A rapidly growing number of Americans are embracing life outside the bounds of organized religion. Although America has long been viewed as a fervently religious Christian nation, survey data shows that more and more Americans are identifying as “not religious.” There are more non-religious Americans than ever before, yet social scientists have not adequately studied or typologized secularities, and the lived reality of secular individuals in America has not been astutely analyzed. American Secularism documents how changes to American society have fueled these shifts in the non-religious landscape and examines the diverse and dynamic world of secular Americans. This volume offers a theoretical framework for understanding secularisms. It explores secular Americans’ thought and practice to understand secularisms as worldviews in their own right, not just as negations of religion. Drawing on empirical data, the authors examine how people live secular lives and make meaning outside of organized religion. Joseph O. Baker and Buster G. Smith link secularities to broader issues of social power and organization, providing an empirical and cultural perspective on the secular landscape. In so doing, they demonstrate that shifts in American secularism are reflective of changes in the political meanings of “religion” in American culture. American Secularism addresses the contemporary lived reality of secular individuals, outlining forms of secular identity and showing their connection to patterns of family formation, sexuality, and politics, providing scholars of religion with a more comprehensive understanding of worldviews that do not include traditional religion. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1028/thumbnail.jpg

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Scholars have long theorized that religious contexts provide health-promoting social integration and regulation. A growing body of literature has documented associations between individual religiosity and health as well as macro–micro linkages between religious contexts, religious participation, and individual health. Using unique data on individuals and county contexts in the United States, this study offers new insight by using multilevel analysis to examine meso–micro relationships between religion and health. We assess whether and how the relationship between individual religiosity and health depends on communal religious contexts. In highly religious contexts, religious individuals are less likely to have poor health, while nonreligious individuals are markedly more likely to have poor health. In less religious contexts, religious and nonreligious individuals report similar levels of health. Consequently, the health gap between religious and nonreligious individuals is largest in religiously devout contexts, primarily due to the negative effects on nonreligious individuals’ health in religious contexts.

FAITH NO MORE: WHY PEOPLE REJECTRELIGION. By Phil Zuckerman. New York:Oxford University Press, 2011. 240 pp. $24.95cloth.

The Nonreligious: Understanding Secular People and Societies, by PHIL ZUCKERMAN, LUKE W. GALEN, and FRANK L. PASQUALE. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016, 336 pp.; $24.95 (paper), $99.00 (cloth)

This thesis explores the potential role of the spiritual senses in contemporary mission. Responding to the development of a new type of non-religious spirituality known as contemporary spirituality, which has emerged in response to cultural change in the West, this thesis enters into a conversation between contemporary spirituality, contemporary Christianity and John Wesley's theme of the spiritual senses. The theme of the spiritual senses has a rich history and this thesis aims to discover if a revisit of Wesley's particular employment of the spiritual senses has the potential to offer a meaningful contribution to Christian mission in the twenty-first century. Using Gordon Lynch's application of Don Browning's revised correlation, seven key motifs within contemporary spirituality are identified as foundational and used to develop the conversation. The thesis proceeds to use these motifs namely, creation spirituality, individualism freedom and choice, innate spiritual perception, the physical senses and spirituality, the sacred within, a call to community, and religious pluralism, to embark on a conversation between contemporary spirituality and contemporary Christianity. In all of the key areas points of convergence are noted, along with some differences, and suggestions are made concerning further engagement. It is argued that, whilst the findings of this conversation, and the practical applications that flow from them, can be used to engage with contemporary spiritual seekers, nevertheless all would benefit from a renewed framework that responds more particularly to the foundational motifs of contemporary spirituality and that Wesley's application of the spiritual senses might offer this framework. Following this, an investigation of Wesley's employment of the spiritual senses, in his own terms, is embarked upon, where his key tenets are discovered. This section confirms the unity between the spiritual senses and the restoration of the life and image of God, moving from complete cognitive unawareness of God or the spiritual world, through prevenient grace to awakening and the new birth including faith, assurance and sanctification. These basic tenets are then developed showing the spiritual senses to be drawn from the creative moment, personal and yet inclusive, accessible, experiential, centered on both healing and forgiveness, based on the value of the individual, freedom, and choice, based on restored, intimate, and ongoing relationship with the creator, facilitating transformation, communal, and working in harmony with reason. Given the similarities to the key motifs of contemporary spirituality, it is affirmed that Wesley's theme of the spiritual senses has potential to make a significant contribution to the conversation between contemporary spirituality and contemporary Christianity. Finally the conversation between all three parties is developed. Here the information gathered in the previous conversation is correlated and synthesised to specifically identify the contribution that the spiritual senses might offer to contemporary mission. Based on the findings of the conversation, a reconstructed gospel message is presented that, it is argued, both correlates with the aspirations of contemporary spirituality and yet is grounded in the Christian tradition, thus affirming the significance of the role of the spiritual senses to contemporary mission.

In 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the Carter decision that the prohibitions against physician-assisted dying, as outlined in section 241(b) of the Criminal Code of Canada, were unconstitutional as they violated an individual’s s.7 rights as outlined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Though the jurisprudence of this landmark decision and subsequent amendments to Canadian law are interesting in and of themselves, what is particularly interesting about Carter is the framework within which physician-assisted dying is conceptualized. The Court shifts from a religiously informed framework for conceptualizing assisted suicide to a non-religious conceptualization of physician-assisted dying. Given that there remains much to be explored about nonreligion, this thesis asks: how is ‘nonreligion’ constructed by law in relation to physician-assisted dying in Canada? Since the Carter decision is not explicitly about religion or nonreligion the analysis in this thesis maps how the concepts life, death, and morality are reconceptualized. The analysis reveals that nonreligion is a phenomenon that is absent of the transcendent and is instead given positive content through a focus on autonomy. The conceptualization of nonreligion as presented in this thesis contributes to the literature that emphasizes that nonreligion is both positive and meaningful and not simply deficit terminology.

Submitted by isabela.moljf@hotmail.com (isabela.moljf@hotmail.com) on 2017-08-29T15:53:47Z No. of bitstreams: 0 / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-08-30T14:30:29Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-30T14:30:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2015-11-30 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / FAPEMIG - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais / Introdução: Os docentes que atuam na escola não são formados para lidar com demandas como a prevenção ao uso indevido de drogas, sentem-se despreparados. Desta maneira, sinaliza-se a necessidade de avaliar as crenças e práticas dos educadores. Sendo assim os objetivos do presente estudo foram descrever as etapas de construção de uma escala para avaliar as crenças e práticas de educadores frente à prevenção ao uso de álcool e outras drogas e construir evidências de validade do instrumento desenvolvido. A dissertação será apresentada e organizada em dois artigos. Metodologia: No artigo 1, uma matriz conceitual foi elaborada, realizou-se avaliação teórica por especialistas, juiz, grupo focal e estudo piloto. No artigo 2, foram utilizadas as abordagens da TCT e TRI para avaliar as propriedades psicométricas da escala. Resultados: No piloto, (artigo 1) 136 tutores participaram, a média de idade foi de 39,37 anos, 86,8% eram do sexo feminino. Dois componentes surgiram: Crenças e Práticas que explicaram 41% da variância total e o Alpha de Cronbach foi de 0,90. Já no artigo 2, a amostra contou com 3247 educadores dos estados de Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro e Paraná, a maioria dos participantes era do sexo feminino (85,8%) com média de idade de 40,7 (DP = 8,9) anos. A partir da avaliação da independência local e da comparação semântica dos itens, os itens 8 e 33 da Escala de Crenças e 9, 29, 31 e 35 da Escala de Práticas foram removidos. A versão final da escala ficou com 12 itens (Crenças) e 11(Práticas). Conclusão: Conclui-se que o presente estudo apesar das limitações avança em construir uma escala que avalia duas dimensões, com evidências psicométricas satisfatórias para a avaliação das crenças e práticas dos educadores. / Introduction: Teachers working in the school are not trained to deal with demands such as preventing the misuse of drugs, they feel unprepared. In this way, it signals the need to assess the beliefs and practices of educators. Thus the objectives of this study were to describe the construction of a range of steps to evaluate the beliefs and facing educators practices to prevent the use of alcohol and other drugs and construct validity evidence of the instrument developed. The dissertation will be presented and organized in two articles. Methodology: In Article 1, a conceptual framework was drawn up, there was theoretical evaluation by experts, judge, focus groups and pilot study. In Article 2, the approaches were used as TCT and TRI to evaluate the psychometric properties of the scale. Results: In the pilot, (Article 1) 136 tutors participated, the mean age was 39.37 years, 86.8% were female. Two components emerged: Beliefs and Practices which explained 41% of the total variance and the Cronbach's alpha was 0.90. Already in Article 2, the sample consisted of 3247 teachers of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Paraná, most participants were female (85.8%) with a mean age of 40.7 (SD = 8, 9 years. From the assessment of local independence and semantic comparison of items, items 8:33 of Beliefs Scale and 9, 29, 31 and 35 of the Practice Range were removed. The final version of the scale was left with 12 items (Beliefs) and 11 (Practice). Conclusion: In conclusion, this study despite the limitations advances in building a scale that assesses two dimensions, with psychometric evidence satisfactory to evaluate the beliefs and practices of educators.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the marketing strategies for attracting students who have nonreligious vocational goals (NRVG) that are employed by Bible colleges that are either accredited or candidates for accreditation of the American Association of Bible Colleges (AABC). Primary subpurposes were to determine the AABC's interest in marketing themselves.to NRVG; practice of educational marketing strategies toward NRVG; career planning programs and placement services available to NRVG; approaching employers with placement services for NRVG; making available seminars, placement services, and alumni networking for NRVG; and difference in marketing to NRVG according to a colleges' denomination, size, three year growth pattern, and estimated percentage of NRVG. An overview of the literature pertaining to educational marketing and marketing for a liberal arts education was given. The population chosen for this study was the accredited (87) and candidate for accreditation (15) Bible colleges of the AABC (102). Eighty (78.4%) colleges actually responded. The design of this study was survey research using a mailed questionnaire as the principal source of data collection. The statistics utilized were parametric (e.g., one-way analysis of variance and t test) and nonparametric (e.g., chi square). The results of the study indicated that AABC colleges were interested in marketing themselves to students with NRVG. Many of the colleges practiced common educational marketing strategies, but much more could be done. AABC colleges offered a number of effective career Planning programs and placement services, but failed to offer several strategic programs. The Colleges have approached employers in order to place students, but not to the extent they could. AABC colleges have not served or involved their alumni to the extent they could. The marketing strategies of the AABC did not significantly differ based on a college's denomination, size, three year growth pattern, and estimated percentage of students with NRVG. However, each of the four sets did have significant results.

A questão da origem dos bebês constitui uma das perguntas mais antigas da humanidade e um enigma existencial que, desde cedo, interessa às crianças. O tema foi abordado, com distintos focos, por dois dos autores mais relevantes da psicologia: Jean Piaget e Sigmund Freud. Ambas as perspectivas abordam a manifestação da curiosidade sexual infantil e suas perguntas sobre a origem dos bebês como fundadoras de um vínculo particular com o conhecimento. A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo geral investigar as formas e elementos comuns das crenças sobre a origem dos bebês em crianças de 4 a 9 anos por constituir um período de passagem para ambas as teorias. Para a psicogênese piagetiana, contempla a transição entre o pensamento pré-operatório e o operatório concreto. No contexto do desenvolvimento psicossexual postulado pela teoria psicanalítica, esse período considera a passagem da fase fálica ao período da latência. A partir da hipótese de uma possível articulação entre ambos os corpos teóricos, o estudo se propõe explicar e analisar a construção dessas crenças. Para isso, 80 crianças da cidade de Campinas, SP, entre 4 e 9 anos participaram de uma entrevista individual elaborada a partir do método clínico piagetiano. O procedimento incluiu um questionário semi-estruturado e seis pranchas com ilustrações de contos de fadas e personagens infantis, usadas como recurso provocador. As perguntas contemplaram, entre outros eixos temáticos, a fecundação, a alimentação intra-uterina, o nascimento e as diferenças sexuais. Os dados coletados foram organizados em dois grupos etários: de 4 a 6 e de 7 a 9 anos. Para analisar as crenças foram levados em conta os aspectos cognitivos e afetivos postulados por Piaget para explicar a construção pré-operatória e operatória do conhecimento. Foram considerados conceitos como egocentrismo e descentração, os estágios do artificialismo e as conseqüências que o vínculo das crianças com seus pais trazem para a qualidade do conhecimento construído. Na perspectiva da psicanálise, foram especialmente considerados os conceitos: teorias sexuais infantis, processos primários e secundários, complexo de Édipo e pulsão de saber. Conseguiu-se detectar diferenças qualitativas significativas entre as crenças das crianças mais novas e das mais velhas, o que confirma a progressão genética da organização mental postulada por Piaget e o desenvolvimento psicossexual teorizado por Freud. A comparação das crenças mostra, em linhas gerais, uma progressão: do concreto (dados perceptivos) ao abstrato, do subjetivo ao objetivo, do egocêntrico ao descentrado e coordenado, e do difuso ao mais preciso. Os resultados contribuem para a discussão acerca da pertinência do diálogo entre conceitos piagetianos e freudianos para melhor compreender a construção do conhecimento sobre a origem dos bebês e a interação de aspectos cognitivos e afetivos no desenvolvimento infantil em geral / The question of the origin of babies is one of the oldest questions of humanity and it is an existential enigma that, since early age, interests children. The topic was discussed taking into consideration perspectives of two significant authors of Psychology: Jean Piaget and Sigmund Freud. Both perspectives address the manifestation of child sexual curiosity and their questions about the origin of babies as founders of a particular relation with knowledge. This research aims to investigate forms and common elements in the beliefs about the origin of babies in children from 4 to 9 years old. This age group corresponds to periods of transition in both theories. For Piagetian psychogenesis, envisages the transition between pre-operative to concrete operative thinking. In the context of psychosexual development, postulated by the psychoanalytic theory, this period is considered the transition from the phallic phase to the period of latency. From the hypothesis of a possible linkage between the two theoretical approaches, the study explained and analyzed the construction of these beliefs. For this, 80 children in Campinas city (SP) participated in individual interviews based on the Piagetian clinical method. The procedure included a semi-structured questionnaire and six boards with illustrations of fairy tales and cartoon characters, used as a \"provocative\" resource. The issues contemplated themes such as fecundation, intrauterine nutrition, birth and sex differences. The data collected was organized into two age groups: from 4 to 6 and from 7 to 9 years. To analyze the children´s beliefs cognitive and affective aspects postulated by Piaget to explain the construction of pre-operative and operative knowledge were taken into account. Concepts such as egocentricity and decentration, stages of artificiality and the consequences that the relation between children and their parents bring to the quality of knowledge constructed were considered. From the psychoanalitical point of view, concepts of children\'s sexual theories, primary and secondary processes, Oedipus complex and knowledge drive were especially considered. It was able to detect significant qualitative differences between the beliefs of the younger children and the elder ones, which confirms the genetic progression of mental organization proposed by Piaget and the psychosexual development theorized by Freud. The comparison of beliefs in general shows a progression from the concrete (perceptual data) to the abstract, the subjective to the objective, the egocentric thinking to the decentred and coordinated thinking, and from a diffuse to a more precise view. Results contribute to the discussion about the relevance of the dialogue between Piagetian and Freudian concepts to better understand the construction of the knowledge about the origin of babies and the interaction of cognitive and affective aspects in child development