Spiritual marketplace : baby boomers and the remaking of American religion / Wade Clark Roof.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Roof, Wade Clark.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--Religion--1960-.

United States.

Religion.

Baby boom generation--Religious life.

Baby boom generation.

Physical Description:

x, 367 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, [1999]

Summary:

In more and more bookstores the "religion" section is gone and in its place is an expanding number of topics including angels, Sufism, journey, recovery, meditation, magic, inspiration, Judaica, astrology, gurus, Bible, prophesy, Evangelicalism, Mary, Buddhism, Catholicism, and esoterica. As Wade Clark Roof notes, such changes over the last two decades reflect a shift away from religion as traditionally understood to more diverse and creative approaches. But what does this splintering of the religious perspective say about Americans? Have we become more interested in spiritual concerns or have we become lost among trends? Do we value personal spirituality over traditional religion and no longer see ourselves united in a larger community of faith? Roof first credited this religious diversity to the Baby Boomers in his best-selling book A Generation of Seekers (1993). He returns to interview many of these people, now in midlife, to reveal a generation with a unique set of spiritual values--a generation that has altered our historic interpretations of religious beliefs, practices, and symbols, and perhaps even our understanding of the sacred itself.

Contents:

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 111

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:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 325-360) and index.

ISBN:

0691016593

OCLC:

41039828