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The attitudes of a random sample of Cleveland clergy toward the experience of terminal illness and the circumstances justifying euthanasia are presented and analyzed. The clergy response patterns revealed that, although eager to prolong life as long as possible, terminally ill patients fear a prolonged period of illness more than death itself. They also agreed that most patients favor the disclosure of terminal illness. The clergy's response to a questionnaire exhibited a definite ranking (i.e., scaling) in the order of priority of the different circumstances justifying passive euthanasia. Using training in death counseling as a control variable produced sharper division in the response categories for each statement. The controversial nature of euthanasia and the problem of ascertaining the psychological needs of the terminally ill became more apparent with the group who had more training in death counseling. Interpretations of the findings are presented, and a need for a careful reexamination of the effects of death education on attitudes toward controversial subjects in death and dying is stressed.

This paper examines data on fertility levels in 33 Moslem countries between 1960 and 1980. Fertility measures include crude birth rate, total fertility rate and age-specific birth rate, and the percentage change in them between 1960 and 1980.The analysis focuses on: (1) the current status of Moslem fertility in comparison to non-Moslem countries in the same region; (2) the emerging fertility differentials among Moslem countries; (3) how much of the recent fertility declines in some Moslem countries is associated with modernization variables and with family planning efforts.The results indicate that: (1) Moslem fertility remains universally high and is generally higher than in non-Moslem countries in the same region;(2) very few Moslem countries have succeeded in bringing down their level of fertility to justify a search for the predictors of Moslem fertility levels; (3) in spite of a sufficient range of variations in the economic and social correlates of fertility, the corresponding fertility variables in these countries do not suggest that the reproductive behaviour of Moslem women has reacted to such variations; (4) efforts directed towards stronger family planning programmes are clearly related to fertility decline.

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