Mary Ellen Konieczny
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199965779
- eISBN:
- 9780199346059
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199965779.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Chapter 3, “Marriage,”examines the local cultures of marriage in each parish in order to show how they are supported and shaped by the social processes of Catholic identity construction and central ...
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Chapter 3, “Marriage,”examines the local cultures of marriage in each parish in order to show how they are supported and shaped by the social processes of Catholic identity construction and central church metaphors, and consequently, how these cultures support polarizing tendencies among Catholics, particularly around abortion. At Assumption, marriage is tightly coupled with Church doctrine about human sexuality, especially those prohibiting artificial contraception. Marital identities are primarily constituted around family life and retraditionalized gender relations. At St. Brigitta, couples instead tend to ground marital intimacy in romantic love and the ideal of an equal partnership, with couples supporting each other in their involvements in religiously-informed work in service-oriented careers or volunteerism.Common patterns found between church social relations and marriages in each setting explain how Catholicism shapes both the domestic politics of marriage and its relation to moral polarization in public politics of the family.Less
Chapter 3, “Marriage,”examines the local cultures of marriage in each parish in order to show how they are supported and shaped by the social processes of Catholic identity construction and central church metaphors, and consequently, how these cultures support polarizing tendencies among Catholics, particularly around abortion. At Assumption, marriage is tightly coupled with Church doctrine about human sexuality, especially those prohibiting artificial contraception. Marital identities are primarily constituted around family life and retraditionalized gender relations. At St. Brigitta, couples instead tend to ground marital intimacy in romantic love and the ideal of an equal partnership, with couples supporting each other in their involvements in religiously-informed work in service-oriented careers or volunteerism.Common patterns found between church social relations and marriages in each setting explain how Catholicism shapes both the domestic politics of marriage and its relation to moral polarization in public politics of the family.