Conventional wisdom describes Locke as an “optimist” about human nature; some scholars go further and say that he denied the Christian view that human beings are naturally sinful. But Locke's works, including the Two Treatises, clearly and firmly hold that human nature has a consistent tendency to desire selfishness and evil. Locke's view of the origin of human sinfulness is unorthodox – he dissents from the traditional doctrine of “original sin” – but on the question of whether human nature is in fact sinful his views are perfectly orthodox, and are in harmony with the Calvinism of the Church of England in his time. Understanding this is crucial to grasping the fundamental problem of the Two Treaties, which is the need to cope with humanity's selfishness. Locke argues that the persistent moral corruption of human nature is the primary reason government exists.

The goal of this article is to examine the association between church attendance and the party identification of black Americans. Using ordinary least squares and logistic regression to analyze data taken from the 1996 National Black Election Study, I find that church attendance has dual effects for determining the party identification of blacks. On one hand, church attendance encourages blacks to be Republican. On the other hand, attending voting churches does not foster Republicanism. Attendance at voting churches influences blacks to be Democrats. Also, blacks who attend voting churches with increasing frequency are likely to identify themselves with the Democratic Party.

Using data from the 1999–2001 World Values and European Values Surveys, this article examines the impact of spiritual values and religious practices on democratic attitudes in twenty countries throughout Western Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Africa. I assume that a reciprocal interaction between national conditions and individual orientations shapes support for democracy. Religious commitment as theological orthodoxy and attendance at religious services does not strengthen democratic views. Instead, explicitly political and cultural variables explain approval for democratic principles, particularly among industrialized countries. Individuals who express a low fear of threatening groups also back democratic institutions, regardless of a nation's industrialization. Among religious affiliations, Protestants in developing countries advocate democratic values. So do Muslims in industrialized countries. Nonmembers of religious institutions, however, are less likely to uphold democratic attitudes.

This study tackles the place and role of the Orthodox Church in Serbian society, state, and political life after October 5, 2000. Owing to its present “symphony” with the state, the church now offers a new ideological framework and value-system for state institutions such as the armed forces and public education. This new role of the church is particularly emphasized in the current legislation. One could probably refer to the “etatization” of the Serbian Church, with some negative consequences for non-traditional religious communities. The relations with the Macedonian and Montenegrin Orthodox churches have also been discussed in this context. In post-Milošević Serbia, religious rights and freedoms have been considerably extended, but there is still a great deal of arbitrariness, even completely partial interpretations of the church-state relations. In the concluding section, this article deals with the church's traditionalist perception of society as narod (the people), with some recommendations as for the possible cooperation between the church and civil society in Serbia.

This article is an historical study of the Nicaraguan revolution that makes a case in favor of interpreting revolutionary stances/action as driven by religious dialogue. To this end, seminary dialogues that assumed revolutionary significance during the 1970s in Solentiname, Nicaragua, are studied. Institutional shifts in religious meaning, both in the region and Nicaragua, are historically detailed. Three dialogues from The Gospel in Solentiname, a four-volume collection of Bible-centered dialogues, are analyzed. These are evaluated in terms of their role for revolutionary outlooks. Innovative and developmental features of dialogue are identified in order to underscore the revolutionary potential of dialogue.