Exploring Spirituality and Unchurched Religions in America, Sweden, and Japan

Stark, Rodney; Hamberg, Eva; Miller, Alan S.

doi:10.1080/1353790052000313882

Cited by 64 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…An overview of seven major U.S. studies examining the relationship between religion and spirituality suggests that nearly three quarters of Americans describe themselves as spiritual and religious, while a distinctive subgroup ranging between 9% and 30% prefer the label "spiritual but not religious" (see Figure 1). Intriguingly, even the non-religious may describe themselves as spiritual (40%) and believe in God or some higher power (68%) (Stark, Hamburg and Miller, 2005). It is precisely this ambiguity that thwarts a…”

Section: Religion and Spiritualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social Ethic of Religiously Unaffiliated Spirituality

Chandler

2008

Religion Compass

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Today a growing percentage of Westerners are engaged in highly subjective, non‐religiously affiliated forms of spiritual seeking. Since its early beginnings in the 1970s, New Age movement, non‐institutionally mediated forms of spirituality, moved well beyond a restricted esoteric framework into the cultural mainstream. Here, they are more broadly supported and intensified by a robust cultural ethic of individualism and religious antiauthoritarianism. Despite clear indications that this type of spirituality is a religious adaptation or innovation to the ineluctable force of late modernity, many scholars and cultural observers continue to represent it as a weak, socially insignificant form of religious expression that is contributing to a crisis of civic engagement and community mindedness through its over‐emphasis on the self and its experiences. Claims that non‐institutional, non‐dogmatic forms of religiosity promote narcissism and social alienation are scattered throughout the social scientific literature. Yet, little empirical data support these contentions. Building on studies that demonstrate a positive correlation between individualism and civic engagement, this article suggests that future research may well discover that religiously unaffiliated spirituality is in fact a socially engaged religious expression.

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Section: Religion and Spiritualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social Ethic of Religiously Unaffiliated Spirituality

Chandler

2008

Religion Compass

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“…Equally, the socially-constructed meaning of the countryside, or the rurality referred to earlier, also provides a cultural framework within which tourists may develop a sense of rural place. Certainly, research reveals that responses to or interpretations of the experience of particular places, such as the countryside, may similarly be socially constructed, manifested in clichéd descriptions of place and experience (Sharpley & Jepson, 2011 (Heelas & Woodhead, 2005;Stark, Hamberg, & Miller, 2005), a search that might be satisfied through rural tourism experiences.…”

Section: Rural Tourism and Rural Placementioning

confidence: 99%

More than sense of place? Exploring the emotional dimension of rural tourism experiences

Jepson

Sharpley

2014

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

111

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It is widely suggested that participation in rural tourism is underpinned by a sense of rural place or 'rurality'. However, although nature and the countryside have long been recognised as a source of spiritual or emotional fulfilment, few have explored the extent to which tourism, itself often claimed to be a sacred experience, offers an emotional / spiritual dimension in the rural context. This paper addresses that literature gap. Using in-depth interviews with rural tourists in the English Lake District, it explores the extent to which, within respondents' individual understanding of spirituality, a relationship exists between sense of place and deeper, emotional experiences and, especially, whether participation in rural tourism may induce spiritual or emotional responses. The research revealed that all respondents felt a strong attachment to the Lake District; similarly, and irrespective of their openness to spirituality, engaging in rural tourism activities resulted in highly emotive experiences for all respondents, the description / interpretation of such experiences being determined by individual 'beliefs'. However, sense of place was not a prerequisite to emotional or spiritual experiences. Being in and engaging with the landscape -effectively becoming part of it -especially through physical activity is fundamental to emotional responses.

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“…Several studies have provided empirical support. For example, Stark et al (2005) propose that "unchurched religion and spirituality" are on the rise particularly among younger cohorts in Sweden and have been persisting in Japan for a long time. Lambert (2004), using the three waves of the EVS, concludes that the data of the 1999/2000 wave suggest a 'Christian renewal' and 'believing without belonging', particularly among respondents aged 18-29.…”

Section: Recent Trends In Religionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religion and fertility ideals, intentions and behaviour: a comparative study of European countries

Philipov

Berghammer²

2007

Populationyearbook

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European demographers rarely study religion as a determinant of contemporary demographic behaviour. One reason could be the secularisation observed in European countries, implying that the effect of religiosity has been diminishing. This paper aims to show that religion can have an important impact on ideals, intentions and behaviour related to fertility.First we discuss recent trends in religiosity. We base our ensuing hypotheses on three deliberations why religion may have a bearing on fertility: importance of religious teaching, effect of social capital and function of religion to decrease uncertainty.Using FFS data we examine the influence of several measures of religiosity on the ideal number of children and intentions to have a second and third child, as well as on the expected and actual number of children. We find that all measures of religiosity are in general related to a higher ideal number of children, higher odds to intend another child and higher expected and actual number of children. Participation in religious services turns out to be slightly more salient than affiliation and self-assessed religiosity. We also discover that the effect of religion on ideals is more pronounced than its effect on intentions. Ideals stay further away from behaviour than intentions do and hence the influence of religion is intermediated by other social systems.

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Exploring Spirituality and Unchurched Religions in America, Sweden, and Japan

Cited by 64 publications

References 14 publications

The Social Ethic of Religiously Unaffiliated Spirituality

The Social Ethic of Religiously Unaffiliated Spirituality

More than sense of place? Exploring the emotional dimension of rural tourism experiences

Religion and fertility ideals, intentions and behaviour: a comparative study of European countries

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