Monthly Archive for November, 2011

Vatican To Host Stem Cell Research Conference

Published on November 29, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Photo by Jennifer Graylock

By Barbara Bradley Hagerty from NPR

A few years ago, Father Tomasz Trafny was brainstorming with other Vatican officials about what technologies would shape society, and how the Vatican could have an impact. And it hit them: Adult stem cells, which hold the promise of curing the most difficult diseases, are the technology to watch.

“They have not only strong potentiality,” says Trafny, “but also they can change our vision of human being[s], and we want to be part of the discussion.”

In a rare move, the Vatican decided to collaborate with a private company, NeoStem, to do education and eventually research. The Catholic Church is investing $1 million to form a joint foundation, and next week, scientists from around the world will meet at the Vatican to discuss the future of stem cell therapies.

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Announcing the Winner of the International Award for Excellence

Published on November 26, 2011 in Headline, Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Congratulations to David Greene the winner of the International Award for Excellence in the area of area of religion and spirituality in society for his paper Logology, Guilt, and the Rhetoric of Religious Discourse: A Burkean Analysis of Religious Language in Contemporary Politics.

Abstract: In “The Rhetoric of Religion” Kenneth Burke developed the concept of “logology” as a way of studying how religious language works, “not from the standpoint of their truth or falsity as statements about the supernatural, but purely for the light they throw upon the forms of language.” Burke’s dramatistic theory of rhetoric as symbolic action, based on his concepts of guilt, terministic screens, and identification through consubstantiality help us to understand how religious language is functioning in the political sphere.

Dr. David Greene is Assistant Professor in the  Department of Professional Communications at Farmingdale State College of New York (USA).

Finalists for the International Award for Excellence

Published on November 25, 2011 in Headline, Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Congratulations to all of the Award finalists:

Religion and Spirituality in Society Journal, Volume 1, Issue 3

Published on November 25, 2011 in Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

religion_frontThe third issue of Volume 1 of The International Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Society is now available.

Volume 1, Issue 3 includes:

Continue reading ‘Religion and Spirituality in Society Journal, Volume 1, Issue 3′

Hockey as a Religion: The Montreal Canadiens

Published on November 23, 2011 in Book and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Hockey as a Religion: The Montreal Canadiens by Olivier Bauer is now available as part of the  Sport and Society series.

Sport is all about play and game, aesthetic and strength, passion and emotion, challenge and rivalry. But because sometimes players and fans look for a little extra help from God, gods, spirits or any other Supreme Being, sport is also a matter of beliefs and Faith. Often, sport uses religion if the sport itself does not become a religion first.

In Montreal, the fans’ passion and emotion benefits the Montreal Canadiens, the oldest and the most victorious National Hockey League team.

Since 2008, the Protestant Theologian Olivier Bauer, a former hockey goaltender, is carefully studying the religious aspects of the Montreal Canadiens. In his book, Olivier Bauer reveals how the Montreal Canadiens becomes a religion, specifies which kind of religion it is, and explains how it is interrelated with Quebec’s Catholicism. From a theological point of view, he analyses two ways of practicing the Montreal Canadiens Religion, shows why both ways are idolatry, denounces the weakness of such a religion, and pleads for an evangelical use of the Montreal Canadiens.

Based on the Montreal Canadiens, Olivier Bauer explains how sport becomes a religion, but he also critics the religion that sport offers.

At Religious Campuses, Atheist Groups Operate Underground

Published on November 21, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Photo by Religion News Services

By Kimberly Winston from USA Today

Late one night over pizza, University of Dayton students Branden King and Nick Haynes discovered neither of them believed in God.

Surely, they thought, they couldn’t be the only unbelievers at the Roman Catholic college.

Last year, King and Haynes and a couple of other like-minded students applied to the administration to form the Society of Freethinkers, a student club based on matters of unbelief.

The university rejected their application — and rejected them again in September. Without university approval, the group cannot meet on campus, tap a student activities fund, participate in campus events or use campus media.

For now, they meet at a Panera cafe off campus, relying on word-of-mouth to draw members, up to about 15 now. And they are appealing the rejection.

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Beijing Eyes Tibetan Buddhist Resurgence

Published on November 13, 2011 in News. 0 Comments

By Calum MacLeod from The Huffington Post via USA Today

Breathless but beaming, Sheng Zisu sounds confident after five months in a maze-like Buddhist encampment high on the eastern Tibetan plateau, nearly 400 miles from the nearest city.

“Look around. They could never find me here,” Sheng, 27, said of parents so anxious about their only child’s turn to Tibetan Buddhism that they have threatened to kidnap her.

Sheng is far from her home — and from the bars where she used to drink and the ex-boyfriends she says cheated on her. She is here with 2,000 other Han Chinese at the Larung Gar Buddhist Institute in Serthar, Sichuan province, the rain-soaked mountainous region of southwest China.

The province is far from the central government in Beijing, and is also a traditional gateway to Tibet, where China’s Communist Party has suppressed Buddhists, sometimes brutally, for decades.

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Religion in Society Journal Associate Editors listing available

Published on November 8, 2011 in Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

As part of the process of publishing The International Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Society all submissions are sent for peer review, prior to publication.

Assessment, comments and guidance by the referees are an essential part of the publication process and invaluable to the authors of the submitted papers.

In recognition of the important role of referees, the international advisory board acknowledges all referees who have refereed papers as an Associate Editor in the volume of the journal they have contributed to.

The Associate Editors  listing for Volume 1 of The International Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Society is now available.


Designer Brings Muslim Fashion To The Runway

Published on November 5, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Photo by Nailah Lymus

By Margot Adler from NPR

Nailah Lymus is a 27-year-old aspiring designer who had her first runway show during New York’s Fashion Week in September, and she has just had another one.

Lymus began designing jewelry when she was 7, and now has a line of clothing called Amirah Creations. She is a devout Muslim, but her dresses will surprise you.

They are full of color: blues, purples, prints and tapestry woven pieces. Lymus is determined to break down many of the stereotypes about Muslim women — like the assumption that all Muslim women are docile and wear black.

“I like colors and I like flowers, and I like head pieces with feathers coming off of them, and all I do is just put it on top of my hijab instead of putting it on my hair,” Lymus says. “I am a woman — I am attracted to those things, so I really want to break down that stereotype.”

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