Matter Of Belief Research Articles

A digital, inquiry-based lesson on the rain shadow effect for middle school

This article introduces a middle-school level, NGSS-aligned, inquiry-based approach to teaching weather and climate concepts in grades six through eight using free online resources including Google Earth. Inquiry-based learning has been shown to improve student achievement, but Earth’s climate systems are complex and macroscopic, making inquiry-based teaching difficult. This tends to result in a teacher-centric approach to teaching climate in middle school, where lectures and authoritative videos predominate. Unfortunately, in this educational setting, many people develop climate misconceptions and tend to view climate change as a minor issue or a matter of personal belief. This lesson offers an alternative approach in which technology provides a scaffold to inquiry-based learning. After an unusual weather phenomenon such as a snowman in the desert is introduced, students use Google Earth to explore the contrasting forest and desert found on opposite sides of some mountain ranges. With Nullschool Earth, students explore daily historical wind data to model prevailing winds and develop an understanding of how patterns in the motion of air masses create the rain shadow effect. This lesson helps students begin to model the complex Earth systems that create climate and to understand the distinction between weather and climate.

Prefazione a “La tutela dei minori fra diritto e religione”

Preface to “The protection of minors between law and religion” ABSTRACT: “The best interest of the child” is exactly interpreted first of all as a "right of the child". Consequently, in case of conflict, the judge is given the power to balance between this right and other constitutionally protected ones. A test of acute difficulty and therefore significant concerns the ethically sensitive matter of religious beliefs and, in general, of superior duty. Furthermore, it is generally worrying that the struggle for the right to promote the freedom and dignity of the child (as, in general, of every person) stops in the face of security policies and, in particular, penitentiary policies, which characterize our era and which hinder listening of the viva vox Constitutionis.

Preparation of Young People for Confirmation: A Pauline Perspective

Many modern programmes of preparation of young people for confirmation are based on theological models which are correct in theory but ineffective in practice. They often assume that young people come to know the Holy Spirit through catechesis based on Scripture. This article demonstrates that a much better way of preparing young people for confirmation can be found in the genuine letters of Paul the Apostle. He showed that the presence of the Holy Spirit in a human person is not merely a matter of belief, but it can also be experienced in a reliable way, which is not limited to charismatic phenomena. This way is based on the discovery of a number of virtues in young people’s hearts, which are quite unexpected in the context of their human egoism, laziness, etc. For this reason, they must be regarded as the fruit of the Spirit, who broadens human hearts to love and to serve the poor. In this way, young people may also discover Christ – as the one who humbled himself to serve not his social status but people in need.

Emotion malleability beliefs matter in emotion regulation: a comprehensive review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT Individuals’ beliefs about the malleability of emotions have been theorised to play a role in their psychological distress by influencing emotion regulation processes, such as the use of emotion regulation strategies. We conducted a meta-analysis to test this idea across studies with a focus on the relationships between emotion malleability beliefs and five distinct emotion regulation strategies: cognitive reappraisal, suppression, avoidance, rumination, and acceptance. Further, using two-stage meta-analytic structural equation modelling (TSSEM), we examined whether the emotion regulation strategies mediate the cross-sectional relationship between emotion malleability beliefs and psychological distress across studies. Thirty-seven studies were included in the meta-analyses and 55 cross-sectional studies were included in the TSSEM. Results demonstrated that, across studies, emotion malleability beliefs were significantly associated with greater use of putatively helpful strategies (particularly with cognitive reappraisal) and less use of putatively unhelpful strategies (particularly with avoidance). The use of cognitive reappraisal and avoidance partially mediated the relationship between emotion malleability beliefs and psychological distress. These results highlight the importance of considering beliefs about the malleability of emotions in the context of emotion regulation. These findings suggest the potential role of emotion malleability beliefs in interventions for individuals with emotion regulation-related difficulties and psychological distress.

Traditional beliefs matter in the marriage market: observational and experimental evidence in China

Traditional beliefs matter in the marriage market: observational and experimental evidence in China

Exploring the Mindset of Wonosari Village Citizens in the Mantra of the Grebeg Memetri Tradition, Tutur District, Pasuruan District (Ethnosemiotic Study)

In the Pasuruan Regency of East Java Province, specifically in the Tutur Subdistrict, there is a village called Wonosari that holds a unique traditional ceremony to honor God, seek His blessings, and request safety from disasters for the village. The villagers of Wonosari conduct this traditional ceremony, which involves oral literature in the form of mantras. The mantras used in this tradition serve as prayers and are recited during the ritual burial of a cow's head in the center of the market. The mantras are recited by the village elders or traditional shamans during the ceremony. During the execution, the mantras are chanted aloud and listened to by the villagers of Wonosari in a solemn atmosphere.The traditional ritual of burying a cow's head in the village of Wonosari is known as Grebeg Memetri. The term "Grebeg" originates from a royal tradition aimed at distributing agricultural produce as charity to the people. The existence of mantras in the Grebeg Memetri tradition reflects the mindset of the village residents. This mindset is closely related to matters of belief, mythology, and experience. The villagers' mindset can be discerned from the oral traditions recited by the traditional shamans during the Grebeg Memetri ceremony. Investigating the mindset of the residents of Wonosari is intriguing, considering various aspects such as belief, mythology, and experience that accompany it.Given the issues described above, this research aims to examine the mindset of the residents of Wonosari through the oral tradition of Grebeg Memetri. To investigate the mindset of the villagers as manifested in the oral tradition of Grebeg Memetri, a literary approach called ethno-semiotics is required. Ethno-semiotics is an interdisciplinary field that combines ethnography and semiotics. The use of the ethno-semiotic approach is expected to represent the mindset of the residents of Wonosari based on the sign systems found in the oral tradition of Grebeg Memetri.

Interpreting performance information: Motivated reasoning or unbiased comprehension? A replication and extension

AbstractDespite a growing number of studies on how prior beliefs distort citizens' interpretation of performance information for service providers, little is known about whether prior beliefs matter equally across different services and types of providers. In this study, we provide a wide replication and extension of the experimental design used in Baekgaard and Serritzlew (2016) with three types of providers (public, non‐profit, and for‐profit) across two services (nursing homes and refuse collection). Based on two large‐N nationally representative experiments (N = 3018 and N = 3020), we find that citizens' sector preference does indeed impact their interpretation of performance information, corresponding to the original study. However, public sector preference plays a substantially different role in the two services. Our findings strengthen the external validity of previous research and simultaneously identify theoretical boundaries to its application across various services and providers. This, we argue, underlines the importance of replicating and extending pivotal studies on performance information.

Gender in development: What lessons for addressing inequality on the grounds of religion or (non)-belief?

This paper examines how understanding processes of redressing the gender blindness of international development can offer illuminating insights to addressing religious inequalities as a blind spot in development policy. The first part of the paper discusses the possibilities and tensions for comparing gender and religious (in)equality, both as analytical lens and aspirations in development. In the second part of the paper, we reflect on the inferences that can be drawn for in-roads to changing attitudes and behaviours to make development more aware of, and responsive to, religious inequalities and freedom of religion or belief. The methodological approach combines empirical data generated from interviews and roundtables with development practitioners and policymakers, with an integrative literature review. It also explores the conceptual conundrums in the use of the different terms, situating them in their historical background and interrogating their ideological underpinnings. Distinct historical trajectories mean that whereas a key challenge to mainstreaming gender in development has been its recognition at the highest political level, in the case of freedom of religion or belief, the challenge is to reconfigure its politicisation from being predominantly a foreign policy issue to one that is constitutive to the advancement of an inclusive development agenda. The paper argues that there are pertinent similarities in some of the challenges to incorporating a gender sensitive lens over the past 50 years and the current resistance to addressing religious inequalities or freedom of religion or belief matters in international development. Accordingly, analysis of the successes and limitations of efforts to mainstream gender in development sheds light on some of the political and institutional dynamics encountered when seeking to make development policy-makers, planners and practitioners more aware of power dynamics pertaining to religious inequalities that have been overlooked.

INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE

This World Affairs 2023 special issue contains six contributions, including this one, exploring some of the key political consequences of traditional beliefs such as magic and superstition in the developing societies of the Global South as well as in certain industrially advanced societies of the Global North. To show why traditional beliefs matter, we provide an explanation in this introduction for why traditional beliefs exist in developing countries, why they survive in developed countries, and why they may become more popular over time. By utilizing a simple game theoretic approach, we explain why rational people can sometimes increase their payoffs by subscribing to a superstition while superstitious people never gain by switching to rationality. In fact, the superstition—which has no causal connection with the natural course of events—may even yield better results, not only for the individual but also for the group. This is the reason why, in the framework of evolutionary stable equilibrium, superstitious people can demographically dominate an entire population over time. In addition to explaining the existence and the persistence (or the popularity) of traditional beliefs, we highlight the key findings presented in the articles included in this special issue. All of them underline a cardinal point: traditional beliefs matter. They shape electoral behavior, they shape attitudes toward democratic governance, and they influence voters’ assessment of political figures and historical events. Precisely because traditional beliefs have such extensive implications for a country's political life, we believe that in the future scholars will have to pay greater attention to such beliefs to have a better understanding of political phenomena and trends.

Deciding to commit crime in adolescence: do moral beliefs matter?

ABSTRACT Recent research has underscored the importance of thoughtful and reflective decision-making (TRDM) abilities of youth in preventing and reducing crime and delinquency. Yet, little attention has been paid to the conditions under which TRDM is more or less likely to have these preventative effects. We draw on data recently collected from adolescents attending schools in three metropolitan US areas (2014–2017) to better understand the role of decision-making in youth crime. This is the first study to assess how TRDM interacts with important developmental factors such as moral beliefs to shape projected crime and delinquency, including violence, property crime, and cyberdeviance. Negative binomial regression models reveal that the crime protective influence of the ability to make thoughtful and reflective decisions is most pronounced among adolescents with stronger moral beliefs. In fact, stronger moral beliefs increase the influence of TRDM on various types of crime and delinquency. We provide suggestions for crime prevention policies and programs focused on fostering deliberative thinking and strengthening the distinction between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ among adolescents.

Interreligious Peacebuilding and Minority Problems in Islamic Mystical Teachings

<p>Differences are a necessity that humans cannot deny, including differences in matters of belief and religion. Humans living side by side in a community should be able to create a harmonious, safe and peaceful life. However, harmonious relations between religious adherents are often disrupted for various reasons. Religious people, who should respect and care for one another, are often provoked so that differences, which should be understood as a necessity and a gift, sometimes fuel divisions. By using Library Studies, this study explores sources that can be used as arguments for religious people to respect each other and create peace, especially in Islamic mystical teachings. It can be concluded that peace and harmony are the hope of everyone, including those living in a country. Differences should not be used as an excuse to criticize each other and eradicate the existence of different groups; this research found that people must complement each other and realize the importance of maintaining unity, maintaining relationships in interacting and living together among religious communities. <strong></strong></p>

Seeing Sanctity: John Chrysostom's Use of Optics in His Homilies on the Saints

This article analyzes John Chrysostom's discursive use of ancient medicophilosophical theories of optics in his homilies on the saints. In his homilies on Saints Meletius, Babylas, Julian, Drosis, Ignatius, and the Maccabean Martyrs, inter alia, Chrysostom uses technical optical terminology and concepts to describe the psycho-somatic effects of the saints' relics upon those who merely look at them. By drawing on cultural assumptions about how bodies and visual perception function, Chrysostom attempts to convince his listeners that going to the shrines and viewing the relics will bring them physical and emotional benefits. Using the optical theories of Plato, Aristotle, Ptolemy, and Galen, Chrysostom describes the material transfer of the relics' power through the visual process. Chrysostom describes the bodies of the saints as containers of undiminishing power, which is transferred across space to strike the eyes of viewers, enter their minds, and form impressions on their souls, much as optic theorists described the physiological process by which the colors and qualities of visible objects acted upon those who looked at them. These material interactions result in demonstrable emotional, bodily, and behavioral alterations that render a person more visibly Christian within their religious landscape. Thus, Chrysostom uses optics to construct the embodied sanctity of people, places, and communities in the midst of Antiochene and Constantinopolitan religious competition. Rather than considering the power of the saints' relics a matter of belief, Chrysostom appeals to sensory perception as a vehicle for religious experience, thus assuring his audience that they can know with their bodies God's power working through the relics.

Culturally constituted universals: Evidential basis of belief matters.

Differences in the sequence with which children pass the tasks in Wellman and Liu's (2004) theory of mind (ToM) battery is increasingly bringing into question the universal and cultural specifics of children's developing understanding of others' minds. Children from China, Iran, and Turkey pass the knowledge access (KA) task of the battery earlier than they pass the diverse beliefs (DB) task (e.g., Selcuk etal., 2018). This pattern is the reverse of what has been documented with children from Australia and the US (e.g., Peterson etal., 2005). This paper presents three studies with Turkish samples that explore the possible reasons for developmental sequence and performance differences in the ToM battery. Study 1 investigated Turkish-speaking adults' judgments of appropriateness for different epistemic verbs as used in the DB and false belief (FB) tasks. Study 2 investigated whether adults' performance (i.e., accuracy, reaction time) on FB tasks were affected by culturally preferred uses of these verbs. Collectively these studies showed that adults found different epistemic language ("guess," "think," and the Turkish-specific "falsely think") to be appropriate for different belief-based tasks. However, there was no difference in adults' performance based on epistemic language. In Study 3, Turkish-speaking preschoolers' performance in belief-related tasks based on variations in epistemic language and epistemic features (i.e., presence of evidence) was investigated. Among five modifications, Turkish children benefited only from a modification that involved the manipulation of the epistemological basis for ambiguous beliefs (i.e., visual evidence for belief). RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Turkish adults find different epistemic language ("guess," "think," and the Turkish-specific "falsely-think") to be appropriate for different belief-based tasks (diverse and false belief tasks). Turkish adults' performance on false belief (FB) tasks is not affected by epistemic language. Turkish children perform better in diverse beliefs (DB) task if an epistemological basis for ambiguous beliefs (i.e., visual evidence for either belief) is provided.

Synodality and the Second Vatican Council

Synodality and the Second Vatican Council Christopher Ruddy THE INTERNATIONAL Theological Commission’s 2018 document, “Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church,” posits a bond between synodality and the Second Vatican Council: “The fruits of the renewal promised by Vatican II in its promotion of ecclesial communion, episcopal collegiality, and thinking and acting ‘synodally’ have been rich and precious. There is, however, still a long way to go in the direction mapped out by the Council.”1 The ongoing worldwide synodal process, officially convoked by Pope Francis in October 2021 and culminating in two sessions at the Vatican to be held in October 2023 and 2024, has likewise repeatedly affirmed that link: a synodal Church shaped by the council, and a council whose ecclesiological vision is coming to fruition in an increasingly synodal Church. The pope himself has drawn attention to the conciliar roots of the synodal “journey,” referring frequently, for instance, to Lumen Gentium’s teaching that “the entire body of the faithful, anointed as they are by the Holy One, cannot err in matters of belief. They manifest this special property by means of the whole peoples’ supernatural discernment in matters of faith when ‘from the Bishops down to the [End Page 211] last of the lay faithful’ they show universal agreement in matters of faith and morals” (LG, 12).2 Sixty years after the opening of Vatican II, as the pope and numerous other Church leaders and commentators have suggested, the ecclesial renewal set in motion by the council is now reaching a new, mature, and perhaps decisive stage: “It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium.”3 Because this ongoing synodal journey has generated both enthusiasm and concern among bishops, theologians, and the broader Church, it is necessary to examine the link between synodality and Vatican II. I will look first at the development of the theme of synodality in recent decades, particularly by the International Theological Commission and Pope Francis. Second, I will examine key teachings from Vatican II that undergird an authentic conception of synodality. Third, I will explore conciliar teachings that have been misinterpreted or neglected in some of the synodal discussion to date. I will conclude with a reflection on contemporary dangers that threaten the Synod on Synodality. I “Synodality,” the International Theological Commission holds, is a neologism that has emerged in recent years as a “sign of something new that has been maturing in the ecclesial consciousness starting from the Magisterium of Vatican II, and from the lived experience of local Churches and the universal Church since the last Council until today.”4 Given such newness [End Page 212] and the still-largely embryonic state of reflection on the nature of synodality, it is necessary here to give close attention to recent theological and magisterial commentary, some of which remains at the level of generality and exhortation rather than systematic elaboration. One key contribution has come from the late French Dominican theologian Jean-Marie Tillard, who wrote extensively on ecclesiology and ecumenism. In his 1995 L’Église locale, he describes synodality (synodalité) as “nothing other than the unfolding of the ‘catholic’ dynamism . . .: the communion of all and in all between all the members of the family of God and all their human places.”5 He fleshes out these words elsewhere in the same book: The walking of the local Church is governed neither hierarchically where one imposes his will nor democratically or “parliamentarily” where everything is done collectively by votes on motions proposed, amended, and accepted by a majority of voices. It is governed synodally where, at all its levels, the entire community is active but respectful of each one’s function, some of which have been given with the sacrament of [ordained] ministry. One of the difficulties of our age comes precisely from the democratic mores of the western world. . . . Everything takes place on the same level. In the local Church, on the contrary, everything is located at the intersection of two levels whose point of communion is relation to Christ: in one case Christ understood in his members, in another Christ heard in the sacramentum of his...

Conjecture and Certainty and Their Role in the Realization of Faith


 
 
 
 ABSTRACT
 
 Man, according to his nature, loves certainty in everything, especially in matters of belief, and takes various ways to remove doubts and illusions from his intellectual imagination. The Holy Qur’an paid great attention to this aspect, and urged the Muslim to have firm faith that would not be shaken by the likeness of skeptics, and he used the term “conjecture.” Which comes with the meaning of certainty in addition to the word certainty, and praised those who built their faith on certainties. The link between the words of suspicion and certainty is very strong in achieving faith, and this link goes back to the importance of the Arabic language in explaining the ways of knowing things, where the Holy Qur’an often uses these indicative words On certainty in the positions of the Islamic faith. It should be known that matters of belief cannot be built on speculations, rather they must be based on certainties, which emanate from definitive texts, because certainty alone is what saves its owner from peril and from falling into suspicions and illusions. This research comes as a study of the words of conjecture and certainty and their connection in verifying faith, and then arriving at the most important results desired in the research, if Allah willing.
 
 
 

Al‐Azhar and the Salafis in Egypt: Contestation of two traditions

<scp>Al‐Azhar</scp> and the Salafis in Egypt: Contestation of two traditions

Actualization of Religious Moderation Content Strategic Plan at State Islamic University

This paper aims to describe religious moderation strategic plan as one of the primary programs at a state Islamic University. The research used a literature study, exploring data sources such as religious moderation strategic plan documents and state Islamic University website news regarding religious moderation. The research found the actualization of the religious moderation strategic plan implemented in the university environment and the academic community generally through news dissemination on the university's official website. There are six implementation strategies; 1). Facilitate the preparation of religious literacy according to local wisdom in electronic form; 2). Strengthen religious moderation content in matters of belief and character; 3). Increase religious extracurricular activities; 4). Improve the quality of tolerant and ethical conduct of students, educators, and other educational personnel; 5). Formation of working groups to disseminate concepts, guidelines, and implementation strategies and investigate the contents of the literature on religious moderation; 6). Improve the education system and staff's ability to investigate and implement models of religious moderation practice. The research findings indicate strategic plan elaborates the formulation of the university's vision and mission, which is ready to guide university leaders in fulfilling their mission and realizing their vision.

Teachers attending to student reasoning: Do beliefs matter?

We present the results of a quasi-experimental study of pre-service elementary teachers' learning to recognize students' mathematical reasoning from classroom videos. Researchers examined the nature of participants’ beliefs regarding mathematics education. We found that pre-service elementary teachers whose beliefs were consistent with NCTM Process Standards (NCTM, 2000), or that transitioned in the direction of consistency with the Standards, regarding the teaching and learning of mathematics, were more successful in recognizing students' reasoning than those whose beliefs were generally inconsistent. Predictive Analytics and Generalized Linear Regression modeling were used to quantify the magnitude of experimental pre-service teachers’ reasoning growth and combined pre/post study assessment reasoning success in contrast to that of the comparison groups. The resulting model explained nearly 90% of the variability in success on the reasoning assessment, showing that beliefs do indeed matter for recognition of reasoning.

De la promesse entrepreneuriale à la réindustrialisation : les cas de Florange et Gandrange dans la vallée sidérurgique lorraine

Entrepreneurs embody a promise for the future in territories in industrial crisis. We identify two types of entrepreneurs: continuity entrepreneurs, who promise industrial revival and disruptive entrepreneurs, who promise a green growth. Can these figures now repair what creative destruction and globalization have destroyed? We propose an analysis of the discourses around these entrepreneurial promises in the case of the Lorraine steel industry in Gandrange and Florange. We emphasize the highly ideological and indeterminate nature of the debate on industrialization and its promises for society, between deindustrialization, reindustrialization and the great environmental transition. This debate focuses on one man’s action, a providential figure and the promise remains a matter of personal belief.

Regulatory emotional self-efficacy beliefs matter for (mal)adjustment: A meta-analysis

Regulatory emotional self-efficacy beliefs matter for (mal)adjustment: A meta-analysis