RESOURCE FILES
Chapter 5
Building Identity: Socialization
Wade Clark Roof
Abandoning "Religion"
Some say that
at the end of the twentieth century, Americans are abandoning religion. But according to
sociologist Wade Clark Roof, what has happened is not so much an abandonment of religion
as a shift in the way religion is practiced.1
Over a period
of 4 years, Roof interviewed and surveyed people about their religious values and goals
and their visions for the country. He found his subjects in a variety of social settings,
including churches, seminaries, folk festivals, airplanes, bars, and ticket lines.
Roof found
that only about a third of the people he asked have remained actively involved in
organized religion. Another quarter dropped out of organized religion for a while but
later returned to some form of institutional involvement. The rest, about 42% of his
subjects, remain "dropouts."
Yet even
dropouts still admit to a significant amount of religious activity and involvement. Some
are what Roof calls "believers, not belongers," people who maintain their
religious faith but are not members of an organized congregation. These individuals are
likely to express their religiosity privately.
Others are
"seekers," individuals who choose either mysticism and New Age spiritualism on
the one hand or theologically conservative, fundamentalist religion on the other.
American
religion has also become remarkably fluid. People move in and out of organized religion
with ease and frequency. According to Roof, about half of all Americans will drop out of
active religious participation for at least 2 years. Of those, 80% will return at some
point, usually to a church or synagogue.
Consider the
religious biography of this 36-year-old man:
- Raised as a Methodist
- Dropped out as a teenager,
preferring to play Beatles records rather than go to church
- Attended a Lutheran church
for a while
- Dropped out and began
attending Buddhist services
- Explored the Baha'i faith
and attended its meetings
- Attended spiritual seminars
on Judaism and Hinduism
- Currently describes himself
as a fundamentalist Christian2
Most people
do not try this many different ways of expressing their religiosity. Nevertheless, Roof
claims that the people who switch do so not for frivolous reasons but for moral and
religious ones. People want results and are willing to search for a comfortable
environment in which to express themselves religiously or spiritually.
Many adults
in their 30s and 40s have adopted a uniquely noninstitutional, individualistic approach to
religion. Although they still turn to organized religion during certain life
eventsóbirth, marriage, deathóthey are finding new ways to express their spirituality
and traditional human concerns for sharing, caring, and belonging:
Women explore their own
spirituality in Goddess groups, but also in home churches; many people, both men and
women, find support in adult-children-of-alcoholics meetings and in other 12-step groups
but also in evangelical prayer groups; there are meaningful group experiences . . .
whether among those spending a week working with Habitat for Humanity or among those
exploring the meaning of visualization and dream analysis; there is community and
celebration on Jesus Day but also on Earth Day.3
A major
restructuring of American religion is under way. People may or may not describe themselves
as religious, and they may or may not view themselves as related to existing
establishments. But religion, in whatever form it takes, still plays an important role in
people's lives.
1Roof, W. C. 1993a. A generation of seekers:
The spiritual journeys of the baby boom generation. San Francisco: Harper.
2Roof, W. C. 1993a. A generation of seekers:
The spiritual journeys of the baby boom generation. San Francisco: Harper. p. 175.
3Roof, W. C. 1993b. "Toward the year 2000:
Reconstructions of religious space." The Annals of the American Academy of
Political and Social Science, 527, 155-170. p. 167.
David Newman and Rebecca Smith.
(Created September 14, 1999). Copyright Pine Forge Press.
http://www.pineforge.com/newman. |