UID:
almahu_9949545078102882
Format:
1 online resource
ISBN:
9781479809516
,
9783110993899
Series Statement:
Secular Studies ; 5
Content:
A radically new way of understanding secularism explains why being secular can seem so strangely religiousFor much of America's rapidly growing secular population, religion is an inescapable source of skepticism and discomfort. It shows up in politics and in holidays, but also in common events like weddings and funerals. In The Secular Paradox, Joseph Blankholm argues that, despite their desire to avoid religion, nonbelievers often seem religious because Christianity influences the culture around them so deeply. Relying on several years of ethnographic research among secular activists and organized nonbelievers in the United States, the volume explores how very secular people are ambivalent toward belief, community, ritual, conversion, and tradition. As they try to embrace what they share, secular people encounter, again and again, that they are becoming too religious. And as they reject religion, they feel they have lost too much. Trying to strike the right balance, secular people alternate between the two sides of their ambiguous condition: absolutely not religious and part of a religion-like secular tradition.Blankholm relies heavily on the voices of women and people of color to understand what it means to live with the secular paradox. The struggles of secular misfits-the people who mis-fit normative secularism in the United States-show that becoming secular means rejecting parts of life that resemble Christianity and embracing a European tradition that emphasizes reason and avoids emotion. Women, people of color, and secular people who have left non-Christian religionswork against the limits and contradictions of secularism to create new ways of being secular that are transforming the American religious landscape. They are pioneering the most interesting and important forms of secular "religiosity" in America today.
Note:
Frontmatter --
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Contents --
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Introduction: A Strange Ambivalence --
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1. Belief --
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2. Community --
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3. Ritual --
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4. Conversion --
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5. Tradition --
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Epilogue: The Helmet of Mambrino --
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Acknowledgments --
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Notes --
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Bibliography --
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Index --
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About the Author
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Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
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In English.
In:
EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2022 English, De Gruyter, 9783110993899
In:
EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2022, De Gruyter, 9783110994810
In:
EBOOK PACKAGE Theol., Relig.Stud., Jewish Stud. 2022 English, De Gruyter, 9783110994544
In:
EBOOK PACKAGE Theol., Relig.Stud., Jewish Stud. 2022, De Gruyter, 9783110994537
In:
New York University Press Complete eBook-Package 2022, De Gruyter, 9783110751628
Language:
English
DOI:
10.18574/nyu/9781479809516
URL:
https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479809516
URL:
https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9781479809516
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