Resilient Gods: Being Pro-Religious, Low Religious, or No Religious in Canada

by Reginald W. Bibby

Publisher:

UBC Press

, 2017

Overview

Are Canadians becoming less religious? After playing a central role in our lives for nearly a century, religion did seem to be losing its salience. But there is more to the story. Resilient Gods takes an in-depth look at the religious landscape today. The picture that emerges is not one of religious decline but rather of polarization, with the numbers of “pro-” “no,” and “low” religious in flux. Using the most current information available, Bibby explores the implications of religious choices for personal and social well-being, spirituality, and attitudes towards death. The questions he asks are compelling and the answers thought-provoking whether one embraces the gods or not.

Key Features

• Provides compelling questions and thought-provoking answers
• Explores the implications of religious choices for personal and social well-being
• Takes an in-depth look at the religious landscape today

Contents

• Preface
• Introduction
• The Early Days of God’s Dominion
• Declining Religious Participation among Boomers
• Pro-Religion, Low Religion, and No Religion
• The Polarized Mosaic
• Religious Inclinations and Personal Well-Being
• Religious Inclinations and Social Well-Being
• Religion versus Spirituality
• Dealing with Death
• The Resilience of Religion
• Conclusion

Praise for the Print Edition

Although there are few differences between Canadians who are religious and those who are not, religion appears to make a significant contribution to the social well-being of Canadians. Furthermore, this research also looks at spirituality and the attitudes of Canadians toward death, their beliefs in God, life after death, heaven, and so forth. Bibby concludes that in Canada and around the world, people variously embrace religion, reject religion, or take something of a middle position, and, despite secularization, the gods are still resilient. This comparative, insightful, illuminating book is a major contribution to the sociology of religion. Summing Up: Highly Recommended

—D. A. Chekki

Reg Bibby is Canada’s foremost accountant of religious trends, a sociologist who has told us more about our religious make-up than – not just anyone else, but everyone else. He has been telling us about ourselves in clear, simple, and suggestive terms with unequalled influence.

—John G. Stackhouse, Jr., Samuel J. Mikolaski Professor of Religious Studies, Crandall University

Among contemporary sociologists I can think of no one that has been more acclaimed, and in such diverse places, as Professor Bibby. His scholarship has been consistent and compelling. Bibby’s work has touched ordinary Canadians in ways that few sociologists have achieved. Today we understand a great deal more about Canadian society because of his important contributions.

—Neil Guppy, Professor of Sociology, University of British Columbia

Product Details

• Title: Resilient Gods: Being Pro-Religious, Low Religious, or No Religious in Canada
• Author: Reginald W. Bibby
• Publisher: UBC Press
• Print Publication Date: 2017
• Logos Release Date: 2022
• Pages: 266
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Canada › Religion--21st century; Irreligion › Canada
• ISBNs: 9780774890052, 9780774890076, 0774890053, 077489007X
• Resource ID: LLS:RSLNTGDSRLGSCND
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-10-08T15:08:39Z

About Reginald W. Bibby

Reginald W. Bibby is a sociologist at the University of Lethbridge and one of the Canada’s premier trackers and interpreters of social trends.