Spiritual Marketplace Research Articles

Struggling with Tradition

Despite growing acceptance of homosexuality in mainstream popular culture, debates about legalizing same-sex unions continue largely because they conflict with religious notions of heterosexual marriage and family. Marriage has become a symbol of status, making public weddings a sought-after goal for marginalized groups to gain greater social acceptance. Liberal Judaism particularly has responded to changing cultural circumstances and adapted tradition to meet the needs of diverse worshippers within a growing spiritual marketplace. These branches of the tradition contend with problematic textual and ritual elements that have obstructed the acceptance of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer Jews into their communities.Alternative understandings of Leviticus 18:22 and the Talmudic concept ofkiddushinmake room for same-sex weddings to occur in the synagogue. Because same-sex marriage challenges dominant attitudes about what constitutes a conventional family, wedding ceremonies performed in religious settings can transform communities that witness them, especially within Canada where same-sex marriage is legal.

Sheila Sweetinburgh, The role of the hospital in medieval England: gift-giving and the spiritual economy, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2004, pp. 286, illus., £55.00, €65.00 (hardback 1-85182-794-3).

Sheila Sweetinburgh, The role of the hospital in medieval England: gift-giving and the spiritual economy, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2004, pp. 286, illus., £55.00, €65.00 (hardback 1-85182-794-3).

2005 Penny Magee Memorial Lecture The New Spiritualities, East and West: Colonial Legacies and the Global Spiritual Marketplace in Southeast Asia

2005 Penny Magee Memorial Lecture The New Spiritualities, East and West: Colonial Legacies and the Global Spiritual Marketplace in Southeast Asia

The New Spiritualities, East and West

Scholars who recognise an increasingly common distinction between ‘religion’ and ‘spirituality’ in Western popular usage have suggested that the new spiritualities, framed in contrast to ‘religion’, are largely confined to North Atlantic and Australasian societies. This paper, examining recent developments in the practice and framing of ‘religion’ in Indonesia, argues that comparable new spiritualities, emphasising subjective experience and individual autonomy and existing in tension with congregational religion, have emerged in this Asian country amongst people participating in the modern sector of the economy and the global spiritual marketplace. However the differing institutionalisation of Indonesia’s new spiritualities from those of Western and other Asian countries needs to be understood in the historical context of Muslim reactions to colonialism and give due attention to particular national legacies of colonial administration.

America's Meltdown: The Lowest Common Denominator Society

America's Meltdown: The Lowest Common Denominator Society John Boghosian Arden. Westport: Praeger, 2003. Contemporary narratives of social decline commonly originate from points of view hostile to egalitarianism, individualism, relativism, and secular humanism. Think of Allan Bloom's The Closing of American Mind (1987), Robert Bork's Slouching Toward Bethlehem (1996), and William Bennett's The Death of Outrage (1998). America's Meltdown, written by director of training for Department of Psychiatry at Kaiser Permanente in Vallejo, California, springs from more liberal impulses. Think of Bill McKibben's The End of Nature (1990) and Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone (2000). With a simplification that reminds one of shouting radio programs, John B. Arden conceptualizes presumed ongoing meltdown through all-purpose concept of the lowest common denominator (called LCD throughout). Arden never defines a literal descriptive or diagnostic content of this arithmetic-based metaphor, simply using it to condemn any lamentable social trend. The reader will quickly learn to think BAD/MUST STOP! whenever term appears. The elasticity of this monoconceptual approach will frustrate more pluralistically minded. What, then, is so bad about our social world? Without listing them all, current maladies include seductions of Internet, vicarious living through television, domestic terrorism, schoolhouse shootings, gun ownership, video games, gambling, spiritual supermarket religion, political soft money, and overly publicized sports. In diagnostic final chapter on Rebuilding Future, Arden calls for remvigoration by the basic principles of a healthy society, including compassion, tolerance, and flexibility (193). Other broad goals called for include responsible entertainment, real news, conservation, disarmament, expanded health care, and greater emphasis on prevention. The book's final sentence reads, A healthy future requires you to participate with others in constructing a society of clarity as usher in new millennium (212). Readers can learn some things from this book, which does range over numerous ideas and sources, but quality of scholarship will often frustrate desire to go further. The book does not attempt to synthesize best-known and documented treatments of its topics. For example, in attacking aggressive use of computers in early education, Arden fails to mention Clifford Stoll's best-selling Silicon Snake oil (1995). In discussing the spiritual supermarket, he fails to refer to Wade C. Roof's Spiritual Marketplace (1999) or Richard Cimino and Don Lattin's Shopping for Faith (1998). Because this book is about declining standards, one should not ignore its failure to meet expectations. One grammatical challenge on page 3 exposes a typical problem in book. Arden writes, we spend approximately a quarter of time socializing today [sic] did 35 years ago. If than is supposed to be relative, then there is a missing -which would mean that spend a quarter time less did. If than is a misprint for that, then would be spending a mere 25 percent of expended spent 35 years ago, or a drop of 75 percent. …

Wade Clark Roof, Spiritual Market Place. Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion

Wade Clark Roof, Spiritual Market Place. Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion

The Lost Aisle: Selling Atlantis in the “Spiritual Supermarket”

In recent years, a number of commentators have discussed the emergence of a “spiritual supermarket” within western societies, wherein, among a general “deregulation” of the spiritual “marketplace,” old and established spiritual “products” have to increasingly compete with newer ones. In this article, our aim is to discuss one manifestation of this phenomena; namely “fringe” or “alternative archaeology.” In particular, we intend to discuss the modern version of the Atlantis myth promoted by the British author, Graham Hancock, exploring in particular how it may be understood within the context of the contemporary “spiritual supermarket.”

Nature and Self in New Age Pilgrimage

Several scholars have argued that New Age spirituality is best understood as a form of ‘self-spirituality’ and as an expression of the consumer capitalist tendency to commodify all things, in the process converting religion into a ‘spiritual marketplace’. This article examines the phenomenon of New Age pilgrimage, especially pilgrimage to natural ‘power places’, with a focus on New Age practices at Sedona, Arizona, USA. The author assesses New Age notions of sacred space, nature, and the self, and compares pilgrim practices and sensorial interactions with Sedona's red rock landscape to forms of tourist practice and commodification more prevalent in Sedona. He argues that New Age pilgrimage, in theory and sometimes in practice, rejects the consumerist impulse, and that the New Age ‘self’ is both more open-ended and ‘postmodern’, and less central to New Age practice, than is suggested by the characterisation of New Age as ‘self-spirituality’.

Short Notices

Books reviewed in this article:Jonardon Ganeri, Philosophy in Classical IndiaJoseph Epes Brown with Emily Cousins, Teaching Spirits: Understanding Native American Religious TraditionsCyril S. Rodd, Glimpses of a Strange Land: Studies in Old Testament EthicsChris Rowland and John Vincent (eds), Bible and PracticeRobert Cummings Neville, Symbols of Jesus: A Christology of Symbolic EngagementDavid Batson, The Treasure Chest of the Early Christians: Faith, Care and Community from the Apostolic Age to Constantine the GreatFlorent Gaboriau, The Conversion of Edith SteinPeter C. Hodgson, Christian Faith: A Brief IntroductionMichaela Davey, Mastering TheologyRay Billington, Religion Without GodDaniel M. Bell, Liberation Theology After the End of History: The Refusal to Cease SufferingKevin J. Vanhoozer (ed.), Nothing Greater, Nothing Better – Theological Essays on the Love of GodCraig A. Carter, The Politics of the Cross: The Theology and Social Ethics of John Howard YoderAndrew Shanks, ‘What Is Truth?’: Towards a Theological PoeticsRichard Madsen, William M. Sullivan, Ann Swidler and Steven M. Tipton (eds), Meaning and Modernity: Religion, Polity and SelfAlister E. McGrath, The Future of ChristianityStephen H. Webb, Good EatingMark D. Jordan, The Ethics of SexEugene F. Rogers, Jr (ed.), Theology and Sexuality: Classic and Contemporary ReadingsPhilip L. Culbertson (ed.), The Spirituality of Men: Sixteen Christians Write About their FaithLothar Bauerochse, Learning to Live Together: Interchurch Partnerships as Ecumenical Communities of LearningWade Clark Roof, Spiritual Marketplace: Baby–boomers and the Remaking of American ReligionWilliam A. Dyrness, Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in DialogueB. P. Vysheslavtsev, The Eternal in Russian PhilosophyAndrew Purves, Pastoral Theology in the Classical TraditionFraser Watts, Rebecca Nye and Sara Savage, Psychology for Christian MinistryDiane Jonte–Pace, Speaking the Unspeakable: Religion, Misogyny, and the Uncanny Mother in Freud’s Cultural Texts

Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion By Wade Clark Roof Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1999. 367 pp. $16.95

Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion <i>By Wade Clark Roof</i> Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1999. 367 pp. $16.95

Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion

Acknowledgments ix INTRODUCTION On Maps and Terrains 3 CHAPTER 1 Varieties of Spiritual Quest 16 CHAPTER 2 The Making of a Quest Culture 46 CHAPTER 3 Spiritual Marketplace 77 CHAPTER 4 On Being Fluid and Grounded III CHAPTER 5 A Quest for What? 145 CHAPTER 6 Redrawing the Boundaries 180 CHAPTER 7 Realigning Family and Religion 217 CHAPTER 8 Moral Vision and Values 254 CONCLUSION Whirl Is King, Having Driven Out Zeus 294 APPENDIX Methodology 315 Notes 325 Index 361

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:Christian Smith, Christian America? What Evangelicals really wantNancy Eiesland, A Particular Place: Urban Restructuring and Religious Ecology in a Southern SuburbJanet Duitsman Cornelius, Slave Missions and The Black Church in the Antebellum SouthLinda Boynton Arthur, (ed) Religion, Dress and The BodyWilliam M. Newman and Peter L. Halvorson, Atlas of American Religion: The De‐nominational EraMichael P. Carroll, Irish Pilgrimage: Holy Wells and Pop‐ular Catholic DevotionPaul Eli Ivey, Prayers in Stone: Christian Science Architecture in The United States, 1894‐1930Andrew Greeley, The Catholic ImaginationR. Scott Appleby, The Ambivalence Of The Sacred: Re‐Ligion, Violence, And ReconciliationAna María Díaz‐Stevens and Anthony M. Stevens‐Arroyo, Recognizing The Latino Resurgence In U.S. ReligionWendy Griffin, (ed) Daughters Of The Goddess: Studies Of Healing, Identity, And EmpowermentCarole Bell Ford, The Girls: Jewish Women Of Brownsville, Brooklyn, 1940‐1995Thomas A. Idinopulos and Brian C. Wilson, (eds) What Is Religion? Origins, Definitions, And ExplanationsToby E. Huff and Wolfgang Schluchter, (eds) Max Weber And IslamWade Clark Roof, Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers And The Remaking Of American ReligionJames A. Wellman, The Gold Coast Church And The Ghetto: Christ And Culture In Main‐Line ProtestantismMark Juergensmeyer, Terror In The Mind Of God

Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion

Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion

Book Reviews

Journal Article Book Reviews Get access The Fifties Spiritual Marketplace: American Religion in a Decade of Conflict. By Robert S. Ellwood. Rutgers University Press, 1997. 274 pages. $18.95. Alexis McCrossen Alexis McCrossen Southern Methodist University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Volume 69, Issue 1, March 2001, Pages 226–228, https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/69.1.226 Published: 01 March 2001

Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion

Journal Article Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion, by Wade Clark Roof Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999, 367pp. $24.95 Get access Benton Johnson Benton Johnson University of Oregon Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Sociology of Religion, Volume 62, Issue 1, Spring 2001, Pages 140–142, https://doi.org/10.2307/3712241 Published: 01 March 2001

Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion. Wade Clark Roof

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsSpiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion. Wade Clark Roof Robert C. FullerRobert C. Fuller Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Religion Volume 81, Number 1Jan., 2001 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/490818 Views: 7Total views on this site Copyright 2001 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Spiritual marketplace: baby boomers and the remaking of American religion

Spiritual marketplace: baby boomers and the remaking of American religion

Healing in the Spiritual Marketplace: Consumers, Courses and Credentialism

This article explores the ways in which the widely perceived “need for healing” at individual and global level have given rise to a range of new professions within the spiritual marketplace. It examines attitudes to money, the provision of training and the growth of credentialism in this sector of the spiritual service industry, where both clients and practitioners regard healing as important elements in their spiritual quest.

L'émergence d'un “marché spirituel”

In this article an attempt is made to conceptualize a nebulous social phenomenon: the centres, the courses, the books, the teachers and healers representing alternative meaning systems. This phenomenon can be situated at the fringe of religion, but is not organized as a religion. The author discusses why the term “New Age movement” is not very appropriate and the concept of “spiritual marketplace” is suggested as a viable alternative. The development of the spiritual marketplace is a result of the effect of broader cultural processes on the “cultic milieu”. The generalization of the market economy has resulted in a formal pluralism and the primacy of individual preferences. These conditions weaken traditional churches and give rise to “postmodern” alternatives, such as a marketplace of spiritualities. The author argues that various meaning systems are reduced to individual opportunities, since the individual construction of identity (“finding one's own way in life”) is an essential concern.

The Fifties Spiritual Marketplace: American Religion in a Decade of Conflict

The Fifties Spiritual Marketplace: American Religion in a Decade of Conflict