Browsing by Subject "Catholic"
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Item God save this honorable court : religion as a source of judicial policy preferences(2012-05) Blake, William Dawes; Perry, H. W.; Brinks, DanIf Supreme Court behavior is structured largely by the policy preferences of the justices, political scientists ought to consider the source of those preferences. Religion is one force that can strongly shape a judge’s worldview and therefore her votes. In this paper, I examine the effect of religion on U.S. Supreme Court votes in 11 issue areas plausibly connected to religious values. Catholic justices vote in ways that more closely adhere to the teachings of the Catholic Church than non-Catholic justices even after controlling for ideology. These results may indicate that Catholic theology is different from Protestant or Jewish theology. It is also possible that on some issues there is not much of a theological difference, but religious values play a more prominent role in public life for Catholic justices.Item Influence of culture, faith, environment, and building technology on the built form: the case of nineteenth-century Catholic churches in Galveston, Texas(2009-06-02) Dubbelde, David MarkWhy do churches of the same faith built in the same location and era of time differ in their built form? The focus of this dissertation led to the identification of four variables that influence the built form. These are culture, faith, environment and building technology. The physical location (Galveston, Texas), Catholicism, and era of time (last half of the nineteenth century (19C)) are significant to the framework of this study. A single location held constant the physical environment-climate and topography. Catholicism held constant faith. The era of time exposed the study churches to the same, but evolving, built environment and building technology. Galveston, in particular, during the era of study, presented a dynamic confluence of these variables. The city emerged as the commercial entrep?t and financial center for Texas. It was Texas's cultural capital and its most dynamic urban center boasting the most advanced architecture. It had the best newspapers and theater in the state and was the first city in Texas to provide electricity and telephones. During this era Galveston was a gateway for thousands of European Catholic immigrants, who brought to Texas a diversity of culture, traditions and skills. The Catholic Church chose Galveston as the place to reassert itself in America against a Protestant wave swept westward on a tide of settlement. A conceptual model illustrating the interaction of these variables among each other and on the built form was created. From this model two subordinate models were developed and three hypotheses were derived which test the assumption that variety in church form and construction is a function of culture. The research is a qualitative approach implementing a comparative analysis methodology of multiple cases-five Catholic churches (the study units). The data for the individual study units were analyzed against a set of criteria for each of the variables identified. A comparative analysis matrix was used to contrast these data between the variables and the study units from which conclusions were drawn. The results of this analysis demonstrated that of these variables culture was the most influential on the built form, thus supporting the research hypotheses. Therefore, it is concluded that the variety in the churches' built form was a function of culture.Item Poetry, prayer, and pedagogy: writings by and for the English Catholic community, 1547-1650(2009-05-15) Garcia, Patricia MarieThis study examines the role of religious poetry and pedagogy in maintaining the English Catholic community during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. English Catholics faced legal sanctions, social isolation, and physical harm for practicing their faith, and the Catholic church began a campaign to maintain, educate, and minister to the community covertly through the use of Jesuit missionaries and published pedagogical texts. The influence of such experiences can be seen in the literary works of John Donne, Robert Southwell, Richard Crashaw, and Elizabeth Cary, as well as in the instructional works by lesser-known Catholic writers including John Fowler, Thomas Wright, John Bucke, Henry Garnet, Gaspar Loarte, John Mush, Jeanne de Cambray, and Agnes More. These texts also show a stylistic influence upon one another wherein pedagogical texts utilize poetic language, and poetic texts instruct the reader in religious practice through modeling and example. Through a careful reading of these works, I examine the early modern literary landscape of England in its Catholic context. Finally, I argue that the question of Protestant/Catholic identity led to the development of a religious poetics that emphasized the role of the individual within this crisis and, more importantly, in his or her relationship with God.Item Re-creating the sacred: Romantic aesthetics in sacred contexts in the late 19th century(2006-05) Berry, James B.; Smith, Christopher; Dickson, John H.; Hobbs, Wayne C.The late nineteenth century saw a widening in the gap between the style of music written in a sacred context and that written in a secular context. While in previous time periods music written in a sacred context could be stylistically similar to that written in a secular context, the late nineteenth century saw the establishment of highly contrasting expectations, goals, and stylistic characteristics for sacred as opposed to secular idioms. Composers who desired to write in both sacred and secular idioms were thus forced to find a way to bridge this stylistic gap. The strategies which each composer chose to employ illuminate both specific characteristics of that composer’s music and also the overall contexts in which sacred music was written in the nineteenth century. This study attempts to explore this thesis through the sacred works of Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, and Anton Bruckner.Item Same-sex parents in San Antonio(2012-05) Lee, Yi-Mou; Minutaglio, Bill; Dahlby, TracySan Antonio has the highest percentage of same-sex couples raising children compared to any other major metropolis in the nation. The unlikely emergence of San Antonio as a haven for same-sex parents is tied to many complex issues and themes – it touches on history, religion and race deep in the heart of Texas. Below its seemingly conservative surface, San Antonio has a decidedly liberal undercurrent: Its liberal legal system, a network of Catholic leaders quietly supports the gay families, and the Latino community that presents a tolerant side. The story explores the question: How can San Antonio have such high numbers of gay parents, but still be seen by gay parents as a hostile place to live? That seeming dichotomy speaks to the ongoing tension in the nation where liberals push for civil rights, while conservatives push to preserve traditional family values. The battles in the political, religious and cultural arenas in San Antonio exemplify the longstanding tug of war over family values in this country and might help us understand just what the future holds for same-sex couples in the rest of American society.