Thesis (M.S. in Joint Campaign Planning and Strategy)--Joint Forces Staff College, Joint Advanced Warfighting School, 2007. / Title from title screen; viewed on July 9, 2007. "05 April 2007." Electronic version of original print document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-116).

This work explores the possibility of constructing a metaphor in order to facilitate communication. The problem was addressed was denoted by Stephen Rockefeller, a misunderstanding of John Dewey’s religious philosophy by fundamentalists. The point of departure is one which Dewey himself suggested in his eulogy for William James. This work explores the reasons and causes for the misunderstanding as well as methods of possible amelioration. The proposed means of overcoming the aforementioned misunderstanding is to construct a metaphor that will have the effect of communicating the position of the pragmatist to that of the fundamentalist. In order to do this a previously existing metaphor, that of the pragmatic hotel, will be reconstructed into the pragmatic church. The resulting metaphor connotes a position that is more acceptable to the fundamentalist thus facilitating communication.

In this descriptive phenomenological inquiry, I explored the experiences and meanings of five adult research participants who were raised in and later departed from evangelical fundamentalism in some measure. Life Review, a structured guided autobiographical group-based adult learning model designed to assist people in organizing life events, was utilized to explore the research participants' experiences and meanings of being raised in a religious fundamentalist orientation. As a result of participating in Life Review, the research participants generated thirty descriptive written narratives that served as the primary source of data for this inquiry. For the purpose of this inquiry, the research participants attended eight Life Review sessions. Sessions one and eight focused on group formation and closure, respectively. Sessions two through seven focused on assigned topics. In this regard, the research participants prepared six two-page single spaced narratives via a word processor describing their experiences and meanings specific to: 1) choosing to participate in this study, 2) major branching points in life, 3) family of origin, 4) parenting practices, 5) the effects of being raised in evangelical fundamentalism, and 6) the meaning of life. During Life Review sessions two through seven, the research participants read their respective narratives aloud to the other participants. A time limited reflective group discussion followed the reading of each narrative. A phenomenological data analysis model was applied to the research participant's narratives. The analysis of the data culminated in the emergence of themes that revealed the essence of the lived experience and meanings of being raised in and later departing from evangelical fundamentalism. The themes included the experience and meaning of: 1) unresolved pain, 2) unfulfilled longing, 3) coping strategies, 4) identity formation, 5) God and church, 6) being a Parent, 7) crippling fear, 8) engaging culture, 9) departing, and 10) finding home. These emergent themes described the essence of the research participants' life worlds specific to having been raised in and later departing from evangelical fundamentalism. The significance of the emergent findings and their relevance to evangelical fundamentalism, the psychology of religion, counseling psychology, and continued research were addressed, as were the limitations of the study. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

This study includes a comparative analysis of the two jihadists, Taimour Abdulwahab's and Rakhmat Akilov's radical uprising. The objective is to analyze their radicalization process based on two different theoretical approaches. The first theory of Oliver Roy embraces the social conditions under which Muslims think and act, and believes that radicalization leads to an increased radical religiosity. In contrast, the second theory of Gilles Kepel seeks to understand the intellectual history of Islam, and believes that it is the political developments that have led to radicalization. The study shows that the radicalization of Taimour Abdulwahab and Rakhmat Akilov is a complicated matter that shares aspects from both theoretical approaches. However, some factors of the theories apply better than others. These factors are often linked to a triggering event that causes an individual to turn to a violent ideology. Also, strong group affiliation is considered an essential emotional bond, where identification with other like-minded people is an important factor. Influences from different emotions are essential to the radical process, where feelings of significance and threatened identity is a factor for increased violence. It is proven through the analysis how the interpretation of an individual's background results in how the religious and political perspectives regarding radicalization are defined and understood. As a result, one can neither ignore Kepel's historical aspects or Roy's modern conditions. After all, our life is often affected by both old and contemporary experiences.

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Thesis (S.T.M.)--Concordia Seminary, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-152).

Thesis (M.S. in Defense Analysis)--Naval Postgraduate School, Dec. 2004. / Thesis Advisor(s): George Lober. Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-54). Also available online.

Thesis (M.A. in anthropology)--Washington State University, May 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 158-169).