In The American YMCA and Russian Culture, Matthew Lee Miller explores the impact of the philanthropic activities of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) on Russians during the late imperial and early Soviet periods. The YMCA, the largest American service organization, initiated its intense engagement with Russians in 1900. During the First World War, the Association organized assistance for prisoners of war, and after the emigration of many Russians to central and western Europe, founded the YMCA Press and supported the St. Sergius Theological Academy in Paris. Miller demonstrates that the YMCA contributed to the preservation, expansion, and enrichment of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. It therefore played a major role in preserving an important part of pre-revolutionary Russian culture in Western Europe during the Soviet period until the repatriation of this culture following the collapse of the USSR. The research is based on the YMCA's archival records, Moscow and Paris archives, and memoirs of both Russian and American participants. This is the first comprehensive discussion of an extraordinary period of interaction between American and Russian cultures. It also presents a rare example of fruitful interconfessional cooperation by Protestant and Orthodox Christians.

Volume three concerns political action on the margins of conventional political participation in a democracy: extremist, protest, and social movements. This theme covers a huge spectrum, ranging from pro-democracy movements in authoritarian regimes to anti-democratic extremist. The volume is organised in four sections: first, a theoretical paper linking the social movements literature to the literature on democratization; second, a series of comparative studies; third, essays on the United States and western Europe; and finally, a set of studies of successful or failed democratic transition in Yugoslavia, South Africa and the Philippines. The first section presents an ambitious synthesis of social movement theories with the 'political interactionist' theories of democratization associated with Guillermo O'Donnell, Philippe Schmitter, Adam Przeworski and others. The second section contains comparative studies, examining whether recent right-wing extremist voting in western Europe represents a real shift to the right. Two dimensions of nationalism in eastern Europe are examined and another chapter looks at two contextual factors affecting political protest in western democracies: mobilization by collective organizations and national political and socioeconomic conditions. Finally Karl-Dieter Opp examines the prospective role of political protest in the European unification process. Four papers pursue the analysis of contemporary far right in France, Germany and Austria. What are the characteristics of French National Front voters? Focus is also placed on right-wing violence in unified Germany and racism and anti-semitism in Austria. Two potential threats to democracy are studied: Basque terrorism and nazism in interwar Germany. Finally in this, there is an examination of the rise to power of the Nazy Party in Germany.

Confidence in Life offers a theologically-robust evaluation of the good of procreation, which emerges out of both careful interactions with contemporary analytic philosophy and a reconstructed reading of Karl Barth’s doctrine of (pro)creation. While analytic moral philosophy has rarely been brought into close proximity to Barth’s work, the conjunction underscores the deep difficulty of accounting for procreation’s value within non-theological frameworks, and helps clarify what is distinctive and valuable about Barth’s own moral reasoning on this subject. Though primarily staged as an intervention in Protestant moral theology, Confidence in Life’s rehabilitation of the Virgin Mary’s role in Barth’s thought has promise for an ecumenical retrieval of the good of procreating within the economy of redemption—and its retrieval of honour as an indispensable aspect of Barth’s theology will be of interest to Barth scholars and moral theologians alike.

This book offers new empirical research and policy-relevant care practices from across the globe to understand the interrelation of care, emotion, and flourishing in the context of acute and persistent crises. From COVID-19 responses around the world to the opioid epidemic in the United States, this volume investigates collective and individual crises as symptoms of underlying systemic pathologies. Crises require deep engagement with both structure and culture, drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives from sociology, nursing, social work, and psychology. Addressing the multi-level challenges of caregiving in families, schools, organizations, and communities, this book presents examples of research and practice that demonstrate compassion, resilience, productive collaboration, and flourishing. It documents the social conditions and processes that spawn effective solutions and positive emotional and health outcomes, which often occur amid chaos, rapid social change, and substantial suffering. The first section focuses on care, emotions, and flourishing in healthcare and educational contexts to examine nurses, students, and teachers as they respond to enduring and acute crises. Section two turns to community and family contexts to understand how emotions and care intertwine in the flourishing practices of women and communities facing isolation during COVID-19, parents of opioid users, and international efforts to address child abuse and healthy aging. Geographically, the book covers experiences in Canada, Ghana, India, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Each chapter discusses how we can move from managing emotions and coping with crisis to transcending crisis and promoting flourishing. The book includes case studies that illustrate hopeful and successful practices that might help us meet the challenges we face in this moment and move through them with compassion and enhanced flourishing. Examining care across a range of professional contexts, including healthcare, education, community, and family settings, the authors explore similarities and differences in how these contexts shape care practices in light of collective threats and crises. This book is also a valuable contribution to the literatures on health and illness, the sociology of emotions, and the interdisciplinary field of well-being and flourishing.

We're born with a hunger for roots and a desire to pass on a legacy. The past two decades have seen a boom in family history services that combine genealogy with DNA testing, though this is less a sign of a robust connection to past generations than of its absence. Everywhere we see a pervasive rootlessness coupled with a cult of youth that thinks there is little to learn from our elders. The nursing home tragedies of the Covid-19 pandemic laid bare this devaluing of the old. But it's not only the elderly who are negatively affected when the links between generations break down; the young lose out too. When the hollowing-out of intergenerational connections deprives youth of the sense of belonging to a story beyond themselves, other sources of identity, from trivial to noxious, will fill the void. Yet however important biological kinship is, the New Testament tells us it is less important than the family called into being by God's promises. "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" Jesus asks a crowd of listeners, then answers: "Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother." In this great intergenerational family, we are linked by a bond of brotherhood and sisterhood to believers from every era of the human story, past, present, and yet to be born. To be sure, our biological families and inheritances still matter, but heredity and blood kinship are no longer the primary source of our identity. Here is a cure for rootlessness. On this theme: - Matthew Lee Anderson argues that even in an age of IVF no one has a right to have a child. - Emmanuel Katongole describes how African Christians are responding to ecological degradation by returning to their roots. - Louise Perry worries that young environmentalist don't want kids. - Helmuth Eiwen asks what we can do about the ongoing effects of the sins of our ancestors. - Terence Sweeney misses an absent father who left him nothing. - Wendy Kiyomi gives personal insight into the challenges of adopting children with trauma in their past. - Alastair Roberts decodes that long list of "begats" in Matthew's Gospel. - Rhys Laverty explains why his hometown, Chessington, UK, is still a family-friendly neighborhood. - Springs Toledo recounts, for the first time, a buried family story of crime and forgiveness. - Monica Pelliccia profiles three generations of women who feed migrants riding the trains north. Also in the issue: - A new Christmas story by Oscar Esquivias, translated from the Spanish - Original poetry by Aaron Poochigian - Reviews of Kim Haines-Eitzen's Sonorous Desert, Matthew P. Schneider's God Loves the Autistic Mind, Adam Nicolson's Life between the Tides, and Ash Davidson's Damnation Spring. - An appreciation for Augustine's mother, Monica - Short sketches by Clarice Lispector of her father and son Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to apply their faith to the challenges we face. Each issue includes in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art.

The lives of these porn stars are filled with more than just screams and moans. From the heights of fame to their murderous lows, they are anything but dull. As they sit in a chair, back to back, beaten, bloody, and moments away from death, they must relive the moments that led them to this fate. Begging for mercy won't help them now. Jasmine "Jezebel" left home for the city of dreams. She wanted to be an actress and thought that nothing could stop her. Leaving behind an alcoholic mother and absent father, she leaves Baltimore and heads to L.A. For months she tries to find an acting gig but once faced with eviction and a negative bank account, she can no longer live on just the mere fantasy of her dreams coming true. She must face reality and do the unthinkable. Knowing that a waitress job can't pay her bills, she uses her body to climb the jilted ladder of the porn industry and becomes the top starlet at Fantasy Pictures. Fantasy Pictures is run by Mr. Bobby Capello and his son Breeze. No other porn studio can compare to the porn empire they created. Damaging secrets, grimy business practices, and pure lust are housed behind the heavy warehouse doors. Fulfilling your every desire comes with a hefty price tag. When Breeze falls for Jasmine, and she falls for someone else, neither Tanya, Breeze's live-in girlfriend who despises Jazzy, nor Lust, Jasmine's lover, can handle the tug-of-war that will play out. Who stands to lose what, and who will win? With Jamar and DeeDee Delight (Mr. Capello's lover) being her only true friends, they all will have to make choices that may come back to haunt them in the end. Jamar "Krave" is loving life. Everything seems to have fallen into place and he is at peace with being a top gay male biller for Fantasy Pictures. He, unlike Jasmine knew what he was going out to L.A. for. He set out his goals and achieved most of them, the one thing that wasn't on his list, falling in love with Tyree, professionally known as "Konceited." This homo-thug, although claiming to be mostly gay-for-pay, lives a double life, which when uncovered, derails Jamar in more ways than one. Hate starts to fill his heart and he will never be the same. How far is too far to go back? What happens when you can't undo what has already been done? You RUN. But getting away may not always be so easy. With foe friends, deceiving lovers, and even bigger enemies lurking on and off the porn set, these friends will need each other more than they think. Jealousy, back stabbing, drugs, love, sex, and murder are only half of the thrills this fast pace ride offers. You already know what goes down in front of the camera, now see what happens beyond the lens.

The Chimera Illusion: Historian Ruth Raymond undertakes a daring research mission to discover the reason a mysterious treasure chest was buried in a cave by pirates 200 years ago, with precarious consequences inciting hallucinations and nightmares. Benjamin's Ghost: A new life begins for Macy as she escapes the turmoil of an abusive relationship and heads out into the country. Things gradually take an emotional turn when she moves into a haunted cottage inhabited by a solitary figure. Fields of Sorrow: A destitute female spirit incites minor havoc for an overnight stayer at an old tavern to help fulfil the reason she refuses to move on, unaware he's staying in the room she died in.