After Heaven: Spirituality in America Since the 1950s

1
After Heaven Spirituality in America Since the
1950s

• Robert Wuthnow,
• Professor of Sociology
• Princeton University

2
Definition of Spirituality

• Page viii Spirituality consists of all the
  beliefs and activities by which individuals
  attempt to relate their lives to God or to a
  divine being or some other conception of a
  transcendent reality.

3
Thesis of book

• Page 3 A traditional spirituality of inhabiting
  sacred places has given way to a new spirituality
  of seeking
• People have been losing faith in a metaphysic
  that makes them feel at home in the universe
  (secure, certain, fixed)
• Instead, they are seeking partial glimpses of the
  sacred, partial knowledge
• They are constantly negotiating their reality,
  view of truth

4
Implication for traditional religion

• The institution (or priestly class) is not the
  sole conservator of truth
• Individuals are free to pick and choose elements
  from different religions (or none at all)
• Hence, the location of authority has shifted
• From the institution to the individual

5
Wuthnows three images

• Habitation
• Associated with the religion of the 1950s
• Negotiation
• Associated with religion in the new millenium
• Spiritual practice
• His solution to the dilemma of individual vs.
  corporate (group) religiosity

6
Habitation

• God occupies a definite place
• One accesses God by entering a sacred place where
  he dwells
• There is one truth (defined by the one God)
• And, correspondingly, there is one true moral or
  spiritual community
• There is a prescribed way to worship and a
  hierarchy of spiritual authority

7
Negotiation/Seeking

• There are sacred moments (but they are
  fleeting) and there is no hard divide between
  sacred and profane
• Truth is a process (not a fixed set of beliefs)
• We are constantly on a journey, a quest
• Truth is measured by pragmatic criteria where a
  set of beliefs/practices work

8
Spiritual Practice

• See chapter 7
• Spirituality is a set of practices in which one
  intentionally engages in order to deepen ones
  relationship to the sacred
• Hence, spiritual practice may be a disciplined
  activity
• It may also draw on the history of exemplary
  figures/communities from ones tradition

9
Other Theories and Commentators

• Wade Clark Roof
• Philip Rieff
• Robert Bellah

10
Wade Clark Roof, A Generation of Seekers

• Baby boomers born 1946-1964, 76 million
• Characteristics (based on survey of 2,620)
• 60 percent had attended college
• 38 percent had earned a college degree
• 17 percent had postgraduate education
• 18 percent current divorced
• 13 percent married but previously divorced
• Half had smoked marijuana

11
A Generation of Seekers

• 60 percent of boomers interviewed had dropped out
  of religion for at least 2 years
• Jews and members of mainline Protestantism were
  more likely to drop out
• But, surprisingly, over half of Catholics and
  Conservative Protestants had also dropped out
• People with postgrad degrees most likely to drop
  out as well as those who described their
  upbringing as permissive

12
Religious beliefs of seekers

• 47 percent said that all religions are equal
• 28 percent said they believe in reincarnation
• 26 percent said they believe in astrology
• 60 percent said it is better to explore many
  religions
• Only 29 percent said that it is better to stick
  with one faith

13
Theological views of seekers

• Sin was viewed as not living up to your own
  expectations
• Gods law was measured by ones own ethical
  standards
• Salvation was equated with personal growth and
  fulfillment

14
Change in view of God

• Increasing numbers of people view God as the
  life force or cosmic energy
• Emphasis on a subjective view of God
• God is within rather than out there
• Movement towards
• Immanent vs.
• Transcendent view of God
• Dualism is out (self vs. God)
• Rather, God is within/experienced subjectively

15
Religious path of seekers

• Life is a journey, and religion is a journey of
  faith (not a set of beliefs to accept)
• Religion is not something to be assumed
• Authentic religion is wrestled with, examined,
  critiqued
• Organized religion is a mere vessel of the holy

16
Catholics

• 88 percent say that one can be a good Catholic
  without contributing money to the church
• 85 percent think one can be a good Catholic
  without going to church every Sunday
• 81 percent say that one can be a good Catholic
  without obeying the Churchs teachings on divorce
  or remarriage
• 68 percent say one can be a good Catholic without
  agreeing with the Churchs view on abortion

17
Returning to the fold

• 33 percent never dropped out of organized
  religion
• 25 percent returned to organized religion
• 42 percent stayed dropped out
• Period most likely to return
• Late 20s when starting families

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Why do people return to organized religion?

• Birth of children (want to rear them in a safe
  environment give them values they didnt have)
• Quest for meaning (personal emptiness, feeling of
  cosmic loneliness)
• Desire for community (even though 9 out of 10
  said they can be spiritual without attending
  church/synagogue)

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Factors contributing to change

• Media by age 16, average person has watched
  12,000-16,000 hours of television
• Exposed to diversity of world views
• The Pill gave women/couple freedom they never
  had before
• Psychotherapy fostered ethic of
  self-realization, growth, self-actualization
• Vietnam inspired protest/disregard of
  institutions (especially government)
• Affluence diminished the sacrifice ethic