http://hdl.handle.net/2144/12 2013-05-21T23:21:29Z 2013-05-21T23:21:29Z Ammerman, Nancy T. http://hdl.handle.net/2144/5449 2013-05-10T06:00:33Z 2013-06-01T00:00:00Z

Spiritual but not Religious?: Beyond Binary Choices in the Study of Religion Ammerman, Nancy T. "Spirituality" has often been framed in social science research as an alternative to organized "religion," implicitly or explicitly extending theoretical arguments about the privatization of religion. This article uses in-depth qualitative data from a religiously-diverse U.S. sample to argue that this either-or distinction not only fails to capture the empirical reality of American religion, but it does not do justice to the complexity of spirituality itself. An inductive discursive analysis reveals four primary cultural "packages," that is, ways in which the meaning of spirituality is constructed in conversation -- a Theistic Package that ties spirituality to personal deities, an Extra-Theistic Package that locates spirituality in various naturalistic forms of transcendence, an Ethical Spirituality that focuses on everyday compassion, and a contested Belief and Belonging Spirituality tied to cultural notions of religiosity. Spirituality is, then, neither a diffuse individualized phenomenon nor a single cultural alternative to "religion." Analysis of the contested evaluations of Belief and Belonging Spirituality allows a window on the "moral boundary work" (Lamont 1992) being done by the cultural discourse of being "spiritual but not religious." The empirical boundary between spirituality and religion is far more porous than the moral and political one. This is a postprint (author's final draft) version of an article to be published in Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion in June 2013. The final version of this article will be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1468-5906 (login may be required). The version made available in OpenBU was supplied by the author. PLEASE NOTE: per publisher rules, the text of the article is embargoed until twelve months after publication. If it's after June 1, 2014, and the article is still not available for download, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu.

2013-06-01T00:00:00Z Carpenter, Lee Muelder, Martha Anna Howard Shaw Center http://hdl.handle.net/2144/4347 2012-09-08T06:01:09Z 2012-09-07T00:00:00Z

An interview with Martha Muelder conducted by Lee Carpenter Carpenter, Lee; Muelder, Martha; Anna Howard Shaw Center An interview with Martha Muelder, wife of Dean Walter G. Muelder, Muelder served the school from 1945-1972 as professor and Dean. Martha was very involved with the life of the school and their local church in Newton, MA. She speaks about the Edith Buell club, ecumenism and her experience as a Methodist woman.

2012-09-07T00:00:00Z Robert, Dana L. http://hdl.handle.net/2144/1157 2011-06-03T06:00:17Z 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z

Testimonies and Truth-tellings: Women in the United Methodist Tradition. Robert, Dana L. Published version of the Keynote address at "Struggle, Faith and Vision: Celebrating Women in the United Methodist Tradition, 1788 to Today," March 9, 2007, Nashville, Tennessee.

2008-01-01T00:00:00Z Moore, Mary Elizabeth http://hdl.handle.net/2144/1156 2011-06-03T06:00:42Z 2009-05-01T00:00:00Z

The United Methodist Church at 40: What Can We Hope For? Moore, Mary Elizabeth The necessity we face for the future of Methodism is the re-invention of traditions. To re-invent traditions is to re-visit the past with all of its richness; to discern what in our tradition is most central to Christian faith; to analyze those parts of our past that continue to give life; to discern and build upon what is of value in the newly emerging tradition; and to reflect on those aspects of the neglected and rejected past that challenge our present perspectives and practices. To re-invent traditions is to develop new perspectives and practices from the building blocks of the past and from the fresh movements of the Spirit in the present. To do so is to recognize that Christianity in general, and Methodism in particular, is marked by traditions that have continually been passed on, critiqued, eliminated, created, and re-invented for the sake of a living Christian witness. What we can hope for is that God is there in the future already, pulling us toward God’s own New Creation.

2009-05-01T00:00:00Z