The Christian conscience and weapons of mass destruction

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News from Kazakhstan - Christians in Kazakhstan Take Position on Changes to Law on Religion

The quarterly magazine Aquila (Oct-Dec. 2011) carried the following open letter in German translation. It is the communication arm of a relief organization, also named Aquila, begun in the 1980s, which maintains relief and missionary assistance for its partner churches in central Asia and Siberia, and also prints historical documents and reports for the Russian-Germans who emigrated from the USSR to Germany (1987-1993). The open letter, printed below, is unusual, but signals the degree to which legislation on religion in Kazakhstan that recently went into effect, also creates great concern among Evangelical Christian Baptist churches who have maintained a legal existence for a century. (Translated by Walter Sawatsky)

Basic Human Needs: Concept or Slogan, Synthesis or Smokescreen ?

SUMMARY Basic Human Needs/Basic Needs emerged in the middle 1970s as a widely debated way of analysing and formulating development. It has a number of elements and has drawn upon a number of country experiences and is to many proponents an attempted synthesis rather than a slogan. BHN and BN are only partly compatible with each other because of their quite different emphases on participation and equality versus organisation and minimum standards, reflecting broadly divergent political economic goals and perceptions. BHN as a strategy goes further than the provision (production and distribution) of basic goods and services to include full and fairly remunerated employment and participation. RESUMEN Necesidades humanas básicas: Concepto o slogan, síntesis o constructo artificial? Los conceptos de necedidades humanas básicas/necesidades básicas (NHB/NB) aparecieron a mediados de los años 1970 como manera ampliamente debatida de analizar y formular el desarrollo. Comprenden varios elementos y se han enriquecido de las experiencías de numerosos países, constituyendo a los ojos de sus proponentes una especie de síntesis más bien que un slogan. NHB y NB son sólo en parte recíprocamente compatibles a causa del énfasis tan diferente que ponen en la participación y en la igualdad por oposición a la organización y a los niveles mínimos, reflejando fines y concepciones político?económícas considerablemente divergentes. NHB en cuanto estrategía va más allá de la mera provisión (producción y distribución) de bienes y servicios básicos para comprender el empleo y la participación remunerados de manera plenamente equitable. RESUME Besoins fondamentaux de l'homme: concept ou slogan, synthèse ou écran de fumée? Besoins fondamentaux de l'homme/besoins fondamentaux, cette formule est apparue aux alentours de 1970 comme un moyen fort controversé d'analyser et de formuler le développement. Elle contient un certain nombre d'éléments et a fait appel aux expériences d'un certain nombre de pays: elle est pour beaucoup de ses défenseurs un essai de synthèse plutôt qu'un slogan. BFH et BF ne sont qu'en partie compatibles puisqu'ils mettent un accent tour à fait différent sur la participation et l'égalité face à l'organisation et les standards minima, reflétant des objectifs et des perceptions divergeant grandement politiquement. BFH en tant que stratégie va plus loin que la fourniture (production et distribution) de produits et services de base pour inclure le plein emploi bien rémunéré et la participation

GENETIC AND REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE LIGHT OF RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE

Since the gene splicing debates of the 1980s, the public has been exposed to an ongoing sequence of genetic and reproductive technologies. Many issue areas have outcomes that lose track of people's inner values or engender opposing religious viewpoints defying final resolution. This essay relocates the discussion of what is an acceptable application from the individual to the societal level, examining technologies that stand to address large numbers of people and thus call for policy resolution, rather than individual fiat, in their application. A major source of guidance is the “Genetic Frontiers” series of professional dialogues and conferences held by the National Conference for Community and Justice from 2002 to 2004. Genetic testing, human gene therapy, genetic engineering of plants and animals, and stem cell technology are examined. While differences in perspective on the beginning of life persist, a stepwise approach to the examination of genetic testing reveals areas of general agreement. Stewardship of life, human co-creativity with the divine, and social justice help define the bounds of application of genetic engineering and therapy; compassionate care plays a major role in establishing stem cell policy. Active, sustained dialogue is a useful resource for enabling sharing of religious values and crystallization of policies.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73549/1/j.1467-9744.2006.00813.x.pd

A Joint Statement: Gender, faith, and COVID-19

In a statement made by Faith in Beijing, a group of religious organizations including Anglican Communion, actalliance, Islamic Relief Worldwide, World Council of Churches, and others, call for worldwide gender equality amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The statement mentions healthcare, education, prevention of sexual violence, and inter-religious dialogue. The statement is available on the Anglican Communion’s website

Effect of a chemical manufacturing plant on community cancer rates

BACKGROUND: We conducted a retrospective study to determine if potential past exposure to dioxin had resulted in increased incidence of cancer in people living near a former manufacturing plant in New South Wales, Australia. During operation, from 1928 to 1970, by-products of the manufacturing process, including dioxin and other chemical waste, were dumped into wetlands and mangroves, discharged into a nearby bay and used to reclaim land along the foreshore, leaving a legacy of significant dioxin contamination. METHODS: We selected 20 Census Collector Districts within 1.5 kilometres of the former manufacturing plant as the study area. We obtained data on all cases of cancer and deaths from cancer in New South Wales from 1972 to 2001. We also compared rates for some cancer types that have been associated with dioxin exposure. Based on a person's residential address at time of cancer diagnosis, or at time of death due to cancer, various geo-coding software and processes were used to determine which collector district the case or death should be attributed to. Age and sex specific population data were used to calculate standardised incidence ratios and standardised mortality ratios, to compare the study area to two comparison areas, using indirect standardisation. RESULTS: During the 30-year study period 1,106 cases of cancer and 524 deaths due to cancer were identified in the study area. This corresponds to an age-sex standardised rate of 3.2 cases per 1,000 person-years exposed and 1.6 deaths per 1,000 person-years exposed. The study area had a lower rate of cancer and deaths from cancer than the comparison areas. The case incidence and mortality due to lung and bronchus carcinomas and haematopoietic cancers did not differ significantly from the comparison areas for the study period. There was no obvious geographical trend in ratios when comparing individual collector districts to New South Wales according to distance from the potential source of dioxin exposure. CONCLUSION: This investigation found no evidence that dioxin contamination from this site resulted in increased cancer rates in the potentially exposed population living around the former manufacturing plant

Religion, Resources and Representation: three narratives of engagement in British urban governance

Faith groups are increasingly regarded as important civil society participants in British urban governance. Faith engagement is linked to policies of social inclusion and “community cohesion,” particularly in the context of government concerns about radicalization along religious lines. Primary research is drawn upon in developing a critical and explicitly multifaith analysis of faith involvement. A narrative approach is used to contrast the different perspectives of national pol- icy makers, local stakeholders, and faith actors themselves. The narratives serve to illuminate not only this specific case but also the more general character of British urban governance as it takes on a more “decentered” form with greater blurring of boundaries between the public, private, and personal

Anthropology and GIS: Temporal and Spatial Distribution of the Philippine Negrito Groups

The Philippine negrito groups comprise a diverse group of populations speaking over 30 different languages, who are spread all over the archipelago, mostly in marginal areas of Luzon Island in the north, the central Visayas islands, and Mindanao in the south. They exhibit physical characteristics that are different from more than 100 Philippine ethnolinguistic groups that are categorized as non-negritos. Given their numbers, it is not surprising that Philippine negritos make up a major category in a number of general ethnographic maps produced since the nineteenth century. Reports from various ethnological surveys during this period, however, have further enriched our understanding regarding the extent and distribution of negrito populations. Using the data contained in these reports, it is possible to plot and create a map showing the historical locations and distribution of negrito groups. Using geographic information systems (GIS), the location and distribution of negrito groups at any given time can be overlaid on historical or current maps. In the present study, a GIS layer was compiled and extracted from the 2000 Philippine Census of population at the village level and overlaid on existing maps of the Philippines. The maps that were generated from this project will complement ongoing anthropological and genetic studies of negrito groups that inhabit different locations within the Philippine archipelago