Religion’s afterlife: The noninstitutional residuals of religion in Black college students’ lived experiences.

Abstract

Discourse concerning religion in the American public sphere exists within what Miller (2012) describes as church decline narratives. Highlighting the declining significance of organized religion, these narratives conform neatly with notions of young adults' relationships to formal authority broadly speaking and religious institutions in particular. However, the declining significance of institutionalized religion manifests itself differently in the lives of Black young adults living in the United States compared with White young adults. For example, according to the 2014 Religious Landscape Survey, younger Black millennials (20 -26 years old) were less likely than younger White millennials to identify as religiously unaffiliated (29% vs. 38%; Pew Research Center, 2014). In light of this, how do we understand religion in the lives of college students? What are the implications of the fact that despite increasing religious disaffiliation, 90% of younger Black millennials are either absolutely or fairly certain about their belief in God? In this paper, I propose a theorization of religion's afterlife-or how religion continues to matter in Black students' lives despite their lack of affiliation and engagement with institutionalized faith organizations. I offer a critical account of religion as a socially constructed category that exerts influence in the lives of Black undergraduates beyond institutional boundaries and religious-specific spaces. These findings emphasize the necessity for educators to provide greater attention to spirituality and religion as critical components of institutions' diversity agendas in general and how religion and spirituality play out in the lives of Black undergraduates at PWIs in particular.

It Takes a Village: The Role of Emic and Etic Adaptive Strengths in the Persistence of Black Men in Engineering Graduate Programs

“…It is possible that students could feel judged for not practicing a particular religion or engaging in a set of religious practices, further exacerbating their feelings of otherness within their educational community. Similar to the arguments made by McGuire (2017), we also recommend that further research be conducted on student uses of religious and spiritual activity (including but not limited to church attendance, prayer, etc.) to develop a more granular understanding of the ties between religion, spirituality, and faith-based community and persistence.…”

“…Existing research on Black college students’ religion affirms our own difficulty in categorizing students’ religious and spiritual perspectives (McGuire, 2017). For example, McGuire (2017) highlights the increase in spiritual belief yet declining rate of religious affiliation of today’s college students. The implications of his work suggest that retention efforts—traditionally aimed toward communal practices—may need to be reconsidered if college students are instead drawing on individual-centered practices of spirituality (e.g., meditation).…”

“…For Black Americans, spirituality and religion are communal pillars because they have influenced virtually all parts of the American Black experience (Herndon, 2003; Mattis, 2000). Religion and spirituality have been explored as sources of hope, purpose, coping, resilience, resistance, and positive identity development in the face of systematic oppression (Dancy, 2010; Herndon, 2003; Mattis, 2000; McGuire, 2017; Patton & McClure, 2009; Stewart, 2002; Watson, 2006; Watt, 2003). Watt (2003) found that spirituality helped Black undergraduate women survive in college through resisting negative messages and using spirituality to form and shape positive identities.…”

“…While some talked about going to a physical location (i.e., church) and participating in regular services, others appeared to reference practices of organized religion (e.g., praying, attending Bible study) and/or discussed more broadly holding a spiritual connection to a higher being. Existing research on Black college students' religion affirms our own difficulty in categorizing students' religious and spiritual perspectives (McGuire, 2017). For example, McGuire (2017) highlights the increase in spiritual belief yet declining rate of religious affiliation of today's college students.…”

Doing Black Christianity: Reframing Black Church scholarship

“…Church disaffiliation is often misinterpreted as rejection of religion altogether. McGuire () proves otherwise when arguing that religion has an “afterlife” for church‐disaffiliated individuals, noting that “religion remains embodied, socially constructed and perpetuated through religious habitus” (p. 322). Studies with individual Christian actors as the unit of analysis, just as the Individual‐level frame encourages, could determine what this religious habitus consists of, for church‐disaffiliated Black Christians.…”