Sociology of Religion Commons^™

A Case Study Of Congregational And Search Committee Desired Leadership Qualities In A Senior Pastor, David Fowler

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this case study that utilized an inductive qualitative research approach was to uncover desired leadership qualities in a senior pastor. Membership numbers are dwindling for religious organizations as the landscape of the United States becomes more secular. Studies reveal that negative issues with ineffective leadership within these organizations impact congregational health and membership decline. Within the context of leadership’s futility, studies need to be conducted to identify qualifiers of effective leadership in religious organizations, as a lack of research has been conducted concerning religious organizational leaders. Specifically, churches in the Southern Baptist Convention, a conservative conglomerate of …

Non-Traditional Transitional Justice Mechanisms And Perceptions And Symptoms Of Victimization Among Diasporic Individuals: Members Of The Coptic Christian Diaspora In The United States As A Case Study, Samy S. A. Gerges

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

Transitional justice measures are state-centered measures articulating atrocities committed by officials and occurring within the borders of a specific state. Questioning members of a Diaspora about the impact of transitional justice on their self-classification as victims and their experienced symptoms of victimization may therefore support attempts to expand the field of transitional justice. This study contributes to a body of work promoting understanding of the possibilities and constraints of transitional justice mechanisms, in the context of hate crime against Copts by Muslims in Egypt. To analyze the impact of restored relationships on self-classified victimhood and experienced symptoms of victimization, the …

From Busy Bags To Building Bridges: An Investigation In How The Intentional Engagement Of Children In Worship Can Assist Cultural Inclusivity, Billie Jo Wicks

Children, Youth, and Family (CYF) Papers

No abstract provided.

Stark's "Why God?: Explaining Religious Phenomena" (Book Review), Scott Lloyd

The Christian Librarian

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 …

Many Faiths, One Beginning: Universality In Norse, Maya, Greek And Celtic Faiths

Symposium of Student Scholars

Numerous religious faiths have pervaded the world for much of known human history, but these belief systems often have significant variation in their core tenets, especially with those that have no contact. Religions which are in close proximity to one another tend to have some degree of syncretism, such as having comparable deities, due to having some transmission of their cultures. One group of similar base beliefs is the Indo-Europeans, with its members having been studied for parallels before. To contend with these previous studies, this project will look at the beliefs of the Norse, Greek, and Celtic cultures, all …

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 Influence Of Religion On The Criminal Behavior Of Emerging Adults, Christopher Salvatore, Gabriel Rubin

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Recent generations of young adults are experiencing a new life course stage: emerging adulthood. During this ‘new’ stage of the life course, traditional social bonds and turning points may not be present, may be delayed, or may not operate in the same manner as they have for prior generations. One such bond, religion, is examined here. Focusing on the United States, emerging adulthood is investigated as a distinct stage of the life course. The criminality of emerging adults is presented, a theoretical examination of the relationship between religion and crime is provided, the role of religion in emerging adults’ lives …

Seeking Justice And Defending The Oppressed: The Protestant Church’S Role In Racial Reconciliation, Lindsey L. Coleman

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

Systemic racial injustice affects every area of life, including religion. The history of the Protestant church is fraught with a habit to hurt more than help in this regard. The demographics, rhetoric, and culture of a church can contribute to racial superiority among white members and lead to an incorrect reading of scripture that supports racial injustice. This paper analyzes the ways in which Sojourn Midtown Community Church in Louisville, Kentucky, has used relationships, leadership, and worship to reflect attitudes of racial 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 …

Feminism And The Black Church: A Qualitative Analysis Of Feminism Among Black Women In A Southern Baptist Church, Brianne Alexandra Painia

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Black women’s religious faith has been found to be integral to their survival (Harris-Perry 2011) in a world that many times chooses to marginalize them due to a host of factors, including their race, gender, and expressions of sexuality (Collins 1996; Morgan 2000) meaning that for black women religion is more than a simple denominational label (such as Lutheran, Catholic, or Baptist). Black women’s involvement in the Black Church has been covered from a variety of angles with researchers noting the importance of African American women to the success of many black churches (Evans 2001), the benefits such faith practice …

Perichoretic Worship: Cultivating Relationships With The Triune God, With One Another, And With The World, Greg G. Busboom

Doctor of Ministry Theses

A Participatory Action Research (PAR) study focusing on perichoretic worship as a way of cultivating holy relationship with the Triune God, with others, and with the world. Theoretical lenses include ritual studies, Faith Development Theory, and personhood in social relationships. Theological lenses include perichoresis, Lutheran worship, and faith practices. Using both quantitative and qualitative research, the study explores the practice of Christian worship in a large Lutheran congregation and seeks to grow active participation in the missional work of the Triune God through worship grounded in Word and Sacrament. Presents the Triune God as the active subject of Christian worship.

Getting Sick Where Karma Is Gravity: Disease In The Tibetan Perspective, Moreau Hadley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Karma is the Buddhist idea that our actions from current and previous lives affect our fortune in this life. In particular, if we suffer in the current life, it is due to negative action in the past. Likewise, if we prosper, it is due to past positive acts, such as compassion. The idea of karma extends to illness; in simplification, sickness is attributed to negative past action.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the belief of karmic disease in the Tibetan Buddhist community of Shangri-La. Although disease is often used as an example of karmic suffering, and there …

Nuclear Alarmism And Climate Change Fatalism As A Secular Apocalyptic Religion, Sarah Ertelt 18

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

“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 …

The Mountain Stands: An Autoethnographic Inquiry Into Zulu Christians' Approaches To Spiritual Health, Makayla Lagerman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Spiritual health is a vital component of individual wellness that can be described in many ways; most commonly, it is thought of as the connectivity of the inner spirit to others, the world, transcendental beings, and more. From personal experience, I know that the state of my spiritual wellbeing can greatly impact my physical and mental health. For this reason, actively considered how to think about spiritual health for one of the first times in my life.

This project sought to explore Zulu Christians’ approaches to spiritual health in concurrence with my own. This was done by interviewing one Swazi …

“Religion Is Religion; My Life Is My Life”: Religious Influences On Family Planning Decisions In Kapchorwa District, Uganda, Sarah Mathys

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This report seeks to understand the influence that religion has on family planning decisions in Kapchorwa District, in eastern Uganda. Increased uptake of family planning has significant impliations for sustainability and development in Uganda as a whole. As a district with a high unmet need for faily planning, Kapchorwa serves as an important case study. Because over 99% of Uganda’s population reports a religious affiliation, and because literature on family planning claims conservative spirituality as a major cause of low uptake, religion is a natural lens through which to study family planning perceptions and utilization.

Through focus groups and key …

Religious Sentiments In Local Politics, Sugit Sanjaya Arjon

Jurnal Politik

The rise of religious sentiments and identity politics in Indonesia is currently in a critical phase. Indonesia is neither a Muslim nor a secular country, although it recognizes the existence of God in its first state theory principle. Together with corruption and human rights, religion is a fundamental issue in politicians’ campaign materials, as these topics can be considered key for attracting voters. The fall of President Suharto’s New Order should be considered the starting point of the sublime journey of political identity, which often implicates religions and ethnicity under the umbrella of democratic practices. However, after the fall of …

“This Incredible Monster Was Always In The Way”: The Moral Career Of A Sexual Sinner In The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints, Jason E. Sumerau, Ryan T. Cragun, Harry Barbee

The Qualitative Report

This article elaborates a symbolic interactionist approach to the scientific study of sexual sin. We draw on archival materials from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), and explore recurring themes within the archival materials that signify and outline stages of a sexual sinners’ moral career. Our findings demonstrate how LDS leaders constructed a sinner’s moral career as characterized by (1) seeking out sinful temptation; (2) causing social and spiritual destruction; and (3) seeking and finding redemption. Further, we draw out implications for understanding the ways religious leaders conceptualize sexual sins for their followers, and the usefulness of …

Pope Francis Won't Support Women In The Priesthood, But Here's What He Could Do, Lisa Mcclain

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

On March 13, Pope Francis will complete his first five years as head of the Roman Catholic Church. Since his election, Pope Francis has engaged the estimated 1.2 billion Catholics and innumerable non-Catholics worldwide with his frank, inclusive talk on issues as diverse as poverty and homosexuality. In fact, many observers seem confused by the church’s apparent willingness to reconsider traditions regarding some contentious issues, such as divorce.

Religion, Media, And Marginality In Modern Africa, Felicitas Becker, Joel Cabrita, Marie Rodet

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

In recent years, anthropologists, historians, and others have been drawn to study the profuse and creative usages of digital media by religious movements. At the same time, scholars of Christian Africa have long been concerned with the history of textual culture, the politics of Bible translation, and the status of the vernacular in Christianity. Students of Islam in Africa have similarly examined politics of knowledge, the transmission of learning in written form, and the influence of new media. Until now, however, these arenas—Christianity and Islam, digital media and “old” media—have been studied separately.

Religion, Media, and Marginality in Modern Africa …

Practice-Based Conundrums And Existentialist Quandaries Of A Professional Code Of Ethics, Izaak L. Williams

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Ethical codes have long been considered indispensable tools in defining the proper conduct of counseling professionals. Revisions reflect the ideals of the industry to accommodate the evolving needs of clients and trends in treatment models, but the essence of the code is to convert principles befitting of the profession into concrete actions or considerations that abet professional decision-making. Acculturation into the profession involves ethics training intended to improve professionals’ ability to apply the code to situations that might arise in their practices, resulting in the most ethically appropriate action. However, such assumptions may be problematic. The idea of ethical competency …

Adult-Child Sexual Contact: Examining Mental Health Trainees’ Perception Of The Impact On Adult Psychological-Emotional Status, Robbie J. Steward Ph.D., Shavonne J. Moore Ph.D., Lisa P. Petersen M.A., L.P.C., Sharea Ayers M.A., Kristin A. Hinze M.A., L.P.C.

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Thirty-eight graduate students enrolled in mental health-related programs completed the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) indicating anticipated impact of adult-child sexual contact on the psychological status of a young adult woman from positive family environment and one from a negative family environment. BSI subscale scores were significantly higher than the BSI general population’s mean scores in both cases. Multiple regression analyses found that: in the healthy family scenario, practitioners’ background variables (parent education, family of origin climate, prior childhood sexual contact with an adult, and education) did not contribute significantly to the variance in their prediction of expectation of client’s overall …

The Construction Of The African Slave Identity: Defying Hegemony Through Syncretic Religious Practices, Caleigh Dwyer

Denison Journal of Religion

“The Construction of the African Slave Identity: Defying Hegemony through Syncretic Religious Practices” by Caleigh Dwyer, ’19. Dwyer examines the extent to which traditional African culture and the Protestantism with which new slaves were confronted helped them resist the hegemonic structure of American slavery. She argues that the Protestant church acted as a tool, or framework, for collective organization and a restructuring of African identity. African slaves, then, found agency and an opportunity for self-definition through “Africanizing” the Protestant church after white slavers fragmented and suppressed African culture. However, African slave culture made its mark on the Protestant church just …

When We Get Up Yonder, We Shall Have Them Rights Restored To Us: Sojourner Truth’S “The Injustice Of Slavery” And The Rhetoric Of Black Liberation Theology Of Hope, Nordia Bennett

Denison Journal of Religion

“’When We Get Up Yonder, We Shall Have Them Rights Restored To Us:’ Sojourner Truth’s ‘The Injustice of Slavery’ and the Rhetoric of Black Liberation Theology of Hope” by Nordia Bennett, ’17. Bennett situates her reading of Sojourner Truth’s famous speech in the black liberation theology of James Cone, connecting Truth’s views of Jesus’ actions with Cone’s historical, Jewish Jesus. Her analysis continues with a mention of the socioeconomic circumstances of black people as expressed in Truth’s speech, connecting these observations to modern scholarship regarding the injustices of modern economics. Finally, she reads Truth in the light of Jurgen Moltmann, …

“Gospel Of Grace”: Understanding “Amazing Grace” With Musical And Theological Analysis, Ellie Hasan

Denison Journal of Religion

“Gospel of Grace: Understanding ‘Amazing Grace’ with Musical and Theological Analysis” by Ellie Hasan, ’18. Hasan dispels the myth that the classic American hymnal ‘Amazing Grace’ was originally a slave spiritual, utilizing historical scholarship to attribute its authorship to an eighteenth century white slave trader. That the piece found its home in the black gospel canon is a testament to the transformational, liberating nature of gospel music. Hasan touches upon the theological aspects of gospel music that made ‘Amazing Grace’ a natural addition to the gospel canon, taking care to center her scholarship in the musical qualities of gospel practices …

Land Of The Free, Home Of The Racist: Exploring The Narrative Of America’S Racial Prejudice, Jillian Taylor Fox

Denison Journal of Religion

“Land of the Free, Home of the Racist: Exploring the Narrative of America’s Racial Prejudice” by Jillian Fox, ’19. Fox uses a racist incident that occurred at Denison University in the late 1970s to explore the work of womanist theologian and Denison University graduate Kelly Brown Douglas. After recounting the incident, she explores Douglas’ response at the time as well as her later work, much of which stems from ancient notions of national exceptionalism, ethnocentrism, and white racial pride. Fox continues to discuss the implications of exceptionalism as it pertains to Manifest Destiny, which the author in turn connects to …

Embodied Ayurveda, Sarah Curtin

Denison Journal of Religion

“Embodied Ayurveda” by Sarah Curtin, ’18. The author focuses on traditional, modern, and global iterations of the traditional Indian medical system Ayurveda. Whereas Western medicine focuses on empiricism, results, and relatively stringent proof of efficacy, traditional Ayurveda holds ancient texts in high regard, separating body functions and processes into pure and impure categories that have little basis in the Western medicinal tradition. However, as pharmaceutical companies latch on to the increasing popularity of traditional Indian medicine, the integrity, practice, and plant-based sources for Ayurvedic remedies are all threatened. Curtin continues to discuss traditional notions of semen conservation versus the modernized …