Integrating Religious and Sexual Identities: The Case of Religious Homosexual Men in Singapore

Abstract

The sexual and religious ecosystem in Singapore represents an intricate interplay of factors that religious homosexuals navigate to attain a well-adjusted personal identity. A qualitative research project was conducted to understand how Christian and Muslim homosexual men in Singapore integrate their religious and sexual identities. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine religious homosexuals to elicit responses on their dual-identity experience, and coping strategies. Narrative analysis revealed three themes (and a number of subthemes): (1) Intrapersonal factors (a personal journey, knowledge seeking, reinterpreting belief system, redemption by good deeds, and love prevails over sin), (2) Interpersonal factors (segregating social circles, involvement in the gay community, role models, and social support), and (3) Sociopolitical factors (state and societal tolerance of homosexuals, and homosexual events). Interestingly, the participants assigned positive attributes to being both religious and homosexual, and reported that embodying both identities was enriching than if they had possessed just one of the two identities. This suggests that integrating positive psychological frameworks (e.g., stress-related growth) to existing ones may provide a more holistic account of identity integration among religious homosexuals.     

A Significant Shift: A Pentadic Analysis of the Two Rhetorics of the Post-Vatican II Roman Catholic Church Regarding Homosexuality

This paper argues that, since the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), there has been a significant shift in the rhetorical stance of the Roman Catholic Church toward homosexuality in which the pre-council rhetoric, which condemned both act (i.e., homosexual behavior) and actor (i.e., the homosexual) has been replaced by two distinctly different rhetorics: a moral rhetoric, which continues the Church's long-standing condemnation of homosexual acts as sins, and a pastoral rhetoric, which argues that homosexuals should be ministered to and embraced. A Burkean pentadic analysis is used to define how the two rhetorics differ from each other and from the earlier rhetoric. The three major influences (i.e., Scripture, Tradition, and Catholic theology/philosophy) that have shaped, and continue to shape, the Church's position regarding homosexuality are described. Some of the socio-political implications of this shift are emphasized.     

Highly religious young Catholics in Northern Ireland: Renewing the Catholic landscape?

This article explores findings from a 2022 survey of students associated with the Catholic Chaplaincy at Queen's University, Belfast. It is the first study to investigate the beliefs, practices, and experiences of highly religious young Catholics in Northern Ireland. It presents survey findings on beliefs, practices, and influences on faith; dynamics of increased religiosity; and views on Church teachings on same sex relationships, euthanasia, sexual relationships, and abortion. Women are more likely to disagree with Church teachings on these issues than men. The survey confirms the importance of family socialization but finds that a substantial minority experience religious change at university. Respondents prioritize renewal but disagree on how to prompt it: some advocate greater ‘openness’ to women, LGBTQ+, and others perceived as marginalized; and others feel ‘evangelization’ should be emphasized. ‘Post-secular Catholicism’ is used as a foundation for reflections on religious persistence among Northern Ireland's young Catholics, raising questions about their potential role in renewing Ireland's Catholic landscape in light of the synodal process underway in the Church.     

Policy Research and Politics: Some Inferences from the “Coleman Report” for the Policy Role of the Social Scientist

Abstract

The major objectives in this paper are to examine (1) the distribution of socioeconomic characteristics for Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, and (2) the processes of educational, occupational, and income attainment for each religious group. The analysis shows that Catholic and Protestant employed males are not appreciably different in their educational characteristics; however, occupational and income differences are more substantial. The Protestant-Catholic income differences, for example, represent about one-fifth of the mean Catholic income. The analysis also shows that the process of status attainment differs for Protestants and Catholics. The income returns to each additional year of schooling, for example, are higher for Protestants than for Catholics.     

Herman Melville’s ‘Benito Cereno’: Rosamond,Sensational Anti-Catholicism,Religious Freedom,and Liberalism

ABSTRACT

This paper reads Herman Melville’s ‘Benito Cereno’ as a response to antebellum anti-Catholic fiction. Focusing on Rosamond Culbertson’s captivity narrative and its editor Samuel B. Smith’s remarks in his magazine The Downfall of Babylon, I argue that through Delano, Melville ventriloquizes the sensationalist argument that because American Catholics were part of a Roman conspiracy to undermine Anglo-American liberties and place the U.S. government under the pope’s control, it was necessary to suppress Catholic religious liberty. Melville uses an ironic narrative structure to probe the blindspots and overconfidence of Delano’s Protestant liberal subjectivity, which reflects Smith’s similar certainty. Smith understood the capacity for participation in a liberal democracy as a trait inhering in Protestant identities. Here, race and religion are entangled; for Smith and Delano, Protestant liberal subjectivity is a peculiarly Anglo-American identity. Liberalism, moreover, is for them a rhetorical tool for justifying the exploitation and marginalisation of minority individuals. Melville interrogates liberalism as a cultural formation meant to justify the exclusion of those who, like Catholics, were thought to be incapable of participating in a liberal democracy. He suggests that readers must develop a detached attitude to better negotiate the challenges of difference in society.     

The History and Consequences of the Sexual-Abuse Crisis in the Catholic Church

The sexual-abuse crisis in the Catholic Church was first publicized in 1985 in Louisiana and continues to capture headlines and the imagination of the public across the country. This article reviews the history of the contemporary scandal and delineates a paradigm of abuse and cover-up common in cases of sexual abuse by a priest. While the sexual victimization of minors by priests and vowed religious men has been wrenching for the many decent clerics and for Catholics everywhere, the victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy live daily with its aftermath. In this article, the experiences of one young man sexually abused by a priest when he was a boy are presented and the sequelae of such abuse are discussed.     

Bandits,Militants, and Martyrs: Sub-state Violence as Claim to Authority in Late Antique North Africa

Fourth Century North Africa was a site of intense religious and political conflict. Emerging from a period of persecution and newly legitimized by the Roman state, the Christian Church immediately fractured into two competing camps. Now known as the Donatist schism, this fracture was the result of competing claims to religious authority between two camps of bishops, but the doctrinal debate at its core precipitated a specific form of violence: attacks on clergy and property perpetrated by roving groups of militant bandits. Known as circumcellions, these bands acquired a perverse reputation for religious zeal, a desire for martyrdom, and what their opponents described as the ‘madness’ and ‘insanity’ of their violence. Here I analyze sources produced by both Donatists and Catholics to trace patterns of circumcellion violence. I draw on borderland theory and research on non-state violence to argue that such acts were not mad, but rather the result of strategic efforts to consolidate religious and political power. In this, Donatism and the sectarian violence that accompanied it provide important insights into how banditry and peasant rebellions can serve as alternate sources of social and political power, avenues through which heterodox movements challenge the power state and religious hierarchies alike.     

Risk Management for Catholic Priests in the United States

Abstract

Following the disclosure of decades of Episcopal cover-ups of child sexual abuse, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) promulgated the Charter for the Protection of Children & Young People(USCCB, 2002). This document requires that all U.S. dioceses and eparchies identify a code of conduct for clergy, employees, and volunteers. The Virtus Model Code of Pastoral Conduct (National Catholic Risk Retention Group, Inc., 2002) has been selected by many dioceses/eparchies. Other dioceses and eparchies have used similar variants. While codes of conduct for priests may seem reasonable, current codes do not distinguish between the functions of mental health providers and priests. As a result significant ministerial implications may effect pastoral service delivery. This paper focuses on risk management strategies, similar to those used by social workers and other mental health practitioners, that will become increasingly necessary for priests who provide pastoral counseling, spiritual direction, or any clinical-type intervention to parishioners and those seeking pastoral services. Specifically, dual relationships, mandated reported, duty to warn/protect, and documentation will be addressed.     

Gay shame in a geopolitical context

With the developing acceptance of gay equality in the west, it is assumed that we live in a post-shame era, with ‘the world we have won’. However, this is a chimeric cliché of neoliberalism (rather like the idea that we are all postfeminist now). The ‘proud’ homosexual of the west is discursively constructed against the ‘shamed’ homosexual of the east, a typecasting resonant with postcolonial clichés of the primal, religious, and homophobic savagery of the global south in contrast with the civilising, liberal evolution of the secular global north. Shame displacement is of course a dynamic of shame itself. The perceived failure in achieving the ‘proud iconic gay’ of media cultures in the global North results in a traumatic double bind of being ashamed of being ashamed. This article will reconsider the cultural politics and temporality of shame for primarily white gay identities after the ‘War on Terror’. As Islamophobia has exponentially increased, some western gays translocate their unacknowledged shame onto a misconceived ‘brown threat’ in a complex, aggressive, and racist shame loop [Lewis, H.B., 1971. Shame and guilt in neurosis. New York: International Universities Press; Scheff, T.J., and Retzinger, S.M., 1991. Emotions and violence: shame and rage in destructive conflict. New York: Lexington Books].     

Personal Reflections on Closeted Helping Professionals

Abstract

The author discusses the situation of closeted professionals whose “private” lives inadvertently cross paths with homosexual students or clients. Personal vignettes highlight the dangers of encounters with “closeted” professionals for homosexual clients and students. Particular attention is given to the long-term impact upon clients and students, who are viewed as more vulnerable than professionals. Reflections upon sociopolitical implications of the “closet” are noted, especially recent retrenchment of media concern for homosexual issues as professionals have retreated to the “closet.”     

Religion and Spirituality at the Border

Abstract

A survey of 88 Mexican-American social work students reflects the growing religious diversity among U.S. Latinos/as. Forty-three percent of the students were non-Catholics, compared to 30–35% non-Catholics in the U.S. Latino/a population. Non-Catholic students in the sample were more likely to attend church frequently, and Catholic students were more likely to have consulted a Curandero/a (traditional healer). There were no differences between Catholics and non-Catholics in frequency of private religious practices such as meditation or prayer. Social work practitioners and educators should recognize religious diversity among Mexican-Americans, seek knowledge about traditional Mexican healing practices, and support Mexican-American clients' self-determination in choosing spiritual resources.     

Social work and pastoral counseling: Empowering each other

ABSTRACT

This article addresses the divergent outcomes which can result from counseling services offered pastorally versus clinically. As faith leaders often have greater direct access than social workers to supporting religious populations, it is important to explore the intersection between religious pastoral support and clinical social work. Presenting six scenarios from the author’s own experiences as both a rabbi and social worker, this article processes each scenario first through the pastoral lens of an Orthodox rabbi, followed by the clinical lens of a social worker or other mental health professional. The client outcomes which are produced from each modality are radically different. This contrast demonstrates the distinction between the goals, values, and training of each profession, and highlights importance for future work to be done in linking religious and pastoral training to mental health services, as well as broadening the scope of cultural competence for social workers and therapists who may engage with tight-knit religious populations.     

Homonegativity in the Religious Dress History of the Marist Brothers, 1817–1840

This article presents a historical sociological case study of sexual oppression within the early nineteenth-century foundation period of a French Roman Catholic male religious order, the Marist Brothers, founded in 1817. The different sexualities of two rival founder figures, the priests Jean-Claude Courveille and Marcellin Champagnat, the former homosexual, the latter heterosexual, found expression in radically divergent conceptions of the religious habit. For Courveille, the costume design for the Brothers was ostentatious and stylish; for Champagnat, it was sober and clericalised. This archive-based investigation shows how Courveille's sexual orientation led to his fall from grace within the Church and the suppression of his sartorial self-expression. Champagnat, whose conventional dress rules prevailed, became a canonized saint. In the victory of the orthodox sacred dress code, the ideology of ‘clerical masculinism’ weaves its hegemonic power over the bodies of ‘men of the cloth’.     

Siblings and Sexual Orientation

Abstract

Lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGBs) often have heterosexual siblings. The authors have conducted several research projects comparing siblings of different sexual orientations, given that siblings usually have the same ethnicity, race, parental socioeconomic status, and religious background. This review article presents research on LGBs and heterosexuals, all recruited via siblings. In general, heterosexual siblings are more mainstream in terms of being in long-term relationships, having children, belonging to a formal religion, and having more contact with their family of origin. LGB siblings are more politically liberal, more highly educated, and have moved away from their families of origin. The article speculates about how siblings who grow up in the same families could be so demographically different in adulthood.     

From Consensus to Division: Tracing the Ideological Divide Among American Catholic Women, 1950–1980

This article examines the changing images of womanhood within two American Catholic publications: Catholic Mind and Catholic Digest. In the early 1950s, the periodicals had similar constructions of women, with a divergence in thought in the 1960s. Catholic Mind wrote very little on women for the majority of the decade. Catholic Digest in the 1960s featured women who worked in traditionally male roles while they also maintained that women’s primary sphere was in the home. The difference between the two publications becomes stark in the 1970s. Catholic Digest leaned conservative to mainstream and focused on women’s roles in home and secular society without asking ecclesial questions. Catholic Mind’s articles on women primarily examined ecclesial roles (e.g., women’s ordination) and demanded equality in the secular world. This fissure in female identity among American Catholics coincides with the political divide in the United States more generally.     

Motivations for Reading the Left Behind Book Series: A Uses and Gratifications Analysis

This uses and gratifications study investigates motivations for reading the Left Behind book series and their correlation to media use patterns; religious commitments; and the Conservative Protestant, Mainline, or Catholic Christian background of readers. The survey of 1,188 readers found that sanctified entertainment and “end times” teaching were the top reasons for reading the series. There was a significant positive relationship between religious media use and spiritual growth/development, content reaction, and accuracy. A significant positive relationship was found between religious commitment and content reaction, and religious commitment and biblical accuracy reading motivations. The study revealed different reading motivations among the various denominations, especially Catholics.     

Religion and Women's Sex Role Traditionalism

Abstract

The relationship between religion and sex role orientations is examined in a 1964 NORC sample of white, married college graduate women. The analysis finds substantial differences among religious groups. Baptists, Catholics, and fundamentalist Protestants have the most traditional sex role attitudes, followed by mainline Protestants, Jews, and religious “nones.” These differences are not explained by controls for social characteristics or religious involvement. It is argued that many of these differences would still exist in a contemporary, more representative sample. Some alternative explanations of the findings are discussed.     

A Missing Voice

Abstract

Contemporary gay and lesbian social service literature still heavily focuses on White middle/upper-class issues and uses an isolated and fixed concept of homosexuality. As a result, the discourse has only a limited applicability to people with “dual” or “multiple” identities, accentuating the power of those who control the discourse and the oppression of those with “dual” or “multiple” identities. Using Asians as a case example, I argue that the lack of published articles about Asians in contemporary gay and lesbian social service literature is the result of the different worldviews of Asian and White queers. However, this deficiency is sustained by social structures that are saturated with White middle/upper-class values. Implications of this situation and some directions for social change are discussed.     

Daily data collection of sexual and other health‐related behaviors

This article documents some findings of a sociological research project which was done in West Germany from 1970 ‐ 1973 (Dannecker/Reiche 1974). 139 contact‐persons, chosen by the authors, distributed 1617 questionnaires to homosexuals. 789 were filled out and sent back and constitute our sample.

The complete research project comprises six themes: coming out; homosexual subculture; homosexual friendships; sexuality of homosexuals; jobs and the employments of homosexuals; the collective neurosis of homosexuals.     

“I'm going to do battle… I'm going to do some good”. Biographical trajectories,moral politics,and public engagement among highly religious young Catholics in Spain and Mexico

Public debates and controversies on moral issues have gained visibility in recent decades in both Spain and Mexico. Conservative Catholic groups and networks are increasingly playing a crucial role in raising and framing highly morally charged themes in the public arena, especially on intimacy-related policies, including sexual and reproductive freedoms. A new generation of young Catholic leaders becoming key political agents has emerged in this scenario. They are fostering new mobilisation repertoires in the public sphere (e.g., digital activism and public performances) and promoting new political narratives merging moral, cultural, and religious elements. These highly religious and conservative young Catholics consider themselves part of a cultural/cognitive minority and feel entitled to become what Howard Becker termed “moral entrepreneurs.” Most have been educated in Catholic schools and belong to Catholic movements. Still, they can also navigate secular politics and strategically use different regimes of justification and action. Within this context, the article aims to examine and compare the intersection of historical trends and the relevance of individual biographies to understand the role of these young Catholics in the public space in both countries.