Beyond Political Theology and its Liquidation: From Theopolitical Monotheism to Trinitarianism

One of the central theological challenges facing Erik Peterson was to help the mid‐twentieth century Catholic Church define its relationship with the wider world. He responded by advancing a distinctive understanding of the ‘polis.’ In this essay, I critically analyze Peterson's central and perhaps best known proposal about how the Church ought to negotiate the modern world — encapsulated in his expression, the ‘liquidation of political theology.’ I contend that Peterson's proposal is not congruent with a right understanding of patristic trinitarian monarchy, although a view that stands in sharp contrast to that of Carl Schmitt. Notwithstanding the effectiveness of Peterson's critique of Schmitt's political theology, I argue that Peterson nonetheless fails in his exposition of the thought of Gregory of Nazianzus and therefore in his interpretation of the role of the Church in what we have learned to call the ‘political’ and the ‘social.’ I conclude by outlining several ways that the Church today might take up the challenge of regaining a truly political thought, a new ekklesioteia, nourished by the monarchy of the triune God.     

The nucleus premammillaris ventralis (pmv) and aggressive behavior in the rat

Small bilateral electrolytic lesions placed just posterior of the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus cause a strong increase in offensive behavior. The histology suggests that damage to the ventral premammillary nucleus is responsible for this effect. A summary of the neuroanatomical literature shows that this structure is connected to most other brain structures reported to be involved in offensive behavior.     

Characteristics of patients in routine psycho-oncological care,and changes in outcome variables during and after their treatment

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to determine the characteristics of clients and interventions in routine psycho-oncological care. The secondary aim was to determine the course of symptomatology during and after the psychological interventions.

Design: During a period of nine months, all clients who sought help in one of the seven psycho-oncological care institutes in the Netherlands were approached to participate in the present study (N = 483). Information was gathered with respect to demographic and medical characteristics, and type and duration of the interventions. In addition, depression, anxiety, well-being, quality of life, fatigue and daily function were determined before interventions and three and nine months later.

Results and conclusions: Compared to the Dutch cancer population, patients in psycho-oncological care were more often young and female. Compared to the general Dutch population, they were highly educated and were more likely to have a partner. Clinical levels of depression, anxiety and/or fatigue were found among 83% of the patients. After three months, only 23% had completed their intervention; this figure was 62% after nine months. Symptoms decreased significantly for all outcome variables. An importance difference with randomised controlled trials is the low session frequency and the long intervention time of patients in clinical care.     

Recognition of letters traced in the right and left palms: Evidence for a process-oriented tactile asymmetry

Three experiments were conducted to examine the relative ability of the cerebral hemispheres to identify capital letters traced in the palms of the hands. In Experiment 1, letters were presented either right side up or upside down, and the subject's task was to name the letter aloud or point to an identical letter using the stimulated hand. Analysis of the accuracy data revealed that the left palm/right hemisphere (LP/RH) performed this task significantly better than did the right palm/left hemisphere (RP/LH), particularly when the stimuli were presented in the upside-down orientation. In Experiments 2 and 3, subjects performed the same letter identification task; however, on half the trials, they were required to maintain either a spatial or verbal concurrent memory load (i.e., a 24-point Vanderplas & Garvin form or six low-imagery nouns, respectively). In the no-load condition of Experiment 2 (spatial forms), the previously observed LP/RH advantage was replicated. However, in the load condition, this LP/RH superiority was no longer in evidence. In Experiment 3 (low-imagery nouns), the presence of a concurrent verbal task had minimal impact on the previously observed performance asymmetry as the LP/RH advantage was obtained in both the no-load and load conditions. The results of the three studies taken in composite suggest that (1) the operations utilized to identify letters traced in the palms of the hands are primarily spatial in nature and (2) that the observed performance asymmetry may be attributed to a right hemisphere superiority for the analysis and codification of information along a spatial dimension. These findings are discussed in terms of a "process-oriented" model of hemispheric asymmetry.     

Determinants of Attitudes Toward Muslim Students Among Flemish Teachers: A Research Note

Muslims are now the second largest religious group in almost all Western countries and a large majority of Muslim citizens are children who attend schools. However teachers’ attitudes regarding the education of Muslim students are largely ignored by educational researchers. In this study, we investigate the determinants of teachers’ attitudes among Flemish (Belgian) teachers (N = 620). Regression analysis has revealed that female teachers, Muslim teachers, younger teachers, and teachers with a four‐year college degree have significantly more positive attitudes. Most interestingly, we found that teachers working in schools that enroll a larger share of Muslim students (greater than 50 percent) have more negative attitudes toward Muslim students than other teachers. The implications of these findings for educational policy are discussed.