‘Leaving the Fold’: Apostasy from Fundamentalism and the Direction of Religious Development

This paper re-examines the direction of religious development implicit in Piagetian-based theories in light of a recent study of apostasy from fundamentalism. The theory-led and inductive thematic analysis of apostate narratives reveals evidence of a ‘sociocognitive conflict’ that complicates the im...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Adam, Raoul J. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Equinox Publ. 2009
In: Journal for the academic study of religion
Year: 2009, Volume: 22, Issue: 1, Pages: 42-63
Further subjects:B Fundamentalism
B Religious Development
B Apostasy
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:This paper re-examines the direction of religious development implicit in Piagetian-based theories in light of a recent study of apostasy from fundamentalism. The theory-led and inductive thematic analysis of apostate narratives reveals evidence of a ‘sociocognitive conflict’ that complicates the implicit teleology of traditional theories of religious development. The diverse trajectories produced by this interaction between sociocultural and cognitive influences prompts a fresh analysis of Howard Gruber’s question concerning the direction of development: Which way is up? I highlight the complex interaction between cultural and cognitive influences involved in apostasy from fundamentalism and provide support for Streib’s Religious Styles Perspective as a theory for investigating multiple factors influencing the conceptualisation and direction of religious development.
ISSN:2047-7058
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the academic study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1558/arsr.v22i1.42