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This short article provides an introduction to a special section, consisting of six papers on human evolution and the imago Dei. These papers are the result of dialogue between theologians and philosophers of religion at the University of Oxford and the Catholic University of Leuven. All contributors focus on the imago Dei, and consider how this theological notion can be understood from an evolutionary perspective, looking at a variety of disciplines, including the psychology of reasoning, cognitive science of religion, paleoanthropology, evolutionary psychology, and evolutionary ethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Asian Politics & Policy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Rationale, aims, and objectives: There is a general lack of awareness and understanding of dementia within ethnic minority groups in the United Kingdom. There is also a dearth of research involving ethnic minority caregivers about reducing barriers to accessing services and optimizing engagements with religiously tailored interventions. This paper reports findings from a qualitative study that examined the barriers to health care service use in the Bangladeshi community living in the United Kingdom. Methods: The research draws on findings from a doctoral level research study on understanding dementia among the Bangladeshi community in England. The data for the doctoral research were gathered in two ways: (a) focus group discussions and (b) semi‐structured interviews. All data were audio‐recorded and analysed using thematic analysis. NVivo software was used to aid transcribing, coding, and interpretation of emergent themes. Results: The data showed that there were some barriers experienced by participants due to their religious and cultural beliefs and practices with other barriers related to the complexity of the UK health care system. Gender‐based caregiving also appeared to interfere with religious ideologies while religiously appropriate health care services were deemed of great importance for successfully accessing those services. Conclusions: The findings provide an understanding of the experiences of the Bangladeshi community when seeking to access mainstream UK health care services and may help to provide useful directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When Donald Trump imposed the "Muslim ban" what was surprising was the absence of any pretense to make it political. It wasn't a ban against some countries, it was a ban against Muslim countries or pithily against Muslims. But then what happens when the fear of intrusion underlying "banning" finds its realization in lynching? In the existing discourse on Islamophobia, how do we understand not only the Muslim who isn't allowed to enter but also the Muslim who is quite simply killed for having entered ages ago. In this paper, I share the trajectory of Muslims in India through history, politics, and psychoanalytic theory to present the case of Islamophobia in India. Developing on Edward Said's Orientalism (1978) and Gil Anidjar's, Secularism (2006), I explain how in the secular nation state of India, the phobia isn't of Islam; rather, it is of religion. The religion is identified as Islam. In this identification, national identity and religious identity are at loggerheads such that Muslims in between are left with an impossibility -- they cannot be Indians as long as they are Muslims and they can never not be Muslims. In exploring the incidents of lynching, this paper presents a psycho-political reading of Muslims in India and their impossibility of being Indian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses ethnographic research to reflect upon how the treatment of 'everyday' illnesses in Niger engages concepts of social identity. Inspired by Bourdieu's concept of social distinction, as well as Appadurai's edited volume on the 'social lives' of 'things', I present an analysis of how medications are understood by their users in terms of social and ideological meaning in one rural Hausa village. Decisions about medication choice were framed by three main themes: belonging to the 'modern' world, 'traditional' Hausa culture, and religious identity. This article does not argue that these notions of identity fully explain medication use, nor necessarily predict treatment choices. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the dynamic meanings given to treatment decisions after they have been made, attributed to the medications themselves and negotiated through their circulation in a context where multiple medical systems are drawn from to manage illness. Producers and sellers of medication also engage these meaning-centred concepts, which have theoretical and practical interest for the social sciences and public health. A virtual abstract for this paper can be viewed at: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If we pause to recognise that as professionals we share the same sky and the same earth as those who seek our help, then we would come to understand that our experiences of spirituality are also intrinsically interlinked. Using case examples, this paper explores my experience of adopting combinations of systemic and narrative therapy interventions within a stance of 'radical presence' (McNamee, ) with 'spiritual relational reflexivity.' In this process, the mutual influence between professional, personal, and therapeutic contexts is viewed as a helpful resource for 'being with' clients spiritually. Reflexive 'ways of engaging spirituality' (being 'spiritually relationally reflexive') and opening up therapeutic and spiritual possibilities with clients, in the context of grief, are also explored. Essential to the process is viewing systemic therapy as an ongoing reflexive learning context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to contribute to the growing band of constructionist approaches within the field of identity studies (Wetherell & Moharty, 2010). First, it will review the developments that have taken place since the emergence of these approaches in the 1980s, identifying a state of fragmentation into local discursive, political-moral, and psychosocial levels of analysis. Second, and in order to challenge this fragmentation, it will present a rhetorical psychological (Billig, 1987, 1999a) analysis of the classic exchange of public letters between Israeli historian of Judaism Gershom Scholem and American political theorist Hannah Arendt in the wake of the latter's book Eichmann in Jerusalem (Arendt, 1994a). The analysis will proceed from local discursive action, through political-moral frameworks, to the nature of the writers' investment in these constructions. It will show that while the participants' implicitly occasioning of extreme identity categories (such as the 'Jewish anti-Semite' and the totalitarian-style religious Zionist ideologue) is a function of apparently incommensurable political-moral discourses, the nature of investment into such constructions may be understood in a mutual commitment to the absolute inalienability of Jewishness. Third, therefore, the paper will conclude that, rather than constituting separate 'levels', local discursive action, political-moral intelligibilities, and psychosocial qualities are mutually constitutive of each other. It is only through recognizing their inter-dependent nature that the complexity of identity may properly be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We critically examine the three papers on terrorism and jihad in Indonesia contained in this issue. First, we argue that thorough discussion and definition of key terms (including religious violence and jihad) would have led to a much stronger framework for understanding the voices of the activists and their supporters. Second, the authors could have engaged more systematically with the international literature on intergroup relations and conflict to discuss how psychological and social processes of radicalization are similar or different in the Indonesian context. Third, we highlight methodological and ethical shortcomings in the three papers that call into question a number of the conclusions drawn by the authors. We outline future research questions and provide suggestions to strengthen this important line of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of megachurches in America is often traced back to their strategic ability of mobilizing new members in a competitive, religious marketplace. This paper shifts the attention to the push factors of megachurch success. It develops a causes of effects approach, in which local place‐based conditions in 22 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) are compared and related to megachurches. First, correspondence analysis (CA) is used to take into account a large set of explanatory conditions such as religious and ethnic group affiliations, social structural conditions as well as value orientations. CA reveals that megachurches are typically successful in MSAs characterized by an evangelical hegemony. Second, qualitative comparative analysis shows that population growth and suburbanization are necessary conditions for a high share of megachurches. An analysis of sufficient conditions leads to three propositions: Megachurches grow in cities (1) where a large closed evangelical community exists; (2) where a large upward oriented Christian immigrant community exists; (3) and in tolerant (and educated) areas—in conjuncture with the presence of a larger community of Protestants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. To offer a detailed discussion of the issue of 'lack of critique' in the literature on spirituality in nursing. The discussion will include the limited use of sources from theology and religious studies and the demand to separate spirituality and religion and will go on to examine the consequences of the resulting approach. The drive for unique knowledge to further professionalisation and the demands of inclusiveness are suggested as possible reasons for the development of the current model. The dangers and pitfalls of definition are explored. The paper suggests that theology could provide insights into explaining spirituality. Background. The last four decades have seen a proliferation of definitions of spirituality in the nursing literature. Recently, in response to their own concerns and prompts from outside the 'spirituality' community authors have suggested that we revisit this literature with a more critical stance. This paper is in response to that suggestion. During the course of a PhD supervised from a department of practical theology I have critically analysed the literature from several perspectives and this paper is one result of that review. Design. Literature review. Methods. Critical reflection on how spirituality has been defined. Conclusion. The lack of critique has produced a bias in the literature towards broad, generic, existential definitions which, together with the intentional divorce from religion and theology have led to definitions which have the tendency to result in a type of spiritual care which is indistinguishable from psychosocial care, hard to explain to patients and difficult to put into practice. Relevance to clinical practice. The acceptance of a diverse range of understandings of spirituality and a greater focus on practical ways of using it in nursing care are the direction the profession should be moving into. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the existence of research conducted by geographers eschewing or professing religious faith, the influence of researchers and their methods have yet to receive critical attention within the study of religion. The experience of three geographers working on a three-year research project suggests that it is vital to reflect upon the inter-subjective relationships and methodologies used to reconstruct the religious past. How do different subject positions influence our selections from historical records? We also consider whether the spatialities of putatively ‘religious’ archives, whether formally or informally constituted, make a difference to the construction of historiographical knowledge. In attempting to answer these questions, the paper argues that developing an awareness of different types of positionality, vis-à-vis religious faith and practice, combined with reflexivity, vis-à-vis methodology, can enrich the interpretative reconstruction of the religious past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sets out to explore how the Australian Catholic Church's perceptions of Mass-going and absenteeism evolved in the mid-to-late nineteenth century. By examining the Lenten pastorals of Archbishop John Polding of Sydney, along with various mission sermons, the paper argues that a decisive shift is discernible after the 1860s. Where previous emphasis had fallen on absenteeism as a breakdown in the individual's relationship with God, later understandings introduced a dominant ecclesial imperative: Catholics who failed to attend Mass were also weakening the Church and effectively aiding hostile secular and Protestant forces arrayed against her. This shift was itself the product of a critical transformation in the field of ecclesiastical discourse as it gravitated inexorably towards more agonistic expressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaders in the American Academy of Religion have committed the guild to resisting the current wave of white nationalist and white supremacist machinations, presenting our discipline as particularly suited for the task. But given the study of religion's intimate historical relationship with the modern Christian colonial project, scholars can equally find themselves reinforcing the socio‐interpretive modalities—namely essentialism—upon which whiteness is premised. This paper presents critical scripture studies, particularly its elaboration of processes abbreviated in biblical interpretation, as an avenue for deconstructing assumptions about how whiteness works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the changing role of religion in forming public attitudes toward integration. We first outline the complex relationship of religion to the development of the European Union, and then use the 2009 and 2014 European Parliamentary Election Studies to examine the changes taking place in those historic patterns. In 2009 traditional religious patterns persisted, with Catholics more positive toward the EU than Protestants, with religiosity reinforcing the respective tendencies. By 2014, however, traditional divisions had virtually disappeared, as the economic crisis (and perhaps the growing refugee problem) had a powerful effect on Catholic majorities in EU countries. Nevertheless, when economic and other assessments are accounted for, Catholic confessional culture still provides 'deep' support for the EU. Finally, we discover that EU expansion has not changed old religious patterns as much as we expected, but find those traditional relationships to be virtually absent among millennials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Institute on Religion in the Age of Science (IRAS) asked Ted Peters, an eminent theologian and bioethicist who was at the forefront of the cloning and stem cell debates in the past few decades, and myself, a molecular biologist, to invite scholars from various fields to brainstorm the religious and ethical implications of the CRISPR revolution. We invited keynote speakers, whose talks will be covered here, as well as other speakers and poster presentations. The conference also hosted question and answer sessions, chaplain sessions, and discussions throughout the week at the beautiful Star Island in the summer of 2019. The purpose of this paper is to highlight and sample the discussions and presentations from that conference. I will organize them into three broad topics: CRISPR in science, ethics, and religion. For readers unfamiliar with CRISPR technology, this overview can also serve as an introduction to the field, and a stepping stone for future ideas for CRISPR discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Family Process is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Morality policies evince a much closer relationship to religious doctrines than is the case in other policy areas and hence constitute a most likely case for the observation of religious effects on policymaking and regulatory change. Yet we still lack generally accepted answers to the questions of whether and how religion matters to morality policy. In this paper, we present a theoretical argument that helps to overcome the seemingly contradictory expectations derived from the secularization and religion matters hypotheses. We postulate a bottleneck effect of religious opposition: while religious influence matters most during early stages of the policy process when the problem definition of a moral issue is still in flux, it diminishes during later stages when the issue has made it onto the political agenda. We find evidence of the bottleneck effect in a dataset of policy permissiveness covering 26 countries and spanning 50 years for five morality policies (abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, pornography, and same‐sex marriage). The data is analyzed via a multilevel model and using Bayesian inference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the works of great Polish philosopher, Mieczysław Albert Krąpiec, whose creative output can be applied to professional nursing practice. Krąpiec's philosophical heritage is extensive and encompasses many philosophical fields: metaphysics, philosophical anthropology, philosophy of law, philosophy of culture, philosophy of politics and philosophy of language. Krąpiec created an original philosophical synthesis characterized by a realistic approach. In this paper, I present only one of several original philosophical concepts developed by Krąpiec: the theory of the person based on seven essential characteristics, that is the ability for cognition, love, freedom, religion, legal subjectivity, completeness and dignity. I attempt to show how these personal characteristics correspond to various patient needs. I argue that the qualitative deficit of any personal characteristics indicated by Krąpiec corresponds to a patient's real need that must be satisfied. I also stress that the skilful diagnosing of all—not only selected—qualitative deficits of characteristics can be defined as holistic care in the nursing profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on evidence collected during fieldwork among practitioners of Afro-Cuban religion in Havana, this paper seeks ‘recursively’ to redefine the notion of anthropological evidence itself. It does so by examining ethnographically practitioners' concern with the ‘evidence’ deities give (e.g. successful divinations, divine cures, etc.), by virtue of which people's relationships with deities are cemented. To the extent that this indigenous concept of evidence is different from notions of evidence anthropologists take for granted in their own work, it occasions the opportunity to transform those very assumptions. But such a procedure is itself evidential – pertaining to the relationship between ethnography and theory. The paper sets out the virtues, both ethnographic and theoretical, of this circularity. Résumé Sur la base des preuves recueillies au cours d'un travail de terrain parmi les praticiens d'une religion afro-cubaine à La Havane, le présent article cherche, de manière « récursive », à redéfinir la notion de preuve anthropologique elle-même. Pour cela, il ethnographie l'attention apportée par les praticiens aux « preuves » que leur envoient les divinités (par exemple des divinations réussies, des guérisons divines, etc.), grâce auxquelles la relation entre humains et déités est consolidée. Dans la mesure où ce concept autochtone de preuve est différent de la notion de preuve que les anthropologues tiennent pour acquise dans leur propre travail, il donne l'occasion de transformer ces hypothèses même. Cette procédure a toutefois valeur de preuve par elle-même, puisqu'elle est liée à la relation entre l'ethnographie et la théorie. L'auteur expose ici les vertus, ethnographiques aussi bien que théoriques, de cette relation circulaire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by two of Acker's interconnected concepts, inequality regimes and intersectionality, the authors revisit their intersectional research. By exploring their various studies on inequality regimes and intersectionality, the authors propose some novel insights that have emerged from an aggregate appraisal of some 17 empirically researched papers, all shaped by Joan Acker's sociology. While Acker's work on gender and organizations has provided crucial insights into much of this work, this article concentrates on the overarching concept of inequality regimes and then focuses in on less‐developed aspects of intersectionality in Acker's work. In doing so, it reconsiders the value of inequality regimes in pushing the boundaries of intersectional insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As international migration increases, the Australian socio‐cultural and political context in which sub‐Saharan African migrant families are settling is causing tension between traditional sub‐Saharan African migrant definitions of child and childhood experiences and host nation definitions particularly when compared with the child protection system. This paper seeks to explore and highlight the fundamental values and differences that determine perceptions and treatment of children within traditional sub‐Saharan African communities. Using a qualitative design, this study was influenced by acculturation theory. Four major themes emerged from the analysis: (a) culture and the sub‐Saharan African child, (b) moulding good children, (c) family functioning and relationships, and (d) host context: perceptions of Australian mainstream parenting. The study found that in order to successfully make decisions that are in the best interest of sub‐Saharan African migrant children that come to the attention of the child protection system, discussions about children rights can only yield good outcomes when the child's socio‐cultural environment is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International tourism development in theocratic structures where Islam exercises considerable influence over social, political, and regulatory systems embodies a range of challenges, complexities, and conflicts. Against this backdrop, this paper aimed at exploring the interactions between Islamic theocracy and tourism via an interpretivist approach. Saudi Arabia and Iran are both recognized as countries with a theocratic system of governance and serve as distinctive tourism destinations that provide cases for exploring the interaction between tourism and theocratic institutions and the implications for tourism practice. The study identified several key areas of theocratic influence on tourism, namely, policy‐making, marketing, and gender, and highlighted the complexities of developing tourism outside of pilgrimage and religious travel in theocratic environments. Theocratic conceptualization of governance alongside a framework for understanding the linkages between Islamic theocracy and tourism and implications of such connections are also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale, aims and objectives: Although Bangladeshis are three times more likely to be carers than White British, Bangladeshi family carers are the most deprived, neglected, and effectively a hidden group in the United Kingdom.1 There is a paucity of research within the Bangladeshi community that is capable of explaining and predicting the experiences and concerns of Bangladeshi family carers providing care for their relatives with dementia. The purpose of this study is to explore the perspectives of Bangladeshi family carers' knowledge and day‐to‐day experiences living in England. Methods: This is a qualitative study involving semistructured face‐to‐face interviews with six Bangladeshi family carers living in London and Portsmouth. Interviews were recorded with the consent and transcribed verbatim. Data were managed by using NVivo software, and thematic analysis was performed. Results: This paper explores that most carers have a lack of knowledge and awareness of the symptoms of dementia. The results of this study are in contrast to previous studies, where South Asian carers perceived dementia as being possessed by evil spirits or God's punishment for previous life's sins; this study reveals that Bangladeshi family carers believed dementia was a medical condition. Unlike earlier South Asian studies, however, all family carers in this study also believed that there was no stigma attached to dementia. Conclusions: Further research is warranted to investigate the religious beliefs, familism, and interpersonal motives as theoretical perspectives to explain how Bangladeshi family carers negotiate and construct their caregiving roles for their relatives with dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many scholars of nationalism seem to assume that religious nationalism is inherently and necessarily hostile to the secular nation-state and to modern developments in general. The present paper challenges this conviction by drawing on recent debates among sociologists of religion, and it points to the existence of modernist versions of religious nationalism that acknowledge the legitimacy of the secular nation-state and are generally sympathetic to modern developments. It examines one of the most prominent manifestations of this variety of nationalism, namely Protestant modernist nationalism. After a brief consideration of cases from nineteenth century Europe, the remainder of the paper focuses on the modernist religious nationalisms arising in post-Cold War Eastern Europe, with a special focus on Slovenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a modified gravity model and the cross-sectional data of East Asian economies, the present paper presents evidence that supports the view that the effect of distance-related transaction costs on trade tends to fall over time. Overall religious influence on foreign trade exists in the post-Cold War period but not during the Cold War period. The effects of language on inter-regional trade and of religion on intra-regional trade both weaken over time. In all cases, religion tends to have more significant influences on intra-regional trade than language, and language tends to exert more significant influences on inter-regional trade than religion. Finally, from 1985 to 1995 there is an indication that: (i) English becomes more important for inter-regional trade; (ii) Bahasa, English and Khmer become less important for intra-regional trade; and (iii) Chinese plays an increasing role in both intra-regional and inter-regional trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contains a discussion of the idea of using what could loosely be called an ‘aesthetic attitude’ (stemming largely from Kantian notions of disinterest and explicitly articulated by such writers in the 20th century as Edward Bullough and Jerome Stolnitz) in the context of the encounter between religions. The ‘problem’ that is addressed is formulated as an attempt to find a space in which the participation of those with committed faith positions (e.g. conservative evangelicals) in sympathetic and empathetic meeting with other faiths can be facilitated. To this end, the paper is critical of the use of spirituality (or inter-spirituality) as an oft-suggested mode by which religions meet and ‘converse’ in depth-encounters. That is, it is argued that the language of inter-spirituality that is employed by some interfaith writers often betrays liberal assumptions that are unsettling for more committed religious persons. Thus, it is suggested that by changing the language of encounter from ‘inter-spirituality’ to a more aesthetic (or playful) mode of discourse, one is creating a different, but nonetheless experientially recognisable, space of empathetic meeting and encounter that might be deemed ‘safer’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spirituality is an important part of African-American culture and is often cited as an explanation for the more-aggressive treatment preferences of some African Americans at the end of life. This paper reviews the literature on spiritual beliefs that may influence the treatment decisions of African Americans.Medline 1966 to February 2003, Psych Info 1872 to February 2003, and CINAHL 1982 to February 2003 were searched for studies exploring spiritual beliefs that may influence the treatment preferences of African Americans. All candidate papers were examined for quality, and data were extracted on study population, design, analysis, and results to identify recurrent themes. Forty studies met inclusion criteria.Recurrent themes describing spiritual beliefs that may influence the treatment preferences of African Americans throughout the course of illness include the following: spiritual beliefs and practices are a source of comfort, coping, and support and are the most effective way to influence healing; God is responsible for physical and spiritual health; and the doctor is God's instrument.Spiritual beliefs specifically addressing treatment preferences at the end of life include: only God has power to decide life and death, there are religious prohibitions against physician-assisted death or advance directives limiting life-sustaining treatments, and divine intervention and miracles occur.For some African Americans, spiritual beliefs are important in understanding and coping with illness and may provide a framework within which treatment decisions are made. Given the growing ethnic diversity of the United States, some understanding of the complexities of culture and spirituality is essential for healthcare providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite ultra-Orthodoxy being the fastest growing component of the British Jewish community (and Jewry worldwide), it has received little academic coverage by geographers. This paper provides an in-depth examination of a community of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Broughton Park, Manchester. It maps out the residential concentration of these Jews and, using in-depth qualitative interviews, discusses the construction of socio-spatial boundaries that are used to define and mark out ‘them’ from ‘us’. Through this the paper contributes to wider geographic discussions about identity, segregation and religion. It shows how the power of religion to define people's beliefs and everyday practices remains, for certain groups, extremely strong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a discourse analysis of publications of the Christian Reformed Church regarding its Rehoboth Mission near Gallup, New Mexico, among the Navajo. All issues of The Banner, Acts of Synod of the Christian Reformed Church, the Rehoboth Hospital Bulletin, and the Annual Report of the Rehoboth Mission from 1880 to the present were reviewed for references to health-care at Rehoboth from 1903 to 1943. Four religiously framed discourses were identified: discourses justifying provision of health-care at the mission, discourses of the Navajos as immature and potentially dangerous, needing to be civilized, discourses of cleanliness, and discourses of calling. This paper adds to a growing body of knowledge about religious frames within which nurses have practiced in North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how the culture of the researcher can influence the interpretation of data collected in a qualitative study into counselling and spirituality. Counsellors or psychotherapists who were also members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) were interviewed about how their faith impacts on their therapeutic practice. The findings of this qualitative heuristic study were published (West, 1998). The researcher was white, British, male, a counsellor and a Quaker. Subsequently, five of the interview transcripts were randomly selected and given to a second researcher, who was Malaysian, male, a counsellor, and Muslim. These interviews were analysed thematically by the second researcher, without accessing the original analysis and published paper. The two analyses are presented and compared. Although there were many points of convergence, significant differences also emerged in the way the way the material was understood. A commentary on this process is offered by both researchers, and the implications of the insider/outsider distinction for research in counselling are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article we introduce five papers, all by social anthropologists, all concerned with transnational households and ritual. Despite wide-ranging research on transnational migration and diasporas, many aspects have been accorded less consideration than they deserve. The transnational practices of migrant families, other than remittances and other economic activity, remain under-investigated. Some thought has been given to the transnational dimension of religious belief systems, notably Islam, but the micro-politics of religion has been largely ignored, and there has been little discussion of transnational religious practices (rituals) at the level of households and families, especially those performed by migrants back in their countries of origin. Household-level analyses of the performances of and meanings attributed to life-crisis rituals and consideration of what Salih has called the 'transnational division of ritual space' offer a valuable route to understanding relations between place, culture, ethnicity and gender among migrants in a transnational world, and illuminate contemporary processes of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents comments of the author on the September 1, 2001 issue of the "Journal of Community Psychology." The papers in the issue discusses concepts of spirituality and community psychology. The papers were both stimulating and instructive. Stimulating because the authors in their different ways were confronting problems in living that no one anywhere can avoid trying to understand and answer; instructive because these papers as a first approximation of conceptualizing the issues in ways that have practical import.

For the first time since the voluntary census in 1851, a question on religion will be asked in the 2001 Census for England and Wales and for Scotland. The justification given in the White Paper is that the information will enhance output from the ethnicity question, especially for groups originating from the Indian subcontinent. The decision has attracted criticism on the grounds that religion is a private and sensitive matter not suitable for a census and that the information yielded by the question will be of limited or no value. This paper contends that a question on religion should be asked and presents the main arguments in favour. In addition to enabling ethnic minority subgroups to be identified, it will provide counts for groups like Muslims and Jews that are currently invisible in ethnicity classifications. Information on religions will meet government needs arising from the increasing involvement of faith communities as collaborators in urban regeneration and health improvement and statutory requirements relating to such matters as standing advisory councils on religious education and local authority obligations under the Children Act 1989. It will also provide an evidence base for facilitating the identification of discrimination on religious grounds. However, the utility of the category 'Christian' in the question for England and Wales-in contrast to the broad subdivisions of Christianity in the Scotland question-is questioned, given that for some ethnic groups 'Catholic' and 'Protestant' are important cultural markers of difference. These developments merit critical review by professionals and the wider society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rights of livestock that are designated as food/farm animals have been a blindspot across development discourse and policies in spite of compelling moral (and socio-ecological) factors. They are regarded as 'resources' to sustain growth, leading to food production systems that support factory farming and invasive animal husbandry practices. The paper argues that religion and sustainable development are unlikely partners in the commodification of animals in these policies. Capitalist-driven interpretations of religion support the objectification of animals. Sustainable development, an efficiency-driven growth paradigm, is concerned with the preservation of finite natural resources. Sentient factory farmed animals are seen as infinite resources.Using Christianity and Hinduism as examples, the paper argues that religion can also shape alternative animal husbandry/food production practices, and expand the social justice element of sustainable development to encompass what I term 'sociozoological justice' in economic systems that heavily involve animals. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A "supply-side" theory of religion claims that ties between church and state inhibit religious mobilization. The theory also asserts that the weakening of church-state ties is the inevitable harbinger of broad religious pluralism. This paper investigates these claims using the relationship between the state of Utah and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the "LDS" or Mormon church) as a case study. Data demonstrate that the loosening of church-state ties in early Utah coincides with rising rates of religious activity and the emergence of religious pluralism, as supply-side theory predicts. However, these incipient trends were swiftly curtailed by renewed growth within Mormonism, which rebuts the theory's claims. The paper presents several reasons why Mormonism was able to circumvent the predicted effects of religious competition in Utah, and offers these as caveats for supply-side theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Branch Davidians were linked to the Seventh-day Adventist Church by their historical roots, the source of their members, their name (officially the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists), their identity, and their apocalyptic preoccupations, idiom, and paranoias. This paper examines the responses within Seventh-day Adventism to the sudden notoriety of the Branch Davidians. In so doing, it sheds new light on the Branch Davidian tragedy: Because Adventist leaders focused on distancing their church from the stigmatized Davidians, the confusion and misconceptions surrounding the latter's practices and apocalyptic theology were not clarified, and information and resources that might have helped government officials play a more constructive role during the siege were withheld. However, the official response was only one of several within Adventism to the Branch Davidian saga. The paper isolates three divergent responses, which are used as a vehicle for exploring long-term trends within Adventism - its increasing diversity and the strains flowing there from. The uncovering of these differing responses opens the way for an investigation of the pattern of diversity that emerges in a sect that is, in the terms of Stark and Bainbridge, reducing its tension with society and moving toward denominational status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decline of liberal Protestantism offers an important canvas upon which to portray a myriad of cultural and structural factors at work within religion, on the one hand, and organizations, on the other. Specifically, this paper argues that the decline represents the structural consequence of Protestantism's liberal cultural triumph on behalf of such values as individualism, freedom, pluralism, tolerance, democracy, and intellectual inquiry. As laudable as these values may be from other perspectives, they can be anathema to mobilizing and sustaining any organization that requires a loyal and disciplined membership. The paper puts religious "strictness" in a broader perspective and reviews several temporal models that specify the effects more closely. These are all at work within the most recent cycle of liberal cultural assertion followed by membership decline in the 1960s. The paper concludes with some strategic implications for the future as various "remnants' seek to stem the tide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, concerns are addressed regarding the validity of the Quest scale introduced by Batson (1976) and Batson and Ventis (1982). Some have wondered whether this scale might be more a measure of agnosticism, of anti-orthodoxy, of sophomoric religious doubt, or of religious conflict, if indeed, it is a measure of anything religious at all. We have reviewed the available evidence regarding validity, much of which has appeared in unpublished research reports, theses, dissertations, or convention papers, and thus has not been widely available. Based on the evidence, we have concluded that the Quest scale does indeed measure a dimension of personal religion very much like the one it was designed to measure: an open-ended, active approach to existential questions that resists clear-cut, pat answers, Concerns regarding the reliability of the Quest scale, which have proved more persistent, are addressed in a companion paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the issue of whether religiosity is really multidimensional as suggested by Glock and Stark and numerous other researchers. The "religiosity in 5-D" scales devised by Faulkner and DeJong (1966) to operationalize the Glock-Stark typology were completed by 873 students in 1967 and 656 students in 1970 at a small, private liberal-arts university in Florida. Each of the 5-D scales more than adequately met the minimum criteria of Guttman scaling in both data sets. The results of a factor analysis (varimax and oblique rotation) of the 23 items in both data sets indicated the predominance of the Ideological commitment factor which accounted for 78 and 83 percent of the common variance respectively. A second-order factor analysis confirmed the existence of one general factor. Our conclusion is that religiosity is not multidimensional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes the case for cross‐domain comparison as an undertheorized form of comparative analysis. The units of analysis in such comparisons are not (as in most comparative analysis) predefined units within a domain or system of formally similar yet substantively different categories or entities; they are the domains or systems of categorically organized differences themselves. Focusing on domains of categorical difference that are central to the contemporary politics of difference, we consider two examples of cross‐domain comparison. The first compares sex/gender and race/ethnicity as systems of ascribed identities that are increasingly, yet to differing degrees and in differing ways, open to choice and change. The second compares religion and language as domains of categorically organized cultural difference that are centrally implicated in the politics of cultural pluralism. We situate these cross‐domain comparisons, premised on a logic of 'different differences', between generalizing and particularizing approaches to the politics of difference, arguing that these domains are similar enough to make comparison meaningful yet different enough to make comparison interesting. We outline five analytical focal points for cross‐domain comparison: the criteria of membership and belonging, the categorical versus gradational structure of variation within domains of difference, the consolidation or proliferation of categories of difference, the procedures for dealing with mixed or difficult‐to‐classify instances, and the relation between categories of difference and the production and reproduction of inequality. We conclude by considering several potential objections to cross‐domain comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The research presented in this paper aimed to explain how psychotherapists in New Zealand attended to religion and/or spirituality (RS) in the therapeutic process. Thirty‐three in‐depth interviews were conducted with 28 psychotherapists throughout New Zealand, exploring their thoughts about RS in psychotherapy. Method and Methodology: Grounded dimensional analysis (a variant of grounded theory), underpinned by symbolic interactionism, was used to collect and analyse data. Findings: The study found that participants made decisions about what belonged to psychotherapy regarding RS based on three perspectives; that psychotherapy is secular, that psychotherapy and RS are inextricably connected, and that psychotherapy and RS intersect episodically. Participants' perspectives influenced their level of engagement of RS material when working with clients. The professional and personal outcomes of this process included expanding practice, maintaining the status quo and being seen to present as "legitimate." Discussion: Deciding what belongs is an iterative process and many participants adjusted their responses when faced with changing contexts and conditions. Implications: This study was significant since it found that it was participants, namely the psychotherapists themselves, who actually decided what belonged at all stages of the process of attending to RS in therapeutic engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on extant literature to identify five dimensions that are deployed by a wide range of social groups to claim and achieve authenticity in variety of social settings: being honest or real, forgoing external rewards or compensation, coming from or living in the right place or time, embodying or participating in something, and consuming correctly. We then demonstrate the utility of these five dimensions of authenticity in action by applying them to two different qualitative studies of countercultural Christians. Our analysis of these data shows that different communities have different understandings of what makes one authentic, but the five dimensions that we outline in this article make comparisons across different groups possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary economic and business settings have brought people of different cultures at the common workplace. This directs business researchers to study cross‐cultural similarities, differences, and management of employees, customers, and other stakeholders. This theoretical review is aimed to explore the variation in religion, practices, and their effects on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure and practices. With an unfathomable analysis of relevant literature, this paper has highlighted the knowledge gap in the relationship of cross‐cultural differences and CSR. Subsequently, it presents three propositions in connection of religious variation and CSR disclosure and practice. Underpinning the practical difference in lifestyle of people having the same religious beliefs in different geographical areas, this article reflects that an extension in stakeholder theory may be suggested with the support of postempirical evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hallmark of Martin Luther's theology was his persistent concern for the individual's conscience before God. Nowhere were these concerns felt more deeply than in Luther's understanding of church reform, where he sought to introduce change in a way that did not introduce doubt or impede faith. Among Lutherans in North America, respect for conscience has found a second home in how early Lutherans attempted to establish an American identity for themselves and reconsider their ecumenical relations. After briefly outlining Luther's use of the appeal to conscience, this paper looks at its use in early North American Lutheranism in the thought of Samuel Simon Schmucker before finally considering its use in the twenty‐first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theological education is missional in nature. The disability perspective within theological education provides this missional aspect, which is vital for the growth and sustenance of the church. Since its inception, the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network (WCC‐EDAN) has contributed to this great mission. This paper is an attempt to understand theological education as missional formation from the perspective of disability studies, especially the contributions of WCC‐EDAN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Focus groups are an important learning tool in HIV prevention research among U.S. Black men who have sex with men (BMSM), for whom incidence persists. Focus groups are useful in designing interventions, but many have struggled to engage BMSM in research. To optimize the utility of focus group methodology on HIV prevention among BMSM, this paper offers methodological considerations for conducting and managing focus groups with BMSM. Methods: Perspectives come from the process of conducting nine focus groups (N = 52) to explore the role of religion and spirituality in the lives of BMSM in Baltimore City and how these concepts could be used to inform local HIV prevention interventions. Results: Themes from field notes captured important concepts to consider regarding the following: recruitment and retention, recruiting from within the social network, screening for HIV status, focus group stratification, and focus group facilitation. Discussion: Considerations and recommendations for mitigating the challenges in focus group research and enriching data collection with BMSM are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though Canada is internationally lauded for the success of its multiculturalism policies, debates about immigrant integration have arisen in recent years. These debates have turned on the extent to which religion should be accommodated in the public sphere. They have also been disproportionately concentrated in the French‐speaking province of Quebec. This paper asks whether this disproportionality is due to the Quebec population being particularly unfavourable to religious accommodation and, if so, whether this disfavour is grounded in racial antipathy toward newcomers or in the province's unique religious history. The findings show that while opposition to religious accommodation is higher in Quebec, and higher among francophones, it is rooted more in the low level of religiosity of the francophone population than in racial animus. These results emphasise the importance of correctly conceptualising distinctions between ethnocentric and culturally based sources of group conflict in multicultural settings such as Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines continuity and change in Lakota belief and ritual, focusing on the social organization of contemporary Lakota ceremonial life. For many Lakotas of Pine Ridge Reservation ritual structures life. The contemporary religious landscape consists of a number of ritual groups, which I call ritual thiyóšpayes, after the Lakota word for band or lodge group, the extended family and historical basic unit of kinship. At the center of these groups is a religious practitioner, a symbol of group identity and solidarity. Ritual thiyóšpayes consist of core and sub‐core member families that regularly attend rituals and other corporately sponsored social events. The cohesion of a ritual thiyóšpaye is based largely on equality, mutual help, participation, and one‐mindedness. The relationship between a practitioner and his ritual thiyóšpaye is dynamic, characterized by reciprocity, mutual influence, and exchange: the practitioner shapes the beliefs, worldview, and identity of his followers, symbolizing the group to both members and nonmembers, while simultaneously being shaped by his followers as a representative of their social, psychological, and religious needs, beliefs, and values. Although patterns of social interaction have changed since the dawn of the reservation period, there remains a distinct and undeniable continuity with past traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]