Item Detail
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22717
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0
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0
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English
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Struggling With the Mormon Ideal : African-American Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Honor's thesis
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"African-American women who have converted to the Mormon Church face potential social and cultural conflicts as they try to assimilate themselves into the Mormon culture. Through Oral History interviews, this thesis seeks to answer two important questions: What motivates African-American women to join the Mormon Church, and can African-American women fit the Mormon ideal? African-American women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are a growing phenomenon. However, there are several paradoxes that exist within the Mormon Church, which place many African-American members in a dilemma as they try to live by the Mormon ideal. I argue that although some African-Americans have converted to Mormonism and hold fast to their new faith, as was the case twenty years ago, many still feel the need to be connected with Protestant denominations. The rich, cultural heritage of African-Americans, which is by-in-large, absent in the Mormon Church, is found in the black church. While Mormon Church doctrine does not support bi-faith memberships, African-American Mormons are forced to live in two worlds, as they are inextricably linked to the church of their heritage, the black church." [Author's abstract]