Is Spirituality replacing Religion

Is Spirituality replacing Religion? Since the beginning of time, mankind has tried to find meaning for its existence and relativity within the universe, the search prevailing throughout all of human development, and the questioning of whom and why we are, a fundamental part of our being. Armstrong(2009,pp.3-9) demonstrates this in arguing the 25000 years old Cave Paintings at Lascaux in France have a spiritual connotation and that the rituals and practices which attended them are the earliest examples of religious practice. The essay question posed seems to propose that there is a distinction between spirituality and religion, however as definitions for these concepts are contested, it is not immediately evident this can be established. Following extensive debate in her paper, Schneiders (2003,p.164)argues there are three possible positions in understanding the relationship, firstly they have no connection, secondly they are competing concepts and thirdly that they are interlinked. This essay will argue that an analysis of current views supports the position one can never totally replace the other due to their interdependence, however, a post-modernistic viewpoint does presents a different concept of spirituality and that this has arisen partly from globalisation connotations. The process will be to research the meanings currently understood for the terms, explore the history which has developed the concepts and practices, and investigate the current position in a globalised world. As the question does not indicate a particular temporal or spacial position from which to base the answer the topic will be approached as far as possible from a current global perspective. Kale ( 2004 ,p.93 ) cites Schneiders’ definition of spirituality as ‘the experience of consciously striving to integrate one’s life not in terms of isolation and self – absorption but of self- transcendence toward the ultimate value one perceives’. Other definitions quoted by Kale, (2004, p.93) include Opatz ‘spiritual people are striving for a balance between their inner and outer selves’, whilst Pargament& Scott simply defined spirituality as ‘searching for the sacred’. From a study of many definitions, Kale concludes spirituality to be ‘the engagement to explore – and deeply and meaningfully connect one’s inner self – to the known world and beyond’. Schneiders( 2003, p.167) propose four elements to spirituality - experience, conscious involvement, life integration, and self- transcendence toward ultimate value. Possibly a cause in the difficulty in defining this concept, is as Armstrong states,(2009, pp.282-283,287 ) the literal meaning of the term ‘to define’ is ‘ to put limits on’ and as the very concept of ‘god or spirit’ is that which is transcendent, meaning beyond understanding and impossible to fully know, makes applying a simple definition a contradiction. In distinguishing religion from spirituality Kale ( 2004 p.94 ) cites Elkins et al, who contends ‘ current thinking views religion as a vehicle that serves to nurture spirituality for many individuals by providing a road map to comprehend and express their spirituality’. Kale (2004,p.94)refers to The Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion’s definition of religion: ‘typically refers to an institution with a recognised body of communicants who gather together regularly for worship, and accept a set of doctrines offering some means of relating the individual to what is taken to be the ultimate nature of reality.’ Schneiders ( 2003, p.168)states ‘at its most basic, religion is the fundamental life stance of a person who believes in transcendent reality, however designated and assumes some realistic posture before that ultimate reality’. It is clear that there as many understandings of these terms as there are authors, however a common thread for religion is the sociological embedding of shared beliefs, cemented by rituals, drawing believers into a moral community, as Cohen & Kennedy (2007,p.390 ) note in citing Durkheim. From the examples cited, this essay summarises Spirituality as the internal search for meaning and understanding of one’s existence, and as it is internalised is deeply personal and reflective. When spirituality is externalised, that is put into action or expressed in the world, it becomes Religion, the outworking of spirituality. This maybe in ritual, or simply behaviour based on a belief system, but takes the personal spirituality into contact with others, and with this interaction a degree of institutionalisation occurs, intentionally or not. Therefore, this essay argues from these perspectives it is difficult to separate the two aspects of achieving an understanding of our existence, as there is an interaction between them. This position broadly echoes Zeigler (1998, p.1256 ) who notes the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. From this position it could be argued even an atheist engages in spirituality in arriving at a position of ‘non –belief’ and when verbalising and expressing their position, constructs this as their ‘religion’. The spirituality described in the Lascoux caves was focussed from a naturalistic viewpoint, reflecting the essential connection of early man to the effects of weather, food sources, etcetera, (Armstrong, 2009, p.p.9-12 ) however, by the 10th century BC descendants of Aryans in India had developed a faith in a ‘central’ deity, a concept of a High God ( Armstrong 2009, pp 15-16 ) eventually leading to the great Monotheist religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It is not the purpose of this essay to consider the theological aspects of religion, but rather to look at the significant development of these faiths in becoming highly institutionalised, and the intertwining of religion in daily life. The Abrahamic faiths have in common a theme of a set of ‘ rules ‘ and ‘instructions’ such as the Christian Ten Commandments and the books of the Torah which spell out in great detail, ways in which Jews are to live, specifying roles for gender, foods to be eaten or not, and sometimes instructions for comparatively mundane parts of life. Similarly Buddhism and Hinduism have ritualistic elements for their followers to observe. In applying these rules, not only did the religions unify and define their faith system but religion became an everyday part of life observed constantly, not considered as a separate intellectual exercise. The interrelationship was reinforced by all the major faiths developing churches or temples in most parts of their lands, supported by a clergy who closely connected with their local societies. The effect of this powerful interaction can be demonstrated in that by the Middle Ages, European Kings and Kingdoms were subjugated by the power of the Catholic Church, religion having achieved such a level of institutionalisation as to be a major, if not the, dominant Political power. This is demonstrated by King HenryVIII of England, who in 1532 created a Royal supremacy over religion to avoid the castigation of the Catholic Church, due to his desire to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The dominance and power of the Church in society remained until the time of Copernicus and other scientists, who with the explorers such as Columbus started to uncover a world which did not rely on a scriptural explanation, but revealed a new world understanding, and a different way of thinking based on rationality and reason. Armstrong (2009, P.163) cites the 15th century scholar Manetti who stated ‘Everything that surrounds us is our own work, the work of man’, revealing the change in the placement of ‘ultimate value’. Daston (2005, p.23 ) summarises ‘ the first expression of modernity was to recognise that all that had preceded it had been a huge mistake: to realise the magnitude of the mistake was to fear erring ever again and to vow vigilance, constant and even inhuman’. The age of modernism, brought about by technological changes, explained the natural world by a method of exteriorisation, measurement, and categorisation based on empirical tools, the spiritual having little value. Consequently by the 19th century the seminal social thinkers, Comte, Spencer, Durkheim, Weber, Marx and Freud all believed religion would fade in importance and cease to be significant in an industrialised society ( Norris &Inglehart,2004 p.3). This is the concept of Secularisation, the removal of the sacred and spiritual and replacement by rational and scientific understanding, and if considering the role of spirituality and religion in current society, it is important to consider this major alternative position. Although the dominant wisdom in the 20thcentury, and trends to secularisation occurring especially in the rich nations, Norris and Inglehart (2004, p.5) state: ‘The publics of virtually all advanced industrial societies have been moving to more secular orientations during the past fifty years, nevertheless the world as a whole has more people with traditional religious views than ever before – and they constitute a growing proportion of the world’s population.’ The author’s conclusion (Norris & Inglehart,2004 pp,47,49.) was reached after exhaustive analysis of the religious practices in societies categorised by definitions of development, post – industrial, industrial and agrarian, and social and economic indicators. The explanation for this apparent slowing in secularisation is given by Norris and Inglehart (2004 pp.19,217) as a ‘Religious Values Hypothesis’. In economically secure industrial societies, providing safeguards against absolute poverty etcetera and increasing a sense of safety, a diminished need for absolute rules occurs, contributing to the decline in traditional religious norms. Conversely, in agrarian societies at the mercy of natural forces, people tend to have a need to believe that the universe follows a plan and that authority is both strong and benevolent, religion providing this security. It is important to note whilst this apparent connection between spirituality and socio – economic situations is valid for much of the world, one of the most obvious contradictions is the United States where 25% of the population attend weekly religious services, Norris and Inglehart ( 2004 p.94 ) observing this makes the U.S, one of the most religious countries in the world. If a modernistic understanding led to secularisation, it becomes necessary to consider the topics in a current post-modernistic world. Ridenour (2001,p.197) summarises a post- modern stance as : ‘We are moulded by our culture in our thinking, not independently or without bias, a reality that is different from yours cannot be adjudged, an individual’s reality is their own personal construction, and that science, history or other approaches cannot conclusively ‘prove’, there are no metanarratives’. In this environment which allows for such a diversity of meanings to similar terms, Spirituality has taken on a new lease of life and especially in the context of individualistic approach. Kale (2004,p.100) notes ‘Observers of contemporary spirituality see a clearly visible trend toward spiritual values, principles and practices increasingly individualised’, and cites Smart ( Kale 2004, p.100) ‘Another element of globalisation , in part from the spread of education, is the strong nisus toward individualism – with traditional religion being substituted for a spiritual quest that is more individualistic’. Elliot &Lemert (2009,pp.3,68) concur arguing in their book The New Individualism, globalisation has society operating in a private sphere rather than a public sphere causing individuals to be reshaping, re-inventing , reconstructing themselves due to the lack of traditional frameworks. Grimes ( Roof et al 1999, p.145) comments ‘ Spirituality is in vogue, not only is the idea fashionable among counterculture New Agers, but they have now become mainstream, white, middle class people’. This spirituality is further described by Grimes as in current rhetoric as ‘a meta- religion –sort of religious, sort of not’. He concludes: ‘If we define spirituality as practical attentiveness aimed at nurturing a sense for the interdependence of all beings sacred and all things ordinary, and religion as spirituality sustained as a tradition or organised into an institution, then they are not synonymous, but neither is the personal the opposite of the social, the sacred split off from the profane, nor religion or ritual made the enemy of spirituality. It makes little sense to make these mere synonyms, but it also makes no sense to set them up as opposites with one superior to the other’. (Roof et al 1999, p.152). There is no doubt that interest in spirituality has rarely enjoyed such a high profile (Schneiders 2003,p.163) and the author notes ‘ workshops on every conceivable type of secular and religious spirituality abound’. Despite the assumptions of the thinkers who proposed a purely modernistic science based explanation to life, humans continue to pursue a spiritual answer for life’s big questions. One final aspect of modern spirituality which has to be addressed is the rise of fundamentalism within some areas of the Monotheistic faiths. In her book, ‘The Battle for God’ (2001pp.168-198) Armstrong proposes that fundamentalism is a response to a faith feeling ‘under attack’ from a secularised world, which retaliates in defending their position by ascribing absolute belief to the most literal interpretations of their scriptures and total denigration of any who oppose. The author argues this is common to all major faiths, and in some cases, unfortunately this has led to radicalisation, and in worst cases militaristic extremism. This is seen in Islamic Jihadists, the Far Right Christian movement bombing abortionists and the Jewish cause justifying land acquisition and human right abuses in Palestine. Giddens (1999) agreed that fundamentalism is a response to globalising influences and is different to fanaticism or authoritarianism. He argues that in the reading of texts or scriptures in a literal manner, fundamentalists propose these meanings to be applied to social, economic and political life. This interpretation gives great power to the ‘guardians’ of tradition as only they have access to the ‘exact meaning’ of the texts. Therefore these interpreters gain secular as well as religious power, hence the power of the Ayatollahs in Islam, Orthodox Jews and the Christian religious Right Wing. In addressing the question posed, the complexity in the interpretation of the terms can be seen to be problematical. There are varying opinions on whether these are substitutable, conflicting, or compatible. If one looks from a numerical perspective, Norris &Inglehart (2004,p.49) provide data stating that the major world religions have a population of 5.4 billion people, therefore indicating that those professing a faith comprise the major part of the world population. This could argue that spirituality has not supplanted religion if a position of differentiation is taken, however this essay concludes that all attempts to explain mankind’s existence, even secularism as a rejection of faith, is part of the internal search for meaning. The heightened interest in spirituality outside of the traditional faiths could highlight the dissatisfaction with conventionality from a post modernistic viewpoint or experiential failures of those religions in the past. This essay concludes that whilst the search continues, as expressed by Grimes earlier, it makes no sense to set them up as opposites and endorses the comments of Patrick (Roof et al, 1999p.145) , ‘ I find myself affirming that whether the two streams are destined to converge or remain apart, they each bring a wisdom and new possibilities for life to our world’. Overall word count 2460 Quotation word count approx. 400 References Global Societies Assignment 3 Bryn Williams 110040155 Page 9 of 9