TECHNO‐SECULARISM AND “REVEALED RELIGION”: SOME PROBLEMS WITH CAIAZZA'S ANALYSIS

Abstract. Instead of focusing my remarks on John Caiazza's interesting and important thesis about the way in which modern technology is drastically secularizing our culture today, I examine the frame within which he sets out his thesis, a frame I regard as seriously flawed. Caiazza's argument is concerned with the broad range of religion/science/technology issues in today's world, but the only religion that he seems to take seriously is what he calls “revealed religion” (Christianity). His consideration of religion is thus narrow and cramped, and this makes it difficult to assess properly the significance of what he calls techno‐secularism. I suggest that employing a broader conception of religion would enable us to see more clearly what is really at stake in the rise of techno‐secularism. Instead of defining the issues in the polarizing terms of revealed religion versus secularity, I argue for a more integrative approach in which concepts are developed that can bring together and hold together major religious insights and themes with modern scientific thinking. If, for example, we give up the anthropomorphism of the traditional idea of God as creator and think of God as simply creativity, it becomes possible to integrate theological insights with current scientific thinking and to formulate the issues posed by the rise of techno‐secularism in a more illuminating way. This in turn should facilitate effective address of those issues.     

Between Reason and Common Sense

This essay is intended as a companion‐piece to my article, “Reality in Common Sense: Reflections on Realism and Anti‐Realism from a ‘Common Sense Naturalist’ Perspective.” (Philosophical Investigations, Vol. 25, No. 4 (October 2002). It explores the epistemological dimension of the Common Sense Naturalism that I developed in that earlier, predominantly metaphysical essay; a position that combines the views of David Hume, Thomas Reid, and the Wittgenstein of On Certainty. My ultimate aim is to produce a comprehensive philosophy of common sense, one that with future installments, will come to include an ethical and social‐political philosophy as well. “Between Reason and Common Sense” offers a common sense naturalist reply to the skeptic. My basic argument is that the skeptic makes a Rylean category mistake, when he applies the concept of warrant to epistemologically basic beliefs, such as the belief in the external world or in the continued and distinct existence of bodies. He misidentifies these beliefs as being ordinary, when they are really a part of the framework that make the practices of believing and justifying possible. As a result, they are not themselves open to confirmation or disconfirmation. I also try to characterize the nature of the necessity carried by framework beliefs, in a way that avoids the charge that the common sense naturalist is simply a closet foundationalist.     

Religiosity and Spiritual Engagement in Two American Indian Populations

Social scientific investigation into the religiospiritual characteristics of American Indians rarely includes analysis of quantitative data. After reviewing information from ethnographic and autobiographical sources, we present analyses of data from a large, population-based sample of two tribes (n = 3,084). We examine salience of belief in three traditions: aboriginal, Christian, and Native American Church. We then investigate patterns in sociodemographic subgroups, determining the significant correlates of salience with other variables controlled. Finally, we examine frequency with which respondents assign high salience to only one tradition (exclusivity) or multiple traditions (nonexclusivity), again investigating subgroup variations. This first detailed, statistical portrait of American Indian religious and spiritual lives links work on tribal ethnic identity to theoretical work on America's "religious marketplace." Results may also inform social/behavioral interventions that incorporate religiospiritual elements.     

Improving quality of life in diverse rural older adults: a randomized trial of a psychological treatment

The efficacy of home-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in improving quality of life and reducing psychological symptoms in older adults was examined in this study. One hundred thirty-four participants, predominately African American and characterized as primarily rural, low resource, and physically frail, were randomly assigned to either CBT or a minimal support control condition. Results indicate that CBT participants evidenced significantly greater improvements in quality of life and reductions in psychological symptoms. Mediation of treatment through cognitive and behavioral variables was not found despite the acceptable delivery of CBT by research therapists. These data suggest that treatment can be effective with a disadvantaged sample of older adults and extend efficacy findings to quality of life domains. Creating access to evidence-based treatments through nontraditional delivery is an important continuing goal for geriatric health care.     

Development and validation of a Rasch-derived CES-D short form

The current study presents a Rasch-derived short form of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) for use as a depression screening tool in the general population. In contrast to short forms developed with reliance on classical measurement techniques, those developed using techniques based on item response theory produce a measure that offers true interval scaling, provide enhanced information about responders with extreme scores, and expand understanding of the underlying latent structure. Cross-validation of the Rasch-derived CES-D short form supported its utility and structural validity across samples. Tests of structural validity using latent variable modeling methodology indicated that a hierarchical, single-factor model of depression had the best fit for the original full form and the Rasch-derived short form of the CES-D. This finding challenges depression researchers and theorists to reconsider the interfactor relationships in the study and assessment of depression.     

In the Eye of the Beholder: Differences Across Ethnicity and Gender in Evaluating Creative Work

Creativity has been proposed as a supplement to ability tests as a way to reduce bias, as a result of the typical lack of ethnic or gender differences. Yet, creativity is usually measured through a consensus of rater judgment. Could there be implicit biases against people of different ethnicities or gender? This study examined stories and poems written by 205 students and rated by 108 different students. Females wrote poems that were judged to be more creative; there were no significant differences by ethnicity across all raters. Among notable findings, European Americans and African Americans both preferred stories written by European Americans. Reasons for this and other findings are discussed.     

Development of an Interactive Decision Aid for Female BRCA1/BRCA2 Carriers

Shared decision making between patients and providers is becoming increasingly common, particularly when there is no clear preferred course of action. As a result, decision aids are being adopted with growing frequency and have been applied to many medical decision-making issues. One such issue where there is uncertainty is breast cancer risk management among BRCA1/BRCA2 carriers. We present the development of a CD-ROM decision aid to facilitate risk management decision making in this population. Our decision aid was developed with the intention of providing it through a randomized clinical trial. The CD-ROM is a multimedia, interactive intervention which provides information about breast cancer, risks associated with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, risk management options for hereditary breast cancer, and a breast cancer risk management decision aid. The goal of this CD-ROM, offered as an adjunctive intervention, is to reduce decisional conflict and psychological distress and improve comprehension of risk information, decisional satisfaction, medical adherence, and quality of life for this population of women at increased risk for breast cancer.     

When confessing sin feels good

This paper draws on a qualitative study of how young people engaged in two youth ministries in the Church of Norway reflect on sin and shame in relation to their existential dilemmas . The authors analyze this practice through the lens of Hartmut Rosa's concept of resonance, arguing that there is consonance between how young people in the study express shame and the Lutheran understanding of sin as being curved in on oneself. Both sin and shame prevent the subject from being open to the world, thus constituting resistance to resonance. Yet, the practice of confessing sin may be a remedy to this closing in on oneself, as confession affords a resonant space, countering feelings of existential inadequacy caused by both sin and shame. Bringing the concept of vulnerability into the discussion, the paper further argues that confessing sin may prove healing and liberating also for experiences of shame as long as it does not violate the subject's ability to speak with her own voice or involve harmful god-images or harmful power dynamics.