Decolonial Counter-conducts? Traces of Decentering Migrant Ecclesiologies

Decolonialisation concerns theology. As long as theology is preoccupied with engaging or explaining the other, it is not a decolonial project. As such this article makes a connection to Walter Mignolo’s claim that the researcher as much as the subject needs to be interrogated as part of the research in order to disrupt the subject/ object binary of colonial knowledge traditions. The main part of the article presents three narratives from the life of Nisha, a refugee woman from the DRC living in a South African township. The narratives also involve a researcher – I, the professor – and the pastor and gatekeeper that introduced Nisha to me. In all of the narratives, the two traditional subjects (professor and pastor) are decentered. Nisha makes money trading from a small kiosk, and she invites the two men to a meal at her township house. She walks the pastor and the professor through the neighborhood where she lives. Building on Michel Foucault`s theories of counter-conducts, the article argues that the three decentering narratives present Nisha’s everyday practices as counter-conducts and the two men as the decentered others. The article argues that such a decentering performs traces of a decolonialising theology. God is the one that lets hierarchy decenter in order to open spaces of others

Neurological Involvement in COVID-19 Among Non-Hospitalized Adolescents and Young Adults

INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is prevalent among young people, and neurological involvement has been reported. We investigated neurological symptoms, cognitive test results, and biomarkers of brain injury, as well as associations between these variables in non-hospitalized adolescents and young adults with COVID-19. METHODS: This study reports baseline findings from an ongoing observational cohort study of COVID-19 cases and non-COVID controls aged 12–25 years (Clinical Trials ID: NCT04686734). Symptoms were charted using a standardized questionnaire. Cognitive performance was evaluated by applying tests of working memory, verbal learning, delayed recall, and recognition. The brain injury biomarkers, neurofilament light chain (NfL) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAp), were assayed in serum samples using ultrasensitive immunoassays. RESULTS: A total of 405 COVID-19 cases and 111 non-COVID cases were prospectively included. Serum Nfl and GFAp concentrations were significantly elevated in COVID-19 cases as compared with non-COVID controls (p = 0.050 and p = 0.014, respectively). The COVID-19 cases reported more fatigue (p < 0.001) and post-exertional malaise (PEM) (p = 0.001) compared to non-COVID-19 controls. Cognitive test performance and clinical neurological examination did not differ across the two groups. Within the COVID-19 group, there were no associations between symptoms, cognitive test results, and NfL or GFAp levels. However, fatigue and PEM were strongly associated with older age and female sex. CONCLUSION: Non-hospitalized adolescents and young adults with COVID-19 reported more fatigue and PEM and had slightly elevated levels of brain injury markers, but showed normal cognitive performance. No associations were found between symptoms, brain injury markers, and cognitive test results, but fatigue and PEM were strongly related to female sex and older age

The significance of lifeworld and the case of hospice

Questions on what it means to live and die well are raised and discussed in the hospice movement. A phenomenological lifeworld perspective may help professionals to be aware of meaningful and important dimensions in the lives of persons close to death. Lifeworld is not an abstract philosophical term, but rather the opposite. Lifeworld is about everyday, common life in all its aspects. In the writings of Cicely Saunders, known as the founder of the modern hospice movement, facets of lifeworld are presented as important elements in caring for dying patients. Palliative care and palliative medicine today are, in many ways, replacing hospices. This represents not only a change in name, but also in the main focus. Hospice care was originally very much about providing support and comfort for, and interactions with the patients. Improved medical knowledge today means improved symptomatic palliation, but also time and resources spent in other ways than before. Observations from a Nordic hospice ward indicate that seriously ill and dying persons spend much time on their own. Different aspects of lifeworld and intersubjectivity in the dying persons’ room is presented and discussed

Chronic fatigue syndromes: real illnesses that people can recover from

The ‘Oslo Chronic Fatigue Consortium’ consists of researchers and clinicians who question the current narrative that chronic fatigue syndromes, including post-covid conditions, are incurable diseases. Instead, we propose an alternative view, based on research, which offers more hope to patients. Whilst we regard the symptoms of these conditions as real, we propose that they are more likely to reflect the brain's response to a range of biological, psychological, and social factors, rather than a specific disease process. Possible causes include persistent activation of the neurobiological stress response, accompanied by associated changes in immunological, hormonal, cognitive and behavioural domains. We further propose that the symptoms are more likely to persist if they are perceived as threatening, and all activities that are perceived to worsen them are avoided. We also question the idea that the best way to cope with the illness is by prolonged rest, social isolation, and sensory deprivation. Instead, we propose that recovery is often possible if patients are helped to adopt a less threatening understanding of their symptoms and are supported in a gradual return to normal activities. Finally, we call for a much more open and constructive dialogue about these conditions. This dialogue should include a wider range of views, including those of patients who have recovered from them

The makeshift curtain: A generous Christianity: Ecclesiologies beyond the religious-secular binary

The article discusses how one might reflect further on ecclesiological impacts from Scandinavian creation theology (SCT). The idea is that the SCT from Gustaf Wingren and Knud Ejler Løgstrup opens for an ecclesiology beyond the secular-religious binary. A generous Christianity appears when practices of non-faith (secularity) take place within ecclesia. The article discusses a concrete case from the Swedish congregation Bergsjøen where a makeshift curtain for visiting Muslims is constructed in the church basement. The makeshift curtain could be interpreted as a representation of creation and in this way being an important part of the ministry as a whole. The article discusses with recent Nordic and international ecclesiological and political theology. The conclusion is that, different from Catherine Keller's proposal of a “weak” political theology, SCT opens for an embodied, generous, Christianity

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