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A Crisis Of Consciousness Volkisch Occultism In Austria And Germany, 1890-1933, Shanna Turner

Theses & ETDs

The nineteenth century saw an occult revival throughout the Western world, but this occult revival impacted Germany uniquely. In the rest of Europe interest in the occult was a fad that died out within a few short years. This was not the case in the German-speaking world, where the social, political and economic atmosphere created conditions particularly well suited to fostering the occult. This thesis analyzes the unique conditions in nineteenth century Austria and Germany that resulted in the v�lkisch occult movement and the writers and thinkers who created the ideologies of the movement. One cannot address German occultism without, …

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 …

Deradicalization: A Review Of The Literature With Comparison To Findings In The Literatures On Deganging And Deprogramming, Madeline Morris, Frances Eberhard, Jessica Rivera, Michael Watsula

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Consciousness And Society: Societal Aspects And Implications Of Transpersonal Psychology, Harry T. Hunt

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Although transpersonal psychologies of self realization emphasize individual

development, earlier shamanic traditions also showed a central societal aspect and group based

consciousness. Indeed, many have understood the transpersonal movement as developing

towards an abstract globalized neo-shamanism. That altered states of consciousness, whether

as integrative realizations of the numinous or as dissociative “hypnoid” states, could be felt

and shared collectively was a familiar concept to the first generation of sociologists, who saw

all consciousness as social and dialogic in form. Durkheim, in particular, foresaw a globalized

spirituality of the future, his “cult of man,” in which modern individuation would progress

to …

Beyond Belief: Japanese Approaches To The Meaning Of Religion, James Mark Shields

Faculty Journal Articles

For several centuries, Japanese scholars have argued that their nation’s culture—including its language, religion and ways of thinking—is somehow unique. The darker side of this rhetoric, sometimes known by the English term “Japanism” (nihon-jinron), played no small role in the nationalist fervor of the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While much of the so-called “ideology of Japanese uniqueness” can be dismissed, in terms of the Japanese approach to “religion,” there may be something to it. This paper highlights some distinctive—if not entirely unique—features of the way religion has been categorized and understood in Japanese tradition, contrasting these with Western (i.e., …

Citizenship Privilege Or The Right To Religious Freedom: The Blackmailing Of France's Islamic Women, Yael Barbibay

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note examines the tension between France's commitment to laïcité and the rights of Islamic immigrants, particularly women, to religious freedom and cultural identity. It critiques the denial of citizenship to Faiza Mabchour, arguing that such decisions reflect a broader effort to suppress Islamic practices and undermine pluralism. The analysis contends that France's rigid application of laïcité violates international human rights norms, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The article advocates for a more inclusive approach to citizenship that balances secularism with religious freedom and cultural diversity.

From "Cults" To Cultures: Bridges As A Case Study In A New Evangelical Paradigm On New Religions, John W. Morehead

The Asbury Journal

The increased awareness of the new religions with the counterculture of the 1960s saw various responses, including a "counter-cult" approach by evangelicals. The counter-cult approach has tended to view new religions as "cults" and to respond to them as heretical systems of belief in need of refutation by doctrinal and apologetic arguments. Over the last decade or so a new evangelical paradigm has emerged based in missiology which, while recognizing theological disagreements that the new religions have with Christianity, approaches new religions as religious cultures rather than as cults. Various resources have been produced as a result of the new …

Book Reviews, Frances Adeney, Gwinyai Muzorewa, Laurence W. Wood

The Asbury Journal

Ogbu U. Kalu, ed., Alaine Low, Associate ed.

Interpreting Contemporary Christianity: Global Processes and Local Identities

2008, Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Reviewed by Frances Adeney

Afe Adogame, Roswith Gerloff and Klaus Hock, eds.

Christianity in Africa and the Africa Diaspora: the Appropriation of a Scattered Heritage

2008. London: Continuum International Publishing Group

Reviewed by Guinyai Muzorewa

Jehu J. Hanciles

Beyond Christendom: Globalization, African Migration, and the Transformation of the West

2008. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books

Reviewed by Guinyai Muzorewa

Thomas Jay Oord, ed.

Divine Grace and Emerging Creation, Wesleyan Forays in Science and Theology of Creation …

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. …

Laïcité In France - Contemporary Issues Panel Discussion, Nathalie Caron, Blandine Chelini- Pont, Rosemary C. Salomone, Emmanuel Tawil

Journal of Catholic Legal Studies

No abstract provided.

The Cohesive Role Of Music, Dance And Traditional Artifacts In African Independent Churches In Western Kenya, Susan M. Kilonzo

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

The Kenyan society has since 1970’s been characterized by a wave of religious renewal, in which African Independent churches (AICs) sprouted up in response to people’s quest for a renewed tradition of African Culture. These movements endeavor to fulfill the people’s socio-cultural needs that are thought to have deteriorated with the advent of colonization and European Christianity. The paper subsequently examines how music, dance, and traditional artifacts used by AICs in Western Kenya have enhanced unity among the adherents in these churches. The paper also discusses how these churches, through music, dance and other artifacts survive amidst the quest for …

Teaching With Spirit: Freire, Dialogue, And Spirituality In The Composition Classroom, Justin Vidovic

Wayne State University Dissertations

This ethnographic study examines the role of spirituality in the composition teaching process and in Paolo Freire's dialogic education specifically. Work to acquire some aspects of spiritual "Discourse," as the term is defined by James Gee, is needed in order to make this spiritual foundation visible and practicable. Through a series of ethnographic narratives of a classroom, this study demonstrates the necessity of spiritual work on the part of the teacher to develop the mind frame and skill set necessary for dialogic pedagogy. A series of workshop activities based on Freire's spiritual prerequisites for dialogic education are proposed.

Imam, Shah, And Ayatollah: Charismatic Leadership In The Shi'i Tradition, And Its Role In Iran's Shi'ite Revolutions, Jonathon Case Henderson

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the role of charismatic religious leadership in Iran's two Shi'ite revolutions. Included within the larger arguments of this work, are sections addressing the scholastic categorizations of charisma, the development of the Shi'i Islamic tradition, and they way in which the charisma of the was appropriated by later Shi'i figures to bring about social, political, and religious revolutions in Iran. For this work, Shah Isma'il ibn Haydar and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini serve as examples of charismatic Shi'i figures that drew upon the suspended charisma of the Shi'i Imams. This work also briefly comments on events in contemporary Iran …

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 …

Shall Thou Reincarnate Or Not? A Quest For Spirituality Among Czech "Irreligious" People, Petr A. Činčala

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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 …

Anglo And Spanish-Speaking Church Relationships: A Brief History And An Oregon Case Study, Deborah Berho

Faculty Publications - Department of Sociology

No abstract provided.