Emberley, Peter. Toronto: HarperCollins Canada, 2002. 294
pp. $32.00 CAD. ISBN 0-00-200094-6.
[1] In this book, Peter Emberley, a professor of political science
and philosophy at Carleton University, undertakes to document the spiritual
searchings of Canadians of the baby-boom generation (8.1 million babies
born between 1946 and 1964), as well as to provide a commentary on "the
complex state of current religious consciousness" (p. 19). Over a ten-year
period, the author interviewed some 350 subjects, travelled extensively
across Canada (with side-trips to Pennsylvania and India), reviewed
a great volume of written material, and was a participant observer at
a variety of religious events and communities. Following from sociologist
Reginald Bibby’s data on the decline in church attendance in Canada
in the last half of the 20th century, the individuals and
groups canvassed by Emberley are all, as the title of the book suggests,
involved in "alternative" religious or spiritual movements as opposed
to "mainline" religious institutions. While Emberley concedes that the
number of persons involved is small, these people are significant, he
contends, because they are highly sophisticated, self-aware, and socially
influential, and offer evidence of a movement towards the restoration
of a mytho-poetic word view over against the certainties of modernity.
[2] The book is organized around Peter Berger’s observation that in
the face of the challenges to faith of the modern era, religion can
be expressed in one of three ways: "by reaffirming the authority of
the tradition in defiance of surrounding challenges; by secularizing
the tradition; or by extracting the experiences embodied in the tradition"
(p. 22). Rather than attempting to summarize all of his findings, Emberley
provides snapshots of the various spiritual activities of baby-boomers,
sometimes portraying individuals, sometimes groups. These are arranged
in chapters that roughly follow Berger’s categories:
- "Traditionalism I" - "back to basics religiosity," typified by groups
like Promise Keepers, attendees at a Billy Graham Crusade in Ottawa,
members of the Pentecostal Toronto Christian Airport Church (the "Toronto
Blessing"), a sweat lodge outside of Edmonton, a Mormon community
in Cardston, Alberta;
- "Traditionalism II" - Christianities harking back to the Greek and
Latin beginnings of the faith, such as ultra-conservative forms of
Catholicism (churches that have returned to the Tridentine Mass; Opus
Dei; schismatic groups like the Apostles of Infinite Love in Saint-Jovite,
Quebec); "catholic" forms of Anglicanism (the Anglican Prayerbook
Society of Canada); converts to Eastern Orthodoxy;
- "Tweaking Modernity" - adaptations of religion to secular norms,
such as the demythologized forms of Christianity exemplified by Rev.
Bill Phipps, the former Moderator of the United Church of Canada who
shocked the nation with his denial of the divinity of Christ; the
Jesus Seminar, with its radically historicized, secularized Jesus;
and the optimistic, universalistic, unitarian Baha’i faith, 20,000
strong in Canada, including some 7,000 Aboriginal Canadians.
- "Fusion Faith" - bricoleur religion, individualized spiritualities
pieced together from fragments of eastern and western mysticism, ancient
religions, latter-day prophecies, and commercialism. As examples
of this trend, Emberley points to SpiritFest ’99, a trade show of
New Age merchandize held at Calgary’s Blackfoot Inn; the popularity
of James Redfield’s The Celestine Prophecy, the Course in Miracles
and Pathwork lectures as avenues to transcendence; the kabbalistic
teachings of Rabbi Laibl Wolf, available to the masses through breathing
and visualization tapes; and the Anglican Church’s popular Alpha Program,
designed by the British Reverend Nicholas Gumbel to bring spiritual
seekers back to the Christian fold.
- "Turning East." In addition to Berger’s traditional, secularized
and eclectic expressions of post-modern religiosity, Emberley discusses
the "escape to the East" as the consummate fulfillment of baby boomers’
critique of modernity and spiritual proclivities. This chapter is
devoted to a discussion of the International Meditation Institute
(IMI, "I am I," "Shyam Space") in the Kullu Valley, nestled in the
lower Himalayas, where devotees of Swami Shyam - some 200 of whom
are members of Canada’s social, political and economic elite - retreat
for spiritual refreshment and mystical enlightenment.
[3] As the summary above indicates, this book contains some fascinating
insights into the spiritual lives of some Canadians. However, whether
this attitude of alternative spiritual quest is indicative of a larger
national trend is questionable in the light of Bibby’s latest study
(Restless Gods: The Renaissance of Religion in Canada [Toronto:
Stoddart, 2002]), published in the same year as Divine Hunger.
In contrast to Bibby’s earlier findings (Fragmented Gods, 1987;
Unknown Gods, 1993), the latest survey indicates that 21st
century Canadians are returning to established denominations rather
than turning to the kinds of alternatives documented in Emberley’s study,
which seem to be exceptional, rather than indicative of a larger social
trend. Perhaps the two should be read together for a balanced picture
of baby-boomer religion in Canada.
[4] Unlike Bibby’s sociological works, Emberley sets out to provide
philosophical commentary on the phenomena he describes. In addition
to recounting examples of Canadians on "spiritual walkabout," the book
includes lengthy critiques of the various religious strategies adopted
by middle-aged Canadians to satisfy their desire for meaning and transcendence.
Emberley judges all of the baby-boomer spiritualities as inadequate
on the basis of a personal standard that is never explicitly articulated,
but which seems to favour religiosities that are Western, historically
grounded, and philosophically and theologically consistent. As such,
the author's critiques of the baby-boomer spiritualities tells us more
about his personal religious preferences that the supposed deficiencies
of his subjects'. The author subscribes to the stereotype of baby boomers
(a huge and varied cohort of the Canadian population born up to 20 years
apart) as narcissistic, materialistic and somewhat shallow, which may
colour his presentation of their spiritual yearnings. Some of the examples
used to illustrate the national religious scene aren't particularly
Canadian (e.g., the Jesus Seminar, The Celestine Prophecy, the
Course in Miracles, Rabbi Wolf), and appear to be included more to be
criticized than to illumine the contemporary Canadian religious scene.
Some inclusions seem idiosyncratic, e.g., the relatively lengthy (and
sympathetic) sections devoted to the opinions of the Rev. Bill Phipps
and to the fusion spirituality of the New Ager Deborah - both of whom
are personal acquaintances of the author. The term "Gnostic",
used in a derogatory sense, is applied to such diverse phenomena as
the Mormon Church, Jean Vanier (the Roman Catholic founder of L'Arche)
and IMI.
[5] As such, the book is an interesting read, but perhaps not the
cornucopia of alternative spiritualities in Canada promised by the dust
jacket. Prospective buyers should note that the text contains numerous
and annoying typos (e.g., the kabbalistic phrase Tikkun Olam
is repeatedly rendered Tikun Olan; kabbalah is spelled
both with and without the final "h"; chakra is misspelled chokra),
as well as some obvious errors of fact (e.g., Arianism does not accept
only the humanity of Christ while denying his divinity, but rather interprets
Jesus as a superlative created being "of like substance" [homoiousios]
with God [p. 84]; the Nicene-Constanitinopolitan Creed, not the Apostles’
Creed, contains the phrase "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord,
the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. . . ."
[p. 86]).
Mary Ann Beavis, Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies,
St. Thomas More College, 1437 College Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 0W6 Canada
(mbeavis@stmcollege.ca).
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