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Dialogues@RU is published annually
by the
Writing Program at
Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey
Volume One
Spring 2002
The Evolving
Spiritual and Religious Landscape of American Culture -
Page 4
by Christopher J. Flor
Sociologist Max Weber provides a more focused theory of this type of dialectic concerning the nature of this cyclical conflict that is occurring through these generations. Weber sees institutionalized aspects of societies as being of a "traditional authority" which is "on the basis of the sanctity of the order and the attendant powers of control as they have been handed down from the past" as if they had "always existed" (341). In this state of authority, members of a society accept the institutions that they were raised in as being commonplace and moral because it is more than likely the only state of affairs they have ever known. In dialectical terms, traditional authority serves as the thesis because it is the dominating force in power. Abstractly, this authority in terms of American religion is the idea of institutionalized religion where children receive their religion from their parents and follow it accordingly. Moreover, the actual institutions of the Christian churches in the United States also are within the traditional authority.
The antithesis, in Weber's terms, is the charismatic authority. Weber refers of charismatic authority as being "outside the realm of everyday routine" and "sharply opposed to […] traditional authority" (361). This opposition is a rejection of a society's set norms and standards and a suggestion of a new mode of thought. This authority is similar to the antithesis because it is "sharply opposed" to the thesis. The charismatic authority of the religious sphere in America exists in distrust of religious institutions and the tendency toward individual spirituality. The appearance of New Age religions and the encouragement of pluralism in religion among individuals are products this type of authority. While Weber defined charismatic authority as being led by one specific individual who is "set apart from other men," the evolving spirituality in American does not seem to have a specific leader driving the movement (361). The theme of the era of the Baby Boomer generation is that of going against the status quo as demonstrated by the prominent figures of the time such as the Beat writers and others who questioned the status quo at that time.. These figures serve as the many individuals "who [are] set apart from other men" to combine into a charismatic type of authority. Their ideas permeated into all aspects of society, including religion, and all helped to dismantle the "sacred canopy of American culture" that Porterfield discusses.
The final step the dialectic is the synthesis, which Weber would describe as the "routinization of charismatic authority." The idea of charismatic authority "in its purest form […] may be said to exist only in the process of originating. It cannot remain stable, but becomes either traditionalized or rationalized" (Weber 364). Therefore, the charismatic authority must adjust to the mainstream society. After all, this type of authority exists "outside the realm of everyday routine." Generation X's discontent with a lack of religion demonstrates the charismatic authority's inability to maintain itself historically. The syncretism of Generation Y therefore serves as the synthesis or the routinization of the charismatic authority. In summation, spirituality alone does not suffice the spiritual and religious needs of the masses. Generation Y has found this in religions such as the New Age ones and others that provide a certain religiously social cohesion while still maintaining an amount of individual spiritual freedom. In dialectical theory, this "routinization of the charismatic authority" will continue to institutionalize itself until a new antithesis rises against this idea of religion and spirituality.
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