Some Spiritually Significant Reasons for Gay Attraction to (Anglo-)Catholicism

Abstract

This qualitative study based on interviews with Anglican gay men suggests spiritually significant reasons for which many gay men in England, including gay Evangelicals, are attracted to Anglo-Catholicism or, more largely, to Catholic forms of spirituality. Catholic spirituality is more aware of the body and helps some of these men to make Christian sense of their sexual desires. The Catholic tradition also provides them with alternative patterns to the heteronormative ‘church family’ model of community life that Evangelical churches, in particular, like to offer. As a consequence Catholic spirituality may appear to be better equipped than its Protestant counterpart to help the interviewees re-imagine their place as gay men at the heart of the Church with a gift to offer.     

Celibacy and Free Love in Early Christianity

Abstract

Mainstream Christianity places the defence of marriage and the household at the centre of Christian identity. It is therefore noteworthy that in the first two centuries of Christianity marriage was attacked from a variety of standpoints as incompatible with full Christian commitment. The best documented attack came from the Encratite movement, which held that all Christians are called to a life of sexual abstinence. It first surfaces in the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, where Paul defends the right to marriage but treats his opponents with notable respect. It can be argued that Encratism follows from the Pauline Gospel, and that Paul, in refusing to follow the logic of position to this conclusion, was guilty of inconsistency and timidity. Marriage was also attacked by those who wished to replace marriage with sexual communism. Epiphanes, On Righteousness, attacks marriage as part of a system of exclusive property rights that contradicts the original will of the Creator. Epiphanes was much indebted to the Cynic movement, as Encratism was also. Both Encratism and so-called ‘libertinism’ shared the same rejection of the narrow interests and the traditional family, and dreamt of a recovery of Paradise. Whether this recovery was attained by renouncing sex or by liberating it can be seen as a secondary question, where opposite views could be held in the context of the same radical interpretation of the Gospel, an interpretation that deserves serious attention even today.     

The journey of gestational surrogacy: religion,spirituality and assisted reproductive technologies

This article discusses the intersection of women’s experiences with the assisted reproductive technological practice of gestational surrogacy and spirituality and religion. During the interviews of eight gestational surrogates themes of spirituality-, religion- and faith-based language emerged as these women shared their narratives of assisted reproductive technologies in this Canadian study. Professionals supporting women before, during and after the experience of gestational surrogacy need to be mindful of the significance of spirituality and religion in third party reproduction practices for many women. In discussing these topics with gestational surrogates counsellors, child and youth care practitioners, faith leaders, social workers, and educators need to remain open and attentive to a multiplicity of diverse theological negotiations.     

Sport and children’s spirituality: an Australian perspective

The benefits of sport and physical activity are endorsed by a number of professionals as a means of improving children’s health and their sense of well-being, and their unity with the natural world, other people and the Transcendent. For children, sport is a spiritual source of joy and wonder. Using Champagne’s ‘spiritual modes of being’, my recent study of Victorian children demonstrated their heightened sensory awareness, enriched relationships and robust sense of personal identity, arising from active and passive participation in sport. The children in the study seemed to benefit in each of these areas from Australian culture’s high value of sporting participation and achievement.     

The spiritual care of sick children: reflections from a pilot participation project

The authors are a multi-disciplinary team of chaplains, one with a counselling qualification, and an academic with a research background in spirituality and youth work. A pilot participation project undertaken at Birmingham Children’s Hospital (UK) focused on increasing the understanding of the spiritual needs of sick children and young people and involving children and young people in improving the service and provision of spiritual and religious care to them. Views from children, young people and parents were sought with the intention of developing resources and training that help facilitate the meeting of spiritual and religious needs of children and young people in hospital. Within the wider chaplaincy team are chaplains from the six major world faiths and this project considers spiritual needs of children and young people who perceive themselves as belonging to a faith group or not. Reflections from the pilot include identifying ten principles and practices to inform the spiritual care of sick children and proposing the concept of interpretive spiritual encounters as a tool for spiritual care. The pilot study indicated that being more proactive in offering spiritual care enhanced the quality of service offered by Chaplaincy.     

Coping with major life events: the role of spirituality and self-transformation

The aim of the current study was to explore the process of self-transformation as a result of coping with a major life event, and to address the role, if any, that spirituality plays within the coping and transformational process. Using grounded theory methodology, six participants were interviewed over a period of 6 months. The findings, supportive of previous research, produced a preliminary model illustrating transformation as a gradual process. The core category was identified as “openness,” in that by being open to others or to the “Transcendent,” the participants were able to let go and transform. It was theorized that openness, in this sense, enables acceptance of material deriving from a realm of self beyond the everyday ego. Indeed, such a journey of transformation crucially seems to entail expanding the conception of self beyond customary limits. Understood in this way, transformation may be conceptualized as a process of continual movement into the unconscious, where the totality of the self is awakened, resulting in a reinterpretation of life purpose. The consequences of the transformation for participants were positive in nature. The role that spirituality plays within the coping and transformation process was seen to manifest as being subtle and unfolding and/or supportive.     

Studying the specificity of spirituality: lessons from the psychology of religion

Psychological research on spirituality need not start from scratch: the psychology of religion provides substantial knowledge and experience that can be drawn on when psychologists want to do research on spirituality. Spirituality, while certainly not identical with religion or religiosity, is a human phenomenon to which many methodological insights from the study of religion may be applied, although it is also a domain where many mistakes from the history of the psychology of religion are likely to be repeated. After presenting some thoughts on the conceptualization of spirituality, and reflecting on the type of psychology required to do research on spirituality, the paper points out some hidden agenda's in the psychologies of religion and spirituality. Focusing on and keeping in mind the specificity of spiritual conduct, the paper discusses a number of practical aspects of empirical research on spirituality.     

Psychological types of male and female Bible College students in England

A sample of 278 male and 213 female Bible College students in England completed Form G (Anglicized) of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The data demonstrated clear preferences for introversion over extraversion, for sensing over intuition, and for judging over perceiving among both male and female Bible College students. Among females there was also a clear preference for feeling over thinking. The two predominant types among female Bible College students emerged as ISFJ (23%) and ESFJ (17%). The two predominant types among male Bible college students emerged as ISTJ (15%) and ISFJ (13%).     

The effect of psychologists’ disclosure of personal religious background on prospective clients

The present study explored the relation of religious coping and spirituality to adjustment and psychological distress in urban early adolescents. The participants were 76 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students attending Catholic day schools in the New York City area. They completed a set of self-report measures assessing religious coping, daily spiritual experiences, positive and negative affect, life satisfaction, and psychological distress. Correlational and regression analyses found positive religious coping and daily spiritual experiences to be associated with positive affect and life satisfaction, while negative religious coping was associated with negative affect and psychological distress. The relations generally were more robust among males, and their overall robustness decreased with age. Implications of the findings for research and clinical practice are offered to address the gap (compared to adults) in the literature on youth religious coping.     

Risk,religiosity, and emerging adulthood: description of Christian,Jewish, and Muslim university students at entering the freshman year

American students transitioning to university are at an increased risk for behaviours such as binge drinking, depression and suicidality. Despite the proliferation of prevention and intervention programs, rates remain high. Although religiosity is known to confer a protective effect in this population, it remains largely untapped as a resource because, among other reasons, it is poorly understood, poses ethical challenges, and exposes areas of distrust between the religious and medical establishments. This report describes the findings of a survey that examined possible factors explaining the relationship between religiosity, risky behaviours and emotional extremes in students as they transitioned into their first year of university. This study accounted for the religious diversity of the US by surveying Christian, Jewish, Muslim and religiously unaffiliated students. Findings indicated that religiosity was consistently and negatively correlated to risky behaviours across all faith groups. Interestingly, unique patterns in levels of religiosity emerged among the various faith groups. Similarly, patterns of engagement in risky behaviours demonstrated variation among religious groups. Our findings add to the body of evidence that suggests university-based professionals take into consideration student religiosity when creating prevention intervention programs for students.