Search Results

Democratic Demographics: Does Democracy Alter Politicians’ Origins?

Roderic Ai Camp

in The Metamorphosis of Leadership in a Democratic Mexico

Demographic variables determine many characteristics in a politician's background and determine critical career choices. Social origin is one of the most influential of such variables, but the major ... More

Demographic variables determine many characteristics in a politician's background and determine critical career choices. Social origin is one of the most influential of such variables, but the major shift in social origins actually took place at the apex of the pre-democratic era during the Echeverría administration (1970–6), rather than as a result of Mexico's democratic transformation. Social origins exercises a tremendous impact on the type of political career a politician may pursue, for example, prominent public figures from humble origins are much more likely to find success in elective office. In opening up the political system to representatives from the PAN and the PRD, electoral democracy has contributed to an larger diversity in religious and social values. Given their particular family origins and place of birth, which affect their location and level of educational achievement, politicians are recruited differently, come in contact with different groups of citizens, and follow different career tracks more easily than others.Less

The Personal Dimension and Boredom

John Kekes

in The Human Condition

Boredom is the individual analog of cultural disenchantment. A wide array of commentators agree that boredom is a pervasive problem in contemporary life. The cause of boredom is the lack of a ... More

Boredom is the individual analog of cultural disenchantment. A wide array of commentators agree that boredom is a pervasive problem in contemporary life. The cause of boredom is the lack of a conception of well‐being to which individuals can wholeheartedly commit themselves. The great danger of boredom is that it leads to seeking irrational thrills that might relieve it. Evil is one of these thrills. Boredom makes evildoing an attractive alternative. The cause of boredom and of the lack of satisfying conceptions of well‐being is ignorance of the resources of our cultural identity contained in its system of values. The obvious remedy is education in the humanities, the traditional context of enduring values that make life meaningful and worth living.Less

Ideologies and Realms of Value

John E. Cort

in Jains in the World: Religious Values and Ideology in India

Summarizes the previous discussions of well‐being in Jainism, and analyzes the way the religious lives of the Jains give expression to a symbolically expressed religious value. The chapter shows how ... More

Summarizes the previous discussions of well‐being in Jainism, and analyzes the way the religious lives of the Jains give expression to a symbolically expressed religious value. The chapter shows how we can see a ”family” of well‐being values (similar to what other authors of South Asia have termed ”auspiciousness”) in Jain belief and practice, as expressed in the goddess Laksmi (Lakshmi), and concepts such as kalyan (”welfare”), subh (”good, auspicious”), punya (”merit”), and mangal (”auspicious, holy”). In conclusion, the chapter argues that to study only world‐renunciation aimed at liberation from the world is insufficient for a full understanding of Jainism as lived religious experience, for Jain practices and beliefs are equally concerned with living a full, rich life in the world.Less

1492 to Today: Open Questions

Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein

in The Chosen Few: How Education Shaped Jewish History, 70-1492

This concluding chapter highlights some puzzles that punctuate Jewish history, from the mass expulsion of the Jews from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492–97 to today. A growing number of scholars have ... More

This concluding chapter highlights some puzzles that punctuate Jewish history, from the mass expulsion of the Jews from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492–97 to today. A growing number of scholars have been studying the long-term impact of institutions by illustrating that some contemporary economic patterns have been influenced by institutions that emerged centuries ago. This book contributes to this literature by showing that the transition of the Jews from farming into high-skill occupations has also been the outcome of the availability of contract-enforcement institutions shaped by the unique features of the Jewish religion. Meanwhile, social scientists have always been fascinated by the study of religion and by the influence religious values and norms may have on human behavior. Ultimately, the cultural values and social norms that Judaism fostered two millennia ago shaped the demographic and economic history of the Jewish people through today.Less

Between Laicism and Islam?: Religious Party Supporters in Turkey

in Beyond Sacred and Secular: Politics of Religion in Israel and Turkey

This chapter examines the supporters of religious parties in Turkey. It highlights the inconsistency of voters' characteristics with models which assume that religious parties can be understood as ... More

This chapter examines the supporters of religious parties in Turkey. It highlights the inconsistency of voters' characteristics with models which assume that religious parties can be understood as battlegrounds of a secular-religious conflict. The chapter explains that the supporters of the Nationalist Action Party, the National View Party, and the Justice and Development Party do not universally support political projects derived from Islam, and do not tightly cluster around certain religious values.Less

Religious value and moral psychology

Adam C. Pelser and Robert C. Roberts

in Handbook of Value: Perspectives from Economics, Neuroscience, Philosophy, Psychology and Sociology

“Religious value” can be understood in two ways. Ontological religious value is the excellence of a “transcendent” Ultimate Reality such as God. Psychological religious values are attitudinal or ... More

“Religious value” can be understood in two ways. Ontological religious value is the excellence of a “transcendent” Ultimate Reality such as God. Psychological religious values are attitudinal or dispositional valuings, informed by one’s religion, that involve taking an object to possess ontological religious value. Religions contribute to the development and internalization of psychological religious values through narratives, embodied rituals, and acts of service, among other means. Recent critics of religion argue that psychological religious values are irrational and socially pernicious. According to Jonathan Haidt’s evolutionary moral psychology, however, religious values arose out of innate, socially valuable emotional-intuitive dispositions. Haidt is correct that emotional intuitions facilitate the formation of religious and moral values, but these emotions can be epistemically, and not merely pragmatically, valuable. They may enable us to experience objective values, thus serving as evidence of the existence of various kinds of value, including ontological religious value.Less

Introduction: Responding to Evil

Jeffrie G. Murphy

in Getting Even: Forgiveness and Its Limits

The issue of “How ought one respond to evil?” is a gray area for many. Depending on the gravity of wrongdoing incurred, response to evil differs in each individual. In American society, the majority ... More

The issue of “How ought one respond to evil?” is a gray area for many. Depending on the gravity of wrongdoing incurred, response to evil differs in each individual. In American society, the majority believe in Judeo-Christianity ethics, thus, that society highly respects the idea of forgiveness as an important moral value. However, it is this same society that supports unusual harsh mechanisms of criminal punishment. This chapter aims to provide a philosophical overview on the book's exploration of the nature and value of revenge, forgiveness, repentance, and the role of religious values over it.Less

Putting Faith into Action

Ruth Braunstein

in Prophets and Patriots: Faith in Democracy across the Political Divide

Chapter 4 demonstrates that Interfaith and the Patriots developed different ways of enacting active citizenship in the course of their work together, and specifically their efforts to put their faith ... More

Chapter 4 demonstrates that Interfaith and the Patriots developed different ways of enacting active citizenship in the course of their work together, and specifically their efforts to put their faith in action. Although both groups asserted that there was a public role for religion in diverse and pluralistic democratic societies, they differed in their understandings of how this should work in practice. Interfaith’s efforts to put their faith in action were driven primarily by concerns about religious inclusion, while the Patriots were driven primarily by concerns about religious liberty. Participants in the groups thus emphasized subtly different religious values, developed different ways of engaging with religious others, and engaged in different kinds of religious (and civil religious) practices. The chapter concludes by tracing the groups’ choices about how to put their faith in action to differences in their democratic imaginaries—their ways of understanding how democracy works and the proper role of active citizens in it.Less

Understanding religious minority communities as civil society actors

Annette Leis-Peters

in Religion and Welfare in Europe: Gendered and Minority Perspectives

This chapter argues that research in the field of religious minorities needs to move away from the perspective of the majority society in favour of a civil society approach in which the interests of ... More

This chapter argues that research in the field of religious minorities needs to move away from the perspective of the majority society in favour of a civil society approach in which the interests of the religious minorities are built into the research design. The younger generation is under pressure not only to assimilate the values of the majority culture when it comes to professional development, but also to maintain the family's traditional—that is, religious—values. Integrating the perspectives of the religious minority communities into the research design itself permits markedly more nuanced findings, offering a more in-depth and accurate picture of the new ecology of religion.Less

Conflict and Identity

Jacqueline E. Whitt

in Bringing God to Men: American Military Chaplains and the Vietnam War

This chapter examines the concept of role conflict in some depth, and explores five topical cases—conscientious objection, the drug problem, chaplains' noncombatant status, participation in civic ... More

This chapter examines the concept of role conflict in some depth, and explores five topical cases—conscientious objection, the drug problem, chaplains' noncombatant status, participation in civic action programs, and personal morality related to alcohol, cursing, and sex—to understand how chaplains responded to situations that could produce tension between various roles and identities. In each case, chaplains demonstrated their ability to resolve role tension using pragmatic approaches that allowed for them to retain both a military and religious identity. The chapter then explores the question of chaplains' anemic responses to war crimes and atrocities in light of the role conflict model, the instances where it seems most obvious that chaplains may have abandoned their religious identities and values for military ones. Even here, however, chaplains' religious values were on display and the role conflict model is insufficient to explain their behavior.Less

Yosemite National Park: The Spirit of Complexity

Kerry Mitchell

in Spirituality and the State: Managing Nature and Experience in America's National Parks

This chapter examines the visitors, volunteers, and rangers in Yosemite National Park. It discusses how the environment is managed to create the impression of harmony between nature and culture. It ... More

This chapter examines the visitors, volunteers, and rangers in Yosemite National Park. It discusses how the environment is managed to create the impression of harmony between nature and culture. It explores the historical roots of this trend, as well as its persistence in park management in the present. Through interviews with park visitors, the chapter demonstrates that their attitudes towards nature shape their understanding of the spiritual and/or religious significance of their experience. Contrary to the hikers who were interviewed in Chapter 2, visitors to Yosemite demonstrate a different religious aspect of recreation, one in which “nature” is both more civilized and more consistently ascribed with religious value. This chapter demonstrates how park rangers appreciate this diversity within the visitor population, and how the trope of spirituality allows them to cater to a wide range of visitors.Less

Restrictions on Religion in the World: Measures and Implications

Brian J. Grim

in The Future of Religious Freedom: Global Challenges

Based on an innovative measurement system, this chapter presents a summary of global restrictions of religion, their patterns and significance. It provides graphic summaries of the status of these ... More

Based on an innovative measurement system, this chapter presents a summary of global restrictions of religion, their patterns and significance. It provides graphic summaries of the status of these restrictions, which show that some 70% of the world's population live in nations with high restrictions on religion, either from government policy or social hostilities. The chapter then applies statistical analyses to demonstrate that religious freedom is a correlate of democracy, civil liberties, economic development, women's status, and civil peace. It presents a model that explains how restrictions on religion produce cycles of societal repression, violent persecution, and further government restrictions, while regimes that protect religious freedom and treat all faiths equally produce positive cycles of civil peace and inter-religious amity.Less

Ushering in the Kingdom of God: Religious Values, Godly Love, and Public Affairs

Margaret M. Poloma and John C. Green

in The Assemblies of God: Godly Love and the Revitalization of American Pentecostalism

This chapter continues to explore the effects of charisma on benevolence as reflected through the prism of religious values and public affairs. It considers the impact of religious experience and ... More

This chapter continues to explore the effects of charisma on benevolence as reflected through the prism of religious values and public affairs. It considers the impact of religious experience and traditional religiosity on public affairs, including activities such as charity and political action. It shows that the Assemblies of God (AG) faces a dilemma when it comes to public affairs. The “law of love” and the “love of law” pose different—and even contradictory—approaches to “ushering in the kingdom of God,” which has been the goal of Pentecostal benevolence. On the one hand, progressive Pentecostals represent an approach that stresses care-love, especially as it pertains to social welfare programs. On the other hand, the “cultural war” politics of the last several decades, with its active opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion, also represent a departure from the Pentecostal apolitical past.Less

Ministering in Communities of Struggle

Elizabeth Fones-Wolf and Ken Fones-Wolf

in Struggle for the Soul of the Postwar South: White Evangelical Protestants and Operation Dixie

This chapter examines how ministers understood their responsibility and conveyed that to their congregations. For hundreds of southern preachers, a choice had to be made when the Congress of ... More

This chapter examines how ministers understood their responsibility and conveyed that to their congregations. For hundreds of southern preachers, a choice had to be made when the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) arrived. Some had no difficulty. Most, however, struggled with their consciences and religious values, used their own life experiences, read their denominational newspapers, took the pulse of their congregations, and weighed the relative merits of arguments they heard from factory and union representatives. They also thought about the consequences their pronouncements might have on their communities, their flocks, their families, and themselves, but they did not contemplate what was morally right in a neutral environment. One side had an enormous advantage in resources that they could, and would, bring to bear on southern ministers. Ultimately, the decisions ministers made and the influence they had cannot be reduced to a formula.Less