宗教信仰与现实国际冲突和斗争述评

宗教信仰是人类文明的一种重要现象。它深深扎根于民间,又对人类的社会生活产生了巨大影响。在当今世界上,国家与国家、民族与民族、部落与部落、社团与社团之间所产生的冲突和斗争,几乎都可以直接或间接找到宗教信仰方面的因素。因此,宗教信仰是人类社会的重大问题之一,是考验各级负责人政绩十分重要的试金石。     

Trust and health in Eastern Europe: Conceptions of a new society

Little attention has been paid to why trends and levels of mortality and morbidity differ in Eastern Europe and few studies have addressed people's own perceptions of their new political system – perceptions which per se may be important for social development. The aim of the present study was to analyse the extent to which trust and economic circumstances affect self‐rated health in Poland, Estonia and Russia and how much health differences between the countries can be explained by these factors. A better economy and higher trust were related to better individual health, while economic factors seemed most important for inter‐country differences. It is probable that both institutional factors and individual perceptions contribute to people's well‐being, but in terms of social policy, an improved welfare system may be the most effective way forward.     

Portrayals of the internal God among Ashkenazi Jewish Orthodox lesbians in Israel

Abstract

Most of the existing literature on Ashkenazi Orthodox Jewish lesbians focuses on sociological aspects, mainly the negative attitudes held by religious communities towards their sexual identity and the various problems that arise from these. Less attention has been paid to lesbians’ psychological coping mechanisms with the tensions between their two central identities: the religious and the sexual. Ashkenazi Orthodox lesbians find themselves in a complicated situation where they remain on the margins of both their “natural” communities: the religious one and the homosexual one. As a result, they feel rejected, isolated, and even punished by society. As believers, God is their ultimate refuge. But there are different conceptions of God, ranging from benevolent to persecutory, accepting or highly judgmental and punishing. This variance has not been considered in regard to the dual identity of Ashkenazi Orthodox lesbians. This article focuses on this neglected issue, examining Ashkenazi Orthodox lesbians’ conception of God and its relation to their managing the conflict between their apparently conflicting identities.     

美国犹太教“极化”进程中的以色列因素

自20世纪末以来,美国犹太教正统派和非正统派之间呈现出明显的“极化”趋势,以色列是加剧这一“极化”进程的“分化剂”。以色列在全球犹太人中“精神中心”地位的凸显、全球化时代流散地犹太人群体对以色列关联的增强以及不同宗派群体在对以关联中的地位差异,导致以色列成为美国犹太教不同宗派间竞争的关键“战场”。籍由此种紧密但不平衡的关联,以色列的社会政治冲突和“极化”得以“外溢”至美国犹太人群体。美国犹太教不同宗派以“受邀”或“回旋镖”模式卷入以色列社会政治的纷争。进入21世纪以来,右倾化和“民主危机”使以色列犹太人正统派在身份认同、政党归属和政策倾向等方面与美国正统派犹太人趋近,同时却更加疏远非正统派群体。日趋右倾化的以色列加剧了美国犹太教不同宗派间的“身份冲突”。     

墓券与东汉民众的生死观念

东汉时期的世俗民众没有认识到人终有一死的本质特性,反而抗拒死亡,渴求长寿永生。当年寿久长的愿望破灭时,他们又深信异象生命自然会在幽界冥府绵延不绝。不过生者却刻意疏远逝者,直接把殁亡人遣送到彼岸世界,希求幽鬼永居墓穴,接受冥府行政官僚体制和宗族观念的管制和束缚,按照世人的要求和期望去经历冥府生活。     

东周时期周王权力研究述评

近年来周王权力问题颇受学界关注,大量成果问世。本文旨在回顾东周时期周王权力的情况,简评这一问题的研究现状,并提出对此问题的一些思考。     

从宗教学看壮族布洛陀信仰

壮族布洛陀信仰属于原生型巫教,可称为原生型民族民间宗教,它与壮族的生存与发展紧密联系在一起,是壮族特有的文化传统。布洛陀信仰的活动在社会批判运动连续不断的年代,曾一度销声匿迹。改革开放以来,由于宗教理论的改进和宗教政策的宽松,由于社会对民族文化(包括宗教文化)的重视和对民间信仰的关注,由于布洛陀信仰研究的开展,壮族地区布洛陀信仰开始了它的重建的过程。以广西田阳敢壮山为中心,壮族民众自发地恢复布洛陀祭祀和相应的文化活动,规模越来越大,并得到学者的理论支持和政府的理解。这种民族信仰重构现象,表现了壮族民族文化主体意识的增强和布洛陀信仰的旺盛生命力及其对新的时代的调适能力,如引导得当,会丰富中华民族多元一体的文化内涵,推动两个文明建设,充实壮族人民的文化生活。     

论“湖南东大门”发展战略中的软实力

株洲作为"湖南东大门",如果要着力发挥其承东启西、对接长三角的重要枢纽作用,就不能只是一味地偏重于发展城镇基础设施建设的硬实力经济,而忽略了文化软实力的建设,只有软硬并举两者兼顾,才能相辅相成相得益彰,真正建设好人文株洲。湘东书院有着极其深厚的文化底蕴,在当下着力发展以中国传统文化为主要内涵的高附加值服务型经济浪潮中,理应受到重视、保护与传承。     

从“六马之驾”观周代礼制对东周王室的作用

东周王城遗址发掘出的"六马之驾"是东周历史的重要载体,尤其是它所体现出的周代礼制从一方面说明了"东周王室衰而不亡"的历史现象,并进一步促使我们对东周王室的历史地位给以重新认识和定位。     

The Roman Catholic Church: A Centuries Old History of Awareness of Clerical Child Sexual Abuse (from the First to the 19th Century)

Debates in international forums and in mainstream media on the role, responsibility, liability, and response of ecclesiastical authorities of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) toward clerical child sexual abuse (cCSA) fail to take into account the historical roots and awareness of the problem. Reports also fail to mention the historic organizational laws RCC developed over centuries. In contrast, RCC documents evidence that the Catholic Church not only carried century’s old history of cCSA, but also repeatedly condemned cCSA by successive papal authorities, organizational laws, and institutional management mechanisms. During the first millennium, however, church laws remained confined to the bookshelves and were not converted into appropriate management policies and infrastructural models. This was largely due to the absence of a central administrative organizational structure, which developed later in the 12th century, following the Second Council of Lateran (1139) when the Papacy asserted its authority to establish administrative control over the organizational church. It was only then that management policies started to be framed and institutional structures enacted to deal more appropriately with cCSA from the 14th to 20th centuries. Despite this, RCC developed a culture of secrecy using clandestine organizational management models and institutional laws prescribed in 1568, 1622, 1741, 1866, 1922, and 1962 which aimed to manage cCSA. The current study traces reported cCSA as far back as the first century and critically examines the organizational laws, and institutional policies developed by RCC to address clerical sexual misconduct up to the end of the 19th century.