Same-sex unions in Islam

The objective of this paper was to streamline the case for Muslim same-sex unions that was comprehensively made in Jahangir and Abdullatif (2016). Additionally, we try to address same-sex unions on the basis of non-binary gender, gender expression and sexual orientation. Based on our work, we argue that the case for Muslim same-sex unions can be made on the basis of broad principles of human dignity and affection and therefore through marriage or through the specific arguments of repelling harm and legal authority. In this regard, going beyond the overarching Islamic value of human dignity, we specifically argue that the case for same-sex unions can be anchored on verse 4:28 on facilitating a legal outlet for sexual expression.     

Virginity,Singleness and Celibacy: Late Fourth-Century and Recent Evangelical Visions of Unmarried Christians

Abstract

Within the Evangelical world of family values, a small but intriguing group of recent books have been developing a vision of Christian celibacy that challenges assumptions about singleness and marriage. Many of these books are partly inspired by the writings of the Early Church. By comparing these books with similarly themed late fourth-century virginity treatises, this study explores how each develops an understanding of committed abstinent singleness as an holistic and positive way of life that goes beyond mere abstinence.

The categories of calling, commitment and sexuality are used to contrast Patristic virginity treatises by Gregory of Nyssa, Ambrose of Milan and John Chrysostom with contemporary books on Christian singleness or celibacy by Laura A. Smit, Annemarie S. Kidder, Barry Danylak and Christine A. Colón and Bonnie E. Field. This study focuses on the details of why people would choose such a life, what exactly they are committing to, and how they would handle sexual desire. Each source in its own way shows virginity/celibacy as a way of life, which, parallel with marriage, uniquely expresses love, service and a way of being conformed to the image of Christ.     

Challenging Merton's Protestantism‐Science Hypothesis: The Historical Impact of Sacerdotal Celibacy on German Science and Scholarship

Denominational differences in the number of scientists produced in Germany during the period 1550 to 1900 are linked to the historical impact of Catholic celibate and Protestant noncelibate clergy households. Protestant leadership in science is largely attributable to the development of a new social mobility pattern among descendants of their clergy that enhanced the pastorate's ability to convey cultural and social capital to their marrying offspring, something denied to Catholic clergy. By reference to German historical developments, I show that the contributions of clerical households, far from being limited to the natural sciences, were equally in evidence across most other areas of scholarly endeavor. A discussion of the theoretical implications of these findings provides a comparative analysis of Protestant to Catholic scholarly achievements in general, and of scientific achievements in particular, as well as a critical assessment of Robert K. Merton's theorizing on the subject.     

Altruistic Celibacy, Kin-Cue Manipulation, and The Development of Religious Institutions

Abstract. Building on a model first proposed by Gary Johnson, it is hypothesized that religious institutions demanding celibacy and other forms of altruism from members take advantage of human predispositions to favor genetic relatives in order to maintain and reinforce these desired behaviors in non‐kin settings. This is accomplished through the institutionalization of practices to manipulate cues through which such relatives are regularly identified. These cues are association, phenotypic similarity, and the use of kin terms. In addition, the age of recruits and their contact with actual kin are factors that relate to kinship recognition and that are similarly manipulated by institutions in order to reinforce altruistic behavior directed toward non‐kin. Support for this set of predictions is presented from historical and ethnographic sources on monastic life in Buddhism, Christianity, and Hinduism, as well as Islamic dervish groups, the Essenes, Shakers, and others. Potential implications of the model for understanding the development of religious institutions are preliminarily explored by reviewing Joachim Wach's model of religious developmental stages as well as some of the literature on the relationship between individualism and communalism in incipient religious organizations, in light of the kin‐cue manipulation model.     

Impact du célibat géographique des marins sur le conflit travail-famille et la satisfaction professionnelle

The goal of this research is to study the impact of geographical celibacy on work-family conflict and job satisfaction. Indeed, we made the hypotheses that geographical celibates will have more negative feeling toward these two concepts. In order to test these hypothesis, 5298 sailors of the French Navy answered a questionnaire that measured job satisfaction and work-family conflict. Results show that there are differences and that geographical celibates feel more conflict than non-geographical celibates. Moreover, they are less satisfied by their job. This study allows us to question the relevance of this status in a military institution where mobility is particularly high.     

Gender and Power in Contemporary Spirituality: Ethnographic Approaches

Abstract

St Methodius of Olympus, Bishop of Patara and martyr of the Diocletian persecution, uses sexual language in an unusual way. In a treatise on celibacy, The Symposium, he describes the relationship of Christians to Jesus Christ using the language of male orgasm. The cross is described as the moment of Jesus Christ's own ecstatic orgasm, and St Paul is described as a figure inseminated by God. This language is investigated with reference to a variety of selected methodologies, including Christian Platonist perspectives, feminist perspectives, Foucaultian perspectives, and men's studies perspectives.     

Reveling in Complexity: Dittes' Male Metaphors and Their Bearing on the Crisis of Clergy Sexual Abuse

In Driven By Hope: Men and Meaning (1996b), James E. Dittes explores the distinctively religious character of men's experience in postindustrial modern western culture. In this article, I first explicate Dittes' developing perspective on men's experience—his middle way—by focusing on his exploration of classical and biblical metaphors of men's life experience, including Oedipus and Adam, the magi and the monarch, the pilgrim and the conquistador, and the son and father. Then, I extend Dittes' models of normative male development to reflect upon the current crisis around clergy sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.     

A brilliant jewel: sex,celibacy, and the Roman Catholic Church

As clerical sexual abuse scandals hit the news and the crisis of vocations worsens each year, debate about the merits of mandatory clerical celibacy continues to grow. The fact remains, however, that supposedly celibate priests have been sexually active in significant numbers throughout history and that their sexual activity has barely affected the power of the Church. In this article, I focus on the ‘everyday’ nature of sexual ‘incontinence’ among a group of Northeast Brazilian priests and analyse the relative systematicity with which vow-breaking is accommodated. Such systematicity, I suggest, reveals an ongoing stable-instability at the heart of the Church as an institution; a dynamic which, if better understood, can help to explain the most characteristic (but often overlooked) feature of institutions more generally: their impressive longevity.