Ethnography and Subjectivity in Comparative Religious Ethics

The ethnographic turn in religious studies has responded to important developments, such as the rejection of value neutrality and the need to better address the lived experience of individuals and communities. In this essay, I affirm the value of ethnography as a method in comparative religious ethics, but distinguish between two ways of framing ethnography in relation to ethics. The first way insists on the hard limits of translating values across cultures, and tends to marginalize or dismiss normative inquiry. The second way allows for the interpretation of practices of ethical justification in diverse cultural contexts. I argue that this second category of ethnography is more congenial to the work of comparative religious ethicists, since an integral part of ethical inquiry involves reflecting on, and making arguments about, social norms and practices.     

Introduction: Ethnography,Moral Theory,and Comparative Religious Ethics

Representing a spectrum of intellectual concerns and methodological commitments in religious ethics, the contributors to this focus issue consider and assess the advantages and disadvantages of the shift in recent comparative religious ethics away from a rootedness in moral theory toward a model that privileges the ethnography of moral worlds. In their own way, all of the contributors think through and emphasize the meaning, importance, and place of normativity in recent comparative religious ethics.     

Religion,Religious Tradition,and Nationalism: Jewish Revival in Poland and “Religious Heritage” in Québec

This article uses and develops Martin Riesebrodt's distinction between religion and religious tradition to shed light on the making of various articulations of religious identities and political projects. Based on extensive research on the Polish and Québécois cases, I show how social and state actors in these societies reactivate past religious traditions to respond to current social transformations and articulate societal projects and advance political agendas in the present. In both cases, religion and religious tradition are juxtaposed to articulate new national identities or fortify older ones, and to respond more specifically to the challenges posed by “pluralism.” I suggest that sociologists who work at the intersection of religion and politics can contribute to our understanding of the various registers through which religion, religious action, and religious tradition are rendered meaningful to social actors, used for different goals (religious and not) and transformed in the process.     

Parental Divorce and the “Switching” of Religious Identity

This article examines the impact of parental divorce on the likelihood that an individual has changed their religious identify. Using data from the National Survey of Family and Households, we use a theoretical framework of family structure and community ties to test the hypothesis that religious mobility is more likely among children of divorce compared to those from intact families. Distinguishing between parental divorce in childhood and parental divorce in adulthood allows us to assess the impact of parental divorce on religious socialization. For individuals raised as either moderate Protestant, conservative Protestant or Catholic, parental divorce increases the likelihood of both switching to another religion and apostasy. The impact of divorce is particularly strong for Catholics and conservative Protestants, who are, in general, less likely to be religious mobile. These findings add religious disaffiliation to the set of likely sequelae of parental divorce. In addition, the results of the study highlight the need to consider the relationship between family structure and religious processes in a community context.     

The “New Cognitive Science of Religion” and Religious Pluralism

Abstract : The “new cognitive science of religion” (Lawson, McCauley, Boyer, Sperber, Tremlin, Pysiäinen, Hinde) finds that certain of the brian's “inference systems” press us to postulate gods or other supernatural agents where knowledge and control are lacking. In this article we explore the implications of this new “explanatory” appraoch for Christian theology, pluralism, and worship life.     

Religious Diversity in a “Christian Nation”: The Effects of Theological Exclusivity and Interreligious Contact on the Acceptance of Religious Diversity

Using data from the nationally representative Religion and Diversity Survey, Americans’ responses to religious diversity are examined at the national and community levels. While an overwhelming majority of Americans agree that religious diversity has been good for the nation, support for the inclusion of non‐Christians in community life is mixed. Theological exclusivism is consistently and strongly associated with negative attitudes toward religious diversity and less willingness to include Muslims and Hindus in community life. Belief that the United States is a Christian nation is associated with a positive view of religious diversity but decreased willingness to include Muslims in community life. Prior contact with Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus is predictive of more positive views of religious diversity; contact with Muslims is associated with greater tolerance for a mosque in one's community.     

On “Liberating” Theology from Christianity: Religious Values and Political Philosophy

The widely analyzed phenomenon of liberation theology needs to be discussed primarily at the theoretical level of its relation to political philosophy. Essentially, liberation theology serves as a means to co-opt the ideas, institutions, and motivations of religious people into the service of modern ideology, particularly Marxism. To fully comprehend this school of thought, one must understand it as an aspect of modern Gnosticism. That is, liberation theology accepts the reconstruction of human and cosmic purpose through an interpretation of classical religious ideas in the light of Marxist categories, themselves with direct and intelligible roots in political philosophy. Liberation theology proposes a this-wordly salvation as the content of the original revelation, while retaining all of the original religious terminology. The final test of such a proposal lies in its purpose and effect. The avowed justification of liberation theology, that is, the alleviation of the poor, can be best achieved by other means and ideas more in conformity with the tenets and means of classical religion and philosophy, which themselves cannot be reduced to mere politics.     

“Higher” and “lower”: Comparative and categorical interpretations by children

Three-, four-, and five-year-old children's categorical and comparative understanding of high and low were examined in two experiments. Categorical knowledge was assessed by presenting subjects with a single object at varying heights (from 0 to five feet above the ground), and asking if the object was high or low. Comparative understanding of the terms was assessed by showing children two objects at a time and asking which was higher or lower. We observed two patterns of performance in children's categorical treatments: younger children in particular defined disjoint categories for high and low such that they only labelled the extreme heights as high or low, and maintained that middle heights were neither high nor low. Older children defined either-or categories such that all heights were labelled either high or low. We also found that children who defined either-or categories made correct comparative judgments across the entire range of variation whereas children who defined disjoint categories could only judge which of two objects was higher if the objects were not low (at 0 and 1 feet) and which of the objects was lower if the objects were not high (at 4 and 5 feet). The results were interpreted as reflecting a lack of appreciation that the terms are interdefined as negations of each other, and were discussed in terms of the similar semantic-congruity effects found in adults.     

Separating the “Sinner” from the “Sin”: Religious Orientation and Prejudiced Behavior Toward Sexual Orientation and Promiscuous Sex

This study extends research on the relationship between religious orientation, sexual prejudice, and antipathy toward value‐violating behaviors. If intrinsic religion leads individuals to “love the sinner but hate the sin,” homosexual sexually promiscuous targets should be treated similarly to heterosexual promiscuous targets. One hundred female introductory psychology students were provided the opportunity to help two students. They had no information about the first student. The second student disclosed through a note that she was gay or said nothing about sexual orientation, and further stated that she was sexually promiscuous or celibate. Participants scoring high in intrinsic religiousness helped the disclosing student less when she revealed she was sexually promiscuous, but did not help a gay discloser less than a straight discloser. High intrinsic scores seemed to be related to antipathy toward the value‐violation, but not toward the gay person as an individual.     

“Oh Events” for the Professor: Studies and Stories of Religious Studies Abroad

This response explains three ways in which the preceding essays are a significant contribution to the study of study abroad, explores three additional issues, and makes three suggestions for future work on religious studies and study abroad. This response is published alongside of six other essays, comprising a special section of the journal (see Teaching Theology and Religion 18:1, January 2015).     

Religious Ethics, History, and the Rise of Modern Moral Philosophy: Focus Introduction

In this introduction to a cluster of three articles on eighteenth-century ethics written by Mark Larrimore, John Bowlin, and Mark Cladis, the author maintains that although the broad narrative tracing the emergence of a religiously neutral or naturalistic moral language in the eighteenth century is a familiar one, many central questions concerning this development remain unanswered and require further historical study. Against those who contend that historical study is antecedent to, but not part of, the proper substance of religious ethics, the author argues that historical and normative studies are interdependent, each helping to define the questions central to the other. The introduction concludes with an overview of the three articles and suggests ways in which religious ethicists can, in the future, make a distinctive contribution to the history of ethics.     

“A Part of Who I Am”: Material Objects as “Plot Devices” in the Formation of Religious Selves

What role do material objects play in the formation of religious subjects? Drawing from an ethnographic investigation of the evolving relationships between a group of Eastern Orthodox converts and their religious icons, this article develops a theoretical approach to this question that conceptualizes material artifacts as “plot devices” in the formation of religious identity narratives. Integrating insights from studies of material religious culture with narrative theories of identity, this article argues that religious artifacts become significant to religious identity construction to the extent they act as resources for the configuration of a narrative structure in which transcendent or sacred others play a part. As the empirical details of this study demonstrate, attending to how religious objects’ symbolic meanings (i.e., who or what they represent) are mediated by their unique material characteristics (how they make meanings physically present to social actors in embodied social interaction) is of vital importance for explaining the significant role material artifacts play in the religious emplotment of action and experience.     

A Response to “Participation: A Religious Worldview” by James M. Gustafson

This response offers an interpretation of James Gustafson's “Participation: A Religious Worldview,” which thinks with Gustafson on the theme of “participation,” while highlighting points where my own thoughts diverge from his. The essay begins by drawing the reader's attention to Gustafson's style, arguing that the simple elegance of his writing constitutes part of his larger claim about the need to remove ourselves from the center of our thought. Next, the essay analyzes Gustafson's use of “participation” by putting it in context and connecting it with his broader methodology. Finally, I draw the reader's attention to important loci in the text in order to show how Gustafson's essay helps address various extant misinterpretations of his thought but also to point to ways in which my “thinking with” Gustafson leads me to think otherwise than he does.     

“Who I Am Depends on How Fairly I'm Treated”: Effects of Justice on Self‐Identity and Regulatory Focus

Across 2 experiments, we examined motivational processes elicited by justice‐related experiences. Specifically, we examined the effects of justice on recipients' self‐identity and regulatory focus. As predicted, those who experienced unfairness had a strong individual identity and prevention focus owing to the threats of social rejection and economic exploitation communicated by unfairness. Conversely, individuals exposed to fairness had strong interdependent identities and promotion focus owing to the favorable economic and socioemotional information communicated by fairness. These effects were accentuated among participants who reported high sensitivity to injustice and internal loci of control. Our findings are important because they highlight causal associations between justice and key motivation constructs.     

An “Afterthought”: Counseling Trainees’ Multicultural Competence Within the Spiritual/Religious Domain

Although spiritual/religious identity development is included within multicultural training on the theoretical level, significant gaps exist in counseling trainees’ practical preparation for spiritual/religious competence. This grounded theory study explores counseling trainees’ multicultural counseling competence within the spiritual/religious domain. Findings reveal that although trainees participated in multicultural counseling preparation, they experienced spiritual/religious training as an “afterthought,” and they identified the need for training opportunities that encouraged skill development and exploration and increased self‐awareness. A pesar de que se incluye el desarrollo de la identidad espiritual o religiosa a nivel teórico en la formación multicultural, existen vacíos significativos en la preparación práctica de los estudiantes de consejería para su competencia espiritual o religiosa. Este estudio de teoría fundamentada explora la competencia multicultural de estudiantes de consejería dentro del ámbito espiritual o religioso. Los hallazgos revelan que, aunque los estudiantes tomaron parte en preparación para consejería multicultural, solo experimentaron capacitación espiritual o religiosa como una idea secundaria, e identificaron la necesidad de oportunidades de formación que impulsen la exploración y el desarrollo de habilidades así como un aumento de la autoconciencia.     

“I Wasn’t Prepared for the Emotion”: Archival Research in Religious and Theological Studies

One might think that primary research in library and church archives would be a dry, lifeless endeavor, far removed from the present–day spiritual urgency that quickens the religious studies classroom. After all, archives raise the specter of musty tomes housed in dark, dank, and isolated basements. To the contrary, based on interviews with several students and teachers doing such research, this article maintains that primary archival research in religious and theological studies is often experienced as empowering, connecting researchers to their subjects with an immediacy that secondary sources simply cannot provide. Diaries, letters, hymns, administrative reports, and church–school teaching notes are the sorts of documentary evidence and personal effects at issue, and these offer unexpected insights to researchers who brave the archives.