I thought ** you do not have permission to see this link ** might be of interest to some on the forum.
Lots in there to consider, but one thing that jumped out at me:
The new survey also finds that most “nones” believe animals other than humans can have spirits or spiritual energies. . . . 25% say they feel the presence of something beyond this world at least several times a year . . . 35% of “nones” say they have ever experienced a strong feeling that someone who is dead is communicating with them. . . . Six-in-ten “nones” say they believe animals other than humans can have spirits or spiritual energies, while 54% say the same about parts of nature (like mountains, rivers or trees)
These numbers are lower than they are among the religiously affiliated, but even among those who have disavowed religion, the basic religious impulse seems to be pretty healthy. Even among outright atheists, 15% have had an experience of a dead person trying to communicate with them, and 26% think mountains, rivers, or trees can have spiritual energies.
Yes it is a mistake to think that rationalism (much less atheism) is sweeping the land. What is dying is participation in organized religion. What we are seeing is the phenomenon of a personal, “mind your own business”, syncretic, unorganized kind of spirituality. What organized religion did historically was to provide a social framework in which to interpret the kinds of experiences about which Allison writes. People will still have experiences of the numinous, awe and wonder, and feelings of transcendence. They just won’t go to church for answers. After all, we always had to take organized religion’s word for it that it was in any sense close to reality. It simply provided a ready-made vocabulary to deal with these human experiences.
BDEhrman
FreedomBen
evgendob
Robert
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