Digital Commons Network^™

Santa Muerte: A Transnational Spiritual Movement Of The Marginalized, Armando Rubi Iii

Open Access Theses

The mass media have recently brought to public light the new religious movement of Santa Muerte, or “Holy Death”. The depictions of Santa Muerte in news coverage, television and film have also swayed public perception through highly exoticized representations of the belief system, particularly in relation to violence and criminality. Separating sensationalization in the media from the actual practices of Santa Muerte serves to demonstrate that many devotees are non-violent practitioners. By using an ethnographic study of botanícas and documenting Santa Muerte related objects available to practitioners, this study nuances the multilayered components of this emergent religion.

Religion, Public Life And The State In Putin's Russia, Alexey D. Krindatch

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Generational Inversions: 'Working' For Social Reproduction Amid Hiv In Swaziland, Casey Golomski

Anthropology

How do people envision social reproduction when regular modes of generational succession and continuity are disrupted in the context of HIV/AIDS? How and where can scholars identify local ideas for restoring intergenerational practices of obligation and dependency that produce mutuality rather than conflict across age groups? Expanding from studies of HIV/AIDS and religion in Africa, this article pushes for an analytic engagement with ritual as a space and mode of action to both situate local concerns about and practices for restoring dynamics of social reproduction. It describes how the enduring HIV/AIDS epidemic in Swaziland contoured age patterns of mortality where …

The Wolf Attacks: A History Of The Russo-Chechen Conflict, Christina E. Baxter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Chechens fought against the Russians for independence. The focus in the literature available has been on the wars and the atrocities caused by the wars. The literature then hypothesizes that the insurgency of today is just a continuation of the past. They do not focus on a major event in Chechen history: the Soviet liquidation of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1944. It is this author’s assertion that the liquidation of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR forever changed the mindset of the people because it fractured a society that was once unified. This …

The Italian Press And The Church: Italian Newspaper Coverage Of Lds-Related News And The Media Strategies Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints In Italy 2010-2012, Giulia Vibilio Matthews

Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between media and religion has been influenced by many factors in history. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has received a great deal of media attention throughout the world in the past five years. In Italy, the Church National Council of Public Relations worked to provide the media with the necessary information to report accurate news about the Church. This thesis collected the information provided to the Italian media by the Church National Council and analyzed the main topic and the level of accuracy reported by the Italian media on Church-related news. The results show that …

Tradition And Change: Two Buddhisms In The Bible Belt Sharing Common Ground Through Adaptation, Jonathan Spence

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis examines how some American and Burmese forms of Buddhism in the Bible Belt today share common ground through a process of adaptation. Exploring tradition and change, I reveal how change often requires adaptation. Utilizing ethnographic research conducted in south central Kentucky and middle Tennessee, I argue that some Burmese and American forms of Buddhism in the Bible Belt experience change through three aspects of adaptation. These consist of reduction, syncretism, and preservation. I explore these three aspects through interviews and observations of immigrant Burmese Buddhist monks and American Buddhist meditation leaders. In doing so, I also examine the …

The Development Of Christianity In Contemporary China, Chu Yi Lu

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to study the development of Christianity in contemporary China. It adds to the limited literature that explores how Christianity has developed as the fastest growing religion in China post the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The data derive from semi-structured and focus group interviews with Chinese Christians and field observation notes collected at both official and non-official Christian churches in Beijing. I found an ambivalent attitude toward the development of Christianity across different social levels in China. At the state level, the Chinese government expects Christianity to provide a much-needed stabilizing influence in an increasingly self-centered …

Surviving And Thriving In A Hostile Religious Culture, Michelle Mitchell

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study explored a minority oppositional religious culture, which continued practicing despite overt hostilities to their practices. The qualitative research project utilized interviews and observations of the Gardnerian Wiccans in Broward County, Florida. The narrative data were transcribed, coded, and categorized into three themes related to the following research questions: Why would individuals create a secretive religion? Given they had to practice in secret, what about this religion had people seeking out information and joining Covens? What would keep this group together despite opposition from dominant culture? As a microcosm for religious conflict in society, the study showed differences …

Gnosticism, Transformation, And The Role Of The Feminine In The Gnostic Mass Of The Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.), Ellen P. Randolph

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Gnostic Mass of the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.) suggests a heterosexual gender binary in which the female Priestess seated on the altar as the sexual and fertile image of the divine feminine is directed by the male Priest’s activity, desire and speech. The apparent contradiction between the empowered individual and the polarized gender role was examined by comparing the ritual symbolism of the feminine with the interpretations of four Priestesses and three Priests (three pairs plus one). Findings suggest that the Priestess’ role in the Gnostic Mass is associated with channeling, receptivity, womb, cup, and fertility, while the Priest’s …

The Persecution Of 'An Innocent People' In Seventeenth-Century England, Raymond Ayoub

Quaker Studies

This article gives an outline survey of the beliefs and practices of seventeenth century Friends, the spiritual-religious basis of these, the existing or enacted laws with which these came into conflict, and the ensuing penalties inflicted on Friends for disobeying these strictures. While there is an abundance of relevant material in print, this account endeavors to give a comprehensive and systematic summary of the pertinent laws and some of their consequences to Friends. Though the penalties were not of equal frequency or severity, they point to limitations placed on Friends in their effort to be faithful to their beliefs.

Roberts' "Researching Yorkshire Quaker History: A Guide To Sources" - Book Review, Angus J.L. Winchester

Quaker Studies

No abstract provided.

Arweck & Stringer's "Theorizing Faith: The Insider/Outsider Problem In The Study Of Ritual" - Book Review, Kieran Flanagan

Quaker Studies

No abstract provided.

Religious Silence: British Quakerism And British Buddhism Compared, Sandra Bell, Peter Collins

Quaker Studies

In this paper we explore the communicative function of silence among British Quakers and British Theraviida Buddhists. Both examples link silence to stillness with the implication that non-activity is a means of evoking sacred presence. It is proposed that such an evocation is achieved through attaching aesthetic and ethical value to the performance of stillness and silence. Furthermore, we suggest that the identity of each of these religious communities is, in many respects, defined through the emphasis that is placed on the existential and moral significance of silence.

Close On The Wind: An Environmental Military History Examining Wind’S Influence On The Early United States Navy, Scott J. Beehler

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Utilizing General Carl von Clausewitz’s theory of friction in combat, Close on the Wind examines wind’s historical influence on early United States naval warfare, specifically small scale engagements fought during the Quasi War, First Barbary War, and the War of 1812. To accomplish this, the thesis first engages in a scientific discussion of wind, concentrating on how it occurs and what forces dictate its velocity and direction. The examination goes on to also present the types of wind that period sailing vessels encountered, including global, regional, and local patterns, as well as how wind influenced the practice of sailing and …

Indonesia, Modernity And Some Problems Of Religious Adaptation, June Mcdaniel

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

This article discusses the challenges of adaptation for Indonesian religion. It describes the ways that the major Indonesian religions have changed to fit the requirements of being recognized religions, and focuses as an example on the ways that Balinese Hinduism has changed to become Agama Hindu Dharma Indonesia. It also examines the traditional theological problem of "faith and works" in the Indonesian context, and the concerns used to balance modernization and religious freedom.

Nurturing Salafi Manhaj; A Study Of Salafi Pesantrens In Contemporary Indonesia, Din Wahid

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

This study is about the role of Salafi pesantrens (Islamic boarding schools) in Salafi da'wa (conveying or inviting to the way of Islam) in Indonesia. A Salafi pesantren is a pesantren that teaches Salafism which mostly derives from the works of Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, the founder of Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia. Salafi pesantrens started to emerge in the late 1980s and were established by graduates from Saudi Arabia and Yemen universities, and supported by alumni of the Institute for the Study of Islam and Arabic (LIPIA) in Jakarta. While the precise number of Salafi pesantrens is unavailable, it is …

The Imam And The Pastor: Attempts At Peace In Nigeria Using Interfaith Dialogue, Jinelle Piereder

The Partisan

No abstract provided.

The Altar At Home: Sentimental Literature And Nineteenth-Century American Religion, Claudia Stokes

Claudia Stokes

Re-Emerging Pietism: The Emerging Church As Postmodern Pietism, Tysen Dauer

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Germany in the seventeenth century was ripe for religious reform: the Thirty Years War had created doubts about the correctness of contemporary religious institutions, theologians of most denominations were engaged in abstract, scholastic theological controversy, and inter-denominational conflict was increasingly off-putting. It was into this climate which Pietism emerged as an alternative way of doing religion. Its central tenants were: (1) a more extensive use of Scripture, (2) a reinvigorated spiritual priesthood, (3) an emphasis on orthopraxy, (4) irenic conduct in religious controversies, (5) the establishment of seminaries as centers of personal spiritual cultivation, and (6) sermons emphasizing faith and …

Transnational Historical Fiction In A Postsecular Age: A Study Of The Spiritual Theses In The Works Of Luis Alberto Urrea And Bahiyyih Nakhjavani, Mary Anna Sobhani

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study, employing a postsecular theoretical prism, analyzes the spiritual theses given expression through the historical fiction of Mexican-American, or Chicano, author Luis Alberto Urrea and exiled Persian Bahá'í author Bahiyyih Nakhjavani. This study examines three novels: Nakhjavani's The Woman Who Read Too Much, Urrea's The Hummingbird's Daughter, and its sequel Queen of America. These novels express world-views in which the spiritual has particular importance, not as a supersession of quotidian reality but in an integral partnership with it, the baseline upon which postsecular thought is built. This study concludes that such an expression of world-views signals towards …

Anthropology, Saint Mary's College Of California

Undergraduate Course Catalog

No abstract provided.

Ritual Performance Of The Santo Daime Church In Miami: Co-Constructive Selves In The Midst Of Impediments To Local Acculturation, Alfonso Matas

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A syncretic religion born in the 1930s in the Amazonian jungle, Santo Daime today is an international flag-bearer in the evolving New Religion Movement (NRM) landscape. Shamanic power, nature veneration, universal love and the quest for a transcendental divine experience thanks to the psychoactive indigenous plant medicine ayahuasca define the Santo Daime allure for a new middle class disenchanted with capitalism. Church acculturation issues in Miami are linked to a rigid and grueling ritual, pervasive Catholic ethos and a lack of internal bureaucracy leading to declining membership threatening the very survival of the church in Miami. Research methods include ethnographic …

An Historical Archaeological Investigation Of The Indianola Prisoner Of War Camp In Southwestern Nebraska, Charles A. Flowerday

Anthropology Department: Theses

Peacebuilding in Colombia and Peru following their late-20^th and early 21^st century civil wars is a challenging proposition. In this study, it becomes necessary as indigenous peoples and peasants resist domination by extractive industries and governments in their thrall. Whether they protest nonviolently or rebel in arms, they are targeted for human-rights violations, especially murder, disappearance and displacement. The armed actors, state, insurgency, paramilitaries or drug traffickers, destroy civic institutions (local or regional government) and the civil (nonprofit) sector and replace them with their own authoritarian versions. Therefore, peacebuilding has emphasized rebuilding civic institutions, civil society and local …

Enchanted Entrepreneurs: The Labor Of Esoteric Practitioners In New York City, Karen Gregory

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Through participant observation and in-depth interviews, this dissertation weaves portraits of urban esoteric practitioners together with contemporary social theories of labor in order to explore the embodied and subjectifying project of becoming a psychic or intuitive practitioner capable of offering emotional and psychological "support" to city dwellers. By placing this project in a larger, contemporary political-economic framework, this dissertation looks to explore how spirituality is "entangled" (Bender 2010) in both social structures and cultural practices, as well as shifting configurations of work and the nature of labor. Here, we meet a network of individuals who are predominantly Tarot card readers …

Attachment Changes Post-Conversion In Committed Converts Tothe Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Laura Jane Page

Theses and Dissertations

Religious conversion has been described as a “spiritual transformation” where converts experience an “intimate ‘union’ . . . [with] divine presence” (Sandage & Shults, 2007). To better understand motivators of conversion, several studies have examined how attachment patterns affect the likelihood, and speed of religious conversion (e.g., Granqvist & Hagekull, 1999; Granqvist & Kirkpatrick, 2004; Kirkpatrck, 1998; Kirkpatrick & Shaver, 1990; Schnitker, Porter, Emmons, & Barrett, 2012). Converts' changes in personality, self-definition, and meaningfulness following conversion have been noted (Halama and Lačná, 2011; Paloutzian, Richardson, & Rambo, 1999). However, little, if any research has been conducted examining changes in attachment …

The Memetic Evolution Of Alchemy From Zosimos To Timothy Leary, Ryan J. Hutchinson

History Undergraduate Theses

The subject of alchemy is often only relegated to a footnote of the history of modern chemistry. When framed as a discussion of the history of ideas and mankind attempting to understand their position in the universe, the language of alchemy is seen present in the writings of ancient Greece to 20th century counterculture. But how did this obscure art survive such a long journey over time and space? This paper explores alchemy as a meme (as defined by Richard Dawkins) that changed over time to fit the needs of its proponents. We find that the ideas in alchemy had …

In The Shadow Of The Beast: The Impact Of Aleister Crowley On New Religious Movements And Contemporary Culture, Robert Jones

Religious Studies Theses

In late 19th century Great Britain, there was a revival of interest in the magic and occultism that emerged during the Renaissance. Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) was a product of that revival, one who had an ironically long afterlife, despite all of the controversy that has surrounded him. Crowley should also be remembered as a significant influence upon the founders of a variety of New Religious Movements (such as Gerald Gardner and L. Ron Hubbard). There was increased interest in his work and personality that emerged several decades after his death, as evidenced by the use of his image on the …

Merced College: An Online Library Presence, Joselle L. Merritt

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Merced College has a number of courses being taught on line and that the number continues to grow. The college is currently implementing online courses that meet the requirements of California SB520, passed in May of 2013, requiring all California students to have access to online classes at any California community college. This applies only if the classes they need are not available at their home institution. Added to this is the requirement from the accrediting agency for California Community Colleges that all students, both distance and face-to-face have equal access to library resources. As more and more classes go …

Printing And Protestants: An Empirical Test Of The Role Of Printing In The Reformation, Jared Rubin

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

The causes of the Protestant Reformation have long been debated. This paper seeks to revive and econometrically test the theory that the spread of the Reformation is linked to the spread of the printing press. I test this theory by analyzing data on the spread of the press and the Reformation at the city level. An econometric analysis that instruments for omitted variable bias with a city's distance from Mainz, the birthplace of printing, suggests that cities with at least one printing press by 1500 were at minimum 29 percentage points more likely to be Protestant by 1600.

Tense Positioning: Labeling And Tension In Kofuku No Kagaku's Development, Jackson Layne Hale

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.