Religion And Family Research Paper

As human beings we are naturally introduced to a natural family, every Christian is naturally introduced to God's spiritual family. God is the Father of all his children. In the church we are like a neighborhood and in our neighborhood church, we have fathers, moms, more established and more youthful kin, and new infants being conceived in our spiritual family. We get benefits as relatives, however we likewise have responsibilities.This impacts our needs and how we treat each other. We have a similar respect and responsibility and love for our heavenly families as we improve the situation our own families. We would prefer just not to get together once per week—we need to confer our lives to each other.

There are a lot of young and old Christians that practice their religion and attend churches often. But many studies have found that regardless of the religion practiced, many older men and women become more “spiritual” as they age and become older (Levin, J. S., & Chatters, L. M. (1998). As one gets old and closer to the “end” of life, philosophical thoughts about death, creation and life after death begin to linger. No wonder then that many older Americans become more practicing of their religions. Many scholars have said that this is for two main reasons. One is that they want to get closer to their God, to be happy and be sure that they will attain the pleasure of God instead of the wrath. The second is this general benefit to health. Religiosity seems to have medicinal value and is practiced by those that are hospitalized and the elderly. Honest spirituality (or intrinsic religiosity) reduces many stress factors and diseases like depression (University of Oklahoma, Medicine and Spirituality

Spirituality gives meaning and purposes to their belief (51). In Reconnecting science and spirituality, Walach defines spirituality as “a way to understand the natural makeup of the world by means of rational methods of inquiry”. This quotes allows the world to have faith in their own beliefs (425). The happenings in Hydesville involving the Fox sisters started to increase the rate of mediums around the world (Walliss 129). Spiritualism started to have a greater influence of people’s lives. People started to go to mediums to communicate with lost love ones. Spiritualism was given closures to people in the world (Walliss

Moreover, researchers have correlated religion with increased life expectancy, longevity, and lower mortality rates (Chiswick & Mirtcheva, 2013; George et al., 2000; Lee & Newberg, 2005; Marks, 2005). Evidently, religion and spirituality produce positive biological health outcomes.

Spirituality does not have one definite definition, it varies depending on who is searching for the meaning. The meaning of spirituality can change within one person, the more they search for answers and find their beliefs. To this writer, spirituality reaches beyond ourselves, it is the connection between ourselves and something greater.

Meichenbaum (2012) suggested spirituality as one of the major influencing factor in resilience building. His research emphasized “positive religious ways of coping” that include “collaborating with God in solving life’s problems…and using religious social network as a resource” and discussed spirituality as framework for meaning making and a sense of belongingness. Maynard, Gorsuch and Bjorck (2001) in their research explored the important mediating role of personal religious variables and God concept in the use of religious coping in threat, loss, and challenged situations. Research on 129 undergraduates revealed that personal variables such as God concept and perception of others’ beliefs played important mediating roles in religious coping in stressor situations. Strong relationships existed among God concept, the importance individuals placed on their religious and spiritual lives, and participation in religious activities.

Spirituality is considered one of the components of health and wellness, and is a contributory factor in the delivery of holistic care (O’Shea, Wallace, Griffin, & Fitzpatrick, 2011). It only makes sense for us nurses to study and research spirituality since the nursing profession is committed to holistic development, which includes the spiritual dimension of life. However, elements such as time constraints, short staffing, insufficient formal education related to spiritual assessment and confusion between spirituality and religion have led to spirituality becoming a disregarded component of care (O’Shea et al., 2011). Adolescence is a crucial time in the development of a person’s spiritual path (Benson & Roehlkepartain, 2008). Findings showed that most adolescents hold spiritual or religious beliefs already and choose to draw on them when experiencing life-changing events. Despite this information, healthcare professionals overlook the spiritual needs of adolescents (Neuman, 2011).

“Spirituality is derived from the Latin word spiritus, spirit, the essential part of the person which controls the mind and the mind controls the body. Thus the spirit is the vital life force which motivate people and influence ones life, health behavior and relationships” (Baldacchino & Draper, 2001). She also stated that spirituality is the mainstream of life which unifies all aspects of the human being. Spirituality applies to both believers and non believers, including the presence of diverse cultural beliefs (Baldacchino & Draper, 2001). Culliford stated that : “In times of emotional stress, physical illness, loss, bereavement and death human beings tend to find comfort, peace, inspiration, reverence and meaning by focusing on their spirituality whether they believe in God or not” (Culliford, 2002). In a study conducted by Tuck and Thingajana the meaning of spirituality was voiced by person living with HIV disease and healthy adults. The definitions voiced by the HIV patients were that “Spirituality is relating and believing in God, who is always present. It is perceived as being guided or helped or being inspired or giving unto. Spirituality includes the process of journeying, discovering and centering and is outwardly expressed” (Tuck & Thinganjana, 2007). The definitions of Spirituality expressed by the healthy individuals were that:

Spiritual beliefs relates to "a set of thinking regarding the bring with regards to, character, and function of the certain universe, particularly when regarded because the particular generation of your superhuman organization and even firms, commonly regarding devotional and habit observances, and sometimes comprising a new moral rule ruling the exact carry out and about regarding people extramarital liasons. " and "a distinct basic set of thinking and practices commonly arranged by several persons and even sects. inches

A 10-year study from the Journal of Family Practice, “found that 83% of the studies done on spirituality found a positive effect on physical health, 92% showed mental health benefits, 4% showed neither a positive nor negative effect and 4% showed harm” ("Spirituality and prayer," 2012), and in these studies spirituality was measured by participation in a religious ceremony, social support, prayer and belief in a higher power. Research among women diagnosed with breast cancer show that “prayer was associated with improved psychological well-being” ("Spirituality and prayer," 2012) and that high religiosity was linked to much lower levels of depression.

Throughout the book, the author carefully details the need for balance between theology and spirituality, and psychology and Christianity. Though the author discusses methods and approaches that are spiritual but based on a strong theological foundation. “Nothing is more crucial to an effective Christian life that a clear awareness of its foundation” (p. 25). Essentially Crabb (1977) maintains that spirituality is a product of the correct thinking associated with strong theological foundation.

Both religion and family are essential parts in the running of any society. Religion is the belief in a supernatural authority which unites a group of people. Normally, a family consist of people who share the same bloodline; however, it may also consist of a group of people who are legally bonded such as adopted children. In whatever type of the family, strong and healthy bonds are necessary. Among other factors, religion plays a significant role in strengthening the family bonds. In many religions of the world, family comes first. For instance, in the Bible, God created man and woman so that they could reproduce and fill the earth. In addition, God gave man power over all other living things. This shows how important people are to God. Notably, various religions have different values and expectations on families. For instance, Islam allows polygamy while Christianity allows monogamy. The relationship between family and religion can be evaluated using the functionalism perspective of sociology. This essay explains the functionalism perspective and analyses the interactions between religion and family.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss spirituality and how it can influence individuals’ faith and affect their way of prosper in their chosen religion. Spirituality applies a connection with faith; both create confidence and trust in searching for a meaning for life or a superior being, depending on the individual’s chosen religion. The research completed for this paper was determined from the results of Stephen P. Robbins’ self-assessment test IV.A.4: How Spiritual Am I? From the results and conclusion, the self-assessment presented that I have a high spirituality score. Since a child, I was raised to understand my spirituality and use of faith as

What is spirituality? And is it only related to religion? It is hard to answer these questions as there are a lot of definitions of spirituality and what is it related to. For some people, spirituality has no meaning outside the circle of the religion. On the other hand, some people say that spirituality can exist inside the religion and also outside the religion. People should stop relating spirituality to only religion. Instead, people should know the true meaning of spirituality outside the circle of the religion as it will open doors for knowledge and have a butter understanding and better life. In the United States, religion is frequently equated with spirituality or a personal relationship with God

Spirituality plays a very sub sequential role in my personal life. First of all, spirituality helps me govern what is right and what is wrong in my life. Many of the decisions that I make everyday, I believe are a direct result of my spirituality. For as long as I can remember I have been raised to believe that I should live my life the way God would want me to live it. Therefore, whenever I have a decision to make, I have to consider, what is right? And what is wrong? Second of all, it also helps me to feel more secure about what will happen to my spirit once my life here on earth is over. I believe that there is a better place for our spirits once we leave this earth.