“苏格兰问题”与苏格兰长老会

吞并威尔士后的英格兰王国与苏格兰联合(1707),形成不列颠(Britain)。苏格兰王国和英格兰王国为世仇,但两个王国的议会最终于1707年签署《联合法案》,则得益于苏格兰长老会在该法案签署期间发挥关键性作用。苏格兰长老会拥有比苏格兰议会更强的公信力,决定了苏格兰教会性质。随着联合进程,不列颠飞速成长为大英帝国,苏格兰长老会作为重要的制度性资源,推动苏格兰人相当程度上认同英国,但因苏格兰未能同整个大英帝国得到同步发展,最终导致苏格兰未能建立起对英格兰的信任。     

城市社区现代化进程中的宗教问题

在加快城市社区现代化,缩小城市差距的重要历程中,人们在物质生活得到相应提升的同时日益追求更高层次的精神生活.因此,我们除了要在城市建设中为广大的群众提供更好的公共服务以及设备设施外,更需要关注广大人群的精神生活.宗教问题,就是一个客观存在也必须关注并需要解决的精神生活问题,它考量着各级政府的人文关怀精神,也考量着一个城市社区现代化的文明程度,对构建和谐城市社区具有重要意义.     

上海农村城市化过程中的宗教问题研究

近15年来,上海农村迅速城市化,传统民间宗教活动在部分地区复兴。本文通过剖析代表城市化程度不同的3个村子的个案,初步廓清其现状、特征、发展趋势与社会文化原因。对如何发挥政府与社会团体管理民间宗教活动的潜力,形成有效的社会管理模式,提出相关的思考与建议。     

当代宗教研究中的话语权问题

以建构于西方语境的宗教观念和理论来解读中国的宗教问题,不可避免会造成误读以及理论和政策上的困境。要摆脱这种误读和困境,中国学者必须检讨宗教研究中所使用的西方话语体系,并通过探讨中国宗教信仰的特色,确立自己的话语权。     

全国宗教工作会议对宗教理论政策的新阐述、新概括、新发展

2001年12月举行的全国宗教工作会议,是由中共中央、国务院召开的一次重要会议。会议在坚持马克思主义宗教观和我党关于宗教问题的基本观点、基本政策的基础上,系统、全面、深刻地论述了宗教工作的一系列重大理想和实践问题,在宗教理论、政策方面有了新的阐述、新的概括和新的发展,具有很强的理论性、政策性、前瞻性,标志着中国共产党对宗教问题和宗教工作的认识达到了新的高度,是我党关于宗教问题的最新理论成果。近期,中共中央统战部二局撰写了《全国宗教工作会议对宗教理论政策的新阐述、新概括、新发展》一文,本刊转载,希望能对读者正确领会全国宗教工作会议精神有所帮助。     

三明市宗教问题的调查与思考

在跨人21世纪的征途上,在邓小平理论指引下,三明市解放思想、深化改革、扩大开放、加速发展、强市富民的浪潮蓬勃兴起。在这种大潮中,正确分析当前宗教工作的形势,清醒认识存在的问题,思考解决问题的办法,是进一步做好宗教工作,服务改革、开放、发展大局的一个前提条件。     

密切关注宗教问题 认真做好宗教工作——略述党中央第三代领导集体对宗教工作的高度重视

2001年12月10日至12日,由中共中央、国务院召开的全国宗教工作会议在北京举行。中共中央总书记江泽民在会上发表了重要讲话;国务院总理朱镕基在会上作了总结发言;李鹏委员长和李瑞环主席分别主持了第一次和第二次全体会议;中共中央政治局常委胡锦涛、尉健行、李岚清等都出席了会议。这是继1990年12月全国宗教工作会议以来,在党中央第三代领导集体的高度重视下,召开的又一次全国宗教工作会议。江泽民总书记在这次会议中指出。     

讲究工作方法正确对待和处理宗教问题

江泽民总书记关于宗教工作要“全面正确地贯彻执行党的宗教政策，保障公民的宗教信仰自由，依法加强对宗教事务的管理，积极引导宗教与社会主义社会相适应”的指示，涵义深刻，内容丰富。既是对我党长期以来宗教工作实践的经验总结，又是对新形势下做好宗教工作的指导思想和总的要求。     

重视城镇化中的宗教活动场所拆迁安置问题

正2013年12月12日,中央召开了城镇化工作会议,这是改革开放以来的第一次。会议提出,城镇化是现代化的必由之路,涉及全国大范围的社会进程,要把握好以人为本、优化布局、生态文明传承文化等基本原则,推进以人为核心的城镇化健康发展。在这场伟大的社会实践中,一个避不开、免不了的问题就是宗教问题。在推进城镇化的过程中,无论是由农村向城镇流动的人口还是定居于城镇之中的人口,均存在宗教信仰问题。无论     

全国宗教工作会议 对宗教理论政策的新阐述、新概括、新发展

党对宗教问题的基本观点和基本政策：(1)宗教有其发生、发展和消亡的过程，在社会主义社会将长期存在，不能用行政力量去消灭宗教，也不能用行政力量去发展宗教。(2)宗教信仰自由受宪法保护，公民有信仰宗教的自由，也有不信仰宗教的自由。(3)要宣传无神论，但不能把有神论和无神论的区别等同于政治上的对立。要坚持政治上团结合作、信仰上互相尊重。     

Moral and religious issues in education

Difficulties in liberal secularism are considered in relation to the views of ethnic minorities and in terms of the misleading nature of its supposed neutrality and objectivity. Cultural liberalism is seen in contrast to be committed to the preservation of other cultures and to celebrating diversity. This might avoid relativism and, within the Wisdom Tradition, offer a mutual enrichment and better access to truth. The practice of religious education can be seen as implicating the general behaviour of the teacher and the ethos of the school. A postmodernist pedagogy, involving dialogue with text and teacher, might both respect diversity and recover a sense of mystery. Reassessment of the relationship between knowledge and morality might lead to new practice in moral education, with relevant activities leading beyond the facts towards reflection on values. Moral education might also go beyond the intellect to encourage appropriate emotional dispositions in a communicative ethics. The dominance of certain metaphors in the language of cultural identity and authenticity channels thinking: this needs to be questioned.     

Processes of religious individualisation: stocktaking and issues for the future

Abstract

The paper spells out implications of a perspective on religious individualisation that is both comparative and analytical and discusses the various issues that this line of research has to confront. Arguing against notions of modern Western exceptionalism, it points to the selectivity of Western forms of (religious) individualisation and makes a case for the inclusion of additional forms of articulating individual agency and ‘selfhood'. The paper takes individualisation as an inter-subjective, social phenomenon and connects it to the concept of social imaginaries. Opposing standard concepts of modernisation the paper nevertheless brings processuality centre stage, emphasising contingency. The paper discusses the possibility of the convergence of contextual developmental trends and the question of transculturality of notions of self and agency. With reference to the dimension of critique included in visions of religious individualisation, the paper finally points to the effects processes of religious individualisation can have on human actors within, and beyond, the realm of spirituality, including the recognition of subjectivities and the strengthening of actors’ resilience.     

Management of religious issues in family therapy

Social scientists have long emphasized the reciprocal relationship between family and religion in society. Yet the family therapy literature is virtually devoid of consideration of religious variables in family life and function. Four major psychosocial aspects of religion in family life are discussed: sacralization, coalitions with the supernatural, religious conflict as a projection of family conflict, and family conflict as a projection of religious conflict. Clinical issues presented include: family therapy in religious and secular contexts, family religious expectations and transference, therapist religious countertransferences, religious identification in family therapy, and family therapy in different degrees of congruence or difference in religious orientation between the family and the therapist. The family therapist must learn how to correctly interpret and appropriately respond to religious issues as they appear in family life and family therapy.     

Values and religious issues in psychotherapy and mental health

A decade of work by Bergin and others is reviewed and synthesized concerning two broad issues: (a) the role of values in psychotherapy and (b) the relation of religion to mental health. Trends have changed and there is now more professional support for addressing values issues in treatment. There is also more openness to the healthy potentialities of religious involvement, and therapists themselves manifest a new level of personal interest in such matters. Cautions and guidelines for dealing with such issues are considered in both empirical and clinical terms. The multifactorial nature of religion is documented, and healthy and unhealthy ways of being religious are described. Suggestions are given for including education in values and religious issues in the training of clinicians so that the vast population of religious clientele may be better served.     

he Formation of Liberal Education in England and Scotland

The concept of the artes liberales originates in antiquity and was, especially in the Anglo-Saxon area and during the 17th and 18th centuries, remodelled into a socially, educationally, and politically modern educational concept. In this process, the progress within the empirical sciences and the formation of an early civil public are of the utmost importance. In the course of these transformations, the absolute force of church and state is called into question; educational concepts which have to be called modern emerge from it.     

The professionalisation of non-denominational religious education in England: politics,organisation and knowledge

In response to contemporary concerns, and using neglected primary sources, this article explores the professionalisation of teachers of Religious Education (RI/RE) in non-denominational, state-maintained schools in England. It does so from the launch of Religion in Education (1934) and the Institute for Christian Education at Home and Abroad (ICE) (1935) to the founding of the Religious Education Council of England and Wales (1973) and the British Journal of Religious Education (1978). Professionalisation is defined as a collective historical process in terms of three inter-related concepts: (1) professional self-organisation and professional politics; (2) professional knowledge; and (3) initial and continuing professional development. The article sketches the history of non-denominational religious education prior to the focus period, to contextualise the emergence of the professionalising processes under scrutiny. Professional self-organisation and professional politics are explored by reconstructing the origins and history of ICE, which became the principal body offering professional development provision for RI/RE teachers for some 50 years. Professional knowledge is discussed in relation to the content of Religion in Education which was oriented around Christian Idealism and interdenominational networking. Changes in journal name in the 1960s and 1970s reflected uncertainties about the orientation of the subject and shifts in understanding over the nature and character of professional knowledge. The article also explores a particular case of resistance, in the late 1960s, to the prevailing consensus surrounding the nature and purpose of RI/RE, and the representativeness and authority of the pre-eminent professional body of the time. In conclusion, the article examines some implications which may be drawn from this history for the prospects and problems of the professionalisation of RE today.     

Bridging separate communities: the aspirations and experiences of minority ethnic religious education teachers in England

This article takes as its starting point concerns about community separation that arose in 2001, following outbreaks of violence in English urban centres, and again in 2014, following the so-called ‘Trojan Horse’ case. Despite a series of reports which have highlighted the need to address ‘separation’, promote ‘meaningful contact’ between those who differ in terms of ethnicity and worldview and identify teachers of religious education (RE) as key players, researchers have paid no attention to teachers of RE from minority ethnic and religious backgrounds. The article draws on a qualitative study of teachers from Hindu, Muslim and Sikh backgrounds to explore their concerns about pupils’ perceptions of separation and the ways in which they attempted to address these in white majority and Muslim majority schools. Communication research and studies based on social capital theory are used to suggest that the teachers used ‘bonding’ and ‘bridging’ strategies as means of encouraging pupils to explore their perceptions of separation, engage in a mediated form of meaningful contact with ‘the Other’ and expand their thinking. The conclusion calls for further research in to the strategies reported and for policy makers to support the recruitment, training and career development of minority ethnic teachers of RE.     

Neuroticism and intensity of religious attitudes among clergy in England.

Ninety-two male and 20 female clergy completed the short-form Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Eysenck, Eysenck, & Barrett, 1985) and the Francis Scale of Attitude Towards Christianity (Francis & Stubbs, 1987). The findings support Eysenck's central theory regarding an inverse relationship between psychoticism scores and religious attitudes, and they confirm the view that neuroticism scores are also implicated in predicting the intensity of religious attitudes among the religiously committed.