Public and Proud: Civil Religion in America and 911 Público
Wilson, William Wyatt (2010)
Abstract
Abstract
Public and Proud: Civil Religion in America and 911
By W. Wyatt Wilson
Civil religion is a social phenomenon most widely understood as a
Judeo-
Christian tradition interfaced with social and political conditions
within the American
landscape. The civil religion product is made observable through
postmodern theory
and a thorough understanding of how social factors condition
religion. With these
suppositions, particularly postmodern framework, ethnography offers
a prime avenue
to document civil religion. In this study, 12 participants were
interviewed in an effort
to compile 12 detailed and revelatory narratives concerning the
events that happened
on September 11th, 2001. Each oral history was transcribed in full
with the guidance
of an Introspective Journal. After interviews were completed,
conceptual categories
were generated by grouping consistent and recurring phrases in a
framework built by
Grounded Theory. Conclusively, 8 categories were generated, each
demonstrating a
different aspect of the American civil religion experience. These
categories
demonstrated modes of American epistemologies and identity that
related to the
normative American vision endowed during the nation's emergence in
the 18th
century. The categories also demonstrate an valuable process that
uncovers lived
religion in the United States.
Furthermore, since these values were not strict reiterations of
colonial
American beliefs, they represent a negotiation between present,
past and future
values. This aspect illuminates the socially malleable nature
surrounding the civil
religious paradigm. Additionally, while the interviews mainly
concerned 911 and
terror, they demonstrate how antagonistic situations at large
provide a fertile arena in
which civil religion can thrive.
Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction...............................................................................................................
1
I. Investigating the Sacred: Documenting Civil Religion in
America
Part I - The Problem with Western
"Religion"……………………………………..….
9
Diagram
1…………………………………………………………………………………
20
Diagram
2………………………………………………………………………………..
28
Part II - The Religious Civilian in
America………………………………………….….
18
Part III -
9/11/2001……………………………………………………………………………..
25
II. More Than a Black Swan: Social Science Research and
Grounded
Theory
Introduction…………………………………………………………………..………….…………
30
Part I - Grounded
Theory…….………………………………………………………………..
30
Part II - Theory Versus
Replication………………………………………………………..
33
Part III -
Methodology…………………………………………………………………...…….
43
III. A Tour of Ethnography: Research Findings and Discussion
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….………..
47
Part I -
Procedure……………………………………………………………...………………….
48
Part II -
Results…………………………………………………………..……………...………..
54
Part III -
Discussion……………………………………………….………………………………
57
i.
Questions………………………………………………………………………..………
58
ii.
Categories………………………………………………………………….…………..
65
iii. Quantitative
Spreadsheet………………………………………………...…….
68
iv. Trends and
Anomalies…………………..………………………….……………
68
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………….………………..
72
References…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…
75
Appendix
I………………………………………………………………………………………………………
78
Appendix
II……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
88
Appendix
III………………………………………………………………………………………..…………
114
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