scholarly journals ‘Nones’ Belonging: Sunday Assemblies, Cathedrals and Quakers

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-241
Author(s):  
Ian Toombs ◽  
Rhiannon Grant

This research note reports on observations of the Sunday Assembly and places this movement in the wider context of ‘secular spirituality’: those who do not hold traditional religious beliefs but engage in spiritual or religiously shaped practices. In particular, we argue that the group identified in the sociology of religion as ‘Nones’, or people who identify as ‘spiritual but not religious’, commonly engage in spiritual practices and have spiritual aspirations. Observations of Sunday Assemblies are compared with the situation of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and other church settings such as cathedral attendance to shed light on varied religious participation by ‘Nones’. As such, it suggests that researchers investigating nones or non-theists may need to better understand the spiritual nature of their engagement.

1997 ◽  
pp. 51-58
Author(s):  
O. Karagodina

Psychology of religion as a branch of religious studies, in contrast to the philosophy and sociology of religion, focuses attention mainly on the problems of individual religiosity - the phenomena of religious experience, religious beliefs, mechanisms of the emergence and development of religious experience. The psychology of religion studies the experience of the supernatural person, the psychological roots of this experience and its significance for the subjective. Since a person is formed and operates in a society, the study of religious experience must include its social sources.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 433
Author(s):  
J. Aaron Simmons

Often the debates in philosophy of religion are quite disconnected from the empirical data gathered in the sociology of religion. This is especially the case regarding the recent increase in prominence of those identifying as “spiritual but not religious” (SBNR) within an American context. In the attempt to bring these two fields into productive conversation, this essay offers a constructive account of the SBNR in terms of what they reject (i.e., their status as “not religious”) and also what they affirm (i.e., their identity as “spiritual”). In brief, the suggestion is that the SBNR do not reject theism or even common “religious” practices, but instead reject a particular mode of “religion” that is grounded in an authoritative and insular social presence. Alternatively, the SBNR at least seem to affirm a notion of “spirituality” that is broadly consistent with the idea found in historical Christian traditions. After surveying the empirical data and offering a new phenomenological analysis of it, the essay concludes with a suggestion that we need a new category—“religious, but not spiritual” (RBNS)—in order best to make sense of how the SBNR signify in relation to specific hermeneutic contexts and sociopolitical frameworks.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Jamal Subhi Ismail Nafi’

<p>This article is an attempt to explore the inclusion and the use of superstitious elements in Mark Twain’s novel <em>The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</em> (1884) and Shakespeare’s play <em>Macbeth</em> (1611). Superstition involves a deep belief in the magic and the occult, to almost to an extent of obsession, which is contrary to realism. Through the analytical and psychological approaches, this paper tries to shed light on Twain’s and Shakespeare’s use of supernaturalism in their respective stories, and the extent the main characters are influenced by it. A glance at both stories reveals that characters are highly affected by superstitions, more than they are influenced by their religious beliefs, or other social factors and values. The researcher also tries to explore the role played by superstition, represented by fate and the supernatural in determining the course of actions characters undertake in both dramas. The paper concluded that the people who lived in the past were superstitious to an extent of letting magic, omens; signs, etc. affect and determine their lives; actions and future decisions. They determine their destiny and make it very difficult for them to avoid it, alter it or think rationally and independently. And that, man’s actions are not isolated, but closely connected to the various forces operating in the universe.</p>


Author(s):  
Camillo von Mueller ◽  
Wim Van Opstal ◽  
Christopher S. Biggers ◽  
Andras Kelen ◽  
Bryan T. Froehle ◽  
...  

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Nicholas Burton ◽  
Jonathan Bainbridge

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which practices from the spiritual traditions—in our case, spiritual discernment—may offer opportunities for management innovation in non-religious organizations in designing collaborative and participative decision-making processes. We examine the case of a spiritual discernment practice associated with the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in the UK—known as the Quaker Business Method (QBM)—to help illuminate the opportunities of spiritual discernment in private limited companies. Given that the majority of non-religious, trading organizations are structured as private limited companies, our paper addresses the extent to which QBM can be utilized by such entities. Thus, we bring religion and corporate law into conversation to address this under-explored terrain. We find that embedding many elements of Quaker spiritual discernment in private limited companies pose non-trivial challenges. However, many of these challenges can be overcome so long as those involved in managing and owning organizations actively engage with corporate law, and specifically consider the benefits of adopting bespoke articles of association or entering into a separate shareholder agreement to reflect the practice of spiritual discernment. We necessarily adopt a practice-orientated perspective, and conclude by proposing new pathways for future research.


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