Reconsidering religion and fandom: Christian fan works in My Little Pony fandom

Studies of religion and fandom have tended to explore the extent to which fan cultures might be seen as forms of surrogate religion. This article suggests that a more detailed examination of the way in which believers use their faith within their individual fandoms would offer more interesting insights into both contemporary religious practice and fandom. Conducting a case study of ‘Brony’ fandom (adult fandom of cartoon My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic), this article explores the ways in which Christian fans use fan fiction and art to promote religious literacy, explore theological issues and engage in evangelism and exegesis. Fan knowledge is used as a way to quickly impart and explore complex religious concepts in a manner which utilises the shared culture of fandom. This should not be seen as a symptom of ‘mediatisation’ but as part of a complex synthesis of faith and popular culture.     

Dark Fandoms: An Introduction and Case Study

ABSTRACT

There is a deep and persistent cultural fascination with the macabre – public executions, true crime books, slasher films, and sites of violence attract large audiences. Although serial and mass murderers increasingly achieve fame, little attention has focused on their fans. Thus, this paper introduces the concept of dark fandoms, or communities of fans of those who have perpetrated heinous acts, and draws attention to Columbiners as one example of a dark fandom. An analysis of more than 700 threaded discussion posts from an online Reddit community reveals that the Columbiner dark fandom discussed their favorite characters from the shooting, proposed fan theories about the incident, and considered the Columbine shooting’s legacy. The implications of these findings for studies of other dark fandoms is discussed.     

Individual celebration of pop music icons: A study of music fans relationships with their object of fandom and associated practices

This paper seeks to identify kinds of relationships fans who celebrate their passion individually might have with their music icons and focuses on a better understanding of the content of these relationship (how these fans interact with their music icon and valuable consumption practices associated). It relies on recent works considering fandom as an intensely personal phenomenon that can occur in the absence of a group or social context. The theoretical background builds on subcultures studies, consumption practices related, and the attachment consumers can develop with celebrities or teams. Through a qualitative study with popular music fans who live their passion independently of any community or subculture, findings underline that some fans can intentionally gravitate more toward an individualized (rather than a collective) celebration of his or her object of fandom and that may result in various consumption practices. Also, this research highlights that being a fan does not necessary involve heavy celebrity worship, both terms being indeed not interchangeable, but can end up by valuable practices for both fans and their object of fandom.     

Lived religion meets secular life: the dynamics of framing and the subjunctive power of ritual

ABSTRACT

In spite of the variety of often welcome everyday enchantments and empowerment that lived religion may bring to an individual in his/her personal life, it may become problematic in a person’s social life due to provoking tensions with significant others who hold different worldviews. This controversy necessitates the adoption of tactics and practices for adjustment and regulation, should that individual wish to enhance the benefits of religious enchantment and, simultaneously, maintain his/her position in the shared social lifeworld. This article argues that ritual theory, particularly in combining the notions of ritual framing and the subjunctive mode of ritual, offers a promising approach to researching this dynamic. The ritual studies approach helps shed light on the sometimes quite subtle ways in which moving in and out of the ritual frame makes it possible to regulate the often delicate balance of enchantment and disenchantment. This article examines the case study of women engaging in angel spirituality in Finland and the way they are able to navigate different ‘religious’ and ‘secular’ worlds. It argues that the dynamic combination of ritual framing and the subjunctive mode of ritual works as important possibility work in everyday life in a society which is uneasy about very strong expressions of lived religion.     

Me,myself and the other. Interreligious and intrareligious relations in neo-conservative online forums

ABSTRACT

The Internet can be a place for exchange, but also foster echo chambers of closed world views. This poses interesting questions for the possibility of interreligious dialogue online. The article examines the cases of German Evangelical and Salafist Internet forums which mainly target a specific religious denomination, but nevertheless provide spaces for contact between different religions and denominations. For the study, a combination of quantitative and qualitative text analysis is applied. Quantitative analysis makes it possible to gain an overview of the discussed themes from a large body of text and serves as a basis for sampling smaller textual units for close examination using qualitative content analysis. The analysis yields two primary results: First, intrareligious dialogue plays a particular role for the negotiation of religious identity. Second, interreligious relations reflect the societal positions of both religious groups.     

Fans and Identity

ABSTRACT

This paper develops an understanding of the nature of sport fans that helps rebut the charge of nihilism leveled against identity anti-essentialism as represented in the work of Butler, Appiah, and Rorty. Through focusing on what Russell calls the ‘arbitrary’ yet committed nature of being a fan of sport (i.e. a fan’s fandom has a causal explanation not a reasoned justification but nonetheless deep meaning for the fan), I argue that we can see the anti-essentialist accounts of gender, race, and selfhood offered by Butler, Appiah, and Rorty respectively as claiming that this arbitrary, but at the same time meaningful, nature is consistent across all identities. Passionate commitment in the face of often self-consciously recognized arbitrary fandom exemplifies identity anti-essentialism, and it is in terms of it that the charge of nihilism against identity anti-essentialism (i.e. identity anti-essentialism makes identity insubstantial and politically ineffective) leveled by those such as Nussbaum, Habermas, and Rawls, is undercut. With that case made, I conclude on a political note. I observe that the rise and role of identity in contemporary politics, especially nativist, nationalist, and populist politics, can be both explained (at least in part) as well as defended against by seeing the growing acceptance among elites of identity anti-essentialism and its fan-like quality. Galvanizing many on the ‘right’ to fight elites by fighting against the identity anti-essentialism binding them together, it is by ‘doubling down’ on identity anti-essentialism and its embrace of the fan-like play of identity that hope lies in fighting against nativism, nationalism, and populism.     

Uncovering hockey fans' motivations behind their derogatory behaviors and how these motives predict psychological well-being and quality of social identity

ObjectiveThis article tested whether hockey fans' selfdetermined and non self-determined motivation for engaging in derogatory behaviors against an outgroup team predicted the frequency of these behaviors, fans' psychological well-being, and the quality of their social identity as a fan of their team. The two psychological theories we employ in the current research (i.e., self-determination theory and social identity theory) have different assumptions concerning the motivation behind derogatory fan behavior.DesignThree correlational studies were conducted among hockey fans.MethodsFans of rival hockey fans (Study 1; N = 45), fans of the Montreal Canadiens (Study 2; N = 181), and fans of NHL teams (Study 3; N = 105) completed measures of selfdetermination to engage in derogatory behaviors, frequency of these behaviors, psychological well-being, and quality of social identity. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to test if the frequency, well-being, and quality of social identity variables were predicted by the self-determined and non self-determined motivations to engage in derogatory behaviors.ResultsAs expected based on self-determination theory (SDT), the more hockey fans engage in derogatory behaviors for non self-determined reasons, the lower their well-being and the less frequently they report engaging in the derogatory behaviors. Moreover, as expected based on social identity theory (SIT), the more hockey fans engage in the derogatory behaviors for self-determined reasons, the higher their well-being, the frequency of these behaviors, and the more positive their social identity.ConclusionsTheses results are interpreted in light of SDT and SIT's theoretical propositions. Comparisons are made with prior studies conducted on this topic.     

White sage,bears, and territory: contemporary indigenous religion among the Chumash

ABSTRACT

Since the 1960s, indigenous revitalization has been widespread in Native North America. However, few systematic studies of contemporary indigenous religion exist. This article provides an in-depth analysis of revitalized beliefs and practices as they are lived among the Chumash of Southern California. Shaped by a colonial history that almost eradicated indigenous culture, Chumash tradition is reinterpreted through religious practices that ground it in local territory and anchor it in pre-Catholic traditions. Although postcolonial agendas are significant in indigenous Chumash religion has existential significance beyond ethnicity politics. Contemporary Paganism is employed as a comparative perspective to discuss how religion provides a way for individuals to define and explore their cultural specificities when they relate to and participate in globalized society. The practices of healing, cleansing, and divination as well as beliefs in the unity with animals, spirits, and ancestors form a framework not only for individuals’ search for meaning, but also for reestablishing community.     

A method of ‘things’: a relational theory of objects as persons in lived religious practice

ABSTRACT

Material expressions of religion are some of the most visible ways in which the lived realities of religions can be examined and understood. Religious materiality not only mediates between a continuum of still productive dualisms that exist between ‘official’ and ‘lived’ religion, but is also capable of inspiring relational methodological approaches. Based on a small-scale study of Marian statue devotion in Spain, the article asserts that ‘personhood’ as an approach is an appropriate conceptual and methodological tool with which to frame theoretically, address, and approach practically the religious objects that researchers encounter in the field. Such approaches are considered here as ‘relational’, as lived religion is best understood through the intimate relationships and negotiations that take place not only between religious group or community members, but also between human persons and other than human persons such as religious statues. Acknowledging that researchers and the objects being researched can bring each other into varying forms of personhood carries the possibility of expanding the ‘participant observer’ paradigm, thus expressing lines of possibilities for understanding the volatile relational phenomena that take place in the religious ‘worlds’ of others.     

The Creation of the Wabash Center Internet Guide

SUMMARY

This article describes the process through which the Wabash Center Guide to Internet resources in religion was conceived and developed. The resulting structure of the Guide is described, and comments are made concerning possible ways in which the Internet can contribute to the learning process in theology and religious studies. A vision for the future of this Guide or other similar efforts is also outlined.     

The Role of Social Context in Religion

SUMMARY

A vast research literature examines how religion has been defined and assessed, the inter-relationships of these measures, and their associations with psychological and social well being in later life. This article considers the advantages and disadvantages of various measurement strategies, with particular emphasis on the importance of diverse social contexts in defining, measuring and interpreting religious phenomena. The concept of social context is discussed as being pivotal for how religion is defined and for appreciating the various mechanisms and pathways through which religion is thought to affect well being.     

Drawing a line between the religious and the secular: the cases of religious education in Sweden and India

Abstract

Religion as a school subject – Religious Education (RE) – is handled differently in various national contexts. This article discusses two different systems of managing (or avoiding) RE: those used in non-denominational Swedish and Indian schools. The article focuses particularly on what is allowed in the classroom with regards to religion. Both countries are secular, but where is the line drawn between the secular and the religious? Allowing the two contexts to meet reveals the particularities of each. The impact of Protestant Christianity, specifically Lutheranism, is evident in Swedish RE: religion is to be defined through beliefs and words, and religious actions should be excluded from classrooms. The Swedish context highlights ‘knowledge of’ religions, but avoids religious action. In India, there is no explicit RE, but Indian education does include learning from religion as well as ‘doing religion.’ The Indian approach is very inclusive, to the point of emphasising, as teachers put it, a common core of all religions. Both systems of RE offer particular opportunities and face certain difficulties in dealing with the contemporary globalised world.     

Belonging without believing: religion and attitudes towards gay marriage and abortion rights in Northern Ireland

ABSTRACT

Same-sex marriage has become a divisive issue in established western democracies. As in earlier research on abortion, there is now a growing body of studies which suggests that religious factors, such as identity, belief and practice, are the most frequent predictors of opposition towards gay marriage. Yet, what we know about the combined influence of these religious factors remains unexamined. Mindful of this omission, this study examines the relationship between regular church attendance and a belief in God on attitudes towards same-sex marriage and abortion rights. Using the recent survey data from Northern Ireland, the results suggest that not only are those who belong but do not believe distinctive in terms of their demographic makeup, but they are also significantly more likely to adopt a liberal stance in relation to both these issues – gay marriage and abortion rights – than the most religiously devout, or those who both belong and believe.     

Queering Buddhism or Buddhist De-Queering?

Abstract

This article examines how multiple axes of difference — race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality — operate in the religious/spiritual lives of western convert LGBTQI Buddhists. Through an ethnographic study of a diverse LGBTQI Buddhist group in Oakland, California, it will reflect on emerging differences between western convert Buddhist LGBTQI practitioners. In particular, it examines how distinct populations of LGBTQI practitioners utilize the non-essentialist philosophy of Buddhism, showing how it can operate both conservatively as a way to reinforce heteronormativity and subversively as a way to challenge heteronormativity.     

The Dark Night of the Soul: spiritual distress and its psychiatric implications

The Dark Night of the Soul is an expression describing phases in a person's spiritual life associated with a crisis of faith or spiritual concerns about the relationship with God, and which has intrinsic aspects of spiritual growth. This paper is concerned with the way in which those going through periods of angst and disillusionment do not see them as pathological phenomena. On the contrary, through a process of attribution of religious meaning they view them as opportunities for reflecting on their lives and as agents for beneficial change. Similarities and differences between the Dark Night and a depressive episode are discussed and illustrated using the accounts of five important religious figures. Their narratives have been constructed using original texts and their biographies. The Dark Night has clinical implications owing to the risk of its being pathologised, serving as a reminder of the importance of incorporating existential issues into clinical practice.     

Religious factors in moral decision-making: Towards an integrated,socio-cultural,developmental, model

Abstract

For far too long, developmental approaches in the psychology of religion have paid insufficient attention to the richness and variety of social and cultural factors in human development and their relationship to religious belief, practice, belonging, identity, and world views, and often, related framing of spiritual questions, concerns, and disciplines. If scholars in the psychology of human development and psychology of religion have offered critical appraisals of the shortcomings of the neo-Piagetian, cognitive-developmental models that have dominated the scientific literature, and offered promising contributions and needed correctives to the omissions of cognitive-developmental approaches, the field is still in need of an integrated, socio-cultural developmental approach to human development and religious functioning. In this article we propose one way of moving toward a more integrated approach in these fields, with special attention to the advantages of such an effort in the study of religious elements in moral decision-making and moral development.     

Spirituality and Sexuality: An Exploration of the Religious Beliefs of Non-Heterosexual Christians in Great Britain

Abstract

This article analyzes the religious beliefs of 565 gay, lesbian and bisexual Christians, focusing on God, Jesus Christ and the Bible. Most respondents saw no conflict between their sexualities and their Christian faith. The examination of these religious beliefs uncovers themes that appear to be influenced by their social circumstances, the core of which being their stigmatized sexualities. Their beliefs of God were consistent with the ‘love and justice’ theme of queer theology. Jesus Christ was perceived as a good role model committed to social justice. Although the divinity of Christ was acknowledged, they did not consider him the exclusive way to salvation. The Bible was considered still relevant to everyday life. It was, however, not regarded as the sole guide for Christian living, and it should be interpreted through the lens of shifting socio-cultural realities and personal experiences. On the whole, the data seem to suggest that the respondents' personal experiences and collective social circumstances have an impact on their religious beliefs.