Grace Without God: The Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Belonging in a Secular Age
Journalist Katherine Ozment’s Grace Without God is a thought-provoking exploration of how secular Americans find fulfillment without organized religion.

A Nautilus Gold Award Winner: Religion and Spirituality of Other Traditions

Studies show that religion makes us happier, healthier and more giving, connecting us to our past and creating tight communal bonds. Most Americans are raised in a religious tradition, but in recent decades many have begun to leave religion, and with it their ancient rituals, mythic narratives, and sense of belonging.

So how do the nonreligious fill the need for ritual, story, community, and, above all, purpose and meaning without the one-stop shop of religion? What do they do with the space left after religion? With secularists swelling to one-fourth of American adults, and more than one-third of those under thirty, these questions have never been more urgent.

Writer, journalist, and secular mother of three Katherine Ozment came face-to-face with this fundamental issue when her son asked her the simplest of questions: “what are we?” Unsettled by her reply—“Nothing”—she set out on a journey to find a better answer. She traversed the frontier of American secular life, sought guidance in science and the humanities, talked with noted scholars, and wrestled with her own family’s attempts to find meaning and connection after religion.

Insightful, surprising, and compelling, Grace Without God is both a personal and critical exploration of the many ways nonreligious Americans create their own meaning and purpose in an increasingly secular age.
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Grace Without God: The Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Belonging in a Secular Age
Journalist Katherine Ozment’s Grace Without God is a thought-provoking exploration of how secular Americans find fulfillment without organized religion.

A Nautilus Gold Award Winner: Religion and Spirituality of Other Traditions

Studies show that religion makes us happier, healthier and more giving, connecting us to our past and creating tight communal bonds. Most Americans are raised in a religious tradition, but in recent decades many have begun to leave religion, and with it their ancient rituals, mythic narratives, and sense of belonging.

So how do the nonreligious fill the need for ritual, story, community, and, above all, purpose and meaning without the one-stop shop of religion? What do they do with the space left after religion? With secularists swelling to one-fourth of American adults, and more than one-third of those under thirty, these questions have never been more urgent.

Writer, journalist, and secular mother of three Katherine Ozment came face-to-face with this fundamental issue when her son asked her the simplest of questions: “what are we?” Unsettled by her reply—“Nothing”—she set out on a journey to find a better answer. She traversed the frontier of American secular life, sought guidance in science and the humanities, talked with noted scholars, and wrestled with her own family’s attempts to find meaning and connection after religion.

Insightful, surprising, and compelling, Grace Without God is both a personal and critical exploration of the many ways nonreligious Americans create their own meaning and purpose in an increasingly secular age.
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Grace Without God: The Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Belonging in a Secular Age

Grace Without God: The Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Belonging in a Secular Age

by Katherine Ozment
Grace Without God: The Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Belonging in a Secular Age

Grace Without God: The Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Belonging in a Secular Age

by Katherine Ozment

eBook

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Overview

Journalist Katherine Ozment’s Grace Without God is a thought-provoking exploration of how secular Americans find fulfillment without organized religion.

A Nautilus Gold Award Winner: Religion and Spirituality of Other Traditions

Studies show that religion makes us happier, healthier and more giving, connecting us to our past and creating tight communal bonds. Most Americans are raised in a religious tradition, but in recent decades many have begun to leave religion, and with it their ancient rituals, mythic narratives, and sense of belonging.

So how do the nonreligious fill the need for ritual, story, community, and, above all, purpose and meaning without the one-stop shop of religion? What do they do with the space left after religion? With secularists swelling to one-fourth of American adults, and more than one-third of those under thirty, these questions have never been more urgent.

Writer, journalist, and secular mother of three Katherine Ozment came face-to-face with this fundamental issue when her son asked her the simplest of questions: “what are we?” Unsettled by her reply—“Nothing”—she set out on a journey to find a better answer. She traversed the frontier of American secular life, sought guidance in science and the humanities, talked with noted scholars, and wrestled with her own family’s attempts to find meaning and connection after religion.

Insightful, surprising, and compelling, Grace Without God is both a personal and critical exploration of the many ways nonreligious Americans create their own meaning and purpose in an increasingly secular age.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780062305152
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date: 11/21/2023
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 299
Sales rank: 338,747
File size: 727 KB

About the Author

Katherine Ozment is an award-winning journalist and former senior editor at National Geographic. Her essays and articles have been widely published in such venues as the New York Times, National Geographic, and Salon. She lives in Chicago with her husband and children.

Table of Contents

Prologue "We're Nothing" 1

Losing It

Chapter 1 Losing My Religion 9

Chapter 2 How Did We Get Here? 21

Chapter 3 Religion Tries to Stay Relevant 33

Good-Bye to All That

Chapter 4 The Big Picture 51

Chapter 5 Moral Authority 65

Chapter 6 Religious Literacy 79

Chapter 7 A Sense of Belonging 90

The Path Forward

Chapter 8 Morality Without a Map 113

Chapter 9 Do-It-Yourself Religion 125

Chapter 10 Almost Church 149

Chapter 11 Ritual Without Religion 166

Chapter 12 Facing the Big Unknown 187

Chapter 13 The Wonder of the Natural World 205

Chapter 14 The God of Here and Now 220

Conclusion Make Your Own Sunday 235

Epilogue A Letter to My Children 241

Acknowledgments 245

Resources for Readers 249

Notes 273

Index 287

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