Algebraic Semantics for Deductive Systems

The notion of an algebraic semantics of a deductive system was proposed in [3], and a preliminary study was begun. The focus of [3] was the definition and investigation of algebraizable deductive systems, i.e., the deductive systems that possess an equivalent algebraic semantics. The present paper explores the more general property of possessing an algebraic semantics. While a deductive system can have at most one equivalent algebraic semantics, it may have numerous different algebraic semantics. All of these give rise to an algebraic completeness theorem for the deductive system, but their algebraic properties, unlike those of equivalent algebraic semantics, need not reflect the metalogical properties of the deductive system. Many deductive systems that don't have an equivalent algebraic semantics do possess an algebraic semantics; examples of these phenomena are provided. It is shown that all extensions of a deductive system that possesses an algebraic semantics themselves possess an algebraic semantics. Necessary conditions for the existence of an algebraic semantics are given, and an example of a protoalgebraic deductive system that does not have an algebraic semantics is provided. The mono-unary deductive systems possessing an algebraic semantics are characterized. Finally, weak conditions on a deductive system are formulated that guarantee the existence of an algebraic semantics. These conditions are used to show that various classes of non-algebraizable deductive systems of modal logic, relevance logic and linear logic do possess an algebraic semantics.     

Killing for God's sake: The spiritual crisis in religion and society

Unwittingly, religion often fosters or, at least, supports violence. Yet in a pluralistic society where religious tolerance is safeguarded, it is difficult to adjudicate public opinion that claims a religious base. This paper proposes a response-to tease apart religion and spirituality and to explicate spirituality as a human, and not necessarily a theological, thing. The core of such an understanding is the self-aware and self-transcending dimension of the human mind that can rightly be called spirit and to which numerous thinkers have pointed. Especially the thought of Bernard Lonergan contributes to a detailed account of this matter. Inherent in humanity as such, spirituality is essential to any society. Perforce spirituality is a necessary public concern, and it is a legitimate subject matter for the human sciences. On the common ground of spirituality, religious, political, and scientific collaboration could generate a shared ethos that supports social cohesion and proscribes violence from whatever source.     

The Virgin and the Whore – An Interreligious Challenge for Our Times

The boundaries of religious belonging are often based upon essentialist patriarchal conceptions of decency and morality that have been shaped into doctrine; those who are deemed indecent are marginalized to locations of struggle and often met with violence – thus presenting an interreligious challenge for our times. This paper will explore the gendered politics of religious belonging through an intersectional lens, focusing on the virgin/whore dichotomy in Christianity. It aims to undress exclusive notions of religious belonging and expose the hegemonic systems that have created ideological boundaries intended to control the bodies of women. It will then look to the narrative of Tamar and Judah in the book of Genesis, where prostitution, Levirate marriage, widowhood, childbirth, ethnicity, honour killing, and sexual desires shape the text and force the reader to confront questions of morality, justice, and the politics of religious belonging.     

一个匹配生成更新语义的条件句系统

条件句系统通常用择类语义来刻画,此语义对条件句逻辑来说是标准的。一个择类模型可以用一个三元组（W,f,V）来表示,其中W≠Φ,f是从P（W）×W到P（W）中的择类函数,且V是从一命题变元集PV到P（W）中的赋值函数。本文我们提出一个更新语义,它保留择类框架,但V被从PV到P（W）^P（W）中的一个更新函数代替,因为更新函数能表示动态命题而赋值函数则不能。最后我们证明一个条件句系统相对这样的语义有框架可靠性。     

Religious and Political Violence: Globalising Syncretism and the Governance State*

Abstract

In this paper we argue that the conjunctions of religion and politics through eruptions of violence are codetermined and codependent through syncretic manifestations rather than a result of some kind of basic clash between different, self-contained systems of ideas and values. The vicissitudes of religious fervour are linked to issues of development and social change in which long-cherished traditions are confronted by seemingly inexorable forces beyond the control of those being affected by them. Religious violence is a political movement which should be understood as not being outside modernisation in the sense of being opposed to it; it is in fact part of the development of modernisation. Resistance arises from the experience of being excluded from the fruits of modernity while at the same time being enmeshed within the multiple social relations underpinning the production and distribution of those ‘fruits’. Whether from a postmodern or from a more conventional perspective a totalising analysis organised around master concepts like ‘globalisation’ or ‘civilisation’ is often developed to explain the intersections of religion and violence. We reject these approaches in favour of one predicated on the idea of the ‘governance state’. It is our argument that this better captures the core axis of analysis – namely the changing nature of the state and its management of populations and the concomitant forms of resistance by those subjected to it in an era in which such ‘modernities’ are played out.     

THE BURNING FUSE: THE UNACCEPTABLE FACE OF RELIGION

Abstract. For pragmatic reasons more attention should be devoted to the serious study of religion. Although religions inspire great achievements of human creativity, it is important to understand them because they also promote violence and warfare. One can understand the unacceptable face of religion when one sees why religions matter to those who belong to them; why they are bound to be conservative, especially in times of stress; and why, therefore, believers become very passionate about defending the boundaries of their particular religious systems. Such understanding provides a realistic basis for working toward the peaceful coexistence of conflicting religious systems.     

Equipping Religious Professionals to Engage Effectively with Domestic Violence

ABSTRACT

Grant-funded agencies provide the context for religious professionals seeking to engage with domestic violence. Christian and Jewish professionals are addressed. Research-driven resources sanctioned by domestic violence agencies will be identified, examining etiology, dynamics, and treatment. Domestic violence presupposes a structure of beliefs in which religious professionals participate. Physical violence may be predatory or affective and violence may be non-physical. It occurs in all congregations. Cultural norms for appropriate behavior provide a deceptive cover. Consistent resources include books, articles, information packets, audio-visual resources, seminars/workshops and the Internet. Ties between seminaries/ religious organizations and domestic violence agencies must be promoted to fully expose and reduce this public health epidemic.     

Stimulation-induced behavioral inhibition: A new model for understanding physical violence

Physical violence is widely considered to result from action carried out with the intention of causing injury; that is, from aggression. However, the “hypothesis” of aggression is inapplicable in all but a few instances as well as inappropriate for many destructive rage-associated responses directed at inanimate objects. This paper outlines a new perspective on physical violence, reinterpreting many behaviors hitherto labeled aggressive as stimulation-seeking behaviors (SSBs) above an arbitrary level of intensity. It is further proposed that: 1) physical violence is a by-product of SSB, driven, in part by brain catecholaminergic (CA) systems, and the direct result of exchanges of energy that exceed the body's tolerance threshold; 2) allegedly discrete categories of motor-motivational behavior represent overlapping bands of intensity on a continuous spectrum of SSB; and 3) the sensory input derived from SSB is fed back into the central nervous system where it activates, brain serotonergic and/or cholinergic systems, which in turn inhibit CA systems, resulting in a general state of behavioral quiescence. In addition to accounting for a number of previously unexplained observations, the model suggests that physical violence could be prevented by providing groups at high risk with extensive opportunities for therapeutic sensory stimulation to substitute for that derived from excessive SSB. For people at especially high risk, portable devices could be developed that would allow the user to self-administer desired levels of sensory stimulation at moments of intense anger, thereby preventing potentially dangerous outbursts of SSB prior to the onset of the behavior.     

Stimulation-induced behavioral inhibition: a new model for understanding physical violence.

Physical violence is widely considered to result from action carried out with the intention of causing injury; that is, from aggression. However, the "hypothesis" of aggression is inapplicable in all but a few instances as well as inappropriate for many destructive, rage-associated responses directed at inanimate objects. This paper outlines a new perspective on physical violence, reinterpreting many behaviors hitherto labeled aggressive as stimulation-seeking behaviors (SSBs) above an arbitrary level of intensity. It is further proposed that: 1) physical violence is a by-product of SSB, driven in part by brain catecholaminergic (CA) systems, and the direct result of exchanges of energy that exceed the body's tolerance threshold; 2) allegedly discrete categories of motor-motivational behavior represent overlapping bands of intensity on a continuous spectrum of SSB; and 3) the sensory input derived from SSB is fed back into the central nervous system where it activates brain serotonergic and/or cholinergic systems, which in turn inhibit CA systems, resulting in a general state of behavioral quiescence. In addition to accounting for a number of previously unexplained observations, the model suggests that physical violence could be prevented by providing groups at high risk with extensive opportunities for therapeutic sensory stimulation to substitute for that derived from excessive SSB. For people at especially high risk, portable devices could be developed that would allow the user to self-administer desired levels of sensory stimulation at moments of intense anger, thereby preventing potentially dangerous outbursts of SSB prior to the onset of the behavior.     

The role of religious leaders in anti-Apartheid mobilisation: implications for violence prevention in contemporary South Africa

This study examines how South African religious leaders mobilised spiritual capacity and religious assets to resist and fight against state and structural violence during the 1970s and 1980s. Document analysis and qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with six key informants who were directly or indirectly involved in an interfaith Peace March in 1989 in Cape Town. Our analysis was aimed at identifying and understanding the factors, which enabled individuals from diverse religious backgrounds to work together to combat the Apartheid state and structural violence, drawing out possible roles for interfaith leadership within the prevention of direct violence in South Africa. The analysis shows that interfaith leadership was enacted as five kinds of performances: of safety in sacred spaces, solidarity and community, non-violence, voice and representation, and humanitarian relief and healing. These performances relied on specific religious assets, spiritual capacity and psychological and interpersonal qualities characteristic of transformative leaders. In conclusion, we offer some suggestions for how interfaith leadership alongside other social actors may contribute to the prevention of interpersonal violence.     

Merging without mystery or: Variables in dynamics semantics

In this paper we discuss the treatment of variables in dynamic semantics. Referent systems are introduced as a flexible mechanism for working with variables. In a referent system we carefully distinguish the variables themselves both from the machinery by which we manipulate them — their names — and from the information that we store in them — their values. It is shown that the referent systems provide a natural basis for dynamic semantics. The semantics with referent systems is compared with the familiar formalisms in dynamic semantics,DRT andDPL.     

Murderers and martyrs: Violence,discourse, and the (re)construction of meaning

In recent years, the question of violence has drawn attention from religious studies scholars and public commentators alike. From schoolchildren with guns to terrorists with bombs, the perpetrators of violent acts have forced communities, nations, and even scholars to grapple with the nature and meaning of violence. But although significant attention has been paid to religious groups that foster violence and to those that resist it, the ways in which violence challenges structures of meaning have been addressed primarily by theologians seeking to grapple with overwhelming episodes of violence. This article suggests that certain violent acts can be classed as ‘symbolically disruptive violence'—acts that threaten or shatter a group's symbolic world. Although this analytical concept has broad applicability, the article explores its relevance for one in‐depth case study: reactions to the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming.     

Karma and redemption: A religious approach to family violence

Violence within the family is becoming so widespread that its treatment cannot be left to specialists alone, but increasingly will be faced by the helping professions generally. The Hindu concept of Karma and the Christian theory of redemption together provide a religious understanding for those who seek to help both the perpetrators and victims of family violence. Karma holds the truth that actions bear consequences, whereas redemption suggests that the evil consequences can be altered for good. The result is a new Karmic law which provides a fundamental starting point for family abuse counseling.Formerly, he was Assistant Professor of Religion at Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage. Prior to taking up his post with Scripture Union, he worked in Anchorage as Adult Education Specialist for two agencies dealing with sexual abuse and domestic violence. This paper formed the basis for his presentation at an Alaskan conference on violence in the family held in Anchorage in October 1985.     

Sexual violence perceptions among Christian college students

Sexual violence is a persistent problem, both nationally and globally, with college females having an elevated risk over their non-college peers. However, there have been limited studies exploring the beliefs that specific sub-populations, such as religious groups, have about sexual violence. A central objective of this study was to provide a better understanding of student needs in order to assist administrators and student service professionals as they offer support for students in Christian higher education settings. This study was a comprehensive, exploratory survey into the attitudes and perceptions of rape myth acceptance, sexism, authoritarianism, violence, and safety, as well as occurrence of sexual violence, among Christian college students at a mid-Atlantic Christian university was conducted. The results demonstrate which concepts relate to or were predicted by students’ rape myth acceptance, as well as ascertaining similarities and differences between secular and religious colleges. Recommendations for universities, program developers, and researchers are discussed.     

Religious ecology,floaters, and crime: the links between social capital,institutionally disengaged youth,and homicide

We consider two distinct research streams in macro-criminology. The first is how religious ecology, articulated as bridging and bonding capital, is linked to the rates of violence. The second concerns how institutionally disconnected youth, known as “floaters,” are highly vulnerable to violence because they fall outside their community’s umbrella of social control. Using county-level data on religious ecology, institutional engagement, and violence, we connect the two ideas with the following theoretical story line. When a community’s religious ecology is characterized by more bonding capital (versus bridging capital), such places provided fewer institutional entry points for crime-prone youth, thus increasing the proportion of floaters in the area. Because these floaters lack institutional social control, we should observe higher rates of violence as a result. Our analysis offers a social control mechanism by which social capital influences the rates of violence at the macro-level. We discuss the implications of our findings.     

Bin Laden is one of us! Representations of religious identity at the Parliament of the World's Religions

In July 2004 the fourth Parliament of the World's Religions took place in Barcelona. As with previous modern sessions, the Barcelona event was inspired by the original Parliament, which famously took place in Chicago in 1893. This paper examines the idea of the Parliament as a significant forum for the public representation of religious identity in global context. One way this was expressed in 2004 was in relation to political violence. As one delegate exclaimed rhetorically, ‘Bin Laden is one of us!’ This anxious rhetoric highlighted the problem of how to represent religious identity in the contemporary world. Who is included and who excluded from the global community of the religious? By drawing comparison with the 1893 Parliament, the paper argues that representational strategies deployed at the 2004 Parliament demonstrate the tensions and potential ruptures that confront the idea of religious identity in the context of late modernity.     

Family Violence:

This paper summarizes the results of research project into a testable family violence intervention. The interventions intend to reduce the potential for violence by altering dysfunctional family structures and changing pertinent belief systems which perpetuate cycles of violence. The key assumption is that family violence is an adaptational mechanism in response to change (stressors) and that the response is, in part, learned or culturally reinforced. It was hypothesized that abuse in families is occasioned and perpetuated by the characteristics of the interpersonal systenls in which the participants are located. The system of concern is the family, and the theoretical model which depicts the family structure is the Circumplex Model.     

Fundamentalism and Political Violence: The Case of Paisley and Ulster Evangelicals

One of the dangers of using the term ‘fundamentalism’ for a wide variety of religiously inspired political movements is that it disguises vital differences. This article examines in great detail the involvement of the evangelical Protestant religious and political leader Reverend Ian Paisley in the political violence of Northern Ireland. It concludes that, despite the context apparently encouraging a Protestant jihad, or holy war, Ulster evangelicals are peaceful and law-abiding. Parallels with American fundamentalism are used to raise the question of contrasts to Islamic fundamentalism. It is argued that fundamentalisms differ in their attitudes towards political violence and that the differences are unlikely to be just a matter of circumstance.     

Covenant,blood, and violence: America at war with itself and others

Religious nationalism is dangerous, because it tends toward violence. In the case of America, religious nationalism is preceded by, and dependent upon, a covenant with God that renders judgment against the nation when it fails to embody divine justice. The second use of the law in Lutheran theology, combined with René Girard's scapegoat theory, provides the prophetic public theologian with a searchlight to make visible the nation's justification of violence. The haunting question becomes this: should the prophetic public theologian expose the lie on which American religious nationalism is built and risk sundering human community?     

The original sin of proof-theoretic semantics

Proof-theoretic semantics is an alternative to model-theoretic semantics. It aims at explaining the meaning of the logical constants in terms of the inference rules that govern their behaviour in proofs. We argue that this must be construed as the task of explaining these meanings relative to a logic, i.e., to a consequence relation. Alas, there is no agreed set of properties that a relation must have in order to qualify as a consequence relation. Moreover, the association of a consequence relation to a logical calculus is not as straightforward as it may seem. We show that these facts are problematic for the proof-theoretic project but the problems can be solved. Our thesis is that the consequence relation relevant for proof-theoretic semantics is the one given by the sequent-to-sequent derivability relation in Gentzen systems.