Virtual Faith

by Tom Beaudoin, Harvey Cox (Foreward)

Reveals the deep and pervasive search for meaning that haunts Generation X. This book is must reading for anyone who would understand the spirituality of young people at the turn of a new millennium.--Robert A. Ludwig, author of Reconstructing Catholicism for a New Generation

In Virtual Faith, Beaudoin explores fashion, music videos, and cyberspace concluding that his generation has fashioned a theology radically different from, but no less potent or valid than, that of their elders.

Beaudoin's investigation of popular culture uncovers four themes that underpin his generation?s theology. First, all institutions are suspect -- especially organized religion. Second, personal experience is everything, and every form of intense personal experience is potentially spiritual. Third, suffering is also spiritual. Finally, this generation sees ambiguity as a central element of faith.

This book opens a long overdue conversation about where and how we find meaning, and how we all can encourage each other in this central human searching.

Tom Beaudoin earned his Master of Theological Studies from Harvard University School of Divinity in 1996 and is currently working toward a Ph.D. in Religion and Education at Boston College.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, Philosophy

240 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1998

About the author

Tom Beaudoin is visiting assistant professor of theology at Boston College. He plays bass for a Boston area rock band.

Reviews

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is a young divinity graduate's attempt to identify the exact moment Generation X entered it's "dark night of the soul" and how there might be a possibility for a reconciliation between the traditional religious establishments and the millennial lost generation.

The book defends Gen X against the common characterizations by the baby boomers and the media that most of Gen X complains too much without a good reason (as of the writing we had no "real"wars to fight in or civil injustices to fight like the boomers). Beaudoin points out that Gen X instead had to grow up quicker than previous generations only to be met with skyrocketing costs of living and depressed wages, all of which are apt causes for a crisis in faith.

Good idea but the execution is lacking. It could have been edited a little more to have a more direct message.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember at the time this seemed poignant, but I'm not sure how it would hold up now. Or if even the author's views have changed. Maybe I'll see if he has some current work.

I read this as research for an essay on religion. I don't remember the topic exactly, but we had to take a strong opinion on a topic and I over extended myself a bit. I think it had to do with teaching spirituality in high school and, although I think this would be a good idea, I had to take the stance that it should be mandatory.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful commentary on some of the difficult-to-decipher contemporary music as it touches on religion. Helps explain where modern pop musicians are coming from.

[Wendy]

(found read date in diary)

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

He wrote in the Preface to this 1998 book, “This is a book about impropriety and irreverence, beginning with my fundamental claim that Generation X is---despite and even because of appearances---strikingly religious. I hope to clarify the ways in which we are religious through a theological interpretation of Generation X’s popular culture. It will become clear that my interpretation is filtered through two lenses: my own religious journey and my understanding of Generation X… In this book, I try to divine what I call a ‘GenX theology,’ or a way of thinking religiously about Generation X. I sketch the beginnings of a theology BY, FOR, and ABOUT Generation X…” (Pg. xiii-xiv)

“As far as I am aware, this book is the first sustained attempt to develop a theology about, by, and for Generation X by attending to popular culture… There has been very little thinking about the relationship between the lifeblood of the generation---popular culture---and the lifeblood of the human spirit---religion… What I offer in this book is a theological interpretation of GenX pop culture. It is theological because that is where I think Generation X has implicitly displayed its lived theology for at least the past two decades of its young life. This lived theology is that I am calling an ‘irreverent spirituality.’” (Pg. xiv, xvii)

He observes, “Aside from living religiously through the popular culture… Xers have taken religion into their own hands in two other ways. First, they have a widespread regard for paganism---however vaguely defined… Practices or rituals suggestive of paganism even surface in some universities, particularly as an effect of one strand of feminism within the academy. A second way Xers take religion into their own hands is through a growing enchantment with mysticism… As practiced by Xers, mysticism is defined as broadly as paganism and is often expressed as religious eclecticism. Xers take symbols, values, and rituals from various religious traditions and combine them into their personal ‘spirituality.’ They see this spirituality as being far removed from ‘religion,’ which they frequently equate with a religious institution.” (Pg. 25)

He points out, “I have found four main themes that represent strands of a lived theology… The first theme… is deep suspicion of religious institutions. Three types of popular culture illustrate this distrust. First, Xers challenge religious institutions in general. Second, Gen Xers specifically assault the Catholic Church. Third, they frequently put Jesus against the Church. The second religious theme is an emphasis on the sacred nature of experience. Lived experience becomes a key indicator of what counts as religious… [In] the third theme… Suffering is seen in religious context in three primary ways. First, several popular culture events plumb the varieties of suffering that the generation has endured. Second… the religious significance of suffering servanthood… The final religious theme… encompasses unique ways of being religious, ways in which faithfulness happens with (or as) a question mark.” (Pg. 41-42)

He suggests, “we increasingly think in fragmented images. We view time less as a continuous stretch and more as a collection of particular moments---a singular look, image, or visual moment from popular culture… I think this dynamic is operative in music video and throughout GenX pop culture…. Experience in moments explains MTV’s rapid-fire, discontinuous cuts---a quintessential example of art’s imitating (GenX) life.” (Pg. 130)

He concludes, “I have sought to illustrate four main claims in regard to Generation X, popular culture, and theology. First, a theological interpretation of popular culture reveals a spirituality characterized by irreverence on the part of Generation X… Second, this lived theology can both teach religious institutions and learn from them... Third, Generation X is religious, in its own characteristic ‘religiosity.’ Because of this religiosity it is possible to divine a theology by, for, and about Generation X… All of this brings me to the book’s fourth and final claim. Religious institutions, our elders, or other skeptics should not fear irreverence and popular culture. Paradoxically, interpreting pop culture theologically… highlights the depths of Generation X’s religious practice. The more popular culture is explored, and the more irreverence is viewed as a legitimate mode of religiosity … the more Generation X will be shown as having a real religious contribution to make. GenX can make great strides not only toward fostering its own spirituality but also toward reinvigorating religious institutions and challenging the faith of older generations.” (Pg. 179-180)

The insights of this book are still pertinent, twenty years after it was first published. It will be “must reading” for anyone seriously studying the religious attitudes of Generation X and other younger people.