{"title":"Seeing is Believing: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the Experiences of the ‘Spiritual But Not Religious’ in Britain","authors":"James Murphy, F. Jones, D. Nigbur","doi":"10.5334/snr.162","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.162","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42349,"journal":{"name":"Secularism & Nonreligion","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70722642","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Catto, Rachael Shillitoe, Stephen H. Jones, T. Kaden, F. Elsdon-Baker
Previous sociological research on science and religion, and secularity and nonreligion, has highlighted a consistent connection between science and nonreligious identities. Yet, the dynamics of this association have not been explored in depth. Building upon a growing body of work, this article adopts a relational approach to science and nonreligion to analyze narratives around science and religion emerging among nonreligious life scientists and members of the public in Canada and the UK. Across a variety of nonreligious identities, they tend to presume religion is irrational and consequently incompatible with science, idealize science, and refer to religious people as a less scientific outgroup. Upbringing, friendships, workspaces, and education all contribute to beliefs about science, (non)religion, and society. The social imaginary that to be modern is to be secular and scientific has enduring cultural power within these Western contexts, affecting daily life. Whether this is the case in other countries is a question for future research.
{"title":"The Social Imaginary of Science and Nonreligion: Narrating the Connection in the Anglophone West","authors":"R. Catto, Rachael Shillitoe, Stephen H. Jones, T. Kaden, F. Elsdon-Baker","doi":"10.5334/snr.163","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.163","url":null,"abstract":"Previous sociological research on science and religion, and secularity and nonreligion, has highlighted a consistent connection between science and nonreligious identities. Yet, the dynamics of this association have not been explored in depth. Building upon a growing body of work, this article adopts a relational approach to science and nonreligion to analyze narratives around science and religion emerging among nonreligious life scientists and members of the public in Canada and the UK. Across a variety of nonreligious identities, they tend to presume religion is irrational and consequently incompatible with science, idealize science, and refer to religious people as a less scientific outgroup. Upbringing, friendships, workspaces, and education all contribute to beliefs about science, (non)religion, and society. The social imaginary that to be modern is to be secular and scientific has enduring cultural power within these Western contexts, affecting daily life. Whether this is the case in other countries is a question for future research.","PeriodicalId":42349,"journal":{"name":"Secularism & Nonreligion","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70722530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Over the last two decades and, most recently because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a growing interest in studying topics related to dying and death in various fields of research. Research has started to explore, in more detail, death and bereavement among nonreligious people in contemporary Western societies. It is now well established that this large social group finds its own meaningful ways to come to terms with grief, loss and finitude. However, these studies typically do not include the perspectives of those living with life-threatening illness and facing death. Drawing on one and a half years of ethnographic research conducted among patients receiving palliative care in Switzerland, this study explores how a nonreligious orientation and other facets of human existence influence emotions and meaning making while dying. This is exemplified by the case of an atheist who I picked from the totality of fieldwork encounters in order to illuminate the nuances and complexities of living with terminal illness. The study found that secular and individualist values make it difficult to find closure and accept death. At the same time, the results show that the identification with the secular features of a worldview can increase well-being by ensuring a sense of permanence in actions and meaning-making habits in dying. Furthermore, this article makes the case for studying attitudes towards dying and death in relation to time and life situation.
{"title":"Dreaming On: Dying Behaviour and the Romantic-Individualist Ethos","authors":"G. Metzger","doi":"10.5334/snr.158","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.158","url":null,"abstract":"Over the last two decades and, most recently because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a growing interest in studying topics related to dying and death in various fields of research. Research has started to explore, in more detail, death and bereavement among nonreligious people in contemporary Western societies. It is now well established that this large social group finds its own meaningful ways to come to terms with grief, loss and finitude. However, these studies typically do not include the perspectives of those living with life-threatening illness and facing death. Drawing on one and a half years of ethnographic research conducted among patients receiving palliative care in Switzerland, this study explores how a nonreligious orientation and other facets of human existence influence emotions and meaning making while dying. This is exemplified by the case of an atheist who I picked from the totality of fieldwork encounters in order to illuminate the nuances and complexities of living with terminal illness. The study found that secular and individualist values make it difficult to find closure and accept death. At the same time, the results show that the identification with the secular features of a worldview can increase well-being by ensuring a sense of permanence in actions and meaning-making habits in dying. Furthermore, this article makes the case for studying attitudes towards dying and death in relation to time and life situation.","PeriodicalId":42349,"journal":{"name":"Secularism & Nonreligion","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70722428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Is Secularism Too Western? Disputes Around Offending Pictures of Muhammad and the Virgin Mary","authors":"S. Urbanski","doi":"10.5334/snr.148","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.148","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42349,"journal":{"name":"Secularism & Nonreligion","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70722055","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"YouTube Drama in an Atheist Public: A Case Study","authors":"Robin Isomaa","doi":"10.5334/snr.146","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.146","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42349,"journal":{"name":"Secularism & Nonreligion","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70722161","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Advancing the Study of Nonreligion through Feminist Methods","authors":"Jordan C. Reuter, Colleen I. Murray","doi":"10.5334/snr.151","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.151","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42349,"journal":{"name":"Secularism & Nonreligion","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70721805","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"‘I Believe in Something; I Don’t Know What It Is’: An Exploration of Five British Hindus’ Worldviews Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis","authors":"James Murphy, F. Jones, D. Nigbur","doi":"10.5334/snr.160","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.160","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42349,"journal":{"name":"Secularism & Nonreligion","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70722479","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}