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.     

Spirituality,Culture and Mental Health: Prospects and Risks for Contemporary Psychology of Religion

This paper asks whether: (1) psychology of religion is doing what it is supposed to do, (2) the contemporary psychological attention to religion and spirituality is perhaps of a transgressive nature, and (3) conceptualizations of spirituality in psychological publications are biased. It makes a plea for phenomenologically well-informed research on real forms of religion and spirituality, from a perspective that is as broad as psychology at present has become, with due regard for both the cultural make-up of the phenomena and the unavoidable limits of psychologists' professional competence.     

The Cult of Doctors: Harvey Cushing and the Religious Culture of Modern Medicine

Harvey Cushing had an extraordinary life in medicine as an innovative brain surgeon and a pivotal figure in the biomedical revolutions taking place at the turn of the twentieth century. Expressions of sincere devotion from Cushing’s patients often rely on distinctly religious language to capture the meaning and impact of the doctor in their lives. If these devotional sentiments from former patients were the only traces of religious meaning associated with the life of Cushing, they could easily be discounted as an all-too-common, and some might say particularly confused, infusion of personal spirituality into the realm of medicine and health. But these expressions of adoration and veneration may be only the proverbial tip of a deep, wide, and largely unseen religious iceberg. Cushing’s extraordinary accomplishments did inspire both patients and the public in this era, but it is proposed that his life is embedded in a much larger and more significant religious movement driving the cultural success and power of biomedical science: the cult of doctors. Gary Laderman, Ph.D., is a cultural historian who has written two books on death in America, Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the Funeral Home in Twentieth-Century America (Oxford UP, 2003) and The Sacred Remains: American Attitudes Toward Death, 1799–1883 (Yale UP, 1996). His PhD is in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is working on a new book project that explores the intersections of religion and medicine in the twentieth century. This is the first article from that project.     

Harry Potter and Contemporary Magic: Fantasy Literature,Popular Culture,and the Representation of Religion

This article discusses the reasons for the religious reactions to the Harry Potter novels, arguing that the books contribute to, and reflect, the reconfiguration of religion in contemporary society. The article analyses the media qualities of fantasy literature and the specific representation of magic in the novels and argues that these aspects form an important part of the reasons for the religious reactions. Fantasy literature and other popular culture that represents and mediates religious expressions and phenomena actively contribute to the reconfiguration of, and communication about, religion in contemporary society and are thus of consequence for what we understand ‘religion’ to be in the study of religions.     

宗教与认同:宗教对自我认同发展的作用分析

对自我的研究是宗教心理学研究的重要领域。宗教是青少年自我认同发展的重要源泉。文章对宗教在自我认同发展过程中的作用进行了深入的分析后认为,从宏观角度上看,宗教是青少年认同发展的意识形态基础;宗教为青少年提供社会化的社会环境;宗教还是青少年认同发展的重要精神背景。文章还以仪式和祈祷为例,从微观角度分析了宗教崇拜对青少年认同发展的作用和意义。     

Trauma,Treatment, and Religion

Abstract

When children and youth are traumatized, caretakers must attend to behavioral, cognitive, physiological, ecological and spiritual/existential aspects of their reactions. This article focuses on the latter facet of traumatization. The Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament offer little about the traumatic symptoms of victims. Using many of the same sources, Fundamentalist Christians, Jews, mainline Christians and secularists may offer children different interpretations of the meaning of trauma events. Understanding these interpretations is crucial for children who develop symptoms which suggest a diagnosis of PTSD. Caretakers, other than mental health professionals, can understand and use various techniques explicated in the TREAT model for treatment of PTSD. Concepts discussed can be used, within a spiritual/existential framework, to support traumatized youngsters.     

The Spiritual Task of Religion in Culture: An Evolutionary Perspective

It is quite impossible to consider human nature within an evolutionary perspective if we leapfrog over culture and establish some direct relation between cosmic and human evolution without taking culture into consideration. Culture holds a significant place within the structures of nature, as the "epic" of evolution portrays nature—cosmic, physical, and biological. Religion emerges within culture, and it plays a role in organizing the human consciousness and in generating the stories, rituals, and morality that constitute the organization of consciousness. Since organization of consciousness determines how culture is conducted, and since we face a global crisis today because of the ways we are conducting our culture, religion's role is critical for the future of culture. Wherever it is attempted, whether in terms of traditional or posttraditional modes, the fashioning of adequate worldviews, rituals, and morality is an essentially religious activity. For both traditional and posttraditional modes, the task is to weave structures of meaning with the sciences of evolution so as to effect the most suitable organization of consciousness.     

Religion, Death Attitudes, and Belief in Afterlife in the Elderly: Untangling the Relationships

The study investigated the relationship between religion, belief in afterlife, and death attitudes (death anxiety and death acceptance) in an elderly population using instruments with sound psychometric properties. Survey data was collected from 71 elderly participants. Results indicated a strong correlation between belief in afterlife and intrinsic religion, and differential statistically significant relationships between intrinsic religion and both death anxiety and death acceptance depending on whether the effects of belief in afterlife were partialed out. Findings were discussed in light of the absence of clinically meaningful results and, the role that belief in afterlife appears to play in the literature investigating religion and death anxiety.     

Religion and spirituality in the context of bipolar disorder: a literature review

Religion and spirituality (R/S) may play an important role for individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) by providing a means of coping with, and an explanatory model for, their disorder. We conducted a systematic review of empirical studies that have explored R/S in individuals with BD or samples that explicitly delineate individuals with BD. Only six studies met our inclusion criteria. Findings from these studies suggest that R/S strategies may be important for some people in the management of BD. Religion and spirituality thus become relevant concerns for a therapeutic regime that seeks to develop wellness within a bio-psycho-social model. However, the limited body of research and methodological shortcomings of existing research make it difficult to draw relevant conclusions about how this might be accomplished. The authors propose a need for longitudinal, prospective, mixed methods research in order to inform evidence-based practice.     

A Property of Peculiar Value: Land,Religion and the Constitution

In 1792, James Madison wrote that a man's ‘property of peculiar value [is] in his religious opinions, and in the profession and practice dictated by them’.1 1. James Madison in the National Gazette (27 March 1792). Quoted in Hall (1998 Hall T 1998 Separating church and state: Roger Williams and religious liberty Champaign, IL University of Illinois Press  , 135). View all notes In view of the ensuing 200 years, the phrase is telling in ways Madison would not have anticipated. For it is in relation to land and private property that the constitutional concept of religion—a concept designed in significant part by Madison himself—arose and is now in decline. This article traces the origins, development and decline of religion as a constitutional concept in relation to land and private property. The experience of Native Americans is a particularly important illustration of this history, because it is in response to them that the constitutional relations of land and religion have been debated in most detail. I begin therefore with the unsuccessful efforts of Native Americans in 1988 to claim Free Exercise protection for lands they regard as sacred. The second section briefly explores the joint origins of private land ownership and the modern Western concept of religion, which in turn impacted the European treatment of the land and religions of conquered and colonised peoples. Moving into the American constitutional period, the third section sketches the inter-related notions of land and religion that appeared in key framers, which again had profound implications for indigenous peoples. Arriving at the present day, the fourth section outlines the deterioration of the constitutional concept of religion, along with the democratic public sphere itself, in the age of privatisation. The final section, using the Faith-Based Initiatives movement as an illustration, argues that new and supposedly public roles for religion actually advance and protect privatisation. In conclusion, I will review and assess very briefly the prospects for religion as a constitutional construct.     

从医学看巫术、宗教与科学的关系

医学是巫术、宗教、科学三者联系最多的门类,巫术在我国-始终盛行。近２０年有所抬头 ,其原因非常复杂。区别巫术与宗教、巫术与科学,是减少巫术危害最基本的方法。就此问题进行了深入阐述。     

Religion and Sexuality: The Perversion of a Natural Marriage

From the beginning of human history religion and sexuality have shared certain characteristics. But what existed in early history as a natural linguistic and liturgical marriage between two activities with certain shared emotional, psychological, and even physical goals, ended in most of the great religions centuries ago in divorces fueled by patriarchal fear and prejudice. The split between sexuality and religion is especially evident in the repression of women and the criminalization of sexuality characteristic of our Abrahamic religions, factors that have led all too often to tragic and perverted parodies of the old natural marriage.     

论宗教的道德价值

原初的道德与宗教处于混沌一体之中。二者分化以后 ,宗教以其特殊方式提供道德规范的神圣性、道德理想人格的完满性与社会正义的至善性 ;在宗教信仰的特殊形式中蕴含着对真之笃信与对存在终极性关切的道德价值精神 ,并为道德规范提供价值合理性根据。     

重释“宗教”:史密斯对于宗教概念的消解

史密斯质疑宗教概念的普遍有效性,从词源学和观念史角度对宗教的含义及其变迁作了历史考察,指出它不过是西方近代文明的一个产物,并不适合解释其他文明的生活传统,主张用信仰和累积的传统两个独立的概念取而代之。依据这一概念框架来解释儒家传统会消除一些困难。     

Towards the Postmodernization of Aging: The Body and Social Theory

This article reviews the significance of postmodernism as applied to understanding social gerontology. We begin by looking at the disciplinary dominance of biomedical models to understanding bodily change through later life. We then move our analysis to the lack of theoretical models within social gerontology which have not attempted to analyze or develop social explanations of the body. The article introduces the concept of postmodernism and reviews the work of major theorists who have impacted postmodern gerontology. We conclude by arguing for an interface between social theory and social gerontology by drawing on recent examples of the mask of aging thesis, biotechnologies, and new technologies that impact aging identity and understanding the self.     

转型时期的民间信仰:现状与思考

民间信仰历史悠久,在普通民众生活中有着顽强的生命力和持久广泛的影响力,具有文化传承的强大惯性。本文从民间信仰的概念、现状趋势等方面进行了一些分析,并就民间信仰研究和民间信仰事务管理工作做了一些思考,认为在新时期新阶段,对民间信仰的研究和民间信仰事务管理工作,都需要结合时代发展和社会进步的要求,进行新的探索。     

Karl Barth and God in Creation: Towards an Interfaith Dialogue with Science and Religion

Is our neo-orthodox interpretation of Karl Barth correct? Does Barth's theology provide an opportunity to promote creative, equable dialog with natural science and religious pluralism? In this article, I contend that Barth's theological language of analogy, eschatology, nature, and Sabbath integrate with and complement scientific explanations.     

Beyond Iraq and Afghanistan: Religion and Politics in United States War‐Culture

Abstract : This article digs beneath the surface of American assumptions regarding war to explore the ethical interconnections between national identity, war, and religion. Striking differences emerge between the dynamics of religion and politics with regard to war and peace in presidential speeches regarding the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and the analysis of war from an earlier generation, encapsulated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s “Beyond Vietnam: A Call to Conscience,” from 1967. Study of this political discourse helps us better understand our own reality in the United States, and the moral consequences of our beliefs about war, sacrifice, the human character, and the identity of the nation.     

医学与宗教

通过展示医学与宗教部分客观存在的联系,经此努力发现并力图提示宗教与医学之间的某些关系及其影响,认为医学与宗教有着共同的研究目的、生命与死亡。两者殊途同归。