Digital Commons Network^™

Identity Formation And Powerful Narrative: What The Church Can Learn From Disney, Janie Fisher

Master of Art Theology Thesis

This thesis explores a phenomenon I first observed while working for The Walt Disney Company in Florida. Many people seem to be dedicated to Disney in a distinctly religious way, giving the company their time, money, abilities, and heart. Disney is one of the most successful organizations in America, and they have mastered the art of storytelling in their films and theme parks. These stories can be used for identity formation, as they teach people who they are, what the world is like, and how they ought to live. Disney uses religious means to help their fans feel as if …

Walking On The Camino Paths: A Spiritual And Biopsychosocial Journey, Ofra Walter

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The Camino de Santiago is an ancient network of pilgrimage routes that lead to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. This qualitative study was conducted to explore contemporary pilgrims’ experiences on the route. I walked the route for 14 days, interviewing other pilgrims about their reasons for taking the journey and their experiences while on it. The methodology thus involved gaining wisdom on two levels: the researcher’s level and the participants’ level. Nineteen people from various counties and of different ages consented to an interview. The participants expressed an interesting mix of biopsychosocial experiences. They mentioned self contemplation and spiritual experiences. …

The Varieties Of Spiritual States Triggered By Sex: A Systematic Review Of The Empirical Literature, Jenny Wade

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

This systematic review integrates the empirical evidence of spiritual experiences triggered by sexual activity, including studies by 10 authors. Despite venerable sexual meditative traditions of embodied spiritual practices, such as Hindu Tantra, Vajrayana Buddhism, and Taoism, empirical studies of sexual spiritual experiences are in their infancy. This review presents the range of sexual altered states experiences identified to date and how they qualify as spiritual experiences phenomenologically and in terms of their lifechanging effects. Seventeen distinct sexual-spiritual states have been identified across authors, with 4 others identified at significant levels in qualitative studies by individual authors. As an emergent area …

Satanists’ Sexual Self-Concept, Samuel Danielson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The present study examines sexuality within an international sample (n = 908) of modern Satanists. Sociodemographic and religious data from this sample are provided. Frequencies of Satanists’ engagement in different sexual behaviors are also explored. Furthermore, two aspects of Satanists’ sexual self-concept, sexual self-esteem and sexual anxiety, are assessed along with these variables’ relationships with the strength of Satanists’ group identity and the length of time identifying as a Satanist. Results indicate that the strength of Satanists’ identity impacts both their sexual self-esteem and sexual anxiety. Limitations and directions for future research on Satanism and sexuality are discussed.

Scholarly Study Of Religion In Ukraine, Vita Tytarenko, Liudmyla Fylypovych, Larysa Vladychenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the specifics of religious studies of religious minorities (RM). This religious phenomenon needs a concrete applied methodology that would make it possible to study the RM in its entirety. It is proposed to rely on the materials, which, in this case were the materials of a sociological study conducted within the project "Religious Minorities of Ukraine and State-Religious Relations" (2021), carried out by the authors of the article. As a result, it was clarified which religious organizations should be attributed to the RM, and how they differ from the religions of the majority, who have specific needs …

What Role Does Prior Religious Beliefs Play In Cult Susceptibility: A Descriptive Study, Yasmin Ali

Student Theses

Research on cults has explored susceptibility related to seeking membership, but not the role of an individual’s prior religious beliefs in cult involvement (Almendros et al., 2007). This study aims to understand the role of prior religious beliefs to cult susceptibility—specifically, joining and remaining in a cult. This study explored participants’ prior and subsequent religious affiliations and spirituality. In addition, it investigated the relationship between prior religion type and the cult type joined, including age of induction, time involved, and gender differences.

Former cult members (N=103) of a variety of Christian and non-Christian groups were interviewed using a semi-structured interview …

Adverse Religious Experiences And Lgbtq+ Adults, Alex Fox

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The aim of this study is to explore the ways in which LGBTQ+ people are affected by adverse or traumatic experiences related to religion or spirituality. Many LGBTQ+ adults were reared in environments where negative, disaffirming beliefs or teachings about sexual orientation or gender identity were pervasive. This study utilized a mixed-methods approach to data collection and analysis. Participants responded to a brief online survey, the data from which was used for quantitative statistical analysis. Twelve participants were selected at random from a pool of survey volunteers and took part in in-depth interviews regarding adverse religious experiences (AREs). Results of …

Religion As A Security Threat, Hamdy A. Hassan

All Works

Religious extremism presents an ideological perspective found in most major religions and is currently associated with various forms of religiously motivated acts of violence. A conceptual framework is adopted to study the warning features of religious extremism and apply it to case studies of Nigeria, Uganda, and the Central African Republic (CAR). The application of a religious jihadism model to Christianity provides a comparative basis for assessing Islamic radical jihadism, helping to understand religion as a security threat, with particular reference to Christian contexts and examples. Using extremist rhetoric and the mobilization of Christian rituals, members of religious groups attempt …

Hierarchy And Responsibility In Media: Cults, Culpability, And Culture, Max Hargett

Online Theses and Dissertations

This is a descriptive research project that investigates how popular entertainment media portrays cults. My intention is to see how the selected films and television shows portray issues of hierarchy and culpability within the cult and to explore how the genre and theme of the content was utilized in order to evoke certain reactions and sentiments in the audience. The selected films were The Sacrament, Martha Marcy May Marlene, and Midsommar. The selected television shows were Waco and American Horror Story: Cult. Each film and series is given its own analysis. Findings indicate that a common theme of the rigid …

Neither Buddhist Nor Taoist, But Both (And Even More): Exploring The ‘Hall Of Infinite Principle’ (Guangli Fotang): A Chinese Temple In The Romanian Capital, Serban Toader

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This ethnography regards the sole Chinese temple in the Romanian capital Bucharest, its people and activity, as well as the thinking that supports this new religious movement (Maitreya Great Tao,Mile Dadao 彌勒大道). It is common knowledge that Taoism, Budhism, and Confucianism appear, at least in the official discourse, as a braided rope of unified Chinese tradition, each of the three at the same time preserving their particular features. Nevertheless, Mile Dadao not only seems to implicitly unite the three traditions in one (to which other foreign or popular traditions may be added as well), but also aims to act as …

Religion In The News On An Ordinary Day: Methodology, Choices, And Bias, David H. Michels, Christopher Helland

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In this article we explore the Religion on an Ordinary Day (RoD) methodology in detail. The RoD project collected news stories published on September 17 over the period of three years (2013, 2014, 2015) in Australia, Canada, Finland, and the United Kingdom. We consider our decisions regarding the variability of language, researcher bias, and intercoder reliability in data collection and coding and the implications of those decisions. We offer a case study that analyzes references to New Religious Movements in the news. We considered the intentional choices, unintentional choices in the forms of accidents and misunderstandings, as well as unconsidered …

Spartan Daily, October 28, 2021, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2021

Volume 157, Issue 31

The Varieties Of Spiritual States Triggered By Sex: A Systematic Review Of The Empirical Literature, Jenny Wade

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This systematic review integrates the empirical evidence of spiritual experiences triggered by sexual activity, including studies by 10 authors. Despite venerable sexual meditative traditions of embodied spiritual practices, such as Hindu Tantra, Vajrayana Buddhism, and Taoism, empirical studies of sexual spiritual experiences are in their infancy. This review presents the range of sexual altered states experiences identified to date and how they qualify as spiritual experiences phenomenologically and in terms of their lifechanging effects. Seventeen distinct sexual-spiritual states have been identified across authors, with 4 others identified at significant levels in qualitative studies by individual authors. As an emergent area …

The Emergence Of The Legitimacy Of Religious Healing Knowledge In Taiwan, Wei-Cheng Chiu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigates how religious healing knowledge has been defined and used by scholars, physicians, and New Agers and how religious healing knowledge emerged as a legitimate area of knowledge in Taiwan. The key position of religious healing knowledge within the entanglement between religion and spirituality is also examined. After the martial law was lifted in 1987, Taiwan’s society had rapidly diversified, and its religions were at the transition point between the old and the new. Meanwhile, the new spirituality culture was introduced into Taiwan in the 1980s and got popular in the 1990s, and it inherited the trend of …

Women In Religio-Cultural History: A Reflection On Their Representation In Hugo Hinfelaar’S Scholarly Work In Zambia,1960s To 1990s, Nelly Mwale, Joseph Chita

Zambia Social Science Journal

Although Catholic missionary historians have contributed to the writing of Zambia’s many histories, the attempt at documenting women’s place in religio-cultural history in the country has been overshadowed by the prominence of masculine histories. Using the example of Hugo Hinfelaar who captures women’s histories in his scholarly work, this article explores the representation of the place of women in the religio-cultural history of Zambia in order to highlight Hinfelaar’s contributions to the study of women and to Zambia’s religio-cultural history. Informed by African feminist theory, it draws on a historical study which utilises document review and analyses the data through …

Use Of Invented Religions In Ukrainian Protest Movements Against Russian Orthodoxy 2018-2021, Vyacheslav Ageyev

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Since 2018, three projects operating in the framework of “invented or parody religions” and aimed against the Russian Orthodox Church have arisen in Ukraine. The article describes their invention, practices, “belief systems,” political acts, and tries to predict whether any of these or similar projects have any future in predominantly conservative Christian Ukraine.

Editor's Introduction, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

Placing God: Defining “Post-Christianity” For Contemporary Japanese Christians, Leryan Anthony Burrey

Master's Projects and Capstones

This work suggests that we consider a new, working definition of post-Christianity. This new paradigm is in response to Western Christian thought being too dominant a force that fails to take into enough account other global experiences— like those of Japanese Christians. These reflections are based on scholarly opinions claiming that Christianity is a “global culture,” and ultimately argues for more international inclusivity in Western Christian thought and institutions, especially regarding the Asia-Pacific. Moreover, this paper illuminates how iitoko dori allows Christian thought to peacefully coexist in Japan’s greater society. The research also explores specific Japanese cultural practices that make …

Perpetuating The Stereotype: Dramatization And The Portrayal Of Cults In Fictional Media, Hannah Lynn Willmore

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

This research examines major themes presented in fictional portrayals of cults in popular American television from 2010-2019. Prior research suggests that the manner in which cults are portrayed in fictional media, specifically those relying on sensationalized stereotypes, could influence public perception. This study utilizes qualitative content analysis of one episode from each of the 11 television shows that include cult storylines and examines the portrayal of cults in fictional media. This study draws upon sociological literature such as Weber’s idea of charismatic authority to develop a deeper understanding of how cult portrayal in media influences public perception of cults.

Visual Rhetoric Of Protestant Architecture (On The Example Of Adventist Churches In Kyiv), Petro Kotliarov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines the features of the architecture of prayer houses of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Ukraine from the end of the 19th century to the present day. An attempt was made to explain the phenomenon of the development of Gothic elements in the construction of houses of worship in the late 20th - early 21st centuries, a chronological period that coincided with the collapse of the Soviet Union and Ukraine's independence. The connection and role of architecture with the dogmatic foundations of the doctrine of the SDA church have been established. The study partially refers to the methodological …

'Here We Start And In Jerusalem We Meet:' The Motivational And Organizational Influences Of Israel's Statehood Ontransnational Salafi Jihad, Charlotte Armistead

Honors Theses

The Israeli occupation of Palestine and its impact on the proliferation and longevity of transnational Salafi jihad is largely underestimated in current literature. In this thesis, I argue that Palestine, defined as both the nation and physical borders before the Balfour Declaration, largely contributed to the twentieth century revival of transnational Salafi jihad and is used by both Al Qaeda and ISIS as liberation and annihilation movements, respectively. In order to assess the motivational and organizational influences of the Israeli occupation of Palestine on transnational Salafi jihad, I examine the works of Abdullah Azzam, a selection of Osama Bin Laden’s …

Forms And Roots Of Contemporary Religiosity In Estonia, Kaido Soom, Tõnu Lehtsaar

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The Republic of Estonia is a country on the east coast of the Baltic Sea. It borders Russia and Latvia on land and Latvia, Sweden, Finland and Russia on sea. As of 31 Dec 2011, Estonia had a permanent population of 1,294,455 (data from the Population and Housing Census). Estonia is a member of the European Union (2004) and of the Eurozone (2011).

Estonia has often been exemplified as a secularized nation having little regard for religion. Even so, religion is an important topic of conversation in Estonian society. For instance, Ave Tampere asked, in an article in one of …

Life Under Ban: Jehovah's Witnesses In Russia Since 2017, Emily B. Baran

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Since 2017, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been barred from legal practice of their faith in Russia. This marks the first criminalization of a major religious faith in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. For Witnesses, it has been a disturbing return to life under ban, a reality they experienced for decades under Soviet rule. Moreover, all indications suggest that this situation is unlikely to improve in the short term. Russian officials have shown consistent willingness to enforce a broad interpretation of the ban, including through the arrest and imprisonment of individual Witnesses. This article offers an overview of recent …

Religious Epidemics On The Territory Of Ukraine: Historical Parallels And Essential Characteristics, Olena Predko, Denis Predko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article deals with two religious epidemics that unfolded in Ukraine in a span of one hundred years. The study analyzes the factors influencing the emergence and development of religious epidemics. On this basis, their peculiar algorithm has been singled out, the components of which are, on the one hand, the worldview and crisis of values caused by the rapid turns of history, and—on the other—-choosiness by God, charisma of the leader of a particular organization, which is “fed” by an eschatological idea, syncretic teachings, which are cultivated as an alternative religious model to established traditions. The definition of a …

State Secrecy: A Literature Review, Stephane Lefebvre

Secrecy and Society

What is secrecy? What is a state secret? Which state secrets deserve protection from disclosures? How are state secrets protected from disclosure? In this review, I use these questions as an organizing framework to review the richness of a very disparate, largely US-centric, but also multidisciplinary literature. In doing so, I highlight the social nature of secrecy - that it is a social construct with social effects and consequences - and the need for further research to unveil those rationalities that specific discourses on state secrecy put forward to legitimize the nondisclosure of state secrets.

Influences Of Public Opinion Concerning Abortion, Enya A. Brackins

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This Honors Undergraduate Thesis seeks to examine the influences of public opinion on abortion policy. Race, Partisanship, and Gender are identified as driving forces which influences the public's opinion. As social and racial movements continue to progress so does the influence that it has on policy makers.

Attitudes Toward The Electability Of Atheist And Nontraditional Religious Candidates, Brittany Escobedo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Atheists are underrepresented in political office compared to their numbers in the general population. In the United States, anti-atheist prejudice is prevalent, likely contributing to the disparity in atheist representation. Informed by social identity theory and the sociofunctional approach to prejudice, the purpose of this study was to examine the comparative electability of atheists compared to other minority religious identities, as well as one nonminority option for a baseline reference of attitudes. Using the voter likelihood scale and three 7-point semantic differential scales, 579 participants rated their intention to vote for and their feelings of trust, disgust, and fear toward …

Losing Yourself: Cults, Greeks, And Sociological Theories Of Self And Identity, Emma Morgan

Honors Program Theses

This thesis is theoretical in nature. It is an exploration of sociological theory using cults and greek life as case studies for examining the construction of the self in the context of powerful social groups.

Faith Down The Rabbit Hole: A Critical Rhetorical Interrogation Of Q-Anon And Parasitic Christianity, Nate Carlson

Masters Theses

Over the course of the last six years, the conspiracy theory community known as Q-Anon has risen to prominence across the internet, coming to encapsulate a significant portion of the United States’ conservative and protestant populations. This study applies the act of Critical Rhetoric as proposed by McKerrow (1989) to the Q-Anon “drops”; message board posts wherein Q, the enigmatic leader of Q-Anon, preached conspiratorial ideology and misinformation to his followers. A pattern of Christian theology being usurped and retooled by Q as a method of faith-based political radicalization emerged throughout the texts, and this phenomenon was named “Parasitic Christianity.” …

State Regulation Of Religion: The Effect Of Religious Freedom On Muslims' Religiosity, Hannah M. Ridge

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

Substantial scholarship argues that regulation of religion suppresses religiosity in a community by reducing individuals’ satisfaction with their religious experience. To date this research has assumed that regulations are enforced on and affect religious communities uniformly. It has also focused heavily on Western Christian populations and aggregated national data. We suggest that state regulation of religious communities and behaviours impacts citizens differently based on their affiliation. Using individual-level assessments of freedom and religiosity from Muslim-majority countries, we show that, at the individual level, restricting freedom suppresses religious belief and behaviour. Restrictions on religious minorities, however, can increase religiosity. As such, …