Bible Beliefs,Conservative Religious Identity,and Same‐Sex Marriage Support: Examining Main and Moderating Effects

Research finds that Americans who espouse theologically conservative beliefs about the Bible generally oppose same‐sex marriage. Studies exploring this link, however, have been limited in that their operationalization of fundamentalist belief has been problematically conceptualized and they have potentially confounded the effect of conservative religious identity. The current study asks: (1) How do distinct beliefs about the nature and authority of the Bible influence same‐sex marriage support? (2) Do these beliefs influence same‐sex marriage support independently of conservative religious identity? (3) To what extent do Bible beliefs and conservative religious identity moderate one another's effects? And (4) to what extent are these factors moderated by religious tradition and frequency of Bible reading? Analyses of 2006 Portraits of American Life Study data reveal that while identifying as religiously conservative is the strongest predictor of opposition to same‐sex marriage, believing in inerrancy and creationism remain strong predictors in full models. I also find moderating effects between belief in creationism, inerrancy, inspiration; religious‐conservative identity; and religious tradition. Findings clarify how theological beliefs and religious identity shape support for same‐sex marriage across religious traditions.     

Religious and Spiritual Values and Moral Commitment in Marriage: Untapped Resources in Couples Counseling?

The authors investigated the relationship between religious and spiritual values and moral commitment in marriage to further inform marriage and family counselors about the nature of committed relationships. Using a qualitative research design, they examined individuals' perceptions of moral commitment in their marriage and how their religious and spiritual values influence those perceptions. Narrative text was analyzed through an iterative process, involving constant comparison of emerging themes, and 6 categories materialized. Findings build on existing knowledge regarding the importance of moral commitment to marital health specifically as it relates to the counseling profession.     

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.     

Work, Family, and Religious Involvement for Men and Women

Do family formation and social establishment affect religious involvement in the same way for men and women, given increasing individualism and rapid changes in work and family roles? Using a random sample of adults from upstate New York (N = 1,006), our research builds on previous work in this area by using multiple measures of religious involvement, using multiple measures of individualism and beliefs about work and family roles, placing men and women in their work context, and looking at the relationships separately by gender. Men’s religious involvement is associated with marriage, children, and full‐time employment, signaling social establishment and maturity. Women’s involvement is higher when there are school‐aged children in the home, but it is also more intertwined with the salience of religion and with an assessment that religious institutions are a good fit with their values and lifestyles, including egalitarian views of gender. For men and women, views of religious authority and the role of religious institutions in the socialization of children are associated differently with religious involvement at different life stages. We call for further research to understand the gendered nature of religious involvement and the role of beliefs about work, family, and religion in explaining why individuals choose to be involved in religious institutions.     

The Electoral Impact of Public Opinion on Religious Establishment

While previous work has examined the structure of public opinion on church and state, to date there has been little effort to connect public opinion on this group of issues to vote choice. I begin by hypothesizing that attitudes on religious establishment are distinct from attitudes on more often studied issues like abortion and gay marriage. Second, I argue that religious establishment meets the conditions for partisan voting: the parties and candidates have taken distinct, highly public stands on religious establishment, and the issue is highly salient among a certain segment of voters. Finally, I develop a theory that establishment attitudes should exert a greater impact among those individuals who feel that their values are threatened in contemporary society because such individuals may see religious accommodation as a means of returning to their understanding of traditional values. I test these hypotheses using data from the 2008 Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project, and I find considerable support for my argument.     

Marriage and social support in a British–Asian community

People of South Asian origin represent one of the largest ethnic minority populations in Britain. However, research into the marital beliefs and practices of British South Asians has tended to conflate together different South Asian groups of different religious and geographical origins. This study focused on one large religious group originating from one region (Hindus from Gujarat) resident in one large British town, providing analyses drawn from theories of cultural values, acculturation and social identity. Seventy married couples participated in detailed interviews inquiring about the arrangement of their marriage, their attitude towards marriage, gender roles, and the formal and informal support available in times of marital crisis. Our analysis of these interviews suggested that whilst our respondents maintained largely collectivist values in the family, they also saw marriage very much as an expression of individual fulfilment. Marital choice and gender roles in marriage reflected an integrationist strategy combining the traditional cultural practices and identity priorities with the social preferences and economic realities of their new culture. Finally, social support was largely forthcoming from members of the Asian community, reflecting a degree of separation from the majority community particularly when emotional assistance was desired. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two Books on God

New religious movements that are sectarian and world-rejecting always attach great importance to teachings and regulations about sexual patterns, marriage, ascetic and radical lifestyles. Likewise, since their emergence in the 1970s, the Nigerian Charismatic movements, through their numerous published pamphlets, Bible studies, magazines, etc. have built up teachings about sexual patterns and marriage for their members as part of the pietistic character of the movements. Charismatics believe that sexuality and matrimony have much bearing on spiritual commitments. The grounds for such a new style of living include the perceived crisis in social and family life in the society, and the need to maintain doctrinal purity as converts join the movements.

Many marriage regulations have been easily enforceable because there are similarities between the Charismatics' moral codes and African traditional religious values. For example, marriage and the family are the bedrock of kinship and it is therefore the most significant feature of African society. Thus, the bulwark for the Charismatics' teachings is the concern of Africans for social networks, communal living and orderliness in the society     

Measuring the Contribution of Independent Christian Secondary Schools to Students' Religious,Personal, and Social Values

From the late 1960s independent Christian schools have emerged in England and Wales, initiated either by churches or by parents. Many of these new independent schools are linked through the Christian Schools Trust. The impact that these schools are exerting on their students may be of interest for the churches with which they are associated and of concern for wider society. The political debate concerning these schools has so far been informed by only a small number of empirical studies conducted in England and Wales. The present study extends previous research in three ways. It offers a comparative study by examining the responses of 271 year-nine and year-ten students (age 13 to 15 years) from 11 independent Christian schools with 20,348 students from 93 schools without a religious foundation. It examines a range of religious, social and personal values. It employs multilevel models to identify the contribution made by independent Christian schools after taking into account personal, psychological, and contextual differences within the students themselves. The hypothesis was that Christian schools were committed to developing distinctly Christian values among their students. The data supported this hypothesis. Even after allowing for differences in the religiosity of the students themselves, attendance at an independent Christian school was associated with higher self-esteem, greater rejection of drug use, lower endorsing of illegal behaviors, lower racism, higher levels of conservative Christian belief, and more conservative views on sexual morality (abortion, contraception, divorce, homosexuality, and sex outside marriage).     

When a child comes out in the latter-days: an exploratory case study of Mormon parents

Under the modern gay rights movement, cultural and societal values regarding sexuality, marriage, and family have rapidly evolved while the fundamental doctrine of monogamous, heterosexual marriage espoused by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has not. Questions arise as to how orthodox Mormon families come to terms with their child coming out in light of the Church’s policy on same-sex marriage and families. This article employs an exploratory case-study method to examine the experience of one such orthodox Mormon family whose child came out as gay. The findings herein suggest that it is possible for families and individuals in these circumstances to develop and maintain loving and supportive relationships in spite of religious differences. These findings better equip academics, professionals, clergy, and families to address the mental health concerns of and create inclusive spaces in families, congregations, and communities for youth who identify as sexual minorities.     

Religious Diversity in Mexico: Socioeconomic Attainment and Family Structure

Mexico has experienced dynamic changes in its religious landscape, but relatively little is known about the ways in which the affiliates of the diverse religious groups differ in their socioeconomic and family characteristics. This paper examines religious group differences in key demographic indicators of socioeconomic status and family structure using the 2000 Mexican Census. The changing patterns of religious affiliation in Mexico signal increasing religious, socioeconomic and familial diversity. Non-Christians and Mormons stand out for having higher scores on education and the wealth index relative to other religious groups. Most groups have lower rates of consensual unions and higher rates of marriage than do Catholics. These same groups also tend to have larger families and lower divorce/separation. These trends seem inconsistent with the Catholic teachings about marriage, divorce and contraception. Apparently, new groups are attracting adherents who have family orientations that differ from main-stream Mexican society.     

Diehard singles: Bachelorhood as a terror management strategy among avoidant men

This research examines the motivational underpinnings of late bachelorhood through the lens of terror management and attachment theory. It was hypothesized that, although close relationships reduce existential concerns for most people, for avoidantly attached singles, thoughts of marriage may increase existential concerns. These hypotheses were tested in two studies among Israeli men. In Study 1, thoughts about getting married increased death thought accessibility (DTA) among avoidant singles compared to thoughts about being alone or a neutral control condition. For nonavoidant singles, thinking about future marriage reduced DTA. In Study 2, mortality salience reduced motivations for being in a relationship among avoidant singles and increased such motivation among those low in avoidant attachment. Results suggest that marriage may cause angst among avoidant single men.     

Hoping for a Godly (White) Family: How Desire for Religious Heritage Affects Whites’ Attitudes Toward Interracial Marriage

This study examines how a desire to pass on religious heritage shapes whites’ attitudes toward interracial marriage for their children. Utilizing national survey data (Baylor Religion Survey 2007), I estimate ordered logit regression models to examine the extent to which whites’ desire to have their children and children's spouses share their religion affects attitudes toward their hypothetical daughters marrying blacks, Latinos, or Asians, net of other factors. Analyses reveal that whites who consider it more important that their children and children's spouses share their religion are less comfortable with their daughters marrying blacks, Latinos, or Asians. These effects are robust to the inclusion of measures for religiosity, political ideology, intimate interracial experiences, and other sociodemographic correlates. These findings suggest that, for whites, religious heritage has a clear ethno‐racial component. The greater their desire for descendants to share the same religious views, the more whites would prefer that these descendants themselves be white, indicating that, for many white Americans, religious heritage is equated with whiteness. I conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for research on religion and interracial families.     

Longitudinal Effects of Religious Media on Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage

Religion and anti-gay prejudice in the United States are closely connected. Yet we still know little about the specific mechanisms through which religious subcultures may shape adherents’ attitudes toward gays and lesbians. This study considers religious media consumption as a unique mechanism through which religious Americans are socialized and embedded within an anti-gay religious subculture. Drawing on panel data from the nationally-representative Portraits of American Life Study, and focusing on opposition to same-sex marriage as a measure of anti-gay prejudice, analyses show that more frequent consumption of religious radio and TV (but not internet) is associated with higher levels of opposition to same-sex marriage over time. These effects remain significant with different model specifications as well as controls for previous attitudes toward same-sex marriage, general media use, sociodemographic and religious characteristics, and intimate contact with gays and lesbians. We propose that consuming religious media over time may influence Americans’ views toward LGBT issues directly through explicit messages about homosexuality and indirectly by embedding Americans within a broader religious subculture (largely, conservative Protestantism) that opposes homosexuality.     

Family Formation and Returning to Institutional Religion in Young Adulthood

Institutional religious involvement wanes during young adulthood, but evidence suggests life‐course factors such as family formation bring people back to religion. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Waves 1, 3, and 4), we examine how often young adults who were involved in institutional religion as adolescents return—measured by religious service attendance and religious affiliation—after leaving in emerging adulthood, and how this return is patterned by family formation. The majority of young adults who leave do not return to regular religious service attendance, regardless of their family formation. But single parents, married parents, and childless married individuals are more likely, and childless cohabiting couples less likely, to return to religious communities than those who are both single and childless. Only married parents are more likely than childless singles to reaffiliate, though there is marginal evidence that childless married adults may also be more likely. Thus, the institutions of religion and family are still linked, even though overall levels of religious return are not as high as expected.     

Health Beliefs,Religious Values,and the Counseling Process: A Comparison of Counselors and Other Mental Health Professionals

A. E. Bergin (1985) studied the religious values and beliefs of mental health professionals and the relationship of those values to the counseling process. This study replicated Bergin's research with a sample of professional counselors. Differences were found in each of 10 beliefs areas and 10 values areas between the total sample in both studies. Within-group differences revealed greater similarities between professional counselors and social workers and marriage and family therapists and greater differences between counselors and either psychologists or psychiatrists. Implications for counseling and counselor training are discussed.     

Asynchrony in Attitudes Toward Abortion and Gay Rights: The Challenge to Values Alignment

Political commentators tend to assume that Americans who share a particular religious affiliation think similarly about values issues and that values questions are aligned. Although religious affiliation is a strong predictor of attitudes toward abortion and gay rights, there is differentiation within denominational subgroups with respect to both; for example, while majorities of mainline Protestants and Catholics favor gay marriage, many of their respective co‐religionists do not. Further, aggregate survey data shows asynchrony in within‐group attitudes on abortion and gay rights; for example, whereas Hispanic Catholics are more likely to support gay marriage than legal abortion, black Protestants are more likely to support legal abortion than gay marriage. Abortion and gay equality are discrete issues and give rise to divergent attitudes based on the lived reality of different ethnoreligious groups. These findings challenge the utility of the construct of the “values voter,” and underscore that abortion and gay rights should be recognized as separate public policy domains.     

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.