By Robert Merikangas, M.L.S., Ph. D.
This list of questions and related annotated bibliography is intended to support inquiry and conversations concerning religion and the diversity and unity of believers and non-believers, and also common actions for the betterment of humankind and our environment.
Introduction: This resource should be interactive and dynamic, constantly growing and changing. Reources are given as examples, but we hope that they are good ones. Web sites will be given when possible and appropriate, but the sources may be in any format: books, periodicals, reports, Web sites, etc. Send comments and suggestions. Current edition: November 25, 1998.
THE QUESTIONS AND RESOURCES
Suggested general questions we could ask ourselves: What has helped us to learn about our own faith traditions and communities, and what has helped us to learn about others? What forms of dialogue have been of value, and what issues are most in need of respectful dialogue in these times? What concerns for the well-being of others should drive our efforts to reach common ground for action?
Q-What are some general sources to use to learn about religion?
General encyclopedias, such as the Britannica, are useful, but especially see the encyclopedias dealing particularly with religions:
There are numerous textbooks, such as:
Ludwig, Theodore M. The Sacred paths: Understanding the Religions of the Word. Upper Saddle, NJ: Prentice Hall, various editions.
There are a number of specialized encyclopedias, such as:
Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Ed. William H. Swatos, Jr. Walnut Creek, CA: Sage/Altamira Press, 1998.
Q-How can we monitor current scholarly discussions and reflect on them?
The best way to keep up with current discussion about religion and its meanings in culture and people's lives is from the current periodicals. We can use indexes and databases to search, but browsing is a good way to see what is happening. Some titles in McKeldin Library for browsing (note that the UnCover Reveal service will send tables of contents to you by e-mail):
Numerous publications report on current books, such as ABPR, and the UnCover Reveal service, but a good way to scan current books on religion, with abstracts, is by Religion Studies Review with the subtitle "A Quarterly Review of Publications in the Fied of Religion and Related Disciplines."
Another way to monitor the current books on religion is by scanning the periodical Publishers Weekly, especially the periodic issues devoted particularly to religious books. For example, see:
The major religious publishers will give their catalogs.
Called the big 3: Thomas Nelson, Word, Zondervan.
Affiliated with churches: Abingdon Press, Augsburg Fortress, Brethren,
Cowley, Ignatius Press, Orbis Books, Westminster/John Knox,.
Non-affiliated: Bear & Company, Crossroad, Eerdmans, HarperSanFrancisco,
Paulist Press, Seervant.
Jewish tradition: Jewish Publication Society, Ktav.
Eastern tradition: Shambhala, Snow Lion.
For a good overview of publishers see:
Farry, Mike. The Directory of Publishers in Religion. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1997.
Q-What would be some good periodicals to scan to see what is happening and what is being discussed about religion and within faith communities today?
Here is a short list; add your own:
Q-What societies and organizations might be sources of scholarly knowledge and resources?
We can use our encyclopedias of organizations to find them, but here
are some lists:
--American Academy of Religion.. --Members of the Council of Societies
for the Study of Religion: American Society of Missiology, Association
of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education, Catholic Biblical
Association, Catholic Theological Society of America, College Theology
Society, National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion, North
American Academy of Litrugy, North American Association for the Study of
Religion, Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies, Society of Christian
Ethics.
--Ecumenical: North American Academy of Ecumenists, Christians Associated
for Relationships with Eastern Europe, Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious
Institute, World Conference of Religion and Peace, World Congress of Faiths,
Headquarters of Won Buddhism.
--Others: Religious Education Association, Religious Research Association,
Society for the Study of Myth and Tradition, Society for the Scientific
Study of Religion, Institute on Religion in an Age of Science.
Q-What organizations might be resources on ecumenical activities and interreligious cooperation?
See as an example of organizations and publications, the issues of Explorations, from the American Interfaith Institute and the World Alliance of Interfaith Organizaions.
A book: Sharing Shalom: A Process for Local Interfaith Dialogue between Christians and Jews. Eds. Philip A. Cuningham and Arthur F. Starr.
Braybrooke, Marcus. Pilgrimage of Hope: One Hundred Years of Global Interfaith Dialogue. New York: Crossroad, 1991.
Q-What is the place of religious studies in the university curriculum?
Since the University of Maryland does not have a religious studies program, but might well have one at some time, it might be worth investigating the state of religious studies. It is an area not without controversy, as might be expected. However, many colleges and universities have departments of religion or religious studies, offering majors or concentrations.
"Religion," chapter 10, pp. 169-183, of Reports from the Fields:
Project on Liberal Learning, Study-in-Depth, and the Arts and Sciences
Major. Volume 2 of Liberal Learning and the Arts and Sciences Major.Washington,
DC: Association of American Colleges, 1991.
"This report focusses on the student: What should an undergraduate
expect to gain from a concentration in the study of religion." (p. 171).
For current discussions on religious studies, see the Journal of the American Academy of Religion. For example, see the 1996 presidential address by Lawrence E. Sullivan in the Spring 1998 issue, and the article by Ivan Stenski, "Religion, Power, and Final Foucault," in the Summer 1998 issue (with responses and rejoinders).
For a good overview of the academic politics and controversies concerning the study and teaching of religion, see:
Allen, Charlotte. "Is Nothing Sacred? Casting out the Gods from Religious
Studies," Lingua Franca: The Review of Academic Life, 6:7 (November
1996), 30-40.
She portrays the disagreements and hostilities between the AAR and
the more recently founded North American Association for the Study of Religion
(NAASR). The latter group sees the study of religion as a social science,
not part of the humanities. Allen:
"In fact, the typical university religion department is a disciplinary
hodgepodge in which faculty hiring -- and the course catalogs -- are governed
mostly by the department head's idea of a varied array of religious traditions
and theories." (pp. 34-35.)
Wiebe, Donald.The Politics of Religious Studies.New York: St.
Martin's Press, 1998.
One of the main participants in the politics gives his overview in
this collection of essays.
Wentz, Richard E. "Point of View: The Hidden Discipline of Religious Studies," Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct. 1, 1999, A72.
Pals, Daniel L. Seven Theories of Religion. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1996.
A good introduction to the different approaches.
Penaskovic, Richard. Critical Thinking and the Academic Study of Religion. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1997.
Q-What about sources about religion on the Internet?
We provide some links here, in all categories of this Diversity database, and generally in the category, "Meta-sites."
Q- What resouces are there for teachers of religion?
There are many books and journals and as, but a good single-source for discussion is the book by Nash:
Nash, Rober J. Faith, Hype and Clarity: Teaching about Religion in American Schools and Colleges. New York: Teachers College Press, 1999.
Q-What does the Internet mean in people's religious lives?
Zaleski, Jeff. The Soul of Cyberspace: How New Technology is Changing
Our Spiritual Lives. New York: HarperEdge, 1997.
The Library of Congress subject headings for this book open up directions
for further reading:
Davis, Erik. Techgnosis: Myth, Magic, and Religion in the Information Age.New York: Harmony Books, 1998.
Many churches are making use of the Internet. See:
Murray, Steven M. A Guide to the Internet for Churches and Pastors. Nashville, TN: Discipleship Resources, 1998.
A doctoral dissertation studies religion in cyberspace:
Wyndham, Michael Adair. Cyberchurch: Christian Community in Cyberspace. Sountern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1996.
Bedell, Ken. "The Extent and Nature of Religion on the Internet."
May 1998.
www.religion-research.org/report1.htm
Q-Sacred books are vital to many religions: how can we find and read them?
We provide links to some Internet texts in the section "Reading Room." For those who prefer print, there are many compilations as well as complete editions of sacred books. Here are some examples of general compilations:
Novak, Philip. The World's Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the World's Religions.
New
York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994.
The chapters are: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism,
Christianity, Islam, Primal Religions.
Ballou, Robert Oleson. The Viking Portable World Bible. New York:
Viking, 1972.
The cataloging reports: "The gist of each of the world's eight most
influential religious faiths, as revealed by their basic scriptures."
Smart, Ninian, and Richard B. Hecht, eds. Sacred Texts of the World: A Universal Anthology. New York: Crossroad, 1982.
Serinity, Young, ed. An Anthology of Sacred Texts by and about Women.
New York: Crossroad, 1993.
Sources: Judaism; Christianity; Islam; Ancient Near East, Greece, and
Rome; Northern European paganism; Shamanism and Tribal Religions; Hinduism;
Buddhism; Confucianism; Taoism; Alternative Religious Movements.
Q-What other kinds of writings are needed for understanding the core beliefs of a religious tradition?
Creeds, catechisms.
Encyclopedia of American Religions: Religious Creeds.Detroit: Gale Research, 1988.
Catholic Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994.
Commentaries, theological treatises, stories, autobiographies, manifestos, etc.
Q-If we distinguish between the general worldviews of religious people and the working out of the implications of worldviews systematically as theologies, how do we find the theologies?
Religious traditions offer extensive historical and present-time theological works, in which thinkers try to connect faiths to contemporary thinking and cultures, with implications for action in moral theologies or moral guidelines for practice. Religion-sponsored universities and theology schools teach these works and traditions. Programs for the preparation of teachers and clerics are many, and the syllabi of their courses would represent what is considered essential and important.
Q-What is the relation between philosophy and theology?
This is an age-old question, with a vast literature in every tradition.
Kerr, Fergus. Immortal Longings: Versions of Tramscending Humanity.Notre
Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1998.
Kerr examines the thought of some contemporary or recent thinkers,
including Martha Nussbaum, Martin Heidegger, Luce Irigaray, Iris Murdoch,
and Charles Taylor.
Rouner, Leroy S., ed. Knowing Religiously. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1985.
Q-What are some of the major theological questions to investigate in the study of religions?
We might list: the meaning of salvation, the existence of an afterlife, the way life is to be lived, the position taken in relation to the pluralism of religions, the need or not to belong to a specific religion.
Q-Religions have sacred spaces and places which we might visit or hear or read about: what about them?
Kedar, Benjamin Z., and R.J. Zw. Werblowsky, eds. Sacred Space: Shrine,
City, Land. London: Macmillan, 1998.
Proceedings from a conference held in Jersualem in 1992. From the introduction:
"Landscape -- whether macro-cosmography or local geography -- is shaped,
in the very act of our perceiving it, by our mindscape." (p. 10)
Chidester, David, and Edward T. Linenthal, eds. American Sacred Space.Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1995.
In the Religion in North America series. Varied essays, from
the Christian home to Mount Rushmore.
Brockman, Norbert C. Encyclopedia of Sacred Places. Santa Barbara,CA:
ABC-CLIO, 1997.
An alphabetic list of articles, with a list by religious tradition
and by country. For a sacred place such as Jerusalem, there are articles
on Christian sites, Islamic sites, Jewish sites. One category is New Age
sites. Mention is also made of the UNESCO World Heritage List of Cultural
Sites. Many sites are the focus of pilgrimages by thousands and millions,
such as as Mecca, Medina, Santiago de Compostela, and Lourdes.
In the Washington area there are many religious buildings, places of worship, burial grounds, and there are also sacred gardens, including, at least:
We can attend rituals and liturgies when they are open to visitors and when we are invited to special occasions. Rituals include regular prayer and worship services, and rituals for life events and transitions, such as being initiated into the community, getting married, death and burial. Some rituals celebrate and memorialize events in the history of the faith community. How do we learn about the meanings of the rituals?
Eisen, Arnold M. Rethinking Modern Judaism: Ritual, Commandment,
and Community.Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.
The author is a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at
Stanford University. This study gives extensive treatment of changing practices
and interpretations of rituals.
Q-What can we learn from religious clothes, vestments, and symbols?
People often wear clothing and symbols mandated or recommended by their religious traditions or particular religious communities. We can inquire into their histories and meanings.
We note as an example the exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art until April 6, 1999: "Church Vestments and Emdroideries from the 14th through the 18th Century."
Q-What might we learn and should we learn from the history of religion and of religions, of churches?
Origins and spread, corruptions and renewals?
Splits and fragmentations, reunions?
Interreligious and ecumenical efforts and dialogues?
Heretics, apostates?
Bromley, David G., ed. The Politics of Religious Apostasy: The Role of Apostates in the Transformation of Religous Movements. Westport, CT: Preager, 1998.
Fundamentalisms?
The Fundamentalism Project. Edited by Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991-
Ideas?
Contemporary Religious Ideas: Bibliographic Essays. Ed. G. Edward Lundin, Anne H. Lundin. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1996.
Q-Are cults different from religions?
Note: The Library of Congress reflects usage and uses different subject headings.
Should we label some groups, such as the Branch Davidians, cults, and call others religions? What about religion and "superstition" or "paganism"? Are cults religions we don't like? Or do we need to focus on actions we disagree with? Here is a good short article that raises the issues:
Strenski, Ivan."Lessons for Religious Studies in Waco? Journal of the American Academy of Religion61 (1993), 567-574.
Strenski refers to the statement by religious leaders after the Waco incident, published in the Los Angeles Times, May 8, 1993, page B4. They "warned that government efforts to define a cult would prove dangerous to religious liberty" and stated: "History teaches that today's cults' may become tomorrow's mainstream religions."
Allen, Charlotte. "Brainwashed! Scholars of Cults Accuse Each Other
of Bad Faith," Lingua Franca: The Review of Academic Life, 8:9 (Dec./Jan.,
1999), 26-36.
Allen gives a quick picture of the controversies, but ends by writing
that "exchanges among cult scholars show signs of becoming more collegial."
(p. 36)
Q-What issues arise concerning missions, conversion attempts, and proselytizing by religious communities?
In 1999, the publication and dissemination of resources by the Southern Baptists for the conversion of Jews and Hindus has created controversy. For example, see:
Rosin, Hanna. "Southern Baptists, Expanding Effort, Target Hindus for Conversion," Washington Post, Oct. 21, 1999, A19.
The movement of Jews to Christianity often causes conerns and controversies, whether or not active programs are carried out, such as activities by "Jews for Jesus."
See the study:
Harris-Shapiro, Carol. Messianic Judaism: A Rabbi's Journey
through Religious Change in America. Boston: Beacon Press, 1999.
Some of the reaction to this book is reported in:
Dorfman, John. "Kosher for Christ," Lingua Franca, 9:6 (Sept.
1999), 21-23.
Q-What are the practices of "cults" that are problematic?What is the situation at the University of Maryland
The issue of cults has been frequently raised on college campuses. See the article in the UM Diamondback, October 8, 1998, p. 1: "Cults on Campus: Faith: Local Religious Officials Warn of the Dangers of Cults."
See the issue of The Faculty VoiceJanuary 1995, with the article" "Chaplains strive to counter influence of cults on campus," an interview with Chaplain Beth Platz.
The campus officials have given attention to providing literature warning students of the dangers from coercive practices by religious groups.
Maryland Cult Task Force : cti.itc.virginia.edu/~jkh8x/soc257/cultsect/mdtaskforce.htm
For a list of religions, cults, and new religious movements created by the Christian group called Watchman, which is a "Christian response to cults and new religious movements," see their Web site:
Certainly spirituality and religion are closely interconnected, but treatises often deal with one or the other explicitly. For example, there are studies cataloged as "spiritual life -- history" rather than as the history of religion. See the series: World Spirituality.
Spirituality and the Secular Quest. Edited by Peter H. Van Ness.
New York: Crossroad, 1996.
Chapters cover a wide variety of spirituality-connected topics.
Wuthnow, Robert. After Heaven: Spirituality in America since the
1950s.Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
A good introduction to the present scene, with a distinction between
a focus on dwelling and a focus on seeking.
See the feature on "Spirituality in America" in the Sept/Oct 1998 issue of Tikkun: A Bimonthly Jewish Critique of Politics, Culture, and Society. One of the articles is "Ban the Word Spiritual'" by Rami Shapiro.
Bouyer, Louis. History of Christian Spirituality. 3 vols. New York: Seabury Press, 1963- .
Q-What is the role of prayer in religions?
Carmody, Denise lardner, and John Tully Carmody. Prayer in World
Religions.Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1990.
"Cursory as our survey of some of the major world religions has been,
it makes clear the omnipresence of prayer. Prayers of petition, thanksgiving,
adoration, sacrifice, and much more have filled the minds and hearts of
people the world over. Where has this imperative to pray come from, and
what does it imply for the current encounters among the world religions?"
(p. 147).
Q-Whose stories, whose narratives should we listen to and learn from in seeking to understand religions?
We need to learn about the founding figures and prophets of the religious traditions -- how?
Hospital, Clifford G. Breakthrough : Insights of the Great Religious
Discoverers. Maryknoll, N.Y. : Orbis Books, 1985.
An example of a general introduction.
Of course, there are a vast number of works about individual "religious discoverers," such as Jesus the Christ.
We may also want to learn about the lives of martyrs, prophets, saints, leaders, teachers, mystics, reformers, etc.
Q-Why is it that the recognition of saints' in one faith community may lead to controversies with another?
For an example, see the canonization of Edith Stein, a Jew who converted to Catholicism, in 1998.
Q-Why and how should we listen to the faith stories of each other?
See The Washington Post, on the Saturday Religion page, beginning
August 1, 1998, for faith stories.
"Today the Religion Page begins sharing a selection of "Faith Stories"
we recently solicited from readers. The range of personal journeys reflects
what religious scholars say is an increasing trend toward spiritual "transformation,"
the movement from one belief to another. The Post received more than 130
stories by the July 10 deadline -- some testifying to a lifelong search,
others recounting emotional traumas that drove the writers from belief
to disbelief or from one religion to another. We found Christians who became
Jews, Jews who became Christians, Protestants who became Catholics and
Catholics who became Muslims. Some returned to the faiths of their childhoods;
others discovered a spiritual home in Neo-Paganism, the Baha'i faith, Buddhism,
Quakerism or Mormonism. A few found a faith in God outside of any organized
religion. "(August 1, p. B9) For the texts on the Web, search "Major Newspapers"
in Academic Universe, with search terms: faith stories.
Q-What are some of the most significant or widely read spiritual autobiographies?
Some examples: what would you add?
Beaudoin, Tom. Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation
X.San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998.
A good overview.
Hoover, Brett.Losing Your Religion, Finding Your Faith.New York:
Paulist Press, 1998.
Another treatment of faith journeys of the young as they mature.
Cimino, Richard, and Don Lattin.Shopping for Faith: American Religion
in the New Millenium.San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998.
Publisher describes a theme: "They show how spiritual experience will
replace religious doctrine as the driving force in the free market of faith,
how Baby Boomers and GenXers will rediscover traditional faith, and how
megachurches and small groups will provide new homes for spiritual seekers."
Q-What do polls and surveys tell us about religion in Americans' lives, especially on campuses, today?
On campus, the University New Student Cenus for 1997-1998 reported on "Religion in Incoming Freshman Students' Lives." "Forty-seven percent of the 3271 respondents indicated that religion was imprtant in their lives and only 27% that is was not."
In the 1998-1999 University New Student Census the Religious Preferences of the freshman class (2400 respondents) showed from the survey: Catholic 28%, Jewish 16%, Other 15%, no preference 14%, Protestant 11%, atheist 4%, Hindu 2%, Islamic 2%, Buddhist 1%, no answer 5%.
The Gallup polls and other polls and surveys report on the belief in God and on religious participation in the United States.
Q-What has been reported about religion at the University of Maryland campus?
See the Campus Resources section of this Religion database. The index to the Diamondback in McKeldin Reference collection gives sources on religion. A good article appeared in the spring 1998 issue of the alumni magazine, College Park: "Keeping the Faith: The Challenge of Belief in a Secular Temple." (see link in Media) Letters to the editor in the Summer 1998 issue added information, especially about the Orthodox christians (letter by Patricia Jenkins, p. 4).
Q-What are some of the issues and topics of religious concern on the UM campus?
The practice of religion by students in relation to the practices of
parents.
The conversion to another religion.
Pressure from "cults."
Community service for the needy.
Activities in student religious centers.
Celebrations of religious holidays and feastdays.
Interfaith dating and marriage.
Q-What are the opportunities for a career in religion?
In the Career Guide issue of the Diamondback of October 7, 1998, Elaine Albenda interviewed campus chaplains about careers in religious ministries.
See the Ministry Connection under Resources and Reference Centers in this database, and the Chronicle of Higher Education for academic positions.
Q-What is the significance of conversion in religious life and life in general?
Chelewinsky, Zdzislaw. Search for Maturity: Personality, Conscience, Religion. New York: P. Lang, 1998.
Walter Conn and many others have written extensively on conversion.
Q-What are our general models of personal moral development? Do we endorse the movement toward altruism, prosocial behavior, compassion, responsibility for others? What do the student affairs professionals contribute to the vision of ethics and education?
Kegan Robert. In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life.
Cambridge, MS: Harvard University Press, 1994.
A quite challenging and comprehensive study of development of great
relevance to education.
Guthrie, David S., ed. Student Affairs Reconsidered: A Christian
View of the Profession and its Contexts. Lanham, MD: University Press
of America, 1997.
In one chapter, editor Guthrie reports that "we contend that the development
of wisdom is the ultimate purpose of student learning, regardless of institutional
setting. So, what do we mean by developing wisdom? We offer that growing
in wisdom consists in establishing and reestablishing connections among
three interrelated processes: remembering, discerning, and exploring."
(pp. 53-54).
Q-In what ways does a religious worldview affect how we see and judge the world, the ways of the world, and the ways we should live, either in conformity with our culture or in a countercultural movement against it?
Rounder, Leroy S, ed.Knowing Religously. Notre Dame: University
of Notre Dame Press, 1985.
A variety of philosophical perspectives, aware that a philosophy of
religion is itself a part of religious knowing.
Q-What are the mystical traditions, and how are they expressed, especially in poetry?
See the histories of mysticism.
We can learn much from the poetry from religious traditions, such as:
Q-How do the humanists and others relate to the world religions by offering alternatives?
In the Religious Organizations section of the Gale Encyclopedia of Organizations you will find a number of alternatives to religions, such as atheist groups and humanist organizations. Examples of humanist groups:
At the University of Maryland and other campuses the atheists are advancing their organizations. See:
Nussbaum, Emily. "Faith No More: The Campus Crusade for Secular
Humanism," Lingua Franca 9:7 (October 1999), 30-37.
Note the Campus Freethough Alliance (CFA).
Q-What are questions about the relations between religion and the human sciences?
Helminiak, Daniel A.Religion and the Human Sciences: An Approach
via Spirituality.Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998.
The theologian and psychologist uses the work of Bernard Lonergan to
provide an alternative to the widely read work of KenWilbur on religion.
Q-What are our questions about the relations between religion and mental health?
Koenig, Harold G. Handbook of Religion and Mental Health.San
Diego: Academic Press, 1998.
From the back cover: "The book describes how religious beliefs and
practices relate to mental health and influence mental health care. It
presents research on the association between religion and personality,
coping behavior, anxiety, depression, psychoses, and successes in psychotherapy
and includes discussions on specific religions and their perspectives on
mental health."
Q-How do values, including religious values, enter into the counseling situations?
Hall, C. Margaret. Identity, Religion, and Values: Implications for
Practitioners. Washington, DC: Taylor and Francis, 1996.
Hall offers scenarios for counselors who want to allow or encourage
consideration of the values and religious faiths of students.
Q-What are our questions about the relations between science and religion?
Wilson, Edward O. Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge. New York:
Knopf, 1998.
Wilson seeks to find and show connections between the evolution of
human qualities and moral behavior.
Theology Today, the October 1998 issue (vol. 55, no. 3), offers seven articles on "theology and science in conversation."
The Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions is publishing an 11-book series on religion and ecology beginning in 1998. The first ones are Buddhism and Ecology and Confucianism and Ecology.
Overman, Dean L. A Case Against Accident and Self-Organization.
Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1997.
Overman wrote this book in reaction to an article which reasoned from
scientific theories that "individuals are free to select their own purposes
and goals without regard to any standard" (p. xvii) Overman discusses the
mathematical probabilities of the observed increasing complexity of the
biological world and the possibilities of life arising from accidental
or chance events.
Current discussions may be found in many places. Some examples:
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science. This scholarly quarterly
gives many perspectives on the current thought.
Current periodicals give reports on the discussions, such as the cover
story, "Science Finds God" in Newsweek, July 20, 1998.
Newspapers also report publications and discussions. See, for example,
the articles on the religion page (C8) of the Washington Post, June
13, 1998, "Bridging the Gap," and "A Scientist's Observations on Religion."
The issue of the campus Faculty Voice in Nov. 1998 has an article/book
review about science in relation to postmodernism and religious thought
by Stephen Brush.
Q- What about connections between religion and health?
Brown, Chip. Afterwards, You're a Genius: Faith, Medicine, and the Metaphysics of Healing. New York: Riverhead, 1999.
Sloan, R.P., E. Bagiella, and T. Powell. "Religion, Spiriutality, and Medicine," Lancet, 353 (Feb. 20, 1999), 664-667.
Q-What about connections between technology and religion?
In addition to the many books and articles, see the Web site:
Jackson, Philip W. John Dewey and the Lessons of Art. New Haven:
Yale University Press, 1998.
See especially the section "spirituality of art-centered experiences."
See the Religion and Art section of this database.
Q- What about music?What about religious music?
Frith, Simon.Peforming Rites: On the Value of Popular Music.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univerity Press, 1996.
Can we not only enjoy music, but also converse about its values and
make judgments? Frith: "The importance of value judgments for popular culture
thus seems obvious, but it has been quite neglected in academic cultural
studies." (p. 8)
Sullivan, Lawrence E., ed.Enchanting Powers: Music in the World's Religius Traditions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions, 1997.
Q-What about religion and the search for ultimate meaning in the films we make and watch?
We might gather a list of films which seek to provide stories and experiences of the search for meaning or the trials and joys of living in faith communities. We could watch these together and discuss them. See the film section of this database.
Q-As with films, we might experience and reflect on television programs: which ones?
Television provides access to films, and also creates its own stories, even about nuns and angels, even of a Catholic parish ("Nothing Sacred"). What do studies show about the inclusion of the religious dimension on the lives of TV characters in general?
Q-How could we learn about religion and dance?
Many religions incorporate dance in their liturgies and celebrations. Whirling dervishes have toured American cities.
The Jewish Avodah Dance Ensemble "pioneered in the development of dance midrash" and offers workshops to "explore the Talmud through movement improvisation." (Avodah Dance Ensemble, 243 5th St. #9, Jersey City, NJ 07302)
Tucker, JoAnne, and Susan Freeman.Torah in Motion: Creating Dance Midrash.Denver, CO: A.R.E. Pub., 1990.
Q-How do religions call on the members of their faith communities to practice their faith in action? What are the moral expectations?
The moral obligations and expectations of believers are complex, and range from general commandments to specific prescriptions, and there are great variations in moral codes, moral theologies, and recommended decision making processes and specific actions.
Many questions about religions and personal and social conduct and practice can be connected to the Ten Commandments, generalized as:
Q-What is our situation in terms of diversity and pluralism in ethics and values?
Hesselgrave, Ronald P. Public Ethics for a Pluralistic Society: Contrasting
Visions of America's Religious and Moral Foundations. San Francisco:
International Scholars Publications, 1998.
This personal study raises many of the important issues in the historical
context.
Q-Are there ways we can reach a consensus on common values?
Bok, Sissela. Common Values. Columbia: University of Missouri
Press, 1995.
Bok provides a good basis for dialogue in these lectures and essays.
Her project: "I suggest, in this book, that we look for a limited set of
values so down-to-earth and so commonplace as to be most easily recognized
across societal and other boundaries. To the extent that they are acknowledged
as common and respected as such, they can provide a basis from which to
undertake the dialogue and collaboration now needed. But they must also
be so clear-cut as to offer standards for critiquing abuses --including
those perpetuated either in the name of universalist political, religious,
or moral doctrines or in that of ethnic, religious, political, or other
diversity." (p. 1) She offers a short list of approaches for discussion
concerning possible common values:
"1. The United Nations World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna
in June 1993. 2. The World Parliament of Religions, assembled in Chicago
in August 1993. 3. Veritatis Splendor, Pope John Paul II's encyclical,
published in the fall of 1993. 4. The Report of the Commission on Global
Governance, Our Global Neighborhood, issued in February 1995." (p. 28)
Bell, Wendell. "Universal Human Values," pp. 171-227, in Values,
Objectivity, and the Good Society , volume 2 of Foundations of Futures
Studies . New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1997.
Bell points out the "limits of cultural diversity and relativism" and
provides resources in support of "the core values of (a) knowledge, (b)
evaluation itself, (c) justice, and (d) cooperation. (p. 172) He gives
lists of universal or near-universal human values which have stood the
test of time, and adds "there is a need for further inquiry and worldwide
discourse exploring the question of what human values are the most appropriate."
(p. 227) In a later chapter he asks: what human values ought to be changed?
As a futurist, he gives special attention to concerns for future generations.
Huddleston, Lauren. "Morals, Ethics, and Common Values: Building a Base."Futures
Research Quarterly 14, 1 (Spring 1998), 87-100.
A report summarizing the efforts of futurists in a meeting to build
a base of values for humankind.
Prospects for a Common Morality . Edited by Gene Outka and John
P. Reeder, Jr. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993.
The essays reflect the current debates on the possibility of a cross-cultural
morality: "some essays defend and others attack the prospects." (p. 4)
The editors compare the positions and summarize the agreements and disagreements,
primarily in relation to the Enlightenment paradigm.
Q-Is pluralism in our values itself a value?
Rescher, Nicholas. Pluralism: Against the Demand for Consensus.
Oxford: Clarendon, 1993.
A prominent philosopher promotes the value of pluralism.
Marty, Martin E. "The Valuings of the Public Scholar," Soundings,
80,2-3 (Summer/Fall 1997), 265-287.
The prominent theologian and historian states that "the public scholar,
in distinction from the scholar who functions in public, values and welcomes
pluralism and the pluralistic encounter." (p. 265)
Q-How do we incorporate what we have learned and should learn from the life and wisdom of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in our educational institutions?
What about the need to cross boundaries?
Thelen, David. "Becoming Martin Luther King, Jr.: An Introduction,"
The
Journal of American History 78,1 (June 1991), 11-22.:
"Better than any other American, King embodied the projected the dream
of creating a world in which people and ideas could travel as far and intermingle
as freely as they wanted without hindrance from laws and customs erected
to keep them apart. While some leaders achieve greatness by making an original
discovery in their fields or by contributing to the well-being of their
particular cultures, King built his fame on the borders where -- as Bernice
Reagon puts it -- people must straddle cultures. He tried to draw separate
worlds together by building borderlands between them where people and ideas
could mingle instead of collide. . . . Leaders who work at borders between
worlds must face in two directions, demanding that people in the dominant
culture listen to voices they have excluded while telling people from the
excluded culture that they must express their cries for justice in ways
the dominant culture can accept." (p. 15)
Q-How do civility and self-discipline enter into our conversations about learning together?
Carter, Stephen L. Civility: Manners, Morals, and the Etiquette of
Democracy.New York: Basic Books, 1998.
Carter connects civility to religion and the moral norms of the community.
Q-What are the possibilities of a global ethic based on common values of the world religions?
Braybrooke, Marcus. Stepping stones to a Global Ethic. London: SCM Press, 1992.
Kung, Hans, and Karl-Josef Kuschel. A Global Ethic: The Declaration
of the Parliament of the World's Religions. New York: Continuum, 1993.
Kung has been one of those taking the lead in urging the need for a
global ethic. See the more recent study next.
Kung, Hans. A Global Ethic for Global Politics and Economics. Trans. By John Bowman. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Knitter, Paul F. One Earth Many Religions: Multifaith Dialogue and
Global Responsibility. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1995.
From Hans Kung's foreword: "Dialogue loses all moral credibility if
it remains only on the level of the intellectual or the spiritual, detached
from the social misery and the physical and psychic sufferings of so many
millions of persons." (p. x)
Studies such as the following may be found under the subject heading: Religious ethics -- comparative studies.
Explorations in Global Ethics: Comparative Religious Ethics and Interreligious Dialogue. Edited by Sumner B. Twiss and Bruce Grelle. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998.
Dialogues among scholars, artists, and participants in global issues have been documented and could be used to generate further conversations. For example:
Myers, Ched. Who Will Roll Away the Stone? Discipleship Queries for
First World Christians. Mayknoll, NY: Orbis, 1994.
An example of the challenge of liberation theology and American issues
of rich and poor to American values. Myers raises the issue of reparation.
Divisive Barbarity or Global Civilization: The Ethical Dimensions
of Science, Art, Religion, and Politics. Fourth International Dialogue
on the Transition to a Global Society. Edited by M.L. Bradbury and Suheil
Bushrui. Bethesda, MD: University Press of Maryland, 1996.
Value questions and global ethics are emphasized in this collection
of papers.
Q-What might spirituality contribute to the role of values in education?
The concept of "spiritual heritage" has been found useful for dialogue and teaching. For example:
Bushrui, Suheil. Spiritual Heritage of the Human Race. Rockport,
ME: Oneworld Publications, 1997.
A related publication, "Retrieving Our Spiritual Heritage: A Challenge
of Our Time," was published by the Center for International Development
and Conflict Management at the University of Maryland in 1994.
Groome, Thomas H. Educating for Life: A Spiritual Vision for Every
Teacher and Parent. Allen, Texas: Thomas More, 1998.
Groome, perhaps the best known Catholic religious educator, offers
a vision for all, "regardless of their religious background or affiliation
or, indeed, the social context of their educating." (p. 11) .His treatment
of a "reasonable wisdom" is particulary good.
Q-Is it useful to speak in terms of spirituality as a general goal for education?
Mott-Thornton, Kevin. Common Faith: Education, Spirituality, and
the State. Brookfield, VT: Ashgate, 1998.
A study from the U.K.
Q-How does spirituality connect with education in specific ways?
Kane, Jeffrey, ed. Education, Information, and Transformation: Essays
on Learning and Thinking. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill, Prentice-Hall,
1998.
See several essays in particular, those by David E. Purpel, and the
section on "spiritual intelligence" by Howard Gardner.
Foehr, Regina Paxton, and Susan A. Schiller, eds. The Spiritual Side
of Writing: Releasing the Learner's Whole Potential.Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann, Boynton/Cook, 1997.
This work "has to do with helping teachers and students discover ways
to access the inner and transcendent spiritual power inherent in human
beings." (p. ix)
Q-Can schools reach a consensus on values?
In the United Kingdom a systematic effort was made to identify common
values that could be used in education:
Teaching Right and Wrong: Moral Education in the Balance . Edited
by Richard Smith and Paul Standish. Stoke on Trent, England: Trentham Books,
1997.
The National Forum for Values in Education and the Community provided
a statement of values on which they found consensus. They also pointed
out:
"Agreement on the values outlined below is compatible with disagreement
on their sources. Many believe that God is the ultimate source of value,
and that we are accountable to God for our actions; others that values
have their source only in human nature, and that we are accountable only
to our conscience."
"Agreement on the values is also compatible with different interpretations
and applications of these values." (p. 11)
Q-Could we use the Golden Rule for agreement on values?
Wattles, Jeffrey. The Golden Rule . New York: Oxford University
Press, 1996.
This work provides the basis for conversations about the role of the
Golden Rule in our values.
Topel, John, S.J. "The Tarnished Golden Rule (Luke 6:31): The Inescapable
Radicalness of Christian Ethics," Theological Studies, 59 (1998),
474-485.
Topel claims the full mutuality of the Golden Rule is unique to Jesus:
do we agree?
Etzioni, Amitai. The New Golden Rule: Community and Morality in a
Democractic Society . New York: BasicBooks, 1996.
Etzioni, a leader of the communitarian movement, offers methods for
moral dialogues and sharing core values.
Q-Is there any agreement on wisdom (moral wisdom, practical wisdom, practical reason) as a primary goal of education? Could it apply at all levels, and not just in higher education?
Bereiter, Carl, and Marlene Scardamalia. Surpassing Ourselves: An
Inquiry into the Nature and Implications of Expertise . Chicago: Open
Court, 1993.
Going beyond their studies of expertise and creativity, the authors
present a picture of active wisdom as an objective of education. "If creative
experts are just experts who have learned from being more venturesome,
wise expects are just experts who have learned from exercising more concern
with human values and far-reaching consequences." (p. 235)
Maxwell, Nicholas. From Knowledge to Wisdom: A Revolution in the Aims and Methods of Science . New York: Blackwell, 1984.
Wisdom: Its Nature, Origins, and Development . Edited by Robert J. Sternberg. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
These books, by Anderson and Allan, support essential conversations about practical wisdom, what Anderson calls practical reason and Allan calls moral practices.
Anderson, Charles W. Prescribing the Life of the Mind: An Essay on
the Purpose of the University, the Aims of Liberal Education, the Competence
of Citizens, and the Cultivation of Practical Reason . Madison: University
of Wisconsin Press, 1993.
The quote on the cover from Alasdair MacIntyre makes a strong claim,
which I would support: "No university president, provost, or dean should
be allowed to hold office until he or she has passed an examination on
this book."
Allan, George. Rethinking College Education . Lawrence: University
Press of Kansas, 1997.
Allan's reflections on the purposes of higher education challenge us
to go beyond the university as a resource center; he argues that "the essence
of a college should lie in something other than its purposes, I want to
propose that its essence should be a matter of its and its society's moral
practices." (p. 134)
Note: there are a number of Web sites dealing with wisdom. One place to begin is:
Kidder, Rushworth M. Shared Values for a Troubled World: Conversations with Men and Women of Conscience . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994.
Parks Daloz, Laurent A., and others. Common Fire: Lives of Commitment
in a Complex World. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996.
Chapter themes: connection, complexity, community, compassion, conviction,
courage, confession, commitment. They "designed a study in which we conducted
interviews over a period of several years with more than one hundred people
who had sustained long-term commitments to work on behalf of the common
good, even in the face of global complexity, diversity, and ambiguity."
(p. 5)
Wuthnow, Robert. Acts of Compassion: Caring for Others and Helping
Ourselves. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991.
Wuthnow gives examples of responsible people, and how they understand
themselves.
An example of a collection of "saints" as models for our time:
Ellsberg, Robert. All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Out Time. New York: Crossroad, 1997.
Q-How do we include assessment of education concerning values in our general assessment methods?
The American Association for Higher Education, in its Assessment Forum, provides many resources and examples. One example is the FIPSE-supported study for church-related higher education:
Q-Do we teach who we are? How do we hold ourselves accountable? Does our faith affect our teaching?
Drake, Susan. "Confronting the Ultimate Learning Outcome: We Teach Who
We Are." In Restructuring for Integrative Education: Multiple perspectives,
Multiple Context s, ed. By Todd E. Jennings, pp. 39-51. Westport, CT:
Bergin & Garvey, 1997.
"It is impossible to teach a value-free curriculum, for we teach who
we are." (p. 45) "Do we have a moral purpose? Do we teach with heart? Do
we really care about the students who have been entrusted to us?" (p. 46)
These books by master teachers support conversations about the moral nature of the practice of teaching:
Palmer, Parker J. The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape
of a Teacher's Life . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998.
Palmer asks us to confront the fears that prevent our making the connections
we need.
Brookfield, Stephen D. Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995.
Q-What price are professors willing to pay when acting based on their convictions? What risks?
Should a university stand for the common good and rights of the people or the government or the corporations if there is a conflict? At what risk?
Whitfield, Teresa. Paying the Price: Ignacio Ellacuria and the Murdered
Jesuits of El Salvador. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995.
The United States was involved in these events. What do we think?
Towards a Society That Serves Its People: The Intellectual Contribution
of El Salvador's Murdered Jesuits.Edited by John Hassett and High Lacey.
Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1991.
The picture of the ethical role of the university in these writings
may serve as a challenge to North Americans.
Q-How do we see service learning as connected to the goals for moral education?
Jacoby, Barbara, and associates. Service-Learning in Higher Education:
Concepts and Practices. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996.
Overview, with chapter on connections with student learning and development,
and the importance of being reflective. Jacoby is at the University of
Maryland.
Rhoads, Robert A. "In the Service of Citizenship: A Study of Student
Involvement in Community Service," The Journal of Higher Education,
69,3 (May/June 1998), 277-297.
Rhoads gives good access to the literature on service learning and
community service, and documents an effect on "democratic citizenship and
fostering more caring selves" (p. 285).
Q-What is the place of the right of free exercise of religion in the American democracy?
Evans, Bette Novit. Interpreting the Free Exercise of Religion: The
Constitution and American Pluralism.Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press, 1997.
Deals with issues and cases which help us to interpret the Establishment
Clause and the Free Exercise clause in the Bill of Rights.
Noonan, John T. Jr. The Lustre of Our Country: The American Experience
of Religious Freedom.Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
Scholar and judge, Noonan "demonstates historically that the free exercise
of religion paves the way for basic freedoms." (Sullivan)
Q-What are the connections between religion in the public schools and character education?
See Web site:
Dwyer, James G. Religious Schools v. Children's Rights. Ithaca,
NY: Cornell University Press, 1998.
Dwyer has a concern "that millions of children in this country are
presently attending schools whose pedagogical practics harm them in serious
ways."(p. 178)
q-What are some of the issues involving public schools and religion?
Jurisnski, James John. Religion in the Schools: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 1998.
Mott-Thornton, Kevin. Common Faith: Education, Spirituality, and the State. Brookfield, VT: Ashgate, 1998.
A list:
Bald, Margaret. Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Religious
Grounds. New York: Facts on File, 1998.
A general survey, giving the circumstances of specific incidents.
Q-How well do the schools and colleges bring ethical considerations to bear on their studies of media such as television?
Many works are highly critical of American television. What do schools do with such works? An example:
Baker, William F., and George Dessart. Down the Tube: An Inside Account
of the Failure of American Television. New York: BasicBooks, 1998.
The call their chapter especially on television for children, "Kinderfeindlichkeit,
pervasive hostility toward children. Provocative?
What about the issue of violence in the media?
Bok, Sissela. Mayhem: Violence as Public Entertainment. Reading,
MA: Addison-Wesley, 1998.
Bok offers analysis and ways to deal with our dilemmas concering violence
in the media. What role should educational institutions play?
Q-How can we converse about making ethical and valued-based judgments about intervening in other peoples lives? What should the state and others do to those they care about, for their own good?
VanDeVeer, Donald. Paternalistic Intervention: The Moral Bounds of Benovolence. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1986.
Kultgen, John. Autonomy and Intervention: Paternalism in the Caring Life. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Sher, George. Beyond Neutrality: Perfectionism and Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Q-What kinds of conversations might we have about ways to influence the personal behavior of others? What paradigms are there other than the pro- and anti-abortion debates on intervention? Policies on the use of drugs? Are there public standards for behavior, and ways to influence that behavior?
Sullum, Jacob. For Your Own Good: The Anti-Smoking Crusade and the
Tyranny of Public Health. New York: Free Press, 1998.
How does the anti-smoking movement compare to other movements?
Clor, Harry M. Public Morality and Liberal Society: Essays on Decency,
Law, and Pornography. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1996.
Clor notes: "As readers are no doubt aware, the appropriate posture
of the civic community toward virtue and vice is a perennial and intensely
debated topic." (p. 1) He offers considerations useful for conversations
on the "public morality."
The American Civil Liberties Union has challenged some religious persons and groups: "Right now, extremists have captured a dangerous amount of government power. And they want to use that power to force you to conform to their idea of person morality. To do this, they need to change the Constitution and eradicate many personal freedoms you take for granted. They believe that by forcing you to behave the way they think you should behave, or nation will once again be the moral' one they remember' from the 1950s." (From a mailing in Nov. 1998, with a National Citizens' Survey on Civic Morality)
Q-What are some specific issues involving religion in the United States these days?
Following are a number of specific areas, as examples.
Q-Religion and public education?
Statement of Common Purpose Among Religious Communities Supporting Family Involvement in Education was a "document written in 1994 by leaders from 30 religious organizations representing approximately three-fourths of religiously-affiliated Americans". See:
Q-Religion and prisons?
McConnell, Elizabeth Huffmastser, and Laura J. Moriarty.American
Prisons: An Annotated Bibliography.Westport,CT: Greenwood Press, 1998.
See the index under "religion in prison" for entries.
Q- Religion and homosexuality?
Olyan, Saul M., and Martha C. Nussbaum, eds. Sexual Orientation and Human Rights in American Religious Discourse. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Q-How well does the press cover religious news?
Hoover, Stewart M. Religion in the News: Faith and Journalism in American Public Discourse.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1998.
Shepard, Alicia C. "Out of Control," American Journalism Review,
20:8 (October 1998), 20-28.
The story of Ralph Cipriano and his reporting on the Archdiocese of
Philadelphia.
For one of the few television shows covering religion, on Sunday at 12:30 pm, see:
Q-What kinds of emotions are brought into our conversations about the common good? How are emotions part of our visions of education and morality?
Dunlop, Francis. The Education of Feeling and Emotion. London:
George Allen & Unwin, 1984.
Dunlop gives a good justification and also methods on the education
of emotion.
Callahan, Sidney. In Good Conscience: Reason and Emotion in Moral
Decision Making. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991.
Callahan gives good coverage of the role that emotions play in morality.
Q-If the dominant American emotional style is being cool, what is the place in education for moral outrage? Are we even willing to show and discuss our emotions?
Stearns, Peter. American Cool: Constructing a Twentieth-Century Emotional
Style. New York: New York University Press, 1994.
This social history provides access to general questions about emotions
and judgments.
Mestrovic, Stjepan G. Postemotional Society.Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage, 1997.
Mestrovic's analyses, in this and his other sociological works, raise
good questions about our ability to go beyond "nice" to serious ethical,
emotional judgments and then to action.
Q-How should schools and colleges raise issues of social justice and ethical issues concering the environment? Many books, and specifically some books on education, challenge educators to deal with issues of social values: how should be meet and discuss these challenges? How do we go beyond "respect and responsibility" to deal with controversial issues such as peace and nonviolence, justice and the political economy of a democracy, and the priority of a sustainable economy and ecology?
How could or should schools and colleges deal with books such as the following, which raise value-laden issues on a global scale?Are American teachers and students willing to converse about perspectives critical of the past and present policies of the U.S.A.?
Barber, Benjamin. Jihad vs. McWorld. New York: Times Books, Random House, 1995.
Martin, Hans-Peter, and Harald Schumann. The Global Trap: Globalization and the Assault on Prosperity and Democracy. Translated by Patrick Camiller. London and New York: Zed Books, 1997.
Bowers, C.A. Educating for an Ecologically Sustainable Culture: Rethinking Moral Education, Creativity, Intelligence, and Other Modern Orthodoxies. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995.
Bowers, C.A. The Culture of Denial: Why the Environmental Movement
Needs a Strategy for Reforming Universities and Public Schools. Albany:
State University of New York Press, 1997.
"Science Undermines the Meta-narratives that are the Basis of Moral
Authority." (Section heading, p. 43). This work challenges educators to
examine their taken-for-granted cultural assumptions and to help their
students to do so.
French, Marilyn. Beyond Power: On Women, Men, and Morals. New
York: Summit Books, 1985.
French's extensive treatise provides material for discussions of power
and the critiques of social patterns of domination by feminism. "But it
is possible to live with an eye to delight rather than to domination. And
this is the feminine morality." (p. 542)
Q- How significant are the connections between religion and peacemaking and pacificism?
Smock, David R. Perspectives on Pacifism: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Views on Nonviolence and Internation Conflict. Washington, DC: United States Instiute of Peace, 1995.
Lawrence, Bruce B. Shattering the Myth: Islam Beyond Violence. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998.
Q-How well do we teach peacemaking and "getting along"?
Hutchinson, Francis P. Educating Beyond Violent Futures. New
York: Routledge, 1996.
Provides goals and resources for education for peace and sustainable
futures.
Levin, Diane E. Teaching Young Children in Violent Times: Building
a Peaceable Classroom. Cambridge, MA: Educators for Social Responsibility,
1994.
Includes many materials for teaching.
Paley, Vivian. You Can't Say You Can't Play. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 1992.
Inspiring process of helping students change the culture of play and
school work.
Rothman, Jay. Resolving Identity-Based Conflict in Nations, Organizations,
and Communities. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997.
Rothman provides what he calls the ARIA framework.
Q-Are educators willing to foster conversations about the conflicts between individualism and a community orientation?
Beyond Individualism: Toward a Retrieval of Moral Discourse in America. Ed. By Donald L. Gelpi. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1989.
Lappe, Frances Moore. Rediscovering America's Values. New York: Balantine Books, 1989.
Q-Is it useful to study the traditions of radical rhetoric as well as the mainstream American public address?
Darsey, James. The Prophetic Tradition and Radical Rhetoric in America. New York: New York University Press, 1997.
Q- Religion and American politics: what connections?
Benson, Peter L., and Dorothy L. Williams. Religion on Capitol Hill: Myths and Realities. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.
Corbett, Michael, and Julia Mitechell Corbett. Politics and Religion in the United States. New York: Garland, 1999.
Greenwalt, Kent. "Religious Convictions in Public Life," Report of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, 16:1 (Winter 1996), 6-10.
Q- How are religions and religious activists related to social change?
Harris, Frederick C. Something Within: Religion in African-American Political Activism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Adams, David K., and Cornelius A. van Minne, eds. Religious and Secular Reform in America: Ideas, Beliefs, and Social Change. New York: New York University Press, 1999.
Swatos, William H., Jr. and James K. Wellman, Jr., eds. The Power of Religious Publics: Staking Claims in American Society. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1999.
Kulick, Bruce, and D. G. Hart, eds. Religious Advocacy and American History. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub., 1997.
Q- Religion and world politics and development: what connections?
Verhelst, Thierry. No Life Without Roots: Culture and Development. London: Zed, 1990.
Haynes, Jeff, ed. Religion, Globalization and Political Culture in the Third World. New York: St Martin's Press, 1999.
Smith, Brian N. Religious Politics in Latin America: Pentecostal vs Catholic. Notre Dame, IN: Univeristy of Notre Dame press, 1998.
Q- Religious rights around the world?
MOST
Clearinghouse on Religious Rights (UNESCO)
http://www.unesco.most/rr1.htm
Q- Religion and organizations: what connections?
Demerath, N.J., and others. Sacred Companies: Organizational Aspects of Religions and Religious Aspects of Organizations. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
All comments and suggestions concerning this document should be directed
to Robert Merikangas at rm30@umail.umd.edu