Social work and pastoral counseling: Empowering each other

ABSTRACT

This article addresses the divergent outcomes which can result from counseling services offered pastorally versus clinically. As faith leaders often have greater direct access than social workers to supporting religious populations, it is important to explore the intersection between religious pastoral support and clinical social work. Presenting six scenarios from the author’s own experiences as both a rabbi and social worker, this article processes each scenario first through the pastoral lens of an Orthodox rabbi, followed by the clinical lens of a social worker or other mental health professional. The client outcomes which are produced from each modality are radically different. This contrast demonstrates the distinction between the goals, values, and training of each profession, and highlights importance for future work to be done in linking religious and pastoral training to mental health services, as well as broadening the scope of cultural competence for social workers and therapists who may engage with tight-knit religious populations.     

From leprosy to The Willow Tree: decoding disability and Islamic spirituality in Iranian film

The lack of attention in academic discourse to representations of disability in films from the Middle East has led to an incomplete picture of representations of disability in global cinema. For instance, the diverse meanings of disability in Iranian cinema and the influence of disability on the emergence of Iranian New Wave cinema have been almost completely ignored by scholars. A number of award-winning films from Iran have featured disability as central to their narratives – such as The House is Black (1963), Taste of Cherry (1997), The Color of Paradise (1999), The Willow Tree (2005), and The Painting Pool (2013). Disability in these films serves alternatively as a symbol of spiritual possibility, a mark of marginalization, and a covert social critique. These films examine the emotional, physical, and social implications of disability, while celebrating the cultural power of film to challenge social, religious, and artistic barriers.     

宗教极端主义研究概要

宗教极端主义严重影响当今社会发展。本文正本清源 ,探讨了宗教极端主义的定义、本质、危害等问题 ,并对如何消解宗教极端主义提出了建议。     

略论宗教在社会主义和谐社会建设中的积极作用

构建社会主义和谐社会是一项浩繁的事业,需要社会各界共同奋斗。宗教教义中蕴涵许多有关和谐的思想资源,我们应积极挖掘这些资源,采取多种方式和途径,动员信教群众努力为建设社会主义和谐社会做出贡献。     

神圣世俗社会--兼谈马林诺夫斯基的巫术科学宗教与神话观

宗教问题是一个热门话题,但对宗教的产生及其与巫术等等的关系研究尚处于起步阶段.笔者通过对马林诺夫斯基的<巫术科学宗教与神话>的学习,结合著名学者的观点,拟对以往宗教学说中关于自然与超自然的论述及其仪式、功能,在社会发展中的作用及其与巫术间的区别,作一肤浅的探索.     

宗教应对:少数民族压力应对研究的新视角

宗教与应对密切相关,当宗教的行为和思想用于压力应对时,这样的应对便称为宗教应对。文中对宗教应对的内涵、宗教对我国少数民族压力应对的影响进行了阐述,指出宗教应对是少数民族压力应对的一种特殊方式,包括宗教行为应对和宗教思想应对。研究少数民族宗教应对具有重要的现实意义。     

论藏族的丧葬风俗

为什么全民信仰藏传佛教的藏民族,其丧葬的主要类型不是佛教所推崇的火葬而是天葬?为什么最高级的葬法是塔葬而不是最流行的天葬?为什么土葬的兴衰史与苯教的兴衰史相一致?文章从藏族的地理环境、宗教文化与民族史方面进行了论述,提出了藏民族葬俗双因素决定理论:地理环境与宗教交互作用决定了藏民族葬俗,地理环境在很大程度上抵消了宗教的决定性影响,特别是苯教所推崇的土葬和佛教所推崇的火葬的影响;而宗教又削弱了地理环境对葬俗的限制和束缚。     

Alike but different: the understanding of rituals among Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus in Denmark

ABSTRACT

This article will discuss the meaning(s) of rituals among Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus in Denmark with special focus on the second generation. It will use Roy A. Rappaport's theory on ritual both as communication and as a basic social act, but it will also, in line with Jan Assmann and Hervieu Legér, understand the ritual as a storing place of collective memory. It will give a short outline of what can be called the institutionalisation but also the placemaking of the Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu tradition in Denmark, but the empirical focus will be on the chariot procession (Tēr), which attracts thousands of participants every year. The Tēr procession is an example of continuity and change. Continuity because the participants try to reproduce the ritual as they know it from Sri Lanka, however, changed so it fits into or communicates with the new setting.     

多层面引导宗教与社会主义社会相适应的途径

本文从不同层面探讨了宗教与社会主义社会相适应的途径,分析了正确对待宗教工作的方法和态度,着重论述了新时期应该突出宗教的伦理和文化功能的观点,从制度支持、信仰者个体自我约束与政府的管理相互促进、以保证信教者与不信教者拥有平等的地位等方面探讨了宗教与社会主义社会相适应的条件及途径。     

试论苯教的宗教性质及与藏区民间宗教的关系

文章主要对藏区古老的苯教的宗教属性和特征进行分析,认为在历史上,苯教作为一种宗教的名称出现时,其已经形成系统性的宗教体系,所以我们不能将之列为原始宗教。苯教一般被分为两类,即斯巴苯教与雍仲苯教。其中斯巴苯教与民间宗教有密切的关系,为藏区民间宗教的源流之一。