Enjoying Religion

by Frans Jespers

"Enjoying religion" seems to be a contradiction because religion is generally perceived as a serious or even suppressive phenomenon. This volume is the first to study the increase of enjoying religion systematically by presenting eleven new case studies, occurring on four continents. This volume concludes that in our late modern secular societies, the enjoyment of religion or of its loose elements is growing. In particular, when scholars concentrate on "lived religion" of ordinary people, cheerful experiences appear to prevail. Many people use pleasant (elements of) religion to add meaning...