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Wilkinson, Gregory E. "The next Aum: religious violence and new religious movements in twenty-first century Japan." Diss., University of Iowa, 2009. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/272.
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The violence of Aum Shinrikyo has had four observable consequences for new religious movements in Japan: a change in posture by the Japanese government toward new religious movements, stricter laws and regulations regarding new religious movements and tighter enforcement of those laws, a growing skepticism by the media and scholars towards new religious movements, and increasing skepticism about new religions movements among community groups and the public at large. This study will show that the crimes of Aum Shinrikyo have created a shift in Japan's society resulting in a contraction of operational space available to Japan's new religious movements.
For this study `operational space' refers to the sociopolitical boundaries in which a group can operate, in other words, a religion's freedom to believe, practice, organize, and conduct economic activities free from government restriction and undue influence by other individuals or groups.
The proposed thesis will be illustrated by several case studies that look specifically at particular instances of contraction of operational space for Japanese new religious movements including Soka Gakkai, Hono-hana Sanpogyo, The Unification Church of Japan (Toitsu Kyokai) and Panawave Laboratory. Each case study will analyze how interactions between Japanese new religions movements and aspects or segments of Japanese society have changed due to a paradigm shift caused by the crimes of Aum.
The thesis is supported by a theoretical framework that draws on theories of Japanese new religious movements and theories of religion and violence. The research builds upon this framework through in-depth study of writings by leaders of Japanese new religious movements (particularly the writings of Aum leader Asahara Shoko, Japanese and Western scholarship on new religious movements, as well as government documents, media reports, personal interviews and field observations to produce a unique analysis of the Post-Aum Era for Japan's new religious movements.
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Taylor, David M., and Kristopher W. Struve. "Triggers of violence in new religious movements." Thesis, Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/27912.
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The research for this study has aimed at determining whether New Religious Movements (NRM) shared certain attributes (i.e., characteristics) that might help determine their propensity for violence. The goal was a model that a government or civil authority could use to compare a budding religious movement to determine whether it might become violent. This study only included post-World War II NRMs to limit the scope of research, and religious sects were excluded. A review of relevant literature in the study of NRMs and religious violence highlighted ten attributes that seemed to be prevalent in violent NRMs dramatic denouements, strict rule of law/high commitment, supernaturalism, new religion/teachings, isolationism, apocalyptic teachings, charismatic leader, absolute authority, group fragility, and repression. These ten attributes were used to grade all of the NRMs and the results were analyzed using Social Network Analysis (SNA) techniques for similarity. The results showed that violent NRMs clustered together meaning that they were more closely associated with certain attributes. The attribute scores for dramatic denouements, strict rule of law, apocalyptic teachings, and isolationism were substantially more associated with violent NRMs than with nonviolent NRMs.
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Zhang, Hansong. "New Religious Movements, Mental Health, and Well-Being." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2019. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1538749/.
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Recent years have observed significant change in the landscape of American religious/spiritual environment and religious/spiritual groups called new religious movements (NRMs) have developed as an alternative for many individuals to engage in religious/spiritual beliefs and practices outside the traditional religions. It was unclear if participation in NRMs provide adherents with similar mental health benefits as participation in traditional religious groups, or whether there might be important differences. The current study examined the link between participation in NRMs and relevant social and psychological outcomes including mental health symptoms, emotional well-being, attachment style, and social relationships. I recruited participants from three groups: (1) NRMs, (2) traditional religious groups, and (3) no religious/spiritual identification. I explored group differences in five key areas of mental health and well-being: (1) mental health symptoms, (2) subjective well-being, (3) attachment, (4) social belonging, and (5) meaning in life. The overall results suggested that NRM participants showed relatively few differences compared to traditional religious participants in regard to the above psychological profile. NRM participants reported more differences compared to participants who were neither religious nor spiritual. In this regard, NRM involvement was associated with some positive outcomes, including positive emotional well-being and meaning in life, and some negative outcomes, including anxious adult attachment, low sense of belonging compared to non-religious individuals, and higher rates of depression. Limitations, suggestions for future research, and practical applications are discussed.
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Mitchell, Michelle. "Surviving and Thriving in a Hostile Religious Culture." FIU Digital Commons, 2014. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1639.
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The present study explored a minority oppositional religious culture, which continued practicing despite overt hostilities to their practices. The qualitative research project utilized interviews and observations of the Gardnerian Wiccans in Broward County, Florida. The narrative data were transcribed, coded, and categorized into three themes related to the following research questions: Why would individuals create a secretive religion? Given they had to practice in secret, what about this religion had people seeking out information and joining Covens? What would keep this group together despite opposition from dominant culture? As a microcosm for religious conflict in society, the study showed differences in the culture’s religious paradigm structure as a major factor for religious conflict.
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Griffin, Lonnie F. "An analysis of print media reporting of established religions and new religious movements." [Tampa, Fla.] : University of South Florida, 2004. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/SFE0000276.
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Griffin, Lonnie F. III. "An Analysis of Print Media Reporting of Established Religions and New Religious Movements." Scholar Commons, 2004. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/1057.
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This thesis reports findings from a content analysis of 720 newspaper articles and 3,052 newspaper article cases focused on the issue of print media bias. Sunday editions of three major newspapers were drawn from the six-year period 1998-2003 for analysis. Prior research has uncovered print media bias in reporting of religious groups, and this thesis examines the substance of those claims pertaining to both established religions and new religious movements. Research findings show that established religions and their members are typically described in favorable or neutral terms, while new religious movements and their members are consistently described with pejorative terms. However, specific established religion members received the overwhelming majority of negative religion member descriptors. Articles focusing on established religion members were found to contain the bulk of visual aides accompanying the articles. Newspaper articles discussed incidents of violence by and/or against specific religious groups of both types of religion with a high frequency. Also, newspaper article themes and angles were found to be important for conveying the content of the articles. Additionally, an appendix is included that analyzes the treatment of religion, established religions and their members, and new religious movements and their members in sociology textbooks.
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Kingsbury, Kate. "New Mouride movements in Dakar and the diaspora." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.669764.
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Tweddell, Ian. "The use of the Internet by Japanese new religious movements." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/MQ53420.pdf.
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Silva, José Antunes da. "The development of new religious movements in an African context." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1992. http://www.tren.com.
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Rose, Dale Joseph. "Our Master’s Legacy: Belief and Ritual in Mission De L’esprit Saint." TopSCHOLAR®, 2015. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1526.
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This thesis is a folkloristic examination of the religious beliefs and rituals associated with members of a religious movement known as Mission De L’Ésprit Saint. Mission De L’Ésprit Saint is a Quebecois religious denomination which believes that their founder was the physical incarnation of the Holy Spirit, and the movement strives to continue the teachings which were laid down during his lifetime. The major components of Mission theology and history, as well as an introductory consideration of their cosmology and worldview will be the major focus of this document, as well as a consideration of the role that Folklore has in understanding marginal religious movements.
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Zeller, Benjamin E. Ariel Yaakov S. "Storming the gates of the Temple of Science religion and science in three new religious movements /." Chapel Hill, N.C. : University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2007. http://dc.lib.unc.edu/u?/etd,733.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2007.Title from electronic title page (viewed Dec. 18, 2007). "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy in the Department of Religious Studies." Discipline: Religious Studies; Department/School: Religious Studies.
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Villalonga, Patrick J. "From the Fall to the Flood and Beyond: Navigating Identity in Contemporary Noahidism." FIU Digital Commons, 2017. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3127.
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This thesis investigates artifacts and concepts present in the Noahide world and how they affect Noahide identity. Five factors are analyzed, namely Noahide law, religious pluralism, ritual, sectarianism, and conversion. I consult the Hebrew Scriptures as well as early, medieval, and modern rabbinic sources to set the conceptual background of the Noahide movement before moving into the primary, contemporary sources written by Orthodox Jews, Orthodox rabbis, and Noahides. To supplement my literary analysis, I have conducted a survey of self-identifying Noahide practitioners. This survey collects data concerning religious background, religious behavior, demographics, and free responses. I aim to show first and foremost that Noahidism is a new, exclusive religious tradition which comprises the lay order of Orthodox Judaism. This is born out of a theology which requires belief in the Jewish God and Jewish revelation, a strict ritual system based on Orthodox Jewish prescriptions, and a sectarian typology which mirrors Orthodox Jewish sectarianism. Additionally, my analysis of conversion shows Noahidism is not a gateway to Orthodox conversion, but an end in itself.
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Scott, Kenneth David. "Privileged Peru : the Israelites of the New Universal Covenant." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 1988. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.257478.
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The Israelites of the New Universal Covenant are a New Religious Movement founded in 1968. A presentation of the Inca Empire, the Spanish Conquest of Peru, the subsequent colonial period and post-independence era acts as background to a global understanding of the Israelites. Israelite membership is drawn from Andean Indians who came to be open to religious change in the twentieth century. Ideas on indigenism coupled with social reforms, urbanization, and migrations led to a greater Andean self-identity and preparation for membership in the newly formed religion. An idealized view of the Inca past (encapsulated in the Inkarri myth) and a return of the same is envisaged as part of the solution for the Indian. These elements combined with the Indians' interaction with other Christian traditions (folk Catholicism with segments of Protestantism) to produce the Peruvian Israelites and the concept of Privileged Peru. The thesis traces the life of Ezequiel Ataucusi Gamonal (the Israelite founder), through folk Catholicism, 'miraculous' experiences, to membership in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church (when a migrant worker in the Jungle), contact with other Protestant groups, to the foundation of the Peruvian Israelites and through their subsequent history. The Israelite religion functions within a harmonious system of 'seven pillars of wisdom'. The pillars are the five feasts of Trumpets, Passover,Pentecost, Cabins and the Day of Expiation, with the weekly Sabbath and the Thousand Year Reign of Christ. Israelites are not a by-form of either Catholicism, Protestantism or Judaism, nor a political party in a religious guise. Ezequiel represents a new Christ-figure who interprets the Bible to offer salvation and a place in this world to Andean Indians, and the promise of entry into the Thousand Year Reign of Christ through observing the Israelite laws and through his own future death and resurrection.
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Cheeseman, Colin. "Globalization, postmodernity, culture shift and the Church of England." Thesis, University of Kent, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.327441.
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Skrumedi, Craig. "The Question of Violence in New Religious Movements: A Meta-Analysis of Aggregates." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/36517.
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This thesis provides a systematic comparison and analysis on violent and non-violent new religious movements. The purpose of using a meta-analysis as the methodological tool for this research project is that it offers a systematic presentation and synthesis of the characteristics and findings from academic studies that exist on each new religious movement. Of importance is that each study, from the fields of sociology, social psychology and religious studies offers differing truths about each of the NRMs as they each only examine certain characteristics. As these disciplines have a high level of theories, this project utilizes a “measure driven” approach, “in which iterative searches and new computerized search techniques are used to increase the range of publications found (and thus the range of possible analyses) and to traverse time and disciplinary boundaries” (Roelfs et al 2013: 75). This analysis pools together all existing facts to provide a larger estimate of the "unknown common truths" about each movement and provide a fuller picture of the movements and their leaders. By combining studies of new religious movements that are prone to violence with studies of new religious movements that remain peaceful, this meta-analysis will increase the sample size and the power to study effects that may lead to the answer: why do some new religious movements become violent.
The general consensus among the research literature has distilled three salient aggregates associated with new religious groups that have become violent: a) each group possessed an apocalyptic worldview; b) each group maintained an organizational structure predicated on charismatic leadership and authority whereby a potent connection between the charismatic leader and devotee was forged; and c) each group established firm social boundaries demarcating the separation between the group and the wider social milieu resulting in social isolation. However, though these attributes were present in and common to all the groups that became violent, they continue to remain insufficient and fail to adequately illustrate why certain new religions become violent. The most notable cases of NRMs that have been mobilized to violence that are analyzed include: the Peoples' Temple, The Order of the Solar Temple, Aum Shinrikyo, the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments, the Branch Davidians, Rajneeshpuaram, The Church of the Lamb of God, Heaven's Gate and Scientology. These religious movements are compared and analyzed in relation to groups that have not become violent: the early Unification Church, Sikh Dharma/3HO, Chen Tao, Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT), and Concerned Christians. By analyzing fourteen individual movements that demonstrate the three central aggregates found specifically in violent movements, hopefully this meta-analysis has overcome the problem of small sample sizes, in order to better detect internal and external effects that can explain why some NRMs become violent.
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Chakanza, J. C. "Continuity and change : A study of new religious movements in Malawi, 1900 - 1981." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1985. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.371611.
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Ahadi, Ali. "New religious and spiritual movements in the West : reflexive modernity, alienation and embodied charisma." Thesis, Goldsmiths College (University of London), 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.429628.
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Healy, John Paul Social Sciences & International Studies Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences UNSW. "Attraction, affiliation and disenchantment in a new religious movement: a study of individuals?? experiences in a Siddha Yoga practice." Publisher:University of New South Wales. Social Sciences & International Studies, 2008. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/41342.
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This thesis explores thirty-two individuals?? experiences of involvement in Siddha Yoga. Such groups have often been labelled as cults and accused of ??brainwashing?? their followers. The conceptualisation of affiliation as brainwashing has been influential within the helping professions, including psychology, counselling and social work. However, this conceptualisation is not supported by empirical research on cults, or what have become known as New Religious Movements (NRMs). The research problem which this thesis addresses therefore is: ??If a brainwashing model of affiliation does not give an adequate explanation for cult/NRM involvement how else might it be understood??? A primary objective of this study was to inform the helping professions, in particular social work. A secondary objective was to add to knowledge about Siddha Yoga Practice in Australia, which no other study had addressed, and thereby to add to the growing understanding of NRMs in Australia. The study applied a qualitative research framework, informed by grounded theory, ethnography and phenomenology and used a purposive sampling technique. Materials were collected by semi-structured in-depth interviews, participant observations and field notes, and analysed with the assistance of NVivo data analysis computer software. This study found that the conceptualisation of affiliation as brainwashing fails to account for the variety of individuals?? experiences of involvement in Siddha Yoga. Moreover, the findings highlight that involvement in regard to attraction, affiliation and disenchantment is not helpfully understood by adopting a ??brainwashing?? model and could be better understood through the lens of the sociology of religion, including studies of the experiences of those in mainstream religions. One implication of the findings for social work and other helping professions is that existing approaches to interpersonal helping could be used with individuals who seek assistance after leaving a NRM. For social work, this thesis also adds to the growing knowledge of the diverse religious orientations in the wider community. Such knowledge can enhance social work education, practice and theory in relation to social work??s diverse client population.
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Arweck, Elisabeth. "Responses to new religious movements in Britain and Germany : with special reference to the anti-cult movement and the churches." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.394281.
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Machado, Carly Barboza. "Imagine se tudo isso for verdade: O movimento Raeliano entre verdades, ficções e religiões da modernidade." Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, 2006. http://www.bdtd.uerj.br/tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=1460.
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Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de JaneiroO presente trabalho tem por objetivo analisar o Movimento Rae liano, grupo religioso criado por Claude Vourilhon que se auto denomina o Profeta Raël. Atribuindo a criação da vida humana na Terra a seres extraterrestres, o Movimento Raeliano teve origem na França e desde seu surgimento em 1973 expande sua atuação para diversos países, inclusive o Brasil, contando atualmente em seus números oficiais com sessenta mil adeptos em todo o mundo. Com perfil transnacional, este movimento difunde suas idéias através dos meios de comunicação de massa e seu evento de maior eficácia midiática foi o anúncio do nascimento do primeiro clone humano denominado Eva pelas lideranças do Movimento, em 2002. A cosmologia raeliana define -se como atéia e atribui suas idéias a fontes científicas extraterrestres. Este estudo desenvolve uma análise das idéias raelianas contidas na Mensagem dos Extraterrestres, articulando-as às verdades proféticas produzidas no campo científico e às ficções da literatura e do cinema também referidas à ciência. Assumindo como pressuposto que a mediação dos meios de comunicação de massa opera como estilo nas performances raelianas, esta pesquisa propõe ainda uma análise das construções do self e dos modos de relações raelianas a partir de categorias próprias da linguagem midiática como a fama e a construção de celebridades no interior deste grupo que faz de shows e festas experiências religiosas em seu ethos. Desdobrando idéias de uma ciência popularizada, analisa-se ainda no contexto desta investigação o protagonismo do cérebro como ícone sagrado raeliano e sua articulação com a polêrmica sobre a manipulação mental, bem como aspectos pertinentes à clonagem e a manipulação genética como projeto raeliano para o presente da humanidade. Polêrmico quanto à sexualidade livre sugerida a seus membros, este trabalho discute ainda o modelo moral do Movimento Raeliano, especificamente no que diz respeito às suas noções de feminilidade e família. Analisando o Movimento como uma performance da modernidade, este estudo procura discutir as conseqüências do projeto moderno levado ao extremo, provocando questões sobre o futuro e suas representações na vida social contemporânea.
The aim of t he present work is to analyze the Raelian Movement, a religious group created by Claude Vourillon who calls himself Raël Prophet. The Raelian Movement, which was founded in France in 1973, claims that human being life on Earth was created by extraterrestrial beings. Since its formation, the Raelian Movement has spread its philosophy to several countries, including Brazil, and currently has 60 thousand members all over the world. With a transnational profile, this movement has propagated its ideas through means of mass communication and its most significant mass media event was in 2002 with the announcement, by the leaderships of the Movement, of the birth of the first human clone called Eve. Raelian cosmology is defined as atheist and its ideas are attributed to extraterrestrial scientific sources. This study develops an analysis of the raelian ideas present in the Extraterrestrial Message, linking them to the prophetic truth produced in the scientific field and also to the fictions of literature and cinema related to science. Considering that the mediation of means of mass communication operates as style in the raelian performances, this research proposes an analysis of the constructions of self and the raelian relation ways starting at categories particular to mediatic language such as fame and construction of celebrities in the interior of this group that transforms shows and parties into religious experiences in its ethos. Unfolding ideas of a popularized science, the role of the brain as a raelian sacred icon and its articulation with the controversy on the mental manipulation, as well as the pertinent aspects to the cloning and the genetic manipulation as a raelian project for the present of humanity, are analyzed in this research. The movement is polemic in what concerns the fre sexuality suggested to its members; then, this work also studies the Raelian Movement moral model, especially in respect to its notions of femininity and family. Analyzing the Raelian Movement as a performance of modernity, this study discusses the consequences of the modern project taken to extremes, raising questions about the future and its representations in the contemporary social life.
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Kazakina-Tisdall, Katerina Toskova. "Legal, societal and ecclesiastical responses to the challenges new religious movements have brought to Bulgarian society." Thesis, Lancaster University, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.507421.
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Coleman, Naomi. "How do members of New Religious Movements manage beliefs others might find unusual? : a grounded theory." Thesis, University of East London, 2009. http://roar.uel.ac.uk/3731/.
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Most research focusing on unusual beliefs investigates people in psychiatric services who have been labelled delusional. We know relatively little about how people outside of services manage beliefs that others may find unusual. Considering research demonstrating that delusional ideation in the general population is common, this study sought to explore how people manage these beliefs. Individuals from New Religious Movements (NRMs) were selected as previous research indicated they may score highly on measures of delusional ideation yet show low levels of distress in relation to their beliefs. A social constructionist version of Grounded Theory was used to analyse transcripts of eight interviews of people from four different NRMs: The Aetherius Society; EnlightenNext; the Raelian Movement and the Spiritualist Church. The mean age of the group was 50.6 years and six participants described their ethnicity as White British and two participants as White Other. The interviews covered four main topics: the history of their religious beliefs; the significance of the beliefs; how individuals talked about their beliefs and emotional states relating to their beliefs. In addition, the Peters et a/., Delusions Inventory (1999) was used to measure delusional ideation and to contextualise the participants' beliefs in relation to previous studies. A theory of how the participants made sense of and accommodated their beliefs in terms of their own meaning frameworks and others' beliefs systems without related disruption or distress was developed. Individuals utilised both intellectual and emotional resources. Social factors, including others' responses, impacted significantly on the way individuals accommodated their beliefs. It is recommended that clinicians explore the values and beliefs of individuals and consider social support that may be available in order to enable individuals to make sense of their experiences within their own meaning frameworks and to limit distress.
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Alldén, Häll Emmilie, and Johanna Saukko. "Nyreligiösa rörelser i dagens gymnasieskolor." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-29538.
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The purpose of this paper is to study how some upper secondary teachers define and understand the terms New Religious Movement, New Religiosity and cult. We also look at what the teachers teach about and why they pick those specific parts of the course. Firstly, to get a wider view of this subject we looked at previous research about the teaching of New Religious Movements. In addition to the previous research we did our own research where we interviewed upper secondary teachers from two different schools. Secondly, for our results we analysed the transcripts by using two different theoretical frameworks: religious didactics in the form of abductive perspective in connection to the didactical questions - what, why and how? We have also used a hermeneutic interpretation when looking at the empirical material.Through our research we found that teachers have some difficulties defining the terms “New Religious Movements”, “New Religiosity” and “Cults”. They also have a problem with differentiating them from each other. The research shows that even the teachers’ selection, planning and implementation of their teaching varies between the schools for different reasons. Some of this stems from the teachers’ capacity within the subject, different interpretations of the syllabus and the influence that students have on the teaching.
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Mbon, Friday M. "Brotherhood of the cross and star a sociological case study of new religious movements in contemporary Nigeria." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/4997.
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Löfstrand, Louise. "Helande och gudomlig eller djurisk och blodig? : En innehållsanalys av värderande adjektiv som används om nya religiösa rörelser och kristendom i läroböcker." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Teologiska institutionen, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-323853.
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The purpose with this study is to research how new religious movements are depicted, in textbooks used for upper secondary school in religious education, in contrast to how Christianity is depicted, and if there is a more negative depiction around new religious movements. The content analysis uses/investigates three chosen textbooks, all written for Swedish upper secondary education. The content analysis uses quantitatively research whereas the depiction of Christianity and new religious movements are investigated by counting as well as analyzing adjectives used to describe, furthermore what emotive value the adjectives carry. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis the syntheses of an adjective the study shows that more negatively charged adjectives are more common describing new religious movements in two of the textbooks and throughout all textbooks, Christianity is described positively.
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Paulina, Mercik. "“Gud är Gul” : Hur nya religiösa rörelser och sekter framställs i läroböcker i gymnasieskolan." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Teologiska institutionen, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-446290.
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This essay is a qualitative study meant to highlight new religious movements and cults are portrayed in textbooks used to teach the subject of religion in upper secondary school, as well as how they correlate to the syllabi and course objectives set by Skolverket. The object for my analysis contains three textbooks by different authors, all from different publishers, in order to enable an accurate and representative interpretation of said portraying. Three questions lead the study as they demand the answer to which parts of new religious movements that are most frequently presented, whether the portraying of these movements contain tendencies of stereotyping and consequently identify efforts to reduce the issue. Furthermore, light is cast on the depiction of belief and life view within new religious movements and cults. My study reveals that these textbooks are dealing with new religious movements and cults with some lack of nuance and a deficiency of developed arguments. The sum of my results lead to the conclusion that none of the textbooks fully qualify for the control document set by Skolverket, regarding both syllabi and course objectives. By not doing so they give rise to potential negative didactic consequences in the education which can not be disregarded.
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Biggs, Austin R. "The Southern Baptist Convention “Crisis” in Context: Southern Baptist Conservatism and the Rise of the Religious Right." TopSCHOLAR®, 2017. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1967.
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From the late 1970s through the early 1990s, a minority conservative faction took over the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). This project seeks to answer the questions of how a fringe minority within the nation’s largest Protestant denomination could undertake such a feat and why they chose to do so. The framework through which this work analyzes these questions is one of competing worldviews that emerged within the SBC in response to decades of societal shifts and denominational transformations in the post-World War II era. To place the events of the Southern Baptist “crisis” within this framework, this study seeks to refute the prevailing notion put forth in earlier works that the takeover was an in-house event, driven purely by doctrinal disputes between conservative Southern Baptists and SBC leadership. Illustrating the differences between rhetoric and action on both sides of this intra-denominational conflict, this work seeks to provide perspective to the narrative of the Southern Baptist “crisis” by asserting that the worldviews guiding the opposing factions diverged not only on doctrine, but culture and politics as well. Placing the events of the “crisis” within the context of broader worldviews, this project highlights and examines the intertwined nature of religion, culture, and politics in modern American society.
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Ndyabahika, James N. "The attitude of the Anglican church of Uganda to the new religious movements and in particular to the Bacwezi-Bashomi in South Western Uganda 1960-1995." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17547.
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Bibliography: pages 272-292.The central theme of this doctoral thesis is the Attitude of the Anglican Church of Uganda to the New Religious Movements and in particular to the Bacwezi-Bashomi in south-western Uganda, 1960-1995. Since the 1960's Uganda has been witnessing a wave of new religious movements stressing healing and exorcism and to date are attracting a large following. Although the literature on these movements is still scanty with no attempt having been made in the area of academics, the researcher investigated this topic at some considerable length (assisted by six research assistants) using primary and secondary sources a task he has carried out with a sense of satisfaction. In the area of scholarship, he has published articles in Occasional Research Papers - Makerere University (Volume 14); African Journal of Theology (1991): 54-62; Asian Journal of Theology (1991): 136-148 and African Journal of Evangelical theology (1993): 18-40. Currently, he is a lecturer at Makerere University. This thesis is developed in six chapters with intent to establish whether the Bacwezi-Bashomi Movement is a challenge to Christianity or its followers are from the Roman Catholic Church or it is a pseudo-religious group or an independent church. It highlights that apart from the Balokole (born again Christians), abazukufu (the reawakened Christians), Pentecostal preachers and the charismatic renewal believers; many Christians who hardly take their faith and baptismal calling seriously claim that Christianity has failed to provide solutions to their chaotic existence, economic and socio-religious issues, hence the rush to these new religious movements and in particular to the Bacwezi-Bashomi. Defection is caused by the inability to grasp seriously the biblical teachings and the failure to get down-to-earth philosophical explanations. The study then discusses the historical growth of the Movement, highlights the attitudes of the mainline churches and concludes with recommendations and vision of the Anglican Church in Uganda. Now, the mainline churches are urged to foster the Christian faith that addresses the contemporary issues which engulf the indigenous people; to take the traditional healing and the indigenous medicine seriously; and to enhance a fruitful dialogue with the new religious movements, nominal Christians, abalokole and the followers of the Bacwezi-Bashomi Movement leading to mutual respect and understanding. Lastly, owing to the scarcity of in-depth academic studies, there is a need for serious research by church historians, sociologists, missiologists and pastors, hence the justification for this thesis.
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Lockwood, Renee. "The commercial ethic and corporate religion." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/11630.
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The relationship between religion and economics has been explored by scholars since Max Weber’s seminal work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905). In the late twentieth century, theorists began to focus particularly on the impact of consumerism on Western religiosity, demonstrating the manner in which traditional religious beliefs and practices are making way for a broader ‘spiritual marketplace’ in which consumers are able to ‘pick and mix’ those elements of religion which they find most appealing. The New Age movement is most commonly the subject of these discussions, though recent scholarship has offered the terms ‘spiritualities of life’ and ‘progressive spiritualities’ as more nuanced alternatives. Another aspect of this relationship that has sparked interest from the academy, particularly since the 1990s, is the merging of corporate culture and spirituality. Observations of this phenomenon are often made through a similar lens, with the New Age paradigm most often employed to describe the kinds of beliefs and practices circulating the corporate sector. Whilst in the early twenty-first century several texts promoting ‘spirituality’ in the workplace exist, these are almost always composed either by non-academic authors writing from within the field of business, or by theologians encouraging religious practices at work. When it comes to etic, sociological analyses, more cynical approaches are the norm. Spirituality in the workplace is commonly analysed as profit-driven, designed to promote worker efficiency and improve sales. The fact that many ‘spiritual’ products are marketed as doing just this certainly seems to justify these perspectives. However, less easy to validate are the implications of the ‘inauthentic’ nature of workplace spirituality, and the clearly problematic dichotomies of ‘real’ versus ‘fake’ religion such analyses carry. Consequently, this thesis aims to avoid moralising whilst exploring these currents, and to focus instead on unpacking the problems of ‘corporate religion.’ This process begins with an in-depth analysis of the core aspects of these corporate spiritualities; namely the ‘sacred’ and soteriological forms that exist within them, as well as the specific values they promote. The concepts of ‘ultimate subjectivity,’ ‘soteriological relocation,’ and ‘ontological soteriology’ are offered, and illustrated to be new and important characteristics of modern Western spirituality. It is also concerned with the creation of the ‘commercial ethic,’ and its relationship to the phenomenon of ‘corporate religion.’ While the roots of these phenomena run deeper than the scope of this thesis allows, the roles of certain socio-cultural forces of the twentieth century in their formation are explored. Two culture streams in particular are identified as being seminal in the creation of these new spiritual and ethical realities. The first, that of humanistic psychology, is shown to have contributed profoundly to the creation and perpetuation of ‘ultimate subjectivity;’ the idea of the ‘authentic self’ representing a new form of the sacred and the absolute arbiter of change. Further, the early humanistic psychologists are shown to have promoted particular values including spontaneity, creativity, playfulness, courage, autonomy and rebellion, as means of finding ‘salvation’ from the crises of modernity. The second culture stream, which includes marketing, consumer and business culture – all elements of consumer capitalism – is revealed to have been equally responsible for the perpetuation of these ideas in modern Western consciousness. While this may seem ironic, considering the rejection of corporate culture by many humanistic psychologists, a deeper analysis shows the existence of a dialectic between these seemingly divergent fields, resulting in the synthesis of the modern commercial ethic. In exploring the first culture stream, that of psychology and the Human Potential Movement, the work of Erich Fromm and Abraham Maslow is primarily investigated. In the analysis of the second, that of consumer culture, marketing and business, two authors are primary. First, Thomas Frank’s discussion of the relationship between ‘counter-culture’ values and marketing is discussed. Secondly, John Grant’s New Marketing Manifesto is shown to reflect the manner in which commercial ethic values are fundamental to business and marketing success, having been subsequently promoted through Western culture. Two key methodological frameworks are employed to frame these analyses. Firstly, Charles Taylor’s theory of the ‘massive subjective turn of modern culture’ lies at the heart of the primary arguments presented here. Secondly, Berger and Luckmann’s model of reality construction represents the scaffolding for the theory of the creation of the commercial ethic, as humanistic psychologists and marketing professional are viewed as experts responsible for the permeation of commercial ethic values throughout Western culture, as well as new, temporal, ontology-based forms of the sacred and salvation. Having examined the creation of these new spiritual realities, and their solidification within contemporary Western consciousness, the nature of the corporate religious forms that uphold them will be explored. This will begin with the problematizing of much of the sociological methodology concerning secularisation, rationalisation, and the function and social significance of new religious forms in Western late modernity. In particular, theories that promote the demoralisation perspective – the understanding that rationalisation and the utilitarian individualism promoted by modern consumer capitalism inevitably result in the death of religion – are scrutinized. More specifically, the hypothesis that the nature of rationality is inherently not conducive to the creation of religion is challenged. Arguing from the understanding that religion both reflects and emerges from society, seemingly ‘rational’ forms of religion existing within bureaucratised, corporate environments are presented as empirical challenges to these theses. These spiritualities are shown to function in much the same way as traditional religious forms, unifying participants through shared values and beliefs, offering salvation from the crises and malaises specific to the cultural context, and upholding a particular form of the sacred; the authentic Self. Having illustrated the significance and validity of these new religio-spiritual forms and their relevance to the academy, a detailed description of the corporate religious milieu will be offered. Potential typologies and categorisations of corporate religion are evaluated, and examples of these spiritual forms presented in order to highlight the scope of the phenomenon. Finally, a case study of a corporate religious form, ‘Landmark,’ is presented.
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Smith, Kenneth Paul. "Mythmaking from the Fringe to the Center: The Appropriation of Barack Obama in an Emergent UFO- Based Religious Movement and in Mainstream American Culture." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2010. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/rs_theses/22.
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In this essay, I examine the ways in which new myths were made of Barack Obama in the months leading up to, and immediately following, the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election at three sites of cultural production: a UFO-based religious movement historically grounded in the black Israelite religious tradition, TIME magazine’s 2008 “Person of the Year” edition, and Sean Hannity’s “The Real Barack Obama” airing on the FOX News network. I argue that, while the content of these three Obama-myths varies considerable, the ways in which these myths are constructed, and function, are in fact rather similar.
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Currie, Sean E. "Sacred Selves: An Ethnographic Study of Narratives and Community Practices at a Spiritual Center." [Tampa, Fla] : University of South Florida, 2009. http://purl.fcla.edu/usf/dc/et/SFE0002799.
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ARAÚJO, Márcia Assunção. "Itinerância no Ashram: alimentando corpo e alma na Brahma Kumaris." www.teses.ufc.br, 2012. http://www.repositorio.ufc.br/handle/riufc/17706.
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ARAÚJO, Márcia Assunção. Itinerância no Ashram: alimentando corpo e alma na Brahma Kumaris. 2012. 285f. – Tese (Doutorado) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Programa de Pós-graduação em Sociologia, Fortaleza (CE), 2012.Submitted by Márcia Araújo (marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-06-15T14:03:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2012_tese_maaraujo.pdf: 3318636 bytes, checksum: dc2e21ad4f7ac15aeac50ed200024ea2 (MD5)
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The present study inquires into cognitive and symbolic perceptions of individuals from the town of Fortaleza who adopt a vegetarian diet for religious motivations. They belong to a yoga line, in scope of the new religious movements. This study took place in the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University – BKWSU, in the aforementioned city, between the years 2007 and 2011, and used as methodological tools participant observation and semi-structured interviews with students and professors of this spiritual movement with a neo-hindu face. Initial interest was to understand foodrelated representations and practices, but as the research went on, the existence of a semantic confluence between religious sentiment and food became evident, both converging to the construction of a brahmin life regimen. So, food has its meaning widened and is considered here as a sign/metaphor to think the body and soul relationship, suggested by the behavior code – maryadas – of this spiritual movement. For the participants of this group, forms of thinking, feeling and seeing the world are the expression of a collective belonging, which is, at the same time, subjectified and resignified in terms of the self-improvement process and sacralisation of the world.
O presente estudo investigou as percepções cognitivas e simbólicas de indivíduos que adotam práticas alimentares vegetarianas por motivações religiosas, na cidade de Fortaleza, pertencentes a uma linha de yoga no âmbito dos novos movimentos religiosos. Este estudo teve como cenário a Universidade Espiritual Mundial Brahma Kumaris – BKWSU, na referida cidade, entre os anos de 2007 e 2011, e utilizou como recursos metodológicos a observação participante e entrevistas semiestruturadas com alunos e professores deste movimento espiritual de cariz neo-hindu. Inicialmente, interessava compreender as representações e as práticas relacionadas com a alimentação, mas ao longo da pesquisa ficou evidente a existência de uma confluência semântica entre o sentimento religioso e alimentação, ambos concorrendo para a construção de um regime de vida brahmin. Assim, o alimento tem seu sentido alargado e é tomado aqui como signo/metáfora para se pensar a relação corpo e alma sugerida pelo código de condutas – maryadas – deste movimento espiritual. As formas de pensar, sentir e ver o mundo dos participantes deste grupo são expressão de uma pertença coletiva que é, ao mesmo tempo, subjetivada e ressignificada em termos do processo de aperfeiçoamento de si e de sacralização do mundo.
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Thayne, Stanley J. "The Home of Truth: The Metaphysical World of Marie Ogden." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2009. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd3275.pdf.
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Kawakami, Tsuneo. "Stories of Conversion and Commitment in Japanese New Religious Movements The Cases of Toho no Hikari, World Mate, and Kofuku no Kagaku." Thesis, Lancaster University, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.524735.
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Koleva, Zhivka. "Satanic Battle for Social Change : A Discourse-Analytical Study of The Satanic Temple's Activism." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Teologiska institutionen, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-412421.
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Svensson, Joakim. ""Livet bakom de manipulativa profetiorna" : En kvalitativ textanalys som skildrar maltutövandet i två amerikanskgrundade nyreligiösa rörelser." Thesis, Jönköping University, Högskolan för lärande och kommunikation, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-49130.
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Just a few years after the end of WWII, the American author Lafayette Ronald Hubbard developed the new religious movement Scientology, which has evolved over the years into one of the largest new religious movements in the world. Two decades later, an American pastor’s son named David Berg, received a revelation from God, which led to the founding of the new religious movement The Family International, formerly known as God’s Children. Over the years there have been a number of defectors that wanted to change and turn their life around. But only a few managed to gather confidence to tell the rest of the world of the circumstances and living conditions in the new religious movement that have characterized major parts of their lives. The main purpose of this study was to elucidate how former members and defectors portrayed and experienced the explicit and implicit exercise of power in two, American founded, new religious movements. In addition, the study applied the Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud’s theories in dynamic psychology and religion, in order to interpret the former members depictions, in relation to the attitudes expressed. The didactic relevance of this study refers to the growth and the more frequent sight of new religious movements in our society. The society, primarily in the media, but also in scientific contexts, has associates these movements with the negative loaded word sect, which has led to appearance of difficulties in the education of religion. Therefore, contributes this study, based on a neutral and a non-evaluative perspective of new religious movements, to eliminate prejudices and create tolerance among all students. What emerged along the course of the study was that the explicit control and exercise of power was established in the charismatic attribute and, above all, the power holder’s ability to convince and persuade the members was one of the major parts in the power structure. The study also illustrates how the implicit exercise of power of the Scientology constantly revolved around money and The Family International around sex relations. In conclusion, the leaders explicit and implicit exercise of power integrates with each other and has its foundation in the charismatic leadership and the ability to convince and persuade its members. The conclusion also illustrates how the members adaption and submission to its leader was an unconscious act according to Freud’s theory, concerning defense mechanism. As a result, the leaders achieved to manage the movements without resistance and questioning, and also got expression for their own manners.
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Lefor, Maarten K. "The Religion of Sport." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2015. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1064.
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Around the world, religion takes many forms that vary greatly in practices, beliefs, and doctrine. In fact, defining the term "religion" is a difficult task in encompassing a multitude of faiths. In America, various cultural practices emulate the religious nature of various classic religions. Sport is a peculiar example that hold the interests of millions. However, the way sport is experienced as a fan differs greatly from the way sport is experienced as an athlete. I argue that to an athlete, sport functions as a placeholder for religion in modern-day America. By exploring various functions of religion, as defined by Winston King in the Encyclopedia of Religion (1959), it is clear that sport offers the same components as religion. However, as scholars such as Price and Chidester have found, sport does not function completely as a religion for fans. I finish with a discussion of why sport in the eyes of a fan fails to meet the requirements for sport acting as religion; using King's definition, it becomes clear that sport, for fans, fails to offer the same type of traditionalism and sacred experiences as found in religion, as well as the experience of sport for an athlete.
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AraÃjo, MÃrcia AssunÃÃo. "ItinerÃncia no Ashram: alimentando corpo e alma na Brahma Kumaris." Universidade Federal do CearÃ, 2012. http://www.teses.ufc.br/tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=17114.
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coordenadoria de aperfeiÃoamento de pessoal de ensino superiorO presente estudo investigou as percepÃÃes cognitivas e simbÃlicas de indivÃduos que adotam prÃticas alimentares vegetarianas por motivaÃÃes religiosas, na cidade de Fortaleza, pertencentes a uma linha de yoga no Ãmbito dos novos movimentos religiosos. Este estudo teve como cenÃrio a Universidade Espiritual Mundial Brahma Kumaris â BKWSU, na referida cidade, entre os anos de 2007 e 2011, e utilizou como recursos metodolÃgicos a observaÃÃo participante e entrevistas semiestruturadas com alunos e professores deste movimento espiritual de cariz neo-hindu. Inicialmente, interessava compreender as representaÃÃes e as prÃticas relacionadas com a alimentaÃÃo, mas ao longo da pesquisa ficou evidente a existÃncia de uma confluÃncia semÃntica entre o sentimento religioso e alimentaÃÃo, ambos concorrendo para a construÃÃo de um regime de vida brahmin. Assim, o alimento tem seu sentido alargado e à tomado aqui como signo/metÃfora para se pensar a relaÃÃo corpo e alma sugerida pelo cÃdigo de condutas â maryadas â deste movimento espiritual. As formas de pensar, sentir e ver o mundo dos participantes deste grupo sÃo expressÃo de uma pertenÃa coletiva que Ã, ao mesmo tempo, subjetivada e ressignificada em termos do processo de aperfeiÃoamento de si e de sacralizaÃÃo do mundo.
The present study inquires into cognitive and symbolic perceptions of individuals from the town of Fortaleza who adopt a vegetarian diet for religious motivations. They belong to a yoga line, in scope of the new religious movements. This study took place in the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University â BKWSU, in the aforementioned city, between the years 2007 and 2011, and used as methodological tools participant observation and semi-structured interviews with students and professors of this spiritual movement with a neo-hindu face. Initial interest was to understand foodrelated representations and practices, but as the research went on, the existence of a semantic confluence between religious sentiment and food became evident, both converging to the construction of a brahmin life regimen. So, food has its meaning widened and is considered here as a sign/metaphor to think the body and soul relationship, suggested by the behavior code â maryadas â of this spiritual movement. For the participants of this group, forms of thinking, feeling and seeing the world are the expression of a collective belonging, which is, at the same time, subjectified and resignified in terms of the self-improvement process and sacralisation of the world.
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Inaba, Keishin. "A comparative study of altruism in new religious movements with special reference to the Jesus Army and the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2000. https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/a-comparative-study-of-altruism-in-new-religious-movements-with-special-reference-to-the-jesus-army-and-the-friends-of-the-western-buddhist-order(247c18d7-9bfc-47e7-a444-6065eedeaebc).html.
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Stevens, Rachael. "Red Tara : lineages of literature and practice." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2010. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:27381b38-c580-4d0b-b7d5-f87abcc50afd.
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Tārā is arguably the most popular goddess of the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon. She is well known in her Green, White, and Twenty-one forms. However, the numerous red aspects of the divinity have long been overlooked in both popular and academic literature on the goddess. This thesis aims to redress this balance. This thesis presents the various manifestations of Red Tārā in the form of a survey of the literary and practice lineages of this goddess throughout Tibetan Buddhist history. The intention of the thesis is to examine individual forms of Red Tārā, excluding Kurukullā (who has received previous scholarly attention), in order to prove the hypothesis that not all Red Tārās are Kurukullā. The research has identified a preliminary historical order of Red Tārā lineages from the eleventh century works on Pītheśvarī and the Sa-skya-pa Red Tārās, through to the nineteenth and twentieth century forms of the goddess authored by the dGe-lugs-pas and A-paṃ gter-ston in the A-mdo region of Tibet. The red forms of Tārā are more 'worldly' than her Green or White incarnations, and the soteriological component of her worship is not always clear. Accordingly this allows a glimpse into the subjugating/ magnetising ritual process. The thesis comprises three sections. Section One provides a general introduction to Tārā and Kurukullā, followed by a survey of the literature pertaining to Red Tārā identified in the course of this research. Section Two takes four lineages of Red Tārā literature as its focus. Each chapter refers to an individual lineage: Pītheśvarī, Sa-skya-pa, the Twenty-one Tārās, and A-paṃ gter-ton's gter-ma cycle. Section Three deals with modern-day practice of the goddess in the Chagdud Gonpa Foundation and the Flaming Jewel Sangha. The thesis relies on translation of primary sources from the Tibetan language, participant observation, and New Religious Studies methodology, and covers a wide range of areas including subjugation rituals, iconography, body-maṇḍala rituals, the adoption of Buddhism in the West, and New Religious Movements. It adds to current knowledge in a variety of fields including ritual, goddess studies, the Tibetan pantheon and its iconography, and Buddhism in the West.
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Blythe, Christopher James. "Recreating Religion: The Response to Joseph Smith’s Innovations in the Second Prophetic Generation of Mormonism." DigitalCommons@USU, 2011. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/916.
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On June 27, 1844, Joseph Smith, the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints, was assassinated. In the wake of his death, a number of would-besuccessors emerged. Each of these leaders - part of what I call the second propheticgeneration - established a unique vision of Mormonism.
In 1844, Mormonism was in the middle of a major shift in its character. JosephSmith’s death left numerous theological and practical questions unresolved. This thesis argues that, rather than merely a succession struggle of competition and power, a principal function of the second prophetic generation in Mormonism was to respond to Joseph Smith’s innovations and to forge alternate coherent (re-)interpretations of the Mormon faith that could continue into the future without access to the original prophet.
Two major issues that required reframing in a post-Smith world were issues ofdomesticity and marriage and hierarchical structure. One or both of these issues areconsidered in the thought of four second-generation prophets: Alpheus Cutler, William Smith, Charles Thompson, and Lyman Wight. Their response to these questions,ultimately, resulted in distinct traditions within the Mormon movement.
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Forsström, Fredrik. "Att undervisa om nyreligiositet : En studie om högstadielärares urval, metoder och definitionsproblem." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Institutionen för samhälls- och kulturvetenskap, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-36268.
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Fyra stycken lärares beskrivningar om hur de undervisar och definierar nyreligiositet och nya religiösa rörelser har studerats i föreliggande uppsats. Syftet med studien är att undersöka vad verksamma religionskunskapslärare på högstadiet säger att de undervisar om i undervisningen kring nyreligiositet och nyreligiösa rörelser. En kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer har använts för att få fram data till studien. Teorier om didaktiskt innehåll och undervisning som meningserbjudande har använts vid analysen av resultatet. Uppsatsen utgår från tre stycken frågeställningar om hur definierar religionskunskapslärare begreppen nyreligiositet och nyreligiösa rörelser, om vad beskriver religionskunskapslärare att de undervisar kring nyreligiositet och nyreligiösa rörelser och hur beskriver lärare att de arbetar kring nyreligiositet och nyreligiösa rörelser i undervisningen? Resultatet i studien visar att lärarna har problem med att definiera begreppet nyreligiositet, vilket kan vara en orsak till att området får en marginell plats i religionskunskapsundervisningen. Lärarna anser att kursplanen är den viktigaste faktorn i urvalet av undervisningsinnehåll, men skyller på att tiden är för knapp för att hinna med allt. Eleverna är ofta delaktiga i planeringen och urvalet av undervisningsinnehållet i området nyreligiositet och nya religiösa rörelser.In this essay, the teaching on the subjects new religiousness and new religious movements and the definition of these subjects have been studied amongst four teachers. The aim of the study is to examine how religion teachers in secondary school say they teach the subjects. The data has been collected by semi-structured interviews, which is a qualitative method of data gathering. Theories on didactic content and teaching as provider of meaning have been used during the analysis of the result. The essay is based on three questions about how the teacher defines the terms new religiousness and new religious movements, what the teachers include in his or her teaching on the subjects, and how the teachers describes his or her teachings on the subjects. The result of the study shows that the teachers have problems defining the terms new religiousness, which may be one reason why the subject is neglected during the teaching on religion. The teachers think that the curriculum is the most important factor in the selection of content in their teaching, but blames time as the most important factor when they decide to focus on other content. The students are often involved in the planning and when selecting content in the area of new religiousness and new religious movements.
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McIlwain, Doris J. F. "Impatient for paradise : a rites of passage model of the role of the psychological predispositions in determining differential openness to involvement in new religious movements." University of Sydney, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2546.
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Doctor of PhilosophyThis study considers the adequacy of explanatory accounts of recruitment to New Religious Movements [NRMs], defined by their doctrinal innovation or importation from another culture, and formed around a charismatic leader. It considers the coercive persuasion paradigm [brainwashing] which assumes no predisposing features of those who become involved in NRMs and a sociological account by Snow Zurcher and Ekland-Olsen (1980) which seeks to redress overly exclusive attention to psychological variables by emphasising the importance of structural variables such as the existence of 'discretionary time' and having a friend involved in the NRM. It is suggested that a psychological focus in explaining movement involvement need not entail a de-emphasis of the relevance of current life circumstances, such as social bonds, and life stress, nor a failure to acknowledge the importance of the group's ideology in lending definition to a person’s felt difficulties. A new model of personal change is proposed, termed the Rites de Passage model, which entails the disruption, transition and reincorporation of a socially sustained sense of identity and suggests conversion can be viewed as an example of re-socialisation. The historical lineage of the model is traced from Van Gennep's (1908) anthropological work to studies of brainwashing in the work of Schein (1957) and Lifton (1961). Since the emphasis is on the profile of a seeker, specific focus is placed on the early phases of this process where disruption occurs in existing coping techniques and social supports as a result of disruptive life events, and consideration is given to other relevant precursors of movement involvement. Lofland and Stark's (1965) model forms the conceptual framework from which literature regarding differences in life stress, social bonds, prior behavioural involvement in NRMs, and prior cognitive spiritual orientation can be addressed. The work of Galanter (1980, 1989), Barker (1981, 1984), Heirich (1977) and Snow and Phillips (1980) provides substantial evidence for the existence of pre-existing differences between affiliates (who make contact with such movements) and nonaffiliates (who do not). In this thesis two facets of differential involvement are addressed: i) why does one individual rather than another become involved ii) with a given genre of movement rather than another? The Rites de Passage model proposed here, which is a modified version of Lofland and Stark's (1965) account of cult conversion, is tested placing NRMs in a comparative context with a secular self-help agency: a therapy group. People with disrupted social identities might seek movement involvement, but what distinguishes whether they seek out a secular or spiritual movement, and if spiritual – what determines the appeal of eastern or western spiritual groups? To explore these questions, four groups of affiliates to three different eastern NRMs are compared to a therapy group, (Richardson and Kilbourne, 1984), two control groups (a student sample, and a sample from the general population) and a western NRM. There are 160 subjects overall, who completed a battery of questionnaires at point of first contact with the movement, to distinguish the precursors for movement involvement from the sequelae. Exceptions to this prospective data collection were the western NRM and the inclusion of a graduate rebirthing group. The latter was deliberately included to facilitate pre-involvement and post-involvement comparisons. The former's adept status was due to the leader's reluctance to burden new members with a three hour test battery. Measures were taken regarding life events and their psychological impact using Henderson, Byrne and Ducan-Jones (1981) recent life events inventory and impact scales using a twelve month time frame. A modified version of the Interview Schedule for Social Interaction (by Henderson et al, 1981) was used to assess the availability and adequacy of acquaintance-level and intimate bonds in the recent past. Mental health was assessed using Galanter's (1980) General Wellbeing Scale and Tellegen's Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (1982). Recollections of early family relations were assessed using Likert scales derived from the detailed comparative study by Ullman (1982) which suppported the psychoanalytic hypothesis regarding troubled early parental relations, suggesting that current life difficulties re-evoked early life problems. Since disruption is seen as a necessary but not sufficient condition for movement involvement (Greil, 1977) the therapy and eastern groups were not expected to differ from each on the disruption and loneliness measures, and they did not differ. They were expected to have experienced more disruption in greater isolation than the control groups and those already belonging to a spiritual group – namely the western NRM. The therapy and eastern NRM groups did differ from the others in these respects. The value-added form of the model merely specifies that a substrate of stress and disruption suffered in relative isolation and loneliness will increase the probability that some for of social agency will be sought. Disruption experienced in relative loneliness is the first component of differential recruitment to movement involvement, or ‘differential openness’ as it is termed here. So the brainwashing model does not hold as there are differences between those drawn to movements compared to control groups. Do personality differences contribute to which movement genre appeals? A strikingly different personality profile emerged of those drawn to eastern NRMs. Differences were predicted and found between the eastern groups on the one hand and therapy group, control groups and western group on the other, when personality variables were considered. Relevant features of the profile included: a lack of traditionalism, a challenging attitude to conventional authority (assessed by Ray's (1971) balanced F scale) and absorption - a tendency to experience perceptual phenomena indicative of an absorptive or mystical tendency (Tellegen's MPQ was used to assess this personality feature). The eastern groups have a personality profile of being: unconventional, somewhat impulsive and highly absorptive in perceptual style. This profile distinguished them from all other groups. When the additional feature of the model was considered the profile of a potential seeker was more strongly delineated: the consonance between an individual’s intensity and orientation of spiritual beliefs and the orientation of movement ideology was highly influential. This was assessed by a spiritual orientation scale [the SOS] developed by the author across three pilot studies using Coombs Unfolding Technique (Coombs, 1964) to produce a metric ordinal scale which assesses general spiritual beliefs (which underlie any spiritual worldview), eastern and western spiritual beliefs. A major finding of the study was that a markedly distinctive feature of those drawn to NRMs is a spiritual orientation consonant with that of the movement approached. The SOS revealed a strongly demarcated pre-existing eastern spiritual orientation in those drawn to make contact with Eastern NRMs, which set them apart significantly from all other groups. The Western NRM, (already members of their group) had a western spiritual orientation, to the exclusion of an eastern orientation, while the eastern groups were more eclectic. Both eastern and western NRMs were spiritually more intense on the general spiritual items of the SOS, suggesting these items are central to any spiritual worldview. All of the major predictions of the Rites de Passage model were supported. The model provides a welcome link between a sociological and psychological focus on movement involvement. The systematic differences between affiliates and non-affiliates of NRMs at point of first contact, suggest (contra contemporary brainwashing models, though not the sophisticated models of Schein and Lifton) that recruitment is unlikely to be completely due to NRM design: the results suggest participants are likely to be interested and consenting. In summary, it is shown that those drawn to New Religious Movements of an eastern kind are indeed non-traditional, have a high incidence of recent life events and suffer a sense of community isolation, and loneliness which are considered as factors which might lead a person to modify an unfulfilling lifestyle. A portrait of a seeker is lightly (sketched against a background of this dissatisfaction) which includes personality variables like an impulsive, present-oriented pleasure/pain regulatory style, being high on absorption -a mystical perceptual style, and having both an intensity and a congruence of spiritual orientation with that of the ideology of the movement approached. These are considered potential influences on the genre of movement contacted, and are suggested as explanatory of the second facet of differential openness to movement involvement. Disruption sets a person seeking; personality shapes to which appeals s/he is open. The relative privilege of the Western NRM in terms of reduced stress, availability of community and intimate social support suggests that involvement does provide a relief effect, though caution must be exercised in interpreting this difference as these groups differ in membership status and spiritual orientation. The distress and neediness of those contacting movements for the first time is apparent, which suggests that movement contact might be a response to felt dissatisfaction interpreted within a spiritual worldview. An eastern spiritual worldview is a highly significant distinguishing feature of affiliates, and is the final phase of the Rites de Passage Model. Speculative theoretical consideration is offered of the data's implications for a psychoanalytic consideration of movement involvement, in the light of Cushman (1986), Deutsch (1983), Halperin (1983) Doi (1971) and Kohut's (1977). Theory and research is adumbrated concerning differential openness to charismatic appeal.
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McIlwain, Doris J. F. "Impatient for paradise : a rites of passage model of the role of the psychological predispositions in determining differential openness to involvement in new religious movements." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2546.
Full textAbstract:
This study considers the adequacy of explanatory accounts of recruitment to New Religious Movements [NRMs], defined by their doctrinal innovation or importation from another culture, and formed around a charismatic leader. It considers the coercive persuasion paradigm [brainwashing] which assumes no predisposing features of those who become involved in NRMs and a sociological account by Snow Zurcher and Ekland-Olsen (1980) which seeks to redress overly exclusive attention to psychological variables by emphasising the importance of structural variables such as the existence of 'discretionary time' and having a friend involved in the NRM. It is suggested that a psychological focus in explaining movement involvement need not entail a de-emphasis of the relevance of current life circumstances, such as social bonds, and life stress, nor a failure to acknowledge the importance of the group's ideology in lending definition to a person’s felt difficulties. A new model of personal change is proposed, termed the Rites de Passage model, which entails the disruption, transition and reincorporation of a socially sustained sense of identity and suggests conversion can be viewed as an example of re-socialisation. The historical lineage of the model is traced from Van Gennep's (1908) anthropological work to studies of brainwashing in the work of Schein (1957) and Lifton (1961). Since the emphasis is on the profile of a seeker, specific focus is placed on the early phases of this process where disruption occurs in existing coping techniques and social supports as a result of disruptive life events, and consideration is given to other relevant precursors of movement involvement. Lofland and Stark's (1965) model forms the conceptual framework from which literature regarding differences in life stress, social bonds, prior behavioural involvement in NRMs, and prior cognitive spiritual orientation can be addressed. The work of Galanter (1980, 1989), Barker (1981, 1984), Heirich (1977) and Snow and Phillips (1980) provides substantial evidence for the existence of pre-existing differences between affiliates (who make contact with such movements) and nonaffiliates (who do not). In this thesis two facets of differential involvement are addressed: i) why does one individual rather than another become involved ii) with a given genre of movement rather than another? The Rites de Passage model proposed here, which is a modified version of Lofland and Stark's (1965) account of cult conversion, is tested placing NRMs in a comparative context with a secular self-help agency: a therapy group. People with disrupted social identities might seek movement involvement, but what distinguishes whether they seek out a secular or spiritual movement, and if spiritual – what determines the appeal of eastern or western spiritual groups? To explore these questions, four groups of affiliates to three different eastern NRMs are compared to a therapy group, (Richardson and Kilbourne, 1984), two control groups (a student sample, and a sample from the general population) and a western NRM. There are 160 subjects overall, who completed a battery of questionnaires at point of first contact with the movement, to distinguish the precursors for movement involvement from the sequelae. Exceptions to this prospective data collection were the western NRM and the inclusion of a graduate rebirthing group. The latter was deliberately included to facilitate pre-involvement and post-involvement comparisons. The former's adept status was due to the leader's reluctance to burden new members with a three hour test battery. Measures were taken regarding life events and their psychological impact using Henderson, Byrne and Ducan-Jones (1981) recent life events inventory and impact scales using a twelve month time frame. A modified version of the Interview Schedule for Social Interaction (by Henderson et al, 1981) was used to assess the availability and adequacy of acquaintance-level and intimate bonds in the recent past. Mental health was assessed using Galanter's (1980) General Wellbeing Scale and Tellegen's Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (1982). Recollections of early family relations were assessed using Likert scales derived from the detailed comparative study by Ullman (1982) which suppported the psychoanalytic hypothesis regarding troubled early parental relations, suggesting that current life difficulties re-evoked early life problems. Since disruption is seen as a necessary but not sufficient condition for movement involvement (Greil, 1977) the therapy and eastern groups were not expected to differ from each on the disruption and loneliness measures, and they did not differ. They were expected to have experienced more disruption in greater isolation than the control groups and those already belonging to a spiritual group – namely the western NRM. The therapy and eastern NRM groups did differ from the others in these respects. The value-added form of the model merely specifies that a substrate of stress and disruption suffered in relative isolation and loneliness will increase the probability that some for of social agency will be sought. Disruption experienced in relative loneliness is the first component of differential recruitment to movement involvement, or ‘differential openness’ as it is termed here. So the brainwashing model does not hold as there are differences between those drawn to movements compared to control groups. Do personality differences contribute to which movement genre appeals? A strikingly different personality profile emerged of those drawn to eastern NRMs. Differences were predicted and found between the eastern groups on the one hand and therapy group, control groups and western group on the other, when personality variables were considered. Relevant features of the profile included: a lack of traditionalism, a challenging attitude to conventional authority (assessed by Ray's (1971) balanced F scale) and absorption - a tendency to experience perceptual phenomena indicative of an absorptive or mystical tendency (Tellegen's MPQ was used to assess this personality feature). The eastern groups have a personality profile of being: unconventional, somewhat impulsive and highly absorptive in perceptual style. This profile distinguished them from all other groups. When the additional feature of the model was considered the profile of a potential seeker was more strongly delineated: the consonance between an individual’s intensity and orientation of spiritual beliefs and the orientation of movement ideology was highly influential. This was assessed by a spiritual orientation scale [the SOS] developed by the author across three pilot studies using Coombs Unfolding Technique (Coombs, 1964) to produce a metric ordinal scale which assesses general spiritual beliefs (which underlie any spiritual worldview), eastern and western spiritual beliefs. A major finding of the study was that a markedly distinctive feature of those drawn to NRMs is a spiritual orientation consonant with that of the movement approached. The SOS revealed a strongly demarcated pre-existing eastern spiritual orientation in those drawn to make contact with Eastern NRMs, which set them apart significantly from all other groups. The Western NRM, (already members of their group) had a western spiritual orientation, to the exclusion of an eastern orientation, while the eastern groups were more eclectic. Both eastern and western NRMs were spiritually more intense on the general spiritual items of the SOS, suggesting these items are central to any spiritual worldview. All of the major predictions of the Rites de Passage model were supported. The model provides a welcome link between a sociological and psychological focus on movement involvement. The systematic differences between affiliates and non-affiliates of NRMs at point of first contact, suggest (contra contemporary brainwashing models, though not the sophisticated models of Schein and Lifton) that recruitment is unlikely to be completely due to NRM design: the results suggest participants are likely to be interested and consenting. In summary, it is shown that those drawn to New Religious Movements of an eastern kind are indeed non-traditional, have a high incidence of recent life events and suffer a sense of community isolation, and loneliness which are considered as factors which might lead a person to modify an unfulfilling lifestyle. A portrait of a seeker is lightly (sketched against a background of this dissatisfaction) which includes personality variables like an impulsive, present-oriented pleasure/pain regulatory style, being high on absorption -a mystical perceptual style, and having both an intensity and a congruence of spiritual orientation with that of the ideology of the movement approached. These are considered potential influences on the genre of movement contacted, and are suggested as explanatory of the second facet of differential openness to movement involvement. Disruption sets a person seeking; personality shapes to which appeals s/he is open. The relative privilege of the Western NRM in terms of reduced stress, availability of community and intimate social support suggests that involvement does provide a relief effect, though caution must be exercised in interpreting this difference as these groups differ in membership status and spiritual orientation. The distress and neediness of those contacting movements for the first time is apparent, which suggests that movement contact might be a response to felt dissatisfaction interpreted within a spiritual worldview. An eastern spiritual worldview is a highly significant distinguishing feature of affiliates, and is the final phase of the Rites de Passage Model. Speculative theoretical consideration is offered of the data's implications for a psychoanalytic consideration of movement involvement, in the light of Cushman (1986), Deutsch (1983), Halperin (1983) Doi (1971) and Kohut's (1977). Theory and research is adumbrated concerning differential openness to charismatic appeal.
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Raivio, Magdalena. "Gudinnefeminister : Monica Sjöös och Starhawks berättande - subjektskonstruktion, idéinnehåll och feministiska affiniteter." Doctoral thesis, Karlstads universitet, Institutionen för samhälls- och kulturvetenskap, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-30649.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis examines the discursive position of 'goddess feminism', in relation to some of the difference- and eco feminist positions from the1960s and until today. In focus are the texts of the two goddess feminists, Monica Sjöö and Starhawk. The thesis contributes to a historiographical (re)situating of their political and religious narratives. It also contributes to an elaborated understanding of these goddess feminists and the goddess feminist discourse they are part of. The tentative feminist figuration 'the goddess identified feminist’ is articulated as a tool to discuss the religious and political discourse of goddess feminists as part of contemporary feminist and environmental political conversations and practices. Donna Haraway’s and Karen Barad’s post humanist theoretical interventions are used to explore and discuss the affinities between goddess feminists (re)negotiation of the subject/s 'goddess/nature/human' – and the (re)negotiation of 'nature/human’ made by new materialist/post humanist difference- and eco feminists of the 2000s. Rosi Braidotti’s writings on sexual difference, becoming and feminist figurations further informs the conclusions drawn in the thesis. Drawing on the methodological approaches of Clare Hemmings and Mieke Bal in the analysis of story-telling and subject construction, a contribution is also made, to the understanding of how story-telling as part of a discourse, produces meaning and asymmetric subject relations. In particular the thesis shows how a compassionate feminist storytelling involuntarily produces subject positions through, essentialist dualisms, hierarchical ordering and othering. In parallel, the thesis also discusses alternative narrative strategies that focus on both the discursive boarders and affinities.Baksidestext: Det här är en bok om två gudinnefeminister och deras religiösa och politiska berättande. Men det är lika mycket en bok om ’gudinnefeminism’ och hur denna feministiska position relaterar till, skiljer sig från och överlappar med andra skillnads- och ekofeministiska positioner från 1960-talet och till idag. Magdalena Raivios doktorsavhandling omförhandlar historien om ’gudinne-feminism’. Den synliggör även innehållet i Monica Sjöös och Starhawks berättelser om samhället, gudinnan/naturen/människan, framtiden och revolu-tionen. Här visas hur problematiska generaliseringar och uppdelningar i ”vi” och ”de andra” skapas i berättandet – men att Sjöö och Starhawk även vidgar och omförhandlar innebörden av begrepp som ’kvinna’ och ’natur’. En feministisk figuration kallad ’den gudinneidentifierade feministen’ används som tentativ utgångspunkt för nutida samtal om feministiska och miljöpolitiska visioner och för-ändringsstrategier. Avhandlingens resultat styrker tidigare forskning som visat att ett ”feministiskt medkännande berättande” – trots sin välmenta ambition – ofrivilligt medverkar i skapandet av diskursiva gränser, hierarkier och generaliseringar. Som ett teoretiskt bidrag, formuleras och diskuteras här några skillnadsfeministiska ansatser till alternativa berättandestrategier.
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Hilliard, Lyra. "Desert Solecisms: The Revitalization of Self and Community through Edward Abbey, the Cold War, and the Sacred Fire Circle." DigitalCommons@USU, 2009. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/481.
Full textAbstract:
This creative thesis is a braided narrative in which I explore the promised lands of Utah through my travels in the summer of 2008, the Cold War defense industry, and the early career of writer Edward Abbey. America's domestic and foreign policy shifts in the first decade of the Cold War contributed to the rise of modern environmentalism and to the creation of countless new religious movements in the late 1960s and early 1970s. To illustrate the cataclysmic upheavals of this era, each chapter of this thesis has been organized according to anthropologist Anthony F. C. Wallace's schema of revitalization movements. In both an historical and personal context, I investigate the tensions between freedom and preservation, between defense and vulnerability, and, ultimately, between solitude and community.
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Ashok, Kumar Komal. "The Transformations and Challenges of a Jain Religious Aspirant from Layperson to Ascetic: An Anthropological Study of Shvetambar Terapanthi Female Mumukshus." FIU Digital Commons, 2016. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2481.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis explores the challenges that Shvetambar Terapanthi Jain female mumukshus (religious aspirants) face during their training at the Parmarthik Shikshan Sanstha, an institute unique to this sect dedicated to training young females to become nuns. The educational requirements, secluded social environment, disciplined rules, and monastic hierarchies train aspirants to understand the demands of nunhood. Based on interviews and observations, aspirants express their struggle to balance the personal desire to progress spiritually toward liberation (moksha) that motivated them to renounce with the requirement to raise their juniors as part of the ascetic community, a new kind of familial structure. The disparity in the training of female and male renouncers in the Terapanth reveals problems that remain in the gendered way female renouncers are treated in their training. Renunciation is shown not to be gender neutral, leading to a more nuanced understanding of Jain asceticism in contemporary India.
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Hamrin-Dahl, Tina. "Tenshō-kōtai-jingū-kyō och karmakampen : En dōjō i Honolulu med besatthetsandar, häxeriföreställningar och transdans." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för idé- och samhällsstudier, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-156640.
Full textAbstract:
In 1952 a pro-Japanese group in Hawai'i became the religious movement Tenshō-Kōtai-Jingū-kyō, after the arrival of Sayo Kitamura, a charismatic woman from Japan called Ōgamisama. Her teaching was filled with traditional elements, and Japanese imperialism acquired a new form, and became a spiritual world – a world filled with spirits in need of redemption. To dance in an ego-free state and redeem the evil spirits was a goal for her followers, who learnt how to perform the ecstasy dance and to achieve an altered state of consciousness. Some families, though, were suspected of being carriers of evil spirits called inu-gami (dog spirits). This was a relic of witchcraft, and since hatred, jealousy, envy, and other emotional antipathies produced possession spirits among those who refused to accept Japan's position at the end of the war, Ōgamisama – the mouthpiece of The Sun Goddess Amaterasu – was welcomed as a faith healer and face saver.
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Carle, Gordon A. "Alexandria in the Shadow of the Hill Cumorah: A Comparative Historical Theology of the Early Christian and Mormon Doctrines of God." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2015. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/95.
Full textAbstract:
This work is a comparative study of the theological and historical development of the early Christian (pre-Nicene) and Mormon doctrines of God. For the Christian tradition, I follow a detailed study of the apostolic period, followed by the apologetical period, and then conclude with the pre-Nicene up to around 250 C.E. For the Mormon tradition, I cover the period beginning with the establishment of the Mormon Church in 1830 and conclude with its official doctrinal formulation in 1916. I begin this work with a chronological examination of the development of the Mormon doctrine of God, commencing with Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Mormon and concluding with his revelations and additional translations of those books that make up the Pearl of Great Price. I then examine Brigham Young's single theological contribution, followed with the speculative contributions of Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, John A. Widtsoe, B.H. Roberts, and concluding with James E. Talmage. This section covers chapters two through four. In chapters five through seven, I examine the theological contributions of Ignatius of Antioch, then Theophilus of Antioch, and conclude my study with the theological contributions of Origen of Alexandria. For the Christian tradition, I trace the development of the pre-Nicene theologians' struggle to explicate the theological and philosophical implications regarding the divinization of Christ within the context of monotheism.. At the end of chapters five through seven I include a succinct, comparative study of each father's doctrine with Mormon doctrine. This work will also address the major theological and historical factors that influenced both the Mormon and traditional Christian doctrines of God. Further, I contrast both theological systems and discuss their basic differences and similarities. My conclusion is that the fundamental difference between these two theological systems rests upon their foundational conceptions of reality as absolutist or finitist. The Mormon theological system rests upon a materialistic and monistic conception of reality, whereas traditional Christianity's system rests upon a dualistic conception of reality. In Mormon materialism, the Trinity is divided as individuated Gods; in Christian transcendence, the unity of God may only be maintained, while acknowledging the separate existences of the Persons of the Godhead, if the nature of God is understood as an incorporeal substance.
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Peterson, Douglas W. L. "Liberation Pop Theology: An Exploration Of The Different Ways Pop Musicians Have Led Individuals To Greater Salvation." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2014. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/949.
Full textAbstract:
God never died as scholars of secularization theory from the 1960s and 1970s proposed that he eventually would, but He rather reappeared within the context of Pop music. This work analyzes the lives and music of Yusuf Islam a.k.a. Cat Stevens, Kanye West, Bob Dylan, and George Harrison in order to see how their inner quest for peace brought upon by religious conversion affected their supreme message. Once the artists realized the phenomenal peace found in experiencing personal relationships with the Divine, their music changed so as to inspire others to seek the same greater freedoms from which they benefited upon turning within. These four elite members of secular society did not privatize their faiths, and by sharing their new found beliefs with the world, they turned the minds of millions Godwards.