Since the turn of the twenty-first century, sociologists of religion have focused considerable attention on religious diversity and the rise of the non-religious, particularly in socalled Western societies. More recently, two parallel trends are increasingly observable in contemporary societies, and are attracting significant scholarly inquiry. They are the rise of interest in spirituality and naturalism. While spirituality has typically not been taken as seriously as religion, at least in political spheres or by academia, this is now changing as a result of growing recognition of First Nations cultures, as well as awareness of the nexus of spirituality with personal, social and planetary wellbeing. Moreover, there has also been significant media coverage and scholarship on risks posed by spiritual communities in recent years, including spiritual harms and conspirituality at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. This panel examines these themes, focused on research on spirituality, wellbeing and relational naturalism in Australia.
Chair: Elenie Poulos
Right Story, Wrong Story: Narratives, Land and Creation
Tyson Yunkaporta
Spirituality and Planetary Wellbeing
Anna Halafoff, Andrew Singleton and Ruth Fitzpatrick
Returning to the Sacred Spring: Spa Cures and Hydrotherapy in Australia
Timothy Jones
‘Alone Australia’: Relational Naturalism and First Nations, Religious and Holistic Spirituality
Samantha Hauw and Anna Halafoff
Creation, Care and Climate: How Common Grace links Christian Spirituality and Climate Justice
Rosie Clare Shorter and Cristina Rocha
Zoom link: https://notredame-au.zoom.us/j/86715501827
Meeting ID: 867 1550 1827
Passcode: 293276