Transition Within Tradition: Women's Participation in Restoring Afghanistan

The eyes of the world focused on Afghanistan: our global consciousness was awakened to the plight of a population in turmoil. The subjugation of women served as part of a call to arms, another reason used to justify armed conflict half a world away. Images of women in burkas, kept from education, health care, and meaningful work, their myriad talents and skills wasted, helped mobilize the coalition that joined in defeating the Taliban.     

Pastoral care and miscarriage: A ministry long neglected

Ministers often are estranged from the loss experience of women who miscarry. This paper gives medical information about such spontaneous abortions, describes several factors that shape the woman's experience, and explores possible pastoral response.Swanee Hunt is a candidate for Th.D. in pastoral care and counseling at Iliff School of Theology, Denver, Colorado. She is part of an ecumenical ministry team that serves both a Presbyterian church community and a Catholic church community.     

Muslim Women in the Bosnian Crucible

Exotic tales and dramatic details about Muslim women's views of Bosnian society are uncommon. In fact, few Muslim women in Bosnia are overtly Islamic in appearance or action. Rather, they blend into a secularized society in which Islamic heritage provides traditions and values, not dogma. Despite this assimilation, 12 Bosnian women relate 3 different but connected features of their lives: the effect on sex roles of the political turmoil of the past century, the particular perspective women bring to questions of war and peace, and the rich prewar multiculturalism. Their overarching consensus is that women in Bosnia are equipped for leadership but stifled by an erosion of their status in society. During the communist period, women gained a greater level of freedom and became independent thinkers, even though the communists didn't allow them to exercise the leadership they'd assumed during World War II. With the demise of communism in the late 1980s and the chaos of all-out war in the early 1990s, women were preoccupied with survival. Cultural tolerance emerged as a unifying factor for Bosnian women of different tradition, education, and socioeconomic status, although this was obscured by the outside misconception that the war was caused by ‘age-old hatreds’. On the contrary, religion not only was far from a central identity, but, according to many Bosnian women, it simply did not matter. Yes, they were victims of a ruthless genocide; but Muslim women in Bosnia are also energetic, determined, smart, and savvy.     

The anthropology of Carl Jung: Implications for pastoral care

This article examines the basic tenets of Carl Jung's anthropology, including intrapsychic structure, relationships, society, and the process of individuation. It then turns to his ideas about God and religion. Jung builds his understanding of God from his work in psychology, and because of that method, there are several major problems with his theologizing. Nevertheless, his insights are extremely valuable to the field of pastoral care, and ministers would do very well to appreciate his contribution, though always with a critical eye to its limitation.     

Pastoral care and the psychomaintenance of chronic illness

The psychomaintenance of chronic illness is an area that requires special assessment acumen and skills of intervention and confrontation. Anxiety and appraisals of illness must be understood and interpreted by the minister. While in some ways the pastor is ill-prepared for this area of work, in other ways the pastorate offers an especially beneficial role for helping the chronically ill. Not only is the parishoner's perspective important to assess, but the minister's theological position ought to undergird the value of health and life that is lived in the face of uncertainty with acceptance and courage.Swanee Hunt-Meeks is a candidate for Th.D. in pastoral care and counseling, Iliff School of Theology and co-durector of The Shalom Community, Denver, Colorado.