Abstract
Originally presented as a lecture—with copious illustrations accompanying an abbreviated text—this article argues that the concept of “religion” retains its theoretical value despite claims that religion has been eclipsed by “spirituality.” Presupposing that both religion and spirituality are valuable concepts in themselves, the article begins by reviewing critical literature that examines recent claims on behalf of spirituality and the spiritual. The article then presents case studies based on three recent monographs to illustrate the continued viability of the concept of religion.
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Notes
Primarily because of the ascriptive connotation of the word “tribe,” as if a “spiritual tribe” is something one must be born into. Drawing on work of Gary Alan Fine (2012), I would nominate “small spiritual publics” as a synonym for Ammerman’s intention. Nonetheless, I follow her usage in this lecture.
Esalen’s influence was felt along with Berkeley’s in the spiritual currents that swept through Mendocino Presbyterian Church in the 1970s (Warner 1988: 138, 171 and 137, 240–241).
For an analysis of structural diffuseness as a characteristic of the American congregation, see Warner 1994: 63–73.
I must not overlook the observation that Dubler dedicates his book “To the lifers.” He frequently voices critiques of and protests against LWOP. He addresses the 30 pages of fine-print endnotes and the 16-page index in part to prisoners, including those who take courses offered by Villanova University at Graterford, three of which Dubler has taught. The endnotes are filled with scholarly references as well as suggestions for further reading. Dubler (2013: 327) invites any reader who is “incarcerated and interested in receiving selections from one or more of the quoted sources to which you otherwise have no access,” to write him at the University of Rochester, and he promises to “do my best to honor your request.”
References
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Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Joy Charlton and the Religious Research Association for the invitation to deliver this lecture, to Lou Altman, Nancy Ammerman, Steven Andes, Courtney Bender, Carolyn Chen, Marion Goldman, Anne Heider, John Smithers, and Erika Summers-Effler for ideas around the topic, and (again) to Anne Heider for even more than her usual heroic level of support. None of these persons nor the authors of the works cited in this lecture is in any way responsible for the uses to which I have put their ideas.
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Warner, R.S. In Defense of Religion: The 2013 H. Paul Douglass Lecture. Rev Relig Res 56, 495–512 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-014-0187-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-014-0187-9