The objective of this study is to focus on how two non-institutionalised lay religious communities in the Czech Republic, selected for this research, apply an adaptation strategy called the care for the ill strategy. The aim is to demonstrate the way these communities view the phenomenon of health/illness and how it is reflected in their relationship to the Catholic Church. This paper is part o...

The difficulties with interfaith dialogue are linked, at least in part, to the lack of ritual forms (consisting of rules, ceremonial idioms, liturgy, and repertoires of action) designed to unite and integrate the meta-group formed by the various religious communities. By means of ethnographic research conducted in Bosnia-Herzegovina the author studied the mechanisms with which, under particular...

As a social identity, religion is unique because it contains a spectrum of choice. In some religious communities, individuals are considered members by virtue of having parents of that background, and religion, culture, and ethnicity are closely intertwined. Other faith communities actively invite people of other backgrounds to join, expecting individuals to choose the religion that best fits t...

Arabic, which is the fifth world language with regard to the number of speakers, geographical spread, and socio-literary prestige (Weber, 1997), similar to all other languages whose orthographical system is not based on Latin symbols has been subject to various types of changes resulted from the language contact with English as the default language used in the computer mediated communication su...

This paper presents a theoretical framework to understand the relationship between religious fundamentalist communities and the Internet, through addressing four dimensions of tensions and challenges: hierarchy, patriarchy, discipline, and seclusion. We develop the concept of cultured technology, and analyze the ways communities reshape technology and make it as part of the ir culture, while on...

This publication may be reproduced for personal and educational use only. Commercial copying, hiring or lending of this publication is strictly prohibited. The Europe China Research and Advice Network (ECRAN) is a three-year project funded by the European Union to provide advice on China to European policy-makers. It aims to establish a wide network of experts and institutions across Europe who...

An Economic Perspective on Religious Education: Complements and Substitutes in a Human Capital Portfolio This paper models the tradeoffs between education in secular subjects, formal and informal, and the formation of religion-specific human capital. It explores some implications of negative externalities between religious and secular education. Applications include the tension between science ...