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Prosocial Religion And Games: Lost & Found, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Articles

In a time when religious legal systems are discussed without an understanding of history or context, it is more important than ever to help widen the understanding and discourse about the prosocial aspects of religious legal systems throughout history. The Lost & Found (www.lostandfoundthegame.com) game series, targeted for an audience of teens through twentysomethings in formal, learning environments, is designed to teach the prosocial aspects of medieval religious systems—specifically collaboration, cooperation, and the balancing of communal and individual/family needs. Set in Fustat (Old Cairo) in the 12th century, the first two games in the series address laws in Moses Maimonides’ …

The Power In Multiplying: Growth In New Religious Movements, Nicole Wrobel

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Starting in November of 2016, a documentary series aired on the original network A&E where it continues to capture the attention of thousands of viewers in America. Scientology: The Aftermath, starring the well-known King of Queens and Dancing with the Stars actress Leah Remini and former senior executive of the church of Scientology International and Sea Organization Mike Rinder, aim to reveal the "truth" that hides behind the church of Scientology. The show interviews ex-practitioners who claim their lives have been deeply impacted by the church and who want to assist in revealing the shocking stories of abuse and harassment …

Semantics And The Study Of Religion, G. Scott Davis

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

This essay argues that the approach to meaning articulated by Donald Davidson supplies all the student of religion needs to know about this subject. By focusing on interpretation as understood by Davidson, we can understand, for example, the beliefs and practices of a people such as the Dogon of Mali. By adding to this the evidence of ethnography and history, students of religion can give a compelling account of change and adjudicate between competing analyses.

Shakers And Jerkers: Letters From The "Long Walk," 1805, Part 2, Douglas L. Winiarski

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Throughout the bitterly cold month of January 1805, John Meacham (1770-1854), Issachar Bates (1758-1837), and Benjamin Youngs (1774- 1855), struggled through mud and ice, biting winds, blinding snow, and drenching rains, on a 1,200-mile “Long Walk” to the settlements of the trans-Appalachian West. Traveling south toward Cumberland Gap, the three Shaker missionaries from New Lebanon, New York, were tracking a strange new convulsive religious phenomenon that had gripped Scots-Irish Presbyterians during the frontier religious awakening known as the Great Revival (1799-1805). Observers called the puzzling somatic fits “the Jerks.” Ardent supporters of the revivals believed the jerks were a sign …

Intercultural And Interreligious Bonds In The Language Of Colors, Lucy Soucek

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the interfaith elements of the artwork of three south Asian visual artists, The Singh Twins, Siona Benjamin, and Arpana Caur. All coming from various religious backgrounds, living in multicultural societies, and navigating the borders and boundaries between different religious thought, these artists create meaningful artwork which explores what it means to live in a pluralistic society. All three artists invite viewers to think differently, formulate opinions, rethink assumptions, and spark associations. They use art as a way to ignite interfaith understanding, reaching broader audiences and asking us to question how we understand our neighbors and ourselves.

Denominational Incompatibility And Religious Pluralism: A Non-Pluralist Response To A Pluralist Critique, Matthew Stinson

Global Tides

Religious Pluralism is the view that no one religion is correct, and no religion enjoys special status in relation to the Ultimate. Recently, Samuel Ruhmkorff has defended Religious Pluralism from what we'll call 'The Incompatibility Objection': many religions appear to make incompatible claims about ultimate reality, and therefore they cannot all be true. Ruhmkorff defends Religious Pluralism from the incompatibility problem by applying a “subsets of belief” defense that non-pluralists may use in response to denominational differences within a religion. He argues that non-pluralists are faced with denominational incompatibility within whatever religion they are asserting is uniquely true. He further …

(2018) Philosophy For/With Children, Religious Education And Education For Spirituality. Steps Toward A Review Of The Literature, Maughn Gregory, Stefano Oliverio

Collected Papers of Maughn Rollins Gregory

The authors describe the organization of a review of research literature on the relationship between Philosophy for/with Children (P4/wC) and religious education/education for spirituality (RE-EfS). They summarize a debate about whether the two are mutually enhancing or incompatible. They explain delimiting the scope of the project and present a grid of research questions used to analyze the literature. They summarize findings on how P4/wC is relevant to five categories of aims of RE-EfS: hermeneutical, cultural, socio-political, moral/spiritual, and epistemological. Many papers in the latter category promote P4/wC as a method for children’s epistemic agency in constructing their religious beliefs. Some …

Commerce, Religion, And The Rule Of Law, Nathan B. Oman

Faculty Publications

The rule of law and religion can act as commercial substitutes. Both can create the trust required for material prosperity. The rule of law simplifies social interactions, turning people into formal legal agents and generating a map of society that the state can observe and control, thus credibly committing to the enforcement of the legal rights demanded by impersonal markets. Religion, in contrast, embraces complex social identities. Within these communities, economic actors can monitor and sanction misbehavior. Both approaches have benefits and problems. The rule of law allows for trade among strangers, fostering peaceful pluralism. However, law breeds what Montesquieu …

A Close Reading Of Albert Cleage Jrs The Black Messiah: A Study In Rhetorical Hermeneutics, Black Prophetic Rhetoric And Radical Black Politics, Earle J. Fisher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The physical and rhetorical presentations in Albert Cleage Jrs 1968 publication, The Black Messiah, had an enormous impact on the theological and rhetorical landscape of the late 1960s and continues to echo into the early part of the 21st century. This book of 20 sermons preached at the height of the black power movement in Detroit was disruptive to a white supremacist religious consciousness that plagued the mainstream religious arena and general American public. The Black Messiah has contributed substantially to the change in public discourse about Jesus, Christianity, Black Power, and what it meant to the Christian then (and …

The Shunned Speak Out: Former Members On Life In The Jehovah's Witnesses And After, Nour Saudi, Joy Notoma

Capstones

"The Shunned Speak Out" is an interactive feature that explores the practice of religious shunning among Jehovah's Witnesses. When Jehovah's Witnesses opt to leave the group or are punished for an indiscretion, they are shunned and have to completely start their lives over without their families and the only community they have known. This piece profiles 13 former Jehovah's Witnesses, including their journeys and the emotional repercussions of shunning. Their personal stories are weaved in with expert voices and research on the organization.

https://jwshunning.github.io/jw/

Religiousness And Perceived God Perfectionism Among Elite Athletes, Benjamin J. Houltberg, Kenneth T. Wang, Sarah A. Schnitker

Movement and Being: The Journal of the Christian Society for Kinesiology, Leisure and Sports Studies

Little research has been conducted examining the link between athletes’ religious beliefs and practices and coping with the pressures related to elite competition. The purpose of the study was to investigate athletes’ global self-worth and perfectionistic concerns as key variables that link religiousness and perceived God perfectionism to dealing with performance failure and appraisals of upcoming competition. Self-report data was collected from a sample of 99 elite athletes (Mdn age = 22, 48% female, 89% believed in God) that were currently competing at a NCAA D1, professional or Olympic level. We used structural equation modeling to test direct and indirect …

Ellison, Marvin, Elyssa Pennell

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Marvin Ellison is a 69 year old gay man originally from Knoxville, Tennessee. He earned his bachelors degree in Religion at Davidson College. He then went on to get his Masters in Religion and Society at The Divinity School at the University of Chicago. Ellison then got his PhD in Christian Ethics at the Union Theological Seminary in New York. He was a professor of Christian Ethics at Bangor Theological Seminary from 1981-2012. He was also an Ordained member of the Presbyterian Church (USA) until he retired. In 1988 Ellison was on the Presbyterian Special Committee on Human Sexuality and …

Living In Question, Cynthia Rothschild

Occasional Paper Series

September 11 and the following months found Rothschild's students asking: "Why is there suffering?" "What has real value for me and for my society?" and, most resoundingly, "Is there a God?" She had few answers. The value that came to the forefront in her post-September 11 teaching was the value of living in question.

A Mission Of Divine Calling: A Chosen Nation's Crusade Against Evil, Ashley Harrington

The Eastern Illinois University Political Science Review

For decades, political scientists have and continue to theorize about influences on presidential decision-making and policy implementation. Faith and religious analysis however, remain relatively new to the study of presidential politics. This particular research examines two Republican presidents, both Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, that had vastly different ideas about how to combat nations whose policies limited freedom and liberty.

Fighting The New Wars Of Religion: The Need For A Tolerant First Amendment, Leslie C. Griffin

Maine Law Review

Religious wars have broken out around the country about the legality of gay marriage, the consequences of gay ordination for property ownership, the funding of faith-based organizations and the placement of crosses and Ten Commandments (but not Seven Aphorisms) on public land. To resolve such impassioned disputes, Americans traditionally look to the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment, which state "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Unfortunately, the Court's modern decisions interpreting those clauses have shed more heat than light on the discussion and have provoked ongoing controversy instead of …

Exorcising Power, John Jarzemsky

Theses and Dissertations

This paper theorizes that authors, in an act I have termed “literary exorcism,” project and expunge parts of their identities that are in conflict with the overriding political agenda of their texts, into the figure of the villain. Drawing upon theories of power put forth by Judith Butler, I argue that this sort of projection arises in reaction to dominant ideas and institutions, but that authors find ways to manipulate this process over time. By examining a broad cross-section of English-language literature over several centuries, this phenomenon and its evolution can be observed, as well as the means by which …

"My Journey Out Of...": How Women Narrate Their Religious Departures, Angela Louise Glunz

Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze stories that don’t often get told or heard. Traditionally, nonreligious people have had to keep their lack of belief to themselves out of fear of persecution. In the literature review of this dissertation, I summarize previous scholarship about leaving religion. In an effort to learn about autobiographies written by nonreligious women, I utilize storytelling as a theoretical framework, located within the rhetorical uses of personal narratives, and ask: What are the types of challenges, experiences, and topics that nonreligious women include in their stories?; How do these autobiographies invite readers to understand …

Separation In The Sara Female Initiation Ceremony, Kelsey Moe

Religious Studies Undergraduate Research

This paper employs hermeneutics as opposed to a comparative, explanatory, or descriptive method to engage the phenomenon of Sara female initiation as captured by Lori Leonard’s ethnography, “Female Circumcision in Southern Chad: Origins, Meaning, and Current Practice.” The Sara people of Southern Chad – although predominantly Christian – have their roots in a pre-colonial religion that reveres ancestors. The spirits of Sara ancestors are believed to exist in the bush outside of the village. In the female initiation ceremony, girls are removed from the village and enter the surrounding bush to undergo the ritual transition. This separation is key to …

From Congregations To Congress: The Impact Of Religion In The 114th Congress, Emily Mildred Cottle

Honors Theses

The impact of religion on congressional politics is a question that is asked frequently, yet most answers I have found are, in my opinion, inadequate in accurately evaluating such an impact. This project has shown the influence that religion has on members of the House of Representatives through religion's effect on cosponsorship patterns. I have shown that both members' denominational affiliation and their religious salience are significant across multiple legislative categories. In this thesis I have redefined the measurement of religion when considering its impact on congressional politics and broadened the scope of the question. Whereas researchers previously sought to …

Theological Function As The Key To Israelite Religious Distinctiveness In The Ancient Near East : The Holy Place As A Case Study, Samuel C. Long

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Beyond The Bucket List: Identity-Centered Religious Calling, Being, And Action Among Parents, David C. Dollahite, Loren D. Marks, Taleah M. Kear, Brittany M. Lewis, Megan L. Stokes

Faculty Publications

From a positive family psychology perspective, this study explores identity-centered religious calling, being, and action among parents of youth, that is, what religious parents believe they are called to be and to do in relation to their adolescent children. Twenty-nine Christian, Jewish, and Muslim families of youth (N = 58) were asked what they considered most important for them "to be" and "to do" as parents of faith. Qualitative analyses were conducted to determine major themes of responses. Parents indicated they believed they were called to be (A1) an example, (A2) authentic, and (A3) consistent; called to provide their …

Cultural Belief In The Supernatural From 500 To 1500: Change Over Time, Significance, And Dispersion Of Ideas From Augustine To Shakespeare, Stephanie Victoria Violette

History ETDs

This project is an amalgamation of case studies, arguing that not only did the supernatural permeate every level of medieval society, but that its potential for analysis and interpretation is largely unexplored. These case studies include: an analysis of the Church Fathers works, including Tertullian’s De testimonio animae, Augustine of Hippo’s De cura pro mortuis gerenda, and Gregory the Great’s Dialogi, addressing the variation in these works’ theological ideas about the soul; an analysis of the works of Gregory of Tours (his Liber vitae Patrum and Historia Francorum), which reflect popular beliefs as opposed to those …

Practical Theology In An Interpretive Community: An Ethnography Of Talk, Texts And Video In A Mediated Women's Bible Study, Nancie Hudson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study of social interaction in a small religious group used ethnography of communication as a research method to collect and analyze data from 20 months of fieldwork. As a long-term participant-observer in a women-only interdenominational Bible study, I investigated the group’s patterned ways of speaking, how print and electronic learning materials influenced the practical application of Scripture to daily life, and how the contemporary format for women’s Bible study alters the traditional Bible study experience. Patterned ways of speaking in this setting included group discussions and conversational narratives about religion, motherhood and lack of time. Using affirmations of faith, …

Religion And Violence In Jesse James Films, 1972–2010, Travis Warren Cooper

Journal of Religion & Film

This essay analyzes recent depictions of Jesse James in cinema, examining filmic portrayals of the figure between the years of 1972 and 2010. Working from the intersection of the anthropology of film and religious studies approaches to popular culture, the essay fills significant gaps in the study of James folklore. As no substantial examinations of the religious aspects of the James myths exist, I hone in on the legend’s religiosity as contested in filmic form. Films, including revisionist Westerns, are not unlike oral-history statements recorded and analyzed by anthropologists, folklorists, and ethnographers. Jesse James movies, in other words, have much …

Globalization Of The Catholic Church: Implications For Managing A Large Multinational Organizations For A Long Period Of Time., Paula Robinson

Honors Projects in Marketing

No abstract provided.

Ethnicity, Religion And Violence In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Jusuf Salih

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

The violence that erupted in the Balkans at the end of the second millennium made fierce enemies of people who had lived together in peace as neighbors, friends, classmates, and married couples. Nationalism, chauvinism, and religious fanaticism quickly grew stronger, leading to the disappearance of centuries-long harmony among its inhabitants. Among the reasons for the conflict were the experienced communist leaders who skillfully used religious slogans to advance their campaigns; also, religious leaders became close associates to political leaders with hopes that they would attain the religious rights denied and limited during the old governance. As a result, nationalism and …

Religion And The State: The Influence Of The Tokugawa On Religious Life, Thought, And Institutions, Savannah A. Labbe

Student Publications

This paper describes the influence of the Tokugawa government on religious life in Japan. It focuses on the religious traditions of Buddhism, Shintoism, and Neo-Confucianism and how the state used these religions to their advantage. The Tokugawa had strict control over all aspects of Japanese life including religion and this paper explores that.

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Next Steps For The Usu Interfaith Initiative: Engaged Anthropology Meets Interfaith Cooperation On A Public University Campus, Bonnie Glass-Coffin

Interfaith Initiative Research

As a result of Campus Climate research undertaken in the fall of 2013, the USU Interfaith Initiative was developed to address identified needs. The PowerPoint presentation summarizes a few of the curricular and co-curricular programs and events undertaken as part of this initiative to promote interfaith cooperation on our campus.

The Intersection Of Politics And Theology: Reading Augustine In Light Of Augustine, Landon P. Wilcox

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Augustine’s The City of God is a foundational theological text for the development of Christian thought across time. Over the centuries, political scientists and theologians have been especially interested in this text in a variety of ways, but for the purposes of this discussion, the focus will be on Books I-V and Book XIX. Typically, theologians have been interested in Augustine’s rebuttal of pagan claims that are found in the first five books, while political scientists focus most of their attention on Book XIX for its discussion of the highest ends of the state through the means of politics in …