In innumerable discussions and activities dedicated to better understanding and helping teenagers, one aspect of teenage life is curiously overlooked. Very few such efforts pay serious attention to the role of religion and spirituality in the lives of American adolescents. But many teenagers are very involved in religion. Surveys reveal that 35% attend religious services weekly and another 15% attend at least monthly. 60% say that religious faith is important in their lives. 40% report that they pray daily. 25% say that they have been "born again." Teenagers feel good about the congregations they belong to. Some say that faith provides them with guidance and resources for knowing how to live well. What is going on in the religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers? What do they actually believe? What religious practices do they engage in? Do they expect to remain loyal to the faith of their parents? Or are they abandoning traditional religious institutions in search of a new, more authentic "spirituality"? This book attempts to answer these and related questions as definitively as possible. It reports the findings of The National Study of Youth and Religion, the largest and most detailed such study ever undertaken. The NYSR conducted a nationwide telephone survey of teens and significant caregivers, as well as nearly 300 in-depth face-to-face interviews with a sample of the population that was surveyed. The results show that religion and spirituality are indeed very significant in the lives of many American teenagers. Among many other discoveries, they find that teenagers are far more influenced by the religious beliefs and practices of their parents and caregivers than commonly thought. They refute the conventional wisdom that teens are "spiritual but not religious." And they confirm that greater religiosity is significantly associated with more positive adolescent life outcomes. This eagerly-awaited volume not only provides an unprecedented understanding of adolescent religion and spirituality but, because teenagers serve as bellwethers for possible future trends, it affords an important and distinctive window through which to observe and assess the current state and future direction of American religion as a whole.
This book is for anyone wanting to understand what religion is really about. Exploring all the key principles upon which religion is based and setting out the arguments for and against belief in a clear, accessible style, it examines religion against current issues such as terrorism, evolution, and our multi-cultural society. NOT GOT MUCH TIME? One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started. AUTHOR INSIGHTS Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience. TEST YOURSELF Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress. EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE Extra online articles at www.teachyourself.com to give you a richer understanding of psychology. FIVE THINGS TO REMEMBER Quick refreshers to help you remember the key facts. TRY THIS Innovative exercises illustrate what you've learnt and how to use it.
This book analyses the evolution of literary and artistic representations of the soul, exploring its development through different time periods. The volume combines literary, aesthetic, ethical, and political considerations of the soul in texts and works of art from the seventeenth to the twenty-first centuries, spanning cultures and schools of thought. Drawing on philosophical, religious and psychological theories of the soul, it emphasizes the far-reaching and enduring epistemological function of the concept in literature, art and politics. The authors argue that the concept of the soul has shaped the understanding of human life and persistently irrigated cultural productions. They show how the concept of soul was explored and redefined by writers and artists, remaining relevant even as it became removed from its ancient or Christian origins.
With the removal of sexual orientation as a bar to ordination in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), pending approval of a majority of presbyteries, and the Episcopal Church's 2009 General Convention calling for the development of theological and liturgical resources for same-sex blessings, sexual orientation-especially with regard to marriage-is a central issue. Secularly, too, the topic is front-page news with the recent California same-gender marriage ruling and subsequent Proposition 8 vote and the update of the Massachusetts same-gender marriage law. This book sets forth the case for religious institutions' blessing of same-gender marriage, positing that same-gender marriage does not detract from the sacredness of heterosexual marriage, but rather enhances and nourishes the institution. Chapters include: "Claiming the Blessing" "Deeper Than Scripture" "Traditional Family Values" "The Sacred Source of Marriage" "Sex and the Body of Christ" "Marriage As a Spiritual Discipline" "Marriage is a spiritual discipline in which we come to know ourselves as beloved, trustworthy, redeemed, forgiven, and blessed, and at the same time learn how to love, be faithful, redeem, forgive, and bless the partner as well as the community." -Chris Glaser
This compelling ethnography explores the issue of cultural continuity and change as it has unfolded in the representative Guatemala Mayan town Santiago Atitlán. Drawing on multiple sources, Robert S. Carlsen argues that local Mayan culture survived the Spanish Conquest remarkably intact and continued to play a defining role for much of the following five centuries. He also shows how the twentieth-century consolidation of the Guatemalan state steadily eroded the capacity of the local Mayas to adapt to change and ultimately caused some factions to reject—even demonize—their own history and culture. At the same time, he explains how, after a decade of military occupation known as la violencia, Santiago Atitlán stood up in unity to the Guatemalan Army in 1990 and forced it to leave town. This new edition looks at how Santiago Atitlán has fared since the expulsion of the army. Carlsen explains that, initially, there was hope that the renewed unity that had served the town so well would continue. He argues that such hopes have been undermined by multiple sources, often with bizarre outcomes. Among the factors he examines are the impact of transnational crime, particularly gangs with ties to Los Angeles; the rise of vigilantism and its relation to renewed religious factionalism; the related brutal murders of followers of the traditional Mayan religion; and the apocalyptic fervor underlying these events.
A mix of thematic essays, reference entries, and primary source documents covering the role of religion in American history and life from the colonial era to the present. Often controversial, religion has been an important force in shaping American culture. Religious convictions strongly influenced colonial and state governments as well as the United States as a new republic. Religious teachings, values, and practices deeply affected political structures and policies, economic ideology and practice, educational institutions and instruction, social norms and customs, marriage, and family life. By analyzing religion's interaction with American culture and prominent religious leaders and ideologies, this reference helps readers to better understand many fascinating, often controversial, religious leaders, ideas, events, and topics. The work is organized in three volumes devoted to particular periods. Volume one includes a chronology highlighting key events related to religion in American history and an introduction that overviews religion in America during the period covered by the volume, and roughly 10 essays that explore significant themes. These essays are followed by approximately 120 alphabetically arranged reference entries providing objective, fundamental information about topics related to religion in America. Each volume presents nearly 50 primary source documents, each introduced by a contextualizing headnote. A selected, general bibliography closes volume three.
The subject matter of this book is so vast that it would be presumptuous to attempt to deal with comprehensively and it would be pre-posterous to pretend to a final solution to a set of ideasas comprehensive as these worldwiews. The author is aware that the contents of this comperative study may appear offensive to the followersof Sri Aurobindo. He tries to stimulate a fruitful dialogue and evaluates this dialogue in a sympathic manner when he refers to the intentions of both thinkers.
Lesson Plans and Students' Favorite Stories for: • Reading Comprehension • Writing Skills • Critical Thinking • Character Building. As a teacher, you have the unique opportunity to teach and inspire your students to be goal-oriented, compassionate, confident and ambitious. Anna Unkovich, a former teacher of thirty-five years, made a difference in her students' lives through the daily use of stories from the bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series. As a teacher, you have the unique opportunity to teach and inspire your students to be goal-oriented, compassionate, confident, and ambitious. Anna Unkovich, a former teacher of thirty-five years, made a difference in her students' lives through the daily use of stories from the bestselling series Chicken Soup for the Soul. For many years, Unkovich read these stories to her students and noticed remarkable changes in them, both academically and personally. Recognizing that today's teenagers have more challenges in finding positive role models, she teamed up with bestselling author Mark Victor Hansen and veteran teacher, inspirational speaker, and bestselling author Jack Canfield to create an unprecedented educational curriculum for teachers to use to empower their students in the same way that they have. Unkovich chose the most inspirational stories from the more than one hundred Chicken Soup books published. These stories, activities, and plans will enhance your existing curriculum. Designed to be read aloud to students, each story is accompanied by thought-provoking questions and exercises specifically designed and used by the authors. Your students will identify with each of the powerful stories and will be encouraged to apply the lesson plans to their own lives, challenges, and situations, and at the same time improve their critical thinking and writing skills. More important, unlike other curriculums, Chicken Soup for the Soul in the Classroom educates and provides opportunities for open dialogue on real-life issues, including character building and self-esteem.
The domain of spirituality, separated from its theological overburden, believes in the existence of a spiritual self, presumed to be distinctly separate from the psychological self. The spiritual eternal self, also known as the soul or spirit (sometimes supported by an overarching Spirit), is asserted to be operating behind the ephemeral self. This book takes a contrarian stance; it argues that the premise of the soul concept is obtained through the magic of language, maintained through the marvel of the brain’s biochemistry, and sustained through the mirage of the psychological juggernauts of the brain. The magic, the marvel and the mirage, together, bring about subtle shifts as the linguistic brain suppresses many psychological details, habitually applies mental templates such as inversions and dichotomies, and enhances its language by coining religious and spiritual metaphors. The consequence of these changes is that the usual flickering self begins to be impressed by itself, believing it is buttressed by something transcendental and eternal within: the soul or the spirit. The self, although indoctrinated during its formative years, also begins to assimilate and accept the opinion that the overwhelming weight of religious doctrines and dogmas, the overburden, signifies as the legitimate proof for the eternal soul.