The religiosity of the secular: the case of self-help

Abstract

ABSTRACT Religious decline is an oft-repeated fact proposed by secularization-based studies. It stems from the preconceived notion that religion and the secular are against each other. A major problem with this binary is that the secular is considered to be devoid of any religiosity. This paper highlights the opposite avenue of research trodden by a few scholars who have disregarded the said binary and navigated the religiosity of the secular to which far too little attention has been paid. Particularly, this article focuses on the religiosity of self-help which is mostly considered as a secular movement. To the best of the author’s knowledge, there is only one study which has empirically examined this topic while it occupies a special place in our understanding of religion. The space in this paper does not allow for a full discussion of the issue. Therefore, it generally highlights the new path to understanding religion and potential points of departure for exploring self-help’s religiosity. Finally, the paper briefly discuses why this topic deserves serious attention.