This work argues that Denmark Vesey,Nat Turner,Gabriel Prosser,David Walker,Henry Highland Garnet,amongst a few others were the reactionary(dialectical)exceptions to the black church,not the norm,an(ideological)instit...This work argues that Denmark Vesey,Nat Turner,Gabriel Prosser,David Walker,Henry Highland Garnet,amongst a few others were the reactionary(dialectical)exceptions to the black church,not the norm,an(ideological)institution established to interpellate and indoctrinate blacks to accept their conditions in slavery.In other words,the aforementioned were the enslaved who used Christian dogma to(negative dialectically)respond to the barbarity of slavery by violently convicting white Christian society for not living up to its values,ideas,and ideals given the treatment of African people by so-called Christians.In the latter sense it was reactionary;in the former,it was an ideological apparatus of domination and control for the institution of slavery.The contemporary attempt to racially vindicate the black church as a sui generis revolutionary institution overflowing with Africanisms is ahistorical and ideological reaped in pseudoscientific propositions stemming from postmodern and post-structural theories.展开更多
Cultural identity in Iran is comprised of four primary elements,each of which have proven to be highly resonant in the country political history.The vexing issue of modernity,and where individuals and collectivities a...Cultural identity in Iran is comprised of four primary elements,each of which have proven to be highly resonant in the country political history.The vexing issue of modernity,and where individuals and collectivities are placed in relation to it,has been one of the most prominent of these elements of Iranian identity.A second constitutive factor has been the role of the state as a deliberate crafter of cultural,in turn directly influencing the salience,interpretation,extent,and direction of modernity,or its antithesis,in Iran.Equally defining has been the role and significance of religion,which has emerged as a marker of individual and collective,as well as political,identities.Nationalism,and its compelling impulse across Iranian society especially from the early 1900s and continuing until today,has also emerged as an integral and inseparable feature of Iranian identity.Together,these four elements―modernity,a culturally intrusive state,religion and religiosity,and nationalism―constitute fluid yet constant,sometimes complementary and sometimes competing,dimensions of Iranian identity.展开更多
The speed,capacity,and strength of artificial intelligence units(AIs)could pose a selfinflicted danger to humanity’s control of its own civilization.In this analysis,three biologically-based components of sentience t...The speed,capacity,and strength of artificial intelligence units(AIs)could pose a selfinflicted danger to humanity’s control of its own civilization.In this analysis,three biologically-based components of sentience that emerged in the course of human evolution are examined:cultural capacity,moral capacity,and religious capacity.The question is posed as to whether some measure of these capacities can be digitized and installed in AIs and so afford protection from their dominance.Theory on the emergence of moral capacity suggests it is most likely to be amenable to digitization and therefore installation in AIs.If so,transfer of that capacity,in creating commonalities between human and AI,may help to protect humanity from being destroyed.We hypothesize that religious thinking and culturally elaborated theological creativity could,in not being easily transferred,afford even more protection by constructing impenetrable barriers between humans and AIs,along real/counterfactual lines.Difficulties in digitizing and installing the three capacities at the foundation of sentience are examined within current discussions of“superalignment”of superintelligent AIs.Human values articulate differently for the three capacities,with different problems and capacities for supervision of superintelligent AIs.展开更多
Purpose: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection is a major cause of neonatal sepsis. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence and risk factors for GBS carriership among parturient women in Jerusalem. ...Purpose: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection is a major cause of neonatal sepsis. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence and risk factors for GBS carriership among parturient women in Jerusalem. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 436 parturient Jewish women at Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Mount Scopus. The study included patient interview and vagino-rectal swab for culture. Main outcome measures were the prevalence of GBS carriership among study population. Results: Of the 436 participants, 77 had a positive culture for GBS, giving a carrier rate of 17.7%. No differences were found between carriers and non-carriers in age, BMI or parity. Orthodox Jewish women had a significantly higher carrier rate compared with secular Jewish women (20.6% vs. 12.8% respectively), yielding an age, education and BMI adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 1.9 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06 - 3.40). Similarly, ritual immersion was associated with increased risk of carrier state with an adjusted OR of 2.01 (95% CI: 1.03 - 3.92, P = 0.039). Conclusions: Our study suggests an association between ritual immersion in the Mikveh and GBS carriership.展开更多
This study aimed to examine the relationship between COVID-19 vaccine refusal and religiosity and fear of death among Muslims living in Turkey. This cross-sectional study was conducted online with 1046 adults aged 18 ...This study aimed to examine the relationship between COVID-19 vaccine refusal and religiosity and fear of death among Muslims living in Turkey. This cross-sectional study was conducted online with 1046 adults aged 18 and older. The Ok-Religious Attitude Scale (Islam) (ORASI) (8 items) and Thorson-Powell Death Anxiety Scale (TPDAS) (20 items) were used as data collection instruments. The data were analyzed using the Pearson chi-square test, Student’s t-test, and binary logistic regression. A p-value of 0.05). In binary logistic regression analysis, vaccine rejection was 7.19 times higher among single people, 50.55 times higher among workers and tradesmen, and 3.36 times higher among people who did not have COVID-19. As religiosity increased, the risk of vaccine refusal decreased 1.037-fold.展开更多
Much research has highlighted the aging process as a global, multi-faceted issue, focusing on modifiable factors that can improve physical health and psychosocial well-being in late life. This is particularly true for...Much research has highlighted the aging process as a global, multi-faceted issue, focusing on modifiable factors that can improve physical health and psychosocial well-being in late life. This is particularly true for both developed and developing countries, which are likely to face long-term issues in health and psychosocial care as the aging of their population increases. Within the theoretical framework of successful aging and developmental psychology, this paper aims to review recent advances in our knowledge of middle and late-life well-being in order to better understand the role of well-being and spirituality/religiosity across adulthood. The results of the selected studies allow us to conclude that subjective, hedonic, and eudemonic well-being and religious practices are significant determinants shaping the overall psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and social functioning of the older population. Limitations and implications of the study will also be discussed.展开更多
Background: Religious practices/experiences (RPE) may produce positive physiological changes in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and chronic medical illness. Here, we report cross-sectional relationships ...Background: Religious practices/experiences (RPE) may produce positive physiological changes in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and chronic medical illness. Here, we report cross-sectional relationships between depressive symptoms, RPE and stress biomarkers (pro-/anti-inflammatory measures and stress hormones), hypothesizing positive associations between depressive symptoms and stress biomarkers and inverse associations between RPE and stress biomarkers. Methods: We recruited 132 individuals with both MDD and chronic illness into a randomized clinical trial. First, stress biomarkers in the baseline sample were compared to biomarker levels from a community sample. Second, relationships between depressive symptoms and biomarkers were examined, and, finally, relationships between RPE and biomarkers were analyzed, controlling for demographics, depressive symptoms, and physical functioning. Results: As expected, inflammatory markers and stress hormones were higher in our sample with MDD compared to community participants. In the current sample, however, depressive symptoms were largely unrelated to stress biomarkers, and were unexpectedly inversely related to proinflammatory cytokine levels (TNF-α, IL-1β). Likewise, while RPE were largely unrelated to stress biomarkers, they were related to the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-1RA and the stress hormone norepinephrine in expected directions. Unexpectedly, RPE were also positively related to the proinflammatory cytokine IFN-γ and to IFN-γ/IL-4 and IFN-γ/IL-10 ratios. Conclusions: Little evidence was found for a consistent pattern of relationships between depressive symptoms or religiosity and stress biomarkers. Of the few significant relationships, unexpected findings predominated. Future research is needed to determine whether religious interventions can alter stress biomarkers over time in MDD.展开更多
文摘This work argues that Denmark Vesey,Nat Turner,Gabriel Prosser,David Walker,Henry Highland Garnet,amongst a few others were the reactionary(dialectical)exceptions to the black church,not the norm,an(ideological)institution established to interpellate and indoctrinate blacks to accept their conditions in slavery.In other words,the aforementioned were the enslaved who used Christian dogma to(negative dialectically)respond to the barbarity of slavery by violently convicting white Christian society for not living up to its values,ideas,and ideals given the treatment of African people by so-called Christians.In the latter sense it was reactionary;in the former,it was an ideological apparatus of domination and control for the institution of slavery.The contemporary attempt to racially vindicate the black church as a sui generis revolutionary institution overflowing with Africanisms is ahistorical and ideological reaped in pseudoscientific propositions stemming from postmodern and post-structural theories.
文摘Cultural identity in Iran is comprised of four primary elements,each of which have proven to be highly resonant in the country political history.The vexing issue of modernity,and where individuals and collectivities are placed in relation to it,has been one of the most prominent of these elements of Iranian identity.A second constitutive factor has been the role of the state as a deliberate crafter of cultural,in turn directly influencing the salience,interpretation,extent,and direction of modernity,or its antithesis,in Iran.Equally defining has been the role and significance of religion,which has emerged as a marker of individual and collective,as well as political,identities.Nationalism,and its compelling impulse across Iranian society especially from the early 1900s and continuing until today,has also emerged as an integral and inseparable feature of Iranian identity.Together,these four elements―modernity,a culturally intrusive state,religion and religiosity,and nationalism―constitute fluid yet constant,sometimes complementary and sometimes competing,dimensions of Iranian identity.
文摘The speed,capacity,and strength of artificial intelligence units(AIs)could pose a selfinflicted danger to humanity’s control of its own civilization.In this analysis,three biologically-based components of sentience that emerged in the course of human evolution are examined:cultural capacity,moral capacity,and religious capacity.The question is posed as to whether some measure of these capacities can be digitized and installed in AIs and so afford protection from their dominance.Theory on the emergence of moral capacity suggests it is most likely to be amenable to digitization and therefore installation in AIs.If so,transfer of that capacity,in creating commonalities between human and AI,may help to protect humanity from being destroyed.We hypothesize that religious thinking and culturally elaborated theological creativity could,in not being easily transferred,afford even more protection by constructing impenetrable barriers between humans and AIs,along real/counterfactual lines.Difficulties in digitizing and installing the three capacities at the foundation of sentience are examined within current discussions of“superalignment”of superintelligent AIs.Human values articulate differently for the three capacities,with different problems and capacities for supervision of superintelligent AIs.
文摘Purpose: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection is a major cause of neonatal sepsis. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence and risk factors for GBS carriership among parturient women in Jerusalem. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 436 parturient Jewish women at Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Mount Scopus. The study included patient interview and vagino-rectal swab for culture. Main outcome measures were the prevalence of GBS carriership among study population. Results: Of the 436 participants, 77 had a positive culture for GBS, giving a carrier rate of 17.7%. No differences were found between carriers and non-carriers in age, BMI or parity. Orthodox Jewish women had a significantly higher carrier rate compared with secular Jewish women (20.6% vs. 12.8% respectively), yielding an age, education and BMI adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 1.9 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06 - 3.40). Similarly, ritual immersion was associated with increased risk of carrier state with an adjusted OR of 2.01 (95% CI: 1.03 - 3.92, P = 0.039). Conclusions: Our study suggests an association between ritual immersion in the Mikveh and GBS carriership.
文摘This study aimed to examine the relationship between COVID-19 vaccine refusal and religiosity and fear of death among Muslims living in Turkey. This cross-sectional study was conducted online with 1046 adults aged 18 and older. The Ok-Religious Attitude Scale (Islam) (ORASI) (8 items) and Thorson-Powell Death Anxiety Scale (TPDAS) (20 items) were used as data collection instruments. The data were analyzed using the Pearson chi-square test, Student’s t-test, and binary logistic regression. A p-value of 0.05). In binary logistic regression analysis, vaccine rejection was 7.19 times higher among single people, 50.55 times higher among workers and tradesmen, and 3.36 times higher among people who did not have COVID-19. As religiosity increased, the risk of vaccine refusal decreased 1.037-fold.
文摘Much research has highlighted the aging process as a global, multi-faceted issue, focusing on modifiable factors that can improve physical health and psychosocial well-being in late life. This is particularly true for both developed and developing countries, which are likely to face long-term issues in health and psychosocial care as the aging of their population increases. Within the theoretical framework of successful aging and developmental psychology, this paper aims to review recent advances in our knowledge of middle and late-life well-being in order to better understand the role of well-being and spirituality/religiosity across adulthood. The results of the selected studies allow us to conclude that subjective, hedonic, and eudemonic well-being and religious practices are significant determinants shaping the overall psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and social functioning of the older population. Limitations and implications of the study will also be discussed.
文摘Background: Religious practices/experiences (RPE) may produce positive physiological changes in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and chronic medical illness. Here, we report cross-sectional relationships between depressive symptoms, RPE and stress biomarkers (pro-/anti-inflammatory measures and stress hormones), hypothesizing positive associations between depressive symptoms and stress biomarkers and inverse associations between RPE and stress biomarkers. Methods: We recruited 132 individuals with both MDD and chronic illness into a randomized clinical trial. First, stress biomarkers in the baseline sample were compared to biomarker levels from a community sample. Second, relationships between depressive symptoms and biomarkers were examined, and, finally, relationships between RPE and biomarkers were analyzed, controlling for demographics, depressive symptoms, and physical functioning. Results: As expected, inflammatory markers and stress hormones were higher in our sample with MDD compared to community participants. In the current sample, however, depressive symptoms were largely unrelated to stress biomarkers, and were unexpectedly inversely related to proinflammatory cytokine levels (TNF-α, IL-1β). Likewise, while RPE were largely unrelated to stress biomarkers, they were related to the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-1RA and the stress hormone norepinephrine in expected directions. Unexpectedly, RPE were also positively related to the proinflammatory cytokine IFN-γ and to IFN-γ/IL-4 and IFN-γ/IL-10 ratios. Conclusions: Little evidence was found for a consistent pattern of relationships between depressive symptoms or religiosity and stress biomarkers. Of the few significant relationships, unexpected findings predominated. Future research is needed to determine whether religious interventions can alter stress biomarkers over time in MDD.
