Religious Belief Systems Research Articles

Competing Ethical Claims in Abortion

In cases of abortion, as in all cases of nursing care, the nurse has the ethical obligation to provide the best nursing care possible without judging the rightness or wrongness of the patient's action or behavior. Several staff nurses at a small community hospital in the United States personally believe that abortion is ethically wrong. This personal belief is reinforced for many by their religious belief system. Because of a rotation policy at this hospital, all nurses will be assigned to work in the abortion clinic, and this presents several problems. Initially, there is the ethical dilemma of an individual nurse's personal-religious value system, and the obligation to self to live according to it. This is in opposition to the ethical obligation to care for all patients. The nursing administration also faces an ethical problem related to enforcing this policy in the fairest way possible. Another problem for the nursing administration is a legal obligation to make sure that all patients receive adquate nursing care. The nurses at this 1 community hospital asked to meet with the nursing administratio for the purpose of discussing the issue of working in the abortion clinic. The meeting took place and though exploration of value systems and issues and through mutual willingness to compromise without being compromised, decisions to resolve the dilemma were reached. It was agreed that nurses would not be made to rotate into the abortion clinic against their religious beliefs and that nurses who did not have that ethical stance would work there.

Attribution to Supernatural Causation: An Important Component of Religious Commitment?

Most religious belief systems maintain that some natural events are caused by divine intervention. Exploration of the manner in which believers attribute events to supernatural causes is thus one fruitful way of studying the psychology of religion. The attributional processes of evangelical Christian college students were explored by means of a questionnaire containing several brief descriptions of incidents, each followed by rating scales on which subjects attributed causality for that event. Individual differences in the tendency to invoke supernatural explanations were found, and the tendency to invoke such explanations was positively correlated with other measures of religious belief and practice. Attribution to God was unrelated to locus of control. Differences in the nature of the incidents to be explained affected attribution to God.

Cult Formation: Three Compatible Models

This paper draws upon numerous ethnographies to outline three fundamental models of how novel religious ideas are generated and made social. The psychopathology model describes cult innovation as the result of individual psychopathology that finds successful social expression by providing apparent solutions to common intractable human problems. The entrepreneur model states that cultfounders consciously develop new systems of religious belief and practice to obtain the rewards thatfollowers may shower upon them. The subculture-evolution model explains that cults are the expression of novel social systems, composed of intimately interacting individuals who achieve radical cultural developments through a series of many small steps. The models are shown to be compatible because each uses two basic concepts: compensators and social exchange. Compensators are somewhat satisfying articles offaith, postulations that strongly desired rewards will be obtained in the distant future or in some other unverifiable context. Magical and religious cults exist through the social exchange of compensators. The models explain how novel packages of compensators are invented and assembled to form new cults. The origins of the great world faiths are shrouded by time, but cult formation remains available for close inspection. If we would understand how religions begin, it is the obscure and exotic world of cults that demands our attention. This paper attempts to synthesize the mass of ethnographic materials available on cult formation as the necessary preliminary for a comprehensive theory. While it represents an important step in our continuing work to formulate a general theory of religion, this paper is primarily designed to consolidate and to clarify what is already known about this subject. The published literature on cults is at present as chaotic as was the material on which cultural anthropology was founded a century ago: an unsystematic collection of traveler's tales, mostly journalistic, often innacurate, and nearly devoid of theory. For all the deficiencies of this mass of writing, three fundamental models of how novel religious ideas are generated and made social can be seen dimly. In this paper we develop and compare these models. The task of integrating them fully into a single, comprehensive theory must be delayed, but in this first exposition we will be able to show that each model is but a different combination of the same theoretical elements. The three models of cult formation, or religious innovation, are (a) the psychopathology model, (b) the entrepreneur model, and (c) the subculture-evolution model. While the first has been presented in some detail by other social scientists, the second and third have not previously been delineated as formal models. Cult formation is a two-step process of innovation. First, new religious ideas must be invented. Second, social acceptance of these ideas must be gained, at least to the extent that a small group of people comes to accept them. Therefore, our first need is to explain how and why individuals invent or discover new religious ideas. It is important to recognize, however, that many (perhaps most) persons who hit upon new religious ideas do not found new religions. So long as only one person holds a religious idea, no true religion exists. Therefore, we also need to understand the process by which religious inventors are able to make their views social-to convince other persons to share their convictions. We conceptualize successful cult innovation as a social process in which innovators both invent new religious ideas and transmit them to other persons in exchange for rewards.

Conversion Experience, Belief System, and Personal and Ethical Attitudes

Two studies assessed the relation between type of religious belief system (“ethical” vs. “born again” Christianity), type of conversion experience (sudden vs. gradual vs. unconscious), and four attitudinal dependent variables: the Purpose in Life Test, Social Interest Scale, Religious Orientation Scale, and Dogmatism. In Study 1, 84 college students served as subjects. In Study 2, 177 adults of varying ages served as subjects. The same basic pattern of results was obtained for the two studies. Born again Christians were significantly more intrinsically motivated in their religious beliefs and higher in social interest than ethical Christians. Sudden converts were significantly more intrinsic in religious orientation than unconscious converts. Professed Christians scored significantly higher on the Purpose in Life Test and Social Interest Scale than professed non-Christians. The findings suggest that it is useful to classify Christians according to type of belief and type of conversion experience. A deep religious commitment seemed to be accompanied by a sense of meaning in life, greater concern for the welfare of others, and a more dogmatic way of thinking.

Winti and Christianity: A Study in Religious Change

A traditional Afro-American religion in Suriname is described and the impact of Christian missionaries and their teachings on this religion is assessed. There has been little or no African-Christian fusion of ideas, or syncretism, making Winti rather unique among Afro-American religions. Reasons for this lack of syncretism are explored. One important reason or factor that emerges from the present case study is the relative incompatibility between the native belief system and that of the Moravian Church. A variant of Winti,l an Afro-American magical-religious complex that Herskovits (1958) regarded as the most traditional belief system among Blacks in the Western Hemisphere will be discussed as it relates to religious change. A special type of Winti is found among the Matawai, a Maroon society in Suriname, South America.2 Maroon is the collective term given to descendants of escaped Black slaves in the Americas. Better known Afro-American religious such as Candomble (Brazil), Macumba (Brazil), Vodu (Haiti), and Santeria (Cuba) are all examples of dynamic African-Christian merging, leaving the impression that all Black religions in the Americas are syncretic. This paper will correct that impression by providing an exception. Following a description of central aspects of Winti, the impact of Christian missionaries and their teachings will be described and assessed. I will explore the reasons for both the success of Christianity and the tenacity of Winti beliefs since there has been little or no Christian-Winti syncretism, or dynamic merging and integration of belief systems. Instead of syncretism, we find among the Matawais a dual system of religious beliefs, a situation where Christian and Winti beliefs co-exist uneasily and are kept distinct for the most part. Reasons for the lack of syncretism will be offered in the final section.

Screening and prognosis in sex therapy: To treat or not to treat

Success in sex therapy may be obtained with individuals typically considered poor prognostic risks. The following case study reports successful outcome with a middle-aged couple displaying an unstable and unsatisfying marital relationship, a chronic sexual dysfunction (primary orgasmic dysfunction and premature ejaculation), and a rigid religious belief system. The use of several innovative treatment interventions is noted, particularly the assistance of a Roman Catholic priest. The article concludes with a plea for open-mindedness when screening potential clients considering the present state of knowledge and empirical research in sexual counselling.

Christian theology and educational theory: Can there be connections?

his paper is not concerned with religious education in the curriculum but with the nature of the relation between theology and educational theory. All sophisticated religious belief systems have histories of such relations, the literature of Christianity, Judaism and Islam being particularly rich. Theology of education at the present time is an active field of interdisciplinary study. Recent dissertation abstracts indicate the sort of work taking place' in an effort to criticize, clarify and give new directions to education in the light of contemporary religious ideas.

Are Conclusive Proofs Irrelevant to Religion?

ARE CONCLUSIVE PROOFS IRRELEVANT TO RELIGION? FOR CENTURIES the proofs for God's existence have been debated and their role in religious belie£-systems assessed. There have been those who claim that the proofs are conclusive, those who claim that they are invalid , and those who claim that they are valid but inconclusive . There have been disputes, furthermore, as to whether the logical base for religious belie£ systems should be sought in proofs and evidence rather than in "self-authenticating" religious experiences and acceptance o£ religious authority. But no one, until recently, ever contended that even if the proofs were conclusive it would be irrelevant to religious believers. People have thought that religion must be undergirded by proof, aan be undergirded by proof, and need not be undergirded by proof, but not that proof would be irrelevant. Now o£ course there are many senses in which a proof could be relevant to religious believers. The Vatican Council affirmed that i£ people denied that God could be known with certainty by the natural light of human reason they would be anathema. Thus it could have made quite serious practical differences to a believer whether he accepted the proofs or not. As philosophers we are not concerned with this sort of practical difference but with philosophical ones, and the question to be explored is: Is there something philosophically at stake for believers in this question o£ the proofs for the existence o£ God? I want to contend that Steven M. Cahn is utterly wrongheaded in his claim that religious believers have no real interest in philosophical proofs for the existence of God.1 I am assuming that this 1 Steven M. Cahn, " The Irrelevance to Religion of Philosophic Proofs for the Existence of God," The American Philosophical Quarterly (April, 1969), pp. 170-72. Further citations will be given by page number in the text. Cahn has 727 7~8 FRANK B. DILLEY is not a statistical claim to be settled by polls but rather a philosophical claim. Cahn makes no effort to produce questionnaire results from a proper sample of believers nor shall I. To examine this question, in the context of Cahn's contention , it is fortunately not necessary to resolve the question of the validity of the proofs. In an effort to dismiss them once for all, Cahn is willing to assume that the proofs are valid, for the sake of the argument. " Suppose we assume, contrary to what most philosophers, I among them, believe, that all of these proofs are valid. Let us grant the necessary existence (whatever that might mean) of the most perfect conceivable Being, a Being who is ali-good and is the designer and creator of the universe. What implications can be drawn from this fact which would be of relevance to human life? In other words, what difference would it make in men's lives if God existed?" (p. 170) In support of his surprising thesis that religious believers are right in ignoring the proofs, he gives two chief arguments, that religious believers make their decisions as to what beliefs to hold and what practices to follow on the basis of "self-validating " personal experiences which render the proofs unnecessary , and that the success of the proofs would not enable a newly converted unbeliever to know what beliefs and practices to choose. He therefore contends that the proofs are relevant for neither the believer nor the unbeliever. In examining his contention about the relevancy of proofs I propose to look at what religious belief systems say about this problem, an approach Cahn does not seem to care to use. In this connection it should be noted that his sources are curious, for he cites not one person who would be taken by anyone to be a normal religious believer. He cites Antony Flew, Wallace Matson, C. B. Martin, and Mordecai Kaplan, but not John reprinted this essay in his Philosophy of Religion (Harper & Row, 1970), and it can also be found in Philosophy in the Age of Crisis, ed. Eleanor Kuykendall (Harper & Row, 1970) and God, Man, and Rdigion: Readings in the Philosophy of Rdigion, ed. by Keith Yandell (McGraw-Hill, 1973). ARE CONCLUSIVE PROOFS IRRELEVANT...

Tiv Kuraiyol, Body Protectors

Opening ParagraphThis paper is concerned with a description of the religious beliefs of the Tiv with regard to kuraiyol. Kuraiyol, literally translated, means ‘body protectors’. The belief in kuraiyol is closely related to the major religious belief system termed akombo a soron, or propitiation of fetishes. A good deal has been written about akombo by students of the Tiv but very little has been written about kuraiyol. It is difficult to determine when kuraiyol became an important aspect of Tiv religious practices. Dr. Paul Bohannan has recently mentioned in written correspondence to this writer that as early as 1949 kuraiyol had ‘gained a tremendous popularity’. From personal observation during the period from 1955 to 1967 an increasing emphasis appeared to be placed on kuraiyol, especially during periods of war and violence which so greatly affected Tivland. Many Tiv believed kuraiyol to be effective charms against evil forces, including the mbatsav (night witches), the adzov (wood spirits, goblins), and other malevolent spirits. In addition, kuraiyol was believed to impart to the owner certain magical powers which enhanced the wearer's ability to fight, make love, gain material possessions, and the like.

The Religious Belief System: A Further Refinement on the Defined Relationship between Religion and Society

The Religious Belief System: A Further Refinement on the Defined Relationship between Religion and Society

The Yakan Cult and Lugbara Response to Colonial Rule

Summary In 1919, certain groups of the Lugbara tribe attempted a violent rising against the British colonial government in West Nile District, Uganda. It soon became apparent that the rising was closely associated with a spirit-possession cult known as Yakan or the Allah water cult, which, over a number of years, had established a considerable following among the Lugbara. The Yakan cult can be regarded as a factor in Lugbara response to a series of alien invasions in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; but while violent resistance was a recurring theme in the cult's history, the internal development of Yakan both in terms of its ideology and its organization came to present the Lugbara with an alternative to their traditional system of religious organization and beliefs and at the same time presented them with a means of coming to terms with, and even of exploiting, the colonial situation. That certain sections of the cult membership exploded into violent resistance to the British in 1919 w...

Dogmatism of Catholic Clergy and Ex-Clergy: A Study of Ministerial Role Perseverance and Open-Mindedness

s 15:1664-65. Koepp, E. 1963 Authoritarianism and social workers: a psychological study. Social Work 8: 37-43. Meredith, G. 1968 Personality correlates to religious belief systems. Psychological Reports 23:1039-42.

Fear and the Status of Women

Among Havik Brahmins in South India, widows, who occupy the lowest status position within the caste, are believed to poison others, at random, with a substance which is not poisonous in the tradition of Western science. Moreover, women in general are portrayed in the religious belief systems of this culture as being dangerous in other mystical ways. After outlining the main features of Havik social structure, I suggest that guilt may be felt toward those who occupy low status positions in a social system, and that this may lead to their being unrealistically feared.

Personality correlates to religious belief systems.

The study investigated the multiple relationships among 39 personality and attitudinal variables with 2 clusters of religious attitudes. The findings suggest that conservatism plays a pervasive role in the prediction of religious belief for both male and female Ss.

7. North America

J. MURPHY with C. HUGHES and with A. LEIGHTON contributes two papers analyzing Alaskan Eskimo concepts of psychopathology and the applicability of psychophysiological test screening devices in non-Western cultures. In the second paper, responses of Alaskan Eskimos and of eastern Canadians to a twenty-question 'Health Opinion Survey' are compared. Mental disturbance in a community of Canadian Eskimos has been studied by F. VALLEE in terms of religious belief system and paranoid type thinking of the patients, and in terms of community reaction to the mentally ill. D. STOKER discusses differences in symptom distributions between matched groups of Anglo-American and Spanish-American girls undergoing psychotherapy at child guidance clinics in the southwestern United States. Special emphasis is placed on the cultural background of depressive features. A. LEIGHTON has proposed the hypothesis that sociocultural disintegration produces psychopathological reactions. In S. PARKER and T. SASAKI'S paper, this hypothesis is tested for two communities experiencing social disintegration—one of Navaho Indians and the other of eastern Canadians. From Texas comes an account by A. RUBEL of the social life of Mexican-Americans and of those characteristics of their belief and social system underlying their pronounced tendencies to develop states of anxiety and disaffection for which they do not seek medical relief. The intensity and prevalence of folk beliefs about illness and the utilization of folk treatments is the subject of C. MARTINEZ and H. MARTIN'S enquiry among urban Mexican- Americans. Finally, H. B. M. MURPHY and M. LEMIEUX examine the signifi cance of the relatively high rates of schizophrenic disorders found among unmarried rural French-Canadian women in their twenties and married women of similar background who are above thirty-five years of age.

Christendom and Jewry: a Study in Irony

I take the terms ‘Christendom’ and ‘Jewry’ to mean the cultural and political embodiments of the Christian and Jewish religions. Christendom is the socially visible manifestation and product of Christianity, as Jewry is of Judaism. It is with these products of the two religions that I am concerned, not directly with the systems of religious belief and practice that constitute the two religions.'Christendom', however, the concrete equivalent of the abstract ‘Christianity', is a much less definite term than ‘Church', which is so to speak the official and necessary embodiment of the Christian religion. Now it is in the almost Protean development of the indefinable, ill-disciplined, not always very Christian reality meant by ‘Christendom’ that I see much irony; not in the mysterious theological reality meant by ‘the Holy Catholic Church'. And I am presuming – I hope fairly enough – that as Christendom is to Church, so mutatis mutandis is Jewry to Israel. Jewry in its very different manner I find as ironical a reality as Christendom. My point, in fact, will be that in some ways Christendom would have been a much more suitable correlative to Israel than to the Church, and Jewry more suited to the Church than to Israel.I take it as a starting point that some sort of visible embodiment in human society is of the essence of both religions. And that is why I cannot altogether agree with Dr James Parkes when he makes the generalization in one of his Parkes Library booklets (Jewry and Jesus of Nazareth by Maurice Eisendrath and James Parkes), that, whereas Judaism addresses man as a social being, Christianity addresses man as a person.

Psychology: Twentieth century religion? A psychologist's view

In conclusion, then, let me ask again the question: Is psychology our century's religion ? My answer is that psychology is not, and can never be, a full-fledged organized religion with comparable characteristics to Judaism, Catholicism, or Protestantism. Psychology is a modern science and has no coherent system of religious attitudes and beliefs, no conception of ultimate values, no dogmas supernatural in character, and no God. At most psychology is, or can be, a religious-like substitute for religion for a certain subgroup of our population, mainly intellectuals. However, both religion and depth psychology are deeply concerned with modern man's predicament. It is my belief that many people may experience religious — like phenomena within a therapeutic relationship and as a consequence of successful psychotherapy. Therefore, the roles of the clergyman and of the therapist overlap in their efforts to help modern man in his suffering and creative growth. But religion will always have its unique function and so will psychology.

W. B. Yeats: Variations on the Visionary Quest

St. John's words are not intended to sum up Yeats's ideas on the subject of the visionary quest but rather to epitomize the position which he so strenuously opposed, particularly in his later work. They help us to understand Yeats's important quarrel with the traditionally accepted idea of visionary experience. As St. John suggests, the religious mind ordinarily strives to move toward perfection, toward a final union with God or a transcendent realm of spirit, and in an antinomic system of religious belief like Christianity, this implies the logical corollary of a movement away from "the desire of natural things," from the mortal world itself, multitudinous, impermanent, decaying, and ultimately undesirable. It is precisely this "necessary" corollary which Yeats could never fully accept. The central problem of visionary experience for him, the reconciliation of the two worlds, perfect and imperfect, grew out of his refusal to accept the necessity of pursuing one at the expense of the other. Yeats's dissatisfaction with either world taken separately, his unwillingness to accept one or the other as the province of ultimate value, inspired his attempt to reconcile the two apparently opposed realms.