Search Results (26)

Religious beliefs influence many behaviors and perspectives relevant to well-being and mental health. In Christianity, beliefs about how one attains salvation may be particularly relevant to psychology, but limited scholarship has considered cognitive aspects of religiosity. This study developed and evaluated a new measure of Beliefs about Salvation (BAS) that assesses affirmations of salvation (a) by God’s grace alone and (b) by God’s grace after human repentance/ordinances, as understood by different Christian denominations. We examined the association of the BAS with three measures of mental health and six measures of influences on religiosity. In a sample of 1556 predominantly members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Protestant Christians, which traditionally hold distinct views about the roles of divine grace and human works/ordinances necessary for salvation, the BAS data demonstrated evidence of reliability and validity in exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with two subscales, faith and works. Neither BAS subscale was significantly associated with the other variables measured in this study, except for religious legalism, which was negatively correlated with faith and positively correlated with works. Additional analyses indicated that six measures of influences on religiosity were moderately associated with one another and tended to be more strongly associated with mental health than religious involvement, with spiritual transcendence being the most strongly correlated with well-being. Psychological research can benefit from evaluating multiple aspects of religiosity, including inquiry about the psychological influence of specific religious beliefs. Full article

Ongoing discussions on creation care and agapeic ethic have paid less attention to the interplay between love, creation, waste management challenges, and mission. This paper, therefore, discusses a missional perspective of agapeic ethic as a ground norm for eco-theology and motivation for eco-care (especially proper waste management). An attempt is made to discuss the concept and dimensions of love and the nexus between love, creation, and missional purpose. This paper adopts a non-participant observation of refuse collection as carried out by refuse collectors, the waste disposal practices of people, and the waste handling and disposal practices of selected churches. This research was conducted across Port Harcourt City, Obio Akpor, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Oyibo, and Eleme municipal areas of Rivers State, Nigeria. The churches observed include Protestant Churches (Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Church of Nigeria that is Anglican Communion, and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints); the Roman Catholic Church; Pentecostal Churches (such as Salvation Ministries Worldwide, Redeemed Christian Church of God, and Deeper Life Bible Church); and African Indigenous Churches (namely, the Christ Apostolic Church, Cherubim and Seraphim, and Celestial Church of Christ). The information gathered was critically analysed and used in measuring stakeholders’ disposition to and understanding of the research focus. Ecological liberation hermeneutics was adopted as an interpretative framework, while the eco-justice principles of interconnectedness and purpose were engaged to foreground the underlying issues in this study. This paper argued that Christians’ involvement in proper waste management, keeping both private and public spaces clean, is a morally and divinely imposed duty and a practical testimonial of their love for God, their fellow human beings, and non-human others. This is a fulfilment of the mission where Christian love (agape) serves as an ethical principle of inflicting ‘no harm’ to humans or non-human others. Full article

This article presents pedagogic principles prescribed in the text of the Doctrine and Covenants, a foundational book of scripture from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Following a qualitative, thematic analysis of the text, we organized the data into seven themes: character of God as a teacher, learning as the pursuit of truth, attributes of a teacher and learner, warnings in seeking light and truth, learning methods, teaching methods, and non-compulsory teaching and learning. Most noteworthy among these themes is the text’s description of learning as the pursuit of embodied ontological truth and the fundamental questions it raises about the nature of compulsion in learning. Full article

The study examines how members of the historically white possessive and supremacist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United States (mis)appropriated Māori genealogy, known as whakapapa. The Mormon use of whakapapa to promote Mormon cultural memory and narratives perpetuates settler/invader colonialism and white supremacy, as this paper shows. The research discusses Church racism against Native Americans and Pacific Peoples. This paper uses Anthropologist Thomas Murphy’s scholarship to demonstrate how problematic the Book of Mormon’s religio-colonial identity of Lamanites is for these groups. Application of Aileen Moreton-Robinson’s white possessive doctrine and Hemopereki Simon’s adaptation to cover Church-Indigenous relations and the salvation contract is discussed. We explore collective and cultural memory, and discuss key Māori concepts like Mana, Taonga, Tapu, and Whakapapa. A brief review of LDS scholar Louis C. Midgley’s views on Church culture, including Herewini Jone’s whakapapa wānanga, is followed by a discussion of Māori cultural considerations and issues. The paper concludes that the alteration perpetuates settler/invader colonialism and Pacific peoples’ racialization and white supremacy. Genetic science and human migration studies contradict Mormon identity narratives and suggest the BOM is spiritual rather than historical. Finally, the paper suggests promoting intercultural engagement on Mormon (mis)appropriation of taonga Māori. Full article

The COVID-19 crisis truly challenged social interaction, the use of space and objects, as well as our sense of purpose and meaning in life. In this context, religious communities faced sudden interruption of their usual activities, lack of access to communal spaces and a global epidemic that summoned ancient “medieval plague” anxieties to work with. This article focuses on the vast repertoire of adaptations and reactions to the crisis that several religious communities developed in Spain. Our research is based on 40 conversations with members of Protestant and Evangelical denominations, Sunni Islam, Orthodox churches, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Church of Scientology, Baha’i, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Christian Science and Paganism, all of them minorities in the traditionally Catholic country. To analyze this repertoire of adaptations we focus on three aspects: the general context of changes and challenges, the ritual adaptations and the subjective experience of the adaptations. Grace Q. Zhang’s theories on linguistic elasticity will be applied to understand the elasticity of ritual adaptations in COVID times. Full article

The objective was to review all peer-reviewed, scholarly articles on the mental health of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2005 to 2022. Forty-six studies were identified. Research findings were consistent with the general research on R/S and mental health, which typically finds R/S related to better mental health. When comparisons are made, Latter-day Saints are typically found to have better mental health than those of other religions or no religion. It was found that in the last 10 years, research on sexual minorities has dominated the research on Latter-day Saints’ mental health. Although findings are nuanced, sexual minorities tend to have less favorable mental health when they are only somewhat enacting either a Latter-day Saint and/or sexual minority identity. The research literature on Latter-day Saints’ mental health is in its infancy, with few studies utilizing a high degree of methodologic rigor. More longitudinal and representative research is needed to better understand Latter-day Saints’ mental health. Further, more theoretical work is needed to provide a framework for explaining findings and guiding future research. Full article

College sports is a multi-billion-dollar business, and universities are looking for ways to remain competitive, including recruiting and retaining athletes from historically underrepresented groups to predominantly white institutions (PWI), many of which have a documented history of excluding non-white students, including blacks, indigenous peoples, and other people of color (often referred to as BIPOC). This article will examine the legacy of the racist teachings, past controversies, and compromises of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, Mormons) along with persistent struggles to shake off its 130-year-old racist past in efforts for its flagship school, Brigham Young University, to stay competitive in the lucrative Big 12 Athletic Conference. Deeply ingrained in the LDS culture is a politic of religious conservatism. Politics has often been intertwined with organized religion with much influence, and the LDS faith is no different. The cumulation of these interlocking systems generates thoughts, attitudes, and feelings that foster a racial climate at Brigham Young University where black students have reported feeling unsafe and unsupported. While this is a well-documented problem at predominately white institutions (PWIs) across the country, BYU is in many ways unique, given the discriminatory overt policies and practices employed for generations. We contend that the LDS Church’s history of racial marginalization and exclusion of black people made its way into the sports consciousness of the church’s flagship school and is not likely to change anytime soon. Understanding religion in the tradition of Charles Long as an orientation and utilizing Derrick Bell’s notion of racial realism are critical to our analyses. The confluence of politics, religion, race, and sport cannot be easily untangled. Full article

We report here some of the results from an online survey of 1612 LGBTQ members and former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (CJCLDS, Mormon). The data permitted an exploration of diversity—individual similarities and differences within and between the sexes. Men and women were compared with respect to sexual identity self-labeling and behavior (i.e., identity development, disclosure, activity), orientation change efforts, marital relationships, and psychosocial health—these variables in the context of their religious lives. More women than men self-identified in the bisexual range of the sexual attraction continuum. Both men and women had engaged in extensive effort to change their sexual orientation. Only about 4% of the respondents claimed that those efforts had been successful, and the claims were for outcomes other than an alteration in erotic feeling. In general, only those who identified as bisexual reported success in maintaining a mixed-orientation marriage and continuing activity in the church. For both men and women, measures of psychosocial and sexual health were higher for those in same-sex relationships and those disaffiliated from the church. Full article

The purpose of this study was to understand counsel given to sexual and gender minority individuals by clergy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (CJCLDS), the impact of that counsel, and individuals’ perceptions of meetings with clergy. Twenty-five current and former members of the CJCLDS who identify as sexual and gender minorities (SGM) participated in 30–60 min semi-structured interviews focused on their interactions with clergy in the CJCLDS. Participants reported receiving various forms of counsel, including encouragement to adhere to church doctrine, counsel focused on self-acceptance, messages that clergy would support congregants’ agency and self-determination, counsel focused on increasing faith, and no answers. Participants reported a variety of perceptions of meetings with clergy including wishing clergy were more educated on the experiences of SGMs, hurtful experiences, expectations of mistreatment, recognition that clergy are doing their best, and gratitude for clergy. Interactions with clergy had long-lasting and far-reaching consequences including loss of trust in religious leaders, restriction of church membership, disengagement from faith, engagement with faith, nuanced or lost beliefs, and impacts on mental health. Results suggest that Latter-day Saints clergy working with SGM individuals may be experienced as most effective when they provide safe and supportive spaces for congregants to share their experiences, use approaches that focus on self-determination and agency, seek education/training from CJCLDS-specific LGBTQ+ organizations, and recognize that many SGM congregants approach interactions with clergy with trepidation and fears of mistreatment. Full article

On 6 April 1830 Joseph Smith Jr. legally established what he claimed to be the restored Church of Jesus Christ that had existed previously during the New Testament times. This bold claim was bolstered by stories of angelic visitations in the hemlock–northern hardwood forest of New York and Pennsylvania by biblical and nonbiblical figures alike. In one of Smith’s supernatural encounters he claims that immediately prior to his theophany the Devil tried to intercede and prevent his communion with God. Thus, Smith and his followers have embraced a complex worldview concerning the nineteenth-century American forest, host to both the Divine and the Devil. The nineteenth-century American forest was complicated by its dangerous elements, its economic opportunities, and the sublime quality popularized in landscape paintings. Forests existed as environments that were equal in their ability to leave one desolate, well-provisioned, or inspired. Navigating these sometimes paradoxical views, Joseph Smith’s stories of otherworldly visitations in forest settings have resonated with many people seeking understanding in a confusing world. The founding story of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and artistic depictions thereof demonstrate an evolving view of the American forest. The American forest is a malleable, liminal space in which Latter-day Saints have continually combined elements of faith and memory to create a unique faith tradition with roots in a transformative place in American society. This interdisciplinary paper examines the physical appearance of the hemlock–northern hardwood forest, the socioeconomic climate, shifting sentimental values, and the philosophical ideas popularized by transcendentalists and the Hudson River School of painters that provided the scaffolding for this resilient religious movement’s origin story. Full article

Genealogy is one of the most popular sociocultural pursuits in modern U.S. history. During recent decades, scholars of the history of American genealogy and family history have forwarded an argument that its development since the 19th century is characterized by “democratization”. Surveying the scholarship, this article critically examines what that argument really means, what it unveils about historical change, and what it does not adequately recognize. The article argues that “democratization” is inadequate for making precise explanations about historical causes, causalities, and consequences. As an alternative to the democratization argument, it is suggested that research on the history of American genealogy should be inspired by recent studies of contemporary genealogy by sociologists, anthropologists, and cultural geographers, as well as by philosophical studies on the human longing for ancestry. By doing so, it becomes possible to engage with the crucial question of power in the historical inquiry. This approach is explored through the genealogical work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Rather than looking at genealogy through the lens of grassroots individuals, we need to acknowledge the connection between personal longing for ancestry and the ways in which powerful organizations, institutions, media, and businesses have sought to capitalize on this longing. Full article

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints possesses a subversive and fecund interpretation of the Christian creation narrative. This interpretation, denying creation ex nihilo, bespeaks a particular attention to and care for the living earth. However, Latter-day Saint praxis is wounded by a searing disconnect between the theopoetics of its conceptual creation and its lived practice. I argue that the Church must understand this disconnect as a wound and attend to it as such. I turn to theopoetics, arguing that it is in the lived practices of Latter-day Saints engaging somatically with the Earth that can restore our imaginative potential and move toward healing. I begin by exploring the Christian conception of creation ex nihilo and juxtapose this with the Latter-day Saint understanding of formareex materia. I then explore the implications of such a cosmology for environmental ethics and probe the disconnections between theory and practice in Mormonism broadly construed. I propose that the healing salve for disconnection is imagination, a salve found in the first heartbeat of the Latter-day Saint story. I speak with Latter-day Saint theopoetics and indigenous voices, proposing ultimately that is with them that the healing of theology and praxis must begin. Full article

Augustine (354–430) is considered to be the first Christian scholar to refer to the Creation’s witness of God as the Book of Nature. For centuries, in conjunction with scripture, the Book of Nature was considered in Christianity to be a second witness of God. These two witnesses were also stressed in Judaism, beginning with the Torah’s account of the Creation. The Book of Nature was prominent in Islam as the faith emerged in the 7th century. However, by the 16th century reliance on the Book of Nature began to wane for all these traditions as allegorical interpretation of the natural world gave way to scriptural literalism, partially in response to emerging scientific advances. The appearance of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a self-identified restoration theology in the early nineteenth century should arguably reopen and clarify the Book of Nature in the faith. However, contemporary Latter-day Saint hermeneutics have limited the Creation’s status in the faith’s ontology. The Latter-day Saint theological ideal, supported by the scriptural canon of the faith, counters contemporary neglect, inviting greater attention to and respect for the Book of Nature among the Latter-day Saint community. Full article

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints emerged within the Mauritian landscape in the early 1980s after the arrival of foreign missionary work. With a population of Indian, African, Chinese, French heritage, and other mixed ethnicities, Mauritius celebrates multiculturalism, with many calling it the “rainbow nation”. Religiously, Hinduism dominates the scene on the island, followed by Christianity (with Catholicism as the majority); the small remainder of the population observes Islam or Buddhism. Although Mauritian society equally embraces people from these ethnic groups, it also has historically marginalized communities who represent a “hybrid” of the mentioned demographic groups. This article, based on ethnographic research, explores the experiences of Mauritian Latter-day Saints as they navigate the challenges and implications of membership in Mormonism. Specifically, it focuses on how US-based Mormonism has come to embrace the cultural heritage of people from the various diaspora and how Mauritian Latter-day Saints perceive their own belonging and space-making within an American born religion. This case study presents how the local and intersecting adaptations of language, race, and local leadership within a cosmopolitan society such as Mauritius have led to the partial hybridization of the Church into the hegemony of ethnic communities within Mauritian Latter-day Saint practices. These merging of cultures and world views prompts both positive and challenging religious experiences for Mauritian Church members. This article illustrates the implications and pressures of the Church trying to globalize its faith base while adapting its traditionally Anglocentric approaches to religious practices to multiracial, multicultural cosmopolitan communities such as Mauritius. Full article

Utah, USA, a state with a unique history of immigration and a distinctive religious context, provides a useful setting in which to study the intersection of racism and religious participation with immigrant integration. Utah is one of the Whitest states in the United States, with 4 of every 5 residents identifying as non-Hispanic White. It is also home to the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) which, until 1978, explicitly imposed race-based exclusions that prohibited or strictly limited Black members’ participation in church leadership, rituals, and ordinances. The state’s cultural, social, and religious history has contributed to widespread beliefs among modern Utah residents of Whites’ racial supremacy in contexts both mundane and divine. Much of Utah’s population growth since 1960, especially among non-White racial and ethnic groups, can be attributed to immigrants, who today compose nearly 10 percent of the state’s population. Given Utah’s religious, social, and cultural relationship to race, it is an ideal case to study the following question: how do race, religion, and culture shape integration among immigrants? Utilizing interviews with 70 immigrants who have lived in Utah for an average of 13 years, we find that both race and LDS Church membership influence immigrants’ social integration, creating a hierarchy of belonging among immigrants in Utah––with White LDS immigrants reporting the highest levels of integration and non-White, non-LDS immigrants reporting the lowest levels of integration. These findings suggest the power of cultural narratives––beyond explicit institutional policy and practice––in perpetuating racial inequality in society. Thus, efforts to increase integration and belonging among immigrants must not only include work to dismantle legal and structural inequalities but also efforts to actively change the cultural narratives associated with them. Full article