The Cascadia bioregion â British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon â has long been at the forefront of cultural shifts occurring throughout North America, in particular regarding religious institutions, ideas, and practices. Religion at the Edge explores the rise of religious ânones,â the decline of mainstream Christian denominations, spiritual and environmental innovation, increasing religious pluralism, and the growth of smaller, more traditional faith groups in what is often called the Cascadia bioregion. This region is the site of extraordinary natural beauty that has long animated distinctive, even reverential approaches to the natural world. Additionally, the historical dynamics of settlement, economic and political competition, and physical and psychological distance from other population centres have proven fertile ground for religious communities to develop. Religion at the Edge is the first research-driven book to address religion and spirituality in the Pacific Northwest, past and present. Employing surveys, archival sources, interviews, and focus groups, contributors address a spectrum of adherents from Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Bahaâi, New Age, Indigenous, and irreligious communities. Ultimately, this book pursues empirical and theoretical debates about the nature, scale, and implications of socio-religious changes in North America, and the relevance of regionalism to that discussion.
nl
en