Bridging a Divide: A Faith-Based Perspective on Anti-Discrimination Law

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-78
Author(s):  
Mark Bell
Keyword(s):  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Catholic Social Teaching ◽  
Social Teaching ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract High-profile litigation in various jurisdictions has drawn attention to situations where conflict arises between the requirements of anti-discrimination law and the religious beliefs and practices of individuals and organizations. Although these disputes reflect genuine disagreements, this article argues that, in addition to litigation, other facets of the relationship between faith and anti-discrimination law need to be considered. Taking Catholic Social Teaching as a case study, the article explores anti-discrimination law through a theological lens. In this example, it identifies significant common ground where religious beliefs are congruent with anti-discrimination law, even if areas of divergence are also present. The article concludes that further exploration of law and theology could make a contribution to fostering a more constructive relationship between faith and anti-discrimination law.

scholarly journals The Vatican and Ecospirituality: Tensions, Promises and Possibilities for Fostering an Emerging Green Catholic Spirituality

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Hrynkow ◽  
Dennis Patrick O'Hara
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Social Teaching ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Critical Distance ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Social Teaching ◽  
La Paz ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
American Perspective ◽  
North American Perspective ◽  
Selection Of

Since John Paul II’s 1990 World Day of Peace Message on the ecological crisis, green themes have been a recurring feature of the Vatican’s public teachings. Working with a selection of Catholic Social Teaching documents, this article explores the Vatican’s reactions to and accommodations of ecospirituality.  A critical lens informed by ecotheological ethics is employed to analyse the Vatican’s specific brand of ecospirituality, particularly as it relates to its condemnation of biocentrism, while also acknowledging official efforts to green the Roman Catholic Church’s doctrine and faith-based practices. With the advantage of the critical distance that a North American perspective provides, this article suggests ways that the Vatican can foster a more integral and substantively peaceful greening of Catholic Social Teaching and Catholic spirituality by drawing on resources from within Catholic intellectual tradition, as well as other expressions of ecospirituality, ecotheology, and Catholic Social Teaching documents from local bishops’ conferences in Europe and the Americas.   A partir del mensaje de  Juan Pablo II en el Día Mundial de la Paz de en 1990 sobre la crisis ecológica, han sido frecuentes los esfuerzos de divulgación  del Vaticano con respecto a temas relacionados al medio ambiente.  Basándose en una selección de documentos de la doctrina Social Católica a estos temas, este artículo explora las reacciones del Vaticano sobre argumentos  relacionados a la ecoespiritualidad. A través de un lente crítico basado en la ética ecoteológica asimismo que explorando una versión particular de ecoespiritualidad particularmente referida a la condenación del biocentrismo, se pondrá de manifiesto los esfuerzos oficiales de reverdecer la política de la Iglesia Apostólica Romana y  las prácticas de la fe que a este tema se refieren. Tomando como punto de partida la prerrogativa de una distancia crítica desde una enfoque Norteamericano, esta ponencia sugiere maneras en las que el Vaticano puede fomentar un reverdecimiento mas integral y pacífico de las doctrina Social Católica y de la Espiritualidad Católica recurriendo a fuentes dentro de la tradición intelectual Católica asimismo que basándose en otras expresiones de ecoespiritualidad, ecoteología y documentos de Educación Social Católica de conferencias de obispos en Europa y la Américas.

The True Covenant People: Ethnic Reasoning in the Epistle of Barnabas

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Kok
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Christian Identity ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Etude De Cas ◽  
Étude De Cas ◽  
Social Praxis

There was no abstract conception of religion in antiquity, but religious beliefs and practices were closely intertwined with ethnicity in the Graeco-Roman period. Building on the groundbreaking studies of Denise Kimber Buell, I investigate the use of ethnic reasoning in centrist Christian identity formation with the epistle of Barnabas as a specific case study. The epistle of Barnabas utilizes ethnic reasoning to construct a distinct Christian ethnic identity and to manufacture sharp differences between Christian and Judaean social praxis. In order to promote the idea of a homogeneous Christian ethnic identity with pure origins, Barnabas re-appropriates the legacy of Israel while representing the ‘‘Judaean’’ as an adversaral foil. Il n’y avait pas de conception abstraite de la religion dans l’antiquité, mais les croyances et pratiques religieuses étaient étroitement entrelacées à l’ethnicité dans la période gréco-romaine. En me basant sur les études innovantes de Denise Kimber Buell, je recherche l’utilisation du raisonnement ethnique dans la formation de l’identité chrétienne avec l’épitre de Barnabas comme étude de cas. L’épitre de Barnabas utilise le raisonnement ethnique pour construire une identité chrétienne distincte et pour créer une nette différence entre les coutumes chrétiennes et judaïques. Afin de promouvoir l’idée d’une identité chrétienne homogène avec des origines pures, Barnabas rétablit l’héritage d’Israël tout en représentant le christianisme et le judaïsme comme des adversaires.

scholarly journals A Case Study in Summitry: The Experience of Britain's Edward Heath, 1970-74

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-293
Author(s):  
John Young
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Geographical Range ◽  
High Profile ◽  
British Experience ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

AbstractWhile summits are well served in the literature on diplomacy, the focus tends to be on specific, high-profile occasions such as Munich and Yalta or on the broad experience of multilateral conferences. Such approaches may obscure the full range of summits that were taking place by the later twentieth century. By focusing on a four-year period in the experience of a particular leader, this article provides a case study of summitry, which might serve as the basis for comparisons with other countries and time periods. It draws out the frequency, type and geographical range of summits experienced by Edward Heath as British premier and, in doing so, also raises issues about how types of summits are defined, the relationship between bilateral and multilateral meetings and the way that summitry has evolved as a diplomatic practice. In particular it emerges that summits were frequent and ofen perfunctory affairs, sometimes held as a simple courtesy to leaders who were passing through London. In this sense the British experience may have been unusual, but it is also evident from the number of Heath's interlocutors and the multilateral conferences that he attended that summits had become an integral part of political life for world leaders in the jet age.

From the Truly Real to Spiritual Wisdom

2001 ◽  
pp. 17-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stewart W. Herman
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
Catholic Social Teaching ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Business Practice ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Social Teaching ◽  
Roman Catholicism ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Faith Based

This essay sketches a method for identifying the insights that diverse religious traditions offer to the field of business ethics. Each article in this volume asserts or assumes faith-based claims about what is "truly real" as the ground of moral aspiration and obligation. Four distinct kinds of claims yield four kinds of wisdom, that is, moral guidance for business practice. 1) In Judaism and Islam, scriptural commands, as interpreted authoritatively down through these traditions, yield precise methods for rendering specific moral judgments; in Roman Catholicism, similar guidance is provided through natural law. 2) In Buddhism, Judaism, and most of the surveyed Christian traditions, the values of compassion, love, and justice provide spiritual resources to counter pressures towards immoral behavior in business. 3) The African-American and Mennonite churches interpret their particular histories of oppression to offer distinctive models of fortitude and hope. 4) In Evangelical Calvinism, Mormonism, and Roman Catholic social teaching, convictions about God's redemptive and sanctifying activity offer a robust moral vision for successful striving.

scholarly journals Utilizing Comparative Education as a Platform for Deepening Student Engagement with Catholic Social Teaching: An Exploratory Case Study in Study-Abroad

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-186
Author(s):  
Bryan Meadows ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Student Engagement ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Catholic Education ◽  
Comparative Education ◽  
Catholic Social Teaching ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Teaching ◽  
Catholic Higher Education ◽  
Exploratory Case Study

Central to the mission of Catholic higher education are the themes of Catholic social teaching. This contribution to the Education in Practice section recounts a 15-week undergraduate course that deepened student engagement in Catholic social teaching themes through comparative education studies and a study abroad experience to Japan. A detailed description of the course’s main segments draws on artifacts of student coursework and post-interviews. The contribution of comparative education is that students are provided a platform upon which they can explore deeper, underlying principles to individual Catholic social teaching themes. This contribution further provides practitioners step-by-step guidance in how to develop similar learning experiences for students in their university context. This report of Catholic Education at the classroom-level fits into the existing knowledge of how universities in the United States are engaging undergraduates in Catholic social teaching themes, as an expression of Catholic mission.

scholarly journals Cultural and Religious Beliefs and Practices Abusive to Children With Disabilities in Zimbabwe

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
A. T. Mukushi ◽  
J. C. Makhubele ◽  
V. Mabvurira
Keyword(s):  
Support Groups ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Children With Disabilities ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Religious Practices ◽  
Continuous Training ◽  
Descriptive Case Study ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Frontline Workers

This study sought to explore religious practices and beliefs that violate the rights of children with disabilities in Zimbabwe. The authors employed a qualitative approach in exploring cultural and religious beliefs and practices abusive to children with disabilities. Authors used exploratory-descriptive case study design and purposive sampling in selecting participants. Data collection took place in Dzivarasekwa, a high-density suburb in Harare among children who were receiving rehabilitation services at Harare Hospital and their caregivers. The study established that children with disabilities who come from some apostolic families are disadvantaged, as their parents believe that demonic spirits causes disability. This then leads to heightened levels of discrimination. The study also found out that there are remedial but harmful cultural and religious practices. The study recommends that rigorous awareness raising is needed for communities to support people with disabilities, formation of support groups amongst people with disabilities themselves, introducing holistic interventions that address issues of cultural and religious beliefs and continuous training for frontline workers to keep in touch with current best practices, policies and laws around disabilities.

Viking Friendship

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jón Vidar Sigurdsson
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Social Bond ◽  
Viking Age ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Political Force ◽  
Mutual Assistance ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Kinship Ties ◽  
The Relationship

Friendship was the most important social bond in Iceland and Norway during the Viking Age and the early Middle Ages. Far more significantly than kinship ties, it defined relations between chieftains, and between chieftains and householders. This book explores the various ways in which friendship tied Icelandic and Norwegian societies together, its role in power struggles and ending conflicts, and how it shaped religious beliefs and practices both before and after the introduction of Christianity. The book details how loyalties between friends were established and maintained. The key elements of Viking friendship, it shows, were protection and generosity, which was most often expressed through gift giving and feasting. In a society without institutions that could guarantee support and security, these were crucial means of structuring mutual assistance. As a political force, friendship was essential in the decentralized Free State period in Iceland's history (from its settlement about 800 until it came under Norwegian control in the years 1262–1264) as local chieftains vied for power and peace. In Norway, where authority was more centralized, kings attempted to use friendship to secure the loyalty of their subjects. The strong reciprocal demands of Viking friendship also informed the relationship that individuals had both with the Old Norse gods and, after 1000, with Christianity's God and saints. Addressing such other aspects as the possibility of friendship between women and the relationship between friendship and kinship, the book concludes by tracing the decline of friendship as the fundamental social bond in Iceland as a consequence of Norwegian rule.

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