guest editorial: spiritual well-being and the quality of life movement: a new arena for church-state...

GUEST EDITORIAL Spiritual Well-Being and the Quality of Life

Movement: A New Arena for Church-State Debate?

DAVID O. MOBERG

Since becoming sensitive to the concept of spiritual well-being, the author has been amazed at the frequency with which reference to it and to related terms is made in everyday American life. Ir is not surprising, of course, to hear references to this concept in sermons and ecclesiastical gatherings or to read about it in both popular and scholarly theological and religious litera- ture. Concern for spiritual life, the fruit of the Spirit, spiritual regeneration, and spiritual growth is a traditional focus of attention in such contexts. When, however, these terms appear in unexpected contexts, one wonders how the writer or speaker would define them. What does it mean, for example, when the

DAVID O. MOBERG (B.A., Seattle Pacific College; M.A., University of Washington; Ph.D., University of Minnesota) is Professor of Sociology, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is the author of The Church asa Social In- stitution (1962), Inasmuch: Christian Social Responsibitity in the Twentieth Century (1965), and The Great Reversal: Evangelista aud Social Concern (1972; rey. ed., 1977), the co-author of The Church and the Older Person (1962; rev. ed., 1977), and the compiler of International Directory of Religious Information Systems (1971). Professor Moberg has contributed to New Churches Ÿ a New America (1957), to Nels Anderson, ed., Recherches sur la famille (1958), to Proceedings of the Minnesota Academy of Science 19£ to Richard C. Donnelly et al., eds., Criminal Lww: Problems for De cision in the Promulgation, Invocation and Administration of a Law of Crimes (1962), to Arnold M. Rose and Warren A. Peterson, eds., Older People and Their Social Worlcl (1965), to Joachim Matthes, ed., Religious Pluralism and Social Structure (1965), to The First Century Church in a Twentieth Century Wortd (1966), to Proceedings of the Seventeenth Anmml Conference of the National Association of Christians in Social Work (1967), to Joseph E. Birren, ed., Religion and AgŸ The Behavioral and Social Sciences Look at Religion and Aging (1967), to The Role of the Christian through Church and State in Human Welfare (1967), to The C~hurch in a Secular I/Vorld (1967), to Richard H. Bube, ed., The Encounter between Chri, tianity a:nd Science (1968), to Hudson T. Armerding, ed., Christianity and the World of Thought (1968), to David L. McKenna, ed., The Urban Crisis (1969), to Acres de la X. Conference Internationale [de Sociologie Religieuse] (1969), to Roy B. Zuck and Gene A. Getz, eds., Adult Education in the Church (1970), to Adeline M. Hoffman, ed., The Daily Needs and Interests o… Older Peopte (1970), to Douglas W. Johnson, ed., Informa tion and Research Needs of the Churches in the 1970's (1970), to Harish D. Merchant, ed., Encounter ~ith Books: A Guide to Chri, tian Reading (1971), to Merton P. Strommen, ed., Research on Religious Devdopment: A Comprehensive Handbook (1971), to Hirsch Lazaar Silverman, ed., Marital Therapy: Moral, Sociological and Psychological Factors (1972), to Robert W. Smith, ed., Christ and the Modern Mind (1972), to Hans [J. J.] Mol, ed., Western Reli#ion: A Country by Country Sociological Inquiry

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428 J O U R N A L OF CHURCH AND STATE

"spiritual magic" of a jazz singer "touched the crowd"; ~ when T'ai-Chi Chuan (Chinese for "supreme ultimate boxing") is described as "a complete approach to physical and spiritual health"; 2 when "the spiritual improvement that comes from honest labor" is used as an argument against social welfare; 3 when one is told: "The preservation of wilderness is more than rocks, trees, beautiful lakes and rivers. It's the salvation of the human soul"; 4 when the music of country folk blues singers is described as "transmitting a sublime spiritual transcendence"; 5 when appreciating birds and plants in the city is described as a means by which "a person can recharge his spiritual batteries" ;~ (1972), to George W. MacRae, ed., Report on the Task Force on Scholarly Com- mu~ication and Publication (1972), to Karen Hurley, ed., Why Sunday Mass? New Views for Those Wtho Go and Those l/Vho Don't (1973), to Carl F. H. Henry et al., eds., Quest for Real#y: Christia~~ity and the Counter Culture (1973), to Alan W. Eister, ed., Changing Perspectives in the Scientific Study of Religion (1974), to Jaber F. Gubrium, ed., Late Life: Communities and Environmental Policy (1974), to David F. Wells and John D. Woodbridge, eds., The Evangelicals: What They Believe, Who They Are, and Where They Ate Changing (1975), to Delmer M. Goode, ed., Improving College and University Teaching Yearbook 1975, to John H. Morgan, comp., Aging in the Religious LiŸ A Comprdze~~sive Bibliography (1976), to Craig W. Ellison, ed., Sel~ Esteem (1976), and to Berndt Gustafsson: Forskare och Viaiordir (1976). His articles have appeared in American Sociological Review, American Quarterly, Bethel Seminary Quarterly, Bulletin oj the Evangelical Theological Society, Federal Probation, The Family Coordinator, Geriatrics, The Gerontologist, Gordon Review, International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Journal for the Scientific Study o] Religion, Jour~mi of Criminal Law, CriminoIogy and Police Science, Journal o~ Gerontology, Journal of Pastoral Care, Journal oŸ Social Psycholoey, Journal o] the American Scientific Affiliation. Kfilner Zeitschrilt ]ª Soziologie und Soaialpsychologie, Marquette University Education Review, The Midwest Sociologist, Pastoral Psychology, The Reformed Journal, Rehabilitation Record, Rdigious Education, Review o] Religious Research, Social Compass, Social Forces, Social Science, Sociological Analysis, SocioIogy and Social Research, Town and Country Church, Wiscon~in Sociologist, and Zeitschri# ]ª evangelische Ethik. He is a former editor of Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, of Review oŸ Religious Research, and of ADRIS Newsletter and has served as president of the Wisconsin Sociological Association and of the Association for the Sociology of Religion. His primary areas of specialization are the sociology of religio.n and social gerontology.

This guest editorial was one of the Dawson Lectures in Church and State at Baylor University and was delivered 8 November 1977. The investigation upon which the lecture was based was partially supported by a/ellowship from the Institute for Advanced Christian Studies ( IFACS) and by a sabbatical leave from Marquette University.

1. Bill Milkowski, "Soul Singer Rules over Festival," Milwaukee Journal, 30 July 1977, pt. 1, pp. 1, 22. 2. Daniel P. Kelly, "Oriental Dances Are Steps toward Relaxing Body and Soul," Milwaukee Journal, 25 May 1977, green sheet section, pp. 1-2. 3. Russell Baker, "Wanna Buy a Welfare Serf?" Milwaukee Journal, 14 June 1977, pt. 1, p. 11. 4. Sigurd Olson, as quoted in editorial, "Canoe Paddle vs. Chain Saw," MŸ Journal, 2 July 1977, pt. 1, p. 6. 5. PhiUip J. Naylor and James L. Jablonski, "Summerfest Listeners Fortunate on Saturday," Marquette Tribune, 5 July 1977, p. 3. 6. Robert Vanderpoel, as quoted by Mel Ellis, "The Good Earth: Nature Can Thrive in the City," Mihvaukee Journal, 27 February 1977, insight section, p. 36.

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S P I R I T U A L WELL-BEING AND QUALITY OF LIFE 429

when the production of material goods is presented as "a spiritual, intellectual, and ideological phenomenon"; 7 when the "real issues" of the 1976 U.S. presidential election campaign are described as "spiritual rather than economic and social"; 8 when the experience of living as a hobo is presented as "a spiritual thing"; 9 or when Pravda, the Communist party newspaper, says that the basic duty of the Communist party is to shape a new man who combines "spiritual richness and moral purity"? lo Is it possible that the word "spiritual" means the same in all of these?

It is less surprising to encounter the modifications of the concept which emerge from new religious and pseudoreligious groups. Hare Krishna, the Unification Church, the numerous branches of the human potential movement, and even the Church of Satan profess to provide spiritual satisfactions to their fol- lowers. The Charismatic movement, Campus Crusade for Christ, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, World Vision, and many other para-church organizations 11 can trace much of their impetus for growth to their emphasis upon spiritual values. Indeed, the growth of theologically conservative denominations, including the Southern Baptist Convention, while most mainline denominations have been declining, may be due in large part to their continuing effort to satisfy the human quest for meaning and purpose in life by way of a preponderant emphasis upon spiritual rather than mundane interests. 12 At any rate, there is a widespread, perhaps growing, interest in spiritual things in contemporary American society.

The widespread alienation and anomie evident in contemporary society, the identity crisis, the rise of "the new consciousness, 'n3 and the search for security, meaning, significance, and purpose 7. Ludwig von Mises, as quoted by Leonard E. Read, "The Material: A Souree of Life," Notes •roto F[oundation ]or] E[conomic] E[ducation], September 1975, p. 2. 8. George Reedy, as quoted in "The Search for Someone to Believe in," Time, 26 April 1976, p. 13. 9. Prof. Scott Freeman of Pacific Lutheran University, as quoted in "Expert Teaehes Art of Hoboing," Milwaukee 1ournal, 26 March 1976, green sheet section, p. 1. 10. "Individualism Worries Soviets," Milwaukee, .lournal, 1 April 1974, pt. 1, p. 9. 11. This concept refers to "a group or smaU organization called into being to serve the parent institution in a specific and rather more unprofessional role . . . . but still doing the institution's job." John J. Vincent, "The Para Church: An Affirmation of New Testament Theologies," Study Encounter 10 (No. 1, Item SE/SS; 1974): 1. 12. Dean M. Kelley, Why Con~ervative Churches Are Growino: A Study in Sociology of Relioion, rev. ed. (New York: Harper & Row, 1977). 13. See, e.g., James W. Sire, "The Newest Intellectual Fashion," Eternity, 26 (November 1975) : 40-41, and Charles Y. Glock and Robert N. Bellah, eds., The New Religious Consciou,mess (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976).

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430 JOURNAL OF CHURCH AND STATE

are among the factors influencing many people to turn to religious and pseudoreligious groups for gratification or satisfaction. Alongside this inclination among the masses has been a more sophisticated trend pointing in a similar direction, the spiritual well-being movement. It raises significant issues for church-state relations and religious liberty.

T H E SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING MOVEMENT

Among the fourteen subject-matter sections for the 1971 White House Conference on Aging (WHCA) was one centered around spiritual well-being. Its technical committee worked dil- igently during the year prior to the conference, preparing an extensive background paper 14 and identifying signi¡ issues for discussion by its 198 delegates. Its working definition indicated that spiritual well-being "relates to all areas of human activity" but centers around those aspects of life which pertain to

man's inner resources, especially his ultimate concern, the basic value around which all other values ate focused, the central philosophy of life-- whether religious, anti-religious, of non-religious--which guides a person's conduct, the supernatural and non-material dimensions of human nature, ls

Although the origin of the title for the section seems never to have been publicly clarified, issues related to church and state were important. Spiritual well-being is neither religion nor churches; hence subjects relevant to those important areas of human concern could be covered without violation of the church- state separation and religious liberty principles of the United States Constitution.

One of the responses to the spiritual well-being section was the formation in 1972 of the National Interfaith Coalition on Aging (NICA) in order to involve national-level leadership in churches and synagogues in a coordinated and vital response from within the religious sector. Through its annual meetings, workshops on various topics, INFORM Newsletter, other publications, information services, and a national survey of programs for the aging which are under religious auspices, 16 which was 14. David O. Moberg, Spiritual Well-Being: Background and Issues (Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1971). 15. 1971 White House Conference on Aging, Section Recommendations on Spiritual Well-Being (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1971), p. 1. 16. The final report is by the project director, Thomas C. Cook, The Religious Sector Explores Its Mission in Aging: A Report on the Survey of Programs for the Aging under Religious Auspices (Athens, Ca. : National Interfaith Coalition on Aging, 1976).

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SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING AND QUALITY OF LIFE 431

supported by a grant from the Administration on Aging, NICA has stimulated much interest and activity among religious bodies on behalf of the aging and elderly.

NICA persistently maintains spiritual well-being as one of its major foci of attention. As a result of a workshop in 1975, it adopted the following working definition as a tool for ap- plication and adaptation within all religious groups:

Spiritual Wel l -Being is the affirmation of life in a relationship with God, self, community and environment that nur tures and celebrates wholeness. 17

At its National Intra-Decade Conference on Spiritual Well-Being of the Elderly in April 1977, more than eighty papers and speeches related to the subject were presented by religious leaders, administrators of programs and institutions for the aging, retired persons, social and behavioral scientists, educators, and others. ~8 The enthusiasm which greeted the well-attended conference and the book and other publications which will emerge from it will inevitably stimulate additional programs, research, and theoretical developments relevant to spiritual well-being.

Meanwhile scientific interest in the subject is rising. The 1977 annual meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion included two sections with eleven papers dealing with spiritual well-being, and the 1977 annual meeting of the American Psy- chological Association had a symposium on "Spiritual Well- Being: A Mission in Aging," which was enthusiastically received. The Ninth World Congress on Sociology in Uppsala, Sweden, in August 1978 in its sessions on the sociology of religion included fourteen papers related to religion and spiritual health.

Another source of increased academic and scientific interest in the subject is the social indicators movement, which supple- ments economic indicators by emphasizing social conditions as a basis for policy decisions. An important part of the social indicators movement involves quality of life (QOL) measure- ment of the social well-being of people. In spite of the widespread belief, common experience, and some research evidence that religious beliefs and practices contribute to life satisfaction and well-being, the social indicators and QOL movements have given only sparse attention to religion. 17. National Interfaith Coalition on Aging, "Spiritual Well-Being Definition a Model Eeumenical Work Product," NICA Inform, 25 August 1975, p. 4. 18. Abstracts of most of the presentations are included in the program book, National Intra-Decade Conference on Spiritual Well-Being o[ the Elderly, April 12-14, 1977 (Athens, Ga. : NationaI Interfaith Coalition on Aging, 1977).

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Ironically, the desire to protect religious liberty and church- state separation is one of the most important reasons for ignoring the role of religion in human well-being. Because most QOL research has been funded by government agencies and is oriented toward public policy, financial support to study the role of religion has been lacking, and the built-in bias against including the subject has contributed to the proliferation of studies ignoring religion because previously identified indicators omitted it. The private sector also tends not to fund research on religion in order to avoid involvement in potentiaI ecclesiastical rivalries and conflicts. Lacking the necessary research funds, social scientists cannot construct the instruments necessary to measure the religious components of the QOL, so that a complex vicious cycle prevails. As a consequence of the exclusion of religion from social indicators and QOL variables, policy makers, academicians, and others tend to conclude that it is irrelevant to human well-being. 19

In spite of the barriers to significant research on the role of religion in the quality of human life, the experiences and dis- coveries of members of the helping professions and the serendip- itous findings of scientific researchers are gradually beginning to make an impression. For example, in what is perhaps the most significant study of QOL to date, Angus Campbell and associates at the University of Michigan discovered that religious faith is one of the significant domains giving people a sense of well- being and satisfaction. About one-fourth of their sample chose it as one of the two most important among twelve domains of life, and about the same proportion said that religious faith was either only somewhat or not at all important. The research attention to religiosity was only cursory, and these findings were unanticipated, but they led to several hypotheses about religion and well-being for further study. 2o

Meanwhile, other trends in American society are beginning to call attention to spiritual well-being. Professional social work is demonstrating a growing concern for inner space, 21 which in- cludes a spiritual dimension. Concern for the implementation and the embodiment of Christian values in that profession is a 19. David O. 1Vfoberg and Patricia N. Brusek, "Spiritual Well-Being: A Neglected Subject in Quality of Life Research," Social Indicators Research 5 (1978) : 303-23. 20. Angus CampbeI1, Philip E. Converse, and Willard L. Rodgers, The Qual#y o[ American Li[e: Perceptions, Evaluations, and Satis[actions (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1976). 21. Elizabeth L. Salomon, "Humanistie Values and Social Casework," Social Case- work 48 (January 1967): 26-32.

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major concern of the National Association of Christians in Social Work and the Southern Baptist Social Service Association, despite the difficulties posed by that goal. 22 The psychothera- peutic professions are increasingly oriented toward recognition of the interplay between mental and spiritual healthY Some existential psychotherapists are facing the identity problem that has emerged from having belittled and criticized the church's approach to human problems and having been called upon to serve patients in the very same way that the church has at- tempted for centuries. 24

The emphasis on holistic health care within the medical profession, especially the theory, is rapidly gaining ground. It focuses upon the treatment of the total person in recognition that physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being are inter- related and interactive. 25 It promises eventually to bring profound, revolutionary changes to the delivery of health care service. In some nursing homes, hospitals, and convalescent facilities, chaplains or other clergy are accepted as part of the health care team. Ministers, priests, and rabbis are increasingly inclined toward cooperation with medical doctors, lawyers, teachers, counsellors, psychotherapists, and others in the helping professions, realizing that the people whom they help may also be clients or patients of the others and as whole persons need services that will have an integrative, rather than a fragmenting, impact upon their lives. 26 Corresponding emphases in the other professions likewise have gravitated toward the gradual increase of symbiotic professional relationships on behalf of holistic ap- proaches to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human problems. Eventually and inevitably this should focus attention upon the spiritual nature and needs of human beings in all of the major institutions of society. Such holism is also becoming a subject for scientific inquiry, inasmuch as it is no more abstract and far-fetched than were many other subjects which have be- 22. David O. Moberg, "Spiritual Well-Being: An Elusive Goal for Social Work," paper presented at the annual meetŸ of the Southern Baptist Social Serviee Association, New Orleans, 25 Septernber 1977. See also Alan Keith-Lueas, Giving and Ta king Help (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1972). 23. Frederick Ernst Gagern, Mental and Spiritual Health, trans. Meyrick Booth (New York: Paulist Press, 1965). 24. Donald F. Krill, "Existential Psychotherapy and the Problem of Anomie," in Francis Joseph Turner, ed., Differential Diagnosis and Treatment in Social Work, 2d ed. (New York: Free Press, 1976), p. 748. 25. Howard S. Hoyman, "Rethinking an Ecologic-System Model of Man's Health, Disease, Aging, Death," Journal o[ School Health 45 (November 1975): 509-18. 26. Carnegie Samuel Callan, Today's Pastor in Tomorrow's World (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1977), pp. 110-16.

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come respectable topics in the social and behavioral sciencesY

CHURCH-STATE ISSUES IN TI-IE SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING MOVEMENT

As the practical implications of the rising tide of theoretical, scientific, and professional interest in spiritual well-being become evident, one can expect a gradual evolution that will bring changes in many areas of social life. Some of these changes may produce exploitative efforts; political, legal, and theological conflicts; and differences of perspective which will evoke major challenges to the current pattern of church-state relations. Some of these possibilities will now be summarized, beginning with those that are implied by the recommendations of the WHCAY

1. Cooperation o] government with religious bodies: Recom- mendations one, two, and three explicitly recommend that the government should cooperate with religious bodies and other private agencies to assist in the meeting of the spiritual needs of the elderly, to provide professional training for the clergy and others who minister to the spiritual needs of the aging, and to support research into the subject, all within the context of separation of church and state. An underlying tone of cooperation runs throughout the entire report.

The statements of response by NICA at the completion of its first ¡ years of existence have indicated that numerous efforts have met with some success in moving toward the implementation of these recommendations. One of NICA's intents is to seek

to address and clarify the doctrine of Separation of Church and State, as it applies to tax-funded programs for older adults administered by or through the religious sector. 29

Given the inherently conservative stance of most governmental bureaucrats, such clarification is not likely to occur in the abstract but rather will come in the form of challenges to proposed legislation and judicial tests of projects which administrators believe to be legitimate, but which civil liberties or religious 27. David O. Moberg, "Science and the Spiritual Nature of Man," Journal of the Americat~ Scientific Affiliation 19 (March 1967): 12-17; and Moberg, "The En- counter of Scientific and Religious Values pertinent to Man's Spiritual Nature," Sociological Analysis 28 (Spring 1967) : 22-33. 28. Unless otherwise indicated, these recommendations are from 1971 White House Conference on Aging, Section Recommendations on SpirituaI Well-Being. 29. Cook, The Religioua Sector Explores Its Mission on Aging, p. A-37.

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groups perceive to violate federal or state constitutions. Prec- edents established in other arcas of governmental support, such as to private health care programs and education in church- related higher education, will provide helpful guidelines, but the issues will be much more complex because of the growing recognition of the holistic nature of human beings and the fact that the religious and spiritual dimensions of the individual cannot be separated from the rest of the whole person.

2. Chaplaincy services: Recommendation four requests that state licensing agencies require that institutions caring for the aged provide adequate chaplaincy service and that the government be empowered to supply such if cooperating church organizations cannot obtain the necessary financial support. NICA has recommended pertinent action to church and synagogue congregations; proposed consultations to develop guidelines, standards, and ministries of this kind; and called upon appropriate federal agencies to require adequately staffed chaplaincy services to the aged in both retirement and health care facilities. 3o As in other institutions, notably military establishments, mental hospitals, and prisons, protection of the religious rights of the population may demand governmental provision of opportunities for voluntary religious worship and counsel to people whose living conditions preclude access to such services in the community.

3. Evaluation o] government-supported programs: Recom- mendation five speci¡ that the federal government should establish a continuing system of evaluation of those programs which serve the elderly and which receive government funds and that some determination of their effects upon the spiritual well-being of the elderly should be one of its functions. NICA's attention to this matter has been centered around the importante of communication and of having representation from the religious community in the study panel of the Federal Council on Aging, as well as the potential helpfulness of the data from its own survey? a

Without appropriate evaluation instruments and methodologies, the implementation of this is impossible. Aside from the sensitive issues of religious liberty and church-state separation whieh could arise from its superficial implementation, this recommendation also raises the complex problems of conceptualization and 30. Ibid., p. A-42. 31. Ibid., pp. A-43-44.

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criterion specification. What is spiritual well-being? By what measurable or observable indicators can one tell whether ir is present or absent, or the degree to which it is evident? Whose values shall prevail when one group's "signs of spiritual health" ate interpreted as "symptoms of spiritual illness" by another?

4. ttome care services: Possibly the most significant current trend with reference to the needs of the aging is the emphasis upon providing supportive services which would allow them to live independently in their own homes for as long as possible. 32 Recommendation eight links "religious of other spiritual con- sultation to the aged in their own homes" to that policy and asks that special attention be given to assistance in the utiliza- tion of personnel from those religious bodies which lack sufficient financial resources. I t intimates that such assistance might come from community sources as well as from private and religious agencies.

NICA's response has been in terms of encouragement to the religious bodies and attempts to identify solutions and models for dealing with this need. 33 If the funding, monitoring, or licensing activities of local, state, or federal government agencies ate applied to this means for meeting the needs of the elderly, the methodological and definitional problems of evaluation will also become apparent in this realm.

As long as the prejudice of gerontophobia and discrimination against the aged continue to characterize large numbers of the lay and professional leaders of churches, many elderly people ate likely to be neglected in their ministries. 34 Monitoring by some group may be necessary to make certain that none experiences spiritual deprivation a s a result. If churches and synagogues do not fulfill their responsibilities, government agencies may step in to fill the gap as they develop a sense of obliga- tion to holistic health care needs.

5. Multiservice community centers for older persons: Recom- mendation thirteen encourages a national policy of cooperative action by religious bodies and private agencies to bring together 32. The principle of "minimal intervention," or that which is the least disruptive of usual funetioning in the usual setting of the person, is involved, not neglect of the person's needs. For a pereeptive discussion of the subject, see Robert L. Kahn, "The Mental Health System and the Future Aged," in Steven H. Zarit, ed., Readings in Agin9 and Death: Contemporary Perspectives, "Contemporary Perspectives Reader Series" (New York: Harper & Row, 1977), pp. 252-59. 33. Cook, The Reli�98 Sector Explores Its Mission on Agin.q, p. A-51. 34. Robert M. Gray and David O. Moberg, The Church and the Older Person, rey. ed. (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Pt~blishing Co., 1977), pp. 55-56, 190, 200.

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the services of the entire community in order to provide interfaith programs through multipurpose community centers. NICA has asked religious bodies to act in regard to this need and especially to offer their facilities in local congregations, homes for the aged, retirement villages, etc. as potential locations for such centers. It has also encouraged religious bodies to support the federal funding of such multipurpose community centers. 3s

Religious groups which avidly pursue sectarian goals are less likely to cooperate with others. As a result, the more secularized and less particularistic churches are more likely to cooperate with other religious and community groups in establishing such centers. Paradoxically, leaders of one community-wide program for senior citizens in a church facility indicated to the author that a non-proselytizing spiritual emphasis was a major factor in attracting people to their programs when completely secularized ones in the same metropolitan area were failing; when such a spiritual emphasis was lacking, it was reported, attendance by people outside the congregation as well as by its own members declined.

6. Dignity in dying: The fourteenth recommendation states:

Religious bodies and government should affirm the right to and reverente for life and recognize the individual's right to die with dignity.

NICA has identified programs related to death and dying, conducted workshops on the subject, and collaborated in a national conference. It intends to study the feasibility of seek- ing funds to develop a model program for churches and synagogues to use in ministries to and education of the dying and the bereaved.Z6

Currently we are confronted with a complex set of problems related to such subjects as the definition of death, the right of persons to develop the "living will" by which to express in advance their wishes concerning terminal care in the event of incurable disability or illness, the conflicting values in the choice between heroic efforts to sustain the organic life of patients and allowing death to come more naturally, and the societal demand that people die in medical institutions even if they prefer to die at home. Many of these involve profound theological questions as well as medical and legal issues, so that they draw the attention of church people as well as other citizens. 35. Cook, The Religious Sector Explores Its Mission on Aging. p. A-59. 36. Ibid., p. A-60.

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7. Tax exemption of church-related institutions: The special concern session on the religious community and the aging at the 1971 WHCA proposed legislation to lift the tax-exempt status of private religious and charitable organizations which discrim- inate against the admission of minority groups or in other ways deny and abrogate the civil rights of such personsY There may be a difference regarding such action between agencies which receive direct government funds and those which do not, but in either case an attempt to introduce and implement such a policy will likely produce much opposition, and religious groups will be arrayed on both sides of the conflict.

8. Spiritual careo/ minorities: The special concerns session on the elderly Indian at the WHCA recommended that funds be allocated for the elderly American Indian "to develop and assure the continuance of activities which he deems important to his physical, spiritual and cultural well-being. ''3s

Similarly, the special concerns session on aging and aged blacks recommended that the federal government "sponsor a consortium of minority clergymen to seek concerted action within all churches and the community to eradicate racism from our society" and that it enable black churches to become sponsors of housing for the black aged. 39 Inasmuch as these recommendations request direct governmental support of church activities, it would appear that they would violate the First Amendment.

More problematic, however, may be the question of governmental health care support for ancient methods of healing. Navajo Indians on their reservation are authorized to receive free medical treatment at the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) facilities, but when they turn to their medicine man for health care, neither USPHS nor the Health and Pension Fund of the AFL-CIO United Mine Workers of America will pay for the services? ~ To what extent does this constitute a violation of human rights and, since faith is implicated in their traditional healing process, of religious liberty? Will holistic health care values also contribute to demands for reimbursement for faith healing from Medicaid funds and other public programs?

9. Licensing o] therapists: As the concept of spiritual well- being becomes an accepted component of holistic health care, 37. 1971 White House Conference on Aging, Section Recommenclations on Spiritual Well-Being; p. 5. 38. Ibid., p. 5. 39. Ibid., p. 6. 40. Ed Meagher, "Navajos' Yen for Old Ways Proves Costly," Milwaukee Journal, 21 June !977, pt. 1, p. 1.

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qualifications for spiritual therapy eventually may come to be subject to public evaluation. This would protect people from self-styled healers who lack appropriate credentials, manipulate patients, or take advantage of clients. The process of becoming qualified for certification or licensing so as to be able to give spiritual care may be no more complicated than that by which the clergy are registered to serve as public chaplains or to perform weddings on behalf of the state, but persons who ate outside of traditionally recognized religious groups may experience considerable discrimination, and the constitutionality of the policy and procedures would be subject to test.

10. Christian social ethics" As churches and theological leaders attempt to disseminate Christian values and to implement them in society through lobbying, politics, briefs filed in judicial hear- ings, and communications with administrators, conflicts related to church-state issues are apt to erupt. With their emphasis upon liberating the whole man as a part of the mission of Christ, liberation theologies in Latin America, southern Africa, and other parts of the world, including the Un… States, are already arousing the antagonism of many political leaders. Whenever biblical and theological ethics points to actions contrary to those advocated by the vested interests of a society, the advocates of change are opposed by the power structure. Putting the spiritual well-being of people into a position of priority inevitably will upset some structural arrangements of the social system.

When the concern for personal salvation is separated from social justice, as if only the former were important, the emphasis upon saving souls may lead to the compromise of other Chris- flan values and to the support of oppressive dictatorial regimes which dehumanize persons and exalt evil. "Wherever religion of culture exalts the letter of the law over human compassion, sacralizes collective egoism or greed, or glorifies nationalistic atrocities," the liberating and humanizing gospel of Jesus Christ is needed today. 41 To be truly biblical, one must maintain a balance between evangelism and social concern, but doing so does not guarantee the resolution of all conflicts. 42

Many other potential subjects of conflict between church and state flow out of varying interpretations of Christian social ethics. Whenever new components for spiritual care are built into the social system, there will be skirmishes related to church-state 41. Joe Mulligan, S..I., "Soteriological Repression," Liberaci£ 4 (April 1977) : 3-4. 42. See David O. Moberg, The Great Reversal: Evangelista and Social Concern, rey. ed. (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1977).

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issues. Maggie Kuhn of the Gray Panthers, for example, sug- gests that retired clergy could become advocates of patients so as to help to bring change in the health services. 43 Many nutrition sites for the elderly fail to provide constructive services of social interaction and spiritual care which could be given in the context of the meal service. Efforts to meet spiritual needs in public housing, in governmentally subsidized private housing developments, in hospitals and in nursing homes which receive tax funds, and in community centers are often opposed on the ground that such efforts violate religious liberty and constitu- tionaUy based separation of church and state even when participa- tion in them would be voluntary. As the role of spiritual well- being in the prevention of mental and physical illness becomes clearer through clinical experience and scientific research, public health programs will be under pressure to gire direct and ex- plicit attention to spiritual health, and new demands will be made upon churches. Then, as is true whenever churches take an active tole in changing the social system, they ate likely to be accused of being revolutionary against or subversive to the current political system; if they merely comply with the status quo, they ate apt to be accused of being reactionary conformists who lend it their implicit support.

Some of the issues mentioned above may seem rather far- ~fetched. Many may never result in overt conflict, and others completely overlooked here may get the spotlight of popular, legal, and political attention. Prior to the offering of suggestions concerning some potential resolutions to the problems, a few additional concerns that pertain to the latent, unintended consequences of efforts related to spiritual well-being and church- state relations should be mentioned.

LATENT DYSFUNCTIONS OF PROTECTING RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

First, there is deprogramming, or the attempt, allegedly in order to protect religious liberty, to restore one's inherited religious identity to a person who has been converted to a sectarian or cultist movement. Believing, correctly or incorrectly, that their children, often in their twenties, have been brainwashed or coerced into their new allegiance for the sake of spiritual values, some parents have obtained legal guardianships from the courts, which have acted under conservatorship laws, in order 43. Dieter Hessel, ed., Maggie Kuhn on Aging (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1977), pp. 57-58.

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to take control of their children by deceit or force in order to recover them by alienating them from their new faith.

Whether any brainwashing has been employed in the joining of a group like the Unification Church, the Krishna Consciousness Society, or the Children of God is problematic. Ronald Enroth, a sociologist at Westmont College who has devoted considerable time to research on the cults, concludes that various forms of "spiritual mind control" and "spiritual seduction" are used by the "booty gatherers in the cults" and that those observers who dismiss such destructive dimensions lack direct, personal information. Defenders of religious liberty ought to investigate complaints against the cults concerning

alleged instances of child and drug abuse; deceptive and fraudulent mis- representation in connection with fundraising activities; duplicitous re- cruiting techniques; the use of fear and intimidation to "hold" members; encouragement to separate from former friends and family. 44

Although there may be some doubt as to the practice of brainwashing by the cults, the methods of compulsion, harass- ment, and torment, bordering even on torture, which ate used by some deprogrammers certainly deserve such a label, as The use of deprogramming in contemporary society can easily be turned against evangelistic Christians who win converts to faith in Jesus Christ from nominal Christianity, Roman Catholicism, Judaism, or other backgrounds. Among those who have been deprogrammed ate one Episcopalian, one Roman Catholic, two Old Catholics, two Eastern Orthodox, and two American Bap- tists. 46 When the members of any religious group can be kid- napped and confined because of alleged brainwashing, those of every other group are potentially liable to judicial detainment on the same grounds. 47 The violation of religious liberty on behalf of its alleged defense is a complex issue that deserves careful attention. 44. Ronald M. Enroth, "Cult/Countercult: Is Either Side Fighting Fair?" Eternity 27 (November 1977): 18-22, 32-35; the quotation is on p. 35. 45. One of the most complete descriptions is in the feature stories by J'oseph R. Blanco, "The Deprogrammers," Northwest Magazine, The Portland Sunday Oregonian, pt. 1, 31 July 1977, pp. 4-18; pt. 2, 7 August 1977, pp. 6-25; pt. 3, 14 August 1977, pp. 6-7. See also Thomas Robbins, "Even a Moonie Has Civil Rights," The Nation, 26 February 1977, pp. 238-42. 46. Prof. Jay Stillson Judah of the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, Calif., in a conversation with the author during the annual meeting of the Society for the ScientŸ Study of Religion, Chicago, 28 October 1977. 47. Thomas Robbins, "'Brainwashing' and Religious Freedom," The Nation, 30 April 1977, p. 518.

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Another complex issue is the impact of the efforts to defend religious liberty and church-state separation upon the religious tone of the entire nation. If and when the concept of the holistic nature of human beings should become widely accepted in society and recognition of all of its dimensions should be seen as a civil liberty to be promoted, not merely to be defended passively, by the state, civil libertarians may be quick to oppose such a civil liberty. If no viable alternative should be introduced, civil libertarians may thereby contribute to the perpetuation and even the accentuation of the vicious cycle of secularization. This can occur both by keeping what is called "religion" out of

t h e public domain and by giving an additional boost to anti- religious forms of secular humanism through allowing nonreligious perspectives but excluding religious ones. As David Martin of the London School of Economics has pointed out, the nonestablish- ment of a religion is often equivalent to the establishment of secularism. 4s

Concepts of what constitutes denial of religious liberty may evolve gradually under the impact of concern for spiritual well- being. For example, St. Matthew's Lutheran Church ministers to patients in the Nursing Home and Extended Care Facility of White Plains, New York. Attendance at a special service for severely brain-damaged residents is limited to Protestant residents on the ground that the others are incapable of making a free choiceY If the brain-damaged Roman Catholics, Jews, and other non-Protestants in this home receive no religious care at all, is this a form of depriving them of a civil right to receive spiritual care in a facility which must meet the total needs of its patients?

Similarly, there may eventually need to be rethinking of what constitutes legitimate medical deductions from personal income for tax purposes. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has been supported in the U.S. Tax Court for denying a medical deduction for treatment to alleviate both mental and physical problems under Scientology, to which the defendants had been referred by a minister, on the ground that "the experience was for nothing but spiritual well-being. ''5~ Without regard to whether 48. David Martin, "The General Theory of Secularisation," plenary session paper at the annual meeting of the Soeiety /or the Scientifie Study of Religion, Chicago, 29 October 1977. 49, Frederick Schumaeher, "Nursing Home Ministry," Urban Newsletter (Lutheran Church in Ameriea, Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, and American Lutheran Church) 8 (February 1977): 1, 4. 50. Brown v. Commissioner, 62 T.C. No. 62 (1974), as reported in "Tax Rulings with Pocketbook Impact," U.S. News and World Reporf, 11 November 1974, p. 95.

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the outcome might have been different if the associated treatment and travel had been under the auspices of the Episcopal Church or the Roman Catholic Church, the issue of the spiritual components in holistic health care in relationship to taxation, government funding or provision of services, and public health may lead to considerable future debate in the context of both positive support for and passive denial of religious liberty.

Vigilance will always be needed to protect people and to prevent the use of public funds for sectarian proselytizing and evangelizing under the guise of promoting spiritual welfare. The drive to propagate Transcendental Meditation with public funds in prisons as well as in schools appears to be a current example. 51 Establishing appropriate guidelines and procedures to attain the appropriate balance between protecting and en- hancing spiritual well-being, on the one hand, and preventing its use for exploitative behavior, on the other, will be a major task.

To some extent these complications may be analogous to Jesus' teaching that losing one's life for the sake of Jesus is the way to save it, while striving to find ir is a cause of losing it. 52 Is ir possible that, at least under certain sets of circumstances in a particular context, efforts to protect religious liberty may ac- tually contribute to its loss?

TOWARD THE RESOLUTION OF CHURCH-STATE IssuEs IMPLICATED IN THE SPIRITUAL V~ELL-BEING MOVEI~ENT

Three qualifications apply to these suggestions of steps toward resolving the church-state and religious liberty issues associated with the spiritual well-being movement. First, this subject may seem irrelevant to most people in the United States and in the Western world. It has a low salience for them because they are preoccupied with the affairs of their daily, weekly, and seasonal round of living. Although most of them are constituents of religious organizations and most likely would relate spiritual well-being to religion, as long as their own regular activities are undisturbed, they are likely to give the subject little thought. Meanwhile, people who are isolated or alienated from the general population, whether because of problems of mental, physical, 51. "Big Push to Get TM into Prisons," Spiritual Counterfeits Pro]ect Newsletter 3 (July 1977) : 2. See "Court Rules TM a Religious Praetice," Eternity 27 (December 1977) : 11. 52. For variations on this theme, see Matt. 10:39; Mark 8:35; Luke 17:33, and Jolm 12:25.

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social, or spiritual health, may not understand the root causes of their misery and, if they do, lack the channels of communication and the political or social power to make others hear and heed their feeble voices. Similarly, youth and middle-aged adults may feel that this subject is of no dŸ relevance to them because so many of the sources and examples which have been used are oriented toward the spiritual well-being of the elderly. Quite the contrary, however, is true. All are aging, and spiritual well-being pertains to people of all ages, social classes, and other characteristics.

Second, it is folly to predict the future. The issues which are suggested as emerging out of the spiritual well-being movement are possibilities only, not certainties. They are not even prob- abilities, i.e., statements to which a statistical percentage of certainty of outcome can be attached. The problems are likely to become acute only if there should be continuing growth of scientific studies of spiritual well-being, support from religious and health care sources for public programs and tax funds to sustain and protect such, and holistic therapies in the public domain which overtly and directly include spiritual care in the context of healing. It is the author's opinion that all of these issues will probably emerge by the 1980s.

Third, there is no single ideal solution to the issues. As in other areas of church-state conflict, there are divergent perspectives on the subject, diverse definitions of the situation, and contrasting images of present and emerging reality. The actions of people individually and collectively are based to a considerable extent upon the pictures in their minds, so that their attitudinal orientations, whether based upon facts or fictions, are crucial aspects of the social reality that lies beneath public debate and action. Compromises therefore will be inevitable, with no one group in the pluralistic society winning a clear-cut victory by which every aspect of its desired solution will be implemented.

Regardless of these complications, a passive stance constitutes capitulation to drifting with whatever winds are blowing. It is not consistent with good citizenship in either of the kingdoms of which Christians are members. Therefore, actions to deal with the church-state and religious liberty issues related to the emergence and expansion of interest and activities in spiritual well-being in contemporary society should include at least five components:

1. Spiritual well-being as the ]ocus: If attention should be

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directed only to religion, church and synagogue, or related concepts, the nonreligious and noninstitutional aspects of spiritual well-being in holistic care may be neglected. Although these institutional expressions may contribute at times to spiritual well-being and at others to spiritual illness, they ate much narrower in scope and anything but synonyms for spiritual well- being. Although religious institutions and programs can contribute to spirituat wetl-being, they ate not the only channels through which it is mediated. Shalom (peace) reflects the concept of wholeness and completeness which is modeled best by Jesus Chriit. Spiritual health thus reflects the holistic perspective of the ancient Hebrews conveyed in the Bible by the essential meaning of the "soul" as the total person, the essence of his of her being. Central issues such as the purpose of meaning of life and of one's ultimate identity, in contrast to temporary roles and statuses, are strongly implicated in spiritual well-being. Socializing experiences which influence it occur in all realms of life--educational, familial, political, economic, rec- reational, etc., not merely in religious associations.

Of course, this poses the problem of man's inability to analyze the spiritual if ir indeed should incorporate everything. Unless it can be differentiated analytically from other dimensions and components of human life, it cannot become a subject for scientific research. The test of time already has provided modern man with some basic perspectives on the subject inasmuch as centuries of human tradition and experience have included it. Numerous references in Christian revelation, especially the Bible, also attest to its reality. Needed today ate refinement~ and specifications which will make it more obviously relevant to modern scholarship, research, and policy. When this work has been done afresh, without the assumption that spiritual well- being is exclusively in the domain of religion, ir can help to overcome artificial bairiers associated with church-state separation and aid in recognizing that holistic persons must have preventive health care for all areas of life, not just for physical, mental, and social well-being.

2. Value clarification: As already implied, all persons and groups in a pluralistic society need to work upon their own value systems in the context of current and emergent issues. "Pluralism does not require us to water down what we believe, but rather to profess and share ir with others for the bene¡ of all. ''33 As 53. Vincent P. Mainelli, "Call to Action I" Charities USA 4 (September 1977): 3.

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this is done, scholars, leaders, and members in almost all, if not all, religious groups are likely to conclude that the ultimate purpose of their institutions is to promote the spiritual well-being of people. When institutional means to that end have been transmuted into a struggle for economic goals, political power, or other objectives, the disease of goal displacement is evident. Related as this is to the human need for meaning and identity, which many seek in churches, this illness may be one of the reasons why theologically conservative churches which tend to keep spiritual values central ate growing, while others tend to decline in membership and financial strengthJ* Churches exist to serve, not to be served; their primary arena of service is people's spiritual needs, which, in turn, relate to all the test of individual and social life.

As theological and ideological perspectives are clarified, it will be possible to identify a hierarchy of values which should aid individuals as they seek to act more consistently in the compromises that are essential in democratic political life. Christians should recognize that human rights ate superior to those of property, institutional structures, and even theological doctrines, if ever conflict should emerge between them. They should acknowledge that the frequent admonitions in the Bible to show special concern for the poor, the oppressed, and the powerless are not mere window-dressing for use in intellectual disputations with Marxists and secular humanists. They should realize that Christian love ought to be extended to people who are "brethren in the flesh" as well as to those who are "brethren in Christ. ''Ss Clarification of values strengthens the foundation for consistent and constructive action to deal with the human need for spiritual wholeness, as weU as with all the other issues of life.

3. Value implementation: Merely to believe correctly in a set of clarified values is insufficient, for "faith without works is dead, being alone. ''~6 A combination of demonstration and proclamation of values is important. Caring for others can provide an integrative center for one's activities and experiences, thus helping to overcome the alienation that is evident in so 54. Kelley, Why Conservative Churches Are Growing. 55. Philemon 16 and other biblieal passages, espeeially in the Pauline epistles, bring out this distinction. For a soeiologist's approaeh to Christian social ethics, see David O. Moberg, Inasmuch: Christian Social Responsibilit~ in the Twentieth Century (Grand Rapids: WiUiam B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1965). 56. James 2:17.

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many peopleY Genuine concern for whole persons in the context of holistic health will lead to the development of more effective channels for promoting their spiritual well-being. Such love will find allies for many actions from other ideological camps, even though the same allies may be opponents on other public issues in the shifting web of group affiliations. 58 Together members of different religious bodies may discover channels for overcoming the spiritual deprivation that is characteristic of so many nursing homes as a result of institutional practices based, in part, upon present concepts of church-state separation and religious liberty. Such deprivation leads to an unnecessarily high incidence of depression, covert suicide, and post-institutionalization deathsY

4. Research: Spiritual well-being is a complex subject which pertains in various ways to subject matter from all of the humanities, the social and the behavioral sciences, and numerous applied disciplines and fields of study, especially those that pertain to the helping professions of psychiatry, clinical and counseling psychology, social work, marriage and family counseling, and pastoral care. ExplŸ research is needed within the context of each of these and similar disciplines and professions, as well as in the many interdisciplinary topics which bridge the bound- aries between them. 6o By a focus upon spiritual well-being and the quality of life, rather than upon specific religious institutions and their interests, many of the ideological, political, legal, and fiscal barriers to such work eventually may be overcome.

Experimentation with innovative programs to promote spiritual well-being calls for creative thinking, careful planning, wise implementation, and systematic evaluation. Relationships between physical, mental, social, and spiritual health, between thera- peutic programs and spiritual development, between subjective and objective components of well-being, and between spiritual health and various kinds of chaplaincy programs, nursing care, inspirational mass media, education, and other influences deserve considerable theoretical and empirical attention. Such work will be possible in a scientific context, however, only after the concept 57. O. Hobart Mowrer, "Semantic Barriers between Religion and Clinical Psy- chology," paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, 26 August 1977. 58. Georg Simmel, The Web o[ Group Affiliations, tratas. Reinhard Bendix (Glen- coe, Ill. : Free Press, 1955). 59. Vicki A. Zoot, "Spiritual Deprivation in the Nursing Home--Observations of a 'Friendly Visitor,'" paper presented at the National Intra-Decade Conference on Spiritual Well-Being of the Elderly, Atlanta, 12-14 April 1977. 60. David O. Moberg, "Spiritual WeU-Being: A Challenge for Interdisciplinary Research," Journal o[ the Amr162 Scientific Affiliation 30 (June 1978): 67-72.

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44& JOURNAL OF CHURCH AND STATE

of spirituat well-being has been sharpened, criteria for determining its degree of presence or absence have been developed, and in- vestigable indicators for those criteria have been identified and built into indexes which comprise operational definitions.

Research will help to identify viable programs of action, but for at least two reasons action must not await the day when all the findings will be available. First, that day will never come. Human action proceeds by trial and error, each cycle of which ideally represents improvement over the past. Scientific methods can refine the testing process, but they cannot provide absolutely final or ultimate answers to most questions. Second, in a society which is continually changing, the satisfactory solutions to issues in one generation may be highly unsatisfactory in another on the basis of precisely the same basic values. Reinvestigation of the implications and consequences of our values and actions is, therefore, ah unending research need in the modern world.

5. Education: Associated with all the other actions is the process of educating people about the nature of spiritual well- being, the issues involved in dealing with it, the values which bear upon them, the channels for implementing those values, and the needs, methods, and findings of relevant research. As in the case of research, components of such education may come from nearly all the disciplines, as well as from cooperative ventures of an interdisciplinary nature. These can be woven into many of the subjects currently included in the curricula of professional schools and institutions of higher learning, including continuing education.

Because education is interactive with the other recommendations made here, it can help to assure that religious liberty will be sustained in all private as well as public and tax-supported programs aimed at promoting the spiritual well-being of people. Voluntaryism on decisions to enter such programs is a component of that human right, and church-state separation is a means toward that end. But whenever opportunity to make pertinent choices is denied, religious liberty may be lacking as muchas when alleged choices are forced upon people.

In summary, the author has argued that the rise and growth of the spiritual well-being movement has been closely related to current efforts to develop social indicators and quality of life measures. The movement has the potential of greatly improving the life satisfaction and happiness of people, extending even

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to their eternal welfare from the perspective of Christian values, but it also presents many potential problems in the area of church-state relations. Resolving these is a significant challenge which calls for cooperative efforts by people of diverse ideologies, group identities, and academic orientations. The worth of human beings should take priority over sectarian values and institutional greed in the political struggles that are likely to occur.

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guest editorial: spiritual well-being and the quality of life movement: a new arena for church-state...

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