Together and Apart
The Religious Experience of Homeless People in Drug Use Scenes
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Camila Chagas
Religiosity is often analyzed as a variable that would reduce the chances of drug use. However, there is a gap in the literature on the analysis of other roles that religiosity can play in people's lives. An ethnography was conducted in Portugal from November 2022 to August 2023 in drug use scenes in the city of Porto. Our purpose was to understand whether (and how) religiosity would be present in vulnerable psychotropic territories. It was possible to observe elements of religiosity that would go unnoticed in the face of the evident social and psychological fragilities in the territories. The homeless population is immersed in spaces of exclusion, places that belong to everyone and no one. These environments are also capable of producing their own religious experiences. These adaptations can occur in the commitment to one's own religiosity, which ceases to encompass the collective and becomes solitary. Thus, religiosity in these marginalized contexts is perhaps one of the few constant elements in the lives of these actors. While everything changes depending on the will of others, such as displacement from a place due to police intervention, and uncertainty regarding food or safety, the subjective protection of religiosity can be a means of providing stability and control. This subjective protection has also been shown to be a risk factor insofar as it increases the feeling of security in situations with a high risk of communicable diseases and overdose. Religiosity can therefore be a source of certainty in a world of uncertainty.
The Vulnerability of Jewish Patients in Medical Halakhah (Jewish Law)
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Sarah Werren
Issues of life, death, and social justice have been questions long pondered by philosophers and theologians, including Jewish scholars from all branches of Judaism. Their conclusions to answering unprecedented ethical problems became an integral part of the new evaluation of medical practice and health policy since World War II. Consequently, one of the cornerstones of modern medicine is patient autonomy; a concept not entirely commensurable with Jewish Orthodox practice, which tends to limit autonomous decision-making that is not authorized by halakhic (religion-legal) authorities. This is due to the modus operandi of Orthodox Jewish bioethics, which is halakhic in nature. Jewish law is the frame of reference within which religious authorities discuss, analyze and decide what may be otherwise known as an ethics case. This paper discusses the vulnerability of Jewish patients in restrictive religious contexts that control personal decision-making processes in every area of life. Based on empirical research and interviews with rabbis we address the following questions: how do hegemonial religious structures affect the vulnerability (or resilience) of Jewish patients? What is the scope of personal freedom in decision-making of an observant Jew in situations of unbearable pain and suffering? As a matter of fact, halakhic authorities are considered to rule leniently in medical cases, since patients are especially vulnerable and it is forbidden to add suffering. Within the scope of these questions, we give special attention to the proverbial phrase „Lev yodea marat nafsho,“ the heart knows its own bitterness (Proverbs 14.10), in medical Halakhah.
Human Vulnerability in Formation: Cultivating the Virtue of Tactfulness in the Workplace
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Isabelle Létourneau,
Jean-Pierre Fortin
In the workplace environment, employees are exposed to many dangers putting their physical and psychological integrity under direct threat: workplace injuries/illnesses, excessive workload, limited decisional agency, lack of support and recognition, unfair treatment, incivility, harassment, violence, job insecurity, etc. Laws and organizational policies have been developed and implemented to alleviate these threats and risks. This approach remains however limited insofar as it only addresses these issues and concerns in a purely external, formal and deontological manner. Drawing from and integrating the inputs of workplace spirituality and virtue ethics, this paper offers a complementary perspective through the analysis of the virtue of tactfulness considered in its social, moral, prudential and daimonic dimensions. The study also invokes the spiritual theology of Pope Francis who, following the words and deeds of Jesus Christ, advocates for a preferential option for the poor, vulnerable and oppressed, whose humanity in need operates as paradigm for spiritual formation and practice (cf. the parable of the Good Samaritan; Luke 10:29-37). The tactful person with fully formed moral character and agency naturally recognizes and respects the dignity of, and strives to bring assistance to, vulnerable persons. In the workplace, the tactful person will not hesitate to transcend rules of propriety in order to be able to respond in ways adapted to the particularities of the situations encountered and the uniqueness of employees whose dignity deserves protection.
