The implicit religion of contemporary society: An orientation and plea for its study

Religion (1983) 13, 69-83

TSE IMPLICIT RELIGION OF CO TEMPORARY SOCIETY : AN ORIENTATION AND PLEA FOR ITS STUDY Edward Bailey

A NEW AREA IN THE 1980s

A time of recession and academic cut-backs may not seem an appropriate one in which to suggest an extension of existing methods of study into a new area . However there are several reasons why it is opportune to give some account of what may be understood by the study of the implicit religion of contemporary society .' In the first place, what may be the largest study of religion ever carried out in the United Kingdom, the Religion in Leeds Project, has recently been authorized and financed by government-derived funds . As a matter of fact economic and political difficulties also prevailed when two other major researches were carried out by groups in Britain : the Religious Census of 1851, and Charles Booth's `Life and Labour in London' in 1903 . In the second place, there are other sources of research apart from government, and there is no lack of personnel who are able, available and willing . In the third place there are signs of a growing understanding of, and interest in, this whole area, such as the work of the European (now in fact inter-continental) Value-Systems Study Group . 2 In the fourth place, there is a need for such study . It has interest, because it assists our understanding of the personal . It is of value to those with responsibility for such specialised concerns as politics, marketing, industrial relations, broadcasting and the churches . And it is of particular interest to those concerned with society in its entirety . Several past statements of need, regarding different parts of this area, come to mind . R. Towler's plea 3 (1974, pp . 145-162) for a study of Common Religion is, presumably, being met by the Religion in Leeds project . To some extent this is also answering the `felt-needs' expressed by R . Robertson and C . Campbell 4 in 1972 for an `ethnomethodology' of religion, and by D . A. Martins, for a study of the `unknown gods of the English' . Yet none of these quite matches the need expressed by F . B . Welbourn : Is it necessarily more rational . . . to regard spirits and witches as symbols for 0048-721X/83/010069 + 15$02 .00/0

€ 1983 Academic Press Inc . (London) Ltd .

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'endopsychic or social drives and forces', than to reverse the equation? It is difficult to regard an Oedipus complex as any less `mystical' than a paternal ghost . . . . If we are studying religion in a unitary society, we are studying not one institution over against others, but the dimension in which all institutions relate to uniqueness . Ifwe want to study the same thing in our own society . . . we shall find it in the `untouchable' and often unacknowledged commitments which these activities express 6 . African witchcraft beliefs are strictly analogous not to contemporary British covens but to our attitude to coloured immigrants . African cults to the living dead are comparable not with Western spiritism, but with Churchill memorials and the Patrice Lumumba University . 'Spirit-possession' is matched by pop sessions, exo-psychic mythology by Freudian concepts . . . . If we are concerned with contemporary British ontology-with what in contemporary Britain is most akin to `traditional religions', what is needed is a massive study of unrecognised commitments as they are expressed . . . in unrecognised myth and ritual7. DESCRIBING THE REALITY-AGNOSTICALLY As with the definition of religion itself, there are several possible ways of describing the area of concern which is intended by the expression, `the implicit religion of contemporary society' . The first and simplest approach was used (along with several others) by U . Bianchi, 8 when describing the subject matter of the history of religions : we cannot know in advance of the empirical study precisely what the object will be (and hence what our subject is) . Although phrased with tongue in cheek, Bianchi's purpose is serious . It means, in this case, that the description of the area as `the implicit religion of contemporary society', must be seen as a perpetual hypothesis . With any contemporary society, as with any small-scale or historical society, no particular mode of religiosity, nor any particular degree of religiosity, can be asserted with certainty, prior to its actual investigation and discovery . But of course we cannot start our investigations without some inkling of the object of our search . We may be looking for a needle in a haystack, without ever having seen a needle, but we must at least have some idea of, for instance, what the sharp end feels like, or we shall not recognize it, even when we stumble upon it . (Our motivation will also wane .) It is at this point that some sort ofdefinition becomes useful, to expand the stark realism of the bare label . DEFINING THE CONCERN-CENTRALLY `Commitments', then, in F . B . Welbourn's terms, is one possible definition of the intended area of concern . This has the advantage, as a working definition (over against a morphological description), of brevity : it can easily be substituted for the expression it defines .

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However, it will be noted that the term is plural, because the phrase `implicit religion' is seen as possessing the character of a collective noun . There is no assumption, in advance of the evidence, that the various hierarchies of commitment have been fully integrated by the actor, either in theory or in practice . Nor is there any assumption that they can be integrated by the observer, into an overall unity . Such extreme brevity is somewhat sacrificed, but workability is not altogether lost, if two concepts are married together . Their point of intersection may give a precision which at least helps by pointing towards the heart of the object of the search . One such phrase that sometimes occurred as a possible definition, then, is `personal depths' . This retains the plurality of 'commitments', but more obviously suggests that the object of the search may be involuntary, and even unconscious. For it would be ethnocentrically Christian, if not indeed specifically Evangelical, to assume that a religion is necessarily the consequence of a choice . Indeed, since the act of choice implies the existence of at least one criterion, it could be argued that the very ability to choose indicates the presence of some prior belief which represents the true religion of the group or individual, at least at the moment of decision . Another such phrase is `integrating foci' . This makes more obvious a third suggestion : that the concern is with all aspects of the personal, of whatever level or size . Thus it may be conscious, unconscious or subconscious ; individual, inter-personal, group, social, societal, international or global . The last of these three possible synonyms has tended to be cited most often . It sounds less like a manifesto, and is more oriented towards a method . A fourth and final definition, which develops this same characteristic a little, may also be given : `intensive concerns with extensive effects' . This begins to spell out, what the others infer : that an enthusiasm (or an irritation) increases its claim to serious consideration, to the extent that it is part of a wider personal system . The `personal depths' that are sought are neither emotion alone, which, whether acquired or inherited, may still be unfocussed ; but an amalgam of both . So the `implicit religion', which is both revealed and revealing, is a multiple of depth of commitment and width of effect . DISTINGUISHING THE CONCERN-CONCEPTUALLY A third approach to describing the area of concern, in addition to the provocatively `agnostic' and to the definitional, is to indicate its relationship with other areas of concern . The fact that over fifty names for such related, but largely unexplored, areas have been noted over the last fourteen years, indicates how widespread is the apprehension of this reality . An initial distinction, then, must be made between the area presently being described, and that which is referred to by the brief expression, `implicit religion', as used in the Schools Council's Working Paper No . 369 . This latter

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approach, which has mostly been confined to Religious Education circles, was based upon H . Loukes, and issued, for instance, in M . Paffard" . It would appear to refer to transcendent experiences on the part ofindividuals' (and the work of the Religious Experience Research Unit) . Such individual, and conscious (although usually spontaneous), experiences are indeed relevant in the present context (vide, e .g . G . B . Miles ) . It would also seek to include, however, social experience, whether transcendent or not, and, at the individual level, items that are largely unconscious, such as frames of reference, including the limits of the imagination . A second distinction should be made between the area of concern discussed here, and `common religion' . (With it may be coupled `folk religion', sometimes spoken of in ecclesiastical circles, e .g . Reed" .) In Towler a more careful definition was given to common religion than to most of these related phrases . It is therefore possible to note that `common religion' is a part of the present concern (e .g. Toon ) . But it is only a part, since it is said to be limited to `activities of an overtly religious character' . It is also possible to note that, while questions regarding its structural position in religion and psychology have been opened up, other questions regarding its social location, historical origins, and intrinsic value, appear to have been foreclosed, in the course of Towler's description . `Common religion' is that medley of religious practices, and to a lesser extent beliefs, which, according to official definitions at least, are not part of an official religion, but are common among the common people . ` Civil religion', on the other hand, refers primarily to a more integrated set of values and symbols, which is, in some degree, actually held in common by a people . (Towler helpfully points out, that this area was itself labelled `common religion' by Williams" ; but rightly feels that Bellah has established the new term .) The term `civil religion' has mostly been used of national states (following J . J . Rousseau, The Social Contract, Book IV, chapter 8), and especially of the U .S .A . However, there is no reason why it should not be applied to other social forms possessing corporate identity . As Weber commented, every group has its own religion . Indeed, there is a useful distinction to be made between civil and civic religion . Unfortunately it was not made by the translators of Rousseau A similar fusion of terms appears in D . A . Martin 2 or of M . P. Nilsson . which consistently refers to Bellah's `civic religion' thesis ; for, while Bellah's evidence is indeed primarily civic in character, he (equally consistently) considers himself to be positing a civil religion hypothesis . 10

2,13

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3

3

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l,

19 ^20

DELINEATING THE AREA-PERIPHERALLY A fourth way of describing the area of concern is by showing how it relates to other existing areas . While definitions, and comparisons with related con-

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cepts, aim at the heart and content of the reality concerned, this provides some outline of the boundaries of the study under consideration . Thus, the implicit religion of contemporary society can be seen as a sideways extension of the anthropology of religion, from small-scale societies to large-scale society and its constituent parts . Alternatively, it can be seen as the extension of the sociology of religion, which has traditionally been concerned with large-scale societies, from an approach which has been primarily atomistic, organisational and rational, to one which takes account of the symbolic, holistic and coinherent aspects of the personal reality within these societies . This, in turn, links with the phenomenology of religion ; for if phenomenology generally is concerned to `let the phenomenon speak for itself', then the phenomenology of religion should be the place where man himself can do this par excellence. Indeed, the study of implicit religion should allow our own contemporary society to do this in the most open-ended way possible . However, just as the anthropology of religion does not consider it should be limited to what the people that it studies call `religious', but looks at the implications, for what it calls religious, of all aspects of the society it studies ; so the study of the implicit religion of contemporary society will consider both religious and non-religious life in large-scale society . But it will try to concentrate, following F . B. Welbourn, upon the implications of ordinary, 'nonreligious' life, to see if it constitutes, in itself, some form of religion 22. This is not, of course, to imply that studies from non-religious viewpoints are not of value when studying religious and non-religious aspects of life . It is only to plead for an `alternating model' (M . Black, 1962, quoted in R . Gi1123) . It is simply to suggest that it might prove valuable to look at the secular spheres of modern life, such as the political and economic and social systems, in the light of the study of religion, and as though they might themselves be religious in some way . It merely reverses the process of looking at religious systems in the light of our knowledge of politics, the economy and society, and in the belief that they might themselves have political, economic and social dimensions . The suggested approach is equally enlightening . On the other hand, the implicit religion of contemporary society can be seen as an extension of the history of religions . It can be seen as an extension `sideways' of the study of one of the High Traditions (Christianity in the case of this country), as, the next step in the prismatic breaking assunder of those once-essential, typological labels . In this case, it would have a similar place to that of `practical religion' 24 when studied in Burma (see Bellah, 18 and Geertz, 25 for similar approaches in Japan and Java) . However, that particular phrase `practical religion', is not available for use in areas where Christianity has been indigenised at preconscious levels (for Hinduism 26 ) . For it is generally assumed in those cultures that religions are mutually exclusive (but see Pareto27), at least at the level of individual living .

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Also, for many people it would mean the `practice of their (Christian) religion', `on Monday morning', and so would be a highly sensitive, and largely moral, matter . But to assume that the implicit religion of a society was linked in this or any other particular way to its `official' or `high' tradition, forecloses one of the questions which is to be answered, only following investigation . Such a link, furthermore, would raise questions regarding the definition of the high tradition concerned . For instance, how far can the very belief in `Christianity' (let alone what is understood as the content of that Christianity), which emerges as one of the dominant themes of the data so far as this country is concerned, be regarded as being itself a part of Christianity? Or, to take a second instance, how far can the apprehension of the selfas ultimateand sacred, which (a trio of studies suggests) can be seen as the rock (cp . Matthew 16 :18) upon which this implicit religion is founded, be regarded as either positively or passively Christian? Indeed, should that adjective be given content in accordance with its own canonical self-definition(s), or the result(s) of historical scholarship, or the (intended or unintended) fruits of its influence? Might not this emphasis upon the self, among other features of this `practical religion', be thought to have more in common with the high tradition of Hinduism, than with that of Christianity28? Or are we, indeed, beginning to make contact with a globally `common', a universally `primal' 29, a `palaeolithici 3o,3 ' but `perennial' (vide the Huxleys) stratum of religiosity and humanity? At the same time, if the anthropology of religion has been mostly concerned with small-scale societies, and the history of religions with religion in historical, civil-ised societies, the implicit religion of contemporary society might be seen as the next and essential step forward, if the study of religion is not to be confined to the archaic or the obsolete 32 . If this study of man-in-(a-new-kindof)-society begins with some data that are apparently rather raw and 'primitive' (the links with the psychology of religion have already been alluded to), that would only be in keeping with our experience in other fields . It is this that has encouraged us to try again to analyse the content of the Humanum, just as earlier ages sought the meaning of the imago Dei . So this approach encourages us to look again, and with the advantage of those gains in our knowledge of religion and of man which now necessitate a new Hastings, at those philosophical distinctions, ontological conjunctions, and fundamental questions, which our fathers had the courage to face, with results as profound and sensitive as S . A . Cook's 33 article on religion in the old Hastings, in 1918 . A TRIO OF STUDIES A fifth way of describing the area of concern is by giving examples . This will be done by giving the barest summary of three studies carried out by the present

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writer 34 . The first was a series of structured interviews, and the second and third were phenomenological essays on a public house and a residential parish, respectively, both developed on the basis of participant observation . THE INTERVIEWS

The interviews consisted of such open-ended questions as `What do you enjoy most in life?', and `Who are you?', to quote only the first and last from some fifty stimuli . From the responses a triple 'identi-kit' interview was built up, consisting of those three responses to each of the stimuli which best represented the range of answers to that particular question . Pondering upon the implications of this representative raw material, somewhat after the style of a phenomenological piece of literary criticism, some forty themes emerged . For convenience, these were then divided into three overall groups : The Inner Scene, The Outer Scene, and The Other Scene . The Inner Scene contained four themes on the Nature of the Self, four on its Life, and four on its Relationship with Other Selves . These twelve were then summarized in the form of a creed : I believe in the sacredness of my Self, In the all-pervading influence of time, And in other Selves as in mine . The Outer Scene was composed (for this was a grouping of emergent themes, not a division of anticipated areas) of three groups of four themes each, again . These were entitled : The Received World, the Psycho-social Reality, and Polarity without Dichotomy . They were summarized credally : As the world is in me, and I am in those I know, So I distinguish, but I decline to divide . The Other Scene contained four sections, of four themes each . Their headings ran : Moral, Religion, Salvific, and Other Elements . The credal conclusion of these themes was : Conscience commands, and Christianity helps ; The world is kind, but ageing is fearful, and God

is

distant .

Some comments upon the data, although disjointed, may help to give these Themes some flesh and blood . The outstanding ontological fact is the self . It is also the outstanding moral value . Indeed, it is sacred . But it is (I am) `only' human ; that is to say, fallible . I am always changing, because I live on a conveyor-belt called time . To keep all the aspects of my ordinary life up-to-date and up to scratch is like constantly keeping a set of oranges in the air . But I enjoy this logistical juggling

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trick, which constitutes my struggle for survival, and I am content if I can simply manage my weekly round . Life beyond this consists of relationships with other selves, whom I understand as being like myself, and whom I value highly for this reason . Proverbial wisdom (which could be seen as a traditional form of implicit religion) was found to be in decline among precisely those groups that are most prone to that other kind of secularisation (from historical religions) . The received world was therefore very much the shape of the television screen, and especially the News . This imposed a great burden of sympathetic suffering and worry ; many people bore the world upon their shoulders ('the Atlas effect') . Money proved little attraction : twice as much as enough to buy a house was all that, even playfully, could be imagined . Real life consisted of `I-they' rather than 'I-thou' encounters, and in the individual's coinherence in others, especially his own family . Society consisted of an archipelago of small groups, and `the world' consisted basically of `me' and `people' . There were differences, and categories, but no dichotomies or clusters of polarities . For instance, the 'self-ish' was far from merely `bad', despite the fact that this belief is not capable of simple expression in conventional English . The `moral' themes suggested that it is imperative to be happy ; that a mental list, of things to be done, hangs over the heads of the British public, like a mushroom-shaped cloud ; that, like Alexander the Great, people would feel unhappy, and immoral, if they had nothing to conquer ; and that the individual is not only apprehended as the primary reality, but is virtually the only one, apart from `people', who are an extrapolation of himself, and, to a lesser extent, the physical world . Religion is as individualistic as is morality, but `Christianity' (which is distinguished from the Church) is widely and firmly `Established' : God is a `high God', the supernatural is the super-scientific-and is a way of `cocking a snook' at all would-be `systems', whether Newtonian or Pavlovian . Salvifically, even this world of systems is gracious, for it created me and I transcend it . But its improvement is entirely individualistic and gradual : history shows there are no total or sudden solutions, however desirable they may be . The heading of the final group of themes as `other elements' deliberately left ambiguous the question whether they were merely miscellaneous, or were transcendent and all-embracing . Divinity was associated strongly, though not exclusively, with religion . Religion itself was tested almost entirely by the avowedly non-religious criterion of relationships . Death and post-death were not so much mysterious as ignored . But growing senile was greatly feared, and dying voluntarily had been carefully considered and analysed long before the interview . Both these pairs of themes tie in with the initial postulate, of the absolute sacredness of the self.

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Having elucidated some of the meanings of these responses, through the development of forty `themes', there followed some reflections upon the various integrating foci in the data as a whole . The `Round' of work and the List ofjobs, was balanced by a Round of leisure and of Going away, especially on holidays . Each of these rounds was felt to be important, but neither was considered to have sufficient `pull' over the other to re-constitute a single whole . Indeed, more important than either of the halves, was the simple fact of migration from one world to the other . The apprehension of a wider alternative reality (which might have been merely echoed in one of the Rounds) also kept presenting itself as a possible integrating focus . Yet it was neither integrated itself ('a'), nor truly possible ('alternative') . It is, therefore, no more able than either of the `rounds' to provide an integrating focus . Indeed, the very belief in the sacredness, and yet in the humanity (that is, the imperfection), of the self, rules out the possibility of collective panaceas . The most convincing reality that is apprehended is the self . Indeed, this is itself in some degree an alternative reality . For the belief in it is held on to, despite the public culture . But there is no community in which to articulate and develop the apprehension . Indeed, there is a structural blockage to the development of such a solidarity, at least at a societal level . For the most powerful witness to the primacy of the self, is the refusal to participate socially . Various groups of people were then considered, on the analogy of a priesthood, as possibly being themselves integrating foci of a personal kind . The strongest candidate was the loose circle of face-to-face contacts, in which the human becomes real, and the apprehended reality becomes significant through becoming human . In this context, and also in the broader context of public life, certain individuals are revealed as not `only human', but as gloriously human . This experience of 'anthropophany' confirms the privately intuited sacredness of the self. Christianity was also seen as an integrating focus . But it is restricted, in its reference, to private life, leaving various forms of socialism and nationalism as the implicit religions of national and international affairs . It is also in latent but immutable opposition to the human, to the fallible but laughable and loveable, to the epiphany of real Life ; for Christianity, understood as moral education, is the schoolmaster of Conscience . THE PUBLIC HOUSE

The second of the three studies consisted of working behind the bar of a public house, a mile from the centre of Bristol . This formed an excellent contrast to the previous study. The individualistic setting was abandoned for one that was social, even corporate, and the observer became merely one of many . The report on this phase of the study begins by describing the life of the

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public house according to the secular `eye' of the `alternating model' . Its Setting is described, under geographical, physical and temporal headings . Thus the significance of the doorway between the public bar and the lounge is pondered, and the patterns of the day, the week, and the year, are described . Taking up a contemporary expression, `the Scene' is then considered, under the three headings of Roles, Action, and Aural . The central significance of the Manager is described . The existence of a nerve-racking element in the customer's `entrance' into the pub is suggested . The importance which individuals attach to being able to maintain a personal silence, amidst the noise of conversation and radio, is mentioned . The People in the public house are then described, in their Groups, as Individuals, and by Types . While the kind of glass used for beer is found to be indicative of type, and age is agreed to have an obvious plausibility, the most satisfactory classification is felt to be by attitude : the contrast is considered to be between the 'mono-man' and the 'poly-people' . The former envisages a single Culture, ostensibly defined by the male sex and symbolized by a moral, monotheistic divinity . The latter rejoice in the existing variety of life-styles, cultures, moralities, philosophies and divinities . The other `eye' of the alternating model is then used more deliberately than was the case with the analysis of the interviews . The relationship of the public house and explicit religion is explored under the headings ofChristianity in the pub, the pub as a parallel to the Church, and the pub as a rival to the Church . Lastly, the pub's own implicit religion is analysed . Seven integrating foci are discovered . They are : the sense of community, the doorway between the two sides, the actual bar in each room, the `busy time' which forms the climax of each evening, the Manager himself, the semisacrificial transaction of buying the drink, and the very idea or image of a pub . The outlawing of any kind of passion, and of serious sexuality, is then described, along with other possible candidates for the position of integrating foci . The conclusion attempts to integrate the foci that have been enumerated . It may best be summarized by quotation . The fundamental integrating focus of the pub, both aid to and symbol of its functioning as a society, may now be summarized as `being a man' . Its definition lies not, of course, in any contrast with a supernatural being, at least in any of the ordinary senses which that word has in contemporary society, including for instance in the pub itself. Nor is it to be seen as being in contrast with the natural environment . It may indeed be distinguished from the opposite sex . But . . . it is not to be defined primarily by such a distinction . Likewise, it may also be distinguished from younger age-groups . This distinction is indeed reinforced by the regular rite of passage (the `entrance'), which is forbidden to them . But, again, such a negative definiens is far from exhausting its meaning . Positively, then, it consists in the ability to `hold your own', and meet other men

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as equals . This means allowing them to pursue the same goal at the same time as yourself. Thus the gift of indiscriminate `rounds' of drinks, which can hardly be refused without giving downright offence, also offends, and can only be adequately countered by displaying discreet hostility and contempt within one's group, in order to preserve one's own amour-propre. Hence also the importance of reciprocal rounds . . . . The drink itself is all-important . But it is important, not because it is thirstquenching, but because its ideology is the charter, and its praxis the visible, shared, miniature and dramatic sacrament of the community : it is wholly expressive and effective . In the same way, the truly acceptable barman does not work for money ; nor is he anxious to finish when the law says he may and must . Hence the joy when a barman comes into the pub, on his evening off, as a customer, `for a drink', himself. . . . The implicit religion of the pub, then, may be summarized as consisting in the solidarity of the initiatives, the action of `taking a drink', and the accompanying rationale of `being a man' .

THE RESIDENTIAL PARISH The third in this trio of studies concerns the residential parish on the outskirts of Bristol . This shared with the public house, in contrast with the interview situation, its social character and its largely `given' nature . But it formed an excellent third leg to the tripod, on account of the contrast between the society of a parish and the society of a public house . In a nutshell, the former (despite its self-image, `you get all types in a pub, don't you?'), is a self-selecting society, to a far greater extent than an enlarged village of eight thousand people can be . The method of study was again by participant observation, which has now been spread over twelve years . The early findings can be summarized by quoting from a preliminary, short report . The parish is again described purely secularly at first . The study is said to be a study in consciousness (including near-consciousness, as articulated by the observer) . This is an essay in phenomenology, rather than a full-length community study . So the presentation of the data is governed firstly by the community's sense of identity, and secondly by its character as an `open community', which contains contrasts, and yet allows communication . Four integrating foci are then described . The first is Christianity. This is said to have five `signs' : Church Christianity, Good Neighbour Christianity, School Christianity, Media Christianity, and the Belief in Christianity itself . The second focus is Buildings . Just as land may be the locus of the sacred in agricultural societies, so it is suggested, are buildings in this community . The primary examples are the family home, and the `house' of God, in this case a medieval parish church . The third focus is described as `Friendly' ; for interpretation is kept to a minimum at this stage, albeit at the expense of categorial evenness . The fourth focus is Children, which itself is closely related to all the other three . (The

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elderly are described as a sub-species of children .) Finally, to present a balanced account of the evidence, the Resistance to Integration is described . I t is explained in positive terms as the defence of the Self, and is stated to be, in effect, a fifth, although peculiar, integrating focus . After considering various other candidates' claim to be integrating foci, the report then discussed the unity of the resulting Implicit Religion, its character, and its mode of religiosity . The concluding pair of paragraphs may be reproduced here. The fundamental characteristic of this religion is its moral character . Its Creed is heavily moral, thus forcing through its own interpretation of historic Christianity . Its sacraments (the home, and the parish church) are a constant burden, worthy of comparison with the proverbial re-painting of the Forth Bridge . Its ethics are inevitably moral, but it may be observed at this point how much satisfaction, even joy, is derived from the moral obligation to observe `an impossible ethic' 35 . The childish gods of the religion impose moral duties which they are only slowly taught to observe themselves-finally, when they become the devotees of their own children . The sacredness of the Self is the only `moral' certainty . How religious this religion is considered to be, will depend upon each observer's understanding of the nature of religion . This depends in turn upon each observer's understanding of life ; but that itself may be dependent upon the observer's view of religion . Certainly, in some respects it is not very religious, as that word is often understood : there is very little emphasis upon the supernatural God, for instance . Equally certainly, though, it would not be the only system to combine a highly moral character, and little participation in the public rites, and yet be regularly described as a religion : the religion of the later Roman Republic and early Empire is another one . Lastly, it is also certain that if we settle for a low-key but popular understanding of a religion, in terms of the depth and width of the commitment to it, then this implicit religion can only be described as the dominant religion of this residential parish .

THE THREE STUDIES AND THE IMPLICIT RELIGION OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY In the first formal report upon the three studies 34 , an attempt was made to tie together the conclusions reached in each of them separately . The interviews focussed upon the self. But they also revealed, to a far greater extent than the stimuli could be said to have presupposed, a concern with and an interest in the self. They showed that not merely the stimuli, but also the respondents, focussed upon `my self' . Similarly, a synonymous description of the rationale implicit in the life of the pub, might be `social independence' . Undoubtedly the emphasis falls upon the noun, but it is equally clear that the adjective must qualify it : the customer in the pub is not a hermit . The individuals in the pub' require' each other's presence . Likewise the individuals and their families, who make up the open community, may be described as abiding by, and seeking, `concerted individualism' : the neighbours are not merely a nuisance, or only even a necessity . Within the parameters of mutual respect they are both a pleasure and endowed with intrinsic value . If a single focus were now to be postulated to integrate these

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three, therefore, the chosen one would be `creating our own identities' . The first word is chosen in preference to `the search for identity', which is sometimes postulated, because `creating' is more active and less abstract, more activist and less self-conscious . Likewise, the last word, `identities', is placed in the plural in order to emphasise the acceptance of differences and plurality . The middle pair of words, `our own', are inclined to express the underlying conception that this is simultaneously social, and yet 'personal'-in the popular sense, of individual or private . In the subsequent analysis of this system as a religion, it is suggested that `the depth of the conviction is matched by the significance of the reality apprehended', thus fulfilling the fourth and fullest of the working definitions that were given earlier . From the History of Religions standpoint, after a number of comparisons with other religious systems, the conclusion is that : Implicit religion, which largely includes the empirical Christianity as well as the secular face of contemporary society, unlike archaic religion, is neither ecstatic nor corporate ; and, unlike historical religion, it is neither segmented nor visionary . So for most men, religion in general, and implicit religion in particular, is, and is likely to remain, dimensional in character, with extensive influence, rather than relational, with specific power . Yet moderation, or even inertia, can be held to as doggedly as apocalyptic or eschatology is preached or conversions are pursued . Belief may be fanatical, although still implicit .

NOTES 1

The suggestion for this article arises out of a Paper given at the XIV Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions at Winnipeg in 1980 . 2 Another sign of growing interest is the series of week-end Consultations in Implicit Religion, at Denton Hall, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, which have been held each year since 1978 . Indeed, during 1982 two further series of Consultations seem likely to be beginning : concerning implicit religion and religious education, and implicit religion and the churches . Further details of any of these are available from the writer . 3 Robert Towler, Homo Religiosus : Sociological Problems in the Study of Religion, London, Constable, 1974, pp . 145-162 . 4 Roland Robertson and Colin Campbell, Religion in Britain : the need for new research strategies, Social Compass, XIX, (1972), pp . 185-197 . 5 David A . Martin, The Religious and the Secular : Studies in Secularization, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969 . 6 Frederick Burkewood Welbourn, `Healing as a psychosomatic event', Paper presented to the Seminar on Witchcraft and Healing at the Centre for African Studies, Edinburgh, 14-15 Feb . (1969a) . 7 Frederick Burkewood Welbourn, `Towards eliminating the concept of religion', Paper read at the 2nd Lancaster Colloquium on the Study of Religion (1969b) . 8 Ugo Bianchi, The History of Religions, Leyden, E. J . Brill 1975, pp . 201-212 . 9 Schools Council, Religious Education in Secondary Schools, Schools Council Working Paper 36, London, Evans Bros . & Methuen 1971 . 10 Harold Loukes, New Ground in Christian Education, London, S .C .M . 1965 .

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11 M . Paffard, Inglorious Wordsworth : a Study of Some Transcendental Experiences in Childhood and Adolescence, London, Hodder & Stoughton 1973 . 12 Marghanita Laski, Ecstasy: a Study ofSome Secular and Religious Experiences, London, Cresset 1961 . 13 A .H . Maslow, The FurtherReaches of Human Nature, Harmondsworth, Penguin 1964 14 Grahame B . Miles, `Transcendental and religious experiences of Sixth Form pupils : an analytic model', Paper presented at 1981 Denton Consultation in Implicit Religion . 15 Bruce D . Reed, The Dynamics of Religion : Process and Movement in Christian Churches, London, Darton, Longman & Todd 1978. 16 Richard Toon, `Methodological problems in the study of implicit religion', Paper presented at 1981 Denton Consultation in Implicit Religion . 17 Robin M . Williams, American Society : a Sociological Interpretation, New York, Knopf 1951 . 18 Robert N . Bellah, Tokugawa Religion : the Values of Pre-industrial Japan, Glencoe Free Press 1957 . See also `Civil religion in America', in Daedalus, journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences XCVI (1), Winter 1967 . 19 Nils Martin Perrson Nilsson, A History of Greek Religion (Trans . F . J . Fielden), Oxford, Clarendon 1925 . 20 Nils Martin Persson Nilsson, Greek Piety (Trans . H . J . Rose), Oxford, Clarendon 1948. 21 David A. Martin, The Dilemmas of Contemporary Religion, Oxford, Blackwell 1978, pp . 1-20 . 22 Some of the papers read at the first five Denton Consultations illustrate this particular emphasis, as well as this spread of interest . e .g. : K . Donnelly, 1978, `Residual religion in an urban community ; a search for secular man ; P . Jarvis, 1978, `Toward a sociological understanding of superstition' ; A. Kee, 1978, `The experience of transcendence in contemporary culture' ; D . Munro, 1978, `A perspective from anthropology' ; G . Scobie, 1978, `The religion of politics' ; E . Barker, 1979, `Implicit religon ; social theory and practice' ; D. Clark, 1979, `Folk religion in a North Yorkshire fishing village' ; A. Cunningham, 1979, `The articulation of the sense of the Self and identity' ; P . Heelas, 1979, `Implicit religion ; ineffability ; M . Langley, 1979, `The implicit in symbol and ritual ; implications for "secularization" theory' ; D. Martin, 1979, `Human sound and sublime vision' ; M . Ruel, 1979, `Is cosmology a religion?' ; J. Thrower, 1979, `Has humanism a religious dimension?' ; T . Burfoot, 1980, `Implicit religion and poetic motif ; M . Cotterell, 1980, `Invisible religion and the middle class'; H . Lupton, 1980, `Being objective about the subjective' ; D . Newton, 1980, `Astrology' ; J . Twigg, 1980, `Vegetarianism' ; C . Campbell, 1981, `Natural constellations of belief ; L. Francis, 1981, `personality and religion : measurement or muddle?' ; H . French, 1981, `Signs ofthanatocracy : a study of current American funeral practices' ; M . Goodridge, 1981, `perceptions of time, death and religion' ; R . Bibby, 1982, `the Canadian national religious survey : the unfocussed majority'; D . Davies, 1982, `Clerical self-absolution through the nation of folk religion' ; T . Gannon, 1982, `Religious experience in everyday life' ; R . Gill, 1982, `Theologians and folk religion' ; S . Molloy, 1982, `Common religion in Leeds : an interim report' ; D. Newton, 1982, 'Suplicat religion in organised astrology' ; G . Stamp, 1982, `The dilemma of structuring : a fellowship of believers' ; N . Tamasu, 1982, `The relevance of the concept of implicit religion for Japanese society' . A similar pattern would appear likely in the three years . Subsequently each consultation is likely to centre round a particular aspect of the whole area .

Implicit Religion

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

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Robin Gill, The Social Context of Theology: a Methodological Enquiry, London, Mowbray 1975 ; Max Black, Models and Metaphors, Cornell University Press 1962 . Edmund R . Leach, Dialectic in Practical Religion, London, Cambridge University Press 1968 . Clifford Geertz, The Religion ofJava, London, Collier, MacMillan 1960 . G . Morris Carstairs, The Twice-born : a Study of a Community of High-caste Hindus, London, Hogarth 1968 . Vilfredo Pareto, The Mind and Sociey, London, Jonathan Cape 1935 . Guy Deleury, `A Hindu god for technopolis?', Concilium, VI, June 1972 . John V . Taylor, The Primal Vision: Christian Presence amid African Religion, London, S .C .M . 1963 . Clyde Kluckhohn, Navaho Witchcraft, Boston, Beacon Press 1967 . Ernest Benz, `On understanding Non-Christian Religions', in M Eliade and J . M . Kitagawa (eds .), History of Religions, Chicago, University Press 1952 . Thomas Luckmann, The Invisible Religion : the Problem of Religion in Modern Society, London, Collier-MacMillan 1967 . Stanley A. Cook, `Religion', in J . Hastings (ed .), Encyclopaedia of Religion & Ethics, Edinburgh, T & T Clark 1918. Bailey, `Emergent Mandalas : the implicit religion of contemporary society', Ph .D . thesis, catalogued as The Religion of a Secular Society, Bristol University Library, 1976 . H . Reinhold Niebuhr, An Interpretation of Christian Ethics, London, S .C .M . 1941 .

EDWARD BAILEY was awarded a Ph .D . at the University of Bristol for his thesis entitled The Religion of a Secular Society and is well known as the convenor of a series of conferences on the subject of `Implicit Religion' (See Notes) . Winterbourne Rectory, Bristol BS17 IJQ, U .K.