Christians in a Secular World: The Canadian Experience (Volume 27) (McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Religion)

Bowen also assesses the role of religion in public education, the financial liability of Canada's churches for abuse suffered by Aboriginals in residential schools, the status of women clergy in Protestant churches, and the debates over abortion and gay and lesbian marriage. He takes issue with those who claim that on-going widespread involvement in various privatized forms of religiousness indicates that religion is changing rather than declining. The book concludes with an assessment of the major challenges that Christian churches in Canada confront today. Based on eighteen surveys exploring the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviour of over 100,000 Canadians, Kurt Bowen assesses the state of Christians and their churches in Canada at the close of the twentieth century. Christians in a Secular World argues that the religiously committed still differ from their fellow citizens psychologically and in their family life and political outlook. Bowen warns that as the ranks of the committed continue to shrink, we may begin to witness a weakening in the civility and social fabric of Canada 1. Secularization And Its Discontents: Theoretical And Historical Preliminaries -- 2. Religious Demography Of Canada -- 3. The Religious Individual: Well-being, And Personal Values -- 4. Intimate Relations: Sex, Marriage, Family, And Friends -- 5. Civic Sensibilities: Volunteering And Charitable Giving -- 6. Public Life And Social Values -- 7. Christians And Their Churches: Beliefs, Attachments, And Controversies -- 8. Conclusion. Kurt Bowen. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [319]-332) And Index. "On the basis of a sweeping statistical analysis of Canadian attitudes, Kurt Bowen assembles a portrait of religion in contemporary Canada. Taking a fairly revisionist stance, he concludes by rejecting the Enlightenment assumption that religious decline in the modern world is both inevitable and beneficial. Christians in a Secular World offers both concrete grounds for reflecting on the question of secularization and an invitation to substantive theoretical reflection."--Résumé de l'éditeur "On the basis of a sweeping statistical analysis of Canadian attitudes, Kurt Bowen assembles a portrait of religion in contemporary Canada. Taking a fairly revisionist stance, he concludes by rejecting the Enlightenment assumption that religious decline in the modern world is both inevitable and beneficial. Christians in a Secular World offers both concrete grounds for reflecting on the question of secularization and an invitation to substantive theoretical reflection."--BOOK JACKET. Based on eighteen social surveys that explored the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours of over 100,000 Canadians, this title assesses the state of Christians and their churches in Canada. Though the percentage of religiously committed Canadians continues to fall, it argues that the religiously committed differ from other Canadians in many ways. A detailed assessment of the degree to which religious commitment, or lack thereof, affects the psychologlical state of Canadians and the social fabric of Canada.