Global terms: Religion & Worldviews

Research Summary: Non-religious worldviews in RE: teachers’ perspectives

In this article, findings from a qualitative study of the views and experiences of 25 RE teachers in England are used to identify and explore a range of issues, in relation to national and international debates and research. Examples of inclusion and the models that they suggest are considered and it is argued that major obstacles, such as limited time and lack of a framework for the integration of religious and nonreligious worldviews, can be overcome. However, it is concluded that this will require further research and curriculum development work and that international collaboration should be pursued.

Researcher

Dr Judith Everington

Research Institution

University of Warwick

What is this about?

Teaching of nonreligious worldviews in RE is recommended in several influential documents, but what are the issues that need to be dealt with?

The views and experiences of 25 teachers are given.
There are obstacles such as lack of time and an agreed framework.
However, it is argued that though further work will be needed, the obstacles can be overcome.

What was done?

The study was undertaken between 2014–16 and employed qualitative research methods. Questionnaires were completed by 25 teachers. Eleven of these (4 men and 7 women) agreed to participate in one-to-one, semi-structured interviews of 45–90 min duration. Participants responded to an invitation disseminated through RE networks. All were RE specialists.

Main findings and outputs

There is controversy about the inclusion of nonreligious worldviews in RE, some viewing it as essential to an inclusive RE, others as diluting RE’s distinctive content, but so far we know little of teachers’ views.
Most teachers were unsure how to define a nonreligious worldview but referred to institutional systems as ways of making sense of human experience or providing beliefs and values, almost all mentioning Humanism but not limited to Humanism.Most encouraged nonreligious students to express their views in the classroom.
All felt that nonreligious worldviews should be included in RE. It would build academic skills, for instance, and social cohesion. But the main reason given was to develop students’ own beliefs or spirituality.
The teaching approach most often referred to was to make frequent reference to nonreligious views or perspectives in RE lessons and to ensure space for the expression of students’ nonreligious views, though specific units or lessons were also included, if rarely on a systematic basis.
The main issue mentioned was lack of time. Others were lack of resources and knowledge. Also, do nonreligious worldviews ‘fit’ in a framework for studying religions?

Relevance to RE

There are key issues for schools, as well as researchers, to consider further. Much appears to depend on:

School support for RE, in providing curriculum time and encouraging the development of innovative approaches.
Teachers’ development of appropriate subject knowledge.

It also seems pertinent to consider other countries’ experiences, e.g. Norway, where nonreligious worldviews have been taught within RE since 1997. In general, work is also needed to identify which worldviews could be studied in addition to Humanism and to develop criteria for making decisions on this.

Generalisability and potential limitations

As the author says on page 20 of the text:

It is not possible to generalise from the findings of a qualitative study which relied on those with sufficient interest in the subject to volunteer their participation. However, the value of the research lies in the rich data provided by teachers who responded in some detail to questions about their views, experiences and concerns.

Find out more

Judith Everington (2019) Including nonreligious worldviews in religious education: the views and experiences of English secondary school teachers, British Journal of Religious Education, 41:1, 14-26.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01416200.2018.1478277

Research Summary: Living the Bhagavad Gita at Gandhi’s Ashrams

The Bhagavad Gita is a philosophical Hindu scripture in which the god Krishna imparts lessons to the warrior prince Arjuna about sacred duty (dharma) and the path to spiritual liberation (moksha). This classical scripture has had a long and active life, and by the 19th century it had come to be regarded as a core text, if not the core text, of Hinduism. During the colonial period, interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita considered the relevance of Krishna’s lessons to Arjuna in the context of British colonial rule. While some Indians read a call to arms into their interpretation of this scripture and urged their fellow Indians to rise up in armed resistance, Gandhi famously read a nonviolent message into it. This research argues that equally as important as Gandhi’s hermeneutics of nonviolence is his commitment to enacting the lessons of the Bhagavad Gita as he interpreted them in the daily life of his ashrams (communities). When explored through the lens of daily life in these ashrams, we see that Gandhi’s interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita emphasized not just nonviolence but also disciplined action, including self-sacrifice for the greater good.

Researcher

Karline McLain

Research Institution

Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA

What is this about?

The Bhagavad Gita.
Mahatma Gandhi.
Life and ethics in Gandhi’s ashrams.

What was done?

This is a scholarly essay, analysing source material to cast light on Gandhi’s interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita.

Main findings and outputs

Firstly, it is clear that Gandhi sought to find the meaning of the Bhagavad Gita in practice, and through life in a community.
For Gandhi, the battlefield scene of the Gita was an allegory: “it described the duel that perpetually went on in the hearts of mankind (sic),and that physical warfare was brought in merely to make the description of the internal duel more alluring.”
The path of karma yoga was understood as disciplined action in pursuit of self-realisation, in the course of everyday life.
For over 40 years, when Gandhi was not residing in prisons run by the British colonial government, he was living on back-to-the-land intentional communities (ashrams) that he founded in South Africa and India. They tried to live out the Gita’s message.
The ethic of the ashram was not a neutral shared space but a ‘nonviolent neighbourliness’. Social ‘equals’ were treated as friends, ‘subordinates’ with service and superiors through civil disobedience. All this was worked out in local situations as self-discipline in everyday life.
In 1906 Gandhi took a vow of celibacy. He did this to better practice the Gita’s principle of self-sacrifice and service of others; he would lessen his attachments to his possession of a wife and four sons and treat all ashram members as co-equals.
When imprisoned, e.g. for refusing to carry an identity card (in South Africa in 1908), he read the Gita in prison and later wrote that its teachings should be carried out fearlessly – people should do their duty by what was right, even at the cost of their lives.
The practice of selfless service was the basis of Gandhi’s ashrams in India. Duncan Greenlees, a British resident, wrote –
Then began the day’s work in earnest. Some went daily to the stables to scrub the floors and milk the cows; others swept the Ashram paths with brooms; others again prepared the morning meal in the fine kitchen. All in their turn went to clean the latrines. This was indeed a sacramental, purifying work that, bringing us at once into sympathy with the lowest castes of men, taught us to see God in everything, even in what the ignorant have named unclean.
On the morning of the Salt March in 1930, Gandhi insisted that only ashram members prepared to be killed should join him. They were allowed to take no food or drink, only a copy each of the Gita.

Relevance to RE

The research will develop teachers’ knowledge of Hinduism (the original article is very detailed, fascinating and to be recommended strongly). The material can certainly be of use in classroom teaching. The various stories can be told and discussed: why did Gandhi insist that only those ready to be killed should join him on the Salt March (note: ‘ready’ included having taken vows of celibacy)? Why were none allowed to bring food or drink? Why were all required to bring a copy of the Gita? Students can carry out their own research into life and ethics in Gandhian ashrams, drawing comparisons with communities of which they are members themselves and evaluating how people benefit from different kinds of community membership.

Generalisability and potential limitations

This research does not provide generalisable data as such, more a distinctive case study with which to deepen knowledge and understanding of the Hindu tradition.

Find out more

The original article is Karline McLain, Living the Bhagavad Gita at Gandhi’s Ashrams, Religions 2019: 10 (11), 619.

The article is available open-access at https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10110619

Research Summary: Is religious experience realistic?

Religious experience – communication with God, or spiritual realisation of ultimate reality – is normally held to be an unusual form of experience. However, does it share features in common with ordinary experience of the world? If so, religious experience might be viewed as realistic, in the senses of being experience of a real object and telling a credible story. Often, people object to the idea that religious experience can be compared to ordinary experience. They argue that its object is a highly unusual one, that it takes place in highly unusual circumstances and that unlike ordinary experience, it varies substantially from religion to religion. The writer responds that religious experience, like ordinary experience, can be predictable; that not all ordinary experiences are straightforward; that moral or aesthetic circumstances can be just as unusual as religious experience circumstances; and that religious traditions may only be incompatible on the surface. The material will be of direct use in teaching about religious experience on A level philosophy and ethics courses.

Researcher

David Brown

Research Institution

University of St Andrews

What is this about?

Philosophically speaking, is religious experience realistic?
The question can be interpreted in two ways: is the object of religious experience (usually God) a real object? Are religious experience accounts credible?
The writer’s approach is to show how religious experience may not be so different from ordinary experience as is often assumed. Like ordinary experience, it may be predictable. Ordinary experience can be just as complex as religious experience. Ordinary experience can depend just as much on the emotions.
Religious traditions describe religious experiences in different ways, but this is also true of how different cultures and languages describe ordinary experience.

What was done?

This is a scholarly philosophical essay, reviewing ideas on religious experience and whether it can be compared to ordinary experience and drawing original, interesting conclusions.

Main findings and outputs

Religious experience may be predictable in similar ways to ordinary experience: just as we might predict when we might meet people, so it can be predicted that beautiful landscape or music may suggest divine presence.
Experiences of God’s love are held to be unusual, but ordinary experience is less than straightforward (a tomato is red only in a certain light, its is hard to explain how we experience that a person is intelligent, etc.). Experiencing all of God’s divinity is as problematical as experiencing a person’s entire personality.
Religious experience is argued to be impossible without conditions such as joy, awe, orwonder. But the emotions are also involved in aesthetic or moral experience (e.g. appreciation of music, or loving care setting a good example to people).
It is often argued that whilst it is easy to communicate about ordinary experiences with a range of others, communication about religious experiences is different, because of religious conflicts.
However, each could be seen as describing experiences which are true within its own ways of describing the truth (as not all languages distinguish between colours in the same way).
This would not mean that religions cannot communicate and interact. Hindu polytheism seems far from Judaism, for instance, but the quantity of gods could be argued to stop any one from being dominant, guarding against idolatry.
The argument is not that differences between religions might dissolve, but that the distinction between ordinary perception and religious complexity is simplistic.

Relevance to RE

The essay has use as a resource for teaching about religious experience in A level philosophy and ethics. If possible, teachers should read it first (it is clear and reasonably concise); if not, use could be made of the main findings and outputs above, perhaps as a powerpoint presentation.
An outline lesson plan follows. Students might first be asked to mind-map differences and similarities between ordinary experience and religious experience (or, one or more groups to mind-map differences, others similarities). After discussion of the mind-maps the teacher could then introduce the article and talk through the main findings and outputs. Students could then go back into their groups to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the main findings and outputs (or perhaps each group could be given one of the points to work on). They could next feed back their findings. Finally all could offer a personal conclusion, giving the argument of the essay a mark out of 10 and providiing reasons for their marks.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The ideas and arguments developed in the essay are applicable to any discussiion of religious experience, because the writer looks across broad issues and into various religious traditions.

Find out more

Realism and religious experience, Religious Studies 51, 497–512 (published online 12 October 2014), doi:10.1017/S0034412514000389

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/religious-studies/article/div-classtitlerealism-and-religious-experiencediv/092712366074464469A555DBFC37C922

Research Summary: Is God male?

Is God male? Or should God be referred to in gender terms at all? This philosophical essay takes issue with the traditionalist practice of referring to God in male terms. A very close and detailed argument is developed, through which it is established that it is not more accurate to characterise God as male rather than female, or vice versa. The argument is based neither on the view that God is a human concept and therefore beyond gender nor the view that God is absolutely transcendent and therefore beyond gender. It is based on two other principles, namely that human beings are created in God’s image and that God is a perfect being. In relation to the ‘image of God’, the argument is that God must be visible as much in female as male characteristics; in relation to God as a perfect being, the argument is that if God has gender attributes at all, God must have these equally. The conclusion of the article is that there should be no problem in describing God as female in settings such as liturgy, moral discussion, etc. Teachers will find the ideas challenging, but of use in responding to questions often posed by children and in preparing A level philosophy and ethics materials and lessons.

Researcher

Michael Rea

Research Institution

University of Notre Dame, Indiana

What is this about?

Is it right to describe God as male? This appears to be a traditionalist assumption, or even a safe option.
But the traditional practice has been harmful to women, implying that their characteristics are less ideal, and to men, encouraging a false view of their superiority. It doesn’t seem to be necessary or helpful, so it ought to be questioned.
It doesn’t appear in the Bible. Jesus may be male, but this is offered as proof of his divinity no more than are his musculature or hair.
Of course people have challenged the traditionalist view before, but here is a novel argument against it, based purely on analysis of theological principles.
The argument given will be presented below, but key points are: if people are created in God’s image, equally, characteristics of women are no more or less reflective of God’s image than those of men.
Also, if God is a perfect being, and has gender attributes, these attributes must be equally female and male, since there is no reason to say that one is better than the other, or vice versa.

What was done?

This is an essay in philosophical theology, reviewing various ideas and practices concerning God and gender from the Christian tradition and arguing for criticism and reform.

Main findings and outputs

God is most accurately characterised as masculine (say) only if God is masculine and God is not equally feminine.
However, God is masculine or feminine only if God is equally masculine and feminine. This is because of God’s status as a perfect being. There is no reason to say that masculinity is better than femininity or vice versa, so it would not be perfect for God to have a preponderance of either.
Therefore, God is not most accurately characterised as masculine.
All human beings are created equally in the image of God; the characteristics that contribute to making someone a woman are no more or less relevant to her bearing the image of God than those that contribute to making someone a man.
If the Bible or tradition portray God as masculine, they do not insist that God is masculine in metaphysical terms. In the same way, there is no insistence that God should only be discussed via Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek. The ‘Biblical pattern’ should not be taken as evidence of God’s will to be described as male.
A just God would not insist on unequal gendered description. Gendered forms of speech such as ‘Heavenly Father’ or Julian of Norwich’s ‘as truly as God is our Father, so truly is God our Mother’ are still important, but are metaphors (as the logical arguments prove).
In conclusion, there is no problem with referring to God as female, though if God is masculine or feminine at all, then God is equally masculine and feminine.

Relevance to RE

Teachers will find this essay to be demanding and thought-provoking subject reading. Summaries of the key points and arguments could certainly be offered to A level philosophy and ethics students for discussion and debate.
The essay resonates with questions that children, even relatively younger ones, often raise and are keen to explore in RE. Teachers may find that consideration of the ideas in the essay offers some preparation in dealing with such questions as they arise.
The essay is also evidence that such questions need to be taken up rather than dismissed. They are evidently relevant to developments and issues within Christianity; and to questions over belief in God, and the nature of God, in general.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The issue of generalisability probably could not apply to an essay such as this; its strength is in its originality, force and capacity to provoke further reflection and debate.

Find out more

Gender as a Divine Attribute, Religious Studies 52, 97–115 (published online on 5 February 2015) , doi:10.1017/S0034412514000614

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/religious-studies/article/gender-as-a-divine-attribute/A9898720F077356CDF468DB9FB273CBF

Research Summary: Is Christianity dying out?

There is growing evidence that Western societies are becoming less religious, though a ‘core’ of religious believers remains. But to what extent are remaining Protestants more religious than before, and compared with remaining Catholics? Analysing survey data from 1985 to 2012 in the US, Canada, and Great Britain, the researcher finds that, in most cases, Protestant affiliation has declined more significantly than Catholic affiliation. Yet, individuals who declare themselves as belonging to a Protestant denomination have higher rates of regular service attendance, prayer, and Christian beliefs than those previously. They have also surpassed these same rates among Catholics in both the US and Canada and are on track to do so in Britain in the coming years. The research is of interest and use to RE teachers who teach about contemporary Christianity or deal with pupils’ questions about the ‘dying out’ of Christianity or religion – it provides data that show how complex the issue is.

Researcher

Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme

Research Institution

University of Waterloo, Canada

What is this about?

Within the general trend (backed by evidence) that Western societies are becoming less religious:

To what extent are those who remain Protestant more religious than before?
To what extent are those who remain Protestant more religious than those who remain Catholic?
What answers are suggested to these questions by data collected in the USA, Canada and Britain?

What was done?

Large national annual data sets from 1985 to 2012 were analysed: the 1985–2012 American (US GSS) and Canadian General Social Surveys (CAN GSS) as well as the British Social Attitudes Surveys (BSA). These provide indications of levels of religious belief and practice.

Main findings and outputs

Numbers of people identifying as Protestant have declined more than those identifying as Catholic: e.g. a decline of 28.8% among Protestants in Great Britain, compared with 17.9% among Catholics over 1985–2012.
Those remaining Protestant have seen an increase in levels of church attendance and prayer, especially compared to remaining Catholics.
Fewer remain affiliated to Protestantism, but those who do are more practising. Consider Quebec: In 1965, 90% of this Canadian province’s residents identified themselves as Catholics and 87% attended mass at least once a week; in 2012, 77% still identified with Catholicism, but only 12% declared that they attended mass at least once a week; 47% declared that they never attended religious services.
Something makes non-practising Catholics hold on to their religious identities, in ties that remain for a long period. However, fewer parents attending church and bring children to mass, so this may not last.
Regarding beliefs, however, increasing levels of believing are found amongst those who remain Protestant or Catholic. Levels of Christian beliefs have increased among both religious groups in the USA and Great Britain between 1991 and 2008 (beliefs in God, in life after death, in Heaven, in Hell, and in miracles).
Traditional thinking which sees Catholics as more religious as Protestants should be re-considered. General religious decline is changing the picture: in the UK, religious believers are a diverse minority (just under 50% in 2009), differing from the majority who are removed from religion.

Relevance to RE

There are different ways in which this research is relevant to RE pedagogy. Firstly, in dealing directly with the issues – when teaching courses or lessons about Christianity in the contemporary world – teachers may wish to use the data as content. If so, colleagued would be well advised to read the original article in its entirety, as only ‘headline findings’ have been presented here and the original data set and analysis are extremely rich and interesting. Secondly, the data open up questions about the nature of religion and Christianity that could be explored with pupils: why might people hang on to their religious identities even if belief and practice have faded? What does it mean to be religious (might this mean different things)? Why might those who continue to believe and practice do so more strenuously, as a minority in society? Finally, if the researcher is right to suggest that the gap between the non-religious majority and the religious minority is increasing, teachers ought to assume less background knowledge about religion within the majority, even less readiness to engage. Explanation may need to begin from further back and bridges to understanding built more patiently.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The data are characterised by high levels of generalisability and reliability (large sets, finding common trends in different countries and distinct trends over time).

Find out more

Protestant and Catholic Distinctions in Secularization, Journal of Contemporary Religion 31.2 pages 165-180 (published online 6 May 2016), 10.1080/13537903.2016.1152660

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13537903.2016.1152660

Research Summary: Intersections between religion and science

“Over the centuries, the relationship between science and religion has ranged from conflict and hostility to harmony and collaboration, while various thinkers have argued that the two concepts are inherently at odds and entirely separate. But much recent research and discussion on these issues has taken place in a Western context, primarily through a Christian lens. To better understand the ways in which science relates to religion around the world, Pew Research Center engaged a small group of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists to talk about their perspectives. These one-on-one, in-depth interviews took place in Malaysia and Singapore – two Southeast Asian nations that have made sizable investments in scientific research and development in recent years and that are home to religiously diverse populations.”

Researchers

Courtney Johnson, Cary Lynne Thigpen & Cary Funk

Research Institution

Pew Research Center, Washington DC

What is this about?

What is the relationship between religion and science – or, more precisely, what are some of the relationships between religion and science?
What do Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists think about how religion and science relate to one another?
How are these questions answered within the particular contexts of Malaysia and Singapore, where investment in scientific research and religious diversity are both high?

What was done?

72 individual interviews with Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists were conducted in Malaysia and Singapore between June 17, 2019 and August 8, 2019. This included 24 people in each of the three religious groups, with an equal number in each country. All interviewees said their religion was “very” or “somewhat” important to their lives, but they varied in terms of age, gender, profession and education level.

Main findings and outputs

There is no single, universally held view of the relationship between science and religion.
But there are some common patterns and themes within each of the three religious groups.
Many Muslims expressed the view that Islam and science are basically compatible, acknowledging some differences – such as the theory of evolution conflicting with religious beliefs about the origins and development of human life on Earth.
Hindus tended to differ from Muslims, describing science and religion as overlapping spheres. As with Muslims, many Hindus maintained that their religion contains elements of science, and that Hinduism long ago identified concepts that were later illuminated by science; many Hindus said that the theory of evolution is encompassed in their religious teachings.
Buddhists generally described religion and science as two separate spheres. Several talked about their religion as offering guidance on how to live a moral life, while describing science as observable phenomena. Often, they named no areas of scientific research that concerned them for religious reasons. Nor did Buddhists see the theory of evolution as conflicting with their religion.

Relevance to RE

The data can be used as resources in religion and science topics. The article whose headlines are reported here needs to be viewed in full – it’s detailed, beautifully illustrated and contains much of potential classroom use, e.g. illustrative quotations and statistical tables.
The interview respondents express personal worldviews. Their words show how their organised worldview membership (Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism) combines with other elements (influence from or attitude towards science). In this way, the material from the article can be used for Religion and Worldviews teaching. It helps to show what Religion and Worldviews teaching could look like.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The researchers recognise the limits of a series of interviews with individuals, and therefore don’t claim that the individuals represent the traditions. Again, however, see the full article. What they do to address the problem is include statistics from other Pew Center global surveys, so you can check the individual accounts with the bigger picture. Overall, it’s an excellent resource.

Find out more

On the Intersection of Science and Religion, Pew Research Center, published August 2020 (see link for open access below)

https://www.pewforum.org/essay/on-the-intersection-of-science-and-religion

Research Summary: Implicit Religion: A New Approach to the Study of Religion?

A change brought to the study of religion by the development and ultimate failure of the secularisation thesis was a new approach that sought to answer the question, ‘What is secular religion?’ This approach was Implicit Religion, whose origin, nature and significance are discussed in the article summarized in this research report. The original article (available open-access) is linked at the end of the report, as are other links to further reading. The article is also a resource for A level teaching, especially OCR (H573/03) 2c. Developments in Christian thought, 6. Challenges: The Challenge of Secularism.

Researchers

Francis Stewart

Research Institution

Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln

What is this about?

This is about Implicit Religion, a new approach to the study of religion.

What was done?

The research is a concise scholarly critique of the secularisation thesis and associated ideas and developments. The secularisation thesis is that religion has gradually lost influence and significance in modern societies. The research gives particular attention to the response of Edward Bailey, who asked: how do people develop authentic selves and meaningful lives when their focus or commitment lie in what is called the secular rather than the religious? The distinction is often arbitrary. How do people express faith, belief or ritual in parts of their everyday lives?

Main findings and outputs

Examples of the above include what people sometimes feel or do in relation to sport, music or what might be called fandom (e.g. Elvis pilgrimages). To test these, Bailey developed three analytical tools or concepts:

Commitment(s) – that to which the person, group or community is committed, to the level of being willing to make sacrifices in some respect for it.
Integrating Foci – the aspects, rituals or material artefacts of the wider aspects of the commitment that enables the individual to bring the various aspects of their lives and/or identities into a coherent, meaningful whole.
Intensive Concerns with Extensive Effects – the issues or causes that arise from the commitment that the individual or community is willing repeatedly to act upon, even at great cost to themselves.

Relevance to RE

The article can be used directly as a resource for A level teaching. It can be read by students and contains discussion points on which written follow-up work could also be based. More broadly, there are similarities between the ideas of Implicit Religion and Worldview. The research can be part of discussions about curriculum development in the subject, including how pupils can learn about religion as a conceptual category: what ‘counts’ as religious and why, and what the boundaries of content in the subject should be.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The article is a scholarly discussion, and does not really present data that can be assessed as generalisable or not. It is wide-ranging, and this perhaps gets to the question of limitations. Where should the limits be? Are there limits on what might count implicitly as religious? The article presents a framework for this (see above, Main findings and outputs), so again offering stimuli for discussion with pupils in the classroom.

Find out more

The article is Francis Stewart, Implicit Religion: A New Approach to the Study of Religion?, Challenging Religious Issues, Issue 16, Spring 2020: 22-27. You can access it freely at https://stgilescentre.org/16-2/
For further coverage of Francis Stewart’s research, see:
Francis Stewart (2021): Changing voices: the changing discourse of ‘religion’ and ‘implicit religious’ language, Journal of Beliefs & Values, DOI: 10.1080/13617672.2022.2005710
Francis Stewart (2021): Implicit religion: reshaping the boundary between the religious and the secular?, Journal of Beliefs & Values, DOI: 10.1080/13617672.2022.2005707

Research Summary: Humanism – good without God

This research examines conceptions of happiness and pleasure among secular humanists in Britain. Based on fieldwork among members of the British Humanist Association, and its associated local groups, it is found that happiness for the humanists means enlightenment, or an appeal to reason over and against what they see as the irrationality of religion. For them, happiness and pleasure are subjective experiences, but they also reflect philosophical and ethical commitments. For the humanists, to be happy is to be secular.

Researcher

Matthew Engelke

Research Institution

London School of Economics and Political Science

What is this about?

Humanism
Happiness
Secularism
Ethics
Humanism in Britain

What was done?

The research methodology is not spelled out, but it appears to be an informal, ethnographic one: spending time with humanists, observing their behaviour and emotions, carrying out conversations with them and, it can be imagined, making notes then or later. The research reads somewhat like journalism.

Main findings and outputs

Happiness is part and parcel of humanism. Humanism in contemporary Britain is driven by a passion for the pursuit of happiness.
To humanists, being happy and being “good without god” is a commitment both to pleasure and to progress. It isn’t just a state of mind but a measure of living well. It’s connected with the Enlightenment ethic of thinking for yourself and finding meaning in life now.
For humanists, critique of religion and cultivation of humanism go hand in hand. Religion is humanism’s opposite and other. Christianity, in particular, is heavily criticized. But it’s because it’s seen as irrational – humanism has its own forms of wonder and celebration. Humanists are also observed holding lengthy ethical discussions; they meet to hold ‘ethical juries’ about how to really, objectively, help others, in different situations. Importantly, the fact that they are deliberating rationally is just as significant as any conclusions that are drawn – it means a ‘happy virtue’ and the ‘only authentic option’.

Relevance to RE

The research is very relevant to any teaching about non-religious worldviews. Teachers can read it to develop subject knowledge, and build the findings into presentations about Humanism they make to students. Some of these findings set up good class or small group discussions, or extended writing topis. How important or wise is it always to think for yourself? How justified is it to say that religion (especially Christianity) is irrational? Or that being happy is a sign of living well?

Generalisability and potential limitations

The informal nature of the research makes it hard to judge whether it represents UK humanists in general, but it is well-backed by wider literature and has an authentic feel. Comments are welcomed!

Find out more

The original article is Matthew Engelke, “Good without God” Happiness and pleasure among the humanists, Hau: Journal of Ethnographic Theory (2015) 5 (3): 69–91. It can be accessed freely from DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14318/hau5.3.005

Research Summary: How eco-friendly is Buddhism, really?

Different Buddhist texts and beliefs offer different kinds of attitudes to nature. Sometimes Buddhism appears to view all living beings as equal, whilst at other times it seems to place human beings at the centre of its universe and to give particular significance to them. The difference appears in the philosophy and norms of Buddhism, and this researcher wanted to investigate how it is worked out in daily life. Therefore he carried out a study of a Vietnamese Buddhist monastery in the USA, observing its daily life closely for about sixty days in total. He found that whilst in theory the monastery is eco-centric, in practice, there are aspects of its life in which humans are valued more than other life-forms, in which its motivations for environmental lifestyles are to benefit humans and in which it limits non-violence in order to favour humans. The research offers interesting material for RE teachers to consider when presenting Buddhism; and interesting questions about religion and the environment for pupils to discuss and analyse.

Researcher

Daniel Capper

Research Institution

University of Southern Mississippi

What is this about?

This is about problems faced by Buddhists when they try to put very pure spiritual ideals into practice. You could say that it is about the relationship between spiritual ideals and life in the material world, more generally.
The background is the Buddhist teaching of the interdependence of all life, especially as represented in the ecological Buddhism of the Vietnamese teacher Thıch Nhat Hanh (“every Buddhist practitioner should be a protector of the environment”).
According to this teaching, everything in the universe is interconnected, humans are equal partners in a larger system and no distinction should be made between inanimate and animate beings.
The Buddhists in this monastery see natural beings as enlightened and as spiritual teachers to people. Consumption is kept to a minimum, the diet is vegan and strenuous efforts are made to avoid harming life-forms.
However, compromises are sometimes made. The researcher finds that inevitably, human interests surface and that when pushed, the sangha (community) members have to recognise this. (More detail is given below, in Main findings and outputs.)

What was done?

The researcher observed the life of a Vietnamese Buddhist monastery in the USA for about sixty days in total, participating in many of its activities, also carrying out formal interviews with ten monks.

Main findings and outputs

Different Buddhist beliefs offer different attitudes to nature. In Thailand, trees have been symbolically ordained as monks; but still, it is taught that for purposes of attaining enlightenment, a human rebirth is the most favourable of all.
The sangha members studied are strongly committed to the Buddhist teaching of the interdependence of all life. Their form of Buddhism has itself been influenced by the ‘Western’ conservation and ecology movement.
According to Thıch Nhat Hanh’s teaching, everything in the universe is interconnected, humans are equal partners in a larger system and no distinction should be made between inanimate and animate beings.
The Buddhists in this monastery see natural beings as enlightened spiritual teachers. Spiritual practice such as walking meditation involves a deep appreciation of the natural enivironment. Consumption of natural resources such as water is kept to a minimum, the diet is vegan and strenuous efforts are made to avoid harming even animals that might normally be regarded as pests.
However, compromises are sometimes made. Two stray dogs who were interfering with the contemplative atmosphere of the monastery were eventually removed (the researcher was asked to do this). Pesticides are used against red fire ants whose bites are very painful and can be fatal. Thus, the monastery puts human comfort and safety higher than the intrinsic value of the ants. Generally the researcher wonders how pure the Buddhists’ ideals can be, in that their ecological lifestyle sometimes seems motivated by their own spiritual wishes.

Relevance to RE

The material could be of great use to RE teachers when planning curriculum and in pedagogy – the issues raised invite critical pupil engagement.
At one level, the problems met by the Buddhists in practising their beliefs can be used as evidence of the challanges faced by people in sustaining an ideals-based religious lifestyle. When pupils learn about the problems it will deepen their understanding of the beliefs.
At a more critical level the problems can be offered to pupils to analyse, once they have heard and spent some time discussing the ‘story’. (They could first look up the monastery online at http://magnoliagrovemonastery.org/ ) This level of work may suit older or more able secondary pupils. If you believe that all of life is equal and interconnected, can the use of pesticides be justified? If you believe that all of life is equal and interconnected.

Generalisability and potential limitations

This research identifies some mixed messages in Buddhism in general, then investigates how – or whether – the issues are resolved in a single monastery. Rather than high generalisability, it offers a very interesting illustrative example.

Find out more

Learning Love from a Tiger: Approaches to Nature in an American Buddhist Monastery, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 30:1, 55-71 (published online 23 December 2014) dx.doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2015.986976

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2015.986976

Research Summary: Does it matter whether Buddhists have home shrines?

Previous research has recognized shrines in homes as sites of shared memory which bring the sacred into the home. For Buddhists, shrines occupy a grey area between the cultural and the religious. A quantitative study of 417 British teenagers self-identifying as Buddhists found that the 70% who had a home shrine were less likely to visit a Buddhist temple, but more likely to exhibit daily personal religious practice and to bow to parents. Those with shrines were generally happier at school, more communal and strict about intoxicants. Heightened religiosity was linked with having a home shrine, particularly for female, late-teen, and heritage Buddhists. For these groups of Buddhists, a shrine represents a site for shared memory, whilst for males, early teens, and converts, there is more a sense of shrines giving focus to their Buddhist identity.

Researcher

Phra Nicholas Thanissaro

Research Institution

University of Warwick

What is this about?

This research is about shrines in Buddhist homes and what they signify. Are they cultural or religious? How do they affect the religiosity of Buddhist teenagers? Does this vary according to different sub-groups, including male or female, early or late teen, heritage or convert, for example? The study is of different Buddhist teenagers in Britain.

What was done?

A survey questionnaire was completed by 417 self-identifying teenage Buddhists. The sample consisted of 225 males (54%) and 192 females (46%) aged between 13 and 20, with an ethnic composition of Asian (52%), White (34%), Mixed (11%), Chinese (2%), and Black (1%). In terms of the temple institutions they attended, to give some idea of the national Buddhist traditions included, the sample included Sinhalese (23%), Thai (16%), Tibetan (12%), Burmese (11%), Vietnamese (9%), Japanese (5%), Bangladeshi (3%), Western (2%), Chinese (2%), Nepalese (2%), and Cambodian (1%).

Main findings and outputs

70% of British Buddhist teenagers had a shrine in their homes.
Having a shrine was likely to correspond generally with heightened religiosity but lower mystical orientation.
Those with a shrine at home were significantly more likely to have a daily religious practice (22%) than those without a shrine (7%). Those with a shrine were also significantly more likely to bow to their parents (66%) than those without shrines (36%). Those with a shrine were significantly less likely to attend a temple on a weekly basis (41%) than those who had no home shrine (74%).
Home shrines are significantly linked with Buddhist religiosity in female, heritage Buddhists in their late teens.
For these Buddhists in particular, the shrine helps remind them about the Buddha and Buddhist clergy as symbols of their religion.
This includes feeling that life has a sense of purpose, considering oneself a ‘proper’ Buddhist, and thinking that Buddhist monks do a good job.
For male, convert, and early teen Buddhists particularly, the presence of the shrine can be seen as a symbol of the self or identity formation.

Relevance to RE

The research is relevant to RE practice because it shows how teachers need to be sensitive to different factors about religion – it is specifically about Buddhism but has relevance regarding religious traditions in general. The researcher warns about the danger in presenting Buddhism as simply a set of beliefs, which is a distortion because ritual practice in the home as well as the temple is clearly significant to Buddhists. Yet he also presents evidence that ritual practice in the case of a home shrine is significant in different ways to different Buddhists; that it differs by gender, for instance, or whether one is a heritage or a convert Buddhist, is a reminder of the need to explore the diversity within religions when teaching about them.

Generalisability and potential limitations

This is a fairly large and differentiated survey. The researcher does identify some questions for future research, not yet addressed, which could elaborate upon the study of shrine-related practice using qualitative research. It might explore details such as observation of the daily context in which Buddhists practise in relation to their shrines, how they practise, what they worship, what they chant, how often they chant, whether they are alone when they practise or with their family, and so on.

Find out more

The original article is: Phra Nicholas Thanissaro (2018) Buddhist shrines: bringing sacred context and shared memory into the home, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 33:2, 319-335.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13537903.2018.1469277