Self-esteem among lesbian,gay, bisexual and same-sex-attracted Mormons and ex-Mormons

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and same-sex-attracted (LGB/SSA) individuals in conservative religions often experience stigma, shame, and psychological distress in reconciling their religious and sexual identities, yet religion can also provide existential comfort and social support. We investigated relationships among self-esteem, participation in the Mormon Church, and sexual identity acceptance among 348 LGB/SSA Mormons and ex-Mormons in 2013–2014 and found that the two groups reported similar self-esteem. By testing plausible mediators (family support, gay/SSA identity acceptance, and agreement with Mormon Church policy prohibiting same-sex behaviour) through a path model, results revealed different pathways to self-esteem. Practicing LGB/SSA Mormons reported higher family support and lower gay/SSA identity acceptance than ex-Mormons, while those self-identifying as SSA but not gay reported lower gay/SSA identity acceptance. We suggest that religiously active Mormons demonstrate low self-acceptance of their gay/SSA identity while ex-Mormons suffer loss of familial and social support, resulting in equal self-esteem across church status groups.     

What is Mormon Transhumanism?

Abstract

Mormon transhumanism is the idea that humanity should learn how to be compassionate creators. This idea is essential to Mormonism, which provides a religious framework consistent with naturalism and supportive of human transformation. Mormon transhumanists are not limited to traditional or popular accounts of religion, and embrace opportunities and risks of technological evolution. Although usually considered secular, transhumanism has some religious origins and sometimes functions as religion. Accelerating change contextualizes a Mormon transhumanist narrative of common expectations, aspirations, and parallels between Mormonism and transhumanism. Mormon transhumanism has produced secular arguments for faith in God and religious arguments for transhumanism.     

Complicating marginalisation: the case of Mormon and nonreligious college students in a predominantly Mormon context

There is now compelling evidence that both nonreligious individuals and members of minority religions report feeling marginalised in the United States. However, to date, no one has explored whether a shift from minority status to majority status influences perceptions of marginalisation. In this paper, we explore whether Mormons, members of a minority religion in the USA who perceive marginalisation nationally, contribute to the marginalisation of other minority religious/nonreligious groups when they are the numerical majority. Using data from a survey fielded at a predominantly Mormon university in a predominantly Mormon community in the American West, our data suggest that nonreligious students in a predominantly Mormon context report significantly higher levels of perceived marginalisation. Our findings illustrate that minority status is an important determinant of perceived marginalisation and that numerical minority or majority status should be taken into consideration when examining perceptions of marginalisation.     

Who's Afraid of Gay Theology? Men's Studies,Gay Scholars,and Heterosexual Silence

Abstract

Despite the growing body of gay scholarship in religious studies, there is a dearth of responses by heterosexual scholars in the field of men's studies in religion. Gay theology can still count more predictably on the ire of a conservative public than on a nuanced, non-homophobic critique by their heterosexual colleagues. What contributes to disregarding gay scholarly voices? Paradoxically, their voices are marginalized to the point of invisibility and yet are also in the center of public discourse. This article sifts through some reasons of why heterosexual men shy away from a public debate of the merits of gay scholarship. Besides methodological reservations, heterosexual male anxieties cause such weariness. Autobiographical insertions by gay scholars combined with discipline-transgressions may lead to ‘homosexual panic’ even among non-homophobic scholars. The article argues that heterosexual men's studies in religion need to overcome their silence and engage the scholarship of gay theology.     

正确认识同性恋——《中国医学伦理学辞典》条目选载之四

同性恋是一个长期争论不休的问题,但随着科学的进步,越来越多的人已经接受同性恋不是犯罪、精神病的观点,也不再把它看作是道德问题。而我国对同性恋看法的转变还刚刚开始。     

Religion and Public Opinion Toward Same‐Sex Relations,Marriage, and Adoption: Does the Type of Practice Matter?

This study examines how religion's impact on Americans’ attitudes toward same‐sex practices varies by the type of practice being considered. We theorize that same‐sex romantic and family practices such as sexual relations, marriage, and adoption represent distinct practice types, differing in degrees of legality, cultural legitimacy, and in their internal power dynamics. Consequently, we expect that Americans view each practice type somewhat differently and their opinions on each may be influenced by religion in distinctive ways. Drawing upon national‐level data, we estimate and compare the relative net effects of a comprehensive battery of religious measures on support for gay sex, marriage, and adoption, both for the full sample and across religious traditions. Analyses demonstrate that public opinion toward gay sexual relations is more strongly related to religious practice and theological conservatism compared to attitudes regarding same‐sex marriage or adoption. Moreover, frequent religious practice and conservative theological beliefs about the Bible tend to be more strongly associated with attitudes toward same‐sex relationships for evangelicals, compared to mainline Protestants and, to a lesser extent, Catholics. Findings ultimately affirm that the type of same‐sex practice being considered (sex, marriage, or adoption) serves to moderate religions’ impact on Americans’ support for such practices.     

How Charity Transcends the Culture Wars: Eugene Rogers and Others on Same-Sex Marriage

In 1994 the Ramsey Colloquium, under the leadership of Richard John Neuhaus, posed a challenge to what it called the homosexual movement within the Christian Church. The challenge was to prove that it had reasons distinguishable from secular liberalism—reasons consistent with orthodox Christian theology—in favor of same-sex coupling. Eugene Rogers's book, Sexuality and the Christian Body: Their Way into the Triune God , can be read as a response to this challenge. The book is important not only for the content of its arguments, which are imaginative and theologically rigorous, but also for the exemplary way in which Rogers exhibits charity in his account of his conservative opponents. Rogers's recent anthology, Theology and Sexuality , provides additional evidence that a new, more promising debate is arising within the Church, a debate that has some hope of transcending the rhetoric of the culture wars.