| Working in the practice of pastoral care and as a family psychotherapist taught me the meaning of preferential attachments as in intergenerational relationships ('invisible loyalties', Boszormenyi-Nagy & Spark 1973) for trust and 'truth' as required in (other) relationships and also in religious praxis. ('Truth' as Levinas' idea of a truth manifesting itself in humility. This requires transformation of the 'totalizing' subject in subjectivity.) 'Healing through meeting' (Buber 1953) is influenced in a great measure by how partners in a meeting are adressed in their families of origin. There are many psychological theories of intergenerational transmission (see Giat Roberto 1992, Van der Pas 2002). This is a much-researched field, but also an under-researched field. At least two 'aspects' are neglected: the importance of a moderator system (e.g. church-communities) as a social commitment to support for responsible parenting, and the ethical dimension. This program aims at a relational-ethical approach for a growing framework for 'Contextual pastoral care' (Van Rhijn & Meulink-Korf 1997, 2002). Aspects of this program: a contextual relational-ethical approach of 'subjectivity coram Deo', loyalty conflicts, transgenerational solidarity and transmission of belief, multidirected partiality (inclusiveness), religious communities as support systems. |
