Religious belief and social policy: Part I

The nature of religious belief is briefly examined and reference is made to specifically Christian religious belief. The practical expression of this is described as four responses under stereotypical allegorical animals. The difficulties of translating religious belief into practice are alluded to and a plea is entered for a fifth response that distils a number of values from a contemplation of society that will be of relevance to it.     

因病信教农民的宗教心理及其演变:试论把握“信念”概念对理解中国农村宗教实践的启示

本文通过对苏北望村基督徒因病信教现象的考察,关注信教农民的宗教心理及其演变。用"信念"来把握农民"信"的起点心理,它蕴含了个体面临生命困境时寻求宗教帮助并对之赋以期许的自然心态和家庭伦理。"信念"的宗教建构、"信念"的情感嵌入以及"信仰"要求三个宗教操演环节促使个体心理的由俗入圣。基于原有病型及其疗效基础上的个体与宗教间的互动,信徒发生了信念坍塌、信念过渡和信仰升级三种类型的心理分化。"信念"操演与分化构成了农民宗教心理演变的机理,也形塑了农民的信仰方式。文章进一步探讨"信念"对于理解中国农村宗教实践中的个体宗教心理、宗教皈信、宗教复兴等议题所具有的启发。     

Religiosity,citizenship and attitudes to social policy issues

Many social policy objectives align with religious beliefs – poverty alleviation, compassion for the poor and addressing more generally the needs of the vulnerable and disadvantaged in society. Yet there are also conflicting views about means, including the role of the state in redistributing resources from the rich and powerful to the poor and powerless. Redistribution and poverty alleviation are central goals of the welfare state, although ideological and other differences mean that views about the need for, as well as the design, delivery and impact of social programs vary. Against this background, this paper reviews existing national and international studies that have examined how religious belief and practice are associated with the attitudes that underpin the welfare state: compassion, altruism, redistribution and egalitarianism, and the activities that are assumed to align with modern conceptions of ‘a good civic citizen‘: participation and engagement. The analysis draws on recent Australian survey data to examine whether the attitudes of those who actively practice their religious beliefs differ from other groups in society and, if so, whether those differences are consistent with the underlying goals of social policy.     

Religious diversity and social policy: an Australian dilemma

The increase in religious diversity produced by the global movement of people and cultures and the proliferation of internal difference within religious communities raises social policy issues. Consideration of these issues is facilitated by understanding that religious groups intersect with social policy in four basic ways: as objects, sources, critics and implementers of policy. A major issue is the challenge societies face in respecting freedoms of religion and belief on the one hand and providing services to all citizens on the other. Resolving these issues requires an awareness of the religious profile of a society and sensitivity to its religious diversity and to the ways services are delivered. Research into the current status of freedom of religion and belief in Australia is used as a case study to identify issues and potential ways to address them. This research reveals that there is a lack of mechanisms for considering and resolving these issues.     

The Characteristics of Religiousness in Today's Russia

Identification with a religion in Russia varies among regions, ethnic groups, and socioeconomic strata, although among believers, the degree of commitment may be increasing. While in Soviet society there was reluctance to declare religious belief, in today's Russia there is reluctance to declare oneself an atheist; thus, self-assessments of religious status in Russia are still unreliable measures of belief.     

试论宗教信仰的政治意蕴

信仰源于人类的本性需要,宗教信仰也是如此,对宗教信仰的社会作用应给以科学评价。宗教信仰之所以得到许多国家的认同和支持,在于其具有深刻的政治意蕴。它不仅是统治者进行政治统治的理论辩护工具,而且是进行社会控制和稳定社会秩序的调节器,特别是凝聚民族力量的强力粘合剂,一些重要政治运动的传播机。因此,在对待宗教信仰的态度上,我们一方面应该实行宗教信仰自由政策,另一方面必须反对封建迷信、抵制和铲除邪教。同时,维护宗教信仰的民族性特点,坚决反对利用宗教信仰作掩护的民族分裂主义。     

Do the regulatory standards require religious literacy of U.K. health and social care professionals?

Health and social care professionals need sufficient religious literacy in order to handle the complexities of religious beliefs and practices, including the growing numbers who identify with other belief systems and those who claim to identify with no religion. The extent to which the need for religious literacy has been formalized was examined in an analysis of regulatory frameworks for health and social care professionals in the United Kingdom. Although all but one of the regulators make some reference to religion and beliefs, they are silent on the question as to what is meant by religion and beliefs. Some standards include a requirement not to impose one's own beliefs on others, but there is very little requirement to develop a reflective and self‐critical awareness of one's own stance. Likewise, some standards refer to knowledge and skills required, but greater specificity is required for these to be meaningful.     

Substance use among older youth transitioning from foster care: Examining the protective effects of religious and spiritual capital

Among older youth transitioning from the foster care system, this longitudinal study examined the association of religious and spiritual capital to substance use in the past year at age 19. Participants consisted of African American (N = 179) and White non‐Hispanic (N = 133) older youth in foster care. Drawing from social capital theory, it was posited that religious service attendance (a proxy for religious capital) and belief in a spiritual force (a proxy for spiritual capital) would be inversely associated with substance use. Multiple logistic regression results indicated support for the first and second hypothesis for White foster youth only. Among White foster youth, more frequent religious service attendance and greater belief in a spiritual force were associated with a lower likelihood of illegal substance and polysubstance use. No association between religious or spiritual capital and substance use was found among African American foster youth. The findings underscore the importance of conducting spiritual assessments to help ensure older foster youth who have strong religious or spiritual orientations are in environments where they are accommodated and supported.     

执著尘世 向往灵界——论西方作家的基督精神

基督精神是西方作家创作的思想底蕴,它要求以《圣经》为信仰的主要依据,在西方文学中却具有两面性的特征。这既有西方作家信仰根源的原因,也有文学自身的原因,同时也是人文精神渗透的结果。     

Habermas's Theological Turn?

Since the turn of the millennium Jürgen Habermas's contributions to social and political theory have been increasingly turning toward matters of religious and theological relevance. This article weighs up the import and coherence of Habermas's recent reflections on religious belief and its relationship to reason and modernity in Western philosophical culture. At the forefront of the analysis stands Habermas's conception of appropriate “limits” and “boundaries” between the domains of knowledge and faith and the possibility and desirability of a process of “discursive translation” of contents of religious language into forms of secularized, universalizing moral argument. The article defends the thesis that Habermas's project of a rapprochement between contents of religious language and norms of scientific thinking founders on its attempt to reconcile too many different, conceptually centrifugal tendencies. However, these difficulties and inconsistencies in Habermas's recent thinking remain instructive and ought to continue to engage the interest of scholars concerned today with the question of how far the philosophy of the social sciences can and cannot accommodate commitments to theism in the practice of research.     

宗教与信仰的双重社会化——当代中国宗教—信仰的基本变迁

中国宗教与信仰近30年的变迁,始终围绕着宗教与信仰的双重社会化问题。这些问题主要有:信仰自由与宗教自由、"宗教危机"的社会意义、私人信仰与中国法制建设、宗教消费方式对中国宗教—信仰的影响、"宗教民族主义"的抬头"、执政党信仰"的建构与认同等。解决这些问题,对使"宗教危机"转为"宗教转机"具有重要意义。     

Faith and Politics: The Influence of Religious Beliefs on Political Participation*

Objective. The relationship between religion and political participation has not been rigorously investigated, typically employing only basic measures of church attendance or denomination. In this study, we utilize precise measures of various religious behaviors, traditions, and beliefs to examine their influence on political participation. Methods. Using data from the Baylor Religion Survey 2005, we demonstrate that merely including measures of church attendance or denomination camouflages much of religion's influence on political participation. Results. We find that religious beliefs are significantly related to national political participation. For religious activities, identifying with a religious tradition reduces participation, but participation in church activities increases political participation. Conclusion. Different types of religious beliefs influence political participation differently. Although some macro religious beliefs significantly increase macro political behavior, believers in an involved God are less likely to participate politically. Individualistic, micro beliefs have no affect on national politics. Thus, the scope of the religious belief fits with the scope of the political activity, in that more macro concerns translate to national political participation.     

Adolescent Religiosity and School Contexts*

Objectives. Schools serve as the primary social organizations for adolescents, structuring their lives and conveying a variety of skills, norms, and values, but relatively little is known about how schools influence the development of religious belief, attitudes, and behavior during adolescence. We explore how schools' religious norms, coupled with adolescents' pursuit of social status through conformity, affect public and private religiosity. Methods. Employing data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we use multilevel modeling to examine the impact of school context on adolescents' public and private religiosity. Results. We find that school norms are influential in shaping both public religious expressions and private devotional activities, but pursuit of social status is a motivation for change across religious contexts only of public religious activity. The effect of social status as a motivator of religious change was moderated by the strength of the adolescent's identification with the school, especially for private religiosity. Conclusions. Schools play a key role in the social development of adolescents, and students' religious beliefs and behaviors are influenced systematically and observably by the type of religious climate within the school.     

道德信仰及其当代意义

道德信仰是一个生成的完整范畴。“道德”是其基础,信仰是其“着力点”。道德信仰是指道德的形而上学之基础,一是指道德形成的前提性的精神基础;二是指道德的终极向往即道德的最高目标和最高境界。对“人性”的理解及其相应的态度(信仰)是道德形成的精神基础;对“人生意义”的理解及其相应的态度是道德的最高目标和最高境界。道德信仰之所以是必要的,在于它依赖信仰实现道德中所谓动机与效果的统一。人们对“人性”与“人生意义”有相当不同的理解,现实生活中的道德信仰也据此产生两种不同的指向:一是世俗的现实生活指向;一是超俗的宗教生活指向。深化道德信仰研究,有利于明晰社会主义道德的精神基础,有利于强化社会主义道德的凝聚功能,有利于改善社会主义道德的教育方式。     

中东国际体系的宗教因素——以中国在中东的维和与护航行动为考察重点

当前,威斯特伐利亚体系、伊斯兰体系、部族体系这三种国际体系在中东地区处于并行交错的局面,伊斯兰国际体系从中东的崛起和扩张与伊斯兰复兴思潮有着密切联系.进入21世纪,中国在中东的维和与护航行动中,越来越多的因伊斯兰国际体系之故而遭遇到宗教信仰问题.中国在中东军事活动中的涉教方面,主要包括对宗教和信仰的准确认识、中国军人与宗教信仰的关系、国内穆斯林因素和海外军事活动的涉教立法等领域,这些对于中国未来的发展前景至关重要.     

Religious involvement and group identification: The case of Hispanics in the United States

This study examines the link between religious involvement and racial group identification among Hispanics in the United States. Relying on the multifaceted nature of religious involvement, this study focuses on five dimensions of religious involvement—church attendance, prayer, the importance one places on religion, one's belief in God's love, and religious affiliation. Using the data from the Panel Study of American Religion and Ethnicity (1st wave, 2006), this study employs regression analysis. The results show that, among the five dimensions of religious involvement, only church attendance has a significant effect on racial group identification; Hispanics who frequently attend church are more likely to identify with Hispanics. This study suggests that church attendance increases Hispanics’ group identification for two reasons: first, because of the formation of Hispanic-oriented churches; and second, because of the intense interaction among Hispanics within their church communities.     

Prayer and Liturgy as Constitutive‐Ends Practices in Black Immigrant Communities

Much social theory tends to emphasize the external goods of social practices, often neglecting the internal goods of those practices. For example, many analyses of religious rituals over‐emphasize the instrumental and individualistic ends of prayer and liturgy by describing such religious practices as effective means for achieving external ends like positive emotions, psychological benefits, social status, or social capital. By contrast, we use a neo‐Aristotelian virtue ethics perspective to analyze the relational goods, such as trust and intimacy, which are expressed and sustained through ritualized social practices. Using ethnographies of Haitian and Ghanaian Christians in the U.S., we demonstrate that prayer and liturgy can also be understood as constitutive‐ends practices, practices in which human persons engage to sustain relations with others because there are goods inherent to those relationships. We further argue that in many religious practices, the end goals and the means—i.e. specific aspects of the practice—are inseparable. Our approach to developing theory combines critical engagement with numerous other theorists and also exploring how well various theories can explain the motivations and experiences of participants in the religious rituals where we conducted our ethnographies.     

Is religion a health resource for the poor?

This paper uses data from the 2004 General Social Survey to examine the relationship between religious belief and practice (religiosity), spirituality, social support, and health status. Health status is conceptualized first in terms of a subjective assessment and, second, as two objective indicators of physical problems. These relationships were examined first within the total GSS sample, and then separately for respondents who reported below or above the median annual income. Results indicate that spirituality is a positive predictor of respondents’ subjective assessment of their health in the overall sample, but not in either separate income group. Social support does not predict positive subjective or objective health outcomes in the entire sample or for any income group. However, religiosity is a positive predictor of physical health, but only for the most severe of the physical health problems measured, and only for respondents whose annual income is below the national median. Thus, it appears that religiosity is a health resource for those below average income.     

The Practice of Religion in Australia

Nominally most Australians are christians, but fewer than one-third regularly attend church. Many privileges flow to christian churches and religious procedures are still imposed in some circumstances. It is commonly assumed that everyone has a religion, though it is doubtful whether the majority have any real belief. Australia should re-examine the place of religion in society.     

Is religious and existential well-being important in quality of life in Hong Kong Chinese?

The present study aims to determine the extent to which general QoL is predicted by religious and existential well-being, taking into consideration the intensity of participants’ religious and personal beliefs. Additionally, we examine the differences between Christians, believers in the Chinese religions, and those who are not religious. The study is based on the secondary analysis of a cross-sectional survey on the Spiritual Well-being scale (SWBS), which encompasses religious (RWB) and existential well-being (EWB). Participants (N = 445) were comprised of three religious subsamples for known group comparisons: a Chinese religions group (CRG) (n = 133), comprising Buddhism (23.1%), Taoism (5.2%), folk religions and ancestral worship (1.5%); a Christian group (n = 144) consisting of Roman Catholics (8.3%) and Protestants (24%); and non-believers (NRel) (n = 167). Regardless of their religious affiliations, QoL scores were the same in the overall sample. However, when taking the extent of religious commitment and sense of belonging into consideration, religious believers had higher scores in QoL and SWBS than non-believers (highest in Christians, followed by CRG and NRel). Hierarchical regressions showed that EWB was the only significant predictor of QoL after controlling for gender, age, and the extent of religious belief and commitment. The data indicated positive influences of religious beliefs on QoL and SWBS, although distinct affiliations might have affected these scores to a different extent. Fostering RWB and EWB are vital to promoting QoL.