The religious profile of the world is changing, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center. The chief accelerators are fertility rates, size of youth populations, the numbers of people switching faiths, and the impact of international migrations. The writers of the report admit that there is a chance that unseen events such as war, famine, disease, technological innovation, or political upheaval could significantly alter the global religious landscape described here.
Posted by Frederic Brussat on April 14, 2015
Posted by Frederic Brussat on April 8, 2015
The Pew Research Center had released a new study describing how Americans use and feel about their phones.
* Of the 64% of Americans who own a smartphone, 10% do not have broadband at home, which means that their smartphone is their sole means for accessing the Internet.
* An additional 15% of smartphone owners say they have a limited amount of alternative ways to go online, so they rely on their smartphones as well.
* 46% said they could not live without their smartphones.
* 70% of Americans associate their phones more with the word "freedom" than with "leash."
* 72% think this tool is "connecting" rather than "distracting."
Posted by Frederic Brussat on April 6, 2015
One of our favorite rock critics was Richard Goldstein; he was a pioneer in the genre. After graduating from Columbia University's journalism school in 1966, he began writing about pop music for the Village Voice. We just read on latimes.com a review of his memoir Another Little Piece of My Heart: My Life of Rock and Revolution in the '60s (Bloomsbury).
Posted by Frederic Brussat on March 3, 2015
For the last eight months, Michael Grant has walked the streets of Philadelphia dressed as Jesus Christ. He has picked up the nickname "Philly Jesus," writes Mark Makela in this Reuters article.
When asked, Grant emphasizes that he is not trying to convert anyone but just to "portray Jesus and bring awareness to him."
Posted by Frederic Brussat on February 3, 2015
Whenever I think about boredom, I tend to picture a lousy and negative state of mind that brings me down. In an article for bbc.com, David Robson points out that research on this behavior has found that two distinct personality types are prone to experience boredom. One is those who are constantly on the lookout for new experiences, and the second are individuals who see the world as a fearful place and run for shelter. "Out of their high-sensitivity to pain, they withdraw," notes John Eastwood, a scholar of this state of mind. Boredom can have dire effects on health. To avoid it, some people turn to addictions or behaviors such as over-eating.
Posted by Frederic Brussat on January 28, 2015
Since 2008, Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin of the School of Life in London have been suggesting books to clients to alleviate various conditions. They wrote about this service, which they call bibliotherapy, in The Novel Cure.They point to those times when a novel has seemed to directly speak to our condition. They write:
Posted by Frederic Brussat on January 26, 2015
In an article in The Guardian, Ben Muzzell writes about the changes that are coming to education and businesses in "the mass attention deficit era." A sign of this happening: many people cannot read a book or complete a task without switching gears and doing a quick search of their email or surfing the net. According to Nokia research, there are many in the Millennial Generation who check their phones 150 times a day.
Posted by Frederic Brussat on January 14, 2015
KIP charter schools are offering teachers, children, and parents pragmatic and adventuresome ways to talk about and develop character. Their approach is based on the research of Dr. Martin Seligman (University of Pennsylvania) and Dr. Chris Peterson (University of Michigan). It focuses on the seven qualities essential for the creation of engaged, meaningful, and purposeful lives. We see many parallels to the spiritual practices we have identified in the Alphabet of Spiritual Literacy.
Posted by Frederic Brussat on January 12, 2015
In his brilliant and troubling 1981 novel A Flag For Sunrise, Robert Stone wrote: "It's the worst thing in the world when people turn you around because you're something else than them." We can remember feeling deep sadness for the chaotic and violent state of affairs depicted in that story about Frank Holliwell, a 40-year old anthropologist sent by a former CIA cohort to Tecan, a Central American Republic where a militaristic dictator ruled with the support of the CIA; this fictional country was modeled after Nicaragua.
In the novel, Holliwell goes on an odyssey which exposes him to an assortment of men and women serving a variety of causes. The Indians of the area are poor, downtrodden, and unhappy. While they suffer, the ruling elite look forward to a new prosperity for themselves via copper mining profits and foreign investments in property for tourist retreats.
Holliwell visits a Catholic mission, a band of revolutionaries in the mountains, and several wheeler dealers capitalizing like bottom feeders on the clashing forces in the vulnerable country.
Posted by Frederic Brussat on December 22, 2014
The winners of a competition to crowdsource an alternative secular alternative to the Ten Commandments for the modern age were announced last week at AtheistMindHumanistHeart.com. The $10,000 Prize was divided up between ten different contestants. Over 2,800 submissions were received from 18 countries and over 6,000 votes were cast by the public for their favorite submission said Lex Bayer and John Figdor, the Prize's founders and authors of Atheist Mind, Humanist Heart.
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About This Blog
Spiritual literacy is the ability to read the signs written in the texts of our own experiences. It is recommended and practiced in all the world's religions. Whether viewed as a gift from God or a skill to be cultivated, this facility enables us to discern and decipher a world full of meaning. More