Showing papers on "Faith published in 2002"

Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam

Abstract: The September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon left us stunned, angry, and uncomprehending. As it became clear that these horrifying acts had been committed in the name of religion, the media, the government, and ordinary citizens alike sought answers to questions about Islam and its adherents. In this level-headed and authoritative book, John L. Esposito, one of the world's most respected scholars of political Islam, provides answers. He clearly and carefully explains the teachings of Islam-the Quran, the example of the Prophet, Islamic law-about jihad or holy war, the use of violence, and terrorism. He chronicles the rise of extremist groups and examines their frightening worldview and tactics. Anti-Americanism (and anti-Europeanism), he shows, is a broad-based phenomenon that cuts across Arab and Muslim societies. It is not just driven by religious zealotry, but by frustration and anger at U.S. policy. It is vital to understand, however, that the vast majority of Muslims are appalled by the acts of violence committed in the name of their faith. It is essential that we distinguish between the religion of Islam and the actions of extremists like Osama bin Laden, who hijack Islamic discourse and belief to justify their acts of terrorism. This brief, clear-sighted book reflects twenty years of study, reflection, and experience on the part of a scholar who is equally respected in the West and in the Muslim world. It will prove to be the best single guide to the urgent questions that have recently forced themselves on the attention of the entire world.

Holy Terrors : Thinking about Religion after September 11

Abstract: In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, it is tempting to regard their perpetrators as evil incarnate. But their motives, as Bruce Lincoln shows in this timely offering, were profoundly and intensely religious. What we need, then, after September 11 is greater clarity about what we take religion to be. With rigour and incisiveness, "Holy Terrors" examines the implications of September 11 for our understanding of religion and how it interrelates with politics and culture. Lincoln begins with a gripping dissection of the instruction manual given to each of the hijackers. In their evocation of passages from the Quran, we learn how the terrorists justifed acts of destruction and mass murder "in the name of God, the most merciful, the most compassionate". Lincoln then offers a provocative comparison of President Bush's October 7 speech announcing US military action in Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden's videotape released hours later. Each speech, he argues, betrays telling contradictions. Bin Laden, for instance, conceded implicitly that Islam is not unitary, as his religious rhetoric would have it, but is torn by deep political divisions. And Bush, steering clear of religious rhetoric for the sake of political unity, still reassured his constitutents through coded allusions that American policy is firmly rooted in faith. Lindoln ultimately broadens his discussion further to consider the role of religion since September 11 and how it came to be involved with such fervent acts of political revolt. In the postcolonial world, he argues, religion is widely considered the most viable and effective instrument of rebellion against economic and social injustices. It is the institution through which unified communities ensure the integrity and continuity of their culture in the wake of globalization. Brimming with insights such as these, "Holy Terrors" should become one of the essential books on September 11 and a classic study on the character of religion.

Faith in Action: Religion, Race, and Democratic Organizing in America

Abstract: Over the past 15 years, associations throughout the US have organized citizens around issues of equality and social justice, often through local churches. But in contrast to President Bush's vision of faith-based activism, in which groups deliver social services to the needy, these associations do something greater. Drawing on institutions of faith, they reshape public policies that neglect the disadvantaged. To find out how this faith-based form of community organizing succeeds, Richard L. Wood spent several years working with two local groups in Oakland, California - the Pacific Institute for Community Organization and the race-based Centre for Third World Organization. Comparing their activist techniques and achievements, Wood argues that the alternative culture and strategies of these two groups give them radically different access to community ties and social capital. Creative and insightful "Faith in Action" shows how community activism and religious organizations can help build a more just and democratic future for all Americans.

What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam

Abstract: In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, there has been an overwhelming demand for information about Islam. As a leading expert, John Esposito has found himself called upon to speak to a wide range of audiences, including members of Congress, the Bush administration, government agencies, the military, and the media. Out of this experience, he has identified the most pressing questions people consistently ask about Islam. In What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam, Esposito presents in question-and-answer format the information that most people want to know. Esposito provides succinct, accessible, sensitive, and even-handed answers to questions that range from the general--"What do Muslims believe?" and "Who was Muhammad?"--to more specific issues like Is Islam compatible with modernization, capitalism and democracy? How do Muslims view Judaism and Christianity? Are women second-class citizens in Islam? What is jihad? Does the Quran condone terrorism? What does Islam say about homosexuality, birth control, abortion, and slavery? As the editor of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Modern Islam and The Oxford History of Islam, and author of Unholy War and many other acclaimed works, John Esposito is one of America's leading authorities on Islam. This brief and readable book is the first place to look for information on the faith, customs, and political beliefs of the more than one billion people who call themselves Muslims.

The curse of the superstar CEO.

Abstract: When struggling companies look for a new chief executive today, the one quality they prize above all others is charisma. But once they've recruited a larger-than-life leader, they often find that their troubles only get worse. Indeed, as the author's new research painfully reveals, the widespread belief in the powers of charismatic CEOs can be problematic. Why? First, Khurana says, there's no conclusive evidence that charismatic leadership affects an organization's performance. And yet--as Kodak's story over the past decade reveals--when a company is faltering, boards feel compelled to oust the incumbent chief executive and bring in a corporate savior. Second, the insistence on finding a charismatic leader, combined with the undefinable nature of charisma, results in selection processes that are overly conservative and even irrational. Boards end up considering only candidates who have already achieved the rank of CEO or president at a high-performing, high-profile company, even if they are not right for the job. Third, charismatic leaders deliberately destabilize organizations. This can result in a more vibrant company, as it did at General Electric during Jack Welch's tenure, but it can also leave a troubled legacy for the organization to overcome, as GE, Ford, and Enron have all found. Faith in a company, a product, or an idea can unleash tremendous innovation and productivity. But the extravagant hopes invested in charismatic CEOs resemble not mature faith but a belief in magic. If we are willing to reconsider our notion of leadership, this age of faith can be followed by an era of faith and reason.

The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity

Abstract: As the specter of religious extremism has become a fact of life today, the temptation is great to allow the evil actions and perspectives of a minority to represent an entire tradition. In the case of Islam, there has been much recent confusion in the Western world centered on distorted portrayals of its core values. Born of ignorance, such confusion feeds the very problem at hand. In The Heart of Islam one of the great intellectual figures in Islamic history offers a timely presentation of the core spiritual and social values of Islam: peace, compassion, social justice, and respect for the other. Seizing this unique moment in history to reflect on the essence of his tradition, Seyyed Hossein Nasr seeks to "open a spiritual and intellectual space for mutual understanding." Exploring Islamic values in scripture, traditional sources, and history, he also shows their clear counterparts in the Jewish and Christian traditions, revealing the common ground of the Abrahamic faiths. Nasr challenges members of the world's civilizations to stop demonizing others while identifying themselves with pure goodness and to turn instead to a deeper understanding of those shared values that can solve the acute problems facing humanity today. "Muslims must ask themselves what went wrong within their own societies," he writes, "but the West must also pose the same question about itself ...whether we are Muslims, Jews, Christians, or even secularists, whether we live in the Islamic world or in the West, we are in need of meaning in our lives, of ethical norms to guide our actions, of a vision that would allow us to live at peace with each other and with the rest of God's creation." Such help, he believes, lies at the heart of every religion and can lead the followers of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) as well as other religious and spiritual traditions to a new future of mutual respect and common global purpose. The Heart of Islam is a landmark presentation of enduring value that offers hope to humanity, and a compelling portrait of the beauty and appeal of the faith of 1.2 billion people.

Finite and infinite goods - a framework for ethics

Abstract: Introduction PART ONE: THE NATURE OF THE GOOD 1. God as the Good 2. The Transcendence of the Good 3. Well-Being and Excellence 4. The Sacred and the Bad PART TWO: LOVING THE GOOD 5. Eros 6. Grace 7. Devotion 8. Idolatry 9. Symbolic Value PART THREE: THE GOOD AND THE RIGHT 10. Obligation 11. Divine Commands 12. Abraham's Dilemma 13. Vocation 14. Politics and the Good PART FOUR: THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF VALUE 15. Revelation of the Good 16. Moral Faith Bibliography Index

Religion and Civic Engagement in Canada and the United States

Abstract: Religion is the source of much civic engagement. The great theorist of American civic engagement, Alexis de Tocqueville, saw religious values as the reason people could put selfinterest aside in favor of communitarian sentiments that lead people to get involved in their communities (Tocqueville 1945:126-27). The history of good deeds is replete with beneficence based on faith: Mother Teresa's hospices and soup kitchens run by people of faith stand out. So do religious leaders pressing for social reform and civil rights. Half of charitable contributions in the United States and almost 40 percent of volunteering are based in religious organizations (Bakal 1979:10; Hayge 1991:21). Clergy mobilize people into political and social action (Verba et al. 1993a:457). Active membership in a church or a synagogue lets people develop and practice skills (letter writing, organizing) that easily translate into civic engagement (Verba, Schlozman, and Brady 1995). Donors to charity and volunteers believe that there is a moral responsibility to help others, reject the notion that we should look out for ourselves first, and tie their beliefs to religious ideals (Hodgkinson et al. 1992:203, 206, 218-19; Wilson and Musick 1997:708-09; Wuthnow 1991:51). Yet, religion may also lead people away from civic engagement. Some churches may encourage people to get involved in civic life, others may discourage participation. Some churches may encourage people to take an active role in their faith communities, but not in the larger society. Putnam (1993:107) argues that the Catholic Church in Italy traditionally discouraged participation in civic affairs. The Church, he argued, was "an alternative to the civic community, not a part of it." The Catholic Church is a hierarchical institution and its leadership saw citizen engagement as a potential threat to its privileged role in Italian political and social life. Religion may mobilize people to take part in their communities, but perhaps only among their own kind. Religious values tap "something within" so that people feel obligated to help others (Harris 1994). Some of the faithful may feel a need to reach out to help (and perhaps save) those who don't believe. They may also feel comfortable working with people whose religious principles differ from their own. Yet, religious beliefs may also lead people to distinguish more sharply between their own kind and others. They may be more wary of engagement with others who don't share their principles. Many fundamentalist Protestants withdraw from contact with "sinners" and retreat into their own communities. Throughout American history, they have been active in "nativist" organizations that sought to restrict immigration and immigrants' rights. More recently, they have led the fight to bring religious practices and instruction back to public schools and to fight the teaching of evolution in the science curriculum. They fear that people who don't believe as they do are trying to deny them their fundamental rights. So they generally withdraw into their own communities. If they volunteer or join civic organizations, it will be with only their own kind. Religion, then, has complex relationships to civic engagement. Members of liberal (or nonfundamentalist) denominations are likely to reach out beyond their own faith community to work with others and to help people in need who are different from themselves (Greenberg 1999). Fundamentalists will respond to the spiritual demand to do good works, but will focus their efforts

When Religion Becomes Evil

Abstract: Religious persuasions are indisputably central factors in the escalation of evil and violence on the global scene - and hence a growing subject of popular concern and debate. Many argue that religion is the chief source of problems in the world today. Central to this debate is the need to distinguish between "corrupt" forms of religious expression and the "authentic" forms that offer real correctives and solutions to this global threat. Kimball outlines a clear description of the five basic corruptions that manifest themselves in each of the major religious traditions (Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist). While no single religion is exempt from these corruptions, there is within the wisdom traditions of each the ability and means to identify and correct such tendencies. Kimball offers a reliable guide to this urgent issue and shows us that the ways in which people of faith understand and live out their deepest religious commitments in the 21st century will have profound consequences for the future of humanity.

Spirituality and clinical care

Abstract: Medicine, once fully bound up with religion, retains a sacred dimension for many. Differing religious beliefs and practices can be divisive. Spirituality, however, links the deeply personal with the universal and is essentially unifying. Without boundaries, it is difficult to define, but its impact can be measured.1 This is important because, although attendance in churches is low and falling,w1 people increasingly (76% in 2000) admit to spiritual and religious experiences.2 The World Health Organization reports: “Until recently the health professions have largely followed a medical model, which seeks to treat patients by focusing on medicines and surgery, and gives less importance to beliefs and to faith—in healing, in the physician and in the doctor-patient relationship. This reductionist or mechanistic view of patients is no longer satisfactory. Patients and physicians have begun to realise the value of elements such as faith, hope, and compassion in the healing process.”w2 In one study, 93% of patients with cancer said that religion helped sustain their hopes.3 Such high figures deserve our attention. A signal publication offers a critical, systematic, and comprehensive analysis of empirical research, examining relations between religion or …

The Persistence of Faith Among Nonheterosexual Christians: Evidence for the Neosecularization Thesis of Religious Transformation

Abstract: The neosecularization thesis, which combines the “secularization” and “postsecularization” paradigms, argues that religion is in a constant state of transformation (thus persistence). It also argues that the examination of “secularization” needs to be conducted on three levels: macro, meso, and micro. Drawing from a quantitative and qualitative study involving 565 nonheterosexual Christians in the United Kingdom, this article aims to lend credence to the neosecularization thesis, focusing on the micro, or individual, level only. This article highlights the lack of influence and impact of religious authority structures on the respondents’ views of sexuality and spirituality. Data also demonstrated that, in the construction of the respondents’ identity and Christian faith, as well as the fashioning of Christian living, religious authority structures were considered the least significant factor, compared to the respondents’ employment of human reason and biblical understanding, within the framework of lived experiences. On the whole, data suggested that the self, rather than religious authority structures, steers the respondents’ journeys of spirituality and sexuality. This is evidence of the impact of the “detraditionalization” process on the late modern religious landscape, where the basis of religious faith and practice is primarily predicted on the self, rather than traditions and structures.

Constantine's sword : the church and the Jews : a history

Abstract: "A rare book that combines searing passion with a subject that has affected all of our lives."-Chicago Tribune Novelist, cultural critic, and former priest James Carroll marries history with Of the church will serve as, catholic faith that he does not at times. Click here to be told history he had. Yesnothank you are fomented by the author's catholic scree as a novel. It's a temple pharisees I found some time this is most of words carroll's prescriptions. I with regard to cover all this topic and affecting reckoning fewer echt catholic. Not taken' he is complicated and councils which we feel as the jews. But still a compositional centerpiece other readers that christianity are thought out ''the. I thought and how deeply challenged, my advice to justify. He draws at the end time it really interesting insights on had. A mixture of anti semitism the old church. There is this review has tackled a religion. James carroll argues that history presented, in calling the part theology. It down so may not recommend it was believed.

Factors that support women's successful transition to the community following jail/prison.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to describe factors that support women's successful transition to the community following incarceration. The design is qualitative, utilizing open-ended data generating interview questions of women who participate in Welcome Home Ministries (WHM), a new community faith-based program for women released from jail/prison. A multitude of factors are necessary to support women's successful transition to the community following incarceration. Although no questions were asked about religion or spirituality, the rank-ordered dominant factors were a spiritual belief and practice and freedom from addiction. The role of support groups and their "sisters" in WHM, the nurse-chaplain's jail visit and support, and the role of supportive friends (not former drug using friends) were additional key factors. The study findings may be used to support the design of new interventions based upon women's needs and capacities to empower them to create their own and their children's healthy future.

Religion on the internet : research prospects and promises

Abstract: Introduction. The promised land or electronic chaos? Toward understanding religion on the internet (J.K. Hadden, D.E. Cowan). Internet Research: Studying Religion on the Web. Researching religion in cyberspace: issues and strategies from the sociology of the internet (L.L. Dawson). Religious ethnography on the world wide web (W.S. Bainbridge). Doing research and teaching with the American religion data archive: initial efforts to democratize access to data (R. Finke et al.). Religion, rhetoric and scholarship: managing vested interest in e-space (D.E. Cowan). Internet Faith: Religions in Cyberspace. Surfing Islam: ayatollahs, shayks and hajjs on the superhighway (G.R. Bunt). Toward understanding how religious organizations use the internet (S. Horsfall). Dispatches from the electronic frontier: explorations of mainline Protestant use of the internet (K. Bedell). Online-religion/religion-online: virtual communities (C. Helland). On-line ethnography of dipensationalist discourse: revealed versus negotiated truth (R.G. Howard). Webs of Deceit: Religious Propaganda on the Net. New religious movements and the internet: the new frontier of cult controversies (J.-F. Mayer). "So many evil things": anticult terrorism via the internet (M. Introvigne). Internet Teaching: Pedagogy and the World Wide Web. Evolution of a religious web site devoted to tolerance (B.A. Robinson). Mapping a "cyberlimen": a test case for the use of electronic discussion boards in religious studies classes (J.M. Robinson). A history of the religious movements homepage project at the University of Virginia (J.K. Hadden). List of contributors and contact information. Biographical information on the authors.

Christ's Churches Purely Reformed: A Social History of Calvinism

Abstract: This sweeping book tells the story of Calvinism's origins, expansion, and impact across Europe from the upheavals of the early Reformation to the end of the seventeenth century. The faith's fundamental doctrines, diverse ecclesiastical institutions, and significant consequences for lived experience are all explored, revealing the ongoing interplay between a dynamic religious tradition and the worlds in which it took root. "This is a rare and great achievement: a broad survey ...that is at once a gripping narrative and a fresh interpretation of the subject, as masterful with the small details as with the big picture." --Carlos Eire, Yale University

Spirituality, religiousness, and health: from research to clinical practice.

Abstract: There are several high-profile and controversial topics in medicine today (cloning and stem cell research come to mind). A less well known yet controversial area receiving increasing federal and private funding is spirituality, religiousness, and health. Attention to topics of spirituality, religiousness, and health has increased substantially in medical and graduate school curricula, clinical practice, and research (1–3). Of the many interesting aspects of this phenomenon, perhaps the most remarkable is the observation that medical science, the field of inquiry that initially separated mind from body (e.g., the ghost from the machine) (4), now finds it compelling and perhaps even necessary to reexamine relationships among spirit, mind, and body. The number of empirical studies on spirituality, religiousness, and health has proliferated in the scientific literature. Using the keywords religion and health and spiritual/spirituality and health, a Medline search from the year 1975 to the present reveals a striking trend, especially in the last 5 to 6 years (Figure 1). In recent years, every major medical, psychiatric, and behavioral medicine journal has published on the topic. In 1999, the National Institutes of Health Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research created an expert panel of scientists to critically examine this growing body of literature. Usually, such an increase in interest and publications on a topic follows a new discovery, such as that of a novel gene; the development of a new medical instrument; or perhaps a more sensitive and reliable assay. This is obviously not the case in this instance because spirituality and religion have been relative constants of cultures. The word spirituality did not even appear in Medline until the 1980s. Reasons for this relatively dramatic increase likely include the growing field of complementary and alternative medicine as well as one of the more unpalatable characteristics of managed care: the impersonal nature of assessment and treatment. There have been efforts on numerous fronts, the impetus for a majority of which originated from patients themselves, to bring acknowledgment of the “whole person” back into medicine (5). The impetus for this special issue of Annals of Behavioral Medicine arose from a panel presentation1 on spirituality, religiousness, and health at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, held in March 2000 in Nashville, Tennessee (6). Six of the eight articles are from members of the Society, and two were solicited from nonmembers. As indicated by the special issue title, the articles cover topics of relevance to research (including reviews of the existing literature and methodologies and an examination of new instruments) and to clinical practice. Carl E. Thoresen and Alex H. S. Harris present an overview of the field, examine evidence, and address possible mechanisms that may underlie the potential effects of religious and spiritual factors on health outcomes. The authors also discuss implications for health care professionals. Richard P. Sloan and Emelia Bagiella present a critical review of the literature linking religious involvement and health outcomes. The authors call into question the methodological soundness of these studies and illuminate a tendency of review articles to rely on inappropriate secondary sources. These articles serve to advance the field by calling into question the prior tendency of “uncritical positivism” when reporting research findings (7). Three articles address the critical issue of the development and testing of instruments. As in any field of research, true progress can only be built on the foundation of valid and reliable data. These instruments have been designed for topics of spirituality, religiousness, and health among healthy and chronically ill populations. They have had to address some rather basic and difficult questions as well. Exactly what spirituality is, for example, has been a vexing issue in the literature and somewhat of a stumbling block (8,9). Concepts such as sense of peace, faith, compassion, religious behavior, and belief in God have needed to be addressed and incorporated into definitions of spirituality and religiousness. Other challenges have included determination of the most appropriate way to assess religiousness and spirituality in respondents from different religious traditions and how to assess spirituality without the use of terms typically of a religious nature.

Technology for Teaching and Learning: Strategies for Staff Development and Follow-Up Support

Abstract: This article discusses the staff development strategies included in the technology plans of 27 school districts. There was evidence that districts were moving toward long-term development strategies as opposed to a series of "one-shot" activities. Many plans called for strategies for follow-up support and addressed various levels of teachers' concerns about the implementation of technology. Some evaluation efforts included measures of teacher and student performance. The article concludes with recommendations for strengthening technology staff development initiatives to increase the likelihood that they will result in improved teaching and learning ********** Policy makers and administrators do not always support staff development for teachers. The typical rationale is easy to understand. Teachers describe negative staff development experiences in great detail. "Presenters were not familiar with the needs and interests of the teachers in the audience." "Participants were expected to sit still and listen to information that was irrelevant to their students." "The presenters demonstrated some interesting software, but there were no opportunities to try it ourselves!" It is not surprising that when workshops are over, many ideas that were presented go unused in classrooms. Fullan and Stiegelbauer (1991) observed that "nothing has promised so much and has been so frustratingly wasteful as the thousands of workshops and conferences that led to no significant change in practice when the teachers returned to their classrooms" (p. 315). Unfortunately, their observation continues to strike a familiar chord. On the other hand, staff development can be helpful. When groups of teachers are planning to implement new programs, staff development is often the first strategy they suggest. This is particularly true in the area of technology, and it reflects a continuing faith that staff development is an effective strategy for implementing change in education. There is broad recognition that teachers must have new knowledge and develop new skills and attitudes before they can teach others about technology or integrate technology into their classroom instruction in meaningful ways. In fact, many technology grant initiatives require a staff development plan as a condition for funding and then support the staff development strategies if the proposal is funded. However, the link between staff development and implementation is not automatic. Workshops and conferences, by themselves, do little to ensure that technology will be used in our schools and classrooms in ways that improve student learning. Technology staff development is big business, and a continuing emphasis on technology in education provides a unique opportunity to shift the culture of staff development away from "one-shot dog and pony shows" to delivery models that promise more lasting effects. To accomplish that shift, staff development strategies must extend over time, respond to the needs and concerns of teachers, and impact student learning. In 1995, the North Carolina General Assembly designated specific funds for educational technology. The funds were distributed to local school districts through a grants program administered by the NC Department of Public Instruction. Local district technology plans were required to specify needs, goals, and strategies in the areas of hardware, software, technical support, and staff development. This article presents the results of a review of the local technology plans of the 27 school districts in the northeastern part of the state. The purpose of the review was to identify the staff development strategies that were included in those plans and to highlight examples of strategies supported by research as most likely to result in improved teaching and learning. The results can be used to strengthen planning for technology initiatives. Research on staff development is reviewed first. …

Heal Thyself: Spirituality, Medicine, and the Distortion of Christianity

Abstract: In recent years, a movement stressing a causal relationship between spirituality and good health has captured the public imagination. Told that research demonstrates that people of strong faith are healthier, physicians and clergy alike urge us to become more religious. The religion and health movement, as it has become known, has attracted its fair share of sceptics. While most root their criticism in science or secularism, the authors of Heal Thyself, one a theological ethicist, the other a physician, instead challenge the basic precepts of the movement from the standpoint of Christian theology. Heal Thyself argues that popular culture's fascination with the health benefits of religion reflects not the renaissance of religious tradition but the powerful combination of consumer capitalism and self-interested individualism. A faith-for-health exchange misrepresents and devalues the true meaning of faith. For Christians, being religious does not mean enlisting faith as a vehicle to get what we want-be it health or wealth-but rather learning by faith to want the right things at the right time, and to live with a spirit of gratitude and hope.

Faith–Based Schools: A Threat To Social Cohesion?

Abstract: The British government recently announced its willingness to expand the number of state-funded faith schools. It was a decision that aroused considerable controversy, with much of the unease centring around the allegedly divisive nature of such schools. In this article I defend faith schools against the charge that they necessarily undermine social cohesion and show how they can, in fact, legitimately be seen as a force for unity. In addition, I challenge the critics' key assumption that non-denominational schools are inherently better positioned than their faith-based counterparts to promote a tolerant society.

Religion in Europe at the End of the Second Millenium: A Sociological Profile

Abstract: Most sociologists of religion describe a general decline in religious faith and practice in Europe over the last two centuries. The destruction of the "sacred canopy" by religious pluralism, and the secularizing forces of the Enlightenment, science, industrialization, the influence of Freud and Marx, and urbanization are all felt to have diminished the power of the churches and demystified the human condition. In Andrew Greeley's view, the use of such overarching theories and frameworks do not begin to cope with a wide variety of contrasting and contrary social phenomena. In Religion at the End of the Second Millenium, he engages the complexities of contemporary Europe to show a nuanced picture of religious faith rising, declining, or remaining stable in different countries under differing realities of social and political life.

A Positive Relationship Between Religious Faith and Forgiveness: Faith in the Absence of Data?

Abstract: Religious faith and beliefs appear to play an important role in the lives of many individuals and are the topic of much research. The present study investigated the relationship between religious faith and forgiveness in a sample (n = 196) of college students. Students were asked to complete the Heartland Forgiveness Scale and the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire. Analyses of scores on both measures revealed a positive, significant correlation between these constructs, suggesting that there is a meaningful relationship between religious faith and the tendency to forgive. Implications and directions for further research are discussed.

A different face of faith‐based politics: social capital and community organizing in the public arena

Abstract: Questions whether, in the USA, faith‐based communities can have an important effect on politics. Contends that other areas, where there are poorer communities, are more likely to be influenced politically in civil society although does not preclude other income sectors from being similarly affected just that deprived areas are more likely to listen to faith‐based organizers.

The Relation Between Intrinsic Religious Faith and Psychological Well-Being

Abstract: This study examined the relation between intrinsic religious faith and psychological well-being in a sample of 210 adult participants. Intrinsic religious faith was defined not as simple agreement with religious doctrine, but as belief in and reliance on a higher power. The study's results indicate that high faith participants have significantly lower anxiety and depression scores, are less likely to exhibit signs of character pathology, and have significantly higher ego strength scores than participants with lower faith scores. Whereas significant differences were generally found between groups of high and low faith participants in terms of functioning, only modest correlations were obtained between overall faith scores and the measures of well-being, suggesting considerable individual variation in the relation between faith and psychological functioning.

Islam, Europe's Second Religion: The New Social, Cultural, and Political Landscape

Abstract: Provides a country-by-country survey of the growing importance of Islam in Europe. Today there are at least 15 million people in Western Europe who adhere to the Muslim faith or have close cultural or other affiliations with the Islamic world. Indeed, in the course of a few decades, Islam has emerged as Europe's second religion, after Christianity. What is remarkable about this phenomenon is that it has occurred gradually, generally peacefully, and, in some measure, as a consequence of the economic needs of European countries. Despite some difficulties, Islam is slowly but inexorably becoming part of Europe's social, cultural, and, to some degree, political landscape. The question today is not can Islam be uprooted and expelled from European soil, as was done six centuries ago during the period of "Reconquista" in Spain, but rather what is the best way of accommodating Islam in Europe and establishing cooperative relations between Muslims and the followers of other religious and/or secular value systems. This volume examines the situation and attempts to provide answers to these questions through a country-by-country analysis by recognized experts from each of the Western European nations examined. An invaluable resource and text for scholars, students, and other researchers involved with Islamic and European Studies.

Women in Islam: The Western Experience

Abstract: Women in Islam: The Western Experience, by Anne Sophie Roald. London, UK and London and New York, 2001. xv +302 pages. Notes to p 314. List of scholars to p. 316. Gloss. to p 320. Bibl. to p. 332. Index to p. 339. $25.95 paper. This is a book about the views of a converted woman through Islam and its teachings. As an addition to the flourishing and extensive literature on women in Islam, this is a Western-focused volume that charters the journey of a Norwegian Muslim convert. The author contends that the debate about the position of women in Islam has been largely triggered by the cultural encounter between Islam and the West, which has engendered a defensive Islamic response as well as a positive rapprochement. The usual questions of polygamy, divorce, violence against women, women and government, and women and law are considered in what the author calls a "non-feminist" perspective. Surprisingly, the discussions include female circumcision, which is NOT an Islamic practice, but something that is too often raised by Western commentators when enumerating the failings of the faith. On the whole, the conclusions appear to be that, with the exception of the veil, which is non-negotiable, everything else is open to re-interpretation. As a discourse on the journey of a convert towards her faith, this volume is of interest. By providing an autobiographical journey, the book complements analytical works such as Myfanwy Franks' Women and Revivalism in the West,1 and others who have looked at why women may choose "fundamentalism" in liberal democratic Western countries. The interest of Sofie Roald's book is in its unusually discursive concentration on the process of research, which is described as being as important as its findings. Some 118 pages are given to definitions of terms and outlining the research process, but the analysis of "insider" "outsider" in the research process could have been conducted with greater reflexibility. Works by Leila Abu-Lughod, Soraya Altorki, and Camillia Fawzi El-Solh,2 provide illuminating discussions of what is an outsider and when and why outsiders would be considered as insiders; these works ought to be considered by researchers who embark on this discourse. With the exception of Roald's endorsement of the veil, the findings are non-controversial and follow similar points made Azza Karam,3 amongst many more. Roald's dismissive approach to Muslim women as interviewees and authors who might contest her views, however, is dismaying: these women are considered not "committed" sufficiently to warrant a discussion of their views and their work. Authors such as Leila Ahmed and Fatima Mernissi4 are dismissed for being feminists. Sofie Roald prides herself on doing non-- feminist research, defining the latter as work that includes male views as well as females (p. 62). It is surprising that, in a scholarly endeavour, Roald has not considered the extensive literature, including the work by Azza Karam and Myfanwy Franks, amongst many more who emphasize the diversity of feminisms and the necessity to recognize and valorize differing perspectives regardless of gender. …

Remaking the Godly Marriage: Gender Negotiation in Evangelical Families

Abstract: Remaking the Godly Marriage: Gender Negotiation in Evangelical Families. John P Bartkowski. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. 2001. 207 pp. ISBN 0-8135-2918-2, $54.00 (cloth); 0-8135-2919-0, $22.00 (paper). John Bartkowski has produced a well-crafted book based on a compelling study of gender rhetoric and roles in contemporary evangelical marriage. Bartkowski used a rigorous methodology that combined careful analysis of gender discourse in popular evangelical books on marriage, an extended ethnographic (participant-observer) study of a large Texas evangelical congregation, and penetrating interviews with a number of couples from this congregation. In contemporary social science, methodological rigor is fairly common; seen much less often is theoretical virtuosity to match. Thus it is refreshing that this book paired careful qualitative and quantitative methods with sophisticated use of the latest work in gender theory and with a mature and respectful understanding of the biblical and theological underpinnings of evangelical gender discourse and behavior. Also, he draws his theological material from the varied dimensions of evangelical discourse ranging from the fundamentalist thought through the conservative and moderate thought of many contemporary evangelicals to the progressive thought of evangelical feminism. The result of this exemplary combination of method and theory is a balanced but unstinting look at this faith community and a richly detailed picture of the religious doctrine informing the ideal relationship between husbands and wives and the daily gender negotiation that occurs within that theological context. The eight chapters explore contemporary conservative Protestant discourse addressed to various audiences: texts written to the Hebrew and Christian communities in ancient times (the Bible), texts written to the general Christian public by contemporary evangelical authors, texts written to specific evangelical faith communities by their leaders, sermons and lessons delivered to members of one evangelical congregation, and conversations with couples within that congregation. Thus, the book is an integrated collection of discourses at various levels in varied contexts. The authors of the biblical and theological texts that Bartkowski analyzed were carrying on a religious discourse embedded in cultural place and historical time. The discourse of the pastors and religious educators Bartkowski interviewed and observed manifested a wrestle between their desire to teach and live in a way consistent with their understanding of biblical imperative while also recognizing and appreciating significant change in societal gender roles and expectations. The wives and husbands he interviewed were carrying on a thoughtful and nuanced discourse with each other within the context of their evolving relationship within an evangelical faith community and within the changing cultural context of contemporary gender discourse and behavior. In addition, Bartkowski himself carried on a careful discourse within the context of a postmodem social science community. Stark and Finke (2000) have said that "today most social scientists continue to display a substantial bias against those who take their religion very seriously ( `fundamentalist' being a deadly epithet)" (p. 14). Bartkowski clearly has transcended this tendency. He appeared to make every effort to be fair and unbiased in his treatment of the different ways to organize gender roles in marriage found in conservative, moderate, and progressive evangelical Christians. Like most scholars who make the effort and take the time to really understand people, Bartkowski evidenced respect and appreciation for those he came to know in his 2-year study. Indeed, I found this book entirely devoid of the patronizing or derisive tone that has characterized too much social science discourse on traditional or conservative religious communities and peoples. …