Issues in Christian–Muslim Relations: A Malaysian Christian Perspective*

Malaysia is a democratic secular federation with Islam as its official religion. Over the last few decades, this unique model of tolerance and accommodation has been undergoing astounding developments politically, socially and economically. Intense intra-Muslim struggles coupled with increased state-mobilized Islamizing efforts have produced disturbing knock-on effects on non-Muslim minorities. Religion is so profoundly interwoven with race, ethnicity, politics and economics that it is impossible to speak of one without touching upon the others. This article aims to elucidate key practical issues affecting Christians living in a majority Islamic context. It further proposes significant policy options for managing Muslim–Christian relations in twenty-first-century Malaysia. Education is crucial for promoting interreligious harmony, religious freedom, and respect for people of different traditions. More collaborative endeavours through interfaith dialogue should help Malaysians transcend cultural, racial, linguistic and religious barriers. Both Christian and Muslim faith communities need to learn more about and from each other and to move forward towards nation-building and a common destiny.     

Ambient sensory conditions: modification of receptive speech deficits in left-side stroke patients using bright light

Previous research has demonstrated the potential for the use of ambient sensory conditions to improve cognitive functioning. Both light and sound have been shown to improve task performance in various populations including children, younger adults, and elderly participants; however, these cognitive gains may possibly be offset by detrimental cardiovascular reactivity in elderly persons. We now have some evidence for ambient sensory conditions affecting cognitive function following left- or right-side cerebrovascular accidents.     

The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS): a review and meta-analysis

The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) is an 80-item self-report measure designed to assess crime-supporting cognitive patterns. Data from men (N = 450) and women (N = 227) offenders indicate that the PICTS thinking, validity, and content scales possess moderate to moderately high internal consistency and test-retest stability. Meta-analyses of studies in which the PICTS has been administered reveal that besides correlating with measures of past criminality, several of the PICTS thinking and content scales are capable of predicting future adjustment/release outcome at a low but statistically significant level, and two scales (En, CUR) are sensitive to program-assisted change beyond what control subjects achieve spontaneously. The factor structure of the PICTS is then examined with the aid of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, the results of which denote the presence of two major and two minor factors.     

Sources

The Modern Encyclopedia of Religions in Russia and the Soviet Union edited by Paul D. Steeves. Vol. I (Aaron‐Annunciation). Academic International Press, 1988. 255 pp.

Glasnost, Christen und Genossen (Glasnost’, Christians and Comrades) edited by Norbert Sommer. Berlin: Wichern‐Verlag, 1988. Paperback, 188 pp.

Soviet Charismatics: the Pentecostals in the USSR by William C. Fletcher. New York: Peter Lang, 1985. 200 pp.

The KGB: Police and Politics in the Soviet Union by Amy W. Knight. London: Unwin Hyman, 1988. 348 pp.

Every Person is First of all a History by Fr Mykhaylo Havryliv. Rome: Ukrainian Press Service, 1987. 158 pp.

The Razing of Romania's Past by Diav C. Giurescu. New York: United States Committee/International Council on Monuments and Sites, 1989. 68 pp. plus photographs     

Editorial

In this issue of Religion State &;Society Alexander Agadjanian writes about the first attempt by an Orthodox Church to outline a ‘social doctrine’, in the form of the Foundations for a Social Concept for the Russian Orthodox Church (FSC), produced by a Bishops' Council of the church in 2000. Agadjanian describes the Russian Orthodox Church as ‘facing a classical problem of religious ecology: how to respond to constant changes in the Lebenswelt, the surrounding social world, while still retaining a cognitive identity and institutional vitality’, and he finds the FSC to be a ‘torn and polyphonic document’, in which a ‘pro-world stance, affirmed in the beginning, is constantly questioned through the rest of the text’, and in which affirmation of the dignity of the individual turns out to be in the context of the church protecting the individual in his or her need to resist ‘an expanding godless civilisation’. One Russian commentator on the document soon after it appeared went so far as to say that it showed that ‘all possible forms of social existence of the church in a modern secularised society are in fact in contradiction with the sacral concept of social life which is deeply rooted in Orthodoxy’. This is the first time the Russian Orthodox Church has attempted the official formulation of a social doctrine; however, from the mid-nineteenth century until the 1920s, and thereafter in exile, successive Russian Orthodox thinkers and social activists grappled with the very question of how Orthodoxy was to respond to the changing social, economic and political environment. One fertile concept, first formulated by Aleksei Khomyakov in the 1840s, was that of ‘sobornost’', often translated as ‘individual diversity in free unity’, and based on the insight that human social relationships are a manifestation of love and analogous to the relationship amongst the three Persons of the Trinity. Agadjanian draws attention to one fact that appears particularly puzzling. In the FSC no reference is made to sobornost'; much less is there any attempt to deploy it as a conceptual tool in the shaping of a social doctrine for the Orthodox Church. Why should this be?     

Editorial

Abstract

Russian society has been undergoing tremendous changes in the last two decades. The renewed interest in Orthodox tradition is therefore much more than a quantitative growth in the number of believers. The quality of the discursive space in which Orthodoxy has become a subject of social debate is very different from that of a premodern society and from that of Soviet atheist society. In this context the popular image of religion – the popular idea of religious behaviour – has changed profoundly. In this essay I use the ideas of two Russian thinkers with a theological background to conceptualise these changes. Aleksandr Kyrlezhev applies the western notion of the postmodern to the Russian context to describe the transformation from the monolithic Soviet world-view to a state of ideological diversity. Aleksandr Morozov uses the metaphor ‘the end of transcendence’ to illustrate changes in religious behaviour. Both authors conclude that the renewed interest in the Orthodox tradition is primarily a desire for morality, for a set of norms and values to supplement both Soviet and imported western counterparts. I also look at Orthodox classes in the public education system in order to see how these ideas apply to the social context. Kyrlezhev's notion of a postmodern ideological diversity helps to explain how such classes are welcomed as a complementary ‘spiritual’ element alongside existing ‘materialist’ world-views. Morozov's ‘end of transcendence’ assists in understanding how such classes, although teaching about the Orthodox faith, may operate in a secular environment.     

Testing the Extent of the Gender Trap: College Students’ Perceptions of and Reactions to Intimate Partner Violence

Prior research has explored perceptions of intimate partner violence (IPV), and how these perceptions differ based on gender of the participant, victim, and perpetrator. In the current study, 178 undergraduate students (n?=?88 males; n?=?90 females) attending a university in the Southwestern United States read a hypothetical IPV scenario, experimentally crossed by victim gender and perpetrator gender, and completed measures exploring gender (i.e., participant gender, victim gender, and perpetrator gender) and situational perceptions on participants’ intended responses to an IPV scenario. Results indicated that perceptions of the IPV situation and responses varied by genders of the participant, victim, and perpetrator. Specifically, males were more likely than females to hold the victim responsible for the violence, and ignore the situation; females were more likely than males to encourage the victim to seek professional help and seek help from another person regarding the IPV scenario as presented in the vignette. When the victim was a male, participants viewed the situation as less serious, the victim as more responsible, and were more likely to ignore the situation, than when the victim was female. Overall, results indicated that gender factors (especially participant gender) had a stronger and more consistent influence on responses to the IPV scenario than perceptions of the situation. The findings of the current study are discussed in light of implications for future research to expand an understanding of the role of gender and perceptions influencing anticipated helping behavior for victims of IPV, which will inform intervention.