Master of Arts / Department of Communication Studies, Theatre, and Dance / Soo-Hye Han / Many LGBT members are caught between two seemingly conflicting identities: their religious identity and their sexual identity as a homosexual. This study specifically examines how Christian LGBT individuals attempt to reconcile their identities. In order to uncover the lived experience of LGBT members, qualitative interviews were conducted with eleven members of the LGBT community. Using a thematic analysis, results indicate that 1) some LGBT individuals compartmentalize their sexual and religious identities through cost/benefit analysis and self-silencing and 2) others reconcile their two identities through broadening their concept of religion, emphasizing the relational connections with God, and distinguishing between Biblical literalists and God. Further, discussion of Spiral of Silence, Muted Group Theory, and Null Persona as the theoretical lenses are used to draw implications of these findings. This study seeks to open up dialogue concerning sexuality and religion in order to garner a more welcoming environment for LGBT Christians.

The Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) witnessed the prominence of the voluntary sector through the active involvement of existing non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the emergence of new ones as service providers in response to the social, educational and other community needs left unattended to by the public sector. This thesis takes a comparative look at the objectives and practices of faith-based NGOs, or FBOs, currently active in Lebanon, both local and international. It considers the role of the sectarian context, and the influence – if any - of religious identity and values on the founding and mission of an FBO, and the identity of the communities where it chose to operate. It also seeks to explore the relationship between an FBO’s religious identity, the community(ies) it serves, and the expression of its faith in that particular community. The research involved qualitative interviews of a cross-section of FBOs in Lebanon representing different faiths, together with a textual analysis of the communication used by these organizations in addressing their stakeholders. The research shed light on the motivations and the historical events that led to the founding of the sample population. Also, the variance between the mandates of the different faith-based organizations, each according to its religious values, and how that is reflected in determining their programme direction, and hence, the mode of operation in the community. In the process, the interviews highlighted other factors that can equally impact the image of an organization in any particular community; as well as the position of the same-faith communities vis-à-vis the mandate of their same-faith FBO. The textual analysis of the sample population’s communication tools was equally insightful as it drew attention to factors that affect the discourse used in presenting who they are, as well as their vision and mission. Other insights gleaned from this research include the organizations’ view point and/or position with respect to the sectarian context that empowers them as religiously based organizations; an aspect that gives some thought as to the potential role for FBOs as agents of change in such a complex context. The source of the knowledge arrived at through this research is based on input received from the organizations themselves, either through the interviews with their leaders, or through their communication tools. It would be equally insightful, in another research, to consider the view point of the community, also that of secular and other faith-based organizations, of the role of religiously-based development organizations in the community as they compare with their desired role.

O objetivo central desta dissertação foi mostrar como os judeus messiânicos da sinagoga Beit Sar Shalom vêem a si próprios e como são vistos pelos grupos de fora de suas fronteiras étnicas, no caso, como eles são vistos pelas lideranças judaicas seculares e religiosas da cidade de São Paulo. O judaísmo messiânico é uma religião que mistura elementos do cristianismo, pois acredita que o messias enviado por Deus é Jesus, e do judaísmo, porque mantém parte de seus rituais, festas e tradições. A partir da análise realizada foi possível concluir que se trata de um tipo paradigmático de religião sincrética, em que os elementos ora do cristianismo, ora do judaísmo são cuidadosamente selecionados e aplicados a seu corpo doutrinário. O trabalho foi desenvolvido a partir da etnografia da sinagoga messiânica Beit Sar Shalom localizada em São Paulo no bairro de Higienópolis. Foram analisados aspectos ritualísticos dessa religião, assim como aspectos identitários a exemplo de rituais de iniciação e de passagem comparando-os com rituais judaicos tradicionais. / The central objective of this dissertation was to show how messianic jews from Beit Sar Shalom synagogue see themselves and how they are seen by the groups outside their ethnicity frontiers, in the present case, how they are seen by Jew leadership secular and religious from São Paulo city. Messianic Judaism is a religion that mixes elements of Christianity, because they believe that the messiah sent by God is Jesus and Judaism because maintaining part of the rituals, festivities and traditions. The results of this analyze should be seen as indicators that the religion was concluded as a kind of paradigmatic syncretic one, in which elements of Christianity and Judaism are carefully selected and applied to the doctrinaire body. The study was developed having as starting point the ethnography of the Beit Sar Shalom, messianic synagogue, located in São Paulo in the borough Higienópolis. Ritualistic aspects of this religion were analyzed as were identity aspects such as initiation and passage rituals, comparing them with traditional jewish rites.

Public acceptance of evolution remains low in the United States relative to other Western countries. Although advocates for the scientific community often highlight the need for improved education to change public opinion, analyses of data from a national sample of American adults indicate that the effects of educational attainment on attitudes toward evolution and creationism are uneven and contingent upon religious identity. Consequently, higher education will only shift public attitudes toward evolution and away from support for teaching creationism in public schools for those who take non-“literalist” interpretive stances on the Bible, or to the extent that it leads to fewer people with literalist religious identities.

The current study examined religious identity in a Filipinx Christian immigrant adolescent and emerging adult sample (N = 197) in Canada. Religious identity was defined as the extent to which an individual has engaged in each of five processes of religious identity formation. A hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted to identify subgroups of participants based on their religious identity. Five subgroups were identified that represented different combinations of religious identity exploration and commitment, named Internalized, Ruminative Seeking, Indifferent, Externalized, and Undifferentiated. The study also examined whether participants in different religious identity clusters expressed their religiosity differently. It was found that participants with different religious identities differed in the level of religiosity expressed (i.e., some religious identity groups were more religious than others), but groups did not differ in the distinct ways religiosity could be expressed (i.e., all groups engaged in all dimensions of religiosity). There was also no evidence that religious identity differed based on participant age, contradicting expectations that religious identity would follow a developmental trajectory similar to other aspects of identity. Finally, the relations between religious identity clusters and enculturation and acculturation were examined to see if cultural change following immigration was related to the formation of religious identity. The findings suggested that Filipinx immigrants who were more oriented towards Filipinx culture were also more likely to be committed to their religious identity, and members of religious identities that were highly oriented towards Filipinx culture also expressed moderate to high levels of religiosity, suggesting that Filipinx culture emphasizes the importance of religious commitment and expressions of religiosity. The importance of immigration becomes more nuanced in participants who engaged in similar levels of enculturation and acculturation. Filipinx immigrants who were highly oriented to both Filipinx and Canadian cultures equally tended to be members of religious identities that experienced distressful exploration of religion. Filipinx immigrants with different levels of enculturation and acculturation may have used differences in their orientation towards Filipinx and Canadian cultures to help navigate their religious identity. The current study highlights variations in how different Filipinx Christian immigrants view their religious identity, and the importance of considering how immigration may influence religious identity formation. / Graduate

Fear and faith in Texas is a multimedia journalism report about Islam in Texas. Islam has gained significant media attention recently so it is important to know more about a religion that has a growing congregation in the United States. This project answers questions like "What are the basics of the religion?" "Is it really such a foreign concept, or is it grounded in concepts and history familiar to non-Muslims?" Getting to know and break down the barriers that keep stereotypes alive and misconceptions thriving is an important part to understanding Islam. Fear and faith in Texas highlights the truth about Islam and Muslim Americans that often is ignored due to fear and a lack of knowledge. The project incorporates text, video, interactive graphics and other visual aids to give background on the religion of Islam, Muslim Americans, and show the role education plays in communicating information about religion in Texas. / text

Έχει παρατηρηθεί ότι η θρησκευτική ταυτότητα είναι στοιχείο του κοινωνικο-πολιτισμικού πλαισίου. Αυτό σημαίνει ότι το κοινωνικό περιβάλλον επηρεάζεται και επηρεάζει τις θρησκευτικές πεποιθήσεις των ατόμων και κυρίως των Αλλοδαπών στην χώρα εισαγωγής, οι οποίοι προσπαθώντας να προσαρμοστούν και να γίνουν αποδεκτοί από αυτό μπορεί να αλλάζουν την θρησκευτική τους ταυτότητα, ή γίνονται αποδεκτοί με τη συγκεκριμένη τους ταυτότητα. Στη συγκεκριμένη εργασία ερευνάται η θρησκεία και ο ρόλος της σε Έλληνες και Αλλοδαπούς μαθητές της ΣΤ΄ Δημοτικού. Συγκεκριμένα αναφέρονται η θρησκεία και οι θρησκευτικές πεποιθήσεις αυτών των μαθητών και πως αυτές οι πεποιθήσεις επηρεάζουν την καθημερινή τους ζωή. Κατ’ επέκταση γίνεται προσπάθεια να ερευνηθεί ποια είναι η θρησκευτική ταυτότητα των Ελλήνων και των Αλλοδαπών μαθητών, μέσα από τα θρησκευτικά τους πιστεύω, και πως αυτή τους η ταυτότητα επηρεάζει τις καθημερινές τους ενέργειες, τις καθημερινές τους συνήθειες, τις σχέσεις μεταξύ τους , την ευκολία ή δυσκολία προσαρμογής των Αλλοδαπών μαθητών στη χώρα υποδοχής, καθώς επίσης ερευνάται και το πώς η θρησκευτική ταυτότητα των δύο παραπάνω ομάδων, αλλά κυρίως των Αλλοδαπών μαθητών, επηρεάζεται από τις σχέσεις τους με τους συνομίληκούς τους και γενικότερα από τις θρησκευτικές πεποιθήσεις της χώρας υποδοχής, δηλαδή της Ελλάδας. Επομένως μοιράστηκαν ερωτηματολόγια σε 59 μαθητές του Δημοτικού, της ΣΤ΄ Δημοτικού σχετικά με τις θρησκευτικές τους πεποιθήσεις, τις καθημερινές τους ενέργειες που σχετίζονται με την θρησκεία τους, καθώς και πως οι θρησκευτικές τους πεποιθήσεις επηρεάζονται και επηρεάζουν τις σχέσεις μεταξύ τους. Αναφορικά με το θεωρητικό μέρος, αυτό χωρίζεται σε τέσσερα κεφάλαια. Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο γίνεται αποσαφήνιση των όρων θρησκεία, πίστη, θρησκευτική πεποίθηση, θεολογία, ταυτότητα, πολιτισμός. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο δίνονται τα κύρια χαρακτηριστικά των μεγαλύτερων πληθυσμιακά θρησκειών, δηλαδή του Χριστιανισμού, του Ισλαμισμού, του Ιουδαϊσμού και του Βουδισμού. Στο τρίτο κεφάλαιο γίνεται μια εκτενέστερη ανάλυση του όρου «ταυτότητα» μέσα από τις θεωρίες της κοινωνικής ψυχολογίας και αναλύονται οι έννοιες της προσωπικής, της κοινωνικής, της συνειδητής και μη συνειδητής και της πολιτισμικής ταυτότητας, καθώς, επίσης και ο ρόλος και οι μεταβολές της θρησκευτικής ταυτότητας. Στο τελευταίο κεφάλαιο αναφέρονται ορισμένα πολιτισμικά στοιχεία που συνδέονται με την θρησκεία, όπως είναι το φύλο και η εθνικότητα. Στη συνέχεια ακολουθούν οι υποθέσεις, η μεθοδολογία, ο γενικός σκοπός της έρευνας, η ανάλυση και ο σχολιασμός των ερευνητικών δεδομένων μέσα από πίνακες και γραφήματα και τέλος τα συμπεράσματα που προκύπτουν από τη συγκεκριμένη έρευνα και εργασία. / -

Religija apibrėžiama kaip vienas iš patvariausių identiteto resursų, pastaraisiais dešimtmečiais patiriančių didžiausius pokyčius. Šiandieninėje Lietuvos visuomenėje sociokultūrinės aplinkybės keičia tradicinio religinio identiteto turinį, taip pat simbolių, vartojamų konstruojant katalikų religinį identitetą, naudojimo, supratimo bei reikšmės suteikimo pobūdį. Šis darbas skirtas analizuoti katalikų religinio identiteto kaitą per religinio ir kultūrinio identitetų sąveiką. Darbo objektu pasirinktas katalikų religinis identitetas. Darbo tikslas: išskirti ir aprašyti katalikų religinio identiteto kaitos tendencijas ir dominuojančius tipus. Tyrimo metu siekiama aprašyti ir išanalizuoti katalikybės praktikavimo būdus bei katalikiškos tapatybės konstravimo pagrindinius resursus, taip pat nustatyti ir aprašyti religinių praktikų „sukultūrinimo“ ir etnifikacijos formas. Tyrimui atlikti pasirinktas kokybinis pusiau struktūruotas interviu metodas. Tyrime dalyvavo 16 informantų, kurie priklauso ribiniams katalikams, laiko save lietuviais bei yra vyresni nei 18 metų. Rezultatai: Tyrimo duomenų analizė parodė, kad formuojasi pusiau tikinčių, socialinių bei ribinių katalikų tipai. Pusiau tikintiems katalikams religinis tapatumas turi įtakos savęs supratimui, tačiau socialinių katalikų tarpe ši įtaka nepastebima. Katalikas suvokiamas tik kaip ženklas, nurodantis priklausymą Katalikų bendruomenei. Dalyvavimas religinėse praktikose bei ritualuose yra kultūrinių tradicijų bei... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Religion is defined as one of a steadiest resource of identity which is going through the changes in the last decades. Nowadays the sociocultural factors are changing a content of a religious identity, also are changing a nature of usage, understanding and meaning providing by symbols which are used to construct catholic religious identity in Lithuania’s society. This master thesis is a sociological research of catholic religious identity change which is analyzed through the interplay of religious identity and ethnicity. In this work the main object is a catholic religious identity. The aim of this study was to investigate and describe the main tendencies of the change of catholic religious identity and dominant types of catholic religious identity. In this study it is trying to describe and analyze forms of practices of Catholicism and the main resources of catholic identity construction, also to identify and describe forms of acculturation and ethnification of religious practices. Methods of research: in this study was used a qualitative semi-structured interview. There were collected 16 interviews with middle Catholics, who consider themselves as Lithuanians, and were older than 18. Results: The analysis of the data showed that it is forming passively religious, social and liminal Catholics types. A religious identity influences a self understanding and behavior for the passively religious Catholics, but this influence is not noticed for social catholic. Catholic is... [to full text]

This thesis investigates the turn to a neo-revivalist Muslim identity in the West as a form of self-othering. The binary dichotomy of self and other is used as a framework for the apparent divide between Muslims and the West. Second and third-generation disapora neo-revivalists personalise religion and through their hermeneutics seek an expression of religion that transcends cultural practice. They self-other in a way reactionary to society, and also react to the religion of their parents’ generation, which for them is not spiritual enough and instead is too steeped in cultural practices. Secularism and the post-secular turn is considered in Western society to provide context to the West that these neo-revivalists are located within. The diversity of Muslims is investigated to contextualise the neo-revivalist shift, which rather than being tolerant of diversity amongst Muslims seeks a separation of culture from religion. As second- and third-generation diaspora Muslims are the children of Muslim migrants to the West, the inter-generational divide is investigated. First-generation migrants have a continuity to their religious expression based on their experiences within the country of origin, whereas second- and third-generation migrants engage in a re-negotiation process to enable their religiosity to be relevant to Western societies. Qualitative case studies relating to the performance of religious identity, that is necessarily public, are utilised from Britain and the United States to further contextualise neo-revivalism. Literary mediation and mediatisation are examined in the context and globalisation. Contemporary literature is utilised to consider the self-critique of issues relating to integration and assimilation of Muslims in Western society by Muslims in Western societies. These cosmopolitan voices provide an internal understanding of the issues involved. Media-technologies have enabled a wide range of discourses to circulate about the current geopolitic following ‘9/11’ and Muslims themselves have utilised these mediated-technologies, and as such, neo-revivalism is necessarily a product of time, place and circumstance. Finally, a conclusion is reached and in seeking to understand the neo-revivalist turn and the place of Muslims in the West, a cosmopolitan ethic of integration is proposed that seeks to turn away from essentialisations and binary oppositions, but instead, through an engagement in respectful and reflexive critical dialogue, it is hoped that our shared universal humanity may be realised.

<p>Contrary to later Muslim tradition, the first Muslims initially looked favorably upon assimilating Jewish and Christian religious and cultural practices. As Muslim collective religious identity conjoined with political power, Muslims changed their religious policy from imitation to distinction; they began to define themselves both above and against their arch-religious rivals. They visibly and publicly materialized their unique brand of monotheism into a distinct religious community.</p><p>This dissertation is the first attempt to map the Muslim religious discourse that expressed this deliberate turn away from Jews, Christians, and others across pre-modern Islamic history. First, I argue that this discourse functions as a prism through which to view the interplay of religion and politics; a key function of both empire and religion in a pre-modern Muslim context was to uphold hierarchical social distinctions. Next, I show that Muslims imagined these distinctions in very concrete terms. In contrast to conventional studies that emphasize the role of abstract doctrine in making Islam a distinct religion, this study highlights the aesthetic mediation of Muslim distinction through everyday quotidian practice such as dress, hairstyle, ritual, festivals, funerary rites, and bodily gestures - what Sigmund Freud has called, "The Narcissism of Minor Differences." These acts of distinction illustrate that Muslim religious identity was not shaped in a social and cultural vacuum; its construction overlapped with that of ethnicity, gender, class, and the even the human. What this study reveals, then, is how Muslims attempted to fashion more than just a distinct religion, but an ideal moral order, or social imaginary. In this robust Muslim social imaginary, human beings were mimetic creatures; becoming, or subject-formation, was inextricably related to belonging, being part of a community. Despite the conscious attempt of religious scholars to normalize Muslim distinction, this study contests that both elite and ordinary Muslims continued to imitate, and ultimately assimilate, foreign practices within a Near Eastern cultural landscape of sharedness. </p><p>Drawing upon approaches from religious studies, history, and anthropology, this interdisciplinary study foregrounds both text and theory. It interweaves theories of difference, imitation (mimesis), power, embodiment, semiotics and aesthetics with a broad range of Arabic literary texts spanning theology, law, Quranic exegesis, prophetic traditions, ethics, mysticism, historical chronicles, and biography. More specifically, this study highlights the critical role of prophetic utterances (hadith) in shaping the Islamic discourses of Shari'a and Sufism. It foregrounds the contributions of two pre-modern Damascene religious scholars in their historical contexts: the controversial Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328), and the underappreciated Najm al-Din al-Ghazzi; (d. 1651), who authored a remarkable encyclopedia of mimesis and distinction hitherto ignored in both Euro-American and Islamic scholarship.</p> / Dissertation