Digital Commons Network^™

Jewish Teenagers’ Syncretism, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

With the rapid rise of Jewish interfaith marriage and the migration of Jews away from traditional Jewish neighborhoods, many Jewish teenagers in the U.S. have little interaction with other Jews and little exposure to the Jewish religion. Here I use National Study of Youth and Religion survey data to examine Jewish teenagers’ syncretism or acceptance of different religious forms. The results show that Jewish teens are more syncretic than other teens, and that variations in religious activity, an emphasis on personal religiosity, and living in an interfaith home explain some of the difference in syncretism between Jewish and non-Jewish teens. …

The Practice And Meaning Of Communitarian Spirituality In The Focolare Movement, Nori Henk

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore how individuals come to embrace the FM spirituality as radical, making the spiritually meaningful and plausible for social change through a communitarian lifestyle that affects their everyday life. Within the sociological tradition of studying religion and social movements, this study addresses how religiously-motivated, "non-elite" individuals can be collectively recruited and mobilized into life-long agents of change. My study is based on seventy-five interviews and fieldwork at three sites in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

In the dissertation, I addressed the following research questions: 1. If a member is defined as one …

"Contentment In My Heart": Evangelical Women And Spiritual Journeys, Elizabeth A. Doran

Honors Theses

This honors thesis is an in-depth, qualitative study of a central Maine evangelical church. My focus is on five women and their religious journeys and experiences as Christian women. I explore a number of issues: the appeal of this church community to contemporary women; the connections and the contrasts between what the church leaders espouse and what ordinary female members believe; the ways in which the women develop their own personal relationships with Christ, the evangelical tradition, and other members of the community; and my own journey as a student of sociology and a qualitative researcher.

Sociology Of Islam & Muslim Societies, Newsletter No. 2, Tugrul Keskin, Gary Wood

Sociology of Islam & Muslim Societies Newsletter

Table of Contents:

• Feminism in Kuwait by Meredith Katz
• Research Abstracts and Updates: Babak Rahimi on Public Islam in Iraq; Thomas Pierret on Ulema in Modern Islam; CESS 2008 Islam Panel Neo-Imperialism and the Promotion of Democracy in Central Asia; and ASA 2008, Boston Islam and Muslim Societies Panels and Roundtables

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 83, No. 7, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news.

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 …

Religion And Semiosphere: From Religious To The Secular And Beyond, Rajka Rush

Dissertations

Religion is a system of structural ideas that involve the natural ability of the mind to engage itself into the process of unlimited semiosis which can be defined as an existential openness of one's consciousness to the universe as a system. This primary religious consciousness becomes limited by language, symbolic, and cultural constraints. The religious semiotic space is a sub-cultural system open to culturally and cross-culturally encoded idioms and concepts. These cultural potentials are interpreted and settled by the religious exegesis expressed in the behavioral patterns of the symbolic actions that reflect a specific worldview of the closed community controlled …

Key Leadership Roles In The 9/11 Terrorist Attack, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

Personality assessment of three al-Qaida leaders in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States – Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Mohamed Atta – provides evidence for a rudimentary model of the leadership roles required for a global-reach terrorist operation: (1) a narcissistic, charismatic leader devoid of core values beyond personal self-interest, adept at exploiting others in pursuit of his grandiose ambitions (e.g., bin Laden); (2) a strategic-thinking “true believer” without constraints of conscience regarding the level of violence he is willing to employ in his single-minded pursuit of mission (e.g., al-Zawahiri); and (3) unobtrusive, disciplined operatives …

The Social Effects Of Psychism: Spiritual Experience And The Construction Of Privatized Religion, Marty Laubach

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Research

What is the relationship between spiritual experiences and privatized religion? This study defines spiritual experiences in terms of “psychism,” or psychic intrusions in the stream of consciousness that are not perceived by the actor as originating within the “self.” Intrusions interpreted as psychism are regarded by the actor as having the same facticity as empirical experience and are regarded as “proof” of an esoteric belief system. Psychism originated beliefs are therefore resistant to refutation or change, and support spiritual autonomy. Psychism theory is tested using 1988 GSS data on religious beliefs, where psychism is measured using GSS questions on “paranormal” …

“Normal Church Can’T Take Us”: Re-Creating A Pentecostal Identity Among The Men And Women Of Victory Outreach, Arlene M. Sánchez Walsh

Journal of Hispanic / Latino Theology

This article examines the re-creation of Pentecostal identity among the men and women of a drug rehabilitation ministry called Victory Outreach. It considers how that identity changes when members reinforce traditional gender roles commonly found in Latino culture, while defining Pentecostalism as a religious salve to soothe social ills. The author considers how Victory Outreach members work from a theological pedagogy that affirms the image of their church as marginalized, and proclaims educational attainment as a force for empowerment.

The Emergence Of An Ethnic Millenarian Thinking And The Development Of Nationalism In Tahiti, Bruno Saura

Pacific Studies

This article analyzes the emergence in Tahiti of a body of theological and philosophical works written in Tahitian by Duro Raapoto, the leading intellectual of the Protestant Church and one of the best poets of French Polynesia. They constitute a new syncretic and millennialistic rewriting of Tahitian history as well as a rereading of anthropological ideas relative to pre-European society through a reinterpretation of some essential concepts of Polynesian culture. Their author’s objective is to restore the golden age of innocence presented as “the authentic Tahitian religion” and to establish the Kingdom of God within the Tahitian people, “God’s chosen.” …

History, Opposition, And Salvation In Agarabi Adventism, George Westermark

Pacific Studies

Growth of the Seventh-day Adventist Church was particularly strong in the Papua New Guinea Eastern Highlands in the last decade. This article discusses a variety of reasons for this change, emphasizing Adventist beliefs that create a distinct historical consciousness among church members. In the face of a rapidly changing society, it is argued, these beliefs structure an appealing ideological framework that facilitates both individual and collective transformation. Significant for Eastern Highland Adventists is a doctrine of opposition toward other Christian groups and a sense of their own unique role in the prophetic events that make up their historical model.

Cumulative Index, Volumes 1–20, Robert S. Means, Russell T. Clement

Pacific Studies

Cumulative Index compiled by Robert S. Means and Russell T. Clement. Includes two issues per volume, Vols. 1–8; three issues per volume, Vols. 9–13; and four issues per volume, Vols. 14–20.

The Ufo Contact Movement From The 1950'S To The Present, Christoper Bader

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

"Since the beginning of the UFO movement in the late 1940s, beliefs about what the aliens are like and the purpose of their visits to Earth have changed numerous times. The first claims of extended contact with alien beings in the early 1950s were entirely different in form and content from the current, frightening UFO abduction tales. This article will trace the UFO movement from its origin in 1947 to the present, explaining how its prevailing paradigms have changed."

Books Received And Book Notices, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Book Listing for the Vol 16, No 1 Edition of the Pacific Studies Journal

Women In Religion And Development In Nigeria: A Comparative Study Of Roman Catholic Church And And African Independent Church, Marypaul V.N. Asoegwu

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Mac Marshall's Review Of Ron Brunton's The Abandoned Narcotic: Kava And Cultural Instability In Melanesia, Mac Marshall

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

The Emergence Of Parliamentary Politics In Tonga, I. C. Campbell

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

The Failure Of The Tommy Kabu Movement: A Reassessment Of The Evidence, Graham Hassall

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Marty Zelenietz's Review Of Michele Stephen's Sorcerer And Witch In Melanesia, Marty Zelenietz

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Ian Breward's Review Of Char Miller's Missions And Missionaries In The Pacific, Ian Breward

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Vol. 11 No. 1 (1987): Pacific Studies Full Issue, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lāʻie, Hawai‘i 96762, but responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone. Subscription rate is US$40.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teaching, research, and …

John Barker's Review Of Carl Loeliger And Garry Trompf's New Religious Movements In Melanesia, John Barker

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

The New Class And Evangelicalism: The Culture Of Critical Discourse And Its Relation To Traditional Authority, David G. Sheagley

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Karen P. Sinclair's Review Of Peter Webster's Rua And The Maori Millennium, Karen P. Sinclair

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

John Frum: An Indigenous Strategy Of Reaction To Mission Rule And The Colonial Order, Robert J. Gregory, Janet E. Gregory

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of The Mormon Migration On The Community Of Kirtland, Ohio, 1830-1839, Mark R. Grandstaff

Theses and Dissertations

In the early decades of the nineteenth-century, an era of cultural change and disorientation, many turned to revivals to displace insecure emotionalism and to insure themselves of a place in the emerging society. Others, such as the Mormons sought an all encompassing plan that would dispel confusion and restore order to a decadent society. This search led some Mormons to follow their Prophet to Kirtland, Ohio. Once in Kirtland, various sociological conflicts developed which affected how the citizens of Kirtland would perceive their Mormon neighbors. Tantamount to these conflicts was the rapidly increasing Mormon population which triggered a corresponding rise …

Social Class And Religiosity: A Decriptive Study Of Two Hundred And Five Adult White Catholics From Three Socio-Economically Different Parishes, Vincent M. Concessao

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

A Swedish Population Of Worcester: A Study In Social Survey, Karl J. Karlson

Historical Dissertations & Theses

This paper is not going to be an historical sketch of the growth and development of the population, but instead a description of the status quo of an industrial, peace-loving, and law-abiding Swedish settlement. The material for this thesis has been gathered from statistics of churches and societies, in personal interviews with prominent men who has been closely associated with the Swedish people for a great many years, and from personal observation and investigation. It is needless to say, I think, that I shall present the facts as I have found them and be as impartial as anybody possibly can.