Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Role of Religion in War and Peace

玛丽·埃伦·科涅兹尼·克里斯托弗·莫里西圣母大学宗教如何以及为什么支持或反对国家支持的暴力？2003年伊拉克战争开始之前，美国的公开辩论两极分化严重，这一情况提供了一个重要的机会，可以在许多宗教团体对战争持赞成或反对的不同立场时，审查宗教宣传问题。本研究提出了以下实证研究问题：如何以及为什么宗教宣传反对伊拉克战争不同于宗教宣传的战争？宗教和世俗对战争的宣传有多相似或不同？宗教是如何进入关于战争的更广泛的辩论的，它参与辩论的后果是什么？为了回答这些问题，本研究通过分析公共文件来分析公共辩论的文化结构和内容。其次，该研究使用了对位于华盛顿的重要精英参与者的采访，以更好地了解他们的战略和网络，否则可能会被只分析进入公共记录的文件所掩盖。最后，本研究将使用各种民意调查来分析公众对伊拉克战争问题的看法。更广泛的影响在这个“恐怖时代”，人们对宗教与暴力与和平的关系非常感兴趣。通过调查支持和反对国家暴力的宗教倡导的变化，本论文可能会提供有益于国内和国际社会的宝贵理解和信息，以减少暴力冲突。

SES-1003045Mary Ellen KonieznyChristopher MorrisseyUniversity of Notre DameHow and why does religion either support or oppose state-sponsored violence? The case of the highly polarized public debate in the United States before the beginning of hostilities in Iraq in 2003 provides an important opportunity to examine religious advocacy when many religious groups took divergent positions for or against the war. This study asks the following empirical research questions: How and why did religious advocacy against the Iraq War differ from religious advocacy for the war? How similar or different were religious and secular advocacy on the war? How did religion enter the broader debate over the war and what were the consequences of its participation in the debate? To answer these questions, the study analyzes public documents to analyze the cultural structure and content of the public debate. Second, the study uses interviews of important elite participants based in Washington, DC in the public discussion in order to better understand their strategies and networks that may otherwise be obscured by analysis of only the documents that made it into the public record. Finally, the study will use a variety of polls to analyze any shifts in public opinion on the issue of the Iraq War.Broader Impacts In this "Age of Terror" there is much interest in the relation of religion to violence and peace. By investigating variation in religious advocacy both for and against state violence, this dissertation could potentially offer valuable understanding and information beneficial to society, both domestically and internationally, in curtailing violent conflict.