ABSTRACT
In this chapter we describe three ways sacred theory has relationships with broader issues and ideas. The first part of the chapter describes ways the ideas in the theory are related to a number of ideals and beliefs that are advocated by theories and philosophies that are very different from sacred theory. Many of these other philosophies advocate ideas that compete with the ideas in sacred theory, and some of them promote ideas that are harmful in families. We compare these competing ideas with the ideas in sacred theory in the hope this will help more family members better understand the differences, and choose ways of behaving that are helpful rather than destructive. This part of the chapter concludes with some ways to apply these ideas. The second section in this chapter discusses ways sacred theory is related to the conceptual frameworks and general theories that have been widely used in studying families, and some of the ways of integrating ideas in different theories. The last section describes some of the implications sacred theory has for several nonfamily institutions such as government, law, and education.
