Dilemmas of Utopian Commitment in a Contemporary Religious Sect. Ronald Edward Roberts Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1969 Dilemmas of Utopian Commitment in a Contemporary Religious Sect. Ronald Edward Roberts Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Roberts, Ronald Edward, "Dilemmas of Utopian Commitment in a Contemporary Religious Sect." (1969). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 1616. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/1616 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 70-263 ROBERTS, Ronald Edward, 1939- DILEMMAS OF UTOPIAN COMMITMENT IN A CONTEMPORARY RELIGIOUS SECT. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Ph.D., 1969 Sociology, socialism, communism, anarchism University Microiilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan DILEMMAS OF UTOPIAN COMMITMENT IN A CONTEMPORARY RELIGIOUS SECT A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Sociology by Ronald Edward Roberts B.A., Drake University, 1961 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1964 May, 1969 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A number of individuals were instrumental in the development of this study, but none more than Dr. Vernon Parenton, the author's major professor at Louisiana State University. Professor Parenton has not only directed the . preparation of this study, he has been a constant source of encouragement and "Sociological Imagination" for the writer. Dr. Rex Enoch has also been of great aid in the development of the basic research design of this study. Moreover, he has assisted the author in "sculpting" and refining the text. Others helpful in the preparation of this manuscript were Dr. Alvin Bertrand, who had aided the writer in prior research ventures, Dr. W.J. Jokinen, Chairman of the Sociology Depart ment, Louisiana State University, and Dr. Virginia Glad of the Department of Psychology. Professor Rudolf Heberle has also assisted the author by providing him with valuable source material. Moreover, the writer is greatly indebted to his wife Patricia Roberts who took time from her own educational goals to aid in the editing and shaping of the text. The author's mother, Mrs. Mae Roberts, was also a source of aid and encouragement in the preparation of this work. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................... ii LIST OF T A B L E S ........................ vi ABSTRACT,.............................. .............. viii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.......... 1 Rationale for the S t u d y .................. 1 Structure and Design of the S t u d y ........ 3 • II. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON UTOPIA .......... 6 Marx and M a r x i s m ........................ 7 Emile Du riche i m .......................... 9 Karl Mannheim .......................... 12 Frank Manuel ............................. 16 Lewis Mumford - Judith Shklar............ 21 Summation of Perspectives................ 25 III. PREINDUSTRIAL UTOPISTS . 28 The Beginnings ........................... 28 Plato - The Ideal Polis . .............. ■ 32 Medieval Utopists ........................ 38 Anabaptists - The New Jerusalem.......... 42 IV. EUROPEAN UTOPIST THOUGHT .................... 49 F o u r i e r i s m ............................... -50 Saint-Simon and His Followers............ 55 Robert Owen - New Lanark. ............ 61 V. CCMMUNITARIANISM IN A M E R I C A ................ 67 Shaker Societies . ...................... 68 Germanic Utopists in the New World ...... 73 R a p p i t e s ............................. 73 Inspirationists . .............. 76 M e n n o n i t e s ........................... 78 Owenism in America - The New Harmony E x p e r i e n c e .......................... 80 Fourierism in America . ■................ 85 Icaria - Etienne Cabet .................. 92 Oneida - John Humphrey Noyes . ......... 97 Summation and Perspectives............ 100 ill Page VI. THE STRUCTURE AND GENESIS OF THE LATTER DAY SAINT MOVEMENT ................... 105 Early History of the M o v e m e n t ................105 Charisma, its Routinization and R e b i r t h ..................................... 115 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) ............... 118 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangites) ........... 121 Church of Christ (Rigdonites) .... 122 Jehovah's Presbytery of Zion (Thompsonites)........................ 123 The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints .... 124 VII. THE EVOLUTION OF LATTER DAY SAINT UTOPIAN CONCEPTS ................... 132 Pre 1844 Concepts ....................... 132 Post 1844 Concepts in the Reorganized C h u r c h ................................... 145 VIII. RESEARCH D E S I G N ............................ 154 H y p o t h e s e s ................................... 154 The Instrument ...............................160 Conservatism Scale ................... 160 Dogmatism S c a l e ........................ 161 Conceptualization of Z i o n ............. 162 Religious Orthodoxy Scale ........... 162 Sectarian Utopian Commitment Scale ... 163 Other Attitudinal Items Concerning Utopian Beliefs ................... 164 Sample and Population ........................ 165 IX. FINDINGS, ANALYSIS ............................ 168 General Characteristics of Student " S a m p l e ..................................... 168 Students Definitions of the Concept of Z i o n ..................... 170 Academic Status and Utopian Beliefs .... 173 Parental Church Activities and .Students Utopian Commitment ............. 181 Conservatism and Sectarian Utopian Commitment ...................... 183 Dogmatism and Sectarian Utopian C o m m i t m e n t ................................. 185 Religious Orthodoxy and Sectarian Utopian Commitment ........................ 190 iv Page X. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS...................... 193 Resectarianism...................... 196 Liberal Reform ........................... ’ 202 Sublimation ............................ 205 Disaffection - Rejection.................. 208 Conclusions ............ 210 APPENDIX ....................................... 224 VITA ........................................... 236 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page I. Place of Home Residence of Student Sample . 168 II. Responses of Student Sample to the Question "Where Have You Lived Most of Your Life? . 169 III. Academic Majors of Student Sample ..........170 IV. Analysis of Responses to the Statement: "Define the Concept of Zion as You Understand It”, by Academic Standing .... 171 V. Political Orientation of Student Sample by Academic Standing .................. 174 VI. Extent of Religious Activity in Student Sample by Academic Standing .................. 175 VII. Student Sample's Concept of Zion by Academic S t a t u s .........................177 VIII. Students Academic Status: Its Relationship to Conservatism, Dogmatism, Religious Orthodoxy, Commitment to Utopianism, and Number of Cognitive Elements in Utopian Belief System ........................ 179 IX. Mother and Father's Church Activity and Importance of Utopian Concent to Student . 182 X. Zero Order Scale Score Correlations for Conservatism, Religious Orthodoxy, Utopian Commitment and Number of Concepts Seen "Essential" to Belief in Z i o n ......184 XI. Responses to the Question: "Which of the Following Ideas do you Consider Absolutely Essential to your Conception of Zion?", by Academic Status . 188 vi Table Page XXI. Difference in Mean Number of Elements Held "Essential" to Belief in Zion and Degree of Dogmatism of Students ............. 189 vii ABSTRACT Utopian thought and movements have been characteristic of the Western World from post medieval times to the present. This study attempts to explicate the concept through historical analysis and further to explore the dynamics of utopian commitment in a contemporary religious eect. The first section of the study explores the comparative morphologies of utopian movements developed by Karl Marx, Louis Mumford, Karl Mannheim, Frank Manuel, and others. A brief analysis of preindustrial utopian thought (i.e., the Anabaptist movement) follows. Next the author explores the thought of three secular European Utopists, Henri de Saint Simon, Charles Fourier, and Robert Owen. The study then focuses more specifically on American Communitarian developments of the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The social organization, the sectarian tendencies of the groups, and the probable causes of the demise of the isolated utopian community in America are explored. One example of an American group holding to utopian and millenarian views is the Latter Day Saint Movement. The genesis and sectarian tendencies of this movement are noted and the utopian thought of one of the organizations in the viii movement, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is described. The author distributed Questionnaires to approximately one third of all the Reorganized Latter Day Saint students in attendance at their church college in southern Iowa. It was the author's basiciproposition that individuals holding