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To be or not to be that is the question. The Church's Understanding of Death and the Dead with reference to the traditional Effutu people's beliefs and practices is an attempt to do theology in an African way as well as to understand the Christian Faith in terms of death and the dead. In the pervasive influence and challenge of the Christian message to Africans, Effutus not excepted, and demand upon their individual lives and their relationships with one another; in countless personal and group decisions made, and lives actually lived very differently from what they would otherwise have been, in the new high hopes and aspirations for individual and social destiny which it has awakened; in the sheer excellence of human performance in devotion and courageous, self-sacrificing service to others, and yet in other ways, Christianity still plays a role and exerts a force in the Effutu Traditional Area in particular and Ghanaians' way of life in general. This is none the less real and significant because Christianity eludes full and conclusive analysis. For instance, questions relating to the understanding of death; funeral rites; the relationship between the living and the dead - all have been issues of tension between African and the west. As a result there is widespread readiness today to repudiate the missionary past by the Africans who for more than a century now, have been doing theology regarding death and the dead in a strange language, in strange thought forms, in a strange ideology. African theology and especially that of death and the dead is at the crossroad. In some sense it finds some 'natural' affinities with Liberation Theology and historically, as far as Christ's death is concerned, could be connected with western theology. Yet, while it may and should attempt to draw from the richness of both theologies, African theology of the dead should guard against capitulating to either of those forms. It must be dynamic, ready to change and address itself to all situations in time and space. It should be liberating, freeing mankind from all chains, including social, racial, economic, cultural, and even confessional domination. In short, the primary concern of African theology and especially that of death and the dead must be the proclamation and 'incarnation' of the message that "Now we no longer believe because of what you told us; we have heard him ourselves and we know that he really is the Saviour of the world" (John 4/42), through his suffering and death, wrath 'and judgement - all working on behalf of man and his reconciliation.

Several studies have attempted to assess the effects of death anxiety upon personality and behavior. However, only recently has research on this topic begun to develop a larger theoretical context within which many behaviors and intrapsychic mechanisms can be explained. The present study was conducted to test the hypothesis that people's symbolic investments, such as religious beliefs and status, are inflated when an individual is faced with events which make their personal mortality salient. Theoretically this inflation would help them buffer their anxieties about death. Subjects were selected for participation on the basis of scores on measures of status concern and religiosity, and were assigned to a mortality salience treatment or control condition. Results suggest limited support for the hypothesis. Though all predictions were not confirmed, some intriguing findings are noted. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Thesis ( M.A. (Research psychology)) --University of Limpopo, 2012 / This study sought to investigate the relationship of death anxiety to age, gender and religiosity among Africans in a rural South African context. Two hundred participants completed a questionnaire based on demographic variables, death anxiety scales, and a measure of religiosity Results revealed that intrinsic religious motivation was inversely related to all types of death anxiety measured. Furthermore, age was correlated with death anxiety, such that the experience of death anxiety tended to decrease among older subjects. However, there were no gender effects on the experience of death anxiety.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

This dissertation is primarily about the ethical evaluation ofbrain death, brain-dead persons and organ transplantation in contemporary Muslim ethics. / Cette tQese est premierement au sujet de l'évaluation éthique de la mort cérébrale et les personnes dans un coma dépassé aux éthiques Musulmanes contemporaines.

It is generally accepted that spirituality can play an important role in the end stage of the life of a person. Spirituality can provide a source of comfort and guidance and in so doing be a coping strategy. Social workers should take into account this spiritual component of their work particularly with clients who use spirituality as a form of social support. This thesis provides a theoretical understanding of spiritual based practice. It identifies the principles and competencies central to this practice, including the need for worker self awareness. It then illustrates how certain social work students have applied these principles in their practice with dying clients. / The author's own identification as an individual from a religiously oriented Muslim country is used to illustrate the importance of understanding and working from the world view of clients. The author concludes that spirituality should not be ignored by social workers in their practice.

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The Tibetan Buddhist approach to healing, health and death is rooted in the sacred. Its teachings and techniques create a road map guiding the practitioner through the process of purification called sacred healing. It encompasses foundational Buddhist teachings, sacred Buddhist medicine, and the esoteric healing pathways found in tantra and yoga, which together constitute a detailed and technical guide to healing. The mind is central to all aspects of Tibetan Buddhism. The ability to focus the mind through meditation during life enables the practitioner to prepare for death by experiencing the subtle aspects of the body and mind through the chakras. Both Tibetan spiritual teachers and doctors practise healing and help practitioners learn to focus their minds in preparation for death. The moment of death presents the greatest opportunity for attaining sacred health, but healing can also occur after death. The objective of this thesis is to present the Tibetan Buddhist understanding of sacred healing in relation to life, death, the bardos and suicide through its texts, teachings and techniques.

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