Thesis (Ph. D.)--Catholic University of America, 1934. / Bibliography: p. 191-201.

My dissertation argues that the study of antebellum American religious novels is hindered by the secularization narrative, the widely held conviction that modernity entails the decline of religion. Because this narrative has been refuted by the growing field of secularization theory and because the novel is associated with modernity, the novel form must be reexamined. Specifically, I challenge the common definition of the novel as a secular form. By investigating novels by Lydia Maria Child, Susan Warner, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Hannah Bond, I show that religion and the novel form are not opposed. In fact, scholars' unexamined and unacknowledged definitions of religion and secularity cause imprecision. For example, the Marxist definition of religion as ideology causes misrepresentations of novels with evangelical purposes, such as Warner's <i>The Wide, Wide World</i> and Bond's <i>The Bondwoman's Narrative</i>. Both novels feature protagonists who submit--one to patriarchy and the other to slavery--a stance that appears masochistic to feminist scholars and critics of slave narratives, respectively. However, attending to the biblical allusions, divine interventions, and theological arguments that saturate these texts places them in another framework altogether and reveals that they are commenting not on one's relationship with other humans but with God. Likewise, unexamined definitions of the secular are problematic because critics often conflate two definitions: the etymological sense of "earthly" and the modern sense of "anti-religious." This slippage underlies the view that religious literature of the nineteenth century became less religious, when it simply became more grounded in daily life. Therefore, to label as "secular" an author like Stowe, who promoted an earthly, lived Christianity, is only accurate if one means "mundane." Finally, my dissertation demonstrates that literary criticism itself relies on the secularization narrative, perceiving itself as modern and progressive. This reliance obscures the role literature has played in constructing this narrative. For example, colonial novels like <i>Hobomok</i> and <i>The Scarlet Letter</i> rewrite American religious history to exclude Calvinism. Noting how our investment in secularity has delimited interpretive possibilities, this project opens the way for increased clarity in the study of religion in literature.

A presente dissertação aborda a inserção do espiritismo de Allan Kardec no Brasil, sobretudo no Rio de Janeiro, a partir da concepção amalgamadora e de circularidade do universo religioso do brasileiro em conciliação com as ideias da modernidade europeia. Nesse bojo, com o advento da Proclamação da República e a secularização do Estado, práticas espíritas foram criminalizadas através do Código Penal de 1890 e reafirmadas no Regulamento Sanitário de 1904, em favor da saúde pública. As propostas centrais da dissertação são a construção das especificidades do espiritismo no Brasil diferenciando-o da origem francesa pela ênfase na vertente religiosa da Doutrina Espírita e a sua legitimação, sob o vislumbre de sair do caso de desordem pública, forjada nas argumentações de liberdade de culto e de consciência salvaguardadas na Constituição de 1891. Para tanto, foram analisados os discursos dos periódicos Echo DAlém Túmulo, que circulou na Bahia, O Apóstolo, o Jornal do Commercio e o Reformador, que circularam na capital federal, além de processos criminais que envolveram espíritas, também, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. / This dissertation addresses the inclusion of Allan Kardec's Spiritism in Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro, from conception syncretism and circularity of the Brazilian religious universe in conciliation with the ideas of European modernity. In bowl, with the advent of the Proclamation of the Republic and the secularization of the state, spiritualistic practices were criminalized by the Penal Code of 1890 and reaffirmed at the Health Regulations, 1904, in favor of public health. The central thesis proposals are the construction of the specifics of spiritualism in Brazil differentiating the origin of the French emphasis on the religious aspect of Spiritism and its legitimacy under the glimpse out of the case of public disorder, forged in the arguments of freedom of worship and conscience safeguarded in the Constitution of 1891. Therefore, we analyzed the speeches of journals Echo D' Além Túmulo, which circulated in Bahia, O Apóstolo, o Jornal do Commercio and the Reformador, which circulated in the federal capital, in addition to criminal charges involving spiritualists also in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

A presente dissertação aborda a inserção do espiritismo de Allan Kardec no Brasil, sobretudo no Rio de Janeiro, a partir da concepção amalgamadora e de circularidade do universo religioso do brasileiro em conciliação com as ideias da modernidade europeia. Nesse bojo, com o advento da Proclamação da República e a secularização do Estado, práticas espíritas foram criminalizadas através do Código Penal de 1890 e reafirmadas no Regulamento Sanitário de 1904, em favor da saúde pública. As propostas centrais da dissertação são a construção das especificidades do espiritismo no Brasil diferenciando-o da origem francesa pela ênfase na vertente religiosa da Doutrina Espírita e a sua legitimação, sob o vislumbre de sair do caso de desordem pública, forjada nas argumentações de liberdade de culto e de consciência salvaguardadas na Constituição de 1891. Para tanto, foram analisados os discursos dos periódicos Echo DAlém Túmulo, que circulou na Bahia, O Apóstolo, o Jornal do Commercio e o Reformador, que circularam na capital federal, além de processos criminais que envolveram espíritas, também, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. / This dissertation addresses the inclusion of Allan Kardec's Spiritism in Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro, from conception syncretism and circularity of the Brazilian religious universe in conciliation with the ideas of European modernity. In bowl, with the advent of the Proclamation of the Republic and the secularization of the state, spiritualistic practices were criminalized by the Penal Code of 1890 and reaffirmed at the Health Regulations, 1904, in favor of public health. The central thesis proposals are the construction of the specifics of spiritualism in Brazil differentiating the origin of the French emphasis on the religious aspect of Spiritism and its legitimacy under the glimpse out of the case of public disorder, forged in the arguments of freedom of worship and conscience safeguarded in the Constitution of 1891. Therefore, we analyzed the speeches of journals Echo D' Além Túmulo, which circulated in Bahia, O Apóstolo, o Jornal do Commercio and the Reformador, which circulated in the federal capital, in addition to criminal charges involving spiritualists also in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

In this study, I search to explore whether the effect of Protestantism on the level of corruption(understood as the misuse of public power for private gain) withstand when controlled forsecularism. This is done via a series of multiple regression analysis which conclude that theeffect of Protestantism on the perceived level of corruption persists when controlling forsecularism. Though the effect is greatly diminished, even when controlling for classicaleconomic factors. The level of secularization remains statistically significant when predictingthe perceived corruption. / <p>2017-06-01</p>

This dissertation proposes a political reading of the religious revival taking place in Tajikistan following the country’s independence in 1991. It considers the impact of the Soviet legacy on the place of religion in Tajik society and on different modes of religiosity. It also highlights the continuities between the Soviet and post-Soviet eras and the porous boundaries between the religious and secular realms in Tajikistan. First, the thesis describes the specificities of the Soviet secularization process and emphasizes the holistic character of the Soviet ideology. I suggest that the secularization of Central Asia should be understood not as the complete eradication of religion but as the societies’ accommodation to assertive secular policies, which produced a certain understanding of the place of religion in society. The research then looks at the resilience of Soviet values within both institutional and discursive traditions, as well as within individuals’ perspectives on religion. This dissertation avoids reifying the state and accounts for the great diversity of state actors’ strategies and interests as well as within communities. Finally, drawing upon extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Northern Tajikistan, the research depicts the religious revival from a local perspective by addressing the religious experiences of born-again Muslims. I suggest that Islamic values offset the Soviet holistic ideology, which can be explained by the affinities of religious and Soviet moral codes. The research also shows that increasing levels of religiosity contribute to social tensions around the definition of new moral standards in an uncertain socio-economic environment.

Trinity Western University has come under fire for its Community Covenant which defines marriage as between one man and one woman. A look at Trinity's previous codes of conduct show an institution resisting the tides of secularization. While this document has been in existence only since 2009, Trinity has had a Christian-informed code of conduct since its early years. When looking at these documents—five in total—from one iteration to the next,what we see on the surface is a school that has, over time, increased its demands on the behaviour of its staff and students by requiring greater restraint on everything from sexual behaviour to the kind of entertainment in which they engage. What appears to be happening is that TWU, as an institution, is becoming more conservative while the rest of North America becomes more secular and more liberal. However, an examination of student newspapers and handbooks, as well as interviews with past and present students, faculty and staff reveals a much more complex relationship to a rapidly changing world. These latter sources shows that how individuals within the institution respond to secularization are not always aligned with the evangelical Christian goals of the school.This then begs the question: are TWU’s formal guidelines evidence of an institution that has, at times, been both insular and unaware of changes not only within the outside world, but among its own people? Or instead, do these documents reflect an astute awareness of changing societal norms? In other words, is the evolution of this document a direct response to secularization and an attempt to hold on to conservative Christian values? In this thesis, I argue that the latter is true. / Graduate / 2021-08-12

The characteristic attitude of the major portion of native Californians toward the California Missions is one of innocent, ignorant acceptance combined with but little interest or concern. By this I mean that the Missions are accepted as forming part of the Historical beauty of the State of California, but the pa- sons for this belief are not known--nor the reasons for the fact that these old adobe churches moulded an older generation into a foundation stone upon which rests the present glory of a State unsurpassed in scenic or historic grandeur they exist, hence they were..

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Thesis (Doktorwürde)--Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelm-Universität zu Bonn, 1932. / Includes document in French. Includes bibliographical references (p. 3-8).