Jerome P. Baggett Talks About Religious Identity, Modernity and the Transformation of American Catholicism -- The Change In Versus The Decline of American Catholicism
Dr. Baggett will explore important social and cultural trends that are both evident within American society and, at the same time, dramatically re-shaping how Catholics (and others) live out their religious faiths amidst their everyday lives. The Catholics@Work breakfast event will be held on Tuesday, February 14, 2005 at Crow Canyon Country Club, 711 Silver Lake Drive, Danville, CA 94526. A full buffet breakfast is served starting at 6:45am (Mass is offered at 6:15am at the same location.) Cost is $20 for members and $27 for non-members. To register visit http://www.catholicsatwork.org/EventDesc.aspx.
Danville, CA (PRWEB) January 24, 2006 -- Catholics@Work, a fellowship of individuals who explore how to actively live one’s beliefs in the workplace, (www.catholicsatwork.org), today announced its February 2006 breakfast meeting will feature Dr. Jerome P. Baggett, Associate Professor of Religion and Society at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and Visiting Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley.
With an emphasis on such frequently used expressions as “I’m not really religious, I’m more spiritual,” Dr. Baggett’s presentation will explore important social and cultural trends that are both evident within American society and, at the same time, dramatically re-shaping how Catholics (and others) live out their religious faiths amidst their everyday lives. The Catholics@Work breakfast event will be held at Crow Canyon Country Club, 711 Silver Lake Drive, Danville, CA 94526 on Tuesday, February 14, 2005. A full buffet breakfast is served starting at 6:45am (Mass is offered at 6:15am at the same location.) Cost is $20 for members and $27 for non-members. To register visit http://www.catholicsatwork.org/EventDesc.aspx.
Despite all the media coverage on the secularization of modern society, there is actually very little evidence that religion is in decline in the United States. However, rather than declining, it is clear that American Catholicism is changing quite rapidly. Available data demonstrates how religion plays a large role in helping to create the bonds of trust and reciprocity that tie civil society together. According to Baggett, religions biggest contribution may be that, at its best, religion summons forth an individual’s higher self. Baggett is of the opinion, religion makes people better than they really are, and gives them the capacity to transcend themselves and their self-interests. Religion accosts people with the mysteries of the world, with their radical unknowing, and with their constitutive need for the other. Baggett believes that religion is a cultural carrier of symbols, images and narratives that makes other-regarding behavior make sense to people.
"I've often heard people wistfully say, in the United States at least, that the 'good old days' for party politics was the Jacksonian era, for literature it was the turn of the 20th century and for professional baseball it was the 1950s and '60s,” said Dr. Jerome Baggett. "Well, I'm convinced that those days are now for theology and religious studies. The intellectual challenges, the unprecedented religious and spiritual eclecticism and the all-too-glaring need for a faith that does justice make this a rather singular time for religious scholarship and ministry."
“It is amazing how an understanding of societal trends explains a lot about not only what we see and hear in our community or parish, but about what we ourselves feel and do,” said Rick Medeiros, president of Catholics@Work. “Jerome provides us with a framework from which we can understand our behavior, our actions and reactions.”
Dr. Baggett has given a variety of lectures throughout the San Francisco Bay Area on topics such as religion and politics, contemporary American Catholicism, and social justice issues. He teaches courses in sociology of religion, religion and politics, social theory, social movements, and nonprofit organizations and voluntarism. He has just published his first book, Habitat for Humanity: Building Private Homes, Building Public Religion (Temple University Press), and is currently conducting research on Catholic identity and community within six very distinct parishes within the San Francisco Bay Area. Dr. Baggett was awarded his Ph.D. from the Graduate Theological Union/University of California, Berkeley. He started his education at Boston College where he receive his B.A., followed by his M.T.S. from Weston School of Theology, and his S.T.L. from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley.
ABOUT CATHOLICS@WORK
Catholics@Work is committed to fostering fellowship and connectivity among Catholics facing the realities of life in today’s workplace environment. The monthly breakfast gatherings are a unique opportunity for Catholics to:
| | - grow in their understanding of the Catholic faith,
- be encouraged to apply the principals of their faith in the everyday workplace,
- and, to network with other Catholic business professionals.
|
The breakfast series is held at Crow Canyon Country Club, Danville, California, on the second Tuesday of the month seven times per year (April-June, September-December). The event starts with a buffet breakfast followed by a speaker or panel discussion and runs from 6:45-8:30am. The event offers a great way to network with people who look for purpose and leadership in their lives. There is time prior to the beginning of each speaker’s presentation to interact with other attendees, to share faith, and business and personal information. Mass is offered at 6:15am for those who wish to attend before breakfast at the same location. Managed by Catholic business professionals, Catholics@Work breakfast events are open to all, regardless of faith or occupation, who want to explore the issues of actively living one’s beliefs in the workplace.
For more information visit www.catholicsatwork.org or call +1 925-389-0704.
Catholics@Work is a trademark of Catholics@Work. All other brand and product names are registered trademarks, trademarks or servicemarks of their respective holders and are gratefully acknowledged. All specifications subject to change without notice.
###
|
