The point of departure in this dissertation is the situation in the Marzahn-Hellersdorf region of East-Berlin, where, 17 years after the political turnaround, only three new Christian communities have established themselves., However it is, known that there have been many attempts at church planting during these years. In this district there seems to be a high percentage of people who are resistant towards western theology or ecclesiology respectively. That is why the focus of the dissertation is on those people who live in an a-religious context surrounded by post-socialistic influences. Social scientific approaches and methods have been integrated and utilised as part of this practical-theological research project. The benefit of this was the developing of aspects of a practical-theological perspective that could be used for a specific ecclesiology with special reference to church planting. Ultimately, three hypotheses have been developed. The implications of these hypotheses could serve as essential material for prospective church planting efforts in the area. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. Missiology

This diploma work analyzes the contemporary rise of the number of atheists in the United States of America, basing this presupposition on numerous nation-wide surveys, primarily conducted by Gallup Poll and Pew Research Center. It goes into depth on the definition of atheism and strictly delineates the meaning of this word and the use of its alternatives in the work. Given the fact that the thesis is written by a Czech author, it also provides necessary background covering the differences between Czech atheism and American atheism. Since the work is purposely not one of literary analysis but rather of socio-political and cultural nature, reasons for this decision are given in a separate subchapter analyzing Flannery O'Connor's novel Wise Blood. History of atheism in America is touched upon in the beginning of Chapter 3, but since the fundamental focus of this work is on the contemporary state of affairs, the roots of modern atheism in America are sought after mainly in the twentieth century. In particular, the greatest causes of the weakening of church's power and the rise of secularism (or atheism, for that matter) are given as following: Madalyn Murray O'Hair's fights against church's influence in public schools and against its public funding; the argument about the non-scientific nature of belief...

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar a crítica ateísta à religião no Brasil, mobilizando metodologicamente a discussão de Daniel Cefaï sobre dinâmicas coletivas em torno de problemas públicos. Assim, procuramos demonstrar a regularidade discursiva presente na formulação ateísta brasileira ao identificar seus usos em diferentes arenas. Utilizamos como material empírico, de um lado, os memes produzidos por essa comunidade e depoimentos destinados a ela, que narram a ruptura com um pertencimento religioso; e, de outro, a atuação da Associação Brasileira de Ateus e Agnósticos, seu ativismo jurídico engajado nas discussões a respeito da constitucionalidade da natureza confessional do ensino religioso público. Defendemos a existência de uma sensibilidade ateísta transversal a todas essas arenas, que se adapta por razões pragmáticas. / This research has as its objective to analyse the atheist criticism to religion in Brazil, by resorting to Daniel Cefaï\'s methodological discussions on collective dynamics surrounding public problems. Thereby, we intended to show the discoursive regularity in the Brazilian atheist formulation when identifying its usages in different arenas. As empirical material, we used, in one hand, memes produced by this community and depositions directed to it as well, narrating the rupture with certain religious belonging; on the other hand, the proceedings of the Brazilian Association for Atheists, it\'s \"juridical activism\", engaged in the discussion about the constitutionality of the confessional nature of the teaching of religion in public institutions. In addition, we advocate for the existence of a transversal atheist sensibility in all arenas, that adapts itself for pragmatic reasons.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-08-30T12:55:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Anna Paula Marques Haddad Basso.pdf: 1724717 bytes, checksum: 2d10c8675f38813e90041bd8efe95e45 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-30T12:55:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Anna Paula Marques Haddad Basso.pdf: 1724717 bytes, checksum: 2d10c8675f38813e90041bd8efe95e45 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Fundação São Paulo - FUNDASP / The dissertation aimed to investigate the André Comte-Sponville´s (1952) atheism, recurring as primary reference The Treaty of Despair and Beatitude (t.1,1984; t. 2, 1989). The methodological approach followed the philosophy of religion having as parameters to conceptualise his atheism the humanism in the broad sense and more particular, the one that emerged in the second half of 20th century, or post-modern. The Epicurean materialism is part of his atheist philosophy, it establishes the basis of a structuralist ontology, conceiving the being and everything else (the values, the truth, the love, the justice, the good) as the particles´ movement epiphenomenon, which the philosopher named of upward materialism / O alvo da dissertação foi investigar o ateísmo de André Comte-Sponville (1952) sendo a referência primordial o texto O Tratado do Desespero e da Beatitude (t. 1, 1984; t. 2, 1989). A abordagem metodológica desenvolveu-se pela filosofia da religião tendo como parâmetros para a caracterização do ateísmo sponvilliano o humanismo de modo geral e o anti-humanismo da segunda metade do século XX ou pós-moderno. O materialismo epicurista está presente em sua filosofia ateísta que funda certa ontologia estruturalista, entendendo que o ser e tudo o mais (os valores, a verdade, o amor, a justiça, o bem) são como o homem, epifenômeno do mover de partículas, o que é denominado por ele de materialismo ascendente

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Clarissa de Franco.pdf: 3281883 bytes, checksum: 9bdef4d359b91f69b35ab1ca66383f0c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-06-09 / Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo / The object of study is the main Richard Dawkins ideas of atheism and this reception on the brasilian atheists. Dawkins is one of the leading publishers and militant atheist movement today, and despite his public facet - released worldwide on websites and in books of recognized success - there are debates of the author , pertaining to academic spaces and restricted to scientists, who do not always have congruent to its exhibitions and public defenders . Internally the walls of science, Richard Dawkins can not find full verification and corroboration of some central points of his theory that seem to support its public arguments of atheism, such as the theory and the concept of memetic and selection gene, ideas presented to the lay public one of his most famous books, The Selfish Gene (2001a [1976]) and maintained publicly with the status of consolidated science. We assume that the figures of scientist and militant atheist from Dawkins mingle in front of the public imagination, which tends to lead his followers to understand atheism as a more legitimate and true way that religious, being interpreted that as a way to free choice and the latter undergoes a indoctrination. We believe, however, that atheism can be understood as subject to natural cognitive mechanisms, as religion. We take into account the political scene today is favorable to atheists, since we observed a phenomenon we call "moral atheists revenge", a reversal of official protection and legitimacy of the state, which has long been welcoming and protecting the speech religious and today happened to be synchronized with atheistics claims, being religious in an outdated and uncomfortable place in the democratic debate. These hypotheses was investigated by means of confrontation between the scientific and public speeches of Richard Dawkins and through a mixed questionnaire (with open and closed questions ) that investigated 1022 atheists, noting whether and to what extent atheism sample follows trends thinking of Richard Dawkins. We observed patterns of response, three groups: Super Atheists, Moderates Atheists and Discrete Atheists. Approximately 30% of the sample declare themselves as followers of the author, and all, nearly 80% have knowledge about any point of the theory of Dawkins / O objeto de estudo consiste nas principais ideias ateístas de Richard Dawkins e na recepção destas por parte dos ateus inseridos na cultura brasileira. Dawkins é um dos principais divulgadores e militantes do movimento ateísta da atualidade, e a despeito de sua faceta pública divulgada em sites mundiais e em livros de reconhecido sucesso existem debates do autor, concernentes aos espaços acadêmicos e restritos a cientistas, que nem sempre se apresentam congruentes às suas exposições e defesas públicas. Internamente aos muros da ciência, Richard Dawkins não encontra plena verificação e corroboração de alguns pontos centrais de sua teoria que parecem embasar sua argumentação pública do ateísmo, tais como a teoria da memética e o conceito de seleção de gene, ideias apresentadas ao público leigo em um de seus mais célebres livros, O gene egoísta (2001a [1976]) e mantidas publicamente com o status de ciência consolidada. Consideramos que as figuras de cientista e militante ateu em Dawkins fundem-se diante do imaginário público, o que tende a levar seus seguidores a compreenderem o ateísmo como um caminho mais legítimo e verdadeiro que o religioso, sendo aquele interpretado como um caminho de livre escolha e este último submetido a uma doutrinação. Acreditamos, no entanto, que o ateísmo pode ser compreendido como submetido a mecanismos cognitivos naturais, como a religião. Levamos em conta que o cenário político hoje é favorável aos ateus, uma vez que observamos um fenômeno que chamamos de vingança moral dos ateus , uma inversão da proteção oficial e da legitimidade do Estado, que durante muito tempo esteve acolhendo e protegendo o discurso religioso e hoje passou a se afinizar com reivindicações ateístas, ficando o religioso em um lugar ultrapassado e incômodo no debate democrático. Estas hipóteses foram investigadas por meio da confrontação entre os discursos científico e público de Richard Dawkins e através de um questionário misto (com questões fechadas e abertas) que investigou 1022 ateus, observando se, e em que intensidade, o ateísmo da amostra segue as tendências do pensamento de Richard Dawkins. Pudemos observar nos padrões de resposta, três grupos: Super Ateus, Ateus Moderados e Ateus Discretos. Aproximadamente 30% da amostra declara-se fã do autor, e ao todo, perto de 80% tem conhecimento sobre algum ponto da teoria de Dawkins

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Leonardo Vasconcelos de Castro Moreira.pdf: 836863 bytes, checksum: aec2d442840bcd09481bbe99fcab9ac7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-08 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens have started the new atheism movement. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, these authors aligned their speeches, which were already anti-religious, even more vehemently. Using the concept of Max Weber's disenchantment of the world, I tried to understand how they use science and other arguments against religion. Without forgetting the political struggle, I observe how the deconstruction of the religious sense has a goal of conversion. With theempty of the religious morality of theirs followers, I examine how these four authors construct a new worldview, at an individual and collective level, that would be the (re)enchantment of the world proposed by them. The replacement of religious values by the values of science and new-atheist values, places the new atheism not only on a collision course towards religions, but also causes this new movement to cross to the side of the religious field and become a new symbolic proposal with their own values / Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris e Christopher Hitchens deram início ao que hoje é chamado de neoateísmo. Após os atentados terroristas de 11 de Setembro de 2001, esses autores alinharam seus discursos, que já eram antirreligiosos, de forma ainda mais veemente. Utilizando o conceito de Max Weber de desencantamento do mundo, procuro entender como eles utilizam-se da ciência e de outros argumentos para combater a religião. Sem esquecer a luta política, procuro observar como a desconstrução do sentido religioso tem um objetivo de conversão. Existindo um esvaziamento da moral religiosa dos seguidores do neoateísmo, procuro também analisar como esses quatro autores constroem uma nova cosmovisão, tanto no âmbito individual como coletivo, que seria o (re)encantamento do mundo proposto por eles. A substituição dos valores religiosos pelos valores ditos da ciência e também pelos valores neoateus acaba colocando o neoateísmo não só em rota de colisão perante as religiões, mas também faz com que o mesmo atravesse para o lado do campo religioso e torne-se uma nova proposta simbólica, com seus próprios valores e compensadores

La pensée athée fait partie intégrante de la société française depuis maintenant plusieurs siècles. Si de nombreux ouvrages se sont essayés à en livrer une approche idéologique ou philosophique, peu d’études se sont pourtant réellement attachées, jusqu’à maintenant, à en analyser les composantes, les subtilités, les ressorts ou les acteurs dans une démarche purement sociologique. C’est là l’objectif qui a guidé cette thèse doctorale pour enfin tenter d’apprécier plus en détails la réalité du fait athée en France. Pour appréhender au mieux cette réalité et afin d’étudier une population méconnue car souvent discrète, le travail de recherche entrepris ici s’est volontairement concentré sur l’une des rares associations à être exclusivement composées d’athées déclarés. Bien que très petite en taille et totalement inconnue du grand public, l’« Union des Athées » est en effet la plus ancienne association de ce type au niveau national et constitue par là un terrain d’étude idéal pour qui souhaite s’approcher au plus près de la "parole" athée. Par l’étude fouillée de son histoire et l’analyse de sa conception idéologique, puis au moyen d’une enquête inédite réalisée auprès de ses membres, cette thèse propose des clés pour une compréhension plus actuelle de la pensée athée et permet d’aborder l’athéisme et la laïcité sous un angle nouveau, contribuant ainsi à poser les bases d’une autre réflexion sur les problématiques de l’actualité. En remettant en perspective les notions mêmes d’"athéisme" et de "Dieu", elle introduit par ailleurs un nouveau postulat : considérer l’athéisme ne peut s’envisager sans prendre en compte le contexte civilisationnel dans lequel il se vit. / The atheist’ thought has been an integral part of French society now since several centuries. Even though many writing works have tried to make an ideological and philosophical approach, very few studies have been set out to analyze its constituents, subtleties, or actors, dealing with purely sociological methodology. It is what this doctoral thesis led as its objective for the purpose of attempting to assess the reality of the atheist fact in France. In order to comprehend better this reality and to study this unrecognized population because of its unassuming nature, the research carried out here has been voluntarily concentrated on one of the rare associations composed exclusively by self-declared atheists. Although very small and totally unknown by the general public, the “Atheists Union” is indeed the oldest association of this kind on the national wide level, and thus forms an ideal field of study for who wishes to close to the nearest way of the atheists’ talks. By studying his detailed history and analyzing his ideological conception, and then, by way of an original survey carried out among his members, this thesis propose the key of comprehension of most actual atheists’ thoughts, and allow to approach the atheism and secularism from a new angle, contributing in thus way to put down the bases of an another reflection on the current issues. Putting in perspective the knowledge itself of “atheism” and “God”, it introduces a new postulate: considering the atheism will not be able to foresee without taking into account the civilizational context in which it lives.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:48:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Renato Rodrigues Borges.pdf: 1019593 bytes, checksum: eca56feb775ab91485080ad4498df567 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-24 / The objective of this paper is to reflect about the atheology proposed by Onfray, focusing mainly on the Traité d'Atheologie (2005) work, which proposes the foundations of his philosophical atheism. Still has the intention to identify and present the network of assumptions onfrayana postmodern atheology and describe the system of reference used by the atheist philosopher and french educator. Considering the overview of developments in atheistic ideas from modernity, the current work also seeks to present the contributions of onfrayana atheology with regard to its philosophical proposal. Thus, what is presented in this study is a critical approach than Michel Onfray calls atheology as well as analysis of the philosophical categories that underlie the postmodern atheism and its description in terms of the atheological treaty. / O objetivo deste trabalho é refletir a respeito da ateologia proposta por Onfray, tendo como foco principal a obra Traité d Atheologie (2005), na qual propõe as bases de seu ateísmo filosófico. Tem-se ainda a pretensão de identificar e apresentar a rede de pressupostos da ateologia pós-moderna onfrayana, bem como descrever o sistema de referência ateísta utilizado pelo filósofo e educador francês. Considerando o panorama da evolução das ideias ateístas desde a modernidade, o corrente trabalho também busca apresentar as contribuições da ateologia onfrayana no que se refere à sua proposta filosófica. Assim, o que se apresenta neste estudo é uma abordagem crítica do que Michel Onfray chama de ateologia, bem como a análise das categorias filosóficas que fundamentam o ateísmo pós-moderno e sua descrição no que tange à proposta do tratado ateológico.

In this thesis, I explore the psychological and experiential aspects of the shift from a supernatural theistic worldview (specifically born-again Christianity) to aphilosophically naturalistic and atheistic worldview in the context of the religiouslandscape in the U.S. I posit that certain features of this transition, which is known as "deconversion,” can be thought of as potentially analogous, both psychologically and subjectively, to the experience of another's death as an objective environmental change. I provide anthropological and psychological evidence that believers often experience the God of born-again Christianity as an independently existing and active agent in the world. The similarities between human relationships and God relationships provide the foundation for the claim that loss of these relationships potentially constitute similar experiences, respectively. Both shifts (deconversion and death) share a number of similarities. For example, they both feature a reduction in the number of entities that are believed perceived as having minds (i.e., theory of mind determinations). Also, both shifts require a re-understanding of purpose and meaning in the world (i.e., teleological reasoning). I explore each of these shifts in detail. Finally, I show that the interpretation of the deconversion experience as analogous to the experience of death has implications for the public dialogue between Christians and atheists.

The main topic of this thesis is dedicated to morality and education in the sermons of Jan Kollar, the priest in Pest. The main source I use, is his two-volume publication Nedělnj, swátečné i přjležitostne kázně a řeči and his manuscript Česká kázání v letech 1821 1849. His sermons react on the negative condition of the Evangelical church in Pest and it's denationalization, therefore a part of his sermons describes also a nationalistic factor. As well as to the etics, I pay attention to Kollar's vision on freedom and proper functioning church.