Chosen Nation: Biblical Theopolitics and the Problem of American Christian Nationalism

Christian theopolitics presupposes that every salvation narrative entails a politics, and that every politics presumes a story of salvation. This means that the church faces a host of theopolitical structures contending with the Christian story for the allegiance, formation, and identity of Christians. However, theopolitical scholarship has largely overlooked or misunderstood one of the church\u27s major challenges today: nationalism. Moreover, this scholarship is unable to properly address the challenge of nationalism due to an inadequate engagement with biblical theopolitics--particularly that of Old Testament Israel--which, in distorted form, is central to nationalism emanating from within the church. In order to supplement theopolitical studies in this regard, this dissertation engages nationalism scholarship to better understand the phenomenon and its relationship to Christianity. It finds that within certain nationalist movements, theological moves are at work that make possible both the formulation and propagation of a national identity that places the nation squarely within the Christian salvation narrative, usually as an extension of Israel, and thereby supplanting the church. In response to this problem, the study develops a biblical theopolitics from both Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible. This theopolitics presents Israel as the elect and covenanted People of God whom Yahweh establishes as a visible sign of salvation to the nations, the definitive social, political, and economic human community. While Israel diverges from this vocation, Yahweh still provides for its fulfillment by incarnating both Israel and Yahweh in the person of Jesus Christ, culminating in Christ\u27s suffering and exaltation. Christ subsequently establishes the church to carry on the embodiment of covenant fulfilled, dissertationing it to the rest of humanity. By way of example for the theopolitical scholarship it is intended to supplement, the final part of the dissertation examines Christian nationalism in the United States, both in the form of popular narratives put forth by the American Christian Right, as well as more sophisticated academic political theologies. It evaluates these discourses, determining that their attempts to authenticate a particular national identity inevitably distort Christian understanding of the biblical narrative, and thus the identity and practices of the ecclesia

Mining the Milky Way: How to Bring America’s Extraterrestrial Excursions Back Into Compliance With International Obligations

In November of 2015, the 114th United States Congress enacted the Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015 (Space Act) and, in turn, thrusted the door to outer space mining wide open for Americans. Unfortunately, while the Space Act provided a solution for corporations, it created a di- lemma for the United States. As currently enacted, the Space Act directly conflicts with the world’s foundational and most basic framework for international space law: The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (Outer Space Treaty). To reassure other signatories and to ensure the United States complies with its international obligations under the Outer Space Treaty, Congress should establish a centralized regulatory authority to govern the activities of American entities in outer space and amend the Space Act to require bonding and permit- ting processes for entities wishing to engage in asteroid mining. This Article is the first to analyze how to modify existing legislation to impose sufficient regulation so the United States may once again comply with its international obligations under Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty. This Article will show that given the inherent risks of outer space mining, the intent and origins of the Outer Space Treaty, and the conflicting allowances contained in the Space Act, changes must be enacted to ensure that the tradition of treaty compliance and mineral- extraction regulation does not stop at our planet’s troposphere

Professor Text: University Fundraising Optimization

University fundraising campaigns are a unique type of cause-related marketing with its own challenges and opportunities. Campaigns like this typically last an extended period, such as five or more years, and goals exist beyond the dollar amount raised. These supplemental goals, such as awareness among potential future donators or brand reputation within the local community, are important to consider and strategize. There can also be unique limitations, such as requiring advertising specifically on recent large gifts or endowment programs. This research explores how machine learning techniques such as natural language processing can be used to optimize a fundraising campaign strategy, execution, and overall performance

Anisotropic Superexchange for nearest and next nearest coppers in chain, ladder and lamellar cuprates

We present a detailed calculation of the magnetic couplings between nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor coppers in the edge-sharing geometry, ubiquitous in many cuprates. In this geometry, the interaction between nearest neighbor coppers is mediated via two oxygens, and the Cu-O-Cu angle is close to 90 degrees. The derivation is based on a perturbation expansion of a general Hubbard Hamiltonian, and produces numerical estimates for the various magnetic energies. In particular we find the dependence of the anisotropy energies on the angular deviation away from the 90 degrees geometry of the Cu-O-Cu bonds. Our results are required for the correct analysis of the magnetic structure of various chain, ladder and lamellar cuprates.Comment: 13 pages, Latex, 7 figure

Dating Granites Using CODEX, with Application to In Situ Dating on the Moon

We have measured 87Rb–87Sr isochron ages for two granites, using the breadboard version of our Chemistry, Organics, and Dating EXperiment (CODEX), a laser-ablation resonance-ionization mass spectrometer designed for in situ geochronology on the Moon or Mars. These measurements extend the demonstrated analytical capabilities of CODEX, and indicate the value of incorporating a flight-ready version of CODEX, now under construction, into a future mission payload. We used CODEX to obtain accurate ages for the 1700 Ma Boulder Creek Granite, with 1σ statistical precision of 110 Myr, and for the 1100 Ma Pikes Peak Granite, with 1σ statistical precision of 160 Myr. To provide an end-to-end illustration of how CODEX analysis of granites can address critical lunar science questions regarding rock age and composition in situ, we describe an example mission to the lunar Gruithuisen Domes. Gruithuisen Domes appear to be volcanic edifices of granitic composition. Orbital remote sensing suggests that granitic rocks represent only a small fraction of the lunar surface, and the mere fact of their existence on the Moon is a puzzle. CODEX determination of the timing and process of their formation, both presently ill-understood, would provide important constraints on the thermal and geochemical evolution of the lunar interior

"Older Adults with ASD: The Consequences of Aging." Insights from a series of special interest group meetings held at the International Society for Autism Research 2016-2017

A special interest group (SIG) entitled "Older Adults with ASD: The Consequences of Aging" was held at the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) annual meetings in 2016 and 2017. The SIG and subsequent meetings brought together, for the first time, international delegates who were members of the autistic community, researchers, practitioners and service providers. Based on aging autism research that is already underway in UK, Europe, Australia and North America, discussions focussed on conceptualising the parameters of aging when referring to autism, and the measures that are appropriate to use with older adults when considering diagnostic assessment, cognitive factors and quality of life in older age. Thus, the aim of this SIG was to progress the research agenda on current and future directions for autism research in the context of aging. A global issue on how to define 'aging' when referring to ASD was at the forefront of discussions. The ‘aging’ concept can in principle refer to all developmental transitions. However, in this paper we focus on the cognitive and physical changes that take place from mid-life onwards. Accordingly, it was agreed that aging and ASD research should focus on adults over the age of 50 years, given the high rates of co-occurring physical and mental health concerns and increased risk of premature death in some individuals. Moreover, very little is known about the cognitive change, care needs and outcomes of autistic adults beyond this age. Discussions on the topics of diagnostic and cognitive assessments, and of quality of life and well-being were explored through shared knowledge about which measures are currently being used and which background questions should be asked to obtain comprehensive and informative developmental and medical histories. Accordingly, a survey was completed by SIG delegates who were representatives of international research groups across four continents, and who are currently conducting studies with older autistic adults. Considerable overlap was identified across different research groups in measures of both autism and quality of life, which pointed to combining data and shared learnings as the logical next step. Regarding the background questions that were asked, the different research groups covered similar topics but the groups differed in the way these questions were formulated when working with autistic adults across a range of cognitive abilities. It became clear that continued input from individuals on the autism spectrum is important to ensure that questionnaires used in ongoing and future are accessible and understandable for people across the whole autistic spectrum, including those with limited verbal abilities

Low temperature electronic properties of Sr_2RuO_4 II: Superconductivity

The body centered tetragonal structure of Sr_2RuO_4 gives rise to umklapp scattering enhanced inter-plane pair correlations in the d_{yz} and d_{zx} orbitals. Based on symmetry arguments, Hund's rule coupling, and a bosonized description of the in-plane electron correlations the superconducting order parameter is found to be a orbital-singlet spin-triplet with two spatial components. The spatial anisotropy is 7%. The different components of the order parameter give rise to two-dimensional gapless fluctuations. The phase transition is of third order. The temperature dependence of the pair density, specific heat, NQR, Knight shift, and susceptibility are in agreement with experimental results.Comment: 20 pages REVTEX, 3 figure

Phonons, electronic charge response and electron-phonon interaction in the high-temperature superconductors

We investigate in the framework of linear response theory the complete phonon dispersion, phonon induced electronic charge response, electron-phonon interaction and dielectric and infrared properties of the high-temperature superconductors (HTSC's). In particular the experimentally observed strong renormalization of the in-plane oxygen bond-stretching modes (OBSM) which appear upon doping in the HTSC's is discussed. It is shown that the characteristic softening, indicating a strong EPI, is most likely a generic effect of the CuO plane and is driven by a nonlocal coupling of the displaced ions to the localized charge-fluctuations (CF's) at the Cu and O ions. The different behaviour of the OBSM during the insulator-metal transition via the underdoped phase is calculated and from a comparison of these modes conclusions about the electronic state in the HTSC's are drawn. The underdoped state is modelled in terms of a charge response which is insulator-like at the Cu and is competing with a metallic charge response at the O-network in the CuO plane. For the non-cuprate HTSC Ba-Bi-O also a strong renormalization of the OBSM is predicted. C-axis polarized infrared and Raman-active modes of the HTSC's are calculated in terms of CF's and anisotropic dipole-fluctuations and the problem of a metallic character of the BiO planes is studied.Interlayer phonons and their accompanying charge response are investigated. Depending on the interlayer coupling calculations are performed from the static, adiabatic- to the non-adiabatic regime.It is shown that phonon-plasmon mixing and a strong long-ranged non-adiabatic EPI becomes evident within a certain region around the c-axis. Both the OBSM and the non-adiabatic coupled c-axis phonon-plasmon modes are found to be important for pairing in the HTSC's.Comment: 65 pages,20 figures. Extended version to appear in Physica Status Solidi (b) 2004; figure 20 has been corrected; references have been adde

Electronic States and Magnetic Propertis of Edge-sharing Cu-O Chains

The electronic states and magnetic properties for the copper oxides containing edge-sharing Cu-O chains such as Li$_2$CuO$_2$, La$_6$Ca$_8$Cu$_{24}$O$_{41}$ and CuGeO$_3$ are systematically studied. The optical conductivity $\sigma(\omega)$ and the temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility $\chi(T)$ for single crystalline samples Li$_2$CuO$_2$ are measured as a reference system and analyzed by using the exact diagonalization method for small Cu-O clusters. It is shown that the spectral distribution of $\sigma(\omega)$ is different between edge-sharing and corner-sharing Cu-O-Cu bonds. The charge transfer gap in edge-sharing chains is larger than that of high-$T_{c}$ cuprates. The exchange interaction between nearest-neighbor copper ions in edge-sharing chains $J_1$ depends sensitively on the Cu-O-Cu bond angles. In addition to $J_1$, the exchange interaction between next-nearest-neighbor copper ions $J_2$ has sufficient contribution to the magnetic properties. We calculate $J_1$ and $J_2$ for all the copper oxides containing edge-sharing Cu-O chains and discuss the magnetic properties.Comment: 10 pages,RevTeX,8 postscript figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Black Hole Entropy: Off-Shell vs On-Shell

Different methods of calculation of quantum corrections to the thermodynamical characteristics of a black hole are discussed and compared. The relation between on-shell and off-shell approaches is established. The off-shell methods are used to explicitly demonstrate that the thermodynamical entropy $S^{TD}$ of a black hole, defined by the first thermodynamical law, differs from the statistical-mechanical entropy $S^{SM}$, determined as S^{SM}=-\mbox{Tr}(\hat{\rho}^H\ln\hat{\rho}^H) for the density matrix $\hat{\rho}^H$ of a black hole. It is shown that the observable thermodynamical black hole entropy can be presented in the form $S^{TD}=\pi {\bar r}_+^2+S^{SM}-S^{SM}_{Rindler}$. Here ${\bar r}_+$ is the radius of the horizon shifted because of the quantum backreaction effect, and $S^{SM}_{Rindler}$ is the statistical-mechanical entropy calculated in the Rindler space.Comment: 47 pages, latex, 7 postscript figures have been included since the first submission of the articl