"The Evil Spirits Are Always Trying to Bring You Down": Righteousness and Spirit Harassment Among Latter-day Saints in Northern Utah
This article explores contemporary Latter-day Saint conceptions of evil in northern Utah through considering both the lived experiences of spirits and the didactic tales of spirits that are a rich part of local folklore. Latter-day Saints are visited by both benevolent and malevolent spirits. These...
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| Type de support: | Électronique Article |
| Langue: | Anglais |
| Vérifier la disponibilité: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | En cours de chargement...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Publié: |
Oxford University Press
2022
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| Dans: |
Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Année: 2022, Volume: 90, Numéro: 3, Pages: 695-712 |
| Accès en ligne: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Résumé: | This article explores contemporary Latter-day Saint conceptions of evil in northern Utah through considering both the lived experiences of spirits and the didactic tales of spirits that are a rich part of local folklore. Latter-day Saints are visited by both benevolent and malevolent spirits. These encounters with spirits are connected with local conceptions of "righteousness," a moral framework that is centered on positive action. Malevolent spirit visits are typically understood as the consequence of "unrighteous" actions or as impediments to exceptionally righteous activity; indeed, the most righteous actions are perhaps the most spiritually dangerous. Negative visitations reflect a cultural framework of evil as a human phenomenon that results from the temptations and distractions of an aggressive, external cosmological force - Satan. Righteous and unrighteous actions both attract the interest of Satan, and therefore invite the possibility of evil to disrupt the moral order. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4585 |
| Contient: | Enthalten in: American Academy of Religion, Journal of the American Academy of Religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfac048 |