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Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened to a similar position seeking to remove or to minimize the role of religion in any public sphere. Secularism may encapsulate anti-clericalism, atheism, naturalism, non-sectarianism, neutrality on topics of religion, or antireligion. As a philosophy, secularism seeks to interpret life based on principles derived solely from the material world, without recourse to religion. It shifts the focus from religion towards "temporal" and material concerns.
The meaning of spirituality has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape of man", oriented at "the image of God" as exemplified by the founders and sacred texts of the religions of the world. The term was used within early Christianity to refer to a life oriented toward the Holy Spirit and broadened during the Late Middle Ages to include mental aspects of life.
Irreligion is the absence or rejection of religious beliefs or practices. It encompasses a wide range of viewpoints drawn from various philosophical and intellectual perspectives, including atheism, agnosticism, skepticism, rationalism, secularism and spiritual but not religious. These perspectives can vary, with individuals who identify as irreligious holding a diverse array of specific beliefs about religion or its role in their lives.
In sociology, secularization is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism, irreligion, nor are they automatically antithetical to religion. Secularization has different connotations such as implying differentiation of secular from religious domains, the marginalization of religion in those domains, or it may also entail the transformation of religion as a result of its recharacterization.
Secularity, also the secular or secularness, is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian history into the modern era. In the Middle Ages, there were even secular clergy. Furthermore, secular and religious entities were not separated in the medieval period, but coexisted and interacted naturally. The word secular has a meaning very similar to profane as used in a religious context.
The emerging church, sometimes wrongly equated with the "emergent movement" or "emergent conversation", is a Christian movement of the late 20th and early 21st century. Emerging churches can be found around the globe, predominantly in North America, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Africa. Members come from a number of Christian traditions. Some attend local independent churches or house churches while others worship in traditional Christian denominations. The emerging church favors the use of simple story and narrative. Members of the movement often place a high value on good works or social activism, including missional living. Proponents of the movement believe it transcends labels such as "conservative" and "liberal"; it is sometimes called a "conversation" to emphasize its developing and decentralized nature, its range of standpoints, and commitment to dialogue. Participants seek to live their faith in what they believe to be a "postmodern" society. Disillusionment with the organized and institutional church has led participants to support the deconstruction of modern Christian worship and evangelism, and the nature of modern Christian community.
Religion in the United States is both widespread and diverse, with higher reported levels of belief than other wealthy Western nations. Polls indicate that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe in a higher power (2021), engage in spiritual practices (2022), and consider themselves religious or spiritual (2017).
Timothy James "Matthew " Fox is an American priest and theologian. Formerly a member of the Dominican Order within the Catholic Church, he became a member of the Episcopal Church following his expulsion from the order in 1993.
The Fourth Great Awakening was a Christian awakening that some scholars – including economic historian, Robert Fogel – say took place in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s, while others look at the era following World War II. The terminology is controversial, with some historians believing the religious changes that took place in the US during these years were not equivalent to those of the first three Great Awakenings. Thus, the idea of a Fourth Great Awakening itself has not been generally accepted.
The Goddess movement is a revivalistic Neopagan religious movement which includes spiritual beliefs and practices that emerged primarily in the United States in the late 1960s and predominantly in the Western world during the 1970s. The movement grew as a reaction both against Abrahamic religions, which exclusively have gods who are referred to using masculine grammatical articles and pronouns, and secularism. It revolves around Goddess worship and the veneration for the divine feminine, and may include a focus on women or on one or more understandings of gender or femininity.
Catholic spirituality includes the various ways in which Catholics live out their Baptismal promise through prayer and action. The primary prayer of all Catholics is the Eucharistic liturgy in which they celebrate and share their faith together, in accord with Jesus' instruction: "Do this in memory of me." The Catholic bishops at the Second Vatican Council decreed that "devotions should be so drawn up that they harmonize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some fashion derived from it, and lead the people to it, since, in fact, the liturgy by its very nature far surpasses any of them." In accord with this, many additional forms of prayer have developed over the centuries as means of animating one's personal Christian life, at times in gatherings with others. Each of the religious orders and congregations of the Catholic church, as well as lay groupings, has specifics to its own spirituality – its way of approaching God in prayer to foster its way of living out the Gospel.
Some movements or sects within traditionally monotheistic or polytheistic religions recognize that it is possible to practice religious faith, spirituality and adherence to tenets without a belief in deities. People with what would be considered religious or spiritual belief in a supernatural controlling power are defined by some as adherents to a religion; the argument that atheism is a religion has been described as a contradiction in terms.
Secular spirituality is the adherence to a spiritual philosophy without adherence to a religion. Secular spirituality emphasizes the inner peace of the individual, rather than a relationship with the divine. Secular spirituality is made up of the search for meaning outside of a religious institution; it considers one's relationship with the self, others, nature, and whatever else one considers to be the ultimate. Often, the goal of secular spirituality is living happily and/or helping others.
New Monasticism is a diverse movement, not limited to a specific religious denomination or church and including varying expressions of contemplative life. These include evangelical Christian communities such as "Simple Way Community" and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove's "Rutba House," European new monastic communities, such as that formed by Bernadette Flanagan, spiritual communities such as the "Community of the New Monastic Way" founded by feminist contemplative theologian Beverly Lanzetta, and "interspiritual" new monasticism, such as that developed by Rory McEntee and Adam Bucko. These communities expand upon traditional monastic wisdom, translating it into forms that can be lived out in contemporary lives "in the world."
Higher consciousness is a term that has been used in various ways to label particular states of consciousness or personal development. It may be used to describe a state of liberation from the limitations of self-concept or ego, as well as a state of mystical experience in which the perceived separation between the isolated self and the world or God is transcended. It may also refer to a state of increased alertness or awakening to a new perspective. While the concept has ancient roots, practices, and techniques, it has been significantly developed as a central notion in contemporary popular spirituality, including the New Age movement.
Secular theology is a term applied to theological positions influenced by humanism and secularism, rejecting supernatural metaphysical positions related to the nature of God. Secular theology can accommodate a belief in God, like many nature religions, but as residing in this world and not separately from it.
In the United States, between 4% and 15% of citizens demonstrated nonreligious attitudes and naturalistic worldviews, namely atheists or agnostics. The number of self-identified atheists and agnostics was around 4% each, while many persons formally affiliated with a religion are likewise non-believing.
Spiritual naturalism, or naturalistic spirituality combines a naturalist philosophy with spirituality. Spiritual naturalism may have first been proposed by Joris-Karl Huysmans in 1895 in his book En Route.
Coming into prominence as a writer during the 1870s, Huysmans quickly established himself among a rising group of writers, the so-called Naturalist school, of whom Émile Zola was the acknowledged head...With Là-bas (1891), a novel which reflected the aesthetics of the spiritualist revival and the contemporary interest in the occult, Huysmans formulated for the first time an aesthetic theory which sought to synthesize the mundane and the transcendent: "spiritual Naturalism".
"Spiritual but not religious" (SBNR), also known as "spiritual but not affiliated" (SBNA), or less commonly "more spiritual than religious" is a popular phrase and initialism used to self-identify a life stance of spirituality that does not regard organized religion as the sole or most valuable means of furthering spiritual growth. Historically, the words religious and spiritual have been used synonymously to describe all the various aspects of the concept of religion, but in contemporary usage spirituality has often become associated with the interior life of the individual, placing an emphasis upon the well-being of the "mind-body-spirit", while religion refers to organizational or communal dimensions. Spirituality sometimes denotes noninstitutionalized or individualized religiosity. The interactions are complex since even conservative Christians designate themselves as "spiritual but not religious" to indicate a form of non-ritualistic personal faith.
Biblical Porn: Affect, Labor, and Pastor Mark Driscoll's Evangelical Empire is a 2018 book by Jessica Johnson about the culture of Mars Hill Church under the leadership of Mark Driscoll. Johnson is an anthropologist at the University of Washington in Seattle. The book uses research techniques including interviews with church leaders and members during the existence of the church. Publishers Weekly said it provided "seething critiques" of the male-focused, "muscular Christianity" espoused by the church but was "more an ethnography than a exposé of a megachurch's downfall". Foreword Reviews said it displayed "deep insight and an absence of judgment". A local Seattle review described it as a reminder of "toxic Christian masculinity" during a largely forgotten episode that is "almost impossible now to describe ... to someone who is new to Seattle". The author herself described the Seattle area as "definitely not immune to any of this" despite Seattle's "image" as progressive and irreligious.
References
- ↑ "Religion and Public Life in the Pacific Northwest". Religionatlas.org. Archived from the original on 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
- ↑ "Charting the unchurched in America". USA Today. March 7, 2002. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
- ↑ Knute Berger (November 20, 2008), "Is Northwest nature worship neurological?", Crosscut
- ↑ Aaron Couch; Laurie Larson Caesar; Martha Maier; et al. (2009), Secular but Spiritual in the Pacific Northwest (PDF), Luther House (Lutheran Campus Ministry at Oregon State University)
- ↑ Barry Alexander Kosmin; Ariela Keysar (2007), Secularism & Secularity: Contemporary International Perspectives, Hartford, Conn.: Trinity College Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture, ISBN 978-0-9794816-0-4
- ↑ A postcard from the Pacific Northwest–What does the future hold for secularism in the West? Matthew Kaemingk, Fall 2014 Comment magazine
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Seth Goodkind (June 2, 2015), "Predators & Prophets: A Comic History of Pacific Northwest Cults—Spiritually-motivated bioterrorism at Taco Time, 35 thousand year old Lemurian warrior gods in Yelm, LSD-fueled Queen Anne hippie cults, and much more.", Seattle Weekly
- ↑ Železny-Green, Evan (February 22, 2023). "Serving My People and the Earth Mother: Bear Tribe Medicine Society". Intermountain Histories. Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at BYU. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
- ↑ Johnson, Jessica (2018), "Setting and fieldwork: Mark Driscoll and the Mars Hill Church", Biblical Porn: Affect, Labor, and Pastor Mark Driscoll's Evangelical Empire , Duke University Press, ISBN 978-0-8223-7136-6
- 1 2 Elizabeth Drescher (2016), Choosing Our Religion: The Spiritual Lives of America's Nones, Oxford University Press, p. 18, ISBN 978-0-19-934122-1
- ↑ Matthew Kaemingk (October 25, 2013), "Pacific Northwest Religion: Doing It Different, Doing It Alone Part I (An interview with a scholar of Cascadian spirituality and religion)", Christ and Cascadia
- ↑ Melissa Binder (August 14, 2015), "Where the religious 'nones' roam: Does nature religion explain Pacific Northwest spirituality?", The Oregonian
- ↑ Mark Shibley (2004), "Secular but Spiritual in the Pacific Northwest", Religion and Public Life in the Pacific Northwest: The None Zone, by Patricia O'Connell Killen; Mark Shibley; Dale Soden; James Wellman; Lance Laird, Patricia O'Connell Killen; Mark Silk (eds.), AltaMira, p. 140, ISBN 978-0-7591-0624-6