TruthBook Religious News Blog

by Interfaith Works or The Olympian.

It has been reported that when Albert Einstein was asked about the secret that holds the universe together, he replied, "When we discover it, the answer will be simple and beautiful."

We are bombarded by the complexities of life everywhere we turn; we are exposed to more information in a few years than our ancestors 100 years ago ever had to contend with. It seems like we are drowning in knowledge and thirsting for wisdom. The Rev. Richard Rohr noted that we can put a man on the moon, but fathers don't know how to talk to their sons.

The great commandments are simple - love God and each other with the same passion - yet it seems that such simplicity asks too much of us, so we build nuance upon commentary, and in so doing, free ourselves from the obligation to love.

We are entering a holy season for many and it invites us into a period of reflecting upon the wisdom of our faith. In April alone, we will be celebrating Passover, Holy Week, Easter, the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Buddha's birthday.

Faith traditions offer simple guidance that shimmers across the spiritual landscape, but there is something within us that resists such wisdom. Perhaps it's because we don't like the challenge that such simple words offer to our sense of sophistication.

To celebrate this season of rebirth and renewal, I would like to offer a few words from the major faith traditions, hoping to entice each of us to return to our roots and know the joy that wisdom brings.

In Buddhism: "Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is it healed." The Dhammapada, Chapter 1, verse 5

In Christianity: "Love your enemies and pray for those who hurt you." Matthew 5:44

In Judaism: "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

In Islam: "Those who act kindly in this world will have kindness." Qur'an 39.10

Can you imagine what human history would look like if people of faith had taken these simple injunctions seriously? My prayer is that for these days of April, each of us, regardless of our tradition, would return to the sources of our faith and see what simple words would nourish our souls if we would but let them. Then, from that wellspring, may we come together to create a world that is simply beautiful.

The Rev. Canon David C. James is rector for St. John's Episcopal Church in Olympia.

Labels: Buddhism, Christianity, Islamic, Judaism, simplicity

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Consensus Is Sought on Religion in Schools

Published: March 12, 2007

Diverse groups meet to weigh issues that vex public education.

By Andrew Trotter
Digg This
Nashville, Tenn.

How can the nation’s public schools accommodate students’ religious practices, prepare them for living in a society with a multiplicity of faiths, and avoid related conflicts that disrupt the schools’ educational mission and consume time and money in lawsuits?

Those were the central questions that a conference of some 50 educators, curriculum experts, religious leaders, and legal scholars tried to tackle here last week.
And none too soon, because “there’s a lot of religion going on in public schools,” said Charles C. Haynes, a senior scholar at the First Amendment Center of the Washington-based Freedom Forum, one of three groups hosting the conference at Vanderbilt University, which is also affiliated with the First Amendment Center.

Like a few others at the conference, Mr. Haynes has been working for more than two decades on building a consensus on religious issues in the public schools. He has seen students become more assertive about expressing religious sentiments in school, a growth in the number of religions embraced by students, and heightened interest in adding instruction about world religions and the Bible as a cultural text to the curriculum.

Teaching, Not Advocacy

Those trends create more areas of potential conflict—especially when national groups and the news media get involved in local controversies, many here agreed.

“Schools are a battleground for the culture wars,” said Steven Shapiro, the national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has sued districts to enforce strong church-state separation in schools.

The ACLU, based in New York City, co-sponsored the conference, and Mr. Shapiro explained that he hoped the discussions would clarify the difference between students’ “expression of religious speech and government endorsement of religion.”

The third co-sponsor was the Council for America’s First Freedom, a Richmond, Va.-based group that promotes the use of dialogue, rather than litigation, to solve conflicts over religion in the public schools.

The council’s president, Robert A. Seiple, told participants that “slash-and-burn litigation” civil-liberties groups has been harmful to the nation.

Oliver “Buzz” Thomas, an ordained Baptist minister who is the executive director of the Niswonger Foundation, an educational and charitable organization in Greeneville, Tenn., said, “People get so polarized by this emotional stuff, they can’t get on with the primary task of the school district.”

Seeking Consensus

Meeting March 5-6, participants representing a range of religious and nonreligious perspectives tried to identify areas of agreement that could help districts and outside groups avoid unnecessary conflict, and especially litigation.

Working groups tackled religion in the public school social studies curricula, including world religions and religious holidays; religion in the science curriculum; Bible courses; and student religious expression.

The talks were a reminder that consensus on general issues—say, that public schools should teach “about religion”—can evaporate as discussions get into specifics or touch on current legal cases.

A working group considering religion in science curricula ran into trouble on how to handle “intelligent design,” which many scientists say is religion masquerading as science.

Some participants said the concept, which holds that humans and other living things show signs of having been created by an intelligent being, deserved mention as an alternative to the theory of evolution, which is overwhelmingly accepted by scientists. But curriculum specialists in science said that intelligent design should be handled in social studies—a position opposed by the social studies experts in the room.

A group discussing the school calendar pondered the “December dilemma,” in which Christmas dominates the scheduling of the winter school break. One school superintendent described how he found consensus to close schools on the most significant Jewish and Muslim holidays as well. He assembled a committee of educators and community members that designed a calendar, which was approved by the school board, that gave evenhanded treatment to all religions represented in the district’s schools.

A Muslim attendee described ways that school districts have successfully accommodated Islamic religious holidays and used classrooms after the school day for Friday prayers by students. He advised that by consulting with local religious authorities, school administrators would learn where Islam permits flexibility in certain practices—useful information for accommodating students within the confines of school operations.

The group also agreed that teachers’ jewelry that used religious symbols, such as a cross or a Star of David, could be permissible and an opportunity to teach about religious pluralism.

During a general session, an attendee reporting on the discussions of the Bible-as-an-elective working group said that some conservative Christians in the group argued that the public schools cannot teach about the Bible without undermining students’ faith. Those with this perspective also disapproved of schools’ teaching about sacred texts in general, preferring as a less troubling option a general course in world religions.

Although most participants seemed to accept that schools could teach about religion in the school curriculum—something that is permissible under court rulings, as are elective courses about the Bible—several people acknowledged that many teachers resist taking up the subject. Either the teachers fear that their lessons will interfere with their students’ religious training at home or church, this argument went, or they have objections to courses that may inadvertently help spread a particular religion.

The participants agreed to exchange summaries of their deliberations; and the organizers plan to craft a document discussing the conference’s key points, including strategies and recommendations.

Teaching About Religion

Experts in law, education, and religion at a recent conference on religion in public schools discussed how conflicts over religion could be minimized.

• School districts should develop policies on handling religious issues before disagreements at schools explode into public controversy and lawsuits.

• Educators should develop such policies in consultation with their communities, including local religious leaders. They should try to identify areas of agreement, as well as “safe harbors,” where groups disagree but will not take school districts to court.

• Schools that address religion in the curriculum need better instructional materials, including textbooks and Web sites.

• Teachers need to be better trained about the law on religion in the public schools; of the facts about major religions; and of the recommended pedagogies for teaching about religion.

• Public schools can lessen friction over religion by promoting neutrality, on matters such as the religious holidays that are recognized on the school calendar, and by making reasonable accommodations, such as allowing teachers to wear jewelry featuring religious symbols.

SOURCE: Education Week

Labels: Andrew Trotter, Christmas, evolution, Freedom Forum, government, public school, religion

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Many Alzheimer's caregivers seek help in God

About a third of those who take care of loved ones with the disease feel 'more religious' because of their experiences, a new national study says.

By Tami Abdollah, Times Staff Writer
March 14, 2007

A survey to be released today indicates that...about one-third of people caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease felt "more religious" because of the experience. The study, which surveyed 650 adults nationwide, was conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of the Alzheimer's Foundation of America.

The survey found that 36% of respondents, who identified themselves as religious or nonreligious, said they felt "more religious." This feeling was more pronounced among African American respondents, with 48% saying that's how they felt.

More than 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, a neurodegenerative illness characterized by memory loss and disorientation, among other symptoms. Alzheimer's disease, more common in the elderly, worsens over roughly a 10-year period and is fatal.

There is no cure, and only "modestly successful" treatments exist, said Dr. Jeffrey L. Cummings, founder and director of the UCLA Alzheimer's Disease Center.

About 20 million Americans are caring for someone with Alzheimer's, according to the foundation. Most of the caregivers are family members, spouses or adult children.

Because caregivers bear heavy burdens — for example, the frustration of patients who frequently do not remember that they don't remember — they may die younger and can lapse into substance abuse and depression, Cummings said.

"It's been called, the '36-hour day,' " Cummings said. "Because there is no minute in which the caregiver can afford not to be vigilant over the patient, and that makes for a very trying kind of challenge."

Lemuel Chavis, a former Los Angeles elementary school principal, used to be upbeat, his intelligence obvious, his wife said. Married nearly 12 years ago — it's his third marriage and her first — they enjoyed taking short trips to San Diego or Palm Springs. Sometimes they went to the beach.

Many evenings, she said, he would read poetry to her, including "If" by Rudyard Kipling and "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes. But still, a "tough guy," he rarely cried.

Now, Chavis said, she sees her husband reduced to tears a couple times a week, complaining of the "splitting" in his head or his inability to do something. Like caregivers for Alzheimer's patients all over, she watches helplessly. And so she pushed herself closer to God.

"Who would I turn to?" she said. "I've tried talking to my friends, I've tried having a cocktail or two, I've tried … thinking about other things…. And I know it's going to get worse."

The experience, Chavis said, has taught her to trust in God's ways. She recalled moments of prayer: "I would say, 'You made him, you made the universe, you have to help me. You know the answers, I don't.' "

Peter Hill, a psychology professor at the Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University in La Mirada, said that for some people, facing a loved one with a terminal illness is what makes them aware of their own mortality. The experience causes them to search for meaning beyond themselves, for "a sense of transcendence," he said.

Sometimes spirituality can help caregivers deal with the dissonance between the person the caregiver once knew and the person who is before them, said Glen Milstein, an assistant professor of psychology at City College of New York.

"The real bottom line to all of this is that care-giving for persons with chronic illnesses is hard," Milstein said. "So you're going to use everything that will help you cope. What is it to mourn a living person? What is the ritual of mourning a living person? Where else but religion would the human go?"

In the United States, there are more than 260,000 religious communities — synagogues, parishes, mosques and other centers of worship — and about 80% of Americans affiliate themselves with a religious institution, Milstein said.

Chavis said she has found comfort and strength in her religious community, its prayers and hymns, particularly the song "The Battle Is Not Mine, It's the Lord's."

According to the Alzheimer's Foundation, the disease affects nearly 50% of those over age 85. By 2050, almost 16 million Americans are expected to have it.

"When it gets down to illness and you are facing the ultimate realities, you could have all the science in the world," said Kowalewski, the St. James rector. "But you're really facing humanity. There's an old saying, 'there's no atheists in the foxholes,' and it's sort of like that."

Resources for caregivers: Alzheimer's Assn., http://www.alz.org , and Alzheimer's Foundation of America, http://www.alzfdn.org

Labels: Alzheimer's, caregivers, God, religiosity, spirituality, Tami Abdollah

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

More Americans exercise choice in religion

Posted: 3/30/07

By Andrea Useem
Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)— According to experts who study the phenomenon, spiritual seekers are exercising their freedom of choice more than ever before.

Sixteen percent of Americans have switched their religious identities at some point in their lives, according to the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey, one of the largest studies of its kind.

“People are making more choices in everything, from lifestyle to sexual identity. It’s not surprising if they are making more choices in religion,” said Peter Berger, professor of sociology and theology at Boston University.

In other words, the era when religion was determined solely by accident of birth is over, he said.

Barry Kosmin, co-author of the 2006 book Religion in a Free Market: Religious and Non-Religious Americans, which is based on the 2001 survey data, predicted more switching is to be expected.

“Family and ethnic loyalties—the old glue that maintained inter-generational religious identification—has weakened,” he said. In addition to moving more frequently, Americans also are more likely to be “searching” for religious truth, often outside their own traditions, wrote Kosmin, who directs the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

The 2001 study showed clear winners and losers in the competition to attract and retain members: Twice as many Americans left Catholicism as joined the faith, while evangelical Christianity registered a net gain, with more than three times as many people joining than leaving.

The biggest change, however, was registered among Americans who said they had no religious identity at all, increasing from 8 percent of the U.S. population in 1990 to 14 percent in 2001.

While religious switching may bring satisfaction to individual seekers, the phenomenon can be unnerving for religious leaders, who are vying for “customers” ever more aware of new options, Kosmin said.

But success in attracting new members doesn’t necessarily translate into success at keeping them, reported Daniel Olson, a sociologist at Indiana University South Bend who studies religious competition.

The 2001 survey found, for example, that while the Mormons welcomed a relatively large number of converts, an equal number left the faith. Jehovah’s Witnesses and Buddhists displayed similarly high levels of turnover.

Surprisingly, smaller religious groups are better at recruiting new members, Olson said. Most switching happens through social relationships, like marriage and friendship, and members of a small religious group are more likely to have lots of relationships with nonmembers, whom they are able to pull into the faith.

Labels: American Religious Identification Survey, Andrea Useem, religion, religious identity, truthseeking

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Saturday, March 24, 2007

"Family Time Comes Before Church, Survey Finds"

[March 23, 2007, 4:44 pm]

While you wouldn't know it by looking at the growing congregation at Harpeth Height's Baptist Church, but there is an extraordinary number of people in America who say they never go to church.

Living in the Bible belt, results from a new survey may be surprising.

According to a new survey, 100 million people say they haven't been to a worship service in more than six months.

The reason more and more people say they don’t go to church is because they'd rather spend Sundays with their family.

The non-church goers say sports and other activities keep them busy on Saturdays and that Sunday is the only day they can spend one-on-one time with their kids.

They say when taking them to church, they often get split up for different Sunday school classes andworship services.

Church leaders are paying attention to the results.

In the past, when recent surveys showed people didn't go to church because they thought it was boring, many churches responded by updating the music or bringing in those large video screens.

Responding to the people who say they stay away from church to spend more time with their families is going to be more difficult.

Churches will have their chance in the next few weeks as more people attend worship services on Easter Sunday, than any other time of the year.

The survey also shows people in the south are the most likely to go to church while people in the northeast and west attend church services the least.

For more, visit www.faithandethics.com .

Labels: church, family

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Monday, March 19, 2007

Americans use talents, creativity to reshape religion

March 18, 2007
BY DAVID CRUMM
FREE PRESS RELIGION WRITER

Macomb Township mom Laurie Hempel went from doing zero to 20 hours of church work a week over the last year -- all because she finally found a church where she could "give my 2 cents and shape something new."

And though engineer Nicole Howard of Lathrup Village was laid off by Ford Motor Co. last month, she said she's not worried, because her Detroit church is the real center of her life. That's where Howard said she does her most important work -- spearheading a group of women who train themselves in skills ranging from weight loss to financial planning.

Hempel and Howard are among millions of Americans who are driving a head-over-heels transformation. The rising power of self-expression is becoming a central part of faith. Congregations across the country are changing from places where people go only for religious inspiration and instruction to places where people seek concrete ways to express their creativity, insights and talents.

Some scholars call the transformation the end of a 500-year cycle of reformation, a continuation of the individualistic streak in Christianity touched off by religious reformer Martin Luther. Others say what's unfolding is part of the trend toward what is called crowdsourcing -- allowing ordinary people to shape the future of congregations.

Whatever it is called, the trend is powerful. As the American passion for religious self-expression rises, the centuries-old power of religious leaders is fading, and many traditional labels are falling away.

Change is showing up in many ways:

• It's usurping the power of the preacher. "It makes you nervous as a pastor these days when you step into the pulpit knowing that everybody sitting in front of you is just two clicks in the Internet away from being smarter than you are on any subject you choose to talk about," said the Rev. Ken Wilson, pastor of the Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor.

• It's making familiar religious denominations obsolete. Howard's church, one of Detroit's most famous Baptist congregations, is dropping "Baptist" from its name at the huge new Second Ebenezer Church rising along I-75. Second Ebenezer is going nondenominational because Howard, the Rev. Edgar Vann and other members have decided that religious consumers now care more about the quality of programs than even the most time-honored religious names.

• It's causing mainline churches to look for new methods of shoring up membership and sending even nontraditional churches such as Kensington Community Church in Troy back to the drawing board.

Last year, Kensington clergy were shocked when they called for volunteers to open a new branch. They got a great turnout but were stunned to learn that 400 of the 500 who volunteered had been inactive until then. Even with their established marketing savvy, the Kensington leadership team hadn't fully tapped the power of the crowd in the pews.

"It was humbling to discover that," said the Rev. Steve Andrews, the senior pastor. "We like to think we know our people and that they're already active in our church, but these 400 had been sitting there with us -- and they weren't on our radar screen until that moment."

Triumph of faith and expression

Americans' historic passion for faith remains as strong as ever, University of Michigan sociologist Wayne Baker found in studying American values.

What's fueling the transformation in American congregations, Baker has found, is a strengthening over the last 20 years of another powerful American value: freedom of self-expression.

"I agree with those who say this looks like a continuation of centuries of reformation in religion," Baker said. "It's been going on around the world, but this desire for self-expression in religion has become most extreme in the U.S."

Flipping a pyramid in Detroit

In Detroit, Vann and members of Second Ebenezer figured out what was happening without global data. They simply listened to one another.

Still, the decision to drop their Baptist label was a dramatic step.

In the late 1990s, Vann was the public face of the city's Baptist churches as president of the Council of Baptist Pastors of Detroit and Vicinity. He spoke for a denomination whose urban roots are in the great migration of African Americans from the South to jobs in the North a century ago.

"But now, we realize that people are moving away from following the old brands in making religious choices, so when the bronze letters finally go up on our building, we'll drop the word 'Baptist,' " Vann said.

The $25-million church is expected to open later this year.

"It's becoming clear to us that the traditional denominations were shaped like pyramids, with the critical mass at the bottom, mainly being asked to support a very small cone of people at the top," he said.

"In the 21st Century, that pyramid is inverted, and the hope of the local church -- really, the hope of the world, I think -- depends on our focusing not on that little cone, but on listening to the needs and the voices of that mass of people we often overlooked."

Firing up a crowd in Troy

In Troy, pastors at Kensington Community Church thought they pretty much understood America's religious transformation.

Two decades ago, they surfed along on a leading wave of casually dressed young preachers who gave up hymns for rock music and made worship so entertaining that even the most skeptical baby boomers would bend a knee.

They brought thousands of religiously inactive families back to church. About 10,000 people now show up for weekend services -- and that's after Kensington has dispatched thousands of members over the years to start a dozen other congregations.
But most of those start-ups were relatively small. Kensington had never had a volunteer mobilization quite like the one last summer that went to start Kensington East in Clinton Township.

The day after the Sunday that church leaders asked volunteers to sign up for the launch, they found themselves looking over a puzzling list of names.

Andrews and his colleagues soon realized they were watching a crowdsourcing event unfold in their midst. These 400 men and women weren't willing to register with the church office until they saw an opportunity they liked.

Marty Cracchiolo, a software developer from Macomb Township, was among the 400. "I used to be a Chreaster," he said. "You know? Just Christmas and Easter.

"Then, I started attending Kensington in Troy, but I was on the fence there, waiting for a good opportunity."

Finally, Cracchiolo heard that the new church in Clinton Township needed volunteers to work with electronic gear. "I enjoy that and, now that I've gotten involved at the new church, I've found that the people are awesome."

A restless group of believers

Tony Campolo, one of the most popular evangelical speakers on college campuses these days, has been telling evangelical leaders about this powerful shift for years and urging them to develop a new set of ministerial skills.

The problem in many traditional denominations, Campolo said, is that "church leaders are wasting time yelling at each other over old issues ... and they're not watching what's happening right in front of us."

At the Vineyard Church in Ann Arbor, Wilson said one of his most important ministerial talents these days is stepping out of the way and unleashing his congregation.

"We all know how churches have worked for years: We welcome people, put them into classes, teach them all these beliefs we want them to swallow and tell them that they're expected to serve in our programs. Then we sit back and hope they do what we told them to do," Wilson said.

"But that just doesn't work anymore. We've got to realize that people see themselves as pilgrims. They're not clay waiting for us to turn them into Christians."

Here's how it works now, he said: "When people come up to me and say, 'Oh, wouldn't it be great if our church did this or that?' I stop them right there and I say, 'Great idea! You're the church. Go start it."

Contact DAVID CRUMM at 313-223-4526 or dcrumm@freepress.com.

Labels: Christianity, church, congregations, crowdsourcing, David Crumm, religion, service

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Religious Scholar Details Ways To Simplify Life

BOOK REVIEW

``Spiritual Simplicity: Simplify Your Life and Enrich Your Soul''
Author: David Yount
Publisher: Simon & Schuster. 208 pp.

SPEND MORE time in the kitchen or family room. Keep holy the Sabbath Day. Laugh. Create a sanctuary. Sell your boat. Get out of debt.

These are just a few of the simple, concrete, easy-to-swallow suggestions for a peaceful life that are proposed by David Yount in ``Spiritual Simplicity: Simplify Your Life and Enrich Your Soul.'' The title of this thin volume by writer, lecturer and religious analyst Yount could just as easily have been ``Change Your Habits, Change Your Soul.''

With dozens of self-help and pop-psychology books on the shelves today, some so undecipherable one wonders how their authors dare promote them as the path to simplicity, it's refreshing to find Yount's rudimental guide. His premise is stated right up front: `` . . . you can simplify your life, reducing the demands on your time, your emotions, and your finances. What you do with more time and less stress is for you to decide . . . . ''

The chapters that ensue couldn't be any more lucid and fundamental in their precepts. Yount begins with ``The Gift of Simplicity,'' subtitled, ``Cut the clutter and save your soul,'' and takes us through the 1-2-3 steps to accomplishment. We move from getting started to prioritizing work, through seeking solitude and refreshing the spirit, to sharing simplicity with others and finally, ``retreating'' as a way to nourish the soul.

Along the way Yount, a doctor of divinity who's ``been there/done that'' when it comes to the obstacles we all like to whine about - jobs, divorce, kids, poor health and life's pace - recounts his own experiences, and those of others, in such modest terms, anyone can relate.

He throws out such unassuming theories as: We can attain the same sense of spiritual completion new lovers feel through art, nature, knowledge and creative work; ``worry is the greatest enemy of a satisfied life, followed by lack of preparation for inevitable setbacks''; and ``silence breeds simplicity and nourishes spirituality.''
In other words, life is simpler if we just shut up once in a while, and remove ourselves from the chatter of other people, whether real or on TV.

The thing is, we all know we could use a little simplicity in our modern lives, if for no other reason than we'd probably be healthier, but we tend to separate our souls from our bodies. We don't quite see how things like ``stopping the junk mail'' and ``using consignment shops'' can benefit us spiritually.

In the end, though, ``Spiritual Simplicity'' puts it all into unadorned perspective so that we're left thinking, ``Ahhh, so that's how to do it. I can do this, too.''

MEMO: Charlene Cason, a former staff writer, is completing her master's
in fine arts for creative writing at Old Dominion University. She lives
in Chesapeake.

Labels: Charlene Cason, David Yount, simplicity, spirituality

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Does God answer prayer? ASU research says 'yes'

Does God or some other type of transcendent entity answer prayer? The answer, according to a new Arizona State University study published in the March journal Research on Social Work Practice, is "yes."

David R. Hodge, an assistant professor of social work in the College of Human Services at Arizona State University, conducted a comprehensive analysis of 17 major studies on the effects of intercessory prayer – or prayer that is offered for the benefit of another person – among people with psychological or medical problems. He found a positive effect.

“There have been a number of studies on intercessory prayer, or prayer offered for the benefit of another person,” said Hodge, a leading expert on spirituality and religion. “Some have found positive results for prayer. Others have found no effect. Conducting a meta-analysis takes into account the entire body of empirical research on intercessory prayer. Using this procedure, we find that prayer offered on behalf of another yields positive results.”

Hodge’s work is featured in the March, 2007, issue of Research on Social Work Practice, a disciplinary journal devoted to the publication of empirical research on practice outcomes. It is widely recognized as one of the most prestigious journals in the field of social work.

Hodge noted that his study is important because it is a compilation of available studies and is not a single work with a single conclusion. His “Systematic Review” takes into account the findings of 17 studies that used intercessory prayer as a treatment in practice settings.

“This is the most thorough and all-inclusive study of its kind on this controversial subject that I am aware of,” said Hodge. “It suggests that more research on the topic may be warranted, and that praying for people with psychological or medical problems may help them recover.”

The use of prayer as a therapeutic intervention is controversial. Yet, Hodge notes that survey research indicates that many people use intercessory prayer as an intervention to aid healing, which raises questions about its effectiveness as an intervention strategy.

“Overall, the meta-analysis indicates that prayer is effective. Is it effective enough to meet the standards of the American Psychological Association’s Division 12 for empirically validated interventions? No. Thus, we should not be treating clients suffering with depression, for example, only with prayer. To treat depression, standard treatments, such as cognitive therapy, should be used as the primary method of treatment.”

In addition to his inclusion in the upcoming issue of Research on Social Work Practice, Hodge is widely published and has appeared on the pages of Social Work, Social Work Research, Journal of Social Service Research, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, and Families in Society. He has also authored the book “Spiritual assessment: A handbook for helping professionals.”

Source: Arizona State University

Labels: God, intercessory prayer

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Global Poll Finds that Religion and Culture are Not to Blame for Tensions between Islam and the West

Source: GlobeScan

The global public believes that tensions between Islam and the West arise from conflicts over political power and interests and not from differences of religion and culture, according to a BBC World Service poll across 27 countries.

While three in ten (29%) believe religious or cultural differences are the cause of tensions, a slight majority (52%) say tensions are due to conflicting interests.

The poll also reveals that most people see the problems arising from intolerant minorities and not the cultures as a whole. While 26 percent believe fundamental differences in cultures are to blame, 58 percent say intolerant minorities are causing the conflict with most of these (39% of the full sample) saying that the intolerant minorities are on both sides.

The idea that violent conflict is inevitable between Islam and the West is mainly rejected by Muslims, non-Muslims and Westerners alike. While more than a quarter of all respondents (28%) think that violent conflict is inevitable, twice as many (56%) believe that "common ground can be found."

The survey of over 28,000 respondents across 27 countries was conducted for the BBC World Service by the international polling firm GlobeScan together with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland. GlobeScan coordinated the fieldwork between November 2006 and January 2007.

Respondents were also asked whether tensions arise from fundamental differences between the cultures as a whole or from intolerant minorities. Only 26 percent say they are due to differences in culture, while 58 percent attribute these tensions to intolerant minorities - with 39 percent saying that these intolerant minorities are on both sides, 12 percent saying they are primarily on the Muslim side, and 7 percent saying they are mostly on the Western side. The view that the problem arises from intolerant minorities is found in 24 of the 27 countries surveyed, with two countries (Brazil and the UAE) equally divided between the two points of view and with one in two Nigerians (50%) saying fundamental differences are the cause."

Asked whether "violent conflict is inevitable" between Muslim and Western cultures or whether "it is possible to find common ground," an average of 56 percent say that common ground can be found between the two cultures, which is the most common response in 25 countries. On average almost three in ten (28%) think violent conflict is inevitable; Indonesia is the only country where this view predominates, while views are divided in the Phillipines

The belief that it is possible to find common ground between Islam and the West rises with education from 46 percent among those with no formal education to 64 percent among those with post secondary education.

The minority of people who believe that tensions between Islam and the West arise from differences of religion and culture are much more likely to believe that violent conflict is inevitable compared to those who think the problem derives from issues of political power or intolerant minorities.

A belief that violent conflict is inevitable is somewhat more common among Muslims (35 percent) than Christians (27 percent) or others (27 percent). But overall, 52 percent of the 5,000 Muslims surveyed say it is possible to find common ground, including majorities in Lebanon (68%) and Egypt (54%) as well as pluralities in Turkey (49%) and the United Arab Emirates (47%). Even in religiously divided Nigeria, a large majority of Muslims (63%) believe it is possible to find common ground, while Christians are divided on the question. Only in Indonesia do a slim majority (51%) of Muslims take the view that violent conflict is inevitable.

Countries with the largest majorities believing that Islam and the West can find common ground include Italy (78%), Great Britain (77%), Canada (73%), Mexico (69%) and France (69%). A strong majority of Americans (64%) also think it is possible to find common ground, though about a third (31%) believe violent conflict is inevitable. Pluralities in the Philippines (42%) and India (35%) agree that common ground can be found, despite the former's Muslim insurgency and the latter's history of sectarian strife.

In all but three countries, citizens are more likely to think that tensions between Islam and the West arise from conflicts about political power and interests than from differences of religion and culture. A majority (56%) in Nigeria - a country that has suffered clashes between its Muslim and Christian communities - say that tensions primarily arise from religion and culture, including 51 percent of Christians and 59 percent of Muslims. Kenyans and Poles are divided on the question.

Worldwide, Muslims (55%) are somewhat more certain than Christians (51%) that the problem mostly derives from political conflict. This is a widely held view in Lebanon (78%), Egypt (57%), Indonesia (56%) and Turkey (55%) as well as in the United Arab Emirates (48% vs. 27% cultural differences).

Respondents were asked not only their religious affiliation but also the extent to which their religion plays a strong role in how they approach political and social issues. Results were then analyzed to assess whether the views of people who are more religious (regardless of their affiliation) differ from people who are less so.

The analysis shows no consistent pattern. In a few countries, those who are more religious are somewhat more likely to say that conflict is inevitable (Turkey, Hungary), but in more countries such people are slightly more likely to say that it is possible to find common ground (Argentina, Chile, Nigeria, Poland). Those who are more religious are more likely to see the problem arising from culture in France, South Korea, and Turkey, but more likely to attribute it to conflicts of power in Hungary, UAE and the Philippines. So globally, there is no consistent effect.

In total 28,389 citizens in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United States were interviewed between 3 November 2006 and 16 January 2007. Polling was conducted for the BBC World Service by the international polling firm GlobeScan and its research partners in each country. In 10 of the 27 countries, the sample was limited to major urban areas. The margin of error per country ranges from +/-2.5 to 4 percent. For more details, please see the Methodology section or visit www.globescan.com or www.pipa.org

Labels: culture, GlobeScan, minorities, politics, religion, violence

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Poll: More Americans Prefer Focus on Personal Faith Over Changing Society

By Audrey Barrick
Christian Post Reporter
Fri, Feb. 23 2007 10:07 AM ET

Highly religious Americans are almost evenly split on whether it is best to live the best possible personally religious life or it is also necessary to spread their beliefs, a recent Gallup Poll found.

Polls conducted last fall found that the largest percentage of Americans label themselves as "somewhat religious" (39 percent). Those who classify themselves as "extremely" or "very religious" constituted 37 percent of polled Americans. And 23 percent say they are "not too religious" or "not religious at all."

Among the highly religious people, 48 percent say it is sufficient to live the best possible personal life based on their religious beliefs and principles without having to spread their faith. An earlier study by the Barna Research Group had found similar figures with 46 percent of those who claim to be evangelicals being less likely to say they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs with others.

Still, the Gallup Poll found that 49 percent believe it is necessary to attempt to spread their beliefs and principles to other people.

More than half of highly religious Americans who believe it is necessary to spread beliefs to others say this is best accomplished by converting others to one's religion, which the Gallup report labeled as the traditional evangelical view. Only 31 percent say the best way to spread their religion is by changing aspects of society. The latter portion makes up only 6 percent of all American adults.

The bottom line, the report stated, is that the majority of highly religious Americans believe that they do not need to change the society around them to conform to their religious beliefs, but instead can live the best possible personal religious life, or focus on one-on-one conversion.

The poll comes amid the 2008 presidential campaigns. A key to Republican successes, the Gallup Poll noted, was the highly religious voters, who were particularly concerned for and focused on changing societal elements in such areas as abortion, same-sex "marriage," and stem cell research using embryos. The recent poll, however, indicated little interest in changing society on the basis of their religious beliefs.

Data is based on telephone interviews with 2,013 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted in September and November 2006.

Labels: Americans, Audrey Barrick, Gallup Poll, religious practice

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Monday, March 12, 2007

Scientists seek answers to mysteries of attraction

March 12, 2007

By SHERRY MIMS
Staff Writer

Asking what love is or how it works is like asking someone to define beauty or success: It's all subjective.

As science has progressed, however, researchers are trying to crack love's mysterious code and asking all sorts of questions about its mechanics. What is love, and why are some people luckier in love than others?

MR. OR MS. RIGHT

Larry and Sara Rugotzke of Daytona Beach Shores look to be the perfect specimen for scientists. Seen holding hands in Volusia Mall after 39 years of marriage, they share a warm look between them when asked about their marriage.

"We have a lot in common," Sara says.

"Same interests, respect. Spirituality is important," Larry adds.

This matches what Dr. Finnegan Alford-Cooper, a professor of sociology and anthropology at Stetson University in DeLand, has studied.

"Yes, there is research to suggest that people are attracted to people like themselves. In fact, research has demonstrated that we are attracted to people who are similar to us with respect to socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, religion, personality characteristics, attitudes, beliefs, et cetera," she says.

Alford-Cooper has been married for 16 years and knows firsthand some characteristics of a good relationship.

"In my study of long-term marriage (Long Island Long-Term Marriage Survey, published in "For Keeps: Marriages That Last a Lifetime" ME Sharpe Press, 1998), successful, happily married couples explained their marital longevity and happiness in terms of shared backgrounds, similar norms, values and beliefs," Alford-Cooper says. "They had known each other a relatively long time before marrying, and considered themselves to be good friends to each other."

So, what about the conventional wisdom that opposites attract? It may not be as prevalent, but according to research, it doesn't make it any less true.

Don and Norma Horne fall in the opposites-attract category. The Hornes, who are from Kahnawake, Canada, are just visiting Daytona Beach for the month, but took some time to talk about their 42 years of marriage. They say similarity is not why they got together.

"In our case, it wasn't," Norma says.

THE IT FACTOR

If similarities weren't the key to their attraction, one thing could not be escaped: looks.

"For me, it was important," Don says. "She was as beautiful then as she is now."

Alford-Cooper says that even though attraction is very important at the beginning of the relationship and attractive people are more likely to get dates, it's not the determining factor of whether a relationship lasts.

GOING THE DISTANCE

Alford-Cooper's surveys and interviews with those married 50 or more years reveals that their secret to a lasting relationship was mutual love, respect, trust, commitment, ability to compromise, tactful communication and compatibility. She says that "over half of the happily married spouses also emphasized a willingness to give more than you get -- to be willing to give more than 50/50, understanding that it's a give and take over a lifetime.

"Finally," she adds, "perseverance and determination were important also."
Norma Horne echoes that last sentiment. "You've got to work on it all the time. There's not such a thing as automatic."

"It keeps you on your toes. Don't take it for granted," her husband Don says.

For Sara Rugotzke, the secret ingredients to her long-lasting marriage is humor. "I laugh at him all the time," she says.

Larry Rugotzke looks a little bewildered, and then answers with a smile. "She's full of wisdom and understanding."

Compliments apparently work, too.

sherry.mims@news-jrnl.com-- Real Simple magazine contributed to this story.

Labels: humor, love, marriage, religion, Sherry Mims, spirituality

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Religion's Generation Gap Growing

March 2- Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll used to be the Big Three of rebellion. Some families are adding religion to that list.

An increasing number of teens and young adults who were raised in nonreligious or nominally religious families are getting swept up in religious fervor. This is creating a complicated and sometimes painful family dynamic.

The parents of 16-year-old Kevin Ellstrand are self-described secular humanists who shun organized religion. Two years ago, Kevin says, he "started following Christ with all my heart." He has taken a missionary trip to Mexico and participates in a weekly Bible study group.

In a time when many teens are having sex and taking drugs, his parents mostly consider his piety a blessing. They get upset, however, when Kevin explains that he doesn't believe in evolution. "To me, this is appalling," says his mother, Karen Byers, who has a doctorate in strategic management and was raised a Methodist. "We get into arguments, and voices get a little louder than they should."

While parents of newly devout offspring often consider religion a benign if not positive influence, some say they are disappointed that their children have chosen a lifestyle so different from their own. Some of these teens and young adults are forgoing secular careers in favor of the ministry, moving away from home to religious enclaves, skipping family celebrations and changing their given names.

Clergy are in the difficult position of trying to guide young people toward devoutness without dishonoring their families. The reluctance of parents to accept their children's choices can be a source of frustration for some youths and their pastors. "My joke is, they liked them better when they were on drugs," says Pastor Peter La Joy, who directs the student ministry at Calvary Chapel in Tucson, Ariz.

While statistics on the number of devout young people are hard to come by, some groups that minister to the young report big gains. Young Life, an evangelical Christian ministry that focuses on children "disinterested" in religion, says more than 106,000 teens attended its programs on a weekly basis during the 2005-2006 school year, up from 66,362 12 years ago. "Mecca and Main Street," a new book by Geneive Abdo, a senior analyst at the Gallup Organization's Center for Muslim Studies, argues that a significant number of young U.S. Muslims are becoming substantially more devoted to Islam than their parents.

In the Jewish community, a growing number of formerly secular young people are embracing an Orthodox lifestyle.

Families in which the children are more religious than the parents aren't the norm. In "Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers," University of Notre Dame professor Christian Smith reports that a child's religious beliefs generally will closely reflect his parents'. And not all religious fervor among the children of secular families has a solely spiritual basis. At times, "it's a part of teenage rebellion," says Azeem Khan, the former national coordinator of Young Muslims, a group that runs summer camps and other youth-oriented religious programs.

Overall, American's religious devotion seems to have remained fairly constant over the past 10 years. In a 2006 Gallup poll, 63 percent of respondents said they were members of a church or synagogue, down slightly from 65 percent in 1996. When asked how important they considered religion in their own lives, 57 percent said it was very important, the same as in 1996.

The embrace of Islam by young people can be confounding to secular Muslim-Americans who immigrated to the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. "Our parents were more culturally Muslim than religious," says Farhan Latif, the former president of the Muslim Students Association at the University of Michigan's Dearborn campus and the alumni adviser to the chapter. But in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks - and the racial profiling of Muslims that ensued - some young people have gravitated toward their religion as a show of ancestral pride and an act of defiance against a society they see as discriminatory. Young Muslims, for example, says it has seen participation double since 2000 to more than 1,000 people.

Young people gravitating toward orthodoxy is also an emergent issue in the Orthodox Jewish community. There is even a minilexicon of terms to characterize the movement. Baal Teshuva (Hebrew for "master of return") is the name Orthodox Jews give to secular Jews who are changing their lives to live like and among the frum - a Yiddish word describing observant Jews. Strict Orthodox Jews tend to live in close-knit communities, dress in a conservative fashion and strive to observe all of the Torah's 613 laws. There's even an Orthodox shorthand that includes terms like "BT" (Baal Teshuva) "FFB" (frum from birth).

Few issues create more tension for families comprised of people with different religious commitments than religious holidays and family celebrations. Last year, Philip Ackerman of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and his wife wanted to take their three children and all of their grandchildren on a cruise to celebrate his 70th birthday. Among Mr. Ackerman's children is Azriela Jaffe, who is a BT and the author of a book about how newly observant Jews can get along with their less-observant relatives, "What Do You Mean, You Can't Eat in My Home?" Because the cruise ship didn't offer kosher food, and the itinerary would require travel on the Jewish Sabbath, Mrs. Jaffe and her family declined the invitation.

In some instances, of course, a child's embrace of religion can create stronger family bonds. When Ian Matyjewicz and his twin brother became observant Jews, their mother (a secular Jew) and father (a lapsed Catholic) felt some anxieties. In some ways, Phyllis Matyjewicz says, she and her husband, George, felt like their boys were "going into another world" and wondered if each of her sons would remain "the same person." They decided to investigate the lifestyle their sons were embracing - and then decided to join in. Phyllis had to adjust to the strict rules of Orthodoxy. For George, it was a more complex proposition: He had to go through a lengthy conversion process.

For Giti Egan, her 15-year-old daughter's decision to become an Orthodox Jew brought up a range of emotions. Ms. Egan, a 36-year-old mother of three, was raised Orthodox - and left the religion after deciding that she simply didn't believe the stories in the Torah. Now her eldest child, Kara Lieberman, is embracing that world.

At Kara's request, her parents send her to an Orthodox girls school. She keeps kosher within her mom's and stepfather's non-kosher kitchen. (They bought her separate plates, silverware, pots and pans - and have turned over for her exclusive use a refrigerator, dishwasher and oven.) Kara spends nearly every weekend away from home because she finds it easier to maintain the rules of the Sabbath by staying with observant relatives. "That," says her mother, "is a bummer."

But whenever Ms. Egan gets annoyed by the recordings of rabbis' lectures blaring from Kara's room or disappointed by the lack of weekend time together, she considers the benefits of her daughter's religious devotion. "She's a much happier kid now," she says.

Labels: Gallup Poll, holidays, orthodoxy, religion, teenagers

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Morals, beliefs and values: 101

author Scott Cooper discusses the importance of teaching children about issues of faith and ethics in his latest book

Published: Wednesday, Mar 7, 2007

When it comes to education, much attention is paid to making sure children learn the three R’s: reading, ’riting and ’rithmetic. A lot of attention is also given to teaching kids how to work as a team through sports, and an appreciation for the arts through music programs. But it seems another critical aspect of education is being somewhat overlooked — the development of their inner morals, beliefs and values.

Scott Cooper, a Petaluma author and member of the city of Petaluma’s youth commission, addresses this topic in his latest book, “I Don’t Want to go to Church! Practical Ways to Deal with Kids and Religion (Whether You’re Religious or Not).”

“Based on Gallup Poll data as of the early 2000s, about 84 percent of young people considered religion to be very important to them,” said Cooper, who is a parent himself. “A study that came out in 2002 suggests that kids’ interest in faith has increased over the last few years. There’s no doubt that on a nationwide basis, young people are interested in issues of faith.”

Cooper has been writing on youth topics for a number of years and is best known for being an anti-bullying advocate. He’s been involved with teaching, coaching basketball and serving on education and drug-prevention boards. Having an interest in issues of philosophy and religion, Cooper wanted to write a book that provided parents with ways to teach their children about faith, morality and ethics.

And what issues of faith are kids interested in? “They are certainly interested in the big questions,” said Cooper. “One of the things that religion contributes to is our world view. It also addresses questions of purpose and where we come from and so forth. They have great interest in the larger issues of life and finding something they can grab hold of; having something bigger than themselves they can find comfort in and draw strength from.”

With the same Gallup Poll reporting that 95 percent of teens in the U.S. believe in the existence of God or a higher power, the issue of spirituality is one that needs to be addressed. In his book, Cooper discusses how at least some religion is important to children in that it aids in the teaching of morals, values and beliefs.

“High levels of faith connections are linked to lower levels of delinquency such as theft, vandalism and so forth,” said Cooper of a 2002 child trends report on children and religion. “The link between religious involvement and decreased teen alcohol and drug abuse is strong. It helps steer teens away from having sex too young. In early adolescence, it also helps develop in them positive associations and socially and altruistic attitudes and behaviors. Religious connections can keep children away from harmful influences, and on the other hand, help enhance positive social behavior, a sense of purpose and a positive guilt response. I mean positive guilt response in that it’s a healthy response to when you’ve done something wrong — you feel bad about it. Not all guilt is bad.”

Cooper added that helping children to develop morals, beliefs and values doesn’t require parents to be or become religious. “Most parents, regardless of whether or not they believe in God, certainly believe that life is unique and that something bigger than us created the universe, whether it was natural or supernatural. They also believe that it’s better to do good in this life and refrain from doing harm. I think most parents agree with the larger moral issues such as kindness being better than hate and nonviolence being better than violence. Most parents can agree on these core values whether religious or not.

Teaching kids about these issues can be done formally or informally. It can be faith-oriented through church or religious books or through non-religious activities such as spending time with your kids in nature just talking. “There are a number of things parents can do, religious or not.”

The most important thing, though, is to talk. “Something by way of grounding them in terms of faith and morality is critical, more so now than ever before,” said Cooper. “Given the Internet and the entertainment venues, if they don’t get it from their parents, they’re going to get it from somewhere else; being taught things we don’t want them to be taught. Sometimes we don’t have the support of society in trying to prompt our children to choose good.

“Sixty-seven percent of teens in the U.S. expressed a need in their lives for spiritual growth. If we’re not filling that in some form, there’s going to be a lack that they will find other ways to fill. Regardless of how formal we provide that direction, or informally, something needs to be provided for them in terms of religious and moral training. If you’re not religious, you can still provide them with a reverence for life and moral guidance.”

In addition to opening the dialogue between parents and children about these issues, Cooper said it’s also a good idea to get them involved with community service projects as a means of teaching. “Parents need to step-up and engage their children. Requiring them to experience community service can help them develop their inner lives, their morals, beliefs and values — the things that lead to happier lives.

(Contact Yovanna Bieberich at yovanna.bieberich@ arguscourier.com)

Labels: ethics, faith, God, morality, religion, Scott Cooper, spirituality

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Hollywood choosing more themes of redemption

Sunday, March 11, 2007
By Tory Anderson Los Angeles Daily News

LOS ANGELES— Long considered the modern-day equivalent of Sodom and Gomorrah, Hollywood is increasingly showing its family-friendly side, churning out an unprecedented number of films and television shows with uplifting, redemptive themes.

In the three years since Mel Gibson released “The Passion of the Christ,” hundreds of films with Judeo-Christian, spiritual and family-friendly themes have hit the screen — from “The Nativity Story” to “Amazing Grace.”

Last year alone, nearly 50 films featured positive Judeo-Christian content that producers hoped would appeal to the estimated 110 million Americans who attend church every week, according to Camarillo-based Movieguide.

The films raked in an average $39 million, according to Movieguide. All five of the major Hollywood studios have created marketing departments to target the growing demand for faith-based and family fare.

“People are gravitating to anything that gives them hope, inspiration, motivation or a sense of something light,” said Mark Clayman, executive producer of “The Pursuit of Happyness.”

“People want good stories. They want to be entertained, but they also want something they can bring their kids to and enjoy as a family. Look at our world. There is so much war and junk and disease. I think people are just hungry for the other side.”

To meet the demand, 20th Century Fox recently launched Fox Faith Movies, which plans to release a dozen faith-based films a year. Last fall, the Walt Disney Co. also announced it would focus more on family-oriented and faith-based movies.

Movieguide publisher Ted Baehr, who is also chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission, said Hollywood executives realize that the public wants more uplifting and spiritual fare.

“There is competition for the Christian audience now that there hasn’t been before,” Baehr said. “I thought at some point it would level off, but so far it’s getting bigger and bigger.

Stephen Kendrick, executive producer of “Facing the Giants” and an associate pastor at Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga., said the film has received broad praise since its release last year.

The drama chronicles a Christian high school football coach who uses faith to battle overwhelming fear and failure.

Kendrick said he and his brother, Alex — also a pastor at the church and executive producer of the movie — got more than 5,000 e-mails from people who said the movie has changed their lives.

“We think more movies like this are going to be rising up,” Kendrick said. “I know there is a huge wave of people — thanks to the digitalization of media and the lowering of costs to be able to produce films — who are now beginning to study and learn how to make films. A feature film is one of the most influential things in our culture.”

The brothers decided to make movies after reading about a 2002 poll by The Barna Group that found church was not considered among the top 10 influences in American culture.

“Movies and music are in the top three,” Kendrick said. “So instead of cursing the darkness, we thought, ‘We have the best message in the world that is still transforming people’s lives and giving them hope, forgiveness and peace.’ And so we want to take that message to them, using the most influential means possible. And that’s why we chose to go into feature films.”

Last month, 57 teams of Christian filmmakers from around the world participated in the Burbank-based 168-Hour Film Project.

Part of a “speed filmmaking” phenomenon, teams were given a week to write a short script based on a randomly assigned Scripture verse, and another week to film and edit a five- to 10-minute movie.

The films will be screened March 23 at the Stars Art Theater and March 24 at the Alex Theatre, both in Glendale. Trinity Broadcast Network will air films chosen as the best.

“It’s our biggest year ever,” said John David Ware, founder and executive director of the project.

“We’ve had many people who are first-time filmmakers go on to produce many other films. The teams are expanding their short films into feature-length films and trying to sell them. Many of the films have won awards at other film festivals.”

Dean Batali, former executive producer of “That ’70s Show,” who now writes TV scripts with faith-based themes, said the move marks a significant shift.

“This is a diverse nation, and for the past decades, Christians have shunned Hollywood. All we are saying is: ‘Why shun Hollywood? Let’s go to Hollywood and take a seat at the table.’ ”

But Batali said it’s not always easy.

“I live in both worlds.” Batali said. “The people I go to church with tend not to understand the people I work with in Hollywood, and the people in Hollywood tend to be really fearful of the people I go to church with.”

Labels: Christian, entertainment, Hollywood, movies, Tory Anderson

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Religious faith may help stroke victims: study

By Ed Stoddard Thu Feb 15, 4:24 PM ET

DALLAS (Reuters) - People of faith have long contended that the power of prayer can help heal the sick. Now a study conducted in Rome suggests that religious faith may help people recover from a stroke.

Researchers at the San Raffaele Pisana Rehabilitation Center in the Italian capital of Rome interviewed 132 stroke survivors about their religious beliefs and spirituality. The median age of the study participants was 72.

The responses were compared with their scores on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, a self-assessment tool.

"The analysis showed higher scores on the anxiety and depression scale correlated significantly with lower scores on the religious and spirituality questionnaire," said the American Heart Association, which publishes Stroke.

"The association remained significant after adjusting for other factors that could influence a stroke patient's degree of emotional distress (such as mental and physical functioning, living conditions and marital status)," it said in a statement.

The reasons for this possible link between faith and post-stroke emotional distress are hard to pin down, though the researchers gave tentative explanations.

"Religious people who are active in their communities are more likely to receive external aid that can be provided by volunteers," said Dr. Salvatore Giaquinto, chairman of the department of rehabilitation at the San Raffaele Pisana Rehabilitation Center.

"Social support lets them experience feelings of care, love and esteem. The new experience of support and the background of faith tell the patients that they are not alone."

The research chimes to some extent with other studies that have suggested that spiritual pursuits such as reciting the rosary and yoga chanting may be beneficial for heart rate variability and stress relief.

But some researchers say the possible links uncovered in the Rome study should not be mistaken for direct causality.

"The study does not establish that religious beliefs will definitely reduce emotional distress but shows that people who are religious have better coping abilities," Dr. Lalit Kalra, a stroke professor at King's College London School of Medicine in Britain, wrote in an accompanying commentary.

"Hence, both these variables may define personal attributes of the patient, in other words religious beliefs do not make a person cope better but identify patients who have better abilities to cope with chronic illness," Kalra wrote.

The researchers did note that most of Rome's residents are Catholic. But they said their findings might extend to other religions as well.

Labels: anxiety, depression, Ed Stoddard, faith, prayer, religion, spirituality, stroke

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Study: Americans See Link Between Economic, Spiritual Health

By Melissa Stee
Religion News Service

A majority of U.S. adults say that the overall health of the nation's economy is dependent on how spiritual Americans are, a survey by the Gallup Organization shows.
Seventy-seven percent of the respondents said the nation's economic health depends a "great deal" or "some" degree on its spiritual health.

The survey, called "The Spiritual State of the Union," was conducted for the Spiritual Enterprise Institute, a West Palm Beach, Fla.-based center that focuses on building understanding of how spiritual values affect economic life.

"This in-depth study, which examined the role of spiritual commitment on many facets of life, as well as society as a whole, makes it abundantly clear that one can't understand America, unless one has an awareness and understanding of her spiritual underpinnings," wrote Theodore Roosevelt Malloch, the institute's founder, and pollster George Gallup of the Gallup Organization, in a joint analysis of the study that was released Jan. 30.

Of those surveyed, more than half say their religious beliefs greatly affect their feelings about the future, and more than one-third say they affect their relationships at work and how involved they are in volunteer activities.

Fourteen percent of those surveyed said they consider a decline in society -- ethically, morally, or religiously -- to be among the top problems facing America today.

Other findings show that 79 percent of people believe that there are clear guidelines about what is good or evil that apply to everyone.

Seventy-two percent say that their faith is what gives their life meaning, but a smaller percentage, 65 percent, consider themselves spiritually committed.

The Gallup Organization compiled the results from a survey of 1,004 adults during February and early March of 2006 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Commissioned by the institute, the study was partially funded by The Templeton Foundation.

Labels: Americans, economics, faith, Melissa Stee, Spiritual Enterprise Institute, spiritual values, the future

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Everyone counts

We can depend on divine support when life turns a corner we didn't expect.

Everyone is worth counting. That's the underlying premise of the second national survey of homeless Americans.

Recently completed, the survey holds no specific answers to the challenge of homelessness, but it does illustrate that each individual has value (The Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 21).

As the article points out, people find themselves without permanent dwellings for numerous reasons, so a one-size-fits-all response doesn't always work. That's not to discount the efforts of those providing help. Emergency shelters, food programs, and subsidized housing give needed help, but it's only in seeing and meeting each individual's needs that progress is really made.

That's a tall order, given the potential number of homeless people worldwide. Take Dane Blythe, who explains in the article that his personal issues and his longing for freedom keep him from remaining in a more permanent home. Still, he looks to God for help and manages to be grateful for what comes his way. "I just pray to God every morning to give me what I need, if not what I want. And every night I thank God for what I do have."

God's love is both broad enough to encompass each of His children and specific enough to meet individual needs. He doesn't leave anyone out. We can depend on divine support when life turns a corner we didn't expect and even when our basic necessities appear to be threatened. Whether we're on the streets or living in a home, God is there to help.

As children of God, dignity is an inherent part of each of us. This spiritual quality isn't something that comes and goes, depending on human circumstances. It's a God-given, permanent part of our identity. We have dignity because God loves us, and that doesn't change.

As we gain a deeper understanding of this for ourselves, we can be aware of it for others, too. And as divine grace reaches us, we can, in turn, reach out to one another.

Prayer opens the door to a better grasp of what home really means. Home, as a spiritual idea, is something that promises fulfillment. At the core, it's a closer relationship with God and a more satisfying awareness of being loved by our eternal Parent.

Home and the sense of belonging and safety that go with it are present wherever God is. Since God is everywhere, no one is beyond this place of comfort. The ideas we need to make progress, even to thrive, are spiritual and are given by God. We are at home with our Father-Mother 24/7.

God's power isn't limited to comfort. He strengthens and emboldens us. Our prayers lead us to a better state of existence, whether that's a new home or a clearer mental focus. Mary Baker Eddy, who founded Christian Science, wrote, "The human capacities are enlarged and perfected in proportion as humanity gains the true conception of man and God" ("Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," p. 258).

That's why this recent survey matters. It reminds us that everyone is valuable, and that no one is left out of God's love. There's plenty of work to be done in resolving the many facets of homelessness, but acknowledging the individual worth of each of God's children is a valid and inspired place to start.

Labels: dignity, divine support, God, home, homelessness, prayer

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Survey Finds Link Between Decline in Values, Waning Belief

Payton Hoegh
Correspondent

(CNSNews.com) - A majority of Americans believe the nation's moral values are declining, according to a survey gauging the state of American culture. It also found a correlation between the shift in values and a reduced emphasis on religion.

In the survey by the Culture and Media Institute, 74 percent of respondents, including a majority in each major demographic, said moral values in America are weaker than they were 20 years ago.

Forty-eight percent felt moral values were much weaker than two decades ago.

Using the data, the CMI classified American adults into one of three value groups -- Orthodox, Progressive, and Independent.

"Orthodox" Americans, comprising one-third of the adult public, are those who believe in God, think religious values should be reflected in government, and see moral issues in black and white, the survey said.

"Progressives" represent the one-sixth of adults who are fundamentally secular, opposed to religious values in government, and see moral issues in shades of gray.

"Independents" -- about half the adult population -- did not fully accept the values of the other two categories.

Ninety-one percent of the "Independent" respondents were found to believe in God and to be more "Orthodox" in questions of politics and sexual morality. But they also tend to be more "situational" in viewing moral issues and to side with "Progressives" in questions of right and wrong.

__At a press conference Wednesday launching the survey, CMI Director Bob Knight said the organization "wanted to take a snapshot of America and show [the culture] for what it is - good or bad."

The results showed that religion played a large role in the morality of the nation, he said.

Knight noted that although 87 percent of all respondents said they believe in God and a significant majority showed a commitment to classical virtues such as integrity and honesty, their actual decisions in particular situations did not always reflect it.

"In reality, there are three groups out there. The group we call the Orthodox believes in obeying God above all ... the Progressives want to write their own moral rules [and] ... the Independents respect God and tradition, but still like to do things their own way."

Using the results of its survey, CMI argues that "attitudes toward God and religion" is the crux of the conflict over culture in America.

CMI argued that if more Americans adopt "Progressive" values, the country could "expect to experience even greater moral confusion."

"The battlefield in America's culture war is the hearts and the minds of the Independents ... reversing America's moral decline will require a renewed acceptance of Orthodox values which implies increased acceptance of God's authority."

CMI said Americans should demand that the media "strive to more fairly represent all views, including those of the Orthodox."

CMI is a division of the Media Research Center, the parent organization of Cybercast News Service. Its mission is to "preserve and help restore America's culture, character, traditional values, and morals against the assault of the liberal media elite."

'No worse than any other time'

Lori Brown of the Atheist Coalition for America challenged the conclusions of the study, saying it incorrectly implied that if two things happen at the same time, then one must have caused the other.

"This shows how much misunderstanding there is of the morality of those of us who don't hold a God belief," Brown told Cybercast News Service . "If a person believes that this is the only life we have and this is the only world there is, than there will be great impetus to make it the best world possible.

"Those of us who don't believe in those concepts [of God] feel a tremendous obligation to live moral, ethical lives and to help people less fortunate then ourselves," she said.

Brown noted that when Christians gather on May 3 for the National Day of Prayer, atheists plan to observe a "Gift of Life Day," when they will donate blood rather than pray.

She also argued that the idea of a nation in moral decline is nothing new and could probably be said of any decade.

"I find people all over the country who are loving, kind, generous, and help each other, so I don't think the nation is in any worse of a decline than at other times ... people just notice this particular moment and don't put it into perspective," Brown said.

Carrie Gordon Earll of Focus on the Family welcomed the report, saying, "I don't think any American could look at the culture today and not agree with the conclusion of this study."

"Whether it is abortion, out-of-wedlock birth, the divorce rate, sexuality in media, or destructive embryo research it is across the board, and I agree with their conclusion," she said.

"If you don't have -- as they are phrasing it -- God's morality then all you have is man's opinion and that is leading us into death and destruction."

Earll conceded, however, that Christians could cooperate with people of other faiths, or no faith, when there is agreement on "core principals of morality."

"There are some basics that we can agree without having to quote a scripture verse."

Ultimately, however, she said the country does need to return to God. "Morality is based in recognizing that there is a God that created the universe and that we are subject to him ... God's standard is supreme and as humans we are held accountable to that," Earll said.

Labels: Americans, Culture and Media Institute, God, government, independent, morality, orthodoxy, Payton Hoegh, progressive, religion

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Monday, March 05, 2007

Book Review - Blind Faith

Americans believe in religion -- but know little about it.

RELIGIOUS LITERACY
What Every American Needs to Know -- and Doesn't
By Stephen Prothero
HarperSanFrancisco. 296 pp. $24.95

Reviewed by Susan Jacoby
Sunday, March 4, 2007

The United States is the most religious nation in the developed world, if religiosity is measured by belief in all things supernatural -- from God and the Virgin Birth to the humbler workings of angels and demons. Americans are also the most religiously ignorant people in the Western world. Fewer than half of us can identify Genesis as the first book of the Bible, and only one third know that Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount.

In this book, the author combines a lively history of the rise and fall of American religious literacy with a set of proposed remedies based on his hope that "the Fall into religious ignorance is reversible." He also includes a useful multicultural glossary of religious definitions and allusions, in which religious illiterates can find the prodigal son, the promised land, the Quakers and the Koran.

The condition Prothero describes in Religious Literacy is unquestionably one manifestation of a more general decline in the public's cultural and civic knowledge. According to polls conducted by the National Constitution Center, only one third of Americans can name even one of the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. Is it any more startling that only one third can identify the preacher of the Sermon on the Mount?

A 2005 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that nearly two-thirds of Americans endorse the simultaneous teaching of creationism and evolution in public schools. How can citizens know what creationism means, or make an informed decision about whether it belongs in classrooms, if fewer than half can identify Genesis? No doubt the same proportion of Americans think that Thomas Edison said, "Let there be light."

Approximately 75 percent of adults, according to polls cited by Prothero, mistakenly believe the Bible teaches that "God helps those who help themselves." More than 10 percent think that Noah's wife was Joan of Arc. Only half can name even one of the four Gospels, and -- a finding that will surprise many -- evangelical Christians are only slightly more knowledgeable than their non-evangelical counterparts.

It is less surprising but more dangerous, given America's role in the world, that the public knows even less about Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism and Hinduism than it does about Christianity and Judaism. As Prothero notes, President Bush repeatedly declared that "Islam is peace" in the months after 9/11, while the prophet Muhammad was called a "terrorist" by the Rev. Jerry Falwell. "Who was right?" Prothero asks. "Unfortunately, Americans had no way to judge."

The book's main concern, though, is ignorance about the role of religion in American history. Prothero dates the beginning of the long decline in our religious literacy to the Second Great Awakening of the early 1800s. The fervor of America's periodic cycles of revivalism, rooted in a personal relationship with God rather than in theology handed down by learned clergy, has always had a strong anti-intellectual as well as spiritual component.

Yet the author also sees the Protestant-influenced 19th-century schools as an important factor in maintaining the Puritan heritage of Americans as "people of the book." This may overestimate the religious influence of schools. It is hard to believe that religious literacy, already instilled by families and churches, needed reinforcement from the once ubiquitous McGuffey readers, which rendered the Ten Commandments in such rhymes as, "Thou no gods shall have but me/ Before no idol bend the knee." In 1880, the average American still had only four years of schooling (although the figure was higher in cities than in rural areas). Yet 19th-century autodidacts, including Abraham Lincoln (who had less than a year of formal education) and Robert Green Ingersoll, the orator known as "the Great Agnostic," achieved both religious and secular literacy by reading Shakespeare and the King James Bible without any prompting from teachers.

Prothero views the 20th century's much sharper decline in religious literacy as a product of changes in both religion and society. One ironic factor is an emphasis on a bland tolerance that, while vital to pluralistic American democracy, has also discouraged our awareness of religious distinctions. A politician may intone the phrase "Judeo-Christian" in every speech, but Jews still do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, and Christians do. If no one knows what "Messiah" means, though, it hardly matters. But one inexplicable omission from Prothero's analysis is the post-1950 shift from a print to a video culture, with its incalculable erosion of all forms of cultural literacy. Many of the religious allusions and metaphors explained by Prothero in his glossary were once as common as the universal reference points now supplied by television.

The weakest part of this otherwise excellent book is Prothero's proposed remedy: high school and college courses dealing with the historical and cultural role of religion. As the author rightly notes, teaching about religion -- as distinct from preaching religion -- is not prohibited by the First Amendment's ban on "an establishment of religion." But given the failure of so many schools to inculcate the most elementary facts about American history, it is hard to imagine that most teachers would be up to the task of explaining, say, the subtleties of biblical arguments for and against slavery. Furthermore, a curriculum that would meet with the approval of Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant and nonreligious parents would probably be a worthless set of platitudes.

Prothero movingly calls on Americans to reconstruct the "chain of memory" that once made the acquisition of religious knowledge as natural as breathing. But religion is no longer the air we breathe, and it is doubtful that schools can accomplish what parents and congregations cannot or will not in a society where people read fewer and fewer books of any kind -- including the book they consider the word of God.
·
Susan Jacoby is the author of "Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism."

Labels: America, literacy, Pew Forum, religion, Stephen Prothero, Susan Jacoby

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

A Producer Shall Lead Them to This Discovery

By Nancy Mclaughlin
Staff Writer

The hype was that it would turn Christianity on its ear — the discovery of the bones not only of Jesus, but those of his alleged secret wife, Mary Magdalene, and their son.

But from an archaeologist's point of view, it just didn't make sense.
"The whole thing is so flawed from the start," says UNC-Chapel Hill religion professor Jodi Magness, who earned a doctorate in classical archaeology and has led numerous excavations to Israel.

The Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism is referring to filmmaker James Cameron's controversial documentary, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," which is set to air Sunday on the Discovery Channel.

The documentary revolves around the discovery in 1980 of six ossuaries, or boxes made of stone, containing bones — with inscriptions of "Jesus son of Joseph" and "Judah son of Jesus" marking two of them.

They were found during the construction of apartments in the Talpiyot neighborhood in Jerusalem.

While tests on the dust from the containers confirm the boxes are authentic, the controversy arises over the remains.

Christian leaders have demanded an apology from Cameron for what they see as a sensational and unfounded claim. According to the New Testament, Jesus, the son of God, arose from the grave and ascended into heaven. Scripture, they say, offers no evidence that Jesus married or had a child.

Magness' criticism has more to do with science.

"One of the problems with what is going on here is that it has circumvented the usual academic and scientific methods of studying material and presenting your findings," Magness says. "Archaeology is a scientific discipline, and there are usual accepted methods or ways of doing things. They've chosen to circumvent that."

No peer review journal. No discussions. No chance to examine and critique.

"What we have here," Magness says, "is a media circus."

Accounts from the Gospels, believed to have been written 50 years after Jesus died, she says, are consistent with Jewish law from the time.

The heart of the discovery is a family tomb cut by hand in the bedrock slopes of Jerusalem. Each rock-cut tomb consists of one or more burial chambers. Each niche is the length of an individual's body.

Over the course of generations, Magness says, the niches filled up with bodies.

So it became custom to remove the remains, together with whatever burial gifts had been placed with the bodies, and place them in the small ossuaries.

That cleared space for new burials.

"Sometimes the relatives would scribble the name of the deceased on the ossuary," Magness says. Only, this was the practice of wealthy families.

The Scriptures say that Jesus was from a poor family. The poor buried their dead in simple individual trench graves, similar to the way we bury our dead today.

Another problem with the claim, she says, is in the names on the boxes. All are common Jewish names.

It's an interesting group of names, "but you can't say anything beyond that," Magness says, quoting another archaeologist.

Ironically, Magness, who says it simply is not possible to deliver a sound bite on the topic, found a way:

"It's simply not true," she says.

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Friday, March 02, 2007

Prayer Works, Researcher Says

February 26, 2007

David Hodge, an assistant professor of social work in the College of Human Services at the West campus, has conducted an exhaustive meta-analysis on the effects of intercessory prayer among people with psychological or medical problems.

In other words, does God – or some other type of transcendent entity – answer prayer for healing?

According to Hodge's study, “A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature on Intercessory Prayer,” the answer is yes.

“There have been a number of studies on intercessory prayer, or prayer offered for the benefit of another person,” says Hodge, a leading expert on spirituality and religion. “Some have found positive results for prayer. Others have found no effect. Conducting a meta-analysis takes into account the entire body of empirical research on intercessory prayer. Using this procedure, we find that prayer offered on behalf of another yields positive results.”

Hodge noted that his study is important because it is a compilation of available studies and is not a single work with a single conclusion. His “Systematic Review” takes into account the findings of 17 studies that used intercessory prayer as a treatment in practice settings.

“Some people feel (Herbert) Benson and associates' study from last year, which is the most recent and showed no positive effects for intercessory prayer, is the final word,” says Hodge, referring to a 2006 article by Benson, of the Harvard Medical School, that measured the therapeutic effect of intercessory prayer in cardiac bypass patients. “But this research suggests otherwise. This study enables us to look at the big picture. When the effects of prayer are averaged across all 17 studies, controlling for differences in sample sizes, a net positive effect for the prayer group is produced.

“This is the most thorough and all-inclusive study of its kind on this controversial subject that I am aware of. It suggests that more research on the topic may be warranted, and that praying for people with psychological or medical problems may help them recover.”

“Overall, the meta-analysis indicates that prayer is effective,” he says. “Is it effective enough to meet the standards of the American Psychological Association's Division 12 for empirically validated interventions? No. Thus, we should not be treating clients suffering with depression, for example, only with prayer. To treat depression, standard treatments, such as cognitive therapy, should be used as the primary method of treatment.”

In addition to his inclusion in the upcoming issue of Research on Social Work Practice, Hodge is widely published and has appeared on the pages of Social Work, Social Work Research, the Journal of Social Service Research, the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy and Families in Society. He also has authored the book “Spiritual Assessment: A Handbook for Helping Professionals.”

Stephen Des Georges, Stephen.Desgeorges@asu.

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Samuel Gregg: 'One more Christian, one fewer Chinese' tenet dying

Religious freedom is not yet a reality in China, but thanks partly to free markets its dawn seems less far off

February 28, 2007

COMMUNIST regimes rarely advertise their failures. This makes all the more striking the recent report about religion's resurgence in China on the front page of the Chinese Communist Party's English-language flagship, China Daily.

Basing its comments on a poll of 4500 people by Shanghai university professors which found that 31.4 per cent of people over 16 considered themselves religious, the newspaper reported that extrapolating these results across China indicated that about 300 million Chinese regard themselves as religious. Of these, about 40 million are Christian, far higher than the 2005 official estimate of 16 million.
Even more striking are the demographics associated with China's religious growth.

First, two-thirds of those polled who considered themselves religious were aged between 16 and 39. As one survey organiser noted: "This is markedly different from the previous decade, when most religious believers were in their 40s or older."

The second variable was that the increase in religiosity was overwhelmingly in China's coastal regions; specifically, the areas opened to free trade and commerce during the past 25 years.

In other words, there appears to be some correlation between free markets, prosperity, and some Chinese embracing religion.

So what is happening in China? Perhaps the first thing to note is that the connection between the growth of commercial order and declining religiosity is much exaggerated.

Moreover, it could be argued that industrialisation and urbanisation in Western Europe did not result so much in declining religiosity but rather its substitution with allegiances to ideologies such as Marxism, fascism, and socialism - commitments as fierce as that of a Luther or Calvin.

Nor should we discount the fact that the experience of economic liberty and the wealth it is engendering in China may have contributed to the opening of many minds to life's spiritual dimension.

When people are given economic freedom, they are encouraged to think freely. Without this, entrepreneurship is impossible.

With their material aspirations increasingly met through commerce and markets, many Chinese now have the time and inclination to reflect upon the deeper questions that confront every person.

Some are finding answers in faith. It is also likely, as the survey researchers suggest, that religion provides other Chinese with ways of coping with living in a fast-paced, increasingly capitalist culture.

But perhaps the more immediate question concerns how the Chinese authorities will address these developments.

It is perhaps a sign of how loosely the Chinese Government sits with regard to Marxism these days that it has slackened its surveillance and oppression of religious believers.

Certainly the Communist Party's official program remains atheistic, even though few Chinese seem especially interested in "dialectical materialism".

The Government also still strikes ruthlessly against any religion it perceives to challenge its authority. Hence, it keeps the Dalai Lama at arms-length and continues to repress Chinese Catholics who openly profess their allegiance to the Pope. Many followers of the quasi-Buddhist Falun Gong religion who have resisted the regime's policing of their beliefs are languishing in prison.

And yet the same authorities are allowing large numbers of churches, temples and mosques to be built, with little state interference.

In late 2006, the head of China's religious affairs ministry, Ye Xiaowen, even praised the role played by religious organisations in Hong Kong in providing medical services and contributing to the former colony's social cohesion.

Indeed, increasing numbers of Communist Party members are reportedly embracing religion, even though this violates party policy.

But perhaps the biggest dilemma for Chinese officials is the fact that economic liberalisation means the state necessarily relinquishes a substantial degree of social control. Thus the impetus for social stability must come from elsewhere.

In this regard, Marxism is no longer a serious option in China. While law and markets can generate some cohesion, some Chinese officials now concede religion is uniquely placed to generate moral and social habits that help hold societies together.

It is difficult not to see the historical irony. Christianity was once regarded in Chinese culture as something distinctly alien: hence the saying - "one more Christian, one fewer Chinese".

Now, however, Christianity and other religions previously viewed with intense suspicion by China's communist authorities are increasingly considered potential social lubricants for China's fast-transitioning economy - the country is presently the world's third-largest global trader.

Religious freedom is not yet a reality in China. But, thanks partly to market-liberalisation, its dawn seems less far off.

Samuel Gregg, an Australian, is research director at the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and author, most recently, of The Commercial Society (2007).

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Senior Citizens Are Much More 'Trusting' Than Younger Americans

Many have come of age when social mores, events provided for more social trust

March 1, 2007 - Senior citizens are more trusting than younger people, says a new poll that, like most others, finds older people at one end or the other in every comparison of age groups. Social trust is a belief in the honesty, integrity and reliability of others - a "faith in people." It's a simple enough concept to describe. But it's never been easy to figure out who trusts, or why, according to this new Pew Social Trends Survey.

"Americans and Social Trust: Who, Where and Why" found the age group closest to seniors in trust were the middle-aged.

At What Age Do We Trust?

The relationship between age and trust follows a clear pattern but serves up a Rubik's cube of potential explanations, says the report.

"The finding from the Pew survey is in line with similar surveys taken through the years: younger adults are less trusting than are those who are middle aged or older. But why?

"It could be a life cycle effect - as people pile up more experiences and have more interactions with others, they become more trusting. Or it could be a generational effect - today's older adults may have come of age at a time when social mores and historical events provided a more fertile seed bed for social trust.

"The generational cohort theory was popularized in the 1990s by political scientist Robert Putnam, who posited that people born before 1930 are more trusting and civic-minded as a result of their big coming-of-age experience (World War II), while successive generations are less trusting as a result of theirs (take your pick: Vietnam, Watergate, the coarsening of the popular culture, television, suburbanization).

Other findings

The survey also found whites are more trusting than blacks or Hispanics. People with higher family incomes are more trusting than those with lower family incomes. The married are more trusting than the unmarried. The People who live in rural areas are more trusting than those who live in cities.

By contrast, the survey also found that there are some demographic and political traits that have little or no correlation to levels of social trust. Men and women; Republicans and Democrats; liberals and conservatives; Protestants and Catholics and the secular– all of these groups have roughly similar levels of trust.

As for the population as a whole, Americans are closely divided on the following question: "Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you can't be too careful in dealing with people?" Some 45% of respondents in the Pew survey say the former, while 50% say the latter.

The new Pew survey did not probe into the psyches, values or the life experiences of respondents, so it can offer no clues about how these factors might affect a given individual's inclination to trust other people. Rather, it provides a look at how different demographic groups responded to a battery of three questions about social trust:

? Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you can't be too careful in dealing with people? Some 45% of respondents said most people can be trusted.

? Do you think most people would try to take advantage of you if they got the chance, or would they try to be fair? Some 59% of respondents said most people try to be fair.

? Would you say that most of the time people try to be helpful, or that they are mostly just looking out for themselves? Some 57% of respondents said most people try to be helpful.

"When we combined the answers into an index of social trust, we were able to place respondents into one of three categories: those with high (35%), moderate (22%) and low (38%) levels of social trust," say the authors.

Other Groups that Have a Distinctive Take on Trust

In addition to the demographic groups highlighted at the start of this report, there are other segments of the population in which significant differences emerge on the question of trust. Among them:

Education: Some 50% of college graduates have high levels of social trust, compared with 28% of those with a high school education or less.

Social/economic class: Some 50% of those who describe their household as professional or business class have high levels of social trust, compared with 30% of those who describe themselves as working class and 18% among those who describe themselves as the struggling class.

Military experience: Some 46% of men with military experience (either as veterans or currently in the armed services) have high levels of social trust, compared with 35% among men who have never served in the military.

Voting history: People who voted in the last presidential election are nearly twice as likely as people who didn't vote (40% compared with 23%) to have a high level of social trust.

Gender: Men are more inclined than women to have a high level of social trust, but the variance is fairly small - 38% for men, compared with 32% for women.

Regions: Southerners tend to be a bit less trusting than residents of the West, Midwest or Northeast - a difference partly explained by the higher percentage of blacks who live in the South.

Politics: Republicans (42%) are more likely than Democrats (34%) to have a high level of social trust, but these partisan differences are not statistically significant once income is controlled. And there are virtually no differences in social trust by ideology - with conservatives, liberals and moderates all at very similar levels.

Religion: There's virtually no difference between Protestants and Catholics in levels of social trust. Nor are there any differences among Protestants and Catholics and people who have no religious preference.

About the Pew Social Trends Reports

The Pew social trends reports explore the behaviors and attitudes of Americans in key realms of their lives - family, community, health, finance, work and leisure. Reports analyze changes over time in social behaviors and probe for differences and similarities between key subgroups in the population.

The surveys are conducted by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Monthly Archives - Previous Articles
03/01/2003 - 04/01/2003 04/01/2003 - 05/01/2003 05/01/2003 - 06/01/2003 06/01/2003 - 07/01/2003 07/01/2003 - 08/01/2003 08/01/2003 - 09/01/2003 09/01/2003 - 10/01/2003 10/01/2003 - 11/01/2003 11/01/2003 - 12/01/2003 12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004 01/01/2004 - 02/01/2004 02/01/2004 - 03/01/2004 03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004 04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004 05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004 06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004 07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004 08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004 09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004 10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004 11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004 12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005 01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005 02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005 03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005 04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005 05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005 06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005 07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005 08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005 09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005 10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005 11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005 12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006 01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006 02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006 03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006 04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006 05/01/2006 - 06/01/2006 06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006 07/01/2006 - 08/01/2006 08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006 09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006 10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006 11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006 12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007 01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007 02/01/2007 - 03/01/2007 03/01/2007 - 04/01/2007 04/01/2007 - 05/01/2007 05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007 06/01/2007 - 07/01/2007 07/01/2007 - 08/01/2007 08/01/2007 - 09/01/2007 09/01/2007 - 10/01/2007 10/01/2007 - 11/01/2007 11/01/2007 - 12/01/2007 12/01/2007 - 01/01/2008 01/01/2008 - 02/01/2008 02/01/2008 - 03/01/2008 03/01/2008 - 04/01/2008 04/01/2008 - 05/01/2008 05/01/2008 - 06/01/2008 06/01/2008 - 07/01/2008 07/01/2008 - 08/01/2008 08/01/2008 - 09/01/2008 09/01/2008 - 10/01/2008 10/01/2008 - 11/01/2008 11/01/2008 - 12/01/2008 12/01/2008 - 01/01/2009 01/01/2009 - 02/01/2009 02/01/2009 - 03/01/2009 03/01/2009 - 04/01/2009 04/01/2009 - 05/01/2009 05/01/2009 - 06/01/2009 06/01/2009 - 07/01/2009 07/01/2009 - 08/01/2009

News Archives Predating March 2003

RSS Feed

Blogroll Me!

Blogarama
The Urantia Book : Pictures of Jesus : Angel Pictures: Inspirational Quotes : Life After Death : Story of Jesus : Truthbook.com : Urantia : The Urantia Book

EXPLORE TRUTHBOOK

The Urantia Book

Jesus in the Urantia Book

Quote of the Day

Urantia Book Video

Urantia Book Audio

Discussion Forum

Art Gallery

Heartwarming Stories

Humorous Stories

Life's Toughest Questions

FAQ

Spiritual Studies

About Us

News and Blogs