A Gen-Xer on Religion
I grew up in an age of collective disillusionment: Institutions were losing trust, the optimism of social rights activism seemed to stagnate, and even the hippies seemed to give up and go be productive members of society. In the 90's I danced at school and camp dances to "Loser" by Beck, and "Creep" by Radiohead, while REM's "It's the End of the World As We Know It" helped us to feel fine while we bounced around listening to all the world's problems. Alas, we were lost and wondering. Many parents of kids in my generation found a religious freedom they called (and continue to call) "spiritual, but not religious." The Vietnam War had exposed us collectively to Buddhism, and while some Christian monks (Thomas Merton) teamed up with Buddhist monks (Thich Nhat Hahn) in deep conversation to find commonality and to learn from one another, many others became aware of whole continents of people who are not Christian, considered convention...