Sexual violence: The sacred witness of the Church

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-371
Author(s):  
Elizabeth O. Pierre
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Psychological Symptoms ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
The Church

The trauma of sexual violence is pandemic. Such trauma contributes to numerous physical and psychological symptoms that affect individuals throughout their lifespan. Survivors are most inclined to turn to their faith and their religious community for support. Given the prevalence of sexual violence and the severity of its symptoms, it is critical that the Church serve as a sacred witness to facilitate the recovery process.

scholarly journals To Conscience First, and to the Pope (Long) Afterwards? British Catholics and Their Attitudes Towards Morality and Structural Issues Concerning the Catholic Church

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Clements ◽  
Stephen Bullivant
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Religious Commitment ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Personal Morality ◽  
Sources Of Variation ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

Abstract Background The attitudes of Catholics in Britain have undergone significant liberalisation on social moral issues across recent decades, whilst the reputation of the Catholic Church has suffered due to public opposition to its traditional teachings on such issues. But there has been comparatively little recent investigation into British Catholics’ views on these debates using surveys aimed at this religious community. Purpose This article examines the sources of attitudinal heterogeneity amongst Catholics in Britain on core debates affecting the Catholic Church. The aims are to examine, firstly, which groups within the British Catholic Community are more likely to conform to or to dissent from the Church’s teachings and, secondly, whether the socio-demographic and religious correlates of attitudes vary across different types of issue. Methods This article uses a new, nationally representative survey of Catholic adults in Britain (n = 1823). The survey is used to examine the sources of variation in Catholics’ attitudes towards a range of issues relating to the Roman Catholic Church. These issues relate to the priesthood, personal morality, and sinful behaviours. OLS models are used to assesses the relative impact of socio-demographic, religious socialisation, and religious commitment variables. Results The findings show that women are consistently more liberal in their views than men. Greater religious commitment is always associated with support for the traditional teachings of the Church. Conclusions and Implications Exploring the sources of attitudinal heterogeneity among Catholics, we provide new insights into the internal dynamics of ‘Britain’s largest minority’. We conclude by discussing the potential effects of increasing ‘nonversion’ for interpreting religious statistics—a topic of relevance beyond the denominational and geographical confines of this study’s explicit focus.

scholarly journals Gereja Karismatik dan Inkulturasi Musik di Dalam Sistem Ibadahnya

SELONDING ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hari Sasongko
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Gospel Music ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
World War ◽  
Charismatic Movement ◽  
Musical Tradition ◽  
The World ◽  
Church In The World ◽  
The Church ◽  
Music Tradition

The charismatic movement is an embryo of  the birth of  charismatic church in the world. The movement was began before the World War where the situation was marked by the economical decadence, particularly in the United States of America that caused uneasiness in several live of young community. The church model based on the power of Holly Spirit in the comprehension of Christian traditional faith. It is differenced from another church that grows in Europe.  The church has been developing and finally, it is taking root on Western culture tradition, and then it appeared gospel music tradition. Unfortunately the members of this religious community are disposed another musical tradition that lives around them whereas they are something important to the success of progress of cultural dialog, so the charismatic chruch seem exclusive.  By mean of historical studies, the writer try to critise on the prospect dialog between charismatic church and local tradition. The dialog will open the posibility of cultural spirit to furnish, support, and appreciate one to another. Keywords: charismatic, local music tradition, dialog, religious.

scholarly journals Armenians on the Via Francigena: Armenian and Latin Sources on the Origins of the Armenian Community of Orvieto (Urbs Vetus)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Pambakian ◽  
Lidia Zanetti Domingues
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
The Church

An Armenian religious community settled in Orvieto in the 13th century and founded the church and hospice of Santo Spirito, where they provided hospitality to pilgrims on the Via Francigena. Archaeological traces of their presence include a travertine gate with a trilingual inscription, reused in the church of San Domenico (Orvieto), the remains of the church of Santo Spirito, and art pieces removed from the latter. Contemporary Latin documents and an analysis of the historical context suggest that the Armenian presence was well-received by the lay and clerical authorities, and even held as prestigious.

Separating the Sheep from the Goats: Victorian Didactic Hymns

1976 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-273
Author(s):  
Susan Smith Tamke
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Charles Kingsley ◽  
Internal Colonialism ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Government ◽  
Behavioral Norm ◽  
The Church

Charles Kingsley complained in 1848, “We have used the Bible as if it were a mere constable's handbook—an opium-dose for keeping beasts of burden patient while they were being overloaded—a mere book to keep the poor in order.” Kingsley was outraged that religion should be used for the utilitarian purpose of keeping the lower classes in their place. And yet, in most societies religion has traditionally served the very practical purpose of supporting the established social order. To this end the Christian church—and in this regard it is no different than any other institutionalized religion—has preached a social ethic of obedience and submission to the government in power and to the established social order. The church does this by sanctioning a given code of behavior: those people who conform to the prescribed behavioral norm will achieve salvation, while those who fail to conform are ostracized from the religious community and, presumably, are damned. In sociological terms, the code of behavior approved by a given society is most often determined by that society's most influential groups, always with a view (not always conscious or deliberate) of maintaining the groups' dominance. From the point of view of the least influential classes, this didactic function of the church may be seen as an effort at social control, at internal colonialism—in Kinglsey's words, an effort simply to keep the “beasts of burden…, the poor in order.” In terms of biblical imagery the church's didactic function is to separate the sheep from the goats, that is, to set a standard of “respectable” behavior to be followed by the compliant sheep, with probable eternal damnation and temporal punishment for the recalcitrant goats.

The Mother of God's People: The Adoration of the Holy Spirit in the Eighteenth-Century Brüdergemeine

1999 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 886-909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Atwood
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Time Range ◽  
Essential Point ◽  
The Past ◽  
Moravian Church ◽  
God's People ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Church

“Lord God, now we praise you, you worthy Holy Spirit! The church in unity honors you, the mother of Christendom. All the angels and the host of heaven and whoever serves the honor of the Son; also the cherubim and seraphim, sing with a clear voice: ‘Divine majesty, who proceeds from the Father, who praises the Son as the creator and points to his suffering.’ … Daily O Mother! whoever knows you and the Savior glorifies you because you bring the gospel to all the world.” These lines are from the Te Matrem, a prayer to the Holy Spirit that for nearly thirty years was a regular part of worship for a German Protestant group known as the Brüdergemeine. The Brüdergemeine, commonly called the Moravian Church today, was an international religious community that developed an elaborate and creative liturgical life for its carefully regulated communities. The Brethren's intense devotion to the suffering of Christ is the most famous aspect of their worship, but in the mid-eighteenth century their leader, Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, actively encouraged the Brüdergemeine to worship the Holy Spirit as the mother of the church. Surprisingly, though, this aspect of Zinzendorf's theology has been largely overlooked or downplayed by historians and theologians in the past two hundred years. When it has been discussed, it has been dismissed as a brief aberration or experiment that was discarded after the so-called Sifting Time (Sichtungzeit.) The Sifting Time was a period of liturgical and social excess in the community, the details of which remain quite obscure. The Brethren used the word Sichtungzeit to refer to a time when the community was in danger of becoming a fanatical sect. Dates for the Sifting Time range from a high of 1736–52 to a low of 1746–49, but the most common dating is 1743–50. This article will show that the use of maternal imagery for the Holy Spirit was not a tangential or quixotic aspect of Zinzendorf's theology, but thrived for more than thirty years and was, in Zinzendorf's words, “an extremely important and essential point … and all our Gemeine and praxis hangs on this point.”

‘I was fully consenting’: sexual violence voiced by an adolescent girl

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Louhela
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Adolescent Girls ◽  
Adolescent Girl ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Sexual Consent ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Listening Guide ◽  
Abusive Relationship ◽  
Long Period ◽  
The Listening Guide

In this article, I study how an adolescent girl with an institutional background voices her previous experiences of a statutory sex crime relationship. The data were generated during 2013–2017 and analysed using the Listening Guide method in order to find different contrapuntal and situated voices and contextual layers from the girl’s story.The results indicate that different temporal, situational and contextual aspects can be part of the perceptions of sexual consent and abuse. Furthermore, the impression and experiences of being cared for in an abusive relationship interrelate in how the abusive sexual experiences are voiced even after a long period of time. A concept of abusive illusion of care was introduced to describe one of the aspects related to this phenomenon and it was suggested that it should be included in Jenny Pearce’s social model of abused consent.It is proposed that sexual consent could be approached as a situated and contextualised issue and from the perspective and recovery process of the victim; and, as such, an ongoing and proceeding negotiation on consent should also be allowed afterwards. In addition, new and caring ways of creating safe connections in order to confront sexual violence without silencing any voices are needed.<br />Key messages<br /><ul><li>More nuanced knowledge is needed about especially vulnerable adolescent girls polyphonic voices about sexual consent and its connection to temporal experiences of caring.</li><br /><li>Sexual consent could be considered as an ongoing and proceeding negotiation which takes into account situational and contextual aspects.</li></ul>

scholarly journals Aspects of the Christian Missionary in Nationalist China: Mrs. Jiang Jieshi and the Missions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincenza Cinzia Capristo
Keyword(s):  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Social Community ◽  
Strong Point ◽  
Potential Development ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Church ◽  
Family Dimension ◽  
The Way

The present essay, beginning with Catholic press and various authors known in the sector of Missiology, underlines a connection between Song Meiling and Mission in general, particularly the Catholic ones. This work aims at adding a further piece to complete the already well-known Song Meiling’s career, after her marriage to Chiang Kai-shek. Further on, it will be clearly underlined the way she managed to established relationships with representatives of Missions, both Catholic and Protestant, thanks to the reform movement “New Life”, which brought Chinese people closer to Christian values. All this was possible by starting from the family dimension, thus enhancing the link between civil and religious society. Song Meiling’s strong point was the way she promoted social inclusion of the religious confessions, especially of the Catholic Missions, through solidarity initiatives, considering the religious community on the same level as the social community. This was a factor of potential development for the Church in China.

scholarly journals Dari Liturgi Baptisan menuju Liturgi Kehidupan: Menjadi Gereja bagi Perempuan Korban Kawin Tangkap

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Umbu Lolo
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Women Victims ◽  
Past Experiences ◽  
The Church

This article is a feminist liturgical imagination that aims to provide a recovery space for women victims of sexual violence. With the background of women experience as victims of marriage by abduction, this paper presents imaginative theological thoughts using the views of Ruether and Berger in the framework of providing an ecclesiastical ritual in favor of women victims. The church must stand with women victims of sexual violence. The support of the church can be shown through the provision of a liturgical space where women victims can share their experiences and at the same time reclaim one of the important symbols in the Christian liturgy, namely water as a sacred symbol of restoration. This ecclesiastical ritual is a space for women victims to show reversal movements, from circumstances and events where water marks past experiences of violence, to circumstances and events where water marks the present and future experience of healing. AbstrakTulisan ini merupakan suatu imajinasi liturgi feminis yang bertujuan menyediakan ruang pemulihan bagi perempuan korban kekerasan seksual. Dengan dilatari oleh pengalaman korban kawin tangkap, tulisan ini menyuguhkan pemikiran imajinatif teologis dengan menggunakan pandangan Ruether dan Berger dalam kerangka menyediakan suatu ritual gerejawi yang berpihak pada perempuan korban. Gereja mesti berdiri bersama perempuan korban kekerasan seksual. Keberpihakan gereja itu dapat ditunjukkan melalui penyediaan ruang liturgis dengan mana perempuan korban dapat membagi pengalamannya sekaligus mengklaim kembali salah satu simbol penting dalam liturgi Kristen yaitu air sebagai simbol sakral yang memulihkan. Ritual gerejawi ini merupakan ruang bagi perempuan korban untuk menunjukkan gerakan berbalik arah, dari keadaan dan peristiwa di mana air menandai pengalaman kekerasan di masa lampau, menuju keadaan dan peristiwa di mana air menandai pengalaman pemulihan di masa kini dan masa yang akan datang.

scholarly journals Whosoever Will May Come

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy McGuire ◽  
Michelle Short ◽  
Kari Martin
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Church Leadership ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Spiritual Community ◽  
Class Privilege ◽  
Metropolitan Community Church ◽  
The Church

Intersectional queer activists and scholars have critiqued mainstream gay and lesbian social movements for losing their radical edge and promoting homonormative political agendas. Homonormativity concentrates power in the hands of LGBTIQ2S+ activists with race, gender, and class privilege. The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) of Toronto is Canada’s largest LGBTIQ2S+ religious community and a significant player in global LGBTIQ2S+ human rights movements. This paper explored the perceptions of inclusion and representation of members of MCC across embodied social identities including sexual identity, gender identity, race, age, socioeconomic status, and ability. Three dimensions of inclusion were examined: personal feelings and experiences, alignment of personal social justice priorities with those of the church, and representation in church leadership. In the fall of 2015, BSW student researchers collected survey data from 146 respondents attending MCC Sunday services. The study found that most respondents, across identity categories, felt personally included most of the time and nearly all felt that their social justice priorities were aligned with the priorities of the church. Respondents who reported exclusion across all three dimensions identified as pansexual, trans male, gender non-binary, intersex, and Asian. Others who generally felt included but not represented in leadership identified as Indigenous, Black, heterosexual, bisexual, gay, and cisgender. Findings suggest that this activist spiritual community has resisted homonormatization to create a space of radical inclusivity but must continue to work hard to extend this space and to prevent the reinscription of social hierarchies.

“If God be for you, who can be against you?”

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore Kornweibel,
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
First World War ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Church Of God ◽  
World War ◽  
The First World War ◽  
In Christ ◽  
First World ◽  
The Church

This chapter explains how during the First World War the Bureau of Investigation (the FBI’s official name at the time) targeted the Church of God in Christ, one of the nation's largest Pentecostal denominations. The author Theodore Kornweibel, who has written extensively on the Federal government’s campaigns against black militancy in the period during and following World War I, examines the nature and consequences of this episode that marked the Bureau's first formal engagement with an American religious community.

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