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Ed Cheely
This is a small sampling of some of the recent national media coverage on spirituality, particularly as it relates to young people. We hope you find it helpful to your own work on campus!
New York Times, "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" (December 29, 2005). Subscribers: www.nytimes.com/2005/12/29/opinion/29twilson.html?th&emc=th Others: www.selfknowledge.org/resources/press/nyt_wilson.htm A psychology professor suggests that introspection, discussion, and processing your feelings may not be as helpful as they are cracked up to be. "If we are dissatisfied with some aspect of our lives, one of the best approaches is to act more like the person we want to be, rather than sitting around analyzing ourselves."
Washington Post, "Is Belief in our Genes?" (November 26, 2004).
New scientific evidence suggests that there may be a genetic predisposition toward the mental states associated with religious transcendence.
New York Times, "I Feel, Therefore I Am" (April 19, 2003).
Current research into neuroscience suggests a fascinating new look at the interaction between bodily sensations, emotions, and rationality. The results of this science remind many philosophers of the work of Spinoza in the 17th century; they reminded a number of SKS folks of Vipassana meditation.
Fast Company, "What Should I Do With My Life? The real meaning of success—and how to find it" (January, 2003).
The author—in a business magazine, no less—concludes that "business success in the future starts with the question, What should I do with my life?" But he doesn't just talk about it abstractly: he interviews people who have radically changed their lives after thinking deeply about what they really want.
Wall Street Journal, "This Year, Try Getting Your Brain Into Shape" (January 10, 2003).
New scientific evidence on meditation suggests that we have more conscious control over our brain states than was previously thought.
USA Today, "White-collar sweatshops batter young workers" (November 26, 2002).
White-collar companies—high-tech firms, investment and consulting companies, etc—are offering their young employees a Faustian bargain: give us the best years of your life, and we will give you money and prestige. An increasing number of young people are starting to wonder if there might be more to life than that.
Atlantic Monthly, "Superiority Complex" (November, 2002).
Fascinating, well written, and very funny article! Brooks argues that, in our supposedly tolerant and pluralistic society, what we have actually created is a situation where each of us can be a king in his own little subculture, interacting little if at all with a world that does not validate our own self-importance.
New York Times, "The Second Deadly Sin, in a City That Knows It Well" (October 20, 2002).
Brief article about a lecture series in New York about the Seven Deadly Sins. Today's topic: Greed. It's a distinctly modern spin, including quotes like "I sell books about simplicity...books that tell people they shouldn't buy any more books."
New York Times, "Conservative Churches Grew Fastest in 1990s, Report Says" (September 18, 2002).
"I was astounded to see that by and large the growing churches are those that we ordinarily call conservative," said Ken Sanchagrin, director of the Glenmary Research Center and a professor and chairman of the department of sociology at Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, N.C. "And when I looked at those that were declining, most were moderate or liberal churches. And the more liberal the denomination, by most people's definition, the more they were losing."
New York Times, "Death as a Constant Companion" (September 11, 2002).
"In its essence, the World Trade Center calamity is not about geopolitics, or security, or even terrorism. It is about death." This article talks about how the events of 9/11 affect the way Americans look at death. "Americans tend to see illness and suffering and death as anomalies, even though we all know that we are going to die. We think we can somehow outlaw and conquer death....The calamity delivered a one-two punch to the collective American consciousness."
The Chronicle of Higher Education, "A President Looks Back 500 Years and Finds His Calling" (September 6, 2002).
A dyed-in-the-wool academic takes a huge personal risk—and a pay cut—to join the corporate world, and see from the inside what he has been teaching about from the outside. It isn't at all what he expected. Then, ten years later, he returns to academia, and finds more surprises. The moral he draws from it all is the importance of helping students find their vocation—a life passion, not just a career.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, "The Naked Professor" (August 9, 2002).
The most interesting article I've seen in a long time! A college professor argues that good teaching involves truly opening up to your students—and discusses the risks and fears involved in that effort.
The Washington Post, "Far Too Often, Religion Isn't Even a Subplot" (August 2, 2002).
Donna Britt argues that modern movies fail to represent real life because they depict religion as very negative (The Shawshank Redemption) or not at all (Cast Away).
The Chronicle of Higher Education, "Most Colleges Teach That There Is No Uniform Standard of Right and Wrong, Report Says" (July 3, 2002).
A majority of college students graduate without learning a clear distinction between right and wrong, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Association of Scholars and Zogby International, a polling company.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, "It's Not What You Know, but How You Use It: Teaching for Wisdom" (June 28, 2002).
From the Chronicle of Higher Education, this editorial suggests (gasp!) that current education focuses too much on developing knowledge and thinking skills, and that real education should mean a lot more than that.
The Onion, "Best Years of Area Man's Life Apparently Never Going to Happen" (June 12, 2002).
As the satirical newspaper The Onion often does, this article floats between funny and remarkably poignant: the story of a man who finally realizes, at 51 years old, that he has spent his whole life thinking that the next car, the next girl, or the next job would finally make his life perfect.
Christian Science Monitor, "Scientists put love under the microscope" (June 3, 2002).
Science, psychology, and evolution have tended to focus on the negative sides of human nature: selfishness, neurosis, and disease. Now there is an increasing movement toward scientific study of altruism and of "Unlimited Love," which is defined as "altruistic affirmation and care for all humanity without exception."
Jerusalem Post, "Eco: 'God is in the universities'" (June 2, 2002).
Report on a speech given by Italian author Umberto Eco at the Hebrew University. Eco focused on the need for Universities to lead the search for, and discussion of, truth. "Only educational institutions, among them universities, are still the places where mutual confrontation and discussion and better ideas for a better world can be found. In my wildest dreams, there is the image of the academic milieu where even the most insolvable problems of our time can be peacefully discussed," Eco said.
Religion and Education, "How September 11, 2001 Transformed My Course on Religious Pluralism, Spirituality, and Education" (Spring, 2002).
In the wake of September 11, Robert J. Nash's fall course on religion and spirituality transformed into a communal search in which he and his students, "in our own ways, despite our differing religious, spiritual, and political loyalties, and professional objectives, found ourselves desperately trying to make meaning of the calamitous events of September 11, 2001." He describes the experience as the first time he "truly equalized the roles of student and teacher."
Dallas Morning News, "Real Mysticism Isn't the Commercial Thing Some Settle For" (May 25, 2002).
A remarkable article, Geoffrey Dennis gives an introduction to the common elements of mysticism in Western religions. He concludes by noting that even non-mystics can learn from the mystical way, "not settling for the superficiality and minimalism that characterizes so much of American spirituality today."
New York Times, "So God's Really in the Details" (May 11, 2002).
Using probability theory and other unlikely rational techniques to prove God's existence / justify faith
New York Times, "Seeking a Higher Authority, Readers Flock to Spiritual Books" (May 9, 2002).
"The most assertive aspect of book publishing these days seems to be the selling of the incorporeal: connectedness to God, wellness, perfection of the spirit."
New York Times, "Megachurches as Minitowns" (May 9, 2002).
Article about a new breed of "megachurch"—a full-service "24/7" sprawling village, which offers many of the conveniences and trappings of secular life wrapped around a spiritual core.
New York Times, "Sacred Cruelties" (May 9, 2002).
As the need for spirituality is growing, the credibility of various faiths is waning.
New York Times, "Religion Journal; Seeking a Role for Religion on Campus" (February 2, 2002).
David Scott—former U. Mass Chancellor, and Inward Bound advisor—believes the modern university has lost its way in a world crying out for attention to values and spiritual concerns. Mr. Scott said he feared that constitutional prohibitions against promoting religion had been used to effectively banish religion from public universities, or at least to ''ghettoize'' religion in departments where it can be safely ignored by those who do not study it.
Wall Street Journal, "A Brush With Death Can Bring New Depth to Acts, Big and Small" (March 13, 2002).
Sue Shellenbarger discusses brushes with death—personal, or national (9-11)—and the change in perspective they mandate.
Charlotte Observer, "Abbey blooms quietly along river" (January 31, 2002).
Long the smallest of the nation's 17 Trappist monasteries and shunned by monks elsewhere for its Lowcountry humidity and fading facilities, Mepkin [Abbey] is blooming with new members, new buildings and, key to that dynamism, more than 15,000 visitors a year.
CNN, "Going gets tough, students stay upbeat": Hopes of driving in cars with the windows down (December 28, 2001).
The nation is fighting terrorism. The economy is sputtering. And yet, at the end of the tumultuous year of 2001, many <students> say they feel optimistic about the future. The shift toward altruism has caught the eye of David Myers, a social psychologist at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, who's been comparing the value college students place on money vs. spirituality over the years.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, "Destination Unknown—For many students, September 11 changed everything" (December 14, 2001).
For students, the aftermath has not sparked a crisis of faith or patriotism so much as a lot of soul-searching.
MSN Health, "The Power of Prayer in Medicine": People Who Are Prayed for Fare Better (November 6, 2001).
In one recent study, women at an in vitro fertilization clinic had higher pregnancy rates when total strangers were praying for them. Another study finds that people undergoing risky cardiovascular surgery have fewer complications when they are the focus of prayer groups.
Marc Gunther, Fortune, "God and Business" (July 9, 2001).
Bringing spirituality into the workplace violates the old idea that faith and fortune don't mix. But a groundswell of believers is breaching the last taboo in corporate America.
Rick Marin, The New York Times, "Is This the Face of a Mid-Life Crisis?" (June 24, 2001).
An article about the emerging trend of the "quarter-life crisis": young people in their early 20s who have graduated from school and are dissatisfied with life. The article suggests that what these young people are really looking for is something "spiritually fulfilling." (Imagine!)
Sharon Begley, Newsweek, "Religion And The Brain" (May 7, 2001).
Examines the developing field of "neurotheology"—the study of the neurological correlates of spiritual experience.
Henry Brinton, Washington Post, "What You Lose By Looking On Your Own" (March 18, 2001).
Americans are increasingly finding their religion in "private" ways such as books and the Internet, instead of from their church leaders or churches. In this article full of refreshing common sense, Henry Brinton argues that this gain in independence also comes with a steep loss if it eliminates spiritual community.
Kalle Lasn and Bruce Grierson, Utne Reader, "America the Blue: The economy is out of sight. Unimaginable luxury is all around. America rules the world. So why is everyone so depressed?" (October 31, 2000).
It's not so much what's happening to us as what isn't. Something is missing. Something essential and meaningful has been displaced by something . . . hollow.
John Leland, Newsweek, "Searching for a Holy Spirit: Young people are openly passionate about religion—but they insist on defining it in their own ways" (May 8, 2000).
The unsung story of today's teenagers may be how religious or spiritual they are. "We're witnessing a new revival of religion," says Conrad Cherry, director of the Center for Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University/Purdue University. Quotes one teenager who describes the prevailing atmosphere as "Whatever you think is OK. Just don't tell me what to think. I'll figure it out for myself." Sharon Begley, Newsweek, "A World of Their Own: They're spiritual, optimistic, and ambitious. How teens want to shape the future" (May 8, 2000).
Lisa Miller, The Wall Street Journal, "Redefining God" (Friday, April 21, 2000, W1, W4).
Examines national trend of rethinking traditional images of God, and the controversy this can spark.
Erica Goode, SFGate, "Incompetent People Really Have No Clue: Studies find they're blind to own failings, others' skills (January 18, 2000).
We tend to want to judge for ourselves what we're good at, and what we're bad at. But the deficiencies that make you bad at something, also make it impossible to see that you are bad at it! This platform problem, according to researchers, "helps explain the tendency of the...politically clueless to continue holding forth at dinner parties on the fine points of campaign strategy."
Matt Murray, The Wall Street Journal, "A Faith of One's Own: Many people are finding very personal ways to express spirituality" (Saturday, January 1, 2000, R50)
Discusses national trend among people to craft their own faith, drawing from diverse traditions. "Some might argue this picking and choosing diminishes religious traditions. But students of the human spirit see a wider trend at work that gives them hope: a drive for humility that subordinates this individualized self….The trend is particularly visible among the young…." Murray also quotes Elie Wiesel: "Young people are more interested in spiritual matters than before, and that is a source of comfort and source of joy to any of us. They want something. And therefore I am optimistic."
Pat McHenry Sullivan, San Francisco Examiner, "Gallup Survey Shows Growth in Spirituality" (Thursday, December 23, 1999)
"Since their inception in 1933, Gallup polls have surveyed American religious beliefs. This year a study led by George Gallup Jr., co-chairman of the Gallup Organization, studied how Americans actually live their spirituality...The study's most dramatic results were responses to a question about whether people felt a need to experience spiritual growth in their own life. Seventy-eight percent said yes. That's an increase of 24 percentage points over similar surveys only five years ago."
Lisa Miller, The Wall Street Journal, "Morality Play: Today, It's Reading, Writing and 'Diligence' in Elementary Schools" (Monday, Oct. 25, 1999, A1)
Discusses how schools, concerned over violence, discipline problems, and general chaos, are implementing character education of students. Focuses on volunteer groups such as the national "Character First!" organization, and how schools try to walk the line between specific religious instruction and teaching some kind of basic, shared, traditional values to children.
The Boston Sunday Globe, October 3, 1999: "Spiritual Rebirth: Chancellor foresees return of religion" by Eric Goldscheider.
Focuses on University of Massachusetts Chancellor David K. Scott, who wishes to bring spirituality back into higher education. "Spirituality will be a natural ally rather than an enemy in the education of engaged citizens for an enlightened democracy."
Atlantic Monthly, August 1999: "A Politics for Generation X" by Ted Halstead.
Notes Generation X is facing a declining economy, a deteriorating environment, and worsening social conditions which cause young people to have a "sense that the basic fabric of American society is somehow fraying (Halstead, 37)." Perhaps with a sense of helplessness, "today's young are returning to religion (Halstead, 37)." They are seeking some moral guidance in their lives. However, in this same article, Wade Clark Roof, professor of religion and society at the University of California at Santa Barbara notes, "It is too early to predict whether today's young adults will form lasting commitments to particular religious denominations or institutions, but it is quite clear that there is a renewed level of interest in religion and spirituality among the post-Baby Boom generation. Many, in fact, have embarked upon a spiritual quest (as quoted in Halstead, 38)."
The Boston Sunday Globe, July 25, 1999: "Spiritual Matters" by Linda Schreiber.
The Education as Transformation project was also reviewed in this article. The article quotes EasT organizer Peter Laurence as saying our national fear of any one religion dominating education has resulted in the complete removal of the religious/spiritual view on campus. Quotes Boston University Office of the University Chaplain, Shelli Jankowski-Smith, as one of many educators unhappy with religion being completely separated from education: " 'Maybe things were too closed down; things were offered up on the altar of secularism.' She sees two things coming into play: wholeness with the self and wholeness with the world. In personal wholeness, one develops an understanding of one's faith and one develops the intellect. 'The two shouldn't be split apart; they compliment each other,' she said."
The Utne Reader, July 6, 1999: "Should You Design Your Own Religion?" by Mark Matousek.
Interviews various spiritual leaders for their take on this question, including:
The Utne Reader, July 2, 1999: "God with a Million Faces: The new mix-and-match approach to faith may be the truest quest" by Jeremiah Creedon.
Creedon writes that in the US, "a 'privatized' attitude toward spiritual practice has always been evident…but the impulse may now be stronger than ever. " Sociologists have been following a trend towards personal forms of spirituality for years and "now theologians are beginning to wonder how it will shape religious observance in the future (Creedon, 2)." Notes that young people have grown up in a post-Christian era, with a variety of religious traditions around them, from which they often borrow in an attempt to define their own spirituality. There are dangers to this mix-and-match approach to spirituality, however, as the renowned scholar of comparative religion, Huston Smith, noted in an interview in Mother Jones in December 1998: "What you describe as New Age, and what I call the cafeteria approach to spirituality, is not the way organisms are put together, nor great works of art. And a vital faith is more like an organism or a work of art than it is like a cafeteria tray." Creedon adds, "Though Smith praises New Agers for their optimism, he also notes their failure to confront the question of 'radical evil' or to produce true heroes of compassion like Mother Teresa or the Dalai Lama. At worst, he says, New Age beliefs 'can be a kind of private escapism to titillate oneself.'"
Grace Cathedral Online, May 13, 1999: "Spiritual Futureshock: Don Lattin predicts religious trends amidst America's supermarket spirituality" by Colleen O'Connor.
An interview with Don Lattin, co-author of Shopping for Faith: American Religion in the New Millennium.
Greensboro News & Record, Sunday, April 4, 1999: "College Students Turn to Religion for Answers in a Tumultuous World," by Beth McMurtrie (Note: McMurtrie is now with The Chronicle of Higher Education).
The article title says it all. McMurtrie interviews North Carolina students, professors, and religious leaders about the increase in spiritual interest in late 20th-century life. "Divorce, transient families, and other facets of our fast-paced society have left teenagers feeling uncertain about their place in the world and skeptical of the happiness materialism can bring." Notes young people often reject traditional modes of worship, yet consider spiritual growth essential, for they desire to know what their lives really mean.
The Wall Street Journal, Friday, December 18, 1998, W1: "Rebels with a Cause" by Lisa Miller.
Examines growing national interest amongst young people in spirituality. Youth who were brought up in a secular environment at home are yearning for something deeper. Some groups run by monks, etc., have created a space where young people can be profoundly open and honest in their spiritual questioning.
National Public Radio series on "Young People and Religion":
All Things Considered YOUTH AND RELIGION (March 11, 1999)
In the first of an occasional series on Young People and Religion, NPR's Lynn Neary reports on members of Generation X who are filling two very different churches in Seattle. One is a borrowed space in which traditional doctrine is celebrated to a rock music beat. The other uses ancient ritual but adheres to less traditional teachings. This is the first part of an occasional series that will air on ATC on the first Monday of the month. (12:30) All Things Considered RELIGION ON CAMPUS (April 8, 1999) The second installment in our series on Youth and Religion. NPR's Lynn Neary visits the campus of the University of Massachusetts, a big, secular, state run university, to talk with young people about their own religious and spiritual experiences. While there is something of an increase of interest in religion and spirituality on campus, it can also be a challenge to be a religious student on a secular campus. At the University of Massachusetts, some students from a variety of religious backgrounds are working to build a greater awareness and understanding of religion on campus by promoting interfaith activities and dialogues. (12:30) All Things Considered YOUNG BUDDHISTS (May 31, 1999) In an installment of our occasional series on youth and religion, NPR's Lynn Neary reports Buddhism has gained a notable following in the United States. (12:30) Books
Virtual Faith : The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X, by Tom Beaudoin, 224 pages, 1st Ed edition (June 1998), Jossey-Bass Publishers (now Wiley); ISBN: 0787938823.
Notes that Gen-X'ers are suspicious of traditional religious institutions, but still hunger for religious meaning. Young people seek spiritual meaning in their own experience, wanting to find out for themselves, not just believe what they are told. See also Beaudoin's article "Irreverently yours: A message from Generation X," April 1999, U.S. Catholic: www.uscatholic.org/1999/04/genx.htm.
Perceptions aside, young Catholics are hardly slackers when it comes to religion, although they have fashioned a faith and spirituality radically different from their elders. Tom Beaudoin, himself a 20-something Catholic, tells what the church can learn from the so-called Generation X.
Big Questions, Worthy Dreams: Mentoring Young Adults in their Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Faith, by Sharon Daloz Parks.
Other Organizations
"Links: Connecting Head and Heart on Campus."
Education as Transformation Project
The Education as Transformation Project has created a program structure for colleges and universities interested in pursuing these issues and considering the possibility of eventual institutional change. The institutional change process is systemic in nature, and its success requires involvement by all affected constituencies. For this reason the program begins with the creation of a Multi-Constituency Team that includes representatives of the various groups that make up the institution's community. Several of the multi-faith councils that have been created out of this program present their successes, failures, and suggestions for creating a team like this at another university. For more information see www.wellesley.edu/RelLife/transformation/index.html
Spiritual Diversity Network
Interfaith Dialogue Project at Duke University
Interfaith Youth Core
The upcoming generation of faith-inspired leaders face unprecedented challenges. Engaging diversity, connecting faith and action, and understanding the relationship between global trends and local issues are among the primary concerns of young people of faith. IFYC programs integrate intercultural encounter, social action and interfaith reflection. This process will help faith-inspired young people build the skills and develop the perspectives to meet the challenges of our times. For more information, please visit www.ifyc.org or e-mail Info@IFYC.org. Finally, a few relevant links on our own site This page was put together by the Self Knowledge Symposium, a non-denominational group which encourages active spiritual searching in college students. Our Web site is replete with pages pertaining to youth and spirituality. A few examples:
The Symposium
Spring Break at Mepkin Abbey
The Self Knowledge Symposium in the Press
The Self Knowledge Symposium Educator's Kit
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