Sociology of Religion Commons^™

“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 …

Note From The Editor, Meggie Hill, Seth Schoenhaus, Ellie Hasan

Denison Journal of Religion

No abstract provided.

Indian Dalits And Hindutva Strategies, Seth Schoenhaus

Denison Journal of Religion

“Indian Dalits and Hindutva Strategies” by Seth Schoenhaus, ’18. The author tracks the evolution of India’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party alongside Scheduled Caste (specifically Dalit) self-conception to elucidate the BJP’s strategies to attract Dalit voters, who have historically not been receptive to the BJP’s muscular Hindutva thrust. Importantly, appropriating and recasting the Hindu story of Lord Ram in a nationalist light and engaging in historical revisionism regarding Dalit communal leader B.R. Ambedkar has proven vital in engaging with the Dalit electorate. These methods, combined with lingering sentiments of Sanskritization in many Dalit communities and increasing stratification with higher rates …

In The World But Not Of It: Negotiating Evangelical Tradition And Gendered Identity In Contemporary Family Life, Lauren Hansbury

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Evangelical Protestants are an influential force in the world of politics, particularly in bringing debates over family values to the forefront of public life within the last thirty years. Their perspectives on gender have become a central point of contention in the so-called "culture wars" in American society. Recent research shows that the majority of evangelicals do not embody gender roles that fit within traditional, patriarchal, and gender essentialist models once central to evangelical thought on family life. Evangelicals live out their everyday family lives in much the same way as non-evangelicals and non-religious Americans. Research on evangelicals and subcultural …

The Influence Of Religious Homogeneity Upon Life Expectancy: A Cross-National Comparative Analysis, Donald J. Ebel

Sociology Department Publications

Research upon health and life expectancy has focused primarily upon individual and community level analyses, with extrapolations to national level data. In this study, the unit of analysis is shifted from individual health statistics to the national level. Life expectancy data for every nation and in the world (total n=191, restricted n=138) is explored, controlling for a variety of socio-economic factors. Two hypotheses are tested which offer the explanation homogeneity in both religion (H1) and ethnicity (H2), determines differences in life expectancy between nations. The first hypothesis, that religious homogeneity supports positive health outcomes is supported. The second hypothesis, that …

Dreaming Of Eden: A Sociological Inquiry Into Sacred Selves And Public Places, Donald J. Ebel

Sociology Department Publications

A diverse literature from several different disciplines addresses the issues of identity, settings and spirituality. This paper focuses upon drawing these traditions together in order to understand the relationship from a more holistic perspective, and to discern to what degree the three domains interact in a sociological sense. Several hypotheses are tested to discover if setting influences the salience of people’s spiritual identity or the levels of their spiritual transcendence, as well as whether or not age, controlling for other factors, explains or influences these two aspects of spiritual expression. Findings indicate that neither setting nor age significantly influence identity …

Tasseography From Jung's Perspective, Avetisian, Elizabeth

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

Approaching from Jung’s perspective this paper aims to understand how the unconscious communicates through symbolism that may be the basis for synchronicity arising from mantic procedures. A particular ritual of divination called tasseography will be studied whereby the seer interprets patterns in coffee grounds intuitively and by following a standard system of symbolism to foretell the seeker’s future life events or provide answers to seeker’s pressing life questions. The paper will examine various processes involved in the experience of tasseography and its ritual that enable the reader to predict the seeker’s future or bring light to the present or past …

A Critical Interpretation Of Olivier Roy: On Globalization, The Cosmopolitan And Emerging Post-Secular Religiosities, Joshua Rey Ramos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My thesis is that secularization transforms religion into religiosity. In other words, the secular breaks apart religion, or rather, 'deculturates' religion from a cohesive, collective body embedded within a particular society and within a traditional culture towards an individuated, and existential experience of faith within the autonomous religious subject. There are various reasons for this shift, as there are various consequences. Globalization, which is modernization writ large, is the dominant paradigm through which I conceptualize these changes. The theorist whose work I use as a lens to interpret secularization, religion and societal transformation is Olivier Roy. Roy's theories are of …

Sourcing Enchantment: From Elemental Appropriation To Imaginal Symbolics, Schwartz, Michael

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

Critical theorists and social commentators agree that modernity and postmodernity suffer from historical pathologies of world disenchantment. What might be done? Drawing on John Sallis’ phenomenology of the elemental and Tibetan Buddhist teachings on elemental practices, this paper investigates the imagination in its doubling as imaginal in generating a symbolics of the self, world, and other that is always already enchanted; an aesthetics of existence where the world itself shows forth like a work of art replete with exorbitant logics.