Religions

186 KiB

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An Exploration of Specialist Palliative Care Nurses’ Experiences of Providing Care to Hospice Inpatients from Minority Ethnic Groups—Implication for Religious and Spiritual Care

by Andrea Henry and Fiona Timmins

Religions 2016, 7(2), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7020018 - 16 Feb 2016

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 6315

Abstract

The aim of this research study was to gain an understanding of nurses’ experiences of providing care to patients from minority ethnic groups within the specialist palliative care inpatient unit of an Irish hospice. Five nurses working in a hospice inpatient unit with experience in providing care to patients from minority ethnic groups were interviewed using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Analysis of the data resulted in the emergence of two distinct constructs, “encountering a landscape of diversity” and “negotiating this landscape”, each one comprising three themes. Findings relating to religion and supporting patients’ religious needs were dominant in four of the six emergent themes—death and dying, acceptance, feeling their way, and being resourceful. The findings presented in this paper highlight the personal and professional challenges facing nurses when providing care in the context of religious diversity. In addition, participants’ descriptions of their endeavours to negotiate the challenges in the context of these differences are identified. By applying these findings in practice, healthcare professionals hold the potential to positively impact the quality-of-life of patients, their families, and their experiences of hospice care in Ireland. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from Spirituality in Healthcare Conference 2015 “Sowing the Seeds”)

238 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Glocalization and Transnationalization in (neo)-Mayanization Processes: Ethnographic Case Studies from Mexico and Guatemala

by Manéli Farahmand

Religions 2016, 7(2), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7020017 - 15 Feb 2016

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5362

Abstract

In this article, the author focuses on the field of neo-Mayanity and its current transformations. She analyzes these transformations using a historico-ethnographic approach, which includes two phases. The first one consists in reconstructing the historical development of the “Mayan” category in two different social contexts. The second one focuses on current narrative and imageries produced around this category, stemming from ethnographic fieldwork in Mexico and Guatemala. Since the “2012 phenomenon”, in both countries, the accelerating transnationalization of the religious leaders has triggered a resignification of contents through various logics of rearrangement, innovation, cohabitation and glocalization. Finally, she demonstrates that the variations in the different ethnographies are linked with the religious leaders’ biographies and the modes of signification of the “Mayan” category—influenced by the socio-historical contexts of production. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Glocal Religions)

552 KiB

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Religious Groups as Interest Groups: The United States Catholic Bishops in the Welfare Reform Debate of 1995–1996 and the Health Care Reform Debate of 2009–2010¹

by Anne Marie Cammisa and Paul Christopher Manuel

Religions 2016, 7(2), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7020016 - 5 Feb 2016

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 7346

Abstract

The United States has a long history of religious influence on public policy: the anti-slavery movement, progressivism, prohibition, civil rights, abortion, school vouchers, school prayer and nuclear disarmament are all issues that have involved religion and religious groups in policymaking. In recent decades, the number of religious interest groups (as well as interest groups in general) has greatly expanded, but the role that the religious organizations play as interest groups in the policy arena has received relatively little attention. How are they similar to and different from other interest groups? What tactics do they use? How successful are they? Under what conditions is success or failure more likely? This article examines Roman Catholic religious groups as interest groups in the congressional policymaking process. First, it places Catholic interest groups in the context of the interest group literature, and second, it examines Catholic interest groups’ activity in the passage of welfare reform in 1996 and in the passage of health care reform in 2010. In both cases, they played a greater role in context-setting than in actually changing provisions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholic Bishops in US Politics)

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244 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Religious Pluralism and Civic Rights in a “Muslim Nation”: An Analysis of Prophet Muhammad’s Covenants with Christians

by Craig Considine

Religions 2016, 7(2), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7020015 - 4 Feb 2016

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 77887

Abstract

This article examines the roles that religious pluralism and civic rights played in Prophet Muhammad’s vision of a “Muslim nation”. I demonstrate how Muhammad desired a pluralistic society in which citizenship and equal rights were granted to all people regardless of religious beliefs and practices. The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of his time are used as a framework for analysis. These documents have received little attention in our time, but their messages are crucial in light of current debates about Muslim-Christian relations. The article campaigns for reviving the egalitarian spirit of the Covenants by refocusing our understanding of the ummah as a site for religious freedom and civil rights. Ultimately, I argue that the Covenants of Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of his time can be used to develop a stronger narrative of democratic partnership between Muslims and Christians in the “Islamic world” and beyond. Full article

504 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

The Catholic Bishops in the U.S. Public Arena: Changing Prospects under Pope Francis

by Richard L. Wood

Religions 2016, 7(2), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7020014 - 4 Feb 2016

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 6157

Abstract

The public profile of the Roman Catholic bishops of the United States results not simply from their own interventions in political life, but from the broad array of actions and actors within “public Catholicism” broadly conceived. This article assesses the contemporary profile of the American bishops from this broad angle, particularly in light of new dynamics under the papacy of Francis I. It does so by documenting public Catholicism’s presence in ecclesial institutions, other public institutions, and lay-centered social movements (particularly faith-based community organizing) and via a case study of the healthcare reform debate around the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Affordable Care Act. Cultural and institutional factors shaping Catholic public presence are analyzed in three dimensions of social life: institutional leadership; authority dynamics within the Church; and the culture of prayer, spirituality, and worship in parishes. Finally, the conclusion discusses the key dynamics likely to shape the future of public Catholicism in America. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholic Bishops in US Politics)

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Religions, Volume 7, Issue 2 (February 2016) – 5 articles

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