Patients and physicians can inhabit distinctive social worlds where they are guided by diverse understandings of moral practice. Despite the contemporary presence of multiple moral traditions, religious communities and ethnic backgrounds, two of the major methodological approaches in bioethics, casuistry and principlism, rely upon the notion of a common morality. However, the heterogeneity of e...

This article presents an overview of both the processes and the results of an international, interdisciplinary, and interreligious feminist study of "good sex" that resulted in a volume by the same name. We argue that religion (including its secular equivalent, i.e., global capitalism) remains a powerfully influential cultural force that shapes people's lives, in general, and sanctifies their b...

My purpose in this essay is to explore religious experience and religious thought and the relation between the two, for how these two are conceived has an important bearing on how we understand the meaningfulness of religion and religious traditions. My starting point is Peter Berger's recent work. The Heretical Imperative (Anchor/Doubleday, 1980), in which he summarizes the various strategies ...

It is pointed out (in the framework of the author's biophysical relativistic model of altered states of consciousness) that transitional states of consciousness represent an excellent framework for understanding and mental control of transpersonal mystical states of consciousness described in various religious and esoteric traditions of East and West during the history of civilization, implying...

This paper argues the need for a moral dimension, lacking in the neo-classical paradigm, to humanity’s relationship with the natural world. Against this background, it reviews Chinese philosophical/religious traditions of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, neo-Confucianism, and popular religious practice. The Chinese worldview derived from these traditions is based on ideals of harmony, human perf...

Interpersonal trauma is pervasive globally and may result in long-term consequences physically, cognitively, behaviorally, socially, and spiritually (Bryant-Davis, 2005b). One of the protective factors that have emerged in the literature is religious coping. Religious coping, spirituality, and faith-based approaches to trauma recovery include endorsement of beliefs, engagement in behaviors, and...

This article compares the characteristics of three movements of religious renewal that were born in the second half of the twentieth century and that have been active in interreligious dialogue: the Buddhist movement Risshō Kōseikai, which originated in Japan; the Catholic Focolare Movement, which started in Italy; and the Gülen Movement, which was born in Turkey. These religious renewal phenom...

In the 1960s in London, England, Cicely Saunders introduced a new way of treating the terminally ill, which she called “hospice care.” Saunders, a trained nurse, social worker, and medical doctor, held that humans should be able to die with dignity and at peace. This viewpoint originated from her medical experience as well as her religious commitment as a Christian. The religious basis of hospi...