This article examines the relationship between sexual orientation and religious experience of men from early adolescence to adulthood. Data have been obtained from an online survey of 1,042 males who were part of a larger sample of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) persons who are current or former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS, Mormon). While early religious experience was essentially identical to that of heterosexuals, the gap between religious norms and experience widened as these men moved through early and mid-adulthood. Those who married did so at a later age, and experienced a high rate of divorce. Continued participation, integration, and conformity to LDS ideals was not attributable to faith in, or a departure from, fundamental doctrinal belief. Instead, the responsible variable was sexual orientation, measured by the Kinsey Scale scores across behavior, attraction, and identity. For those near the exclusively homosexual end of the spectrum, the failure to change sexual orientation after intense effort over many years resulted in loss of belonging, belief, and participation, along with increased negative emotions and a sense of mistreatment.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as LDS Church or Mormon Church, typifies a conservative Christian branch that has been moving through phases in its views on homosexuality. We apply a historical-sociological framework, valid for most of Christianity, to identify how Mormon church leaders shifted from ambiguous tolerance to condemnation of homosexuality. A moral-theological rationale grew only afterwards. Individual church leaders determined the tone which morphed from homophobic to empathetic rhetoric with the nurture-nature debate, the fight against same-sex marriage, and the drama of teen suicides as backdrop. For Mormon gays and lesbians the present doctrine requires them to sacrifice their sexual identity in order to earn social inclusiveness and a promise of salvation. In a broader context of the development of newer religions, Mormonism wants to profile itself as a full-fledged church with both strong principles and Christian charisma, thus trying to shed a historically marginal heritage.
This article discusses insider/outsider perspectives in qualitative research among religious people. Focus is on the insider researcher. Even if researcher and participants share the same overall religious adherence or are members of the same denomination, various factors can differentiate them substantially, affecting insider/outsider perspectives. The methodological implications of this phenomenon are drawn from research on the perception of gender roles among Mormon women in Belgium. The mutual perception of researcher and participant can influence the data collection phase as value-laden issues are being discussed. To ensure the validity and objectivity of research in this context, positionalities of researcher and participants need to be clearly defined and methodological safeguards put into place. The analysis of the interactions between researcher and participants led to the identification of seven intersecting insider/outsider perspectives: denominational, congregational, social, religious, topical, lingual, and academic. Moreover, as compound insider/outsider positions move on several continua, various factors can change the perspectives during interviews. This article adds to the methodology of qualitative research by uncovering perspectives which researchers can consider or adapt when interviewing religious participants.
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