The ideology of progressive spirituality

A summary of:
Lynch, G. (2007). New Spirituality: An Introduction to Belief Beyond Religion. I.B.Tauris: London.
Chapter 2 – The Ideology of Progressive Spirituality
& Chapter 3 – Progressive Spirituality and the New Generation of Progressive Religious Organizations

Lynch tries to distance his Progressive Spirituality from any religious connotations. This spirituality is closer to ‘morality’ than ‘religion.’ It is, to Lynch, an ideology (41). He writes, “Progressive spirituality can also be understood as a product of what Charles Taylor has described as the long cultural march in western modernity towards a new sense of moral order based on the rights, freedom and inherent value of the individual” (67).

As an ideology, progressive spirituality is organized around 3 key beliefs: 1) “The divine is an ineffable unity, and is both the guiding (43) intelligence behind the evolutionary processes of the universe, and (within) the material form and energy of the universe itself” (44); 2) nature is sacred (43); 3) the human self is sacred (43). In reading this book, I find it very easy to fit in this box. Not only do I agree with this ideology, but I also find it, for the most part, fairly non-controversial, i.e. I would think that almost everyone I know would probably agree (though perhaps would not use the term ‘sacred’, but instead, ‘important’ or ‘inviolable’). It makes sense that I’m concerned with human values in technology, because of (3). And I believe that in part it’s important to get this right because it is the only way I see of realistically correcting our relationship with nature… because I believe strongly in (2).

I have sometimes described my PhD aim as creating a cyber culture/environment in which spirituality can thrive – or at least does not erode spirituality. This means that I will have to give some thought to what spiritual development is. This chapter provides one definition: “Spiritual development consists of a movement beyond this false ego towards one’s true self. Unlike forms of New Age thought which describe this process in terms of a flight from the material to a higher ‘spiritual’ self, however, progressive spirituality understands this process more in terms of an authentic integration of the self which is conscious of the (58) divine presence within the complexities of embodied experience” (59). I would say that this is precisely what Lanier is getting at when he speaks of making ‘contact with the mysteries of nature’.

Yet there is, undeniably, a tension between spiritual development and technology. Many cannot conceive of a realistic marriage between the two: “At the same time, however, some writers within progressive spirituality are highly critical of new technologies – what Mary Daly calls ‘necrotechnology’ – as a source of spiritual evolution” (47). Similarly, people may question whether modern life itself is incompatible with spirituality. I think this is playing the victim, because we have the power to change aspects of our societies we don’t like. Furthermore, this stance fails to recognize the adaptive capabilities of spirituality. Our spirituality is finding ways of thriving: “Progressive spirituality is not so much postmodern, as a particular form of modernity – a softer modernism – a spiritual way of living for the modern age” (68).

We also have to recognize that we are little bricoleurs in contemporary society. We extract, we build meanings. As such, we build progressive spirituality out of bits of pieces of other spiritual traditions that make sense to us today. “William Bloom, for example, comments that holistic spirituality ‘deepens the essence of all religious traditions’ – a perspective that Paul Heelas has referred to as ‘perennialism’. This notion of the ‘essence’ of truth within all religious traditions rests on the assumption that religious traditions are meaningful and truthful precisely to the extent that they confirm the basic assumptions of progressive spirituality” (61). Given this, it would make sense – i.e. it would fit with Progressive Spirituality – to draw from spiritual traditions when applicable in my PhD research; they are part of our contemporary understanding of the world, because they are our history.

A final, small point: Lynch argues that there is a “lack of collaboration” between “organizations within the progressive milieu” because they “have a range of different priorities” (94). Given that I sympathize with this spirituality, and would like to see it flourish, it would seem that part of my mission could be to conceive of ways that the progressive milieu could collaborate better through new internet technology. But this is an entirely separate issue, namely how to make society more spiritual. If I am going to make society more spiritual, it would be a side-effect of engagement with more spiritual technology. I do not want to think of technology as a tool in this respect. I want to think of technology as an experience.