The Christian Sentinel
August 2004 issue
Dissertation Abstract
Title: Borrowed or Stolen? A Study of Plagiarism in Religion, with an Emphasis on Contemporary Religious Media.
© (copyright) 2004, William M. Alnor
Editor's Note: The following is the 350-word abstract of William M. Alnor's Ph.D. Dissertation. The dissertation will be available shortly through the UMI Dissertations Abstracts database and through a worldwide network of online information providers including OCLC, Dialog, Silver Platter, and STN. Additionally the PDF format of the documents will soon be available through ProQuest Digital Dissertations. However, if you are a scholar and have a pressing need to view the dissertation, Alnor has a limited number of copies of the 428-page work in a bound format. If you would like a copy, he requests advance payment of $15, and he will ship it to you postage paid. He also would like you to write him and explain why you would like to have a copy. E-mail him at bill@cultlink.com. Bill's address is PO Box 3, Bishop, TX 78343.
Title: Borrowed or Stolen? A Study of Plagiarism in Religion with an Emphasis on Contemporary Religious Media.
© (copyright) 2004, William M. Alnor
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
Temple University, August 2004
Doctoral Advisory Committee
Chair: Dr. Patricia Bradley
This dissertation examines the subject of the growth of intellectual property law and the apparent rise of (and ease of committing) plagiarism. It discusses such related concepts as fair use, copyright infringement, piracy, forgery, subconscious plagiarism, and ghostwriting. It discusses the history of plagiarism and looks at accusations directed against Helen Keller, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Jack London, Edgar Allan Poe, and many others, along with some recent highly publicized cases involving historians Stephen Ambrose, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Stephen B. Oates. It examines cases in which famous popular authors such as Stephen King and J.K. Rowling were falsely accused.
By combining a historical method with investigative reporting techniques, it contains some content analysis of modern evangelical media products. Its main focus was examining plagiarism and the growth of intellectual property in the area of religion, with an emphasis on the contemporary Protestant religious media. The study points out that conservative Protestants have become by far the most influential religious media group from the middle of the twentieth century to the present. Members of this group are comprised of evangelicals (including those from Calvinistic, Wesleyan and Baptist groups) who have formed voluntary alliances with Pentecostals and experience-based charismatic Christians. They now control more than 1,800 Christian radio stations in the U.S., along with many other media enterprises.
This study also contains the results of a 2003 survey of almost 400 evangelical writers and publishing executives on the topic of plagiarism. They concluded that most of the plagiarism committed today by religionists is unintentional. The study concludes that reforms within the religious media are needed.
The dissertation shows through tables and charts, line by line plagiarism by such contemporary religious media figures as Hank Hanegraaff of the Christian Research Institute, Kenneth Hagin, Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry Falwell, Charles Ryrie, Chuck Missler, Richard Abanes, W.A. Criswell, Jack Van Impe, Charles Ryrie, Spiros Zodhiates, Tim LaHaye, and several nonevangelicals such as Deepak Chopra.
It also looks at plagiarism allegations directed against the late Baptist minister and civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. This is framed in the context of pulpit theft in religion.
