Cleverer than we thought: the change in discourse of the Georgian Orthodox Church

This paper will focus on three episodes of contemporary church-state relations in Georgia, in particular, the conflicting interaction between law and religion in the public space. The first episode will be an open confrontation between the church and the state over the law on Registration of Religious Minority organizations (2011) which allowed the religious minorities to freely register; second: the Law on Self-governance (2013) which Georgian Orthodox Church considered “a threat to territorial integrity of Georgia”; and lastly: the Law on Anti-discrimination (2014) which was deemed “legitimization of Sodomic sin”. By reflecting on the three examples where for the first time after the collapse of Soviet Union, the Georgian state openly confronted the church and made a decision notwithstanding its position, I will attempt to argue that the role of the Orthodox Church in influencing the law making process is in gradual decline. However, on the other hand, by presenting the results of an ethnographic study conducted in 23 eparchies and perishes in 7 regions of Georgia in 2014, I will also show that church has adapted to its declining role over policy making, and to regain its political influence it gradually started to employ a civic rather than ethno nationalist discourse on matters of religious freedom while engaging with government. The paper will suggest that both unilateral decision-making of the state and civic shift in the discourse of the church constitute an important change in understanding church-state dynamics in the post-communist Orthodox Christianity dominated society.

To research living beings one has to participate in life.' Viktor von Weizsäcker's legacy

Viktor von Weizsäcker has been a German medical doctor and philosopher, well known throughout Europe, but hardly received in the Anglo-American culture. He focusses on the crucial epistemological question how one can conduct research on living beings. The article’s title represents a key quote of his opus magnum “Der Gestaltkreis”, which works out a theory of the unity of perception and motion. According to Viktor von Weizsäcker, one cannot separate the two, meaning that we locate ourselves in a fundamental union with the living world, which has lasting influence on our capacity of perception. This idea does not seem too different from Ian Barbour’s idea about critical realism, exploring a “consciousness of ourselves as arising out of rapport, interconnection and participation in processes reaching beyond ourselves.” Both authors, Viktor von Weizsäcker and Ian Barbour, still have lasting influence on the dialog between religion and science, each in their respective cultures – a further reason to compare their core ideas, after presenting Viktor von Weizsäcker’s life and thought. Finally, the theological impact of von Weizsäcker’s thought will be assessed. Following his philosophy, it becomes clear that the miracle of creation is the condition of the possibility of any perception.

Wissenschaft und Glauben bei Michael Polanyi

For Michael Polanyi, religion and science fight abreast to protect the occidental culture from totalitarian threat. Both are belief-based endeavors, Polanyi is convinced. While this is not surprising at all regarding religion, it is surely a provocation regarding science. The article tries to explore this original thought of Polanyi and to examine how it is rooted in his personal convictions and beliefs. Special emphasis is given to Polanyi’s critique of contemporary biology, as expressed in his article on “Science and Religion”, in some ways a response to Paul Tillich’s theology. Contemporary biology’s findings undermine exactly what Polanyi is fighting for, hence he is convinced that its findings are somewhat flawed. This should however not lead to the false conclusion that Polanyi had anything to do with creationism or would have favored Intelligent Design in our days.

Religion and assisted and non-assisted suicide in Switzerland: National Cohort Study

Background In the 19th century, eminent French sociologist Emile Durkheim found suicide rates to be higher in the Protestant compared with the Catholic cantons of Switzerland. We examined religious affiliation and suicide in modern Switzerland, where assisted suicide is legal. Methods The 2000 census records of 1 722 456 (46.0%) Catholics, 1 565 452 (41.8%) Protestants and 454 397 (12.2%) individuals with no affiliation were linked to mortality records up to December 2005. The association between religious affiliation and suicide, with the Protestant faith serving as the reference category, was examined in Cox regression models. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were adjusted for age, marital status, education, type of household, language and degree of urbanization. Results Suicide rates per 100 000 inhabitants were 19.7 in Catholics (1664 suicides), 28.5 in Protestants (2158 suicides) and 39.0 in those with no affiliation (882 suicides). Associations with religion were modified by age and gender (P < 0.0001). Compared with Protestant men aged 35–64 years, HRs (95% CI) for all suicides were 0.80 (0.73–0.88) in Catholic men and 1.09 (0.98–1.22) in men with no affiliation; and 0.60 (0.53–0.67) and 1.96 (1.69–2.27), respectively, in men aged 65–94 years. Corresponding HRs in women aged 35–64 years were 0.90 (0.80–1.03) and 1.46 (1.25–1.72); and 0.67 (0.59–0.77) and 2.63 (2.22–3.12) in women aged 65–94 years. The association was strongest for suicides by poisoning in the 65–94-year-old age group, the majority of which was assisted: HRs were 0.45 (0.35–0.59) for Catholic men and 3.01 (2.37–3.82) for men with no affiliation; 0.44 (0.36–0.55) for Catholic women and 3.14 (2.51–3.94) for women with no affiliation. Conclusions In Switzerland, the protective effect of a religious affiliation appears to be stronger in Catholics than in Protestants, stronger in older than in younger people, stronger in women than in men, and particularly strong for assisted suicides.