Ecclesial Belonging in a World of Pure Experience: William James, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Religious Rationality in Crisis

The global COVID-19 pandemic has spotlighted several instances of churches violating state issued and scientifically recommended guidelines designed to keep populations healthy and to prevent the further spread of the disease. While these instances are minority responses to these orders, they noneth...

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Autor principal:	Stepanenko Walter Scott
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	De Gruyter 2021
Materias:	william james w. e. b. du bois religious experience phenomenology philosophy of religion pragmatism radical empiricism rationality ecclesial belonging Religion (General) BL1-50
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/e872a9bc30184221896a737b1d39571d
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:e872a9bc30184221896a737b1d39571d2021-12-05T14:11:01ZEcclesial Belonging in a World of Pure Experience: William James, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Religious Rationality in Crisis2300-657910.1515/opth-2020-0152https://doaj.org/article/e872a9bc30184221896a737b1d39571d2021-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2020-0152https://doaj.org/toc/2300-6579The global COVID-19 pandemic has spotlighted several instances of churches violating state issued and scientifically recommended guidelines designed to keep populations healthy and to prevent the further spread of the disease. While these instances are minority responses to these orders, they nonetheless raise questions about the rationality of ecclesial belonging in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, I draw on the work of William James and W. E. B. Du Bois to articulate a conception of ecclesial belonging as a social epistemological process engaging a complex, fluid multiplicity of knowers of various scales. I argue that, in this view, ecclesial rationality involves the construction of a concatenation of internal and external practices individual believers and groups can traverse so long as they consistently satisfy a plurality of desiderata. I suggest that what is irrational about religious-based defiance of COVID-19 guidelines is the church-sanctioned severance of internal from external practices. I suggest that this behavior is supported by a failure to grasp the demands of ecclesial rationality rather than embrace them, and that this conception of rationality may have been eroded by the value-neutral skepticism of secular rationality.Stepanenko Walter ScottDe Gruyterarticlewilliam jamesw. e. b. du boisreligious experiencephenomenologyphilosophy of religionpragmatismradical empiricismrationalityecclesial belongingReligion (General)BL1-50ENOpen Theology, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 111-128 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	william james w. e. b. du bois religious experience phenomenology philosophy of religion pragmatism radical empiricism rationality ecclesial belonging Religion (General) BL1-50
spellingShingle	william james w. e. b. du bois religious experience phenomenology philosophy of religion pragmatism radical empiricism rationality ecclesial belonging Religion (General) BL1-50 Stepanenko Walter Scott Ecclesial Belonging in a World of Pure Experience: William James, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Religious Rationality in Crisis
description	The global COVID-19 pandemic has spotlighted several instances of churches violating state issued and scientifically recommended guidelines designed to keep populations healthy and to prevent the further spread of the disease. While these instances are minority responses to these orders, they nonetheless raise questions about the rationality of ecclesial belonging in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, I draw on the work of William James and W. E. B. Du Bois to articulate a conception of ecclesial belonging as a social epistemological process engaging a complex, fluid multiplicity of knowers of various scales. I argue that, in this view, ecclesial rationality involves the construction of a concatenation of internal and external practices individual believers and groups can traverse so long as they consistently satisfy a plurality of desiderata. I suggest that what is irrational about religious-based defiance of COVID-19 guidelines is the church-sanctioned severance of internal from external practices. I suggest that this behavior is supported by a failure to grasp the demands of ecclesial rationality rather than embrace them, and that this conception of rationality may have been eroded by the value-neutral skepticism of secular rationality.
format	article
author	Stepanenko Walter Scott
author_facet	Stepanenko Walter Scott
author_sort	Stepanenko Walter Scott
title	Ecclesial Belonging in a World of Pure Experience: William James, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Religious Rationality in Crisis
title_short	Ecclesial Belonging in a World of Pure Experience: William James, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Religious Rationality in Crisis
title_full	Ecclesial Belonging in a World of Pure Experience: William James, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Religious Rationality in Crisis
title_fullStr	Ecclesial Belonging in a World of Pure Experience: William James, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Religious Rationality in Crisis
title_full_unstemmed	Ecclesial Belonging in a World of Pure Experience: William James, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Religious Rationality in Crisis
title_sort	ecclesial belonging in a world of pure experience: william james, w. e. b. du bois, and religious rationality in crisis
publisher	De Gruyter
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/e872a9bc30184221896a737b1d39571d
work_keys_str_mv	AT stepanenkowalterscott ecclesialbelonginginaworldofpureexperiencewilliamjameswebduboisandreligiousrationalityincrisis
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Ecclesial Belonging in a World of Pure Experience: William James, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Religious Rationality in Crisis

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