THE DEMOCRATIC ROOTS OF OUR ECOLOGIC CRISIS: LYNN WHITE,BIODEMOCRACY, AND THE EARTH CHARTER

Although Lynn White, jr. is best known for the critical aspects of his disputed 1967 essay, “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis,” this article combines archival research and findings from his lesser‐known publications in an attempt to reconcile his thought on democracy with the Earth Charter and its assertion that “we are one human family and one Earth Community with a common destiny” (2000, Preamble). Humanity is first and foremost, White believed, part of a “spiritual democracy of all God's creatures” in which humans and nonhumans should treat each other with mutual compassion and courtesy. It is argued that the Christian, animal‐inclusive “biodemocracy” envisioned by White is both compatible with, and potentially in conflict with, the tenets of the Earth Charter. This article also considers further implications of these findings for the larger fields of ecotheology and religion and ecology.     

Professionalism,Ethics, and Value‐Based Conflicts in Counseling: An Introduction to the Special Section

This introduction to this special section of the Journal of Counseling & Development explores the importance of a code of ethics to the establishment and maintenance of a profession. Recognizing a code of ethics as a communication of a profession's collective values and expectations, the editors of this special section acknowledge the dilemmas that arise when a counselor's personal values do not align with the profession's collective values. The authors of each article address value‐based conflicts in counseling.     

Technical Controversy and Ballistic Missile Defence: Disputing Epistemic Authority in the Development of Hit-to-Kill Technology

Public debate about Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) has long centred on the question of feasibility, particularly as regards the realism of testing. Thus BMD opponents have argued that flight-tests are insufficiently similar to operational use to provide a reliable guide to real-world performance. However, an in-depth account of the development of US hit-to-kill technology—an approach to BMD that relies on the direct impact of an interceptor on the enemy missile warhead—reveals a far less-recognised issue: some BMD supporters have specific technical doubts which centre on the design of the current system rather than on its testing. These concerns hinge on contrasting claims to epistemic authority between two camps of BMD supporters. On the one hand, advocates of space-based BMD oppose the current system on in-principle conceptual grounds. On the other hand, some BMD supporters close to the development of ground-based hit-to-kill technology claim that the empirical evidence from testing shows that the current design is suboptimal because it is the outcome of a bureaucratic politics compromise between the two camps. Although the battle for epistemic authority has swung in favour of the latter hit-to-kill supporters recently, the lack of operational experience with a defence against nuclear-armed ballistic missiles means that further disputes are likely. So long as empirical knowledge claims rest solely on testing, they are unlikely to prove sufficiently politically compelling to silence advocates of space-based defence.     

Towards a theory of the rough ground: merging the policy and ethnographic frames of religion in the Kyrgyz Republic

Discussions of Islam present two analytical problems, one of interpretation and another of theory. Regarding interpretation, different frames – policy or ethnographic – for viewing religion influence our bias/understanding of religion and give us different senses of what ‘knowing’ the religion of a particular community means. The related issue is one of theory and connects to the problem of theorising movement: how people navigate their religious lives is not linear but much more random, related to events, and at times reified by (though always engaging with) the assumptions of policy agendas and the ethnographic imagination. Exploring implications that the policy and ethnographic frames have for Muslims in the Kyrgyz Republic, I argue that in synthesising the impact of different frames of analysis, a ‘theory of the rough ground’, while anything but neat, better portrays life as it is experienced locally.     

扑朔迷离的转基因安全之争--转基因食品争论述评之一

自问世以来,转基因食品存在风险的观点和报道层出不穷,相关专家或机构一直争论不休。支持者认为转基因食品与非转基因食品的营养性是一样的,甚至优于传统食品,故可以安全食用;反对者则认为转基因食品对人体有过敏、致癌等风险,对机体的生殖发育、代谢等方面也有不可预期的危害,甚至对生态环境有不良影响。相对于传统食品,转基因食品需要更多的科学研究和试验,以及更加严密的监管制度和透明的公开制度。     

Balancing Critique and Commitment: A Synthetic Approach to Teaching Religion and the Environment

Courses about religion and the environment should work toward a synthesis of critical thinking – teaching students to examine and question the interplay of environmental degradation, religious traditions, and new religious movements – and advocacy – helping students to embrace, articulate, and refine their own environmentalist commitments, in religious terms when appropriate. To meet these goals, teachers of religion and the environment can learn from literature on balancing faith and critical analysis in other religion courses. This literature will help us to clarify the goals of our courses, critically examine the environmental movement with our students, and remain trustworthy to those who do not share environmentalist commitments. See a companion essay in this issue of the journal (Jennifer R. Ayres, “Learning on the Ground”) and a response to both of these essays (Forrest Clingerman, “Pedagogy as a Field Guide to the Ecology of the Classroom”) also published in this issue of the journal.     

Teaching the Millennial Generation in the Religious and Theological Studies Classroom

This essay provides an overview of the distinctive challenges presented to teaching and learning in religious and theological studies by the conditions and characteristics of “millennial” students. While the emerging literature on this generation is far from consistent, it is still instructive and important to engage, as students that are immersed in technology and social networking have different facilities and difficulties that educators would do well to carefully address and critically employ. Teachers in theological and religious studies are distinctly positioned to grapple with such conditions, particularly around the practices of identity formation, media literacy, and embodiment. Attention to the development of such practices engages key issues for both the millennial students and the religious and theological studies teacher: virtual reality, spiritual identity, globalization and violence, critical consumption and ethical creativity, focused and contemplative thinking, and intercultural and interpersonal respect.     

The development and dissemination of Council of Europe policy on education about religions and non-religious convictions

This article, written from an insider perspective, and in a personal capacity (the author has been involved with the Council of Europe’s work on religion and education since its inception in 2002), gives an account of the developing interest in the study of religions (and latterly non-religious convictions) in publicly funded schools by the Council of Europe, one of several international institutions to have focused on the place of religions and beliefs in public education in recent years. Particular attention is given to the 2008 Recommendation from the Committee of Ministers (the Foreign Ministers of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe) on teaching about religions and non-religious convictions in schools, and to current work on its dissemination. In 2011, the Council of Europe and the European Wergeland Centre set up a joint committee to produce a document (Policy and Practice for Teaching about Religions and Non-Religious Worldviews in Intercultural Education) to assist policymakers, schools and teacher trainers in implementing the Recommendation, adapted to different contexts across Europe. The present author has written the text on behalf of the joint committee. Signposts was published by Council of Europe Publishing in September 2014 (Jackson, R. 2014. Signposts: Policy and practice for teaching about religions and non-religious worldviews in intercultural education. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.). The article details the Council of Europe’s approach, includes an explanation of the process of consultation with various stakeholders, and summarises key issues to be addressed in the document. The general approach covered enables member states to increase competence of students to engage in the field of religions and beliefs, in ways that potentially contribute to various aspects of their personal and social development. It is hoped that the document will stimulate and contribute to constructive discussion, policymaking, teacher training, classroom practice and community links in different parts of Europe, and perhaps beyond.     

The Psychometric Properties of the Italian Translation of the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity: A Study among Catholic Adolescents

The Italian translation of the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity was developed and tested among a sample of 575 young people between 16 and 17?years of age attending secular secondary schools in Rome, Italy. The data supported the unidimensionality, internal consistency reliability and construct validity of this instrument and commend it for further use in contributing to comparative empirical research within the psychology of religion.