Postmodern religion

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Postmodern religion

metanarratives in postmodern religion, and this reflects one of the core principles[9] of postmodern philosophy. A postmodern interpretation of religion emphasises the key point that religious truth is highly individualistic, subjective, and resides within the individual.[10]

Eclecticism and non-dogmatic theology

According to postmodern philosophy, society is in a state of constant change. There is no absolute version of reality, no absolute truths. Postmodern religion strengthens the perspective of the individual and weakens the strength of institutions and religions that deal with objective realities. Postmodern religion considers that there are no universal religious truths or laws. Rather, reality is shaped by social, historical, and cultural contexts according to the individual, place, and/or time. Individuals may seek to draw eclectically on diverse religious beliefs, practices, and rituals in order to incorporate these into their own religious worldview.

In Japan,

Neopaganism[13]
may also be interpreted from a postmodern perspective. A postmodern religion can be non-dogmatic, syncretic, and eclectic: in drawing from various faiths and traditions, postmodern religion challenges the notion of absolute truth.


A postmodern interpretation of religion emphasizes the importance of questioning and considering historical bias when studying religion from a historical perspective. For example, doctoral studies in religion at

ideologies
of those in power.

Versions of truth

Postmodern religion acknowledges and accepts different versions of truth. For example, rituals, beliefs and practices can be invented, transformed, created and reworked based on constantly shifting and changing realities, individual preferences, myths, legends, archetypes, rituals and cultural values and beliefs. Individuals who interpret religion using postmodern philosophy may draw from the histories of various cultures to inform their religious beliefs - they may question, reclaim, challenge and critique representations of religion in history based on the theories of postmodernism, which acknowledge that realities are diverse, subjective and depend on the individual's interests and interpretations.[15]

Appeal to marginalized groups

Members of groups in society who face

Semitic Neopaganism, a postmodern approach to Neopaganism involves challenging or reclaiming mainstream versions of reality and truth that may be more inclusive of women.[16] Minority groups and the socially or economically disadvantaged may be drawn to follow a postmodern approach to religion because of the way that postmodern philosophy empowers the individual and provides an "emancipatory framework"[17]
with which to challenge mainstream ideologies or dominant power structures.

Postmodern interpretations of religion

Christianity

Main article:
Postmodern Christianity

Interpreting

Emerging Church
.

Neopaganism

Neopaganism can be interpreted from a postmodern perspective.[13] Postmodern religion can be non-dogmatic, syncretic, eclectic, and draw from various faiths and traditions and challenges the notion of absolute truths. Wicca, the largest tradition of Neopaganism, can be interpreted using postmodern philosophies.[19] Postmodern interpretations of Wicca often lead to the practitioner adopting a more eclectic approach, because the very nature of postmodern theory involves the acceptance of many versions of truth and reality.[20]

Semitic Neopaganism.[16]

Postmodern interpretations of Wicca tend to be context driven, egalitarian, immanent and experiential.[25] Academic texts often represent Wicca in literature and research as a specific tradition that is underpinned by discourses of modernism.[26]

Postmodern spirituality

Postmodern spirituality refers to new forms of spirituality in the contexts of postmodern societies in a globalised world. Former universalistic worldviews of modernity become contested, old explanations and certainties questioned.[27][28]

See also

References

  1. OCLC 993610879
    . Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  2. ^ Ray, Abruzzi; McGandy, Michael J. (2003). "Postmodernism". eNotes. Encyclopedia of Science and Religion. Archived from the original on July 31, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
  3. ^ Patton, K.; Ray, B. (2008). A Magic Still Dwells: Comparative Religion in the Postmodern Age. University of California Press, Berkeley - "a postmodern study of religion" p199
  4. ^ French, Rebecca Redwood (Spring 1999). "From Yoder to Yoda: Models of Traditional, Modern, and Postmodern Religion in U.S. Constitutional Law". Arizona Law Review. 41 (49). (abstract). Based on an analysis of the actual language used by the Supreme Court to characterize religion, this Article argues that the Court takes a common-sensical approach to each religion brought before it
  5. ^ Oxford University Press - Journals - Aaron Stuvland http://jcs.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2010/08/12/jcs.csq055.extract
  6. S2CID 144552852
    .
  7. ISBN 0-7885-0296-4
    , pbk
  8. ^ a b Clarke, Peter (2009). The Oxford Handbook of the sociology of religion. Oxford University Press. Page 306.
  9. ^ Lévi-Strauss, Claude. Structural Anthropology. Trans. Claire Jacobson and Brooke Grundfest Schoepf (First published New York: Basic Books, 1963; New York: Anchor Books Ed., 1967), 324.
  10. ^ Eve, Raymond. "Wiccans vs. Creationists: An Empirical Study of How Two Systems of Belief Differ". The University of Texas. [1]
  11. ^ BBC Religions: Postmodernism http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/atheism/types/postmodernism.shtml
  12. ^ Hatcher, B. (1999). Eclecticism and Modern Hindu Discourse. Oxford University Press USA.
  13. ^ a b Lewis, James (1996). Magic religion and Modern Witchcraft. New York University Press. Page 46: "While pre-modern themes form the foundation for this movement it is the manner that such themes are reworked to be appropriate in the contemporary context that form the greatest relevance to the significance of Witchcraft as a postmodern form of spirituality".
  14. ^ Patton, K.; Ray, B. (2008). A Magic Still Dwells: Comparative Religion in the Postmodern Age, p. 132. University of California Press, Berkeley
  15. ^ Heelas, Paul (1998) Religion, modernity, and postmodernity - page 4 and 5
  16. ^
    doi:10.1525/nr.1998.1.2.198
    .
    "This paper argues that Jewish Goddess feminism illustrates the complexity of alternative religious identities and their fluid, ambiguous, and sometimes intimate historical, cultural, and religious connections to mainstream religious identities. While Jewish Goddess feminists find contemporary Judaism theologically and politically problematic, thealogy (feminist discourse on the Goddess and the divinity of femaleness) can offer them precisely the sacralization of female generativity that mainstream Judaism cannot."
  17. ^ Patricia M. Mcdonough, Peter Mclaren (1996). "Postmodern Studies of Gay and Lesbian Lives in Academia", Harvard Educational Review, Summer 1996 Issue
  18. ISBN 978-1-56338-364-9
  19. ^ Lewis, James (1996). Magic religion and Modern Witchcraft. New York University Press. Page 46, "... While premodern themes form the foundation for this movement it is the manner that such themes are reworked to be appropriate in the contemporary context that form the greatest relevance to the significance of Witchcraft as a postmodern form of spirituality".
  20. ^ Sorea, Daniela (2013). "Two Particular Expressions of Neo-Paganism". Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Series VII: Social Sciences. Law. 6: 29–40 – via EBSCOhost.
  21. ^ Smith, Diane. Wicca and Witchcraft for Dummies
  22. ^ Patridge, Christopher. "Alternative Spiritualities, New Religions, and the Reenchantment of the West", in James Lewis (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements (2004)
  23. ^ Anderson, Walter Truett. "Four Ways to Be Absolutely Right", in Anderson (ed.), The Truth About the Truth: De-confusing and Re-constructing the Postmodern World (1995)
  24. ^ Fisher, Amber. Journal of Western Mystery Tradition, Vol. 1
  25. ^ Werner, Michael. "Ecofeminism, Neopaganism, and the Gaia Movement in the Postmodern Age", Humanism Today, vol. 7 (1992)
  26. ^ Eilberg-Schwartz, Howard. “Witches of the West: Neopaganism and Goddess Worship as Enlightenment Religions”, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, vol. 5, no. 1 (1989)
  27. ISSN 2343-4937
    .
  28. doi:10.1002/j.2161-007X.2002.tb00224.x
    .

Further reading
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