scholarly journals Christian ethics and secularisation: Business as usual?

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawid E. De Villiers

It is now 49 years since Johan Heyns’s Sterwende Christendom? [Dying Christendom] was published (1969) in which he traced the history of secularisation and its impact on the theology of his time and 36 years since the publication (1982) of the first volume of his Teologiese etiek [Theological ethics] in which he discussed the impact of secularisation on ethics. In this article, the topic of the impact of secularisation on Christian ethics is revisited. Account is taken of research conducted on the secularising impact of modernisation since then. Although empirical research points to the fact that it is not true that modernisation inevitably leads to the complete demise of religious faith and ethics, and also not that there is today absolutely no room for religious influences in the different social orders, it does not mean that it is a case of business as usual for Christian ethics. It cannot be denied that modernisation has a significant effect on the shape of Christian ethics in the contemporary world. And it can also not be denied that in most contemporary liberal democratic societies, including South Africa, the public role of Christian ethics is restricted. Some of the challenges – and opportunities – present-day realities pose to South African churches and their members are identified and discussed.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: On account of the pluralising and fragilising impact of modernisation on Christian faith, the discipline of Christian ethics should today criticise the absolutising of Christian ethical beliefs and encourage Christians to actively support consensus seeking on moral values in the workplace and in society.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8246
Author(s):  
Marta Gemma Nel-lo Andreu ◽  
Alba Font-Barnet ◽  
Marc Espasa Roca

Following a long history of using various strategies and policies for diversification and seasonal adjustment in the face of the challenges of achieving economic, social, and environmental sustainability, sun and beach destinations should also consider targeting the wellness tourism market as a post pandemic opportunity and long-term solution. Salou is a mature sun and beach destination in the Mediterranean, but one which, for some time, has had an increasing commitment to family and sports tourism as a result of a strategic renewal process. Now, with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the destination management organization is considering the evolution of the model, the internalization of sustainability as a fundamental value, and the impact of different markets. In this study, we examined the challenges the Salou Tourist Board has faced during the development of a post pandemic model for sustainable tourism and what strategies it has adopted in response. We also considered the opportunities and competitive advantages that Salou has in the field of wellness tourism. The results obtained should encourage the continuation of work that promotes the environmental axis of sustainability and adds value to the natural resources on which it depends, including the sea and the landscape, while maintaining the environmental quality of the resources.


Author(s):  
Shirley Otis-Green

Health social work is a subspecialization of social work concerned with a person's adjustment to changes in one's health and the impact this has on that person's social network. Social workers in every setting must be ready to assist individuals and families adjusting to illness and coping with medical crises. This entry provides a brief overview and history of health social work and describes the settings and roles where this work is practiced. Significant challenges and opportunities in clinical care, research, education, and policy are discussed. Standards and guidelines for quality practice are then noted.


Itinerario ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudolf von Albertini

As historians, living in the contemporary world, we ask and are asked about the causes of underdevelopment. And, as most of the former colonies belong today to the underdeveloped countries of the Third World, we are confronted with the question as to what importance the colonial era plays in the history of these countries. There is a consensus that the history of colonialism can only be meaningful approached in the broader spectrum of underdevelopment and the specific problems of the Third World. There is no satisfaction in retreatingto the ostensibly objective approach of the historian and wanting tolimit ourselves in showing how colonialism came into being, what administrative structures arose, what economic policies were followed and finally how the colonized revolted and the process of decolonization got under way. Society will simply not allow us to do so. Equally, if not more important, is the question regarding the impact of colonialism on the colonized societies and how far it may be held responsible for the existing structures of underdevelopment.


Author(s):  
Joseph M. Siracusa

No single decision created the atomic bomb, but most accounts begin with the presidential discussion of a letter written by Albert Einstein. ‘Building the bomb’ describes how the bomb came about, from Einstein's letter to Roosevelt about the threat of nuclear weapons to the bombings in Japan. What were the ramifications of the atomic bombs? The impact of the Manhattan Project’s new weapon spread well beyond military and scientific circles, to an extent unprecedented in the popular imagination. A turning point in the history of the contemporary world had been reached. ‘The bomb’, as it was dubbed, became a defining feature of the post-World War II world.


2001 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Halpern

The evolution of organometallic chemistry during the second half of the 20th century has transformed chemical science and technology to a degree and in ways that have rarely been matched throughout the history of chemistry. These include the discovery of radically new types of chemical compounds; novel structures and bonding modes; unprecedented reactivity patterns; unsuspected roles of organometallic chemistry in biology; powerful new synthetic methodologies; new materials; and whole new classes of catalysts and catalytic processes of extraordinary versatility and selectivity. The impact of these developments, which still are unfolding, has been truly revolutionary. Some milestones in this remarkable chapter of chemical history, as well as challenges and opportunities confronting organometallic chemistry today, will be examined.


The article focuses on the analysis of big data phenomenon that by the expansion of information technology has become a challenge for sociology and social statistics. The history of «big data» term origins is presented, the factors of appearance and development of this phenomenon are determined. It is noted that in the sociological perspective big data have not only transformed the methods of obtaining primary sociological information, but also changed the very logic of the study. The author considers that with a help of big data sociology will be able to return to its calling – the creation of a large theory of society, which, in turn, the opportunity to analyze and interpret big data depends on. Emphasis is placed on Cathy O'Neil’s work «Big data. Weapons of Math Destruction…», which concludes that big data construct new forms of inequality in a contemporary world. It is stressed that through the focus of this idea the American researcher analyzes the impact of big data on various spheres of public life: on the educational system, emphasizing the role of university rankings (which definition is not always transparent) in commercialization of higher education, its turning into big business; on the law enforcement system, in particular in a country such as the United States, noting that the mathematical models developed for the country's police have discrimination grounds for poor and «colored» citizens; on the system of employment, credit system, etc. At the same time, she writes that because of big data privacy is disappearing in people's lives, they are increasingly adapting to models of mass behavior, being under the influence of consumer and political (what is especially alarming) marketing. The author of the publication notes that Cathy O'Neil, unfortunately, gives no answer to the question of how it is possible to counteract the manipulative effects of big data. She relies heavily on ethical regulators and recommends to data specialists create models with mandatory forward linkages.


1969 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob W. Gruber

So great has been the impact of Darwinian evolution upon contemporary thought that even the tiniest aspect of Darwin's own history assumes importance as a datum in the history of those ideas which provide the ideological base of the contemporary world. In all of the accounts of the intellectual journey which led to the formulation of that theory, a great deal of stress is placed upon the Beagle voyage, that prolonged period of initiation from which the young Darwin returned, the sober—and too often in later accounts, sombre—naturalist, scientifically seasoned by his experiences with a world observed but still unexplained and hardly known. The traditional outlines of the story have been repeated over and over again: the outfitting of the Beagle for its surveying responsibilities; Fitzroy's proposal that “some well-educated and scientific person should be sought for who would willingly share such accommodations as I had to offer, in order to profit by the opportunity of visiting distant countries yet little known”; Henslow's recommendation of his friend and student Darwin; the parental refusal; and, finally, the permission granted. In the retelling, in the almost mystical affect attached to the Beagle voyage and to Darwin's participation, the association of the inexperienced youth with the Beagle has become a fixed point in intellectual history.


Crisis ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 265-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meshan Lehmann ◽  
Matthew R. Hilimire ◽  
Lawrence H. Yang ◽  
Bruce G. Link ◽  
Jordan E. DeVylder

Abstract. Background: Self-esteem is a major contributor to risk for repeated suicide attempts. Prior research has shown that awareness of stigma is associated with reduced self-esteem among people with mental illness. No prior studies have examined the association between self-esteem and stereotype awareness among individuals with past suicide attempts. Aims: To understand the relationship between stereotype awareness and self-esteem among young adults who have and have not attempted suicide. Method: Computerized surveys were administered to college students (N = 637). Linear regression analyses were used to test associations between self-esteem and stereotype awareness, attempt history, and their interaction. Results: There was a significant stereotype awareness by attempt interaction (β = –.74, p = .006) in the regression analysis. The interaction was explained by a stronger negative association between stereotype awareness and self-esteem among individuals with past suicide attempts (β = –.50, p = .013) compared with those without attempts (β = –.09, p = .037). Conclusion: Stigma is associated with lower self-esteem within this high-functioning sample of young adults with histories of suicide attempts. Alleviating the impact of stigma at the individual (clinical) or community (public health) levels may improve self-esteem among this high-risk population, which could potentially influence subsequent suicide risk.


Author(s):  
C. Claire Thomson

This chapter traces the early history of state-sponsored informational filmmaking in Denmark, emphasising its organisation as a ‘cooperative’ of organisations and government agencies. After an account of the establishment and early development of the agency Dansk Kulturfilm in the 1930s, the chapter considers two of its earliest productions, both process films documenting the manufacture of bricks and meat products. The broader context of documentary in Denmark is fleshed out with an account of the production and reception of Poul Henningsen’s seminal film Danmark (1935), and the international context is accounted for with an overview of the development of state-supported filmmaking in the UK, Italy and Germany. Developments in the funding and output of Dansk Kulturfilm up to World War II are outlined, followed by an account of the impact of the German Occupation of Denmark on domestic informational film. The establishment of the Danish Government Film Committee or Ministeriernes Filmudvalg kick-started aprofessionalisation of state-sponsored filmmaking, and two wartime public information films are briefly analysed as examples of its early output. The chapter concludes with an account of the relations between the Danish Resistance and an emerging generation of documentarists.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (9) ◽  
pp. 1671-1694
Author(s):  
R.M. Mel'nikov

Subject. The article addresses the impact of religious confession on wages and the likelihood of unemployment in Russia. Objectives. The aim is to test the hypothesis that religious faith and high church attendance are accompanied by an increase in employment earnings. Methods. Using the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey data, I estimate the Mincer's extended equation with variables that characterize the respondent’s religious commitment. To assess the impact of religious identity and the activity rate of attendance at religious services on the likelihood of unemployment and life satisfaction, I use probit models. Results. The estimates demonstrate that the Russian labor market rewards men with moderate and high degree of religious commitment; their wage growth reaches seventeen percent of the level of non-believers with comparable education and work experience. However, faithful Muslim women are employed in the lowest paid areas. Religious faith and regular church attendance have a positive effect on satisfaction with life (significant for Orthodox Christian women). Conclusions. Positive impact of religious capital on income and employment can be attributed to the development of business qualities that are rewarded in the labor market, the mutual support of religious network participants. Therefore, it possible to consider religious capital, along with educational capital and health capital, as a component of human capital and a factor of socio-economic development.


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