Religious Ethics

Beyond “Liberal” Female Piety or “Women Read the Qur’an Too” by Amy Levin

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

I’m a teacher’s assistant for an undergraduate course at New York University called, “What is Islam?” The other day in... more I’m a teacher’s assistant for an undergraduate course at New York University called, “What is Islam?” The other day in class, my professor asked the students whether or not the Qur’an is considered a “book”. Fraught with anxiety over inheriting such a problematic scholarly tradition of defining and delineating what “religion” is, I kept quiet. While my professor was aiming more for something sounding like, “a book is read, while the Qur’an is recited,” I kept thinking about the physicality and sacrality of the Qur’an (among other authoritative religious texts) and the way it is handled, revered, preserved, loved, an constantly under interpretation. It was about a week later when news broke out that U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan were guilty of burning several copies of the Qur’an on their military base, followed by an unfortunate slew of casualties including at least 30 Afghan deaths and five US soldiers.

Resources in Religion, Violence, and Peacebuilding: An Annotated Bibliography

by James W. McCarty III

Co-authored with Joseph Wiinikka-Lydon. Practical Matters 5 (2012): 1-32.

Forgiveness without God?

by Glen Pettigrove

forthcoming in 'Journal of Religious Ethics' 40.3 (September 2012).

Of the many forgiveness-related questions that she takes up in her novels, the one with which Iris Murdoch wrestles... more Of the many forgiveness-related questions that she takes up in her novels, the one with which Iris Murdoch wrestles most often is the question, ‘Is forgiveness possible without God?’  The aim of this paper is to show, in the first instance, why the question Murdoch persistently raises is a question worth asking.  Alongside this primary aim stands a secondary one, which is to consider how one might glean moral insights from the Christian tradition even if one does not (any longer) endorse its theological commitments.

Incompletezza normativa, inconsistenza normativa e responsabilità dell'agente nell'etica religiosa

by Daniele Bertini

Lo Sguardo, VIII(1), 2012, pp. 112-134

My paper addresses the notion of moral responsibility in religious ethics. I begin with the outline of the doctrine of... more My paper addresses the notion of moral responsibility in religious ethics. I begin with the outline of the doctrine of moral heteronomy. The scripture stories of the Tables of the Laws and the Holy Covenant provide the general pattern for heteronomic ethics. My claim is that heteronomic ethics transfers the responsibility for the action A an agent x is performing from x to the normative system commanding x to perform A. I then picture the architecture of the normative system of the Decalogue (System D) and I work out criteria for the completeness and consistency of the system. In the next section I make the case for the actual incompleteness and inconsistency of D. As a consequence, an agent subject to the authority of D can not rule his moral conduct by the norms in D. Therefore, the acceptance of D transfers the moral responsibility for the actions by x from x to D, but D does not provide a complete and consistent system of norms to rule x's conduct. In the final section of the paper I briefly present the way religious ethics deals with this problem, by offering an alternative approach to the notion of moral responsibility.

Reconciling a Shattered Modernity: Habermas on the Enduring Relevance of the Judeo-Christian Ethical Tradition

by Ronald A. Kuipers

Published in the book 'Faith in Enlightenment? The Critique of Enlightenment Revisited'. Eds. Lieven Boeve, et. al. Amsterdam: Editions Rodopi, 2006: 123-142.

Sharing the Burden: Rabbi Simḥah Zissel Ziv on Love and Empathy

by Geoffrey Claussen

Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics 30, no. 2 (2010): 151-169.

Levinas and Kierkegaard between Religion and Ethics

by Eric S. Nelson

Mondes Francophones, Philosophies: 26/01/2009. (text available on website)

This paper examines the possibility of an asymmetrical ethics and the role of the secular and the religious in... more This paper examines the possibility of an asymmetrical ethics and the role of the secular and the religious in articulating such an ethics in the philosophical and religious writings of Kierkegaard and Levinas. Although it is Kierkegaard who more adequately distinguishes the secular and the religious, I argue against reading Levinas as an author who either atheistically secularizes transcendence or theistically reifies it. Levinas’s discussions of an atheistic monotheism for adults and his criticisms of conventional atheism and religiosity suggest that he is pursuing a double strategy and an "ethical reduction" that sacralizes the secular and secularizes the religious for the sake of their irreducible ethical moment.

Religious Crisis, Ethical Life, and Kierkegaard’s Critique of Christendom

by Eric S. Nelson

“Religious Crisis, Ethical Life, and Kierkegaard’s Critique of Christendom.” Acta Kierkegaardiana, “Kierkegaard and the Religious Crisis of the 19th Century,” Vol. 4, 2009: 170-186.

Kierkegaard is habitually identified with fideism, yet a significant aspect of his primarily ethical criticism of... more Kierkegaard is habitually identified with fideism, yet a significant aspect of his primarily ethical criticism of established Christendom is its confusion of what is appropriately religious and what is appropriately secular. Kierkegaard’s critical assessment of modern secularization is well-known. Less appreciated is his critique of the politicizing Christendom that fails to recognize its difference from the secular, thereby conflating redemptive faith with worldly power. Contrary to overly simplifying fideistic interpretations that excessively subordinate the secular to the religious, I argue that the religious and the secular both have their own ethical significance for Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard interpreted Christianity as the ethical renunciation rather than the intensification of worldly authority and power, including making war and controlling marriage, calling on Christendom to become more genuinely Christian by turning away from coercion and calculations of power, status, and wealth. Kierkegaard consequently radically differentiates the secular and the religious for the sake of Christianity itself by turning it toward individual and self-reflexive issues of freedom, responsibility, and redemption.

Don't Ask Don't Tell and the Theology of Honesty

by Karl Hand

Tradition Christian morality, as expressed in policies with broad conservative and 'Evangelical' support such as Don't... more Tradition Christian morality, as expressed in policies with broad conservative and 'Evangelical' support such as Don't Ask Don't Tell, tends to support the idea that homosexual and bisexual persons should keep their sexuality private.  However, the New Testament has an ethic of personal openness and deep, personal honesty.  This paper explores the contradiction. 

Migración y religión: desafíos para la iglesia.

by Mauricio Burbano Alarcón

Publicado en: Pensar-Revista Eletronica da FAJE. V.1, n. 1(2010): 45-61
http://www.faje.edu.br/periodicos/index.php/pensar/article/view/977/1410

Luego de caracterizar por separado migración y religión, se establece una relación entre ambas tomando en cuenta que... more Luego de caracterizar por separado migración y religión, se establece una relación entre ambas tomando en cuenta que la migración es un hecho social que propicia el contacto con nuevos horizontes de sentido que exigen una respuesta. En este encuentro con la alteridad, la respuesta va de una gama de total adhesión a lo diferente hasta posturas defensivas en las cuales el nuevo contexto religioso es visto como amenaza. En medio de estos extremos se encuentran respuestas que tienden puentes de diálogo entre la propia tradición y lo nuevo. Finalmente se bosquejan los desafíos para la Iglesia Católica, tomando en cuenta el documento latinoamericano de “Aparecida”.

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After separately characterizing migration and religion, a relationship between them is established by taking into account that migration is a social fact that fosters contact with new horizons of meaning that demand a response. In this encounter with alterity, the response is a range of full adherence to different defensive positions to which the new religious context is seen as a threat. Between these extremes are answers that form bridges of dialogue between their own tradition and the new. Finally, it outlines the challenges for the Catholic Church, taking into account the Latin American document of “Aparecida”.

Giving to the poor in early rabbinic Judaism

by Gregg Gardner

Gestalterapia: ensaio de superação ética de sua violenta condição de psicoterapia do Eu

by Herlon Bezerra

BEZERRA, Herlon A. Gestalt Terapia: ensaio de superação ética de sua violenta condição de psicoterapia do Eu. Universidade Federal do Ceará. Departamento de Psicologia. Fortaleza: 2002. (Monografia de Conclusão de Curso).

As transformações culturais contemporâneas vêm promovendo movimentos discursivos cujo significado final parece ser o... more As transformações culturais contemporâneas vêm promovendo movimentos discursivos cujo significado final parece ser o de uma verdadeira reviravolta cultural pós-metafísica. Em tal condição cultural residem, parece certo, questionamentos críticos fundamentais quanto aos tradicionais modelos éticos prescritivos, fundados na estabelecida metafísica ocidental grega. Esse o sentido, por exemplo, de propostas como a da ética da alteridade radical, do filósofo judeu e franco-lituano, Emmanuel Lévinas. Partindo da potente radicalidade crítica levinasiana, Freire (2002) empreendeu um desafiante diálogo com as psicologias do contexto da modernidade tardia. O presente exercício encontra-se inspirado nesse trabalho e ensaia, a partir de uma desleitura inventiva da Gestalterapia, introduzir um parâmetro de leitura no qual possa dar-se a promoção de uma superação ética de leituras nas quais essa abordagem é significada como psicoterapia do Eu, de pretensões ortopédicas e, assim, manifestamente violenta. Este é, pois, um discurso esperançoso, que pretende apontar para as possibilidades contemporâneas de uma psicoterapia ética.

Etre, Ethique et Spiritualité

by Georges NAHAS

Nahas, G. N. (December 1-3, 2008). Etre, Ethique et Spiritualité. In Bioethics : The Need for Paradigm Shift ? Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology – University of Balamand. Lebanon.

          L'objectif de cet article, dans le cadre de ce séminaire, est de poser les jalons... more           L'objectif de cet article, dans le cadre de ce séminaire, est de poser les jalons d'une réflexion sur l'Ethique (la Bioéthique n'étant qu'une des composantes les plus étudiées actuellement) qui se base sur une approche chrétienne du sens de la personne comme un être entier indivisible, faisant de l'Ethique une partie intégrante de la Spiritualité en tant que Vie en Christ.
          En posant la problématique créée par une certaine ambiguïté au niveau du discours, des références ainsi que de la pratique, cette intervention veut proposer une optique ouverte: (i) revalorisant le discours sur le Corps, (ii) consolidant le référence aux sources comme vécues pleinement dans l'Eglise, Corps du Christ Un dans sa divinité et multiple par les charismes de ses membre, (iii) et redonnant à la Spiritualité son sens dynamique.
          Après avoir posé la problématique, cette intervention développera une lecture du sens du Corps, suivie d'une optique de l'unité intrinsèque de l'Etre, pour terminer sur la façon dont l'Ethique peut être vécue comme partie intégrante de la Croissance en Christ.

أهمّيّة المناهج الدراسيّة في غرس القيم السويّة

by Georges NAHAS

نحّاس، ج. ن. (19-21 تشرين الأوّل 2010). أهمّيّة المناهج الدراسيّة في غرس القيم السويّة. دور الأديان في تنشئة الأجيال. مؤتمر الدوحة الثامن لحوار الأديان. الدوحة. قطر.

للمؤسّسات التربويّة دور هام في تنشئة الأفراد وبالتالي تأسيس المجتمعات على سبل تؤمّن تراصّها من جهة وعلاقتها مع بعضها... more للمؤسّسات التربويّة دور هام في تنشئة الأفراد وبالتالي تأسيس المجتمعات على سبل تؤمّن تراصّها من جهة وعلاقتها مع بعضها من جهة أخرى.

في عالم اختصرت فيه تقانات الاتصال المسافات وأصبح التواصل من سمات العصر، لا بد من التساؤل حول ماهيّة الأمور التي تسمح بقيام حضارة تعايش وقبول للآخر واعتبار التنوّع غنى مشترك.

تشكّل أنظومة القِيَم، التي يمكن أن تُجمِع عليها المجتمعات خاصة في مقموماتها الدينيّة المُلْهِمة، أهم عناصر هذا الإجماع المجتمعي. يمكن للمؤسسات التربويّة على اختلافها دعم هذه الأنظومة، وترسيخها، وبلورة مستلزماتها.

كيف نقارب اليوم موضوع المناهج الدراسيّة من هذه الزاوية الحضاريّة التي تنطلق من المعطى الديني لتؤهّل الفرد لرحابة المجتمعات التعدديّة؟ على ماذا تقوم هذه المقاربة؟ وما هي أسس تفعيلها؟ هذا ما ستسعى هذه المداخلة للإجابة عليه.

Orthodox Theology and Modern Challenges: The Ethical Issues

by Georges NAHAS

Nahas, G. N. (November 15-18, 2010). Orthodox Theology and Modern Challenges: The Ethical Issues. In Life in Christ: Christian Ethics, Ascetic Tradition of the Church and Modern Challenges. Moscow. Russia.

In normal circumstances, the Church is alive in the world within a tensed climate due to the fact that It “exists in... more In normal circumstances, the Church is alive in the world within a tensed climate due to the fact that It “exists in this world without belonging to it” according to the Christ own words. In the twentieth Century, the Church was deeply challenged by many historical, political and cultural factors. The Orthodox Church particularly witnessed extensive pressures that reached persecution, massive exodus that push it to review its hundred years old canonical structures; the Orthodox Church also faced a universal challenge at the philosophical and social levels where the believer started wondering about legitimate issues like:

Is there any contradiction between the Orthodox Theology and Modernity?

Is there any twinge between Tradition and Modern Thinking?

Does the witness of the Orthodox Church go beyond restrictions due to time and space?

By putting the problem in its context and on the basis of what may be considered as the Orthodox Tradition pillars, this article will try to answer these questions, concluding to the following: i) Orthodox Theology is potentially able to have a dialogue with Modernism. It has a specificity that allows it to have an innovating discourse while keeping its conformity with Tradition, ii) The Orthodox Church needs to create forums of discussion among pastors, scientists, men and women of goodwill, young generation, as well as sociologists and pedagogues, in order to elaborate a continuous process for future actions and dialogue with Modernity.

Prophetic Ethics: Rufus Burrow, Jr.'s, Personalist Contribution to Religious Ethics

by Dwayne Tunstall

A Transformative Theory of Religious Freedom: Promoting the Reasons for Rights

by Corey Brettschneider

Political Theory April 2010 vol. 38 no. 2 187-213

Religious freedom is often thought to protect, not only religious practices, but also the underlying religious beliefs... more Religious freedom is often thought to protect, not only religious practices, but also the underlying religious beliefs of citizens. But what should be said about religious beliefs that oppose religious freedom itself or that deny the concept of equal citizenship? The author argues here that such beliefs, while protected against coercive sanction, are rightly subject to attempts at transformation by the state in its expressive capacities. Transformation is entailed by a commitment to publicizing the reasons and principles that justify the basic rights of citizens.

AFTER LYNN WHITE: RELIGIOUS ETHICS AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

by Willis Jenkins

AFTER LYNN WHITE: RELIGIOUS ETHICS AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

by Willis Jenkins

Bioethics and end-of-life care in multi-ethnic settings: cultural diversity in Canada and the USA

by Leigh Turner

This paper addresses cultural dimensions of end-of-life care in Canada and the USA. In both countries contemporary... more This paper addresses cultural dimensions of end-of-life care in Canada and the USA. In both countries contemporary health care providers commonly encounter patients with quite variable understandings of what constitutes compassionate end-of-life care. Participation in particular ethnic and religious groups can have a significant effect upon how patients and their families communicate with health care providers, make decisions about treatment alternatives, engage in advance care planning, and frame moral deliberations. Much of the contemporary literature in the field of bioethics emphasizes the importance of truth telling, the principle of autonomy and the significance of patient choice, the value of advance care planning, and the right to have treatment withdrawn or withheld. However, a growing body of scholarship on the cultural dimensions of end-of-life care reveals a plurality of attitudes towards what constitutes appropriate forms of communication and decision making. While there are limits to the kind of social practices and moral claims that should be accommodated in liberal democracies, health care providers should take steps to ensure that they are providing culturally sensitive end-of-life care.