EEC Congress 2015 - Celje Slovenia

The Congress of the Équipe Européenne de Catéchèse (= EEC) 2015 was organized in Slovenia in the town of Celje, Slovenia’s third‑largest town, between 27th May 2015 and 1st June 2015. The theme chosen for the Congress was Conversion. The Act, The Process and Accompaniment. Many European countries were represented either through those who are responsible for catechesis in the different European nations and dioceses and/or by experts in the catechetical sphere.peer-reviewe

Religion in adolescence

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

Pilot studies in organic broiler production – management and cross-breeds

Two pilot studies were conducted in 1999 and 2000, dealing with management strategies (study A) and alternative cross breeds (study B) in organic broiler production. Study A: Pastured broilers 280 male chickens were raised in four groups in movable pens on pasture. The pens (3.30 (width) x 4.00 (length) x 0.60 (hight) m) were moved to fresh ground daily. Three groups were conventional broiler-strain chickens (“Ross208”) with 50, 70 and 90 birds per group, and one group was a Swedish heavy layer cross breed (“Derco”) with 70 birds. The birds had ad libitum (free) access to a proprietary concentrate (11.8 MJ ME/kg, 19 % crude protein) all the time and were offered whole wheat, free choice, from day 42 onwards. The production performance of the Ross chickens showed that high performance is possible in the movable pen system. With the feed given, the modern hybrid used in the experiment grew too fast to be recommended for a 12 weeks growth period: The birds became rather large and showed typical health problems related with rapid growth. Between 50 and 90 birds per pen (corresponding max. 16 to 26 kg liveweight per squaremetre), stocking rate did not seem to influence the birds'performance. The production performance of the Derco chickens did not reach the standards for slow growing table birds, as they are set by French hybrids today. The actual moving of the pens requires simple but adjusted mechanical aid and routine to keep the physical work input acceptable. Direct measurement of the broilers’ effect on the sward would require relatively more detailed investigation. Monitoring of long-term effects would require long term experiments. Study B: Screening crosses Derco hens were crossed with Faverolle, Orpington, Modern Game and Indian Game cocks, and four batches with a total of ca. 130 birds were raised to ages between 12 and 15 weeks. At slaughter day, live and carcass weight were recorded and for three batches, the carcasses were judged, giving scores for the ocular impression of the quantity of meat on breast and legs and feather residues after plucking. It is concluded that crosses between Derco hens and cocks from breeds like Modern Game, Faverolle and Orpington does not produce considerably more meat than pure Derco chickens. Crosses with Indian Game cocks gave the impression of higher meat yields and a preferable configuration of muscles, but the fertilization rate between Indian Game cocks and Derco hens was relatively low

DISCOURSE-DRIVEN MEANING CONSTRUCTION IN NEOSEMANTIC NOUN-TO-VERB CONVERSIONS [MEANING CONSTRUCTION IN NOUN-TO-VERB CONVERSIONS]

Neosemantic noun-to-verb conversions such as beer → to beer, door → to door, pink → to pink, etc., constitute a particularly interesting field of study for Cognitive Linguistics in that they call for a discourse-guided and context-based analysis of meaning construction. The present article takes a closer look at the cognitive motivation for the conversion process involved in the noun-verb alterations with a view to explaining the semantics of some conversion formations in relation to the user-centred discourse context. The analysis developed in this article draws from the combined insights of Fauconnier and Turner’s (2002) Conceptual Integration Theory and Langacker’s (2005, 2008) Current Discourse Space

American History X, Cinematic Manipulation, and Moral Conversion

American History X (hereafter AHX) has been accused by numerous critics of a morally dangerous cinematic seduction: using stylish cinematography, editing, and sound, the film manipulates the viewer through glamorizing an immoral and hate-filled neo-nazi protagonist. In addition, there’s the disturbing fact that the film seems to accomplish this manipulation through methods commonly grouped under the category of “fascist aesthetics.” More specifically, AHX promotes its neo-nazi hero through the use of several filmic techniques made famous by Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl. Now most critics admit that, in the end, the film claims to denounce racism and attempts to show us the conversion of the protagonist to the path of righteousness, but they complain that nonetheless the film (perhaps unintentionally) ends up implicitly promoting the immoral worldview it rather superficially professes to reject in its final act. This charge of hypocrisy is connected to another worry: the moral conversion in the film is said to fall flat because the intellectual resources on display to support the character’s racism are not counterbalanced by equally explicit (but superior) arguments for the anti-racist position ultimately embraced by the character. In other words, just as the devil is said to get all the good lines in Milton’s Paradise Lost, in AHX the racists get all the arguments. This has been taken to be a morally problematic flaw of the film. Critics lament that Derek’s conversion seems to result not from relevant logical inferences and valid rational argumentation but from overly simplistic and arguably egoistic insights (e.g., “has anything you've done made your life better?”) combined, perhaps, with a hackneyed cliché (in prison, one of his best friends is a black person!) In this paper I’ll attempt to rebut these charges and defend the film as a powerful, and powerfully moral, work of art. I’ll be suggesting that the seductive techniques employed allow for many viewers a degree of sympathy towards the protagonist that is crucial, both for making that character’s more horrific actions especially unsettling, and also for making his eventual conversion plausible and ultimately compelling. I’ll also argue that the manner in which his conversion is presented is in fact subtler than many critics have allowed: Derek’s transformation is not artificial or implausible but is depicted as resulting from a cumulative series of emotionally powerful life events and personal engagements. It is certainly true that it is not represented in the way some would seemingly have preferred, i.e. as straightforwardly resulting from a process of gradual intellectual improvement in Derek’s reasoning on questions of race and politics. However, I’ll argue that the decidedly emotional basis of his moral evolution is both refreshingly realistic and no hindrance to accepting his conversion as rational. Finally, properly understanding the legitimacy of the emotional foundations of much moral thought will also allow us to appreciate the ways in which our initial worries about this film’s (not insignificant) ability to persuade viewers through the engagement of emotions need not, in itself, be seen as a barrier to endorsing the film as a morally praiseworthy work

Theology: Also (Green) Religious Experience Seeking Understanding

Religious experience in contemporary theological epistemology is a theme broad enough to allow for many approaches. This essay grants the concept of \u27religious experience\u27 tentative validity, subject to later qualification. The actual experience explored will be a \u27green\u27 experience of non-human nature that many Christians have in common with many non-Christians. The first section describes it in a general way, while the second probes its character as a possible \u27religious experience\u27. Then, a third section begins to explore its theological significance. A conclusion emphasizes the essential, dynamic partnership between theological method and non-methodical elements, such as religious experiences in general and the \u27green\u27 experience in particular

Allegory as Experiential Communication: Metaphorical Mapping between Bunyan’s Emotions and The Pilgrim’s Progress

John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678) is a classic example of allegory. While literary critics tend to minimize allegory’s value as a mode, The Pilgrim’s Progress demonstrates a proclivity for genre-transcending techniques that encourage looking at allegory in a new light. Namely, parallels between The Pilgrim’s Progress and Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1660) show Bunyan drawing on deep personal emotion to fuel characterization