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Religious Beliefs and Superstitions in Contemporary Romania. A Socio-Anthropological Perspective

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Recent Trends in Social Systems: Quantitative Theories and Quantitative Models

Part of the book series: Studies in Systems, Decision and Control ((SSDC,volume 66))

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Abstract

This paper reveals some of the contemporary beliefs, rituals and religious superstitions of the Romanian people. It is underpinned by two sociological field research activities carried out by the Romanian Institute for Assessment and Strategy (IRES (Ro)/RIAS (En)) in August 2013 and October 2014. This study purports to show and interpret the contemporary beliefs of the Romanians with regards to the meaning of life and the imports of death, to the world beyond and the entities populating it. Much of its weight is carried by the beliefs of the Romanians in the year 2013 in respect of the importance of the Church in their personal life and of the answers the Church should give to certain social issues: infidelity, the third world, racial discrimination, ecology, religious tolerance, abortion, nuclear disarmament, euthanasia, unemployment or homosexuality. The last part of this study focuses upon the contemporary superstitions in the Romanian social mind set with regards to talismans and the Halloween; witchcraft and premonition dreams; gambling and the horoscope.

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References

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Correspondence to Nicu Gavriluţă .

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Gavriluţă, N. (2017). Religious Beliefs and Superstitions in Contemporary Romania. A Socio-Anthropological Perspective. In: Maturo, A., Hošková-Mayerová, Š., Soitu, DT., Kacprzyk, J. (eds) Recent Trends in Social Systems: Quantitative Theories and Quantitative Models. Studies in Systems, Decision and Control, vol 66. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40585-8_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40585-8_1

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