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Dialogues@RU is published annually
by the
Writing Program at
Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey
Volume One
Spring 2002
The Evolving
Spiritual and Religious Landscape of American Culture -
Page 1
by Christopher J. Flor
Many sociologists see society as a machine by which several smaller elements comprise a greater whole allowing it to function as a single unit. In this sense, it can be seen that every mechanical part of a given society ultimately has a unique effect that helps to define the greater entity. That is, with any change, the external make up of the society also changes due to its interconnectedness. In terms of social movements, we can then explain the nature of major social changes from the micro level projected onto the macro level to understand how societies develop and change. That is, we can examine individual social contingencies (historical events, major leaders, etc.) and then understand their impact on the society at large. This theoretical framework, called the structural functionalist paradigm-which was formulated by sociologist Emile Durkheim-can be used to explain any institutional aspect of society. For instance, stemming from the past fifty years, there has been a major change in the idea of American religion and spirituality. That is, religion in America has become less socially dictated and there has been less stress on religious conformity on the whole.
One prime example of this change from the status quo is evident in the New Age movements that have been developing in America (and even abroad) for the past fifty years, and have become most evident in the last ten years. This New Age movement, which includes religions such as Wicca, Druidism, Shamanism, and many others, has certain characteristics that seem to embody this spiritual shift in common American theological thought. This is not to say, however, that this shift is only evident in this movement for it also transcends mainstream religions such as Christianity as well. Rather, for this study, the New Age movement will serve as a model to explain the nature of this societal change in its present form and to see where religion and spirituality may be heading in the future. To discover the nature of this movement, we will trace religion and spirituality over the past fifty years in terms of generational spiritual growth, which can then be used to define the nature of the New Age movement. Also, the pattern of these changes exists in a dialectical cycle that illuminates the nature of social conflict and transformation.
To label a group of individuals as a generation is a massive generalization. After all, individuals not only act as products of their histories, but as reactors of the current moment. The current moment plays a great role in dictating the collective actions of a generation while history differentiates the experiences from one generation to another. That is, one born during the late 1980s can never truly empathize with one born in the 1960s due to the different experiences they were socialized into. Also, while specific age groups may change with the passage of time, they still are a product of their unique historical experience differentiated against the different historical experiences of other generations. In this paper, we while merely focus on the historical experiences of each generation's 'coming of age' to assess their religious values as a product of that history.
According to Amanda Porterfield, author of The Transformation of American Religion, American religious history can be characterized "in terms of revivals or awakenings" (228). In other words, the religious attitudes of this nation exist in a conflict between periods of dwindling religious values and periods of revitalization. However, in slight contrast to Porterfield's framework, the spiritual changes that have been occurring in America throughout the past fifty years show a revitalization of a different nature. The levels of church attendance and the amount of clergy have been on a downward slope, yet many sociologists and theologians are observing an increase in the 'spirituality' of Americans. The Gallup Organization, for instance, has been collecting statistics on church attendance and religious beliefs that support these inferences. In the 1950s, the percentage of individuals that had attended church in the past seven days was consistently in the upper forties, while from the late 1960s through the 1980s, that percentage declined toward the lower forties and the upper thirties. The Gallup Organization has also been collecting information on Americans' view on religion and its importance in one's life. Over the past fifty years, the percentage of Americans that believe religion is important in one's life has remained in the mid-fifties and has even been slightly rising. These statistics suggest that even though Americans are beginning to stray away from religiously dictated constructs, such as going to church, they still hold a value for religious beliefs. Furthermore, these facts demonstrate the difference between being 'religious' and being 'spiritual' that characterizes this dwindling of religiosity and increase in spirituality. Henry Pierre, author of the article, "Baby Boomers and the Transmission of Faith," best defines the nature of this difference in reference to his distinction between the "external justification" of God through religious institutions against an internal one characterized by "personal choice and spiritual awakening" (6). That is, religious beliefs are defined by organized religion while the individual defines spiritual beliefs. The revitalization of Americans over the past fifty years is that of a spiritual one and not of a religious one and was rooted years before it began.