Sociology of Religion Commons^™

Religious Nationalism And The Coronavirus Pandemic: Soul-Sucking Evangelicals And Branch Covidians Make America Sick Again, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This article investigates the response to the coronavirus crisis by Evangelical Christian nationalists in the USA. The article outlines the curious mediaverse of religious nationalism—its post-truth and fake news aspects in particular—links religious nationalism to American exceptionalism, and analyzes conflicts between secular and religious authorities. Drawing upon some lessons from the past, the article addresses the wider implications of Christian nationalism on American politics, and capitalist ideology, as it has been played out virally in the corporate media. The article shows that the ideological underpinnings of evangelical Christianity prevent its proponents from understanding the virus in an historical and materialist …

A Search For The “True Islam” How Muslim Youth Work To Decouple Culture And Religion, Ivy A. Raines

Muslim Student Life

This research explores how young Muslims internalize, understand, and reconcile with competing interpretations of Islam in the diverse ummah of the United States. This ethnographic study is intended to contribute to the understanding of Muslim youth identity construction in the United States among foreign and second-generation Muslims. In addition, the inclusion of foreign participants (i.e. non U.S citizens) included in the sample provide added insight to how temporary relocation affects religious identity, a phenomenon relatively absent in existing scholarship. Finally, this investigation broadens the sociological understanding of religious identity construction and inter-generational differences between immigrant and second- generation Muslims in …

The Increased Role Of Pesantrens In Indonesia’S Modern-Day Approach To Deradicalization, Helen Bruckner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Indonesia has had a unique relationship with Islamic radicalism since the war for Indonesian independence in 1945. While the formation of an Islamic State in Indonesia has been at the forefront of radical movements since independence, the approaches to achieving this goal have changed drastically over time. This goal has also had multiple adversaries, from Dutch and Japanese colonialism, to the left-wing Sukarno regime, to the authoritarian Suharto regime, and finally the War on Terror. Across all of these different time periods, Islamic radicals in Indonesia have also had to contend with the different Muslim communities across the archipelago, many …

The Indigenous As Orthodox: Religious Evolution In Tana Toraja, Charles Perry Lange

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Within the last century, the Toraja regency in South Sulawesi has seen an unprecedented amount of social change. From their beginnings as hierarchical feudalistic culture at the turn of the 20th century to operating one of the largest tourist attractions in Indonesia, their way of life has been turned on its head. Most notably, these changes begin as religious and expand to impact cultural, political and economic life as well. This paper examines those changes from the regions blossoming of the Aluk To Dolo indigenous tradition to the incorporation of Christianity and finally the consolidation and preservation of indigenous beliefs …

Rockin' The Church: Vernacular Catholic Musical Practices, Kinga Povedak

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article focuses on the unique dimensions of lived or vernacular Catholicism through the analysis of contemporary congregational music in Hungary. Looking at the musical lives of Hungarian Roman Catholics from the late 1960s to contemporary times can provide us with new understandings of the theological contents and aesthetics, as well as the vernacular religiosity of the community. Christian popular music appeared behind the Iron Curtain relatively early, in 1967 when the first “beat mass” was created and introduced at Budapest. The early Christian popular music sounded astonishingly similar to the songs of the American Folk Mass Movement of the …

Longings, Letters And Prayers: Visitor's Books At Hungarian Marian Shrines, Krisztina Frauhammer

Journal of Global Catholicism

The following study seeks to show the flow of contemporary rituals associated with pilgrimage shrines. I will consider how visitor’s books placed on display at shrine churches are being utilized in the modern context by pilgrims and tourists alike. Requests, words of thanksgiving, and testimony are coupled with an honest, reflexive style that lends to the formation of these individualized prayers. These prayers are original, specific and peculiar as they follow patterns that are informal in nature. These prayers allow pilgrims to initiate contact with the Transcendent through the act and practice of writing. An idiosyncratic form of sacred communication …

Introduction: Consumer Contexts And Divine Presences In Hungarian Catholicism, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

Introduction to Hungarian Catholicism: Living Faith Across Diverse Social and Intellectual Contexts, highlighting both the specific contributions of the articles to the study of Hungarian Catholicism and situating them within the broad sweep of Hungarian and Catholic Studies.

Overview And Acknowledgements, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

Overview of Hungarian Catholicism: Living Faith Across Diverse Social and Intellectual Context, highlighting the articles' contribution to the study of Global Catholicism.

Where Politics Meets Ritual: Changing Wedding Culture And The Mufti Marriage Debate In Turkey, Sevgi Adak

Faculty & Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

An Exploratory Study Of The Relationship Between Religiosity And Internalized Heterosexism In Same-Sex Attracted Individuals, Lauren Knight

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This correlational study was designed to evaluate the relationship between religiosity and internalized heterosexism among lesbian, bisexual, and gay (LGB) individuals. Religiosity was examined in terms of positive religious coping (PRC), redefining stressors as a positive spiritual opportunity, or negative religious coping (NRC), defining stressors as a negative struggle between the individual and a Higher Power. The researcher hypothesized that, as seen in previous studies, use of negative religious coping methods would correlate with internalized heterosexism, and that use of positive religious coping methods would significantly correlate with lower internalized heterosexism. Data analysis of participants (N=162) illustrated significant Pearson’s product-moment …

Examining Public Opinion About Abortion: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review Of Research Over The Last 15 Years, Amy Adamczyk, Chunrye Kim, Leevia Dillon

Publications and Research

Although abortion became legal four decades ago, Americans remain staunchly divided over its acceptability. While researchers have been interested in the factors shaping abortion attitudes, there are almost no reviews of this work. We examine the factors shaping Americans’ abortion attitudes and assess the state of published peer-reviewed articles in this area over the last 15 years. Using a mixed-methods systematic review, we analyze and critique the findings from 116 journal articles that have examined attitudes about abortion between 2001 and 2016. Amongst the many predictors and outcomes examined, we show that religion is by far the most utilized statistically …

Hate Speech, Prejudice, And Biblical Interpretations, Dianne Dentice

The Journal of Faith, Education, and Community

There has been a long legacy of hate speech, prejudice, and the use of various scriptures from the Bible to uphold anti-Semitic and race based ideologies in the United States. The institution of slavery was based on economic gain for white plantation owners and the southern aristocracy prior to the Civil War. In order to justify enslavement of Africans, rhetorical devices were used to assure inferior status. Many white Christians believed their slaves could be controlled by conversion to Christianity and some actually believed they might even be able to achieve salvation if they did what they were told and …

Navigating Cultures And Development: An Account Of A Female Peace Corps Volunteer In Morocco, Renee Palecek

Student Research – Stevenson Center

Little is known of how the “doers” of development may navigate regarding her community’s culture and her job in international development. This lack of knowledge leads to the erasure of experiences, felt both by the volunteer herself, as well as the community members she works with. Through autoethnographic methodology, and analysis, I retell my experiences and entanglements as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco with Moroccan institutions and culture, with my own identities and prior American socialization. I examine three questions: (1) How does the female PCV in Morocco make sense out of and create value from life events, relationships, …

Together En La Lucha: Achtus 2019 Presidential Address, Neomi De Anda

Journal of Hispanic / Latino Theology

No abstract provided.

Faith In Democracy: Korean Churches As Engines Of Pro-Democracy Protest, Will Matheson

Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs

This paper delves into the known aspects and political actions of Korean Christian churches to explore both their underlying causes and their broader social effects. Much of the scholarship on this period has pointed to the various actors who took part in the pro-democracy movement. However, it is equally important to explore the ties between these organizations, facilitated by the church as a social institution. While much scholarship has pointed out official joint-declarations and coalitions, this paper seeks to explore how aspects of the church itself created interpersonal networks among protesters and shaped their political action, not just as Christians …

Religion And Support For Political Violence Among Christians And Muslims In Africa, Amy Adamczyk, Gary Lafree

Publications and Research

Researchers have found consistently that religion reduces criminal behavior. Yet rising levels of political violence are frequently attributed to a new wave of religious terrorism. Our study seeks to reconcile this apparent discrepancy by studying the attitudes of people living in 34 African nations. Using data from the Afrobarometer survey and mixed modeling, we examine the influence of individual and collective religiosity for shaping civic engagement and willingness to engage in political violence. While individual religiosity decreases support for violent political action, collective religiosity increases it. The effects of religiosity are the same for Muslims and Christians and the country …

Religion And Spirituality In Clinical Practice: An Exploration Of Reluctance Among Practitioners., David Drew, Jessica Banks

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Across the United States, an overwhelming majority of the population claim that religion and spirituality beliefs shape their worldview and assist in coping with life stressors. Yet, the literature has shown that mental health practitioners reported discomfort integrating religion and spiritually in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to explore whether license-holding mental health professionals in Southern California develop reluctance toward addressing religion/spirituality with their clients. Through snowball sampling, 52 clinicians composed of social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists, nurses, psychologists, and psychiatrists were recruited across Southern California (N =52). The participants were measured descriptively based on …

Why The Covenant Worked: On The Institutional Foundations Of The American Civil Religion, John W. Compton

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

Scholars of American civil religion (ACR) have paid insufficient attention to the micro-level processes through which civil religious ideas have historically influenced beliefs and behavior. We know little about what makes such appeals meaningful to average Americans (assuming they are meaningful); nor do we know much about the mechanisms through which abstract religious themes and imagery come to be associated with specific policy aims, or what Robert Bellah called “national goals.” This article argues that a renewed focus on the relationship between civil religion and organized religion can help fill this gap in the literature. More specifically, I draw attention …

Examining Public Opinion About Lgbtq-Related Issues In The United States And Across Multiple Nations, Amy Adamczyk, Yen-Chiao Liao

Publications and Research

Over the last three decades many countries across the world, including the United States, have experienced major increases in support for LGBTQ individuals and related issues. In part related to these changes a number of studies have examined the factors shaping public opinion. In this review we focus on four major areas of research on public opinion in this field of study. We first assess the terms that scholars typically use when examining attitudes and highlight the areas of public opinion research that have received the most attention. We then focus on the data and measurement challenges related to examining …

Islam & Interfaith Dialogue: Innovative Diplomacy Between The United States And Islamic Republic Of Iran, Kristyn Rohrer

Honors Student Research

This meta-communicative study provides an analysis of global interfaith dialogue as it pertains to peace and conflict, with a primary focus on Islam. The Islamic Republic of Iran and United States have a complicated history. Their diplomatic relationship is rife with manipulation, radicalism, and a disregard for human dignity. Currently, the US is imposing hundreds of sanctions and restrictions on Iran, from nuclear energy to medicine, as a result of President Trump’s decision to back out of the Iran Deal. However, other forms of dialogue are affecting positive relations between the two countries. Interfaith dialogue between North American Mennonites and …

Evaluating Bad Norms, John Thrasher

Philosophy Faculty Articles and Research

Some norms are bad. Norms of revenge, female genital mutilation, honor killings, and other norms strike us as destructive, cruel, and wasteful. The puzzle is why so many people see these norms as authoritative and why these norms often resist change. To answer these questions, we need to look at what “bad” norms are and how we can evaluate them. Here I develop an integrative analysis of norms that aims to avoid parochialism in norm evaluation. After examining and rejecting several evaluative standards, I propose what I call a comparative-functional analysis of norms that is both operationalizable/testable and nonparochial, and …

Sufis In A 'Foreign' Zawiya: Moroccan Perceptions Of The Tijani Pilgrimage To Fes, Joel Green

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this ISP is to investigate Moroccan perceptions of sub-Saharan members of the Tijaniyya during the completion of their religious pilgrimage to Fes. The relationship between Moroccans andTijani pilgrims is particularly complex as it occurs at an intersection of various identities, most prominently including race, religion, class and nationality. This project focuses on Moroccans who work in the area surrounding the shrine of Ahmed al-Tijani and either market their business towards Tijani pilgrims or frequently serve Tijani pilgrims as customers. In the course of interviews with five Moroccans, three major themes emerged: 1. Condemnation of Tijani religious practice. …

Natura Sanat: On Ecological Aspects Of Healing Miracles In Kalwaria Pacławska, Poland, Kamila Baraniecka-Olszewska

Journal of Global Catholicism

The subject-matter of my article is a change affecting the discourse on miraculous healings in a Catholic Marian sanctuary – Kalwaria Pacławska – run by Franciscan friars in the South-Eastern Poland and a way in which those changes affect pilgrims’ bodies. In Kalwaria Pacławska there meet, intersect and compete various religious and secular discourses and they all influence emotions and bodily sensations accompanying pilgrimage to this sacred site. One of those discourses has been introduced to Kalwaria just recently. The central element of the sanctuary is the miraculous image of Virgin Mary which is the goal of numerous pilgrimages from …

Authors' Introduction, Kamila Baraniecka-Olszewska, Magdalena Lubanska

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

Interethnic Marriages In The United States: An In-Depth Look At Marital Challenges, Spring C. Miles

Senior Theses

As ethnic diversity increases in the United States, interethnic marriages are becoming increasingly prevalent. Despite their increasing rates, interethnic unions experience lower levels of relationship quality and are at a higher risk of divorce than same-ethnic unions. Other factors that influence marital outcomes include age at marriage, education, religion, and parental divorce. However, factors that influence specifically interethnic marriages include internal stressors, such as conflicting values and relationship expectations, and external stressors, such as a lack of social support and/or legal barriers. The best theoretical framework for studying interethnic unions is interdependence theory because it analyzes these factors and their …

Out Of The Shadows: Women Of The Fmln Guerrilla Army In El Salvador’S Civil War, 1979–1992, Erica Gonzalez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Over the course of a century, revolutionary movements have emerged every few years across the region of Central America, movements that fought for overturning dictatorships and confronting socio-economic inequalities. Women experience higher levels of poverty, human rights violations and discrimination due to gender inequalities. Representing 30% of the FMLN guerrilla army, women in El Salvador took a quantum leap into one of the most horrific and violent armed conflicts in the history of the country (Montgomery 123). Theorists have sought to explain why women became involved in the war. Experts of insurgent collective action agree that women's participation played a …

Dreaming Qontigo: Imagining Possibilities, David Alejandrx Cervantes

M.A. in Leadership Studies: Capstone Project Papers

This paper, through an applied project explores the challenges and opportunities of identity and leadership development of a Queer Chicanx/Latinx graduate student at a faith-based institution. Dreaming Qontigo: Imagining Possibilities weaves together the complexity of mind, body, and spirit with personal, historical, and political glimpses offering a portal for new understandings and reconciliation.

The Predictors Of Juvenile Recidivism: Testimonies Of Adult Students 18 Years And Older Exiting From Alternative Education, La Toshia Palmer

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this descriptive, qualitative study was to identify and describe the importance of the predictors of juvenile recidivism and the effectiveness of efforts to prevent/avoid juvenile recidivism as perceived by previously detained, arrested, convicted, and/or incarcerated adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education in Northern California. A second purpose was to explore the types of support provided by alternative schools and the perceived importance of the support to avoid recidivism according to adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education.

Methodology: This qualitative, descriptive research design identified …

“Gracias A Dios, Gracias Al Comandante”: El Uso De La Religión Como Una Herramienta Política En Nicaragua Desde 2006 / "Thank God, Thanks To The Commander": The Use Of Religion As A Political Tool In Nicaragua Since 2006, Azani Creeks

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este estudio cualitativo examina la relación centenaria entre la religión y el poder político en Nicaragua, centrándose específicamente en su desarrollo y función desde la reelección de Daniel Ortega en 2006. A través de entrevistas, observaciones y análisis de contenido realizados en la ciudad capital de Managua, el estudio halla que el gobierno nicaragüense invierte mucho tiempo y dinero en la creación de alianzas públicas con líderes católicos y evangélicos, ya que el estado se declara inconstitucionalmente cristiano. Aunque los temas religiosos son un gran foco de atención del gobierno, este estudio muestra que no está claro si el pueblo …

Church And State In Rwanda: Catholic Missiology And The 1994 Genocide Against The Tutsi, Marcus Timothy Haworth

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, over one million Tutsis were killed by the government of Rwanda and Hutu extremists. In this study, I address two questions: (1) did the Church, as an institution, offer a convincing counter-narrative to the dominant ideology of racialized ethnic identities of twentieth century European colonialism in the present-day nation-state of Rwanda? If it did not, why not? And, (2) what role, if any, did the Church, as an institution, play, in promoting a “social imagination” that valued religious identity, or truths, over the dominant European colonial ideology, and later the nationalistic narrative of …