Age, period, and cohort effects on religious activities and beliefs

Despite the theoretical emphasis on religious decline in modern societies, sociologists remain divided over trends in religious activity and belief that support or refute claims of religious decline. Much of this disagreement stems from the inability to distinguish between period and cohort effects when analyzing repeated cross-sectional survey data. I use the intrinsic estimator, a recently developed method of simultaneously estimating age, period, and cohort effects, to examine changes in Americans’ religious service attendance, prayer, belief in the afterlife, and biblical literalism. Results show that regular service attendance declines, predominantly across cohorts. There are also period- and cohort-based declines in biblical literalism and a cohort-based decline in prayer. Belief in the afterlife is relatively stable across periods and cohorts. These results provide mixed support for theories of religious decline, and they demonstrate the importance of differentiating between period and cohort effects on social change.     

论建国后毛泽东宗教思想

毛泽东宗教思想是毛泽东思想的重要组成部分。建国后,毛泽东宗教思想集中体现在三个方面,即对宗教采取保护的政策,尊重宗教信仰自由;宗教不能人为地消灭,也需要进行改革;要学习宗教知识,重视对宗教的研究。毛泽东宗教思想至今对我国的宗教,乃至经济、政治、文化、社会等各项事业发挥着重要的指导作用。     

Sexual intercourse,romantic relationship inauthenticity,and adolescent mental health

Numerous studies indicate sexual intercourse, especially when it occurs early in adolescence, increases youths' risk of mental health problems. However, no research has examined whether the association between sexual intercourse and mental health varies by romantic relationship inauthenticity, or the level of incongruence between thoughts/feelings and actions within romantic relationships. Using data from a subset of romantically-involved Add Health respondents, we measured sexual involvement in romantic relationships and applied sequence analysis to reports of ideal and actual romantic relationship to measure inauthenticity within adolescent romances. Regressions of depression symptoms indicate that the magnitude of the positive associations between sexual intercourse and girls' mental health is most pronounced in relationships characterized by high levels of relationship inauthenticity and that there is no association between sexual intercourse and girls' depression at low levels of relationship inauthenticity. Having sexual intercourse is positively associated with depression symptoms among boys, but relationship inauthenticity does not alter this association. We discuss the implications of these findings for research on adolescent sexuality and programs aimed at enhancing youth sexuality development.     

浅谈非理性因素对少年成才的作用

非理性因素是人们关注的一个重要课题,理想、信念、意志、毅力、兴趣、情感、心理素质等非理性因素在青少年成才中发挥着重要作用,这需要我们认真的研究和实践.     

Place matters: Contextualizing the roles of religion and race for understanding Americans' attitudes about homosexuality

As laws and policies related to homosexuality have evolved, Americans' attitudes have also changed. Race and religion have been established as important indicators of feelings about homosexuality. However, researchers have given almost no attention to how county characteristics shape Americans' attitudes. Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling techniques, we examine how personal characteristics and the religious and racial context of a county shape feelings about homosexuality drawing on data from the American National Election Survey and information about where respondents reside. We find that African Americans initially appear less tolerant than other racial groups, until we account for the geographical distribution of attitudes across the nation. Additionally, once we consider religious involvement, strength of belief, and religious affiliation African Americans appear to have warmer feelings about homosexuality than whites. Drawing on the moral communities' hypothesis, we also find that the strength of religiosity amongst county residents heightens the influence of personal religious beliefs on disapproving attitudes. There is also a direct effect of the proportion conservative Protestant, whereby people of all faiths have cooler attitudes towards homosexual individuals when they reside in a county with a higher proportion of conservative Protestants. Finally, we do not find any evidence for an African American cultural influence on attitudes.     

关于信仰与科学关系的思考

科学与信仰的问题一直是一个重大的课题。人离不开信仰,因为信仰具有道德的功能。我们在认识科学与信仰的问题上存在着一定的迷误,常常把宗教与信仰等同看待,或者把信仰的外在表现看成是其全部外在形式或必然形式,这是影响我们认识二者关系的主要障碍。科学与信仰都是社会发展和人们生活中必不可少的,我们要用科学的态度来看待信仰与科学的关系。     

“基督教及其信仰是西方法治的基础”质疑

中国法治建设遭遇了困境,一些中国学者认为这与缺乏宗教的支持分不开.他们提出,西方世俗法治的成长得益于基督教的信仰的支持,近现代西方国家的法律制度就是建立在过去两千年中基督教所创造的各种心理基础和多种价值之上;西方法律与西方宗教本来相通,法律信仰和宗教信仰本质上是一回事,等等.固然,基督教曾对西方法治发挥过积极作用,但称之为"基础"则言之过甚.学者以此为中国法治困境"诊断",在理论上是错误的,在实践中是有害的.     

"马克思主义信仰"的提法不能回避

有的学者认为一讲"信仰"就避不开宗教问题,有引导崇拜和迷信之嫌,因此,为了避免人们可能对马克思主义这一科学体系产生误解,他们建议以后在马克思主义研究和宣传领域中不再使用"信仰"一词而只讲"理想信念"。而且,他们认为马克思、恩格斯就反对把共产主义当成一种"信仰"。我们认为,这种理解存在偏差,替换概念的做法也有降低马克思主义地位、放弃信仰地盘的危险。因此,马克思主义信仰问题不但不能回避,反而要加强研究。     

“以美育代宗教”抑或“以哲学代宗教”？——蔡元培宗教替代观的实质探析

在近代中国社会信仰混乱、宗教泛滥猖獗的历史背景下,蔡元培先后提出了“以美育代宗教”和“以哲学代宗教”的思想主张.蔡元培的目的就是希望在通过美育来替代形式宗教的基础上最终实现哲学对宗教信仰的替代,从而改变社会现状,挽救世俗人心.     

试论宗教的人生价值观

宗教对人生价值的看法规定其信仰的内容。宗教从有神论的立场和角度 ,论述人在世界中的地位以及现实人生的不完美和苦难 ,认为要寻找完满的人生 ,就只能到宗教信仰中去获取。宗教的这种观点适合人类的信仰需要 ,有其积极的一面 ,但是从自然科学及辩证唯物主义的立场、观点来看 ,则是根本错误的。     

Not a lonely crowd? Social connectedness,religious service attendance,and the spiritual but not religious

Using the 2006–2014 General Social Survey and 2006–2012 Portraits of American Life Study, I find that on three dimensions of social connectedness: social interaction frequency, core discussion network size, and number of close ties, that religious service attenders are more connected than religious non-attenders and then either spiritual nor religious, but there are few differences between attenders and the spiritual but not religious. Difference-in-differences and fixed-effects models show little evidence that switches between categories are associated with changes in connectedness, and additional models show that prior social connectedness explains only a small amount of future switches. This paper challenges assumptions that the non-religious are a homogenous group lacking the benefits provided though the social networks of religious congregations and has implications for research on what it means to be spiritual, measuring religion and spirituality, and understanding the role of formal organizations in social life.     

科学信仰与无神宗教:爱因斯坦的宗教观解读

爱因斯坦关于科学与宗教趋和的观点 ,不是基于科学家对宗教的妥协 ,而是基于他对信仰与宗教概念的特殊理解 :信仰是指人对某些非实证事物所固持的坚信态度。科学并不一般地排斥信仰。科学与宗教冲突是相对较低层次宗教经验阶段发生的 ,在宗教接受政教分离的改革而专注于信仰的情况下 ,它就有可能接受科学思想的影响而逐步提高境界 ,淡化人格神的观念 ,从而出现趋和的可能性和条件     

从德尔苏透析赫哲族的宗教观

赫哲族是我国东北渔猎民族之一,它和我国其它的少数民族一样,有自己的宗教信仰和灵魂观念。他们崇拜自然,崇拜鬼神,相信万物有灵。对自然物、动物以及灵魂都有自己的观念,形成了赫哲族传统的宗教观,为我们今天研究赫哲族人的生活习俗、文化传统提供了重要的依据。     

Explaining ethnic outgroup feelings from a multigroup perspective: Similarity or contact opportunity?

This study investigates ethnic outgroup feelings from a multigroup perspective. We test predictions from the similarity principle and intergroup contact theory, claiming that people are more positive towards similar others and that outgroup exposure leads to outgroup attraction. Multilevel analyses on dyadic ingroup-outgroup pairs gathered from a Dutch survey on four ethnic minority groups show that similarity (especially in group characteristics) positively affects favorable outgroup feelings. Outgroup exposure has a non-linear, reversed U-shape effect: a growing share of an ethnic outgroup in the neighborhood of residence initially increases favorable outgroup feelings, yet when the ethnic outgroup is large, further growth decreases favorable feelings. We also find a similarity by contact interaction, such that when group similarity is high, outgroup exposure generates more favorable feelings. The latter finding integrates two rather separate research fields and supports the equal status condition from intergroup contact theory.     

晚清秘密教门与近代社会变迁

晚清秘密教门大多数是从青莲教和八卦教派生出来的，基本上属于罗教系统。步入晚清社会后，由于近代社会变迁，秘密教门的发展出现了相对的停滞。晚清的秘密教门从其宗教色彩、组织结构和与会门的关系来看，应该处于由民间秘密宗教向民间秘密结社的转变期。晚清秘密教门的活动虽然触及到一些时代主题，但从本质上而言是对近代社会的一种反动。     

祛魅、复魅与社会秩序的重建

按照马克斯.韦伯对现代精神特质的概括,现代就是"理性祛除巫魅"。祛魅作为现代处置神性信仰与公共秩序二元化方略的准确反映,长期以来被人们解读为一种反对宗教介入公共生活的现代姿态。其实,这种偏狭的"现代"忽略了信仰对于人类生活的意义,并因此无法完整理解现代生活公私两个世界的互动关系。20世纪50年代开始至今,宗教的复兴运动促使人们在祛魅之外看到由复魅象征着的人类另一种生活模式。由此人们可以认识到宗教之于人心秩序、理性之于社会秩序的高度相关性。宗教的价值就此再获肯定。而掌握世俗权力的人们,也就不再具有以无神论的方式处置有神论问题的理由。     

论唐代的冥婚及其形成的原因

本文旨在探讨唐代冥婚墓志、敦煌冥婚书仪、以及唐代小说笔记中有关冥间结婚和离婚的记载中所反映的唐代的冥婚现象及其兴盛的原因。本文认为 :第一 ,冥婚反映了佛教对唐人的死后世界观的影响 ;第二 ,唐代前期的经济繁荣为重葬提供了良好的土壤 ;第三 ,唐代社会对男女之情的开放态度为冥婚提供了精神和心理条件 ;第四 ,冥婚为死者亲属提供了增进族间交往、伸张权势以及炫耀财富和地位的机会 ;第五 ,冥婚习俗随着唐代社会的衰微而渐趋消失。     

关于儒学宗教性问题研究的反思

儒学宗教性问题关涉到如何认识儒学的特质,如何界定与评价以儒家思想为核心的中国传统文化以及如何评估儒学的现代价值和未来走势等问题,是二十世纪以来儒学研究中举足轻重而又意见纷纭、争而未决的主要议题之一。从"宗教"、"儒教"含义的界定,儒学创立的思想文化背景或理论基础,汉代儒学的神学化、谶纬化及经今古文学派的异同,宋明理学的性质及"三教合一",以及中国传统的宗教鬼神信仰与儒学或儒家传统的宗教观的关系等多个层面,对这一议题提出几点反思,将有助于拓宽该议题的研究视阈,促进该议题的进一步探讨。     

论萨满观念在《红楼梦》中的渗透

<红楼梦>为满汉文化交融的产物.作家的身世经历、当时的社会历史背景使萨满观念渗透于<红楼梦>的创作中.萨满观念信仰在<红楼梦>中有所呈现,并被作家进行了艺术改造与升华.     

论犹太教与基督教的信与行

信与行,是犹太教和基督教中的两个重要范畴。犹太教以对上帝的信仰为基础,以做义人为目的,突出了行为和律法的作用,因而被视为“尚行之教”,其救赎之路可以概括为“因行称义”。基督教以耶稣基督的信仰为基石,认为只有依赖“信仰”才能得救,其救赎之路被称为“因信称义”。“因行称义”和“因信称义”表明,犹太教和基督教在信与行问题上重心不同,而它们之间更本质的区别是信仰对象和救赎手段不同。