Lind\u27s A Charlie Brown religion: Exploring the spiritual life and work of Charles M. Schulz (Book Review)

A review of Lind, S. J. (2016). A Charlie Brown religion: Exploring the spiritual life and work of Charles M. Schulz. Jackson, MI: University of Mississippi Press. 200 pp. $25.00. ISBN 978149680468

Students’ Response to Curriculum Review of Undergraduate Religion/Education Programme

This paper examines the imperative and students’ response to curriculum review of undergraduate Religion/Education programme in Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria. The study was a survey type and a fifteen (15) item questionnaire was designed to elicit response from the respondents. The population of the study comprised all the second (200 level), third (300 level) and fourth (400 level) year students’ who offer Religion and Education numbering fifty (50). Five research questions were posed to guide the study. The findings revealed that out of seventy - one (71) courses offered, forty (40) were accepted as relevant, twenty - one (21) were marked to be merged and ten (10) were to be deleted from the curriculum to give room for the introduction of new ones. The implication therefore, is that the curriculum should be reviewed to reflect current societal needs and challenges. Keywords: Students’ Response, Curriculum Review, Undergraduate and Religion Educatio

The Wooster Voice (Wooster, OH), 1953-02-13

The theme for this year\u27s Religion in Life week is, In Search of a Saviour, the speaker for this week is Dr. Clarence Jordan. There is an article discussing one students experience traveling on a budget of $600. There are approximately 200 fellowship opportunities for students who wish to study abroad.https://openworks.wooster.edu/voice1951-1960/1042/thumbnail.jp

Der Runenstein von Tanum - ein religionsgeschichtliches Denkmal aus urnordischer Zeit

The article offers a critical analysis of the inscriptions on three runic stones: the Rök stone from the early Viking Era (800-820), the stone from Stentoften (550-580/699) and the stone from Tanum (200-500). According to the author, all three runic stones seem to have filled a cultic function and can thus shed light on the Old Norse religion

The Wooster Voice (Wooster, OH), 1953-02-13

The theme for this year\u27s Religion in Life week is, In Search of a Saviour, the speaker for this week is Dr. Clarence Jordan. There is an article discussing one students experience traveling on a budget of $600. There are approximately 200 fellowship opportunities for students who wish to study abroad.https://openworks.wooster.edu/voice1951-1960/1042/thumbnail.jp

Religious Hostilities Reach Six Year High

This is the fifth in a series of reports by the Pew Research Center analyzing the extent to which governments and societies around the world impinge on religious beliefs and practices. As part of the original study, published in 2009, Pew Research developed two indexes -- a Government Restrictions Index and a Social Hostilities Index -- that were used to gauge government restrictions on religion and social hostilities involving religion in nearly 200 countries and territories. The initial report established a baseline for each country and five major geographic regions. Three follow-up reports looked at changes in the level of restrictions and hostilities in these countries and regions. This new report looks at the extent and direction of change in government restrictions on religion and religious hostilities during calendar year 2012. Where appropriate, it also compares the situation in 2012 with the situation in the baseline year of the study (mid-2006 to mid-2007). This is the second time Pew Research has analyzed restrictions on religion in a calendar year. Previous reports analyzed 12-month periods from July 1-June 30 (e.g., July 1, 2009-June 30, 2010). The shift to calendar years was made, in part, because most of the primary sources used in this study now are based on calendar years

Juicemania: Interpreting Jay Kordich’s Health Empire as Religion

John “Jay” Kordich, an American “health reformer,” salesman, author, and celebrity, is best known for his recipe books on diet and health and his series of television infomercials. With his charismatic presentations and playful sense of humor, he captivated audiences with his demonstrations of various models of juicers and the delicious taste of his fresh juices. Kordich is part of a long line of health reformers, fasters, and practitioners of alternative medicine that has persisted in American culture for over 200 years. These advocates of alternative medicine have not only met a need for medical treatment, but also for religion in a time of increasing secularization. This project analyzes the work of Kordich as a form of secular religion and how Kordich utilizes the language and structure of religion in his advertising as a way of communicating with an audience. I investigate a variety of primary sources produced by Kordich and then apply the theoretical frameworks of religious studies to them. Kordich’s practice of juicing can be interpreted as religion due to its reliance on ritual behavior and belief. By positioning himself as an authority in a marketplace full of alternative spiritualities, Kordich opens up opportunities for himself to market his own products and promote his own life and family as the American ideal

Impact of religion and religious differences on political and economic cooperation between countries

Studies on economic and political cooperation of countries generally focus on the effects of factors such as geographical proximity, political regime type, and the different fiscal and monetary policies, among others. The impact of religious affiliation, however, stayed mainly as theory. The clash between and/or within religions had important proponents. We provide evidence that religion can have economic union effects. We evaluate whether there is historic economic polarization and whether religions have group dynamics similar to economic unions. Economic convergence, causation and trade cooperation are commonly reported for economic unions. Do these effects exist for countries with the same religion? Econometric challenges exist. Large dispersions within religious groups deem sigma-convergence and beta-convergence problematic: two common measures of income level equalizing effect of economic unions/groups. As a remedy, we propose a new convergence measure namely trend-convergence. This allows us to extend the analysis to over 200 countries, 8 religions, 17 religious sects and factors utilizing 15 different data sets for the 1950-2009 period as data allows. The evidence shows that common religion between countries is an important factor for their economic income level equalization (convergence). However, countries with common religion in general have economic divergence and decreasing bilateral trade. These results are statistically significant at the .01 level. Economic unions and partnerships such as European Union and OPEC have economic convergence, as expected. Most importantly, the only religion that have economic convergence and increased bilateral trade is Islam. This evidence suggests that Islam is having similar effects as an economic union