Selfish or Substituting Spirituality? Clarifying the Relationship between Spiritual Practice and Political Engagement

Abstract

Churches have long been sites of local charity work as well as national political movements. What happens when people engage in more individualistic forms of spirituality, like mindfulness meditation or yoga, rather than participate in religious communities? Might the rise of individualized forms of spirituality lead to a decline in political engagement? Or, among people averse to religion, might spiritual practice operate as a substitute, and potentially contribute to political engagement? Drawing on burgeoning theory of religion and spirituality as socially-situated boundary objects, we use data from the 2020 National Religion and Spirituality Survey to examine the relationship between self-reported spiritual and religious practices and political engagement. First, we investigate whether study participants distinguish spiritual and religious practice as distinct concepts through factor analysis. Next, we use those results to examine the association between these practices and reports of political behavior. We find a consistent, positive relationship between spiritual practice and political engagement of comparable magnitude to that of religious practices. Notably, during an era of heightened political polarization around religious engagement, political progressives, respondents of color, and members of the LGBT community are more likely to report spiritual rather than religious practices. This points us to a theory of spiritual practice as a substitute for religious engagement among groups alienated from religious institutions, with the former capable of fostering similar proclivities for political action as the latter. Our results suggest critiques of a “selfish” spirituality have been overblown.

Religion Matters (And Doesn't Go Away When Sociologists Ignore It)

“…Quantitative analyses of political speeches show the use of religious language among American Presidents has increased, not decreased, in recent years (Hughes 2019). And recent studies also affirm the important role of religious and spiritual practices for shaping Americans' political engagement (Kucinskas and Stewart 2022) or lack thereof (Schnabel 2021). Religion is also a vital sorting mechanism that amplifies and exacerbates American polarization along ideological, partisan, and racial lines (O'Brien and Abdelhadi 2020; Perry , 2023a.…”

Les attitudes des Spirituels mais non religieux envers les relations homosexuelles et les rôles de genre

“…Plus largement, la spiritualité réfère souvent à un cheminement personnel caractérisé par des pratiques et croyances invoquant des puissances et phénomènes s’élevant au-delà de la réalité quotidienne (Ammerman, 2020). Bien qu’il n’existe guère de distinction universelle entre le religieux et le spirituel, bon nombre d’individus et de chercheurs emploient les deux concepts différemment afin de caractériser certaines croyances, pratiques et expériences (Ammerman, 2014 ; Kucinskas et Stewart, 2022). D’un côté, le religieux renvoi aux groupes et traditions institués ainsi qu’aux pratiques religieuses qu’y sont rattachées.…”

“…Des études menées en Europe et aux États-Unis ont révélé que les SMNR sont en moyenne plus instruits et plus jeunes que la population générale (Lipka et Gecewicz, 2017 ; Trzebiatowska et Bruce, 2012). Aux États-Unis, les progressistes politiques et les minorités raciales sont plus susceptibles de déclarer des pratiques spirituelles plutôt que religieuses (Kucinskas et Stewart, 2022). Dans l’ISSP de 2008 et de 2018, plusieurs des pays (mais pas tous) sont caractérisés par des taux plus élevés de femmes parmi la catégorie SMNR.…”

Spirituality and social engagement

“…A Pew study of 2017 4 finds that 48% of Americans consider themselves spiritual and religious, a category that several other researchers have found to be particularly engaged (Kucinskas and Stewart, 2022: 22). In Quebec, there are many smaller Catholic spiritual communities with their own devotional practices, community life, and social outreach that originated in the post-Vatican II era, such as the Famille Marie-Jeunesse, le Chemin neuf, and the Légion de Marie.…”

“…If spirituality is imagined as an individual, private affair, the notion of spiritual activism would seem to be an oxymoron. However, Kucinskas and Stewart (2022) argue that many who are concerned by contemporary political struggles (political progressives, persons of colour, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community) are more likely to speak of spiritual practices rather than religious ones. The authors find that critiques of ‘selfish’ neoliberal spirituality are exaggerated and that ‘all of whom for different reasons may feel more alienated in conventional congregations, spirituality may serve as an alternative path to political engagement’ (Kucinskas and Stewart, 2022: 606).…”