Non-religious Person Research Articles

ФИЛОСОФСКО-ИСКУССТВОВЕДЧЕСКИЙ АНАЛИЗ ХРАМА НОР-ДАМ-ДЮ-О В РОНШАНЕ

The XX century showed how fragile and changeable the environment of human existence is. Transformations took place in all spheres of life, but especially interesting is the reflection of changes in art, namely in the cult architecture of Western Europe. Through the method of philosophical and art criticism analysis, which consists in a step-by-step examination of the work in its material, index and iconic aspects, the structure designed and built by the architect Le Corbusier Notre-Dame du Haut in Ronchamp was studied. Based on this method, the deep content of the work of art was revealed, many visual concepts were identified, for example, such as: embeddedness in nature, light as a sign of the Divine principle, the connection of man with the divine through the double altar of the temple, the co-presence of the principles, saving faith, transformation and transfiguration, transition, connection and (or) fusion of the principles, purification, human aspirations, the descent of the divine, the ascent of the human. In addition, during the research, the main artistic idea of the work was revealed, which was designated as the establishment of harmony. It is realized in relation to the temple and nature through the signs of water, light and in the likening of the forms of the structure to the hill. In another aspect, the establishment of harmony is manifested at a deeper level of the relationship between man and the Divine. In interaction, a person achieves inner spiritual results, going beyond himself and correlating with the Higher. In other words, harmony is established through the descent of the Divine and the reverse ascent of man into the higher space, while additionally linking earthly existence. Thus, the highlighted visual concepts clearly show how a non-religious person Le Corbusier in his creation achieves an important attitude to the world for a believer.

Invited Commentary: Religion as a Social Determinant of Health.

There is broad agreement that religion is a social determinant of health. In the article by Chen and VanderWeele (Am J Epidemiol. 2018;187(11):2355-2364), the authors took an outcome-wide approach to demonstrate associations between religious practices early in the life course (regular service attendance and prayer/mediation) and a wide range of health endpoints and behaviors later on. Is religion a panacea? The study adds to the evidence that religious practices are correlated with a broad swath of health outcomes. However, more work is needed to translate that evidence into practicable advice for individuals and for society. The following tasks remain. 1) We must sharpen our understanding of which elements of religious practices promote health. (Specifically, is it service attendance, prayer, or both? Could a nonreligious person achieve the same benefit via regular participation in a secular group, like a choir?). 2) We should improve our understanding of the different contexts in which religion is likely to have beneficial, as well as potentially harmful, effects.

Pathographies and Epiphanies: Communicating about Illness

AbstractEpiphany is a literary device bringing forth an experience of sudden wisdom or insight and is particularly applied to literature from the romantic era. However, epiphanies are also present within contemporary autobiographical patient stories (pathographies) expressing something that is difficult and perhaps otherwise left unspoken. Kristian Gidlund’s pathographyI kroppen min. Resan mot livets slut och alltings början(2013) deals with the author’s experience of having severe cancer. Gidlund was a non-religious person but at the end of his life, his blogposts included epiphanies or visionary moments regarding his afterlife. In this article the author shows how the use of epiphanies can be a subtle means of expressing thoughts and feelings when facing severe illness. Knowing how to identify and interpret epiphanies in pathographies can improve the abilities of relatives and medical staff to communicate with patients about existential matters and emotional distress. KAKA I would like to thank Rachael Reynolds and Paul Farmer for their most conscientious proofreading, and Dr. Christopher Oscarson for the accurate translation of the quotes from Kristian Gidlund’s book.

Death without God: Nonreligious Perspectives on End-of-Life Care

Nonreligious people are underrepresented in the literature guiding end-of-life care. Moreover, much of what is written about nonreligious patients is written from a religious perspective. To address this deficit, the author conducted descriptive research by surveying online social media group participants using a quantitative questionnaire and qualitative feedback (N=263). Participants responded from closed social media groups for nonreligious people. Survey questions and responses offer insight into a nonreligious end-of-life dyad on the interrelated perceptions and experiences of nonreligious people regarding end-of-life healthcare. Participants responded to questions that assessed individual worldview description, openness to hospice services, feelings regarding chaplain services, expectations regarding fear of death, feelings on religious phrases, experiences of marginalization associated with their nonreligious affiliation, and perspectives regarding healthcare providers’ competency providing care for nonreligious people. Though not comprehensive, the survey results indicate common experiences and perspectives, which can in- form end-of-life practitioners providing care to this population. Through qualitative feedback, survey participants shared their experiences in healthcare settings and expressed a desire for healthcare professionals to be more aware of the needs of nonreligious people. Both the quantitative responses and qualitative feedback of participants is used to inform practice implications and recommendations made for caring for the whole nonreligious person.

The Humanization of Economic Life: The Legacy of Martin Buber

In this article, I explore how our economic life can be reconciled with Martin Buber’s norm of dialogical life or communion. Known for his lifelong advocacy of dialogue between persons and between nations, Buber has tirelessly emphasized the necessity of restoring immediacy between fellow beings. Every human being is called to communion with his and her fellow beings. Such fellowship is the precondition for a truly human life. Given the technological and bureaucratic organization of our political and economic lives, this fundamental need is not being fulfilled. Instead of communion, it is the will to dominate and objectify that is fostered and normalized. The transcendence of this inhuman condition is what is entailed by the transition to the I-Thou relation. I here explain what it means to approach someone as a Thou, Buber’s reconceptualization of love, and the relationship between unified souls and a wholesome economy.

Antrittsvorlesungen. Religiöse Bildung bei Goethe. Oder: Was eine moderne Universität von ihrem Namenspatron lernen kann

Abstract Can a person have a religious education and not participate in religious practices? What is it that distinguishes religious education from religious literacy, and a religious person from a non-religious person? In his inaugural professorial lecture, which was held at Frankfurt University, David Käbisch gives an answer to these questions regarding the most famous native of Frankfurt, the poet and writer Johann Wolfgang Goethe. By doing so, the author shares his understanding of religious literacy including current research and future plans

On Why Gaita Doesn’t Describe Eichmann as Sacred

In this article we examine a potential problem for Raimond Gaita (born 1946). It arises from the way that Gaita, in Good and Evil: An Absolute Conception, affirms the value of describing Eichmann as sacred, yet says that he, as a non-religious person, is unable to describe Eichmann as sacred. We argue that the tension in Gaita’s position does not in reality amount to a contradiction, and so we defuse the potential problem.

The Roles of Freedom, Growth, and Religion in the Taste for Revolution

A fundamental question about the determinants of civil conflict is the relative importance of political freedoms versus economic development. This paper takes a new approach to provide an answer by using micro-data based on surveys of revolutionary tastes of 130,000 people living in 61 nations between 1981 and 1997. Controlling for personal characteristics, country and year fixed effects, more freedom and economic growth both reduce revolutionary support. Losing one level of freedom, equivalent to a shift from the US to Turkey, increases support for revolt by 4 percentage points. To reduce support by the same amount requires adding 14 percentage points onto the GDP growth rate. Being Muslim in a free country has no effect on the probability of supporting revolt compared to a non-religious person. However being Muslim in a country that is not free increases it by 13 percentage points. Being Christian in a free country decreases the chance of supporting revolt by 4 percentage points, compared to a non-religious person, and in a not-free country by 1 percentage point.

The Role of Freedom, Growth and Religion in the Taste for Revolution

A fundamental issue for economists is what determines civil conflict. One unsettled question is the relative importance of political freedoms versus economic development. This paper takes a new approach to provide an answer by using micro-data based on surveys of revolutionary preferences of 130,000 people living in 61 nations between 1980 and 1997. Controlling for personal characteristics, country and year fixed effects, more freedom and economic growth both reduce revolutionary support. Losing one level of freedom, equivalent to a shift from the US to Turkey, increases support for revolt by 4 percentage points. To reduce support by the same amount requires adding 14 percentage points on to the GDP growth rate. Being Muslim in a free country has no effect on the probability of supporting revolt compared to a non-religious person. However, being Muslim in a country that is not free increases it by 13 percentage points. Being Christian in a free country decreases the chance of supporting revolt by 4 percentage points, compared to a non-religious person, and in a not-free country by 1 percentage point.

Religious and Gender Prototypes

Heterogeneous groups of subjects using free responses and ratings of gender- based traits show that the religious and non-religious prototypes are gender typed, since people assign feminine traits to a religious person and masculine traits to a non-religious person. Not only are women more religious than men, but these prototypes make it easier for women to be religious than it is for men.