This Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary Israel, accounting for changes, developments and contemporary debates. The different chapters offer both a historical background and an updated analysis of politics, economy, society and culture.Across five sections, a multidisciplinary group of experts, including sociologists, political scientists, historians and social scientists, engage in a wide variety of topics through different perspectives and insights...

Although the 'Israeli case' of bioethics has been well documented, this book offers a novel understanding of Israeli bioethics that is a milestone in the comparative literature of bioethics. Bringing together a range of experts, the book's interdisciplinary structure employs a contemporary, sociopolitical-oriented approach to bioethics issues, with an emphasis on empirical analysis, that will appeal not only to scholars of bioethics, but also to students of law, medicine, humanities, and s...

This edited collection seeks to present a valuable guide to the Jewish contribution to the European integration process, and to enable readers to obtain a better understanding of the unknown Jewish involvement in the European integration project. Adopting both a national and a pan-European approaches, this volume brings together the work of leading international researchers and senior practitioners to cover a wide range of topics with an interdisciplinary approach under three different par...

Publicity about the homosexual lifestyle has become so commonplace that many people believe its messages that homosexuality is genetic and that being gay is as natural as being heterosexual. But are these statements accurate? Noted researchers John Ankerberg and John Weldon critique relevant scientific studies & examine gay politics to discuss the social ramifications behind the gay movement: Is the scientific research on homosexuality accurate? How influential is the homosexual community ...

Our physical ecosystem is not indestructible and we have obligations to hold it in trust for future generations. The same is true of our metaphysical ecosystem - the values, principles, attitudes, beliefs, and shared stories on which we have founded our society. In Bird on an Ethics Wire, Margaret Somerville explores the values needed to maintain a world that reasonable people would want to live in and pass on to their descendants.Somerville addresses the conflicts between...

This resource discusses sexual orientation and gender identity—issues that can be delicate and emotionally charged for many families and that are too often  surrounded by silence and confusion. Written in a Question-and-Answer format and with extensive references, the book  covers scientific, social, family and theological perspectives.  It draws on the insights of recognized experts in multiple fields, including history, 

The number of nonreligious people has increased dramatically over the past several decades, yet scholarship on the nonreligious is severely lacking. In response to this critical gap in knowledge, The Nonreligious provides a comprehensive summation and analysis of existing social scientific research on secular people and societies. The authors present a thorough overview of existing knowledge while also drawing upon ongoing research and suggesting ways to improve our understanding ...

Winner of the 2015 FWSA Book PrizeThe body is a site of impassioned, fraught and complex debate in the West today. In one political moment, left-wingers, academics and feminists have defended powerful men accused of sex crimes, positioned topless pictures in the tabloids as empowering, and opposed them for sexualizing breasts and undermining their �natural� function. At the same time they have been criticized by extreme-right groups for ignoring honour killings and...

This second edition of A Companion to Bioethics, fully revised and updated to reflect the current issues and developments in the field, covers all the material that the reader needs to thoroughly grasp the ideas and debates involved in bioethics.Thematically organized around an unparalleled range of issues, including discussion of the moral status of embryos and fetuses, new genetics, life and death, resource allocation, organ donations, AIDS, human ...

An Anthropology of Biomedicine is an exciting new introduction to biomedicine and its global implications. Focusing on the ways in which the application of biomedical technologies bring about radical changes to societies at large, cultural anthropologist Margaret Lock and her co-author physician and medical anthropologist Vinh-Kim Nguyen develop and integrate the thesis that the human body in health and illness is the elusive product of nature and culture that refuses to be pinned...

In the last few decades, homosexuality has moved from the margins of society to the mainstream. In response to this cultural shift, Christian apologist and radio host Kerby Anderson sorts through myths to deliver the facts on homosexuality and the social impact it has had on families, the church, schools, and traditional marriage. With a balance of God's truth found in the Bible and a desire to reach out to homosexuals, he answers key questions about homosexuality, including:...

The first comprehensive empirical account of how religion affects the interpretation, prevention, and mitigation of AIDS in Africa, the world's most religious continent.