At the beginning of my career I published this article on ethics in pastoral care and counseling. Wee the full article on my webpage at
https://jamesnewtonpoling.com/articles/ethicalmoral-issues-in-pastoral-care-and-counseling-1988
How did the right wing go from the anticommunism requiring loyalty oaths to the U.S. govt in the 1950s to defending gun ownership because they might have to overthrow the U.S. government? See Nancy Poling’s blog at http://nancypoling.com/2013/01/17/of-loyalty-oaths-and-gun-rights/
See my article on Congregation as a Healing Community from 1988.
Korean Resources for Pastoral Theology: Dance of Han, Jeong, and Salim by James Newton Poling and HeeSun Kim (Wipf and Stock, 2012) is now available at https://wipfandstock.com/store/Korean_Resources_for_Pastoral_Theology_Dance_of_Han_Jeong_and_Salim
The Presbyterian Church (USA) had a challenging week dealing with defining marriage, relationships to Israel and Palestine, and fear of losing members and congregations. A good summary can be found at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Carol J. Adams, feminist-vegan activist and writer, has just published a revised edition of her important book, The Politics of Meat. She makes a compelling argument for reassessing the relationship between feminism and respect for animals. She has an excellent webpage that is worth exploring, http://caroljadams.blogspot.com/.
In my study of the natural environment at the NC Arboretum, I am coming to accept the importance of the subjectivity of nature. This is especially evident with wild animals who live their own dramatic lives without reference to human beings. And it is also true of plants and inorganic objects, according to Whitehead’s Process Philosophy.
What would it mean to live as if the natural world has its own subjectivities and that humans must live with respect and openness to these “Others?”
My new article, “Ambiguity in God and Humans” in the new issue of Journal of Pastoral Theology. You will also find my review of The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology, edited by Bonnie Miller-McLemore. You can find these articles if you have access to an academic library.
We have a lot to learn about how God’s creation takes care of us without our awareness. Unless we learn how to care for the earth in return, the future does not look good. The latest species I heard about being endangered are chimney swifts. After we cut down all the forests where they nested, they shifted to chimneys. Now we are capping chimneys and they have no place to go. The same thing is happening with dozens of species. It is a tragic story of violence with short and long-term consequences for human beings.
james newton poling 