Religion at Play: A Manifesto - Paperback

by Droogers (Author)

A critique of institutional power in modern religion, seeing religious belief as the playful exploration of possibilities that resists petrification.

Is a powerful position a guarantee that a religion will continue?
Does God take sides in religious power struggles?
Can God survive religious exclusivity and diversity?
Is God migrating from "out there" to "in here"?
Is religion sustainable in the long run?
In seeking answers to these questions, this book explores the possibilities afforded by playful religion. Religion has playful origins, but this aspect is forgotten as soon as institutional power becomes self-serving instead of subservient. Power changes the very essence of religion. Virtually all religions are distorted versions of a playful original. Institutionalisation is religion's curse, not its blessing. Apparent success hides the failure of religion to be faithful to its original intent. This book helps to find the way back from bordering to inclusivity and openness.

Author Biography

Andre Droogers is Emeritus Professor of Cultural Anthropology at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. His other books include Play and Power in Religion: Collected Essays (2012) and (with Anton van Harskamp) Methods for the Study of Religious Change: From Religious Studies to Worldview Studies (2014). Read more at www.andredroogers.nl.