Identifying the lines which separate the spiritual
and everyday facets of religious life is an important component of truly understanding
religious worship. This well established Durkheimian
paradigm for the compartmentalisation of the spiritual from the everyday
(profane) is necessary for a fundamental understanding in the importance and
reverence that is placed upon all things spiritual. In elevating and separating
such principles from everyday life, an increased sense of importance and
sacredness is developed within the worshipper towards the worshipped. In
contrast with such principles is the development of interrelated practice
involving both the sacred and profane with transitions between both becoming
apparent in religious and non-religious contexts (McDannell, 2012). To
demonstrate one such occurrence, McDannell (2012) critiques the divergence from
the norm with reference towards the American Christian movements, and their
increasing focus upon the amalgamation of both the sacred and profane. McDannel
(2012) identifies one such instance whereby contemporary religious practices
have become removed from their spiritual context, reapplied in a profane
context (the transition of good between worshippers), and in doing so further
reinforced spiritually and profanely within the individual.
The usefulness of the categories “sacred” and “profane”
is also questioned through the discussed case studies. It is stated that in the
religious transition which has become evident in American Christianity, it is
no longer necessary to categorise sacred and normal aspects of life as they
become further intertwined (McDannell, 2012). Whilst such classifications may
become perceived as becoming redundant as the sacred and profane fall in line
with one another, a reclassification of both would be deemed unnecessary as
arguably religion and life will never truly become universal. For an individual
to live a purely spiritual life whereby every profane aspect and encounter was
handled in a spiritual context would be impossible. It is therefore still
necessary to have such classifications although a shift towards categorisation
of assimilated aspects may be necessary. Nevertheless the identification of
such a paradigm shift is of significance in understanding the evolutionary
nature of religious practices.
References:
McDannell,
Colleen. "Scrambling the Sacred and the Profane." In Religion,
Media and Culture: A Reader, edited by Jolyon Mitchell, Gordon Lynch
and Anna Strhan, 134 - 145. London and New York: Routledge, 2012
1 comment:
Fraser, very well spotted. A paradigm shift. The Durkheimian binary, sacred - set apart from the profane - is blurring...but not in all places or amongst all peoples. The transition in religion means, perhaps, that some things are sacred, some are profane, and some may be profanely sacred or as you say, spiritually profane. Sylvie
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