| Description |
1 online resource (xviii, 268 pages) : illustrations |
| Contents |
Foreword / Christian Smith -- Introduction -- 1. The teens from Soul searching ten years later -- 2. Setting the context : transitions to adult life -- 3. Where are they now? Religious affiliation, beliefs and practices -- 4. Emerging adult religious commitment and identity -- 5. How did they get there? Trajectories in the religious lives of emerging adults / with Jonathan Hill -- 6. Faith and family -- Conclusion: Emerging adults and the future of religion : making sense of it all -- Appendix: Research Methodology |
| Summary |
"What do the religious and spiritual lives of American young people look like as they reach their mid-to-late twenties, enter the full-time job market, and start families? In Back Pocket God, Melinda Lundquist Denton and Richard Flory provide a look beyond conflicting stories that argue that emerging adults are either overwhelmingly leaving religion, or that they are earnest spiritual seekers maintaining a significant place in their lives for religion. Denton and Flory show that while the dominant trend among young people is a move away from religious beliefs and institutions, there is also a parallel trend in which a small, religiously committed group of emerging adults claim faith as an important fixture in their lives. Yet, whether religiously committed or not, emerging adults are increasingly personalizing, customizing and compartmentalizing religion in ways that suit their idiosyncratic desires. For emerging adults, God has become increasingly remote yet is highly personalized to meet their particular needs. In the process, they have transformed their conception of God from a powerful being or force that exists "out there" to their own personal Pocket God--a God that they can carry around with them, but that exerts little power or influence in their daily lives. God functions, in a sense, like a smartphone app-readily accessible, easy to control, and useful but only for limited purposes. Back Pocket God shows the changing relationship between emerging adults and religion, providing a window into the future of religion and more broadly, American culture"-- Provided by publisher |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on April 28, 2020) |
| Subject |
Generation Y -- Religious life -- United States
|
|
Young adults -- Religious life -- United States
|
|
Young adults -- Religious life
|
|
United States
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| Author |
Flory, Richard W., author.
|
|
National Study of Youth & Religion (U.S.), issuing body.
|
| LC no. |
2019033308 |
| ISBN |
9780190064815 |
|
0190064811 |
|
9780190064808 |
|
0190064803 |
|
9780190064792 |
|
019006479X |
|
