Religion Commons^™

Rita, Rita, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Rita Alkhaledy grew up in Sadr City, a poor suburb of Baghdad. Her father is an Iraqi Arab and her mother was Kurdish Iranian. Her mother lived in fear that she would be cast out of Baghdad as being an outsider in Iraq was frowned upon. Her father served in the Iraqi army in the 80s and was gone a great deal, leading to a strained relationship. Their relationship was mended when her mother died from cancer.

After the Iraq war, Rita and her brothers realized that their lives were in danger. They had to move from house to house …

No Common Ground: Competing Worldviews At Mato Tipila, Wendy Anne Felese

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project analyzes a legal conflict (Bear Lodge Multiple Use Assn v Babbitt 2 F. Supp. 2d 1448) at Mato Tipila, a significant place for the Lakota (Sioux) community and with which they have a historical and longstanding relationship. Commercial and recreational rock-climbing enthusiasts who make use of it and the tourists who arrive in droves each year to visit, call this place Devils Tower. The case centered on whether the government violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by instituting a climbing ban during the month of June to accommodate Lakota ceremonial obligations. In recent historical developments, the …

The Phenomenon Of Rome: On Roads, Refugees, And Teilhard De Chardin, Jon Radwan

CHDCM Publications

Teilhard de Chardin’s understanding of creation as an evolutionary process is used as a lens for studying Roman roads and refugees. A shorter version of this essay was published in Seton Hall University 2018 Core Trip, pages 28-33. This draft has been submitted for potential publication in Writing Rome: A Spiritual Journey, Kelly Shea ed.

Ua1c6/1 Demonstration / Protest Photos, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Images of student / faculty demonstrations and protests of various types.

Ali, Ali, Twila Bird

TSOS Interview Gallery

At eighteen fate placed Ali and his family in the center of hostilities in northern Afghanistan. Warring militant factions killed hundreds of people in his village. Ali helped identify and bury dozens of his friends and neighbors in a mass grave.

We spent days and nights in the mountains and blocked on the borders. I crossed the mountainous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan walking with my handicap. Then it took us another sixteen hours to cross the border between Pakistan and Iran, also in very high mountains of more than 2500 meters. The Iranian police were killing people on the …

Jeanusnat, Jeanusnat, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Jeanusnat’s father, who was chief of a Nigerian community, was murdered by an enemy community. The murderer intended to kill Jeanusnat and his mother as well, but they fled to neighboring Niger. There, Jeanusnat parted ways with his mother, who stayed at the church with a family, and Jeanusnat crossed into Libya in the back of a truck. But once in Libya, danger persisted. He was confronted by some robbers who stabbed him with a knife and beat him, leaving injuries on his legs and shoulder. In Tripoli, a man offered him temporary refuge, where Jeanusnat stayed until he decided …

Jenyffer Nascimento’S Epic Poetry Of Black Female Empowerment Jenyffer Nascimento: A Poesia Épica De Empoderamento Da Mulher Negra, Sarah S. Ohmer

Publications and Research

This article presents results of auto-ethnography, literary analysis, and fieldwork research to answer an underlying, perhaps unresolved, concern, relevant to this dossier: how can we produce an ethical dialogue as transnational Black Feminists, among Black Brazilian women, and North American Black women, in an ethical manner, while realizing that one may (not ever) be a part of the “carnival without you in it.” Fertile Earth/ Terra Fertil tells a long overdue epic story to an audience within the poetry: Black women, family members, other times a Black man, Brazil, white women, or “you,” undefined. Joy to pain to chaos, sensuality, …

Evangelical Dictatorship Driving The Guatemalan Civil War: Reconsidering Ríos Montt, The “Savior Of La Nueva Guatemala”, Miho Egoshi

Dissertations and Theses

The devastating earthquake that hit Guatemala in 1976 was used as a pretext for American born Protestant evangelicalism—mainly Pentecostalism—to gain entry in the Guatemalan society. A major consequence of the earthquake relief efforts by American evangelicals, is that their meddling also intensified the Mayan genocide during the Guatemalan Civil War (1960-96). This thesis explores the complicit relationship of religion and politics in the Guatemalan Civil War, focusing on the evangelical dictator Efraín Ríos Montt’s regime (1982-83). Firstly, it examines how Christian evangelicalism played a pivotal role for conservative Republican candidate Ronald Reagan and, later through his administration, for Ríos Montt’s …

Meeting At The Threshold: Slavery’S Influence On Hospitality And Black Personhood In Late-Antebellum American Literature, Rebecca Wiltberger Wiggins

Theses and Dissertations--English

In my dissertation, I argue that both white and black authors of the late-1850s and early-1860s used scenes of race-centered hospitality in their narratives to combat the pervasive stereotypes of black inferiority that flourished under the influence of chattel slavery. The wide-spread scenes of hospitality in antebellum literature—including shared meals, entertaining overnight guests, and business meetings in personal homes—are too inextricably bound to contemporary discussions of blackness and whiteness to be ignored. In arguing for the humanizing effects of playing host or guest as a black person, my project joins the work of literary scholars from William L. Andrews to …

The Promised Land: A Postcolonial Homiletic Of Promise In The Asian American Context, Sunggu Yang

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Asian American Christians carry within them a triple consciousness by being Asian, American, and Christian. Being Christian specifically means being a pilgrim bound for the Promised Land. The Asian American pilgrim preacher’s message issues from this triple consciousness and from a spirit of postcolonial liberation. Such a preacher’s message is therefore a declaration or assurance of God’s liberative promise of the Promised Land for Asian Americans, the Land already being realized here and now in the foreign land. By being this-earthly and other-worldly, the pilgrim preacher’s message is synthetic-ethical in nature. This article shows that the triple consciousness is a …

Raça, Jinshu, Race: Whiteness, Japanese-Ness, And Resistance In Sūkyō Mahikari In The Brazilian Amazon, Moana Luri De Almeida

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presented an analysis of how leaders and adherents of a Japanese religion called Sūkyō Mahikari understand and interpret jinshu (race) and hito(person) in a particular way, and how this ideology is practiced in the city of Belém, in the Brazilian Amazon. The teachings of Sūkyō Mahikari classify humanity into five races (yellow, white, red, blue/green, black/purple) and five religions (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism). In this classification, the original humans - hito, the kingly race ōbito, and the God-given supra-religion sūkyō - deteriorated into ningen (people), the other races, and shūkyō (religions) along an …

The Effect Of Religious Dress On Perceived Attractiveness And Trustworthiness, Courtney Swank

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The hijab, a symbol of modesty and privacy in the Islamic faith, negatively affects ratings of perceived attractiveness. Although postcolonial feminism strives to portray women as not one universal group, but as an incorporation of different races, ethnicities, social classes, and other cultures, the Western world may not be where it endeavors to be. In this study the impact of the hijab on people’s perceptions of attractiveness was examined. Participants rated four target photos of the same woman with and without a hijab, and with or without cosmetics. Attractiveness and trustworthiness was then assessed in each condition, between genders, in …

Mazanet's 1693 "Report To The Viceroy:" The Role Of Alterity, Bare Life, And Agency In The Attitude Of A Spanish Friar Against Texas Amerindians, Pedro Cebollero

The Coastal Review

This study evaluates Spanish missionary Damián Mazanet’s beliefs and attitudes about the Texas Indians expressed in a 1693 letter. In order to control the Amerindians, Mazanet represents them as beings with bare life, which gives him permission to implement biopolitical tactics such as the reorganization of Indian populations around the mission, their removal from their own lands, and their conversion by force. In spite of this, the examination of textual silences in the letter shows such Amerindians as agents who actually refuse to be subjected by the Spanish friars and soldiers.

Seeing Witchcraft, Bernhard Udelhoven

Journal of Global Catholicism

When Christians in Zambia struggle with witchcraft, they also struggle with African cultural and religious concepts that deal with life’s ambiguities and that require discernment. It is not by working against the cultural and religious heritage, but by working with it, as far as possible, that the pastor can identify the broken relationships towards which many witchcraft discourses point. However, before we place the concepts of witchcraft into the realm of superstition (as are the trends of mission Christianity) or the demonic (as are the trends of charismatic Christianity), the Church has the duty to look at the concepts, stay …

Allocutio: Articulating The Task For The Future Of African Catholicism, Mary Sylvia Nwachukwu

Journal of Global Catholicism

This essay charts how Catholicism can become more indigenously African and respond better to African needs and concerns.

The Devil Of The Missionary Church: The White Fathers And Catholic Evangelization In Zambia, Bernhard Udelhoven

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article examines how Western Catholic missionaries in Zambia dealt with claims of witchcraft and Satanism. Within an analytic frame that draws upon cultural history, theology, and anthropology the article also considers how African Christians appropriated missionary notions of the devil.

Relationships Between Religious Denomination, Quality Of Life, Motivation And Meaning In Abeokuta, Nigeria, Mary Gloria Njoku, Babajide Gideon Adeyinka

Journal of Global Catholicism

Inter-disciplinary research that combines methods in psychology of the impact of religious change in Africa and theological approaches has been very scant in Nigeria. This study examines the relationship among religious denominations, quality of life, motivation and meaning in life in Abeokuta metropolis in Ogun State, Nigeria using psychological and religious tools. The study hypothesizes that members of the Roman Catholic denomination would differ from members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and the Living Faith Church in motivational factors and meaning making.

The Ecclesiology Of Pope Francis And The Future Of The Church In Africa, Bradford E. Hinze

Journal of Global Catholicism

A consideration of the future of African Catholicism in light of the ecclesiology of Pope Francis. The article explores how themes in Francis's ecclesiology work together to challenge centralization, clericalism, and triumphalism in the church by promoting practices of synodality and how these elements support the church’s mission to work against forms of colonialism, neo-colonialism, and the most fundamental matrix of colonial power by advancing radical democracy in society

Editor's Introduction, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

An overview of African Catholicism. Part Two: Retrospect and Prospect, third issue of the Journal of Global Catholicism. A summary of the work of Bradford Hinze, Mary Gloria Njoku, Matthias Scharer, Mary Sylvia Nwachukwu, and Bernhard Udelhoven. Among the topics considered: African ecclesiology, African wellness and quality of life in Africa, interreligious dialogue in Africa, African Biblical scholarship, witchcraft and the Catholic Church.

Spirituality Among Black Americans: A Hierarchical Classification Of The Family Strengths Model, Genese Clark

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

There is a need for disaggregate data pertaining to the perceived strengths of Black American families. This study identified which traits are salient and dominant among African-American families according to the Family Strengths Model. Utilizing this model, a mixed methods study was conducted among Black Americans living in Connecticut who identify with belonging to a family (N=59) to investigate the importance of six family strength domains. Results found the hierarchical rank (from most important to least important) to be commitment, spirituality/ spiritual wellbeing, appreciation and affection, positive communication, time together, and the ability to manage stress and crisis effectively. Additionally, …

Southern Veils : The Sisters Of Loretto In Early National Kentucky., Hannah O'Daniel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the experiences of Roman Catholic women who joined the Sisters of Loretto, a community of women religious in rural Washington and Nelson Counties, Kentucky, between the 1790s and 1826. It argues that the Sisters of Loretto used faith to interpret and respond to unfolding events in the early nation. The women sought to combat moral slippage and restore providential favor in the face of local Catholic institutional instability, global Protestant evangelical movements, war and economic crisis, and a tuberculosis outbreak. The Lorettines faced financial, social, and cultural pressures—including an economic depression, a culture that celebrated family formation …

Toward Unity, Acceptance, And Empowerment: Bridging The Chasm Between Women Laity And Clergy In The A.M.E. Church, Rhonda Yvonne Green Harmon

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

A B S T R A C T

Rhonda Green Harmon

B.S., Texas Southern University, 1980

M.Ed. Texas Southern University, 1989

M.Ed. Principal Certification, University of Houston, 2002

M.Div. Houston Graduate School of Theology, 2012

“Toward Unity, Acceptance, and Empowerment:

Bridging the Chasm between Women Laity and Clergy in the A.M.E. Church”

This Doctor of Ministry project/practicum endeavors to initiate and engage dialogue between clergywomen and laywomen in the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church for the purpose of uniting, empowering, and fostering acceptance among all women. It addresses the ways that internalized patriarchy has hindered relationships between women. The main …

Nicole Ludwig, Tsos, Nicole Ludwig

TSOS Interview Gallery

In September 2016, Nicole Ludwig led a group of her neighbors in Germany to assist newly-arrived Syrian and Afghani refugees. The volunteers collected clothing and toys, organized activities and field trips for the refugee children, and taught them German. Later, the volunteers offered homework support and led library reading groups. For the adult refugees, the volunteers provided cultural assimilation instruction and cooking classes. While there were occasional challenges to working together, the volunteers and refugees fostered a collaborative system and even hosted a Christmas party, during which one elderly Syrian man said, “This is one of the best memories I …

Layla, Layla, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Layla left Ethiopia 10 years ago to look for work opportunities. She left behind a father and three brothers. She went to Syria on a three-year work contract. She worked in a house and learned Arabic. She then went to Turkey by boat and then went on to Greece for 5 years. She worked and learned the Greek language. When she became pregnant she had to stop working. She travelled to Serbia to Macedonia to Austria all on foot. Then the Red Cross moved Layla and her daughter to Giessen, Germany where a roommate periodically beat her baby. Seeking safety …

Fadel, Tsos, Fadel

TSOS Interview Gallery

Fadel's family was originally from Palestine. However, for reasons he couldn’t recall, they moved to Libya, where Fadel was born, and he grew up there. He recalled that life inLibya used to be good, but that it became dangerous. Fadel came to Italy alone. His parents died and left him nothing seven years ago. His siblings died as well. He came to Italy 6 months ago seeking asylum by way of Tripoli to Sabratha, and then to Sardinia and Calabria. He has been living on the streets, and because he couldn’t provide an address, he was denied asylum

Katja, Ketevahi 'Katje', Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Ketevahi “Katja” is from Georgia. She’s in her late 40’s. She grew up on a farm in the country and became the financial support for her family after her mother died and her father became “emaciated.” When Putin came to power, diplomatic ties deteriorated between Georgia and Russia, which eventually led to war. She fled her country using forged documents and first worked in Turkey but has now lived in Naples for nine years and regularly sends money home to her brother, who cares for their father.

Katja expresses her feelings about war, government, liberty, and what it means to …

Felix, Tsos, Felix

TSOS Interview Gallery

Felix is originally from Nigeria and has now been inItaly under a year. He came from a family with a polygamous father who “married” multiple wives illegally. After returning home from a service mission for his church, which his father supported, Felix began to study engineering. At some point conflict arose within the family that causedFelix to have to flee.He was smuggled through Niger to Libya, losing several friends along the way.There he was held for ransom, before taking a treacherous voyage across the sea in an overfilled boat, where he witnessed several drown. Now he lives in a camp …

Momo, Momo, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

When Momo was only nine years old, he returned home to find his parents and his six sisters and four brothers had been killed in their own home. Sometime after that, he and his uncle left Somalia together to live in Yemen. He stayed in Yemen until he was sixteen, but when things became unsafe there, he moved to Libya. He had hoped to get on a boat in Libya to go somewhere for a new life, but he was thrown in prison instead. He was harassed and told to ask his family to send money so that he could …

Waru, Ken Derry

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Waru (2017), directed by Briar Grace-Smith, Ainsley Gardiner, Renae Maihi, Casey Kaa, Awanui Simich-Pene, Chelsea Cohen, Katie Wolfe, and Paula Jones.

Clark Memorandum: Fall 2017, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Byu Law School Alumni Association, J. Reuben Clark Law Society

The Clark Memorandum

• Ascending the Mountain: A Story of the People of the Great Hill (Michalyn Steele)
• Unlocking Potential: How a Law Degree Amplifies Your Ability to Bless the World (Jane Mitchell)
• The EU Apple Case: Who Has a Dog in the Fight? (J. Clifton Fleming, Jr.)