MA Theses - DO NOT EDIT
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/25172
2024-03-26T17:23:15ZAmerican Jewish Identity Contruction: Capturing Youth Involvement
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/11912
American Jewish Identity Contruction: Capturing Youth Involvement
Lincecum, Joseph
In 1986 the founder and President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), Daniel Elazar, in his address to the Jewish Theological Seminary titled, The Changing Realities of the North American Jewish Community, in consideration of the integration of American Jews, wrote that it "Means more assimilation, more secularization and the acquisition of habits previously considered un-Jewish. This in turn leads to increased intermarriage as a new generation which is culturally less Jewish is at the same time more American and more easily able to find common language with non-Jewish partners of otherwise similar backgrounds". Taken that this was written near thirty years ago, the idea that Jewish relationships are threatened by the non-Jewish society is still present and has led to the adoption of techniques within the American Jewish community in attempts to revive cultural connections for the emerging Jewish youth. There are programs currently deployed within the American Jewish community that are combating these threats. What I claim is that since American Jews exist within a broader, non-Jewish community, the emerging youth are those who are most vulnerable and susceptible to the effects of multiculturalism. Thus, by providing youth with programs that are sensitive to both the preservation of a Jewish cultural identity separate from the collective and the necessity of performing an active role in the much larger non-Jewish community, they are securing a future for Jeiwhs cultural identity.
2013-07-22T00:00:00ZThe Correspondence Theory Of Truth: The Root Cause Of Fundamentalism In America
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/11859
The Correspondence Theory Of Truth: The Root Cause Of Fundamentalism In America
Tune, Peyton McLain
Christian fundamentalism in America is alive and well and serves as an impediment to the progress of a democratic society because of its tendency to seek universal subordination of all truth to "Biblical truth". In this paper I argue the source of strength for the resilience of this religious movement comes from their implicit adherence to the correspondence theory of truth as they apply it to their interpretation of the Bible. Furthermore, I will argue Richard Rorty's attack on the correspondence theory of truth provides a challenge to fundamentalism and reveals an alternative to fundamentalists who might join him in a careful study of how language works. By developing a healthy skepticism about the universal application of the correspondence theory of truth, fundamentalists can bracket off their religious convictions and joining their fellow citizens in democratic progress without the unhelpful culture war of religion versus modernism.
2013-07-22T00:00:00ZCommunity, Solitude, Patriarchy, And Proto-feminism In The Old English Life Of St. Mary Of Egypt
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/11838
Community, Solitude, Patriarchy, And Proto-feminism In The Old English Life Of St. Mary Of Egypt
Shipnes, Jeffrey Pawling
This thesis examines the binaries of community/solitude and patriarchy/proto-feminism in the Old English Life of St. Mary of Egypt. For various reasons scholars such as Hugh Magennis believe that the Old English Life of St. Mary of Egypt, although included in a manuscript of Aelfric's Lives of Saints, was not by Aelfric. I argue that the character of Zosimus in this vita embodies the characteristics of community and patriarchy, which I call the Aelfrician model, and the character of Mary of Egypt embodies the characteristics of solitude and proto-feminism, which I call the non-Aelfrician model. I further argue that these two models, the Aelfrician and non-Aelfrician, are complementary in the Old English Life of St. Mary of Egypt.
2013-07-22T00:00:00ZMystical Experience And Its Defense On The Mystical's Proper Understanding And Usage
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/11584
Mystical Experience And Its Defense On The Mystical's Proper Understanding And Usage
Contreras, Adrian
This document will closely examine the issue of mystical experience by reviewing its origins in sacred concepts and leading arguments in the field of philosophy of mysticism. Ultimately, this document will attempt to prove the manner by which it might most properly be understood, as well as the practical use of such experience for those who have lived & experienced it within his/her day-to-day life.
2013-03-20T00:00:00Z