Converting and Deconverting in China
This article will encourage psychologists of religion to embrace a cultural and interdisciplinary paradigm when addressing converting and deconverting in China. The paper begins by briefly defining culture and religion followed by an overview of the cultural psychology of religion. The focus is on p...
| Authors: | ; |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2017
|
| In: |
Research in the social scientific study of religion
Year: 2017, Volume: 28, Pages: 188-208 |
| Further subjects: | B
Religion in Asien
B Cultural sciences B Religious sociology B Social sciences B China B Religionspsycholigie B Asien-Studien B Religionswissenschaften |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article will encourage psychologists of religion to embrace a cultural and interdisciplinary paradigm when addressing converting and deconverting in China. The paper begins by briefly defining culture and religion followed by an overview of the cultural psychology of religion. The focus is on people’s experiences, relationships, beliefs, behaviours, and consciousness as they relate to supra- or trans-human dimensions, entities, or beings perceived by individuals, groups, and cultures to be important. We recommend that researchers work collaboratively because of the complexity of analysis. Three models of interdisciplinary research are explored: teamwork, a person centred approach, and context analysis. With this methodological background we review some of the recent research on conversion and deconversion in the West and elsewhere. This paper includes the notion of deconversion because scholars of the dynamics of religion and spirituality recognize that millions of people around the world, as well as converting to diverse forms of religious/spiritual beliefs, rituals, and communities, are also leaving various forms of religion and spirituality. Finally we examine research in China related to converting and deconverting both in Chinese folk religions and Christianity. It is our hope that the future of the cultural psychology of converting and deconverting will be shaped by our capacity to work together productively so that our horizons are extended. We must engage vastly different cultural, political, religious, economic, and spiritual traditions and disciplines to understand converting and deconverting, and to do so with a generosity of spirit, rigorous intellectual work, and compassionate hearts. |
|---|---|
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Research in the social scientific study of religion
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/9789004348936_010 |