Attendance Matters: Religion and Ethical Affirmation of Gay and Lesbian Sexuality

This paper uses data from the 1974–2010 General Social Surveys to analyze the relationship between religion and ethical affirmation of gay and lesbian sexuality. Religion has become increasingly important in understanding the greater variation in ethical affirmation of same-sex sexuality over this t...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Wright, Nathan (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Springer 2014
Dans: Review of religious research
Année: 2014, Volume: 56, Numéro: 2, Pages: 245-273
Sujets non-standardisés:B Homosexuality
B Public Opinion
B Religious service attendance
Accès en ligne: Volltext (JSTOR)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Édition parallèle:Électronique
Description
Résumé:This paper uses data from the 1974–2010 General Social Surveys to analyze the relationship between religion and ethical affirmation of gay and lesbian sexuality. Religion has become increasingly important in understanding the greater variation in ethical affirmation of same-sex sexuality over this time period. Yet in contrast to previous studies which have emphasized denominational affiliation, orthodoxy of religious belief, or alignment along a left–right political or theological spectrum as the key predictors, this study emphasizes the role of social isolation. With the sole exception of recent Mainline Protestants, religious service attendance is found to be a strong predictor of levels of affirmation regardless of denominational affiliation or level of conservatism, with liberal Christians who attend weekly religious services looking very similar to conservative Evangelicals who attend fewer services. A potential argument explaining this finding is put forth: Weekly attenders of religious services are more likely to be isolated into a narrower institutional field while more occasional attenders may hold identical theological and political beliefs but are more likely to have a breadth of perspective that comes from multiple institutional connections. As such, the barriers to greater affirmation of gay and lesbian sexuality may be less about religion than about social isolation.
ISSN:2211-4866
Contient:Enthalten in: Review of religious research
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s13644-013-0143-0