Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons^™

No Common Ground: Competing Worldviews At Mato Tipila, Wendy Anne Felese

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project analyzes a legal conflict (Bear Lodge Multiple Use Assn v Babbitt 2 F. Supp. 2d 1448) at Mato Tipila, a significant place for the Lakota (Sioux) community and with which they have a historical and longstanding relationship. Commercial and recreational rock-climbing enthusiasts who make use of it and the tourists who arrive in droves each year to visit, call this place Devils Tower. The case centered on whether the government violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by instituting a climbing ban during the month of June to accommodate Lakota ceremonial obligations. In recent historical developments, the …

In A Material World: Analyzing Religious Peacebuilding In Lebanon And Bosnia-Herzegovina, Catherine Ruth Orsborn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While intergroup peace is statistically far more common than is intergroup or inter-religious conflict, there has been a rise in recent years in conflict framed in religious terms. Peace and development practitioners have, in response, become increasingly interested in engaging religion, in various ways, in peace and development work. A theoretical field of religious peacebuilding has emerged simultaneous to this increased practitioner engagement of religion. Despite this increase in religious peacebuilding, at both practical and theoretical levels, we have not seen a measurable increase in social cohesion in contexts plagued by so-called religious conflict, as I show in my comparative …

Circumcising The Mouth Of Moses: The Idolatrous Status Of Yahweh's Mediator Among The Idols Of Ancient Mesopotamia, Amy L. Balogh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The thesis of this dissertation is that in the defining moment in which he is transformed from "uncircumcised of lips" to "god to Pharaoh" (Ex 6:28-7:1), Moses is best understood as Yahweh's idol, undergoing a status change akin to the induction ritual for ancient Mesopotamian idols, the Mīs Pȋ ("Washing/Purifying of the Mouth"). To make this point, I argue that Moses and idols be compared with respect to their status as mediator between divine and human realms. With their respective status changes, not only are idols and Moses transformed on an ontological level, but so are their relationships to their …

The Hybrid Spirit Animating Chinese Pentecostals In Malaysia, Eu Kit Lim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation interrogates the assertion in postcolonial scholarship, especially from the work of Homi Bhabha that the construction and performance of hybrid identities act as a form of resistance for marginalized communities against structures of oppression. While this study supports this assertion, it also critiques how hybridity fails to address issues of unequal power relations. This has led to an uncritical use of hybridity that reproduces the very idea of static identity which its proponents claim to transcend.

Through qualitative study of Chinese members of a Pentecostal church in Malaysia, this study argues that church members engage in "unequal belonging" …

Bottom-Up Methodologies In Emerging Models, Thomas S. Cahoon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The post-modern turn in the millennial generation has prompted a response toward religious and organizational authorities, whose organizations do not keep with the changing demand of post-modern individuals. The shift in preferences is marked by a movement from top-down hierarchical models, toward a de-centralized, bottom-up style demonstrated in recent movements. This paper examines the shift of doctrine and praxis within the American evangelical church and a simultaneous development of new methodologies in social justice organizations in these response movements.

Divergent Responses To The Human Predicament: A Case Study In New Comparativism, Mark Toole

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The enterprise of comparison has been regarded by some as one of the most vital characteristics of a healthy academic study of religion. However, the failed legacy of Eliadian Comparativism has caused others to suggest that the art of comparison has not yet lived up to its promise. This study brings together the best tools of what the author calls "Smithian New Comparativism." In order to demonstrate concretely a rigorous and responsible critical comparative analysis, and to chart a course for future academically beneficial cross-cultural comparisons, this project presents a case study that compares two religious traditions' doctrinal responses to …

Human Rights And The Search For Common Ground: A Comparative Study Of Islamic And Christian Thought, Joseph Prud'homme

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Common Ground: Islam, Christianity, and Religious Pluralism. By Paul Heck. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. 2009.

Seeing The Buddha In The Book Of Job Through Maimonides's Theory Of Providence And Eliade's Theory Of Hierophany, Hoi Shan Chong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study is an unusual reading of the book of Job with a focus on the intellectual transformation of Job. The reading is stimulated by Maimonides' theory of divine providence and facilitated by Eliade's theory of hierophany. The sequence of reading follows a reorganized order and is divided into three parts: the speeches of Job and his friends, the Lord's speech, and the comparison of Job before and after the Lord's speech. The study ends with a suggestion that the experience of Job's intellectual transformation corresponds to the experience of the Buddha's enlightenment. The reading ignores the enigmatic issues …