Showing papers on "Religious education published in 2004"

Congregations in America

Abstract: More Americans belong to religious congregations than to any other kind of voluntary association. What these vast numbers amount to - what people are doing in the over 300,000 churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples in the United States - is a question that resonates through every quarter of American society, particularly in these times of "faith-based initiatives," "moral majorities," and militant fundamentalism. And it is a question answered in depth and in detail in Congregations in America. Drawing on the 1998 National Congregations Study - the first systematic study of its kind - as well as a broad range of quantitative, qualitative, and historical evidence, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the most significant form of collective religious expression in American society: local congregations. Among its more surprising findings, Congregations in America reveals that, despite the media focus on the political and social activities of religious groups, the arts are actually far more central to the workings of congregations. Here we see how, far from emphasising the pursuit of charity or justice through social services or politics, congregations mainly traffic in ritual, knowledge, and beauty through the cultural activities of worship, religious education, and the arts. Along with clarifying - and debunking - arguments on both sides of the debate over faith-based initiatives, the information presented here comprises a unique and invaluable resource, answering previously unanswerable questions about the size, nature, makeup, finances, activities, and proclivities of these organisations at the very centre of American life.

Rethinking Religious Education and Plurality: Issues in Diversity and Pedagogy

Abstract: As Western society becomes increasingly multicultural in character, schools must reassess the provision of religious education and look at how they might adapt in order to accommodate students' diverse experiences of plurality. This book offers a critical view of approaches to the treatment of different religions in contemporary education, in order to devise approaches to teaching and learning and to formulate policies and procedures that are fair and just to all. Beginning with a contextual overview of the religious, social and cultural changes of the past fifty years, the book goes on to illuminate and assess six different responses to the challenges posed by religious plurality in schools. Conclusions are drawn from the various positions explored in this book, identifying what the character of religious education should be, how it should be taught and addressing the issues raised for policy, practice and research. Rethinking Religious Education and Plurality argues for a plural approach to education and will be a valuable resource for students and researchers studying courses in religious education as well as teachers, education advisers and policy makers.

Defining Islamic Education: Differentiation and Applications.

Abstract: This article explores use of several terms that signify Islam, and provides guidelines to clarify their use in internal and external discourses. Building on this foundation, the article delineates a typology of Islamic education and their associated institutions. This enhances understanding of important conceptual differences that hinge upon subtle variations of language as in the distinction between education of Muslims and for Muslims, and between teaching Islam and teaching about Islam. The article then seeks to elucidate a theoretical conception of "Islamic education," that takes into consideration Islamic scripture and Prophetic statements, along with commonly-held approaches to education in Muslim history. The article concludes that key motivations and characteristics of a holistic and purposeful education program are shared between Islamic and Western traditions, a phenomenon partially explained by the shared and cumulative transmission of educational values and methods from classical times until the present.

The effects of religious versus secular education on suicide ideation and suicidal attitudes in adolescents in Turkey

Abstract: Religion is associated with lower rates of self-killing, but the mechanism underlying religion-suicide association is not clear. To better understand this relationship, the present study investigated the impact of religious versus secular education on suicidal ideation and attitudes towards suicide and a suicidal close friend in Turkish adolescents. Deduced from religious commitment, social integration, networking and stigma perspectives, the study tested five specific predictions. A questionnaire was used to collect the data in a group of adolescents (n = 206) undergoing religious education and a group of adolescents (n = 214) undergoing secular education (N = 420). Suicide ideation was more frequent in adolescents undergoing secular education than in those undergoing religious education. The secular group was more accepting of suicide than the religious group. Those from the religious group, however, were more accepting of a suicidal close friend than their secular counterparts. It seems that self-killing finds accepting attitudes in secular segments of societies and,hence, people consider self-killing as an option during times of personal crises. People from religious communities, however, seem not to accept self-killing as an option, but they are more positive toward persons who have considered suicide for one reason or another.

Youth: its education, regimen, and hygiene

Abstract: words, need of Accessory and fundamental movement Accuracy of memory overdone Activity of children, motor Adolescence biography and literature of characterized Agriculture Alternations of physical and psychic states Altruism of country children of woman, cutlet for Amphimixis, psychic, basis of Anger Anthropometry and ideal of gymnastics Arboreal life and the hand Art study Arts and crafts movement Associations devised or guided by adults Astronomy Athletic festivals in Greece Athletics as a conversation topic dangers and defects of records in Attention fostered by commando exercises rhythm in spontaneous Authority and adolescence Autobiographies of boyhood Automatisms motor, causes and kinds of control and serialization of danger of premature control of desirable Youth: Its Education, Regimen, and Hygiene CHAPTER XII. MORAL AND RELIGIOUS TRAINING 156 Bachelor women Basal muscles, development of Basal powers, development of Bathing Beauty, age of feminine Belief, habit and muscle determining Bible, the influence of, in adolescence methods of teaching study of, for girls study of, in German method of will training study of, order in study of, postponed study of, preparation for Biography and adolescence Blood vessels, expansion at puberty Blushing, characteristic of puberty Body training, Greek Botany Boxing Boys age of little affection in dangers of coeducation for differences between, and girls latitude in conduct and studies of, before puberty puberty in, characteristics of Brain action, unity in Bullying Bushido Cakewalk Castration, functional in women Catharsis, Aristotle's theory of Character and muscles Children faults and crimes of motor activity of motor defects of selfishness of Chivalry, medieval Chorea Christianity, muscular Chums and cronies Church, feminity in the City children vs. country children Civilized men, savages physically superior to Climbing hill muscles, age for exercise of Coeducation, dangers in College coeducation in English requirements of woman's ideal school and Combat, personal, as exercise Commando exercises restricted for girls Concentration Concreteness in modern language study, criticized Conduct mechanized of Italian schoolboys tabulated weather and Confessionalism of young women passional inducement to Conflict, see Combat Control nervous, through dancing of anger of brute instincts of children's movements Conversation, athletics in degeneration in, causes of Conversion Cooerdination loosened at adolescence inherited tendencies of muscular Corporal punishment Country children vs. city children Crime, juvenile causes of education and reading and Cruelty, a juvenile fault Culture heroes Dancing Deadly sins, the seven, vs. modern juvenile faults Debate and will−training Doll curve Domesticity Dramatic instinct of puberty Drawing, curve of stages of Dueling Education art in crime and industrial intellectual Youth: Its Education, Regimen, and Hygiene CHAPTER XII. MORAL AND RELIGIOUS TRAINING 157 manual moral and religious of boys of girls physical Effort, as a developing force Emotions dancing completest language of the religion directed to Endurance Energy and laziness English language and literature, pedagogy of pedagogic degeneration in, causes of requirements of college sense language, dangers of Ennui Erect position and true life Ethics, study of, criticized Ethical judgments of children Euphoria and exercise Evolution, movement as a measure of Exercise health and measurements and music and nascent periods and rhythm and Farm work Fatigue at puberty chores and not a cause for punishment play and restlessness expressive of result of labor with defective psychic impulsion rhythm of activity and will−culture and Faults of children Favorite sounds and words Fecundity of college women Femininity in the church in the school and college Feminists Fighting Flogging Foreign languages, dangers of France, religious training in Friendships of adolescence Fundamental and accessory Future life, as a school teaching Games groups Panhellenic Gangs, organized juvenile Genius, early development of Germany, will−training in Girl graduates aversion to marriage of fecundity of sterility of Girls and boys, differences between coeducation for, dangers of education of education of, humanistic education of, manners in education of, more difficult than of boys education of, nature in education of, regularity in education of, religion in ideal school and curriculum for overdrawing their energy Grammar, place of Greece, athletic festivals in Greek body training Group games Growth at puberty Youth: Its Education, Regimen, and Hygiene CHAPTER XII. MORAL AND RELIGIOUS TRAINING 158 gymnastics and its effect on of muscle structure and function, measure of periods rhythmic Gymnastics effect on growth, its ideal of, and anthropometry ideals, its four unharmonized, and military ideals and nascent periods and patriotism and proportion and measurement for, criticized Swedish Habits and muscle Hand and arboreal life Health, exercise and of girls Heredity, a factor in development High School, the coeducation in language study and Hill−climbing Historic interest, growth of Home, restraint of, detrimental Honor, among hoodlums in sports Hoodlums Hysteria Imagination, at puberty of children play and Individuality, growth of, at puberty Industrial education Industry and movement Inhibition Intellect, adolescence in Intemperance Knightly ideas of youth Knowing and doing Language, concreteness in, degeneration through dangers of, through eye and hand precision curve of vs. literature Latin, danger of Laughter Laziness and energy Lies Literary men, youth of women, youth of Literature and adolescence language vs. Machinery and movement Mammae, loss of function of Manners in girls' education Manual training defects and criticisms of difficulties of Marriage, dangers in delay of influenced by coeducation influenced by college training Mastery in art−craft, equipment for Maternity, dangers of deferred Measurements and exercise Memory, accuracy, age, and kinds of sex curve of types of Military drill ideals and gymnastics Mind and motility Money sense Monthly period and Sabbath Motherhood, training for Motor, activity, primitive automatisms defects of children defects, general economies powers, general growth of precocity psychoses, muscles and recaptulation Youth: Its Education, Regimen, and Hygiene CHAPTER XII. MORAL AND RELIGIOUS TRAINING 159 regularity Movement and industry Movements, passive precocity of Muscle tension and thought Muscles, per cent by weight of body character and motor psychoses and small, and thought will and Muscular Christianity Music and exercise Myths, study of Nascent periods and exercises Nature in girls' education

Faith development at 30: naming the challenges of faith in a new millennium

Abstract: Thirty years ago this summer Religious Education published its first article on faith development theory, entitled, “Agenda Toward a Developmental Perspective on Faith,” published in Religious Education in volume LXIX, March‐April 1974, pp. 209‐219. At the request of the editors of this journal, it is a privilege to offer an account of some of the author’s present reflections on faith development research and theory. Like many dimensions of our lives, faith seems to have a broadly recognizable pattern of development. This unfolding pattern can be characterized in terms of developing emotional, cognitive, and moral interpretations and responses. Our ways of imagining and committing in faith correlate significantly with our ways of knowing and valuing more generally. This article begins with a somewhat personal account of the origins and emergence of faith development research. It continues with reflections on some of the ways religious educators have adopted and critically reflected on faith development theory and its implications for religious nurture and growth. In a third section, I review some of the critical and constructive assessments of faith development theory by scholars in the field, through the lenses of several volumes of collected articles. A fourth theme addresses the renewal of religious education in the context of the present lively focus on the significance and power of practices in faith formation and growth. The last two sections offer some thoughts about some of the challenges to faith nurture and development stemming from what we are learning to call the conditions of postmodern life.

Faith Schools : Consensus or Conflict?

Abstract: Introduction, "Jo Cairns, Roy Gardner and Denis Lawton" Part 1: Faith Schools: Past and Present 1. Faith Schools Now: An Overview, "Roy Gardner" 2. Faith Schools and Colleges of Education since 1800, "Brian Gates "3. The Legal Frameworks for Faith Schools and the Rights of the Child, "Marie Parker-Jenkins" Part 2: Faith Schools: For and Against 4. Faith Schools: Are They Justified?, "Richard Pring" 5. Are Faith Schools Divisive?, "Mark Halstead and Terence McLaughlin" 6. Religion and Schools: A Fresh Way Forward, "Marilyn Mason" 7. Faith-based Schools in the UK: An Unenthusiastic Defence of a Slightly Reformed Status Quo, "Harry Brighouse" 8. Keeping Faith with Social Capital: From Coleman to New Labour on Social Justice, Religion and Education, "Eva Gamarnikow and Tony Green Part 3: Faith Schools in Practice "9. Perceptions and Practices in Christian Schools, "Bart McGettrick" 10. Learning Together: The Case for 'Joint Church' Schools, "Alan Murphy "11. Segregation or Cohesion: Church of England Schools in Bradford, "Rachel Barker and John Anderson "12. Through the Looking Glass: Religion, Identity and Citizenship in a Plural Culture from the Viewpoint of the Modern, Orthodox Jewish School, "Lynndy Lewis Part 4: Faith Schools: The Experience Elsewhere "13. Measuring Catholic Schools Experience: An International Perspective, "James Arthur" 14. Faith Schools and Northern Ireland: A Review of Research, "Tony Gallagher" 15. Exclusion or Embrace: Faith, Social Ideals and 'Common Schooling' in America's Public Education, "Michael Totterdell "16. Faith Schools in France: From Conflict to Consensus, "Cecile Deer Part 5: Faith Schools: The Way Forward "17. Faith Schools and Communities: Communitarianism, Social Capital and Citizenship, "John Annette" 18. The Impact of Faith Schools on Pupil Performance, "Sandie and Ian Shagen" 19. Faith Schools, Religious Education and Citizenship, "John Keast" 20. Continuing Personal and Professional Development and Faith Schools, "Roy Gardner and Jo Cairns "21. Faith Schools: Some Political Issues and an Agenda for Research," Denis Lawton and Jo Cairns "

Franciscan Literature of Religious Instruction Before the Council of Trent

Abstract: Abbreviations Introduction 1. Franciscan Preaching as Religious Instruction 2. Religious Instruction in Rules, Rule Commentaries and Constitutions 3. Rules and Treatises for Novice Training 4. Franciscan Catechisms 5. Confession Handbooks 6. Instructory Works for the Mass and the Divine Office 7. Works of Religious Edification 8. Prayer Guides Bibliography of secondary sources Index of authors Index of works

Islam, Democracy and Citizenship Education: An Examination of the Social Studies Curriculum in Pakistan.

Abstract: Since the 1980s the mission of the national citizenship education curriculum in Pakistan has been the Islamization of society. The government curriculum guidelines require textbooks to emphasize Islam as the national ideology of the state of Pakistan. Recognizing the deleterious effect of an exclusivist curriculum on the civic unity of the nation, some stakeholders propose a liberal-democratic reform agenda for social studies. The main goal of the proposed agenda is to use the curriculum for creating a tolerant, moderate, and enlightened citizenry. However, proponents of a theocratic vision of good citizenship, which currently dominates the curriculum, vehemently oppose these reform efforts. Introduction In the Pakistani national school system, citizenship education is imparted through a prescribed social studies curriculum, the main thrust of which has been the Islamization of society since the 1980s. A recent government proposal for curricular reform has stirred vociferous debate from competing stakeholders, whose visions of citizenship and citizenship education have clashed in the nation's mass media, and in organized street rallies causing disruptions to civic life (Gillani, 2004a). The main opposition to the government's curricular reform agenda is driven by religious parties, whose ideology dominates the current social studies curriculum. Religious parties and their conservative allies play a decisive role in determining the ideological core of Pakistan 's national education curriculum policy. Over the last twenty years, they have succeeded in promoting a political agenda marked by a distinctive Islamic ideology (Haque, 1987). Their purpose in presenting Islam as a national ideology has been to: (a) sanctify their political role in society; (b) galvanize social forces in Pakistan against India and the West; and (c) unify the Muslim world. To achieve their political goals, they have revised history, advanced a manufactured heritage of the state of Pakistan, and promoted an Islamic paradigm of citizenship education in the nation's schools through the social studies curriculum (Mustafa, 2004). This paper makes three arguments. First, it argues that the current ideological conflict over the mission of social studies in Pakistan is essentially related to the question of relationship between religion and the state. Second, it posits that Pakistan 's present national policy on the social studies curriculum makes no distinction between religious education and citizenship education in that it seeks to create practicing Muslims rather than democratic citizens. And third, based on my findings of the content analysis of the government-approved secondary school social studies textbooks, the paper maintains that those textbooks adhere to the national policy of promoting Islam as a political ideology for the purpose of strengthening an Islamic state.

Should religious education be a compulsory school subject

Abstract: Britain is an increasingly secular society, yet religious education is a compulsory school subject. Is its compulsory status justifiable? Religious education was made compulsory in 1944 partly so as to support the moral values underlying democracy. This civic justification faded after the war, but even today one official justification of religious education is in terms of moral education. Another has to do with understanding and respecting other religions and beliefs. This essay examines both justifications and concludes that neither is strong enough to support the continued existence of religious education as a separate, compulsory subject. The same verdict is passed on a third justification, based on a recommended switch in the content of religious education classes to the critical analysis of religious claims.

Islamic education: why is there a need for it?

Abstract: This article examines the need for the Muslim community of Britain to educate their youth with regard to a Muslim ‘way of life’. The aim of this study is to examine the theological basis for Islamic education. It further explores the status of Muslim schools in Britain with regard to culture and religion. This study highlights the exclusiveness of Islamic education owing to Muslim ethnic cultures and the necessity for a more intercultural‐oriented Islamic education.

Religious education, communal identity and national politics in the Muslim world

Abstract: This article discusses models for religious education in school in (parts of) the Muslim world and the implied relation between self and other, confessional and national identity. The question of how current models and discussions respond to globalized issues in education is also discussed. The last part of the article identifies triggering factors behind some recent attempts at establishing more inclusive ways of teaching about religion and ethics in school.

Educating for Citizenship--The Emerging Relationship between Religious Education and Citizenship Education.

Abstract: The introduction of citizenship education to school in England (and Wales) in 2002 has generated interest and concern among religious educationalists, some of whom welcome the opportunities this new educational territory opens up for religious education and some of whom suspect it augurs religious education's demise. This article reports findings of a school‐based study of the early implementation of citizenship education and its impact on religious education. It discusses those findings in the context of the current debate about the future relationship between the two subjects, noting a similar ambivalence toward citizenship education among religious education heads of department, as there is among religious educationalists. The discussion includes an examination of the Crick Report, noting its lack of interest in religious education, and argues that its conceptualization of citizenship leaves it open to two quite different broad interpretations of what might be meant by an education for citizenship, one...

Traversing the Center: The Politics of Language Use in a Catholic Religious Education Program for Immigrant Mexican Children

Abstract: This article examines the implementation of educational policy in a religious education program at a Los Angeles Catholic parish. It charts the elimination of Spanish-based classes (doctrina) for Mexican immigrant children in favor of “English-only” instruction. The article offers insights into the politics of language use in everyday practice and examines the resulting educational policy decisions.

Religious attitudes among British older people: stability and change in a 20-year longitudinal study

Abstract: Britain along with other western European countries has seen a marked decrease in allegiance to traditional forms of Christianity during the latter part of the 20th century. Although church attendance remains relatively high among older people compared with younger age groups, there has been little or no investigation into the stability or change of people's religious belief and practice with increasing age. This paper present findings on these issues from the Southampton Ageing Project, which from 1977–78 to 2002 followed 342 people almost all of whom had had an entirely Christian religious education and all of whom at the outset were aged 65 or more years. Although religion has continued to have considerable meaning in the lives of up to one-half of the participants, approximately one-quarter of the sample expressed a declining commitment to a religious faith and to church membership. The participants' accounts of their recent life experiences, for example following bereavement, give instances of disappointment with the support that they received from institutional religion and show that this was a factor in their declining adherence. They also provide suggestions for further investigation into the origin of this decline. The conclusion argues that the study of older people's religious and spiritual beliefs and practice should be integrated with the investigation of self and identity and of sources of existential meaning in later life.

The ‘Islamic’ in Islamic education: Assessing the discourse

Abstract: The paper assesses the dominant discourse on Islam and education that argues for an education derived from an exclusively 'Islamic' vision. In addition to exploring the historical roots of this discourse, the paper analyses it with respect to its (i) arguments for an Islamic vision of education, (ii) conception of Islam, and (iii) proposals for the implementation of such a vision. The paper argues that, at all three levels, the discourse suffers from serious conceptual and empirical weaknesses. It proposes that in seeking to overcome these weaknesses, the discourse will have to reconceptualize several elements, including its conception of Islam and its approach to the history of Muslims.

The justification of compulsory religious education: a response to Professor White

Abstract: Though religion continues to enjoy a global significance for humankind, any justification of the compulsory status of religious education must be made on the basis of reason rather than public consensus. We live in a pluralistic world in which contrasting world views, grounded in radically conflicting ontological assumptions, vie for our attention. This situation demands a critical religious education capable of enabling all pupils to achieve appropriate levels of religious literacy.

Intercultural Education and Recent European Pedagogies of Religious Education.

Abstract: I give a brief account of the emergence in Britain in the late 1960s of a secular religious education (RE), utilizing material from the religions of the world, and refer to its role in multicultural education in the 1970s. Next, I summarize some developments in the history of the uneasy relationship between multicultural and antiracist education up to the early 1990s, when new critical approaches to multicultural education appeared, noting that the political climate in Britain under Conservative Governments prevented any positive influence from these on policy. Since the election of a Labour Government in 1997, two main factors have resulted in the restoration of some multicultural/intercultural education to the curriculum: The first is a response to social disruption nationally and globally. The second is the introduction of citizenship education in the curriculum of English and Welsh schools. In the case of social disruption, in relation to riots in England and to the events of 11 September 2001, in New...

Whose confession? Which tradition?

Abstract: For over 30 years official disapproval of confessional approaches to religious education in community (formerly county) schools has been the norm. However such forms of religious education persist. Some arguments put forward in favour of non- confessional religious education are now shown to be weak. Confessional religious education is now thought (generally) to be appropriate in church schools. These facts raise the possibility of a return to confessional religious education in non-church schools. Non-confessionalism is founded on a contradiction: that education can proceed without ‘confessing’ anything and is therefore inherently unstable. In fact many different types of ‘confessions’ operate in religious education. Yet pressure continues to be put on Christian teachers to dismantle their confessional approach. This is unfair and an attempt is made to show that such teachers have much to offer the future of religious education in a society which contains many religions.

Cultural Politics and Vocational Religious Education: The Case of Turkey.

Abstract: The ‘project of modernity’ that has transformed every aspect of Turkish society since the founding of the new republic in 1923 has been increasingly questioned and scrutinized in recent decades. Meanwhile, Islam has reasserted itself to become a real force in contemporary Turkish politics with ambiguous implications for long‐term social integration and political stability. Controversies surrounding religious education in general, and the Imam‐Hatip (prayer‐leader/preacher) schools in particular, exemplify the ‘cultural politics’ that has been going on between the secularists and the Islamists in Turkey. This article examines whether the Imam‐Hatip schools in the long run can play a positive role in the promotion of a broader educated Muslim base enabling the secular and the Islamic domains to cohabit successfully, or a negative role in which the schools are viewed as producing a new generation of Islamists resisting the secular establishment, thereby deepening the secularist‐Islamist divide.

Jacques Derrida's religion with/out religion and the im/possibility of religious education

Abstract: This article aims at rethinking religious education from an engagement with Derrida's forms of reasoning and analyzing. In the first section Gert Biesta presents deconstruction and shows how we can find deconstruction in education. In the second section Siebren Miedema explores the religious horizon of deconstruction. In the final section the authors outline possible implications for religious education.

‘RE teachers do get drunk you know’: becoming a religious education teacher in the twenty-first century

Abstract: In terms of the attention that they have attracted from researchers, and in comparison with teachers of other subjects, religious education specialists would seem to be a neglected and marginalized group. This paper looks at some of the reasons why this might be and also describes a study that is using a life history approach to explore what it is like to be a religious education teacher at the turn of the millennium.

Exploring religion in school: A national priority

Abstract: The teaching of religion in schools remains a source of contention. State school systems tend to skirt it. Religious schools tend to skew it. And in both cases students tend to scorn it. In this book, the author seeks to develop an approach that offers all types of school a way forward. He argues that there are valid educational reasons for giving religious education core status in any general curriculum, and he makes many practical suggestions for classroom teaching and assessment

The problem with faith schools: A reply to my critics

Abstract: Geoffrey Short, Harvey Siegel and Douglas Groothuis have, in previous issues, advanced a number of objections to my recent paper (Vol. 1(1)) arguing for the abolition of faith schools. Here I attem...

A public practical theological theory for religious education of secularised youth

Abstract: In the postmodern world young people no longer accept the values advocated by the institutionalised church as unquestionably relevant to their lives, one of the reasons for this being that the supremacy of the Christian faith has given way to a secularised society. Public practical theology includes the public as one of its audiences. In this paper the point of departure is a reflection-theory and not the praxis as such. This theory focuses on everyday concerns and issues in order to facilitate a dialogue between theology and the social sciences. The article aims to reflect on the enhancement of the experience of transcendence in the everydayness of the present-day youth. It argues that the agency theories of Anthony Giddens and Pierre Bourdieu can provide a theoretical basis and method for public religious education.

Belief in Media: Cultural Perspectives on Media and Christianity

Abstract: Contents: Media, religion and culture: an introduction, Peter Horsfield. Part I The Cultural Perspective: Reconceptualizing religion and media in a post-national, postmodern world: a critical historical introduction, Lynn Schofield Clark Theology, church and media - contours in a changing cultural terrain, Peter Horsfield Because God is near, God is real: symbolic realism in US Latino popular Catholicism and Medieval Christianity, Roberto S. Goizueta Notes on belief and social circulation (science fiction narratives), Juan Carlos HenrA-quez. Part II Mediated Christianity: Pentecostal media images and religious globalization in sub-Saharan Africa, J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu Identities, religion and melodrama: a view from the cultural dimension of the Latin American Telenovela, GermA!n Rey Visual media and Ethiopian Protestantism, David Morgan From morality tales to horror movies: towards an understanding of the popularity of West African video film, Jolyon Mitchell Religion and meaning in the digital age: field research on internet/web religion, Stewart M. Hoover and Jin Kyu Park. Part III Media Culture And Christian Institutions: Making religious media: notes from the field, AdA!n M. Medrano Rescripting religious education in media culture, Mary E. Hess Changes in the Thai Catholic way of life, Siriwan Santisakultarm The US Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal: a media/religion case study, Frances Forde Plude. Part IV An Overview: Major issues in the study of media, religion and culture, Robert A. White. Bibliography Index.

Fostering hope: christian religious education in a postmodern age

Abstract: How should Christians address our often ambiguous and increasingly postmodern world? The article explores some of the ways cultural postmodernity is affecting Christian communities. The tendency to trivialize understandings of meaning and value is highlighted as one of the greatest challenges posed by the negative aspects of postmodernity. It is argued that religious educators can help to overcome this trivializing tendency by fostering hope in the continuing viability of the church and Christian traditions and practices, turning to youth as natives of postmodern culture to guide us in addressing contemporary trends, and focusing on a common commitment to Christian discipleship

The conscience clause in religious education and collective worship: conscientious objection or curriculum choice?

Abstract: The ‘conscience clause’ allows parents to withdraw their children from religious education and collective worship; however, the reasons why parents might wish so to do are not stated in the legisla...