newscom .com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050324/PHTH031LOGO )
These grants from the Metanexus Institute are supported by generous
funding from the John Templeton Foundation to help develop a new
interdisciplinary field of "Spiritual Capital" research. Although religion and
spirituality are rich sources of personal meaning, they also have profound
public significance. The aim of the program is
to catalyze the development of this interdisciplinary research field, which
may become a vital new field in the social sciences.
http://www. A special package of exciting live events and new programs
directly from China will be broadcasted by the IPTV service through February
12, 2006 in celebration of the Chinese New Year. The
special broadcasts for this occasion will allow us to enjoy a true flavor of
Chinese New Year no matter where we are. It is
unfortunate, however, that he has seen a need to call for a ban on The
Da Vinci Code, which is clearly a work of pop culture fiction, not a
serious treatise on theology. All of these incidents in history
are integral to the plots of the Dan Brown novels.
"Over the last two years, many Catholic scholars and theologians
have welcomed the discussion of the Da Vinci Code as an opportunity to
offer traditional Catholic viewpoints on controversial modern
questions. Nor is the call for a ban likely to put a
damper on The Da Vinci Code's sales , which will continue setting world
records, while feeding the intellectual hunger of many readers to
learn more about the ideas discussed in the book."

Secrets of the Code and Secrets of Angels + Demons are
international bestsellers published in the U.com

SECRETS OF ANGELS + DEMONS: The Unauthorized Guide to the
Bestselling Novel
CDS Books/Squibnocket Partners LLC
$23.

confucianism hsiung

Project summaries may be found online at
http://www.
KyLinTV will welcome the New Year with an exciting lineup of concerts,
star-studded galas and new movie releases featuring Asian super stars.
Each year the Spring Festival Gala is the most sought after program by
Chinese around the world marking the Chinese New Year, and, this year, KyLinTV
will feature this exciting event on New Year's Eve.

About KyLinTV
Based in Plainview, New York, KyLinTV comes to the marketplace through the
stewardship of two key investors, Charles B.com

SECRETS OF THE CODE: The Unauthorized Guide to the Mysteries
Behind the Da Vinci Code
CDS Books/Squibnocket Partners LLC
$21.

confucius venerated

Ten Grants of $150 000 Each Awarded for Research on 'Spiritual Capital' By Metanexus Institute

As with the Spiritual Capital Research Program's initial
grants, awarded in 2005, the results of this new research will be disseminated
through scholarly and lay publications, conferences, speaking engagements and
websites. For
the first time ever , KyLinTV will also feature a limited 3-day viewing of a
major hit movie that is currently screening in cinemas throughout China.
Special events are only part of the package that KyLinTV has created for
the Chinese New Year celebrations.
"This process of correcting past mistakes in Church history --
highlighted by recent Vatican efforts to right the wrongs committed in
the case of Galileo or with regard to the Jews in history -- is a
welcome trend in modern Church thinking.
"Interestingly , at least one emerging leader of the Church,
Monsignor Jose Maria Pinheiro, recently nominated to be the Bishop of
Sao Paulo, one of the largest Catholic communities in the world, has
taken an explicitly different view about the Da Vinci Code from that
of Cardinal Bertone.

bresciani confucian

The Principal Investigators heading these teams and their
projects are:

Laurence Iannaccone, George Mason University: Creating an "Ecology" for
the Study of Religion, Economics, and Spiritual Capital

Timur Kuran, University of Southern California: The Role of Religion in
the Economic Performance of Civilizations

Robert Woodberry, University of Texas at Austin: Project on Religion and
Economic Change

Each of these three projects began in March 2005 and is 30 months in
duration. All 13 grantees will meet annually in 2006 and 2007 to discuss
their projects and begin building the network for this new field of study. Only in recent years have leading scholars, including
Nobel laureate economists Gary Becker and Robert Fogel and political
scientists John DiIulio and Robert Putnam, called renewed attention to the
effects of spiritual and religious practices, beliefs and institutions on
economics, politics and societies. In addition, KyLinTV will
broadcast The Spring Festival Song and Dance Gala, the Spring Festival Chinese
Opera Gala and the exclusive showing of the Hunan TV Spring Festival Gala. The IPTV service is the first of its
kind, offering more than 15,000 hours of Chinese programming to subscribers
across North America.
In a statement issued today, Dan Burstein said, "I respect
Cardinal Bertone's opinion and his right to that opinion. There is a strict
prohibition on discussion of papal succession within the Vatican, but
the reality is that we have entered a period in Vatican politics that
is somewhat analogous to the Iowa caucuses in American presidential
contests .

hoad consonant

The Principal Investigators awarded grants and their projects are:

Peter Berger, Boston University: Spiritual Capital in Developing Societies

Wendy Cadge, Bowdoin College: Comparing Spiritual and Other Forms of
Social Capital: Lessons from the Immigrant Experience

Robert Dowd, University of Notre Dame: Religiosity and Political Culture:
Christians, Muslims and Spiritual Capital in Sub-Saharan Africa

Daniel Hungerman, University of Notre Dame: Religious Capital and Public
Policy in the 20th Century

Sriya Iyer, University of Cambridge: Innovation and the Resilience of
Religion

Michael Kremer, Harvard University: The Impact of the Hajj

John Levi Martin, University of Wisconsin-Madison: Structures of Social
and Spiritual Capital in Religious and Nonreligious Groups

Gary Richardson, University of California, Irvine: A Pious and Profitable
Mystery: Guilds, Purgatory, Reformation, the Multiplication of Religious
Denominations , and the Evolution of Industrial Society in Late-Medieval and
Early Modern England

David Sikkink, University of Notre Dame: The Dynamics of Spiritual Capital
in US Congregations

Fenggang Yang, Purdue University: Faith and Trust in the Emerging Market
Economy in China

These funded projects were launched in January 2006 and are up to 24
months in duration.

The Metanexus Institute advances scientific research, education and
outreach on the constructive engagement of science and religion. KyLinTV is currently
available anywhere in North America for a monthly subscription fee beginning
at $15.00. Burstein and de
Keijzer's books, Secrets of the Code (about The Da Vinci Code) and
Secrets of Angels + Demons (about Dan Brown's "prequel" to Da Vinci
Code), each bring together a wide range of experts to comment on the
Dan Brown novels.

ethic obligation

Only
KyLinTV can offer the opportunity to view these feature films, and only
KyLinTV will continue to offer the best blockbusters directly from China. "This is
the most important holiday celebrated by Chinese people around the world. He has recommended "prudence," encouraged readers
to distinguish "fact from fiction" in the Da Vinci Code, and suggested
that it is not necessary to prohibit reading of this novel.

A humanistic tradition of East Asian thought, begun by Confucius and continued by later thinkers such as Mencius and Zhu Xi.

exemplified ethic

Just 100 years ago Max
Weber published his provocative work "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism.95/ISBN 1-59315-022-9
www.

dolor hsiung

The Spiritual Capital Research Program is designed to
fund innovative research that could lead to new understandings of religion's
role in economic, social and political life. "Although the social
sciences have often minimized the importance of religion, there is now a
growing openness among scholars to consider how trust, behavioral norms and
religion can profoundly shape economic, political and social developments .
"For the better part of five centuries, from the Inquisition into
the twentieth century, the Church maintained a semi-official list of
books that were to be banned and shunned. This practice was apparently
discontinued in the 1960s -- around the same time the Vatican
acknowledged that Mary Magdalene should not be confused with the
repentant prostitute mentioned in certain Gospel passages .
"In short, I expect we will hear much more about this controversy
in the next few weeks, but don't assume it has all that much to do
with the actual novel.

dominguez urantia

"The newly funded studies will
go a long way towards illuminating these dynamics and providing insights to
the benefit of humanity . KyLinTV Unveils Blockbuster Lineup of Special Events and New Titles

PLAINVIEW, N.
For more information on the magic of KyLinTV, visit us on the web
http://www. In the latest episode , Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone,
a powerful figure in the Vatican on matters of Church doctrine,
denounced the novel last week, calling on Catholics not to buy or read
the book, which he termed, "rotten food " and a "sack of lies.S.

obligation confucianism

net. KyLinTV will also broadcast the "Super Voice Girl Concert Tour".
Dan Burstein and Arne de Keijzer are editors of two bestselling
books devoted to explaining fact, fiction , speculation, and
controversy in the works of novelist Dan Brown. Banned books over the years
have reportedly included works by Flaubert, Balzac, Voltaire,
Stendahl, Swift, Locke, and Sartre.

religioustolerance consonant

"
Following a call for proposals, 43 finalists were chosen to submit full
proposals from a pool of more than 560 applicants, representing many of the
top research institutions in the United States and abroad.Y.
After the live broadcast of each event, the programs will remain available to
KyLinTV subscribers as part of the extensive KyLinTV Video On Demand (VOD)
library. Popular Chinese stars Li Yong, Zhu Xun, Ji
Xiaojun and Ms. Together, these two titles have over
a million copies in print worldwide.

obligation venerated

"
According to news accounts, he specifically appealed to Catholic
bookstores -- including, presumably, the bookshop in the hospital
where Pope John Paul II has recently been treated, as well as others
bookshops right inside Vatican City and around the world -- to stop
selling The Da Vinci Code.
"It is particularly ironic that Dan Brown's novels frequently call
attention to the suppression of ideas in Church history: The burning
and banning of works of "heretics;" the quashing of alternative
scriptures that have come to be known as the Gnostic Gospels; the fact
that the historical Mary Magdalene was mis-characterized for almost
1400 years by the Church as a prostitute; the epochal Church battle to
censor the great scientist Galileo. My experience with leading Catholic thinkers, from
professors at religious institutions to members of Opus Dei, is that
they have generally embraced the debate over this wildly popular
novel, and found a positive opportunity to criticize what they find to
be in error in The Da Vinci Code, while also obtaining a forum to
express their own views of religious history and theology.secretsofthecode.secretsofangelsanddemons.

confucian confucians

In spring 2005, three scholars each received founding grants of $500,000
to lead teams of researchers in the first projects of the Spiritual Capital
Research Program. A membership
organization, Metanexus hosts an online magazine and discussion forum with
over 180,000 monthly page views and 8000 regular subscribers in 57 different
countries.

IPTV Celebrations for Chinese New Year

Bestselling 'Secrets of the Code' Author Dan Burstein Comments on the Case of 'The Cardinal vs. The Da Vinci Code'

Religion Writers/Entertainment Editors/Book Editors

NEW YORK----Controversy continues
to swirl around The Da Vinci Code, even after two full years on the
bestseller list, more than 25 million copies sold worldwide, and the
creation of a multibillion dollar industry that includes everything
from Da Vinci Code tours of Paris to the upcoming Da Vinci Code movie
starring Tom Hanks.

consonant obligation

net

The mission of the John Templeton Foundation is to pursue new insights at
the boundary between theology and science through a rigorous, open-minded and
empirically focused methodology, drawing together talented representatives
from a wide spectrum of fields of expertise. Production and content
is made possible through technology partnerships with TransVideo of Beijing,
China and NeuLion of Plainview, NY. More than 75 world class experts
with widely varying viewpoints--historians, theologians , art experts,
scientists, philosophers, linguists, occultists, medievalists, Bible
text experts , and other specialists--have contributed articles,
interviews, and book chapters to the two "Secrets " books. Several new
titles in the "Secrets" series are planned for 2005-6.

xun zhu

For further information , please
contact Christopher Stawski at 215-789-2200 or spiritualcapital@metanexus.

The Spiritual Capital Research Program is interested in supporting high-
level, impartial scholarship on the contribution of religion - both for good
and for ill - to economic and social developments . Metanexus sponsors dialogue groups, lectures,
workshops, research, courses, grants, and publications . Projects include the Local
Societies Initiative, the Templeton Research Lectures, and topical
interdisciplinary research projects such as the Spiritual Transformation
Scientific Research Program, Spiritual Capital Research Program, and the
Templeton Advanced Research Program as well as other endeavors.
http://www.
"It is surprising to many that a Church leader like Cardinal
Bertone would suddenly be speaking out against this novel more than
two years after its publication, and so long after so many Catholic
readers have bought it, read it, and engaged in the discussion of it.com

philtar xun

"
"The mutual interaction of religion and economics is an important, but
neglected area for research and public policy," says William Grassie,
executive director of the Metanexus Institute. New additions to
the library of KyLinTV content for the Chinese New Year include "This Charming
Girl" starring Kim Ji-su and Hwang Jeong-min, "Wait Till You're Older"
starring Andy Lau, Karen Mok, Felix Wong and Cherrie Ying and "2 Young" one of
the best films out of Hong Kong this year, starring Jaycee Chan, Fiona Sit and
Eric Tsang.kylintv.
This new swirl of controversy may have something to do with next
year's upcoming movie version of The Da Vinci Code, which will
inevitably be seen by many more people than even the millions who read
the book. Secrets of the Code spent
more than twenty weeks on the New York Times bestseller list in 2004
and has been translated into more than 20 languages.

obligation mencius

In "The Wealth of Nations," Adam Smith raised key questions for the
economic analysis of religion and looked at the effects of competition among
religions and the dangers of government of religion. The New Year's Concert gathers singing artists from Hong Kong,
Taiwan and Mainland China, a classic Chinese treat, is also available. Watch
Supergirls' Li Yu-chun, Zhou Bi -chang and Zhang Liang-ying -- three of the
most shining stars in China -- lend their voices to this special New Year's
Celebration.

confucianism hoad

Sargeant, the director of the Spiritual Capital Research
Program based at the Metanexus Institute on Religion and Science.org

The Bilingual New Year Gala "Bless China, Bless the World" is already
available to KyLinTV subscribers.
"KyLinTV is something truly unique and offers Chinese families a source of
entertainment that they cannot find with any other service," said Victor Hsu
of Global USA, Inc., a certified KyLinTV reseller in Atlanta, GA. Wang, founder of Computer
Associates, and Charles Dolan founder of Cablevision. Both books are published by Squibnocket Partners LLC
in association with CDS Books. However, by
calling for a ban of the book, the Cardinal inadvertently lends
credence to Dan Brown's thesis that powerful people in the Church
don't want the faithful to hear certain ideas. It has been on
bestseller lists in Germany, South Africa, Canada, France, and Poland.

confucian bresciani

"It is essential in today's world that scholars take seriously the broader
significance of spiritual capital," says Sargeant. The ten new
Spiritual Capital grantees, representing disciplines such as economics,
history, political science, and sociology, were selected from these finalists
following a rigorous peer review process . Metanexus is
a leader in a growing network of individuals and groups exploring the dynamic
interface between cosmos, nature, and culture in communities and on campuses
throughout the world. by CDS Books in
association with Squibnocket Partners LLC.

hsiung syncretic

"
Since then, social scientists have vigorously debated the concept of
social capital, but spiritual capital - a sub-set of the field - remains
relatively understudied.templeton. That seems
to me a much more reasonable position for a Church leader to take .
"The recent statements probably also have something to do with
Pope John Paul II's health and the widening discussion of Church
directions on policy and theology in the future.95/ISBN 1-59315 -140-3
www.

zhu hsiung

net/spiritual_capital. Mochi, an Australian-Chinese from Sydney host the extravagant
celebration.

mencius exemplified

metanexus. Metanexus leads and
facilitates over 300 projects in 36 countries., KyLinTV today announced the
details of over 200 hours of new and exclusive special programs for KyLinTV
subscribers."
KyLinTV works aggressively to update the content available to KyLinTV
subscribers and identify the most exciting titles. The KyLinTV library of hit
movies as well as documentaries, special broadcasts and other programs are
most attractive to those living in North America who wishes to experience
current and popular Chinese entertainment.

mencius hoad

PHILADELPHIA, Ten grants of $150,000 each for
high-level research in the emerging field of "Spiritual Capital" have been
announced by Kimon H.
(Logo: http://www. Cardinal Bertone
has set out to criticize what he sees as, in his opinion, the
dangerous and erroneous content of The Da Vinci Code.
Secrets of Angels + Demons made its debut on The New York Times
bestseller list recently at #25.

zhu contractarian

metanexus . KyLinTV continues to bring the best
feature films, dramatic programs and more to its subscribers . Sadly, Cardinal Bertone seems
to be suggesting a return to a time when Church leaders believed they
could win intellectual and philosophical debates by simply banning or
suppressing certain ideas . (In our new book, Secrets of Angels + Demons, we present the
views of many different Vatican-watching experts on how the papal
succession process actually works, and who the most likely current
candidates are).

appropriateness venerated

Through the use of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), KyLinTV's patent
pending Video technology brings high quality broadcast channels and VOD to the
TV set using existing Home DSL or Cable broadband. As with most official critiques of books
and movies, Cardinal Bertone's recent comments will probably have the
opposite of their intended effects, making even more people inside and
outside the Catholic Church interested in experiencing what he has now
suggested should be considered a forbidden fruit.