Religion
Related: About this forumFive Must-Reads on the “Nones”: A Tipping Point in American Religion and Spirituality
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/atheologies/6657/five_must_reads_on_the__nones__a_tipping_point_in_american_religion_and_spirituality/
December 24, 2012
By ELIZABETH DRESCHER
Elizabeth Drescher is the author, with Keith Anderson, of Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible (Morehouse, 2012). She teaches religion and pastoral ministries at Santa Clara University. She is currently at work on Choosing Our Religion: The Spiritual Lives of Religious Nones, a project funded in part through a grant from the Social Science Research Councils New Directions in the Study of Prayer project through the Templeton Foundation. Her website is www.elizabethdrescher.com\
Religion writers, both journalists and scholars, have had much to say of late about the continued growth of the religiously unaffiliatedespecially given the impact of so-called Nones in the recent presidential election.
But much of whats been written fails to highlight finer distinctions among Nones. So how to better understand this fast-approaching tipping point in American religion and spirituality?
Projects like progressive Mainline Protestant Diana Butler Bass thoughtful, if sometimes historically strained Christianity After Religion and conservative evangelical David Kinnamans demographically interesting if theologically thin You Lost Me have attempted to understand how the Christian churches from which the majority of Nones emerge can attract and retain disidentified and disaffected believers.
But for those less interested in figuring out whats wrong with churches and more keen to explore what Nones are up to on their own terms, the books below are a helpful start:
Albanese reminds readers that contemporary spirituality isnt always, or even often, comprised of newly-minted, idiosyncratic practices. Her historical look at the metaphysical tradition from fifteenth century Europe to late modern America shows that while religious change in the United States has unfolded outside the normative boundaries of denominational Christianity, new developments in religiosity have hardly been random, disorganized experiments of the unfettered spirit.
pinto
(106,886 posts)Most of my nieces and nephews could be counted in the "nones" demographic. They all state some form of humanist and spiritual outlook, unaligned with any established religion. Have ethical and moral standards they find important and uphold. And hold no grudge with religion per se. They seem to feel there's room for a range of outlook.
Save for the extremists. Their take runs the gamut from besides the point, laughing derision and serious threat. All take the separation of church and state as a standard to be held.
Most interestingly for me, they also seem to clearly see themselves as the future. That these conflicts are of my generation and will in due course fade into history. (They are obviously the future, duh, the fade into history thing remains open, imo.)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1218&pid=60041
cbayer
(146,218 posts)I agree with your assessment. My kids seem to have taken very similar positions as well.
For the most part, they don't discuss religion or share their own views. But, when asked, they do have opinions about religion in general and their personal positions are uniquely theirs.
They are, indeed, the future.
pinto
(106,886 posts)Mariana
(14,861 posts)that you consider wanting to uphold the separation of church and state to be an extremist position? Your second paragraph seems to say that.
pinto
(106,886 posts)dimbear
(6,271 posts)it makes little sense to adhere to any specific one.
cleanhippie
(19,705 posts)any validity at all. To do so would invalidate the claims of their religion.
dimbear
(6,271 posts)None agree, so a good assumption is they're all false. With the rapid spread of information, this good news is getting around. Hence the 'nones.' Also......the quarrelsome nature of religions gives the nones an evolutionary advantage. Fancy that. We just need to remember that old jungle proverb: "When the elephants fight, the mice get trampled."
Stay safe, nones.