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.     

"Eternal Master": Masochism and the Sublime at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception,Washington, DC

Abstract

This article is an interpretation of the apse mosaic designed by Jan de Rosen for the main apse of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. De Rosen's life is outlined and evidence brought forward to suggest that he was homosexual. The nature of the image, with its focus on divine might, is then used to suggest the artist's interest in erotic power relations. The views of various theorists, notably those of Michel Foucault and Leo Bersani, are examined, and it is found that these indicate that there is dispute over whether S/M is, or is not, a site of liberation and personal empowerment. Conceptions of beauty and the sublime derived from Edmund Burke are then used to explore the degree to which visual creation acts not only to describe but also to circumscribe and so limit conceptions of divine power. De Rosen's act of masochistic artistry is compared favourably with normative modes of obedience to authority in post-war America; however, it is concluded that acts of masochistic creativity are essentially selfish and, therefore, may not be of wider moral benefit.     

Ungraceful God: Masculinity and Images of God in Brazilian Popular Culture

Abstract

The article investigates how God is represented in popular culture, especially in music, in Brazil. It gives a general background about Brazilian culture showing how religion is part of the identity constructions of Brazilian people and how it is marked by multiplicity, syncretism and hybridization. It then analyses two popular songs that make explicit statements about "who God is" and how those statements are related to traditional masculine gender constructions. Finally, the article discusses how issues of masculinity and religion have been approached in recent scholarship and points to the need for other ways of imagining God that are related to people's experience.     

Heidegger's Gods

The notorious difficulty of Heidegger's post‐Second World War discussions of ‘the gods’, along with scholarly disagreement about the import of those discussions, renders that body of work an unlikely place to look for a substantive theory of religion. The thesis of this article is that, contrary to these appearances, Heidegger's later works do contain clues for developing such a theory. Heidegger's concerns about the category of ‘religion’ are addressed, and two recent attempts to ‘de‐mythologize’ Heidegger's ‘gods’ are examined and criticized. The paper concludes by outlining four substantial contributions that Heidegger's later work makes to a phenomenological account of religion.     

The Turning of the Tide: Theology,Religion, and Economics1

Abstract : Although capitalist free market economics is in crisis, its assumptions continue to shape not only how we do business or politics but also how we think and feel, and even what we believe. For theologians and scholars of religion this means that we can no longer do our work without taking into consideration what is happening in the economy and how it affects us; before religion can become part of the solution we need to understand how it has become part of the problem. This article investigates how economics has shaped religion and theology and develops alternative perspectives.     

What's Behind the “Nones‐sense”? Change Over Time in Factors Predicting Likelihood of Religious Nonaffiliation in the United States

The proportion of people in the United States who identify as unaffiliated with any religious tradition (Nones) has risen steadily since the 1990s. Empirical investigations have examined this phenomenon, and point to a range of sociodemographic and associational variables as significant predictors of religious nonaffiliation. To build on these, the research reported here uses nearly five decades of General Social Survey data and binary logistic regression to examine change over time in the direction and size of effect on the likelihood that various factors predict religious nonaffiliation. While some factors (like age and political orientation) behave as expected over time, other factors decrease in their effect on likelihood (e.g., residence in the Far West), lose effect on likelihood (e.g., being college‐educated), or never showed likelihood of effect in the first place (e.g., residence in New England).     

基督宗教伦理学的理论特质

本文从检讨道德与宗教的关系出发,具体分析基督宗教伦理学的各种重要定义以及由此引出的基本问题。在此基础上,作者又逐一检讨了基督宗教伦理学独特的思想本质。最后,作者对基督宗教伦理学的展开历史以及每一历史时期的特点作了简明而清晰的梳理。     

Belief in Supernatural Evil and Mental Health: Do Secure Attachment to God and Gender Matter?

This study examines whether belief in supernatural evil is associated with mental health. In addition, it assesses how secure attachment to God moderates this association and how gender conditions the moderating effect of secure attachment to God. Among a variety of mental health outcomes, this study focuses on general mental health problems as well as anxiety-related disorders (e.g., general anxiety, social anxiety, and paranoia). Using data from the 2010 Baylor Religion Survey (N = 1,627), the analyses reveal that belief in supernatural evil is positively associated with general anxiety and paranoia. In addition, secure attachment to God buffers the positive associations between belief in supernatural evil and social anxiety and paranoia. Yet, when general mental health problems and general anxiety serve as the outcome measures, secure attachment to God attenuates the positive associations of belief in supernatural evil with mental health only for women, but not men. These results underscore the ways that religious beliefs have both positive and negative implications for mental health. Furthermore, they highlight the importance of gender in the complex relationships between religious beliefs and mental health.