12 results
Search Results
2. Attitudes Toward Abortion Among Religious Traditions in the United States: Change or Continuity?
- Author
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Hoffmann, John P. and Johnson, Sherrie Mills
- Subjects
- *
ABORTION , *RELIGIOUS groups , *RELIGION , *EVANGELICALISM , *CULTURE , *EMOTIONAL trauma , *ATTITUDE (Psychology) , *SOCIAL surveys - Abstract
Abortion continues to be a highly contentious issue in the United States, with few signs of abatement. The god of this paper is to specify how variable positions about abortion across religious traditions have led to differential shifts in attitudes among their members. Based on culturally relevant events, position papers, and other religious media, the guiding hypotheses propose that Evangelicals have become increasingly opposed to abortion for elective reasons; yet changes in attitudes regarding abortion for traumatic reasons are due primarily to cohort shifts. Data from the cumulative General Social Surveys (1972–2002) are used to test the hypotheses. The first hypothesis is supported: Opposition to elective abortions among Evangelicals has increased relative to other religious traditions. However, contrary to the second hypothesis, they have also become more opposed to abortion for traumatic reasons. This increasing opposition is most prominent among Evangelicals born in the last 40 years or so. Implications for understanding Evangelical distinctiveness and the cultural context of abortion attitudes are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2005
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. Brain Death and Human Organismal Integration: A Symposium on the Definition of Death.
- Author
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MOSCHELLA, MELISSA
- Subjects
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RELIGION , *DEATH , *BRAIN death , *HOMEOSTASIS , *LIFE support systems in critical care , *NEUROLOGY , *ORGAN donation & ethics , *CONFERENCES & conventions , *MEDICAL ethics , *ORGAN donors , *PERSISTENT vegetative state - Abstract
Does the ability of some brain dead bodies to maintain homeostasis with the help of artificial life support actually imply that those bodies are living human organisms? Or might it be possible that a brain dead body on life support is a mere collection of still-living cells, organs and tissues which can coordinate with one another, but which lack the genuine integration that is the hallmark of a unified human organism as a whole? To foster further study of these difficult and timely questions, a Symposium on the Definition of Death was held at The Catholic University of America in June 2014. The Symposium brought together scholars from a variety of disciplines-law, medicine, biology, philosophy and theology-who all share a commitment to the dead donor rule and to a biological definition of death, but who have differing opinions regarding the validity of neurological criteria for human death. The papers found in this special issue are among the fruits of this Symposium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. Hypotheses on Religion in the Military.
- Author
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HASSNER, RON E.
- Subjects
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RELIGION , *MILITARY maneuvers , *SCHOLARSHIPS , *CIVIL-military relations ,UNITED States armed forces - Abstract
Recent U.S. military engagements in the Middle East have drawn public attention to the thorny issue of religion in the armed forces but the scholarship on religion in the military lags far behind these developments. Scholars have not developed a coherent research program around the challenges that religion faces in the armed forces or the religious issues that soldiers, commanders and military institutions grapple with on a daily basis. This papers seeks to initiate a scholarly conversations about the roles and effects of religion in the armed forces. I propose exploratory hypotheses that touch on some key themes that such a research program might cover, at three levels of analysis. At the institutional level, scholars should interrogate the relationship between religious norms and constitutional challenges in society and in the military. At the unit level, research should explore the impact that chaplains and group rituals have on unit morale. At the individual level, this research program should initiate a comprehensive investigation of the effects of individual religious practices on the mental health of soldiers and, in turn, the impact that participation in combat has on soldiers' religiosity. These illustrative hypotheses are far from exhaustive and should be regarded as invitations for future exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
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5. Religious Market Share and Mormon Church Activity.
- Author
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Phillips, Rick
- Subjects
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ECONOMICS , *RELIGION , *SUPPLY & demand , *RELIGION & sociology , *SUPPLY-side economics , *RELIGIOUS diversity , *MORMONS - Abstract
A theory of religious activity based on principles of supply-side economics has generated considerable controversy in the sociology of religion. This theory posits that religious pluralism increases rates of religious activity by promoting competition between churches. This paper tests "supply-side theory" with data describing US Mormons. Results uncover patterns in Mormon church activity that refute the theory. The paper outlines several characteristics of Mormonism that explain its deviance from the theorized outcome, and suggests a scope condition for supply-side theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 1998
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
6. Accounting by Faith: The Negotiated Logic of Elite Evangelicals’ Workplace Decision-making.
- Author
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Lindsay, D. Michael and Smith, Bradley C.
- Subjects
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EVANGELICALISM , *RELIGION in the workplace , *RELIGIOUS adherents , *DECISION making , *ELITE (Social sciences) , *CHRISTIANITY , *RELIGION , *RELIGIOUS life ,UNITED States civilization ,UNITED States religions - Abstract
Workplace decision-making is shaped by institutionally delimited and individually appropriated logics of action. Since 1997, when President Clinton issued a White House directive that protected religious expression in the workplace, religious rhetoric and symbolism have played a more significant role in the semiotic codes through which these logics are expressed. While a growing literature has attended to the interplay between the domains of faith and work, relatively little attention has been paid to the ways elite actors negotiate the sometimes competing demands of religious convictions and workplace responsibilities. In this paper, we examine how evangelicals in positions of public leadership account for the role of faith in workplace decision-making. On the basis of our analysis of interview transcripts of 360 national leaders, we construct a taxonomy of dispositions toward faith at work along two primary axes—the expression of faith in workplace decision-making and the reception of it in various situations or by particular reference groups. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2010
- Full Text
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7. Religion, College Grades, and Satisfaction among Students at Elite Colleges and Universities*.
- Author
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Mooney, Margarita
- Subjects
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RELIGIOUS life of college students , *RELIGION , *ACADEMIC achievement , *SURVEYS , *SATISFACTION - Abstract
Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen, a sample of nearly 3,924 students at 28 of the most selective college and universities in the United States, this paper tests hypotheses about religion, academic performance, and satisfaction at college. Two measures of religiosity—attending religious services every week or more and a 1 to 10 scale of observance of one's religious traditions and customs—increase the amount of hours students report spending on academic work and extracurricular activities, as well as reduce the hours students report going to parties. Even when controlling for time spent partying, studying and in extracurricular activities, regular attendance at religious services increases academic achievement. Finally, students who attend religious services weekly and those who are more observant of their religious traditions also report being more satisfied at college. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2010
- Full Text
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8. Sorrow and Solidarity: Why Americans Volunteered for 9/11 Relief Efforts.
- Author
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Beyerlein, Kraig and Sikkink, David
- Subjects
- *
SEPTEMBER 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001 & society , *VOLUNTEER service , *DISASTER relief , *SOLIDARITY , *GRIEF , *RELIGION - Abstract
Why did some Americans volunteer to provide relief to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack victims, their families, or workers? This paper uses data from the 2002 Religion and Public Activism Survey, a nationally representative sample of adult Americans, which show that 10 percent of Americans volunteered to help victims of the terrorist attacks in some way to address this question. We argue that the act of volunteering in response to September 11 depended on levels of identification with victims of the tragedy. One of the strongest factors was personal identification with victims, which was built through personal networks such as knowing someone who was killed or in danger during the attacks, and through personal feelings of responsibility to help others in need. Identification was also constructed through involvement in social events such as community candlelight vigils that reflected on, framed, and reinforced the significance of the disaster in a communal setting. In addition, identification: with victims was built through a patriotic response to the tragedy, which, we argue, motivated Americans to defend the society with which they were emotionally identified and to see victims as part of the American family to which they were obligated to help in times of need. We argue that emotions matter for disaster relief but that sorrow rather than anger is important for generating identification with victims and thus volunteering for 9/11 relief efforts. These arguments are used to explain gender and political party differences in 9/11 volunteering. Finally, embeddedness in religious congregations promoted volunteering for 9/11 relief efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2008
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
9. Fair Game: Secrecy, Security, and the Church of Scientology in Cold War America.
- Author
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Urban, Hugh B.
- Subjects
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SCIENTOLOGY , *CULTS , *SECRECY , *COLD War, 1945-1991 , *RELIGION - Abstract
From Tom Cruise's wedding to South Park's scathing cartoon parody, the Church of Scientology has emerged as one of the wealthiest, most powerful but also most controversial new religious movements of the last fifty years. Remarkably, however, it has rarely been subjected to serious, critical study by historians of religions, in large part because of the intense secrecy that has surrounded the movement from its origins. This paper examines the role of secrecy in the early Church of Scientology, placing it in the historical and cultural context in which it emerged: Cold War America of the 1950s and 60s. Far from a strange aberration, Scientology in fact embodies many of the obsessive concerns with secrecy, information-control, and surveillance that ran throughout Cold War America. Indeed, with its policies of ‘security checks’ and ‘fair game,’ Scientology developed an apparatus of secrecy and surveillance that rivaled and in fact mirrored that of the FBI. As such, Scientology raises profound questions for the study of religion today, particularly in a post-9/11 context, where the questions of religious privacy and government surveillance have re-emerged in ways that eerily echo the height of the Cold War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2006
- Full Text
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10. Building Bridges and Bonds: Generating Social Capital in Secular and Faith-Based Poverty-to-Work Programs.
- Author
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Lockhart, William H.
- Subjects
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SOCIAL capital , *SOCIOLOGY , *NONPROFIT organizations , *RELIGION , *RELIGIOUS gatherings , *POVERTY - Abstract
Is there a difference between the social capital developed in faith-based and secular poverty-to-work programs? Comparative field research investigating five faith-based and secular poverty-to-work programs in southeastern America finds that values expressed by a secular non-profit organization and two faith-based programs correspond with more activities that develop social capital than the programs run by a for-profit organization and a reinvented government agency. In all the programs this social capital is both 'bridging,' by crossing barriers of race, gender, and class, and 'bonding' by tying participants and staff into at least a temporary supportive community. The programs see that this social capital is effective in supporting low-income persons through the transition to full-time employment. In addition, the faith-based programs seek to extend the social capital by developing long-term ties between clients and local religious congregations. This paper also specifies how social capital is developed in these programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2005
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
11. Spreading the Word: Religious Beliefs and the Evolution on Immigrant Congregations.
- Author
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Stevens, W. David
- Subjects
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BELIEF & doubt , *RELIGION , *RELIGIOUS gatherings , *IMMIGRANTS - Abstract
Current models of change in immigrant churches posit that ethnic congregations become more acculturated in response to inter-generational conflicts. As second and third generation church members attempt to meet their own unique social needs, ethnic churches are forced to revise their goals and structures in order to ensure the survival of their organization. Recent studies, however, cast doubt on whether generational changes are the only catalyst of evolution in ethnic churches. This paper develops an alternative explanation by arguing that religious culture can also exert pressure for change. it does so by showing how a strong emphasis on inter-ethnic evangelism lead to the adoption of English-language services in a Ghanaian Pentecostal church in Chicago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2004
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
12. God is in the Details: Reflections on Religion's Public Presence in the United States in the Mid-1990s.
- Author
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Roof, Wade Clark
- Subjects
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RELIGION & sociology , *RELIGION , *SOCIOLOGY , *SOCIAL sciences , *COMMUNITIES - Abstract
This paper explores the current religious mood in the tinned States and reflects upon its manifestations in the mid-1990s. It is argued that the religious mood has shifted -- away from the cognitive and fixed beliefs and toward the experiential arid expressive. It is further argued that given this change it is difficult to assess the current religious situation, especially given sociology-of-religion's reliance upon institutional categories and empirical indicators. Religious capital, like social capital, is not easily gauged without attention to new forms of community allowing individuals opportunity to express themselves as whole persons. A plea is made for a sociology of religion more attuned to body, mind, and self and thus to the dynamic and experiential qualities of religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 1996
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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