We are not Christians, We are Episcopalians: An Ethnographic Study of How members of a Local Congregation are Defining Their Religious Identities in Relation to the Issue of Homosexuality with the Episcopal Church

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

Citations

Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/w6634411c

Abstract

This research examines how individuals are “doing religion” or more specifically, how a certain group of people are actively translating and making meaning of religion in their everyday lives. Through the use of qualitative research, I will examine multiple but intersecting topics with religion serving as the major foundational piece or filter that is used by a group of individuals in order to define aspects of their lives. This paper is not focused upon the literal translations of religion or faith, but instead, on how people negotiate events in their lives through the use of religion. Individuals use religion and faith (among other things) to motivate themselves to live a certain way and to become involved in different social and political processes. Different aspects of theology are often used to justify actions and most notably for this paper, social-justice-based actions. An understanding of how individuals motivate themselves to become involved in such actions can be used to illustrate how processes of inequality can be addressed in a systematic attempt to promote “inclusion for all” in every aspect of society.

Creator