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Casting Your Own Spell: The Role Of Individualism In Wiccan Beliefs, Matt Mcdermott May 2023

Casting Your Own Spell: The Role Of Individualism In Wiccan Beliefs, Matt Mcdermott

Proceedings of the annual meeting of the Southern Anthropological Society

What is the role of individualism within the neopagan religious movement of Wicca? To answer this question, this research study was carried out in western North Carolina using participant observation and interviews with ten practitioners in 2021. This paper argues that Wiccan adherents cultivate an individualist agency that manifests through an openness to beliefs and practices. One of Wicca’s key characteristics is a lack of commitment to dogma. This allows Wiccans to bring aspects of their own identities and personalities into their practices. This individualist agency is shaped by solitary and collectivist forms of Wicca, which place value on liberating, …

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'Here We Start And In Jerusalem We Meet:' The Motivational And Organizational Influences Of Israel's Statehood Ontransnational Salafi Jihad, Charlotte Armistead May 2021

'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 …

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Out To Get Us: Contemporary Evangelical Expressions Of Identity In Interaction, Pace Tyler Ward Jan 2020

Out To Get Us: Contemporary Evangelical Expressions Of Identity In Interaction, Pace Tyler Ward

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Evangelical Christianity occupies a dominant position in American culture and politics. This thesis extends previous research on evangelicalism in America by identifying how evangelicals collectively construct their distinction and uniqueness in small group settings. By conducting an ethnography of bible study meetings organized by an evangelical church in North Mississippi, Mercy Church, I examine how church participants collectively differentiate themselves from the rest of the world. Rather than imagining themselves at odds with a single, monolithic Other, this study shows that evangelical identity is formed and crystallized through small battles with numerous outsiders, both Christian and non-Christian. Specifically, I find …

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Why Aren't More Heathens Eco-Pagan Vegetarians? The Intersection Of Gender, Politics, And Spiritual Environmentalism, Kristen An Horton Jan 2014

Why Aren't More Heathens Eco-Pagan Vegetarians? The Intersection Of Gender, Politics, And Spiritual Environmentalism, Kristen An Horton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Neo-Paganism, a nature-based new religious movement, provides a rich backdrop for the study of spiritual environmentalism. This ethnographic project analyzes the dynamic interconnectedness of neo-paganism and environmentalism, or "eco-paganism," and how Heathenry reframes the natural world using interpretations of Old Norse lore. A Heathen's connection to nature and how this connection is incorporated into his/her daily life supports the idea of environmentalism, yet their patriarchal and conservative political beliefs devalue environmentalism. My focus is on the feminization of the environment and vegetarianism to such a degree that Heathens view these movements as radicalized liberal tree hugging hobbies and how these …

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The Mobilization Of China’S Legal System And Religious Bureaucracy As A Means Of Combating The Threat Of The Falun Gong, Cooper Reves Jan 2010

The Mobilization Of China’S Legal System And Religious Bureaucracy As A Means Of Combating The Threat Of The Falun Gong, Cooper Reves

Honors Theses

In 1992, Li Hongzhi, an obscure man from the northern Chinese province of Jilin, introduced to the world a set of five Qigong exercises which would form the basis of the Falun Gong movement. In the years that followed, the Falun Gong quickly grew to an estimated 100 million practitioners worldwide that expeditiously spread from China to the rest of the world. Though the group was pacifistic in its ideology, the Chinese government was never quite comfortable with the Falun Gong's presence, and in 1999, the government began a widespread effort to discredit the Falun Gong, culminating in the arrest …

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March 19, 2008, The Daily Mississippian Mar 2008