宗教与中国现代慈善转型——兼论慈悲、宽容、专业奉献及养成教育的价值

慈善与宗教的密切联系是人所共知的。在中国慈善事业向现代转型的历史性进程中,如何从中国的实际出发,妥善处理好宗教与慈善的关系,从而促成宗教与慈善事业发展的良性互动,是慈善事业发展所面临的一项重要课题。笔者拟从宗教与慈善的历史渊源、慈悲与宽容、宗教慈善事业与现代慈善福利服务事业的有机联系等方面展开,论述慈悲、宽容、专业奉献及养成教育的价值,并提出应该转变社会理念,促进现代慈善与宗教的良性合作机制。     

On a slippery slope to intolerance: Individual difference in slippery slope beliefs predict outgroup negativity

Slippery slope beliefs capture the idea that a non-problematic action will lead to unpreventable and harmful outcomes. While this idea has been examined in legal and philosophical literatures, there has been no psychological research into the individual propensity to hold slippery slope beliefs. Across five studies and six samples (combined N = 5,974), we developed and tested an individual difference measure of slippery slope beliefs, finding that it predicted intolerance of outgroup freedoms above and beyond key demographic and psychological predictors (Studies 1–2 and 5). We also found that slippery slope beliefs predict intolerance of debated behaviors in two countries (Study 3), and that it predicted agreement with real-world slippery slope examples across the political spectrum (Studies 4–5).     

The international politics of tolerance in the Persian Gulf

ABSTRACT

Since the early 2000s, wide-ranging initiatives geared towards the promotion of tolerance, moderation and interfaith dialogue have proliferated throughout the Persian Gulf, culminating most recently in the establishment of the world’s first Ministry of Tolerance in the UAE. For more than a decade, Qatar has hosted annual interfaith conferences on themes such as ‘Steps Towards Tolerance’. Oman and Bahrain have been prominent advocates, pursuing their respective tolerance agendas through academic publications, travelling delegations, exhibitions and international conferences. Even Saudi Arabia, notorious for its intolerance at home, has been a prominent advocate on the world stage. Talk of tolerance, it seems, is everywhere, but what is behind this regional trend? This article situates the emergent political discourse of tolerance in the broader post-9/11 geopolitical context, wherein the ideal of tolerance has been embraced by both the West and the Muslim world as an antidote to the global problem of terrorism. I suggest that Gulf tolerance initiatives are best understood in terms of a broader politics of representation that coheres around the promotion of ‘moderate Islam’, and that in the context of what has been described as the Western ‘civilisational discourse’ of tolerance, Muslim-majority countries are responding with a civilisational discourse of their own.     

Superordinate identities and intergroup conflict: The ingroup projection model

This chapter summarises results from a research programme on the psychological basis of tolerance and discrimination in intergroup relations, with particular consideration of the role of superordinate identities. According to the ingroup projection model, a relevant superordinate group provides dimensions and norms for comparisons between ingroup and outgroup. Groups gain positive value or status when they are considered prototypical for the (positively valued) superordinate group. Group members tend to generalise (project) distinct ingroup characteristics onto the superordinate category, implying the relative prototypicality of their ingroup. To the extent that outgroup difference is regarded as a deviation from the ethnocentrically construed prototype it is evaluated negatively. Our research studied consequences and determinants of ingroup projection, as well as moderators of its implications. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the processes involved in intergroup discrimination and indicate new pathways for the reduction of prejudice, towards mutual intergroup appreciation and tolerance.     

What is conscience and why is respect for it so important?

The literature on conscience in medicine has paid little attention to what is meant by the word ‘conscience.’ This article distinguishes between retrospective and prospective conscience, distinguishes synderesis from conscience, and argues against intuitionist views of conscience. Conscience is defined as having two interrelated parts: (1) a commitment to morality itself; to acting and choosing morally according to the best of one’s ability, and (2) the activity of judging that an act one has done or about which one is deliberating would violate that commitment. Tolerance is defined as mutual respect for conscience. A set of boundary conditions for justifiable respect for conscientious objection in medicine is proposed.

Irrational Beliefs and Basic Assumptions in Bereaved University Students: A Comparison Study

Several authors have argued that the loss of a loved one triggers changes in people's beliefs and assumptions, and that these changes play a role in emotional problems after bereavement. The present study was an attempt to investigate these hypotheses. Thirty students who had been confronted with the death of a parent or sibling, on average nearly 3 years ago, were compared with 30 nonbereaved matched control subjects on different measures assessing basic assumptions and irrational beliefs as defined in REBT. In line with the notion that bereavement has an impact on people's basic assumptions, results showed that bereaved students had a less positive view of the meaningfulness of the world and the worthiness of the self than their nonbereaved counterparts. Also, in accord with the notion that the tendency to think irrationally is likely to increase after a stressful life event, the bereaved were found to have higher levels of irrational thinking. Furthermore, it was found that the degree to which bereaved individuals endorsed general as well as bereavement-specific irrational beliefs was significantly associated with the intensity of symptoms of traumatic grief. Conversely, none of the basic assumptions was associated with traumatic grief. Beliefs reflecting low frustration tolerance explained most variance in traumatic grief. Clinical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Tolerance more than equality? Two facets of tolerance towards immigrants among Czech adolescents

ABSTRACT

This study focused on facets of tolerance towards immigrants among Czech adolescents, drawing on data from 9^th and 10^th graders (n = 2003). The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between tolerance towards immigrants and support for democracy, repression potential, right-wing authoritarianism, and out-group trust. Results showed that tolerance towards immigrants should be treated as a two-dimensional concept: support for equal rights, focused on equality in labour market, housing or access to education, and support for cultural rights, encompassing acceptance of immigrants’ rights to practice their culture and religion. We found that Czech adolescents were generally more supportive of equal rights than of cultural rights, and that out-group trust explained most of the variance for both dimensions of tolerance towards immigrants. The study also indicated ambiguous effects in the relationship between right-wing authoritarianism, repression potential and support for equal/cultural rights of immigrants with out-group trust used as moderating variable.