Spirituality and Religion

Running head: SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION
Spirituality and Religion
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1SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION
Introduction
The present contemporary world is based on a number of aspects, one of which is that of
secularity (Kadar et al., 2015). The preponderance of the role of the various religious leaders of
the different existing faiths that was visible in the medieval times, gradually came to diminish in
the modern times. This happened because people became more logical and started to ask
questions which could not be answered by the clergymen of such religious institutions. As a
result, people started to become secular and disillusioned with the concept of religion (Gardner,
2017). However, the present times show the return of the preponderance of religious scriptures
and activities back in the lives of the people. This essay seeks to understand the concept of
desecularization and provides three examples of situations where spirituality represents
desecularization. The essay also analyzes the Christian response to spiritual revolution and the
issue of spiritual direction.
Three phenomena where spirituality represents desecularization
Desecularization refers to the aspect where there is an increase in the level of spirituality
among the people of the society, after an initial phase of spirituality (Weathers, McCarthy &
Coffey, 2016). There is often the idea that desecularization refers to the aspect of increase in
religiosity of the people. However, this is not the case. A strong distinction is made between
spirituality and that of religiosity. People are not religious as they were in the earlier times. They
are placing more emphasis on critical thinking and the factor of reason. In this sense people are
interested in the aspect of inner belief and faith. This is known as spirituality. Spirituality
therefore refers to that state where a person finds inner confidence and peace with the aid of
religion and religious teachings. They do not adhere to them by blind faith, but rather evaluates
the religious lessons in the scriptures in a critical manner and then makes a judgment call. This

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can be understood with the help of several noticeable phenomena occurring within the human
society.
The first phenomena is that of increase in the number of church attendees. It has been
observed within the United States of America that the number of people who attend church has
risen considerably from 1776 to 2000, almost from 17% of the population to around 62%
(Gardner, 2017). This has been made possible since the traditional religious routes have been
replaced by a new form of religiosity. People like to go to churches since there they feel the
closest to God and His wisdom. Individuals are in constant search for happiness and content and
one of the ways to attain this, according to them, is by frequenting places of worship and
religiosity. As a result, this aspect can be termed as a rise in the spiritual nature of people and
their inclination towards religious teachings.
The second example is the existence of orthodox Christianity in Russia. During the
existence of Soviet Union, the people living in the country were largely atheist in nature. They
believed in the reasoning of science and also undertook participation in the persecution of the
religious clergy who were living in Russia. The wave of secularism that occurred in the year
1990 revealed a rapid decline in the religious belief of the people. However, a study conducted in
2007 showed that round 80% of the people in Russia were orthodox Christians (Gardner, 2017).
In this regard, the religious aspect of the people can be seen to be increasing. The people of
Russia in the contemporary time period, are becoming more orthodox in nature while
disregarding the aspect of science and critical thinking in the process.
A third phenomena of desecularization that can be observed is within the context of East
Asia. A study has revealed that the religious inclinations of the people living in this part of the
world has increased considerably in the face of entrance exams (Gardner, 2017). Ethnographic