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Comparative studies in sainthood in world religions, especially Pali Buddhism and Judaism has been a substantial component of my academic interests. Constructed out of my research findings the new typology of sainthood lays emphasis on the fact the two religions have a common universal pattern of sainthood, hence parallel sainthoods. My research concludes that Siddhartha the Buddha and Moses the Prophet as primordial saints, as saintliness as a human quality in Pali Buddhism and Judaism originates from these personalities. Any other successive types of sainthood in the said religious traditions are derived from the main type, the primordial sainthood.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether intrinsic, extrinsic, and quest religious motivations mediate the relationship between the religious philosophy and perceived well-being of believers. The intrinsic-extrinsic-quest paradigm has been the dominant measure of religious motivation for more than 3 decades. However, the different effects of intrinsic, extrinsic, and quest motivation on the well-being of believers has not been tested on a stratified, purposeful sample of the major world religions. A quantitative, quasi-experimental research design was used with an online, self-report questionnaire and mediation analysis to examine the effects of religious motivation on the relationship between religious philosophy and well-being. A stratified, purposeful sample of 763 members of the major world religions completed assessments of religion and well-being. Linear regressions revealed that intrinsic, extrinsic, and quest religious motivations were three distinct constructs, that they do exist across the world religions, and that they mediated the relationship between different religions and well-being, depending on which predictor and outcome variables were being examined in the mediation triangle. Positive social change is possible for counselors, therapists, psychologists of religion, religious leaders, and laypersons at the individual and societal level through knowing which religious beliefs, motivations, and practices are associated with positive affect, satisfaction with life, the fulfilment of basic human needs, eudaimonic well-being, and better physical health. Individuals come to religion mainly during times of personal crises as a way of coping, expecting urgent results, and these findings illuminate the effectiveness of their chosen coping strategy.

A largely overlooked chapter of American history is the struggle of Mexican Americans to achieve equal civil rights and humane working conditions. Although much ink has been spilled on the struggle of African-Americans to achieve civil rights and throw off the yoke of racial oppression, little attention is paid to the similar struggle carried out by Mexican Americans and the similarities and differences between them. It has been my desire to shed light on this forgotten story, because it is still relevant in the current political climate, given the explosive growth of Latinos in the United States today (50 million), their increasingly important role in presidential elections, and given their struggle for comprehensive immigration reform. What Mexican Americans have contributed to America is present in almost every facet of American life. Their presence in this country pre-dates the expansion of the United States from the Atlantic (Florida) to the Pacific (California) and is evident in national holidays, festivals, and our favorite restaurants. However, I have to admit that I was completely unaware of Mexican American history and the Chicano Movement of the 1960s prior to taking on this project. The only things that I knew about Mexican Americans ended around the Texas Revolution in 1836 and the little I learned about my Chávez in my American Religious History class. This thesis has succeeded in correcting stereotypes that I previously held about not only the Mexican American community, but also the critical role that religion played in one of its most important and iconic figures. Religion has been always been an important component of life in America. Christianity has contributed to the way that government in the United States was formed and in the moral values that Americans consider important in leadership. Religion has been the driving force behind many of the most groundbreaking and momentous shifts in this nation from the abolition of slavery to the African American Civil Rights Movement. The Farm Worker’s struggle and larger Chicano Civil Rights Movement are no exception. César Chávez stood out not only as the leader of a secular movement, but a moral guiding light for Mexican Americans within this movement. Chávez's popular legacy within the Mexican American community exalts him as a moral and political leader, but scholarship has until recently painted him and the movement he championed in a secular light. This thesis hopes to help correct this imbalance.

. . . believe in God, believe also in me . . . --John 14.1 "Authoring Authority" analyzes the ways texts function to generate social cohesion while at the same time advancing the power interests of their authors. The study is a comparative, critical, and interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary excavation of the religion-making efforts of the first-century Christian Apostle Paul and the nineteenth-century Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith. This comparison defamiliarizes and recharacterizes the heroes and origin-stories of the dominant (and my own) tradition to force important questions about scholarly perspectives, interests and deferences (protection, exceptionalization), self-reflexivity, and politics. The project's critical orientation deploys insights and models from a range of disciplines to "read" these texts, not for exegetical purposes, but for what they signify and how they function in nascent social formations. The texts of these men were presented as if their contents were other than the products of embedded social actors (e.g. "it really is God's word" 1 Thes 2.13) contending for limited resources such as discursive authority and social power. These charismatic narrators harnessed the authority of pre-existing texts and traditions and integrated them with contemporary perspectives and sentiment. Their texts and performances offered a contingent construal of reality as ultimate reality--which served the power needs of their authors and the existential needs of their communities of subscribers. The dissertation begins with the articulation of an analytical framework appropriate for the critical and comparative academic study of religion. Chapter two contextualizes the lives of these men within cultural settings that provided motivation, made available vocational training and, ultimately provisioned social opportunities for them as adept charismatics. Chapter three directly illuminates the range of techniques embedded in texts, both implicit and explicit, of claiming power and developing a following. The final chapter wrestles with the functional role of deception in social formation and human life.

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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This thesis compares the dancing of the Shakers (The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearance) and the Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or LDS Church) during the nineteenth century, as it was influenced by their doctrinal beliefs about the human body. Specifically, it examines how the role of the physical body in achieving mortal happiness and immortal salvation was viewed by each group and how these beliefs were reflected in their dancing. It describes the different forms of dancing performed by each religious group and how dance functioned as worship and recreation for the members of each religion during the nineteenth century.Research for this study was taken from primary and secondary sources, including a large number of Shaker and Mormon journals, diaries, and autobiographies. Major doctrinal works from each religion were also consulted to compile a summary of doctrinal beliefs about the physical body for each religion.This study found that the dancing of the Shakers reflected doctrinal beliefs of the need to be freed from the corrupt human body. In contrast, the dancing of the Mormons exhibited the Latter-day Saint belief in celebrating the body. The doctrines of each religion about the role of the body in attaining mortal joy and immortal salvation were easily recognizable in the dances that the two groups performed. Although beliefs about the body cannot be considered in isolation of other motivational factors, they can be used as a means of studying how and why particular religious or cultural groups dance. This method of evaluating dance, as a function of beliefs or ideologies about the human body, is given as a possible method for studying other cultural or societal groups who dance and whose beliefs about the body may be reliably gathered.

A survey questionnaire was sent to 254 churches in the United States. An analysis of the answers of those giving a positive reply indicates that a great apostasy has taken place regarding the true Christian fast. Only a few small, independent churches seem to even approach Christ's ordained fast.It is claimed that great health benefits arise from wise periodic fasting. A physiological section analyzes the effects of fasting.A historical section presents the most important teachings and happenings of Gandhi, early reformers and practioneers, native races of America, U.S. presidents and state governments, early Christian history, and all large world religions.

This study examines the influence of various Western mystical traditions on Leonard Cohen’s second novel, Beautiful Losers. It begins with a discussion of Cohen’s public remarks concerning religion and mysticism followed by an assessment of twentieth century Canadian criticism on Beautiful Losers. Three thematic chapters comprise the majority of the study, each concerning a different mystical tradition—Kabbalism, Gnosticism, and Christian mysticism, respectively. The author considers Beautiful Losers in relation to these systems, concluding that the novel effectively depicts the pursuit of God, or knowledge, through mystic practice and doctrine. This study will interest scholars seeking a careful exploration of Cohen’s use of religious themes in his work.