Digital Commons Network^™

Media Representation Of Islam And Muslims In Southern Appalachia, Saundra K. Reynolds

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Southern Appalachian attitudes about the religion of Islam and Muslim adherents are influenced largely by mass media's representations. With more than 80% of Appalachia’s population following Protestant Christianity, exposure to Islam in daily life is limited. Media outlets offer the greatest exposure to information about the religion and its adherents. This thesis examined the region's media representation of Islam and Muslims to determine what images are most often portrayed. Research following a twoyear span of reporting in Southern Appalachia studied substance, word frequency, imagery, and editing used in articles that focused on Islam and Muslims. Through the use of content …

Social - To Save: A Book Of Suggestions For The Social Committees Of Christian Endeavor Societies And For The Home Circle, Amos R. Wells

Books

No abstract provided.

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 …

Seeking A Comprehensive Worldview: The Religious Seeker In The Modern World, Michael Gregory

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Anecdotally, the casual observer of anthropological phenomenon may be led to believe that every human is basically the same. Indeed, many may assume that groups of people possess identical beliefs, religions, and expressions that hardly vary across different cultures and generations. Throughout the plethora of different cultures and the countless varieties of religious expression and experience it may seem that all of humanity is merely following the same lifestyles and worldviews as their parents and ancestors with very little change save for the gradual evolution in society. A religious studies scholar, or any scholar of the humanities, however, may notice …

Seeking A Comprehensive Worldview: The Religious Seeker In The Modern World, Michael Gregory

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Anecdotally, the casual observer of anthropological phenomenon may be led to believe that every human is basically the same. Indeed, many may assume that groups of people possess identical beliefs, religions, and expressions that hardly vary across different cultures and generations. Throughout the plethora of different cultures and the countless varieties of religious expression and experience it may seem that all of humanity is merely following the same lifestyles and worldviews as their parents and ancestors with very little change save for the gradual evolution in society. A religious studies scholar, or any scholar of the humanities, however, may notice …

Identity Crisis Of Jordanian Bmb (Believer From Muslim Background) Women At The Beginning Phase Of New Faith, Sam Kim

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Hypostatic Union And The Subtle Body: An Analysis Of Christian Yogic Practice, Mathew N. Schmalz

Religious Studies Faculty Scholarship

An analysis of the appropriation of yoga by Catholic ashrams in India. Specifically, the article examines the use of the Twin Heart Meditation and how it is imbued with Christian meaning. The article was published in Asian Horizons, a peer reviewed journal published by Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram in Bangalore, India

Papers Of John C Cooper Arc1997 -008 - Finding Aid, John C. Cooper

Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

Practicing What They Preach? Lynching And Religion In The American South 1890 - 1929, Amy Kate Bailey, Karen A. Snedker

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

This project employs a moral solidarity framework to explore the relationship between organized religion and lynching in the American South. The authors ask whether a county’s religious composition affected its rate of lynching, net of demographic and economic controls. The authors find evidence for the solidarity thesis, using three religious metrics. First, their findings show that counties with greater religious diversity experienced more lynching, supporting the notion that a pluralistic religious marketplace with competing religious denominations weakened the bonds of a cohesive moral community and might have enhanced white racial solidarity. Second, counties in which a larger share of the …

From Reading To Revering The Good Book, Or How The Word Became Fossil At The Creation Museum, Susan L. Trollinger

English Faculty Publications

Given the complexity of this sacred text and the intensity with which Protestants have sought to glean its truths from it, it is not surprising that Luther’s “dangerous idea” yielded countless splits, schisms, and sects. Whereas once there was the Church, Protestants dedication to reading the Scripture for themselves has brought an endless variety of theologies, practices, and fellowships with no end in sight. While every one of these groups claims (whether explicitly or implicitly) that they alone have the true word of God, none has been able to arrest the flow of interpretations. With everyone free to read the …

Science Replacing Supernatural: The Raëlian Movement And Their Reinterpretation Of The Judeo-Christian Bible, Claire S. Gould

Religious Studies Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Introduction To America's Four Gods: What We Say About God And What That Says About Us, Paul Froese, Christoper Bader

Sociology Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Despite all the hype surrounding the "New Atheism," the United States remains one of the most religious nations on Earth. In fact, 95% of Americans believe in God--a level of agreement rarely seen in American life. The greatest divisions in America are not between atheists and believers, or even between people of different faiths. What divides us, this groundbreaking book shows, is how we conceive of God and the role He plays in our daily lives.

America's Four Gods draws on the most wide-ranging, comprehensive, and illuminating survey of American's religious beliefs ever conducted to offer a systematic exploration of …

The Religious Divide: Why Religion Seems To Be Thriving In The United States And Waning In Europe, Steven Pfaff

Sociology Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"In the decades following the Second World War, most social scientists expected convergence among the Western industrial democracies. Modernization was expected to bring prosperity and opportunity, initiating a “culture shift” to posttraditional values and lifestyles.

However, in recent years observers have remarked on a growing divide between Europeans and Americans. This divergence may be nowhere greater than in the religious sphere. While faith is loudly proclaimed and a bustling diversity of religious organizations jostles for attention in all arenas of public life in the United States, the European Union (EU) is described as thoroughly secularized, comprised of societies in which …

Out Of India: Immigrant Hindus And South Asian Hinduism In The United States, Chad M. Bauman, Jennifer Saunders

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The article provides a survey of research on immigrant Hindus and South Asian Hinduism in the United States, focusing in particular on certain trends in the development of American Hinduism (e.g., Americanization, protestantization, ecumenization, congregationalization, homogenization, ritual adaptation) and prominent themes in more recent scholarship on the topic (e.g., race, transnational connections, and Hindu nationalism).

The Pentacle Quest: Wiccan Religion In The Media, Paula Johnson

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

No abstract provided.

The Epistemology Of Esoteric Culture: Spiritual Claim-Making Within The American Neopagan Community, Marty Laubach

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Research

Non-institutionalised religious communities within western esotericism, such as New Age or Neopagan subcultures, are dynamic marketplaces for knowledge construction that may appear to be chaotic and governed only by the rule of caveat emptor. However, a close examination reveals authorization processes developing along similar lines as those followed by scientific empiricism during the seventeenth century. Claims of esoteric knowledge are developed from psychism experiences, and are authenticated by examining the claimant’s social standing, the narrative structure of the claim and the interests of the claimant and the judge. Such claims are authorized by incorporation into collective action, publications, workshops and …

A Revitalization Strategy For Central New York United Methodist Churches, Robert J. Norrix

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Memorials 2006, James A. Borland

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Towards A Theology Of Land For The New Guinea Islands, William Kenny Longgar

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Shembe, Ancestors, Or Christ?: A Missiological Inquiry Into The Status And Role Of Jesus Christ In The Amnazaretha Church, Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa, Edley Joseph Moodley

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

To Stay Or To Go: Social Identity And Self-Categorization Theories, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes some psychological factors affecting whether members remain in a cult or leave.

Controlling Control In The Cult: Big Brother, Little Brothers, And "Turning In", Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

A previous article (IBPP, Vol. 1, No. 9, "The Psychology of Controlling Control") described the psychological challenges that must be surmounted by political leaders desiring to control others. The present article describes psychological phenomena w

Heaven's Gate: Gateway To The Soul, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the cult Heaven's Gate and the mass suicide of its members.

Revitalization And The Church: A Study Of The Renewalmovement In The Sixth Conference Of The Brazillian Methodist Church, João Carlos Lopes

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.