Religion and Society

To be Secular... Or not to be Secular.

2011-06-08T00:56:00.000-07:00

To be Secular... Or not to be Secular. by Trent Sellars There is a belief within Australia that the nation and government are secular (Hauerwas, 2007, pp. 34-35). This is not however the case, which this essay will show. Although there is secular legislation in the constitution of Australia, as well as the lack of a state assigned church, there are also non secular laws and many government

Same-Sex Marriage in Australia: A matter of family and religion

2011-06-07T05:33:00.001-07:00

By Aleesha Rodriguez Over the semester, Religion and Society has discussed the harsh consequences arising from the practice of religion and spirituality in a diverse global community. Regardless of quarrels over the notion of the “other,” religion and spirituality provide optimistic opportunities in the everyday. It is these positives attributes that place meaning, of both

Diversity in Glee

2011-04-02T20:10:00.000-07:00

A Review of Spickard, J. 2007. 'Religion in Global Culture new directions in an Increasingly Self-Conscious World', In Religion, Globalization, Culture, eds. Beyer, P. and L. Beaman. Leiden; Boston: Brill In this paper James Spickard discusses (2007:233) the role of religion as both shaping and influencing culture in the

Article Reviews: Australian Catholic Social Justice Council & Soulforce

2010-03-30T08:40:00.000-07:00

Australian Catholic Social Justice Council [ACSJC] http://www.socialjustice.catholic.org.au/The ACSJC was established in 1987 to be the “national justice and peace agency of the Catholic Church in Australia (ACSJC, 2001).” While claiming to be a pivotal force in the face of social injustices in Australia, it does not present itself as a progressive, currently active organisation. The website

Creating Meaning: The World Council of Churches and Oxfam

2010-03-29T18:51:00.000-07:00

Christine BartonWith the development and expansion of the Internet and the World Wide Web, official religious organisations have flocked to cyberspace in order to establish their presence within this growing and developing sphere (Helland, 2004, p. 23). The Internet is changing the face of religion worldwide (Dawson and Cowan, 2004, p. 1) and is creating innovative ways in which to communicate

Article Review by Monica Leonard

2010-03-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

RELN 2117 Monica Leonard 42054478Article ReviewThis review aims to summarise and evaluate three articles. These articles are ‘Religious Diversity across the Globe: A geographic exploration’ by Barney Warf and Peter Vincent, ‘The Spirituality of Young Australians’ by Michael Mason, Andrew Singleton, and Ruth Webber, and ‘The New Spiritualities, East and West: Colonial Legacies and the Global

Understanding the Connection of Religion and Society’

2010-03-29T02:41:00.000-07:00

Article AbstractsThe research and studies in the three articles construct a basic understanding religion and it’s connection to society. The latter two abstracts focus on Australia’s religious society. All three works can be used to help Australia strive towards a more civil society where religion is not slandered or is the cause of internal and external religious conflict. Zuckerman, Phil, 2003,

When God & Social Justice Meet Online - The Salvation Army Website

2010-03-28T22:03:00.000-07:00

When God & Social Justice Meet On LineA critique of the Salvation Army (Australia)WebsiteLouise CosgroveIn 1865 William Booth formed an army of Christian soldiers to wage a war on poverty and sin, in the slums of London. Today his followers – the Salvation Army, are one of the largest welfare agencies in the world (Wayhart,2009). How has a simple Christian religion, without sacraments, and which

Hillsong, Live Earth and Generation Y. Maddison Parker

2010-03-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

Creating a website for an organisation is very affective to make that organisation accessible and easily understood by the public. A website can easily: express the views of that organisation, intrigue the viewer, to make a connection, and to possibly create a new follower of that organisation. This essay will analyse two organisations that have used the internet to express their aims and mission

Colonialism and Globalisation- The Impact for Religious Diversity

2010-03-28T21:10:00.000-07:00

Throughout history, spirituality and religion have transformed with the exchange of ideas between cultures and societies, and often moved in accordance with shifts in societal values. While many of these changes often happen subtly, as individuals and civilisations interact and share values, beliefs, traditions and philosophies, they have also happened quickly and even forcefully through the rise

Amnesty International and Red Cross

2010-03-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

Erika WollnerIt makes it easier to reach out to a larger amount of people by creating websites. By the end of this paper, I will have reviewed the websites of two worldwide volunteering organisations, using this type of technology, which almost seems to have become a trend these days. Both Amnesty International Australia and Australian Red Cross are operating in most countries, circulating

Cultivate Peace and Protect Creation

2010-03-28T17:07:00.001-07:00

Analysis and Comparison of Caritas Australia and Catholic Earthcare Australia“Do not aspire to have more, but to be more” – Archbishop Oscar Romero Jesus Christ left Christians with this message, “Love one another as I have loved you”. Many Christians today find the best way of enacting this is through service; both the service of fellow people and the environment. This essay will analyse and

‘Caritas means Compassion’

2010-03-28T15:31:00.001-07:00

Caritas Australia is a Catholic agency for aid and development, they work specifically in three areas covering disaster response and relief, long term community development programs and changing attitudes within Australia. As part of Caritas Internationalis they belong to a global aid and development network. The Caritas Australia website is one of the organisations main points of contact with

Short Review Essay

2010-03-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

Mercy Ministries Sharon ParrUp to 48% of the US population will struggle with a psychological disorder or substance abuse problem at some time, problems that can impact not just the sufferer themselves, but their families, friends, children, and those around them. (Matlin, 1999) It is this statistic Mercy Ministries of America hopes to impact, a Christian service organization with a “God-given

Review of three Readings for RELN2117

2010-03-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

Week 1, Bernadette James A Review of Besecke K, 2001. 'Speaking of Meaning in Modernity:Reflexive Spirituality as a Cultural Resource'. Sociology of Religion 62(3): 365-381. Kelly Besecke's argument in this paper is an extension of Roof's work of reflexive spirituality. Besecke (2001: 367) bases her

2010-03-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

Article Review - Benjamin (Jamin) DaveySocialVibe and Oxfam's Charity Gifts are innovative concept websites aimed at not only raising awareness of global social justice, welfare and environmental issues, but also providing unintrusive ways for people to contribute toward addressing these issues financially.SocialVibe (2010), utilises sponsored advertising to raise money, like Google AdSense with

Article Review - Social Influence on Spirituality -

2010-03-25T17:27:00.000-07:00

Noriko Tamura 1. Zuckerman : 2003 The main idea of this paper is summarized in this sentence: religion is socially learned. When we learn religion, we are strongly influenced by people around us. In other words, we learn religion from other people. Zuckerman states that parents have the biggest influence in determining our religion. Many people believe in the same religion as their parents. If

Religious Resurgence and the transformation fo boundaries

2010-03-24T17:12:00.000-07:00