Ethics in Religion Commons^™

A Renewed Christian Sabbath, After Supersessionism And After Christendom, Abigail Woolley Cutter

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

This project works toward a contemporary understanding of what the Sabbath commandment can mean for Christians, in light of both the post-supersessionist developments in Christian theology since the Holocaust and a declining (Protestant) Christian hegemony in the United States. It claims that a Christian theology of Sabbath must be developed through a serious engagement with the theology of Jewish-Christian relations. It proposes the Sabbath framework as a model for cultural engagement reminiscent of the “synthesis” type laid out in H. R. Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture, but less susceptible to the alleged pitfalls of that type.

The approach to a …

Pentecostal Culture, Or Pentecost Of Culture?: Transformation, Paradigms, Power, Unity, Dimitri Sala Ofm

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article will explore the relationship between Pentecostals and the broader cultures we inhabit. It will acknowledge that, like all religion, Pentecostalism can tend to create a culture within itself (a “Pentecostal culture”), which at times effects a withdrawal of its adherents from the surrounding world. This necessitates a conscious decision, first to navigate away from that tendency where it exists, and then to define a positive role for Pentecostalism within culture, viz., the transformation of civilization (a “Pentecost of culture”). Thereby the article proposes a more extensive definition of the baptism of the Spirit, looks at how God is …

Sin In Christian Thought, Kevin Timpe

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Protest And Politics: A Biographical Theology Of Bayard Rustin, Friendship, Charity, And Economic Justice, Justin Barringer

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Bayard Rustin is largely an unknown name in theology and ethics, but this dissertation brings him into those conversations with a focus on an ethics of peripatetic friendship as an appropriate response to unjust wealth inequity. I explore how the life of Bayard Rustin, particularly his friendships, was a catalyst for much of the civil rights movement as well as broader justice movements that included charity and economic rights. Rustin, via his friendships, made possible many revolutionary changes in American society and beyond. After examining his life and contributions, I tie his life together with insights from the broader Christian …

Religious Naturalisms, Carol W. White

Other Faculty Research and Publications

This article focuses on recent developments in religious naturalism in the twenty-first century, building on Jerome Stone’s 2008 study of its resurgence in the mid-twentieth century. I introduce religious naturalism as a synthesis of naturalistic ideas that often depart from traditional forms of religious thinking, defining it as a capacious, ecological religious worldview grounded in the observational conviction that nature is ultimate. I also describe different models of religious naturalism, focusing on the key ideas found in the influential publications of contemporary religious naturalists (e.g., Ursula Goodenough, Donald Crosby, Loyal Rue, among others). While acknowledging specific points of emphasis, I …

Modeling The Effects Of Religious Belief And Affiliation On Prosociality, Luke Galen, Ross Gore, F. Leron Shults

VMASC Publications

To what extent do supernatural beliefs, group affiliation, and social interaction produce values and behaviors that benefit others, i.e., prosociality? Addressing this question involves multiple variables interacting within complex social networks that shape and constrain the beliefs and behaviors of individuals. We examine the relationships among some of these factors utilizing data from the World Values Survey to inform the construction of an Agent-Based Model. The latter was able to identify the conditions under which - and the mechanisms by which - the prosociality of simulated agents was increased or decreased within an "artificial society" designed to reflect real world …

Playing At The Crossroads Of Religion And Law: Historical Milieu, Context And Curriculum Hooks In Lost & Found, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This chapter presents the use of Lost & Found – a purpose-built tabletop to mobile game series – to teach medieval religious legal systems. The series aims to broaden the discourse around religious legal systems and to counter popular depiction of these systems which often promote prejudice and misnomers. A central element is the importance of contextualizing religion in period and locale. The Lost & Found series uses period accurate depictions of material culture to set the stage for play around relevant topics – specifically how the law promoted collaboration and sustainable governance practices in Fustat (Old Cairo) in twelfth-century …

Designing Analog Learning Games: Genre Affordances, Limitations And Multi-Game Approaches, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Articles

This chapter explores what the authors discovered about analog games and game design during the many iterative processes that have led to the Lost & Found series, and how they found certain constraints and affordances (that which an artifact assists, promotes or allows) provided by the boardgame genre. Some findings were counter-intuitive. What choices would allow for the modeling of complex systems, such as legal and economic systems? What choices would allow for gameplay within the time of a class-period? What mechanics could promote discussions of tradeoff decisions? If players are expending too much cognition on arithmetic strategizing, could that …

Pluralism As A Social Practice: A Pragmatist Approach To Engaging Diversity In Public Life, Mary Leah Friedline

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation lays a theoretical framework for rethinking the ways in which political and moral philosophers conceive pluralism and diversity in public life. I argue that many philosophers who write on the topic do not have a sophisticated understanding of religion, are not sufficiently attentive to historically produced power differentials, and/or do not adequately recognize the intersectional dimensions of diversity. Building on Jeffrey Stout’s notion of democracy as a social practice, and supplemented with Cornel West’s understanding of democratic faith, I use my more complex account of diversity to argue that pluralism is best approached as a social practice, instead …

Beyoncé Making Lemonade Out Of The Colonial System, Caitlin Wheeler

Womanist Ethics

A discussion on Beyoncé's Lemonade and how its imagery and undertones relate to the ever-present colonial system found in relationships and religion. Highlighting connections and ideas found in Albert Memmi's The Colonizer and the Colonized.

Beyoncé Making Lemonade Out Of The Colonial System, Caitlin Wheeler

Race, Ethnicity, & Religion

A discussion on Beyoncé's Lemonade and how its imagery and undertones relate to the ever-present colonial system found in relationships and religion. Highlighting connections and ideas found in Albert Memmi's The Colonizer and the Colonized.

“Spirited” Engagement: Latin American Faith And The Construction Of Emancipative Pentecostalism, David Luckey

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Pentecostalism is a prominent form of Christianity around the world that is increasingly pervasive in the Global South. One of the persistent issues that obscures accurate understanding of the movement is the question of whether such a spiritually-oriented faith gives attention to social realities. This dissertation identifies a broad spectrum of Latin America Pentecostal social- ethical engagement in order to complicate stereotypes and reveal a natural orientation toward public witness. It shows that Pentecostalism is too complex for broad generalization, and it draws on leading voices from within the movement to articulate a call to increasing efforts for social justice.

The Unmarried (M)Other: A Study Of Christianity, Capitalism, And Counternarratives Concerning Motherhood And Marriage In The United States And South Africa, Haley Feuerbacher

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

A reified and patriarchal form of Christianity that emphasizes “family values” – that is, adherence to the formula of a male-headed, heterosexual, capitalist, nuclear family, characterized by distinct, complementary, and hierarchical gender roles as essential to the well-being of individuals, one’s nation, and the ecumenical Church - over “community values” has become a happy bedfellow of the market system and neocolonialism, extending its reach worldwide through globalization. The result is that single mothers constitute the most economically oppressed demographic internationally across all race and ethnic categories. Using Constructivist Grounded Theory and a postcolonial feminist theological lens to collect, retell, and …

Relationship Between Religion, Spirituality, And Psychotherapy: An Ethical Perspective, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

Spirituality and religion are typically a critically important element of most people’s lives. They offer an overarching framework for making sense of the world and a strategy to cope with life’s stressors. They provide a community and a way to wrestle with life’s biggest questions regarding meaning, purpose, and suffering. Mental health professionals are mandated to behave in an ethical manner defined by their codes of ethics. These codes typically understand religion and spirituality a multiculturalism issue. Professionals need to be respectful and responsible and pay close attention to potential implicit bias, boundary crossings, and destructive beliefs and practices. Working …

Earth: "Un-Human Me", Hakim Mohandas Amani Williams

Peace and Justice Studies Faculty Publications

He took a rib from your side and made others.

So you considered Others your children, forever.

He told you to go forth and produce and multiply so you made capitalism.

He told you to go forth and conquer and pillage and mark your name and plant your flag where-ever you wanted.

So now the moon is yours. Jupiter, beware! [excerpt]

For The Wild: Ritual And Commitment In Radical Eco-Activism By Sarah M. Pike, Alda Balthrop-Lewis

The Goose

Review of Sarah M. Pike's For the Wild: Ritual and Commitment in Radical Eco-Activism

The Church And Social Responsibility: Contributions To Contemporary Social Ethics From The Ecumenical Social Method Of The Oxford Conference On Church, Community, And State Of 1937, Gary B. Macdonald

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Cultural and political realities, and doctrinal differences among faith traditions challenge unified theological and ecclesial contribution to political dialogue. Within the work of the Oxford Conference of the Universal Christian Council of Life and Work on Church, Community and State of 1937, organized by Joseph Oldham, are elements of an applied understanding of social responsibility, offering resources to enable such contribution. Here, I call this “Oxford Responsibility,” defined as a society in which its members and institutions act in accordance with human value and freedom, in obedience to the will of God, toward the achievement of justice within the limits …

The Moral Argument, Existential Problems Of Evil, And A Non-Existential Alternative, Jonathan Smith

Senior Honors Theses

Within this paper, it is shown that certain ethical assumptions are implicit within the claim that certain kinds of evil exist. When taken in tandem with the moral argument for the existence of God, these assumptions can be arranged in such a way as to provide a contradiction. To avoid this contradiction, I posit a non-existential alternative to direct inductive arguments from evil, but the non-existential alternative gives rise to novel objections. When considering their respective ethical implications, both the existential and non-existential variations of direct inductive arguments fail. Since any direct inductive problem of evil must be either existential …

Records Of The Institute On Religion And Democracy Presidential Papers Of Diane Knippers Arc2016-001 - Finding Aid, Ats Special Collections And Archives

Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

Paper: An Ecowomanist View On The Dakota Access Pipeline, Ariana Raya

Womanist Ethics

This paper examines the Dakota Access Pipeline using ecofeminist and ecowomanist philosophies, provides a brief historical background of African American and Native American communities, explains the dangers of the pipeline to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, and offers constructive alternatives.

The Lost & Found Game Series: Teaching Medieval Religious Law In Context, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Presentations and other scholarship

Lost & Found is a strategy card-to-mobile game series that teaches medieval religious legal systems with attention to period accuracy and cultural and historical context. The Lost & Found project seeks to expand the discourse around religious legal systems, to enrich public conversations in a variety of communities, and to promote greater understanding of the religious traditions that build the fabric of the United States. Comparative religious literacy can build bridges between and within communities and prepare learners to be responsible citizens in our pluralist democracy. The first game in the series is a strategy game called Lost & Found …

The Presbyterian Enlightenment: The Confluence Of Evangelical And Enlightenment Thought In British America, Brandon S. Durbin

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Eighteenth-Century British American Presbyterian ministers incorporated covenantal theology, ideas from the Scottish Enlightenment, and resistance theory in their sermons. The sermons of Presbyterian ministers strongly indicate the intermixing of enlightenment and evangelical ideas. Congregants heard and read these sermons, spreading these ideas to the average colonist. This combination helps explain why American Presbyterians were so apt to resist British rule during the American Revolution. Protestant covenantal theology, derived from Protestant reformers like John Calvin and John Knox, emphasized virtue and duty. This covenant affected both the people and their rulers. When rulers failed to uphold their covenant with God, the …

Parallels Of Morality: Wilde And Nietzsche’S Challenge To Social Obligation, Amzie A. Dunekacke

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This thesis explores Irish author Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray in relation to a selection of texts by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. To demonstrate the similarities between Wilde and Nietzsche’s challenges to European morality, this work considers these themes, which are present in the ideologies of both Wilde and Nietzsche: the body and sensual pleasure, social construction, and the hypocrisy of altruism. Both radical thinkers castigate Platonic notions of the body as ignoble and weak, and they mock European propriety’s shyness of the body. In addition, Wilde and Nietzsche offer similar criticisms of social laws, adopting a …

Editor’S Perspective: The Fusion Of Religion And Business, Michael E. Cafferky

Faculty Works

This article provides a summary of the ancient Hebrew concept of emeth (truth, faithfulness) and how it is relevant to contemporary business.

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’ …

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 …

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.

Card Tricks: A Workflow For Scalability And Dynamic Content Creation Using Paper2d And Unreal Engine 4, Owen Gottlieb, Dakota Herold, Edward Amidon

Presentations and other scholarship

In this paper, we describe the design and technological methods of

our dynamic sprite system in Lost & Found, a table-top-to-mobile

card game designed to improve literacy regarding prosocial

aspects of religious legal systems, specifically, collaboration and

cooperation. Harnessing the capabilities of Unreal Engine’s

Paper2D system, we created a dynamic content creation pipeline

that empowered our game designers so that they could rapidly

iterate on the game’s systems and balance externally from the

engine. Utilizing the Unreal Blueprint component system we were

also able to modularize each actor during runtime as data may be

changed. The technological approach behind Lost …

Relational Power, Music, And Identity: The Emotional Efficacy Of Congregational Song, Nathan Myrick

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Relational Power, Music, and Identity: The Emotional Efficacy of Congregational Song

The power of congregational song to unify (or divide) people along various lines is well documented. Yet, how this process of uniting or dividing is accomplished has proven necessarily difficult to document. This paper examines the complex and polyvalent factors that contribute to the meaningfulness of congregational music making, seeking to offer a synthetic, conceptual framework with which to engage this often murky milieu.

Employing interdisciplinary research techniques drawn from sociology, ritual studies, and ethnomusicology, I construct a conceptual framework with which to understand the profoundly formative power of …

Editor’S Perspective: The Time Value Of Morality, Michael E. Cafferky

Faculty Works

This article presents the ancient Hebrew idea of Wisdom and its implications for contemporary business.