Academic literature on the topic 'Sanctity/Purity'

Abstract The study is a response to the call for papers on African issues and it focuses on the theme of blood. The chapter seeks to answer the following questions: Why is blood, the sanctity of life, associated with defilement? How can the good and purity of life which blood symbolizes come out of impurities? How is the practice of blood manipulation represented in biblical texts? How can bodily refuse in this case blood be conceived as a symbol of purity, power and danger? How do readers of biblical texts understand the textual representations and interpretations of blood? Does each mode of blood manipulation rituals function as communicative symbols? Our response to these questions is threefold. First, we consider the sanctity of blood in relation to its purity and power. This is followed by an examination of danger beliefs associated with blood and lastly by an analysis of the sacred/taboo or purity/danger dichotomy within the context of the Old Testament and the New Testament as well as of the Shona Afro-Christians.

Three studies examined the relationship between people’s moral values (drawing on moral foundations theory) and their willingness to censor immoral acts from children. Results revealed that diverse moral values did not predict censorship judgments. It was not the case that participants who valued loyalty and authority, respectively, sought to censor depictions of disloyal and disobedient acts. Rather, censorship intentions were predicted by a single moral value—sanctity. The more people valued sanctity, the more willing they were to censor from children, regardless of the types of violations depicted (impurity, disloyalty, disobedience, etc.). Furthermore, people who valued sanctity objected to indecent exposure only to apparently innocent and pure children—those who were relatively young and who had not been previously exposed to immoral acts. These data suggest that sanctity, purity, and the preservation of innocence underlie intentions to censor from young children.

Medieval scholars and cultural historians have recently turned their attention to the question of ‘smells’ and what olfactory sensations reveal about society in general and perceptions of holiness in particular. In this paper, I examine how early Christians and Muslims linked notions of the ‘sweet smell of sanctity’ with ideas of the body and sexuality. I demonstrate that early Christians associated the body’s sweet smells with salvation and spiritual transformation usually linked with asceticism. Early Muslims associated the body’s odors of sanctity with purity.

In their recent taxonomy of intuitive ethics, Graham et al. (2011) proposed five moral foundations: 1) harm/care; 2) fairness/reciprocity; 3) ingroup/loyalty; 4) authority/respect, and 5) purity/sanctity. The main aim of this study was to locate these five moral foundations in the HEXACO personality model. The HEXACO model, proposed by Ashton and Lee (2001, 2007), consists of 6 dimensions of personality: honesty/humility, motionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. Our aim was also to identify gender differences in moral foundations and personality dimensions. The research sample included 149 adult inhabitants of Slovakia. The mean age was 23.07 (SD = 4.83) and ranged from 18 to 40 years. Two questionnaires were utilized in this study: MFQ-30 (Graham et al., 2011) for measuring the five moral foundations and HEXACO-60 (Ashton & Lee, 2009) for measuring the six personality dimensions. A comparison of men and women showed that women scored higher in the moral foundation of harm/care, which is in line with the results of Niazi et al. (2020). According to Niazi et al. (2020) women scored higher than men also in moral foundations of fairness/reciprocity and purity/sanctity, however our results showed no gender differences in those moral foundations. Women scored higher than men also in personality dimensions of honesty/humility and emotionality, which is in line with the results of previous studies (Lee & Ashton 2004, 2006, 2018; Záškodná & Dostál, 2016). Hierarchical regression analysis showed that the personality dimensions of HEXACO significantly predicted the moral foundations, explaining 7.40%–18.40% of the variance of moral foundations. Our findings do not differ significantly from the results of Međedović and Petrović (2016), who state that personality dimensions explain from 6% to 23% of moral foundations. The results of our study showed that the moral foundation of harm/care was best predicted by gender (woman), emotionality and extraversion. Fairness/reciprocity was best predicted by emotionality and extraversion, while ingroup/loyalty by emotionality, extraversion and openness to experience. The moral foundation of authority/respect was predicited by conscientiousness and emotionality and finally, purity/sanctity was best predicted by honesty/humility, emotionality and conscientiousness. Overall, the best predictors of moral foundations were personality dimensions of emotionality and extraversion. We would like to point out two interesting/surprising facts: 1) the personality dimension of honesty/ humility predicts just one moral foundation (purity/sanctity) and 2) the personality dimension of agreeableness is not related to moral foundations at all. Utilizing the personality dimensions, the moral foundations can be characterized as follows: Those who care are extroverted and emotional women. Fair and loyal people are emotional and extroverted, while loyal persons are also open to experience. Authority and sanctity could be characterized by conscientiousness and emotionality, while sanctity is also honest/humble. In conclusion, this is the first study in Slovakia that aims to locate five moral foundations in the area of six dimensions of the HEXACO personality model.

The article presents the preliminary results of elabouration of moral mattes questionnaire aimed at assessment of sensitivity to violation of moral norms such as ban of harm, distributive justice, egalitarian justice, loyalty, hierarchy, purity and sanctity. Confirmation of the theoretical factor structure was demonstrated in the sample of 529 students. Using the moral foundation questionnaire (MFQ) we obtained data on validity of the scales which indicate on similarity but not equivalence of the constructs used in these questionnaires. We discovered that the evaluation of violation of the hierarchy and purity norms is more severe in elder people, and women give more strict evaluation of violation of the purity norms while men are stricter at estimating of violation of loyalty and distributive justice norms.

Moral foundations theory posits five moral foundations, however 5-factor models provide poor fit to the data. Here, in five studies, each with large samples (total N = 11,496), we construct and replicate a well-fitting model of the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ). In study 1 (N = 2,271) we tested previously theorised models, confirming none provide adequate fit. We then developed a well-fitting model of the MFQ. In this model, the fairness/reciprocity and harm/care foundations were preserved intact. The binding foundations, however, divided into five, rather than the original three foundations. Purity/sanctity split into independent foundations of purity and sanctity. Similarly, Ingroup/loyalty divided into independent factors of loyalty to clan and loyalty to country. Authority/respect was re-focussed on hierarchy, losing one item to the new sanctity foundation and another into loyalty to country. In addition to these 7 foundations, higher-level factors of binding and individualizing were supported, along with a general/acquiescence factor. Finally, a “moral tilt” factor corresponding to coordinated left-leaning vs. right-leaning moral patterns was supported. We validated the model in four additional studies, testing replication of the 7-foundation model in data including from US, Australia, and China (total N = 9,225). The model replicated with good fit found in all four samples. These findings demonstrate the first well-fitting replicable model of the MFQ. They also highlight the importance of modelling measurement structure, and reveal important additional foundations, and structure (binding, individualizing, tilt) above the foundations.

Al-Falimbān's thoughts in the ancient text of Sayr al-Sālikīn Ilā 'Ibādati Rabb al-Ālamn have influenced the dynamics of Malay Islamic society. One of the discussions in the text is the study of sanctification [ṭahārah]. This article examines the concept of al-Falimbānī ahārah in the Sayr al-Sālikīn text and its correlation with the observance of the Islamic Malay community in the 18th century. This journal has been carried out using a philological method with a content analysis approach. The results showed that the concept of the sanctity of Al-Falimbān, which is believed to be the standard of holiness that a Malay Muslim mukallaf should practice, is physical and spiritual purity. Physical purity is defined as removing all kinds of sensory and sensory impurity, while spiritual purity is defined as the ability to remove sensual and immaterial impurities.

This study examines how the moral values individuals possess and organizational crisis response strategies influence sports organizations. It showed that two moral foundations (fairness and purity/sanctity) had positive effects on moral outrage while care had a negative effect. When predicting team reputation, only one moral foundation (care) had a positive effect while the crisis response strategy had no effect. Furthermore, reputation had a positive effect on support intention, while both moral outrage and crisis response strategies had no effect. Implications were provided on what factors could function as effective buffers to prevent potential damages.

AbstractScent has long been associated with the world of the gods. Many of the Greek gods were noted not only for having a powerful smell themselves but also for having sensitive noses and taking great joy in the smell of an altar well-stocked by a faithful follower. The Christian tradition is full of stories of martyrs and subsequently saints who had the aroma of sanctity about them. These stories became part of a larger olfactory understanding of the relationship between humans and the divine. Islam also has significant stories of fragrant martyrs set within a tradition which has an appreciation for scent and its ability to communicate the closeness of purity and Paradise. The aroma of sanctity is often described as an incomparably beautiful perfume, but sometimes the description is more specific: florals such as roses, lilies and violets; spices, including cinnamon, cloves, ginger and myrrh; and food such as apples and bread. Tales describing the aroma of sanctity exist from ancient to modern times and are often explained as deriving from the use of incense and perfumes in funerary rites. This explanation however, does not capture the strength of the symbol and its inherent value of joy in overcoming death and sharing in divine immortality. This study considers how scent acts as a form of communication in martyrologies and conforms with their role to spread the message of the value of the faith, overcoming the barriers of illiteracy, different languages and the passage of time.

This chapter examines the “who” of support for women’s ordination: who supports and who opposes female clergy in their congregations? It examines the nationwide Gender and Religious Representation Survey to uncover which factors are associated with support and which with opposition, paying special attention to things like personal demographics, religious behavior and attitudes, congregational context, and political orientations. The results show that support for female ordination is much more a function of congregational context and religious and political orientations than it is of demographics, most notably gender. Political and theological liberals as well as those currently attending congregations that admit female clergy support women’s ordination regardless of whether they are male or female. Also, those who have lower levels of sensitivity to “sanctity/purity” moral reasoning are more supportive of women’s ordination.

‘I really don't understand how people can blame a priest so much, when he strays from the path.’ The Sin of Abbé Mouret tells the compelling story of the young priest Serge Mouret. Striving after spiritual purity and sanctity, he lives a life of constant prayer, but his neglect of all physical needs leads to serious illness, followed by amnesia. No longer knowing he is a priest, he falls in love with his nurse Albine. Together, like a latter-day Adam and Eve, they roam through an Eden-like garden called the ‘Paradou’, seeking a forbidden tree in whose shade they will make love. Zola memorably shows their gradual awakening to sexuality, and his poetic descriptions of the luxuriant and beautiful Paradou create a lyrical celebration of Nature. When Serge regains his memory and recalls his priestly vows, anguish inevitably follows. The whole story, with its numerous biblical parallels, becomes a poetic reworking of the Fall of Man and a questioning of the very meaning of innocence and sin. Zola explores the conflict between Church and Nature, the sterility of the Church and the fertility of Nature. This new translation includes a wide-ranging and helpful introduction and explanatory notes.

This chapter explores the moral implications of purity and sanctity. It offers an explanation for why people throughout the world consider purity virtuous, suggesting that the moral value of purity stemmed from the adaptive value of cleanliness and the avoidance of pathogens in early human environments. It argues that our ancient ancestors reacted positively to members of their groups who kept themselves clean and heathy, and negatively to those who failed to maintain personal hygiene and displayed symptoms of disease. It reviews evidence showing that we tend to find disgusting things immoral and that feelings of disgust increase the harshness of some moral judgments. It suggests that as early humans acquired higher-order cognitive abilities, their conceptions of physical purity generalized to moral purity, or pureness of heart, and that norms upholding purity strengthen the cooperative moral order of groups.

This chapter’s discussion of American Jewish marriage shows that how religion and sexuality have shaped one another, often very profoundly. Jewish investment in marriage in the twentieth century shaped the ways in which Jewish Americans practiced and valued their faith. In turn, the religious investment in marriage, by Jews and other people of faith, contributed to national conversations about the sanctity and value of marital stability. Religious individuals and institutions therefore played central roles in the promotion of the modern categories of heterosexuality and homosexuality through their efforts to promote and sustain marriage. The history of religious investment in heterosexuality has featured Protestant and Catholic actors most prominently, and it was this dominant Christian context within which American Jews articulated and acted upon their ideas about marital sexuality. American Jewish religious leaders put concerns about marriage and the family at the center of their communal and spiritual work throughout the twentieth century. Jewish efforts to promote cultural continuity through marriage became agents of significant shifts in Jewish attitudes toward sexuality.