Religious and Spiritual Communities

Abstract

This chapter examines some of the institutions, organisations and communities that people join when they believe with deep fervour in a discourse of reinvention. To some extent, this describes all types of Reinventive Institution (RI): in Chapter 3, I described a pervasive culture of reinvention, wherein ideas of self-improvement and transcendence have led individuals to seek guidance from inspirational gurus. Some institutions, however, offer an explicitly spiritual route to self-actualisation and seek to transform casual followers into fervent believers. This may involve the repackaging of a traditional faith, New Religious Movements (NRMs) such as sects or cults, or a secular belief system. Joining a spiritual RI involves many of the same motivations, experiences and interactional processes as joining a traditional religious order. There is a quest for knowledge and understanding, a promise of salvation and a willingness to submit to the authority of leaders who provide instruction on the interpretation of doctrines. However, the object of worship is different: the sacred, mysterious force that inmates ultimately seek to understand is not a transcendent god or spirit but their own self-identities, as idealised potential. Furthermore, the social processes of acquiring and practising religion have changed somewhat.