Language,belief and plurality: a contribution to understanding religious diversity

My purpose in this paper is to defend the legitimacy of different religious systems by showing that they arise naturally as a consequence of the fact that we are linguistic beings. I will show that we do not need to presume that such belief systems all have something in common, and that even if they did we would most probably be unaware of it. I shall argue, however, that this lack of a common core does not mean that understanding between different belief systems is impossible, and that, in fact, a dialogue between them is possible without one system being reduced to another. I will defend these ideas through the use of some principles expounded in Wittgenstein’s On Certainty, especially the world-picture concept.     

Computer software patents: Some perspectives and misunderstandings

The importance that in-house software plays today in many organizations is without question. Perspectives of efficiencies, effectiveness, competitive advantage, and so on are but three areas where such applications exist. Many organizations have adopted measures to protect such software as a specific type of intellectual property. In the 1990s quite often the form of protection taken is software patents. The understanding and enthusiasm about software patents that is exhibited by organizations is not often shared by information systems researchers, however. For the most part, IS researchers dismiss software patents as an appropriate protective measure. This paper presents some background on patents and their applicability to software. Some US and international perspectives are also discussed to provide the reader with a somewhat broader perspective. We then discuss several IS research endeavors that either dismiss patents, or treat them incorrectly. We conclude with a research agenda for IS researchers. the Department of Computer Information Systems & Quantitative Analysis, University of Arkansas. She has conducted extensive research in the area of the law and information technology. Her published research has appeared in MIS Quarterly, Journal of Management Information Systems, and Knowledge and Policy. His research interests include examination of the strategic aspects of information systems and the relationship between the law and information technology. His research has been published in Information Systems Research, MIS Quarterly, and the Journal of Management Information Systems. Her current research is focused on interogranizational systems and the human relationships that exist in parallel to these systems.     

Some reflections on religious knowledge

The essay that follows considers two topics. After dealing with relevant preliminaries, it asks: (a) what differences are there in what must be done in order to tell whether there is any religious knowledge if an internalist evidentialist account of knowledge is true, from what must be done in order to tell whether there is any religious knowledge if an externalist reliabilist account of knowledge is true; and (b) does the best current externalist reliabilist account of knowledge require (or perhaps already implicitly contain) an internalist evidentialist element? Put in a nutshell, then, a belief has warrant for a person S only if that belief is produced in S by cognitive faculties functioning properly (subject to no dysfunction) in a cognitive environment that is appropriate for S’s kind of cognitive faculties, according to a design plant that is successfully aimed at truth … when a belief meets these conditions and does enjoy warrant, the degree of warrant it enjoys depends on the strength of the belief, the degree of firmness with which S holds it. This is intended as an account of the central core of our concept of warrant … [Warranted Christian Belief, 156; implicit in reference to a design plan here is another feature—that the belief is subject to no undefeated defeaters; such a belief, if true, constitutes knowledge.]     

Skid-row rescue missions: A religious approach to alcoholism

The focus of this study is on the religious service at which many skid-row rescue missions require attendance to receive benefits. Data were obtained from an observation study of thirty-seven skid-row rescue missions in Los Angeles and Seattle, interviews with ten mission directors, and mission newsletters. The missions use material benefits to attract potential converts. The theme of spiritual conversion is predominant in the mission service (sermons, songs, testimonies). Mission personnel feel they have been called by God, often have backgrounds similar to the people they serve, and view the skid rowers' problems as primarily personal and spiritual. Skid rowers resent the use of religion as bait, view their problems as primarily structural, and use the missions only as a last resort. The missions need to be compared to other alcoholism rehabilitation and religious institutions. A key component to their continued existence is outside Christian supporters.     

A social identification approach to the effects of religious disclosures in business communication

This research expands on prior research into the effects of religious disclosures on interpersonal attraction by drawing from social identification theory to explain attributions stemming from religious disclosures in professionals’ e-mail signature blocks. Participants (N = 268) were randomly exposed to one of three experimental conditions (a Christian, Islamic, or secular quotation in a signature block) and completed measures of social identification and perceptions of professionalism. Results indicate that, contrary to prior research, merely disclosing one’s religion does not increase attributions; rather, attributions of a sender’s professionalism are positively derived from the receiver’s social identification with the sender’s religion. Implications of these findings are discussed with regard to social identity theory, as well as for professional practice in developing signature blocks as a means of self-presentation.     

Karma and redemption: A religious approach to family violence

Violence within the family is becoming so widespread that its treatment cannot be left to specialists alone, but increasingly will be faced by the helping professions generally. The Hindu concept of Karma and the Christian theory of redemption together provide a religious understanding for those who seek to help both the perpetrators and victims of family violence. Karma holds the truth that actions bear consequences, whereas redemption suggests that the evil consequences can be altered for good. The result is a new Karmic law which provides a fundamental starting point for family abuse counseling.Formerly, he was Assistant Professor of Religion at Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage. Prior to taking up his post with Scripture Union, he worked in Anchorage as Adult Education Specialist for two agencies dealing with sexual abuse and domestic violence. This paper formed the basis for his presentation at an Alaskan conference on violence in the family held in Anchorage in October 1985.     

Why people convert: A balance theoretical approach to religious conversion

This paper presents a model of religious conversion that integrates process models in the tradition of Lofland and Stark (1965) with the cognitive balance model of Gartrell and Shannon (1985). By placing balance theoretical principles in the context of a process model, the model presented here seeks to explain conversion as a process that is facilitated through the cognitive states of individuals. This technique, it is argued, produces a view of conversion that denies neither individual agency nor the structural constraints placed on the individual by the group. Implications for the study of conversion are discussed.Many thanks to the participants in the Emory University Sociology Department's presentation seminar for helpful comments. You know who you are. Thanks also Nancy Ammerman, Sonya Gamble, Karen Hegtvedt, and Frank Lechner.BITNET: SOCY7182 & EMUVM1.     

Some Hindu Insights on a Global Ethic in the Context of Diseases and Epidemics

As we develop a global ethic in the context of diseases, we need to reconsider the wisdom of the religious traditions, for there is more to ailments than their material causes. In the Hindu framework, aside from the Ayurvedic system, which is based on herbal medicines and a philosophical framework, there is the insight that much of what we experience is a direct consequence of our karma (consequential actions). Therefore, here one emphasizes self–restraint and self–discipline in contexts that are conducive to self–hurting behavior.