Through US military history, Lavender directly confronts the dominant US viewpoint of redemptive violence, the concept that a nation can use its military to improve the human condition. Alternatives are presented in order to encourage the current recessive worldview that supports conflict resolution, cooperation, collaboration and peaceful efforts.

Through US military history, Lavender directly confronts the dominant US viewpoint of redemptive violence, the concept that a nation can use its military to improve the human condition. Alternatives are presented in order to encourage the current recessive worldview that supports conflict resolution, cooperation, collaboration and peaceful efforts.

Introducing Religion examines the different ways of looking at religion in the twenty-first century. Providing a broad overview to the discipline of religious studies, this new edition continues to introduce students to engaging and contemporary topics such as: sociology of religion psychology of religion history of religion religion and art religious ethics popular religion religion and violence Thoroughly updated throughout, this sixth edition includes new coverage of current debates and hot topics in the field, such as concerns about "essentialism" in religion, the importance of categorization, and the role of psychology in religious experience. This textbook is fundamental reading for students approaching this subject area for the first time.

The book examines selected faith-based organisations (FBOs) and their attempts to seek to influence debate and decision-making at the United Nations (UN). Increasing attention on FBOs in this context has followed what is widely understood as a widespread, post-Cold War "religious resurgence." The bibliography is available digitally at the end of sample chapter, which can be downloaded on this page.

Our world has been maintaining a destructive path for humankind with our continued use of force to resolve human issues. We are continuing to move downhill toward greater violence. To stop violence, we must build healthier personal and social worldviews. A quest for the truth beyond the self, community, and our worldviews needs to be implemented. We will need to improve our ability to think rationally. Most of all, we will need to learn how to intelligently use God's gift of freedom. Since our personal worldviews are our standards of reference for truth for designing and building our worldviews, we can only reach for and estimate the truth through non-threatening dialogue. We have been conditioned to forcefully defend fixed worldviews, which are not healthy. Healthier worldviews are needed to implement non-violent, intentional change to the worldviews of every individual, every organization, every community, and every dominating system. Healthier worldviews would lead to an integrated translormatiun of science, religion, education, and government. All worldviews need to be more inclusive of relevant information and be internally consistent. They need to represent the truth of reality as well as the truth in reality. Each personal worldview is that person's standard of reference for truth, whenever that person makes a decision. We tend to fix our worldviews with claims of certainty, rather than stable assumptions of truth. Such fixed standards are not adequate to bring peace to this world. We must learn to intentionally look beyond these fixed standards to estimate and seek the truth of what those worldviews ought to be in the future. No information should be seen as value free and independent of morality. We all use our personal worldviews when making moral decisions. Our worldviews all need to change periodically in order to incorporate continuing non-violent intentional change to our beliefs and values. A meaningful worldview builds a representation of reality upon a set of assumptions of truth. Reason demands non-contradiction, but it cannot promise a healthy worldview. This book shows how to make them healthy. Comments or questions about the book? Email the author at [email protected] or check out his website http://changeworldview.blogspot.com.

This illuminating exploration of how and why Christianity became so radically disconnected from the Jesus of history provides suggestions for returning the true Jesus of Nazareth to the center of Christian faith.

Sponsoring Sufism argues that governments are sponsoring Sufism not only because they see it as an 'apolitical' movement that won't challenge their existing authority, but also that ties to Sufi orders gives them religious credibility, something they seek as they face the rise of Islamist parties.