Major Religious Groups Research Articles

In ongoing efforts to vaccinate communities against COVID-19, pharmacists must address fear and misinformation

In ongoing efforts to vaccinate communities against COVID-19, pharmacists must address fear and misinformation

Churches, Memory and Justice in Post-Communism

Churches, Memory and Justice in Post-Communism

Contemporary, racialised conflicts over LGBT-inclusive education: more strategic secularisms than secular/religious oppositions?

ABSTRACT This paper analyses public conflicts over school policies that seek to advance Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) equality. It focuses in particular on conflicts where Muslims, who protest LGBT-inclusive policies, become racialised as other to secular national/Western values. Growing attention has been paid to the secular arguments used by majority and minority religious groups to publicly counter LGBT-inclusive education. In this paper, I contend that neither contemporary arguments for, or against, LGBT-inclusive education are neatly secular, i.e., non-religious, in their public appearance. Introducing a Critical Secular approach, I contend multiple parties in such conflicts work with “strategic” secularisms. Strategic secularisms are prevailing discourses which privatise, and deprivatise (make public), aspects of minority religious and sexual identities on neo-colonial, secular Christian terms. I present a thematic analysis of 149 newspaper articles covering protests largely by Muslims against LGBT-inclusive education outside schools in Birmingham, England. The analysis shows that newspapers foregrounded discourses seeking to privatise (assert private authority over) or deprivatise (publicly surveil) Muslim religiosity. LGBT identities were also variously framed as “beliefs” to be kept private, or an essential part of the public self which must be confessed to be “free”. Based on this analysis, I argue public discourse should certainly challenge queer/Muslim and secular/religious dichotomies. But more fundamentally, there is a need to cultivate education publics that refuse strategic secularisms based in neo-colonial, racialised discourses of secular Christian civilisation, and engage the losses created by the privatising and deprivatising of specific forms of minority religious and sexual identity.

Different Reality? Generations’ and Religious Groups’ Views of Spirituality Policies in the Workplace

Over the past 20 years, there has been considerable expansion, particularly spirituality theory in the workplace. Simultaneously, there has been a growth of research, most especially in practitioner publication into generational differences. The study's context is human resource (HR) policy and procedures in the workplace. Through this prism, generational perspectives and religious theory are compared and scrutinised within the United Kingdom. Two major religious groups (Muslim and Christian) and three-generational categories (Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers) were selected to explore different attitudes, with participants identifying as belonging to religious groups outside of these two major religions, categorised as 'Other.' This study adopts a quantitative approach, with questionnaires gathering employees' perceptions of spirituality policy within their place of work. Although the study found differences in expectations between the religious groups and between the three generations, there is greater homogeneity than a difference in that the results provide limited support for workplace spirituality. Indeed, the study raises more questions than answers. The study uncovered areas ripe for informed debate around personal values, generations, and spirituality in the workplace. This is a relatively new research area, and our findings are in line with others that suggest that employee spiritual well-being is both underresearched and underexplored by organisations. Changing the current intransigence around the place of spirituality is overdue.

Cultural Responses to Covid-19 Pandemic: Religions, Illness Perception, and Perceived Stress.

Many psychological researchers have proven the deteriorating effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic on public mental health. In Malaysia, various Covid-19 clusters were associated with religious gatherings. From a cultural psychology perspective, how ethno-religious groups respond to this crisis originating from their unique rationality and ecological systems. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the illness perceptions of major religious groups (Christian, Muslim, and Buddhist) in Malaysia toward the Covid-19 pandemic, their stress levels, and the relationship between illness perception, stress, and forms of religious expression during the lockdown period. Through an online survey method, 608 Malaysian religious believers were included in this mixed-method empirical study, which adapted standardized instruments [Duke University Religion Index (DUREL), Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)]. Statistical analysis showed that all three groups reported moderate levels of stress in average without any significant difference after controlling for age. Both internal and external forms of religious expression had a significant negative relationship with stress levels. Personal control, comprehension, and emotions domains of illness perception accounted for a significant variance in the stress level. Furthermore, religious expression significantly moderated the relationship between some illness perception domains and stress. Qualitative coding revealed that most participants perceived human behavior and attitudes, sociopolitical, and sociological factors as causal factors to the current pandemic. These findings confirmed the relationship between religious expression, illness belief, and stress regulation during the pandemic lockdown. Incidental findings of age as a potential protective factor for Malaysian believers warrants further study. In the conclusion, implications for public health policymakers and religious communities on pandemic prevention and well-being promotion were discussed.

A study of religious beliefs affecting organ donation & influence of educational intervention in western Maharashtra

In India, many lives that could easily be saved are lost due to a paucity of donated organs. This trend could easily be reversed by educating the general public. Religious beliefs and religious leaders play an important role in the society. With a concept to educate the religious leaders, to strengthen the message of increased organ donation, a study was conceptualized to test the efficacy of such an intervention.To study religious beliefs and organ donation among the heterogenous population of Maval Taluka.A cross-sectional study carried out in the Department of Biochemistry, MIMER Medical College, Talegaon Dabhade, Pune. An educational interventional study was carried out on four basic major religious groups namely Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian. Data was collected from 328 participants by visiting respective religious places. A ten-item self-structured validated questionnaire was designed to assess the knowledge and beliefs regarding organ donation. Pre-test was carried out to assess the basic knowledge on organ donation. Educational intervention regarding the benefits of organ-donation was done, followed by a post-test. The data was statistically analysed by ANOVA in SPSS software.The overall awareness on organ donation was increased by 22% after the planned educational intervention. : These results of the study showed a high degree of acceptance amongst all the groups & willingness for organ donation. Hence, such awareness programmes should be conducted at regular intervals on a large scale so that the problem of shortage of donated organs can be minimized.

INTOLERANSI MENURUT TOKOH AGAMA ISLAM DAN KRISTEN

<p><strong><em>Abstrack</em></strong></p><p><em>Indonesia is a nation that has a diversity of religions, races, ethnicities and languages. Scientifically, this does not exist to differentiate between one another, instead these differences serve as an adhesive in diversity. In the context of social life, differences in views as a result of historical inheritance have given birth to a grouping of what is called the majority and the minority. Islam as the majority religious group has always been targeted for accusations of acts of intolerance. This study uses a qualitative method, which aims to describe and develop concepts that can explain the phenomena of intolerance that occur. This study uses a phenomenological approach to religion which examines the intolerance that is labeled as Islam objectively and descriptively. The results of this study are that there is no single religion that teaches about acts of intolerance, only teaches about love and peace, besides that all religious leaders play a very important role in conveying the teachings of each of these religions to always spread peace and Islam is a religion that rahmatan lilalamin. Intolerance can arise only from people who do not understand religion properly. The purpose of this research is because many cases of intolerance when examined come from religious communities other than Islam. But the fact that is happening now is when someone talks about intolerance they will definitely say Islam intolerance. So the author draws this theme to be researched with the intention that the phenomenon of a stylistic view of Islam is related to intolerance and cleanses the good name of Islam which is rahmatan lilalamin.</em><em></em></p><p><strong><em>Keywords:</em></strong><em> Intolerance, Religious Figures, Islam, Christianity</em><em></em></p>

Students’ Identity and Mental Well-Being Among Muslims and Christians in Pakistan

The identity, belongingness to the larger society as well as mental well-being of minorities in Pakistan may have suffered as a result of recent social and political attacks on Christians. The present study was aimed at finding and comparing various aspects of identity (i.e., personal, social, relational, and collective) and mental well-being among adolescents from the majority (Muslims) and minority (Christian) religious groups of Lahore district in Pakistan. The study hypothesized that adolescents of religious minorities would have a lower level of sense of aspects of identity than their dominant counterparts. The sample comprised of 414 male and female students (Muslim = 225, Christian =189) with an age range from 13 to 18years, drawn from two Muslim and two Christian schools. Data was collected using the Aspects of Identity Questionnaire (Cheek & Briggs, 2013), and Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (Tennant et al., 2007). Results indicated a significant difference in the level of awareness of aspects of identity as well as well-being between majority and minority adolescents. Furthermore, within the majority group, there was also a significant gender difference in social identity and mental well-being with Muslim boys scoring higher than Muslim girls on these variables. Implications of the study are discussed.

Declining sikh space on the religious and political landscape of India

Abstract This study is devoted to highlighting the temporal trends and spatial variations in the concentration and growth of the major religious groups in India with special reference to the Sikh population. Such studies are gaining importance with the increasing penetration of both the religion and caste-composition in the political environment of the country. Although religious and caste interventions in politics are prevalent in all the elections, these become stronger as we move down from Parliamentary to Panchayat elections in which the voting pattern changes in favour of religion and caste groups. It has been observed that the share of Muslim population increased by 5.96% between 2001 and 2011, while it declined in the case of all other communities and the maximum decline (−8.02%) was noticed in the case of the Sikh population with the lowest share among all the major religious communities in India. The Sikh population also recorded the lowest growth rate of 8.42% against 24.65% and 16.76% witnessed by Muslims and Hindus respectively between2001 and 2011. The study is based on the religious data released by the Census of India.

RELIGIOUS ETHICS IN THE PUBLIC SPACE

This article is considered important based on the existence of religious-social phenomena that occur in the Ngapeh hamlet, Rejoagung village, Ngoro, Jombang district. In the Ngapeh hamlet community, there are three religions that live in harmony and harmony, namely Islam, Christianity and Hinduism. Islam is the majority religious group while Christians and Hindus are minority religious groups. Ngapeh Hamlet in Rejoagung Village can be said to be a unique area. Imagine a hamlet in the context of a small life but there is no domination of power from the majority of the people. The Muslim Ummah as the majority group is the prime mover in maintaining harmony between adherents of one religion and another. Christians and Hindus as minority groups do not experience discrimination from other ummah (Muslims). They are free to practice their beliefs and worship according to their respective religions. The research question to be answered in this study is how the pattern of religious interaction among the community in Rejoagung village, Ngoro sub-district, Jombang district, especially what occurs in Ngapah hamlet in implementing their diversity in public space as a form of a religious community ethics. To answer this question, in this study, Habermas' theory of communicative action is used which states that religious ethics is addressed by the public. In this paper it is found that the ethics of the religious community in public spaces are based on the role and function of religion itself. The function of religion in this paper is found three functions. First, religion as a force / dogma, religion as a sacred thing and religion as a spiritual act. Based on these three functions of religion, then based on Habermas's theory of discourse that in carrying out religious precepts in the Rejoagung village community, it is not only based on good things and is closed from political interests but religion must be a person's view of life and become a guide in ethics in the room. public.

Hindu-Muslim relations in Kashmir: A critical evaluation

India was under British colonial rule for a good number of years with her plural ethno-religious background and identity, which was to become the basis of an unending conflict. Several pre-colonial and post-colonial conditioning antecedents have been marshalled to buttress the premise leading to the conclusion that the British colonial era laid the time bomb along ethno-religious contours which exploded in 1947 thereby giving rise to the balkanisation of India into two separate states, that is India and Pakistan. Two major religious groups that is Hindus and Muslims became the gladiators in India’s partition. The Kashmir region of India, a town of religious confluence, has a history of conflicts that is perceived by different people as politico-religious and socio-economic. This article focuses on religion as a core tenet of every cultural worldview and its significance to both Hindus and Muslims, and how it has become the progressively vital central marker of identity and a smouldering keg of gun powder for conflict in Kashmir. Furthermore, this article contends that religion plays a key role in the conflict between Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir because of its significance and influence on both religions. India that is known as a mother to various religions cannot relegate the primary role of religion in their political and socio-economic affairs. Therefore, it is right to acknowledge politico-religious and socio-economic factors in the Hindu–Muslim conflict in the state of Kashmir. And, it will not be wrong to affirm that religion plays a key role in the conflict between Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir. Contribution: The article is a contribution in religious issues in India. It reveals how political power and sociopolitical antecedents are mostly recognised by religious scholars and historians as the reason for the fracas between Hindus and Muslims. It explains the influence and implication of religion in the Hindu-Muslim relations in Kashmir region.

Who are American evangelical Protestants and why do they matter forUSclimate policy?

AbstractWhite evangelical Protestants are the most skeptical major religious group in the United States regarding climate change. While their position of political influence in the Republican coalition is widely recognised, the full range of effects of this position on evangelicals' climate opinions is not. To move research on evangelicals from the margins of climate change opinion research, we review and integrate the interdisciplinary literature on US evangelicals, climate change, and politics. In assessing this literature, we identify three areas in need of further research. First, there is a critical need for more research on the climate attitudes of evangelicals of color, who comprise a growing share of the evangelical tradition in the US. Second, highlighting the Christian Right's active engagement in the climate debate, we identify a need for more experimental work examining how cues from religious elites may shape evangelicals' opinions. Finally, we suggest that to better harness insights across disciplines, researchers must become more explicitly aware of how different disciplines conceptualize temporality. Attending to temporal scale suggests that a new approach is needed to test how dominion beliefs, which are widely thought to be an important theological driver of climate skepticism, operate. We also suggest that two factors that appear to play a weak or limited role in driving climate skepticism over the short term (anti‐science attitudes and evangelical religiosity) may in fact play a significant role in driving skepticism over the medium term.This article is categorized under:Perceptions, Behavior, and Communication of Climate Change > Perceptions of Climate ChangeTrans‐Disciplinary Perspectives > Humanities and the Creative Arts

Adolescents’ Perception of Religious Education According to Religion and Gender in Spain

The aim of our study is to verify the influence of Religious Education on Spanish adolescents by applying a quantitative study based on descriptive and social research methods which reflect the religious and social plurality of Spain, with a total of 679 secondary education students. By means of the Delphi technique, an exploratory and semi-confirmatory factor analysis, and a confirmatory analysis using structural equations, the psychometric properties of the questionnaire designed are guaranteed. Using a multivariate analysis of variance, after the Levene test, multiple comparisons are made in order to assess the difference between religions and gender with respect to school Religious Education. Significant differences and large effect sizes are found. The results show first that experiences with regard to religion in school are more positive for the group of Christian women and that of Muslim men; second, that the knowledge of religion helps in the daily development of adolescents; third, that men from the two major religious groups and Jewish women demand more autonomy; and lastly, that students consider that the curricular development of religion in school should be reviewed, although it is confirmed that Religious Education is regarded as important for their life and future development.

Religiosity and Customer Experience: a Study of the Nigerian Hospitality Industry

The effect of religiosity on customer experience has engendered a lot of debate in the existing literature. This study examines the effect of religiosity on customer experience among the three major religious groups in the hospitality sector in Nigeria. The study is premised on the dimensions of religiosity, which are religious knowledge, orientation, commitment and affiliation. Employing the survey research design, 544 customers in the hospitality industry who cut across the three main religions in Nigeria were sampled. The study employed the PLS-SEM tool in the analysis of data. The PLS-SEM analysis shows that religiosity (t-value=134.668) is a significant determinant of customer experience in the hospitality sector. The findings further reveal that there is no significant difference in customer experience among the three main ethnic groups in Nigeria. Practical Implication: It is inferred from the study that firms should pay attention to religiosity in order to give the customers an exciting experience. More attention should be paid to the customers’ religious orientation and knowledge. The role and significance of religion as relating to religious, affiliation, commitment, orientation and knowledge of the customers should not be ignored by firms in the provision of goods and services which will bring about better service encounter

PERLINDUNGAN BAGI KELOMPOK AGAMA MINORITAS MENGHADAPI KELOMPOK AGAMA MAYORITAS: STUDI KASUS AHOK DAN MELIANA

Through the case studies, Ahok and Meliana, this research aims to explain how the religious minority try to obtain protection to fulfill human rights when faced with religious majority pressure from the majority group. Normative research will answer the problem by analyzing the process of prosecution, the adjudication, and the punishment for Ahok & Meliana and the demonstration both outside the court and in the trial process demanding severe punishment for the accused of religious blasphemy. The result shows that even though it is difficult to prove directly, the mobilization of the masses in the judicial process can affect judges' independence to provide protection and justice for religious minority. The case of Ahok and Meliana shows how difficult it is for minority religious groups to seek protection against pressure from the majority religious groups because the State and Judges cannot prevent and take firm action against mass pressure from the majority religious groups against minority religious groups. The case such as Ahok and Meliana will occur as long as blasphemy's criminalization is still in effect. If the principle of non-discrimination or commutative justice is applied, and not the principle of protection based on 'partiality for the vulnerable,' the protection for religious minority groups will not be realized fully.

A Complex Religion Approach to the Differing Impact of Education on Black and White Religious Group Members’ Political Views

This paper examines the interaction of education for both Blacks and Whites in all major religious groups on four key political issues: Abortion, gay marriage, feelings toward redistribution, and political party identification. We find that for most Blacks, race is the most salient factor across all four political dimensions; whereas there is significant variation by religion and education for Whites, there is very little difference for Blacks. As previous research has noted, Blacks are generally more conservative on gay marriage and Blacks are generally positive about redistribution, much more so than most Whites regardless of education and religion. We find education is more liberating to Whites than Blacks. The only issue for which education has significant effects for Blacks is abortion, but even in this case, unlike for Whites, there are not large religious differences among Blacks. This study corroborates previous research that abortion and gay marriage are less politically central to Blacks, who at all education levels are more likely to be Democrat than the most Democrat identified Whites.

PERDAMAIAN GEJOLAK PENCABUTAN IZIN RUMAH IBADAH DI BANTUL

Sometimes when a permit for house of worship is revoked in one religion, the issue that arises is intolerance from the majority religious interest groups towards minorities. This kind of impression has also been heard when there was a church license revocation in Bantul, where there was a narrative that the Muslim majority group was intolerant towards Christian minority groups. This research found that the revocation of the permit for places of worship was legality under statutory regulations, which in this case it is the Bantul Regent Regulation. Although indeed it is debatable. But at the very least, the use of state law as a consideration for revoking a religious place of worship is a strategy to avoid prolonged inter-religious conflict.

The Correlation Analysis of Perceived Usefulness, Barriers, and Self Efficacy with the Selection of Tubectomy in Married Women of Childbearing Age

Tubectomy is the most effective surgical contraception method to prevent pregnancy. Although tubectomy provides high effectiveness, the number of users of this contraceptive method tends to be still very few compared to the other contraceptives. Perceived usefulness, barriers, and self-efficacy are considered potential to affect one’s behavior, including married women of childbearing age when making decisions or finding reasons for the use of tubectomy. This study aims to identify the reasons why a married woman of childbearing age chooses tubectomy. This study employed a cross-sectional approach consisting of the dependent variable (selection of tubectomy in married women of childbearing age) and independent variables (perceived usefulness, barriers, and self-efficacy). The population was all married women of childbearing age who were new contraceptive acceptors in Dander Sub-district, Bojonegoro Regency, East Java, Indonesia in 2015. The sample s were taken using a purposive sampling type of non-probability sampling technique. The data were obtained using questionnaires and were analyzed using logistic regression with a significance level (p) of ≤ 0.05. The total respondents in this study were 92 people. The dominant age range was 36-49 years (53.3%). The major religious group was Islam (97.8%). The logistic regression indicated the level of significance in perceived usefulness (p= 0.018), but the scale was not significant between perceived barriers (p= 0.518) and self-efficacy (p= 0.707) with the selection of tubectomy. The factors related to the selection of tubectomy identified that the item in the independent variables (perceived usefulness, perceived barriers, and self-efficacy) that had a high probability was perceived usefulness. The greater the perceived usefulness was, the greater the behavior in choosing the contraceptive method. Perceived usefulness, barriers, and self-efficacy do not affect the decision making or reasons of why married women of childbearing age choose tubectomy.

Geçmişten Günümüze Dini Gruplar Olarak Tarikatların Siyasi Yapılarla İlişkileri

Dini gruplar, ortak inanç esasları etrafında toplanan bireylerin meydana getirdiği sosyal yapılardır. Bu yapılar kendi iç aktivitelerini yerine getirirken toplumsal bir dünyada yaşamanın gereği olarak diğer kurumlarla da etkileşim içerisinde olagelmişlerdir. Özellikle siyaset kurumuyla olan ilişkileri ve bu ilişkilerin sonuçları günümüzde kamuoyu tarafından yoğun olarak tartışılmaktadır. Son dönemlerde yaşadığımız olayların toplumu getirdiği nokta problemin ne kadar önemli olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Bugün yaşanan olaylar tarihten kopuk sosyal hadiseler olmayıp her bir olayın tarihsel geçmişi ve arka planı vardır. Bu nedenle bugün gözlemlenen dini gruplar siyaset ilişkisi yüzlerce yılda meydana gelen birikim ve tecrübelerin günümüze yansımasıdır.Geçmiş anlaşılmadan bugün yorumlanamaz ilkesinden hareketle tarihimizdeki önemli dini gruplardan olan tarikatların siyasal yapı ile olan ilişkilerini ele alıp incelemek günümüzde meydana gelen olayları çözümlemeye ve anlamaya yardım edecektir. Bu amaçla Osmanlı toplum yapısı içinde önemli bir dini grup olan Halvetî Tarikatı’nın siyasi yapılarla olan ilişkilerini ve oynadığı siyasal rolü bu makalede ele alıp inceleyeceğiz. Bu yapı üzerinden geçmişten günümüze bir projeksiyon tutarak siyasi yapıların dini gruplardan beklentisini, dini grupların da siyasal yapıyla olan ilişkilerini ortaya koyacağız.

Pesantren Aceh sebagai Wujud Menciptakan Perdamaian

According to the majority religious groups, in truth, always give priority boarding to the authority ta’dzim culture and a religious teacher Tgk, the more their binding normative frame, such as the doctrine of al-Muta’alim Ta’lim book, which does not allow the conflict in it. However, that happens, the social dynamics of schools that still apply the system of management of the potential sources based on a figure of clerics (as a role model at the same time policy makers), is actually very vulnerable to grow a conflict. As is the case in traditional Islamic boarding schools and semi-modern, conflicts occur, especially when the clerics who plays as the founder and owner of boarding dies, or when the pesantren, the founder or the resume, the teachers, caregivers, or also the family become involved in affairs outside of schools, for example, state, politics and others. By using descriptive analysis method with dispute resolution theory, This research uses a qualitative approach with the type of phenomenological study through field studies. then, the formulation of problem is: How is conflict resolution in boarding using unique methods? The results show that including through intermarriage boarding, istighotsah, haul and akhirussanah. By stage of conflict resolution through the streets silaturrahmi as a process of conflict prevention, bahtsul matsa’il as the emphasis and conflict insulation, Tabayun as the process of setting and managing conflict and reconciliation as the final process of conflict resolution.