Choosing Our Religion: The Spiritual Lives of America's Nones

by Elizabeth Drescher

Overview

To the dismay of religious leaders, study after study has shown a steady decline in affiliation and identification with traditional religions in America. By 2014, more than twenty percent of adults identified as unaffiliated--up more than seven percent just since 2007. Even more startling, more than thirty percent of those under the age of thirty now identify as "Nones"--answering "none" when queried about their religious affiliation. Is America losing its religion? Or, as more and more Americans choose different spiritual paths, are they changing what it means to be religious in the United States today? In Choosing Our Religion, Elizabeth Drescher explores the diverse, complex spiritual lives of Nones across generations and across categories of self-identification such as "Spiritual-But-Not-Religious," "Atheist," "Agnostic," "Humanist," "just Spiritual," and more. Drawing on more than one hundred interviews conducted across the United States, Drescher opens a window into the lives of a broad cross-section of Nones, diverse with respect to age, gender, race, sexual orientation, and prior religious background. She allows Nones to speak eloquently for themselves, illuminating the processes by which they became None, the sources of information and inspiration that enrich their spiritual lives, the practices they find spiritually meaningful, how prayer functions in spiritual lives not centered on doctrinal belief, how morals and values are shaped outside of institutional religions, and how Nones approach the spiritual development of their own children. These compelling stories are deeply revealing about how religion is changing in America--both for Nones and for the religiously affiliated family, friends, and neighbors with whom their lives remain intertwined.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199341245
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/01/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Elizabeth Drescher is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Santa Clara University. Her work on American spirituality has been published in numerous periodicals including America, Salon, Sojourners, and The Washington Post. She is also the author Tweet If You [Heart] Jesus: Practicing Church in the Digital Reformation (2011) and co-author of Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible (2012).

Table of Contents

List of Tables List of Figures Acknowledgements Introduction: An American Spiritual Pilgrimage Chapter 1. Nones Beyond the Numbers Chapter 2. Becoming None: Religiously Manufactured Spiritual Self-Invention Chapter 3. Companions on the Journey: Resources for Re-Mediating Religious Affiliation Chapter 4. Being None: Family, Friends, Fido&Food Chapter 5. Praying Between the Lines: Prayer Practices Among the Unaffiliated Chapter 6. Good Samaritan Nones: Religious Echoes and a Cosmopolitan Ethics of Care Conclusion: The None-ing of American Religion&Spirituality: Some Implications Appendix A: Methodology Appendix B: Characteristics of Choosing Our Religion Interview Subjects Notes Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

"Selections of this book could be effectively incorporated into undergraduate and graduate-level courses in religious studies, anthropology, and sociology Choosing Our Religion is a versatile, accessible, and novel text that lends much to our understanding of the complexity of religious and spiritual life in America today."-Kate Yanina DeConinck, Reading Religion

"This work will be helpful to ministry leaders who are interested in reaching out to individuals who find their religious practice to be both within and outside the walls of a traditional congregational setting. ... The stories that emerge from Drescher's skillfully conducted interviews provide rare opportunities to listen to candid descriptions of why many Nones are no longer affiliated with religious groups..."—Theology Today

"The 'Nones'-the religiously unaffiliated-popped into public consciousness a decade ago, and have attracted attention ever since. Yet they remain largely unknown and misunderstood, especially when viewed as indifferent to, if not hostile toward, religion. Drescher's research focuses not on who they aren't but on who they are-and she finds them a remarkably diverse and fluid segment of our society, some, of course, negative toward organized religion, but most trying to find meaning in life experience... A good and informative read." —Wade Clark Roof, J.F. Rowny Professor of Religion and Society Emeritus, University of California at Santa Barbara

"As the rate of religious disaffiliation nears 25% of the American population, the importance of understanding the 'Nones'-from roving seekers to settled nonbelievers-has risen correspondingly. Drescher offers a splendidly variegated account of the religious practices and engagements that continue to flourish among the unaffiliated. The spiritual voices of the 'Nones' emerge with unusual clarity and resonance in these pages." —Leigh E. Schmidt, author of Restless Souls: The Making of American Spirituality

"This book is a...significant contribution. Ranging widely across a variety of literatures (anthropology, cultural studies, sociology, media studies, congregational studies, theology and so on) Drescher has put together a stunning reframing of the experiences of people who claim no religious affiliation...Drescher's exploration of the ways in which prayer is experienced, or her discussion of how an ethics of care emerges among Nones, will both be sections I will draw upon in my classes. I'm also certain that her 'four Fs of contemporary American spirituality - Family, Fido, Friends and Food' will prove to be an enduring meme within my classes. I highly recommend this book." —Mary Hess, Professor of Educational Leadership, Luther Seminary

"This is an intriguing and welcome contribution to literature on the rapidly changing and always fascinating landscape of religion in the US."—CHOICE

"Choosing Our Religion is an informative, even handed look into the lives of nones in the United States. I am enthusiastically recommending it to anyone interested in the changing landscape of religion."—Portland Book Review

From the Publisher