A religious perspective on climate change

The aim of this article is to argue that religions can contribute to fight climate change. It is argued that religions can contribute with ethics. Religions can contribute with reflections concerning fundamental ethical principles as well as practical ethical instructions concerning sustainable lifestyles. But it is also argued that religions can contribute with a world-view that underpins ethics in a very fruitful way. We can want to protect the world because it is beautiful, not simply because it is useful. A religious worldview is articulated very clearly in praise and celebration. Here all of creation is praised and celebrated as the works of an all loving God or Spirit. This implies that the universe, planet Earth and all life on it are seen as creations which all have an intrinsic value. They are not just accidental matter or means for human beings, but magnificent creations which are commendable in themselves, no matter what their utility value may be. According to this religious interpretation ethics are thus grounded in a cosmic love. The motivation for taking care of the environment is love and not rational calculation and duty. A motivation based on positive, elevated feelings such as love, respect, devotion and an experience of beauty is much more vigorous than a motivation based on cool calculations and cold-hearted duty. Religion can engage people at a deeper level than economics and policy, and a deep engagement is extremely important for the success of fighting climate changes, because it is going to take decades.     

From clinic to congregation: religious communities and genetic medicine

The human genome project is an attempt to identify all the genes on the human chromosomes that determine the biological makeup of every individual. Armed with such knowledge, argues M. Therese Lysaught, doctors will face intense pressure to practice medicine in a way that differs radically from practice at present. Rather than responding to disease, they will attempt to eliminate the biological conditions that create disease in the first place. The church as a community of distinctive moral discourse needs to become familiar with the genome project and its consequences for medicine, so as to be able to make informed and appropriate decisions.     

Shifting foundations: religious belief change and adjustment in college students

In a sample of 154 college students, prevalence of religious belief change and its relationship to religiosity and coping variables were examined twice over the course of one month. Students who reported belief change (62%) scored higher than those who did not on measures of religiosity and fared worse on adjustment measures. Significant differences in coping strategies were noted, with the change group using more religious coping and alcohol and drugs to cope. Within the change group, a higher degree of change was related to higher levels of religiousness and religious coping, and poorer adjustment at baseline and follow-up.     

Ethical narratives,street kitchens and doing religious difference amongst post-migrant communities in contemporary Britain

Street kitchens organised by religious groups in response to food poverty and homelessness have become a ubiquitous feature of British cities. Although a good deal of literature has explored this genre of social action, relatively little has analysed it as a feature of religious practice associated with post-migrant communities. This paper uses data drawn from ethnographic research on Sikh and Muslim street kitchens in two British cities to consider the significance of such initiatives amongst Britain’s South Asian communities. The paper focuses on the role of narrative in this context, deploying Ingold’s notion of ‘storied knowledge’ to analyse fluid, emergent ethical practices expressed through religion-related stories. These practices, envisaged here as ‘religioning’, draw on South Asian religious traditions creatively reconfigured in the postcolonial city. I argue that such developments constitute a significant diasporic intervention into settled accounts of ‘faith’ as a vehicle for ethical citizenship in British urban environments.     

New democrats: religious actors, social change and democratic consolidation in Turkey

I analyze the positive and leading role religious actors play in democratic consolidation in Turkey in recent years. I argue that major social changes might lead to such outcomes. Empirically, I show that two major religious actors in Turkey—the Gulen Movement and the Justice and Development Party (AKP)—have adopted favorable positions on EU membership, ethnic and religious minorities, and pluralism in the last decade. This remarkable transformation owes its existence to the economic liberalization reforms initiated in the early 1980s, and the “post-modern coup” of 1997. This transformation reflects the need of both religious actors for greater democracy from a purely self-interested perspective. The Gulen Movement prefers an open and democratic system to sustain its organizational existence. The AKP responds to the preferences of its own constituency. These unique conditions have made two religious actors catalysts of democratization along with some liberal democrats in Turkey. Empirically, I rely on European Union’s Turkey progress reports and a recent analysis of religious Turkish media to support the argument.     

Ongoing change in psychoanalytic theory implications for analysis of religious experience

Hans Loewald (1980) once made the distinction between ghosts and ancestors, the former always wanting to return to the land of the living, the latter being able to rest in peace and live forth through their progeny in the present generation. Extending this metaphor, Stephen Mitchell (1991) has noted that the intellectual integrity and vitality of psychoanalysis depends on our shifting our view of Freud from an unburied ghost who haunts us to an honored ancestor. I argue that perhaps nowhere is Freud's enduring presence greater than in psychoanalytic perspectives on religion, and it is often as an unburied ghost. Ongoing change in psychoanalytic theory, however, affords respectful amendment to his work in a way that allows Freud to be a dearly honored ancestor from whom we are all psychoanalytic descendents. Three developments in psychoanalytic theory have special implication for the analysis of religious experience. These areas of change pertain to contemporary understanding of illusion, narrative, and social constructivism. I offer in conclusion seven points for further consideration.     

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.     

Religious intellectual humility,attitude change,and closeness following religious disagreement

Abstract

This study explored the role of intellectual humility (IH) in promoting attitude change and relationship closeness in the context of religious disagreement. Participants (N = 174) completed a preliminary survey that assessed their attitude on several contentious religious issues (e.g. gay marriage, abortion). Participants who disagreed about a contentious religious issue were then paired and engaged in a 10-min discussion. After the discussion, participants completed a series of questionnaires. The greatest degree of attitude change was seen in pairs with mutually high levels of IH, in which the participant self-reported high levels of IH and also perceived the discussion partner to have high levels of IH. Higher perceptions of the IH levels of the discussion partner predicted higher levels of closeness and trust. We discuss limitations, areas for future research, and practical implications.     

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.     

Personality change following religious conversion: perceptions of converts and their close acquaintances

This study focuses on how converts and their close acquaintances perceive changes in personality characteristics after religious conversion and possible demographic influences of these perceptions. Sixty Slovakian respondents self-defined as having experienced conversions rated themselves twice on measures of Big Five personality traits, self-esteem, and meaningfulness in life. The first rating provided retrospective information concerning pre-conversion conditions and the second rating obtained data reflecting the convert's present self-understanding. In addition, every convert was rated on the same characteristics by someone who knew the person well during both pre- and post-conversion times. The convert and the rater both provided demographic information (age, education, religiosity, relationship to conversions and converts etc.). Analyses showed that the converts perceived several personality changes: neuroticism decreased while self-esteem, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion increased. They also reported a large increase in meaningfulness. Perceived changes were in part related to education level and age for converts, and to religiosity in both converts and close persons, suggesting a retrospective bias.     

Faith,violence, and phronesis: narrative identity,rhetorical symbolism,and ritual embodiment in religious communities

Continental Philosophy Review - This contribution explores the question to what extent religious narratives can move the adherents of religious communities to violence or teach wisdom and...     

Existential and religious issues when admitted to hospital in a secular society: Patterns of change

Situated in a secular culture, this study examined the relationship between four dimensions of health and a number of existential, religious, and spiritual/religious practice variables in questionnaires sampled from 480 Danish hospital patients. Illness dimensions were: self-rated health, severity of illness, illness duration, and recent changes in illness. The results indicated the youngest age group (<36 years) to be the most active on all existence/religious/practice variables. Small overall correlations were found between the illness dimensions and existential/religious/practice variables, but results had underlying complex patterns. The dimension of severity of illness showed the most consistent results in the expected direction: the worse the illness, the more existential/religious/practice activity, but very different patterns were found for men and women. Men generally had low levels of existential/religious/practice issues, when illness was not severe, but levels heightened when illness turned worse. The opposite was the case for women who had overall higher levels, when illness was not severe, but unexpectedly lost interest and activity when the illness grew worse, especially regarding the religious faith variables. When illness turned to the better, women (re)gained religious faith. The illness duration of 1–3 months showed to be the most sensitive period for the existential/religious/practice variables involved. The patients’ experience of change in existential/religious/practice issues and the actual measured change pattern did not always follow each other. The findings might contribute to clinical reflection and planning in health care settings in secular societies like in Scandinavia.     

Trajectories of change in dimensions of forgiveness among older adults and their association with religious commitment

Forgiveness is a complex construct with an important role in religious traditions worldwide, and is associated with mental and physical health outcomes. This seven-year longitudinal study examined changes within individuals during, and differences based on birth cohort, in forgiveness during late life. Growth curve analysis was used to analyse the general pattern of change across the course of older adulthood in eight dimensions related to forgiveness. Increases over time were observed in forgiveness of others, conditionality of forgiveness of others, forgiveness of self, feelings of being forgiven by God, and feelings of being forgiven by others. Decreases over time were observed in difficulty forgiving oneself, and perceptions of conditionality in God's forgiveness. Religious commitment was related to reporting more a more forgiving attitude on seven of these dimensions, but also to more perceived conditionality in God's forgiveness. Finally, differences in mean levels of forgiveness emerged between birth cohorts.     

Enhancing resilience: families and communities as agents for change

In this article, the Linking Human Systems (LINC) Community Resilience model, a theoretical framework for initiating and sustaining change in communities that have undergone rapid and untimely transition or loss, is presented. The model assumes that individuals, families, and communities are inherently competent and resilient, and that with appropriate support and encouragement, they can access individual and collective strengths that will allow them to transcend their loss. This competence can be nurtured by helping people regain a sense of connectedness with one another; with those who came before them; with their daily patterns, rituals, and stories that impart spiritual meaning; and with tangible resources within their community. Rather than imposing artificial support infrastructures, LINC interventions engage respected community members to act as natural agents for change. These "community links" provide a bridge between outside professionals, families, and communities, particularly in circumstances in which outside intervention may not be welcomed. The article illustrates how LINC interventions successfully have been used in communities around the world.