The spiritual revolution and suicidal ideation: an empirical enquiry among 13- to 15-year-old adolescents in England and Wales

The association between conventional religiosity and suicide inhibition has been well explored and documented since the pioneering work of Durkheim. Commentators like Heelas and Woodhead point to ways in which conventional religiosity is giving way in England and Wales to a range of alternative spiritualities, including renewed interest in paranormal phenomena. Taking a sample of 3095 13- to 15-year-old adolescents, the present study examines the association between suicidal ideation and both conventional religiosity and paranormal beliefs, after controlling for individual differences in sex, age and personality (extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism). The data demonstrate that, while conventional religiosity is slightly associated with lower levels of suicidal ideation, paranormal beliefs are strongly associated with higher levels of suicidal ideation

The psychological-type profile of lay church leaders in Australia

A sample of 845 lay church leaders (444 women and 401 men) from a range of 24 different denominations and movements (including house churches and independent churches) completed the Francis Psychological-Type Scales within the context of the 2006 Australian National Church Life Survey. The psychological-type profiles of these lay church leaders were almost identical to the type profiles of 1527 Australian churchgoers (936 women and 591 men) published in an earlier study by Robbins and Francis. The predominant types among female lay church leaders were ISFJ (21%), ESFJ (21%), and ISTJ (18%). The predominant types among male lay church leaders were ISTJ (28%), ISFJ (17%), ESTJ (13%), and ESFJ (12%). The SJ temperament accounted for 67% of the female lay church leaders and for 70% of the male lay church leaders. The strengths and weaknesses of the SJ leadership style are discussed

The Demographics of Long-Period Comets

The absolute magnitude and perihelion distributions of long-period comets are derived, using data from the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) survey. The results are surprising in three ways. Firstly, the flux of comets through the inner solar system is much lower than some previous estimates. Secondly, the expected rise in comet numbers to larger perihelia is not seen. Thirdly, the number of comets per unit absolute magnitude does not significantly rise to fainter magnitudes. These results imply that the Oort cloud contains many fewer comets than some previous estimates, that small long-period comets collide with the Earth too infrequently to be a plausible source of Tunguska-style impacts, and that some physical process must have prevented small icy planetesmals from reaching the Oort cloud, or have rendered them unobservable. A tight limit is placed on the space density of interstellar comets, but the predicted space density is lower still. The number of long-period comets that will be discovered by telescopes such as SkyMapper, Pan-Starrs and LSST is predicted, and the optimum observing strategy discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal. 22pages, 14 figure

Morality and Alcoholism

Roll 143. Aerial - Hazelwood. Image 19 of 22. (26 June, 1954) [PHO 1.143.19]The Boleslaus Lukaszewski (Father Luke) Photographs contain more than 28,000 images of Saint Louis University people, activities, and events between 1951 and 1970. The photographs were taken by Boleslaus Lukaszewski (Father Luke), a Jesuit priest and member of the University's Philosophy Department faculty