Constructing moral concepts of God in a global age

The concept of cosmopolitanism is a political, moral and cultural concept that emerged with the age of globalization but became more visible with the tragedy of September 11, 2001. In a capitalist world where transnational connections are increasingly important, it becomes pivotal not only to be aware of the other and of planetary diversity, but also to try to understand and even empathize with the rest of the cultures. This desire to be recognized is usually directed from the peripheries and semi-peripheries towards the centers. This article aims to analyze how this concept can be applied to the Romanian-language Bessarabian literature, a literature that has always, in the 20th and 21st centuries, been part of the cosmopolitanism of another literature (the Soviet and the Romanian one, respectively). The terminology proposed by Pnina Werbner, namely the term vernacular cosmopolitanism, will be used in order to distance this field from the Western gaze that looks with empathy at underdeveloped cultures and to help emphasize the inter-peripheral dialogues. First, the post-1991 critical discourse in both Bessarabia and Romania will be analyzed, how some Moldavian critics seek integration into Romanian literature without differentiation, and the response of Romanian critics and scholars. In the second part, the discussion is focus on contemporary Bessarabian literature, with a case study on Tatiana Țîbuleac and Vasile Ernu, in order to follow how they manage to build a “localized” cosmopolitanism, and are able to translate the local for the global due to the initial desire to be received by a country in a semi-peripheral position, namely Romania.

Constructing Moral Concepts of God in a Global Age focuses on what people say and think about God, rather than on arguments about God's existence. It advances a theological method, or step-by-step approach to explore and reframe personal convictions about God and the worldviews shaped by those convictions. Since a moral God is more likely to foster a moral life, this method integrates an ethical check to ensure that understandings of God and their associated worldviews are validly moral. The proposed method builds on the work of twentieth-century theologian Gordon Kaufman during the Kantian phase of his work. It anticipates a person-like God who hears prayers, loves without end, and comforts in times of hardship. To accommodate today's pluralistic and globalized world, the ethical check integrated in the method is a widely collaborative and vetted global ethic, the Parliament of the World's Religions "Declaration Towards a Global Ethic." This volume of constructive philosophical theology is written for seminary students, educators, clergy, study groups, and anyone interested in delving more deeply and systematically into understandings of God, whether their own or those of others.

Constructing Moral Concepts of God in a Global Age, by Myriam Renaud

The term 'maqsid' (plural: Maqasid) refers to a purpose, objective, principle, intent, goal, end, telos (Greek), finalite (French), or Zweck (German). Maqasid of the Islamic law are the objectives/purposes behind Islamic rulings. For a number of Islamic legal theorists, it is an alternative expression to 'people's interests' (masalih ). 'Maqasid al-Shariah' are masalih that provide answers to the questions about the hierarchy of interests in Islamic law. Maqasid include the wisdoms behind rulings, such as 'enhancing social welfare,' which is one of the wisdoms behind charity, and 'developing consciousness of God,' which is one of the wisdoms behind fasting. Maqasid are also good ends that the laws aim to achieve by blocking, or opening, certain means. Thus, the Maqasid of 'preserving people's minds and souls' explain the total and strict Islamic ban on alcohol and intoxicants. Maqasid are also the group of divine intents and moral concepts upon which the Islamic law is based, such as, justice, human dignity, free will, magnanimity, facilitation, and social cooperation. Thus, they represent the link between the Islamic law and today's notions of human rights, development, and civility.

Democracy, like God, is often said to be dying because its followers are too heartless to believe in it, and perhaps that is partly true. More likely, however, the adherents of democracy have failed to realize, as have the adherents of other ideologies, that static ideologies are as short-sighted as idolatrous concepts of Deity localized in time and space. The democratic principles of the European Enlightenment have, to date, remained local rather than global and have thereby, in an increasingly global age, become idolatrous travesties of their originals. To remain moral, then, one must rethink the application of dynamic democratic principles to the changed consciousness of global concerns.

Discipline is a very important thing to instill in a person, especially in a student. Students must be careful to be disciplined in managing time, disciplined in carrying out tasks and obligations, and disciplined in interacting with the kholiq and with fellow creatures. Religious values ​​need to be instilled in children, because religious values ​​themselves involve the concept of divinity, worship, and morals. All of that can be given early on so that these religious values ​​are able to shape the child's personality and can measure strongly and have an influence throughout his life. The approach used in this study is qualitative, in collecting data the authors use the method of observation, interviews, documentation. This research was conducted at MTs Al-Ihsan Tanah Grogot. The objectives to be achieved in this study are: 1) to find out the reality of discipline at MTs Al-Ihsan Tanah Grogot, : 2) to find out the efforts to improve student discipline through the provision of religious values ​​at MTs Al-Ihsan Tanah Grogot. The results of this study are that the discipline in MTs Al-Ihsan is good, this is evident from the results of data presentation and interviews. Whereas in an effort to increase student discipline through deepening religious values, the school has programs or activities that are directed at the subject matter above, namely the habituation of Duha prayer and recitation of the Qur'an which is carried out before the lesson activities begin.

This paper interprets the relation between sovereignty and guilt inNietzsche'sGenealogy. I argue that, contrary to received opinion,Nietzsche was not opposed to the moral concept of guilt. I analyseNietzsche's account of the emergence of the guilty conscience out of a pre‐moral bad conscience. Drawing attention toNietzsche's references to many different forms of conscience and analogizing to his account of punishment, I propose that we distinguish between the enduring and the fluid elements of a ‘conscience’, defining the enduring element as the practice of forming self‐conceptions. I show that forNietzsche, the moralization of the bad conscience results from mixing it with the material concepts of guilt and duty, a process effected by prehistoric religious institutions by way of the concept of god. This moralization furnishes a new conception of oneself as a responsible agent and holds the promise of sovereignty by giving us a freedom unknown to other creatures, but at the price of our becoming subject to moral guilt. According toNietzsche, however, the very forces that made it possible have spoiled this promise and, under the pressures of the ascetic ideal, a harmful notion of responsibility understood in terms of sin now dominates our lives. Thus, to fully realize our sovereignty, we must liberate ourselves from this sinful conscience.

According to Kant’s concept of natural religion, the moral concept of God consists in the coordinated aggregate of the concepts of holiness, goodness and justice. I argue that this concept can be used to define a critical account of religion’s role within the public sphere. In order to do so, I refer to Hermann Cohen’s philosophy of religion. Cohen undertakes to explicate a concept of religion as progress toward the “dominion of the good on earth”, especially in relation to Kant’s ideas of natural religion and ethical community. It is inferred that Cohen’s difference between progress in religion and religious progress opens a path to a definition of religion as pre-institution (religion without religion). The goal is to make the concept of religion distinct in the tradition of critical philosophy and its logic. I argue that the emancipatory project of Kantian public reason presupposes a set of rules defining the translation from postulates (Kant’s rational theism) to problems and assignments. Since natural religion is a pure practical concept of reason, religions are subject to moral evaluation. The latter being guided by the pragmatic maxim of overcoming logical and moral egoism, means that any community, even many communities at once (different cultures) can occasionally represent an ethical community, if not in the sense that an ethical community is constituted.