Conservative Religious Groups Research Articles

Religiosity, attitudes toward science, and public health: Evidence from Finland.

We explore how religiosity influences perceptions and the adoption of protective health behaviours, as reflected in COVID-19 infection and vaccination rates. In the first part of our analysis, we use Finnish data from four nationally representative surveys, we find that individuals with higher self-reported religiosity and those from more conservative religious groups tend to hold less favourable attitudes towards science, technology and medicine, compared to non-religious individuals. In the second part, we observe that municipalities with higher shares of conservative religious groups experienced greater COVID-19 spread and lower vaccination rates, with these trends persisting throughout the pandemic. Our findings underscore the importance of accounting for religiosity when crafting public health policies, as it may contribute to the existence of non-compliance hotspots.

תמורות בחברה הציונית דתית בראי הייעוץ לרווקים

In this article, I compare the findings of two ethnographic studies on prolonged singlehood in the Religious Zionist community. The first was conducted in the 2000s, and the second more recently. In the present article, I examine the changes in guidance and advice for singles offered by Religious Zionist organizations and authority figures. My goal is to explore the developments in this area, which encapsulate various Religious Zionist attitudes and ideologies, and reflect changes in both the worldview and in the ‘lived religion’ of Religious Zionism. The most significant transformation is to do with the search for a partner. During the 2000s, counselors and mentors attempted to expedite the process by making it more ‘rational’, explaining to singles that love is irrational, and they need not ‘fall in love’ with their partner before deciding to marry him/her. However, by the 2020s they were characterizing the search for love as a spiritual journey of self-discovery. In contrast to this transformation, gender essentialism remained a central message conveyed to singles over the past decades. The study also found that counseling in the 2020’s has a more forgiving and accepting attitude towards deviations from halacha in the realm of premarital sex, without abandoning the ideal of shmirat negiah (refraining from touching). The findings indicate that processes of individualization are transforming the discourse among many lecturers and persona within Religious Zionism. These prominent voices reflect the influence of psycho-therapeutic and New Age spiritual discourses, alongside ongoing efforts to offer an alternative to the prevailing feminist discourse on gender. Contrary to prominent claims in the literature that individualization processes in the religious sphere necessarily lead to the adoption of pluralistic views and a loss of belief in divine revelation and absolute truths, the research’s findings point to the existence of religious arenas where individualization occurs even among conservative religious groups.

Faith, Networks, and the Ballot: Unveiling the Hidden Drivers of Voting Intentions in Indonesia's 2024 Election

This study investigates the extent to which social network characteristics, religious identity, and past political participation influence voting intentions in Indonesia's 2024 general election, with a particular focus on the implications of religiosity in a predominantly Muslim society. A quantitative survey method was employed, gathering primary data through both online and offline surveys from 314 participants across selected locations in Indonesia. Multilevel modelling techniques were used to analyse the relationship between social network characteristics, religious identity, and voting intentions. The results revealed that social network characteristics, such as the frequency of interaction and socio-political discussions, do not significantly influence voting intentions. In contrast, religiocentrism negatively impacts voting intentions, suggesting that individuals with more conservative religious beliefs are less likely to vote. However, past offline political participation was found to be a strong positive predictor of voting intentions. These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions that address the concerns of conservative religious groups and reinforce the civic duty associated with voting. Understanding the limited role of social networks in this context can inform strategies to increase voter turnout in future elections. This study provides new insights into the complex interplay between religious identity, social networks, and political behaviour in Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim and culturally diverse nation, particularly in the post-pandemic socio-political landscape.

Women's Attitudes Towards Abortion in Response to the Zika and COVID-19 Outbreaks in Brazil.

Abortion attitudes are influenced by people's socioeconomic and demographic circumstances and can be volatile during times of crisis. Brazil is an interesting case for examining abortion attitudes because of its strict abortion policies, changing religious landscape, high income inequality, and extreme uncertainty generated by the back-to-back Zika and COVID-19 crises. This study seeks to assess Brazilian women's attitudes toward abortion and whether religion and income explain these attitudes in the context of novel infectious disease epidemics. We used data from a population-based sample of 3996 women ages 18-34 in Pernambuco, Brazil, collected during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (May-September 2020). We conducted paired t-tests and multivariate-adjusted logistic regression models with adjusted Odds Ratios (aORs) and 95% CIs to assess differences in support for abortion in the case of fetal congenital Zika syndrome (CZS), maternal Zika infection during pregnancy, and maternal COVID-19 infection during pregnancy. Significantly more women support the right to abortion in the case of fetal CZS (50%) than in the case of maternal Zika infection (40%) and maternal COVID-19 infection (31%). Support for abortion varies by income and religion. Controlling for other demographic characteristics, high-income women have higher odds of supporting abortion in the case of fetal CZS (aOR = 1.92; 95% CI: 1.25-2.94) and maternal Zika infection (aOR = 2.07; 95% CI: 1.33-3.21) than low-income women. Evangelical women have lower odds of supporting abortion in the case of maternal Zika infection (aOR = 0.65; 95% CI: 0.45-0.93) and marginally lower odds of supporting the right to abortion in the case of maternal COVID-19 infection (aOR = 0.69; 95% CI: 0.47-1.00) than women of other religious affiliations. With increasingly conservative religious groups gaining size in Brazil, we expect to see increasing abortion restrictions. However, this research finds that a sizable portion of women across all incomes and religious affiliations support abortion, particularly in the case of fetal anomalies associated with Zika.

The Legacy of Blood Atonement? Gauging Mormon Support for the Death Penalty

American support for the death penalty has declined over time, but conservative religious groups have exhibited more favorable attitudes toward this practice than their mainline religious and secular peers. Scholars have generally overlooked Latter-day Saint (LDS, Mormon) support for capital punishment. However, this faith tradition is a case worthy of careful examination. Historically, LDS leadership was supportive of the death penalty, which was congruent with their teachings on blood atonement, i.e., theological rationales for capital punishment as a just response to murder. However, Mormon leaders have more recently adopted a neutral position toward the death penalty. To what degree might changing social attitudes and flagging LDS leader endorsements of the death penalty have contributed to diminished grassroots Mormon support for capital punishment? This study uses data from the General Social Survey to test three hypotheses: (1) those with an LDS affiliation will exhibit greater support for the death penalty when compared with their non-Mormon peers, including other religious conservatives; (2) LDS support for the death penalty will diminish over time; and (3) LDS support for capital punishment will be bolstered by frequent Mormon worship service attendance. Using cross-tabulations, logistic regression, and time series analyses, the results indicate support for all three hypotheses. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

LGBTQ+ non-discrimination and religious freedom in the context of government-funded faith-based education, social welfare, health care, and aged care

Anti-discrimination laws around the world have explicitly protected LGBTQ+ people from discrimination with various levels of exceptions for religion. Some conservative religious organisations in Australia are advocating to be allowed to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people in certain organisations they manage. The political debate in Australia has focused on religiously affiliated organisations that provide services in education, social welfare, health care, and aged care. We argue that religious exceptions allowing discrimination should be narrow because they cause considerable harm, reinforce, disadvantage and because LGBTQ+ people are deserving of respect and rights. We draw on a national representative survey to demonstrate that the views of some conservative religious lobby groups do not represent the views of the majority of religious people in Australia or the views of the majority of Christian people.

‘Once You Say the Word Gender, People Become Afraid’: The Consequences of the Gender Backlash in Education in Brasil

Conservative religious, activist and political groups fuel gender backlash in many spaces. This paper explores this phenomenon and its effects on educational programs designed to prevent gender-based violence in Brasilian schools. It argues that this gender backlash in educative spaces violates fundamental rights, like the right to equality and protection against discrimination and violence, and ultimately contributes to the continuity and escalation of gender-based violence in Brasil. This context shapes advocacy work and the facilitators and participants of its programs. Primary prevention research is mainly conducted in the Global North. This article, guided by a southern feminist framework and informed by 14 interviews with Brasilian advocates engaged in youth gender-based violence prevention programs, addresses a significant knowledge deficit and offers new insights in working in challenging contexts. It suggests that the backlash is mostly directed at LGBTIQA+ cohorts due to the ongoing political attacks on these groups, but it has also undermined the capacity of educational prevention strategies for gender-based violence more widely.

Does religion make consumers more environmentally friendly?

PurposeDespite the importance of sustainability, some conservative religious groups do not believe and support climate change. There is a continuous debate on the role of religion on people’s attitudes toward the environment. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to (1) explore the impact of consumers’ religious orientation on motivation and commitment toward recycling; (2) examine the impact of economic motivation, commitment and love for nature toward intention to recycle; (3) investigate the mediating effect of motivation, commitment and love for nature on the relationship between consumer religiosity and their intention to recycle; and (4) examine the impact of consumers’ intention toward its subsequent behavior.Design/methodology/approachUsing convenience sampling methods, participants were recruited through an online survey platform (MTurk). The total completed respondents are 827 participants.FindingsThe results show consumers’ religiousness influence their motivation, commitment and love for nature. This study shows that consumers with high intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness are more likely to be motivated by economic motivation. Being religious does not make consumers more environmentally friendly.Research limitations/implicationsThis study did not separate religion and between religious and non-religious consumers. Each religion may perceive environments differently. Future research may investigate each religion separately.Originality/valueThis paper has several contributions: (1) it contributes to the debate on the impact of religiousness on consumers’ attitudes toward sustainable-related behavior such as recycling. Does it matter? (2) the results show the most effective way to increase people’s intention to recycle; and (3) the results of this study will have implications for government, religious institutions on how to increase positive attitude toward the environment especially among religious consumers.

Spare the rod and spoil the group’s cultural fitness? Conditions under which corporal punishment leads to detrimental and beneficial outcomes

Corporal punishment of children is common across human history, and the specific practice of striking the buttocks, known as spanking, seems to have developed independently across a number of separate cultures. This pattern suggests adaptive value, posing a paradox in view of the many reviews stating that spanking has purely negative outcomes on future mental health, and the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics that it be outlawed. We purport to resolve this paradox by separating this particular type of corporal punishment from less controlled lashing out in anger, and we reanalyze these reviews in terms of psychological and physical health outcomes. We find that spanking is associated with positive mental health outcomes when (1) performed by calm parents in a (2) ritualized, structured fashion and combined with (3) other disciplinary techniques within (4) a loving relationship with the child, typically (5) as part of the practice of moral, collective religiosity, and when (6) controlling for confounding variables. In that spanking is noticeably practiced by conservative religious cultural groups, we hypothesize that it can be a fitness-promoting form of behaviour in line with religiousness being an example of a group-fitness-promoting adaptation.

The (oh-so-queerly-embodied) virtual

The virtual has become the latest rostrum for ideological heteronormativity; it increasingly plays host to an insidious rhetoric of unjustifiably fixed and oppositional gender binaries that exhort heterosexuality as a norm. Conservative political and religious groups, as well as consumerist advertising, utilise digital technology to reinforce cast-in-stone and adversarial social perspectives for manipulative and exploitative ends. Contrastingly, the virtual may be mobilised to support and facilitate queering in contemporary societies and may positively counter such fixed ideological heteronormative categories of social life. Crucial in this transformative account of the virtual is the body, which is for Merleau-Ponty the horizon of engagement with the world as a condition for perception and performativity. Queer perspectives may, in turn, overcome the oversight of Merleau-Ponty (as critically suggested by Judith Butler and Iris Marion Young) regarding the specific gendered characteristics of the body itself, and allows for an expanded embodied and queer conceptualisation of the virtual. A transformative vision of the virtual entails therefore a rethinking of our understanding of digital technology through (a) the phenomenology of the body-subject and (b) queer theory. I argue that the idea of the body as entirely discursive or performative (per queer theory) needs to be adjusted by explicating the foundational ontological characteristics of the body-subject’s encounter of the virtual.

Patriarchal norms, practices and changing gendered power relations - narratives of Ultra-Orthodox women in Israel

The Ultra-Orthodox community in Israel is undergoing massive changes, and these changes are clearly impacting the status of women, the different types of goals women set for themselves, and the myriad of ways in which they act towards achieving them. In this article, we examine these changes, focusing on how these women formulate and reformulate articulations of domestic femininity in ways that do not challenge the ‘Orthodox Ideal’ in the fundamental sense. We argue that the focus on these reformulations adds an additional and understudied arena – that of the household – in which to examine innovative representations of agency of women belonging to conservative religious groups. Our position thus contributes to a wider understanding of how religious women express agency while adhering to an overall religious patriarchal structure. Based on a series of group interviews with Ultra-Orthodox women, this article investigates the ways in which these women narrated their experiences within the changing gendered structures and spaces of Ultra-Orthodox society. By focusing on an analysis of women’s agency in the context of changing patriarchal practices, this article contributes towards an understanding of the role of women in promoting change within religiously conservative communities. The analysis highlights the ways in which women traverse and constitute boundaries between the domestic and the public, and how they narrate gender relations within their community and their own households.

Social Welfare at the End of the World: How the Mormons Created an Alternative to the New Deal and Helped Build Modern Conservatism

Abstract:It is common for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be considered one of the most conservative religious groups in the United States. What is less well understood is as to when the relationship between Mormonism and American conservatism began. While some historians point to the social upheavals in the 1960s and 1970s as the glue that united Mormons and conservatives, the connection began decades earlier during the Great Depression. Leaders of the Mormon Church interpreted Roosevelt’s New Deal as the fulfillment of eschatological prophecy. Envisioning themselves saving America and the Constitution at the world’s end, Mormon authorities established their own welfare program to inspire Latter-day Saints and Americans in general to eschew the New Deal. Anti–New Dealers used the Mormon welfare plan to construct a conservative ideology. Accordingly, Mormons are essential elements in the formation of a political movement that revolutionized the United States.

The Americanization of Orthodox Christians’ Promotion of Religious Freedom

Abstract Throughout their history in America, Orthodox Christians have promoted their religious freedom primarily through legal changes (e.g., executive orders, court decisions, or legislation). More recently, some Orthodox Christian leaders have begun to respond to the issue of religious freedom by engaging in American political discourse as established by larger conservative religious groups. Orthodox Christians now find themselves utilizing both approaches, exhibiting an Americanization of their faith by accepting the behavior patterns of native-born Americans as valid and authentic. This article explores the three distinct shifts that occurred in this process: self preservation to self-promotion, self-promotion to promoting the religious freedoms of Orthodox overseas, and the adoption of the religious rhetoric and tactics of some American religious conservatives.

Terrorism, Religion and Self-control: An Unexpected Connection Between Conservative Religious Commitment and Terrorist Efficacy

ABSTRACT Correlations between terrorism and the religious commitments of terrorist organizations and actors have been the subject of extensive scholarly investigation. 1 Whilst the focus has often been on extreme Jihadist terrorism, other terrorist groups and individuals with religious commitments have been widely discussed such as Baruch Goldstein’s 1994 attack in Hebron, Christian Identity groups in the US, and Aum Shinrikyo in Japan. 2 A number of theories have been advanced to explain the relationships between religious commitment and terrorism. For example, Atran has argued that many terrorists are “devoted actors”, and that members of deeply conservative religions are typically devoted actors. 3 Whilst not denying that these factors may be important, this article draws attention to a further significant impact of religion on terrorism: the surprising connection between religion and self-control. 4 Drawing on the large empirical literature establishing a link between religion (in particular deeply conservative religions) and self-control, it is hypothesized that the religious practices of religiously-inspired terrorists enhances their self-control and thus raises their efficacy, operationalized as casualties per attack. This hypothesis will be referred to as TERS (Terrorist Efficacy, Religion and Self-control). TERS predicts that highly conservative religious terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and ISIS will typically have higher levels of terrorist efficacy than non-religious or moderately religious groups, and the research of supports this hypothesis. 5 In addition, it is argued that TERS provides a crucial addition to Piazza’s emphasis on “universal/abstract” ideologies. 6 Piazza remarks that left-wing terrorist groups can have universal/abstract ideologies. Case studies of atheist left-wing terrorist groups—specifically the Red Army Faction and the Red Brigades—reveal that such groups satisfy Piazza’s characterization of universal/abstract groups but have casualty rates per attack very much lower than those of highly conservative religious groups such as Al Qaeda and its affiliates. It is argued that highly conservative religious convictions enhance the self-control of the latter groups, raising their efficacy relative to the former atheist groups.

Approval of Euthanasia: Differences Between Cohorts and Religion

Studying the role of social change, I investigated trends in approval for euthanasia between cohorts in the United States and how those trends are influenced by cohort replacement and religious attitudes. Using 16 waves from the General Social Survey (1985 to 2014; n = 6,638), I estimated differences in approval ratings between cohorts using logistic regression models. Models accounted for religious preference, religiosity, age, sex, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, marital status, and political ideology. Members of the baby boomer cohort are significantly more likely to approve of euthanasia than either their predecessors or successors, suggesting a cohort effect. Individuals who belong to more conservative religious groups and display higher levels of religiosity are less likely to approve. Cohort has a meaningful effect on approval of euthanasia, successors to the baby boomer cohort might increase their approval as their religiosity decreases and their parents and grandparents increasingly face end-of-life decisions.

A longitudinal study of attitudes toward evolution among undergraduates who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Polling data reveal a decades-long residual rejection of evolution in the United States, based on perceived religious conflict. Similarly, a strong creationist movement has been documented internationally, including in the Muslim world. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, Mormon), a generally conservative denomination, have historically harbored strong anti-evolution sentiments. We report here a significant shift toward acceptance, compared to attitudes 30 years earlier, by students at Brigham Young University, which is owned and operated by the LDS church. This change appears to have multiple explanations. Students currently entering the university have been exposed to a much-improved introduction to evolution during high school. More importantly, there has been a significant decrease in negative messaging from Church authorities and in its religious education system. There is also evidence that current students have been positively influenced toward evolution by their parents, a large percentage of whom were BYU students, who earlier were given a strong science education deemed compatible with the maintenance of religious belief. A pre-post comparison demonstrates that a majority of current students become knowledgeable and accepting following a course experience focused on evolutionary principles delivered in a faith-friendly atmosphere. Elements of that classroom pedagogy, intended to promote reconciliation, are presented. Our experience may serve as a case-study for prompting changes in acceptance of evolution in other conservative religious groups.

Gender-based violence and the patrimonial state in Nicaragua: The rise and fall of Ley 779

For the last several decades, a global ideological struggle has been taking place between organizations and institutions that promote women’s rights and a parallel countermovement of conservative and religious groups defending so-called “family values”. The recent political struggle over gender-violence law in Nicaragua is a microcosm of these dynamics. In 2012, the Nicaraguan government passed its most comprehensive law on gender-based violence to date (Ley 779). However, following a backlash by local conservative religious groups, many of the law’s major provisions were substantially weakened. This article analyzes how President Daniel Ortega’s initial support for Ley 779 was undone by the conservative outcry against it. The author argues that the seeming reversal of Ortega and his allies on Ley 779 is better understood as a continuation of Ortega’s longstanding tensions with the country’s feminist movement and his alliance with conservative religious groups. The implications of this alliance go well beyond the particulars of Ley 779. Through his suppression of dissent and integration of religious ideologies into state institutions, Ortega’s actions have created a patrimonial-authoritarian state characterized by the personalization of patriarchal authority that severely undermines women’s rights in Nicaragua.

Novas tentativas de controle moral da educação: conflitos sobre gênero e sexualidade no currículo e na formação docente

A sociedade brasileira tem vivenciado um intenso embate hegemonico sobre as concepcoes de genero e sexualidade articuladas nas politicas publicas de curriculo e formacao docente. Grupos politicos e religiosos conservadores tem desenvolvido um ataque agressivo ao que denominam “ideologia de genero” na educacao. A partir de uma analise dos processos de formacao dos discursos pela igualdade de genero e diversidade sexual nas politicas educacionais brasileiras ao longo das ultimas decadas e da emergencia de discursos reativos (neo)conservadores no contexto atual, o texto busca discutir as condicoes de (im) possibilidade desse confronto hegemonico. A analise e desenvolvida em dialogo com os debates pos-estruturalistas no campo da educacao e, em especial, com a Teoria Politica do Discurso de Laclau e Mouffe. O trabalho aponta que ambos os polos discursivos engajados no conflito atual sao construcoes historicas contingentes e que o debate no campo da educacao tem sido predominantemente realizado a partir do parâmetro comum das politicas de acomodacao e gestao estrategicas das diferencas. Palavras-chave: curriculo, formacao docente, genero.

The War Within

The ‘culture war’ paradigm has come to dominate the legal discourse on conflicts between religious liberty and sexual and LGBTQ equality. Despite its political relevance, this paradigm is problematic as applied to the broad universe of conflicts between religion and equality. As a result, legal discourse frequently misconceives religion as monolithically oppositional to equality, constantly seeking more ground, and without values in common with its challengers. This article argues for a modified framework that acknowledges the war that occurs within religion regarding equality challenges. Drawing on qualitative and experimental evidence from the United States and Israel and on cases from a range of countries and contexts, the article finds that conservative religious groups struggle between opposing perceived sexual nonconformity and tolerating it, and that their resolution of this struggle varies in systematic and predictable ways. Specifically, the article identifies the practice of ‘social impact regulation,’ whereby religious decision-makers selectively apply and enforce religious norms based on the perceived impact of sexual nonconformity on the community and the social status of the religious norm. The article discusses the consequences of this practice, demonstrates its breadth, and explores its implications for the culture war paradigm, for legal doctrine, and for the negotiation of conflicts between law and religion. Ultimately, the reality of the war within religion presents both challenges and opportunities for law.

Examining Links Between Religion, Evolution Views, and Climate Change Skepticism

Recent media portrayals link climate change skepticism to evolution skepticism, often as part of a larger “antiscience” tendency related to membership in conservative religious groups. Using national survey data, we examine the link between evolution skepticism and climate change skepticism, and consider religion’s association with both. Our analysis shows a modest association between the two forms of skepticism along with some shared predictors, such as political conservatism, a lack of confidence in science, and lower levels of education. Evangelical Protestants also show more skepticism toward both evolution and climate change compared with the religiously unaffiliated. On the whole, however, religion has a much stronger and clearer association with evolution skepticism than with climate change skepticism. Results contribute to scholarly discussions on how different science issues may or may not interact, the role of religion in shaping perceptions of science, and how science policy makers might better channel their efforts to address environmental care and climate change in particular.