Deviance,Persecution and the Roman Creation of Christianity

Although Roman persecution of Christians was sporadic and localised for much of the first three centuries of the church's existence, it is argued here that such persecution was nevertheless crucial in the creation and shaping of a distinct Christian identity. The primary deviance of the radical Jewish sect that had surrounded Jesus himself created a “sticky reputation” that endured even when the church had become largely politically and socially conservative. Periodic outbreaks of violence towards those labelled Christians by the authorities created a transactional relationship, in which the victims and their co‐religionists responded by the explicit adoption of a deviant identity and experienced the corollary reconstruction of the self in terms of attitudes, mores and affiliations (secondary deviance). This transaction halted a drift towards religious syncretism that might otherwise have seen Jesus take his place within the henotheistic Roman Pantheon, and thus ensured the survival of the Christian faith as monotheistic and oppositional to Roman religio.     

Defending the Family,Defending the Faith: An Analysis of The Family: A Proclamation to the World,Religious Identity,and the Politics of Same-Sex Marriage in a Mormon Community

In this article, we apply Peter Berger's theory of religion as a social construct to learn how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon Church) advances a heteronormative view of family relationships in the United States using a document titled The Family: A Proclamation to the World. Furthermore, applying cultural studies theory, we examine how believing Mormons negotiate the tension that arises when their secular values compete with those expressed by Church leaders. We argue that, although the Proclamation addresses a number of issues, the Church offers a closed text that emphasizes war narratives in which same-sex marriage is portrayed as a threat to LDS identity and the heteronormative family. This closed text is further legitimized by emphasis on the authority of Church leaders as oracles of God. The study participants largely accept the dominant narrative, and those who reject it, do so with some trepidation.     

Religion and community philanthropic organizations: The case of the United Jewish Appeal‐Federation of New York

This article explores the processes that occur when community philanthropic organizations develop religious expressions and practices by examining the shifts that took place within the United Jewish Appeal‐Federation of New York between 1990 and 2014. As the findings indicate, the gradual integration of ethnoreligious practices, norms, and expressions into the Federation's missions, routine, activities, and distribution of resources, as well as among staff and volunteers, reshaped the Federation's identity and faith‐based orientation. This process led the Federation to move beyond being a faith‐background organization toward becoming a faith‐affiliated organization, expressing Jewish beliefs through its charitable work and philanthropic activities. The article highlights the resulting dilemmas and obstacles faced by the Federation and concludes with a discussion of the implications for understanding the process of increased religion among community philanthropic organizations.     

Gender and development from a Christian perspective: experience from World Vision

This article reports the effectiveness of incorporating religious faith in World Vision?s development work and organizational practice for gender issues related problems. World Vision, founded by Bob Pierce in 1950, is a Christian organization whose work includes transformational development, emergency relief, and promotion of justice, public awareness, and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. As part of their mission, varied programs were developed in response to women's needs and issues. By 1989, the gender issues became the priority for World Vision's Council and International Board. This led to the organization of staff to manage programs to promote gender issues. The gender policy adheres to the norms of World Vision?s core values and mission statements, which uses biblical evidences to promote gender equality. The implementation process of the gender policy took a slow pace, which involves awareness building, attitudinal change, and resource allocation, to ensure that the barriers and prejudices that prevent women from full participation are dismantled. Being able to use Jesus' teachings and examples has given the management and the staff of World Vision the ability to promote gender issues with credibility and strength. World Vision will continue to implement good development practices and gender-sensitive programs.     

Tracing the roots of mindfulness: Transcendence in Buddhism and Christianity

The field of social work has embraced mindfulness skills in the training of social workers and as an intervention used in practice. However, there is little discussion regarding the theoretical or religious roots of mindfulness. In addition, social workers often employ mindfulness by practicing within a behaviorist frame. Missing from this behaviorist frame are the historic religious definitions, aims, and values of mindfulness, which lead to a fuller understanding of mindfulness in social work practice. This article traces the religious roots of mindfulness to clarify its goals in both Buddhism and Christianity, with an emphasis on the Mahayana branch of Buddhism and the contemplative and mystical traditions within Christianity. In both religions, mindfulness leads one to an experience of transcendence, assisting the follower to realize that the self belongs in relationship with a divine oneness in Buddha nature, that is believed to be intrinsic to all sentient beings (in Buddhism), or a divine God through the person of Jesus Christ (in Christianity) where the self is retained. Social workers uphold the values of mindfulness and the profession itself when being sensitive to root mindfulness practice within its historical and religious contexts, particularly within Buddhist and Christian faith systems.     

Rozanov and the Coin

Abstract

The importance is examined specifically of the coin and, more generally, of money, in the religious thought of Vasilii Rozanov. First, there is Rozanov's rejection of the Orthodox ideal of poverty, which is based on his interpretation of the religious role of the family and the obligation placed on men to support their household. Then, the focus is on Rozanov's numismatics; the importance of the coin for Rozanov as a historical artefact, and also the metaphysical function of the coin in connecting him to ancient civilizations, and resurrecting pre-Christian values in the modern world. These two dimensions of finance are reconciled by demonstrating that, for Rozanov, the physical and metaphysical properties of money are linked in a complex system of exchange that helps humanity maintain its links with the Creation. Rozanov also establishes a clear link between the coin, the word, and the reproductive body, a dynamic that is threatened specifically by Jesus Christ. In addition, Rozanov's thought is examined in the context of Russian Orthodoxy and religious philosophy over the religious value of money and the economy.     

Emerging Issues

SUMMARY

Restorative Justice is coming into focus for many faith communities as an important shift in response to crime. This paper examines the history of our response to crime and describes the response of a number of faith communities. Extended treatment is given to the November 2000 statement by the United States Catholic Bishops, Responsibility, Rehabilitation and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice. Their approach to crime and criminal justice is reviewed, including a special emphasis on the Catholic Church's teaching on the option for the poor and includes policy recommendations for church and society. Examples of activity at the local, state and national levels are given. The paper documents some effects of the bishops' statement on community and legislative activity at the local, state and national levels.     

Developing cultural competence with LDS clients: Utilizing spiritual genograms in social work practice

ABSTRACT

In recent years, social work has increasingly focused on spirituality and religion as key elements of cultural competence. Consequently, specific strategies have been developed to provide the most appropriate interventions for religious clients. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is the fourth largest and the fastest growing church in the United States and is one of the fastest growing churches worldwide. In an effort to facilitate cultural competence with LDS clients, a spiritual assessment tool was developed based upon the genogram. Evaluation of this tool was facilitated through a survey of 100 practitioners. Participants liked the idea of using a spiritual genogram and felt it would be a useful tool in therapy. In general, they thought the questions associated with the spiritual genogram were appropriate and consistent with LDS culture, although numerous suggestions for improvement were offered.     

The Spiritual Reality: A Christian World View

SUMMARY

Every human being must answer the question, does God exist? If the answer is no, God does not exist, the follow-up question is, where or how will I anchor myself in life? If the answer is yes God exists, the follow-up question must be, what is God's nature? To acknowledge that God exists and not seek God's nature is to ignore that which we ourselves believe created and rules the universe. The Christian World View addresses the nature of God from a very specific perspective. It is a perspective that organizes the lives of many of our clients. In this article the author presents a non-theological summary of the Christian spiritual perspective and relates some of the main Christian beliefs to family systems thinking as well as to implications for practice.     

Chapter 2 Residents in Assisted Living Facilities and Visitation Patterns

Abstract

Resident visitation patterns within an assisted living facility provide insight into a resident's life satisfaction. This study investigated residents' perceptions of family and friend visitation. Thirty assisted living residents from Oklahoma participated in a comprehensive interview that included demographics, life satisfaction, visitation frequency, and perceptions of visitation patterns. A majority of the respondents (90%) perceived family and friend visitation as “important” to “very important” in their life. Visitation allows residents to reminisce with family members and friends, to fulfill the need to have outside contact, and to be reassured that they have not been forgotten. Results indicate residents do desire continued relationships with family and friends through visitation. Facilities should encourage activities involving outside members of a resident's support network and be aware of residents less visited, developing programs creating social contact and involvement.     

A Study of Attitudes Towards Gays and Lesbians in the State of Utah,U.S.A.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine Utahans' attitudes towards gay and lesbian people and their civil rights. Utah politics are dominated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons) and the Republican Party, with membership typically shared by the two. However, Mormon sociocultural values are also distinctively pro-family and companionate. We wondered to what extent caring, warmth, and inclusiveness toward family members mitigated against the doctrinaire injunction to reject homosexuality and, if necessary, to reject family members who were homosexual.

We found that proponents of gay and lesbian civil rights were likely to be personally familiar with gays and lesbians, to have empathetic attitudes about gay and lesbian youth and being out, and to possess a commitment to legal rights for gay and lesbian individuals and families. Opponents of gay and lesbian civil rights were driven by moralistic imperatives about sexuality and the roots of sexual behavior, made a sharp distinction between what they perceived as social privileges and legally mandated rights and were not likely to have had much direct contact with gay and lesbian people. Our results suggest that Utahans indeed appear to be torn, or at best ambivalent, about the religious mandate to condemn homosexuality while at the same time prizing family ties and relationships above other values. For the same reasons, political actions directed at obtaining specific legal rights for gays and lesbians appear to have more support than expected, especially in the realms of partner benefits, employment discrimination, health benefits, and private freedoms. Legal marriage, however, is soundly rejected as a possibility, especially in view of the belief that marriage is sacred and exclusively for heterosexuals.     

Leadership Dimensions,the Critical Link for the Evolution of Collaboration

Abstract

This article traces the history of one community's efforts to coordinate services to address family violence. The current mazeof organizations in communities is overwhelming to the professionals who work in them, the political leaders who authorize them, the foundations and United Ways who fund them, and, most assuredly, to the persons for whom the various organizations were established. A review of the literature on coordination and collaboration is included as well as a discussion of leadership challenges during the various stages in the evolutionary process to provide confidential, culturally sensitive, comprehensive, accountable, and user-friendly community social service systems.     

'Nothing that is earthly': Ideology,performance and colonial difference

Abstract

Recent scholarship on the early Americas has posited performance as the site where colonial difference is enacted. This article examines the ways in which performance was used to disseminate (and conversely, to subvert) Christian ideology in New Spain, in dialogic texts such as Sahagún's Colloquios and in missionary plays by Father Andrés de Olmos and others.     

RACE AND CHARITABLE CHURCH ACTIVITY

The availability of public funding for charitable church activity has increased dramatically in recent years. A key dispute over this increase is whether congregations’ propensity to provide charitable services depends upon the local community’s racial composition. Using three congregation‐level data sets, this article investigates how race affects charitable church activity. Each data set indicates that all‐white congregations become less charitably active as the share of black residents in the community grows. This response is found only for charitable activities and not for other activities. Additionally, all‐white congregations favorably disposed toward receiving government funding respond no differently to black residents than do not‐all‐white congregations. (JEL H41, J15, Z12)     

Identities Within Identities: Queering the Priestly Woman

It has been part of the Christian tradition that a convert is given a new name and thus a new identity when accepted into the faith. This new identity is meant to signify the overcoming of brokenness in a salvation event that unifies, celebrates, and reorients all the former selves under Christ. But for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people it is not the Christian identity but the Queer identity that brings wholeness. This discovery is traced in this essay through the journey of a lesbian Episcopal priest.     

‘Lucifer Is Behind Me’: The Diabolisation of Oksapmin Witchcraft as Negative Cosmological Integration

This paper examines the diabolisation of Oksapmin tamam (here glossed as ‘witchcraft’) as an example of negative cosmological integration. The article takes as its point of departure Robbins's model of cultural syncretism developed in a series of recent papers, wherein diabolisation occurs as people insert those aspects of their indigenous religion that do not contravene the Christian God's paramount creative power into the Christian cosmos as representatives of the Devil. Through my own discussion of the diabolisation of Oksapmin witchcraft, I build upon the model in three main ways. First, I draw attention to the role of the mission in providing and enforcing these negative moral terms of reference. Second, the article highlights that in cases of negative cosmological integration, whether within or outside the frame of Pentecostalist Christianity, syncretic melding and mixing may occur, regardless of rhetoric to the contrary. Finally, I point out that the subordination of indigenous religious realities within the Christian cosmos does not necessarily entail their restriction or reduction of expression, as Robbins shows for the Urapmin nature spirits known as motobil. Indeed, in the case of witchcraft, integration into the Christian cosmos and related complexes of deliverance may actually serve to intensify and amplify their expression.     

‘He enjoyed it more than I did’!: young British Sikh women negotiating safe sex in heterosexual encounters

ABSTRACT

Sex education and relationship strategy of the U.K. allows parents to withdraw their children from sex education, which has left many young people especially those from Black Minority and Ethnic communities with low or no sex education. Similarly, the government's policy environment enables faith schools to teach these subjects under the tenets of their faith. This empirical research was carried out in South-West London using 12 qualitative interviews with women and men (ages 18–20 years) discusses young women's experiences of their first sexual encounter who navigate their reputations, relationships as well as negotiate safe sex in the absence of appropriate relationships and sex education. Sex education not only brings into focus sensitivities around gender but also tensions around religion in the U.K. Evidence from the study suggests that despite the importance placed by the Indian community on maintaining virginity, young women asserted that religion and culture did not prohibit them from exploring their sexuality. In this study, the priority is to present young women's voices and experience of sexual encounters.     

Greed and fear: Competitive and charitable priming in a threshold volunteer's dilemma

In the “k-volunteer's dilemma” benefit accrues to all members if at least k members volunteer, and receive nothing otherwise. We use experiments to examine (a) volunteering behavior when threshold k increases from 1 to 2, and (b) whether volunteering behavior shifts toward norms associated with one of two primed identities—charitable or competitive. We find that increasing the threshold increases an individual's probability of volunteering, but the likelihood of good provision is lower. Neither priming affects volunteering behavior when k = 1, but competitive priming effectively increases volunteering when k = 2. Both greed and fear of non-provision appear to affect volunteering.     

Factors influencing nonprofit career choice in faith‐based and secular NGOs in three developing countries

Much of the research on the factors that draw individuals to nonprofit careers is based in Australia, Western Europe, and the United States, and research on the role of faith in career choice focuses largely on Christian organizations. This article examines the factors that draw individuals to work in the nongovernmental organization (NGO) sector in the developing countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lebanon, and Sri Lanka. It also looks at whether faith offers similar motivations for NGO workers in Buddhist, Druze, Sunni Muslim, and Shiite Muslim NGOs as it does for workers in Christian NGOs. Much like nonprofit workers in other studies, the individuals interviewed chose their jobs based on their personal commitment to an organization's work.     

Christianity and child sexual abuse — the survivors' voice leading to change

The Children Act 1989 states that due consideration should be given ‘to the child’s religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background'. Children who have been sexually abused and who grow up in families with strong Christian beliefs have additional concerns not readily identified by the child protection worker or therapist. Drawing upon 10 years' work experience, this paper aims to present the views and struggles of adult Christian women and men who have been sexually abused. Much of what is presented can be applied to other faith communities, since the difficulties lie sometimes with patriarchal communities, with male deities and with tenets of belief which can hinder the child from disclosing. Beliefs such as ‘Honour thy father and thy mother’, no sex before marriage and forgiveness of all had significant impact on survivors. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.