Moral Deliberation in a Public Lutheran Church

Abstract : Variety and complementarity characterize the views of six Lutheran theologians regarding the place of the church in the public square: Martin Marty, Ronald Thiemann, Robert Benne, Gary Simpson, Cynthia Moe‐Lobeda, and Patrick Kiefert. This article explicates their thought in with respect to the internal and external life of the church. To think of the church as a “community of moral deliberation” in the public square becomes the preferred model for Lutherans in North America.     

浅析死刑认同的心理根源

我国民众普遍认同死刑,这种"死刑认同"具有三种心理情绪根源:死亡情结、社会情感以及正义报复感。死刑认同实质上是国民的一种个人情绪和社会情感的表达和要求。取消死刑是必然趋势,但必须具备相应的社会条件。     

GOD AS A COMMUNICATIVE SYSTEM SUI GENERIS: BEYOND THE PSYCHIC, SOCIAL, PROCESS MODELS OF THE TRINITY

With an aim to develop a public theology for an age of information media (or media theology), this article proposes a new God-concept: God is a communicative system sui generis that autopoietically processes meaning/information in the supratemporal realm via perfect divine media ad intra (Word/Spirit). For this task, Niklas Luhmann's systems theory is critically appropriated in dialogue with theology. First, my working postmetaphysical/epistemological stance is articulated as realistic operational constructivism and functionalism. Second, a series of arguments are advanced to substantiate the thesis: (1) God is an observing system sui generis ; (2) self-referential communication is divine operation; (3) unsurpassable complexity is divine mystery; (4) supratemporal autopoiesis of meaning is divine processing; (5) agape is the symbolic medium of divine communication. Third, this communicative model of God is developed into a trinitarian theology, with a claim that this model offers a viable alternative beyond the standard (psychic, social, process) models. Finally, some implications of this model are explored for constructive theology (conceiving creation as divine mediatization) and for science-and-religion in terms of derivative models: (1) God as a living system sui generis and (2) God as a meaning system sui generis .     

Public involvement: How to encourage citizen participation

The study was aimed at identifying the impact of a pool of variables on the willingness of the participants in five consultative arenas (Open Space Technology) to become involved in future experiences of civic engagement. The study also intended to verify whether such willingness varied among subgroups of participants. In total, 194 participants (49.5% men, 50.5% women; mean age = 37.04) were recruited during five OSTs held in Italy between May and November 2008 and asked to fill in a questionnaire composed of the following measures: perceived costs and benefits, emotions, sense of community, trust in institutions and need for cognitive closure. Findings suggested that the setting‐related variables—namely the perception of costs and benefits and the arousal of positive feelings—were more influential than the community‐related variables, such as sense of community and trust in institutions. Indications and suggestions for the design, implementation and evaluation of participatory settings were discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

新冠肺炎疫情中的个体叙事分析

新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情引发的公共危机背景下,涌现出大量个体叙事。从叙事学、叙事医学、医学人类学等学科领域的视角出发,对个体叙事特征进行梳理:叙事者身份与被叙维度的多元化,对疫情体验不确定性的回应,叙事命题的情感价值,人性基本需要与现实构成的矛盾等。在特定时代背景下,个体叙事作品的传播增强了医学相关主体之间的关系,同时这些作品彰显的价值观也与医学人文教育的目标相契合。开放、包容,充满反思精神的叙事行为与路径,有助于人们于灾难降临时寻找生命意义,创建身份归属。     

重大公共卫生事件下公立医院接受社会捐赠的法律应对

规范我国公立医院在重大公共卫生事件中接受社会捐赠的行为,实现应急战略物资在公立医院及时、安全、高效配置。通过对新冠肺炎疫情发生后,我国公立医院在接受捐赠方面存在的法治意识淡薄、越权公开募捐、程序不合规、质量监管不到位等主要问题进行分析,以现行法律法规为依据,突出公立医院接受社会捐赠法治化的内涵,提出规范接受捐赠行为、强化物资监管、完善接受程序和相关法律制度等应对建议,从而提升我国公立医院接受社会捐赠的法治化水平。     

公立医院信息披露的研究现状及展望

建立公立医院信息披露制度是完善公立医院监管模式、促进公立医院改革的有效措施。运用文献分析法,从政府监管、患者权益、医疗质量和水平、其他利益相关者四方面探讨公立医院信息披露的必要性,分析公立医院信息披露现状及存在的问题。提出构建多元化信息披露主体、多样化信息披露方式、多方面信息披露内容、多种类信息披露渠道和多方监管的信息披露制度等措施,对各项改革齐头并进,以建立中国特色的公立医院信息披露体系。     

努力提高多中心临床研究的伦理审查质量

多中心临床合作研究是现代生物医学发展的必然要求,各方利益冲突,双重标准,缺乏独立性,人员素质不高,跟踪监督欠缺等导致的伦理审查质量参差不齐已成为一个重要的制约因素,建议采取切实的多方面的措施,保证科学性和伦理合理性,明确职责,协调发展,努力提高多中心临床研究的伦理审查质量。     

The Cultural Turn: Empirical Studies and their Implications

This essay uses empirical studies to engage Richard Miller’s advocacy of a “cultural turn” in the study of religious ethics found in Friends and Other Strangers. The particular kind of empirical research I highlight here, cultural cognition, emphasizes the ways that belonging to a cultural group influences one’s reasoning when faced with controversial issues involving disputed facts. This approach underscores the significance of the cultural turn, but it also raises some important challenges for Miller’s accounts of moral psychology and public reason. I work to elucidate what those challenges are and point to some ways that taking cultural cognition seriously might open up fresh avenues for addressing perennial ethical issues.