When One Religion Isn't Enough: The Lives of Spiritually Fluid People

As an ordained Presbyterian minister and practicing Buddhist, Bidwell (practical theology, Claremont Sch. of Theology; Short Term Spiritual Guidance) writes with a first-person understanding and empathy to explore how and why people claim more than one religion as well as strategies to find one's way in a primarily monoreligious culture. He profiles three categories of "spiritually fluid people": those who choose multiple religious identities, those born into a family with multiple religions, and those who combine or collaborate spiritual practices. Finally, Bidwell examines the advantages polyreligious adherents bring to a global culture and clearly makes the case that multireligious identity does not seek salvation or orthodoxy since those terms are specifically Christian. He further discusses the increasing complexity of interreligious dialog, the expansion of conventional religious categories, and the growing acceptance of multiple religious identities.