Processes of secularisation are taking place in many regions of the world, especially in the countries of Western Europe as well as in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Korea and Japan, but also in Iran and in some North African countries, and recently even in the United States, which had been thought to be particularly religious (Arab Barometer 2019a, b; Inglehart 2021; Pollack and Rosta 2017; Reader 2012; Voas and Chaves 2016). But the decreasing social relevance of religion, reflected in the decline both of religious beliefs and practices, and of membership of religious communities, is not unilinear. Alongside and running counter to these secularising tendencies are also movements of religious self-assertion that can be seen across the world. The most visible tendencies for European observers are perhaps those of radical Islamism, with its claim to superiority over secular interpretations of the world, its bizarre forms of social exclusion, and its transgression of boundaries, which can even entail violence. We read almost every day reports in the media about the use of violence against women in Iran who have allegedly violated the dress code enforced by the morality police, about the legal persecution of homosexuals in the United Arab Emirates, and about the exclusion of women from work and higher levels of education in Afghanistan. There are frequent protests. In Iran, thousands of women (and men) have been taking to the streets for months under the slogan "Woman, Life, Freedom" to protest against the Mullah regime. In Afghanistan, many women are undermining the Taliban's prohibitions and its attempts to close schools and stop women from studying by secretly meeting to study and teach children. Some even dare to fight back publicly, with the Taliban responding with violence, firing their Kalashnikovs in the air and using water cannons.

Background/Objective: Historically, fasting has been practiced not only for medical but also for religious reasons. Bahá’ís follow an annual religious intermittent dry fast of 19 days. We inquired into motivation behind and subjective health impacts of Bahá’í fasting. Methods: A convergent parallel mixed methods design was embedded in a clinical single arm observational study. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted before (n = 7), during (n = 8), and after fasting (n = 8). Three months after the fasting period, two focus group interviews were conducted (n = 5/n = 3). A total of 146 Bahá’í volunteers answered an online survey at five time points before, during, and after fasting. Results: Fasting was found to play a central role for the religiosity of interviewees, implying changes in daily structures, spending time alone, engaging in religious practices, and experiencing social belonging. Results show an increase in mindfulness and well-being, which were accompanied by behavioural changes and experiences of self-efficacy and inner freedom. Survey scores point to an increase in mindfulness and well-being during fasting, while stress, anxiety, and fatigue decreased. Mindfulness remained elevated even three months after the fast. Conclusion: Bahá’í fasting seems to enhance participants’ mindfulness and well-being, lowering stress levels and reducing fatigue. Some of these effects lasted more than three months after fasting.

This study examines the multidimensionality of spirituality by comparing the applicability of two models—the five-dimensional model of religiosity by Huber that we have extended with a sixth dimension of ethics and the three-dimensional spirituality model by Bucher. This qualitative study applied a semi-structured interview guideline of spirituality to a stratified sample of N = 48 secular individuals in Switzerland. To test these two models, frequency, valence, and contingency analysis of Mayring’s qualitative content analysis were used. It could be shown that Bucher’s three-dimensional model covers only about half of the spirituality codes in the interviews; it is especially applicable for implicit and salient spiritual aspects in general, as well as for spiritual experience in specific. In contrast, the extended six-dimensional model by Huber could be applied to almost all of the spirituality-relevant codes. Therefore, in principle, the scope of this six-dimensional model can be expanded to spirituality. The results are discussed in the context of future development of a multidimensional spirituality scale that is based on Huber’s Centrality of Religiosity by extending the religiosity concept to spirituality without mutually excluding these concepts from each other.

Bullying is a worldwide problem that has serious effects on the mental health of both victims and perpetrators. Although bullying seems related to increasing globalization and migration, it has seldom been researched in this context. This exploratory study examined bullying experiences and related depressive symptoms among a sample of adolescents with a Turkish migration background in a German school context (N = 103, 56.7% female, M_Age = 16.17, SD_Age = 1.36). The study focuses on three migration-related variables as potentially salutogenic factors: Ethnic class composition, acculturation, and religiosity. While the ethnic class composition did not show any effect, an integration acculturation strategy and religiosity proved to be protective factors against bullying experience. The negative prediction of integration on depressive symptoms was not consistent throughout the multivariate analyses. The results are discussed against the background of new impulses for bullying intervention programs for this vulnerable group of adolescents from a Turkish migration background.