邵佳德

Bio: 邵佳德 is an academic researcher. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 20 citations.

Mindfulness Revisited A Buddhist-Based Conceptualization

Abstract: Recent scholarship on mindfulness has narrowly focused on attention enhancement, present-moment awareness, and its stress reduction effects. Moreover, current operational definitions of mindfulness...

Weapon of Peace: How Religious Liberty Combats Terrorism

Abstract: Religious terrorism poses a significant challenge for many countries around the world. Extremists who justify violence in God's name can be found in every religious tradition, and attacks perpetrated by faith-based militants have increased dramatically over the past three decades. Given the reality of religious terrorism today, it would seem counterintuitive that the best weapon against violent religious extremism would be for countries and societies to allow for the free practice of religion; yet this is precisely what this book argues. Weapon of Peace investigates the link between terrorism and the repression of religion, both from a historical perspective and against contemporary developments in the Middle East and elsewhere. Drawing upon a range of different case studies and quantitative data, Saiya makes the case that the suppression and not the expression of religion leads to violence and extremism, and that safeguarding religious freedom is both a moral and strategic imperative.

Civil war and religion in medieval Japan and medieval Europe: War for the Gods, emotions at death and treason:

Abstract: To compare and contrast medieval Japan and medieval Western Europe allows one to discover three things. First, analogous to Catholic holy war, in Japan becomes visible a potential for war (albeit s...

The Catholic Marian Spirituality Scale: Conceptualization and measurement

Abstract: The specific context of the current research is Catholic Marian Spirituality (CMS), which embodies a set of beliefs and practices intended to make its adherents closely connected to Jesus Christ by imitating the virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This research project aimed to conceptualize and to develop a measurement of CMS. It also aimed to establish content validity through expert review and the refining of the items based on Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and to establish internal reliability of the CMS Scale using reliability analysis. The study adopted both qualitative and quantitative methods to develop the questionnaire. The questionnaire was tested for content, construct and face validity through interview and pilot study. Six experts in the field of different dimensions of the CMS and scale development were requested to review the draft questionnaire for content validity of the research construct. The scale developed in the pilot study was tested among selected participants. The initial scale consisted of 44 items developed from Marian Spirituality literature and the feedback from both experts and eight non-experts (Catholic lay people among whom the survey was conducted). One hundred and forty Catholics were recruited to complete the 44 item CMS Questionnaire for the pilot study. The samples for the pilot and main study were separately recruited. The main study was conducted on a convenience sample of 853 Church-attending Catholic lay people over the age of eighteen. Overall, the study reported strong reliability with coefficient alphas ranging from .79 to .95. Thus, the present study has sought to identify and explore the underlying factors in Catholic Marian Spirituality and to develop a measurement for the same.

Lao Buddhist Monks' Involvement in Political and Military Resistance to the Lao People's Democratic Republic Government since 1975

Abstract: There is a long history of Theravada Buddhist monk involvement in militarism in mainland Southeast Asia. Here, I examine recent Lao monk support for political and military activities directed against the communist Lao People's Democratic Republic government and its Vietnamese supporters since 1975. Monks have not become directly involved in armed conflict, as monastic rules do not allow participation in offensive violent acts, or arms trading, but they have played various important roles in supporting armed resistance against the Lao government. Some monks assisting insurgents have been shot in Thailand. Now most of the Lao insurgent-supporting monks live in the United States, Canada, and France, where a few continue to assist the political resistance against the Lao government, arguing that providing such support does not contradict Buddhist teachings. This article demonstrates how Lao Buddhist monks have negotiated religious conduct rules in the context of strong nationalistic convictions.