Christian Adoption?

Abstract : Adoption is not a uniquely Christian practice, but it is a distinctly Christian act when grounded in the traditions of neighbor love and familial belonging. An orphaned child is a neighbor in need, and adoption is a fitting response to meeting this need. Caritas is the initial motive prompting this response but is not a disinterested provisional of parental care. Rather it is oriented toward parental love and familial belonging. Consequently, this Christian understanding of adoption should be preserved as a uniquely moral act in order to prevent orphaned children from being reduced to a means of remedying childlessness, or the using of adopted children as a wedge for justifying unwarranted governmental intrusion into the family.     

Making room: a place for children’s spirituality in the Christian church

A relatively uncharted territory until recently, the concept of children as innate spiritual beings has garnered significant attention among scholars over the past two decades. The more that is learned about children’s spirituality, the more apparent it becomes that the Christian church in the United States generally fails to provide sufficient space for children to explore, develop and share their spirituality. This potentially leads children to suppress or disconnect from their spirituality in later years and also deprives a Christian community of the ability to learn and grow from children’s unique experiences of God and spirituality. This paper examines the underlying theories that foster environments among Christian churches where the ennoblement of a ‘grown-up faith’ and the resulting power adults hold because of that, inhibit the ability for children to be regarded and approached as capable of spiritual and faithful beliefs and understanding apart from adult intervention.     

REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THEOLOGICAL RESPONSES IN CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM

Reproductive medical technology has revolutionized the natural order of human procreation. Accordingly, some have celebrated its advent as a new and liberating determinant of kinship at the global level and advocate it as a right to reproductive health while others have frowned upon it as a vehicle for “guiltless exchange of sexual fluid” and commodification of human gametes. Religious voices from both Christianity and Islam range from unthinking adoption to restrictive use. While utilizing this technology to enable the married couple to have children through the use of their own sexual material is welcome, the use of third party, surrogacy, and reproductive cloning are not in keeping with the sacrosanct principles of kinship, procreation through licit sexual intercourse, and social cohesiveness for building a cohesive family as uphold by both Christianity and Islam. To examine such larger issues emanating from these new ways of human procreation, beyond the question of legality, is a point which legal scholars in both Christianity and Islam, when issuing religious decrees, have not anticipated sufficiently. The article proposes to be an attempt to that end through a qualitative critical content analysis of selected literature written on the subject.     

Theologian,Teacher, and Friend: Tributes to James M. Gustafson

James M. Gustafson, who died in 2021, has influenced generations of theologians and ethicists. In this article, five students, colleagues, and friends provide short reflections on what Gustafson has meant for their work as scholars of theology and religious ethics.     

Questions of condom use in the Muslim and Catholic response to HIV and AIDS in Nairobi,Kenya

Religious leaders in Roman Catholic and Sunni Muslim communities in Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi are charged with responding in an official capacity to the pressing concerns facing their respective communities both theologically and practically. However, speaking about sexuality from a religious perspective particularly on the use of condoms in AIDS prevention has been rather troublesome topic many leaders and clergy find problematic discussing openly. This paper offers a comparative analysis of Muslim and Catholic views on sexuality by establishing the parameters within which to consider the presence and activity of Catholic and Muslim leaders in Kenya and the holistic, grassroots approach in responding to the AIDS epidemic in Nairobi regarding condom use.     

Fifty years of American polarization and the changing roles of faith communities

The 2016 election of Donald Trump as president and the first year of his administration have been accompanied by intensified social and political divides in the United States. A comparison of today's polarization with that during the Vietnam War and civil rights movement of the 1960s suggests strategies for bridging the divides—and in particular for an expanding role by faith communities.     

The Option for Life

In today's Anthropocene, the reality of our growing global population, with its requirement of and strain upon the natural world, and our grave projected ecological outlook pose new challenges for Christian ethicists. How can both people and the earth flourish? Discussed within the context of theological and secular reflections on natural law, this article proposes one answer to such a question through a recasting of the human right to nature by way of a deep and wide understanding of vocation. Using Luther as a prototype who demonstrates the innate value of all life forms and offers an innovative working concept of vocation, it is here shown how an emphasis on vocation, when extended ecologically, can promote the option of life for all.     

“公共卫生”的定义分析及其伦理内涵

在新冠疫情肆虐全球,人类面对的疾病威胁日趋严重的背景之下,为应对由此产生的一系列问题,对公共卫生伦理学的探讨变得愈加必要。但如何定义“公共卫生”尚存在较多争议。旨在阐述对“公共卫生”的宽泛定义及意义,并对宽泛定义“公共卫生”所招致的三种主要批判进行分析与回应,进一步挖掘其伦理内涵与现实意义。同时也提出了对“公共卫生”持宽泛界定时值得注意并需要在未来努力解决的问题,为后疫情时代的公共治理提供有益参考。

     

我国医科类高校医学(生命)伦理学课程现状调查

为了解我国部分医科类高校医学(生命)伦理学课程的开展现状,对国内48所高校中68名从事医学(生命)伦理学教学工作的教师进行问卷调查。结果显示,23所高校教师人数超过4人;女性教师中学历为硕士的人数最多;32.4%的教师第一专业具备临床或医药背景;学时为32学时~36学时的高校仅1所,学分为2学分的高校也只有1所,以必修课形式开设的高校只有2所;28所高校开设了医学(生命)伦理学相关的讲座,其中2所高校年均开设次数达到5次或以上。调查显示,高校整体师资力量较薄弱、女性教师学历水平有待提高、教师知识结构较单一、课程受重视程度低、医学人文环境较差。建议扩大、优化师资结构,重树学科定位,加强医学人文建设,营造医学人文氛围。