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The Relationship Between Christian Religiosity And Heterosexism In The Southern United States, Patricia Hare

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The internalization of heterosexism places lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals at disproportionately higher risks of depression and self-destructive behaviors. For LGB Christians, this phenomenon is often exacerbated. Although literature on heterosexism has increased, little research has examined more insular, religious environments. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Christian denominational religiosity and heterosexism and to compare the degree of religiosity and heterosexism between members of 5 Christian denominations and between same-sex sexuality perspectives in the southern United States. Guided by the attribution theory, a correlational, cross-sectional survey design was used to analyze degree of religiosity …

Current Key Perspectives In Video Gaming And Religion: Theses By Owen Gottlieb., Owen Gottlieb

Articles

Current Key Perspectives in Video Gaming and Religion: Theses by Owen Gottlieb. Based on AAR 2015 panel with Ian Bogost, Gregory Grieve, Rachel Wagner, Michael Waltemathe, Jason Anthony, Xenia Zeiler, Kerstin Radde Antweiler. Heidi Campbell (presiding) Michael Houseman (respondent) Gamevironments, (Issue 3, 2015) http://www.gamevironments.org/ Universität Bremen. Includes paper (thesis), transcript, and audio file

Jane Minot Sedgwick Ii And The World Of American Catholic Converts, 1820-1890, Erin M. Bartram

Doctoral Dissertations

When Jane Minot Sedgwick II (1821-1889), the daughter of an elite New England Unitarian family, became a Catholic in 1853, she joined a new faith culture while remaining embedded in the social world of her birth. As a young woman, she was uninterested in her family’s religious activities and uncomfortable with their zeal. This dissertation argues that Sedgwick only came to see Catholicism as a viable religious option after developing friendships with other elite women who had recently converted. After studying Catholicism for ten years, Sedgwick joined the Church, a decision she described as rational. In light of her independent …

X-Men, Dragon Age, And Religion: Representations Of Religion And The Religious In Comic Books, Video Games, And Their Related Media, Lyndsey E. Shelton

Honors College Theses

It is a widely accepted notion that a child can only be called stupid for so long before they believe it, can only be treated in a particular way for so long before that is the only way that they know. Why is that notion never applied to how we treat, address, and present religion and the religious to children and young adults? In recent years, questions have been continuously brought up about how we portray violence, sexuality, gender, race, and many other issues in popular media directed towards young people, particularly video games. These issues rarely include religion, despite …

The Myth Of A Secular Economy: Capitalism's Unarticulated Theology, Daniel F. Sebastian

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The discipline of modern economics has been categorized as based in mathematics and thus dealing only with facts. Religion, on the other hand, is considered one of the primary institutions in society that engenders different values. The stark separation between these two fields is typical of the modern fact-value distinction. The goal of this project is to provide, relying heavily upon Peter L. Berger, a detailed analysis of the value-laden social functions of religion and consider whether economics, specifically capitalism, also carries out these functions. The thesis blurs the lines between economics and religion by showing that capitalism engages in …

Public Ethics As A Canadiana “Theologica Publica”, David G. A. Pfrimmer

Consensus

This paper explores how a paradigm of the “public commons” can describe the relationship and contribution of various ‘public’ actors. The paper will explore how we might think differently about ‘public(s)’ and why “public ethics” could serve as a distinctively Canadian ‘public theology’ of ‘belonging.’ Paper presented as “Capital Theology: Religion and Politics in the 21st Century” at the Canadian Theological Society. Ottawa, June 2015.

Strengthening Skills: Hosting A Research Boot Camp, Stephanie Soule, Heidi Gauder

Roesch Library Faculty Presentations

Instruction librarians and an academic department formed a community of practice and developed a three-day research “boot camp” for graduate research assistants. The students gained critical research skills, which benefited their department, while the librarians experimented with new instruction techniques.

Finding Religion: An Analysis Of Theology Libguides, Gerrit Van Dyk

Faculty Publications

This paper will compare various LibGuides in theology from thirty-seven different institutions. These institutions include universities granting undergraduate and graduate degrees in religion or theology as well as seminaries for professional clergy. Data on LibGuides content, such as books, ebooks, journals, databases, librarian contact information, and others, will be compared and analyzed. Resources especially tailored to religious and theological studies will also be highlighted.

Women, Higher Education, And The Labor Market: A Cross-Cultural Understanding Of The Impact Of Religion, Allison Fife Hale

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

How do deeply-held cultural perspectives shape the desire and ability of women to pursue higher education and or careers? More specifically, how do predominant religious and cultural perspectives on the family, the role of women, and the role of education influence a woman's decision to obtain higher education and her perceived ability or desire to seek full-time employment upon graduation? To answer these questions, this research utilized a cross-cultural survey instrument to compare and contrast the perceptions of female, undergraduate students in one predominantly Muslim/Middle Eastern society -- Dubai, U.A.E -- and one predominantly Mormon/Western society -- Utah, U.S.A. We …

Kirsch V. Wisconsin Department Of Corrections: Will The Supreme Court Say "Hands Off" Again?, Owen J. Rarric

Akron Law Review

This Note examines the struggle of prison inmates to gain access to religious materials; materials that have been forbidden by prison officials. Part II of the Note will examine the historical development of inmates’ constitutional rights. It will also analyze the Supreme Court’s standard for reviewing prison regulations involving inmates’ constitutional rights. Moreover, the Note discusses Congress’ attempt to set the standard of review. The Note then examines the significance of the Kirsch decision. Finally, the Note analyzes the fourth factor of the Turner Standard used in Kirsch and explores the possible effect of a new legislative act on prisoners’ …

Constructing The New Nepal: Religious Billboards In Nepal’S Second People’S Movement, Michael Baltutis

HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies

Accompanying King Gyanendra’s February First, 2005, efforts to consolidate his loosening grip on national power, the royal Nepali government raised a series of highly visible billboards throughout the cities of the Kathmandu Valley. A small subset of these boards were explicitly religious, encouraging Nepal’s citizens to perform their patriotic bhakti (devotion), karma (action), and dharma (duty). This rhetorical support of a ‘universal’ Hinduism contradicted the inclusivism that was widely regarded as part and parcel of the ‘new Nepal’ and resulted in a contradictory vision of the same: a modern secular nation composed of citizens, rather than of subservient subjects, unified …

Religion In The Schools: On Prayer, Neutrality, And Sectarian Perspectives, Mark Strasser

Akron Law Review

About sixty years ago the United States Supreme Court decided Everson v. Board of Education, a case marking the beginning of modern Establishment Clause jurisprudence. Since then, in cases ranging from challenges to programs providing on-site religious education during school hours to challenges of school refusals to permit after-school lectures from a religious perspective, the Court has had several opportunities to clarify the respects in which religious education may be associated with public schools without violating constitutional guarantees. The Court’s analysis of the implicated issues has been remarkably inconsistent, both in tone and in substance. Indeed, the reasoning most recently …

College Basketball In Kentucky, Religion, And Distinguishing Between The Two: Concerns And Cautions For The Conversation On The Religiosity Of Sports, Matthew A. Sheffield

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Academic analysis of sport and religion is still in an early and formative phase. Only in the past fifty years has the conversation of sport and religion substantially been revealed as subject matter for serious academic work. This thesis includes literature from various scholars interested in religion and sport, contemplation on the religious nature of college basketball in the state of Kentucky, and challenges for leading scholars arguing over the notion of sport as a form of religion. The first half of the thesis presents the narrative of the increasingly growing academic debate over considering sport a religious phenomenon. The …

African Initiated Churches : The Case Of The Igreja Evangelica Amor De Deus, Romanos 5 : 5, Em Mocambique : (Love Of God Evangelical Church, Romans 5 : 5, In Mozambique), Philip H. Troutman

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Return To Political Theology, Joshua D. Hawley

Faculty Publications

There was a time when theology was called the "queen of the sciences." From the beginnings of the university in the High Middle Ages through the nineteenth century, theology formed the backbone of liberal instruction at institutions of higher learning. Those days are long past. What remains of theological investigation in most major American universities has been trans- posed into the study of religion and safely sequestered in "religious studies" departments. Few undergraduates today encounter theology as a discipline-and as for law students, well, the idea that theology might have some relevance for the study of law is regarded in …

What’S So Funny About Arguing With God? A Case For Playful Argumentation From Jewish Literature., Don Waisanen, Hershey H. Friedman, Linda Weiser Freidman

Publications and Research

In this paper, we show that God is portrayed in the Hebrew Bible and in the Rabbinic literature—some of the very Hebrew texts that have influenced the three major world religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—as One who can be argued with and even changes his mind. Contrary to fundamentalist positions, in the Hebrew Bible and other Jewish texts God is omniscient but enjoys good, playful argumentation, broadening the possibilities for reasoning and reasonability. Arguing with God has also had a profound influence upon Jewish humor, demonstrating that humans can joke with God. More specifically, we find in Jewish literature …

Altrusim, Fact Or Fiction?: An Exploration Of Altruism And Egoism In The Context Of Religion And Service Learning, Sarah Pawlicki

A with Honors Projects

This research paper questions the existence of true altruism, by discussing social psychological, philosophical, and theological theories regarding altruism and egoism. The author then discusses her findings in the context of two service learning projects which involved volunteering at the Champaign County Humane Society and Salt and Light, A Christian ministry that provides job counseling, computer access, a thrift and food store. She concludes that, rather than questioning the existence of true altruism exists, the focus should be on doing good for others, regardless of motives.

Religious Discourse And Interdisciplinarity In Sport Studies, Zachary T. Smith

The Hilltop Review

Religious and theological explorations of leisure have remained few and far between, as religious studies perceive sport and game related studies as trivial, and as leisure theorists find social scientific methods more compelling. And yet, religious traditions and thinkers have been offering accounts and ethics of leisure activities for thousands of years, and anthropological evidence suggests the origination of sport and game play arose in the context of religious cult activity (Huizinga, 1949; Guttmann, 2007). Further, contemporary research has indicated that religion plays an important role in structuring the thought and behavior of religious persons towards their leisure (Waller, 2009) …

La (Re)Imaginación De Una Ruta Milenaria: El Camino De Santiago En El Modelaje De Una Espiritualidad Moderna, Benjamin Lester

Honors Theses

El Camino de Santiago ha visto un gran influjo de peregrinos modernos desde 1993, año en que fue declarado patrimonio mundial de la UNESCO: aquel año jacobeo vio 99.436 peregrinos en comparación con los 9.764 del año anterior. Esta tesis explora la experiencia del peregrino, considerando obras culturales que 1) han sido producidas después de 1993, fecha a partir de la cual hay mayor énfasis en una espiritualidad diferente y transformadora, según la tesis que se defiende en este trabajo; 2) trata solo del Camino francés, que es el que conecta con Europa y, por tanto, el que tiene carácter …

What's Faith Got To Do With It : Clinicians' Experiences Of Addressing Issues Of Religion And Spirituality In Therapy, Lauren Raymond

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This exploratory, mixed-methods study was conducted to investigate the experiences of clinicians who have both been in personal therapy and practice with clients, to consider the nature of addressing issues pertaining to religion and spirituality, both in the role of client and as clinician. The study sought to explore whether there was any evident correlation between clinicians' experiences in therapy or one's personal spiritual affiliation, or lack thereof, and if and how they approached the discussion of these topics with clients. The research was carried out via an online survey that was distributed to practicing clinicians via direct as well …

Jean Sulivan And The Mystical Moment, Eamon Maher

Books/Chapters

No abstract provided.

Rebranding Religion, Parker Brown

Capstones

The Mormon church spends millions on focus group, lobby groups, surveys, public relations, and marketing, all to fix a single problem: When Americans are asked what they think of Mormons, fewer than 50% give a positive answer. This is the story of God-vertising, of what happens when the traditions of religion meet the proselyting tools of the modern world.

Situating Belonging Through Multi-Sited Identities: Community Building Among Middle Eastern Christians In Upstate South Carolina, Amelia Ayoob

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a Human Geography perspective on immigrant identity and integration. Using the case of a diverse, multigenerational Middle Eastern Christian population in the Upstate region of South Carolina, I explore how Middle Eastern immigrants and their descendants have negotiated belonging and identity in the United States by simultaneously building new social networks in the Upstate and maintaining ties to the Middle East. The focus on a single case allowed for an in-depth exploration of how geographic and historical contexts have shaped the present-day dynamics of the community (broadly defined) constructed around two Catholic churches, one Latin and one …

Why Distinguish Religion, Legally Speaking?, Winnifred Fallers Sullivan

San Diego Law Review

Law professors commonly answer this critique by scholars of religion, as Andrew Koppelman does, with the comment that, after all, any ambiguity in definition only arises in a few cases. Most of the time the reference is obvious, he says. Moreover, he insists, it has worked fine for all those for whom it should work. But that is the problem—its very obviousness. The problems of exclusion are largely invisible. The reference is so obvious to many and so obviously inclusive of those who are deserving that there is no way to have a conversation about it without the conversation devolving …

Contemporary Conversations On Cross-Cultural Exchange, Jenni L. Shelton

The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs

No abstract provided.

Religious Beliefs About Suffering: Measure Validation And Relationships With Well-Being, Amy Hale

Doctoral Dissertations

Beliefs are central to all world religions, but there is limited data on the relationships between specific religious beliefs and well-being. This dissertation presents findings from two studies of beliefs about suffering using the Views of Suffering Scale (VOSS; Hale-Smith, Park, & Edmondson, 2012).

Study 1 was a cross-sectional validation study using an online sample of 1000 participants self-identified as Catholic, Protestant, Atheist/Agnostic, Hindu, Muslim, or Jewish. Measures included information regarding demographics and measures of religious history and beliefs. Results of Study 1 indicated differences in beliefs based on age, geographic region, religious affiliation, and how religious or spiritual participants …

Behind The Doors Of White Supremacy, Catlyn Kenna Keenan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

What is the relationship between religious belief and acts of violence and terrorism? The American white supremacy movements of the Ku Klux Klan and Christian Identity are deeply rooted in Protestant Christianity and are also responsible for some of the gravest acts of violence on American soil. The intersection between religious belief and terrorist action illuminates the interplay between religion and acts of violence.

This study firstly provides a history of the ideology of Christian Identity with specific attention to the ways in which committing violence is rationalized and understood as redemptive. Secondly, this study identifies six characteristics of a …

Religion And Language As Cultural Carriers And Barriers In Mathematics Education--Revisited, Murad E. Jurdak

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Here we revisit a paper which examined two theses regarding the roles of religion and language of instruction in mathematics education. The first thesis states that if values of mathematics education are incompatible with the value system of the mother culture, then mathematics will be ``appended'' to the culture as a ``technology'' rather than assimilated as a ``mode of thinking''. The second thesis states that as soon as mathematics is applied in problems and situations, the language of instruction and learning becomes a cultural carrier in terms of behaviors, social relations, habits, and values. In the original paper, the first …

Must We Forgive?: Exploring The Limits And Possibilities Of Forgiveness And Resentment, Margaret Adele Schneiderman

Honors Theses

Conflict has marked civilization from Biblical times to the present day. Each of us, with our different and competing interests, and our desires to pursue those interests, have over time wronged another person. Not surprisingly then, forgiveness is a concern of individuals and groups¿communities, countries, religious groups, races¿yet it is a complex idea that philosophers, theologians, political scientists, and psychologists have grappled with. Some have argued that forgiveness is a therapeutic means for overcoming guilt, pain, and anger. Forgiveness is often portrayed as a coping mechanism¿how often we hear the phrase, ¿forgive and forget,¿ as an arrangement to help two …

Teaching Asian Religions From Within Asian American Community, Emily Wu

Collected Faculty Scholarship

Article Excerpt:

Our 87 year-old Elder, a third-generation descendent of a Chinese American fishing village in Northern California, gives us a timid smile from behind the bar of the small diner that he and his family have operated since the 1940s. My students and I have just set up a laptop and microphone for recording a first-person account of his life story. The Elder looks over our shoulders, where a man stands with a stern face and his arms crossed—this is a member of the non-profit organization that now operates the village as a park. The twinkles in the eyes …