A new book, Jerusalem Unbound, plots the history and examines the underlying factors that make a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians so difficult.
Written by Professor Mick Dumper, a University of Exeter politics expert with over 25 years of experience of Jerusalem, the book explores why religious property in ethnically mixed cities attract conflict and argues that holy sites are particularly difficult in peace negotiations as they cannot be exchanged or traded like other properties. It also compares Jerusalem with other divided cities like Belfast and Beirut and draws out lessons that can be learnt from the way these cities are managed. (more…)
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Support for gay marriage is growing in Michigan, mirroring changing attitudes in many parts of the United States, according to Michigan State University’s State of the State Survey.
A recent survey found that 56 percent of the state’s residents support gay marriage while 39 percent oppose it. Two years ago, 48 percent supported gay marriage and 51 percent were opposed. (more…)
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Despite differences in rituals and beliefs among the world’s major religions, spirituality often enhances health regardless of a person’s faith, according to University of Missouri researchers. The MU researchers believe that health care providers could take advantage of this correlation between health – particularly mental health – and spirituality by tailoring treatments and rehabilitation programs to accommodate an individual’s spiritual inclinations.
“In many ways, the results of our study support the idea that spirituality functions as a personality trait,” said Dan Cohen, assistant teaching professor of religious studies at MU and one of the co-authors of the study. “With increased spirituality people reduce their sense of self and feel a greater sense of oneness and connectedness with the rest of the universe. What was interesting was that frequency of participation in religious activities or the perceived degree of congregational support was not found to be significant in the relationships between personality, spirituality, religion and health.” (more…)
