Institutionalized Individuality: Death Practices and Afterlife Beliefs in Unity Church, Unitarian Universalism, and Spiritualism in Santa Barbara

Both scholars and the larger public are becoming more interested in death rituals and afterlife beliefs as demonstrated by emerging scholarly panels and conferences on the topic and popular books that are topping the best-seller lists. This interest coincides with polls that show increasing numbers of nonreligious people in the United States. Where do people who fall into this “nonreligious” category—including those that are “spiritual but not religious,” unaffiliated, atheist, agnostic, and others—turn when considering ontological questions about death and afterlife? One possibility is toward American liberal religious institutions such as Unity Church, Unitarian Universalism, and Spiritualism. Through ethnographic research at these three institutions in Santa Barbara, I examine the way in which the individual and the group interact to understand afterlife beliefs and death rituals. Unity Church of Santa Barbara, the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara, and the Spiritualist Church of the Comforter each has flexible guidelines and leadership training that invites the integration of personal afterlife beliefs and death rituals within an institutionally agreed-upon framework. These are sites of meaning-making for those that are religious or “spiritual but not religious.” Here, beliefs about the afterlife and expectations surrounding death rituals are actively explored through interactions with other members, ritual attendance, and personal experiences of loss

Institutionalized Individuality: Death Practices and Afterlife Beliefs in Unity Church, Unitarian Universalism, and Spiritualism in Santa Barbara

Both scholars and the larger public are becoming more interested in death rituals and afterlife beliefs as demonstrated by emerging scholarly panels and conferences on the topic and popular books that are topping the best-seller lists. This interest coincides with polls that show increasing numbers of nonreligious people in the United States. Where do people who fall into this “nonreligious” category—including those that are “spiritual but not religious,” unaffiliated, atheist, agnostic, and others—turn when considering ontological questions about death and afterlife? One possibility is toward American liberal religious institutions such as Unity Church, Unitarian Universalism, and Spiritualism. Through ethnographic research at these three institutions in Santa Barbara, I examine the way in which the individual and the group interact to understand afterlife beliefs and death rituals. Unity Church of Santa Barbara, the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara, and the Spiritualist Church of the Comforter each has flexible guidelines and leadership training that invites the integration of personal afterlife beliefs and death rituals within an institutionally agreed-upon framework. These are sites of meaning-making for those that are religious or “spiritual but not religious.” Here, beliefs about the afterlife and expectations surrounding death rituals are actively explored through interactions with other members, ritual attendance, and personal experiences of loss

Unitarian Universalism

In the United States, the American Unitarian Association and Universalist Church of America merged in 1961 to form the Unitarian Universalist Association. Although Unitarians and Universalists were nominally Christian denominations, the Unitarian Universalists subsequently adopted the principles of free faith, in which each member unites in seeking truth and affirms each other's worth without the guidance of a particular doctrine or divinity. Now described as a liberal religious movement or post-Christian, Unitarian Universalists hold many different theological opinions and operate as a radically non-creedal body. There is a wide diversity of congregational structures and organizations and each group may self-describe as a church, society, fellowship, or temple, among other identifiers. Each Unitarian Universalist congregation is distinct in tone and content of worship, even within the same city, but each is guided by the seven Principles and six Sources. The Principles serve as a uniting guide and affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person; justice, equity, and compassion in human relations; acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth; a free and responsible search for truth and meaning; the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process without congregations and in society at large; the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all; and respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are part. The Sources include direct experience, words and deeds of prophetic people, wisdom from the world’s religions, Jewish and Christian teachings to love our neighbors, humanist teachings and the guidance of reason and science, and spiritual teachings drawn from Earth-centered traditions. As a result, congregants draw from religious traditions such as Christianity or Judaism; spiritual practices of meditation, yoga, and connection to nature; and other influences including Paganism and New Age beliefs. Unitarian Universalists express strong commitment to social justice and action. They contend that spirituality and community extend beyond the walls of the congregation and must be lived in the world, and this message has spread beyond the borders of North America. The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists provides a network of organizations worldwide, including congregations throughout Africa; Europe and the UK; Australia and New Zealand; India, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Indonesia; the Caribbean; and in Central and South America. However, the tradition remains deeply affiliated with the West, as estimates indicate over 60% of Unitarian Universalists are in the United States and approximately 30% in Europe.Non UBCUnreviewedGraduat

From Dust to Compost: Eco-Disposition Methods and a Changing Religious Landscape in the United States

People die in many ways, but once dead, their bodies have been treated much the same way for the past 200 years in the United States. Most people have been buried in simple graves; if they died in the 1900s or later, they will likely have had a “conventional” burial in which they were removed from the home or hospital, embalmed, placed in a casket, and buried in a vaulted grave, encased in cement. Some may have been cremated, and the likelihood of cremation increased over time, rapidly growing in the 1980s and 1990s until, in 2016, the number of people cremated surpassed the number of burials. Since the late 1990s, some have turned away from conventional burial, embalming, and cremation to advocate for more ecologically friendly and meaningful alternatives. This dissertation examines the development of, and values associated with three eco-disposition methods that are becoming more popular in the U.S.: green burial, alkaline hydrolysis, and natural organic reduction. This dissertation relies on ethnographic interviews of providers and others involved in promoting or choosing eco-disposition, supplemented with survey data from secular individuals regarding disposition preference, to determine the cultural, religious, and legal implications behind their growing popularity and the values associated with these emergent practices. Drawing from these data, I found that eco-disposition options are being vetted in some states and municipalities where, if approved, they open up new spaces for people to develop rituals focused on the dead body and express deeply held, but not necessarily religious or spiritual, values that center on the enduring importance of the deceased individual. The physical spaces cultivated for green burial, alkaline hydrolysis, and natural organic reduction reflect and reinforce the values of the regions and time in which they were created. Both these spaces and the practices themselves shape the ways in which people ritually engage with the deceased body. Approaching eco-disposition from the field of religious studies, these findings demonstrate that individuals bring a variety of beliefs, values, and practices to the deceased body itself, many of which are increasingly found outside of traditional religion. As there is greater diversity among individuals who identify as not religious, secular, or nothing in particular, I observe people are choosing death practices that focus on values that include the environmental, embodied experience, and the importance of the individual deceased person. Drawing from theorists in ritual studies, secular studies, and religious studies, I contend that the site of the deceased body itself is one in which beliefs, values, and practice are ultimately reckoned with for both individuals and providers