Role Of Religious Communities Research Articles

Peranan Sila Ketuhanan dalam Mewujudkan Kesejahteraan Masyarakat

The role of Divine Principles in Pancasila is very significant in achieving the welfare of Indonesian society. As a moral and ethical foundation, Divine Principles encourage the formation of a harmonious and just society. This article discusses how the principle of belief in the Almighty God is the foundation for education, moral and ethical values, as well as the role of religious communities in everyday life. Through ontological, epistemological and axiological foundations, Divine Principles offer the view that humans have an inherent relationship with God, which emphasizes moral and spiritual responsibility in maintaining balance between humans, nature and His creator. This principle also encourages the development of character and attitudes that are in accordance with religious teachings, creating an environment full of love, tolerance and social justice. By integrating Pancasila values ​​in policies and regulations, Indonesia can build a prosperous and sustainable society. This article concludes that the Divine Principles of Pancasila are a solid foundation for achieving equitable and sustainable prosperity for all members of society.

The Influence of Religious Beliefs on Health Decision-Making: Perspectives from Diverse Faith Communities

This study aims to explore the influence of religious beliefs on health decision-making among diverse faith communities. The research seeks to understand how religious doctrines, practices, and community dynamics shape health behaviors, medical interventions, mental health approaches, and end-of-life decisions. A qualitative research design was employed, utilizing semi-structured interviews to gather in-depth insights from participants. A purposive sample of 30 individuals representing various religious traditions, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and other minor faiths, was selected. Interviews were conducted in person or via video calls, recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis was performed using NVivo software, following a thematic approach to identify and categorize key themes and subthemes. Theoretical saturation was achieved when no new information emerged from the interviews. The study identified several key themes: the influence of religious beliefs on health, the role of religious communities, and the interplay between religion and medicine. Participants reported that their religious beliefs significantly influenced dietary practices, medical interventions, mental health approaches, and end-of-life decisions. Religious communities provided crucial emotional and financial support, while religious leaders played a significant role in guiding health decisions. The compatibility and conflicts between religious beliefs and medical advice were evident, with participants employing various strategies to negotiate these differences within medical contexts. Religious beliefs profoundly shape health decision-making across diverse faith communities. Healthcare providers must recognize and respect these beliefs to provide culturally competent and holistic care. Training programs that enhance cultural and religious competence, collaborative approaches involving religious leaders, and institutional policies that accommodate religious practices can improve patient satisfaction and health outcomes. Future research should explore these dynamics with larger, more diverse samples and mixed-methods approaches.

The role of religious diversity in social progress.

This article brings together the notions of religious diversity and social progress and argues, against the sceptics, that the former can – and indeed must – contribute positively to the latter. To do this, it builds on to a major initiative in which the author had co-responsibility for the material on religion. This was the International Panel on Social Progress (IPSP) which assessed state-of-the-art knowledge that bears on social progress across a wide range of economic, political and cultural questions. The work of the IPSP as a whole is briefly outlined; the article then looks at the chapter on religion within this, foregrounding the material on religious diversity. This material is placed in a wider discussion of multiculturalism and secularism, in which links are made with the work of Tariq Modood and the Bristol Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship. A short postscript introduces a more topical issue. It considers the role of religious communities (more especially religious minorities) as societies confront the ravages of COVID-19.

Suicidal risk in depressions with religious content

The review highlights the main issues of positive and negative religious coping in depression with suicidal behavior. The number of clinical and psychological factors related to suicide risk (age, gender, clinics of depression, internal and external religious orientation, the role of religious community, social support and ethical assessment of suicide) is discussed. To develop personalized approaches to the complex therapy of suicidal behavior, it is advisable to devote further research to studying the influence of the religious factor on depressive states with different levels of severity of psychopathological disorders.

Relational Resilience Amidst the Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic provided opportunity to examine resilience and struggle of people living in lockdown isolation by proposing contract and covenant worldviews as moderating factors in relational communication. A survey completed by 238 individuals indicated that higher scores on religious covenantalism and lower on non-religious contractualism predicted increased well-being and decreased relational struggle. Specifically, “covenanters” were more likely to report higher rates of general coping, perceived social support, interpersonal trust, and satisfaction with life, and lower rates of interpersonal aggression, anxiety, social phobia, and loneliness compared to their “contractor” counterparts. We discuss results in terms of models of relating, struggle and repair, and the role of religious community and communication to buffer pandemic hardships.

The Faith-Based Organization in the Post-Secular Society

Faith-based organizations have begun to be analyzed from the point of view of the efficiency and effectiveness of services provided with the re-emergence of the religious element at the forefront of public discourse, and the recognition of the partial failure of policies for forced separation of social services from the religious element, as well as their secularization. This trend, started in the US, quickly became an important one in the UK and generally in Europe, where religious communities were reconsidered as partners of public social services (Beaumont & Cloke, 2012; Dinham & Lowndes, 2008). This change, in the sense of moving to a post-secular social assistance, comes in the wider context of post-secular society, at least in part recognizing the role of religious communities as a depository of traditions and a facilitator of community energies, a source of motivation for human resources and, in general, the promoter of the public good (Dinham, Furbey, & Lowndes, 2009).

Agama, Konflik dan Integrasi Sosial Refleksi Kehidupan Beragama di Indonesia: Belajar dari Komunitas Situbondo Membangun Integrasi Pasca Konflik

The research discusses the settlement effort and reconciliationpostriot in Situbondo, East Java. The settlement effort andreconciliation have been carried out by community in Situbondo,especially Islamic and Christian Community to build integration inSitubondo community. To get the data on the role of religiouscommunity in this case Islam and Christian as well as thecommunity in Situbondo in general, is got through interview, surveyinitiated by light observation before doing research. The secondarydata is got through review of literature relevant to researchproblems. Conflict theory, social integration, and re conciliationare used to explain and analyze research problems based on thedata gathered. The finding shows that the integration in Situbondocommunity and reconciliation effort have been carried out byreligious community, Islam, Christian and the whole community ofSitubondo. The local wisdom of community in Situbondo serves associal capital in manifesting integration in the community so in thepost conflict the life of Situbondo community and the relationbetween religious community in Situbondo experienced theinconveniences can harmonious again.

Sometimes It Causes Me to Tremble: Fear, Faith, and the Human Brain

This article reviews selected current neuroscientific research on fear and anxiety and sketches three of anxiety’s sources: innate/learned, loss of attachment, and symbolic/narrative construction. The article then explores the role of religious communities and practitioners of pastoral care and counseling in offering both antidotes to destructive anxiety and faithful management of normal or “useful” anxiety.

The Societal Role of Evangelical Lutheran Parishes in Rural Finland

Since the 1980s rural policies have emphasized the importance of public, private and voluntary sector partnerships. Although actors from all sectors are encouraged to join rural development work, the participation of religious communities has been a controversial issue. This article focuses on the role of religious communities in rural development policy in Finland: how the representatives of the Evangelical-Lutheran parishes and other rural actors see the role of the Church and parishes in secular rural development work. The study is based on qualitative interview data gathered from four Finnish rural parishes, combining qualitative attitude approach and frame analysis. The results indicate that, although reservations were also presented, the participation of parishes in rural development work was often considered desirable and feasible, both by the parish representatives and other local actors. This positive attitude, however, appeared to depend on flexibility in how the religious frame and the frame of rural development were evaluated, used and reconciled. The complexities of framing and reframing of parish participation in rural development reflect the more general challenge for the Church to maintain and renew its role and position in secularizing society.

Role of religious communities in enhancing transition experiments: a localised strategy for sustainable solid waste management in Malaysia

Religion in its most ideal form is seen as a powerful force to create ecological transformations to succeeding generations that share similar religious beliefs. This provides an interesting argument for enhancing their role in sustainability transitions. Malaysia is a relevant geographical context in this regard since almost all of its citizens formally embrace some kind of religious belief. However, such ideas are discussed mostly at the theoretical level with little systematic empirical investigation. This paper aims to fill this gap by presenting theoretically informed empirical insights on how a number of religious communities are currently creating successful experiments in recycling within the context of an urban community in Malaysia. The paper argues that such evidence may demonstrate the ‘potential’ role of religious communities to provide localised resources for recycling experiments that can be advantageous for the transition towards a more sustainable municipal solid waste management in Malaysia. The empirical basis of this paper is based on an exploratory multiple case study of successful recycling programmes conducted by selected religious communities from four key religions in Malaysia—Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. The theoretical framework for this research is based on the sustainability transitions literature, particularly the ‘transition experiment’ framework.

Child Rights Organizations and Religious Communities: Powerful Partnerships for Children

Child Rights Organizations and Religious Communities: Powerful Partnerships for Children1 Stephen Hanmer The instinct to care for children comes from deep within the teachings and spiritual vision of all religious traditions, which motivates people of faith to make the commitment to take practical actions for children. Fulfilling these commitments requires the collaborations of religious communities with each other, and with other partners, because these challenges cut across all religions and are too great for any one group to handle alone.3 Religious communities play a key role for the care and protection of children and have been a key partner to the work of many child rights organizations. Throughout the world, child rights organizations, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), are working with religious communities of all faiths to address the well‐being of children in areas ranging from health care and education to HIV and AIDS to protection from exploitation and abuse. This article explains why it is important for child rights organizations to work with religious communities, provides examples of successful work with religious communities (in particular UNICEF’s work with religious communities), discusses the main challenges of such partnerships and proposes what can be carried out to further effective engagement. In this article, religious communities refers to both men and women religious actors and structures within religious traditions and organizations at all levels—from local to global. These include grassroots and local communities, leaders, scholars, practitioners, youth groups, women of faith networks, faith‐based organizations and denominational, ecumenical and intra‐religious umbrella organizations, and networks.4 Why partner with religious communities? As the United Nations Children’s agency responsible for promoting the care, protection, and rights of children all over the world, UNICEF works in all types of contexts and in areas ranging from health to nutrition, water and sanitation, to education, HIV and AIDs, and protection of children from violence, exploitation, and abuse. Partnerships with key actors, such as civil society, and government, are a central feature of UNICEF’s efforts to promote the rights of children. Indeed, it has long been recognized at UNICEF, as it has throughout the United Nations, that achieving the Millennium Development Goals depends on working in partnership with all sectors of society. Key among these essential partners is religious communities. With their extraordinary moral authority and power, religious communities are able to influence thinking, foster dialogue, and set priorities for members of their communities. As those who are often the first to respond to problems, religious communities have the trust and confidence of individuals, families, and communities.5 From the smallest villages to the largest cities, and from districts and provinces to national and international levels, religious communities offer large networks for the care and protection of children and the safeguarding of their rights. The role of religious communities tends to be especially important at the family and community levels, which international organizations and governments are generally less able to reach effectively.6 With almost five billion people belonging to religious communities, the potential for action is substantial. Child rights organizations, including UNICEF, are guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most comprehensive legal instrument for the protection of the rights of the child. There is often a misperception that the language of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is contrary to religious beliefs. But the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989 and ratified more quickly and widely than any other human rights instrument, was not created in a vacuum: The Convention on the Rights of the Child reflects a vision of children in which children are social actors, members of a family and a community, with rights and responsibilities appropriate to their age and stage of development. This holistic vision of the child, as well as the principles of justice, humanity and dignity articulated in the articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, corresponds with the visions and principles of the world’s religious traditions. As a universal statement of consensus about how children should be treated, the Convention on the Rights of the Child...

Navigating Two Worlds: The Role of Religious Communities in Preserving the Identity of Hungarians in Vojvodina (Serbia)

AbstractThis article explores the current and probable future challenges faced by the Hungarian-speaking religious communities in northern Serbia as they try to navigate two worlds: the past and the present; cultural identification with Hungary and with Serbia. The mostly Roman Catholic and in smaller number Protestant Hungarians living in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina differ in both language and religious affiliation from the majority Serbian (by and large Orthodox Christian) population. The use of the Hungarian language and the strengthening of a sense of Hungarian identity is an important aspect of the activities their churches perform. By analyzing the socio-political and demographic situation of the Hungarians in Vojvodina, I will explore whether there is a middle road between complete assimilation and hermetical isolation in the religious-cultural-linguistic sense, which is of critical importance regarding the survival of these religious communities.

Ecological Management, Cultural Reform, and Religious Creativity

Complex environmental problems frustrate practical reasoning and scientific research, and thereby challenge relations between ethics and ecology. Sustainability crises, in which human powers affect ecological systems in ways that jeopardize basic social values, become practical problems only as cultures create capacities to take responsibility for them. They become real problems, that is, only as cultural reform processes generate ways to confront and learn from social crises. Issues such as climate change therefore require professionals who can make challenges to environmental science and moral culture into sites for adaptive learning and social change, thereby making inchoate threats into intelligible civic problems. How to make crises into problems shapes an ongoing debate over competing strategies of practical reason. Should ethics critique the cultural worldviews and metaphysical assumptions at root of environmental crises, or should it develop practical responses to specific problems from broadly available cultural values? The question seems to force a dilemma: choosing the cosmological route lets one critique the depth of problems, but at the cost of distance from the moral imagination and political values of most citizens, while choosing the pragmatic route lets one deploy cultural values to support specific policy solutions, but at the cost of being constrained by the modest reforms those values permit. Work in religious ethics, and its companion field of religion and ecology, tends to pursue a cosmological strategy, examining background worldviews and ontological assumptions in order to challenge the cultural ideas that underlie sustainability problems. This approach allows ethicists to critique deep cultural roots, but at the cost of distance from the way particular moral communities can respond to environmental problems and of abstraction from the specific problems faced by ecological science. Because our scholarship has often been abstract from science-based interpretation of problems and from the cultural reform processes by which communities generate responses to them, I have elsewhere argued that religious ethics should adopt methods from the problem-based approaches proposed by pragmatists. Problem-based methods allow religious ethicists to better critique and cultivate the ways communities invent moral change in response to practical challenges.1 Here I argue the other side; that problem-based approaches can benefit from considering the role of religious communities in generating cultural reform. Pragmatic approaches depend on cultural reform when they use adaptive ecological management as an instrument to deal with complex problems. Adaptive management is primarily a tool for doing ecological research in conditions of uncertainty, but as I will show, can be extended as a civic process of ethical

Grenzüberschreitende Beziehungen in der deutsch-französischen Kontaktzone des Saar-Mosel-Raums (1850–1914)

From a historical point of view, the debate on European integration is often linked with questions of transnational interaction. Following this train of thoughts, the Saarland-Lothringen-Luxemburg region (Saar-Lor-Lux-Raum) is considered as a region of particular relevance. This article substantiates the appearance of regional networks and analyses patterns for both integrative and delimiting processes. The article focuses primarily on individual border contacts that can be identified as expression of “own” or “foreign” orientation. Based on social geography driven theory of action space (Aktionsraum) the article examines in how far individuals refer to an action space in order to fulfil basic needs like consumption, leisure, life and habitation. The role of religious communities has been included as an additional component of everyday life in the 19th und 20th century. The article concentrates on the urban, mining-shaped area between Saarbrucken and Forbach on the one hand, and on the rural German-speaking wine-growing district in the surrounding of Sierck/Perl on the other hand.

The role of religious communities in countering drug abuse

In the authors’ opinion, religion and confessional affiliation can and must act as a deterrent to taking psychoactive substances and thus become a significant resource in preventing various deviant behaviors. The role of religious institutions in drug interdiction is based on an analysis of special literature and expert opinions.

Sexual borderlands: Lesbian and gay migration, human rights, and the metropolitan community church

This article considers several questions surrounding sexual migration, binational same-sex couples, legal precedent, and the role of religious communities in lesbian and gay migration to the United States. With theoretical aspects of human rights serving as a starting point, the article then moves to a consideration of the legal dynamics of migration, the history of U.S. (im)migration law in relation to lesbian and gay asylum claims, and the Uniting American Families Act (2005). Drawing from the concept of sexual migration, the article proposes that religious or spiritual communities may provide important networks and ideological resources for lesbian and gay migrants who subscribe to religious values, particularly in a context of politically incendiary claims surrounding homosexuality and immigration. The analysis centers on the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), suggesting that with its socially legitimatized status, MCC may provide philosophical foundations necessary for effectively addressing human rights for lesbian and gay migrants.

A New Establishment? Theological Politics and the Emerging Shape of Church-State Relations

This paper examines the changing pattern of the relationship between religious communities and the state. It argues that the church, in the light of what is actually being offered to it by the state in terms of partnership, should, on the basis of its own frame of reference, refuse the terms and conditions of cooperation. The first section charts the developments which shape this emerging relationship since the early 1990s, most notably, the strengthening of the public voice of minority faith communities. The second section analyses the debates about the role of religious communities in generating social cohesion and social capital in the context of debates about the importance of civil society to liberal democracy. The third section assesses whether the emergent shape of relations between the state and faith communities conforms to or contradicts a liberal account of the role of religious discourse in the public square. In contrast, the last two sections focus on the place of the church in this emergent relationship and analyse the opportunities and pitfalls confronting the church in the light of contemporary political theology. The primary theologies drawn on are represented by the work of Stanley Hauerwas, John Paul II and Joan Lockwood and Oliver O'Donovan.