ACR, nor recent politics involving immigration and Barack Obama's presidency, can be understood fully without considering the religion‐race‐national identity nexus.     

‘Martyrs as really as St Stephen was a martyr’? Commemorating the British dead of the First World War

Taking its cue from a phrase in a wartime sermon by the Bishop of London, Arthur Winnington-Ingram, this article examines the tensions between Christian and more secular approaches to the commemoration of the military casualties of the First World War. An initial overview of perceptions of sacrifice, martyrdom and Christian militarism in the early twentieth century is followed by discussion, in turn, of local war memorials, of the early policies of the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission, and of the arrangements for the dedication of the Cenotaph and the interment of the ‘Unknown Warrior’ in Westminster Abbey on Armistice Day 1920. At the local and institutional level a wide spectrum of approaches between the overtly Christian and the robustly secular were adopted, but national memorialisation required compromise and consensus. Hence it was agreed that the war cemeteries should include both a Cross of Sacrifice and Stone of Remembrance, and that there should be uniform headstones engraved with a cross or other religious symbol. Similarly the primarily (but not exclusively) secular ceremonial at the Cenotaph was seamlessly linked to the Christian funeral service for the Unknown in the Abbey. At the same time non-Christian faiths were accorded significant recognition. While other belligerent powers faced similar issues, and in some respects adopted similar solutions, in Britain there was nevertheless a distinctive and particularly pronounced blending of the Christian and the national which has had an abiding legacy.     

Factors Related to the Use of Condoms Among French-Canadian University Students

Abstract

During the Persian Gulf War, 151 American college students (including 47 minority students and 104 nonminority students) completed a survey about their attitudes toward such subjects as war-related patriotism and nationalism. Compared with nonminority college students, American minority college students displayed much less patriotism and nationalism and were less supportive of President Bush and more supportive of a peaceful solution to the Gulf crisis. These findings support the group formation model (Worchel, Coutant-Sassic, &; Grossman, 1992).     

Multi-religiosity in the Canary Islands: Analysing processes of religious change between continents

This article is made possible by the research program of the group RELICAN (Religions in the Canaries), which is devoted to the study of multi-religiosity in the Canary Islands. The aim of the group is to analyse the different religious components implied in the configuration of the present diversity of the Canarian religious field. In this exposition, the tri-continental geo-strategic position of the Canary Islands is understood to be of critical importance as the islands form an archipelago located near the coast of Africa, but they are closer to Europe from a cultural and political point of view, and they are also closely linked to Ibero-America (and to the whole American continent) in many respects.Christianity is the primary European religious tradition in the Canaries, and it has many faces: Catholicism maintains an undeniably powerful influence but the presence of Protestant churches continues to increase both for foreigners and tourists (mainly from European countries) and also for Spaniards who convert to non-Catholic Christian churches.African religious perspectives have been reinforced as a result of immigration: Islam is the second most prominent religion in the Canaries due to the importance of Moroccan immigration, but also due to the increasing presence of Senegalese, Mauritanian and other Muslim immigrants.The impact of American religious traditions is increasing not only due to immigration from Ibero-America but also because of the influence of Pentecostals, Baptists, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and other American (i.e. U.S.) models of being Christian.The problems and challenges that are particular to this field of research are examined and revised in the last part of the article from an analytical perspective that has as its focus the local–global implications of the religious changes taking place in the Canaries.     

Christian Couple Counseling by Professional,Pastoral, and Lay Counselors from a Protestant Perspective: A Nationwide Survey

Couple counseling is widely practiced by Christian counselors, but there are almost no empirical data investigating it. The present study presents data from a national web-based survey of counselors from the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC). We describe the nature of Christian couple counseling, as well as counselors' religiousness and their attitudes toward integrating religion and spirituality into couple counseling. Christian couple counselors were highly religious and their personal religiosity affected their attitude toward incorporating religion in counseling. There were differences between professional, pastoral, and lay counselors suggesting that each be treated separately rather than be lumped generically as Christian couple counseling.     

The death and resurrection of the American religious marketplace

This article expands upon existing academic literature examining both the decline and fragmentation of the American Christian Right. Specifically, it explores the impact of a fragmented evangelical body from a religious market perspective. It asserts that recent declines in evangelical church membership are largely due to the over-generality of its message, which in and of itself is a by-product of the broadcast age. Predictably, this over-generality has failed to cater to the diverse theological and spiritual needs of American churchgoers. However, with the rapid proliferation of Internet technologies, new religious frontiers are being explored and, as a result, many Christians are going elsewhere to tend to their spiritual needs. This process further reinforces the fragmentation of the evangelical body. This article similarly considers how with the growth of new and divergent religious movements, such as creation care and the emerging church, new religious leaders are finding their voice and preaching a message that diverges significantly from the old evangelical vanguard. While some might be tempted to view these developments in purely theological terms, the cultural fragmentation of the American evangelical community is not just a religious issue. A vibrant religious marketplace threatens the religious monopoly of the Christian Right, and by extension, the articulation of social conservatism and Republican politics. As new religious movements grow, so too do new conceptualisations and understandings of what it means to be a Christian and to hold Christian values. In facilitating the breakdown of the religious monologue of the Christian Right, the Internet is unsettling long-established political coalitions and giving rise to new political realities. To support these claims, this article relies on the combination of previous academic works, the reporting of recent religious and political developments, as well as personal interviews. The aim of this article is to provide a rich textual account of the state of evangelical Christianity as it is lived and experienced in a new media saturated environment.     

Safar al‐Hawali: Saudi Islamist or Saudi nationalist?

Safar al‐Hawali's name came to prominence during the Gulf War due to the popularity of his taped sermons, which galvanized public debate inside Saudi Arabia on a range of issues of major concern for both the Saudis and the Muslim world. Because most Western writings on the Islamists discourse have depended on second‐hand material, Hawaii was presented in the Western media as a Saudi Shaykh who opposed the royal family of Saudi Arabia. Here I will attempt to give a more complete picture of the man and his discourse through an analysis of his written work and his cassette‐taped sermons. This portrayal will reveal that Hawaii is concerned with broad issues transcending the local Saudi setting. He debates such issues as Western domination of the Arab/Muslim world, the role of the US in the Gulf region, the implications of that domination for the Muslim community at large, and the role of Christian fundamentalists who, in Hawaii's view, work relentlessly to undermine the Muslim world. These fundamentalists and their millenarian views lend complete support to Israel at the expense of the Arabs and Muslims, Hawaii suggests, and his analysis of these Christian fundamentalists reveals a surprisingly solid knowledge of their writings, sermons and beliefs. Hawaii also discusses the problems associated with the current peace process between Arabs and Israelis and suggests an alternative framework. But who is Safar al‐Hawali?     

Physiological arousal and attention in veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder

Psychophysiological reactivity has been well documented in WWII, Korean Conflict, and Vietnam veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In addition, these individuals have demonstrated cognitive impairments within the domains of attention, concentration, new learning, and memory. However, there has been no research examining the impact of physiological arousal on attention in individuals with PTSD. This study documents the level of physiological arousal and associated disruption of attentional abilities in 28 Persian Gulf War veterans (18 without PTSD or other psychopathology and 10 with PTSD). This population represents a group of combat trauma victims who experienced a relatively acute onset of PTSD, thus providing a unique opportunity to compare prior psychophysiological and cognitive results with a group of veterans who manifested a recent onset of PTSD. Results indicated relatively comparable psychophysiological reactivity and arousal between Persian Gulf War veterans with PTSD and Persian Gulf War veterans without PTSD. Furthermore, attentional processes of veterans with PTSD were not more disrupted than in comparison soldiers. Results suggest that the intensity and chronicity of the disorder may impact physiological arousal and disruption of cognitive functioning. Following Persian Gulf War veterans with PTSD over time may reveal that psychophysiological arousal becomes more pronounced with chronicity, perhaps as memory networks become strengthened and/or neuroendocrine systems become increasingly disrupted.     

Late Stylin’ in an Ill-Fitting Suit: Donald Capps’ Artistic Approach to the Hopeful Self and its Implications for Unacknowledged African American Young Men

Donald Capps stands among a number of pastoral theologians and psychologists of religion who in recent decades have examined the nature of Christian hope. His sustained research on this topic over the entire decade of the 1990s has made his a primary pastoral theological voice on the subject. This article examines how Capps, without declaring a formal method, uses an “artistic approach” to construct a Christian perspective of the hopeful self. Consideration is given to how this understanding of the hopeful self relates to African American young men who feel muted and invisible.     

Review of When the Roll is Called: Trauma and the Soul of American Evangelicalism

There are books that offer a radically new perspective on old topics. Such is the case with When the Roll Is Called: Trauma and the Soul of American Evangelicalism. In this review essay, the author examines the fresh perspective that psychoanalysis can offer to religion as psychologist/psychoanalyst Marie Hoffman focuses on the trauma that she perceives has lain at the foundation of modern evangelicalism. This trauma, she asserts, has led to incalculable suffering in “believers” who have not realized how far some of evangelicalism has deviated from the message of Christ. The author examines Hoffman’s contention that dualisms prevailed as a result of trauma in the lives of some of evangelicalism’s progenitors, and also as a result of the American Civil War that prepared the soil for reception of this apocalyptic theology. After reviewing Hoffman’s ideas, the author adds theological expansion to the book’s perspective on eschatology.     

Psychohistory before Hitler: early military analyses of German national psychology

As part of a grandiose post-World War I psychological project to predict the behavior of nations, the U.S. Military Intelligence Division (MID) utilized racial and social psychological theories to explain an alleged problematic German national character. Though unsuccessful, this project has major significance in the history of psychohistory. For the newly discovered MID files reveal that ideas, attitudes, and biases many psychohistorians subsequently identified as manifestations of a peculiar German national character had previously been held by American officers and reputable psychologists. What American analysts would, in 1940, view as symptoms of a maladjusted German mind, their predecessors had, in 1920, considered valid scientific concepts.     

Globalization and counterdevelopment: The importance of new narratives

The article is a personal recount of living under the called neoliberal regime installed in the post-Cold War in the region. Written from the perspective of a Latin American woman in the betweenness of the North and the South. Focusing on capitalism history shows how counterdevelopment has been the other face of globalization. The social protests in the whole continent request the respect of human dignity recovering an inclusive collective narrative and social justice caring of our common home, to build a more profound democracy and a more just world.     

MEMORY,INVISIBILITY, AND THE OAK CREEK GURDWARA MASSACRE

The racist terrorism experienced by Sikh, Muslim, Arab, and South Asian American communities after 9/11 has never abated, although it has disappeared from the nation's contemporary discourse and its memory of that traumatic time. The intensely stressful and personal violence still plaguing the Sikh American community makes farcical any discussion of a ‘post-racial’ society. The erasure of its experience during and since 9/11 is well illustrated and symbolized by the disappearance of Balbir Singh Sodhi from our national memory of the time. The national hate crime epidemic has been fed and sustained by white Christian Americans who demonize racialized non-Christians, sometimes in racialized terms. The hate crime wave against Sikh Americans has been largely ignored by the media since 9/11, preventing wider understanding of the ongoing problem, and ensuring Sikh Americans were still largely unknown to their fellow Americans when the Oak Creek massacre occurred. What images the media did offer of turbaned, bearded men after 9/11 exacerbated the situation, exemplifying the prototypical images of a terrorist already deeply embedded in the national psyche, as seen in the mistreatment of Sher Singh. The politics of racial division must end, and we must drive those who divide us from the public realm with demands for patriotic integrity.     

Value Tensions Between Evangelical Christians and Christian Counseling

The evangelical wing of the American Protestant church has maintained an uneasy and uncertain relationship with the recently emerged Christian counseling movement. Whereas many evangelical Christian groups have been able to assimilate Christian counseling into their panoply of ministry tools, significant sections of this faith group remain very suspicious and doubtful that Christian counseling can be trusted. Most of the stated reasons given by these objectors revolve around theological reservations. This article, however, suggests that an even more powerful barrier between the two groups stems from significantly different values held by each. The article enumerates several of these value differences.     

Religion and the use of animals in research: some first thoughts

Religious traditions can be drawn on in a number of ways to illuminate discussions of the moral standing of animals and the ethical use of animals in scientific research. I begin with some general comments about relevant points in the history of major religions. I then briefly describe American civil religion, including the cult of health, and its relation to scientific research. Finally, I offer a critique of American civil religion from a Christian perspective.     

Controlling the Past to Control the Future: Christian Nationalism and Mandatory Patriotic Education in Public Schools

Recent debates about whether educators should teach America's racist history have sparked activism and legislation to ensure students are taught American history in such a way that promotes “patriotism,” amplifying cherished national myths, emphasizing American exceptionalism, and erasing negative historical facts. Building on insights from both social dominance theory and Christian nationalism research, we propose Christian nationalism combines legitimizing myths that whitewash America's past with authoritarian impulses and thus seeks to enforce “patriotic” content in public school classrooms. We also theorize this connection varies across racial, partisan, and ideological identities. Data from a nationally-representative survey of Americans affirm Christian nationalism is by far the leading predictor Americans believe “We should require public school teachers to teach history in a way that promotes patriotism.” This association is consistent across race (possibly due to divergent meanings of both “Christian nationalism” and “patriotism” across groups), but varies by partisanship and ideological identity for whites. Specifically, Christian nationalism brings whites who identify with the ideological and political left into complete alignment with their conservative counterparts who are already more likely to support mandatory patriotic education. Our findings provide critical context for ongoing battles over public-school curricula and education's role in perpetuating social privilege.     

Community and Christianity in the Black Church

The authors explore the experience of Christian religion for many African Americans. In response to racial discrimination and prejudice within churches, African Americans developed a Christian tradition with distinct meanings, beliefs and practices. This tradition provides a foundation for social activism within the church, community and American society, as well as community among church members. The recent Black church burnings are discussed with respect to the more traditional Christian African American view of religion. Implications for incorporating the religious traditions of Christian African Americans into counseling practice are explored. (The authors use the term Black church or African American church as a surrogate for Christian African American church throughout the article. The terms Black and African American will also be used interchangeably).     

Revising the history of Cold War research ethics

President Clinton's charge to the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments included the identification of ethical and legal standards for evaluating government-sponsored radiation experiments conducted during the Cold War. In this paper, we review the traditional account of the history of American research ethics, and then highlight and explain the significance of a number of the Committee's historical findings as they relate to this account. These findings include both the national defense establishment's struggles with legal and insurance issues concerning human experiments, and the medical profession's perspective on human experimentation in the years following the Nuremberg Medical Trials. We conclude that the Committee's work both enriches the traditional view of the history of research ethics and opens important new areas for study.