Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Schewe, Rebecca L.

Committee Member

Kelly, Kimberly

Committee Member

Peterson, Lindsey P.

Committee Member

Rader, Nicole E.

Date of Degree

5-17-2014

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Sociology

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Sociology

Abstract

This project is a study of how various Protestant Christian subcultures construct their identity and perceptions of LGBT couples in the 21st century United States sociopolitical context. Through an extensive content analysis of 105 sermon transcripts from www.sermoncentral.com, this project allows for a more accurate interpretation of Protestant Christian subgroups’ (via individual perceptions of pastors through their sermon rhetoric) stances on the issues of gay rights in the modern United States. Additionally, I use 2012 GSS survey data as background findings to frame and illustrate the relevance of the results from the content analysis. The content analysis findings show that various pastors from the sample construct their views of gay men and lesbians by 1) alienating LGBT couples, 2) enhancing in-group Protestant identities, and 3) calling for political action to maintain group norms.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/18096

Comments

LGBT||Pulpit Rhetoric||In-Group||Out-Group||Politics

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