The Rhetoric and Logic of Risk in Religion: Las Vegas Experience

Session Title

Session 1-1-E: Gambling and the American Dream

Presentation Type

Event

Location

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

Start Date

28-5-2019 9:15 AM

End Date

28-5-2019 10:40 AM

Disciplines

Sociology

Abstract

This paper explores how religious perspectives shape risk behavior
throughout society, and how the logic of risk-taking influences
religious groups and theologies. Analyzing data collected in a religious group in Nevada, along with a wide range of interdisciplinary scholarship on the subject, this research explores the intersections of religion and gambling/risk culture. I examine the academic literature on the macro-level effects of religion and gambling culture, and then explore through ethnographic research among religious practitioners in a Las Vegas megachurch how the rhetoric and logic of risk pervade the discourse of this religious group. This research contributes to an important and often unexplored field of research on the significant relationships among gambling, risking taking, and religion.

Keywords

Sociology, Religion, Gambling, Risk, Technology

Author Bios

Josiah Kidwell is a researcher and sociology Ph.D. student at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, working on a dissertation examining the role of technology in megachurches. His research focuses on how technology transforms spatiality and temporality in this context, altering how individuals interpret and experience religion.

Comments

I would like to submit this paper to the session "Gaming, Gambling, and Getting Ahead in American Society" organized by Dr. Dmitri Shalin.

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May 28th, 9:15 AM May 28th, 10:40 AM

The Rhetoric and Logic of Risk in Religion: Las Vegas Experience

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

This paper explores how religious perspectives shape risk behavior
throughout society, and how the logic of risk-taking influences
religious groups and theologies. Analyzing data collected in a religious group in Nevada, along with a wide range of interdisciplinary scholarship on the subject, this research explores the intersections of religion and gambling/risk culture. I examine the academic literature on the macro-level effects of religion and gambling culture, and then explore through ethnographic research among religious practitioners in a Las Vegas megachurch how the rhetoric and logic of risk pervade the discourse of this religious group. This research contributes to an important and often unexplored field of research on the significant relationships among gambling, risking taking, and religion.