Southern Evangelical churches can be seen as a model of the resurgenceof Christianity in America as the traditions of this church spread beyondthe boundaries of the south and into mainstream America. This growth hasindicated that "those who join, particularly young people, seem to be searchingfor community and personal well-being. Most are not moral crusaders evenif they tend to be conservative on some social issues" (Shibley 4). Wefeel that this is can be paralleled to the increase of interest in ChristianOrganizations on campus. This interest may not necessarily due to moralbelief, but instead a need for community. Historically, in addition tothe sense of community, group belonging meant a safe place in responseto the need for survival. Religion is one outcome of the need for assemblage,to hunt and gather food, and find or build shelter. Religion has the abilityto "enable humans to generate knowledge and to cooperate in the serviceof group survival (Alderink 222). Larry J. Alderlink has provided an overview of Walter Burkert’s Natural Theory of Religion, explaining that religionmaybe a part of evolution and therefore ingrained in human genes.
The first discussed by Durkheim was animism. Animism evolved from adistinct separation of conscious and non-conscious thought (i.e. the wakingthought and the dream world). The soul was separate from man, but influencedhis daily actions resulting in a distinct delineation between man and soul.The soul could do things man could not. It could influence action duringdaily life. This also affected animist views on death, because death couldhave been viewed as a prolonged sleep. So, in this respect, religion comesfrom the self, thereby discounting the innate power of it, because it ismerely given power by belief. Durkheim stated "religions, which have heldso considerable a place in history, and to which, in all times, men haveto receive the energy which they must have to live, should be made up ofa tissue of illusions." The "tissue of illusions" that Durkheim refersto is the power man places is his own thought and rationalization, we,as humans (according to Durkheim), have created religion through our owncommunities and similar views, yet attribute this power and belief to agod. This view on religion and this practice of religion itself merelyreduce this type of religion to a hallucination or R.E.M. cycle.
The second view of the origin of religion by Durkheim, was Naturalism.Naturalism was a human invention to explain natural phenomenon that affectedour survival. After language was created, humans started with the wordsfor basic human action, and then personified nature by giving human baseddefinitions to elements. River became "something that moves swiftly" andwind was "one who blows or whistles", and so on. So, natural forces wereperceived to be godlike phenomenon due to a lack of explanation. Much likethe animists, the spirit/soul was separated from the body, but not throughsleep or conscious thought, but through death. Thus spirituality is derivedfrom an altered perception of nature and the surrounding world. After thedeification of the spirit/soul what is separate from the physical body(from fear of death) moves on to affect the natural world. Once again,they are worshiping a creation of themselves, how they view nature, byadding mystery and wonder to their surroundings, and their souls. Theyare only worshiping the significance that they give to their natural surroundings,such as the wind that blows or whistles.
The third and simplest example of the evolution of religion is Totemism.Totemism is the practice of clans giving significance to an animal or plantthat they feel they have a mystical connection with. Imagine that the firsttwo options don’t quite seem to fit. Spirituality and divinity cannot comefrom man, or nature, so where is there a third option? Totemism is a morefundamental and basic form of religious practice. If you do not have thedesire or ability to create some form of spiritual strength, then findthings around you to worship. Totemism is the practice of identifying withan object, be it animal or plant that the tribe/cult personifies to betheir higher power. The primary power of this religion is not the objectthat they worship, but a kinship that the members have. It is not a familyrelationship by blood, but they all share the same name, the name thatis derived from the totem. This totem is considered sacred and is brandedon property, people, and worshiped much like a crucifix. This is not worshipingan animal, but merely what the tribe feels that the animal represents,because the tribal members also belong in that spiritual realm becauseof their association with the totem. The emblem, the actual animal/plant,and the tribal members are all considered to be sacred. All of the powergiven to this totem, and the power/spirituality given to man by the totem(which is given to man by himself because the power/spirituality is givento the totem by man) is created by the same force. It is created by a needfor community.
That is the one common bond here, survival and community. Man worshipsthe significance that he gives to things, that are merely representationsof the natural or mental world, and is in turn merely worshiping himself.This is the common thread, man giving objects/nature/himself spiritualpower and significance so he is able to explain the "unexplainable" andcontrol the mystical forces that affect him and his world. It is a survivaltechnique that brings people together and enables them to relate to theirenvironment. The question that is with us now is what affects today’s youthto follow the same patterns and to thirst for the same types of comfortwith the mysteries of the world mostly explained and survival being lessof a concern. Why does man feel that there needs to be something greaterthan himself and a need to submit to this power? Is it instinctual, ormerely a societal desire to "be a better Christian"?
Methods and Materials-
We plan on surveying (seesurvey) four of the main Christian organizations on campus; CampusCrusades for Christ, Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, Christian StudentFellowship and Campus Mission. The questions include; age, sex, and yearin school, religious upbringing and current personal religious beliefs.The main question is to order a list of eight things (including; Searchfor answers, Need for support, Community, To learn more about God, To meetpeople, Free food, Teach/Share about your religious experience or Worship)from most to least importance in drawing the person to the organization.We will be calling to ask permission to conduct the surveys through theirmeeting times, and also be asking each for information on establishment,mission statements, membership records. Through comparison of our numberswe will determine whether members of these organizations are joining insearch of community and group identification. We will also survey our class to get a different perspective and to look for other possible sources forinformation.
Timeline:
March 5-10- Contact Campus Organizations to ask above questions.
March 19-30- Make appointments to distribute surveys
March 27- Present to class
April 4- Compile data and start analyzing
April 17- Start Paper process
Works Cited
Alderink, Larry J. "Walter Burkert and a Natural Theory of Religion."ReligionAcademic Press. 2000.
Durkheim, Emile, The Elementaryforms of the religious life.Imprint New York, The Free Press, c1915.
Shibley, Mark A. Resurgent Evangelicalism in the United States. Columbia:University
of South Carolina, 1996.
Bibliography
Donelson, Elaine. "Psychology of religion and adolescents in the UnitedStates: past to present." Journal of Adolescence. 1999 187-204.
McCrae, Robert R. "Mainstream Personality Psychology and the Study ofReligion." Journal of Personality 6 Dec 1999 1210-1220.
Smith, Christian. Christian American? What Evangelicals Really Want.Berkley: University of California Press, 2000.
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