The aim of this essay is to investigate if there exists any relation between what is generally considered Britain’s foremost elite military unit, HM Royal Marines and a manipulative religious sect. With theoretical data defining a manipulative religious sect, and empirical data gathered from interviews with a number of former royal marines, this essay looks at the attributes common to these two very different organisations. Interestingly, even though the experiences of members of such organisations seemed to bare some resemblance; the motivation for any comparability was quite different. This phenomenon seemed to affect the whole study, and the findings did not confirm any substantial relation between the two organisations in accordance with the strict definitions applicable to a manipulative religious sect.

In the territory of the current Czech Republic, the first written mention of the negative perception of magic appeared as early as in the 11th century, but it was only in the 14th century when the prohibitions to practice magic got more precise contours. Legally, the offense of witchcraft in Municipal and Capital Crime Codes only was defined in the 16th and the 17th century. It was at the turn of these centuries when we saw increase in processes with persons accused of abusing spells. However, in most prosecutions of that time, the abuses of megic only were secondary charges and the perpetrators were condemned, only occurred in the Czech Kingdom rarely. Only the persecution of witches in some of the Silesian principalities and in northern Moravia during the 17th century got out these trends. In northern Moravia, the largest witch trials took place in the years 1679 - 1696 in the Velké Losiny estate and in the town of Šumperk, where 81 alleged sorcerers and witches were killed. Like in many other cases, also here the outbreak of local witch trials was inspired by a stolen host. Court proceedings took place under the direction of Judge Heinrich Franz Boblig of Edelstadt, who for many years gained the trust of the local nobility. Although the legislation continued to contain criminal offense against witchcraft...

A idéia central da dissertação é explicitar a filosofia da educação subjacente às práticas do Opus Dei e discutir criticamente estas práticas. A contribuição principal do trabalho será a demonstração de que a concepção de educação do Opus Dei tem como objetivo a formação de indivíduos submissos em grau universal e irrestrito. Serão também explicitados os meios utilizados pela instituição para obter este objetivo. A natureza do trabalho é a de uma pesquisa teórica que além da bibliografia usual inclui o exame de diversos casos e testemunhos. O objeto a ser pesquisado se subdivide nos textos produzidos pelo Opus Dei (de autoria de seu fundador, o espanhol Josemaría Escrivá, e de seus seguidores) e no que podemos chamar de educação informal do Opus Dei, que são as atividades levadas a cabo nas casas da instituição. O objetivo visado, portanto, é trazer à luz uma análise científica sobre as práticas educacionais do Opus Dei e seus reflexos no indivíduo. O referencial teórico remete à obra de autores que se debruçaram sobre as temáticas da virtude da prudentia, linguagem e psico-sociologia: Tomás de Aquino, Karl Popper e Erich Fromm. Os procedimentos metodológicos consistem na pesquisa teórica e no exame de relatos. O procedimento técnico-operacional consiste em analisar os escritos do Opus Dei, sempre confrontados com os depoimentos de quem vivenciou as práticas da instituição, à luz dos referenciais teóricos apontados. / The central idea of this work is to present the educational philosophy of Opus Dei´s practices and critically analyze those practices. The main contribution of this work shall be the demonstration that the Opus Deis concept of education has as primary goal the production of fully submitted individuals. The methods used by the institution to achieve this goal will also be presented. The works nature is theoretical, but also includes the analysis of many testimonies of real cases. The object of research is composed by Opus Deis texts (written by its founder, the spanish Josemaría Escrivá, and by some of his followers) and by the so called informal education of Opus Dei, witch are activities that usually take place inside the institutions houses. The objective, therefore, is to present a scientific analysis of the Opus Deis educational practices and its consequences on the individual. The theoretic references are authors who have studied the fields of prudentia, language and psycho-sociology: Tomas de Aquino, Karl Popper and Erich Fromm. The methodological procedures consist on the theoretical research and on the analysis of testimonies. The technical-operational procedure consist on the analysis of Opus Deis texts and testimonies of ex-members.

本文以晚明天台宗的發展為主題，并試圖通過浙江這一個案的研究來探究晚明時期中國佛教發展的特點。 / 晚明佛教的復興運動是一個各種佛教發展"模式"競爭的場所。在這裡，不同的人物或派別基於他們所理解的時代需要而有意識的"修剪菩提樹"，由此而產生各種風格迥異的佛教發展模式。晚明天台宗的復興運動也正是當時各種佛教發展模式中重要的一環。 / 本文首先通過考證得出正統譜系中晚明以來的這些天台宗祖師是由幾系以不同寺院為基礎的僧團編輯而成，并在四份傳承譜系的比較中，得出晚明天台宗在幽溪傳燈之後，由高明寺發展至浙江一帶不同地域的數系傳承，而智旭的靈峰寺僧團在明末清初一直秉承"不自立宗"的宗旨，兩者並非是"念珠式"一襲相承。要理解明清以來天台宗發展的走向，須要首先理解高明寺一系百松真覺、幽溪傳燈所領導的晚明天台宗的"中興"。 / 從百松真覺的續弘台宗，到幽溪傳燈時期的鼎盛，天台宗已成為東南浙江一帶頗具影響的派別。晚明天台在發展的模式的探索上，以幽溪傳燈的思想最為代表，他認為天台宗所傳的教法是最契合如來本心的，故而在其理論構建中，處處發明天台教旨，將其置於理論建構中的最高地位。 / 由於智旭思想中多有涉及天台教學，故而他和天台宗之間的關係歷來多有爭訟。本文則通過智旭與天台一系僧團的交流，特別是在他思想探索時期與幽溪傳燈的弟子的"共締千古盟"，來說明他爲什麽會如此注重天台教學。至於爲什麽他會被塑造為天台祖師，本文則通過明清天台譜系的研究來考證智旭的靈峰寺僧團在清中前期與幽溪傳燈一系傳承的交往以及逐漸演化為天台法脈的過程，并試圖通過明清佛教的組織形式來探討這種轉變的原因。 / 智旭與幽溪傳燈在模式上諸宗融合與宗派爭鳴兩種意見的分歧也促使我們對晚明佛教的融合論作進一步的反思。由於"佛教"這一術語的模糊性，每種發展模式的僧人都將自己所認同的教學模式認為是佛教的正統代表，因而，在他們判別各宗派佛法高低以及融合他宗時，不可避免的將自身所認同的佛法置於最高或最核心的地位，於是所謂的融合也就不可避免的變為伸張一家教旨的論斷，各種模式之間，甚至各種主張融合的模式之間的矛盾和爭訟也因此不可避免。 / In this thesis, I aim to discuss the development of T’ien-t’ai school in Late Ming and try to explore, through this case study, the characteristics of Chinese Buddhism in this period. / The Late Ming Buddhist revival is like a site of contestation by different Buddhist development "models", each kind of which intentionally "prunes the bodhi tree" according to its own understanding of Buddhism and the needs of their time. / From the time of Baisong Zhenjue (百松真覺) to Youxi Chuandeng (幽溪傳燈), the T’ien-t’ai School has become an influential faction of Buddhism in southeast China. The characteristic of their model is to highlight their sectarian identity, they put their teaching of T’ien-t’ai as the hightest in their scheme of classification of doctiones and as most conforming to the heart of the teachings of Buddha. / In the study of late Ming Buddhism, there has been much dispute on the relationship between Ouyi Zhixu (蕅益智旭) and the T’ien-t’ai School. In this thesis, I try to reveal Ouyi Zhixu’s communication with the disciples of Youxi Chuandeng to illustrate why he paid so much attention to the T’ien-t’ai teaching. As for why Ouyi Zhixu is presented as the patriarch of T’ien-t’ai School, I will show, through the textual research of T’ien-t’ai lineage recrods during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, how the lineage of the Lingfeng Temple (靈峰寺) sangha in early and mid Qing was transformed to become one of the T’ien-t’ai lineages. / The different understanding of Ouyi Zhixu and Youxi Chuandeng on syncretism or sectarian identity prompts us to rethink the syncretism of Late Ming Buddhism. Because of the ambiguity of the term "Buddhism", all different development models claims that they are the orthodox representation of Buddhism. In different scheme of doctrinal classification (判教), all factions will inevitably put their own theory as the highest or the core teaching of Buddhism. / The ambiguity of the term "Buddhism" also applies to the understanding of Buddhism by the gentry from Confucianism. What they are dealing with is different models of Buddhism, but not Buddhism as a whole. Therefore, the so-called syncretism of Confucianism and Buddhism or the unity of the three teachings (三教合一), actually refers to the relationship between the gentry and the kind of Buddhism that they identitied with. Moreover, the syncretism of Confucianism and Buddhism were with complicated social and historical background. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 馬炳濤. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 137-147). / Abstracts also in English. / Ma Bingtao.

Textbooks are the most dominant literature used in schools and are therefore an important source of information. Consequently, it is crucial that these are not misleading or biased and maintain a high quality along with a strict concordance to the School Department’s curriculum. The aims of this study have been to examine how Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Hare Krishna are presented in four religion textbooks used in senior high schools, as well as to examine what type of knowledge is being presented in terms of epistemology. In addition, the aim has been to examine which religions are being presented and considered as alternative religions and appraise how much space they are granted in textbooks and discuss this in terms of concordance with curriculums. As a method I have chosen a qualitative content analysis and since it has been of interest to observe similarities and differences between the textbooks it is a comparative study. This study has an epistemological standpoint, which will be a crossing of positivism and hermeneutics. The results showed that some religions, including the study’s three focal religions, were considered as alternate in all of the textbooks. How often they were included varied and when they did they had limited space and would often have negative associations. Some textbooks expressed a positivistic epistemology, a type of knowledge that presented the alternate religions in terms of conclusive truths and facts. A presentation that appeared one-sided and it could be questioned how well it represented the actual beliefs of the members of the religions. Other textbooks conveyed a more hermeneutic view where understanding and versatility were stressed, a view that is more in line with curriculums. Conclusively, the results showed that some of the textbooks are not meeting the standards the School Department have set forth in their curriculum for religion. Since textbooks are the most dominant literature they ought to have a leading position when constructing fundamental values for the students. However, when schools and textbooks are not expressing the same values a conflict emerges, a conflict that is not getting the attention it should and whose consequences are yet to be studied.

Texte remanié de: Diss.--Erlangen-Nürnberg--Univ. Erlängen, 2002.

It is seen on problems denominations and religious movements from many angles. After introductory part where we can find basic determination of problem and explanation of essential religions follows specification of religious movements and their main features. Next part devotes to mental manipulation and rules how to behave towards representatives of denominations. Integral part of work forms empirical research which was performed by the help of nonstandardized questionnaire at primary school in Chýnov. His object was charting of infomedness of students. Enclosures contain wording of nonstandardizes questionnaire, graphs and other documents.

The problem of new religious movements is quite a current topic. Therefore, I have decided to write my thesis about this subject. The theoretical part contains the definitions of the basic terms, the characteristics of new religious movements, their catagories and characteristics of their victims, the context of new religious movements and the law, as well as the connection of religious groups and socially-pathologic phenomena. Each of the phenomena is attached to concrete examples of the social groups involved. Both qualitative and quantitative research was employed in the practical part. The methods that have been used to obtain this information were a survey and and interview, as well as the anaylsis of the data and content. One of the files for the survey was collected in the Klatovy Region, while the other was gathered from the people of the Ceske Budejovice Region. Thus, the acquired data were compared in order to reach the aim of the work. The two aims were set based upon the secondary data and one hypothesis was declared for each. The first aim, which was `to find out the public opinion on the problems of new religious movement{\crq}, was connected with the hypothesis `although the public is not sufficiently informed about the religious cults in the region, they are perceived as negative{\crq}. The other aim was to map the socially-pathological phenomena connected with the activity of the movements in these particular regions. Regarding that research, which was qualitative, the hypothesis was declared on the ground of the acquired data. Hypothesis No. 1 was verified. Based on an interview with local policemen, the other hypothesis was set: Although information about the socially-pathological phenomena connected with the activity of the movements reached the public, the Police of the Czech Republic do not have evidence of any crime of that character in the given regions. A booklet was put together, based upon the acquired information, giving the overall information about new religious movements, their characteristics and possible risks. In my opinion, the aim of my thesis was met. The research showed that the public awareness of new religious cults is rather low and the information is mostly distorted. The results of my work may serve as further insight into this problem and, threby it may become a stimulus to raise the state of awareness in this sphere.

A idéia central da dissertação é explicitar a filosofia da educação subjacente às práticas do Opus Dei e discutir criticamente estas práticas. A contribuição principal do trabalho será a demonstração de que a concepção de educação do Opus Dei tem como objetivo a formação de indivíduos submissos em grau universal e irrestrito. Serão também explicitados os meios utilizados pela instituição para obter este objetivo. A natureza do trabalho é a de uma pesquisa teórica que além da bibliografia usual inclui o exame de diversos casos e testemunhos. O objeto a ser pesquisado se subdivide nos textos produzidos pelo Opus Dei (de autoria de seu fundador, o espanhol Josemaría Escrivá, e de seus seguidores) e no que podemos chamar de educação informal do Opus Dei, que são as atividades levadas a cabo nas casas da instituição. O objetivo visado, portanto, é trazer à luz uma análise científica sobre as práticas educacionais do Opus Dei e seus reflexos no indivíduo. O referencial teórico remete à obra de autores que se debruçaram sobre as temáticas da virtude da prudentia, linguagem e psico-sociologia: Tomás de Aquino, Karl Popper e Erich Fromm. Os procedimentos metodológicos consistem na pesquisa teórica e no exame de relatos. O procedimento técnico-operacional consiste em analisar os escritos do Opus Dei, sempre confrontados com os depoimentos de quem vivenciou as práticas da instituição, à luz dos referenciais teóricos apontados. / The central idea of this work is to present the educational philosophy of Opus Dei´s practices and critically analyze those practices. The main contribution of this work shall be the demonstration that the Opus Deis concept of education has as primary goal the production of fully submitted individuals. The methods used by the institution to achieve this goal will also be presented. The works nature is theoretical, but also includes the analysis of many testimonies of real cases. The object of research is composed by Opus Deis texts (written by its founder, the spanish Josemaría Escrivá, and by some of his followers) and by the so called informal education of Opus Dei, witch are activities that usually take place inside the institutions houses. The objective, therefore, is to present a scientific analysis of the Opus Deis educational practices and its consequences on the individual. The theoretic references are authors who have studied the fields of prudentia, language and psycho-sociology: Tomas de Aquino, Karl Popper and Erich Fromm. The methodological procedures consist on the theoretical research and on the analysis of testimonies. The technical-operational procedure consist on the analysis of Opus Deis texts and testimonies of ex-members.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(人間・環境学) / 甲第21177号 / 人博第849号 / 新制||人||203(附属図書館) / 29||人博||849(吉田南総合図書館) / 京都大学大学院人間・環境学研究科相関環境学専攻 / (主査)教授 瀬戸口 浩彰, 教授 加藤 眞, 教授 市岡 孝朗 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Human and Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DGAM