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From Obligation to Consumption: A Framework for Reflection in Northern Europe
Abstract
The following article is concerned with the changing nature of religion in
Northern Europe. It considers first the concepts of “believing without
belonging” and “vicarious religion,” pointing out the limitations of each and
drawing extensively on previously published work. The following section
discusses in more detail a shift that is currently taking place—that is from
forms of religion that are imposed or inherited to forms of religion that are
primarily chosen. Particular attention is paid to the implications of these
changes for the rites of passage. The final section reflects on the theological
consequences of these changes, first with a more detailed discussion of notion
of vicariousness and second by examining the complex relationship between
the public and the private in religious life. It argues that forms of religion that
are chosen rather than inherited have implications for the public as well as
the private sphere. They are ill-served by an over-rigorous application of the
concept of privatization.
Northern Europe. It considers first the concepts of “believing without
belonging” and “vicarious religion,” pointing out the limitations of each and
drawing extensively on previously published work. The following section
discusses in more detail a shift that is currently taking place—that is from
forms of religion that are imposed or inherited to forms of religion that are
primarily chosen. Particular attention is paid to the implications of these
changes for the rites of passage. The final section reflects on the theological
consequences of these changes, first with a more detailed discussion of notion
of vicariousness and second by examining the complex relationship between
the public and the private in religious life. It argues that forms of religion that
are chosen rather than inherited have implications for the public as well as
the private sphere. They are ill-served by an over-rigorous application of the
concept of privatization.