Spirituality And Religion In Patients With Hiv/aids.
J Gen Intern Med. 2006 Dec; 21 Suppl 5: S5-S13Cotton S, Puchalski CM, Sherman SN, Mrus JM, Peterman AH, Feinberg J, Pargament KI, Justice AC, Leonard AC, Tsevat JBACKGROUND: Spirituality and religion are often central issues for patients dealing with chronic illness. The purpose of this study is to characterize spirituality/religion in a large and diverse sample of patients with HIV/AIDS by using several measures of spirituality/religion, to examine associations between spirituality/religion and a number of demographic, clinical, and psychosocial variables, and to assess changes in levels of spirituality over 12 to 18 months. METHODS: We interviewed 450 patients from 4 clinical sites. Spirituality/religion was assessed by using 8 measures: the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spirituality-Expanded scale (meaning/peace, faith, and overall spirituality); the Duke Religion Index (organized and nonorganized religious activities, and intrinsic religiosity); and the Brief RCOPE scale (positive and negative religious coping). Covariates included demographics and clinical characteristics, HIV symptoms, health status, social support, self-esteem, optimism, and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: The patients' mean (SD) age was 43.3 (8.4) years; 387 (86%) were male; 246 (55%) were minorities; and 358 (80%) indicated a specific religious preference. Ninety-five (23%) participants attended religious services weekly, and 143 (32%) engaged in prayer or meditation at least daily. Three hundred thirty-nine (75%) patients said that their illness had strengthened their faith at least a little, and patients used positive religious coping strategies (e.g., sought God's love and care) more often than negative ones (e.g., wondered whether God has abandoned me; P<.0001). In 8 multivariable models, factors associated with most facets of spirituality/religion included ethnic and racial minority status, greater optimism, less alcohol use, having a religion, greater self-esteem, greater life satisfaction, and lower overall functioning (R(2)=.16 to .74). Mean levels of spirituality did not change significantly over 12 to 18 months. CONCLUSIONS: Most patients with HIV/AIDS belonged to an organized religion and use their religion to cope with their illness. Patients with greater optimism, greater self-esteem, greater life satisfaction, minorities, and patients who drink less alcohol tend to be both more spiritual and religious. Spirituality levels remain stable over 12 to 18 months....
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Winner Is Melbourne For Religion &quot;olympics&quot; - Cathnews
Winner is Melbourne for religion "Olympics"CathNews, Australia - 8 hours agoThe next World Parliament of Religions, an event likened to the "Olympic Games of religion and spirituality" is to be held in Melbourne after beating out ... Melbourne to host world religion 'Olympics' The AgeMelbourne to host 'Olympics of religion' Daily Telegraphall 13 news articles...
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A Description Of Various Website-forum flame Warriors The Atheist
Should an unsuspecting forum member make even a passing comment about faith or spirituality of any flavor, Atheist will descend like one of the Furies, mercilessly hectoring all of the ignorant and delusional believers about the sordid history of the church and the pernicious effects of religion on society. After a few of Atheist?s anti-religious jeremiads most other Warriors will avoid the subject altogether, though Evil Clown may egg him on a little, and Philosopher may amuse himself by pointing out flaws in his reasoning....
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A Home Study-based Spirituality Education Program Decreases Emotional Distress And Increases Quality Of Life--a Randomized, Controlled Trial.
Altern Ther Health Med. 2006 Nov-Dec; 12(6): 26-35Moritz S, Quan H, Rickhi B, Liu M, Angen M, Vintila R, Sawa R, Soriano J, Toews JCONTEXT: Although epidemiological studies have reported protective effects of religion and spirituality on mental health, it is unknown whether spirituality can be used as an intervention to improve psychological well-being. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of a home study-based spirituality program on mood disturbance in emotionally distressed patients. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A non-blinded, randomized, wait list-controlled trial of 165 individuals with mood disturbance [score of >40 on the Profile of Mood States (POMS)] were recruited from primary care clinics in a Canadian city between August 2000 and March 2001. INTERVENTIONS: Participants were randomized to a spirituality group (an 8-week audiotaped spirituality home-study program), a mindfulness meditation-based stress reduction group (attendance at facilitated classes for 8 weeks), or a wait-list control group (no intervention for 12 weeks). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcomes were mood disturbance, measured using POMS, and quality of life, measured using the SF-36, a short-form health survey with 36 questions. The POMS and the SF-36 were completed at baseline, at 8 weeks, and at 12 weeks. RESULTS: At the end of the 8-week intervention period, the mean POMS score improvement was -43.1 (-45.7%) for the spirituality group, -22.6 (-26.3%) for the meditation group, and -10.3 (11.3%) for the control group (P<.001 for spirituality vs control group; P=.034 for spirituality vs meditation group). Mean improvement in the SF-36 mental component summary score was 14.4 (48.6%) for the spirituality group, 7.1 (22.3%) for the meditation group, and 4.7 (16.1%) for the control group (P<.001 for spirituality vs control group; P=.029 for spirituality vs meditation group). At 12 weeks, POMS and SF-36 scores remained significantly different from baseline for the spirituality group....
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A Director Of The Hindu Council Offers Police Authorities A Hindu Perspective On The Fight Against Terrorism
UNITED KINGDOM, September 7, 2006: A director of the Hindu Council in the United Kingdom, Jay Lakhani, gave a speech at the Metropolitan Police Authority's hearing with faith communities on September 7 in answer to the Hindu perspective on the fight against terrorism. Lakhani said, in part, "This issue has arisen in the name of religion and only a religious solution can diffuse the serious threat it poses for the whole of humanity. Religions are a very potent force, either we harness them for the greater good or they can run riot in our society. The way the authorities are trying to address this issue is by 'toning down religions' and asking people of faiths to put greater emphasis on 'common humanity,' hoping that this will diminish the threat of violence. Though this seems to be a clever thing to do it is guaranteed to fail. An issue that has arisen in the name of religion requires a resolution that comes from religion, else it will keep resurfacing and we have to resign ourselves to live from one critical alert to another! The resolution does not lie within the exclusivist ideologies of the Abrahamic faiths but within the Indic traditions. Religious Pluralism of the Hindus is the resolution. Hinduism does not like language like 'tolerate other religions,' neither is it too keen on the wordings often used in modern interfaith dialogue: 'show respect for other religions' as this is a patronizing approach. What we want to see is acceptance that there can be many different ways of making spiritual progress. These include theistic, non-theistic and even the non-religious modes. This is what pluralism means. Only when religious pluralism is invoked and infused in our society through the education system can we hope to make religions the cohesive force in our society. Such ideas have to be pro-actively promoted in the field of religious education. This is the only long term solution. We need to have faith. Not faith in a God, but faith in mankind's capacity of making sensible judgments after receiving such wholesome education."
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