Search Results (4,507)

Background/Rationale: Transnational caregiving may be influenced by religious beliefs and cultural traditions that frame elder care as both a moral and religious obligation. While migration alters caregiving dynamics, religious teachings and cultural expectations remain central in guiding transnational caregiving practices. This study examines how Christian Nigerians who have immigrated to Canada navigate caregiving responsibilities within a transnational context, integrating their religion, cultural values, and the practical realities of crossing borders. Methods: This study employed a predominantly qualitative narrative approach, drawing on in-depth interviews with Nigerian Christian immigrants (N = 10) providing transnational care. Data collection involved a pre-interview survey and semi-structured interviews, providing the opportunity for participants to share their lived experiences. Thematic analysis was used to identify recurring themes related to the role of religion and culture in caregiving, ensuring a comprehensive exploration of participants’ perspectives. Findings: Caregiving is shaped by religious duty and cultural obligation, reinforced by biblical teachings and cultural values. Participants view elder care as a moral responsibility, tied to spiritual rewards and familial duty. Despite migration demands, family-based care remains preferred over institutional care, with social stigma attached to neglecting elders. Conclusions: Religion and culture remain integral to transnational caregiving practices, sustaining caregiving responsibilities despite migration-related realities. While religious teachings provide moral guidance and emotional support, cultural expectations reinforce caregiving as a collective and intergenerational duty. Policies and resources are needed that support transnational caregivers, ensuring they can fulfill their caregiving roles while adapting to new sociocultural environments. Policymakers should prioritize the implementation of policies and programs to support transnational caregivers, including family reunification measures, caregiving-related travel provisions, culturally tailored eldercare services, diaspora–local collaborations, organized caregiver support groups, and financial mechanisms such as tax incentives for remittances dedicated to elder care. Full article

What does one learn about religion through a study of Syrian Christian family cultures? How do religion and family—both as historically shaped ideological frames and social classifiers—inflect each other in Syrian Christian articulations about their past and present? What do these inflections tell us about being Christian in Kerala and beyond? Does it offer a critique of religion and family as sui generis categories? Based on select examples of Syrian Christian articulations from digital family displays produced by family associations (or kudumbayogam), I will argue that the religion–family node (or more appropriately nexus) hovers over the muddle of social relations. On one hand, the triumph of religion as a state-cushioned, universal category separated from the realm of the social and the historical (or religion with a capital ‘R’) has meant a neat tucking away of Syrian Christian households under the rubric of a reified Christianity. Similarly, the invocation of the patrilineal, patriarchal family as a universal category bereft of specificities works in tandem with this ironed-out Christianity in Syrian Christian family cultures. On the other hand, beyond their function as easy explainers, the religion–family nexus includes particular details which complicate the universality of the categories. These details recover family and religion in their heterogeneous elements expressed in place-sensitive caste idioms. I argue that the ‘universal’ in family and religion is sustained by the ‘particular’. A dialectical process of differentiation and homogenisation is critical to the Syrian Christian embrace of the religion–family nexus. Full article

The secularization of religion in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century Britain profoundly altered the ethical foundations of the modernist novel, challenging writers to reimagine the role of literature in the absence of religious authority. Against this backdrop, the present study investigates how modernist authors—exemplified by Virginia Woolf—both inherited and transformed the ethical ideals of religious communities. Through a comparative approach, this article traces the secularization of the Clapham Sect’s “moral covenant” and the Quaker notion of the “inner light”, revealing how these religious legacies, as mediated through the intellectual frameworks of Leslie Stephen and George Moore, contributed to Woolf’s construction of an author–reader intellectual community. The study demonstrates how this religious inheritance is reconfigured in Woolf’s theory of the ‘common reader,’ highlighting her contribution to modernist aesthetics and ethics. Through the figure of the ‘common reader,’ religion emerges not as a set of fixed doctrines, but as a foundation for constructing ethical communities in a secular age. Full article

In many countries across the Western world, religion is in decline, with public secular environments increasingly outweighing family-based religious socialization. Canada and West Germany exemplify this trend, where younger generations often perceive religion as something to be justified within predominantly nonreligious peer groups. Muslims, as a religious minority, display greater resilience to secularization, yet their religiosity is also subject to transformation. Drawing on narrative family interviews spanning two to three generations, this study examines the conditions shaping religious continuity and discontinuity within Muslim families in Canada and West Germany. Focusing on second- and third-generation Muslims, we find that practicing religion with children is the most significant factor in successful transmission, especially when rituals are woven into daily life. Yet family practice alone is insufficient: embedding children in faith-based community networks and fostering open dialogue about religion prove crucial for sustaining confidence, belonging, and adaptability. Religious transmission also intersects with ethnic and cultural identity, though ethnic ties alone do not guarantee continuity. Ultimately, we observe that transmission involves transformation: parents are changing the way they approach religion, placing a greater emphasis on their children making their own choices. Muslim families, like other faith communities, shift toward more individualized and reflective forms of religiosity, negotiating their identities within secular and often critical societal contexts. Full article

Romolo Putelli and Alessandro Sina were two politically active priests in Italy in the first decades of the twentieth century. Their work, as well as their heritage, is culturally and socially representative of a peripheral area of Northern Italy, the Valcamonica. However, the two figures stood out by supporting two different political factions during the fascist period, generating alternative ways to acquire or donate their assets. By examining the archival documentation and bibliographical materials in their collections, this article aims to understand the processes, individuals involved, and the role of priests in assembling collections that remain accessible today. To accomplish this goal, it is essential to trace the biographical profiles of Romolo Putelli and Alessandro Sina, emphasising their prominent traits, as well as reconstructing the bureaucratic stages of the donations and acquisitions by identifying those aspects—whether socio-political, religious, or cultural—that would have significantly influenced the course of events. In doing so, this article aims to highlight how political–religious interference and public interest influence the development of a bibliographic cluster. Full article

Looking into early Christian–Muslim relations seems to be the outcome of greater interest in Islam transcultural encounters due to current issues of mass migration. Sicily presents an informative example of the interaction between different ethnic and religious groups over centuries. Several scholars, including Jeremy Johns, Alex Metcalfe and Julie Taylor, have explored the social and administrative position of Christians and Muslims within the complex society of Sicily, although their contributions were largely from the umbrella of Norman Sicily from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries. Thus, there is a need to shift away from the Normans’ experience to exploring Christian–Muslim relations in Sicily during the ninth through eleventh centuries, especially the expansion, society and activities during the rule of the Fāṭimids of Ifrīqiya (909–965) and their Kalbid allies (948–1053). These forms of relationships are not only important for Sicily but for the whole region of the central Mediterranean. This paper will build on the works of Umberto Rizzitano and other scholars to explore the relations between the Arabs and Muslims and the Christians in Sicily during the Muslim rule of the Island. Using Arabic and Islamic sources, including travel accounts by the Muslim geographer Ibn Ḥawqal (d. 988), this paper aims to discuss the lives of Christians and their dynamic exchanges with Muslims within the social and political complexities of Aghlabid and Fāṭimid Sicily as well as Sicily’s link to North Africa (Ifrīqiya). Sicily’s proximity to North Africa and to Europe has been an essential aspect of its history, which facilitated movement of communities between these regions. The paper will also compare the policies of the Fāṭimids towards Christians in Sicily with their relations towards their Christian subjects in Cairo, Egypt. It will show the pragmatic aspects of this relationship concerning marriage, legal status, the movement of people, and cultural and intellectual exchange. Christians and Muslims practised cultural hybridisation that brought changes in Sicily with respect to language, religion, and social habits, resulting in a distinctive Sicilian multicultural identity. Full article

Background/Objectives: Depression is common in young doctors. Religion/spirituality, vocation, and family might protect against it. The objective of this study was to evaluate mental health, spirituality, and flourishing (a multi-dimensional assessment of well-being) in new medical residents. We also evaluated the associations of baseline characteristics with flourishing. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in 743 new medical residents who responded to (1) a questionnaire addressing mental health, vocation, spirituality, family, and religion and (2) the “Secure Flourish Index”, which assesses happiness/life satisfaction, physical/mental health, meaning/purpose, character/virtue, social relationships, and financial/material stability. Results: The mean age was 25.7 ± 4.0, and 526 (70.8%) were females, 157 (21.1%) had felt depressed, and 22 (3.0%) had suicidal ideation. The mean values for assessments of vocation and family were very high (>9.2), while religion and spirituality had intermediate values (5.2–6.5). Participants with depression or suicidal ideation had lower assessments in all four of the aforementioned domains, although differences were only significant for depression–religion (p = 0.03). The average “Secure Flourish Index” was 8.2 ± 0.9. There were lower levels of flourishing in males and in those with depression or suicidal ideation, with p-values < 0.001. Flourishing had a correlation with vocation and family (with r-values of 0.3–0.4) and with spirituality and religion (with r-values of 0.25–0.27), with p-values ≤ 0.001. Conclusions: Resident well-being is critical for physicians and healthcare quality. Spirituality and religion may serve as a protective resource, enhancing flourishing. Our study shows that new medical residents seem to have high value assessments for vocation and family importance and intermediate values for religion and spirituality. The mean flourishing scores were high, but were lower in males and in those with depression. Flourishing seems to be correlated with vocation, family, spirituality, and religion, but these associations need to be confirmed with validated screening tools. Full article

Work–family conflicts (WFCs) and family–work conflicts (FWCs) have been found to be important to worker morale and retention as well as family (as defined by the respondents) well-being, with particular importance within the military, as indicated by a number of studies in the United States, Canada, and European countries. However, few studies have focused on the impact of WFC and FWC for high ranking officers and their families. This study involved two samples of officers attending an advanced leadership course at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 2007, featuring a total of 262 Army officers and another 45 officers from other services and countries. The sample of Army officers included 239 men (85.4% of whom were a parent) and 22 women (63.6% of whom were a parent; Fisher’s Exact Test, p < 0.02), with one missing case for sex. Of the men and women, respectively, most were married for the first time (190/11), with some never married (14/5), married but divorced (10/1), married/divorced/remarried (20/4), married/spouse died/remarried (1/0), married/divorced/remarried/divorced/remarried (4/0), and married/divorced/remarried/divorced/remarried (0/1). Measures for cohabitation or same-sex partnerships were not used. Two modified measures of WFC and FWC of four items each were tested and found to represent different factors and to have high internal consistency reliability. In general we found few sex differences, but female officers seemed to be more influenced by family–work conflict than male officers. One of our most substantial findings was that work–family conflict was more prevalent than family–work conflict within our sample. Also, we found that marital satisfaction tended to be higher than parental satisfaction and that officers usually found their own retention intentions to be higher than their perception of that of their spouses. Satisfaction with the military was consistently and strongly related to lower levels of work–family conflict while similar but weaker trends were found for family–work conflict. Most of our results were found to cross-validate with a subsample of non-Army officers in our sample. We found bias from marital social desirability to be lower for our marital process scale and for FWC than for marital satisfaction and WFC. In sum, our results confirm adverse effects of deployments and other stressors on military families and a continuing need for military support for families, even among higher ranking officer families. Full article

Adopting the theoretical traditions and methodological approaches of Chinese religious studies, this paper systematically reviews the scholarly development, theoretical contributions, and methodological characteristics of research on Korean Christianity conducted by Chinese scholars. Through an in-depth analysis of the academic literature spanning the past five decades, the study unveils the developmental logic, theoretical innovations, and prospective research directions within this field. It finds that Chinese scholarship has progressed through distinct phases—from preliminary exploration to diversified inquiry—marked by an increasingly expansive academic vision. Core findings include: in-depth interpretations of mechanisms underlying the indigenization of foreign religions, nuanced examinations of the complex interplay between religion and socio-cultural dynamics, and the construction of theoretical models for cross-cultural religious transmission. The study also highlights current methodological limitations and proposes future research strategies such as interdisciplinary integration, empirical approaches, and theoretical innovation. These efforts aim to offer fresh perspectives for the study of religious history in East Asia. Full article

Hate speech comprises expressions that promote discrimination, violence, and the exclusion of individuals or groups based on identity characteristics such as race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. Social media platforms have provided a space for the amplification of such discourse, fostering a climate of intolerance that undermines social and democratic coexistence. In the educational sphere, hate speech has a detrimental impact on the initial training of students and teachers. That its presence within school environments contributes to social fragmentation, the deterioration of learning processes, and an increase in violence. Furthermore, such discourse reinforces prejudices and stereotypes that hinder the construction of a critical and pluralistic citizenship. From the outset of teacher education, it is essential to develop pedagogical strategies that foster critical thinking and education in democratic values. Digital literacy and explicit instruction on the impact of hate speech can contribute to the prevention of these exclusionary dynamics. An inclusive and reflective education is key to counteracting the effects of intolerance in contemporary society. Full article

The philosophy of both Immanuel Kant and Karl Jaspers culminates in the motif of faith (the pure practical rational faith and the philosophical faith), but this similarity has received relatively little attention. The paper examines it with specific focus on three questions: First, can it be said that Kant advocates a narrower, morally bound conception of rational faith, while Jaspers holds a broader, existential conception? If so, what is the root of this “narrower”–“wider” distinction? Second, can we take Jaspers as “Kantian existentialist” with regard to his motif of philosophical faith? Third, what do these concepts imply in relation to Christianity? To what extent can philosophical standpoint co-exist with Christian belief? As for the first question, the interpretation shows that rather than narrower–wider, it is more appropriate to use the stricter (Kant)–looser (Jaspers) distinction in the concept of rational faith, that, (second), has in both cases different grounding. Third, contrary to seeming opposition, where Kantian faith tends to overlap with Christian belief while for Jaspers a philosopher cannot be a believer in traditional sense, both get to a “sibling proximity” on the one hand and tension to traditional religion on the other. Full article

This article examines the legal and practical dimensions of religious education (RE) in Austria with a particular focus on interreligious education as an emerging pedagogical and societal response to increasing religious and cultural diversity. It begins by situating the discussion within Austria’s historical and constitutional framework, in which RE is governed as a res mixta—a joint responsibility shared between the state and legally recognized churches and religious societies (CRSs). The analysis highlights how this model of power-sharing is enshrined in both constitutional and ordinary legislation, granting CRSs extensive autonomy in the organization, content, and supervision of denominational RE. Despite the absence of explicit legal provisions for interreligious education, the article demonstrates that interreligious teaching practices can be implemented through cooperative arrangements between CRSs, particularly when aligned with national educational goals and international commitments to tolerance, religious freedom, and other human rights. It further analyses curricular references to interreligiosity across various denominational RE programs and discusses the institutional potential for integrating interreligious competencies into teacher training and school practice. Drawing on the example of the project Integration through Interreligious Education at the University Graz, a cooperative initiative between the Catholic Church and the Islamic Religious Society in Austria (IGGÖ) from 2017 to 2023, the article outlines how interreligious education was legally contextualized and contractually formalized. The article concludes that interreligious education, though legally unregulated, is both feasible and desirable within Austria’s current legal and educational framework. It calls for greater normative clarity and policy support to ensure the sustainability and broader implementation of such models, which foster mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence in a pluralistic society. Full article

In recent years, Christian language and symbols have played an increasingly prominent role in right-wing populist rhetoric across many western countries. The form of religious expression in right-wing populist rhetoric corresponds to the kind of religiousness that characterizes the contextual factors under which rhetorical communication occurs. In making this case, this article analyzes salient themes found in speeches, interviews, and manifesto content to uncover dynamic similarities and dissimilarities between right-wing populist parties in two religiously different contexts: the Alternative für Deutschland (“Alternative for Germany”) and Fratelli d’Italia (“Brothers of Italy”). First, I discuss how the vertical and horizontal tensions within the populist framework combine with notions of civilizational identity and show the extent to which positive references to Christianity are combined with negative references to Islam. Next, I demonstrate how these parties differ in their treatment of the transcendent and doctrinal qualities of religious commitment. Lastly, I show the ways in which religion is used to help brighten symbolic boundaries, as well as the functions served by the dramatic and emotional elements that are embedded in the process of boundary formation. In light of the respective contextual factors that mediate the nature of religious expression, I discuss how understanding the social logic of this rhetoric can grant valuable insight into what has become such a critical feature of populism’s social character. Full article

In this article, we explain how Kant upends the terms of the debate concerning the relationship between God’s existence and an objective morality by looking at his moral-teleological argument for God’s existence in the third Critique. We explain Kant’s rejection of external sources of moral normativity and his method of grounding moral authority in the normativity of practical reason. We then turn to Kant’s argument justifying a practical belief in God as the moral author of nature. Kant’s claims about how we must conceptualize organisms teleologically and, as a result, how reason seeks an unconditioned end of nature, brings together our moral purpose with a conception of nature as an organized whole. Since our teleological concepts of organisms seem to require that human beings serve as the final, unconditioned end of nature, but morality and nature might be incompatible and divergent, we must also believe in a moral author of nature. This belief guards against demoralization and creates a unified view of the human moral agent and the world she inhabits, which Kant thinks of as indispensable for our practical lives. Kant notoriously blurs the lines between theology and ethics in nonstandard ways. Although he rejects many traditional approaches to grounding ethics in a conception of divine commands or eternal law, he still devotes a considerable amount of time to discussing the role of religion as a bulwark of the moral life. The goal of this paper is to defend Kant’s relevance to a discussion of the relationship between an objective ethics and the existence of God; his contribution deserves our notice precisely for the ways in which it promises to shift the terms of the contemporary debate and complicate possible answers to the question of whether there can be an objective morality without God. In contemporary philosophical literature, Kant’s argument contending that we must hope in God from a practical point of view on pain of irrationality of acting from duty has enjoyed substantial discussion. Here, however, we focus on a lesser-known suite of arguments that in order to so much as cognize ourselves and other species as the sorts of natural beings they are, we must believe in a supersensible moral author of these natures. This set of arguments ultimately dovetail with the more well-known argument for theistic hope and operate in much the same way. But they touch on facets of Kant’s whole philosophical system, such as his account of teleological judgment and the unity and final end of all of nature. Our goal is to explicate these arguments and illuminate their relevance of these Kantian arguments to the debate about the relevance of God to objective morality. We will argue that while an objective ethics is possible without God due to the active role of practical reason in rational agents, belief in God’s existence strengthens the claims of morality, both for psychological reasons but also by providing a more unified conception of moral and natural reality. Full article

This article examines the creation of Dr. John E. Esslemont’s seminal work Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era (1923), the first comprehensive introductory book in English on the Bahá’í Faith. Drawing particularly on the extensive correspondence between Esslemont and Luṭfu’lláh Ḥakím, the article traces Esslemont’s journey from his initial encounter with the Bahá’í teachings in 1914 to the book’s publication and subsequent global impact. The unique involvement of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi in reviewing and correcting the manuscript is highlighted, along with Esslemont’s collaboration with prominent early Bahá’ís. Rather than specifically addressing the book’s content, this paper examines its preparation and publication, its rapid translation and worldwide dissemination in multiple languages. Finally, Esslemont’s legacy is considered, both through his book and his personal example as a pioneering Western adherent of the Bahá’í Faith. Esslemont’s original spelling of Bahá’í names and terminology in his correspondence has been maintained. Full article