scholarly journals Religious Pluralism and International Sufi Movement : An Analysis of Inayat Khan’s (1882-1927) Mystical Thoughts

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 25-44
Author(s):  
Mohamed Mihlar Abdul Muthaliff
Keyword(s):  
Religious Belief ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Religious Ideals ◽  
Sufi Order ◽  
Key Aspects

The article presents an introduction to the evolution of the perennial and ideological encounter between Inayat Khan’s (1882-1927) International Sufi Movement and the diversity of religious belief systems. It analyses the teachings and thoughts of Inayatian Sufi Movement which claim that all religions are equally true, or that one religion can be true for some and another for others. It begins with an introduction of Inayat Khan and his mystical message and then, explicates his religious and philosophical thoughts that include unity of religious ideals. Finally the paper concludes with a reflection on the key aspects of Inayatian Sufi order and their policy of Religious Pluralism in view of Islam.

Doro Rekufa and Tsvitsa: Beer, Animals and Death Rituals among the Ndau of South Eastern Zimbabwe

Utafiti ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Plan Shenjere-Nyabezi
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Death Rituals ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Attitudes Towards Death ◽  
Death Signals

Despite Westernization and particularly the advent of Christianity and its widespread entrenchment on the African continent, traditional indigenous rituals continue to constitute an integral part of African religious belief systems and practices. This article presents the results of an ethnoarchaeological study of two death rituals that are conducted by the Ndau people of south eastern Zimbabwe. The rituals are a demonstration of attitudes towards death and beliefs about the role of the dead among the living. The Ndau do not believe that death signals and represents the end of life. In the same vein and perhaps more importantly, the Ndau do not believe that death just happens. It is caused by human agency out of jealousies, hatred and conflict among the living. These beliefs are central to the two rituals presented and discussed here: the first ritual is conducted to ascertain cause of death and the second to bring back the spirit of the deceased from a temporary state of limbo immediately after death. Meat and beer are central to these rituals, firstly as offerings to the deceased and secondly as an important part of the living celebration of the rituals. The paper then explores some interpretive implications of the rituals from an archaeological perspective.

Can spirituality be a scientific topic and how?: A rigorous but open-minded scientific approach of studies on religion, spirituality, and mental health

2021 ◽  
pp. 61-78
Author(s):  
Harald Walach
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Scientific Process ◽  
Natural Laws ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Spirituality And Religion ◽  
History Of ◽  
Scientific Topic ◽  
Human Inquiry

Science and spirituality are at odds, due to the history of enlightenment. This led to freeing human inquiry from dogmatic and clerical bondage by religion. And because religion has been left behind by the new scientific narrative of a self-evolving world, driven by random accidents and mutations and natural laws, there seems to be no place for spirituality either. This contribution disentangles those conceptual problems. It first points out the history of this separation and its consequences. It is important to realize that spirituality and religion are two different things. While religion is a conceptual, ethical, ritual, and at times also a political framework, spirituality is the experiential core of all religions. As a human experience, it is universal and independent of religious belief systems. Spirituality, as a form of inner experiential access to reality, is also at the bottom of the scientific process—for instance, in important theoretical insights. 150 words

The Secularization Debate

2020 ◽  
pp. 37-45
Author(s):  
Ronald F. Inglehart
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Church Attendance ◽  
Belief System ◽  
Religious Attendance ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
Religious Competition ◽  
The World

Well into the 20th century, leading social thinkers argued that religious beliefs reflected a prescientific worldview that would disappear as scientific rationality spread throughout the world. Though the creationism of traditional religion did give way to evolutionary worldviews, this failed to discredit religion among the general public. Religious markets theory argues that the key to flourishing religiosity is strong religious competition, but recent research found no relationship between religious pluralism and religious attendance. The individualization thesis claims that declining church attendance does not reflect declining religiosity; subjective forms of religion are simply replacing institutionalized ones. But empirical evidence indicates that individual religious belief is declining even more rapidly than church attendance. Secularization’s opponents hold that humans will always need religion. This claim seems true if it is broadened to hold that humans will always need a belief system. Norris and Inglehart argue that as survival becomes more secure, it reduces the demand for religion.

Science, Religion and a Culture of Life

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-78
Author(s):  
Stephen C. Dilley ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Science And Religion ◽  
Sensus Divinitatis ◽  
The Relationship

For those who wish to affirm a culture that values human life, the relationship between science and religion continues to be of import. Some, like Edward O. Wilson, think that naturalistic science will eventually account for all phenomena, even religious experience itself. This essay considers Wilson's hypothesis by surveying three classic explanations of universal religious belief: Sigmund Freud's projection theory, Charles Darwin's evolutionarry paradigm, and John Calvin's sensus divinitatis. Both Freud's and Darwin's views suffer from self-referential and evidential problems. In contrast, Calvin's model handles well major objections of religious pluralism and atheism. Of these three, Calvin's view is superior. Religion may not be reducible to a naturalistic explanation, and those who wish to promote a culture of life ought to view the relations between science and religion in a non-Wilsonian fashion, eschewing reductionism.

scholarly journals The fading affect bias (FAB) is strongest for Jews and Buddhists and weakest for participants without religious affiliations: An exploratory analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 09 (03) ◽  
pp. 350-362
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A. Gibbons ◽  
Sherman A. Lee ◽  
Luke P. Fernandez ◽  
Emma D. Friedmann ◽  
Kaylee D. Harris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Exploratory Analysis ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Coping Mechanism ◽  
The Face

The fading affect bias (FAB) is a robust phenomenon where unpleasant affect fades faster than pleasant affect. The FAB is believed to be coping mechanism designed to make life appear pleasant in the face of hardships and adversities. The FAB persists across several cultures and many event types (e.g., alcohol, religious, and death), even though low FAB has been demonstrated for social media events, videogame events, and events labeled as religious, but not spiritual. Although religion is also believed to make life more satisfying by providing existential meaning and social connectedness for their followers, research to date, has not examined religious differences in the FAB. Therefore, we examined the FAB using 2 measures of fading affect across participants’ self-reported religious affiliations and we found robust FAB effects for all categories except for an extremely small sample of Islamic followers. The FAB effects were strongest for Jewish and Buddhist affiliations and they were weakest for participants who did not report a well-known religious affiliation. The findings extend the literature on the FAB to religious belief systems. Future research should replicate the current study, examine the FAB for larger samples of Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and Jews, and test explanations for differential FAB effects across religious affiliations.

scholarly journals Implementing government strategies for complex social problems

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Herbert
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Family Violence ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Western Society ◽  
Contributing Factors

Addressing complex social problems that are rooted in multiple causes is difficult. These issues often interact in unpredictable ways with numerous contributing factors, and they do not run along traditional departmental boundaries. For example, family violence is one of the most complex, multifaceted and poorly understood issues in Western society. Addressing family violence requires major social change in individual attitudes and relationships, cultural and religious belief systems and society's opinions, as well as comprehensive government strategies and a comprehensive range of services to support families and individuals affected by family violence. In this respect, it provided a useful case study through which to examine the implementation of complex social policy in New Zealand.

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