Scientists and Scholars

2020 ◽  
pp. 85-115
Author(s):  
Jeff Levin
Keyword(s):  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Biomedical Sciences ◽  
Services Research ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
Health Studies ◽  
Psychiatric Outcomes ◽  
Extensive Body ◽  
The Impact

Chapter 5 summarizes the extensive body of empirical research studies that identify health impacts of religious practice, identity, and beliefs. These include thousands of epidemiologic, clinical, social, and behavioral studies, as well as investigations from other fields, notably health services research, the biomedical sciences, and psychiatry and clinical psychology. Population-health studies are emphasized, and the latest findings are summarized on the impact of religion, for better or worse, on medical and psychiatric outcomes and rates of morbidity, mortality, and disability, both in the United States and globally, and across religious affiliation. The work of Jeff Levin and his colleagues is highlighted here. Also summarized and critiqued are the controversial clinical trials of healing prayer that have received so much attention since the late 1980s

Longing for Home: The Impact of COVID-19 on Cambodian Evangelical Life

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-297
Author(s):  
Briana Wong
Keyword(s):  
Spiritual Leadership ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Phnom Penh ◽  
Mass Displacement ◽  
Interpersonal Connectedness ◽  
Indigenous Religions ◽  
The Impact

In Cambodia, the government's response to the COVID-19 crisis intersected with religious practice this year, as April played host both to the Christian Holy Week and the Cambodian New Year holiday, rooted in Cambodian Buddhism and indigenous religions. Typically, the Cambodian New Year celebration involves the near-complete shutting down of Phnom Penh, allowing for residents of the capital city to spend the New Year with their families in the countryside. Many Christians stay with their parents or other relatives, who remain primarily Theravada Buddhist, in the rural provinces throughout Holy Week, missing Easter Sunday services to participate in New Year's festivities at their ancestral homes. In light of the government's precautionary cancellation of the all-encompassing festivities surrounding the Cambodian New Year this spring, Christians who have previously spent Easter Sunday addressing controversial questions of interreligious interaction notably focused this year, through online broadcasting, on the resurrection of Jesus. In the United States, the near elimination of in-person gatherings has blurred the boundaries between the ministry roles of recognised church leaders and lay Christians, often women, who have long been leading unofficial services and devotionals over the phone and internet. In this article, I argue that the COVID-19 crisis, with its concomitant mass displacement of church communities from the physical to the technological realm, has impacted transnational Cambodian evangelicalism by establishing greater liturgical alignment between churches in Cambodia and in the diaspora, democratising spiritual leadership and increasing opportunities for interpersonal connectedness within the Cambodian evangelical community worldwide.

Religion and Spiritual Advice as Surrogate Care Provision for Mental Health Problems in the ESEMED Survey

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
V. Kovess ◽  
R. de Graaf ◽  
J.M. Haro ◽  
R. Bruffaerts ◽  
F. Gilbert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Seeking Help

Objective:To complete missing information on the influence of spiritual and religious advisors as informal providers for mental health problems in Europe.Methods:Recourse to religious practice or belief when coping with mental health problems was evaluated using data from the ESEMED survey. This was a stratified, multistage, clustered-area probability sample survey of mental health carried out in six European countries which included 8796 subjects. Between countries differences in sociodemographic characteristics, religious affiliation, and prevalence of mental disorders and management of mental disorders were evaluated.Results:Religion appears to play a limited role in coping with mental health problems in Europe. Only 7.9% of individuals seeking help for such problems turned to a religious advisor. This proportion differed between countries from 13% in Italy, 12.5% in Germany, 10.5% in the Netherlands, 5.8% in France, 4.7% in Belgium to 4% in Spain. In addition, seeking help exclusively from religion was reported by only 1.3% of subjects. Practicing religion at least once a week and considering religion as important in daily life were predictors of using religion versus conventional health care only. Use of religion was not influenced by gender and age. Non-Christian respondents and individuals with alcohol disorders were more likely to use religion. In Spain, the use of religion is much lower than average.Conclusions:Unlike the situation in the United States, organised religion does not provide alternative informal mental health care in Europe. At best, it could be considered as an adjunct to conventional care.

The Impact of State Aid on Sectarian Higher Education: The Case of New York State

1986 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 264-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen Manion
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Private Colleges ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
New York State ◽  
The United States ◽  
State Standards ◽  
State Aid ◽  
York State ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
The Impact

New York State provides institutional aid to nonpublic institutions of higher learning within the context of its constitutional prohibitions against aid to denominational institutions. To qualify for state aid, New York's private colleges and universities must prove they are constitutionally eligible, a process which has prompted extensive self-evaiuation and frequently some changes by many of those institutions with traditional religious affiliation. State aid administrators have chosen to restrict their constitutional approach to state standards and ignore the United States Supreme Court's tripartite standards articulated inLemonv.Kurtzman, as modified by theTilton-Hunt-Roemerdecisions. The state law has been cautiously and diplomatically administered, but the possibility of future state “entanglement” with church-related institutions remains.

Edgar Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-64
Author(s):  
Ann W. Duncan
Keyword(s):  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Summer Camp ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
American Religious History ◽  
Religion And Spirituality ◽  
New Religions ◽  
Virginia Beach

The recent Pew Forum study, “‘Nones’ on the Rise,” indicates a growing percentage of religiously unaffiliated adults in the United States and suggests that these individuals do not seek new religions or denominations but nontraditional means of exploring spiritual questions, facilitating religious practice and finding community. This article examines Edgar Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.) as a case study for the non-traditional religious affiliation and experience of Nones in the twenty-first century. Through staff and participant interviews and attention to the current work of the A.R.E. at its Virginia Beach headquarters and its summer camp in Rural Retreat, Virginia, this article shows how A.R.E. innovation and tradition have allowed this organization to reach Nones and embrace the digital age even as it advocates approaches to religion and spirituality that have deep historical roots in American religious history.

Behavioral Economics of Religion

2014 ◽  
pp. 488-530
Author(s):  
Jonathan H.W. Tan
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Economics ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Group Processes ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Economic Behavior ◽  
Religious Institution ◽  
Economics Of Religion ◽  
Religious Background ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
Different Dimensions

This chapter concerns the behavioral economics of religion. Themes considered include how religion potentially shapes individual preferences, the possible implications of religious affiliation for interaction within and between social groups, and the religious institution as a unit of the economy at large. This chapter is written with three main purposes in mind. The first is to consider different ways by which religion and economic behavior are potentially related. The second purpose of this chapter is to consider the research methods employed, especially issues regarding the identification of motives, and in turn the interpretation of results. The third purpose is to contemplate significance of results from behavioral studies for economic theory and religious practice, including ways by which different dimensions of religious background, such as religiosity and religious affiliation, relate to pro-sociality and group processes.

scholarly journals Centrality of Religiosity, Schizotypy, and Human Values: The Impact of Religious Affiliation

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul H. P. Hanel ◽  
Sarah Demmrich ◽  
Uwe Wolfradt
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
Five Dimensional Model ◽  
The Impact

Previous research has established a reliable link between religiosity and schizotypy as well as schizophrenia. However, past research mainly measured religiosity as a one-dimensional construct. In the present research (N = 189), we aimed to get a better understanding of the religiosity–schizotypy link by measuring religiosity using Huber’s five-dimensional model of Centrality of Religiosity, while also testing for curvilinear relations and potential moderators. We found negative small-to-medium-sized correlations between all five dimensions of religiosity and the schizotypy dimension of impulsive nonconformity, but no reliable associations with the other three dimensions of schizotypy: unusual experiences, cognitive disorganization, and introverted anhedonia. Some of these associations were moderated by religious affiliation: Religiosity and schizotypy correlated positively among non-members, but negatively among members of religious communities, suggesting that affiliation has a positive impact on the well-being of religious people. In line with Huber’s predictions, we found a reversed U-shape association between the religious dimension of private religious practice and schizotypy. Unexpectedly, however, conformity and tradition values did not moderate the relations between religiosity and schizotypy. We discuss our findings in terms of person–environment fit, the prevention hypothesis of the schizotypy-religiosity link, and offer implications for mental health practitioners.

scholarly journals Strength of Religious Faith: A Comparison of College Athletes

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. p61
Author(s):  
Derek Van Rheenen ◽  
Laura Pryor ◽  
Rachel Roberson ◽  
Ed Wright ◽  
Tarik Glenn
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Students ◽  
College Athletes ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Religious Faith ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Athletic Competition ◽  
Private And Public

Faith is the foundation of all religions. Sporting practices may be an important site for both private and public expressions or exercises of religious faith. Beyond knowing or construing a deeper meaning to life, the exercise of religious faith may likewise serve as a coping mechanism within the sports context. Specifically, religious practice may help athletes manage the uncertainty of outcome in sport, as well as their fear of sustaining a serious injury. Given the potential psychological benefit of religious faith within this context, researchers have hypothesized that college athletes would demonstrate higher levels of religious faith than other post-secondary students. The current study seeks to expand on this research, examining hypothesized differences among college athletes at a large, public Division I university on the west coast of the United States. Participants completed the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith (SCSRF)—Short Form (Plante, Vallaeys, Sherman, & Wallston, 2002), a five-item self-report measure utilized to assess strength of religious faith regardless of religious affiliation. Findings suggests that both level of athletic competition and racial identification contribute to higher levels of religious faith. That racial identity was a stronger predictor than level of athletic competition is worthy of further exploration from both a social and historical perspective.

A Critique of Anglo-American Medical Sociology

1974 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 565-574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manfred Pflanz
Keyword(s):  
Health Services Research ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Social Epidemiology ◽  
Medical Sociology ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Studies ◽  
Services Research ◽  
Theory Versus ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
The Impact

After a period of rapid, stormy development, many people in the field tend to feel somewhat discouraged about the present and future state of medical sociology. Measured by the expectations of the public, the patients, and medical sociology itself, there is much disappointment. The predictive power of the tools of medical sociology has proven to be weak, and it has not been able to explain satisfactorily the impact of social inequality on the distribution of disease and on differences in the utilization of health services. It cannot even be ruled out that medical sociology itself has created some of these differences and that it is partly responsible for creating “two-class medicine” in the United States and elsewhere. Social epidemiology has failed to develop useful theories, nor could it deliver unanimous findings. A particularly serious flaw is the confusion between the concepts of class, social strata, and poverty. Medical sociology has become the propaganda machine of the Welfare State (in the sense used by Alwin W. Gouldner) and instead of questioning medical values it has been co-opted by their proponents and adopted them. Parochialism characterizes both research and publications. The new vogue of “internationalism” has not succeeded in creating truly international studies; also, it has not worked to the advantage of other countries and has not been helpful in creating a theoretical and empirical body of knowledge in health services research. The paper argues that a more realistic exchange between Anglo-American and other medical sociology, between conservative and radical thinking, and between medical sociology and general or specific fields of sociology would foster new ideas and a new understanding of the main problem, that is, of theory versus application, in health services research.

Muslims in the Canadian Mosaic

1992 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 533-545
Author(s):  
Ahmad F. Yousif
Keyword(s):  
Religious Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Traditional Values ◽  
National Capital Region ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
National Capital ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Canadian Mosaic

Almost one-third of the total population of Muslims in the worldtoday lives as a "minority" in lands where people of other faiths,cTeeds and ideologies have administrative, political and legislativecontrol. As a religious minority, these Muslims face certain difficultiesand challenges in practising their own distinct way of life.'This paper, based on a study of the Muslim community in theCanadian National Capital Region (CNCR) conducted in 1992, exploreshow the Muslim community in the CNCR has integrated itself intoCanadian society and how it has sought to maintain its Islamic identityin terms of religious practice and belief. It will demonstrate the impact ofCanadian social values and structure on the formation of the Islamicidentity of Muslims living in Canada and will also examine some of theways by which this identity is maintained. This will be achieved byexamining previous work in the field, the sociohistorical development andsocio-demographic characteristics of the Muslim community in Canada(in particular in the CNCR), and immigration factors. The methodologyand techniques used, findings, and conclusions will also be discussed.Previous Work in the FieldTo date, there have been few studies on North American Muslimcommunities. Those that do exist have focused primarily on the MiddleEastern (i.e., Arab) communities in Canada and the United States. Manyhave discussed the processes of acculturation and assimilation, in additionto attempts to preserve the traditional values, of these communities. Theresults have indicated a negative correlation between Islamic observanceand non-Islamic societies. Since previous inquiries did not focus on the ...

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