Gender identity disorder is a disorder that challenges the predominant cultural understanding of gender and sex. A transgender person believes that s/he is of the opposite sex and gender than her/his natal sex. This study aimed to explore and describe transgender people’s experience of the development of their transgender identity, and the critical turning points that they experienced during the development of this transgender identity. Furthermore, the study explored the influence of religion and spirituality on the development of the transgender person’s identity and how their transgender identity in turn influenced their spirituality and spiritual identity. Feminist and queer theories were utilized in this study. A phenomenological approach was used to explore the lived experience of five transgender individuals. The findings suggest that these five transgender people find themselves between the sex categories of male and female and the gender categories of the feminine and the masculine. This finding challenges the Western dichotomous view of gender and sex. It further emerged that religion/spirituality does influence the development of a transgender identity as well as the process of gender reassignment. Key terms: Transgender, gender identity disorder, sex change, transsexual, G/god/dess, self-identity, phenomenology, queer identity, gender queer, queer theology, binary discourse, fluid gender, trans man, trans woman. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

The Shi'ite orthodoxy, represented by the Usuli trend, introduced a new institution, i.e. marja'-i taqlid, in the middle of the thirteenth/nineteenth century when the struggle for the authority of the Imam was heightened by the representatives of speculative thought in Shi'ism. This institution combined the status of the most learned mujtahid with the charisma derived from the vicegerency of the Imam of the Age without committing itself to miraculous performances or directly jeopardizing the ruling establishments. The Usuli orthodoxy successfully fought the Akhbaris' detachment from the formal bases of argumentation on the one hand and the direct pretension to the authority of the Imam by the Sufis and Shaykhis on the other hand. The Usulis not only placed the marja'-i taqlid at the head of the Shi'ite learned hierarchy, but gave his pronouncements as of binding authority for the community. Marja'-i taqlid benefitted from the growth of popular religion among post-Safavid Iranians whose religious alms and charities guaranteed the financial independence of the supreme mujtahids. Marja'-i taqlid played important roles in the socio-political development of the Shi'ite people of Iran and Iraq either by legitimizing their constitutional and reformist movements or opposing colonialist and Westernizationist processes. However, in practice, the institution of marja'iyat escaped any attempts to embed the institution into the constitutional system or into any formal structure of juristic hierarchy.

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Academic and medical institutions are responding to rising critiques of mainstream, scientific medicine (biomedicine). One response is the establishment of centers and programs devoted to whole person care. I assess the response of the McGill Programs in Whole Person Care (WPC) to these critiques, particularly its incorporation of spirituality into medicine. Through textual hermeneutics, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews with faculty members, I argue that WPC is constructing its own worldview and normative framework. It does this by selectively drawing from the religious traditions of ancient Greece, Buddhism, and Christianity, interpreting these selections in terms of Jungian psychology, and sometimes secularizing them. My aim is to better understand the theory and praxis of whole person care in McGill University's Faculty of Medicine as a case study but also the ethical issues it raises. I conclude by providing points of reflection for institutions wishing to incorporate these health ideas and practices into conventional medicine.

The purpose of this study is to explore the nature of this element of love or devotional bhakti in Krishnavite worship, and especially as it is expressed in the major Vaishnavite scriptures that deal with Krishna. [...]

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This qualitative study explored the meaning and description of profound sexual and spiritual connection among practising Christians. Investigations of the conditions and events that led to these peak encounters as well as the aftereffects of such experiences were also conducted. It was purposed that this research would enhance understanding of sexual and spiritual connection, inform theories of love, transpersonal experience, and Christian theology regarding sexuality, as well as provide counsellors with some initial strategies to promote more holistic sexual intimacy among their Christian clientele. The methods of inquiry and data analysis were based on a phenomenological approach. The researcher conducted an in-depth interview with five men and five women, representing five Christian denominations, who had experienced a profound event that was simultaneously sexual and spiritual. The statements within each participant's transcript were analyzed to discover clusters of meaningful themes. A follow-up interview with each contributor validated these individual or "situated structural" descriptions. Twenty-five common themes emerged from the interview data and a fundamental structure or "common story" was culled from the exhaustive description of the phenomenon. The themes of the sexual and spiritual encounter were categorized into the into the following three phases: Preconditions and Facilitating Events; Descriptive Themes of the Encounter; and Aftereffects. The exhaustive description and fundamental structure were validated by all the participants in a final follow-up consultation. The study results offered an empirical and experiential basis for previous conjectures on linking sexuality and spirituality. The findings were interpreted in light of existing research on love, transpersonal mystical experience, and Christian theology on sexuality. Comparisons were made to the experience of transcendental sex experienced by Tantric practitioners. Potentials for individual and relational growth were explored. Following these interpretations, a number of specific recommendations were made for future research and counselling practice.

Research on social capital during the past two decades has shown that willingness to trust is linked to a host of individual and social outcomes, such as health, education, democracy, and robust economies. In this thesis I examine the ways in which religion may affect attitudes of trust, employing both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Specifically, three aspects of religion have been examined: denominational affiliation, spiritual belief, and the nature of the social interactions of the members of a faith community. Contextual factors relating a particular tradition to the broader society have also been included in the analysis. My findings suggest that although there is scant evidence to the effect of theology on trust, a much stronger influence on trust comes from the nature of social interactions (in the form of community‐building) and contextual factors (i.e., having a history of discrimination or being a resident of Quebec). / ix, 154 leaves ; 29 cm

Both the counterculture and its music will be examined using the concepts of heteronomy, autonomy, and theonomy and their dialectical relationship according to Paul Tillich's theory of religion and culture. The main themes beneath the emergence of the counterculture will be outlined, and the ways in which the dominant culture of the time may be considered what Tillich describes as a heteronomous phenomenon will be presented. The historical significance of the counterculture will then be demonstrated in terms of Tillich's concept of kairos. Through examination of the lyrics of some of the most popular songs between 1965 and 1970, the years during which the movement was at its height, the ways in which the counterculture may be seen as autonomous protest will be discussed. This will be followed by an examination of theonomous elements apparent in the song lyrics and an evaluation of the movement in terms of the Tillichian dialectic.

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