This dissertation studies a small American religious group that survived unscathed during the Third Reich. Some fifteen thousand members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons, lived under National Socialism. Unlike persecuted Jews and Jehovah's Witnesses, and other small American-based sects that suffered severe restrictions, the Mormons worshiped freely under Hitler's regime. They survived by stressing congruence between church doctrine and Nazi dogma. Mormons emphasized their interest in genealogical research and sports, sent their husbands into the Wehrmacht and their sons into the Hitler Youth, and prayed for a Nazi victory in wartime. Mormon leaders purged all Jewish references from hymnals, lesson plans and liturgical practices, and shunned their few Jewish converts. They resurrected a doctrinal edict that required deference to civil authority, which the Mormons had not always obeyed. Some Mormons imagined fanciful connections with Nazism, to the point that a few believed Hitler admired their church, copied its welfare program, and organized the Nazi party along Mormon lines. This dissertation builds upon Christine Elizabeth King's theory of a common Weltanschauung between Mormons and Nazis, and Steven Carter's description of the Mormons' "accommodation" with National Socialism. Instead of a passive approach, however, the Mormons pursued aggressive and shameless "ingratiation" with the Nazi state. This work also examines memory. Mormons later tried to forget their pandering to the Nazis, especially when large numbers of Germans immigrated to Utah in the post-war period. When the story of a martyred Mormon resister, Helmuth Hubener, emerged in the 1970s, church officials interfered with the research of scholars at Brigham Young University. They feared that Hubener's example would incite Mormon youth to rebel against dictators abroad, hurt the church's relations with communist East Germany, and would offend recent German Mormon immigrants in Utah. A few Mormons shunned and harassed Hubener's surviving coconspirators. In recent years, Hubener?excommunicated for rebellion against the Nazis but later restored to full church membership?has been rehabilitated as a recognized hero of Mormonism. A new collective memory has been forged, one of wartime courage and suffering, while the inconvenient past is being conveniently discarded.

Welcome to the Branch is a two-act play that investigates issues of cultural differences in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (or LDS church), more commonly known as the Mormon Church. Set in modern-day, downtown Richmond, Welcome to the Branch follows two very different members of the LDS church as they examine and try to understand both their religion, in the context of its cultural and social history, and their place in it. One is Molly, a Caucasian, middle-class young woman from Utah, in Richmond temporarily for her husband's graduate school; the other is Aina, an African American, single mother living in Mosby Court who has recently joined the LDS church. While Aina struggles for survival and looks for meaning in a church where, historically, she would not have felt welcome, Molly slowly comes to terms with the limitations of her own sheltered background.

For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Ten Commandments are very much in effect today. The fourth commandment, to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, is heavily emphasized within church doctrine and culture (Exodus 20:8; Deuteronomy 5:12). This command to set apart the Sabbath is observed on Sundays for the LDS Church as well as the majority of the Christian world, rather than the traditional Saturday. Though the Ten Commandments collectively have both individual and societal implications, the spiritual outcome from following them is indeed an introspective pursuit. This thesis seeks to address how members of the Church seek to keep the Sabbath day holy in a profession that is heavily involved in Sunday work. With the universality of sports among Latter-day Saints, and large numbers of youth hoping to play sports professionally, this study is timely because it seeks to elucidate the effects that playing professional sports, particularly in the NFL, have on church activity. Chapter One details the history of the Sabbath from the Old Testament to the present day. It then discusses the doctrine of the Sabbath as taught by the LDS Church. It also discusses what the highest officers in the church, the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and other auxiliary leaders have said about sports and Sunday play. It finishes off with a description of the research methodology and the interview process for thirty Latter-day Saints who played in the NFL. Chapter Two introduces the data and some of the main findings regarding Sabbath day worship in the NFL; it highlights the sacrament, church attendance, and other personal religious habits for these athletes. Chapter Three continues the discussion of the data and more particularly addresses some of the challenges more pertinent to LDS NFL players. It was apparent after the interview process that these participants found it challenging to be in an atmosphere so incompatible to their personal beliefs, including religious criticism from teammates, harsh language, lewdness in and out of the locker room, and many other difficult circumstances. Marriage is addressed and how it was a major factor for these players. It also includes quantitative information about the athletes' backgrounds and faith experiences leading up to their careers in the NFL. Chapter Four summarizes the thesis and draws conclusions upon the data. It also recommends areas for further research. In the Appendix, redacted interviews of all thirty NFL players are included.

Situational crisis communication theory (SCCT), experimentally created by W. Timothy Coombs in 2007, is designed to help crisis managers evaluate a crisis situation and craft an effective response strategy based on the organization's crisis history, the crisis type, and prior reputation with stakeholders.This thesis examined the November 2015 controversial handbook policy update from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which ruled same-sex marriage as grounds for excommunication. Exploring the policy change as a crisis in the context of SCCT and comparing the Church's crisis response strategies with the recommended strategies of SCCT exposes a gap in current SCCT literature—the theory does not lend itself well to crises where an organization's values or guiding morals are under attack. In these scenarios, the organization is unlikely to apologize for or acknowledge the crisis. The study results demonstrate substantial shifts in stakeholder attitudes following certain strategic statements from the Church even though the Church did not strictly adhere to SCCT's guidelines. According to SCCT's guidelines, because the stakeholder groups framed the handbook change as a crisis of organizational misdeed with injuries the majority of the time, the Church should have responded with third-tier strategies that bolstered its reputation and apologized or compensated those harmed by the policy. Instead, the Church has never apologized for the policy change and specifically reminded stakeholders of its past policies regarding same-sex marriage. Although the Church used the same strategies throughout the entire crisis, the Church's relatively larger use of crisis basics, justification, and protection in its second wave of statements on November 13, 2015 shifted the crisis framing and sentiment of bloggers and John Dehlin from negative sentiment with frames of high-level crisis responsibility to neutral and positive sentiment with a majority of blogs and social media posts not framing the policy change as a crisis.

There is a dearth of psychological research with Polynesian populations in the United States Research on this population is needed to meet the demands of this increasingly growing population. This study aims to investigate the psychological well-being of an understudied Latter-day Saint (LDS) Polynesian American emerging adult group in order to better provide them with cultural-specific professional psychological services. The sample included 327 LDS Polynesian American emerging adults ranging from 18 to 26 years of age (191 females, 136 males). Specifically, this study examines the associations among coping strategies, religiosity, ethnic identity, depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. An online questionnaire was used to collect the necessary data. Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and path analyses were conducted to examine relationships among variables. The results yield findings that are unique to this specific population. This study's results found family support, religiosity, and ethnic identity to be influential among LDS Polynesian emerging adults with regards to their psychological well-being. As this study mentions, identifying and recognizing the influential cultural values on well-being for this population can contribute to assisting mental health professionals provide culturally sensitive and appropriate interventions for their LDS Polynesian American emerging adult clients.

The Waldensians are ancient Protestant Sectarians who have inhabited the Piedmont Region of the Cottian Alps for centuries. They claim to be the oldest Protestant Church in the world. Having survived 700 years of persecution, the Waldensians finally achieved religious liberty in 1848. Two years later Mormon church leader Lorenzo Snow and some other Elders entered the Protestant valleys on a proselyting mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One hundred-eighty-seven Waldensians were converted to Mormonism. Twenty years later, one-third of these Mormon Waldensians had been excommunicated, one-third had emigrated to Utah and one-third became inactive or returned to their former faith. This study focuses on the seventy-two converts (primarily members of twelve families) who converted, immigrated and settled in the Mormon colonies in Utah. Church and civil records, life sketches, diaries, journals and letters were used in this project. The study concludes with an analysis of the contributions of Mormon Waldensians to the LDS church and the American West.

LDS doctrine establishes three courses of action in conflict resolution: a) selective pacifism, b) action as proxy for God as prescribed under the doctrine of continuous revelation and c) absolute pacifism. Of these three, only absolute and selective pacifism are of practical use to the modern member of the LDS Church. Of the remaining two, government political decisions and technological momentum have moved current U.S. defense strategy and weaponry away from a defensive to an offense posture, thus invalidating the case of the selective pacifist and leaving only the absolutist's stand. Despite this development, however, the number of vocal pacifists within the Church remains conspicuously small. This can be attributed to: a) the confusion over the role of authority and obedience in the Church, b) the appearance of Church and Mormon cultural endorsement for militarism, c) the influence of "Just War" theory, d) the effects of fatalism and the "Armageddon" complex, e) disregard for the doctrines of stewardships, f) the lessening of personal responsibility and g) influence from the Utah military/industrial/university complex.

"The 24th of July" is a fictional novel set in the present day. The story centers around Michelle, an eighteen year old girl from Warm Springs, Idaho, who fears the sexual games she has played with her cousin Edna have tainted her for a Temple marriage. She meets Duke, a charismatic fundamentalist polygamist, who believes polygamy is part of the plan for eternal salvation as set down by the original doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the prophet Joseph Smith. Michelle sees Duke as her chance to put her relationship with Edna in the past and obtain the rewards waiting for her in the celestial heaven by marrying him and having babies. But life as a polygamist wife is more difficult than she anticipated and it is further complicated by the fact that she and Cheron, Duke's second wife, fall in love. When Duke discovers the nature of their relationship, both are forced into making choices that will change their entire way of life.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore conditions under which the human spirit flowers in modern organisations. The topic of the thesis was sparked by prolonged study at the Master’s level of the writings of Robert K. Greenleaf, modern servant leadership theorist. Greenleaf was concerned with the ways and the conditions in which the human spirit flowers. He wrote a number of essays on the topic (Greenleaf, 1996b). He often questioned what organisations as they currently stood were doing to help people grow as whole people. As workers spend increasing amounts of time in the workplace, organisations continue to seek ways in which to increase employee satisfaction and decrease the compartmentalising of human experience. The geographical context of study is that of Aotearoa/New Zealand with participants selected from the Church Educational System of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Tāmaki-makau-rau/Auckland region. The Church Educational System, or CES, is a worldwide religious education provider headquartered in the Western United States. The context for study was chosen based on my perceived personal growth as a student for nine years in the CES programmes and my desire to understand how the programme was administered in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The project employs a qualitative methodology using as primary data gathering methods in-depth interviews with three CES directors, three focus groups made up of sixteen volunteer teachers, classroom observations, and document analysis. Using Greenleaf’s descriptions of the servant leader as a central focus, I attempt through this qualitative study to address the central research question: How does the Church Educational System (CES) nurture servant leaders? The central metaphor of the garden was used in processing and analysing data. The garden metaphor was intended to assist in the conceptualisation of relationships of service as they are at work in the lives of participants. Identified relationships of service from the findings were between participants co-workers (plants), love (life-force), Jesus Christ (sun), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (plot), purpose (strength), Aotearoa/New Zealand (soil), exemplars (canopy), experience (seasons), Church Educational System (gardener), positions, training, programmes (gardener tools), growth (colour/aroma/fruit), knowledge (water), and organisational care (pruning/transplanting). Findings indicated that nurturing in the Church Educational System is influenced by the ability of the organisation to bring people together in meaningful ways. Findings also show that understanding relationships of service that make up whole people may be an important step for organisations in the nurturing of servant leaders. Nurturing in the CES appears to be taking place in three primary areas: balancing, renewal, and regeneration. The findings of this study have significance for those inside and outside of the CES. A chapter is dedicated to exploring possible application of findings in variant organisational contexts. Providing consistent formal and informal opportunities for sharing in spirit and intellect at the organisational level appears to be a key in the nurturing of servant leaders in organisations.

This study investigates the development of, and relationships between, religiosity, spirituality, moral thinking and social attitudes among religious adolescents participating in an early morning weekday religious education program in Australia. Students participating in the Early Morning Seminary program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints form the population of interest for this study. These students demonstrate high levels of religious practice, making them an important group to research when seeking greater understanding of the outcomes of religious and spiritual developmental arising from such programs and when investigating how religiosity relates to moral and attitudinal aspects in the lives of religious youth. The research is survey based and entails the administering of four waves over a two-year period, enabling longitudinal observations to be examined. A sample of convenience is used consisting of Seminary students from South Australia and Victoria. Various survey instruments are used to measure characteristics such as family background, educational background, student religious activity, Seminary program involvement, relationships with God, moral decision making and social attitudes. Data analysis includes the use of Rasch scaling procedures, path analysis and Hierarchical Linear Modelling software in order to investigate multilevel effects on change in key dimensions over time. The fact that specific research regarding highly religious youth in Australia is not common and that research regarding Latter-day Saint youth in Australia is almost non-existent makes this study an important and seminal contribution in the Australian religious research field. This study provides several other important contributions to the field as it explores developmental outcomes of a specific religious education program across a range of religious and psychosocial dimensions. The oft-reported strong influence of the family on the religiosity of teenagers is reflected in the findings of this study. There is also evidence to indicate that private religious activity is especially important for the level of spirituality among students. The findings indicate that spirituality, rather than public or private religious practice, influences moral reasoning. Furthermore, private religious practice tends to have more positive influence than spirituality on social attitudes. Participation in the Seminary program appears to influence religiosity and spirituality significantly and independently of other variables included in the study, although the influence of participation is mediated by the feelings of students concerning the program. Generally, students show a decline in both participation levels and feelings towards the Seminary program over time. However, there is evidence of increased positive attitude toward a religious lifestyle, religious belief and awareness of God’s influence in life. Religious practice appears to influence change in several practical, attitudinal and spiritual dimensions positively. The findings indicate that the developmental role of Seminary participation is largely through the influence of the class environment. From this study it appears that religious participation in both public and private forms can have a major influence on key dimensions of spirituality and that religious and spiritual characteristics can have some influence on moral decision making and the forming of social attitudes. Participation in a religious education program, such as the Latter-day Saint Seminary program, can influence these dimensions especially if there is a positive attitude towards the program on the part of students and the class the environment is appropriate. In recent decades, the role of religion in psychological and social reality has seen greater attention and acceptance in academic circles. Accordingly, the body of academic research regarding religion and associated fields has increased and diversified opening the way for further exploration of the role of religion in the broader context of human life as is found in this study.